Friday 27 February 2015

1500pt Harlequin List using Formations - 2++ re-rollable Jink?

So just thinking of some lists today and I came up with the following, would be interesting to hear if people thought it was viable:

Faolchù’s Blade - 945pts

6 Skyweavers
+ Zephrglaive
360
6 Skyweavers
+ Zephrglaive
360
3 Void Weaver
225

(Re-Roll cover saves while jinking)

Way of Heroes - 310pts

Death Jester
60
Shadow Seer (ML2)
85
Solitaire
Cegorach's Rose
Haywire
145
15
5

(Infiltrate // Shrouded // Stealth)

Company of Actors - 245pts

5 man Troupe
(TM with Caress)
100
Death Jester
60
Shadow Seer (ML2)
85

(Crusader)

Basic idea would be Shadow Seers cast Shrouded/Stealth on the Bikes for 2+ re-rollable jink saves, Heroes all have Shrouded/Stealth already.

Void Weavers for Heavy Armour and Bikes should deal with light armour (36 S6 shots, 42 with the Jesters)

Strong in combat with 30 I think? Ap2 attacks on the charge from each unit of bikes, Death Jester can pull things about a bit as and when that works. 

Just some random thoughts anyway but seems pretty nasty and very aggressive whilst having some durability with the shrouded/stealth giving 24 T4 2++ models and once you're through that, you've got the Solitaire tearing through you and still have Death Jesters, Shadow Seers and a Harlequin Troupe as well as the Void Weaver offering anti horde and.or anti heavy armour

Harlequin List Thoughts and Formation Points



So I've been thinking about how to run my Harlequins and what each of the formations would cost me in "wishlist" points and "minimum" points so I know roughly what points value each would slot into.

Short version above, long version below. If anyone tells me this is against any sort of T's and C's I'll get them edited.

Formation
Wishlist
Minimum
Cegorach's Revenge
1500
1065
Cegorach's ??? 
(Can't remember the name right now)
1000
770
Company of Actors
429
215
Cegorach's Jest
423
270
Way of Heroes
310
265
Faolchù’s Blade
315
275

The "Wishlist" version is how I would choose to run them, the "Minimum" version is the least it would cost to get the absolute minimum of these formations in a list.

I had escalation in my head when running through these as we're doing an escalation league at our local gaming club currently and I wrote the following for Kill Team and Combat Patrol (Adepticon 2015 rules)

Kill Team:

6 Troupe
Haywire (TM)
Harlequins Caress (TM)
Harlequins Kiss x2
110
5
5
10
Star Weaver
70

Combat Patrol:
 
5 Troupe
Haywire (TM)
Harlequins Caress (TM)
Harlequins Kiss x2
95
5
5
10
Star Weaver
70
Shadowseer
60
3 Sky Weavers
150

If anyone is interested I'll spend a few posts going through what lists I'd write for each of the formations, but I did it more for myself so unless it's requested I'll leave it for now.

Currently fighting with myself for focus as I am enjoying my Dark Eldar at the moment and getting some good work done on painting them up but I also REALLY want to get started on the Harlequins.

I'm thinking of rewarding myself with a Harlequin to paint each time I get a unit finished for my Dark Eldar or something, any ideas on how you've dealt with similar in the past?



Also, I've seen a lot of posts online saying they would run the Troupes without transports but maybe because of my Dark Eldar I've not even considered this at the moment. 6 S6 shots seem great for popping transports open which is something the Harlequins seem to struggle with, and the additional speed and protection it can offer the Troupe for me seems a no brainer.

So, with Star Weavers or without? Why?

Monday 23 February 2015

Harlequins // Raider Update // Imperial Assault

Hi guys,

Not a massive amount done over the weekend as I had offered my services to the in laws putting up some bizarre metal frame to stick a chicken coop inside at their allotment... Fun...

Anyways, got a bit more done on my first Raider and thought I'd throw a picture up (and the sails/gun for the 2nd and 3rd but no pic I'm afraid)



I'm really happy with how they're turning out given my very basic abilities. I normally spend ages painting something and then the end result looks like something someone could do in a couple of evenings, doing things this way however it will only have taken me 3 evenings to get all 3 raiders to the stage above which although I've still got a lot of work to do picking out details and washes etc. but at the moment I think it looks reasonable enough to put down on the table at least while I continue working on it.

I also received a few packages over the end of last week and this weekend using the proceeds from the sale of my Tyranid army.

Firstly:

Tech Dice Tower by Q-Workshop

Hardly exciting I know, but I'm forever lobbing dice off the table, or into scenery, and this makes it much easier to be rolling 10-20 dice at a time without them going all over the place. I tried it out Saturday and there were claims of it somehow making my rolling better too so an added bonus there!

