Freakshow Tactica Part 4

Sample Freakshows

Introduction
Several people have requested sample army lists, so I thought I would provide a couple. The following lists are presented along with a few 'helpful' tips on how to use the tools provided.

Although super spammy lists are often very effective, I've tried to avoid making those kinds of lists, because they can be very bank-breaking. To that end, I'm not going to provide any lists in this thread that I can't make with my own models. Due to the unbelievably high cost for those of us this side of the pond, I've also excluded Forgeworld models.

Lament Configuration - 1000 pts
We have such sights to show you... -Pinhead (Hellraiser)

Spoiler:

Opening Act - 1500 pts
Ladies and gentleman, please. Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see?
An explosion of catastrophe. -Saliva (Ladies and Gentlemen)

Spoiler:

Old Friends - 2000 pts
Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
and he laughs until he cries then he dies, then he dies. -Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (Karn Evil no. 9)

Spoiler:

The Main Event - 2500 pts
I don't believe it, need it, see it, be it, breed it, time to make my final stand.
Welcome to the Freakshow. This is where the freaks go. -Skillet (Welcome to the Freakshow)

Spoiler:

The Guest List - 1850
I cannot take the credit here. All thanks to Sigmaril for providing this sample list, which is a great example of how to work the Forgeworld units into play.

Spoiler:

Conclusion
These are just some of the ways you can mix-and-match your army to its greatest benefit. The possibilities are by no means covered here exhaustively, there are many more combinations waiting to be found, especially if you branch out into non-Battle Brother armies. Next time we get together, I'll try to talk about some of the allies you might use that would traditionally be the foes of our army. Until then, thanks for all the support, and stay freaky!

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
-T.S. Eliot

Sorry you keep quoting things.

I still haven't had a chance to try out your freakshow theories but am intrigued. My initial impression is that it seems like a lot of work where more guns can do. On the other hand, employing novel tactics in the real world (I'm looking at you Executive Outcomes in Sierra Leone) can be extremely effective. The 1500 point list looks intriguing but I'm skeptical of less than 6 Troop choices at 1500.

Funny story..I might be related to TS Eliot...but if the ancestry records are true, the method of HOW is weirder than the fact itself.

I thought the 1500 list had 4 troops. Only three have ObSec, but that's always been more than enough for me. Do you normally do two troops per 500 pts? I may throw up another list at some point with more. Eldar primary, probably.

First of all, thank you for taking all this time to write those articles! I found them very interesting especially for potentially opening up a new style of play for Dark Eldar. I was just about to comment on part 3 to ask for sample army lists when I saw this new thread, great!

Now one thing I have left to ask: in my local gaming club the use of allies (as well as Forge World) is generally somewhat looked down upon, and I am only recently making some progress in that regard, wanting to add some Corsairs and maybe Harlequins to my army.

The  bigger problem however is having that many different detachments and formations - currently we allow only 2 combinations/sources. That was actually my idea because I thought that was the general consensus at tournaments - am I wrong/has that changed?

So if you could build your force only out of 2 sources, how would you do it, and/or is it even worthwhile?

Thanks in advance!

The 2500 point list is a two-source list. Haemonculus Covens and Codex Eldar. I will do some thinking on it and get back to you, however.

Jimsolo wrote:

The 2500 point list is a two-source list.  Haemonculus Covens and Codex Eldar.  I will do some thinking on it and get back to you, however.

Thank you!

There's 4 formations in the 2500pt list though. What would you say the current tourney rules are? I think the LVO for example also only allowed 2 detachments.

Unfortunately, many of your big tourneys still use antiquated comp rules like that, which are essentially de facto bans on Haemonculus Covens and Harlequins.

In those cases, a single large Dark Eldar or Craftworld Eldar is your best bet, with an second detachment from a second army.

Jimsolo wrote:

Unfortunately, many of your big tourneys still use antiquated comp rules like that, which are essentially de facto bans on Haemonculus Covens and Harlequins.

I wouldn't call them antiquated. Necessary, and constantly evolving is more like it. To that fact the ITC has just upped the detachment limit to 3. I believe that most tournaments will be going to three detachments as well.

