Spirit Host of the Lost

Last line on the table of contents.  Spirit Host of the Lost.  I assume more special rules for a Wraithseer and Wraithguard combo.  Colour me interested...

Imperial Armour 11

Just saw this gem is up for order on the Forgeworld site.  I believe I will be ordering a copy of the book for myself.  Looking forward to seeing if there are any point adjustments for the Eldar as compared to the 4th edition codex.  To be honest, I've been in a 40k slump lately, loosing interest in painting and games lately.  Hoping this new book will provide a spark to get me back into the swing of things.  Alaitoc will be present, which is nice.

Building a Necron List with Lychguard and Trayzn

So, I've had a chance now to read the new codex and over all I like it.  Thought I would try my hand at building a list using Lychguard with the shields simply because I really like the new models.  I wanted to include a Necron Lord with res orb and warscythe to give them a boost to their reanimation protocols and the ability to deal with walkers and vehicles in HtH.  Finally I figure that with all the points I've put into this squad that Trazyn should join the unit to effectively make them scoring.  In order to assure that he will stay with the squad I'm not going to take any other overlords, cryptics or lords so that he cannot inadvertently leave the squad should he die.

I also want to  protect the squad from psychic attacks that target their ld score.  So I'm going to include a min of one spider with gloom prism.  If I'm taking tomb spiders then I'm going to take scarabs to boot.  Because I'm limiting myself to only upgrading the lychguard squad I figure I should horde up on my troop choices.  So the end result looks like this:

HQ:
Trayzin

Elite:
8 Lychguard with dispersion shields + 1 Necron Lord with Res Orb and Warscythe

Troops:
6 x 10 Necron warrior squads

Fast:
3 x 9 Scarab swarms

Heavy:
3 Spiders with Gloom Prism's

Overall I think the list looks a lot like a Nid list with one big exception.  It can deal with armour at range.  The Necron warriors give me 6 scoring squads, that can deal with infantry at range and stunlock any armoured vehicle in the game.  They will get blown out of the water in assaults but I think that this is compensated by the return firepower that the necrons can bear down on an exposed squad.  Also, the Spiders and Lychguard provide the army with some counter assault abilities.

For deployment, I would layer the army like a nid list, overlapping squads of necron warriors with the lychguard at its core.  The Spiders will be placed to maximize the pyschic defence over army and in the early phases of the game spawn more scarabs.  As for the scarabs, they will hide behind the wall of necron warriors slowly building their numbers up.  Timing wise, I think I would only use them on vehicles that have been stun locked to maximize their entropic strikes.  Over all there are a 100 models in the list that should provide durability by sheer force of numbers coupled with reanimation protocols.  The army would advance as a group to gain the middle ground.

I think the list has potential at any rate with 7 scoring units.  I also think it could be built on the cheap if one were to pick up all the used Necron warriors that have sprung up across the internet.  So there you have it my two bits.

Random Necrotic Thoughts

I picked up the new White Dwarf this morning and just finished reading the included battle report between 4k of new Necrons and the Ultramarine/Alaitoc alliance (2k each respectively).  What immediately impreased me was that the Necrons did not win.  I've always suspected that the end result of these matches in WD was predetermined to see the new model range consistently come out on top.  Not the case here.  The army's actually selected (at least from the Eldar perspective) were not very optimal, but they rarely are in a WD.  I take it the reasoning is to showcase a model range vs an optimal build.  With all that aside it was a fun read.  I for one enjoy reading WD every month.  I'm a sucker for glossy pictures and I enjoy the painting articles. I understand its the primary vessel to advertise GW products but c'est la vie, I shell out my 10 dollars monthly and don't regret it.

I really like how GW is making it possible to build different units with the same kits.  Namely the Immortals/Deathmarks, Lych guard/Praetorian, Command/Annihilation Barge and the Ghost/Doomsday arc.  I'm hoping this is a trend that might be extended to the Eldar when they get their release one day in the future.  I'm no economist but combining the kits might make it feasable to produce plastic aspect warriors in the future.  Scorpion/Warp Spiders could share the same heaver armour with variations for weapons and heads or Banshees/Fire Dragons could be combined in a similar fashion.  Each box would allow you to make a hth or shooty unit.  Ultimately I'm hoping that the Eldar get the plastic treatment.

This may all be wishful thinking though as the recent fine cast release of the Aspect range may indicate that GW does not have plans for reworking this particular model range.  It seems that GW produces its models well in advance to releasing an update: so if the rumor mill is correct a new Eldar book for next year would mean that the new Eldar range of models coming down the pipe are already completed.  I hope this is not the case as I've grown to dislike metal models and I'm hoping to make the transfer to plastic with the advent of a new book.

I do believe that the change in direction for the Necrons does highlight a close connection between the Black Library and GW game design group.  We were given a glimpse of the critical thinking Necron in the Fall of Damnos novel along with how flayed ones and destroyers were going to be developed.  This connection was also seen in the Salamander series of books and the Dark Eldar codex release.  So why am I thinking about this intimate tie between the two GW studios.  Well, I think that the Gav Thorpe novels featuring the Eldar may give us a glimpse of what might be included in a future a Eldar codex release.  A couple of ideas that first spring to mind are the following:

1) The ability to sacrifice an Exarch to 'reserect' a Phoenix Lord (as seen in the finale of Path of the Warrior).
2) The Farseer gaining a power to grant preferred enemy (as depicted in Path of the Seer during the farseer's duel with a Librarian).
3) Rangers/Pathfinders being able to deploy webway portals that aspect warriors can reserve out from (again described in Path of the Seer).

Just ideas to be sure but heck its a fun exercise.

