Friday 28 November 2014

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels - 1750pt Battle Report

Ok so on to the game, if you are looking for the lists, please see the previous post.

I apologise for the poor quality pictures, they're taken using my mobile and I was just snapping very quick shots while we went through so a number of them are blurry. Hopefully the maps will help you see what's happening :)

Mission: Crusade (5 Objectives rolled, 3 VP's each at the end of the game)
Deployment: Dawn of War
Night fighting:Yes

Warlord Traits: 
 - Dark Eldar - Towering Arrogance (Fearless to Warlord and units within 12")
 - Blood Angels - Forgot to roll (oops)

Combat Drugs: +1 WS

Psychic Powers: Prescience // Foreboding // Precognition

Dark Eldar won the roll and decided to deploy first and take first turn

Terrain Setup (Ignore the Dark Eldar)




Deployment




Dark Eldar deploy first and put all the Raiders on the right out of LOS of the Quad Gun in case the Blood Angels seize the initiative, the Reavers with Heat Lance deploy with them on the right to try and dissuade the Knight and Baal from deploying opposite, the other Reavers deploy on the left hand side along with the two venoms containing Succubus/Incubi and Kabalites just left of centre.

Blood Angels Put the Death Company Rhino on the left and deploy the Librarian with Devastators manning the Quad Gun with the Baal Predator next to them. Imperial Knight just to the right of them (as you look at the map) behind the two story ruin.

Blood Angels try to Seize and fail.

Blurry Pic:




DE Turn 1



Venoms pull left to draw a bead on the Quad Gun and open fire at it, the first Venom destroys the Quad whilst between the Reavers and the second Venom 2 marines from the Devastator unit are killed.

In the centre the Scourge jump forward into the crater and fire at the Knight, causing 3 Glances and 1 Penetrating hit of which 2 Glances and then Penetrating hit are saved by the shield. (5 HP left)

On the right the small unit of Reavers moves and boosts behind the ruin at the top right, hoping to bring their Heat Lance into play next turn. The 3 Raiders move out trying to spread a bit to avoid more than 1 getting hit by the Battle Cannon and fire at the Knight, causing one penetrating hit which blows off the close combat weapon. (4 HP left)

Blurry Pics:




BA Turn 1




The Rhino on the left moves 12" around the woods and pops smoke, Baal Predator fires at the Kabalite venom and wrecks it despite jinking. Librarian casts prescience and the Devastators fire at the Incubi's ride which jinks for a 3+ (Night fighting) and saves everything.

The Knight moves out slightly and shoots stubbers against the small unit of Reavers which Jink for a 2+ and the Battle Cannon at the middle raider which Stuns it and leaves it on 1 hull point.

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels (First Blood)

Blurry Pic:




DE Turn 2



All 3 Razorwings fail to come on.

The left Reavers jump over the wood to line up shots at the Devastators and the venom moves up 6" alongside the wrecked Venom before the Succubus and Incubi disembark ready to charge (thought about this for a while first.)

The Reavers shoot at the Baal in the end along with the Kabalites that have climbed into the ruins, hoping that the Succubus and Incubi can take care of the Devastators and Librarian. They Stun it and leave it on 1 hull point before using their Eldar Jetbike move to jump into the crater in front of the Predator.

Succubus throws the Animus Vitae which hits but fails to wound before they charge in, Succubus challenges and kills the unit champion before the rest of the unit kills all the Incubi (no grenades :( ) Succubus is fearless so stays put.

On the right I move everything up and around to take shots at the Imperial Knight and cause 1 glance, with the rest missing, failing to pen, or being saved (4 Haywire Blasters and 2 Dark Lances, then 2 snap shots from Dark Lance / Heat Lance)

Reavers then charge into the Knight (I forgot about Stomp and thought I could lock it in combat, never played against a Knight) and the Cluster Calrops on the specialist cause one rend leaving it on 2 HP, return stomping and attacks kill 2 Reavers.

Blurry Pics:






BA Turn 2



Vanguard Vets drop between the two woods and prepare to charge the Venom but the Assault Marines and Terminators stay off for now.

The Death Company Rhino moves forward at cruising speed through the woods and shoots at the venom but no damage, Baal fires snap shots at the Venom which jinks and saves everything.

The Knight walks out of combat towards the Scourges and fires into them with it's Heavy Stubbers however their armour and 6+ FNP saves all but the front Shard Carbine Scourge. The Battle Cannon fires at the stunned Raider and wrecks it, causing the Wyches to bail out towards the objective.

In the Assault phase the Knight charges the scourges and stomps all but one, with the remaining Scourge fleeing and getting away. The Succubus puts one wound on the Librarian and then takes two wounds from the combined attacks of the unit and Librarian. Stays put again due to Fearless

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels 

Blurry Pics:




DE Turn 3



All 3 flyers come in and line up shots, with the two dark lance Razorwings aiming at the Knight while the Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing flys at the Vanguard Veterans.

