As the title implies, due to a variety of stars aligning I will be attending the NOVA GT with my friend. The issue is, I needed a list to bring. Normally I bring one of two variants, either "how can I squeeze in a Wraithknight" or "how many Grotesques can I fit" but these have in the past not held up well. So I'm trying something different, and my friend recommended I run it by some experienced Dark Eldar eyeballs. For brevity purposes, "fully loaded" means "Dark Lance, Shock Prow, Enhanced Aethersails, and Nightshields". Here's the list:
Grotesquerie - 685pts
- 3x Grotesques
- 1x Aberration w/Scissorhand
- 1x Raider, fully loaded
- 6x Grotesques
- 1x Aberration w/Scissorhand
- 1x Raider, fully loaded
- 1x Haemonculus w/Scissorhand
Dark Eldar CAD - 1165pts
- Archon w/Blaster and Animus Vitae
- 4x 5-man Kabalite Warriors w/Blaster
- 4x Raider, fully loaded
- 3x Raider, 1 fully loaded, 2 with Disintegrators
- 1x Tantalus w/Nightshields and Shock Prow
Here's how the list works. Everything is deployed on the table except the Tantalus which is held in reserve with the Haemonculus and the 7 man grot squad aboard it. Everything is in boats, and the dedicated transport for the 7-man grot squad is empty. The first turn goes one of two ways. I either jump around the board playing keep away if the enemy has a lot of small units, firing when I can, or I rush them if they have one big deathstar or important looking unit. The goal is to entirely surround the target enemy unit with Raiders that are roughly 26" across from each other, measuring across the target unit. Since Raiders specced how I have them can move 36" a turn, I should have complete board coverage by the end of turn 2's movement phase, regardless of enemy deployment. Once the enemy is surrounded, I will systematically tank shock the enemy unit until their models are so close together they must be removed. To avoid friendly contact, the Raiders will do this in a zipper pattern from both sides of the unit until the unit is either completely removed or I run out of boats. This strategy takes advantage of the following:
1: Raiders are physically large models that are long, making it easy to deny enemy movement around them by merely rotating the model like a gate lock.
2: Unlike Imperial tanks, Raiders are so fast they can be close enough to disrupt movement on turn 1.
3: The meta tends to favor deathstars who rely on invisibility and rerolling saves, neither of which will help against this strategy.
4: Target priority is difficult for opponents, as the boats will be moving a lot during my turn and are nearly identical.
The grots are included for muscle. This strategy will naturally allow for a funneling of enemy units. The Tantalus will come on my board edge and essentially be a second wave. Due to its unique rules, it is equally effective while moving as it is shooting. It's also physically larger than a Baneblade. This is essentially the apocalypse template of tank shock, with the grotesques aboard to hold an important objective, take out a difficult unit, or in case someone thinks they're being clever trying to Death or Glory the Tantalus, they get a nasty pinata surprise.