One parting thought that I would like to leave with is that the latest WD has exasperated a pet peeve of mine.  Again the Eldar are treated as the 40k whipping boy.  In a minor reflected image of the 13th crusade, on the game table the Eldar save the day, yet in the fluff they get the short end of the stick.  The last assault described is between Farseer Starbane with the support of a lone Avenger Exarch and a squad of Necron warriors.  The two Eldar models manage to win combat and claim the last objective to give the allies the win.  Hooray for Eldar they save the day.  Yet in the parting fluff Farseeer Starbane is taken captive by both the Necron overlord and Sicarius (who by the way took a shot to the face and went down mid game).  Petty on my part but hey, I would like to see the background story provided reflect the results of the game.

At any rate, just random thoughts.  The end result is that I'm excited to face a new legion of undead on the table top.  Over and out.

2k Flesh Tearers vs Ultramarines

Got a game in against a friends ultramarine army the other day.  The end result was a tie, though I was on the ropes the whole game.  I'm not going to go into the match itself; rather, I just wanted to post some pictures of the amazing paint job my opponent has done.  I wish I managed to get some more photo's and plan to do so in the future.  Anyway I got three up close shots as follows:

Take a close look at the freehand work done on the dozer blade.  Simply unreal.  The landraider is not finished but you can see the work being done with more amazing freehand work.  The last shot just shows the standard the army is painted to.  It was a real pleasure playing this army and seeing how far a guy can take this hobby.

That's all for now, painting for me has slowed down but is still plugging along.  Still working on getting my first 1k painted to completion.

Thoughts on a Harlequin and Wraithseer combo

New list time...

I was really happy with how the wraithseer played last game, and have been fooling around with army builder (now that it includes it in the HQ options) to figure out a list I might bring down to my FLGS next time.  The big problem with the last list I played is it depended on a deathstar unit that could not deal with assaults.  I dig the wraithseer and perhaps I should be looking at not including a full squad of wraithguard next time.  I only need to select the basic unit to unlock the wraithseer.  Also, why bring another wraithlord when they pail in comparison to the wraithseer (in assaults anyway).  I've found wraithlords have too few attacks to make a big impact in Hand to Hand.  Also when they have to take fearless wounds, their toughness 8 is completely bypassed.

What to do then?  While I like the two lists I came up with why not include a Hand to Hand element to even things out?  Also, the rangers are a liability once my army starts marching up the board.  So, I have an idea to try out some Harliquins to capitalize on the veil of tears and provide my wraithguard a better save than given by conceal.  So here it goes another list to mull over:

HQ:
Farseer - RoWard, Fortune
Wraithseer

Elite:
5 wraithguard
8 Harlequins + 1 Shadow Seer - 9 Harequin Kisses

Troops:
(2) 4 Jetbikes + 1 Warlock - Shuriken Cannon, Singing Spear, Destructor

Total Points: 1000

The idea is to attach the farseer to the wraithguard and march them up behind the harlequins and the jetbikes start in reserve.  The wraithseer tows along for the ride.  Low model count for footdar but what the heck, I play Eldar for the models more than any other reason...

Wraithseer Trial Run

Got a thousand point game in last night.  Did not want to disturb the Flesh Tearers from the paint que so I assembled a 1k list of Eldar.  I brought the following:

HQ:
Farseer - RoWard, Spear, Fortune
Wraithseer - D-Cannon

Troops:
10 Wraithguard - Spirit Seer, Spear, Conceal
7 Rangers

Heavy:
Wraithlord - Bright Lance

I ended up playing against a DoA list with Astorath the Grim.  From memory he had the following:

HQ:
Astorath

Elite:
Priest - Jump Pack

Troops:
3(10) man assault squads - flamer, melta gun, 2 power fists, 1 power sword.

The game was roll dice and tie and spearhead.  I did not expect to win the game, but eked out a draw.  I should have lost though, but the game ended on turn five and the opponent was 1/2 inch from contesting my objective.  Over all the wraithseer performed well.  Managed to take out Astorath and all but a couple of marines from an assault squad.  The rangers did squat.  Next time I think pathfinders are needed, the AP 1 on a 5+ to hit is worth the points.

Unfortunately I was not able to get a salvo off with the wraithguard.  The 18 inch threat range of the assault marines vs the 12 inch range of the wraithgun meant we went straight into hand to hand.  The wraithguard actually held up well in the assault.  I forgot to cast fortune on a turn though and that made the difference.  The problem was the because the game from the get go descended into a giant melee, I lost track of whose turn it was.  What finally did in the wraithguard were the two powerfists.  Next time I think I will find the points to take Eldrad.  His power weapon attacks and mind war would have tip the scales in my favour to win combats.  Also, I should have taken enhance.  The extra WS and I would have paid off in spaids.

As for the Wraithseer, I was happy with how it performed.  Was able to resurrect a couple of wraithguard with the extra 6+ save.  Also being able to cast Fleet allowed him to catch the marine player off guard to get into assault with Astorath.  The D-Cannon is not worth the points though so I'll likely strike it next time I roll with this wraith list.

The game was for fun and my opponent was cool to let me try out the wraithseer.  Even though I only had about 20 models on the table, it looked awesome seeing a full squad of wraithguard.  I've got two lists in mind for next time, one with the Avatar and one with Eldrad.

The list with the Avatar looks like this:

HQ:
Avatar
Wraithseer - EML

Elite:
5 Wraithguard

Troops:
(2) 5 Pathfinders

Heavy:
(2) Wraithlords - Wriathsword, Shuriken Cannons

I like this list as I have 4 MC's at 1k points.  Again its for fun and not a competitive list but man it does make for a fun game.

With Eldrad I would take the following:

HQ:
Eldrad
Wraithseer

Troops:
10 Wraithguard - Spirit Sear, Enhance
5 Rangers

Heavy:
Wraithlord - Wraithsword, Shuriken Cannon

Not sure which list I want to try next.  I like the idea of a full wraithguard squad as a troop choice, but I also like having the 4 MC's a 1k.  I have all the models (though not painted) so likely will try them both.

Anyway that's all for now.