Secondly:



The Harlequins are definitely growing on me, I've always liked the style and fluff for them but when the figures came out I think I was overawed by the paint job on the troupes and so put off slightly, then the Void Weaver came along and... Meh, I just don't like that backwards facing gun, looks ridiculous to me.

The troupes have grown on me though and the Death Jester and Shadow Seer are fantastic, I also like the Star Weaver and Sky Weavers and flicking through the codex, the art is gorgeous.

I'm really looking forward to the project now though and even the Void Weaver is slowly growing on me. Reading through the fluff there is a masque called the Soaring Spite that are depicted joining in with the Reavers in the arenas of Commoragh which fits in perfectly with my Wych Cult so that's the paint scheme I'll be following.

Soaring Spite:



Anyway, picking up most of the rest of my Masque on Wed (All but the Death Jesters and Shadow Seers), a mate from Kirton Games is bringing them along and if you're looking to pick up some Harlequins they're doing some great deals currently, (And free shipping from £15)

Thirdly, this is due to arrive today so not got pictures of my copy yet but the last of the money went on:



Really looking forward to getting a couple of games in of this and dwelt on it for ages should I shouldn't I, even ordered it then cancelled it before shipping once as I was worried I'd spend a considerable amount of money and then never play it. Finally gave in and ordered and have a game arranged for 13th March which we got a full group for pretty much straight away so I needn't have worried!


Lastly, 4 of us played some games of Combat Patrol on Wed and I was trying out two new "mats" I'd ordered from pixartprinting  (Actually just images that were printed on 4 by 4 Vinyl) they're obviously not as good as a £40 + gaming mat but they look decent enough and they cost very little in comparison (£7.50 delivered at the time as it was half price)



Looked good with all the terrain on and very happy with them (sorry got excited about playing and forgot to take pics after setup)

The games themselves went well for the Dark Eldar, I used:

Raider - Dark Lance - 5 Wyches
Raider - Dark Lance - 5 Wyches
Venom - 2 x Splinter Cannon - 5 Wyches
Venom - 2 x Splinter Cannon (Fast Attack)

First game against an Imperial Fists scout list something like this:

5 Scouts with 4 Snipers and 1 Missile Launcher
5 Scouts with bolt pistol / CC weapon and Heavy Bolter
5 Scouts with Bolters
3 Scout Bikers with Grenade Launchers
Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer Power Fist

Tabled them turn 5, really struggled against the Dreadnought as I'd only the two lances that could touch it but finally took it down last turn. Wyches did very little, two units stayed in their transports while one had it's Venom shot down then the remainder charged last turn into the last Heavy Bolter scout and killed him.

Second game against Blood Angels with this (I think this was everything? Seems small):

Whirlwind
Razorback - Heavy Bolter - 5 Tactical Marines
Drop Pod - 6 Sternguard - 1 Multi Melta and 1 Heavy Flamer

Mission was Purge the Alien.

I had first turn but couldn't draw a bead on either tank and passed straight to my opponent so he could bring the drop pod down (I still wanted first turn because of power from pain)

Drop Pod came down and Heavy Flamer toasted 3 Wyches in one venom, while the Venom jinked the MM. Whirlwind dropped ordnance on the Venom but again was jinked.

Raiders blew up the Drop Pod while the Venoms and Wyches together took out the Stern Guard Unit over the next two turns.

Eventually ended Turn 5 with the score at 5-4 to the Dark Eldar (First Blood, Line Breaker, 3 KP vs 3 KP and Line Breaker)

Conclusions: I need more Anti Tank. I just had no way to take down any armour other than the two lances, which were on platforms that most of the time I needed to jink with. Still not sure how to get more Anti Tank in the list without just switching out and going with Kabalites which obviously would be much better but are not fitting with my theme.

Scourges with Haywire Blasters perhaps?

Any suggestions?

Friday 20 February 2015

Combat Patrol list Options

Hi guys,

So we now have confirmation of the format for the Combat Patrol games in March as part of the Escalation league my Dark Eldar are involved in.

It's basically either your normal options for a game (Force Org or Formation) or the edited Force Org as below:

0-1 HQ
0-1 Elite
1-6 Troops
0-1 Fast Attack
0-1 Heavy Support

This has somewhat put a downer on my Wych Cult lists as if you've followed along up until now I've always included as many Reavers as I can, and at 200 I only ran Reavers!

With the previous incarnation of the Combat Patrol rules there used to be a "Swing Slot" so I could use 2 units of Reavers and then whatever else, but now I'm down to a max of one.

