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Just got back from an Ironman RTT in SLO. Saw my old club-mates and had a good time.

Format: Book Missions, VPs for tie breakers. No Comp. No Paint requirement. 4 rounds, Swiss with single undefeated champion at tournament end.

The 1500 point format was fun, we got 4 game sin easily in the time constraints.

I decided to dust off the Footdar and take them out for a spin as I have not been playing them much lately. Much to my shock, at a 14 man tournament there were 3 other Footdar players! haha, they mighty Footdar are catching on!

We had:
3 Footdar
2 Wolfstar
1 Mech Wolves
1 Mech Tau
2 Mech BA
1 DE raider/venom spam
1 Nids
1 Kan Wall Orks
1 Dual Lash Chaos
1 Imperial Fists

Here's a crappy picture of my half painted Footdar:

Round 1: Footdar vs ChristianA's Wolfstar! (The notorious Space Pigs riding their Thunder Pigs!)
Mission: Pitched Battle, Capture and Control

My list:

Eldrad
Avatar
Harlies x 9: Shadowseer, Kisses x 8
Jet Bikes x 3: S.Cannon
Dires x 10
Guardians x 10: S.Cannon, Warlock, S.Spear, Seer
Rangers x 5
W.Walkers x 3: S.Lasers x 6
W.Lord: B.Lance, EML
W.Lord: B.Lance, EML

Opponent's list from memory:

Lord on Thunder Pig: Fist, Shield, Runic Armor, Saga of Majesty, WTT
Lord on Thunder Pig: Claw, Shield, Runic Armor, WTT
Lord on Thunder Pig: Fist, Shield, RUnic Armor, WTT
Thunder Pig: Shield, Hammer
Thunder Pig: Shield, Hammer
Grey Hunters x 5: Flamer, Razorback
Grey Hunters x 5: Flamer
Lone Wolf: T.Armor, Hammer, Little piggie x 2
Lone Wolf: T.Armor, Hammer, Little piggie x 2
Lone Wolf: T.Armor, Hammer, Little piggie

So a nasty Wolfstarstar army with Lone Wolf support. I felt confident that Footdar had the flak fire to take the list down though. ChristianA's saves were pretty subpar as the Footdar threw a tonne of flak down-field at the onrushing Thunder Pigs. My War Walkers were all-stars as with guide, they put stupendous amounts of wounds on the Wolfstar, forcing saves and dropping them all by turn 2. It looked like the game was going to be a wrap early until his Lone Wolves made it into combat with me and were contesting my objective. My dice decided that would be a good time to crap out on me as the Lone Wolves ran through the Avatar, a Wraithlord, and Eldrad! Eldrad, seeing his buddies get smoked, failed a morale check and ran out of combat and off the board, the coward! My Harlies who had ran across the board to contest ChirstianA's objective, killing a squad of GHs in the process, were tank shocked by his Razorback and failed their check! So, despite my opponent only having a few models left alive, he was winning at the end of turn 5 due to some amazingly crappy dice. Luckily, the game went to 7 and my Guardians charged the last two Lone Wolves and did what the rest of my army couldn't: kill the annoying buggers in HtH! Ninja Guardians! The Dires also made it over to the other objective and contested it.

Result: Footdar Victory 1 objective to 0

Game 2: Footdar vs. Kan Wall!

Mission: Dawn of War, Annihilation

Opponent:

Big Mek: KFF, Klaw, Pole
Big Mek: KFF, Klaw, Pole
Deff Dread: Rokkit x 2
Deff Dread: Mega Blasta x 2
Kans x 3: Grot Zooka
Kans x 3: Grot Zooka
Kans x 3: Grot Zooka
Komandos x 10: Burnas x 2, Snikrot
Boyz x 20: Nob, Pole, Klaw, B.Shoota x 2
Boyz x 20: Nob, Pole, Klaw, Rokkit x 2

I got first and used Eldrad and Dires to push back my opponent, but forgot to use Eldrad's redeploy before my opponent seized the initiative from me. This put me in a jam as his army began lumbering towards me while I was spread out and a bit exposed. However, it did allow me to see where he came on and bring my units on in a position to eliminate about half his army from realistically getting to me by deploying opposite him. Snikrot and Co. then came on turn 2 and flamed, then multi-charged my Guardians and W.Walkers. Things looked grim at this point but defying the odds, my Warlock alone survived in the Guardian squad and the W.Walkers got away with only losing a weapon. My Harlies then counter charged and wiped Snikky and his boys. My army then began to do what space elves do best: run away! I backed away from the Kan Wall and fired on the half of his army that was really involved in the game at that point. The W.Walkersa and Dires again, with Guide, were just sweeping boys off the table. By turn 4 I was up 3 KP to 0 and it was clear my opponent would not get his other half into range to do anything substantial to me by game's end and so he conceded.