Seth Nearly Complete

Worked on Seth again, and I'm nearly done.  I'm not ecstatic about the face but it will do for now.  I need to paint his backpack and cape then I'm going to call him done.  If they ever release him as finecast, I might take a second crack at him.  One thing about using a high res camera is that all the imperfections become abundantly clear when viewing the mini blown up.  On the table top I think he is looking good so onward on forwards.

Here is another photo from a different angle:

Dr. Who in the Eye of Terror

I picked up this book solely becasue the cover intrigued me.  What the heck was this human doing wearing Harlequin gear I thought.  Now, I'm not one to do book reviews, but I really enjoyed this one.  I had just finished reading Path of the Seer (which was good as well) and was hungry for more Eldar fluff.  I'm not going to go into the substance of the novel; rather just touch on what I liked about the book.

For starters, the Harlequins, as portrayed in the Infernal Atlas, kick ass!  They manhandled Space Marines, Iconic Chaos Space Marines and even Deamons.  I liked that a lot.  All too often it seems that the Eldar are always being portrayed as the 40k whipping boy.  I mean how many times has the Avatar bit the dust to a generic space marine hero.  Anyway, the Harlequins are a force to be reckoned with in the book which was nice.

What stood out to me was the fact that the novel did not portray the GW war torn universe in the cardboard black or white manner which seems to be the norm.  The protagonist is one crazy character that adventures in the grey areas of the fluff.  I found it refreshing.

Finally, if your like me and starved for Eldar fluff, the book does touch on the Black Library and the interactions between Harlequins and Craftworld Eldar.  I realize not cannon, but its nice to read a story that fleshes out the Eldar background.

Anyway, if you want a fun light read, I recommend giving Atlas Infernal a try.

1k Flesh Tearers List Starting to Come Together

I'm getting closer and closer to having 1k painted.  Worked last night on Seth again, all that's left is the sword, face and some edge highlighting on the black bits (also need to do his backpack - going to paint the cape white to grey in the recesses).  Once I have Seth completed I have to finish the rank and file.  With Seth comes a new list.  I borrowed ideas from yes the truth hurts and some ideas on the 11th company forum.

HQ:
Seth

Elite:
Priest - Power Weapon

Troops:
5 Assault Marines - Power Fist, Melta Gun, HF Razorback
5 Assault Marines - Melta Bombs, Melta Gun, HF Razorback
10 Tactical Marines - Power Fist, Melta Gun, Missile Launcher, HF Razorback

Fast Attack:
2 Baal Preds with Assault Cannons.

At 1k I have 4 scoring squads and 5 tanks which I think is good.  The Tactical squad will combat into 5 man units with the missile launcher acting as a scoring deck chair unit (stole the phrase from 40KUK podcast).  I have three squads that rush forward that contain the duality often espoused by Stelek.  Each squad has anti tank (melta guns), assault capabilities against infantry, walkers and vehicles (strength 8 HtH weapon in each squad).  Also I decided to give the power sword to the Priest because of his WS of 5 (that was pointed out by Stelek).   I borrowed the idea of giving the 3 squads strength 8 HtH weapons from the 11th Company.  In Stelek's linked list he goes for combi-meltas accross the board to give each 5/6 man squad 2 melta shots.  The 11th company suggested power fists to make the squads versatile in close combat.  I went with the power fists because a) they are already modeled b) there is no economical way that I can see to model multiple combi meltas c) it allows me to throw in Seth to replace the third power fist.

The general idea with the HF razorbacks is it affords you the full 12 inch movement, the squad can pop out to crack open armour.  Then the twin linked heavy flamer template can soften up what ever comes out of the wreak.  The second multi gun shot would dramaticly increase the odds of cracking open armour but I want my marines to be able to handle themselves in close combat (they are Flesh Tearer's after all).  Now Stelek does not prescribe to Baal Preds.  I like them however.  I find that they work well in pairs.  Two preds can push the oposite flank that my three squads attack.  If my opponent ignores them then I have rear armour shots turn one.  If my opponent tries to takle them then my 3 infintry squads take less heat.

Once I have the infantry finished - and the end is in site - I need to focus on the tanks.  I'm going to airbrush the tanks red gore and paint black on the panels with a brush (opposite as to my first rhino that is base coated).  The real challenge will be to model the twin linked heavy flamers.  My friend building the guard army (which looks amazing by the way and I'll post some photo's of it soon) is going to provide me with the turret Heavy Flamers from his Chimera's.  Got to figure out an effective way to model the Razorback using those bits.  As for painting a design, I found this Flesh Tearer painting blog on Bolter and Chainsword.  I love the way this fellow has painted the black buzz saw on his tanks.  I think I'm going to appropriate this and copy the pattern on my tanks.  As for the Baal Preds, I've glued the side inserts on one of them for the heavy bolters.  I tried removing them but the plastic glue used has welded the pieces together.  I'm thinking I'll do the same on the second Baal Pred to keep the two tanks consistent.  This will allow me to include the heavy bolters should I want to equip them.

Anyway, the army is coming together.  Once Seth is done, its downhill from there.  The heart and soul of the army will be completed and the rest should fall into place.

Working on Seth

Decided to take a break from painting the rank and file and worked the man himself, Seth.  Base coat is down, with a couple of washes as well.  Going to put him down for the night while the washes dry.  When I return to him next I plan to finish off dry brushing the silver joints then layer up red gore to clean him up.  So far, it has been slow going with all the detail on the model.  Not sure how I plan to tackle the sword nor the cape.  I think the biggest challenge though will be to do his face justice.  Anyway still plugging along with getting the Tearer's painted.

Work on the Flesh Tearers Continues...

Albeit at a snails pace.  I've reevaluated my painting strategies and rather than try and dedicate a large chunk of my time to paint up a storm, I've piecemealed my painting.  I've been consistent over the last while to just take 40 min to an hour a day to plug away at my 1k list.  It helps that I have my painting method down pact to get my boys up to a three colour min.  I'm painting large blocks in stages and avoiding mixing colours so that its easy to pick up a brush and get at it every day.  The following two photo's showcases the different steps I've been taking.

