From the Tables

The Lamenters are overwhelmed by a savage 13th Company force.

This is a shot from 'Ard Boyz a couple weeks back. The army I played against was all foot with Logan, I couldn't have hoped to kill even a fraction of them. But when Mephiston, Sanguinor, and a Furioso whiffed their turn 2 assault, I didn't have a chance...

So, how should I use this model...?

I'm sure by now most people have seen this model. It is a little newer for me, as I only recently got online access since my move. But basically, it screams at me, and I must have it. But there is no way I'm starting Ogres. Fortunately the army I am working on is Chaos themed, and everything fits in a Chaos force, most of all big, nasty beasties. But I have a problem.

My plan for the army was based off Codex: Space Wolves (no Long Fangs for my Khorne guys, I just wanted to field a dozen or so Juggernaut riders), and beyond the Thunderwolves, there just isn't a big nasty monster in the army list. So what should I do? How many Juggernauts could I fit in a normal CSM army? Then he could just be a Summoned Greater Daemon, easy. But I don't want to lose all the Juggers. Should I bite the bullet and just field a CSM army? Or is there something this model could be in a SW list that I am just missing? I should have prefaced the question by saying I have never liked the concept of fielding organics with vehicle rules, but this guy could be an exception.

What say the few readers I may actually have left?

ATX to PDX

I'm moving from Austin to Portland, Oregon this coming month. Let me know if any of you are from my new area, we can get in a game!

WAR Games Con Game VI v. Orks & Game VII v. Imperial Guard

WAR Games Con was here in Austin, Texas and, like I posted last, I decided to break out my old Craftworld Eldar. You can see the list I played here. I only got one picture of my Game 6, so I combined it with 7, needed to get it all done anyways.

Game VI
Dawn of War
Random Game Length
Primary: Annihilation
Secondary: Capture and Control
Tertiary: Highest number of surviving Troops units.

Game 6 I played against CQ and his Ork army. His list looked like this:
HQ
Warboss w/ Bike, Klaw, Attack Squig, Cybork
Big Mek w/ KFF, Burna
Troops
Deff Dread w/ Extra CCWs
30*Shoota Ard' Boyz w/ PK Nob
10*Nob Bikers w/ various stuff
Fast Attack
Skorcha
Skorcha
Heavy Support
Battlewagon w/ Deff Rolla, stuff
3*Lobbas
3*Lobbas
Since I only have the one pic I'll just do a complete summary. I didn't shoot at the Nobz once. He broke his Warboss off and I killed him w/ Fire Dragons. The Nobz really got onto me. Eldrad fought the entire thirty man mob for almost the whole game, before breaking them on the last turn. One of my five man Avenger squads beat and ran down a battery of Lobbas. I forgot to move my Bike to win the secondary on the last turn, but CQ graciously allowed me to make the move out of sequence. Ended up 8-8 on KPs and I won the other objectives.


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Game VII
Pitched Battle
Random Game Length
Primary: Seize Ground (5)
Secondary: Annihilation
Tertiary: Destroy opponents most expensive unit.

So Game 7 I played against Jon and his absolutely awesome Bloodborn Renegade IG army! Of course I also was glad to have another test against Mech IG after my Game 2. His army looked like this:

HQ
Company Command Squad x5 - Plasmagun x3
- Medic
- Astropath
- Chimera
Company Command Squad x5 - Plasmagun x3
- Chimera

Troops
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad x5 - Flamer x3
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Infantry Squad x10 - Flamer, Autocannon
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Infantry Squad x10 - Flamer, Autocannon
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Special Weapons Squad x6 - Meltagun x3

Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad x5 - Flamer x3
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Infantry Squad x10 - Flamer, Autocannon
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Infantry Squad x10 - Flamer
- Chimera - Heavy flamer
Special Weapons Squad x6 - Meltagun x3

Fast Attack
Vendetta
Vendetta

Heavy Support
Hydra battery x2
Manticore
Medusa x2

So overall very similar to the other list I played, but less melta. I got first turn and Jon went all reserves, so I did this on his board edge. I had to put a Dragon unit on each end because he could pick which side of the line to come in on.

