Yeeman goes to Wargamescon!

This past weekend I went to Wargamescon, a Frontlinegaming and ITC event in Austin, Texas.  I will show the final list I decided to bring and a brief overview of my games.  Enjoy!

My List:

Dark Eldar CAD

Succubus, Glaive, Haywire, Parasite's Kiss-105
x5 Mandrakes- 60
x3 Grotesques, Raider- 160
x3 Grotesques, Raider- 160
x5 Warriors, Venom- 105
x5 Warriors, Venom- 105
x5 Warriors, Venom- 105
Razrowing Jetfighter, Lances, Cannon- 150
Raider, Lance- 60

Eldar Allies

Autarch, Scorpion Chainsword, Fusion Gun, Banshee Mask- 88
x5 Scatter Bikes- 135
x2 Hornets, Pulse Laser- 160
x2 Vaul Batteries, Shadow Weavers- 60

Aspect Formation

x6 Swooping Hawks, Exarch- 106
x6 Fire Dragons, Exarch- 142
x7 Warp Spiders, Exarch w TL-Spinner- 148

Game 1 vs Gerry's Blood Angels

Gerry's List

Lvl 2 Libby, Terminator Armor
x10 Tac Squad, x2 Meltas
x10 Tac Squad, x2 Meltas
x10 Tac Squad, x2 Meltas
x10 Scouts, x5 Snipers, x5 Bolters, Storm
Ironclad Dread, Flamer, Magna Grapple
Ironclad Dread, Flamer, Magna Grapple
Ironclad Dread, Flamer, Magna Grapple
Drop Pod

x3 Storm Raven Formation

I was worried about Gerry's list and his Storm Ravens.  I don't have loads of AA and those are tough nuts to crack.  The units he has inside of them is not very worrisome, but downing the Ravens should prove difficult.

Gerry got first turn and proceeded to bring in his Strom Ravens and achieve First Blood through one of the Venoms dying.  I would kill his Scouts and Drop Pod.  He would then Hover all 3 Storm Ravens and disembark all of his units.  He would kill a Raider and some other minor damage.  My turn 2 would be very crippling and nearly tabling him before he calls it Turn 3.  I would win 10-1.

Hovering his Storm Ravens was a major mistake and I was able to take advantage.

Game 2 vs White Scar Bikers

Khan
Captain, Bike, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer
Command Squad, Apothecary, x4 Grav Guns
x3 Bikes, Flamer, PW
x3 Biker, Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol
x5 Bikes
x5 Bikes, x2 Plasma
x3 Bikes, x2 Melta, Melta Atk Bike
x3 Bikes, x2 Grav, Grav Pistol
Storm Talon
Drop Pod
x3 Melta Atk Bikes
x3 Grav Centurions

This list could be bad, if I don't go first... But I end up going first and therefore my worry is low.  He has some of every kind of bike and they could be a pain to get through.

My first turn I kill one 3 man squad and take out several from other squads hoping for LD checks, but he makes them.  His first turn, the Cents come down and blow up the Scatter bikes.  

I return Turn 2 charging 4 squads with my 2 Grot squads and killing nearly all of them.  Shooting causes Jinks across the board.  My opponents Storm Talon comes in and wrecks a Venom but too little too late.  I would table my opponent Turn 3 through shooting and assaults.  I win 11-0.

Games 3-5 coming shortly.

Hello, thanks for the reports. Would you say the craftworld section did the trick in these games? Or the dark eldar section?

Alright so Game 3 was vs Josiah and the Space Marine Battle Company

His list was:

Captain, Power Sword
Chaplain

Dreadnought, Multimelta, Drop Pod

x5 Tactical Marines, Melta, Combi Melta, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Tactical Marines, Melta, Combi Melta, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Tactical Marines, Grav Gun, Grav Pistol, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Tactical Marines, Grav Gun, Grav Pistol, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Tactical Marines, Plasma Gun, Combi Plasma, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Tactical Marines, Plasma Gun, Combi Plasma, Las/Plas Razorback

x5 Assault Marines, Flamers, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Assault Marines, Flamers, Drop Pod

x5 Devastators, x3 Missiles, x1 Lascannon, Las/Plas Razorback
x5 Devastators, x3 Missiles, x1 Lascannon, Las.Plas Razorback

Storm Wing Formation (I think that is the name)

Storm Talon, Skyhammer
Storm Talon, Skyhammer
Stormraven (Gets Strafing Run)

Holt Sh!t!!!! That's 11 Free transports and 600 points worth of free stuff!  I was in for an ass beating!