The one remaining Scourge rallies on a double 1 and snap shoots at the Knight but misses, the 2 remaining raiders move around to line up shots but have to move at cruising speed so haywire grenades will be snap firing. I bottle it and the Wyches stay in their transport as I hope to kill it with shooting this turn rather than risk my Wyches being stomped on or left in the open with the Assault Marines dropping in. The Reaver with Heat Lance and Caltrops moves just behind the Knight.

I open up with 6 Dark Lances and 2 Haywire Grenades (Snap Fired) as well as the Heat Lance and after saves the only thing to have caused any damage was the Heat Lance which knocked another HP off, but the Knight is still standing with one remaining Hull Point. I charge in with the Reaver and the Cluster Caltrops finish the job.

The Reaver and the closest Raider are caught in the explosion but it fails to wound / penetrate.

On the left the Venom moves forward into the Crater in the middle right in front of the Baal Predator and onto that objective, while the Reavers move to get shots with their blasters at the rear armour of the Rhino, stunning it and leaving it on 1 HP. I considered charging it and finishing the job with Cluster Caltrops but I don't want to be charged by the Death Company next turn so instead move to block all the exit points, trapping them inside barring an emergency disembarkation.

The Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing fires the 2 DC's plus the Splinter Cannon at the Vanguard Vets but I'm worried about the missiles scattering onto my Reavers so don't fire those. I kill 4 Vanguard Vets and leave alive. The Kabalites also shoot into the unit hoping to finish them off but can't do so.

In the Assault Phase the Succubus fails to do any wounds and the marines pull her down for Slay the Warlord.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)

Blurry Pics:





BA Turn 3



The Assault Marines fail to come in again, the Terminators do, but try and drop by the Wyches in the bottom right and mishap, having to go back into Reserves.

Death Company stay in the Rhino, not wanting to emergency disembark, and the Rhino and passengers fire at the Kabalites but fail to hit / wound.

Librarian casts Prescience and Precognition and the unit shoots at the DC armed Razorwing which jinks but fails to save 2 penetrating hits, leaving it stunned and on 1 HP.

Baal Predator fires into the Venom in front of it and wrecks it.

Vanguard Vet shoots and then charges the Kabalites in the ruins but causes no wounds and they bounce off his armour in return.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels



DE Turn 4



The DC armed Flyer flies off the board while the other two move over towards the Librarian and Devastator unit and fire missiles / lances into them killing 3. The Heat Lance armed Reaver moves behind the Baal Predator and misses, before charging in with Caltrops and wrecking it.

The rest of the Reavers move back and shoot at the Rhino again, wrecking it but finding themselves unable to charge the Death Company as they disembarked on the far side out of LOS, I use their jetbike move to pull back away from the objectives into the woods in the Marine deployment Zone.

The two Raiders move around for position and fire lances at the Rhino / Pred, missing. The remaining scourge moves to sit on the objective in the ruins.

In the Assault phase the Kabalites manage to bring down the Vanguard Vet and consolidate back into the ruins towards the objective.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels

Blurry Pics



BA Turn 4



The Assault Terminators come in again and this time land close to their target, running in the shooting phase towards my Wyches sat on the objective.

The Assault Marines also come down near to the objective in the centre of my deployment zone and run in the shooting phase to spread slightly.

Death Company move south through the woods towards the objective on the left of my deployment and run in the shooting phase.

Devastators and Librarian shoot at one of the dark lance Razorwings and it crashes and burns in the open.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels




DE Turn 5 



I forget to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on. The Reavers on the left move towards the Death Company and the remaining flyer turns and heads that way as well, firing 4 missiles and killing 2 Death Company and 1 of the Reavers that had strayed too close. The Reavers then charge in and kill another one, losing two back but staying in combat due to fearless.

One of the Raiders goes flat out down into position to deal with the Assault Marines next turn, while the other moves onto the objective in front of the Aegis. Combined fire from the HL Reaver, Raider and Passengers followed by a charge from the Reaver finishes off the Librarian and Devastators for Slay the Warlord.

The Wyches in the bottom right move up and shoot then charge the terminators, killing 2 and losing 1 in return although the Terminators hold.

Dark Eldar 1 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)




BA Turn 5



Assault marines move around the objective in the centre and shoot at the Kabalites in front of them but they pass all of the cover / feel no pain saves.

In Assault the Death Company and Reavers beat on each other but no casualties due to armour/feel no pain on both sides saving them.

In combat between the Wyches and Terminators one more Wych dies while what wounds do get through on the Terminators are saved.

