Team Tournament Report

So yesterday I was part of a team tournament using Adepticon rules and scenarios with the exception of 2 people teams instead of four people. I will preface the by saying I had very few expectations heading into this because my partner and I have never played together before (or against), and we only had 1 week to pull our lists together.

Speaking of
Mine
Belial-2 LC
5 TH/SS Terminators-Cyclone,Apothecary
2 LC, 2 TH/SS, Heavy Flamer Chainfist Terminators
2 LC, 2 TH/SS, Cyclone, Chainfist Terminators
3 Bikes-2 Melta

My partner's (from memory so I will only have the important parts)
CCS-OOF, Lascannon
Chimera
2 Vet Squads- couple meltas and Lascannon, Chimera
PCS-Autocannon
2 Infantry Squads-Comissar, 2 Autocannons
Deathstrike (Hell yeah!)
Armoured Sentinel-Autocannon

The only General Strategies were to take it one step at a time, and He was the Brains and the Guns, and I was the CC muscle.

First Game was Orks + Tau, pithed battle deployment VPs were the primary(you need 50% from EACH opponent, possible for both sides to score it )
6 Fire Warriors in a fish, 2 Broadsides, Elite Crisis team and HQ Crisis Team, 10 Kroot, Orks had Wagon, Gazzy Thraka, KFF Big Mek, and 3 Large boyz mobs with Klaw

Deciding Factor was their deployment. They won the roll but gave us first turn. I don't remember our deployment except for my squads stayed in reserve except for they bikes, and the Deathstrike was in the corner.

The Tau reserved almost everything except for Broadsides and FW fish. The Orks deployed splitting 2 Boyz squads in 1 corner with the Tau stuff and a Boyz squad with the Ork Characters and the Battle Wagon in the other.

For the most part it was sit back and shoot the Orks were 2 slow to reach the Guard after the Deathwing first immoblised the Battle Wagon with Krak missiles to side Armour, then exploded it.

Deathstrike fired with out a hitch aside from the smallest radius being rolled for the blast.

We took maximum points with exception of 2 command counters which were unplayed by our opponents

Game 2 is a little more fuzzy (okay a lot more) it was against Wolves and Blood Angels, the Blood Angels was mostly Drop Pods with Dreads inside. Wolves were a fire support with 2 Rhinos with Grey Hunters and Rune Priests, a Dakkapread and 2 MM/HF Speeders

We castled up and Seized on them wrecking both rhinos turn 1, after that it was pretty much moving for table quarters and Terminators Chainfisting Pods for Kill Points

We took primary and Secondary they took Tertiary (Most Costly Unit)

Okay 2-0 the best start Ive had at a tournament. We go into game 3 thinking we were on the second table turns out it was the top 1. The team we were playing against were running their Adepticon lists that they had been practicing with for 5 months (that was the number they gave us) So time put in Us 1 week Them 22ish weeks.

Mission was Dawn of War with 2 Objectives in each Deployment zone, Opponents Objectives worth 8 your own worth 3. (Command Counters made the objective held by that unit Uncontestable mine went to TH/SS termies with FNP)

Everything was plugging along fine Guard were getting hammered, of, course since DoW screwed our planned defense (the 1 mission we didn't want Daemons we got 'em) My Termies deep struck near their objectives. The mixed Termy squad would be Lashed away from the objective during the Top of the the Turn and then in the Bottom I would move and Run them back.

Turn 4 once the Fiends of Slaanesh fail the reserve roll due to the Officer of the Fleet, I whisper to my partner we have the game if it ends Turn 5, becase once my Termies made it to the objective (the ones that make it uncontestable)they would be hidden from the Oblits and the Fiends would not be able to survive. So we get to Turn 5 we have both of their objectives and the bonous for an HQ within 3" of one of their objectives.... but it goes to Turn 6, Mixed unit gets Lashed and Plasma Cannoned, and Charged by Prince for good measure, (and I was Stranded in the open So no killing the Prince before it attacked) the full fiend unit charges the Termies plus a Zerker unit I hold for the first round of Combat with Belial and 1 Termie which turned into seperate combats. The Fiend do 9 wounds with no rends, and since the apothecary had to die to ensure a Termie in scoring range no FNP :( , I make 7 saves and the Termies Die and Belial eats a Zerker Power Fist.

We get a whole 0 pts in Game 3 yet we still take the Best General award.

Tournament Lessons

Yesterday I went to a 1850 tournament with a List based for a Turn 1 Alpha-strike. It worked okay until a Couple things happened.

First, After a stellar opening against Mech Marines (exploded Vindicator, shook and stunned 2 Razorbacks, stunned another Vindicator, and Immobilised a Land Raider)Turn 1 my Antivehicle capabilities under preformed(only killed one rhino, and kept the Twinlinked Lascannon from firing for whole game)

Other Highlights, Vect and 9 Bloodbrides(3 Hydra Guantlets) took out 5 Assault Terminators, Vulkan, And a Combat Squad getting their points backwith 8 consecutive invulnerable saves made by the Bloodbrides.