So, after the models are assembled, basing and primed I've been painting up the marines in segments.  Building on the black primer I painted the plates of the power armour with merchrite red trying to maintain the natural shading of the primer in the recesses.  Next step I go back and touch up the black areas that the primer did not cover.  I washed the model in badab black then dry brushed silver on the joints and chest regalia.  The stage I'm currently working on now is painting a layer of red gore on the red bits.  I think the next step after this will be to paint astronomican grey on all the shoulder buzz saw symbols and edge highlight the black areas as well.  Its a long process but every day sees me closer to a finished product.  As for the tanks, saving them for last.  I plan to tape off the red areas and get my hands dirty with an airbrush.

I got a game in with the army last week as well.  Man, even though the guilt hit for leaving my Eldar behind, it was nice to play with a strong book.  I played my Imperial Guard buddy again and steam rolled through the game.  A lot had to do with poor luck on his part but a large part was also due to playing with a strong codex.  Having a strong army makes it a lot easier to get inspired to paint your models.

Base Coat Down on Assault Squad

Managed to work on the Flesh Tearers this afternoon.  Got a base coat down on my 10 man assault squad.  No air brush just yet, though I might just save it for the tanks.  Anyway, as far as the squad goes, I painted all the red bits with mechrite red and went back with chaos black and painted all the bits that needed it including outlining between areas where the armour plates required it..  I will paint up the remaining 5 man assault squad the same.  Next step, after all 15 assault troops have a base coat down, I think I'm going to give them a wash of black then layer the red bits red gore.  After that it will be time to go back and paint the details (eyes, purity seals, shoulder pads).  Paint the bases then done!

As always, I'm continually making army lists.  I've attached a photo of my tentative 2k list.  No way ultra competitive but I've got Seth and a healthy dose of death company.

HQ:
Seth
Librarian - fear the darkness, shield

Elite:
Chaplain
2 Priests

Troops:
10 man Tac Squad - melta gun, power fist, missile launcher, rhino
10 man Assault Squad - power fist, 2 melta guns, rhino
5 man Assault Squad - melta gun, twin lascannon razorback
8 Death Company
Death Company Dread

Fast Attack:
2 Baal Predators

Heavy:
Storm Raven - extra armour, twin plasma cannons, twin multi-melta
Predator - lascannon sponsons.

Total Points: 2k

Ultimately this is just a tentative list.  I'm not sure if I want to run the termies at this point.  As far as Seth goes, I want to try running him with the Death Company.  I figure with Seth and a Chaplain, I don't need to give the Death Company any upgrades.  Seth takes care of any dreads or tanks that they come across and the Chaplain allows the Death Company to re-roll 32 to hit and wound rolls at weapon skill and strength 5.  I figure I really do not need power weapons with this torrent of attacks.

Got my painting mojo back at any rate.  I hope to get a game in next week at my LGS with my 1k list and start getting some practice in with it.  Hopefully by then I will have the majority of my infantry completed.

Working on the Flesh Tearers

I got a bit of work in on the flesh tearers tonight.  My thousand point list is assembled and primed.  Now I need to work in a day to try out using an air brush to throw down a coat of blood gore.  Not sure if I should do a layer of merchrite red first and then a layer of blood gore...  I will go back and paint out the black parts properly.  As for the tanks not sure how I want to paint them.  I like the dark with touches of blood gore I've on the one tank.  I might try taping off the red areas to apply the air brush to then touch up the black bits.  I don't think I want to just blast the whole tank red.

The 1k list I've built is as follows:

HQ:
Librarian - blood lance, shield

Elite:
2 Priests

Troops:
10 Tac Squad - power fist, missile launcher, melta gun, rhino
10 Assault Squad - power fist, 2 melta-guns, rhino
5 Assault Squad - melta-gun, twin-linked lascannon razorback

Heavy:
Predator - lascannon sponsons

Total 1k

Not the most optimal at 1k but solid non the less.  The general idea is to combat squad the tac squad with the sergent and meltagun riding in the rhino (the farseer and a priest tags along).  The other half of the tac squad forms part of my gun line.  Beside them is the 5 man assault squad with the lascannon razorback.  The second priest sits in the tank to give the exposed tac squad FNP.  As for the predator it will set up somewhere that has good line of site and is protective of its side armour.  I put a melta gun in the 5 man tac squad encase of outflanking armour.  The remaining 10 man assault squad along with the librarian's crew strike out to claim an objective and push the attack.  Over all I think the list is flexible to deal with all sorts of lists that might show up at my local gaming store on game night.

I also picked up a box of assault terminators over the weekend and put the sergeant together.

I like the pose where he is bracing for an impact on his storm shield.  Not sure how I want to assemble the other 4 but I'm thinking 2 more storm shields and 2 lightning claws.  As far as painting goes I can add a squad of 5 termies in a landraider to bring the list up to 1500 points.  Probably not the wisest decision but man if I'm going to run with space marines I really want to try out terminators.

Anyway I'm happy that I've progressed, with painting the army.  As for the Eldar I still plan to get some games in to fine tune my list, but as far as painting goes I'm going to slap some paint on the marines as quick as possible.

Manhandled by Fateweaver

Got a game in yesterday against deamons at 1k.  The game was roll dice and tie with pitched battle deployment.  I brought the following list:

HQ:
Farseer - Doom, RoWard, Spear

Elite:
5 Dragons - wave serpent, shuriken cannon up and down, stones

Troops:
10 Avengers - wave serpent, EML, stones
10 Storm Guardians - fusion guns, wave serpent, EML, stones

Heavy:
(2) Fire Prisms

He had from memory:

HQ:
Fateweaver

Elite:
3 Blood Crushers
5 (or 6) Fiends

Troops:
about 8 pink horrors with bolt
about 8 plague bearers with icon

Heavy:
(2) Deamon Princes (no upgrades)

We played on a 4x4 board.  I went first and used my first turn to spread my tanks out to give cover saves all around.  Not much to say, I did not play a strong game.  Wish I could blame the loss on my dice but I was out played and maneuvered.  I just could not put wounds on his models.  The hardest part was dealing with Fateweaver allowing him to re-roll armour saves.  All I was able to do was dance around plunking shots to little effect.  The small game board hurt as my mobility was hamstrung.  In order to stay away from his deamons, I was forced to continually move flat out, which cut my fire power down to nothing.