We counted up the scores to see who would win if the game ended at this point and they stood at:

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 2 Objectives) 8 - 6 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB // 1 Objective)

Rolling the dice we got another turn

DE Turn 6



Still forgot to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on, the other flyer left the table.

Kabalites spread out and fired at the Assault Marines killing one.

The HL Reaver moved to claim the objective in front of the Aegis and one Raider went flat out down to claim the bottom left objective while the other moved around towards the Assault Marines and the Wyches disembarked. They shot and then charged in (WS 5 with Rage, Furious Charge, Fearless, Feel No Pain by this point), losing 3 to overwatch before killing the Unit Champion and 4 Marines, taking one casualty back.

Death company killed one more Reaver and lost one more marine.

Terminators killed 1 Wych and took no casualties.


BA Turn 6



Just the assault phase left, in which the Death Company and Reavers continue to slap each other and the Terminators kill 2 more Wyches, leaving just the Hydrae and Hekatrix.

Wyches in the centre cause a couple of casualties and take none back, with the marines fleeing (and getting away) off the objective.

At this point we decided to call the game.

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 4 Objectives) 14 - 3 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB )

So I really enjoyed the game despite making a good few mistakes as hopefully I'll learn from those and get better as a player.

If I was going back now I think the things I'd have done differently:

Don't jink with the jetbikes with Heat Lance on the first turn, I needed the gun not to be snap firing and they were in cover anyway.

Don't charge the jetbikes into the knight, stomp is nasty - I was lucky to get away with the Heat Lance surviving as it then went on to destroy the Knight, the Baal, and finished off the devastators before claiming an objective at the end of the game. Definitely my man of the match!


Should have just kept my Incubi and Succubus in their Venom turn 2, the Reavers could have charged instead and in charging through cover with Incubi against a reasonably sized unit they just melted.

Don't forget my Razorwings when they've flown off the table, they're not dead!

----------

Those are the obvious ones I can think of, I'm happy to hear any feedback from anyone who has an opinion on it.

What would you have done differently if you were the Dark Eldar and/or the Blood Angels player?

Thanks for reading,


Rich

Thursday 27 November 2014

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels 1750 - Lists

So had my game Wednesday night against Fred with his Blood Angels and Imperial Knight, lists as below, I'll follow this up with the battle report later today / tomorrow as completed

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Animus Vitae

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and a Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion with Agoniser and Cluster Caltrops
 - Blaster x2
 - Cluster Caltrops x1 (additional to the Arena Champ)

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

-------------------------

1750pt Blood Angels

Terminator Librarian
 - Mastery Level 2, Terminator Armour, Combi Flamer

5 Assault Terminators
 - 3 Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
 - 2 Lightning Claws

6 Death Company
 - Rhino

10 Assault Marines
 - Flamer

5 Vanguard Vets

10 Devastators
 - 4 Flakk Missiles

Baal Predator
 - Twin Linked Assault Cannon and 2 Heavy Bolters

Aegis Defence Line
 - Quad Gun

Imperial Knight
 - Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, 2 Heavy Stubbers, Close Combat D Weapon

------------------------------

Thoughts on the lists?

Any predictions?

Will try and get the battle report up asap just trying to work it through battle chronicler and adding the pictures (I took some more this time but haven't looked at what quality they are yet and they tailed off towards the end of the game as it was late)

Wednesday 26 November 2014

List for this evening

Got a game vs a friend at my place this evening at 1750, going to use my 1500 list with a couple of additions but I'm at a bit of a stretch to hit 1750 so I'll need to break theme slightly for a unit of Kabalites.

One list query though, I don't see anything saying I can't take my 1 cluster caltrops per 3 on my champion, I assume I can put them on his bike? (He'd be a very scary proposition in a challenge then, I believe the HoW hits would be taken by whoever he's in the challenge with?)

This is the list I'm using if anyone has any last minute feedback for me before this evening.

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Animus Vitae

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and a Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion with Agoniser and Cluster Caltrops
 - Blaster x2
 - Cluster Caltrops x1 (additional to the Arena Champ)

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

Random Wednesday - Post Schedule // Painting Plans

Just a brief update today with some thoughts on a post schedule and a quick insight into how I plan my painting projects in case anyone else finds it useful.

Post Schedule

One of the pieces of advice I've received when setting up the blog (from The_Burning_eye at The Dark City) was to set a post schedule in order that people know what to expect and when, and so that I can plan around what I'll update and when.

This seems a great idea and I've given it some thought before coming up with the following:

Monday: Painting Update

Gives me time to paint over the weekend and I can write the post Sunday night before posting before work Monday

Wednesday: Random Wednesday

I often have a game Wednesday night (It's the club night at my local club, Rygas Roughnecks) so this will either be thoughts on lists and my opponent for the evening, or general bits that don't fit under painting or gaming.

