REJOICE PATHETIC MORTALS AND PREPARE TO MARVEL AT THE (PROBABLE) VICTORIES OF ME, OVERLORD WINGS OF THE NEPHREKH DYNASTY!
(Wings note: I promise there’s some actual strategy in here. The allcaps do end. I’m very sorry)
I HAVE SEIZED CONTROL OF THIS CONTENT PROVISION PLATFORM TO TRANSFORM IT INTO A MONUMENT TO MY GLORY! SOON ALL POSTS SHALL BE REPLACED WITH TRIBUTES AND SAGAS OUTLINING JUST HOW GREAT I AM.
WHAT’S THAT? YOU WERE EXPECTING SOMEONE ELSE? SOME PATHETIC LAPDOG OF THE OLD ONES KNOWN AS “AUTARCH WINGS”? LET’S NOT THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT RIDICULOUS CREATURE. HE’S PROBABLY FINE. YES. LET’S GO WITH THAT.
DO NOT DESPAIR IF YOU ARE HERE FOR TALES OF GLORIOUS WARFARE, FOR THIS PAST WEEKEND (ACCORDING TO YOUR RIDICULOUS CALENDARS) I MUSTERED MY FORCES AND SALLIED FORTH TO DO GLORIOUS BATTLE. SZARAS ASSURES ME YOU HUMANS CONSIDER “THE ITC FORMAT” TO BE THE HIGHEST FORM OF STRATEGIC CONTEST, SO NATURALLY THIS IS THE FORM OF BATTLE I CHOSE.
SPECIFICALLY, I DIRECTED MY MINIONS TO TAKE THE FIELD AT AN RTT KNOWN AS BOLTER DRILL, RUN BY ADDITIONAL GOONHAMMER AUTHOR AND OLD-ONE LAPDOG CORRODE, IN ORDER TO SEIZE CONTROL OF THE VITAL STRATEGIC ARTEFACT MASQUERADING AS THE FIRST PLACE TROPHY.
AS THE GREATEST TACTICIAN THE GALAXY HAS EVER SEEN, MY VICTORY SEEMED ALMOST INEVITABLE, BUT LESSER OVERLORDS HAVE BROUGHT ME TREASONOUS WHISPERINGS THAT THE UNCONQUERED FORCES OF THE NECRONTYR ARE MOCKED AND LAUGHED AT IN SOME CIRCLES, BEING VIEWED AS “UNDERPOWERED” OR “DEEPLY SIX OUT OF TEN” AND OTHER PLAINLY RIDICULOUS PEJORATIVES.
IN ORDER TO DISABUSE GALACTIC USURPERS OF THIS RIDICULOUS NOTION, I HAVE DELVED DEEP INTO THE VAULTS OF OUR TOMB WORLD AND UNLEASHED A FORCE OF UNPRECEDENTED MIGHT. LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW I SHALL BRING DOOM TO YOUR GALAXY.
BEHOLD MY GLORIOUS LEGIONS
AS AN OVERLORD OF GREAT WEALTH AND POWER, I OF COURSE HAVE MANY IMPRISONED STAR GODS THAT I CAN DIRECT TO DO MY BIDDING. FOR THIS PARTICULAR WAR OF RECLAMATION, I BROUGHT FOUR.
THE FULL EXTENT OF MY LEGIONS IS DETAILED BELOW, HIDDEN BEHIND THIS CONVENIENT TECHNOLOGICAL CONTRAPTION SUCH THAT IT DOESN’T STRIKE YOU BLIND WITH ITS MAGNIFICENCE.
GLORIOUS CONQUEST AWAITS!+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ ARMY FACTION: Necrons
+ TOTAL COMMAND POINTS: 9
+ TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 2000pts
+ ARMY FACTIONS USED: Necrons
+ TOTAL REINFORCEMENT POINTS: Not Applicable
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
== Battalion Detachment, Nephrekh Dynasty [79PL, 1312pts] 5CP ==
HQ: Overlord (84), Staff of Light (10), Warlord [6PL] [94pts]
HQ: Lord (65), Hyperphase Sword (3), Artefact of the Aeons - Veil of Darkness [5PL] [68pts]
TR: 10 Necron Warriors (110) [6PL] [110pts]
TR: 10 Necron Warriors (110) [6PL] [110pts]
TR: 10 Necron Immortals (80), 10 Tesla Carbines (70) [8PL] [150pts]
EL: C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer (180) [12PL] [180pts]
HS: Transcendent C’tan (200) [12PL] [200pts]
HS: Transcendent C’tan (200) [12PL] [200pts]
HS: Transcendent C’tan (200) [12PL] [200pts]
== Outrider Detachment, Nephrekh Dynasty [45PL, 688pts] 1CP ==
HQ: Illuminor Szaras (120) [8PL] [120pts]
FA: 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms (39) [2PL] [39pts]
FA: 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms (39) [2PL] [39pts]
FA: 5 Canoptek Wraiths (240), 5 Vicious Claws (0) [18PL] [240pts]
FA: 5 Necron Destroyers (200), 5 Gauss Cannon (50) [15PL] [250pts]
APPARENTLY SOME OF MY COWARDLY PEERS HAVE BEEN RESORTING TO USING RIDICULOUS WINGED CONTRAPTIONS RESEMBLING MORTAL BAKED GOODS TO ACHIEVE VICTORY. PAH! PAH I SAY. THOSE SOUND LIKE THE TACTICS OF OVERLORDS THAT DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PURE JOY OF HAVING YOUR ENCHAINED STAR GODS REND YOUR FOES FROM REALITY.