I win the roll off and go first, I wont survive a turn of his shooting.

He deploys all 9 Las/Plas Backs in a line on the 24'' line and some of the Marines out of their rides.  I Reserve the Spiders, my flier, Deepstrike the Dragons, and the Outflank the Mandrakes.

My first turn I wanted to focus one side of his army at a time so his Plasma Guns would have a helluva time getting Rapid Fire shots on me. I blow a Razorback full of Marines on the right with the Hornets, another with the Scatter Bikes, and Flat Out my Autarch Raider forward and grab the Relic with the other squad.  Swooping Hawks Skyleap.  The artillery targets a Devastator squads bunched up and erases it.  My Venoms take out another squad of 5 Marines out in the open.  (Not a bad first turn but I still have 1 pod coming in and 7 MORE Las/Plas Backs)

His CHaplain/Captain/Ass Marines come in close to the Relic.  He disembarks several squads of Marines to target the Relic Grotesques.  His Las/Plas Backs all turn to target the Grot Raider in front of him.  His shooting causes my two Raiders to Jink and a couple they both lose their Guns, but stay afloat.  (Now this may seem impossible but I had a 3+ Jink with Nightfighting up and he is shooting single shot weapons at me largely because his Plasma Gun was out of Range.  Single shot guns, no matter them being Str. 9 are hard to destroy vehicles with especially when you have a 3+ to hit, and I will get a 3+ Cover Save)

So I dodge a bullet turn one.  I get all of my Reserves in Turn 2.  Spiders Deepstrike behind some Backs, the Hawks and Mandrakes look to take out the other Dev Squad and my Dragons mishap and my opponent places them in the far corner of my deployment.  Shooting commences with my flier taking out a Back and their Squad with missiles and Lances.  The Scat bikes down another Back as does the Hornets.  My Grotesques and Autarch disembark and multicharge 2 5man squads and a Back.  They would destroy the back and stay locked in with the ~5 guys left.  My Succubus and her squad would charge a flamer squad in front while holding the Relic and kill them all.  Spiders could not roll a 5 or 6 to save their life to destroy a Back.  The Mandrakes and Hawks combine to kill the Devs.  Artillery takes out a Marine or 2.

My opponent is crippled and has not much left.  He needs his fliers and Dreadnought in play.  He gets both.  He begins by tearing through the Spiders with his Storm Raven and the Hawks and a Venom with the Talons.  The Dreadnought drops down and melts another Venom.  His Chaplain/Captain squad assault my Succubus and wipe out the Grots and cause her to flee.  I stay locked with the other Marine squad and my Autarch's Grot squad, his 3+ saves her hot.  

All in all not a bad turn for me and not a bad turn for him.  His fliers and dread will be hard targets.

I start my turn 3 by targeting a Talon with my Scat bikes and blowing it up.  I target the other Talon with my Hornets but he Jink the 2 shots away.  I target a Back with my Spiders and Wreck it.  My Hawks prep to charge another back with their Haywire.  My Autarch's Grot squad is out of position but takes up shelter in a ruin and hunkers down for the rest of the battle to grab me Linebreaker.  My running Succubus joins the Artillery after rallying.  My Warriors and Venom target the Chaplain and Captain and kill off some of the crowd.  Fire Dragons grab a Drop Pod death but could get to the Dread (Battle focused 2'' then 1'' with the reroll! Needed a 4 for 3 guys to be in range!)  Hawks finish off the last Back.