At any rate a fun game though.  The fella I played was a good guy and the game progressed smoothly.  Changes to the list?  I think I need to drop a fire prism and work in a seer council for the 1k bracket.  I love the seer council, allows the eldar to play more aggressively.  I'm not a big fan of playing Eldar at 1k but its the cap at my LGS.

As it stands though, I think I'm going to take a break from the Eldar for a little bit.  A friend is going to let me try out his air brush so I plan to use it on my Flesh Tearers.  I have my etched brass and after I place it on my tanks I want to paint up 1k of points with the gun.  I would like to try it on the Eldar but I'm too far into painting the army to want to take a chance on switching painting methods.  Though, if my marines turn out well, I may try my hand at painting my seer council with the air gun.

I'm hopeful that trying out the new painting method works out well.  My friend has been painting up a storm with the air brush getting an IG army together far more quickly than if he had painted by hand.  His army is looking great.  So if I can speed up my painting process with the air gun, I think I might invest in one myself.

Seer Council + 5 Wraithguard at 1.5k Part II

Well as said earlier, here is my battle report with respect to my last loosing battle against the guard.  I took photo's at the end of each turn so'll post them in order of the game as it progressed.  I'm going to just write some captions in the photo's then write a little summation of the game.  Not sure how it will read but I want to experiment with the format.

The two opposing armies.

The mission was dawn of war roll dice and tie.
I got first turn and placed the two serpents forward to limit the guards deployment

End of Guard movement turn one.  

The guard player started off the board during deployment and rolled everything on turn one.  I had used my movement turn to bunker down my tanks to try and weather the oncoming Guard fire storm...

End of Eldar's turn two.

My guardian wave serpent is immobilized from the last guard round.  The seer council pushes forward towards his heavy tanks.  The falcon is taking pot shots from my objective.

End of Eldar turn three.

In hindsight I made the mistake here that lost me the game.  I should not have moved the seer councils wave serpent.  I should have disembarked the council when they were surrounded by troops.  It would have been the perfect wedge.  The Avengers and Wraithguard should have moved in front of the Vendetta.  The Wraithguard could have taken it out and the Avengers could have shot up his infantry.  I then should have moved the seer council's wave serpent back to collect my stranded guardians.  But for some reason I break up my assault and over extend my seer council.

End of Guard turn three.

My Seer Council is devastated and an opportunity squandered.  It all falls apart here on in.

End of Eldar turn four:

The remnants of the seer council wreak the pyscher battle squad's ride.  My wraithguard destroy the vendetta.  My Avengers redeploy to try and co-ordinate an attack with my guardians.  My fail continues to grow as I split up my forces allowing the guard player to piecemeal me.

End of Guard turn four:

The battle squad finishes off my farseer.  My guardians are wiped by the manticore.  Avengers do nothing. The wraithguard are wiped out and their wave serpent imobalized.  It's at this point I think I'm going to loose the game.

End of Eldar Turn 5:

If the game ends on this turn It's a tie.  I have his objective contested with an Avenger squad in cover and a wave serpent.  I have my objective claimed by my falcon but likely contested by a guard squad.

End of Eldar turn Five:

The guard player cleaned up my units on his objective and sent another chimera down to try and claim the objective.

Turn Six - Eldar tabled by Guard.

Conclusion:

Turn three lost me the game.  I believe my initial set up and attack was well played though.  But one thing with Eldar, make a mistake and the house of cards comes tumbling down.  I've got it in me to try one more game with the wriathguard, but to be honest, I don't think they are going to make the cut.  I'm already planning out a new direction to take my army.  One thing for sure is that the seer council will be sticking around for awhile

IG Showcase

Been playing guard a lot the last while.  My gaming friend has been painting up a storm lately and keeping me updated with trying out an airbrush for the first time.  Thought I would share the photo's with everyone.    I think its looking great!

Another Loss

Well, another loss.  I'm off for the long weekend to spend some time with my family.  Monday I plan to write up a battle report detailing my efforts to make this list work.  Hindsight being 20/20 I believe the problem was with my own tactical errors made; rather, than the list itself.  Going to keep on trucking and get a couple of more games in before I make any drastic changes.  More to follow with photos and a detailed battle report...

Eldar vs Guard 1.5k

I got a game in yesterday with the my seer council/wraithguard list.  I lost, but it was a close game.  Played against an IG mech list.  From memory I believe he had the following:

HQ:
Company Command Squad - chimera, and misc squad upgrades
Elite:
8+1 psycher battle squad in chimera

Troops:
Platoon - 2 squads with melta guns in chimeras + 1 command squad in chimera (not sure what he had for upgrades)
Vet squad - 3 melta guns

Fast:
Devil Dog - multi-melta and template melta gun
Vendetta

Heavy:
Lemun Russ - Battle Cannon
Lemun Russ - Demolisher Cannon
Manticore

The Guard MVP was the manticore.  It just chewed me up when I got out of my transports to implement an attack.  I got first turn and zoomed into position.  The guard had a poor first turn and did very little to my tanks.  Second turn the seer council was in position to multi-assault and immobilized a vendetta, chimera and wreaked a lemun russ tank.  I did as I planned and unloaded the rest of my army behind the wedge I had set up with the seer council.  Guard turn three, wiped out my seer council.  Man o man was he able to poor a ton of shots into the unit.  Part of the problem was poor rolling on my part (his vet squad took out 5 warlocks in their first rank second rank volley).  They were cleaned up then by multitudes of heavy bolters.  The farseer survived and turn three popped back into the wave serpent.

