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?

Ork tactics (Part 5 of 7): Fast Attack

Sorry for not posting more, I have recently had a pile of work to complete, but now that's over and done with, so time for more!



Stormboyz:

Sort of like a poor man's assault marine, stormboyz strike hard, strike fast, and then die. At 12 points per model, they aren't cheap. They do have the potential for a first turn assault, but there is a 1/6 chance of that. You can still get the shock and awe effect from including boss Zagstruk, but that means that your rather expensive unit suddenly becomes a death unit, and Zagstruk himself is 85 points, which is way to expensive for my pocket!

On the tabletop: The most commonly used method I have seen for this unit is to include Zagstruk , and then suicide on top of a manticore, or some other scary anti-infantry tank, but that inevitably means that your 150+ point unit is being wasted on a tank that is not nearly that expensive.

No, what I see is, don't take Zagstruk, and just take a unit of 10 oth them nilla, and use the opportunistically. See that little devastator squad parked in the enemy's backfield? Use a well-timed Waagh!, a lucky roll for extra move, and you can kill that unit, and then, if you choose to include a nob with a powerklaw, you can take out that Manticore, and hopefully not die.



Warbuggies:

These guys are no less deadly than they ever have been, but, sadly, have been rendered superfluous due to the new Deffkoptas. Even so, there are some things that Warbuggies can do that Deffkoptas cannot. For one, they can be upgraded to Skorchas, which, as everyone knows, are good, because orks having to roll to hit= points not being earned back.

On the tabletop: You are going to want to upgrade them to Skorchas, no question. Not even the mighty Deffkopta can take the dreaded Skorcha. I would say, a unit of 3 Skorchas should be sufficient for burning non-marines out of cover.


Warbikers (giant pics, ftw)

One of the better options in the Ork codex. Though not as durable or hard-hitting as nob bikers, they are probably a better option for 1500 and under point games, as they are about half the price of a biker nob.

On the tabletop: A cheap, fast-moving, hard-hitting unit is always great, but with a 4+ cover save at all times? Invaluable. Use them as your spear point, to slam into the enemy line before all others. And, remember, you can have an army of them if you take Wazdakka!
Deffkoptas:

Definitely on of the best units in the Ork codex, Deffkoptas bring the firepower where you need it most, quickly and efficiently. Being jetbikes, they can completely ignore terrain for purposes of movement. Add this to the fact that they come with twin-linked big shootas, and are only 35 points base, you can see why they are so popular.

On the Tabletop: Deffkoptas are the most mobile unit in the ork codex, and they are also very useful. If I were playing them, I would take a unit of 3 of them with twin-linked shootas and buzzsaws. That way, though they are very expensive, they can also take on tanks and armored infantry.

Ork tactics (Part 3 of 7): Elites

Hello, there again. You might have noticed that there are now going to be 7 parts of this tactics series. That is because I looked at the Ork codex recently, and it had a few more Heavy support choices than I originally thought, so i decided to divide it into two articles, because if I write a long article, it turns boring at about the 5th unit. You also may have noticed that I skipped Nobz in this article. That is because I have already written a tactics article for them If you want to read it, you can search in the search box above right.
Meganobz:

What could possibly be better than Terminators? The answer is: Orks in Terminator armor! Well technically, it's Mega armor, but that's pretty much terminator armor that comes with a twin-linked shoota, and a powerklaw. And no invulnerable save. but still, pretty cool. They're slow and purposeful, so put them in a Battlewagon or, if you're feeling particularly saucy, a trukk.

On the Tabletop: In small games, I have seen three of these guys slaughter 6 Lictors (It was a kill team mission). No joke. In larger games, however, these guys seem to take the short end of the stick, or, rather, the demolisher rounds. At 40 points a very killable pop, they are very pricey, and if their ride gets crippled early on, that's a big chunk of your points moving at the rate of about 4 inches per turn. If you must take them, get them a Battlewagon, to survive longer, or a trukk, which, if id doesn't die, will take them into easy turn 2 assault range.


Burna Boyz:

Probably the most versatile unit in the Ork codex, armed with a flamer that doubles as a power weapon, they are a bargain at a mere 15 points per model. Taking unit of 12 Burnas in a trukk is a very good idea, and I have seen it win many a game.