His turn 3 see the Captain and Chaplain go for my artillery.  The Stormraven stays away from the Hawks and goes after the Spiders.  His remaining Marines (scattered everywhere try to target the scatter bikes.  The Dreadought sits on the relic.  The Stormraven fires everything at the Spiders and I fail literally every save (11 of them!) and they all die!  Remaining Marines combine fire and kill 2 Scat Bikes and they run but stay on the table.  Chaplain and Captain charge and the chaplain dies to Guardian Overwatch and the Captain and company would get torn down by the Succubus.

Turn 4 would be the last turn due to time.  I have Warlord, First Blood, and Linebreaker but need the Relic.  I have Secondaries because I am up 6-3 on Maelstorms.  So the Relic would give me a full win.  My dragons roll Double 1's through terrain to get to the dread.  My Hornets have rear armor shots but he is obsecured via a hill.  I Wrap the Relic with Warriors and a Venom and will at least have it with all of them since they are objective secured and are within 3'' of it.  Hornets target the dread but he makes his Hill saves.  The Dragons again roll double 1's for run moves and I get 2 shots that fail to penetrate the armor of the Dread.  I have no other moves but feel good he cant kill the Venom (full of warriors) and the 2 squads of 2 warriors around the Relic.

He moves the Raven and Talon over to target the Warriors.  The Dread preps to charge the Venom. Talon and Raven kill the 2 squads of warriors.  the dread fails with his melta and charges.  My Flickers are strong and he only hits 2 times.  Game over... I have an obsec unit within 3'' of the Relic even with him holding it so I grabit and the Secondaries and the Tertiaries.

Well... So I thought... My opponent then elects to tell me that everything in the Battle Company is Obsec and we tie the Relic.... WOW!  I had asked him what the Battle Company did before the game and he never told me Obsec otherwise the Dread would have been target numero uno from when he landed.  Oh well... I still win 7-0.

All in all a very very tough game.  9 Razorbacks is rough but definitely beatable.  Keep your head down and your eye on the prize and don't succumb to defeat before you play the game!

@Aroban

I would say both did an equal job. The Eldar fill the holes my DE have and I get an assault element wit the DE that Eldar do not have. Over the course of the tournament, they both performed admirably and I do not regret taking anything I did because each of them played an important role.

Sure there were games where the Eldar portion did better than the DE, but without the DE there, the Eldar would not have performed as well.

At the end of the Bat Reps, I will give MVPs and thoughts overall on the list.

Nice report!

Can't wait to read your game 4 against pajama pants.

As for this game. I think your opponent definitely should have told you that all of his units were objective secured. Especially since you asked him and that the marine dex is really new. I know the TO prob would have been in your favour, but most people don't want to call the TO for something like that. Still glad that you won.

I think you played the game well. You dealt with the razorspam well. Free transports is annoying. At least they still have to pay for upgrades. But when you are getting all that las/plas for only a few extra points that can be very annoying.

I definitely like the grots in your army and think they play a very important roll in the army. I am definitely going to be finishing mine and adding them to my forces

He paid only 20pts per Razorback! It is a little ridiculous. But I think his downfall was having them all armed the same way.. Variety is the spice of life!

As for not telling me about Obsec, he said, "I didn't know what to tell you and what not to... Must have slipped my mind..." Uh huh... Awesome...

Grotesques I think are the lynchpin of the army. having two squads really puts pressure on people. They are nice distraction units and often die in all of my games but not without killing their fair share of things or absorbing large amounts of fire. I would highly recommend using them.

I have thought about rolling with one squad, but I think you need two. I shoot one squad up into the backfield and keep another at midfield for anything that gets through or wants to pressure my backfield.

Game 4 incoming shortly!

Me and I believe 7-8 others are undefeated at this point going into Day 2 of Wargamescon. I know this day will be tough as only quality competition will have made it this far!

Game 4 vs Alan "Pajama Pants"

His list:

Mogrok's Boss Boyz

Warboss, Bike, Combi-Skorcha, Power Klaw
Big Mek, Bike, Combi-Skorcha, Power Klaw
Big Mek, Shokk Attack Gun
Big Mek, Shokk Attack Gun
Weird Boy lvl 2

CAD Daemons

Bloodthirster of Greater Insense, x2 Greater Rewards (4+ FnP, Reroll Invulns), x1 Lesser Reward
Fatweaver
x11 Horrors
x3 Nurglings

CSM Allies

Belakor
x10 Cultists
Helldrake

So off the bat Alan gets every power he needs on Fatey (Summoning, Invis, Iron Arm) and has a neigh unkillable Bloodthirster. But, I get first turn and I plan to use it favorably. Alan also gets -1 to my Reserve Rolls for his Warlord Trait.

