Hey guys got my first game in with the new Codex and it was great. Definitely need to get some different models as my dependence on Wraithguard has left me lacking in some areas but I'll detail that at the end of the bat-rep. Lets begin!
So my list was:
Autarch: Fusion Gun, Fire Sword, Banshee Mask
Wraithblades x5
Wave Serpent: Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
Avengers x8
Wave Serpent: Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
Windriders x6- x6 Scatter Lasers
Swooping Hawks x8
Hornets x3- x6 Pulse Lasers
Nightwing
Wraithknight: Wraithcannons, 1x Scatter Laser
My Opponent played Space Marines, with White Scars Chapter Tactics
Khan
8 Bikes: Grav, Attack Bike- Multi-Melta
8 Bikes: Grav, Attack Bike- Multi-Melta
Centurions x3- Gravcannons, Grav-Amp, Omni-Scope
Land Raider- Classic
Sternguard- Combi-Plasmas
Razorback- Assault Cannons
Vindicator
Formation:
Storm Raven
Storm Talon
Storm Talon
So my list was not completley optimized. Not wanting to take Wraithguard+WWP Archon I was left scratching my head. So I decided to run my Wraithblades as I desperatley want to start incorporating CC into my lists. I've found a distinct lack of a "stopper" unit when my opponent is just ramming his army straight down the gut. Harlequins would have been better but mine aren't finished and they are expensive as hell.
Also as you can see I was "out-flyered" and as usual its 3-1. But I've literally been outclassed 3-1, or even 4 or 5 to 1 so many times I don't even blink an eye anymore. With the changes to Swooping Hawks I've gotten a dramatic bump in that department and my Nightwing is so unbelievably reliable and deadly against flyers that I relish the opportunity to go against the odds and triumph.
Alright so here's the board setup. We played a Maelstrom game where we had three cards a turn. Discard ones you can't play, and discard ones you've achieved. I love Maelstrom games and highly recommend them though they do favor Eldar and Dark Eldar a bit with all our speed.
My opponent won the roll to go first and he chose to go first so here's my deployment/my opponents deployment. He deployed evenly across the board, where I loaded one flank with everything but the Jetbikes. I was trying to lure him towards my principal cluster allowing the Jetbikes to attack him from the rear.
So with my opponent running White Scars he scouted everything up the board with the exception of the vindicator hiding in the Manufactorum ruins. What I wasn't expecting was for him to rush the Land Raider with Centurions right up the middle of the board. I thought he'd play conservativley, hiding it from the Wraithknight but he was bold and it was an excellent move on his part as it trapped my Wraithknight on one side of the board. Also... while you can't see it he had a big squad of bikes with Khan on the far left side of the board, directly across from my Jetbikes which were hidden out of line-of-sight. What this meant was I the bikes were also trapped between the Centurions, the Bikes, and a squad of Sternguard. This was very clever deployment/movement by my opponent. Having played me many times he's really learned how to maintain board control and it showed in the first turn. A pot-shot was taken at my Wraithknight causing a wound but other than that nothing else was in range.
Here was my first mistake: Putting my Windriders on the board at all. Should have held them in reserves.
So Eldar Turn 1- I was really mad at myself for putting the bikes on the board during deployment. I was to eager to get their firepower into the game and hoped foolishly that the profusion of grav meant he was gonna go after the Wraithknight no matter the cost. So when his forces took total control of the center of the board I knew I had made a mistake. There was nowhere to put the bikes without exposing them to a ton of fire and possibly assault. Furthermore with all those flyers coming on I knew they were in trouble. So I turbo'd them to try and reach the right corner of the board where the rest of my forces were. Exposing them to only the Centurions, forcing my opponent to choose between stopping to deal with the bikes, or continuing on to face their priority target: the Wraithknight
So after figuring all that out. I had the Serpents focus on the bikes on my right taking out 6 out of 8! This was a nice swing of fortune as the multi-melta and grav-gun in addition to the rapidly closing Centurions were a big threat to my Wraithknight. Following that my Wraithknight moved up the board (away from the Cenutrions) and took on the Razorback with Sternguard inside. It took both Wraithcannons but he nailed it which was great fun rolling on the destroyer table and he bagged me first blood as well. I then splitfire tagging the bikes and inflicting a casualty which was nice. So that wrapped up turn 1 for me. Killing the Razorback was nice and getting first blood was nice as well but it was far from spectacular. I was praying my bikes would escape significant harm and that my reserves would come in on because the bikes and centurions were already perilously close.
