Showing posts with label Wych Cult. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wych Cult. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Shadow Raptors Background

Going to a tournament on Saturday and part of the entry is that I need to write a piece of fluff for my army.

I always enjoy giving my army a background and doing the "factual bits" (A friend has just politely pointed out they're not real - spoilsport!), similar to what I did with my Craftworld Eldar a few weeks ago, and have done for my Wych Cult in the past. However I hate the process of weaving that into a story! I just can't seem to get it right and it just always seems to read like I'm a little kid again writing "let's pretend" stories.

I am also terrible at generating names for my characters so just nicked a few Dark Eldar sounding names from the "Path of the Renegade" book.

Anyway, it had to be done so I've spent a few days off and on thinking about it and eventually finished it up over breakfast this morning.

The initial task I set was to set the scene for why my kabal was playing these games, and to excuse the fact that I'm bringing a unit of Wyches along (the tournament doesn't "have" to be fully painted but I'd much prefer to play fully painted and there is a slight advantage in VP's if you bring a painted army so I figured what the heck, they've been on the shelf long enough)

This is what I came up with anyway, it's too late for change now but I'd appreciate any feedback you may have so that as and when I come to do it again I can improve upon this offering. (Army list is below for anyone interested)

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Duke Yllithian strode down the ranks of his arrayed kabalites,  daring one of them to blink out of turn. Not known for his patience at the best of times he was currently fuming inside, and looking for an excuse to release that rage on something or someone.

The arrangements for the raid had started well, he was soon to be launching a sustained campaign aimed at raising the stature of the Shadow Raptors kabal, and had begun pitting his warriors against each other to ensure only the very best were given the honour of joining the coming slave harvest.

All had been going well until the insolent Succubus Xelion had dropped from the sky unannounced in her Raider while final preparations were being made.
The wych cult of the Dancing Death was known to Yllithian, a once powerful gladiatorial cult that prided itself on the acrobatic skill of it's Wyches but that had fallen from grace recently as the powerful kabals it used to sell it's services to, found that they would rather fill their ranks with more of their own kabalites. (An arrangement also significantly less likely to end with a knife in the back)

Yllithian couldn't help but take the opportunity to point out the power he now held in comparison to the shreds of a reputation that the wych cult now clung on to and asked what Xelion thought of his assembled warriors.

The lithe Succubus had hesitated, stroking the blade of one of her knives down a thigh just enough to draw blood, before responding with a shrug and launching into wildly exaggerated tales of the feats her Wyches were capable of. Yllithian had cut her off at the point she began to compare his kabalites with the grace of a Squiggoth, a nod to his Sslyth bodyguard Morr the signal to throw Xelion overboard.

Xelion somersaulted out of reach and landed with one foot on the very tip of the Raider's aethersail. "A wager then!" The shout had come down, "one group of my Wyches, to outperform your entire raiding force!"

Yllithian had been left with no choice but to accept or lose face at that point and was raging at the fact that her been manipulated into taking along a group from the wych cult. A webway portal could only be held open for so long and the presence of the Wyches meant he would likely have to leave one of his favoured razorwing jet fighters in Commorragh.

With a mock bow the manipulative Succubus leapt back off the Aethersail and onto a swooping venom, leaving Yllithian to continue with his preparations...

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Shadow Raptors + Guests (1500 pts)

Duke Yllithian - Archon with Agoniser / Armour of Misery / Shadowfield / Webway Portal
Bodyguard - Court of the Archon, 3 Sslyth and 2 Medusa in a Raider with Nightshield

5 Kabalites with Blaster and Sybarite with Haywire Grenade in 2 Splinter Cannon Venom
5 Kabalites with Blaster and Sybarite with Haywire Grenade in 2 Splinter Cannon Venom
5 Kabalites with Blaster and Sybarite with Haywire Grenade in 2 Splinter Cannon Venom
5 Kabalites with Blaster and Sybarite with Haywire Grenade in 2 Splinter Cannon Venom
5 Kabalites with Blaster and Sybarite with Haywire Grenade in Raider
8 Wyches with Hydra Gauntlet and Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades in a Raider with Nightshield

Razorwing Jetfighter with 2 Disintegrator Cannons and 4 Monoscythe Missiles
Razorwing Jetfighter with 2 Dark Lances and 4 Monoscythe Missiles

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It's not the most optimal of builds, but it's fully painted and the tournament was pitched as "fluffy" so I don't feel so bad including the Wyches and Razorwings over Ravagers and more Kabalites.

I'll let you know how I get on and hopefully add some pictures next week




Monday, 13 April 2015

Airbrush Stencilling // Hobby Update // 1000pt Dark Eldar vs Crimson Fists this evening



Hi guys,

Quick update with some progress, I'm afraid most of it is pretty boring but just got some progress on assembly / priming.