Result: Footdar victory! 3KP to 0.

Game 3: Footdar vs. Wolfstar...again! White925's Space Wolves

Mission: Spearhead, Seize Ground

Lord on Wolf: Fist, Saga of the bear, shield, runic armor, WTT
Lord on Wolf: w.claw, saga of majesty, shield, runic armor, WTT
Lord on Wolf: Fist, shield, Runic armor, WTT, wolf buddy x 1
T.Wolves x 3: Shields x 3, Fist, M.Bombs
G.Hunters x 5: Rhino
G.Hunters x 5: Rhino
Long Fangs x 5: M.Launchers x 4
Long Fangs x 6: M.Launchers x 5

So, I drew White925 for round three as we were both 2-0. White925's Wolfstar beat my Bjorn Wolves which has only happened once before, so I was pretty concerned about his nasty list. I knew Footdar was better equipped to win the fight, but a lot would come down to luck. I got first turn and deployed using a large piece of LOS blocking terrain to give me cover from most of his good cover positions. He split his forces, one Lord and L.Fang squad on one side, the rest of the army behind the LoS blocking piece of terrain as he just didn't have many good spots to deploy. This allowed me to focus fire down the small side of his force and prepare for the larger force. White925's luck was fairly atrocious. First shot of the game: Dires run forward and put 4 wounds on the Lord with Wolf buddy. Wolf dies, lord with Runic Armors takes 3 wounds, rolls 3 1's! It was like that for the rest of the game. I dumped wounds into his Wolfstar and he rolled below average, the entire mess of them were gone by turn 3. My Avatar and Harlies made it into his Grey Hunters and L.Fangs and wiped them, leaving nothing but an immobilized Rhino by game's end. Footdar's ability to put out massive wounds and crap saves=dead infantry.

Result: Footdar Victory, 2 Objectives to 0!

Round 4: Footdar vs. Dual Lash Chaos! Defeatmyarmy's Slanesh CSM

Mission: Secure and Control, Dawn of War

Lash Prince
Lash Prince
Oblits x 3
Oblits x 3
Oblits x 2
Noise Marines x 6: Sonic Blasters, Doom Siren, Blast Master, Rhino, Fist
Noise Marines x 6: Sonic Blasters, Doom Siren, Blast Master, Rhino, Fist

This mission and deployment heavily favored me as Footdar like to castle. My opponent gave me first turn and I used My Guardians and Dires as a push back, then redeployed them with Eldrad's ability near my objective in the corner of the board. The game was decided quickly as I got into position rapidly. Defeatmyarmy came on with his army and my W.Walkers with guide nuked a Lash Prince right away. His second prince lashed the Guardians forward but was out of charge range. I opened his transports with the Avatar and W.Lords and multi assaulted the infantry with Harlies (love ignoring difficult terrain!) and the Guardians into his last Prince and both squads. Due to fearless, the units held up most of his army until the Avatar, Dires and Eldrad could jump in and finish them off. My Rangers and W.Lords picked off most of his Oblits and by game's end I had control of both objectives and my opponent had a few Oblits left.

Result: Footdar Victory, 2 objectives to 0!

So the mighty Footdar came out on top of the heap! I forgot how much fun this army is to play as I have been working on other armies this past year. There is always something fun to do and the way the units interact with and compliment each other is a tonne of fun. Plus, at 1500 you see less mech spam which helps a lot. I didn't face Footdar's nemesis: Leafblower, so that was nice. Any indirect ordnance or fast flamers is bad news for this list, but in the time I have been playing it I have had a ton of success with it and really enjoyed playing the army. It is a thinking man's list for sure. I was pleasantly surprised to find them so effective at 1500, but looking back it makes sense. They max out on power units at that level. The other Footdar players did well, too. Footdar power!

Despite about half my unit's not being painted, I still almost won best painted which made me laugh a bit. What is painted looked pretty nice, I need to finish them so I can take them to a proper GT.

Anyway, another fun tournament with great opponents and always nice to come out on top of the heap!

Thanks for the report. I like the pushback trick with Dawn of War using Eldrad. I'm surprised you were able to recover against the Ork player.

I didn't think there was enough firepower to bring down the Space Wolf Lords; good to know as I still play my Eldar (mostly on foot).

Would you say your War Walkers did most of the heavy lifting in this tourney?

Footdar, at least the way I run them, puts out a ton of flak fire. Once you get tasnports opened up, they wreck the infantry left behind. With Eldrad helping to improve whatever it is you do, a simple 10 man Dire squad can really put a lot of wounds down.

