Huge! Dark Eldar Update, tonnes of PICS.

Skari here from Skared Podcast with another Dark Eldar hobby update:

I have been gearing up for another tournament with the awesome power of the Dark Eldar. You can see the army list preview on my youtube channel. WYSIWYG is a requirement. Painted is not, but having your army painted gets you points, hence the work I am doing on the rest of the army to get it up to 3 colour minimum.

Here is an army shot (there have been a few tweaks since this picture):

The Incubi:


Their venom and gunner:




I also did some work on the wracks:



And lastly, I finally got to putting magnets onto the razorwing missiles, so the kit is complete!


Anyhow, this is what I have been up to in the bowels of the Dark City!

Cheers!

Skari - Out

20 Games with Tomb Kings - Tripple Feature!

Ok, so here is a 3 for 1 battle report. The LGS is now playing at 2000pts and this is the list that I have taken for the last 3 games:

Tomb King, Sword of Strife, Armour of Destiny, Dragonbane Gem
Chariot

Liche Priest Hierophant, Lv 2 with Earthing Rod

Liche Priest, Lv 1 with Lore of Light and Dispel Scroll

6 Chariots with Banner and Banner of Swiftness.

5 Horse Archers

41 Skeletons with HW and Shield Full Command
18 Skeleton Bowmen Full Command

3 Knights
Warcat

Hierotitan
Catapult

This list is a good mix of everything, the hitting power of the knights and the chariots with the king and the support of the hierotitan and the lore of light wizard to support the rest of the troops.

Game 1(47 in the series) Vs... the New Ogres. Mission was diagonal deployment. I had nothing in reserve, he had 2 units of ogres and his tyrant and one butcher he went first.

His list:

Flyrant (assorted gear)

Butcher, Hellheart
Butcher, scroll
Firebelly

8 Ogres FC
8 Ogres FC

4 Leadbelchers

2 units of 2 sabertusk wolves

2 Super Cannon

So... this mission saw me use the chariots to ram into the 4 leadbelchers that had a butcher and firebelly... I rolled 22 impact hits! thats almost perfect for a 4 wide chariot unit. This inflicted 17 wounds and because of the wrap arround... killed everyone in the unit and left the butcher with one unit, who was easily dispatched by the king. They overran into the tyrant, killed him..
My archers smited, and then killed 2 off of an ogre unit that had just arrived from reserves they failed their panic and ran. The warcat had survived death form the cannon together with the hierititan as they were busy trying to kill the knights who then bouced off of one of the cannon... all in all my opponent conceded the game when his other bull unit failed a long charge into my archer bunker and would have been counter assaulted by the hierotitan...


So first game against the new ogres. Win, although my opponent is def still trying out all the cool fun stuff. Its just a matter of time before he hones his list into a machine.

Games 2 and 3 (48 and 49): Vs my brothers high elves. Played the same list above his first list:

Archmage life with book of teclis.

Mage lv 2 with extra spell, high magic
BSB

20 phenix guard FC
Lion Chariot
38 Spears
16 archers
2 bolt throwers
10 Seaguard

This game was a dawn attack and saw all my army crammed into my right flank except for my hierphant all the way on the other side with the catapult and the warcat in the middle. My secondary caster was able to get a timewarp off on the 40 skellies who then did an 18" charge onto his lion chariot and ran it down, i love that spell. The king got dwellersed off the table but the remaining chariots hit the phoenix guard and ran them down! (I am loving those chariots) My brother then conceded the game.

Later that day he challenged me to yet another game. This time he went for this list:
Archmage (unkillable, ethereal)
Mage lv 2 with fire
BSB

30 swordmastersFC
16 archersFC
39 Spears FC

My list stayed the same. We played battle for the pass. And I knew that I had him at range and so I could out shoot him. But i ended taking the fight to him anyway. The chariots with the king hit the swordmasters... and I cast timewarp on them (wow that made a difference) the swordmasters were severely depleted! and the chariots ground them down until one chariot and the king emerged alive (the BSB had the crown of command, so he stuck around for a long time and the archmage kept of giving him wounds back :P)
Anyway, the warcat ran into the 39 spears and basically wiped them out in 2 rounds of combat... so once the chariots had reformed to face their flank he threw the towel in... and another victory for the TK! Here are some pictures:





Anyway. Cheers!

