Sky Serpents 1850, new edition

So, below is my 1850 tournament army using the new codex. It is flyer heavy, using the Bastion comms relay for reserves manipulation. My current worry is it just feels so spammy and lack of anti tank; for the time being I am trying to veer away from allies.

Wyches are dead to me now and I don't think Ravagers are worth the hustle. I'm optimistic about Scourges and Reavers making their way in and I think that Blasterborn might make their way back into contention too. 90pts to play with.

EDIT 1: I am using the Realspace Raiding detachment so will have access to 6 fast attacks. Added some Scourges in.

EDIT 2: Sslyth bomb!

Duke Sliscus (Archon), Shadowfield, Husk blade, The Armour of misery, Webway, 175pts
8 Sslyth, 1 Lhamean, Raider, Splinter racks, 285pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts

5 Scourges, 4 Heatlances, 120pts
5 Scourges, 4 Heatlances, 120pts
Razorwing Jetfighter, two Dark lances, 140pts
Razorwing Jetfighter, two Dark lances, 140pts

Voidraven Bomber, Dark scythes, 160pts
Voidraven Bomber, Dark lances, mixed missles, 210pts

Bastion, Comms relay, 95pts

Sky Serpent wrote:

Duke Sliscus (Archon), Shadowfield, Husk blade, The Armour of misery, 140pts

Delightfully obstinate

I hadn't realised we could take the Armour of Misery, a Shadowfield and a Huskblade... I was ready to drop the Archon altogether, looks like he definitely still has a place!

You're right though, it does seem a bit low on AT. I'll be taking the plunge with at least one, probably two squads of haywire Scourges as my reliable AT. They have the ability to start on the board and start popping tanks in situations where the enemy doesn't have barrage weaponry, or drop in at the same time the planes would have done if they do. I don't think having enough stuff on the board turn one will be a problem, I can't see you getting tabled if you have that many small units out there. It's more that those small units won't do very much if the enemy are in their boxes... Those 90 points on blasters for the warriors maybe?

Added some more anti-tank in the form of Scourges to the fray and Duke now gets a bodyguard of Sslyth!

Sky Serpent wrote:

Added some more anti-tank in the form of Scourges to the fray and Duke now gets a bodyguard of Sslyth!

Forgot, what does the armor of misery do again?

if already answered my apologies but i couldnt find it. :/

sounds like a great relic. im excited

Looks like a fun list! (+10,000 for not using Eldar Allies, I stop caring once someone says they HAVE to use them!)

That Snake slyth unit is going to be a beast. 8 shardcarbines, reroll to hit, 2+ to wound, T5 majority! That's going to hit hard!

If you have points, blasters on the kabs. Still looks light on AT considering the Serpent spam/parking lots that seem to make appearances at tournaments.

I might even go one step further and lose the comms relay. :O I know, its madness. But if those points could  be used to boost anti tank, perhaps the reserves risk is worth taking as I doubt you would get tabled that quick with all that stuff!

Edit: You do have a fair amount of AT, I miss read, but we have all experienced. The futility of the dark glance!

Armour of Misery gives the wearer 4+ 6++, -2 to leadership within 6.

Lhameans no longer buff the units poison so would just be a 4+.

I don't really want to lose the Bastion/Comms relay as it is essential to the army in that it allows me significant cover to keep a small amount of troops on the table before my second turn, where hell and misery descends...

Haha fair enough!

Why have splinter racks in the archon's raider when it just transports sslyth?

Sslyth have shardcarbines, splinter racks now work on all splinter weapons.

Because Sslyth have splinter carbines and the Splinter Racks on the Raider affect -all- splinter weapons now.

Edit: nevermind.

I'm liking the court, might try something similar soon. Why a bastion over the bunker or is it simply because the major tournament scene haven't accepted the bunker yet?

I just told my wife a list and it was very similar to yours, Just took 1 Bomber and extra Razorwing with a unit of Wracks in the Bastion (So I could ds all if I wanted too).

OH.. Just notice something.

Voidraven Bomber, Dark scythes, 160pts
Voidraven Bomber, Dark lances, mixed missles, 210pts

Wouldnt you want to put the Missiles with the Dark Scythes? This way if you need AA and the s9 lances shoot a flier your missiles wont have to wait another turn.

I actually ran something very similar to this last night, except I didn't take the Void Ravens, took an extra unit of scourges, ran two Archons with 6x Medusae and WWP. It was pretty brutal and everything except for 1 unit made it on turn 2. It was amazing to watch my opponent squirm as I was suddenly in their backfield flaming units, using 4x heat lances with precision and dropping 4 S6 AP5 Templates on their troops. My 4 Venoms in the backfield mopped up and I just ignored their flyers for the most part.

Please let us know your experience with this list as I'd be curious how DE Flyer "spam" works out

THIS ! This is the list I want to try !

I like the list. Sslyth bomb should be pretty effective, especially when supported by all the AT stuff you have. Biggest concern is keeping everything alive long enough for your heavy hitters to come in.

Since my trueborn lost their carbines I have by dying to try the sslyth bomb. And heck it kind of makes sense for Sliscus the serpent to take 10 sslyth instead of trueborn. Goes with the feel of the army.

This list seems very well thought out. I applaud you good sir, the Duke would smile and decline from flaying you!

