Shadow fields

We've all used shadow fields, barring those who play themed armies. 30 points well spent in my opinion.
However, as we all know, shadow fields are a bit of a hit and miss, as is anything that must be relied on totally and yet still prone to extreme screw ups.

So what's your story? Just to get you started in recent games my Archon's shadow field has:

• Failed the first save of the game, leaving my Archon fried by a bright-lance.
  
• Absorbed all the firepower of a Monolith, saving the Incubi cowering behind him.
  
• Walked straight through a punisher cannon fusilade.
  
• Fluffed a dangerous terrain test, leaving him stranded infront of a tau gunline.
  
• Failed to stop the attacks of a CULTIST CHAMPION who somehow miraculously survived a challenge (archon got mobbed by cultists and killed later).
  
• Not counted as my Archon was transformed into a squig and subsequently stomped on by Old Zogwart.
  
• Saved him from 20 Necron warriors and 2 special characters, helping him win the combat and run them down.
  

Would love to hear about you glorious triumphs and utterly embarrassing defeats (squig? seriously? Can't I at least take a save against that?).

Please do not edit language so that it may avoid the swear filter. Thanks - Cavash.

3 out of 6 games at the ETC this year I had Vect fail his first shadow field save and suffer ID...

Lord Malwrack is fighting Commander Farsight, and suffers a possible ten wounds. Any one of them will insta-death his frail toughness 3 frame, as well as bypass his kabalite armour. So, it all comes down to makng ten 2++ saves.

I start rolling them one at a time.

First one... saved.
Second one... saved.
Third one... saved.
Fourth one ... saved.

Now a crowd is gathering.

Fifth one... saved.
Sixth one...saved.
Seventh one... saved.

The whole store has now stopped to see if my Archon can pull off the impossible. My opponent's jaw is on the floor.

Eighth one.. saved.
Ninth one...saved.
Tenth one..fail!

Archon is pasted and the tau win. But, man, what a run.

Braden Campbell wrote:

Eighth one.. saved.
Ninth one...saved.
Tenth one..fail!

Archon is pasted and the tau win. But, man, what a run.

Ouch that is harsh. Just brutal. It takes a true genius like Phil Kelly to come up with something so fickle. I've lost count of the games won and lost due to shadow field saves.

You actually have Jervis Johnson and Gav Thorpe to thank for the shadow field

Massaen wrote:

You actually have Jervis Johnson and Gav Thorpe to thank for the shadow field

Really? I raise a toast in their name! We shall drink long into the night and regale ourselves with tales of these mighty heroes! (Phil Kelly too)
Who's with me?


(I don't actually expect you to start with praises, let's keep this thread on-topic)

Ah, the elusive Shadowfield. It combined with a Huskblade is probably THE way I believe an Archon should roll for thematical reasons - you either crush your enemies left and right without breaking a sweat, or you instantly die the first blow of the game. Strike fast, strike hard and finish with style or die trying.

For instance, recently in a small 1000pts game, such Archon slaughtered everything that the Chaos player had deployed bar Helbrute, Obliterators that used Deep Strike and a Rhino. A squad of Khorne Berzerkers, a Chaos Lord and his Chosen and a squad of Chaos Marines, all slashed aside like pests while not taking a single wound in return.

Alternatively, a charge into a squad of Necron Immortals and a challenge to the Lord with the Res Orb ended in pitiful poof - not only did my Archon not score a single wound, she also failed her first armor save, disgracefully escaping the fight to make a last stand with a half-beaten squad of Kabalite warriors.

I've been doing well (/end sarcasm) with rolling Look Out Sir! from Baron onto Beasts, but in 2 conescutive games rolled a 1 for LoS!, then rolled a 1 again and failed the SF.....all I can say is good thing we play games in a pub!

I wouldn't take an archon without one!
I think the archon epitomes the Dark Elder, You hit first, you hit hard and if you get hit back... you turn into a quivering pile of jelly quicker then you can say reaver.

This is why the shadowfield is great, you hit first, you hit hard and you don't (always) instantly get killed. But it brings in the next factor with Dark Elder, risk. To win a game with dark elder you have to make gambles, and that makes them really fun to play with. So you take this and think- I can charge my Archon into that lump of 10 Paladin deathstars and I can proberly kill most of them... (Obviously with a huskblade and soul trapped up to the brim) but there will be some left to hit back. And all the survivors will hit back with an instant kill weapon. So do you charge them? Of coarse, who wouldn't? You kill 5 and there are 5 remaining. Now this is where the gamble is. Without a shadowfield you would be toast. With it though you could survive and win in the next round! And thats where the fun is. If you didn't want to gamble with your most expensive character you should just play BA or GK! And most of the time, you will pass all of those saves. Because the sods law dictates that it won't be the powerfist that will break your shadowfield, it won't be the railgun, it won't be the warhound titan stepping on you, the way a shadowfield breaks is when a Grot thumps you, or a a laspistol hits you or when you trip over a molehill.
But thats why there great!