IT’S PRETTY GREAT.
DEPENDING ON WHAT FEEBLE CHALLENGES I FACE, THE TRANSCENDENT C’TAN CAN SWITCH BETWEEN TWO CONFIGURATIONS, EITHER RAINING COSMIC DEATH BY USING TWO OF THEIR INCREDIBLE POWERS A TURN, OR INSTEAD ASSUMING A MORE SHIELDED FORM WHERE THEY ARE NIGH INDESTRUCTIBLE BY ENHANCING THEIR “SAVING THROWS”. THE NIGHTBRINGER WILL OF COURSE BE DOING WHAT IT DOES BEST, WHICH IS UTTERLY ANNIHILATING THINGS.
JUST IN CASE ANYONE CAN FACE DOWN FOUR UNLEASHED STAR GODS AND STILL THREATEN TO OVERWHELM US, I HAVE BROUGHT ADDITIONAL FORCES.
AS AN OVERLORD OF THE NEPHREKH DYNASTY, MY WRAITHS AND DESTROYERS ARE INFINITELY SUPERIOR TO THOSE OF MY PEERS, BEING ABLE TO SURPRISE MY FOES BY BEING EXTREMELY FAST OR APPEARING FROM A TRANSLOCATION CRYPT.
FINALLY I HAVE BROUGHT SOME BORING INFANTRY AND HIRED THAT WEIRDO SZARAS TO HELP SPRUCE THEM UP, IN EXCHANGE FOR HIM BEING ALLOWED TO EXPERIMENT ON ANY HYPOTHETICAL ELF PRISONERS WE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE TRAPPED IN AN IMPRISONMENT CUBE ONCE WE’RE DONE.
WHICH IS A BIT ALARMING.
LOOK, I KNOW I SHOULDN’T BE RUDE ABOUT MY ALLIES, AND WE ALL HATE ELVES, BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT HE’S A BIT WEIRD ABOUT IT.
ANYWAY!
THE MASTER PLAN
IN CONSULTATION (NOT REALLY) WITH MY UNDERLINGS, I HAVE SUMMARISED MY STRATEGY IN AN EASY TO FOLLOW GUIDE THAT EVEN FLESHY BRAINS SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND!
WITH THE TERRIFYING MONSTROSITIES AT MY COMMAND, I SHALL CONDUCT A BOLD THRUST INTO THE HEART OF THE ENEMY, UNLEASHING SUCH FORCES THAT THEY ARE LEFT SCATTERED AND UNABLE TO RESPOND. WHILE THIS OCCURS, MY LESSER MINIONS SHALL CONSOLIDATE A HOLD ON THESE “OBJECTIVES” THAT ARE SO VALUED BY THE MORTALS, AND TRIUMPH WILL BE MINE!
THIS PLAN IS, OBVIOUSLY, FOOLPROOF AND MY VICTORY IS ASSURED AND DEFEAT AN IMPOSSIBILITY. DESPITE THIS, SHORTLY BEFORE I HAD THEM OBLITERATED FOR INSUBORDINATION, A LESSER LORD IN MY SERVICE DID RAISE CONCERNS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE PROBLEMS AGAINST EITHER “KNIGHTS” OR “PLANES”, TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF ABSURD CONTRAPTION THAT THE VARIOUS KINDS OF USURPER BEINGS DEPLOY TO MAKE UP FOR THEIR PHYSICAL SHORTCOMINGS. I CALL THIS NONSENSE – PROPERLY DEPLOYED THE C’TAN WILL STILL MAKE SHORT WORK OF SUCH THINGS, AND HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT ANY OF THOSE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE US WOULD BE ABLE TO MUSTER THEM IN SUFFICIENT NUMBERS THAT THEY COULD POSE A SERIOUS THREAT?
A RIDICULOUS NOTION.