The game is the Scouring with 6 objectives (2 1pt objs, 2 2pt objs, and 2 3pt objs.)

I deepstrike the Spiders, Reserve the Bikes, flier in Reserve, Outflank Mandrakes, and Deepstrike the Dragons. My plan is to be able to kill everything but his Big 3 and see what is left once everything is gone and try and kill one at a time.

Turn 1 I kill a Shokk Attack Gun with Venoms and throw a couple wounds on Belakor with the Scouting Hornets and my artillery. His other Shokk Gun went to ground with 1 wound left. I Move 1 Grot raider in the corner where an objective is and another in the center ruin by some Nurglings. Not the best, but I grab first Blood and position myself for a good 2nd turn.

He flies Fatey and Belakor and puts in Invis on the Thirster and Shrouding on Belakor. He fails Summoning and takes a wound on Fatey but makes the Grounding check. He Summons 2 Heralds from the Weird Boy and Horrors. His Thirster is out of position to do much on the Ground as he cant see my Raider.

We each grab 1 Maelstrom objective.

My Turn 2 and I roll a 2 for my Reserves on the Mandrakes, Dragons, Spiders, and flier. Swooping Hawks and Bikes come in. I kill the other Big Mek and the 2 Heralds he summoned. My Grotesque Squad near his corner objective and by the Weird Boy and Cultists fail a 4inch charge through Cover rolling a 5 on my 2 dice... Nice! Other Grot Squad assaults the Nurglings and dominates them. I kill a few Horrors.

Not a terrible turn, but I needed to kill the Cultists this turn as now he can run through the ruin they are in and I might not make it out to them. Also his 3 baddies are essentially unharmed.

His turn 2 he gets the Big Mek in and Skorches my Hawks almost to the man. (Forgot to run them after shooting!) He summons 10 Daemonettes and 1 more Herald. He gets Invis off on the Thirster and Shrouding fails (big!) He Flicker Fires a Venom to Death in the Middle but Perils and strips another wound off of Fatey but he makes his Grounding check on Fatey's reroll! The Cultists run through the Ruin to evade my Grots. His Helldrake comes on and Vectors my Grot Raider in the corner and prepares to burn my 3 Venoms all lined up for him. He rolls and fails to do anything because of my Flickfield save. He also forgets to burn the dudes inside, so I catch a break! The Thirster charges my Grots in the middle. I swing first due to going through a Ruin. Even with Invis I manage 3 hits from the Grots and 2 IDs! He fails both 5++ and rerolls them and makes them both! Terrible luck. He proceeds to D out every model in the squad... Great!

He pulls ahead on Maelstrom 3-2 after this round.

My turn 3 and I get my Flier in and roll a 2 for my Mandrakes, dragons, and Spiders. Now I am super pissed. A 2 normally would be good as I can flip it to a 3 with the Autarch, but because of his Warlord Trait I cannot bring those models in... Sucks!

My flier aims at Fatey. The Scat Bikes aim at the Nets that were just Summoned. My Venoms aim at Fatey and the Hornets at the Herald. My living Grot Squad spikes a 6 for their Move Through Cover and makes it to the Biker Mek and the Cultists. Shooting kills the Herald from the Hornets and I do nothing to Fatey with all of my shooting... Terrible. Bikes and Artillery take out the Nets with ease. Assaults come and I elect to multicharge both the Mek and the Cultists but I roll a 10 on my charge and instead surround the Biker Mek as I can get all my guys in base.. Terrible luck. I kill that Mek dead 5 times over.

