Escalation help! (Last time, I swears.)

Hey guys, my final Escalation league game is coming up Tuesday, and I'm starting to second guess myself. I'm tied for first, but I've got to play a tiebreaker matchup against the OTHER guy in first, a mono-Eldar list.

He's rocking a primarily foot-based list. The last time I played him his only vehicle was a Wraithfighter. Here's my list as it stands from last week.

Spoiler:

League rules allow us to change options or upgrades, so long as the unit ends up no smaller than the previous week, and the total cost (including Dedicated Transports) is the same or more.

I've got 250 points left to play around with. My initial thought is to bring in another Ravager and another warrior group in a venom. Where I'm kind of hemming and hawing is the loadout for the ravagers and the scourges.

If he doesn't add in a whole bunch of vehicles, I was thinking it might be better for me to run both Ravagers as Dissie Ravagers, (with Nightshields) and both groups of Scourges as Heat Lance scourges. (I have swappable bits to accomplish this.) I dont know the eldar dex that well, but if he cheeses it out to spam as many vehicles as possible, I might want to go the other route and make the ravs lance variants (and take haywire scourges). Of course, I could split the difference and take one of each variant (lance and blaster scourges, lance and dissie ravs).

Any other thoughts on a better spot to spend my points? I can't start a new FOC even if I want to (league restrictions), so I'm stuck at this point with 1 HS, 2 Elite, and 1 HQ slot open, but if anyone has a better suggestion for the 250 pts I have available, please let me know.

How about a court of slyth in a venom, making the scourge squads bigger and take haywire blasters on them. That way you still have x2 4 str4 ap4 and half a venom's worth of poison shots if you took six scourges. Or you could frak all logic and take a Void Raven Bomber.
If you are confident about the eldar being footslogging, a squad of mandrakes in cover will work well (if i rmb correctly their ranged atttacks should have enough ap to screw with most of the eldar units).
Dissie lance ravagers should work well here.
Alternatively you could take a nice boat of grotesques out to ruin his day.

Summary
Increase your squad sizes
Be thankful if he does not take jetbikes.
All his units serve specific roles, take advantage of that, bring multipurposed units with high range to pick off those important dudes.
He has no fearless, think of what we have (TGL,PGL etcetcetc)
He has units with armor as weak as ours, venoms will kill him.
Poison will work well against him, especially if he brings arty, bring more.
As I said, bring multipurposed units, stuff that can rip his vehicles apart then murder the contents are good since he wont be blobbing his men.

Would like to see the other players list. Even Vaguedly.

What is the scenario?

Pair of talos might be good if your opponent doesn't bring Wriathguard or a WK.

If your opponent isn't packing Laser Bikes or Wraith units, I'm with Vasara I think some Taloi trailing your army would be great for mid-game reinforcements.

A second Ravager with Lances always helps too

Here's what I know he has (from our earlier game):

One unit of scatbikes
Jetseer
One unit of guardians with heavy weapon and warlock
One unit of dark reapers
One unit of dire avengers
One Vaul's wrath battery, two guns and a warlock
One hemlock
One unit of rangers

I know he owns Wraithblades, so I wouldn't be shocked to see them make an appearance. He tends to like squads of guardians, so that's possible too.

I'd go with your first thought, the Ravager and Warriors. It's safe, the Warriors score and it gives you options. I would actually keep all the loadouts the same, and give the Ravager lances. You're adding more anti-infantry fire if he goes all foot, and more lance shots if he goes mounted. Plus you don't have to use something for the first time in an important game, I'd be hesitant about that personally

I would recommend a pair of Talos in a one unit (perhaps the other with Ichor Injector). They should be good firemagnets and area denial units. Then put possible objectives (even better if Maelstrom) in a 12" triange right to the center of the table to make a "no go zone" that is has objectives and is easy to control with the two Talos.

With the egregious amount of Rending/Bladestorm weapons in his army, not to mention D weapons, the Taloi seemed to me like they might be super fragile.