ON TO THE CHRONICLES OF VICTORY.
Round 1 – Aeldari Plane Spam
The Competition
Army List - Click to expand …AH. HMM. HMMMMM. SZARAS, FETCH THE IMPRISONMENT CUBE! NO IT’S FINE, I’LL CATCH YOU A DIFFERENT AUTACH. THERE’S ONE RIGHT HERE. DO AS I COMMAND BEFORE I DESTROY YOU! *scraping sounds* *eldritch mechanical sounds* *horrified screaming.* EXCELLENT, YOU’RE AWAKE. WONDERFUL NEWS PATHETIC MORTAL, I HAVE DECIDED TO LET YOU EARN YOUR FREEDOM. OBVIOUSLY I AM THE GREATEST TACTICIAN IN THE GALAXY, BUT…YES THAT’S IT, I’LL GET A PERVERSE PLEASURE FROM FORCING YOU TO ENACT THE DOWNFALL OF YOUR OWN KIN. ALSO ANYONE ELSE WHO DARES CHALLENGE US. MY VOICE UNIT APPEARS TO BE MALFUNCTIONING FROM ALL OF THIS MONOLOGUEING. I’M SURE I HAD IT WORKED OUT. ANYWAY, TELL YOUR PATHETIC AUDIENCE HOW YOU’RE GOING TO ACHIEVE VICTORY HERE. I’LL BE BACK LATER TO ADMIRE THE TROPHY YOU’RE GOING TO WIN ME. Well that was a horrifying experience. Speaking of horrifying experiences, wow was this not the sort of first round matchup I was hoping for when I decided to take a week off deploying my normal Aeldari bullshit. Sadly, while the Big FAQ has weakened the plane list a bit, emerging consensus is that versions of it are still very much viable, and we’re at serious risk here of just getting blown off the board. Time to earn our freedom through cunning strategy. Nexus Control, Dawn of War deployment. The mission is OK for us, the closest thing to an advantage here is that we have a lot more stuff that covers ground, and the objective placement of Nexus Control means that hiding in a corner sniping at us (as the non-plane Aeldari stuff here largely wants to do) isn’t an option if they want to stay in the objective game. The main problem here is that if my opponent just dances around the fringes of my army and rolls OK, they can probably just gradually blow me off the board. Also, C’tan powers aren’t that great against the planes, with only Antimatter Meteor really standing out, and some others that are merely OK. With that in mind, we want to: This is, at least, a plan – I’m not convinced it’s fantastic, but if my opponent slips up or underestimates what I can do to a plane that strays too close, it does at least have some game. The nice thing about C’tan in the 3++ mode is that I’m totally happy to charge one into a Hemlock, as they should easily make it through the Overwatch in one piece, as I have to start being unluckly before I even lost 4W. Once in, judicious use of a re-roll gives me at least some chance of punching one straight out of the sky (especially one softened up with powers), and it won’t take too many, combined with attempting to body his ground stuff off the board, to leave him a bit thin on threats. The problem with this plan is that it’s eminently counter-able – I think with average dice my opponent can probably just be patient, float around the edges of my army, and pick me apart over about three turns, leaving plenty of time to pull back ahead from any objective lead I build and denying me lots of secondary points, as my choices here aren’t fantastic. I hate having a plan that can be countered, but I’m afraid that’s the Necron life right now. I won the roll off, and after some deliberation chose to go first. I wasn’t super happy about this, but felt I would probably lose too much going second, and wanted to be able to drop my teleporting Immortals down to kill some of his bikes turn 1, then bring in the Destroyers to tidy up as soon as possible. In addition, given how few things he had that could hold ground, the objective contesting advantage of going second was lessened. He failed to seize, so used phantasm to hide his bikes as far in the corner as possible. I moved my forces up to hold the centre, and teleported the immortals forward into cover to go after the smaller bike squad. He used “Forewarned” to intercept, but that didn’t do anything thanks to the 2+ save from the cover. Szaras had also buffed them pre-jump, giving them a 2+ BS, so although he used Lightning Fast to reduce the explosions from my shots, I still cut down four bikes (his saves were also pretty good), which was an OK start (though obviously still left me without a kill for the first turn. He zoomed some stuff forward, and spent most of the turn deleting my blob of wraiths. He did pull this off, but it used a lot of his firepower. My Immortals also continued to tank Scatter Laser shots like champions, only losing a few of them, and his Razorwings, frankly, rolled like garbage when targeting my warriors, not killing that many. He shot up my Lord once the Wraiths were clear, but I used the strat to get him back up. This left me in a surprisingly tenable position because, as well as all of