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I played a local gamer named Christian (not to be confused with fellow Zero Comp teammate ChristianA) in a practice Ard Boyz game. He wanted to try out his list and I was happy to oblige.

Grey Knights

HQ
Grand Master
Coteaz

Elites
Purifiers x 8, Rhino, Psycannon x 2, halbreds x 5, hammer
Purifiers x 8, Rhino, Psycannon x 2, halbreds x 5, hammer

Troops
Strikes x 5, Razorback, Psybolt, Psycannon, Hammer, Halbred x 3
Strikes x 5, Razorback, Psybolt, Psycannon, Hammer, Halbred x 3
Termies x 5, Psycannon, Halbred x 3
Henchmen x 12, Assassin x 6, crusader x 3, accolyte x 3, Chimera, HHF (termies rode in this)
Henchmen x 10, Chimera, p.gun x 3

Heavy
LRC, M.Melta (assassin squad rides in here)
Psyfilemen
Psyfilemen

Footdar

This would not be my optimal Footdar list at 2,500, but it is what I had in my bag so it worked.

HQ
Avatar
Eldrad
Seer council: 3 x warlocks

Elites
Harlies x 10: kisses x 10, shadow seer
Firedragons x 10: Exarch, crack shot, pike
Firedragons x 10: Exarch, crack shot, pike

Troops
Dires x 10: exarch, dual s.cat, bladestorm
Dires x 10: exarch, dual s.cat, bladestorm
Dires x 10: exarch, dual s.cat, bladestorm
Dires x 10: exarch, dual s.cat, bladestorm
Guardians x 20: s.cannon, warlock, conceal
Jetbikes x 4: S.cannon, Warlock, spear, destructor

Heavy
Wraithlord: EML, B.Lance
Wraithlord: EML, B.Lance
W.Walkers x 3: S.Lasers x 6


Mission: Pitched battle, sieze ground

His army was solid but it had no template or blast weapons. That meant my hordes of pointy-eared, space elves didn't have to worry about spacing. As soon as I saw that, I was confident in the win baring crazy dice as his only means of chewing through my numbers was in HtH, but my game plan was to not allow him to dictate wear combat happened by using screening units and maneuver. Footdar are made to beat MEQs.

The game went along a predictable course. I deployed in a phalanx with the Guradians running as a screen in front of everything else, and the Harlies hanging back for the inevitable counter-charge. He won first turn and took it, advancing and trying to blast a hole in the Guardian screen but with conceal and cover, they weathered the storm with only minor casualties.

I advanced towards him as well, popping a few transports and immobilizing the LRC with W.Lord lances. He was wary of using fortitude thanks to RoW.

At this point he should have pulled back and played to objectives as he would be within my maximum threat envelope the next turn, but he chose to stand his ground and shoot, which thanks to fortune and cover, didn't do much other than kill the Avatar (who wouldn't be much good against Grey Knights, anyway).

Turn 2 I committed fully to the offensive, moving everything into range. My Firedragons, War Walkers and Wraithlords managed to pop, immobilize or stun all of his transports. The Dires and Guardians then pumped about 120 shuriken shots into anything that fell out.

He counter attacked with his remaining units, wiping the guardian screen and then getting wiped in return in the following phase by massed bladestorms. At this point we called it as all his scorin gunits were wiped out and he couldn't win the game.

Notable occurrences: His Grandmaster surviving a ridiculous amount of wounds and wiping out a dire avenger squad before dying. My Jetbikes taking out a chimera and then wiping out the henchmen within. That little Jetbike squad is incredibly versatile. Scoring, fast, anti-tank and anti-light infantry.

So, the Footdar take it. Eldar and Tau seem to fair well against Grey Knights. RoW is super useful and the short range firepower to kill Grey Knights without allowing them to use their spiffy abilities is very nice. Harlies on the charge strike before assassins or halbreds and just shred MEQs. Eldar definitely have all the tools needed to defeat Grey Knights.