He got pretty lucky on his reserve rolls, combined with his Astropath, so I scattered my vehicles. As you can see in the picture below,a couple tanks go down, including Eldrad's Serpent. I take out a Hydra and a Vendetta. You can also get a good feel for where the objectives are in this shot.

Eldrad Fortuned up and ran in to start wreckin' stuff. A theme of this battle became the fact that single characters and small units were left alive as Jon poured all his shots into my remaining armour. My tanks flew in lots of circles.

Eldrad went down to a melta shot eventually, but the Autarch w/ Fusion Gun started his solo routine. My initial move meant that Jon still is unable to take the middle of the board, where most of the objectives are.

My tanks start taking a lot of damage results, but they aren't going down. They continue to rotate between objectives, flat-outing and contesting. I end of winning the Primary when my Guardian Jetbikes wreck a Chimera with their Shuriken Cannons, then charge in and break the squad inside, giving me a 1-0 edge at the bottom of Turn 7. Great game Jon!

Tournament/Army Analysis: Overall I'd say I still see the virtue of a Battle Point Tournament format. I like to play in different kinds of tournaments, and I believe the existence of this variety is a good thing. As far as the Eldar go, I think I definitely proved to myself that they are still a viable tournament choice. I did not yield a Primary objective in any of my seven games, and that was with zero practice. However, they are probably not a BP tournament winning army, as they have a very difficult time winning big enough in that format.

WAR Games Con Game V v. Chaos Daemons

So this past weekend was WAR Games Con here in Austin, Texas and, like I posted last, I decided to break out my old Craftworld Eldar. You can see the list I played here. After Day 1 I sat at 76 points, two shy of the top bracket, unfortunately.

Game V
Spearhead
Random Game Length
Primary: Seize Ground (3)
Secondary: Capture and Control
Tertiary: Have more total units in opponents deployment zone then they have in yours.

Game 5 I played against Matt and his Daemons, who had been my Game 3 opponents teammate when we played in the Doubles Tournament. All told, this meant I faced 72 Fiends in 3 days, here is his list:
HQ
Keeper of Secrets w/ stuff
Herald w/ Legion, Chariot, Bolt
The Masque
Elites
6*Fiends
6*Fiends
6*Fiends
Troops
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt, Icon, Changeling
Heavy Support
Daemon Prince w/ Mark of Nurgle, Noxious Touch, Flight, Iron Hide, Cloud of Flies, Breath
Daemon Prince w/ Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt, Breath
Daemon Prince w/ Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt, Gaze

Matt gave me first turn, so I deployed and circled the wagons (seen below)
He got the wrong wave and deployed his Daemon Princes and Horrors to begin with. I should have focused on killing his few scoring units with my whole army, but instead I killed the big stuff. His Horrors then capitalized on their shooting and crippled one of my Avenger units. His Fiends came in and we started to played tag. Fire Dragons charged in and killed his Tzeentch Herald.

My Jetbikes reserved in turn 2 and finally found something they are better than in combat.
After about three turns Matt finally manages to knock down a tank. Eldrad and the other Avengers are charged by Fiends.
Matt's Keeper of Secrets doesn't come in until turn 5, and I dance around some more. We draw the first two and Matt gets Tertiary by knocking down a Wave Serpent in the bottom of turn 7.
12/30. boo. I did make this fun little score/contest move though...

Post Game Analysis: As I said before, I should have focused on the scoring units early, and I should have focused on getting to the objectives faster. I got charged by all three Fiend units multiple turns, their is no reason for that with my mobility. Matt played a great game, forcing me into hard choices all the time.

WAR Games Con Game IV v. Lamenters (BA)

So this past weekend was WAR Games Con here in Austin, Texas and, like I posted last, I decided t0 break out my old Craftworld Eldar. You can see the list I played here.