His Turn 3 and his Biker Boss stays off again. His Drake Vectors a Venoms but it stays afloat. He casts Invis again on the Thirster and get Shrouding off again. Flicker Fire destroys both Hornets! He rolled 17 hits on 3D6! Weird Boy kills himself attempting to Summon another Herald. Thirster is out of position to do anything. Belakor and Fatey split up and head in opposite directions of my corners. Belakor by my 3 pt obj and my Scat Bikes and Artillery. Fatey alone in the middle with Shrouding. Hell Drake flames my Grotesques but does little damage.

We both grab 2 Maelstrom Objectives. But he leads 5-4.

My Turn 4 and all of my units come on. I get my Mandrakes by his Horrors. My Dragons were going to go for the Helldrake but scatter 11'' towards his board edge out of range. My Spiders were then going to target the Drake but scatter 9'' away from him towards Alan's boardedge as well! So I position my Flier to shoot the Drake and my Scat bikes towards Belakor. My Grots go after the Cultists. Venoms look for anything. SHooting sees 2 wounds off of Belakor from the Scatter Bikes. I kill all but 1 Horror with the Dragons and Mandrakes. Venoms do nothing. Artillery nothing. Grotesques murder the CUltists in CC and consolidate onto an objective. My Venoms are closing in objectives in the middle. My flier shoots the Drake who does not Jink and I Immobilize it (fail to Crash it!) and blow the gun off of it. Success!

This turn was great, we will have enough time for Turn 5 and he has an almost useless Drake, Belakor 1/2 dead and Fatey 1/2 dead and a Horror that will die next round. The Biker Boss will come in and probably kill the Mandrakes but not a biggie. Things look good.

Biker Boss comes in an preps to flame Mandrakes! (Told you!) Helldrake Vectors and blows my flier! Bloodthirster moves towards a Venom. Fatey Moves towards an objective in the corner and Belakor drops to the ground near my 3 pt objective. He summons 10 Daemonettes and Shrieks my Artillery off of the Board! Thirster kills a Venom and a few of the guys inside!

I grab 2 Maelstroms and he only grabs 1, so a tie at 6-6 heading into the final turn.

I position my Spiders, Dragons, and the Dragon Raider on a 3 pt objective. My grots have 1 pt objective. My Venom and squad have a 2pt objective and his Summoning unit has a 1pt obj. The other 2pt objective his held by 3 Warriors. The 3pt obj in my zone is not held but has my Jetbikes right by it. So if the game ended now, I would have 8pts to his 3pts. For Maelstroms I need to Kill a Unit and hold a 3pt Objective. Keep this in mind.

I move my bikes to shoot at Belakor but when he ran him away from the objective, I had to go through cover and I lose a bike from Dangerous Terrain. But I have them all ready to shoot. My Dragons go to aim at the Biker Boss and my Mandrake to kill the last Horror. I kill the Biker Boss for Warlord and the Horror with the Mandrake. I shoot at Belakor and with 16 shots and 10 hits, I proceed to roll 10 1's and 2's... This is a joke right?! Everythign else shuffles to protect the objectives. I Jump with my Bikes and roll a 3 so only 1 Bike gets out of LOS of Belakor but still holding the objective.

Right now I have both my Maelstroms and a commanding 11-3 Scouring Lead.

Alan moves his Thirster in preparation to charge my Warp Spiders and attempt to contest the 3pt objective. Belakor shuffles but remains 9'' away from the bikes and not in range of the objective. ( I am guessing he wasn't thinking) Fatey summons more Nettes and fails his Flicker Fire at my Venom. Belajor then attempts Psychic Shreik on my bikes. I let it go off because if he kills my 3 bikes he can see, I need to make a LD 8 check and I get the objective no matter what because he cant charge my hiding bike. He then rolls a 7 on 3D6 and kills 0 bikes.... DUMB!

Charges... Bloodthirster easily makes it and crushes every single Warp Spider with his 9 attacks. Then consolidates 6 inches and contests my objective! WHAAAA! Belakor then charges my bikes. I get 3 6's and 3 wounds and he makes 2 saves leaving him with 1 wound! He then makes the 9'' charge and crushes my bikes and taking my objective! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The game is over and Alan scores his 2 Maelstroms (Kill a unit and Objective 3) and I get only 1... We had the same Maelstroms. He beats me on Maelstrom objective 8-7.