Even though the seer council was wiped out I still managed split his forces allowing the other elements of my list to focus on an isolated portion of his army.  The game went to turn seven and I lost by one objective.  What really hurt though was the multiple barrage templates from the manticore.  His manticore took out a tank, 3 wraithguard and my storm guardian squad.  Ouch.

Lessons learned.  Next time I try out the list, I will prioritize the manticore as an initial target for my seer council.  One thing I learned with the seer council was that If I managed to wedge them in close enough to his units during a multi-assault, he was unable to target them with his large blast templates without hitting his own units.  Also, I think next time I will use singing spears to target a troop carrier of some sort to try and spill out the troops.  That way the seer council has a squad it can multi-assault into in order to mitigate return fire.  The Wraithguard did ok.  My mistake with them was not using terrain available to take advantage of cover for his high strength low ap blast templates.

Over all I liked the way the list played even though I lost.  The game was close and my original game plan worked to a limited extent.  I was able to bottle neck his army using the seer council as a wedge and penned in his tanks with my wave serpents.  If I was to make a change, I might drop a warlock from the seer council, a single avenger and the storm guardians warlocks singing spear to give the wraithguard a warlock with conceal.  After the the seer council was wiped the farseer was able to dedicate his fortune ability to the wraithguard.  I think conceal giving them a 5++ re rollable save would help them out a ton.

Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so I don't think I'll write up a proper battle report.  Next time (and there will be a next time) I play this list I will make sure to have my camera and write up a proper turn by turn battle report.

Storm of Magic

I picked up the new storm of magic book.  Looks like it would be a lot of fun.  I've been wanting to try out fantasy ever since 8th came out.  I figure this might be a good time to dive in.  If I buy one box of saurus I can build the following 2k lizardman list.

Lord:

Slann - Cupped Hands, Ironcurse icon, Higher State of Mind, The Becalming, Unfathomable, Lore of Light

Hero:

Skink Priest - Cloak of Feathers, level 2 wizard

Scar-Vet - Shield, BsB

Core:

16 Saurus Warrior - Shield and Sword, musician, standard bearer

20 Saurus Warrior - Shield and Spear, champion, standard, musician

(2) 12 skink skirmishers

Special:

6 Cold One Calv - champion, standard, musician, Flaming Banner

Rare:

2 salamanders with extra handlers

1 Ancient Steg

Comes out to 2k total.  I plan to take the lore of light.  For my 500 points of monsters I'm looking at buying a carnosaur and a barebones steg.  100 points left over for weapon.  Not sure how it will play but it will look cool.  Plus I get to include a carnosaur along with a slann.  I figure I would build my slann to go solo and leave the temple guard behind.  

As an aside, it seems that if you want to hold a fulcrum with your slann you cannot take temple guard in the army.  Rules conflict where the fulcrum only allows a wizard and/or mount to occupy a fulcrum, and that a temple guard must stay attached to a slann if both units are on the board.

Seer Council + 5 Wraithguard at 1.5k

My next list I'm going to play.  After my last game, where I used a seer council for the first time, I've been thinking about how they would work with a squad of wraithguard acting in a supporting role.  Going to test the following list out at 1.5k (could not find a way to squeeze them both in under this point level):

HQ:
Farseer - RoW, Fortune
9 Warlocks - Enhance, Embolden, Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannons, Stone

Elite:
5 Wraithguard - Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannons, Stone

Troops:
10 Storm Guardians - Warlock, Spirit Seer, 2 Fusion Guns, Destructor, Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannons, Stone
10 Avengers - Exarch - Blade Storm, Dual Catapult, Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannons, Stone
5 Avengers

Heavy:
1 Falcon - EML, Holo-Field, Star Engines, Stone

The way I picture the list working is based on my experience last game.  I plan to rush with the seer council again, but this time keep all my units together to support the seer council as well.  I'm excited to see how the wraithguard work with the seer council.  I figure that they will present themselves as a bigger threat and draw fire away from the wraithguard.  I think this will make the wraithguard's toughness 6 more impressive.

I plan to use the wraithguard as a mobile cover save for my troop choices.  The seer council fleets into a multi assault, then the wraithguard set up in a position that best supports the seer council attack.  I will spreed them out the entire 13 inches available.  I plan then to disembark my guardians and avengers behind this screen as needed for anti-infantry or anti-tank assistance as needed (ie deal with survivors of my seer councils initial attack).

I dropped the fire prism for the falcon because at 1.5k I believe I need 3 scoring units over the extra fire power the prism(s) bring.  The falcon will use the other wave serpents to keep it out of melta-range and provide limited support fire.  Its role is to assure that at end game I have a least one scoring unit that can grab any objective.

Over all I'm optimistic on how the list will play out.  I'm particularly hopeful that the wraithguard do well.  In fact, I plan to run a good number of games using them: I want to make sure I test them out thoroughly.  My biggest complaint about the Eldar is that, while strong for its day, the codex really only allows you a mono build.  I hope that by giving the wraithguard an honest try, I might break out of the mold a bit.  I also figure that not too many people would know exactly what they are facing when looking across at wraithguard.  I'm hoping that they might actually catch a few people off guard...

Seer Council at 1k

Got a game in on Friday and tried my hand with a seer council.  This was my list:

HQ:

Farseer - ROW, Fortune, Singing Spear

(7) Warlocks - Enhance, Embolden, Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

Troops:

10 Avengers - Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

10 Storm Guardians - 2 Flamers, Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

Heavy:

Fire Prism - Holo-Field, Stone

Total - 1k

I played against the guard player again and his list was largely the same as last week.  The only real difference was that he mounted his entire platoon squad in chimera's.  I got first turn and set up as seen above.  The game was spearhead and 5 objectives.  Ultimately the seer council was amazing.  My biggest error was not striking in unison with my units.  I spread out on first turn and ultimately that lost me the game.  I managed to set up my wedge with the seer council but rather than bring the rest of my forces up behind, for some reason I decided to camp objectives right off the bat.  Big mistake.