So, here is a final draft of my list, completed in the ETC format. I can't see how to refine it further and can't wait to give it a go.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER: Sky Serpent

ALLIANCE LEVEL: BATTLE BROTHERS

OTHER [Realspace Raiders Detachment]: Dark Eldar

HQ1 : Archon : husk blade ; shadow field ; webway portal [160]
HQ2 : Court of the Archon: 8 sslyth ; 1 lhaemean (Transport1) [210]

Troop 1 : 5 Kabalite Warriors (Transport2) [40]
Troop 2 : 5 Kabalite Warriors (Transport3) [40]
Troop 3 : 5 Kabalite Warriors (Transport4) [40]
Troop 4 : 5 Kabalite Warriors (Transport5) [40]

FA1: 5 Scourges : 4x heat lances [120]
FA2: 5 Scourges : 4x haywire blasters [120]
FA3: Razorwing Jetfighter : 2 dark lances [140]
FA4: Razorwing Jetfighter : 2 dark lances [140]

HS1: Voidraven Bomber : 2 void lances ; 2 shatterfield & 2 implosion missiles [210]
HS2: Voidraven Bomber : 2 void lances [160]

Transport1 : Raider : dark lance; splinter racks ; night shields (HQ2) [90]
Transport2 : Venom : splinter cannon (Troop1) [65]
Transport3 : Venom : splinter cannon (Troop2) [65]
Transport4 : Venom : splinter cannon (Troop3) [65]
Transport5 : Venom : splinter cannon (Troop4) [65]

TOTAL [(point total)pts]

FORTIFICATION: Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker: comms relay [75]

TOTAL [(75)pts]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm curious about a couple of the choices - huskblade over the agoniser and the lhamaean

I'm guessing you've taken huskblade for the ID, but are you really likely to want to put your archon up against multi wound stuff (usually either 2+ save or high toughness). I'd think the agoniser gives you better utility for the same price.

Similarly I'm assuming the lhamaean is there for the leadership, in which case where does the archon go, heat lance scourges?

I'd personally also switch a couple or three of the sslyth for medusae for the templates, but I guess that's personal preference.

Please don't use point values for every item ///Vasara

Why ETC format?

Thanks Vasara, copy and pasted without thinking.

Archon goes with the Sslyth still, Lhamean is there as back up leadership and because she is cool; might experiment with adding Medusae to the unit. I think I prefer the husk blade but I welcome your idea - also, magnets.

A new idea that has come to mind is dropping the voidravens for the haemonculus/talos/cronos formation. What are your thoughts on this and how would you arm them?

Sky Serpent wrote:

Duke Sliscus (Archon), Shadowfield, Husk blade, The Armour of misery, Webway, 175pts
8 Sslyth, 1 Lhamean, Raider, Splinter racks, 285pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts

5 Scourges, 4 Heatlances, 120pts
5 Scourges, 4 Heatlances, 120pts
Razorwing Jetfighter, two Dark lances, 140pts
Razorwing Jetfighter, two Dark lances, 140pts

Voidraven Bomber, Dark scythes, 160pts
Voidraven Bomber, Dark lances, mixed missles, 210pts

Bastion, Comms relay, 95pts

No Fortification slot in the detachment.

You have 4 flyers and 7 other units that could deep strike in. Statistically, 2 of the flyers will come in but if you deep strike the scourge and the court, it's pretty good odds that you'll get 4+. I'm not a fan of probability in a game of dice but I think it'll be enough to be able to run without dropping back to a CAD.

With the extra points freed up from the bastion/comms, I would look into an empty Venom and a small unit of mandrakes (or just Mandrakes) in order to have a nice small unit for line breaker, objective holding, general distraction and annoyance.

I can add the mixed missiles to the other Voidraven or take the already existing missiles from the other one and that gives me 130pts which gives me another Razorwing or more Scourges.

I'm also thinking of dropping both Voidravens and taking the below:

Haemonculus, Flesh gauntlet, Webway portal, 115pts
Cronos, Spirit probe, 125pts
Talos, Chain flails, twin-linked Heat lance, 130pts

Sky Serpent wrote:

I can add the mixed missiles to the other Voidraven or take the already existing missiles from the other one and that gives me 130pts which gives me another Razorwing or more Scourges.

I'm also thinking of dropping both Voidravens and taking the below:

Haemonculus, Flesh gauntlet, Webway portal, 115pts
Cronos, Spirit probe, 125pts
Talos, Chain flails, twin-linked Heat lance, 130pts

With running that formation, I would be curious to get your opinion on finding 5pts and swapping the Armour of Misery for an Animus Vitae. One Use Only but if you can kill off 1 infantry model with it, both detachments/formations would get +1 to their PFP turn. Not as important with the regular, shooty list but taking the coven formation may help from being +2 turns ahead.

This is a new draft, using the traditional combined arms detachment but with the artisan formation. It still has a big second turn wallop and reasonable staying power.

The alternative is to drop the coven formation and add in another Voidraven while sprucing them up with missiles and/or drop the bunker and go full Realspace raider and hype up the Razorwings.

COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT

Archon, Husk blade, Shadow field, Webway portal, 160pts
8 Sslyth, 1 Lhaemean, Raider, Dark lance, Splinter racks, 285pts

5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, additional Splinter cannon, 105pts

5 Scourges, 4 Heat lances, 120pts
5 Scourges, 4 Haywire blasters, 120pts
Razorwing Jetfighter, 2 Dark lances, 140pts

Voidraven Bomber, 2 Void lances, 160pts

FORTIFICATION

Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker, Comms relay, 75pts

FORMATION

Haemonculus, Flesh gauntlet, Webway portal, 115pts
Cronos, Spirit probe, 125pts
Talos, Chain flails, twin-linked Heat lance, 130pts