What a dominating performance by footdar. That's one way to beat the knights. Eldar don't care how uber the knights are in assault. They just shoot them down like any other marines. And Runes of Warding is the damnedest piece of wargear I have ever faced, with my space wolves, then nids and now grey knights. RoW should be a 100pt piece of wargear for what it could do.

If I were to face your footdar with my purifier-dread list, I would have a real tough time. My build will just kill mechdar, but it has problems against pure footlists. And I can't rely on Cleansing Flame to take care or your units either, at least not with RoW around. However, what would be interesting would be my interceptor-grey knights. Footlist against footlist. I think that will make for an epic battle.

Good luck at the Ard Boyz.

Thanks!

Yeah, he didn't have all the tools he needed to fight an army like Footdar. I hid my War Walkers from his Psyfilemen, so they couldn't shoot them, and the lack of template weapons really limited his ability to get through my screen, which he needed to do. Due to a phalanx formation, even if he tank shocked, he wasn't going to accomplish much. It was an uphill battle for him.

Good luck to you at Ard Boyz as well! I think your foot list would certainly be the tougher match up. Shunting interceptors with incinerators wipe out entire units of my army.

That GK list just didn't have what it needed to get through to the meatier part of your army. T3 assassins can only do so much!

Yeah no kidding. They went through the Guardians like a buzz saw, but then, the Guardians are meant to die when they take the charge. If he would have sent his army in waves, he could have collapsed the screen and then charged with his other units, but I was popping his transports too fast and he was losing GKs to flak too fast to wait. He had to commit to a charge and hope for the best.

If he would have pulled back he could have played to objectives and for a tie, but I don't think this strategy occurred to him.

You're taking footdar for Ard Boyz?! A... A...

AWESOME.

jy2 wrote:However, what would be interesting would be my interceptor-grey knights. Footlist against footlist. I think that will make for an epic battle.

Definetely!

Would your guardians have benefited from conceal on the first turn?, I thought it was considered a psychic power and had to be "activated" in your turn to take effect.

Conceal is a warlcok power thats ALWAYS on, like the warlcok powers Embolden and Enhance too, it doesnt need to be cast, there is no psychic test etc. Its on unless the warlock is dead.

thanks for a great battle report. I like the footdar list and AWESOMELY painted eldars! I have myself played alot of footdar but have long since converted to mechdar + jetbike council.

I might just be inspired to give my footdar a spin too!

what would be your optimal 2500 footdar? And can you tell how you would change the footdar list down to 2000 pts?

LordofMuck has it. All Warlock powers work automatically.

And thanks! Yeah, my Footdar win a lot of painting awards. I have to be honest though, I didn't finish painting the army. It was taking me so long I paid a friend to finish it for me (and I always let TO's know this in case it disqualifies me from painting prizes). He copied my style exactly though, really did a samshing job. You can't tell which are mine and which are his.

At 2,500 points I would prefer to have some fast moving, higher strength units for taking out transports. Spiders and Vipers are good for this, as are Singing Spears (don't laugh, they are actually excellent tank hunters).

However, Harlies are so damn good in Footdar, I have been toying with the idea of another 10.

I would most likely be:

Footdar, Ardboyz 2500pts
Unit Description Size Cost
HQ
Eldrad 1 210
Avatar 1 155

Troops
Pathfinders 5 120
Guardians S.Cannon 20 165
Dire Avengers 10 120
Dire Avengers 10 120
Jetbikes Warlock, Destructor, S.Spear, S.Cannon 4 134

Elites
Harlequins Shadowseer, Kisses x 10 10 250
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 10 185
Firedragons Exarch, Firepike, Crack Shot 9 169

Fast Attack
Shinning Spears Exarch, Star Lance, Skilled Riders 3 142
Warp Spiders Exarch, Dual D.Spinner 10 237

Heavy Support
Wraithlord B.Lance, EML 1 155
Wraithlord B.Lance, EML 1 155
War Walkers S.Lasers x 6 3 180

Totals 98 2497

You still really struggle against Mechdar, Mech Blood Angels, Mech Dledar and Leaf blower, but with adequate terrain, can pull off the win. Against anything else, you're good to go.

Nice report! Foot lists always surprise me. I really don't expect it to do much but it always has a lot of firepower to lay down.

