Oops

Today, I received a text from Jaybie today. It was him yelling at me for not posting on the blog. This text message made me remember one very important fact, and that fact is that I am a writer on a 40k blog. For the last 5 months I have been kept very busy by school, my job as a media technician, and my second job as a Skyrim player. While I cannot say that this will change, I can say that I am going to say for the millionth time that I will try to post more.

So, while it feels like every time I post I have to update what's been going on for the last several months, I will just say that not much has happened. I have been to several tournaments in the last 5 months, some I have no doubt placed in, and the last couple I have gotten 4th with W/W/L and W/D/D.

It is noteworthy that at the tournament before last, I went against the one and only Blackmoor and his Draigowing. I can say from personal experience that he is an amazing player, and I just barely managed to beat him by a mere 2 kill points with my guard.

Anyway, I will jump into the actual post now.

I have not been playing a lot lately, but I've come to a very evident conclusion about my guard. They simply are not the most mentally challenging to play. They can be mentally challenging to succeed with, as Jaybie found out when he tried to use them against my daemons, but they have gotten a little bit old.

The point is, I have not ranked 4th in the last couple of tournaments due to large errors. At no point in the games was I in a situation where I could have made a critical mistake. Most losses/draws with them have been due to bad dice or single critical die rolls. This made me realize that my playstyle is a bit dry.

I think that as a 40k player, I should be able to make critical errors, and not be rewarded by sitting in a corner and shooting the bad guys. This is why I want to start playing my daemons and eldar more. I have also been very inspired by Blackmoor claiming 1st place with his daemons and then footdar in his last 2 tournaments.

So, long story short, I have changed my footdar list around a little bit so that I can use it in larger scale games and not just 1000pts. I plan on getting some practice games in soon, and I will post those if I remember. (I won't lie, you've seen my posting history. I probably will forget).

Here's the first draft of the updated Footdar. It is heavily influenced by Blackmoor, so go check his list/blog out to compare if you'd like.

Footdar V.2! 1,750 pts

HQ:

-Eldrad Ulthran

What did you expect? A normal farseer?

-Avatar

I've heard the idea of swapping him out for a fortune/doom farseer, and I'm not sure which I should roll with. The avatar serves as an amazing counter-assault unit, but another farseer would give me 3 fortunes per turn. And I could give the farseer eldritch storm, which has actually become one of my favorite abilities. (It would allow more rear/side armor shots on bigger vehicles.)

Elites:

-10 harliquins, 10 kisses, shadowseer, death jester

I need a solid counter assault unit, and Blackmoor uses clowns. The simple fact that the shadowseer can prevent them from being shot up while they wait is invaluable. Plus they are pretty freaking fast, and hit hard.

Troops:

-10 guardians, scatter laser

-10 guardians, scatter laser

-10 guardians, scatter laser

I love my little 10 man SL guardian squads. They may suck at shooting, but with as many shots as they can pump out, they will hit something. Plus they can kill rhinos/razorbacks.

-10 dire avengers, exarch w/ 2 catapults, bladestorm

-10 dire avengers, exarch w/ 2 catapults, bladestorm

Every time I mention Footdar, my fellow eldar players start raving about dire avengers, so I've decided to try and play them a bit more.

Heavy Support:

-Wraithlord, bright lance, EML, 2 flamers

-Wraithlord, bright lance, EML, 2 flamers

I really like wraithlords, and I have never used this build with them actually. I feel that it is a necessary build in today's metagame, though.

-3 war walkers, 6 Scatter lasers

What can I say? 24 S6 shots makes me salivate, especially when those shots are guided.

So, my total comes to 1,724. I'm thinking about dropping the upgrades on the dire avengers for 64 points and getting a 5 man squad of fire dragons. Or I could drop the dire avenger upgrades and a single harlie, which would allow me to get a 5 man warp spider squad. Anyway, since I made this list almost entirely based on units I want to get better with and comments from my peers, I would really appreciate your own comments. I'm going to make a post on my daemons and their progress soon, maybe tonight.

Thanks for reading, and happy Valentine's Day in advance.

-Kasrkar

Dark Eldar Tournament report!

Hello all! It's Jaybie coming at you with a tournament report with the Dark eldar! I played this tournament at a different store than I usually do, which just opened near me. It was very well run, and they did some things differently than what I'm used to. Notably, that the missions were all battle point based.

Each mission had a Primary objective worth 10 points, secondary worth 6 points, and tertiary worth 4 points. So, a massacre would get you 20 points.

I took the list that I detailed in my last post. It's not built to be super competitive, but it can win, and is really fun to play with. On to the games!

Game 1 vs. Daniel's Grey Knights!

