Hey gang, well after a 2 month hiatus of playing I hit the table again. This time the wrathful eye of the Lions of Asuryan focused on the arrogant Tau rebel Commander Farsight who dared to set foot on ancient Maiden World.
So this was the first time my new list would hit the table. Basically my goal is to create an Eldar army with balanced close-combat and shooting that does not feature the Wraithknight or Wraithguard. Now this list isn't entirely optimized, because quite simply I don't have the models for it. In the future I'd like to phase-out even the Wraithblades which were featured in the list, in place of Howling Banshees or my Voidstorm (Harlies) unit. In the end this list felt like an old school 2nd edition Eldar list with a 7th ed twist! It was very fun to play and quite deadly as you'll see. Here's the list!
Avatar
Autarch- Banshee Mask, Firesabre
Spirit Seer
Wraithblades x5- Axes
Striking Scorpions x10- Exarch Scorpion's Claw
Dire Avengers x9
Wave Serpent- Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannons
Dire Avengers x9
Wave Serpent- Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannons
Jetbikes x5- Scatter Lasers x5
Rangers x5
Swooping Hawks x6- Exarch
Hornets x2- Pulse Lasers
Wraithlord
I've long, long wanted to field the Avatar and the Wraithlord together and I can tell you both of them very much a place in the game. The thinking was that Avatar, Wraithlord, Scorpions and Wraithblades could very easily control the center of the board, and if I was cautious and used cover well by turn 3-4 come crashing through the enemy lines which would be weakened from support fire.
Anyway my opponent would by Kyle, who was new to the store, who brought his Tau! No let it be said he at first didn't want to play because his army wasn't painted, but I was desperate for a game and convinced him to play anyways. I'm very glad he did because Kyle is a stellar guy who was laughing and having fun the whole time which is a bit of a departure from my normally very quiet opponents (which is very odd in my experience).
So what did Kyle bring?
Commander Farsight
Crisis Suits x3 with plasma and flamers
Mess of Drones
Ethereal
Fire Warriors x10
Fire Warriors x10
Pathfinders x10
Kroot x10- Krotox Rider
Drone Unit x10
Broadside x1- Smart Missile Systems
Drones x2
Longstrike in Hammerhead
Pirahanas x2
Riptide- Big Cannon, Smart Missile Systems, Fusion thingy
Now this was going to be a tough matchup for me. Tau are very difficult with their immense firepower and getting into their lines would be no easy task, especially with all that ignore cover potential with Smart Missiles on both the Riptide and the lone Riptide. I could hear my Wraithknight laughing that I hadn't brought him to the game, but the big man needs a rest, as I need to learn to play without him!
Anyway the task got much more difficult when we rolled up missions and deployment. Hammer and Anvil and the Relic! While I felt the relic favored me due to my infiltrators and the reticence of the Tau to go out and grab objectives, Hammer and Anvil was horrible for my new list! It limits my ability to flank the enemy and stay out of range of all that 30" shooting, and having to foot slog the Avatar, the Wraithlord and my Wraithblades up that considerable distance was horrible…. but in the darkest hour a light suddenly flared… the light of the warp!
Next up was time to roll warlord traits and psychic powers. I got VERY lucky and got conqueror of cities, which gave me move through cover and +1 stealth in ruins! Very very handy as I'd be hugging cover most of this game against that deadly Fire Warrior shooting. But the real gem was the psychic powers, I got Gate of Infinity and the one which increases your Invulnerable Saves by +1!!! This couldn't be more invaluable as the Wraithblades, Autarch and Spirit Seer would now be able to teleport all the way across that long hammer and anvil deployment and rock a 3++ on a majority T6 unit. I couldn't be happier!
I lost the roll off to go first (which I always seem to do) but it worked for me as I prefer going second especially against a gunline. So he set-up in typical tau fashion, and I setup very defensively out of LOS, infiltrating the Scorpions almost entirely out of LOS right atop the Relic in the center building and the game began.
Tau Turn 1- Very fast turn, but I took a hard blow. The heavy ion gun hidden in the Pathfinder unit was able to destroy one of my hornets who stabilizer wing was peeking out of cover. I was gnashing my teeth over that one as I was relying heavily on the hornets to deal with the Riptide. It was a significant blow, and I would now need to rely on massed medium strength firepower to deal with it. Also that annoying lone Broadside killed one of my Striking Scorpions with ignore cover missiles.