We tally the Scouring up. So before his Turn 5 I was up 11-3. After his killing of my Warp Spiders, contesting a 3pt objective, and owning a 3pt objective, Alan wins Scouring 7-5. He wins the game 10-3.

Overall a super intense game, but the ending rolls and luck I needed were not on my side. I couldn't wrap the objective he contested enough and I couldn't believe he made that 9'' charge with Belakor and survived the wounds and my abysmal To Wound roll with the Bikes! But... That stuff happens and I cant control what he rolls or my rolls. Just wish I could have had those averages a couples times! AHHHH frustrating!

Alan would go on to win the Tournament again Nick Rose's Scout Space Marine Army. An army I would have loved to have played as I think I could have given him a run for his money or atleast lost attempting to. Instead I am 3-1 and have no hope for placing in the Top 5.

My dream of winning a GT is still in the air and hope it comes soon! Game 5 and my overall impressions and placing coming tomorrow! Thanks for reading this insanely long report! This was for you Colin!

Sounds like your luck was down from the get go.  I love my Autarch, but when people get the -1 to reserve rolls it can really throw a wrench into your plans.

Sounds like you played the game well. You just got screwd by a few key rolls and he got luck with the re doll save for that 5++.  Any one of the rolls going your way and the game would have likely changed for the better.

The only thing I may have done a little differently is to deploy a few more units since pajama pants got the perfect warlord trait against you. I am not totally sure what as it would also depend on the terrain.  
I love the put as much in reserve as I can as I love doing that, but sometimes it gets in my head that I have to do that. I often forget that I can deploy most of my army.

Anyways. Great job at this event.
Looking forwards to hearing about game 5 and you VIPs


I will be attending a small GT this weekend with around 40+ players. Hoping to kick some ass, and have fun doing it. For myself and my opponents

You make a good point about deploying more units, but I was unsure how his list was going to play. I figured he would summon and wanted to be able to dictate where some units went of mine. The Orks threw me for a loop, but he later told me he took them only to win Best Orks for ITC and the tournament and they don't play a very important role.

You are showing us that true Eldar don't suck and that they can built a fluffy AND good army!

Awesome showing!!! That sucks about the ObSec dread, stuff like that can definitely leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Maybe I'm misreading it (or you lost some details trying to remember it) but in your game with Alan, you said you put a couple wounds on Belakor T1 with Hornets/artillery, then 2 more with scatter bikes, then another 1 with overwatch. To me that sounds like a pretty dead Belakor (unless he made his saves T1 and you were just telling us what they shot at). Also I'd question shooting the artillery at Belakor in the first place since you'd need 6's against his I8.

@Cptmetal

Thanks! They were my first army back in 3rd and I have had to tweak my list with every edition! They indeed are a force when played correctly.

@Bugs

The artillery could only fire at Belakor because of the range, they did not cause any wounds, merely telling you they shot at him. The Hornets did the Wounds. Maybe I misremember, but I know he ended the game with 1 wound left. Maybe it was only 1 wound from the Scat Bikes since I do know I did two first turn.

Game 5 coming up soon, been packing for a move. Probably tonight.

Those last two games sounded really intense, good stuff.

very cool. Thanks for the writeup.

Alright, sorry for the delay had to move houses this weekend and it has been a LONG weekend!

So Game 5 I am pitted against a gentleman from New Orleans, LA. His list was:

Techmarine, Bike
Librarian lvl 2, Termie Armor
x10 Scouts, Bolter, Storm w/ Melta
x10 Scouts, Bolter, Storm w/ Melta
x10 Scouts, Bolter, Storm w/ Melta
x10 Scouts, Sniper Rifles
x5 Marines, Melta, Combi Melta, Drop Pod
Fire Raptor Gunship
Fire Raptor Gunship
Devastator Squad w/ x4 Lascannons

Imperial Knight, Chain Gun Variant w/ D-Sword (Str 6 Ap 3 Rending, 12 shot)

So initially, I think his list is very small and I think I can shoot his different parts and use my speed. However, I learn that the Fire Raptor who has the following guns:

Str7 AP3, 7 shots, Twinlinked
x2 Str5 AP4, 6 shots, Twinlinked
x4 Str8 AP 2 Missiles

Oh it has strafing run too! The Heavy Bolters can shoot at independent targets and he has PoTMS so his hull-mounted Str 7 gun can also shoot at a different target. Extra Armor included as well!