His list:

Draigo

Librarian with Sanctuary, Shrouding, 2 other powers that were never used

10 Paladins with BroBanner, 4 psycannons, everyone else wound allocated out

10 Strike Squad with Master-crafted hammer, 2 psycannons

3 Psydreads

Ouch! Lots of hurt in that army. Only 25 models too, lol.

The mission:

Primary: Seize ground, 3 objectives

Secondary: Win more rounds of assault

Tertiary: Kill the most expensive enemy HQ (Draigo for him, Vect for me)

Deployment for all 3 games was pitched battle.

The Game:

I won the roll off, and took second turn. He deployed his paladins and HQs in a blob in a big piece of terrain to the right flank, all the Dreads behind them, the Strikes in reserve. Grand strategy made the 3 dreads troops. I deployed my ships behind a building opposite him. I then seized with Vect!

He began a slow advance, shooting at my vehicles. He did little damage, killing a few vehicles in the early game, and my venoms torrented his Paladins, causing a wound on ever single one. I immobilized and knocked all the weapons off of one of his dreads. However, once his Pallies got in range, my ships started popping left and right. I still had a chance to draw, or even win, but then I showed my inexperience against the GKs and charged the Pallies with my Wyches and Vect, and surrendered all three objectives in one fell swoop. The rest of the game was mostly just cleanup for him.

Result: Loss, 0/20 points.

Well, I underestimated those Paladins something fierce! Those Dreads are hard to kill, too. Daniel was a great opponent. He knew what he was doing, and made me pay for every mistake I made. He also kept a great demeanor through it all, even when he failed to penetrate my Ravager with all of his dreadnoughts!

Game 2 vs. Mark's Orks!

His list:

Ghaz

Big Mek with Kustom Force Field, heavy armor, cybork body

10 Nobz with various weapons, every damned save in the book, trukk with every upgrade

10 Ard boyz with shootas, trukk with everything

10 Boyz with Nob with power klaw, trukk with everything

Deff Dred with 4 CCWs, extra armor, grot riggers

4 bikes with power klaw

4 bikes with power klaw

3 bikes with power klaw

Mission:

Primary: Capture and Control

Secondary: Table Quarters (Control goes to whoever has most VPs in the quarter, HQs and vehicles don't count)

Tertiary: Kill your "Traitor" (Each person gives one of their models to the other person, they are ICs. I gave a warrior, he gave and Ork boy)

So, this guy is good, as he had nearly beaten some Mech BAs in the last round, and with only 2 models left! I figured I would have to use my experience against Orks to the full!

I won the roll off to go first, and let him go first. He deployed very aggressively, only leaving the boyz and their trukk with my traitor back at his objective. I deployed along my board edge. I do not attempt to seize.

The Game (You just lost it!):

He rushed everything at me, shot a little, and didn't do anything. I shuffled around, and shot down a unit of bikes, and immobilized his two trukks that were rushing up. turn 2 he Waaghed, and assaulted my vehicles. He killed my Voidraven, and a venom.

In retaliation, I assaulted both of his bike squads, one with Incubi, the other with Malys's unit, and his big Nobstar+Ghaz with Malys (Multi assaults, ftw) and Vect's unit. All targets were destroyed, with Vect himself killing Ghaz in a (not so) dramatic duel. That was basically game, but we played on. I killed the rest of his stuff, but one awesome boy squad killed my raider AND Malys in turn 6. They were then avenged by the Incubi.

Result: Win, 20/20 points.

Mark was a very crafty player, who went on to beat his own son's Tyranids in the final game. He was stunned by the amount of damage my army was able to do, but took it all in stride, like a true sportsman.

Game 3, vs. Corey's Eldar!

His list:

Avatar

Farseer with Guide, doom, Eldrich storm, spirit stones, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing

10 Scorpions with exarch with the crazy weapon that makes your strength get bigger

5 Wraithguard with Warlock with some psychic power, Serpent with Missile Launcher

3 units of 10 Pathfinders (!)

5 Warp spiders with the deepstrike thing.

Fire Prism with Holo-field

Mission:

Primary: VPs (Win by 250)

Secondary: Table your opponent

Tertiary: Table your opponent by turn 5

So, a perfect mission for a grudge match between the Eldar and the Dark Eldar.

I won the roll, and chose to go second, reasoning that even if I didn't seize, his army didn't have enough firepower to scare me overmuch. He deployed his Prism on the far right, and his Avatar, Farseer, and serpent with Wraithguard to the left. I deployed centrally, in a fleet. Corey then infiltrated his scorpions and two units of pathfinders about 18" from my dudes, and his other pathfinders in a building on the right. His Spiders are in reserve, to deepstrike.

