Fully Painted Dark Eldar (Kabal) vs Alpha Legion (maulers+helldrake)

Thanks a lot for watching, this one is a fun one for sure.

Nice game & report. Finally got one over on those maulerfiends! Strange how close it turned out in the end, even though there was only one CSM model left at the end.

Good to see your archon back and showing how it's done in assault, even if your rolling was a bit below average!

I like seeing a DE general ruthlessly sacrificing his own troops , but I thought you could just have hung back and shot up the spawn rather than allowing them to eat up unit after unit. There was plenty of board to retreat into. Poor beasts! Good use of blocking with the raiders though.

I liked seeing you test the crazy Death Mission, shame it's on a 1 attack Farseer! Is the Farseer worth it for the dual-guide powers though?

Also do you find night shields effective? I never use them myself.

Squierboy wrote:

Nice game & report. Finally got one over on those maulerfiends! Strange how close it turned out in the end, even though there was only one CSM model left at the end.

Good to see your archon back and showing how it's done in assault, even if your rolling was a bit below average!

I like seeing a DE general ruthlessly sacrificing his own troops , but I thought you could just have hung back and shot up the spawn rather than allowing them to eat up unit after unit. There was plenty of board to retreat into. Poor beasts! Good use of blocking with the raiders though.

I liked seeing you test the crazy Death Mission, shame it's on a 1 attack Farseer! Is the Farseer worth it for the dual-guide powers though?

Also do you find night shields effective? I never use them myself.

Turn 3 I made the choice to go for it. I am well aware that I could have just sat back and annihilated the army. That would have made for a dull batrep. So I made sure that there would be some action, sending my Warlord after his for example. The farseer was VERY worth it. the 24" guide was awesome, meant I could spread out just a little bit extra. The Death mission was a lot of fun, and he only died because I failed the one invul I had to make, it was a 50% chance...

I love night shields on my ravagers, keeps them out of harms way for a bit longer and makes the board a little bigger for them. So they can engage key targets and escape retribution.

Thanks for the comment!

Skari wrote:

Turn 3 I made the choice to go for it. I am well aware that I could have just sat back and annihilated the army. That would have made for a dull batrep.

Fair enough, but I would have thought after some defeats you'd have wanted to make absolutely sure this time! You didn't have a whole lot left to deal with the deep striking terminators when they arrived as a lot of stuff was engaged on the left.
Anyway, shooting your opponent to near-death, then leaping in to slaughter the remnants with a well-timed charge should never be dull!

Skari wrote:

The Death mission was a lot of fun, and he only died because I failed the one invul I had to make, it was a 50% chance...

Ah, I think it's because you have to narrate the action while you film it that details like that aren't stated (for obvious reasons of brevity - that wasn't a criticism at all! Your vid reports are great fun to watch.)
Still think that power will be one of the least-used in the fate deck.

Skari wrote:

I love night shields on my ravagers, keeps them out of harms way for a bit longer and makes the board a little bigger for them. So they can engage key targets and escape retribution.

I generally find that if someone wants to take down my ravagers, NS won't save them - unless you're up against a less experienced player - so I just leave them off and I don't miss them. Personally I think they should be re-worked to be better vs longer-ranged weapons (say 24" and above) but ineffective vs anything closer - then they would definitely be more tempting. But that's just the beginning of my own personal DE wishlist!

Good job scari, I watched this one and a couple others where you played the alpha legion guy. Tough army to run against. Glad you got the W.

@ Squier: What I meant by "escape retribution" is from a unit other than the one I am focussing on. With propper placement and LOS blocking terrain, NS's can really increase the survivability and versatility of the gunships. Also, Plasma Guns and other mid-ranged weapons can really hurt the ravagers. But if anything, being able to deploy out of range of most AT guns is the best, the trick is to dilute enemy firepower with other threats and such.

@ Lobo: Thanks, yeah that list has proven to be a tough nut to crack, finally! The added bonus of the ravagers really helped.

yes definitely, I have been battling my buddies ravenwing army and have had some struggles. that was until I made a blob of kabalites and introduced a Ravager...the ravager is great against almost anything and I use my farseer that I run with my elder allies and I use guide on the ravager with 3 disintegrators. 9 shots ap2 twin linked have helped me through the toughest situations

Thanks for the Batrep, was good fun to watch

Could it be that the CMS who charged your raider where in their Rhino you blew up? If so, they are not allowed to charge since it is not an assault vehicle (even if it gets blown up they are not allowed to charge).

