[Tournament List] Dark Artisan + Covenite Coterie = 1000 Poiints

Kabalite Warrior Posts : 128 Join date : 2015-04-05

+++ Haemonculus Covens (1000pts) +++

Formation: Dark Artisan (410pts)
Cronos [Spirit Probe]
Haemonculus [Crucible of Malediction, Liquifier Gun, Scissorhand, WebWay Portal]
Talos [Ichor Injector, Twin-Linked Heat Lance]

++ Covenite Coterie Detachment (590pts) ++

2x Haemonculi (90pts) [Hexrifle, Scissorhand]

Grotesques (260pts)
Abberation [Agoniser]
2x Grotesques [Liquifier Gun]
Grotesque
Raider

Wracks (150pts) [3x Wracks]
Acothyst [Hexrifle]
Wrack with Special Weapon [Ossefactor]
Venom [Splinter Cannon]

First off, I'm well aware that I almost have no decent, ranged Anti Vehicle options, so I`ll have to be lucky with the Heat Lance. The trade-off is that I have a tough as nails Dark Eldar army list which can dish out tons of damage.

My tactic revolves around a form of null-deployment where a Raider filled with 4 Grotesques and 2 Haemonculi will count as a lure. I purposefully provided 2 of the Grotesques with Liquifier Guns, because it just increases my chances to roll an 1, 2 or 3 for armour penetration, but also makes me care a little less about not making the charge since this can create quite a Wall Of Liquefied Death.

Both the Disintegrator Cannon and the 2 Hexrifles should help convincing the enemy to come closer to my Raider unit, which I will try to keep as far away from the enemy as possible. While I know some people would consider 4 Grotesques, just awaiting to be charged in Raider, a bit of a waste as they need to earn back their points spend by killing stuff, I presume it to be inevitable that they will get stuck in combat considering they are the only unit present in Turn 1 (and poorly reserve rolled consequent turns) and starting Turn 3, this entire unit gets It Will Not Die.

When possible to take a Warlord Trait rather than to roll for it, I would seriously consider Master Symphoneus which allows me to add or subtract 1 from my Reserve Rolls, basically assuring I will have my reserves in by the second turn.

The Dark Artisan unit has a couple of options. First of all, they are my only decent Anti Vehicle unit, so depending on how serious I calculate the threat of an enemy vehicle I might just have it teleport right at the rear armour. That being said, it still can't charge that turn, so it might be considered more in sync with the WebWay Portal advantage to place this group in the best tactical position to maximize template terror. That, or positioning this unit in such a way that multiple enemy Psyker-oriented units may suffer beneath the Crucible of Malediction (I'm looking at you Grey Knights).

Since this unit increases Feel No Pain to a 4+, I'm probably going to rush my Grotesque unit to within 6" and just have these guys support each other. Also, since both Haemonculi of this unit have Scissorhands, they could potentially help out cracking open a lightly armoured vehicle.

Last, but not least, I will Deep Strike a small unit of ranged oriented Wracks in a Venom to take objectives or just lend a supporting hand. Most likely, I will try to make use of the 6" Feel No Pain increase, but probably only when their Venom has been destroyed.

Sybarite Posts : 303 Join date : 2013-03-31

I'm playing a similar list at the moment. Dark Artisan, Grotesques with an Archon in a Raider, and 2x5 Kabalites in Venoms.

I've had terrible luck with the DA not coming on till turn 4, allowing my opponent to focus all his firepower on the fragile skimmers. The result is that I am barely still alive and without mobility by the time the DA comes on, basically only allowing me to deal with one threat of my choosing (WWP) and hope my opponent won't send everything else at me at the same time.

With only two skimmers, you are likely to run into similar issues. You've even gone and upgraded everything to the max. For instance, I wouldn't spend 25 points just to get my Abberation AP3 (he has a Flesh Gauntlet stock, so already Poison is in effect).

Keep in mind that flamer templates can't be fired if they overlap onto any friendly base, so your Grots and DA members need to be standing next to each other for maximum impact.