Da Wulf Boyz

     So, the first day of the experiment is over. I took my Wulf Boyz to my first tournament today. It was a four game tournament at 1500 points. So I took my 1850 point list and trimmed it down to 1500 points. It made for an ugly list but I wanted to take it to start the year long test.

     So the first thing I did was talk to the tournament orginizer about the army. I brought two armies just in case there was an issue with the army I would have a back up army. The tournament orginizer had no issue with me bringing the army so the first hurdle was passed. Though this was a local tournament so I didn't fear the rejection.



     So random pairing put me up against the store ringer army played by the tournament orginizer. So already knowing he had no issues with the army we didn't go into the army to much. He made fun of me a little just to bust my chops but said he personally had no issues with the army.

     I massacured the ringer army and that put me up against a fellow Stratford Gaming Union member Bob. Bob has a big Nid army. Now he has seen pictures of the army just like everyone but he hadn't seen the army in person or on the table. He mentioned he really wanted to see the army in person. Bob is a Stratford Gaming Union member that is very much into the painting and conversion side of the game and his opinion on the models would mean a lot to me. He was very impressed with them. He has faced another players Space Wolf army enough that without me telling him anything about the army he was able to tell what everything was. I tied that game and so far 2 games, two people that had no issues. However both of these people have seen the army at least in pictures before hand so it was to early to tell.



     So, game three. After lunch I played a player Simon, local to the store we were playing in. However this would be the first true test. Simon has never seen a picture of the army nor has he seen anything about it till it hit the table. So Simon plays a very Raider/Venom heavy army. So I tried to hold out as best I could but the weight of fire just was to much and a few key failed saves ment he won the game.

     So onto his thoughts on the army. Now I will say I have played Simon before in a few games at tournaments but he is not part of my local group. But he does know me. I didn't describe anything about the army to him to start. I put the models on the table and without having to answer any questions other then Space Wolf rules questions he never asked me what each model was. The only model he didn't totally know was my Arjac. He knew it was a Wolf Guard in terminator armor, so when he asked I let him know it was Arjac, not just a no named Wolf Guard.



     So game four would finally be a total test. I played against a Player by the name of Shawn. Shawn is a player I know of but I have never met him nor have I every played against him. So finally a player I don't know and doesn't know me and has never seen the army or heard of me. Lets see how this goes? Not to go into to many deatails, Arjac and my Wolf Lord ate most of his army but at the end of the day he never asked me anything about the army, he knew what everything was. In fact when he was going to charge his librarian into a grey hunter squad he knew to move around the squad because the closest model to him at the time was the power fist model and the power weapon model. He never asked me where those models were, just knew to look for them and avoid them. He really liked the look of the army and said he would have been happy to play against it if it wasn't the second time he had to play against a Thunder Wolf list (Sorry Shawn).

Da Wulf Boyz

All Dresses Up With No Where To Go!

The Full 1850 Point Army and Display Board

     Well Last night I finally did it...I planned out an 1850 list that while not being a very competitive list would let me showcase a lot of very cool conversion ideas for my Counts As Wulf Boyz. Last night I painted the last model for the list. I included a lot of HQ models and a lot of different units. So this list was far from the usual redundancy lists that work so well in tournaments. Now I didn't care because this was a labor of love for me. Last year I went to the Warmasters Challenge, a 100+ person tournament in our area and while there I saw a lot of cool ideas and conversions. The coolest to me anyway was a Nid army that was based on a Zombie theme. So there were Corpse Carts, zombies, ogres and giants to represent various units. It was beautifully painted and I thought it was a very cool idea. So when I went home from the event last year I started planning my own Counts As army. Now I knew that the term 'Counts As' it seams is more and more becoming a dirty word in our hobby as far as tournaments go. It seems as tournaments get bigger and competition in these becomes more contested, and prize pools build that it seemed to me that taking a 'Counts As' army to an event would be like walking in with the plague.