Will sometimes have an additional Work in Progress picture if I've managed to get much done Mon / Tue.

Friday: Battle Report

I will not always be able to do this one as I don't manage to get a game in every week, but when I was thinking about it I figured if I don't get one in myself, I'' do my best to link to a Dark Eldar one that I've seen elsewhere on other blogs or youtube etc.

I'll be trying to follow that for the next 4 weeks and I'll then review how it's gone and see if any changes need to be made.

Painting Plans

For anyone who's not seen this yet I recommend that you take a look at Kanban Flow 

It's a project management tool but it's free and really easy to use and I find it very helpful for keeping me on track.

When I started my Dark Eldar list writing I wrote down everything I'd need to paint then plugged it into Kanban Flow in manageable chunks before setting dates around when I wanted to start and complete each task. It means that I now know what I need to paint and when to be on track for hitting the various stages of our escalation league with a fully painted army.

I'll include a couple of shots of what I've done below, it's very simple to setup and use though, if anyone has any queries or comments about it, please let me know.




Any thoughts on the post schedule or painting plans?

Monday 24 November 2014

First Wych Shard complete (minus touchups) // Scourge Assembly and Weapon Options Questions





Couple of bits done over the weekend and the first shard of Wyches is pretty much completed now, just need to paint out the mouths and dot the eyes, splash some blood on the weapons and we're done.

From what I've read the best protection is Gloss varnish as the Matt rubs off, but you can use the Gloss and then the Matt to prevent the shine from the Gloss.

Interested to hear everybody's thoughts on it before I mess them up, current plan is likely to be Gloss and then Matt using the airbrush.



I also got some more assembly done on my scourges as I'm wanting to use these in a game on Wednesday. I've only assembled two lots of arms at the moment (picture above is slightly outdated I now have one with Shard Carbine and they all have wings) as I've more of them coming for Christmas which will mean I can do a few units with varying set-ups.

On that note, my current plan is:

4 Haywire
4 Blasters
8 Shard Carbines (or 4 Heat Lance, 4 Carbines)
2 Solarites (one power lance, one agoniser)

That would give me both sets of special weapons I'm likely to use, as well as plenty of ablative wounds if I want to run bigger units, or just run a unit as anti infantry.

Most of the time this will just be 2 x 4 with Haywire Blaster and one Shard Carbine, but I figured if I'm unlikely to use Heat Lances / Dark lances / Splinter Cannons, I might as well do the others as Shard Carbines.

So a couple of questions off the back of those:


  1. What do people recommend in terms of Varnish? I've always previously used GW clear varnish but I've seen horror stories online about frosting so I've also got Vallejo Gloss Varnish and Vallejo Matt Varnish to airbrush on.
  2. What would you assemble the Scourge as? Are Heat Lances worth it without a webway portal delivery system?

Friday 21 November 2014

Wych Cult vs Chaos Marines Battle Report

OK guys I had an attempt at using battle chronicler to make a record of my game from Wednesday evening. I'm sure there are ways to do some of the things I wanted to but I think I may just use Vassal in future as I did find it difficult to show who was shooting who, assaults, etc.

I've tried to include some commentary as best I recall it and I've included a couple of actual photos at the end however I'm afraid I forgot to take any pictures until gone halfway through the game!

Any comments and critique much appreciated. I'll perhaps do another post tomorrow with my opinions on the game but for now this has taken long enough!

Overview

Location: Rygas Roughnecks Gaming Club, Exeter
Date played: 19 November 2014

Mission: Tactical Objectives
Drugs: +1WS
Trait: Warlord and Dark Eldar within 12" cause Fear

Wych Cult of The Dancing Death

Succubus
            Warlord with Archite Glaive, Armour of Misery, Haywire Grenades
4 Incubi
             Klaivex
             V - Venom with 2 x Splinter Cannon, Flickerfield

W1 - 8 Wyches
Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.
R1 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

W2 - 8 Wyches
Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.
R2 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

W3 - 8 Wyches
Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.
R3 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

J1 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers
Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

J2 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers
Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

J3 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers
Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

F11 - Razorwing Jetfighter
             2 Dark Lances, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

F12 - Razorwing Jetfighter
             2 Dark Lances, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

F13 - Razorwing Jetfighter
             2 Disintegrator Cannons, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

  • Total: 1499 points

 Red Corsairs Chaos Space Marines

Huron Blackheart

Dark Apostle

TS -         10 Thousand Sons
Sorceror

CM1 -     10 Chaos Marines
10 Marines, 2 Plasma, Sergeant with Power Axe

CM2 -     10 Chaos Marines
10 Marines, Missile Launcher, Flamer, Sergeant with Power Axe

C -           20 Cultists
Autogun

B -           5 Bikers
2 Melta

FF -         Forge Fiend
2 Ecto Plasma Cannons

V -           Vindicator
Battle Cannon, Havoc Launcher

QG -        Quad Gun

Deployment

Chaos deploy first then choose to go second, he reasoned that most of his weaponry would be out of range turn 1 and that he wanted the second turn for objectives etc.
I deployed trying to keep out of LOS as much as possible, seeing an opportunity on the left using woods to cover the advance and concentrating on hitting one point in the line then rolling up it to avoid facing all of the marines at once.