this, in setting up to attack me he’d left his planes where my C’tan could get at them with 8-9 inch charges. My destroyers came in (also into cover) and worked with the Immortals to finish the job of killing the bikes, while the C’tan softened up the planes with some MWs. Come the charge phase, the first C’tan to go after a Hemlock failed the charge, but the second one made it in, and duly cleaved it clean out of the sky. My opponent brought his stuff round to try and focus on my destroyers next, and once again after pouring a decent amount of stuff into them they were taken out (just, it came down to the Autarch exactly finishing them off in melee). However, my other units continued to hold, and the C’tan he’d gone for mostly shrugged stuff of on their invulns. Worse for him, one of the Razorwings had ended up in heroic range of not one but two C’tan and paid for its insolence. My rampage continued on turn 3, with two more planes getting torn from the sky by rampaging star gods (with a third limping away profiled), and against all probabilities this game was suddenly looking extremely winnable. His turn 3 was better but not great, with the Nightbringer finally being taken down by the Autarch and one of my warrior squads dying, but he had been forced to bring his Farseer into harm’s way to stop me veering wildly ahead. Unfortunately, I was undone on turn 4 – I swung stuff around to try and take out the Autarch and Farseer, committing more than enough for the kill to each, but sadly both clung on on a few wounds after making runs of saves to stay in the game. Worse, I’d had to charge my immortals in to attempt to finish off the Autarch, and he killed them on the fight back. Although I finished both these targets off on 5, having access to them on four was just enough to swing him the game, getting him an extra turn of kill more, and stopping me getting a turn of hold more. Eventually, after a bit more churning around the board, he was able to finish off one of my C’tan on the final turn to get the secondary point he needed to squeak ahead by a single victory point. CURSE YOU USELESS MINION, WHAT KIND OF VICTORY DO YOU CALL THAT? OK, honestly, this game was a blast and I was delighted to have run the nasty planes list so close with my incredibly dumb Star God jamboree. If either of the Farseer or Autarch had died on 4 (and on maths alone, both should have) that would have been game to me. This did really hammer home how good the option of swapping to a wall of 3++ C’tan is. Because the list has so many points in them, you normally want them spamming powers to make that back, but here just having them rampaging about the board as nightmare killing machines did spectacular work. It’s also the case that the “drop off” in power quality after two choices of Antimatter Meteor and two of either Transdimensional Thunderbolt or Cosmic Fire (matchup dependent) is quite big, so I found myself minding not having more “casts” less than I thought. I honestly also don’t think I would have done anything different here – the only possible change would have been not to charge the Immortals into the Autarch, but with him on 1W remaining and my opponent out of CP to interrupt, I still hold that this was the right call. In general, whatever a certain robot with a bad case of the Starscreams might think, we did the best we could have done here. Primary: 13-15 Secondary: 12-11 Total: 25-26 Matches: 0-1 Army List - Click to expand Sadly, as occasionally happens at events, I got paired against a friend I’d carpooled up with in the next round. Worse, I’d been tidily crushed by her in our one practice game, so the pressure was on. I THINK YOU MEAN WE MADE A TACTICAL RETREAT TO THE TOMB WORLD! (Yeah, no, we got rolled). What’s Yours is Mine, Hammer and Anvil Deployment Fine by me, I want to crate a massive ruck in the middle of the board. We “lost” the first roll off, so thanks to new style deployment could choose to make her deploy first and go first. This was very helpful, because the conclusion I had from our practice game was that this was another one where I wanted the C’tan on 3++ saves creating a gigantic mash in the board centre while burning everything with Cosmic Fire. She also doesn’t have enough long range firepower to realistically threaten the whole destroyers squad, so they can deploy on the board. With all of that in mind, especially given the central objective, I want to put her on first turn, have her advance up into the board centre, then throw an overwhelming counterpunch, leaving her forces too scattered to respond. This was a game that basically went fully according to plan from the get go, helped by the dice being consistently quite kind to me. My opponent