My corner of the board at the end of turn 1:
Space Marines turn 2:
The flyer formation arrives! Everything keeps moving closer! The Land Raider moves up and unloads the Centurions who promptly annihilated my bikes! Blast! I was really cursing myself over that blunder but I saw it coming from the beginning of the game. His bikes then continued to advance up right up behind them. The flyers and remaining bike then throw everything at the Wraithknight wracking up 2 wounds. I was cornered! Never underestimate the maneuverablilty and speed of Space Marines. With flyer support and bikes they can be incredibly fast... and even faster when they are White Scars. I was really feeling the pressure now. I needed a well played turn now more than ever or the debut game of my new codex would go down in flames.
Eldar Turn 2
This was a big turn. My opponent was all over with almost his entire army intact. The Centurions were extremly close to my Wraithknight now and the bikes would be in close combat range of Wave Serpents next turn if I didn't pull out something quick. My reserves roll was going to be of the utmost importance. I needed my Hornets more than ever.... and they failed to come in! This was a huge blow. I then rolled a 3 to bring in the Hawks and really agonized over bringing them in to grab some Maelstrom points... but decided to go against it. I knew I would need them later in the game to bring down the flyer triple threat so I kept them off until I knew I could get them into the right position to succeed. But my Nightwing showed up which gave me just enough tools to pull something off.
So first off I run the Nightwing right at the Soul Drink flyer formation. Putting them nose to nose guaranteed me that without going into hover-mode that I would be able to avoid any return fire from the flyers which is a favorite manuever of mine. I then moved the Wraithknight further up the board (and further away from the Centurions) and almost base-to-base with the remaining bikes on the right flank. My Wave Serpents pulled back further into the corner but all maintaning 24" range so as to use my Shuriken Cannons. I was tempted to "jump flank" and turbo boost to a completley new area of the board... but with so many of my opponents units right in the middle of the board and right next to so many Maelstrom objectives I knew I needed to leverage my full fire-power on him while I had it.
So thats exactly what I did. My Nightwing blasted a Storm Talon out of the sky. My Wraithknight rolled a 6 on the destroyer table sending that accursed Soul Drinker Land Raider back to the Warp where it belonged! Then all 3 Wave Serpents poured everything into the Centurions.... and did nothing! That one hurt. I could have just killed a single Centurion it really would have helped. I then pulled off a clever move and used my Scatter Laser on the Wraithknight to tag the bikes on right flank and assaulted them, killed them and used my consolidation move to get further from the Centurions. It was a gamble... but I needed to down that land raider to nullify it fire power but also to prevent it from transporting the Cenutrions further up the board. I debated deploying my Avengers and really cranking up the heat but I'd be exposing them to the flyers and I couldn't risk losing both their firepower and the scoring ability. So it was a surgical application of force... and as you'll see it set-up the rest of the game very nicely
Space Marines Turn 3
At this point the game was very tight. With my Nightwing nose-to-nose with his flyer formation, and the fact that they were directly on the right board edge he had three choices: go straight ahead and pot-shot a single Wave Serpent, bank left and try and reposition but without any targets to fire upon or go back into on-going reserves and come back on with a clean slate. He chose to go back into reserves... and I smiled a secret smile as a plan began to form in my mind. With that important decision made he then moved the Centurions, and bikes closer to my castled-up position near the right corner and to my horror... he was in range of the Wraithknight!!! He unloaded on my beloved wraith construct and felled it in a single volley. If I had been even a fraction of an inch further away I would have escaped any harm but he was just within range. It was sad to see the Wraithknight go down but he had accomplished his mission and there were no more targets (besides perhaps the Sternguard in the central ruin) for him to go after. Other than that nothing much else happened. Now it was on to my turn... and I was ready to lay the hammer down and set up a trap for turn 4!
Alright so I roll for reserves and I get both the Hornets and the Hawks in. This is the most important turn of the game for me at this point. I need my hornets to come in on the proper flank so I can I take out the Centurions but also as bait for the flyers as you'll see. I also need to roll a good battle-focus roll after deepstrike to hid the Hawks from my opponents flyers which I force off the board, as the hawks have no other viable targets.
So I end up getting the flank I want after my acute-senses roll and they are in position. My Wave Serpents move up as well to get maximum fire power and I unload 1 unit of Avengers to maximize my fire output and pray for some bladestorm action. While my Nightwing moves closer to my opponents deployment zone to force his flyers to fly past mine, come in at angle where they'll have to fly off the board if they do pursue my nightwing... or better yet go after my hornets (which is only good for me IF I take out the centurions first).