Before...


Got the airbrush out last night and primed some more of my Dark Eldar bits as well as spraying over some I had bought second hand on ebay. I also managed to get some of the characters primed for my Harlequins so that I can get started on those when I feel the urge.

After...


Managed to Prime:

Dark Eldar Scenery Piece
Archon
12 Kabalites (3 Blasters, 1 Sybarite, 1 Splinter Cannon)
2 Ravagers

Solitaire
2 Death Jesters
2 Shadowseers

Drop Pod
Marine w. Heavy Flamer
Dreadnought

I do find the airbrush a much better way to prime then the spray cans, you're able to direct the spray much better and can put a much lighter coat on them. It is a bit of a pain having to get it all out and then clean and put it away afterwards but I think it's worth it.

I also managed to have a play around with some stencils and I'm quite happy with the results, the stencils are from a recent kickstarter I backed from Anarchy Models and are the Dragon Scale pattern ones, I really like the effect and think it'll look good once they're painted up. I have some hex ones for the Aether Sails of the Ravagers as well as some Diamond ones for the Harlequin vehicles

The picture at the top is a better close up and you can see the one on the right I had a bit of splatter from the airbrush with so I'll need to clean that up, they also look much brighter than they are in the flesh, for a better idea of the colours/brightness look at the army shot.

For anyone interested in how I used the stencils I just held them over the area I wanted to put the pattern and sprayed over with some white paint, then went over the area with a purple shade (Druchi Violet) afterwards to try and tint the white and blend it in a bit more. Might need to put a couple more coats of this on to make the effect more subtle but wanted to consider it rather than just do it on the night then regret it.

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

Following that I managed to get another batch of 4 Kabalites started last night and I'm painting my Archon along with them. (Not going to put a lot of time into this model as I plan to convert my own eventually but I'd like to get him on the table painted for now)

That would put me on the following painted:

Archon in Venom
5 Kabalites with Blaster in Raider
5 Kabalites with Blaster in Raider
8 Wyches with Hekatrix and Hydrae in Raider


Feels like I'm slowly getting there with the army and I have a few other bits at various stages of completion like the two jetfighters above, a unit of 3 Reaver Jetbikes and a second Venom that just need to be finished off.

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1000 pt Game this evening

I also have a friend coming round this evening with Crimson Fists for a game at 1000pts playing a Maelstrom mission. He normally brings quite a competitive list so I'm going to try out the list I wanted to use for the league once it kicks up to 1000pts in May.

Archon with Blaster and Haywire Grenades in Venom (2x Splinter Cannon)

5 Kabalites with Blaster in Venom (2x Splinter Cannon)
5 Kabalites with Blaster in Raider (Dark Lance)
5 Kabalites with Blaster in Raider (Dark Lance)
5 Kabalites with Blaster in Raider (Dark Lance)

Razorwing Jetfighter (2 x Dark Lance and 4 x Monoscythe Missiles)

Ravager (3 x Dark Lance)
Ravager (3 x Dark Lance)

Hopefully has the tools to deal with a variety of lists, with 9 Lance shots initially and extra as the Blasters come into play and the Razorwing arrives. Not sure the Razorwing is worth it but it's my only anti air if he brings any flyers.

Will try and take some pictures this evening and post them up some time in the next couple of days, possibly as a battle report if I've time, if not then just a few pictures and a brief overview of the game.


Sorry for the info dump, I view this blog as somewhere I can dump my own thoughts so I can look back on it as much as anything and I am aware it's content may not be the best format for everyone!

Rich

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Completed first unit of Kabalites // Escalation League moving to 750



Just a quick post to update with progress as I completed the first of my 5 man units of Kabalites yesterday evening.

I'm quite happy with the results and do feel as though I'm progressing as well as starting to understand the need to speed through some things for the sake of painting a full army.

I'm sure it's by no means impressive to most of you, but for me managing to paint 5 figures in just over a week represents a significant improvement.

Not quite sure what to start on next, the escalation league has kicked up to 750 now and I'm considering bringing the Wyches back into play a bit more although I'm not sure I can do so before 1k without nerfing my anti tank a bit too much.

I think I'm going to have to use Ravagers and I currently have 1.5 of those built so I imagine the next project will be to complete assembly on the three Ravagers and then get the hulls of those done using the airbrush.

I'm thinking of something like the following for 750pts, at 400 I ended on 10 games, 8 wins 2 losses and I'm pretty happy with that. I'd like to aim to keep my win ratio around 75% or above.