went first, and although sensibly cautious, still had to bring enough stuff up to start contesting objectives. This allowed me to throw a big counterpunch as planned. I used “Phaeron’s Will” to buff up both the Destroyers and Immortals, and sent the latter to her backline to threaten my “target” objective at that end. The wraiths also zoomed up to threaten to chow on whatever I felt best once my shooting was done. My C’tan also started throwing out some mortals, and one of them also decided to be incredibly cheeky and throw a Time’s Arrow at Yvraine. Naturally, I rolled a 6. She did get back up via the Ynnari stratagem and a re-roll, but that was still 3CP gone which I wasn’t complaining about. In the shooting phase, my buffed up Destroyers finished off the Harly bikes, which had already taken a few Mortal Wounds, though my Immortals did substantially less well, not really touching the Guardians or Dire Avengers they split their fire between. Finally, I finished off a unit of Harlequins I’d started on with mortal wounds. In the charge phase my Wraiths were able to pounce on and maul the Visarch (who also got back up), and also rough up a clown bus a bit, importantly also wrapping it after consolidation and stopping the harlequins inside being able to get out and charge stuff. This was an absolutely fantastic first turn, and left my opponent on the back foot. She had a good go at counter-attacking, but unfortunately the dice just weren’t really with her, and the one high-point (killing my Overlord with the Hemlock) was undone by me using my own re-animate stratagem. The Wraithseer had a go at the Nightbringer, but my saves ran pretty good on it all game, and her wound rolls on the fusion squad that did get to shoot a C’tan were absolutely awful, leaving it unscathed. Some wraiths also died, but not all of them, allowing them to devour a character in response. This basically let me go for the kill from turn 2, and by the end of it things looked like they were pretty much over, for all that it was slightly less spectacular for me. A substantial proportion of her best units were out of commission, importantly including the Hemlock, blown from the sky by my Destroyers. Meanwhile, my Immortals could now lumber forward and charge onto my target objective (which they held for the rest of the game), leaving me with an effectively insurmountable lead. Her forces made a few valiant sallies from there, with the last troupe notably managing to pull off a double assassination on my two main characters (scoring bumper Headhunter points), but they were swiftly killed for their insolence. Eventually, the game ended with her last Death Jester charging the Nightbringer in a final attempt to kill it for a point, succeeding – then being consumed in the explosion. It’s always interesting just how much having played against an army once lets you improve your plan against it, and this game really showed that – the choice to go second and just monster mash with 3++ C’tan turned this game on its head from my first attempt at it (to be fair, good dice also helped). The Ynnari army my friend had is interesting, and has a good go at making Ynnari work using some of the tricks we discussed in our Index Review (also, as I finish writing this GW have finally made their Fire and Fade not cost double everyone else’s, hooray!). Harlequins with the Visarch are genuinely no joke, which is why he was so high up my kill list. Honestly, just how well Wraiths go through T3 or unarmoured characters is kind of horrifying, and definitely something to remember for the future – murdering characters is a very good thing for them to spend their time doing while acting as a massive distraction. Primary: 26-6 Secondary: 12-8 Total: 38-14 Matches: 1-1 BETTER WORK MINION. PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT TOTALLY USELESS Army List - Click to expand Oof, another pretty horrendous one to end with. Other than the Dakkajets, this is a laundry list of all the horrendous stuff that Orks can do, with the absurdly undercosted Smasha Guns backing up a veritable horde of fast Boyz. Seize Ground, Search and Destroy. Not really what I want on either front – Seize ground (obviously) favours my opponent’s large horde list, and Search and Destroy threatens to box us in. This is going to be seriously uphill. We do have anti infantry firepower, and can set the C’tan to spamming “Seismic Assault” to up our horde killing potential, but I expect us to be on the back foot. The best we can really do is: At least we don’t really have big targets for the Smasha Guns as long as the C’tan are still screened, but that, as I was going to find out, was a relatively small mercy. I won the roll off and