I wouldn't worry anything but Flamer Wraithguard (and WK if allowed). Artillery should be easy to get rid of with DE and Hemlock Never rolls 6. You get cover if it "wounds". Doom doesn't help it nor any D weapon as they don't roll to wound or pen.

Bladestrom weapons usually have short range. That means you might have possibility to charge them on your turn if they fail in shooting you. And still that pair of Talos needs a lot of shots to kill and those shots are not aimed agaisnt your other forces.

Theres a FA slot open or am I missing something? If so I'd recommend a unit of reavers. Outside of the lone unit of dark reapers that you can focus down these guys will do really well against his list and double as AT in case he mixes it up.

Brom wrote:

Theres a FA slot open or am I missing something? If so I'd recommend a unit of reavers. Outside of the lone unit of dark reapers that you can focus down these guys will do really well against his list and double as AT in case he mixes it up.

No FA slots. I have 6 Reavers and two units of Scourges.

Vasara wrote:

I wouldn't worry anything but Flamer Wraithguard (and WK if allowed). Artillery should be easy to get rid of with DE and Hemlock Never rolls 6. You get cover if it "wounds". Doom doesn't help it nor any D weapon as they don't roll to wound or pen.

Bladestrom weapons usually have short range. That means you might have possibility to charge them on your turn if they fail in shooting you. And still that pair of Talos needs a lot of shots to kill and those shots are not aimed agaisnt your other forces.

In a lucky break for me, WK are not allowed. Wraithblades, on the other hand, are a very real (and even expected) possibility.

Between a single unit of two Taloi, or a warrior squad in a venom plus a Ravager, I'm just not sure what the Taloi are bringing to the table. Maybe locking some units up in CC? It seems like you'd get more firepower out of the warrior-venom plus ravager, doesn't it? Or am I mistaken?

Well, event is over. Although I lost my final game, I managed to win first place, by .2 points.

Wow! Way to squeeze one out! What did your list end up looking like?

I ran:

Archon (Huskblade, Shadowfield, Archangel of Pain)
Succubus (Archite Glaive, Armor of Misery, Webway Portal)

Grotesques (4 w/Aberration with a scissorhand, Raider with Nightshields and TGL)
2x Mandrakes (3 man-squads)

4x Warriors (5 warriors with a blaster in a dual-cannon Venom)

2x Scourges (4 heat lances)
Reavers (6, 2 caltrops)

Ravager (Torment Grenade Launcher, Night Shields, dissies)
Reaper (Night Shields, Torment Grenade Launcher)

His list: (Not sure about upgrades)

Farseer Skyrunner

Windriders (with warlock)
Guardians (with bright lance and warlock)
Dire Avengers
Striking Scorpions
Shining Spears
Hemlock Wraithfighter
Vaul's Wrath battery (with warlock)
Nightspinner

Congrats on your overall victory!

The Talos would have brought a second CC threath to yor lists but risk of facing wraithguard might be too big.

What's a reaper?

CptMetal wrote:

What's a reaper?

A raider with a huge haywire cannon, made by Forgeworld.

What does that BFG Haywire gun do?

CptMetal wrote:

What does that BFG Haywire gun do?

Blast mode shoots a large blast of heavy-flamer stats + haywire, pinning, concussive.

Beam mode shoots a dark lance with less S, worse AP, and losing lance but D3 haywire, pinning, ID on to wound 5+.

How did the scourges and mandrakes do?

The Reaper also has a better Haywire table, getting a Pen on a 5+. I brought it in earlier because most of the armies were SUPER mech heavy.

Jimsolo wrote:

The Reaper also has a better Haywire table, getting a Pen on a 5+.  I brought it in earlier because most of the armies were SUPER mech heavy.

How did the reaper do?

Jimsolo wrote:

The Reaper also has a better Haywire table, getting a Pen on a 5+.  I brought it in earlier because most of the armies were SUPER mech heavy.

Eh? Where are you getting that from? It causes ID on a 5+ in beam mode but I don't see anything about a different Haywire table.

Forgeworld need to make 7th edition rules for the reaper and tantalus, anyway.