Kabalite Warrior Posts : 128 Join date : 2015-04-05

DingK wrote:: I'm playing a similar list at the moment. Dark Artisan, Grotesques with an Archon in a Raider, and 2x5 Kabalites in Venoms.

I've had terrible luck with the DA not coming on till turn 4, allowing my opponent to focus all his firepower on the fragile skimmers. The result is that I am barely still alive and without mobility by the time the DA comes on, basically only allowing me to deal with one threat of my choosing (WWP) and hope my opponent won't send everything else at me at the same time.

With only two skimmers, you are likely to run into similar issues. You've even gone and upgraded everything to the max. For instance, I wouldn't spend 25 points just to get my Abberation AP3 (he has a Flesh Gauntlet stock, so already Poison is in effect).

Keep in mind that flamer templates can't be fired if they overlap onto any friendly base, so your Grots and DA members need to be standing next to each other for maximum impact.

Well the thing is that the Raider will only count as a means to get into the thick of anti-infantry battle within the first turn. If the Raider blows up, well, I couldn't care less to be honest, since after that I've already managed to put the Grotesque's where I'd want them to be.

Alternatively I could opt to have the Raider Deep Strike, hope to place the Raider close enough for the Grotesque's to use the Liquifier Guns and otherwise just await to be assaulted through my Wall of Liquid Death. In this scenario I'd use the Wrack-Venom unit as a lure. With a Toughness of 4 and 5+ Feel No Pain, some of them should at least survive a ballsy approach by my opponent, like a Droppod for instance.

Having 4 Grotesque's and 2 Haemonculi (preferably with the Warlord Trait: Master Regenesist), a unit that should certainly hold out for a while with a T5, W3, FNP5+ and IWND. Especially if I can get these guys in close combat asap. Though perhaps it would be wise to keep them out of line of sight as much as possible and try to lure the enemy into coming closer to me so that I can actually charge with this unit near the Dark Artisan unit. In this case Warlord Trait: Master Symphoneus would have a nice synergy.

While I could choose to remove 3 Liquifier Guns and the Agoniser, freeing up to 70 points allowing me to take an extra unit of Wracks with another Ossefactor or Liquifier Gun, I have this, probably weird in most people their mind, tick which drives me to not want more than 1 type of unit of each. A friend of mine will convert 3 of the 4 Grotesques and luckily there are 3 Haemonculi models on the market in total. I'd like to keep things as unique as possible, and, call me stupid, but I just like buffing up a unit with upgrades. Those Grotesques can take a beating and can dish out even more.

Out of curiosity, which army (build) did you face when experiencing these problems?

Sybarite Posts : 303 Join date : 2013-03-31

One issue with your strategy: the Raider is deployed 12" forward, moves 6, 6" disembark... meaning your only halfway up the table when rolling for your charge distance. You are reliant on both your opponent going first AND him going forward enough for you to make that charge on T1. Not saying it can't be done, but...

Letting the Raider DS only makes things worse, as the Grots won't be able to assault for another turn, making the earliest charge T3. You want those extra attacks to take advantage of Lethal Dose, so getting charged, while not the worst thing, is not optimal. They'll hold their own for a while though, you're correct on that.

Wracks in a Venom are not enough of a threat for them to be a lure. Venoms get glanced to death by bolters, the marines assault the Wracks... They'll hit and wound the same statistically, but without the charge or a 3+ save the Wracks won't last long. They'll also run away quicker thanks to ATSKNF.

As for Warlord and Trait, the Haemie in the DA, equipped with the Panacea, is nigh unkillable. Challenge your opponent, and watch him set his sights on the thing. Last game, against White Scar bikes and speeders, he killed a CM in a challenge and then proceeded to tear the sergeant to pieces.

The White Scar bikes have the tools to deal with Venoms (bolters for a start, it gets worse from there), and the mobility to outrun DE after the transports are gone. Hit & Run together with ATSKNF means you'll either remain locked in combat, or they'll come back around next turn for extra HoW hits.
Those Venoms put out volume of fire, making them a priority target because they negate the bikes' extra Toughness.
Learn from my mistake, and consider an empty Raider a potential speedbump to slow the bikes down or steer them in a different direction.