So 2 of those puppies should stop me dead in my tracks!

We roll off and I get first turn.

I DS the Spiders, Dragons, Flier, and Reserve the Bikes. I infilitrate the Mandrakes in a ruin in his corner and deploy my army in 1 corner near 3/4 objectives. He deploys opposite of me. His Pod and Raptors in Reserve, Outflanking 1 Speeder.

My First turn the Mandrakes open up on a COmbat Squaded Scout Squad and kill them all with their AP 4 shots. My Venoms open up and kill all but the Libby out of the Devvies. My Hornets kill a Speeder. My Grotesques shoot up the board, one in his face, the other hangs back by the ruin.

His first turn and he moves a speeder by his Knight (who is as far in the corner as possible) to deny the DS from my Reserve units. His Scouts surround the Knight to create a buffer in front of him. He is able to shoot and blow my Raider with a lucky Krak Grenade. His Pod comes in and I elect not to Jink my Hornets hoping for a miss or he only kills 1. He misses with one and blows a Hornet up.

My Warlord Trait allowed me to Reroll Reserves and I am able to keep everything out. I had no good spots or targets for things so I let them stay out and hopefully take advantage of this Skyfire Nexus in my Corner of the board. My hawks drop down and kill another Combat Squad of Scouts with their Grande Pack and shooting. My Venoms use their range to target Scouts and the crew inside to shoot the Disembarked Marines. I down the Marines with 30 RFing shots and do not kill the last one until the very last die roll of wounds (My opponent liked rolling 2 dice at a time, VERY annoying!) My Hornet targets the Pods and only seems to want to Glance it twice. My artillery enters the fights and blows up the speeder with a lucky 6 roll on the Pen Chart! The blown out Grotesques multi assault 2 combat squads. The other squad moves towards an objective and just sits... for now. Other shooting downs Scouts from the remaining squads. I do know my working Raider takes a Wound from the Techmarine! In assault the Grotesques do not do much and stick in Combat.

I am holding my breath for his Reserves and hope the Fire Raptors do not both come in!

His Speeder comes in. He spikes a Snake eyes for his Fire Raptors! He seemed to have forgotten about his Libby casting Scriers Gaze the turn before so I remind him He only gets 1 in! (being a nice guy rarely workout in the game for me!) It comes in opposite side of the table looking to down my Venoms and Grot Raider. His shooting from the Scouts is ineffective. The remaining Speeder shoots at my Hornet and I elect not to Jink as I need him to shoot the Raptor next turn and he misses! Phew! The Raptor takes aim at 2 Venoms and the Raider. I Jink the Raider just to no avail as I roll four 2's for Jinks and it Wrecks out and Pins the Grots! Heavy Bolter #1 Shoots and my 5++ are too strong! Heavy Bolter #2 shoots and Glances 1 Venom! However, his Drop Pod that I remind him about shoots at my Wounded Venom and Glances it down! (Told you!) In Assault I kill 1 units of scouts and the other flees away from me and he rolls an 11 and falls off of the board by a quarter inch! Very unlucky for him! His Knight opened up and killed the Swooping Hawks and killed off 2 crewmen and an Artillery gun! They stick their LD 8 check though.

My Turn 2 and even with my reroll and Autarch, my Warp Spiders stay out! My flier and Jetbikes take aim at the Raptor as does the Hornet. The Dragons stick their landing and disembark half in the front arc and half in the side of his Knight. ( I am going for the Death blow here! If I kill his Knight and Raptor, he cant win) Groestqes move toaward the Tech Marine but will need a 10'' charge. Shooting and my Hornet Immobilizes the Raptor and glances it. My flier shoots... He Jinks... I hit once.... He rolls a 3.. I roll a 5 followed by a 6 and blow it up! Time for the Knight. He elects to put the shield in the Front facing as I have 4/6 guys in the front. I then Battle Focus to the side and shoot the Knight. 5 Hits, 5 Pens, and an Explosion! He wants me to roll for it and I get a 6 on the Chart! It scatters right on my Grotesque unit! He rolls a 6 and D's them all out.... WOW! However, the Str. 10 shot hits his Techmarine and takes him out as well! We have a good laugh about it and after this he concedes the game telling me he had never had so much fun getting his butt kicked.