  Turn 1 - Dark Eldar


First turn I edge the venom out slightly to draw a bead on the Quad Gun, hoping to take it out first turn however although I cause 5 wounds, all but one of them is saved leaving the Quad Gun on 1 wound.

I moved the Reavers and Raiders forward 12" and fired at the Vindicator with all but one of them, shaking it and removing 2 hull points. Once it was shaken I figured the threat was removed so took one shot at the Forge Fiend but failed to penetrate.

Dark Eldar 0 - 0 Chaos

  Turn 1 - Chaos


His First Turn he manoeuvred the Forge Fiend and rear Marine unit slightly and pushed the Cultists forward, took some pot shots at the Reavers through the trees but poor rolling and cover saves meant no casualties. Bikes began to move around the hill but couldn't draw a bead to a target.

Most bits were out of range but the Missile Launcher and Quad Gun both fired at the Venom which jinked and saved a penetrating hit and a glance.

Dark Eldar 0 - 0 Chaos

  Turn 2 - Dark Eldar


Dark Eldar second turn and all 3 Razorwings came on. Quad Gun shot interceptor shots at the disintegrator cannon razorwing which I forgot to declare jink with. He scored 2 penetrating hits getting weapon destroyed and Immobilised, I passed the immobilised save so took a crew stunned result as well as losing one of the cannons.

On the left the Reavers moved up with two units lining up the Vindicator for a shot/charge while the other repositioned slightly to shoot / charge the Cultists. The Raiders continued to move forwards and the venom jumped to the other side of the woods, passing it's dangerous terrain test after which the Incubi and Succubus disembarked and moved towards the Cultists to Assault.

In the shooting phase the Reavers shot at the Vindicator and wrecked it, one of the Raiders finished off the Quad Gun and the other two Raiders both took a shot at the Forge Fiend and missed. The two Razorwings with Lances fired 4 Lances and 4 Missiles between them but only managed to scratch the paintwork, causing one glancing hit and one casualty in each of the units in front of the Forge Fiend from scattering missiles.

The third unit of Reavers and the Succubus with Incubi then shot/charged into the large cultist unit with Dark Apostle, with the Succubus challenging the Dark Apostle and causing 1 wound, before taking one back which thankfully was saved by her invulnerable dodge. The Impact Hits / Reavers / Incubi then accounted for 15 of the cultists, with 5 of those being from the Klaivex (Rampage makes him really nasty!) The 5 remaining cultists and Apostle stayed in place though due to being fearless.

Dark Eldar 2 - 0 Chaos (First Blood and Venom claimed objective in the woods)

  Turn 2 - Chaos


Rear unit of marines shuffle around again but can't get to much due to congestion and the fact that the Incubi and a unit of Reavers are stuck in combat. The bikes move to shoot/charge the Reavers but after shooting is done the assault fails by an inch due to having shot the closest. (Marines also shot into this unit) The Thousand Sons shot at the Flyers but no hits. The missile launcher with the unit on the defence line shot the centre most Raider which jinks but still takes a penetrating hit which stuns it. Forge Fiend shoots the venom and destroys it.

In the ongoing combat between the Succubus and the Dark Apostle, the Succubus put 3 wounds on him which are all saved, after which the Dark Apostle puts 1 on the Succubus, she fails her dodge save and is pulped due to a S6 Power Maul. (Dark Apostle rolls Hammer of Wrath on the Eye of the Gods chart) The Incubi and Reavers kill the rest of the cultists to win combat and pile in surrounding the Dark Apostle.

Dark Eldar 2 - 1 Chaos (Slay the Warlord)

  Turn 3 - Dark Eldar


The DC Razorwing is forced to move 18" straight so does so, snap firing at the marine bikes with its one remaining DC but failing to hit. The other two Razorwings move forward 18" and fire 2 lances and their last 2 Monoscythe Missiles at the Forge Fiend, with the last Missile managing to glance for the final hull point (Two marines also got killed by the scattering blasts)

The centre most Raider was stunned so stayed in place, the other two moved around the woods to the left ready to deliver their payload next turn. They fired lances and killed a bike. Reavers manoeuvred to shoot and one of them charged the bikes and killed 3 with shooting then impact hits, one Reaver was killed in return and the bikes ran (Sorry this isn't on the pic) but Reavers failed to catch them (rolled a 1) Bikes stopped short of table edge.