Thank you for writing up these guides! I'd very much be interested in building one of these armies. My only concern is that all but 2 people in my meta play Space Marines. It seems that the lists you posted here have enough guns to compensate for the loss of morale shenanigans, but would it still be pointless to take one of these armies against an army that Shall Know No Fear?

Nope! Only Soulfright fails on Space Marines. The major damage comes from the psychic powers, which affect Marines normally. In actuality, many Marine units have 8's in their Ld score without a sergeant, so they are actually more susceptible to Psychic Shriek or Laugh of Sorrows than, say, Necrons.

So I really like the idea of a Freakshow army list and want to try it out in a regional tournament in a couple of weeks. The format is escalation, from 1500 to 1750 to 2000, and you can only add units to your previous list. How would you go ahead and make a Freakshow list in this format?

Are formations allowed? Are they allowing multiple sources and/or detachments?

Yes, basically everything is allowed, should have added that to my post. You are simply not allowed to go Unbound.

I'd go with a Dark Eldar Realspace Raiders detachment.  Add a Heroes Path detachment of Harlequins mounted in Venoms.  (If you want, a Scalpel Squadron can help too, and open up Null Deployment strategies.)  

Codex Dark Eldar have a lot of flexibility when it comes to Escalation leagues, because Warriors/Trueborn and Wyches/Bloodbrides are the same unit, which gives you a great deal of swing from week to week.

Why the Heroes Path instead of the Cast of Players? The Cast can be mounted in a Raider with the Crucible and Armour of Misery, providing an additional modifier with the Mask of Secrets. It would be a lot trickier to get a Hero Shadowseer in position along with the Raider. Thanks for the advice!

A) 36 extra poison shots.
B) Harlequins are expensive, and the ICs are the best part of the army, especially where Freakshows are concerned.
C) Spreading the wealth. If all your modifiers are in one Raider, then it's easier for your enemy to target and destroy them all at once. Much harder if the Jester, Shadowseer, and Archon are all spread out, doing their own thing, just taking advantage of overlapping bubbles.
D) The Venoms still Deep Strike, so I don't think positioning will be that big of a deal.

If you want to do Cast of Players instead, you can of course, I just think it lacks the flexibility of the wall o Venoms.

Hello there.  I stopped playing 40k in 2001 but I recently returned to it in October of 2014.  I played Dark Eldar back then and I'm doing it again now.  I originally planned to purchase new models and run a Kabalite themed list.  However, after the release of the Haemonculus Coven Supplement and the Harlequin Codex, I decided there was too much fun to be had with these crazy new elements.  After purchasing several boxes of Kabalite themed Dark Eldar models and playing a few games, I decided to expand my modest list in the direction of Coven and Harlequin allies.  I am now stumbling upon this article and I am very relieved that someone else has realized the potential for something like this and a lot of your ideas were similar to mine.  So I will now share this list with you for your consideration and critique.  Keep in mind, I am only using models that I currently own so there might be some inefficiencies here and there.  I am willing to alter my current models or purchase different ones if needed.  

1505 points DE, Coven, Harlequins:

So far, I have painted all the elements of the Dark Eldar detachment (except the empty raider).  I have finished 4 models from the first wrack squad which can be seen

Here:

I should be able to finish the other six relatively soon.

I own all the elements of the Cast of Players formation but I am holding off on them for now because they seem incredibly difficult to paint.  I am not afraid of the challenge but I want to really take my time with them so I am saving them for last.

Anyway thanks for looking at the list.  I am still toying with it at this point.  I feel like replacing the raiders with venoms and breaking up the troop squads would be more efficient but I've already purchased and painted the raiders so it would be difficult for me to do that.  I am not sure what would be the correct configuration for the Harlequins.  The caresses seem to be the most efficient choice but they make each model very expensive.  Also they are kind of the "tax" of the formation because I am really focusing on the death jester and shadowseer.  On the other hand, if they are going to be in the list, they might as well be equipped to actually hurt things. I guess I could go Heroes Path instead.  I like the Solitaire but I bought a Troupe box and I really want to paint it.  I also want a proper squad to place my Dark Eldar HQ instead of just riding alone in a venom.  I chose the Succubus over the Archon because I prefer the aesthetics of the model and the fact that she has an AP 2 weapon.  I will probably (eventually) create an archon, with leftover bits from the Kabalite warrior, Raider and Scourge boxes.