most of the above went according to plan. I put him on first, and though his horde impacted my lines, they did indeed want to avoid getting eaten by Wraiths, so didn’t really properly slam me (though he did get onto all objectives for the bonus thanks to “Da Jump”ing some grots onto one. What went wrong was that, seeing nothing big to target, my opponent shrugged and pointed the Smasha guns at my Immortals, wiping the squad with (really only slightly above average) rolls, with me not managing to make any 6+ cover saves to keep them alive. Honestly at that point I nearly wrote the game off – I though I would struggle to ever kill enough boyz to make it work from there. To my pleasant surprise, that turned out not to be the case. Between warping my unharmed warrior squads out of combat, buffing them up, and unleashing the powers of the C’tan, I actually was able to fully level the big squad (with a bit of help from overwatch and some combat casualties). Meanwhile, my Destroyers blew one Dakkajet out of the sky, and a C’tan charged and killed another, and then, best of all, my wraiths teleported behind a very surprised trio of Ork characters and ate the Weirdboy and Painboy, as well as hurting the Warboss. That outstanding turn made this a game. On his second turn, he lined up the next unit of Boyz to come in, and send them forward, doing a bit of damage to my stuff but being too strung out to properly focus their attacks, leaving me with plenty still active. Crucially, on the other flank his third squad came out from a Tellyporta and missed their charge, giving me a bit of breathing room. With his big boyz squad all strung out, I was able to position threats all along it such that when, after dust from powers and shooting had settled, there were three left, I was able to redirect the wraiths (one of whom had just got back up thanks to Repair Subroutines) from continuing to chase his warboss to finish this squad off instead. I’d also pulled back a bit from the other flank (other than my C’tan incinerating insolent Grots off an objective), leaving his newly arrived Boyz not able to make a big charge on his three either. My wraiths and C’tan continued menacing one of his flanks, eventually eating his warboss, but at the same time his Smasha guns were gradually chewing through things, eventually chewing through the Wraiths and starting on my C’tan. His deffkopters were also very rude, dropping some bombs on my warriors. However, my opponent kept rolling abysmally on charges, and it looked like this might just be over. However, it turned out there was life in the game yet. On my turn 5, i finally went for the kill on the remaining big Boyz mob, and missed the kill by a couple of models. My opponent cheerfully ticked their remaining 5CP down to auto-pass and bring their unit back right in my face, finally also making a charge. This left the game down to whether they could chew through enough of my remaining units to push me off objectives sufficiently to claw back a lead. They had a damn good go at it, but a mixture of poor rolls from them and good saves from me (and my remaining warrior squad having picked up T5 from Szaras earlier) kept him from chewing all the way through (though the Destroyers ate it). Meanwhile, my last C’tan heroically survived being shot at by many Smasha guns (with the Dice again being kind to me). In the end, this good luck let me hold on to my lead, squeaking a very narrow win. The really obvious thing is that I will never be underestimating how good Smasha Guns are at killing infantry again. God damn. I could easily have hidden my Immortals from at least some of them, and anything less than him wiping the whole squad would have been a disaster for him, so I really only have myself to blame on that one. Other than that, I feel like I did a pretty good job adapting to a tough situation here, and while I think luck played a decent part (him repeatedly failing charges in particular was basically required for me to win), I still think I worked to earn it. My allocation or forces was very good from the start onwards, and things like planning ahead for “what if a few orks survive from this strung out squad” on turn 2 helped me keep him from pushing me out of th game. The surprise 18″ advance and charge Nephrekh Wraiths continue to be an outrageously good tool for catching people off guard for a big punish. The only other mistake I think I made was not properly thinking through how to plan for “Green Tide” on the turn I failed to get the squad kill. I could plausibly have pulled my forces in from the board edge a bit more, maybe denying them as easy a charge, which would have given me time to secure the win. This is the peril of