Massaen wrote:

3 out of 6 games at the ETC this year I had Vect fail his first shadow field save and suffer ID...

well, If it helps, 4 out of 6 games at the last ETC my baron saved 15+ wounds per game, the other two games he got obliterated by "hey let me put this ID shot on him, (roll 1), FUUUUU"

I have been very lucky with them so far. But I get nervous everytime I have to do a save on it..

Well my last game my lord was up against a daemon prince and Huron black heart so being decked out in a djinn blade, husk blade, soul trap, shadow field and got +1str on his combat drugs. Went after the aspiring champion in the hopes of soul trapping him to go on to the actual threats(we had no idea if the soul trap affects unit characters but decided it would be cool if it did till I could check). Successfully gets into combat and makes the challenge goes first with the djinn blade all hits except I roll doubles on my djinn blade attacks and failing the first save ... Then failed the ld test to capture the champion. Nex turn the daemon prince turned up rather irate at the dead squad of marines proceeded to burn the wych retinue with the ap3 flamer!! and destroy my poor archon in combat ... It was a bad day...

However best game he has had was with agoniser S.field in 5th over 3 rounds of combat against a charging abbadon and terminator retinue with abbadon not doing less than 8 attacks each turn and not only surviving but winning eventually so many saves were had this day it was glorious

My Archon has pushed a lone Kabalite warrior out of the way to take the full brunt of a Punisher fusilade - with sponsons and hull-lascannon - in order to have said lone Kabalite still hold the objective the pair were camped out on.
Not only did he survive it all he also proceeded to haywire the tank to death in the following turn ensuring that I be labelled as a truely jammy git.

Died in Turn 1 with my Baron yesterday!
Actually I played crap all game, rolled poor and lost my first 6th ed game. Only a "friendly" game so no worries, but mad everything started downhill from that failed roll...

3 games in a row where my shadowfield messed up on the very first roll. I don't know why I keep spending points on that busted equipment

I do love my Shadowfield and would never leave home without it. It does however have a nasty habit of stopping the small stuff and failing when I need to save the big nasty attacks.

Pfft. Obyron runs up to Duke and his Kabalite Warriors while he was reciting poetry. This annoyed Duke enough to issue a challenge (should be able to hold Obyron up while the Warriors claim the objective they're sat on). First round goes fine, draw. Second round Duke takes a wound, rolls a 1. Has a reroll because of his buddies watching. Rolls a 1. Game goes downhill from there.

Archon with fully active shadowfield charges three gaurdsmen (in 5th before overwatch). Doesn't even cause a wound then dies, even with three wounds... How embarrassing.

Sooo... 1750pts vs Eldar yesterday. His first shot, first turn shoots at Baron, what happens? roll of 1.

Mine managed to save about 12 shots from immortals the other day and then led his incubi in to clean them up! Next game he failed the second roll and was reamed by a Necron Overlord.......

Yea... Had my Archon fail his first roll on the shadow field to a damn mycetic spore tonight... Lots of Fail there. Then I played another DE army; we got the archons into combat, we both failed the shadow field, but the ghostplate and feel no pain saves meant he didn't take any more wounds for 2 more combat rounds; which was nutz.

Well my Baron has yet to pass 1 save with it. Every ime I field im, 1's.

Now in my last 5 games, I have failed it on first save 3 games.

Anyway yesterday I made like 30ish saves with it before failing, a good day on the job

My Archon and his Incubi get shot out of his Raider which is to be expected but he then trips on the wreckage and breaks the shadow field on a rock. Not happy.

Mine dived into the heart of a Death Guard army with his big squad of Incubi. By the end of the game they hadn't moved from that spot but had killed off a couple of Plague Marine squads, a Daemon Prince and possibly something else, I forget. On the very last turn after this the Archon then charged a nearby Rhino for extra points and lulz, blew it up and dropped his Shadowfield. It stood up to multiple Marine attacks and a Daemon Prince... but not a Rhino exploding.

That said, vehicle explosions should really be a lot more dangerous than they are, especially if you're inside.