HQ - Archon with Blaster // Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons (Venom painted)

Troops - 5 Kabalites, Blaster // Raider with Dark Lance (All painted)
Troops - 5 Kabalites, Blaster // Raider with Dark Lance (Raider painted)
Troops - 5 Kabalites, Blaster // Raider with Dark Lance (Raider painted)

Fast Attack - Razorwing Jetfighter with 2 Dark Lances and 4 Monoscythe Missiles (Airbrushed but not detailed yet)

Heavy Support - Ravager with 3 Dark Lances (Assembled awaiting priming)

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If I want to bring the Wyches in instead I could do something like:

HQ - Succubus with Archite Glaive and Haywire Grenades (Assembled awaiting priming)

Troops - 5 Kabalites, Blaster // Raider with Dark Lance (All painted)
Troops - 5 Kabalites, Blaster // Raider with Dark Lance (Raider painted)
Troops - 6 Wyches, Hekatrix with Agoniser // Raider with Dark Lance (All painted)

Fast Attack - Razorwing Jetfighter with 2 Dark Lances and 4 Monoscythe Missiles (Airbrushed but not detailed yet)

Heavy Support - Ravager with 3 Dark Lances (Assembled awaiting priming)

Any thoughts?

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Dark Eldar Raider Update - Nearly There! (Photo Dump)




Got a bit further with the 3 raiders last night, put some washes on the metals and then went over some of the Hex pattern on the sails to make it stand out a bit more. Picked out a few details and hopefully one more night and they'll be done bar the crew.


Not a great standard but for what for me is a very quick job, (3 Raiders will have taken 6 nights total - or about 12 hours) I'm very happy with them.

Further Photos:










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, 8 December 2014

Busy Weekend and Lack of Progress // Space Marines with Fire Raptor vs Wych Cult 1750pts

Hi guys,

apologies but little to update you on today, I had a work Christmas do on Friday which was... messy... and spent most of Saturday recovering before a 40k game on Sunday night.

I'll write up the game from Sunday night and I hope to have this up by Wednesday, with another Infinity Battle Report up on Friday.

Just as a preview the lists we used were:

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Parasites Kiss, 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 Shields

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

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

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Blaster with Cluster Caltrops x2

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

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1750 Space Marines

Reclusiarch in Terminator Armour

5 Assault Terminators with 3 TH+SS and 2 Lightning Claws

Librarian in Terminator Armour with 10 Devastators (4 missile launchers with Flakk)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Heavy Bolter (Razorback with TL Assault Cannon)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Missile Launchers and Flakk (Razorback with Las/Plas)

Dreadnought with 2 x TL Autocannon

Aegis Defence Line

Fire Raptor (AV 12 Flyer with  4 Hull Points, has an Avenger Boltgun on the front, 2 waist mounted TL autocannons on each side and 4 StormStrike Missiles. Has a nasty rule that allows it to shoot at 4 targets a turn as well and has BS5 against ground targets.)

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Random Wednesday - Guard House Scenery // Reaver Jetbikes // Infinity tonight

Well quite a random post today, which was kind of expected from my Wednesday's as it depends what I've had chance to do, if anything, over the last couple of days.

I apologise for the particularly bad quality of today's pics, one was taken in the evening just as I'd finished it and the other quickly this morning before leaving for work. I'll work on getting better photos up in future.

In this case I managed to get the Guard House I picked up at the Infinity weekender built as well as getting some more done on my Reavers.

The Guard House took me a couple of hours to put together so not bad at all and no glue required, some initial hiccups getting bits pushed in (they can take some force) however in the end I got the knack of it.

One thing I would mention is if you are a bit of a fool like me and put one piece in upside down it can be really difficult to pull it apart without damaging the pieces so ensure you take the time to double check whether bits are facing the right way (etching on the outside) and aren't upside down.

I managed to pretty much fix up the bits I'd broken and there are a few spare bits in there (didn't realise this until I'd botched the bit I'd broken)  but if I put together another one I'm sure it'd be much easier.

Overall for a night's work I was pretty chuffed with the look of it and it's a good way to get some quick, cheap terrain down for Infinity (or 40k!) I think this one is about £12 ?


The Reaver's I've now got the basic colours down on the bike and done a bit of highlighting on the bodywork, I'm not spending too much time on the purple as I've some stencils I'm going to use once I've got all my vehicles/bikes ready which should make them much more interesting.

My schedule says these should be finished by Saturday however I'm probably a bit behind already as I've not started on the riders yet. I imagine I'll get them completed by next Wednesday so I can get started on airbrushing the first Raider.


Tonight I'm popping down to my local gaming club for some more Infinity and will be taking along my scenery and Haqqislam. I'm not sure I'll get a game in myself as there are three of us but it's a fun game to watch anyway and either way I'll take some pictures for a post on Friday.

I'm taking the following list in case I do get time for a game:

150pts Haqqislam

Ghulam Lietenant
13

Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower
12

Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower
12

Halqa
16

Halqa
16

Halqa Doctor
20

Hunzakut Sniper
25

Djanbazan Heavy Machine Gun
36

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

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?