basically not having to think about it when playing my Eldar (I just save 4CP till all the big blobs are dead) – it doesn’t teach you the nuances of how to play when up against it. HAH PATHETIC ELF. MY TACTICAL UNDERSTANDING NOW EXCEEDS YOURS. Ugh, you’re so loud I’M IN AN EXCELLENT MOOD. LET’S FIND OUT WHY! GLORIOUS VICTORY Primary: 18-15 Secondary: 12-11 Total: 30-26 …sigh. Now the reason he’s so happy is that that final round was us getting paired up thanks to our good battle point scores. With another decent point haul, and 20 players at the event, much to my surprise that meant… Match Score: 2-1 Placing: 3rd out of 20 NIGHTBRINGER, SHOW THEM THE TROPHY I WON! What can I say? This army wildly exceeded my expectations on the board, to the point where I think it’s actually an alright list to play. I was seriously tempted, on getting home, to swap it in as my list for next weekend’s GT, but thankfully I stayed strong and elf-related content fans can look forward to next week’s report. Obviously the big unanswered question about the list is how it would deal with Knights, and I suspect the answer is “badly, but maybe not quite as badly as I thought”. Swapping all the C’tan over to the 3++ does give you a big wall of extremely dangerous monsters for people to chew through, and as long as you’re playing ITC, which kind of forces them to interact, and lay the game you want. I wouldn’t try this in Eternal War or ETC – I think just getting blown clean off the board is far too big a risk, and a far too “obvious” line for opponents to take. If I was tweaking this, the only swaps I might try would be to change the fifth destroyer to a sixth Wraith – adding a bit more resilience to the advanced party helps to keep the C’tan safe for longer, and improves the ability to do their wicked work. Four Destroyers is still a nasty ball of threat, and this list isn’t leaning on them so much as a primary source of big damage as a cleanup squad. To elaborate in non-allcaps why Szaras is here despite me not having big blobs of warriors, him natively having a 3+ save and an extra wound makes a big difference against any snipers, of which there are a decent number in the meta. Also, the incidental bonuses he handed out to even my modestly sized squads were really useful all day, and I think he’s kind of a steal at 120pts as long as you have at least some targets for him. He’s also useful if you’re mixing Dynasties, as he’s a good “wildcard” character. There are quite a few dynasty tricks you can try out, and he helps unlock them – I’m personally a big enough fan of 18″ zoom wraiths to want to be Nephrekh, but giving them a 2++ via the Nihilakh strat (one of the last few reliable ways of getting to a 2++ that has survived nerf passes) would obviously complement their role in this list extremely effectively. I’ve got a 1500 point list coming up in the near future, and I’m probably going to bring some dumb variant of this hot mess along to it, cutting out the Destroyers, Nightbringer and a squad of warriors (splitting the Immortals) to free up some points, and tinkering a few other bits (I can get to 6 wraiths and have a Catacomb barge). Now I know how well the 3++ option works in practice, I’m less hesitant to bring 3 Transcendents without a fourth C’tan to allow you to start doubling on powers. That’s probably enough rambling about Necrons though. Join us next week to hear about important elves, the most tactically gifted of all races. INSOLENCE. Aren’t you supposed to be letting me go? I won you a trophy. PAH. OVERLORD WINGS DOES NOT REMEMBER MAKING THAT PROMISE. BACK IN THE CUBE WITH YO-WHAT’S THAT NOISE? FINE, I SHALL GENEROUSLY ALLOW YOU YOUR FREEDOM WHILE I TELEPORT BACK TO THE TOMB WORLD FOR NON-SPECIFIC REASONS. BUT REST ASSURED, GOONHAMMER WILL BE MINE YET!+ ARMY FACTION: Aeldari / Craftworlds
+ TOTAL COMMAND POINTS: 10
+ TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 1996pts
+ POWER LEVELS: 108pls
+ ARMY FACTIONS USED: Drukhari, Asuryani,
+ TOTAL REINFORCEMENT POINTS: Not Applicable
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++
== Air Wing Detachment == Drukhari [24 PL] [405 Points] 1 CP - Kabal of the Black Heart
Flyer: Razorwing Jetfighter (105), 2 disintegrator cannons (30), twin splinter rifle (0), Razorwing
missiles (0) - [8pls] [135]
Flyer: Razorwing Jetfighter (105), 2 disintegrator cannons (30), twin splinter rifle (0), Razorwing
missiles (0) - [8pls] [135]
Flyer: Razorwing Jetfighter (105), 2 disintegrator cannons (30), twin splinter rifle (0), Razorwing
missiles (0) - [8pls] [135]
== Air Wing Detachment == Asuryani [38 PL] [756 Points] 1 CP - Alatoic
Flyer: Crimson Hunter Exarch (135), 2 Starcannons (26), Pulse Laser (0), [9pls] [161]