In the ongoing combat Klaivex challenged the Dark Apostle and killed him, with the Reavers consolidating to try and form a shield in front of the Incubi, and the Incubi not rolling high enough to get into the woods behind them.

Dark Eldar 3 - 1 Chaos (R3 takes an objective in the woods at the bottom of the map)

  Turn 3 - Chaos


Bikes rally and snap shoot at the Reavers on the hill but miss and then fail to charge. Huron casts forewarning on the marines by the house in the bottom left. Everything that can shoots into the Incubi and they melt into nothing. The marine unit at the top of the map shoots at the Flyers but no hits.

Dark Eldar 3 - 1 Chaos

  Turn 4 - Dark Eldar

 Before
After


I don't feel I can get R1 into range to charge the Wyches this turn so that Raider moves 12" forward onto an objective in front of the Aegis. The other two Raiders on the left move 6" forward and disgorge their passengers to shoot / charge the Marines and Thousand Sons (One unit into each)

The Reavers move to claim objectives and threaten Huron, with one unit behind the house claiming an objective, while two of them line up shots/charge against Huron, Charge isn't required however as the Blaster hits, wounds, he fails his invulnerable and is removed for Kill the Warlord

The two lance armed flyers shoot off the board while F13 targets the Bikes and shoots 3 missiles and the working DC at them which wipes them out.

In the assault phase both units of Wyches charge in with Furious Charge now and the Hekatrix make challenges which have to be accepted, during which they cut down the aspiring champion and sorceror. The rest of the unit wipes out the Chaos Marines while in the other combat there are 3 Thousand Sons left who I believe kill 1 Wych. The Reavers move backwards from where Huron was to try and keep away from the marines in that corner.

Dark Eldar 5 - 1 Chaos (Two objectives claimed)

  Turn 4 - Chaos



Things were looking bleak for Chaos with only a unit of marines and 3 Thousand Sons left and so there was limited action this turn, with the Marines moving up and hosing the Reaver Unit down. In combat the last 3 Thousand Sons succumbed to the Wyches.

Dark Eldar 5 - 1 Chaos

  Turn 5 - Dark Eldar


Turn 5 was just a case of mopping up what was left, with everything moving and shooting into the last Marine unit before two units of Wyches charged in and finished the job.

Game!


I enjoyed getting another game in with the Wyches and while I know I wasn't playing against an optimised list I have found the Wyches to be at least usable, I'll expand on my experiences and thoughts on the game more in another article either this evening or tomorrow depending on when I get time.

Thoughts from anyone else on both the game and the Battle Report format?


I'd like to know if it is worth me continuing to post these as it did take a fair bit of work.

Thanks for reading,

Rich


Wednesday 19 November 2014

A little progress on the Wyches // 1500pt game tonight // Escalation League Expands to 1750



I didn't get much in the way of painting done last night but managed to start on the blue for Vials / drugs tubes and the Agoniser (GW Temple Guard / Lothern Blue) as well as putting a base coat down on the skin (Astronomicon Grey).

I think in a couple more evenings they should be finished but I'm not painting until Friday now so it's unlikely to be completed until Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to post up completed pictures on Monday.

I've a 1500pt game this evening against a chap from the club I've not played before (other than Necromunda which he organised the campaign for) so looking forward to the Wych Cult getting another outing. (used them once before against Blood Angels and it went well)

I'm trying to use these games to ensure I'm happy with the various units and the final army I'm working towards building during the escalation league, as I don't want to finish painting everything and then decide I don't like how it plays!

I'll be playing against Chaos Space Marines and will be interesting to see how they fare.

The list I'll be taking is the 1500pt one from my Escalation League Lists Post:

1500pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Armour of Misery, Haywire Grenades

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Blaster
 - Cluster Caltrops

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Blaster
 - Cluster Caltrops

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Heat Lance
 - Cluster Caltrops

-----------------------------

I've also been told that the Escalation League will now be extended up to 1750 in June and that there will then be a 1750 tournament with fully painted armies to finish the League.

I'm not 100% sure on what to add to take this list to 1750 but I've come up with a couple of ideas:

1.) Combine the Reavers into a unit of 9 and add an Arena Champion, then add in 2 x Scourge with 4 Haywire Blasters to shore up my anti tank.

2.) Add a small unit of Wyches in a Venom with Hekatrix (Power Sword and Haywire) then add Night Shields onto the Raiders. I would then have another 60 points spare for something else (Potential combine two of the Reaver Units and add an empty Venom?)

Would be great to hear some other opinions if anyone is reading this :)

Rich

Monday 17 November 2014

First Steps - Dark Eldar Wyches

So as mentioned previously I had already painted 3 Wyches for my kill team a few years back using the old codex, so the first step is boosting them to a usable unit this time round.