On the Tabletop: At first glance, you may be tempted to throw this unit toward the nearest Tactical squad/Termagant brood and have at it, but, believe it or not, there is a more subtle way of using them. Hold them behind your battline and, when the inevitable 1s start falling, use them to fill in any gaps in the line, and watch as they either chop up those pesky Sanguinary Guard, or burn any little alien critters that try and have a go!Tankbustas:

Tankbustas are probably one of the most useful, and most overlooked, units in the Ork codex. Seeing as they come with rokkit launchas and dumbed-down meltabombs as standard, you would think that they got more of a look than they do. Alas, it is not to be. Though a standard Tankbusta is good, their upgrades are pretty good as well. Bomb squigs, as well as being amusing, are simply very good at what they do, which is being a suicide unit. Don't want to have to get into combat with that Dreadnought? A squig will be happy to blow it up for you.

On the tabletop: As with all orks, tankbustas have the quantity, and the quality, but not the accuracy. The best thing you can use Tankbustas for is to use their high strength, low AP weapons to bring down Monstrous Creatures, and transport vehicles. People tend to ignore Tankbustas for some reason, so you will almost certainly be able ot bag 2 or 3 targets before they get obliterated.

Lootas:

A truly wonderful unit, I have seen plenty of winning armies that include 45 lootas. They lend much needed long-ranged fire support to the rest of your army, which, being orks, will tend to be more close-ranged. In a unit of 15, ther D3 shots means that on average, you will be firing 180 shots per game! That's a lot of dead tanks.

On the Tabletop: The best thing you can do with lootas is to treat them like a Space Marine devastator squad; Find the highest point on the table, with the greatest fire lanes, and fire away! Be careful, however, that you target tanks as a priority, seeing as lootas are about the only unit in the ork codex that can reliably destroy armor 12 and under tanks.

Kommandos:

The oddball unit of the Ork codex, Kommandos don't seem to have a point. They aren't particularly good at tank killing, they aren't particularly good at killing infantry, and they aren't troops. Sure, the fluff is cool, but they just don't seem to have a point.

On the Tabletop: If you must take them, the very least you must do is to giv ethem a Nob with a power klaw, a burna, and hold them in reserve to outflank. Then, you head straight for the most important unit in the backfield, say a Manticore that has been bugging you, and give it a ride to orky hell, courtesy of the power klaw.

Ork tactics (Part 2 of 6): Ork HQ

Hello again, folks! Today, for part two of the ork tactics series, we will look at the Ork non-special HQ.Warboss:

The Warboss is probably one of the most versatile choices in the game. Not very often taken, they are still a little gem of an HQ. The most popular configuration for a Warboss, when taken, is generally in Mega armor, making him a lot harder to kill, and if you want to splurge, you could also get him a Cybork body, to save him from those nasty Sergeants with powerfists, or power weapons squads.

On the tabletop: Usually, they are used as close combat support, and with their ability to make a single Nobz or Meganobz squad troops, a popular tactic is to have a Warboss in mega armor with a unit of 5 or so Meganobz just slaughter their way to an enemy objective, and dare them to try and take it from them.

Big Mek:

Probably the most commonly seen Ork HQ, these guys are very versatile as well. Their versatility, however, lies in their ability to be defensive, making them the polar opposite of the more offensive Warboss.

A popular configuration for the Big Mek is to give him an expensive Shokk Attack gun which, as well as being entertaining as heck, is also very effective at taking out large units, due to the 5" blast. This seems obvious, but it bears repeating, seeing as people now tend to focus on destroying vehicles. Another thing you can do is to give him a Kustom Force Field, and then put him in the middle of your Battlewagon wall, to help protect against all those melta/lance weapons that seem to be everywhere nowadays.


Weirdboy:

Not a very good choice, overall, simply for his unpredictability. Upgrading him to a Warphead lets you control him a little, but they are simply too unpredictable. They have some close combat ability, and they aren't super expensive, but still...

On the tabletop: Again, I personally wouldn't take one, but if you are willing to take a bit of a risk, then some of the powers he has access to are pretty useful. Nothing puts an enemy in his place like 30 shoota boyz teleporting behind their prize unit.