Doom and Guide baby. Doom and Guide.

Reecius wrote:Shinning Spears Exarch, Star Lance, Skilled Riders 3 142

Now I've seen everything the whole universe can throw at me.

I can be blind, but surely you can't be serious.

the weird one wrote:

Reecius wrote:Shinning Spears Exarch, Star Lance, Skilled Riders 3 142

Now I've seen everything the whole universe can throw at me.

I can be blind, but surely you can't be serious.

Reecius tests things others not dare....

The thing about any unit in the game (minus Chaos Spawn who are just plain badddd) is a great player can make them work. Plus a lot of people have never faced things like Shining Spears and it'll probably throw a lotta people off!

Hell, a lot of people think things like Stormravens aren't competative due to the cost and they seem to do perfectly fine for me!

the weird one wrote:

Reecius wrote:Shinning Spears Exarch, Star Lance, Skilled Riders 3 142

Now I've seen everything the whole universe can throw at me.

I can be blind, but surely you can't be serious.

Nope, not kidding. I'm not going to sit here and say they are the best unit for everyone. But, they are excellent at killing tanks. They are fast, relatively a low threat priority to the other player, with turbo boosting and possibly fortune, very resilient, and with lances and hitting rear armor, will destroy most any tank in the game on the charge. Things like Manticores, Bassies, etc. are perfect targets for them.

Try them out sometime, they work well for me. I actually contemplated taking multiple units. They are also good for killing small units like Long Fangs and 5 man MSU MEQ units that pop out of transports.

Good looking game!
Seems like a tougher matchup for GK, my first instinct is to ignore the guardians and pour fire into your un fortunated squads letting them keep their cover, but i'm pretty sure that would put me too close to the dire avengers to begin with!

I feel that this game would have revolved around a suicide dreadknight or interceptor squad burning down or assaulting the guardians, a huge sacrifice to kill such a cheap squad but it seems to be the heel of the army.

Shunting interceptors with incinerators will wipe out entire units at a time against this list. Pie throwers, fast moving template throwers, and mobile, high rate of fire units like venoms and wave serpents are brutal against Footdar (or any horde list). You have to have good LOS blocking terrain to make a game of it.

Focusing on dragons wouldn't have been a bad strategy, either. The Exarch with fire pike and crack shot is brutal. The extra 6" of range, BS5, and ability to ignore cover is so damned good.

Well played Reecius. Good use of screening and assault weapons. One of these days, I'd like to try playing foot-dar. My mech-dar army isn't performing well. Wave Serpents cost way too much for what they do and my army's fire power pales in comparison to your foot-dar.

It would be interesting to see how foot-dar fairs against a green horde list with Killa Kan wall.

Awesome army, and sweet paint job. I have 50 dire avengers and have toyed with the idea of bringing them all but I normally use guardians and a squad of "troop" wraith guard but I think the 18" range may be better than the weapon platform the guardians bring. Nice to see you lay the smack down with footdar.

My hybrid list is:

Eldrad
Avatar
10 guardians with star cannon x 5
10 wraithguard, spirit see warlock with spear and conceal
7 fire dragons in a twin scatter serpent x 3
3 warwalkers with missles
3 warwalkers ith scatter lasers
1 war walker with bright lances

any recommendations?

Why the star cannons? Do you have good results with those? In this edition of light mech spam and cover saves, I feel the scatter laser is the best general purpose weapon.

And why the lone war walker? I'd opt for a wraithlord for some extra assault punch and about the same anti tank.

Otherwise I like it!

What a cool list! My brother plays eldar, and he wants a strong army but hates mechdar, so this could be great for him! Any advice on encorperating(?) a unit of scorpians though? He already has a a box of them and hates wasting money.

Thanks,

Will probably swap the lone walker for a wraith lord and will switch a few star cannons to scatters. I have had some success with star cannons but normally against Chaos.