@ Lobo - Yes the trippe dissies is a great tool. I like the lances to pop open transports, but if you dont have a lot of vehicles in your area and a lot of marine style armies then the dissies make perfect sense. I usually use them on a razorwing.

I can see ravenwing being a pain. Although high ammount of poison shots makes short work of their toughness. Their super bolters (salvo 4) with the standard of awesme is something I have yet to face off against).

@ Thieron - You are !00% correct. They did charge, this is something that slipped my mind! I have to remember that in the future, thanks for the heads up.

Disentegrators are a trap. The old codex had STR7 AP2 36" plasma blast templates. Three of them per ravager. Infantry fell in swathes. Anti-tank came from all the raider dark lances, and wyches could come in units of five with two blasters each. Not so now. AI is plentiful enough in our codex. Str 5 does not cut it. We need the lances. That said - great report ... enjoyed it.

Very nice report as always, the deathworld seemed like fun lol.

I don't know if it's the dices or just me, but I wouldn't have used those beasts immediately like you did, like 1 oe 2 turns later would have been better maybe. Also, I keep telling everybody, 10 khymera is the way to go, maybe that's what was wrong here, with 10 khymera (same number of flocks), the quas would have lastest longer in cc, anoying those spawns and probably killing more, those guys would have died faster, leaving this squad usable to other offensive phases, though personally I would have used those beasts to get those space marine squads, they would have ripped them apart. I use minimum 10 khymera ,2 flocks, this unit rarely dies this fast, they're very anoying and quite hard to kill.

Not a fan of 3 manned eldar jetbike squads, but I have to say: in this game, they came in EXACTLY at the right moment, they were lucky even after being deployed, they were worth it in this game, that's for sure.

Near the end, I would have concentrated my units towards the other flanc, that second lord would also have been killed if you had moved sooner. Usually spliting up an army doesn't work, here the weaker flank suffered losses, but it was kind of worth it. They attracted those terminators who could have been more troublesome, especially if they had arrived sooner.

You got lucky with your DLs, you didn't even have that many raiders yet they kicked ass.

It's weird seeing an Archon with a venom blade, really weird, I always use and see only huskblade and agoniser archons, some with power weapons, and few but very few with poison blades.
I'd rather have some kind of power blade any day of the week, allowing saves with your venom blade is just too troublesome, I do realise you have characters with invulnerable saves, but against most units, the power weapon will be effective. The huskblade + soultrap + combat drugs will forever be my favorite set up, once charged it's like a poison blade that doesn't allow saved and blows up vehicles like they were toys.
Then there's the fact whether to use your archon to charge an enemy lord, I usually prefer not doign this, because I know the guy will easily kill other units, while the lord is troublesome, he might even get killed, I'd rather have him kill 1-2 units than staying in cc stuck with another lord during 3 turns. Against lords with invunerable save and high toughness my policy is: shoot first, with DLs, then onces he has 1-2 wounds, charge ! Just a safer way to kill him, this also ensures your lord won't spend too much time stuck in CC, though I admit, like the others said, you rolled below average.

I have to admit, I like seeing these unsual type of lists, though I wouldn't use them myself.

Lots of warriors ,ravagers, a razorwing, plenty of firepower. I do prefer raiders for their DL, but your venoms were actually useful, so no regrets here.

I think I would prefer wracks instead of wyches, they seem to last longer and their poison weapons are quite useful, their FnP makes them a bit harder to kill too. I know you like wracks, and you've got them, I suggest you try replacing your wyches by wracks some time in the future.

egorey wrote:

Disentegrators are a trap. The old codex had STR7 AP2 36" plasma blast templates. Three of them per ravager. Infantry fell in swathes. Anti-tank came from all the raider dark lances, and wyches could come in units of five with two blasters each. Not so now. AI is plentiful enough in our codex. Str 5 does not cut it. We need the lances. That said - great report ... enjoyed it.

The old dissies were very nice. But the +1 str and the upgrade to AP 2 really made them worthwhile. When Im running 2 lance ravagers, I then like to add a razorwing with dissies and the missiles for some AI firepower. But haywire grenades are awesome AT if you get the wyches up close. So I guess you can justify them (or blasterborn if you are so inclined) to bridge the gap.

Khain mor wrote:

Very nice report as always, the deathworld seemed like fun lol.