Ork tactics (Part 1 of 6): Special HQ

Hello, everybody, and welcome to my first post in about 2 weeks. This is the first part of a series on Orks, which I will write over the following weeks. Orks have always been a competitive army, and extremely fun, to play. Here I will focus on their Special Character core.



Ghazghkull Thraka:

Ghazghkull is arguably one of the best HQ in the game. On the charge, he is nearly unstoppable, with 7 Strength 10 attacks. My brother regularly takes him, and he has never failed to impress. On the outside, he looks good, right?

Well, he has one special rule that makes him invaluable for Ork armies: Ghazghkull's Waaagh! This is a version of the normal Waaagh!, declared in the shooting phase, etc. What is different about it is that, instead of rolling for your fleet of foot, every unit with the Waaagh! special rule moves 6" automatically. As if that weren't enough already, Gazghkull's 2+ armor save becomes Invulnerable while on a Waaagh! making him truly unkillable. Add this to eternal warrior, furious charge, and a Big Shoota, and a points cost of only 225, he is truly a force to be reckoned with!

Using him on the table top: It has been found that the most effective way of deploying him is in a Battlewagon, to make up for his Slow and Purposeful, with a unit of Meganobz. Use this unit to utterly tear apart that pesky 500 point Deathstar unit, with your own, better Deathstar unit.

Mad Dok Grotsnik:

At first glance, the Mad Dok is a little hard to justify, being, basically, a painboy with an extra wound, an extra pip of toughness, another attack, WS 5, and a price tag of 160 points. He comes with the usual, slugga, 'urty srynge, dok's tools, and the rest, but when you look at his special rules, he is revealed.

He has a modified version of Rage, except for the fact that you can't control it by having him out of line of sight of the enemy. However, he can be joined to any unit, and for 5 points per model, he can give them Cybork bodies, which I would not recommend, as it is way too expensive.

Using him in a game: If I were to ever take Grotsnik, it would be with a 19 strong mob of Ork Boyz in a Battlewagon. Seeing as he is a little bit of a loose cannon, I would simply let him and his unit loose in the middle of the enemy's battle line, and watch as he runs over everyone, for 19 Ork Boyz with Feel No Pain is not to be scoffed at! However, with this in mind, I would probably not choose to take him, simply because there are better options out there.


Wazdakka Gutsmek:

Wazdakka Gutsmek, The Biker of the Aporkalypse, or in other words, complete awesome. Without doubt one of the best characters in the Ork army list, he is able to turbo-boost, and still fire 4 Strength 8 shots making him a rather amazing tank killer. Add this to the fact that he has toughness 6, is on a bike, and has a Powerklaw, he is amazing for only 180 points.

His main power, however, is to make all Warbiker Mobz troops. This means that you could potentially have an army of super fast troops, supported by a couple of looted wagons, some boyz in trukks, and warbuggies. This sort of an army would hit really, really hard, and be super mobile, just how Orks like it!

On the Tabletop: In a battle, though he has 4 attacks, and a Powerklaw, I would highly advise against throwing him in combat, simply because he is better just simply shooting things! Putting him with a small unit of 5 or so warbikers ensures that he will not be sniped by a railgun or some such thing.


Old Zogwort:

Probably one of the most hilarious units in the Ork codex, Old Zogwort is a Psyker, rolling on the Ork Psychic powers chart, and he is a Warphead, meaning he can re-roll the result. He is also better in combat, getting an additional D6 attacks at Initiative 4, and all attacks are poisoned that wound on 2+.

You still might think, "Wait a moment now, this isn't good enough for 145 points! You're almost as stupid as your name, Verderer!", and you would be excused for saying that. What makes Zogwort all that is that the can turn enemy characters in to squigs, sort of like a weak version of Gift of Chaos. This may not be the best power ever, but is certainly good for a few laughs.

On the Tabletop: Despite all I have said about Zogwort, he is not the best option in the Ork codex, at a few too many points for what he does. If you were to use him, I would probably put him in a Battlewagon with 19 Shoota Boyz. As with all Ork psykers, he is way to unpredictable, and I like my troops to be very dependable, aka entire army fearless.