The game:

I seize (Thank you Vect!). My dudes decide to just go for it. Vect and his girls run up and fleet so as to be in assault range of his Scorpions and a unit of Pathfinders, and the Incubi disembark 1" away from some Pathfinders. The rest of my ships zerged up, ready to shoot at his stuff! In shooting, I shook both of his vehicles, and put 2 wounds on the Farseer. In Assault, the Incubi wiped the Pathfinders without a problem, and Vect alone killed 6 of the scorpions! I killed everything that I assaulted. In his turn, the Pathfinders in the building killed 4 of the Incubi, and the Klaivex passed LD.

The rest of the game was pretty much cleanup for me. He conceded turn 3, with only the Spiders in reserve left.

Result: Win, 20/20 points.

That was a terrible matchup for Corey. I got lucky on my fleet rolls to be able to get off that massive turn 1 assault. Vect was the star of the show, killing 6 Scorpions, 5 Wraithguard, and soloing the Avatar.

So, at the end of the Tournament, I have 40/60 points. Not great, but not bad either. Daniel, my round one opponent, took a tough loss to some FootDar on table one, putting him at 40 points like me. It turns out we tied for 3rd! Admittedly, I got a couple of good matchups to get me there, but doesn't everyone? At least it wasn't my usual Blood angels, then Guard, then Guard again!

So, post tournament thoughts on the Dark Eldar:

This list is fun, but if I want to win consistently, I'm going to have to make some major changes. Vect is fun, but he has to go. He's just too many points! I need more Troops, probably 6. I need more anti-tank, which means more Wyches in Raiders, maybe a 3rd squad. Malys I think I will keep for 1750, just because she is useful. Full post coming later!

So, that's it for today. Comments?

Dark Eldar for a tournament this weekend!

Hi, all!

So, a new game store opened near my place. I've been taking my chaos to RTTs lately, so I thought I'd change it up a little. Here are my dark eldar at 1750 points

Asdrubael Vect

Lady Malys

5 Incubi with Klaivex, venom with 2 scannons

3 Trueborn with 2 scannons, venom with 2 scannons

9 Wyches with hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades, Hekatrix with Agonizer, Raider with FF, Grisly trophies

8 Wyches with hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades, Hekatrix with Agonizer, Raider with FF, Grisly trophies

5 Warriors with blaster, venom with 2 scannons

5 warriors with blaster, venom with 2 scannons

Ravager with 3 Dark lances, flickerfield

Ravager with 3 Dark lances, flickerfield

Voidraven with flickerfield

Total: 1,750 points

Now, there are some choices in there that a lot of people don't usually take. I will explain the uses of these units:

Malys:

I really like what she adds to the army. She's a little bit of a shocker to a lot of people, with her redeployment. Often during dawn of war i will deploy Vect and some wyches in a raider as far up as possible, and hoping to kill him early, the enemy will deploy a couple of razorbacks or something, then I can pull him back to come on turn 1, and then kill the razors with ravagers, all while cackling maniacally, of course. Also, 8 power weapon attacks are not to be sniffed at.

Vect:

He is my sledgehammer, honestly. He is possibly the best pure assault character in the game, even topping Mephiston I think. He will rip through MEQs and HQs like nothing. But be careful he doesn't get gang-tackled, because once that shadowfield goes down, Vect will soon follow.

Incubi w/ out grenade support:

A lot of people will use these guys as a spearhead unit, to just bash face, with an archon with a PGL, of course. However, I use them differently, and very effectively. See, I usually keep my venoms in a fleet, very tightly packed, all shooting at the same 1-2 targets. The downside to this is that a lot of the time, people will multiple assault and beat up my poor paper airplanes. The Incubi are there to dissuade such units from attempting such moves. Also, if there's a tactical squad out of cover, they are the perfect unit to handle them.

Voidraven:

The Strength 9 lances are really useful to pop dreadnoughts. I also like to point out that it is the most durable vehicle in the Dark Eldar army!

Now as to the whole army, there is one thing you probably noticed: A lack of anti-tank. That is true, however, I've found that if you just kill or suppress a few key vehicles per turn, you're okay. Also, people will often use their ravagers to shoot a tactical squad. What i do is if there are no vehicles or monsters in line of sight, i will just turbo boost for the 4+ cover, or behind terrain, etc.

I have only played 1 games with this list, against Deathwing, in killpoints dawn of war. I got a 1st turn assault on some termies with a squad of wyches and Vect, who were then countercharged by a squad of terminators, who were then charged by Malys and her girls. At the end of this huge assault, the only survivors were Malys, and 15 wyches. The rest of my army was able to shoot the rest of his army to bits, except for one dreadnought who rampaged through my dudes.

My bad habit with this list is to shove the wyches+HQs up the center on a turn 1-2 assault, kill some stuff, then they get shot to death, and that's a lot of my army gone. What I will try to do is to play a little less aggressively.

We'll see how it goes. Expect an after-action report. Farewell until then!

P.S. I'll try to get Kasrkar and GR to post more.