This is how I felt facing down Blood Angels again: bird to the face, no save
(See the somewhat outdated "Building an Eldar Army List" part 1 here, and the very popular (very dense) part 2 here, and my lead-in for this entry here.)
So, yesterday I played a game testing out my new list. Several things started off getting in the way:
1. We had four players, one table, and two of the players weren't comfortable enough with the rules to play solo, so we had to play 2 vs. 2
2. Because of the above, we shaved our lists down to 1500 pts (not quite such a good test if a big chunk of the team stays on the bench)
3. That put us playing a 3000 pt. game with two players who had to look up their rules every couple minutes.
In short, it was a long tough slog and took over 8 hours. I don't recommend it - play little 1 vs. 1 games with any new players before playing team games. Or, just let the beginner play and give them pointers as they go. But make sure they're familiar with the basic rules and at least know how to look up their more specialized ones quickly (shorthand notes are handy here).
BUT!
It was a reasonable test of a big part of my list:
Eldrad HQ
Dire Avengers (10x) TR Exarch, Power Weapon/Shimmershield
Guardian Defenders (10x) TR Scatter Laser, Warlock (Singing Spear)
Guardian Defenders (10x) TR Scatter Laser
Guardian Jetbikes (9x) TR 3x Cannons, 3 squads of 3
Wave Serpent DTr Scatter Lasers, Holofields, Shuriken Cannon
Wave Serpent DTr Scatter Lasers, Holofields
Wraithknight HS Suncannon/Scatter shield, Scatter Laser
Warp Spiders (8x) FA
Warp Spiders (7x) FA
Crimson Hunter FA Exarch
**For 1500 points, I took out one unit of Guardians, one unit of Jetbikes, the 8-man Warp Spider unit, and the Exarch upgrade for the Crimsom Hunter.
It wound up being myself and a Space Wolves newbie against my old Blood Angels nemesis and our Dark Angels friend who is getting back into the game.
SO, in short, I had plenty of infantry and Shuriken weapons, what I lacked (when faced with four units of Terminators and a stupid AV 13 Furioso Dreadnought Cuisinart) was high strength/low AP weapons. I couldn't handle the mass of super tough FNP infantry that fell from the sky around turn 3 (especially since a nasty triple-Lascannon Dark Angels Predator did a number on my precious Wraithknight). And, the Dire Avengers, despite being respectable, were a poor substitute for my Warlock council, so I'm going back to that. But, also in the interest of fixing the lack of heavy firepower, I'm swapping that 7-man unit of Warp Spiders for 6 plain ol' Fire Dragons. Here is the updated list:
Eldrad HQ Runes of Fate
Warlocks (5x) * Singing Spears
Guardian Defenders (10x) TR Scatter Laser
Guardian Defenders (10x) TR Scatter Laser
Guardian Jetbikes (9x) TR 3x Cannons, 3 squads of 3
Wave Serpent DTr Scatter Lasers, Holofields, Shuriken Cannon
Wave Serpent DTr Scatter Lasers, Holofields
Wraithknight HS Suncannon/Scatter shield, Scatter Laser
Warp Spiders (8x) FA
Fire Dragons (6x) EL
Crimson Hunter FA Exarch
1849
Or, I've created an alternate list, where I lose:
the Crimson Hunter
1x Fire Dragon (for 5x)
1x Warp Spider (for 7x)
the Shuriken Cannon from that one Wave Serpent
and a unit of Jetbikes (for 6x, two units of three with two Cannons)
And add:
Avatar with Fast Shot
Aegis Defense Line with Icarus Lascannon.
Much as I hate to lose the CH, it just isn't cutting it. Twice now I've faced the Stormraven and gotten super-lucky (arrived second, had a full blast on the bugger) and barely slowed it down. Now, that's only twice, but it's enough that I'm frustrated and pulling out my Anti-Flyer Nuclear Option. The Avatar on an Icarus gives me two S9 shots with very long range with both Intercept and Skyfire, that hits on 2s with a 2+ re-roll (BS 10). It's also in-play all game and can threaten any tank on the field. I'll have to use Eldrad's re-deploy to make sure it's not too vulnerable in those first few turns, but also against my Blood Angels friend he rarely has enough on the table in the first few turns to take it down anyway, and the Tau will have bigger fish to fry!
The Avatar also grants me a Fearless bubble to catch some of those fleeing units (my Warp Spiders and Guardians keep running), and is an absolute beast in his own right. We'll see how it goes!
Some highlights of the game:
Njall Stormcaller duked it out with Belial in solo combat for three rounds, Njall losing by one wound every round but making his leadership until the very last round - where he scored a single wound against Belial and nailed him with a Force Weapon. He stood victorious for half a second, before a Blood Angels sniper rended off his last wound.
A unit of Long Fangs who spent all game doing nothing finished up the last two rounds with a straight line of sixes, a single Lascannon one-shotting a Stormraven (in Hover) and Sammael, Master of the Ravenwing on two separate turns. Pure beauty!
Eldrad and the unit of Dire Avengers (with Fortune) took a charge from a Furioso dual-Blood Talon Dreadnought and a unit of TH/SS Terminators and didn't take a single wound (boo-yeah!)
The Stormraven in the turn after it arrived took four Penetrating Hits from a Crimson Hunter, but successfully Jinked *all* of them.
When the Blood Angels Death Company marines, and their Reclusiarch, got into the assault with Eldrad/Dire Avengers, Eldrad challenged him to single combat - Eldrad with his paltry two attacks scored a single wound, and passed his Force Weapon test... Only to have it fubbed because the Reclusiarch made his FNP and ignored it, then scored a single unsaved wound in return with his Power Fist, killing Eldrad outright.
Very sad, a moment of silence please.
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