Wolf Lord and Fenrisian Wolves

     So I went about planning my army out to mitigate as many problems as I thought I might have. One of the biggest issues usually with 'Counts As' tends to be a models size and footprint on the table. People are worried that others are modeling for advantage. So I made sure that every model I used was the same size or slightly bigger then what it was to represent. For my Rhino and Razorback I actually just ork'ified up the Rhino and Razorback models so they keep the same table presence. Each of my infantry is the same size as a space marine (although wider). My models are all on the bases they should be including the Thunder wolves. My Thunder Wolf Lord is the same size as Cainis who at the moment is the only Thunder wolf model to compare.

Arjak, Rune Priest and Wolf Priest

     For my troop, to keep confusion down, only models with special weapons look different. Meaning, if a Grey Hunter has a power weapon, it is a two handed weapon he has over his head and it has a blue tint to it. Where as every other Grey Hunter only has one handed weapons. The Melta Gunner is the only model in the Grey Hunter units with a two handed gun, as well his Melta Gun has a bright yellow 'danger' tank on it. The Banner guy sticks out and my Mark of the Wulven guys all have Cybok body parts. My Blood Claws all have Swords, No Helmets and yellow and red markings, all the Grey Hunters have helmets, axes and red and black markings. As well each Wolf Guard has Yellow and Black markings (all these marking colors are right out of the Space Wolf Codex for those units). So I matched everything to the Space Wolf codex where possible. My Long Fangs all have Rokkit Launchers in place of Missile Launchers and they have White and Black shoulders. The whole army is painted in a Shadow Grey, just like a Space Wolf army.

Long Fangs

     This being said, I made an 1850 list, painted to it and submitted it to the Warmaster Council for approval to bring my Counts As army to their event. Seeing some of the stuff last year I had no worries when I submitted my request. Little did I know there was a lot of back lash from last years events over 'Counts As' armies being confusing. So Da Wulf Boyz were judged to confusing for the event. The Council's request was that the Slugga's aren't Bolt Pistols and request that I change out about half of them per squad, along with any Shoota's to Bolters and the Rokkits to Missile Launchers. If I did these and a few other things I could bring the army.

Grey Hunter Pack and Rhino

     This brought a question to me, is my army that confusing, or have tournaments moved so far from the hobby aspect of the hobby we are in that counts as is dead in the tournament world. I decided I won't be making any changes to the army, I won't be attending this event I built the army for. I will however be conducting an experiment with the army. I am going to spend the next year, July to July, taking this army to as many events locally as I can. As well I am going to shop the army around to various big tournaments. I am going to e-mail the army to the various TO's of the big events (Adepticon, Nova Open, Astronomicon, ect...) and see if the army as it stands would be let into these events. I want to know is counts as dead to the tournament world? Along with this any event I go to I am going to speak to each of my opponents before and after each game with the Wolves and record their reactions to the army. I want to know is it as confusing as I have been told it is, did I spend a lot of money and time building a cool army that won't be able to see the light of day on a major event table?

Thunder Wolf Cavalry Lead The Charge

     Follow me on this Blog this year as I try to find out if Counts As is truly dead in the tournament world. I'll be updating this blog with my progress over the year. First stops, talking to the Nova Open guys as well as a tournament on the 9th here in a local store.

20 Games with Tomb Kings: Game 1 Batrep

So, Game 1 in the series:

Win vs Warriors of Chaos 2200pts.
His list was not an ultra competitive list this is what he took:
Khorne lord on Jugger
3 units of 15 Tzeench warriors FC
2 Level 2's one with tzeench, one with death. Infernal Puppet (I did not like this thing).
4 units of Hounds, 5 strong
5 Khorne Knights (maybe chosen?)
Hellcannon

And now to the list that I have written up for the Journey of 20 games:

Tomb King, Golden Death Mask, Sword of Might, Dragonhelm, Shield, Seed of Rebirth

High Liche Priest- Level 4, Hierophant, Cloak of the dunes, talisman of preservation.