I'm going back and forth about my Heavy support, 3 falcons to "rescue" almost wiped guardian squads, 3 wraith lords (because they are good at everything and durable) or 2 wraith lords and a unit of walkers. tough choice for me.
I also like the swiss army knife utility the warlock leaders bring to the guardian squads (heavy flamer and a witch blade normally) but it adds up so I dropped them. The theme of my army is a pre-tyranid invasion Ilyanden force so lots of guardians, up to 80 sometimes.

I hear you on the Shining spears, I own 9 and try to bring them when I can, they are good at popping tanks and acting as a general purpose "mop up crew", plus they are awesome fluff wise so I don't even care if they are hard to use, just adds to the challenge.

Thanks again




Automatically Appended Next Post:
...may even drop the 3 dragon's wave serpents to bring 3 squads of spears as you kitted out above (142pts) but I like the mobility for the dragons so its a tough one. Last year I won my local first round with 3 squads of 6 Fire dragons just running around on foot but had trouble getting them where they were most needed sometimes so that's why this year I added the transports.

Reecius wrote: but I was popping his transports too fast

With what? Yes, this is a serious question. Besides your 3 heavy support choices, you didn't have any ranged anti-transport weapons.

We both advanced towards one another as both armies were mid to close ranged. Turn one I was in range with my war walkers, fire dragons and wraith lords.

Ranges anti-tank:
War walkers
wraithlords
2 x firdragons
s.cannons
singing spears
avatar

The Dragon exarchs hit on 2's and ignore cover, plus have 18" range. They are really excellent in a foot list, not to mention the other 18 fire dragons.

The list isn't a long range AT power house, clearly, but clever play and especially a situation like this where armies are coming at me, the Footdar will have sufficient weapons to open transports. Eldar can bring mass strength6, which is sufficient for AV11 targets.

Hey Reecius, I'm Christian, owner of that GK army, and I wanted to thank you for the game.

The only thing I can see you missed is I had 3 of those Purifier squads and only 2 acolytes in the DC squad (w/melta) so Coteaz could ride with them (if they choose to stay in their chimera, like in dawn of war, so the termies don't have to walk on). I learned a good bit from this game and modified my list as seen below. Specifically I put in 7 more flame templates. I gotta say it worked out pretty well because I won 'Ard Boyz in Antioch with 56 battle points! I owe a lot of that to our game, as it wouldn't have turned out that way if I had gone in cold. Thanks again man.

The Grandmaster is probably too expensive, and the servo skulls didn't do much for me. I'll be dropping some of his gear and adding another crusader to the deathcult henchmen. I might change the ratio to 5 of each, just to protect against small arms fire more, as this is what hurt them the most.




Grey Knights 2500
(2498)

HQ
Grey Knight Grand Master
Mastercrafted Nemesis Force Halberd, Incinerator, Rad Grenades, 3xServo Skulls, Digital Weapons
Inquisitor Coteaz

Elite
6 Purifiers
2xPsycannons, 3xHalberds, 1xDaemon Hammer
Rhino
6 Purifiers
2xPsycannons, 3xHalberds, 1xDaemon Hammer
Rhino
6 Purifiers
2xPsycannons, 3xHalberds, 1xDaemon Hammer
Rhino

Troops
5 Grey Knight Strike Squad
1xPsycannon
RazorBack
Twin Linked Heavy Bolters, Psybolt Ammunition
5 Grey Knight Strike Squad
1xPsycannon
RazorBack
Twin Linked Heavy Bolters, Psybolt Ammunition
5 Grey Knight Terminators
4xHalberds, 1xPsycannon
9 Henchmen
6xDeath Cult Assassins, 3xCrusaders
Chimera
Multilaser, Heavy Flamer
3 Henchmen
2xJokaero, 1xAcolyte w/Flamer
Chimera
Multilaser, Heavy Bolter
3 Henchmen
2xJokaero, 1xAcolyte w/Flamer
Rhino

Heavy Support
Dreadnought
2xTwin Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought
2xTwin Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Land Raider Crusader
Multimelta

Hey Christian! Yeah, your new list does look meaner. Congrats on winning in Antioch! You played one of my teammates actually.

It seems like every time we play, I have the counter list to your army! Just bad luck I guess.

Good luck in the semi finals. I'll see you there.