I don't know if it's the dices or just me, but I wouldn't have used those beasts immediately like you did, like 1 oe 2 turns later would have been better maybe. Also, I keep telling everybody, 10 khymera is the way to go, maybe that's what was wrong here, with 10 khymera (same number of flocks), the quas would have lastest longer in cc, anoying those spawns and probably killing more, those guys would have died faster, leaving this squad usable to other offensive phases, though personally I would have used those beasts to get those space marine squads, they would have ripped them apart. I use minimum 10 khymera ,2 flocks, this unit rarely dies this fast, they're very anoying and quite hard to kill.

Not a fan of 3 manned eldar jetbike squads, but I have to say: in this game, they came in EXACTLY at the right moment, they were lucky even after being deployed, they were worth it in this game, that's for sure.

Near the end, I would have concentrated my units towards the other flanc, that second lord would also have been killed if you had moved sooner. Usually spliting up an army doesn't work, here the weaker flank suffered losses, but it was kind of worth it. They attracted those terminators who could have been more troublesome, especially if they had arrived sooner.

You got lucky with your DLs, you didn't even have that many raiders yet they kicked ass.

It's weird seeing an Archon with a venom blade, really weird, I always use and see only huskblade and agoniser archons, some with power weapons, and few but very few with poison blades.
I'd rather have some kind of power blade any day of the week, allowing saves with your venom blade is just too troublesome, I do realise you have characters with invulnerable saves, but against most units, the power weapon will be effective. The huskblade + soultrap + combat drugs will forever be my favorite set up, once charged it's like a poison blade that doesn't allow saved and blows up vehicles like they were toys.
Then there's the fact whether to use your archon to charge an enemy lord, I usually prefer not doign this, because I know the guy will easily kill other units, while the lord is troublesome, he might even get killed, I'd rather have him kill 1-2 units than staying in cc stuck with another lord during 3 turns. Against lords with invunerable save and high toughness my policy is: shoot first, with DLs, then onces he has 1-2 wounds, charge ! Just a safer way to kill him, this also ensures your lord won't spend too much time stuck in CC, though I admit, like the others said, you rolled below average.

I have to admit, I like seeing these unsual type of lists, though I wouldn't use them myself.

Lots of warriors ,ravagers, a razorwing, plenty of firepower. I do prefer raiders for their DL, but your venoms were actually useful, so no regrets here.

I think I would prefer wracks instead of wyches, they seem to last longer and their poison weapons are quite useful, their FnP makes them a bit harder to kill too. I know you like wracks, and you've got them, I suggest you try replacing your wyches by wracks some time in the future.

- The Spawn are super fast. I wanted to hold them there as long as possible, the kymerae did their job, and died. That was a 102 pt unit that held up all the spawn and the tooled up lord while I got into position. I agree with you, the Kymerae are key within the beastpacks. I think that razorwings are good to have but because of their vulnerability keep them in a minimum capacity to tip the scales of the combat.
- As for the Eldar Jetbikes. I only have 3 painted and they are now cheaper then they used to be, and better IMO. They hide in reserve, to prevent first blood (not that that is an issue with all the other paper planes in the list). But they usually stay out of trouble, this was a KP game and I wanted to see what they could do with the new rules.
- I split my forces up turn 3 because I wanted the game to take on new life for the video battle report. In a tournament game, I would have huddled and just gunned the crap out of anything and everything and then pounced, saving the farseer, the warriors and what not.
- I dont think you need that many raiders, but yes, this game they actually did stuff!
- The Venom Blade is awesome. It is dirt cheap and it puts volume of wounds on the enemy. The dice gods are fickle. And any roll you make your opponent make is a bad roll . I have always considered a huskon with the drugs. The only downfall is the expense and the fact that you have to sort of make a bee line to the enemy MC's and characters in order to have the archon become a beatstick earlier in the game and then capitalize on the beefed profile. Now, with the help of a farseer I can see this being awesome, either re rolling misses or re rolling wounds thanks to doom.

- What made this an unusual list to you? Just curious, to me this seems as much a "normal" DE list as any with kabalites, raiders, ravagers and what not.

- I do like the wracks. But in this list they would be elites. I take the wyches because they are troops and I dont want to have to get a heamy just to make them troops. Yes, they are durable and very very good against hordes and monsters alike, but I like the sheer versatility of the wyches, combat drugs, lots of attacks, invul save and high initiative, and most of all - haywire grenades - .

Thanks for the comment and for watching .