Game Time! The crowds of the Con, the fierce competition, the different armies hastily glued together and perhaps a layer of primer applied... I love Grand Tournaments! When it all comes down to it, anybody can fine-tune their army for optimal performance against their regular opponents. But to build a force that can preform against anybody you might run into (known as a WAAC list; Win/Work Against All Comers) is a true skill and one that I constantly strive to perfect.
Beware the Grey Phantoms! Scourge of the GT circuit!
I'm going to the inaugural Golden Throne South West Grand Tournament this weekend at the inaugural WaCon in Waco, Texas. Here's a link:
http://southwest.goldenthronegt.com/
Standard Core Rulebook missions and deployment, 5 rounds. I prefer this, as there's no special mission parameters to keep track of, and this allows you to focus on the game itself, not what goofiness the TO's have come up with. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for Forging the Narrative. An event where your paying $65 a head to compete in isn't it.
This will also act as a brief overview of the DE codex, touching upon some of the core features of the codex that makes it the most underestimated of the competitive armies.
The Army: Dark Eldar w/ Craftworld Allies
The Baron: Standard
(4) 5-man Warrior Squad: Blaster
- Venom: Night Shield, Flickerfield, duel Splinter Cannon
(2) 3-man Trueborn Squad: 2x Dark Lances
- Venom: Night Shield, Flickerfield, Duel Splinter Cannon
(3) Ravager: 3x Dark lances
Spirit Seer: Standard
5-man Wraithguard: D-cannons
- Wave Serpent: Twin-linked Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-fields
6-man Guardian Jetbike Squad: Standard
Wraith Knight: Standard
Total: 1,999 points
The Plan:
First, a bit a vetting: at the risk of bragging, my Dark Eldar are a force to be feared. They always do well, and my Win/Loss record is a bit better then 3-1. This codex does something that almost no other codex does: spreading firepower around equally. What I mean by that is that with most armies, if you destroy their 2-3 high-threat units, they are left with a smattering of tactical marines/guardsmen, and little else. By turn 3-4, they have nothing left that can do anything but run for the objectives. With DE, there are no obvious threat units. Everything puts out the same damage (if you build your army properly) and the loss of 2-3 units in turns 1-3 isn't crippling. With their advantage of speed and mobile firepower, believe me, its rare that an opponent kills more then this.
Another advantage this codex has, is Splinter Weapons, and Dark Light weapons. Splinter weapons ALWAYS wound on a 4+, regardless of the opponents toughness value. Many codex's pay a premium for higher-then-average toughness (biker units, Monstrous Creatures, the list goes on). Read my lips: I love seeing these units across from me! You have a 3+ save on that unit? I have the mobility and rate of fire that will make you take 15-20 saves. A turn. You WILL fail some. Most armies have to rely upon low ROF, high strength-low AP weapons to deal with these units. No so with DE; my basic troops all wound on 4+ with their guns. Suck it, Tyranids! (Vince, your the exception.)
Dark Light Weapons are the DE's standard anti-tank weapon. STR 8, AP 2, range varies: Blasters have 18" (assault), while the Dark Lances are 36" (Heavy). Each only fire a single shot. However, at BS4 they shine because of a certain USR they both have: Lance. This means that any Armor Values higher then 12, count as 12. This has the effect that you never need higher then a 4+ to glance, and a 5+ to penetrate. This may not seem like a great deal, but when your army has so many, that can move so fast and STILL fire...well, they do wonders. Dark Lances and Blasters are also great for character sniping; simply hose down the unit with splinter fire, and then ally the Dark Light Weapons. Any low model count, high armor unit (terminators and such) are great targets as well.
The Cons: DE suffer against lots of AV 12 tanks, and since the advent of 6th edition, flyers have been a real game killer. In addition, the changes to the disembark and fleet rules in 6th have killed off our assault abilities. Oh, well, we were always better at shooting anyways.
My above army puts out 72 splinter shots at 36" (
not counting infantry!) and 13 Dark Lance shots at 36" (not counting movement speeds). All on BS4. And that's
before you add in the Craftweorld Allie's shooting power. I've got every confidence in my Kabal's ability to saturate the high-value enemy squads with a hail-storm of poisoned shards of glass.
You'll notice that my firepower comes from my troops almost exclusively. This is a double-edged blade. On the one hand, my scoring units can fight AND make objective grabs. On the other, when I loose a unit, I loose BOTH scoring ability and firepower.
About my allies:
I've never used allies, in any of my armies. I just don't like the idea of ignoring the fluff for an in-game advantage. However, Eldar of both types maintain close ties in the fluff, so I'm okay with it.
As previously stated, the Dark Eldar have some glaring deficiencies when it comes to fliers and enemy armor. Hopefully, the Wraithguard and the Wraith Knight, coupled with the Spirit Seers ability to 'mark' targets for them will help with this. Also, I believe this combination of units will add an overall "tough cookie" aspect to my army. This will be the very first time I have evert used these units in combat, so I'm going to have a steep learning curve, but I believe my decade and a half experience playing 40k will help negate it somewhat.
The Guardian Jetbike squadron is there to act as wounds for the Baron, and later in the game, abandon him to grab me Linebreaker points and maybe contest an opponents objective.
Watch this spot for photos from the event and an in-depth battle report!
Until next time, Khaine Protects.
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