The problem is that as my Troops would be limited to Wyches if staying in theme, I would only really have 1 blaster in the whole army as anti tank, and would have to pay 15pts in each Wych unit for a single Haywire Grenade in each (Not good...)

So my conundrum is... I can break theme, and get a decent list in with good anti infantry and anti tank, or stay in theme and play a sub par list. I've put both list options below.

Option 1

5 Kabalite Trueborn - 165 pts
3 Blasters
Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

5 Kabalite Warriors - 120 pts
Blaster
Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

5 Kabalite Warriors - 115 pts
Blaster
Raider with Dark Lance

So this list has 3 units all in transports, 5 blasters and a lance for popping vehicles, 2 venoms plus small arms fire from the Kabalites for anti infantry (Potential for 48 splinter shots and 6 blasters at close range will make a mess of most infantry, 24 of those can reach 36")

Option 2

5 Wyches - 125 pts
Hekatrix with Haywire Grenade
Raider with DL

5 Wyches - 125 pts
Hekatrix with Haywire Grenade
Raider with DL

6 Reavers - 146 pts
2 Blasters
2 Cluster Caltrops

This seems like it may still have major issues with armour, but not sure what the readers think?

The two haywire grenades are pretty much a requirement, but I'm paying 15pts for each and they're 8" range so unlikely to ever get thrown. I also don't like using a big unit of 6 Reavers, would much rather split them down but can't do so because of the org chart restrictions

So what would you do guys?

Any alternative list suggestions whilst staying on theme within these boundaries? (Wyches, Reavers, potentially stretch to Scourges)

Thursday 19 February 2015

Overdue Update // Dark Eldar Wych Cult // Escalation League // Kill Team & Combat Patrol

Hi guys,

Still alive over here just had a little less time to post recently as I've been busy gaming/painting.

Back to 40k for a bit now I think as the escalation league I've been thinking about for a while has kicked off at the start of Feb.

Since I wasn't able to make it down to the club last night with Charlene being on a night shift, I managed to get the airbrush out and throw some paint on 3 of my Raiders that will be acting as transports for my Wyches in bigger games. I'm reasonably happy with how they turned out although I had some problems with the airbrush again, having to pulse it to get any paint out regardless of how many times I cleaned it out which as you can imagine made painting difficult!



So hull and the sails are, I think, done for now and will just need to go in and pick out the details which hopefully shouldn't take more than a couple of nights.

If anyone knows how the heck I rotate that pic please let me know, as it's fine on my computer before I upload it!

*edit* Managed it

Sadly as my wife works shifts I've not been able to make two of the Wednesday nights at the club and missed the Kill Team tournament that kicked it all off as well but I did manage to make one week and am expecting to be there on the 25th as well.

So far it's gone well and I've enjoyed both my Kill Team games although we are finding out how brutal bike lists can be at this point level (and in 1 man units)

This is the list I've run for both of my first two games:

Arena Champion with Cluster Caltrops
Reaver with Blaster (Master Crafted)
Reaver with Heat Lance (Infiltrate)
Reaver (Fleshbane)
Reaver with Blaster
Reaver
Reaver
Reaver
Reaver

First game I played against Inquisition and we rolled up the mission with Night Fight throughout the whole game... it was Brutal,T5 bikes (Combat Drugs) with 2+ saves all game due to Skilled Rider and Stealth while I had Night Vision to negate any advantage the opponent might have gained from it. Ended up tabling the opponent turn 3 and feeling very bad - Only lost one Reaver when my opponent charged a Death Cult Assassin in and chopped him in half.

Second game against Eldar Corsairs using the Imperial Armour list was interesting. I won the roll off for first turn and deployed aggressively against what I think was:

Venom (5 Harlequins)
5 Corsairs (One flamer, one shuriken cannon)

He then promptly seized the initiative, fired the Shuriken Cannon at my leader (Ignores Cover) and I was down a Reaver straightaway. Venom advanced on the Heat Lance jetbike I'd "cleverly" deployed 18" from him but thankfully I jinked away the hits.

After that it was similar to the previous game, I took out the ignores cover  Shuriken Cannon  first turn and then danced around the Venom trying to deny him shots with Eldar Jetbike Move and took it down turn 2. After that I could take my time and use the superior manoeuvrability of the jetbikes to shoot the Corsairs and Harlequins down whilst keeping away from retaliation. (Tabled turn 4)

Since then I've not managed to get down again but the way that the league works I'm doing well because of my average VP's, That is likely to change next week though as I've a game booked against the current league leader who's destroying everyone with his Necron bike list. If anyone has ANY ideas how to beat this with Dark Eldar please let me know:

9 Tomb Blades with Gauss and 3+ saves (Twin Linked, Rapid Fire, S5, Ignores Cover)

Combat Patrol

After that, had Fred round Saturday night with his Blood Angels for a couple of games of Combat Patrol to get our lists ready for the next round (400pts) starting in March.