The Seer council essentially took on his entire list for three turns before they wiped.  The death tally was 3 tanks and 1 squad that they took out.  If I had my other units close by to support the seer council I likely would have done a lot better.  The game was super fun though.  Probably the funnest in a long time.  It was also the first time I had ever used a seer council.  

Man the seer council is great.  They cut through the guard lines like a hot knife through butter.  Next time I play I plan to beef them and my guardians up a bit and keep all my units close together.  I'm thinking something like this:

HQ:

Farseer - ROW, Fortune

(8) Warlocks - Enhance, Embolden, Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

Troops:

9 Avengers - Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

10 Storm Guardians - Warlock, Destructor, 2 Fusion Guns, Wave Serpent, Stone, Twin Linked Shuriken Cannon

Heavy:

Fire Prism

Total - 1k

With these changes I get some more staying power in my seer council with the extra warlock.  Now, that I have a warlock in the guardian squad, they become a far better utility squad that can clean up isolated tanks or squads.  The avengers are just there to put some anti-infantry shots in my attack to help support the warlocks.

I was amazed at how well the warlocks performed.  They took a ton of damage plus their extreme threatening nature forced my opponent to focus fire on them for three turns.   When I bring the army up above 1k I think I will add in another fire prism and a squad of wraithguard in a wave serpent.  I have a feeling that wraithguard will work out well when close to a seer council as it would present another big threat that my opponent has to deal with when I launch my attack.

Anyway, good game even though I was tabled.  As an aside, I've been slacking on the painting lately so hopefully my next post will be of some new painted mini's.  I want to try my hand at painting up some warlocks.

Seer Council Idea

I was listening to episode 8 of 40KUK and was intrigued by an Eldar army present at the tourney.  I forget the fella's name but in essence it was a seer council list that ran in a suicide wave serpent.  The idea was that Eldrad, Yriel and 10 Warlocks speed forward into the heart of the opponent first opportunity the unit is fortuned but the wave serpent is not.  Next turn the council multi-assault pounces.  What was intriguing is that the goal is to have the serpent blow up in the opponents turn effectively giving the squad a free 6" movement towards the enemy when they charge out of the crater left behind from the wave serpent.

I think this is a great idea and came up with a list that tries to incorporate this tactic:

HQ:
Eldrad
Farseer - RoWitnessing, Fortune
10 Warlocks - 2 Emboldens, 1 Enhance, Wave Serpent, Star Engines, Shuriken Cannons

Troops:
10 Storm Guardians - Warlock, Singing Spear, Destructor, Fusion Gun, Flamer, Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons
10 Avengers - Exarch, Defend, Bladestorm, Shimmer Shield, Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons
5 Avengers

Elite:
5 Fire Dragons + 1 Exarch - DBF, Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons

Heavy:
2 Fire Prism's - Holo Field, Stone
1 Falcon - Holo Field, Stone, EML

So Eldrad rides with 5 Avengers in the fortuned Falcon and every unit but the warlocks pushes a flank hard first turn in formation.  The Wave Serpent with warlocks tubo's and star engines a total of 36" to the front center of the opponent.  Everything depends on how the opponent reacts.  Hopefully the bulk of opposing firepower if focused on the immediate threat of the warlocks will scarcely scratch my refused flank attack.  With this set up then the warlocks are in a position to multi assault the center of the opponents forces cutting his/her army in half.  Because of the 36" movement in the first turn, the warlocks should be able to spend their movement spreading out laterally to grab as much as possible in their multi assult.

This leaves the core of my army able to focus on roughly a third of my opponents list safe from reprisals as they pounce on the flank.  The three infantry units have enough redundancy built into them that should a wave serpent go down, any two that are left will be in position to wreak havoc supported by Eldrad.  Plus I have three heavy tanks that are very durable in position to maximize firepower.

While expensive, the Warlocks are ultimately a distraction unit that's sole purpose is to disrupt the opponents intial formation.  Playing in such an aggressive manner also has the benefit of forcing the opponent to react and likely change their battle plan.  I envision this tactic working well against a mech gun line.  The Warlocks have the potential to bring 33 strength 9 attacks against rear armour.  Because turn two they spread out, fleet, assault they should be able to assault a good 12-15" line of tanks.

Its just an idea but after listening to the 40KUK podcast I think its not half bad.  Anyway what do you all think?

1k Eldar vs Guard

Got another 1k game in this week.  I used my Eldar list from last week.  This time I went up against Guard.  The Guard list (roughly) was as follows:

HQ:
Command Squad - melta guns, chimera
Lord Commissar - power sword

Troops:
Platoon - 2 squads blobbed together with two autocannons
             - Platoon Command squad in chimera with melta guns
Vet Squad - Melta guns (rode in vendetta)

Fast:
Vendetta
Devil Dog

Heavy:
Leman Rus Battle Tank

I likely missed some of the options he took but this was roughly the list I faced.  First things first this was a tough fight.  I eked out a win but I was lucky at the end and my opponent was new to the guard.  For future games against the guard I think its going to be a tough slog.

Anyway we rolled dawn of war and 3 objectives.  The guard had first turn and deployed his command squad and platoon.  He declared that his vendetta with vets would outflank.  I opted to come on the board bottom of turn one.

My first mistake was to place my fireprisms in my corners.  I was playing a refused flank and moved flat out first turn on my right flank (looking to take out his devil-dog second turn).  I led the charge with the wave serpents as I thought they stood the best chance of surviving a turn of shooting against his devil dog.  Hindsight is 20/20 and if I had kept my fire prism together on the right flank I could have protected them better from his outflanking vendetta.