Flyer: Crimson Hunter Exarch (135), 2 Bright Lances (40), Pulse Laser (0), [9pls] [175]
Flyer: Hemlock Wraithfighter (200), 2 Heavy D-Sythes (0), Spirit Stones (10), [10pls] [210]
Flyer: Hemlock Wraithfighter (200), 2 Heavy D-Sythes (0), Spirit Stones (10), [10pls] [210]
== Battalion Detachment == Asuryani [46 PL] [835 Points] 5 CP – SaimHann
HQ: AutarchSkyrunner (95), twin shuriken catapult (2), reaper launcher (22), laser lance (8),
Banshee Mask (0) - [6pls] [127] – WARLORD: Mark of the Incomparable Hunter, RELIC: Nova
Lance of SaimHann
HQ: FarseerSkyrunner (130), twin shuriken catapult (2), Singing Spear (5) - [7pls] [137]
TR: 5 Rangers (60) - [3pls] [60]
TR: 5 Rangers (60) - [3pls] [60]
TR: 5 Rangers (60) - [3pls] [60]
FA: 9 Windriders (144), 9 Scatter Lasers (63) – [12pls] [207]
FA: 8 Windriders (128), 8 Scatter Lasers (56) – [12pls] [184]
The Mission
The Plan
My Secondaries
His Secondaries
The Summary
The Takeaways
The Score
Round 2 – Ynnari
The Competition
+ ARMY FACTION: Mixed Aeldari
+ TOTAL COMMAND POINTS: 13
+ TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 2000pts
+ POWER LEVELS: 108PL
+ ARMY FACTIONS USED: Ynnari, Harlequins
+ TOTAL REINFORCEMENT POINTS: Not Applicable
==Battalion Detachment == Ynnari [47 PL] [792 Points] - Reborn Aeldari
HQ: Yvraine - [7 PL] [132]
HQ: Wraithseer (110), wraithcannon (15) - [10 PL] [115] - Exalted of Ynnead (-1 CP)
TR: 4 Dire Avengers (44), 1 Dire Avenger Exarch with two catapults (14) - [3PL] [58]
TR: 4 Dire Avengers (44), 1 Dire Avenger Exarch with two catapults (14) - [3PL] [58]
TR: 10 Guardian Defenders - [5PL] [80]
FL: Hemlock Wraithfighter (200), spirit stones (10) - [10PL] [210]
DT: Wave Serpent (120) with Twin Shuriken Cannon (17) and Twin Shuriken Catapult (2) -
[9PL] [139]
==Battalion Detachment == Ynnari [48 PL] [996 Points] - Reborn Harlequins
HQ: The Visarch - [6 PL] [120]
HQ: Troupe Master (70), Fusion Pistol (7), Power Sword (4) - Ynnari Warlord, Relic: The
Hungering Blade - [4 PL] [81]
TR: 5 Players with Harlequin’s Blade and Fusion Pistol (20 each) - [5 PL] [100]
TR: 5 Players with Harlequin’s Blade and Fusion Pistol (20 each) - [5 PL] [100]
TR: 3 Players with Harlequin’s Embrace and Shuriken Pistol (19 each), 2 Players with
Harlequin’s Caress and Shuriken Pistol (20 each) - [5 PL] [97]
FA: 5 Skyweavers with Zephyrglaive and Haywire Cannon (51 each), 1 Skyweaver with Star
Bolas and Haywire Cannon (45) - [13 PL] [300]
DT: Starweaver (79), two shuriken cannon (20) - [5 PL] [99]
DT: Starweaver (79), two shuriken cannon (20) - [5 PL] [99]
== Vanguard Detachment == Harlequins [13 PL] [212 Points] - Dreaming Shadow
HQ: Troupe Master (70), Harlequin’s Blade (0), Fusion Pistol (7) - [4 PL] [77]
EL: Death Jester - [3 PL] [45]
EL: Death Jester - [3 PL] [45]
EL: Death Jester - [3 PL] [45]
The Mission
The Plan
My Secondaries
Her Secondaries
The Summary
The Takeaways
The Score
Round 3 – Orks
The Competition
ARMY FACTION: Orks
TOTAL COMMAND POINTS: 15
TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 2000pts
POWER LEVELS: 100PL
ARMY FACTIONS USED: Evil Suns
TOTAL REINFORCEMENT POINTS: NA
== Brigade Detatchment == Orks [100PL] [2000 points] 12CP – Evil Suns
HQ: Big Mek (index) (55), Choppa (0), Kustom Force Field (20) - [5PL] [75] WARLORD
HQ: Warboss On Bike (index) (86), Dakkagun x 2 (0), Attack Squig (0), DaKillaKlaw RELIC (13)
– [5PL] [99]
HQ: Weirdboy (62), Weirdboystaff (0) – [3PL] [62]
HQ: Weirdboy (62), Weirdboystaff (0) – [3PL] [62]
TR: 29 Boyz (203, Slugga&Choppa (0) Boss Nob w/ Power klaw&Shoota (20), 3x Tankbuasta
Bombs (0) – [11PL] [223]
TR: 29 Boyz (203), Slugga&Choppa (0) Boss Nob w/ Power klaw&Shoota (20), 3x Tankbuasta
Bombs (0) – [11PL] [223]
TR: 29 Boyz (203), Slugga&Choppa (0) Boss Nob w/ Power klaw&Shoota (20), 3x Tankbuasta
Bombs (0) – [11PL] [223]
TR: 10 Gretchin (30), Grot Blasters (0) – [1PL] [30]
TR: 10 Gretchin (30), Grot Blasters (0) – [1PL] [30]
TR: 10 Gretchin (30), Grot Blasters (0) – [1PL] [30]
EL: 5 BurnaBoyz (60), Burna (0) – [3PL] [60]
EL: 8 Kommandos (64), Slugga&Choppa (0), Boss Nob w/ Big Choppa (13), tankbusta bomb (0)
– [4PL] [77]
EL: Painboy (65), Power Klaw (0) Grot Orderly (4) – [3PL] [69]
FA: Deffkopta (30), KoptaRokkits (24), Bigbomm (0) – [2PL] [54]
FA: Deffkopta (30), KoptaRokkits (24), Bigbomm (0) – [2PL] [54]
FA: Deffkopta (30), KoptaRokkits (24), Bigbomm (0) – [2PL] [54]
HS: MekGunz (45), 3x Smasha Gun (48) – [6PL] [93]
HS: MekGunz (45), 3x Smasha Gun (48) – [6PL] [93]
HS: MekGunz (45), 3x Smasha Gun (48) – [6PL] [93]
FL: DakkaJet (88), 6 x SupaShoota (60) – [7PL] [148]
FL: DakkaJet (88), 6 x SupaShoota (60) – [7PL] [148]
The Mission
The Plan
My Secondaries
His Secondaries
The Summary
The Takeaways
The Score
Final Score
List Thoughts & Wrap Up