I thought I was done-for against the Kan Wall. When he seized the initiative and Snikrot came on turn 2, it looked like curtains for me. I got lucky though with the Warlock surviving. He kept the Orks locke din combat and didn't give up a a KP. The Harlies then just wasted all the Orks with a little help from Doom.

The W.Walkers were the tournament's all-stars for me. 24 rerollable str6 shots a turn is pretty brutal. Plus with fortune, they are pretty hard to kill. I'd take more, but the WLs provide really needed long range heavy anti-tank and counter assault ability.

The Rangers were great though, camping objectives all game. The Dires did a ton of damage this time around as did the Harlies and Avatar and of course, Eldrad is amazing. The Guardians were great for charge blocking, bubble-wrapping and even putting out some wounds here and there.

Really, this army is all about force multiplication. The units in it have to work together otherwise they aren't that tough on their own. Unfortunately that means they usually need to stay close to one another which reveals their weakness: blast and template weapons. Minus a lot of those though, Footdar can go toe to toe with any army. I have been playing them for a long time and have really enjoyed them.

Good games, and congrats on the finish.

Hmmm....footdar sounds formidable indeed. One of these days, I may have to play against them. I think they may have problems against a fully mech army though.

BTW, was that Frankie's army on Round 3?

Thanks, jy2.

Yeah, that was Frankie's army round 3. We went to the tournament together but we always have fun games so I didn't mind.

Footdar can have problems with fully meched armies, particularly when Footdar goes second and doesn't have time to fortune up the vulnerable units. It is a super fun army but it has some pretty big weaknesses.

I would love to play your Shrike List with it, I think that would be a very good match-up.

Good showing. To bad I couldnt come thru with you guys looked like a lot of people showed up. Next weekend though haha.

Reece you make me miss California and it's 2-3 RTT's a month

@Iatliaplaya
Yeah, it was a fun trip. They were expecting 20-24 but a bunch of the regular guys didn't come last minute. Oh well, it was still a really fun event. Next week will be awesome!

@Brad
Yeah man, there are so many tournaments around here! Two good monthly events close by, and a lot more if you are willing to drive.

The great white north doesn't have as many tournaments to satisfy the itch, huh?! That stinks. But, it makes the big GTs that much more fun to go to.

There is 1 local one a month and they are really big on team tournaments up this way. I'm hoping as I get more into the scene I'll find some more places that have tournies. So far it's 1 a month guarenteed with maybe a second one every 2-3 months

I don't get as much practice in which makes me sad

Awesome battle report. Congratulations for winning the Ironman RTT.

Your Foot-dar list packs a lot of fire power. 3 Warwalkers is pretty nasty.

I'm not sure how it would perform in a capture and control mission combined with spearhead deployment with an objective placed in a corner.

jy2 wrote:BTW, was that Frankie's army on Round 3?

Haha, I was thinking the same thing! Those Thunder Wolves looks really familiar.

@Hulk
Well it could be worse, haha, at least you have one a month!

@SabrX
Thanks!
Yeah, it was a fun event. Footdar packs a lot of power at mid and close range, and decent power at long range. Like I said, some lists really give it trouble.

As for the scenario you describe: Jetbikes, Harlies and reserves are the best answer.

Jetbikes reserve and then come on from my table edge directly opposite the objective to travel the shortest distance possible. Harlies use their veil to advance with Farseer support to get into charge range. The entire army is mobile and fearless when run properly and so you slowly advance up the field, shooting as you go. Against a very shooty or mobile army, that would be a tough game, but not un-winnable. Your Immospam sisters would be a tough match though, all those fast flamers would be bad news bears!

Its good to see the Foot Eldar winning. In my area there are too many tank armies so it doesn't work for me I need my five Serpents to stay alive long enough to attack.

Yeah, mech armies are tough, but you can still pull it off.

At 2K I run 2 squads of fire dragons to add some AT punch, and 3 man squads of Shinning Spears really wreck tanks. They have lance weapons and assault rear armor, so they usually waste them in short order.

Also, you can add in some guardian squads with s.lasers to really add some more punch.

I have played Mech IG quite a few times with my Footdar and while I have never beat them, I have never lost to the either. I have always managed to at least tie. That is pretty decent for a foot list and will at least keep you alive in most tournaments.

Sure, we can have a rematch this Thurs if you want. This'll give you some practice for your upcoming tournament this weekend.

I'll bring both my Ravenguards and my Nids for you to "practice" on (whichever you want to play against). Bring whichever army you want.

SabrX will be coming along. Why don't you ask Frankie or Italiaplaya to come along and we can have a mini 2-game tourney, with the winner from each match playing each other.

That sounds like fun! I will call them up and see if they want to cruise by.

I think my Footdar would be a really good match for your Shrike list, but I am using my Bjorn Wolves in the tournament this weekend. I will PM you and let you know if the guys can make it.