Turn two, his vendetta came in on my left flank.  Vets pop out and take out my fireprism.  The 3 twinlinked lascannons don't do much (one wave serpent cannot fire next turn).  He was in position to unload his command squad and they immobilize my avenger wave serpent.  Now I think he made a mistake by taking them out of the tank.  I believe he could have taken his shots from within the tank.  Anyway, not too concerned about the immobilized tank as it went down close to an objective and was in cover providing a nice bunker for my Avengers until late game.  The fire prism hurt though.  If I was more savvy and placed all my tanks on the right flank two things would have happened to my benefit.

1. If the vendetta came in on the right flank it would only have been able to get off 1 twin-linked shot and the vet squad would have taking out a tank.  I could then be able to counter in turn two with all my fire power against this unit.  
2. If the vendetta came in on the left flank, the vets would not have been in range to deploy (though I would have faced 3 twin linked shots).

My second turn saw the dragons disembark behind cover from the bulk of his army and take out his devil-dog.  My Avengers disembark and wipe out his command squad.  My wave serpents shut down the command squad chimera from shooting.  The lone fire prism is now trying to take out the vendetta.  As an aside, that fireprism managed to hit the vendetta the entire game (luck was with me there) but only managed one pen that resulted in denying the vendetta a turn of shooting.

Turn three, saw his blob squad advance down the river to an objective and my fire prism immobilized by the vendetta.  I also lost 2 dragons to lasgun fire.  My response was to reembark my troops, and move my guardians and dragons to his board edge.  I shoot to minimal effect though I shut down shooting on his vendetta for turn four.

Turn four, his vendetta had swooped over to my Avengers and he disembarked his vets.  The vets fail to blow up the wave serpent and the vendetta does little to my fireprism.  I responded by taking out his vets with my Avengers I then moved my fire dragon wave serpent and guardian wave serpent into position to grab/contest objectives for turn five.

Turn Five he immobilized my guardian wave serpent with his leman russ and did little with his vendetta.  My guardians along with the farseer get lucky and roll high on their move through cover roll and run roll and get behind cover to claim an objective.  The immobilized wave serpent then takes out the back field chimera.  My Fire Dragon wave serpent goes all out and contested the midfield objective held by his blob squad and my Avengers are on an objective contested by his vendetta.  I have the game if it ends here.

Turn six, game on.  Well, I figure at best I can do now is tie the game.  The vendetta cannot do much to my Avengers and the guardians should last a turn of shooting in cover.  The guard though try and take out my fire dragon serpent with the platoon command squad.  Major mistake on his part.  He had the mobility to move them to the rear of my tank with his chimera.  Did not do so and tried to shoot it from the front with the protection of the Wave Serpent energy shield.  The Fire Dragon wave serpent survives intact.  My Guardians with farseer move up as close as they can behind cover and take a shot at his leman russ with 2 melta guns and a singing spear.  I get lucky.  Hit with one melta gun and one singing spear.  Rolled two sixes for pen.  The end result was that his leman russ would not be able to shoot should the game go to turn 7.

Turn 7, yup it was a long game.  The Guard was not able to move my guardians off the objective and my wave serpent with fire dragons survive to contest and we ended the game there.

Over all I was lucky at the end of the game and won largely because this was my opponents first game with guard at this level.  If he had of kept his blob squad on his home objective supported by the leman russ and focused the rest of his army to capture one objective I think he would have had the game.  Also, in hindsight he should have been able to take out my Fire Dragon wave serpent as well.

All in all a fun game, though I think the guard will prove to be troublesome once they gain some more experience.

1k Eldar vs 1k Nids

Got a game in against Nids.  The armies were as follows.

Eldar:

HQ:
Farseer - Doom, Singing Spear, RoW

Elite:
5 Fire Dragons - Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons up and down

Troops:
10 Storm Guardians - 2 Fusion Guns, Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons up and down
10 Dire Avengers - Wave Serpent, Stones, Shuriken Cannons up and down

Heavy:
(2) Fire Prism's - Shuriken Cannons up and down

Nids:

HQ:

Hive Tyrant - Dual Talons
(2) Tyrant Guard Brood - Lash Whips
Tervigon - Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Catalyst

Elite:
(2) 2 Hive Guard Brood 

Troops:
Tervigon - Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Catalyst
10 Termagant Brood


Fast Attack:
10 Gargoyle Brood - Adrenal Glands 

The photo is poor quality and does not show how well the nids are painted.  The mission was annihilation with standard deployment.  It was the inaugural game on my new board.  The final score was 6-4 for the Eldar.  It was a close game though, down to the wire until the end.  Ultimately what screwed up the Nids was spawning easy kill points for the Eldar.  His Hive Guard did extremely well and knocked out a wave serpent and a fire prism.

Over all I'm happy with how my list performed.  The extra Shuriken Cannon on my tanks paid off in spades.  Although some turns the extra shots were sacrificed for speed, having the ability to hold the lines and increase my firepower output worked out well for me.  I lost a fire prism; however, I think loosing the holo-fields and stones was worth it.  I was able to get two turns of shooting the big pie plate with two tanks.  Turn three the main gun was blown off and I was able to squeeze another round of shooting with the cannon on turn four before loosing the tank on turn five.

If I was to change anything I think I might alter the Avenger squad.  As it stands they alone only managed to clean up a depleted gargoyle squad then survive.  I might replace the wave serpent and 10 Avengers for 5 Avengers and a Holo-Field Falcon with shuriken cannon and star engines.  The tank is hardier and likely able to survive until late game to grab objectives with the star engines.

As for the nids, if this had been an objective mission I think the nids would have done better if not take the game.  We thought some changes were required to his list though.  Drop the Hive Tyrant and Tyrant guard and fill out his hive guard.  The only problem with these changes is the lack of ability to deal with av14 with only 2 MC's.

Anyway the real highlight of the game was playing on my new board.  Looking forward to getting some games in at my leisure unbeholden to my local GW store's gaming night schedule.