I wanted to give myself some options with the Wyches so I made units of 8, using the other 2 in each box to make a spare weapon specialist and Hekatrix.

This means if I want to I have two options from each box:

Hekatrix with Agoniser // 6 Wyches // Hydra Gauntlets - My usual unit

or

Hekatrix with Agoniser // 3 Wyches // Hydra Gauntlets
Hekatrix with Power Sword // 3 Wyches // Shardnet and Impaler

So normally I'd have 3 units of 8 Wyches in a full list, but I have the option of 6 units of 5 if I wanted to.

I know the power sword isn't seen as the best option, but once you get Furious Charge it's actually just as good as the Agoniser against MEQ (4+ to wound) and before then it's still as good against T3 (although worse against T6)

The way I visualise the army playing (and fitting my fluff) is flitting around in their transports taking out armoured threats before jumping down turns 3/4 to deliver the killing blow, hopefully the power sword will work for me and if not, well I've still saved 10 points.

I started on the models last night and this is as far as I've got so far.


For those interested I'll detail the paints below (And as a good reference for me!)

Base: 
  • Gravel Sprayed with Black Primer
  • Drybrush (patchy) with Astronomicon Grey
  • Wash patches with Violet Ink and Devlan Mud
  • Splash small patches of Blood for the Blood God on
Model:
  • Naggaroth Night on armour plates and jacket
  • Paint all but the recesses with 50/50 Royal Purple and Squid Pink armour
  • Violet Ink Wash
  • Balthasar Gold
  • Leadbelcher
  • Magic Blue for Agoniser and Drugs tubes
  • Violet Ink and Badab Black washes on Hydra Gauntlets, Drybrushed with Runefang Steel
  • Tin Bitz on the back of the helmeted weapon specialist
  • Electric Blue for the rune on his helmet
That's as far as I've got so far, I'll be painting again tomorrow night (Tue 18th) and will post an update following that.



Wych Cult Lists for Escalation

So if anyone is reading this you'll have seen my fluff and the picture of my 1500 list, included below are my current iterations of the lists I'll be using during the league.

-------------------------------------

200pt Kill Team

5 Wyches
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Disintegrator Cannon

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Heat Lance
 - Cluster Caltrops

-------------------------------------

500pt Combat Patrol

5 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Haywire Grenades
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Haywire Grenades
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Wyches
 - Hyrda Gauntlets
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons


Razorwing Jetfighter with 2 Disintegrator Cannons

-------------------------------------

1000pt Skirmish

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Armour of Misery, Haywire Grenades

3 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

6 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

6 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - 2 Blasters
 - 2 Cluster Caltrops

-------------------------------------

1500pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Armour of Misery, Haywire Grenades

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shield

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Blaster
 - Cluster Caltrops

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Blaster
 - Cluster Caltrops

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Blaster
 - Cluster Caltrops

-------------------------------------

The "Before" Shot

So before I get too far with the painting I thought I'd show an army shot of the eventual 1500 list, most of it is primed now and ready to begin painting.

I did have 3 wyches already painted along with a venom and 3 partially painted Reaver Jetbikes from my kill team using the old codex (Wyches were used as Bloodbrides then in a unit of 3)

Due to the changes I can no longer use Blood Brides in units of 3 (booo!) however because Reavers dropped in points so much I can include a full unit of 5 wyches instead (woop!)

Anyway, here is the "before" shot:


Lists for the 200 / 500 / 1000 and 1500 to follow...

The Wych Cult of The Dancing Death

The Wych Cult of the Dancing Death

The Dancing Death pride themselves on mastery of the aerial artform, In their home arena it's considered bad taste to touch the floor before the killing blow is delivered, with fights carried out on spear tips protruding 12 feet above the sand.

The cult is looked down upon somewhat by the Commorite elite who are used to drawn out bouts with the eventual victor torturing their victim with countless cuts in a long process to maximise their enjoyment. Bouts that would last minutes and hours in any other setting last but seconds in the Spear Stadia, appealing to a select minority who enjoy the demonstration of sheer superiority provided by a lightning quick finish.

As a result of their respect for speed and the traditions of the cult, there are a greater number than usual of Reaver gangs affiliated with the cult, and the leaders have a strong relationship with an elite section of Razorwing pilots. This is evidenced in that the cult rarely conducts a realspace raid without at least one of these supersonic fighters.  They also have extensive dealings with scourge messengers, and in fact many of the scourge have been elevated to scourge from Gladiatrixes due to their appreciation of aerial duels.

The colours selected by the cult convey these themes, with dark purple bodysuits implying both a regal superiority and a homage to the shadows the cult invariably strikes from, whilst the lightning blue spot colours reflect the speed with which the killing blow is delivered.