Lesson Learned: Vect is worth his weight in gold if he is in CC, Flickerfields should be used only on the flyers and Ravagers, to expensive on Raiders even if they are staying still with Dark Lance warriors inside, and it is better to kill one vehicle than shake/stun 3

Next Game, Tau He had first turn, I redeployed my beasts in response to his Kroot infiltrators, and seized the initaive on him. Blew up his Broadsides and stripped a couple drones off his bodyguad units. Broadsides Ran off the board. Beasts lost combat to his Kroot and were wiped out, everything spiraled downwards. After a poor fleet roll Vect and Co. were kept out of assaulting his Fire Warriors.

Lesson Learned: Going to ground with a unit that will die other wise is okay; execpt when it keeps your fearless IC from charging into Fire Warriors forcing him to eat another round of shooting. Also Dark Eldar warriors are not good in assault, even against Fire Warriors, (especially going through cover when the Tau have Defensive Grenades)

Final Game: Tyranids, the matchup I was praying for!!! but it was DoW and against the ringer so even with my best possible matchup I was the underdog even if it was not DoW, but it was.

Lesson Learned: DoW sucks for Alpha-strikes and GW thinks that the Imperial Fists CAPTAIN( not even Chapter Master) and EVERY Daemon deserves Eternal Warrior but not Vect a 1000 year old Eldar having survived Thousands upon thousands of attempts on his life, and who is the most Cunning Being in the 40k Universe does not.

Dark Eldar HQ Synergy

Many Armies have HQs that are force multipliers, but these are usually psykers and Dark Eldar don't have any. So how do I make my units more Capable without adding extra bodies and losing my transports?

First step is if you have more than 3 units with Combat Drugs, either a wych or hellion heavy army, Use Duke Sliscus for his drug rerolls. Howevr in order not to waste his 3+ poison effect take a 10 Trueborn with Shard Carbines and 2 Splinter Cannons. Now on the move that is 32 poisoned shot with a 24" effective range and hitting and wounding on 3's. This squad will have to be deployed on foot but you can detach the Duke have him jump into a 9-man Bloodbride squad and Trueborn head into their Raider.

Lady Malys is usefull with Vect, forcing your opponent into in to "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario regarding first turn. Lelith and other units with invulnerable saves will benefit greatly from Lady Malys, not her redeployment as much but her immunity from psykers.

Picture this, Lady Malys is leading a Bloodbride squad, they charge a TH/SS terminator squad in range of a Librain that sucessfully cast Null Zone. However now that Malys is immune to psykers you get your full 4++ save and reduce 25% of the unsaved wounding hits. (75% of wound unsaved due to rerolling sucessful invulnerable saves down to 50% of just normal invulnerable saves)

And of Course, Haemonculi plop into a squad give it a pain token, but try putting 2 Haemonculi with another unit AND an Archon stealing both tokens and gaining FNP and FC.

Tell me what you think and Leave your Comments below.

Dark Eldar Incubi Tactics

How should Incubi be run? The first 2 options that come to mind are
1)Drazhar
2)Archon with Phantasm Launcher

Drazhar being the Big Daddy Incubi, makes sense fluffwise and tactics wise where he makes the Incubi fearless, and he comes with the Demiklaves and both Upgrade powers, saving 50 points on a Klavex. Downsides? Price which is Mitigated somewhat by the Savings on a Klavex, so not that bad. The real Downside is no grenades, while situational, most of the time you will be charging trough a crater or into squishy troops hiding in cover, and no grenades means the High Iniative is wasted.

This Leads us to option 2. The Archon while not having as much raw potential boosts the squad as a whole. The build I would run on the Archon is Husk Blade, Soul Trap, Combat Drugs, Shadowfield, an Phantasm Grenade Launcher. 170 points so not exactly cheap but can kill anything except a walker with either +1 str or reroll to wound drugs.

The way to maximise the hitting power is with Furious Charge from Pain Tokens. How do you get 2 Pain Tokens from the start? 2 Haemonculi. As long as you have Drazhar/Archon with the Incubi you can "Share" (steal) both Tokens.

My setup?
Archon-as above-170
5 Incubi- Klavex, Onslaught, Demiklaives-160
2X Haemonculus-Hexrifle-65*2
Raider-Aethersails-65
Total=525

With 6 attacks at Str 4+ that kill opposing models barring invulns 12 attacks at str 5 and 4 attacks at str 6 or 6 attacks at str 4 all power weapons should be able to take anything short of a C'tan

Any thoughts or different set ups leave them in the comments

Finally Fixed!!

Sorry about the lull, my computer had some issues which are now resolved so I should be posting my spammy lists soon.