I really am no good at this blogging stuff so I am going to ignore the fact that I didn't get round to finishing any of my previous tournament reports and just get on with setting up another one.
I achieved my aim of getting an invite to the masters in January. I am really looking forward to it as there is still a significant proportion of top players I am yet to play. The only way to get better is to play them and the masters is a perfect opportunity.
So far I only know that it will be 1850 points. The list I have been enjoying most in 6th is my dark eldar with eldar allies but up to now it has included a couple of eldar forgeworld fliers. I don't have a huge amount of time to sort out new units before the tournament so I decided to try and write a FW free list just in case it isn't allowed so that I have time to get the new units sorted.
Here is what I am thinking for a no-forgeworld tournament. If it works I might drop the fliers even at tournaments that allow them as I think this might be more fun anyway.
Dark Eldar Primary:
HQ:
105 - Baron Sathonyx
50 - Haemonculus
Troops:
30 - 3x Wracks
30 - 3x Wracks
Fast Attack:
304 - 9x Reavers, Arena Champion, 3x Cluster Caltrops, 3x Heat Lance
304 - 9x Reavers, Arena Champion, 3x Cluster Caltrops, 3x Heat Lance
318 - 5x Beast Masters, 19x Khymerae, 2x Razorwing Flocks
Eldar Allies:
HQ:
188 - Farseer, Jetbike, Singing Spear, Spirit Stones, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Doom, Fortune
388 - Seer Council, 7x Warlocks, Jetbikes, 5x Destructor, 1x Enhance, 1x Embolden, 1x Singing Spear
Troops:
66 - 3x Guardian Jetbikes
66 - 3x Guardian Jetbikes
1849 in total.
In the last couple of tournaments I have been to, I have had 20x hellions instead of the seer council. To be honest they performed pretty poorly. They didn't contribute very much and have a horrible tendency to run away. They now suffer a lot from the reduction in cover saves, and the reduction of FNP to a 5+. I can't recall a game where they survived and a 30 point wrack unit couldn't have had the same impact. The seer council should be more survivable with fortune and a 48" move.
So the idea behind the list is hopefully not entirely obvious. Nathan on the 40KUK podcast said that he didn't really know what to expect from it and if I can confuse him then hopefully I can confuse most people.
Essentially.. Reavers rock. With a pain token from wracks via baron/farseer or haemonculus they will have a 3+ cover and feel no pain, add in the ability to hide from most of the enemies army easily with a 48" move and this makes them pretty survivable. They on average put out 14 wounds on T4 units when they fly over them, that's as close as makes no difference to 5 dead marines. 2 units on a doomed target (for example wraiths) is a unit gone. Because of the way they move and do their fly-by attacks they project a vast area which enemy units will be very vulnerable in. This often leads to opponents being very defensive. This in turn means that my very meager amount of scoring units tend to be safe.
I unfortunately have no way of practicing between tournaments so I have not play tested the seer council or beast masters The way I foresee using the seer council is to soak up fire that would be directed at the reavers. Use the farseer to doom targets for the reavers and getting stuck in to large units such as blobs and horde orks or cultists with the destructors. Unlike the hellions they replaced they are not scoring in any mission so they can be used as a throw away unit and because of their weaponry they have a reasonable chance against most targets even vehicles which is a big weakness of this list.
The beast masters I think will be another element that could catch an opponent off guard, with a 12" move that ignores cover and stealth and grenades from the baron they project quite a large threat range which will help the reavers get me control of the centre of the board. This keeps my scoring pretty safe. Also they can charge flamers and screamers with impunity due to the khymerae's 4++ which is a bonus as daemons can be a pain as I don't want the reavers toasted or tied up in combat by screamers. Lastly they have a good chance of at least holding up more powerful units such as wraiths or terminators etc. sheer number or attacks and a decent invulnerable as well as 5 characters to absorb nasty characters via challenges.
The list can't deal with flyers. It simply can't. However I can only think of one flyer I am scared of and that is the new chaos one with the flamer (reavers don't like flamers). Vendettas can lascannon away all game and I don't mind, the necron ones would be lucky to kill more than 2 reavers a turn and oddly I can out manoeuvre them. A grey knights storm raven would be a pain due to the mind strikes but luckily they suck against everyone else, I know, I've tried them. Most flying monstrous creatures will come down to do damage and those that don't I will simply have to get lucky grounding them.
Missions:
Kill points - This list only has 11, there are a couple of easy ones but most lists have more. However because there are no objectives to go for it is easier for the enemy to play defensively which makes it hard for me to pick them apart, however I am so fast that they shouldn't be able to get much off me if they simply sit in a corner.
Relic - This mission has pros and cons for me. The relic is in centre of the board meaning my opponent needs to go there with scoring units which gives me an excellent chance of killing them, but they can keep all their units together and support each other which can be a challenge. Ideally I will try and kill any of their units near the relic and go for it late game with the eldar jetbikes.
Bore Draw - Hold mine with wracks, kill anything that tries to get across to my objective with reavers and beas tmasters, contest theirs with one of 5 jet bike units.
Standard objectives - One of my best missions as if my opponent has to spread out and come towards the centre of the board I can pick him apart with the reavers. I am unlikely to get more than 2 objectives but with the speed of my units I can contest any objective in the later turns.
Big guns - Similar to above only I may have to deal with killing some tough vehicles, the bonus is that I have no heavy support to give away points and my opponent probably will.
Scouring - Perfect mission, I suddenly have 3 more scoring units that are tough and very fast, even more objectives which makes it much easier to grab some late game.
First Blood - I have some very easy kill points but 3/4 will be in reserve in most games and my army is pretty adept at picking on little units without having to fight through bubble rap and units that would be hidden from shooting. I don't always get it but I am not too worried.
Warlord - This is a big weakness, the baron may have a shadow field but his low leadership and toughness as well as his role buffing the beastmasters is likely to get him killed most games. Can't win them all.
Line breaker - If I can't get this then I have lost by a wide margin and not getting it won't matter.
So there it is, I think I can do well with it and I think it is pretty different to anything anyone else is taking. If anyone reads this, any comments, or suggestions on tweaks (or larger changes) are very welcome.