Game IV
Dawn of War
Random Game Length
Primary: Capture and Control
Secondary: Annihilation
Tertiary: Kill the most expensive HQ

Game 4 I played against Donovan and his really nice air-brushed Lamenters. He works for Next Level Painting. His army looked like this:

HQ
Reclusiarch
Librarian w/ Shield, Lance

Elites
Terminator Assault Squad w/ 3*Thunder Hammers
3*Priests

Troops
5*Assault Marines w/ Flamer, Power Weapon
in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Plasmagun
5*Assault Marines w/ Flamer, Power Weapon
in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Plasmagun
5*Assault Marines w/ Flamer, Power Weapon
in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Plasmagun
5*Assault Marines w/ Flamer, Power Weapon
in Razorback w/ Lascannon & Plasmagun
10*Assault Marines w/ 2*Meltaguns, Powerfist

Fast Attack
'Baal' Predator w/ Flamestorm, Dozer Blade
'Baal' Predator w/ Flamestorm, Dozer Blade

Heavy Support
Stormraven w/ Lascannon, Multi-melta, Extra Armour

I win the first turn roll and opt to go second. I deploy nothing and opt to roll on turn 1. I make a major mistake off the bat and choose to overly aggressive. I should have held back a couple turns, especially considering how the early engagement seemed to slow the game down. So here is the top of two, where I have engaged his lines with a unit of Fire Dragons.

I manage to draw out his Terminator squad in his turn 2, they charge tanks and wreck a Serpent. I give him a Bladestorm+Doom reprisal.

Unfortunately I was not able to finish them off with the Avengers so I had to waste Fire Dragon shooting (which was intended for the Stomraven).
Eldrad has to finish off the Reclusiarch in combat (Tertiary).

No more pictures because we only got 4 turns. I lost Annihilation and drew Capture and Control, but I feel like I could have done better with another turn. 12/30.

Post Game Analysis: It was really unfortunate we only got 4 turns, only game I didn't finish all weekend. Donovan had alot of questions about Eldar, and I didn't help any by chatting him up about Lamenters (they just need checkers!). So with 76 points on the day, that left me 2 points out of the GT. Guess I should have gotten that Tertiary Game 1! D'oh!

WAR Games Con Game III v. Chaos Daemons

So this past weekend was WAR Games Con here in Austin, Texas and, like I posted last, I decided t0 break out my old Craftworld Eldar. You can see the list I played here.

Game III
Pitched Battle
Random Game Length
Primary: Annihilation
Secondary: Seize Ground (3)
Tertiary: Control more Terrain features

Game 3 I played against Dan (from Hogs of War) and his mixed Daemon army.I played a fun game against Dan and his friend the day before in the doubles tournament, his list looked like this:

HQ
Lord Of Change
The Masque
Herald of Tzeentch on Chariot w/ Legion, Bolt
Elites
6*Fiends w/ 1*Unholy Might
6*Fiends w/ 1*Unholy Might
6*Fiends w/ 1*Unholy Might
Troops
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
5*Horrors w/ Bolt
Heavy Support
Daemon Prince w/ MoT, Flight, Iron Hide, Bolt, Breath, Gaze
Daemon Prince w/ MoN, Flight, Iron Hide, Cloud of Flies, Noxious Touch, Breath

I win the roll off and make Dan go first, I go all reserves. Here is his initial drop after he got the wave he wanted. You can also see the three Seize Ground objectives. His Nurgle DP is out of frame to the lower right.
Both my Fire Dragon units come in to try and kill the Nurgle Prince, but are unable to deal the final wound to him. One unit pays for this error with their lives.
A couple of my other tanks zip up the right flank, and the Lord of Change lands right beside them. One of my three man bike squads goes up the extreme left and essentially takes a Fiend unit out of the battle.
His shooting fails to down any tanks an his Fiends are still a turn out. In my turn 2 I Doom the Tzeentch Prince and the Lord of Change, and show them what Bladestorm means, killing both. Small fire from my tanks kills the Masque.
Eldrad charges in and after a few rounds of combat finishes off the Nurgle Prince, and I manage to Bladestorm a Fiend unit. I kill his Herald from contesting to win the Secondary (1-0) and the Primary (KPs 6-5). We got a draw on the Tertiary. 26/30.

Eldar

Contested

Contested

Post Game Analysis: Baiting the one unit of Fiends was essential, if I had to deal with all three, tanks would have started falling fast. Destroying his large Daemons fast was essential to trying to manage the objectives, and walling in the Fiends with my armour. It was a close game, but I felt pretty confident throughout.