Building an Uber-army

I'm sure all of you (as long as you aren't extreme noobs) have heard of such deadly army lists as the Alpha-strike, the Leafblower, and The Kult of Speed, and I'm also sure that some of you have no idea how to construct an excellent tournament list. Well, today, I will help you on your way to becoming the next Phil Kelly, aka, being able to win games at will. There are three schools of thought on how to make a competitive tournament list. The first one is the way that most gamers in Europe tend to use, which is achieved by getting, in every unit, the best value for your points. Such as, if you need tank killing, and you can get a land raider, or a squad of devastators with missile launchers. Both would be about the same in effectiveness (using mathhammer), but the Land raider is considerably more expensive. There, problem solved. The second way is a tactic used mostly by players in the US, and is much more straightforward. It relies on getting about a million super units, to act as wrecking balls, that tear through the enemy army in an unstoppable tornado of las-bolts and chainswords. These types of armies rely heavily on such units as Nob bikers, Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield terminators, and the like. The third and final way to do it is my favorite, and probably the best, as well as being the most fun. The third choice is to find a special character in your army list who gives your army some special ability or other, or makes certain unit types better, or troops, and them milk him for all he is worth. I have several examples for this. Take Sammael, from the Dark Angels codex, for instance. He is a pretty good character, and can be put in a 14 14 10 land speeder for free. But his main ability is to make all Ravenwing attack squadrons become troops. If you choose to base an army around him, you will have a small but elite force of bikers and attack bikers, all able to capture objectives, and all able to make use of the Outflank rule, thanks to the Scout special rule. It will also be extremely hard to kill, with each of the scoring models having toughness 5. Another example is another Space Marine character: Vulkan He'stan. By taking him, all flamers, heavy flamers, meltaguns and multi-meltas become twin-linked, and all Thunder Hammers become master-crafted. Due to the amount of mech in 5th edition, having all meltaguns twin-linked for free is practically to good to be true. The rest of the army them becomes very easy to build: Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield terminators, melta-maxed tactical squads, and multi-melta/heavy flamer land speeders. So you see, not too hard to make a good army list. Even if you aren't Space Marines, there are plenty of other characters that benefit your army, such as Epidemius for the Chaos Daemons, Wazdakka for the Orks, etc. Well, that's all for today, see you all soon, and may your dice ever roll 6s!

Ork Nob Tactics

So, for the first Tactics article on My Brother, My Enemy, I'll be looking at Ork Nobz. My brother actually fields a very large squad of these in a truck, and don't get me wrong, it's a pain in the rear, but they aren't as effective as they could be. First let's just look at the basic stats. For 20 points, they are relatively cheap, with a good statline. Their one weakness seems to be their 6+ armor save. To rectify this, you're going to want to do one of three things; get Meganobz instead, put them in a Battlewagon, or, and this is the best option, put them all on Bikes. no matter what configuration you put them in, however, you need to give them a Painboy. I've played against a big squad of these guys led by a Painboy, and have decided that you need one. Another nice upgrade is the Waaagh! Banner, giving them a formidable WS5. Other upgrades are:

Bosspole: Useless, don't want to kill your own men.

Big Choppa: Mmmm, maybe, if you have the points.

Power Klaw: At least 3 of these in a mid-sized squad.

Stikkbombs: You'll probably be striking last anyway, but why not?

Twin Linked Shoota: Errr, no.

Kombi-Weapons: Possibly, if on foot.

Eavy Armor: Bikes are better, but I think it could be useful.

Ammo Runt: I don't think so.

Here is what I think is the optimised unit of Nobz:

7 Nobz w/ bikes, 3 power claws, Waaagh banner, painboy

Total points: 435 points.

Expensive, I know, but totally worth it. Toughness 5 and FNP makes them pretty much as hard as Plague Marines, and then you look at the 4+ armor, 4+ cover, and 3+ Invulnerable save if they turbo-boost, and see that they are pretty much unkillable, and will dish out some massive hurt, with each one with a choppa and slugga will do 5 S5 attacks on the charge, at I4. In fact, you could probably make an army with two of these, 2 Warbosses on bikes, to make these guys Troops, and then some boyz in trukks. That's a good list. I may have to look into this.