Kabalite Warrior Posts : 128 Join date : 2015-04-05

DingK wrote:: One issue with your strategy: the Raider is deployed 12" forward, moves 6, 6" disembark... meaning your only halfway up the table when rolling for your charge distance. You are reliant on both your opponent going first AND him going forward enough for you to make that charge on T1. Not saying it can't be done, but...

Letting the Raider DS only makes things worse, as the Grots won't be able to assault for another turn, making the earliest charge T3. You want those extra attacks to take advantage of Lethal Dose, so getting charged, while not the worst thing, is not optimal. They'll hold their own for a while though, you're correct on that.

Wracks in a Venom are not enough of a threat for them to be a lure. Venoms get glanced to death by bolters, the marines assault the Wracks... They'll hit and wound the same statistically, but without the charge or a 3+ save the Wracks won't last long. They'll also run away quicker thanks to ATSKNF.

As for Warlord and Trait, the Haemie in the DA, equipped with the Panacea, is nigh unkillable. Challenge your opponent, and watch him set his sights on the thing. Last game, against White Scar bikes and speeders, he killed a CM in a challenge and then proceeded to tear the sergeant to pieces.

The White Scar bikes have the tools to deal with Venoms (bolters for a start, it gets worse from there), and the mobility to outrun DE after the transports are gone. Hit & Run together with ATSKNF means you'll either remain locked in combat, or they'll come back around next turn for extra HoW hits.

Those Venoms put out volume of fire, making them a priority target because they negate the bikes' extra Toughness. Learn from my mistake, and consider an empty Raider a potential speedbump to slow the bikes down or steer them in a different direction.

I've convinced my friends to mutually agree to picking our Warlord Traits before the game starts. It seems even some tournaments agree to this. Regardless, I'm still very much considering to Deep Strike the Raider when I can most likely have it come on in the same turn as the Dark Artisan unit due to a +1 on Reserve rolls thanks to the Warlord Trait: Master Symphoneus.

The tactic here would be to drop them where anti-infantry combat options are plentyful and I can start using 3 Liquifier Guns from the Grotesque's, 1 Liquifier Gun on the Haemonculus, 1 Twin-Linked Liquifier Gun from the Talos and 1 Spirit Syphon from the Cronos. Surely this has a reasonable chance of completely, or at the very least, severely decimating an enemy unit.

Afterwards I urge the opponent to try and try to take me head on in melee combat as this will give me yet another 6xD3 Wall of Death hits, which should, again in theory, do relatively nice damage. Both units are absoute beasts in combat and both enjoying a Feel No Pain of 4+, I'm thinking they`ll survive quite a while. Starting turn 3, these guys all enjoy It Will Not Die, so I just need to hold on.

Should I just deploy the Raider like the rest, I'd not only set it up as close to the enemy as possible, but move Flat Out into their ranks, unless the charge range I have to make is likely to succeed. I would just accept the fact that I won't have the charge, but just set up a Wall Of Liquid Death and let them come at me, unless... they've got Force weapons.

Regarding the Venom, I'd probably just put it out of line of sight as much as possible and wait for opportune moments to strike with it. Hell I might even turn the tactic around and only deploy the Raider and keep the Wracks in Deep Strike reserve. Get the Warlord Trait: Master Regenesist and just fight through the wounds the Grotesque's are gonna soak up. Bikes can be dealt with through those Template weapons as these ignore cover saves.

Using the Raider as an obstruction is quite useful though, but at first I'd use it as a transport. After the unit has disembarked it can become a glorified piece of cover. I've also decided to either give the Raider a Torment Grenade Launcher or a Night Shield when fighting Fearless or ATSKNF units. The TGL has some nasty synergy going on with the -2LD due to Freakish Spectacle. I'm positive players with armies such as Tau won't like this.

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