Eldar Turn 1- I fanned out sending the lone Hornet and Jetbikes to the right flank, with the JB's just within 36" to nail that broadside whose ignore cover missiles would be a major threat to my all important skimmers, jetbikes and scorpions. The hornet alone kills the Broadside, while my Jetbikes hammer his pathfinders killing half the squad and the used their jetbike move to hop back out of LOS. Meanwhile the Avatar and Wraithlord begin their march up the right flank hugging cover against the threat of Longstrike. Then it was time to harness the warp and I did so flawlessly! I powered up our invuln. saves and used Gate of Infinity to deposit myself all the way behind his lines and hidden out of LOS. I couldn't have asked for a better place to land, and I knew I had immediately destabilized his entire position with that unit… assuming they rolled well to get into his lines because there was a WHOLE lot of firepower waiting to deluge me should I fail to do so.
Tau Turn 2- Before going further its important to note that my opponent forgot to roll for his reserves. He had a considerable amount of units including a big unit of Drones, Farsight and his Crisis Suit bodyguards (and more drones attached) a big unit of Kroot and the Piranhas. He didn't remember until after his turn was over and I began moving my own models. He asked if he could do his reserves and I declined saying if he had remembered in the middle of his turn I wouldn't have cared, he then asked if he could get a +1 on his next turn for reserves to which I agreed without much of a problem. It was a friendly game, and our first time playing so I didn't want to stone wall him. So anyway Longstrike turned around and shot at my Autarch, Spirit Seers and Wraithblades and the shot went wild. One of his pathfinders tried to fire his big Ion Gun but it "Got Hot" and killed him. The Riptide fired off some homing missiles against the my HQ squad but we made our beefed up invuln save. As happens with so many Tau players he over-committed to holding the line, instead of using LOS blocking terrain to move closer. So by keeping myself out of range using my 36" guns he was completely out of range, compounded by forgetting his reserves turned out to be a bit of a disaster!
Eldar Turn 2- The noose tightens! The Autarch, Spirit Seer and Wraithblades move out to multi-assault Longstrike and the Fire Warriors. The Wave Serpents move into position to fire on the Fire Warriors in the ruins on the right flank, while the Jetbikes stand poised to aid them or help finish off the Pathfinders. The Avatar and the Wraithlord continue to move up, as do the rangers while the Striking Scorpions continue to hold the relic, and wait for the Autarch/Wraithblades to start some Chaos at which point they'll join the fray. Then Swooping Hawks arrive from reserves and decimate the Pathfinders with their grenade blast. They completley eradicate the surviving 8 or so Pathfinders while the Wave Serpents and Jetbikes almost completely wipe out the Fire Warriors. It was a blistering display of laser fire that compleley shredded the Tau's right flank. Now for the finishing move… the multi-assault against Longstrike and the remaining squad of Fire Warriors. Easily nabbed Longstrike in combat… but then failed to get into the Fire Warriors! Disaster! We easily shred Longstrike (blowing him sky high) but now we stand exposed before the Riptide, 10 Fire Warriors and an Ethereal just waiting to buff them! This presents a potentially decisive opportunity for the Tau… but can the superior firepower win out against the superior resilience of the Wraithblades?
Tau Turn 3- The Kroot, and Farsight and his Crisis Suits and a big units of Drones all arrive! The Piranhas do not . My opponent agonizes a bit over where to bring the Kroot but decides to place them in the ruins on the right flank alongside the remains of the tattered Fire Warrior unit in an effort to try and shore up his defensive line against the Wave Serpents, Avengers, Jetbikes and Hornet which have shredded his forces thus far. Farsight and his Crisis Suits use their flamers and plasma fire to eliminate the Jetbikes much to my chagrin. Meanwhile the Ethereal buffs the Fire Warriors allowing them to unleash 30, Strength 5 shots on the Wraithblade in addition to the nova-charged Riptide who all unleash on my command unit… and to my glee I lose but a single Wraithblade! The incredible resilience of the Wraithblades enhanced by the Spirit Seer has achieved an incredible feat! If he had been able to eliminate both the Wraithblades and the Jetbikes it could have been game deciding but it was not meant to be! Eldar turn 3 coming up!