I ran this first game:

6 Reavers, Arena Champion with Agoniser, 2 Blasters with Cluster Caltrops
3 Reavers, Blaster with Cluster Caltrops
5 Wyches, Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire
Venom with Splinter Cannon and TL Splinter Rifle


Fred ran something like:

7 Death Company
5 Tac Squad with Missile Launcher
5 Sternguard with Heavy Flamer and Combi Flamer

Quick report: (No Pics Sorry)

BA T1: Blood Angels move forwards with Death Company on the left, SternGuard Centre, Tac Company Right.

DE T1: Venom moves up onto ruins to shoot at Death Company, 3 Jetbikes zoom over behind the Tac Marines, 6 Jetbikes jump out to shoot at DC and between everything kill 1.

BA T2: DC move to prepare a charge up the building at the Venom, Sternguard move forward to fire at Reavers, Tac Marines jiggle around so everyone can fire at the 3 Jetbikes. DC fail to glance with shooting and fail charge (7") Tac Squad kill 1 jetbike, Stern Guard kill two with ignores cover ammo.

DE T2: 2 Jetbikes move behind Tac marines and snap fire, killing one then charge in killing 4 with Impact hits from Caltrops/Bladevines. Venom moves down and Wyches disembark, all firing into the Death Company killing 2 (4 left) then charge in killing 1 before losing 1 in return. Bigger unit of jetbikes shoot into Sternguard killing 1 and then juimping behind cover.

BA T3: Sternguard move forward and shoot at the couple of jetbikes they can see poking out and kill 1. Combat continues and Wyches fail to kill anything before losing 3 more leaving just the Hekatrix who runs away but stays on the table.

DE T3: Hekatrix rallies. 2 Reavers who killed the Tac Squad move to shoot the Sternguard and Kill 1 before jumping back but not far enough to get into cover. 3 remaining Reavers from the large unit as well as the Venom shoot into the Death Company and then charge in finishing them off with HoW hits.

BA T4: Sternguard move back towards the small unit of Reavers who failed to jump behind cover and one flamer is in range but fails to wound, normal shots fail to hit/wound.

DE T4: Everything jumps around the Sternguard and fires into them finishing them off.

Game Two

I changed my list as the Agoniser in the bike squad seemed overkill and in dropping the Agoniser I was able to add the second Splinter Cannon to the Venom, a Wych with Hydra Gauntlets, and with the spare 10 pts throw grisly trophies on the Venom (nothing better I could think of)

Fred changed  his list up and went with:

6 Devastators 4 with Heavy Bolters
5 Tac Marines with Flamer
5 Sternguard (I think, may have been more)

We called this after turn 3 as the Venom killed 3 Devastators a turn while they failed to damage it, and the Jetbikes boosted away from his Sternguard who had deployed on one flank so both of my units of Reavers could concentrate on killing his Tac Squad before the Sternguard could footslog it over. Pretty brutal and showed the manoeuvrability the list has to great effect. (Although Fred couldn't roll for toffee this game either.

I'm fairly happy with the list for Combat Patrol but would welcome any feedback on it, obviously I'd prefer to run 3 units of 3 bikes but can't do that in Combat Patrol as only 1 Fast Attack slot and 1 "Swing" slot.

Monday 2 February 2015

#HVT

Hi guys,

I'm aware it's been a couple of weeks, I've been busy playing N3 (Went to a doubles tournament last weekend) and assembling miniatures for my Haqqislam (Now have enough to field everything in Qapu Khalpi at full availability)

I have however been slack in my duties here, I've been having so much fun assembling/painting/playing that I haven't really spent any time updating.

In addition I've jumped in with some friends in starting another blog which will be authored by the five of us and on it we'll be detailing the progress of our infinity forces (all 5 of us are pretty much painting up lists from scratch)

If anyone is interested the combined blog will be here: http://highvaluetargets.blogspot.com/

I'll likely include interim pictures here on an ad hoc basis, and get back to random posts, but the pressure of keeping to a schedule has led to me not really bothering to update at all as I haven't got a battle report etc. to post.

Keep reading here for random posts on a random basis, but there won't be a fixed schedule as such.

Also I seem to have lost my appetite for 40k at the moment so although this may include random musings on my Dark Eldar and progress updates, for the time being it's likely to be strongly infinity focussed.

Thanks,

Rich