Tomb Prince- Glittering Scales, HW, Shield, Dragonbane Gem

Liche Priest lv 1, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon

40 Skeleton warriors, FC

20 Archers, Mus, Champ

3 Chariots, Mus, Standard, Banner of Flame

5 Horse Archers

23 Tomb Guard, BoUL, FC

3 Carrion

Colossus (really the concept should have this as a Hierotitan, but I want to make a model for it, same points cost)

1 SSC

Casket of souls!

Anyway some pics and the general overview of the game:
Deployment:


Tomb King Turn one:
- King and Guard charge into building. The 20 archers take out one unit of hounds on the far left, and cause panic on the 15 warriors beside them... who fail and run off the table taking the level 2 wizard with the scroll off the table :o.


WoC turn 1:
- He moves the hounds about to block lanes of advance, splits his lord from the knights as he is not getting a LOS roll from the catapult and he needs the knights to get into the midle. The hellcannon does 3 wounds on the giant.


TK Turn 2:
- The King and Guard assault the building once again, the unit inside fails their terror test, because they are in a building they count as having failed their fear test. The carrion fly in front of the jugger lord to direct him away from the battle (as frenzied units must overrun). The giant charges the hounds in front of him, they fail terror and run, magically I move the giant into a better position for next turn, he gains a wound back. My prince and skellies charged into more hounds right in front of them and killed them in cc, making sure they withheld pursuit so that the knights only had a front charge. My HLP irresitibles a boosted smiting spell, giving everyone with 24" more shots and attacks. He miscasts and rolls an 8, not bad, but the enemy wizard used the puppet to up the value to a 10... this meant that now my wizard would loose 2 levels of magic and 2 spells (including the one I had just cast)... nasty.

TK turn 2 cont:
The King and TGuard storm the building, the enemy fled and the they took possession of the tower.


WoC Turn 2:
- The lord charged the carrion, murdered them and overran over towards the far right of the table away from the actual fight. The knights charged into the skelly block and killed about 13 with crumble loosing none in return. The hellcannon took a wound off a chariot after scattering off the giant. Other units rallied.

TK Turn 3:
- The giant charged the far unit in the backfield with the other sorceror they failed terror and ran... he redirected against the closer unit together with the chariots, they passed and held their ground. The casket of souls used a lot of dice and zapped the jugger lord... for one dead jugger lord :o. The skelly combat was again stagnant, shooting saw some wounds off the hellcannon, and the giant and chariots smashed the unit of warriors and ran them down.


And lo and behold... the game was called. The time was up but the Tomb Kings were in firm control of the tower!

Tactical Review:
- My opponent was not running a super hard list and he is relatively new to fantasy so there were a lot of mistakes on his part, such as putting his general out on a flank. The hounds were more of a hamper than a bonus as they were easily shot down buy asp arrows and dealt with quickly in cc. The combat for the tower was quite something, the King with his Sword of Might turned the tide both times, one to tie the combat, the other to win it. The death mask was really nice and would have meant that even if his general was near the unit they would have suffered the same fate! I like it.
- The unit of 20 archers is a nice bunker for the HLP and provides a decent "just in case" unit. Although it seems that most armies are built around 3 larger blocks of fighters and then 1 supporting block. There was another TK player with a unit of 40 TG (no BOUL).
- I liked having the level 1 caster... he is nice and giving him the movement spell was not bad, luckily i rolled dobles for my HLP and was able to pick the ones I wanted.
- His army did not really have any shooting, and so I was unable to really see how my units did against them (especially the smaller units like carrion and the horse archers).
- The casket was awesome, and actually bounced this time.
- He got super unlucky with the first turn run away unit of warriors...

Anyway. On to game 2! (there is talk about changing the point value of the LGS league nights to 2500pts, more standard point value for tournaments IIRC?... so If this happens I will continue the synergy of this list, but I will have 300 more points to spend! yay for a better ward on my HLP :P.

Cheers!