So I win 11-1 as my opponent killed my Warlord in the blast.

It was great fun and I had a great time. I always like finishing a tournament with a nice and friendly game even though I would rather be grinding it out for the Ship at the top table!

So overall, I finish 4-1 and win the best Dark Eldar player! For the tournament I finish 7th out of 72 players!

My overall thoughts about the tournament was positive. I liked the missions and majority of my opponents were great to play even though I found some rules multiple players played were wrong or they lied about stats. I need to learn the newer books better and the stats of the popular characters better as well, so that is my fault.

The terrain overall was great and the venue was sweet! We had plenty of room and the room stayed pretty cool (for Texas) even with 200+ gamers in it!

My lost I thought worked well.

I really liked what the Mandrakes did. They grabbed me several Maelstrom points as well as put their guns to good use. Having a 2+ Cover Save was also great for absorbing firepower. Most people ignored them and that allowed me to grab points or Linebreaker. I am seriously considering running 3 5 man units and adding the Grotesquerie back in.

The MVPs of the tournament were the Grotesques. They just flat out killed lots of stuff. The Banshee Mask Autarch allows for killer Multi-assaults and they are tough enough even with 3 man units to last. I loved the Grotesquerie when I ran it and want to try and do it again. The Haemoculus was nice giving a +1 on the PfP chart.

Hornets were also very nice to have. I never Outflanked them, but I did Scout them into position turn 1 which most opponents forgot about as they measured from my deployed position, not taking into account Scouting them. They killed several tanks and were a high priority target for my opponents, which I like. They were a nice substitute for the Wraithguard. Though I did miss me some D!

One unit I wish did more was the Artillery. Now, I brought them for blob Snipers and killing characters. Unfortunately they did not have the best targets because of who I played. They grabbed some Maelstrom points and rarely died, but I just did not see their return on the tabletop.

Another unit, and I am surprised I am saying it but the Razorwing Jetfighter just did not cut it. Now I usually run them in pairs, but the lone one just seemed out of place and again he didn't have the bets targets for Blasts or FMCs, but he also didn't do much outside of killing the Fire Raptor.

Units like Venoms, Scat Bikes, and my Aspect Fromation all performed really well. They did what they needed to do and all were useful.

All in all a great tournament and a great showing for me and the Dark Kin! Let me know what you think or any questions you might have. Thanks for reading!

Now, you see, ordinarily I don't even like/read batreps without any pictures, but I've got say your reports were really capitvating nonetheless. I can tell you reading game 4 I was feeling for you having so many rolls not go your way, it was so unfair! I got annoyed just reading it haha!

The last game was pretty cool to read, too, and your whole synopsis.

When I look at your list I'm reminded of why I like Dark Eldar - you don't have to spam certain units to have an effective army! Sure, to play for top spots in a GT you'd do well to include Eldar allies, but again, you didn't just spam scatbikes or wraithguard. I like your list, and congrats on your placing!

Appreciate it sir! I always bring my camera to events and never take pictures! Or if I do it is a picture here or there in the beginning which never is the true story.

I try to take the units I like and try to paint at least 1-2 units per tournament I go to so I have motivation to do so. I have been playing DE since their 3.5 book and never looked back. I had a short stint with Chaos but have always played DE. With the introduction to Allies, my Eldar collection has grown but is nowhere near the 20k points of DE that I own. I try not to take any gimmicky or one trick pony lists, just take solid units and use solid generalship to win.

If you have any questions or anything, I would be happy to answer them! Thanks for reading!

Thay last army you fought was strange, but cool.

My current list is similar to yours. Not much of a difference really.  Instead of an aspect host I took a grotesquery. They have been great so far.  I still have aspect warriors. Just not ones in the host. I love my aspect host though. Will see which i prefer over time.