Let me know what you think!

Not a bad list. I've run very similar lists, and they've done very well. If you stack the Spectacle, Mask, and Armor on one enemy (not hard at all) and manage to roll Mirror of Minds, you will kill literally any enemy you hit with the power. (There is literally no way for them to stop it barring Deny the Witch. The wounds won't stop coming until they die or beat you in a roll off they can't win.)

That being said, I would make two possible alterations. The first is the removal of the Ravager. You've got Dark Lances, the Razorwing, and the Scourges to handle vehicles; I think you're covered. The Ravager is pretty ineffective at its role in this edition, unfortunately. (Optionally, you might consider redoing it as a disintegrator ravager. The additional firepower will work better when you Jink, and can provide some higher volume of fire for stubborn armor 2+ units. With the points you save, Splinter Cannons, Blasters, or both would not go amiss in the warrior squads. You could potentially fit in an Archon or haemmy with the Archangel of Pain if you liked, or a squad of Reavers, (never a poor decision).

The other possible alteration is the Psychic Powers. I would personally recommend taking one roll from Telepathy (and sacrificing it for Psychic Shriek) and then taking only a single roll on Phantasmancy. Shriek is better than the two Freakshow attacks you can get from Phantasmancy, since you don't have to gamble on getting it.

I used a variant on the Opening Act list in a game last night but unfortunately it didn't go well!! It was my first game with a proper freakshow list and I messed up with target priority, unit positioning and use of psychic powers so it was always going to be an uphill battle and I don't mind losing when I've cocked up. I just need to practice a lot more with this sort of list.

In mitigation though, I do have to say that both myself and my opponents were staggered by just how appalling my luck was throughout pretty much the entire game! I seized the initiative and that was basically the last time I had anything other than bad luck with the dice.

To give some examples, I hit a tightly packed unit of Immortals with both Heavy D-Scythes from the Hemlock and did 10 hits on them then proceeded to roll seven 1's and 2's on the destroyer table. I hit 2 units with Psychic Shriek on the same turn and they both rolled 1,1,1 on the Ld test. They then shot the Harlequins under Veil of Tears and both rolled 12 for the distance they could shoot at! My Fire Dragons fired 5 shots at a barge and hit once. My jetbikes fired 20 twin-linked S6 shots into the rear armour of a Helldrake and did no damage. The list goes on...

I liked the style of the list though and will continue to work on it.

I tried a similar list with Eldar + Cast of Players + DE (basically only for a FA Raider and Venom and a succi with armor to go with the harlies). Did work quite well as I used Telepathy for all of them (even the shadowseer and Farseers) and shriek can get nasty with a -6 modifier (it has also 4 warlocks who can get you another -3).

However the list is not super competitive and you might have problems with vehicle based or MSU opponents.
Also you have to be very careful to not get picked apart cause your core components are not hard to remove unless you manage to get invis multiple times.

It is around 20 Warp dice at 2k points and everything is either a jetbike or mounted on an open topped vehicle. Most of the firepower does come from multiple shrieks (6 sources). The only At are a bunch of Dragons in a Venom, the Conclave and the Hemlock (you can count in the caress harlies too I guess)

I took a Freakshow list to the recent Throne of Skulls event at Warhammer World, Nottingham. Played 5, won 4, drew 1 so quite happy. Full report can be found here.

Count Adhemar wrote:

I took a Freakshow list to the recent Throne of Skulls event at Warhammer World, Nottingham. Played 5, won 4, drew 1 so quite happy. Full report can be found here.

Wow, that's very encouraging. Thanks for the batreps too! They really help me out/

Thanks. I didn't go into too much detail as, frankly my memory isn't that good! Hope I covered the main points though.

5 Shadow Spectres and 2 Shadow Spectre exarchs FINALLY en route from ForegWorld. I'm SO excited

Bought some Spectres when I went up there for the tournament. Wish I'd picked up the Phoenix Lord too whilst I was up there as he's a perfect addition to the Freakshow.