In terms of leadership, unlike most Wych cults which are led by a triumvirate of Succubi, in the Dancing Death there are but two Succubi, with overall power within the cult being finely balanced between the lightning fast Lanudhae, once a famous Gladiatrix who now turns her hand to enhancing the external perception of the cult through regular realspace raids, and the shadowy Yaqorae, of which little is known and less spoken.

In keeping with the traditions of the cult, ambitious Hekatrix are unlikely to bide their time for long, and regular challenges to the two Succubi's leadership are common. As such when leading realspace raids it is much more likely to see a Succubus in the company of trusted bodyguards from one of the Icubi orders rather than in the midst of potential upstarts.

Recent Sightings.

There is a marked difference between the cults open strength, and their hidden strength, but the known participants in recent raids, and thus those that currently hold the most favour within it's ranks, are as follows:

Lanudhae - Most of the cults' raids recently are led by the spinning death herself, armed with her deadly archite glaive and protected by a mysterious Cuirass known as the Armour of Misery - Magnifying the fear that her enemies feel in her presence tenfold

Khamor - The silent leader of the Incubii responsible for protecting Lanudhae, the calm with which he and his fellow Incubus butcher any attempts on his mistresses' life are disturbing to any not familiar with the dark kin.

Gladiatrix: Three Hekatrix  lead the gladiatrixes of the Dancing Death on their realspace raids, each at the head of up to 10 wyches normally transported into battle by a Raider boasting the best in dark eldar technology to allow them to blend into the shadows when necessary before speeding in for the killing blow. Each Hekatrix will normally carry an Agoniser into battle, a vicious whip covered in toxins with which are designed to attach themselves to their victim's nervous system to cause immense pain whilst quickly incapacitating them. They are commonly accompanied by the cult's weapon specialists, deadly Hydrae wielding gauntlets that spout crystalline growths on demand that rip apart their victims, covering those nearby in arterial spray that serves to further excite the battle rage within them.

Reavers: The current leader of the Reavers associated with the cult is Therys, although he has little of a leadership role once battle has begun, with various cliques of Reavers splitting up and advancing at high speeds to harrass enemy tanks before joining in the slaughter once their job is done.


Razorwing: "The Razorflight" is the combined name for the trio of Razorwing pilots associated with the cult, although there are many who aspire to fly the sleek fighters in combat the current cadre of elite pilots seems to be living a charmed existence. Their planes dodging and weaving through anti air fire, dropping their deadly monoscythe missiles on their primary targets before dispersing to wreak havoc amongst enemy armour and heavy infantry alike.

Escalation League Outline and Aims

So basically the league will work as follows:

February: 200pt Kill Team
March: 500pt Combat Patrol (Adepticon Rules)
April: 1000pt
May-July: 1500pt

There are various categories of "winner" including most sportsmanlike, best painted, most fluffy, best general etc.

I'm certainly not likely to get anywhere near best painted and very unlikely to get best general, so my efforts will be aimed at most sportsmanlike (difficult for me as I am a very competitive person) and most fluffy (I've never written any fluff before in my life!)

I'm hoping that in writing the fluff for my army and by choosing to limit my selections to those matching my fluff I will be able to aim more at making the games fun for myself and my opponent rather than purely beating an opponent into the ground.

My main aim for this however is purely to get a project FINISHED. I am absolutely terrible with this as you'll have seen, flitting around the newest shiny without ever managing to get anything finished. I am really hoping that by throwing my hobby time into this project I will emerge in July with a fully painted 1500pt Dark Eldar Wych Cult, and the drive to go on and finish painting the rest of my Dark Eldar.

Next post - My Wych Cult Fluff

40k Escalation League - Dark Eldar

Well I don't hold out much hope of anyone but myself reading this however I find it useful to catalogue my own efforts and if nothing else demonstrate my complete inability to stick at something for any length of time.

So far you've seen my Tyranids (Shelved) as well as a brief splurge on Space Wolves (Sold) as well as my infinity figures (Got shelved for a couple of years but I'm playing off and on again now)

The next shiny appears to be a 40k escalation league at my local club (Rygas Roughnecks in Exeter) for which I'll be using a bunch of Dark Eldar I had lying around with a couple of newer purchases from ebay.

I believe I've dug up / bought enough for a good start and currently have the following in various stages of assembly:

1 Succubus (New version)
1 Archon (Conversion)
40 Kabalite Warriors
40 Wyches
10 Incubi
12 Reaver Jetbikes
4 Raiders
4 Venoms
3 Razorwing Jetfighters

I'm looking to make a wych cult themed army first of all and have written some fluff which I'll include in the next post before starting to post up some lists and work in progress pictures as I begin to ramp up for the league which starts in February with Kill Team.