So on to the shooting phase! My Hornets pulverize the Centurions though a couple of cover saves almost saves one of them, wiping out the entire unit! That was the most important point of the game. Due to their central position on the board and the objectives they could eliminate any and all opportunities for my infantry to score late in game. They had to go and killing them was very sweet especially after they downed my Wraithknight. Then my Nightwing took out the Vindicator and then some spectacular dice rolls saw my Wave Serpents and Avengers go berserk on the bikes reducing them down to just Khan and a single bike! This was the huge swing I was looking for... and one that I have come to expect when my Hornets hit the board. My opponent was reeling now. With just some Sternguard in the central ruin, two bikes and two flyers his force was in tatters... but I had one last nasty surprise for him.
Space Marine Turn 4
With so little left this was a quick turn. The flyers came in and wrecked two of the Hornets while the last one went unscathed.... Khan moved forward towards the Wave Serpents and the Sternguard pot-shotted my Nightwing and actually penned it! I was sweating this one because my Nightwing hasn't died in over 30 games and I didn't want the streak to end! Luckily he rolled poorly on the pen chart and he survived so I was happy. Yet that was it for the Space Marines on to.....
Eldar Turn 4
Alright so this was the moment I had been waiting for. He took the bait and went after my Hornets (like he did the last time we played) but this time I was ready for him. I had used my battle-focus to hide behind a ruined wall right in his deployment zone so that when the flyers came in to get the hornets they'd fly right over them. So I moved 18" with my Hawks (so much fun) and get 8 haywire hits on the Stormraven and dropped the bad bird like a bad habit (scoring me a "Scour the Skies" Maelstrom card that I'd been saving). Then my Nightwing flew up put a hull point on the last remaining Storm Talon while my Serpents and Avengers finished off Khan. With only the Sternguard and a lone flyer left my opponent conceded. Sweet victory for the Eldar and 1st victory with the new codex. I couldn't have been happier!
So in summation I was thrilled with the way my army performed. I definitley felt the pinch of not having "laser-lock" as I missed A LOT of Shuriken Cannon shots with my Wave Serpent. Only having a 4+ Jink was nerve wracking as well, but it was really no worry once I dedicated myself to playing the range game and using cover. I'll miss being able to just roar out into the open and unloading on my opponents and pay the snap-fire price next turn. But I think the loss of holofields forced me to be more tactical with them, hug cover as much as possible and ultimately suffered far fewer turns of snap-firing. The Wraithknight did well, but as predicted he's not as over-the-top as people made him out to be. My unit of the game had to be the Hawks. They were SO fun to play with. Using deepstrike and battle-focus to ambush the flyers was one of the most fun maneuvers I've ever pulled off and I'm so happy they're gonna be in all my lists going forward. I miss them dearly when playing against Tau or Guard and auto-including them makes life easier for pick-up games at the store. So all-in-all my first experience with the new Dex was a success.
I was happy to see some of my opinions validated on the first game about the new codex as well. While the offensive bump to the Wraithknight is very significant, his defense has largley remained the same. While his defense against poison is significant the ability for opponents to down him with Grav, Melta, Plasma, Lascannons, and all other high strength Ap3 weapons just easily as before with the exception of feel no pain. Mine lasted 3 turns even with me dancing all over the field trying to stay away from the Centurions. Also being a Lord of War means special scenarios, and that 1 formation aside you'll only see one on the board at a time... which is how it should be outside of Apocalypse.
The Jetbikes as predicted died as easily as ever. While their offense went through the roof, high volume of shots, blast and templates will eat them alive as will a unit of Centurions meaning Draigo/Sevrin Loth Auto-Invisible Cenutrion-Star with the best close-combat character in the game teleporting 30" a turn (one of the most over-the-top unit combos of all time, and never a sniff of controversy, or whisper of potential tournament nerfing) is just as effective as ever against Eldar.
So going forward I'm going to be retiring my Wraithguard for most games and probably use my Wraithknight a bit less. Aspect Warriors are phenomenal now and I think Corsair Fire Dragons, Wind Riders and some form of Autarch on a Bike with perhaps a Void Dreamer Council is in the future. Also my Reavers will probably incorporated as well and Harlies when I can because I still see a glaring need for CC especially to protect the Wind Riders who are going to be essential firebase for the Eldar (when playing high-powered games) with the changes to Wave Serpents. So those are my thoughts!
Stay tuned because there's a lot of hobby stuff coming down the pipe. I've got a Forge World order in bound, I've got my JB's in hand, my Harlies/Starweaver are ready to be primed already my brother has a monstrous piece of terrain half-way finished! So stay tuned!