Eldar Turn 3- My command unit moves to an inescapable range for charging the Fire Warriors. My Wave Serpents move far away from the Crisis Suits (which had thrust away from them in the Tau turn putting them completley out of range the Serpents) and take aim on the Riptide. The Avatar and Wraithlord turn around to tackle the Crisis Suits and protect the Scorpions & the Relic. The Hawks Skyleap off the board and the Scorpions continue to hold the objective for another turn with their 2+ cover save (not wanting to expose them to either the Riptide, Crisis Suits, Kroot and Remaining Fire Warriors). Not much happens this turn in the shooting dept. with only the Serpents and Hornet wracking up some wounds on the Riptide. However the Wraithblades thrash the Fire Warriors but luckily they hold, all but guaranteeing me the chance to bust out of combat on Tau Turn 4, and thus denying the Riptide a chance to fire upon them. The Wraithlord also made a long charge into the Drones and thankfully remained stuck in combat after only killing 2. Again I count on busting out of combat on his turn and getting closer to those Crisis Suits without having to deal with any retaliatory fire. All in all this turn was all about re-establishing board-control with the arrival of the deadly Crisis Suits. So I reformed my lines, further securing the relic and preparing for another all out assault on turn 4.
Tau Turn 4- The Pirahnas arrive from reserves, as do a huge unit of Drones about 12" away from the Wraithlord, 18" away from the Avatar. The Ethereal continues to slink away from the combat joining a group of 2 Drones. While the Riptide and Kroot turn to deal with the Wave Serpents, while Farsight and his Crisis Suits deal with my rangers who are out of cover. The Riptide and Kroot (firing solid shots) force the Serpents to jink, and Farsight and his Suits eliminate the Rangers. Another lackluster round of shooting from the Tau. Their lines are too disorganized to bring any real concentration of firepower upon a single chunk of the deadly Corsairs and noose only continues to tighten. The Wraithblades finish off the last bunch of Fire Warriors and consolidate a whopping 5" closer to the Ethereal and Piranhas for another multi-assault. Meanwhile the Wraithlord kills enough of the Drones to force a leadership check which they fail, and subsequently runs them down bringing me within easy charge range of the Crisis Suits. The end is near!
Eldar Turn 4- The Hawks return with another shattering display of offense, wiping out the Kroot and killing all but 2 of the 4 remaining Pathfinders utterly crushing the right flank. The Avengers all disembark from their Serpents. 1 squad battle focuses into the ruins in support of the Scorpions and attack the Riptide forcing a wound. The Hornet and snap-shooting Serpents also fire on the Riptide reducing him to a single wound! Then the second Avenger squad fires on Farsight and his Crisis Suit team, killing 4 out of 6 of their protective Drones. Meanwhile the Avatar lumbers towards the Crisis Suits, and the Wraithlord successfully makes the charge killing 2 Drones and a Crisis Suit. Leaving only Farsight and a lone body guard left! My Wraithblades destroy the Piranhas, and before combat is resolved against the Ethereal we call the game. What a slaughter! After a long hiatus the Lions of Asuryan arrive with a roar!
Closing thoughts. This was a very good game and a very challenging test for my army list as Hammer&Anvil deployment against Tau is very difficult. You have to hide out LOS as much as possible all the while aggressively moving up the entire time. I used a lot of close-combat slingshot maneuvers to deny retaliatory fire, capitalizing on large units with low LD, that would break on the Tau turn help get additional movement towards my primary targets identified for assault. It all worked very well, and to accomplish what I did in 4 turns was very gratifying! I still hope to change the list a bit more, getting it as close to a pure Corsair style force as possible but it'll be expensive $$ so I'm going to have to make do with the models I have for the time being.
Kyle and I will be having a rematch in about 2 weeks time, possibly against his hardcore Space Wolves list. He was a great opponent, and his jovial attitude was a nice change of pace compared to the usually pensive and quiet attitude of my usual opponents. It was a very gratifying win and a good time was had by all. Anyway thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed the bat-rep!