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This year has seen the resurrection of my Croneworld Eldar Warhost, as they claw their way back from the brink of eternal damnation, although some say they have already been touched by She Who Thirsts and thrive off the unholy 6 as other Eldar dare not.
The event: 1750 pts, 2 detachments, no Gargantuan or Superheavy units allowed, BAO missions, 5 games.
Croneworld Eldar Choir of Despair –
Tanaka the Cannibal – Farseer on jetbike with spirit stone
Prince Ibushi – Autarch on jetbike with laser lance and banshee mask
Heralding from an Eldar world touched by Chaos and damnation, this army of elite fighters emanates despair and loathing by their very presence. Taken to eating the flesh of Craftworld psykers to restore his soul, Tanaka the Cannibal is a vile and cunning warlord primarily concerned with keeping his own skin, then harvesting the skins of his enemies. Carrying spirit stones pulsing with the confused souls of Farseers, he suffers visions of the future as living nightmares, guiding his forces away from destruction at the hands of daemons, and unleashing this energy into his foes as soul-rending screams.
After centuries of irregular warfare with malignant forces around the Eye of Terror, the Cannibal’s warhost is adept at massing firepower to obliterate even towering Daemon Princes, then fading away into nothingness before the gore has settled.
Warlord Tanaka
[spoiler]
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Prince Ibushi
Spoiler:
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Warp Kin
Spoiler:
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Harpies
Spoiler:
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Croneworld Hemlock
Spoiler:
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Army Shot
Spoiler:
(sorry for the blur, hoping to get some clearer shots soon)
[img] [/img]
[/spoiler]
++
Game 1: JT's "Speed Kills" Dark Eldar/Eldar
Spoiler:
[spoiler]
Journeying into the Eye of Terror, a Saim-Hann Farseer searching for spirit stones has teamed up with a Realspace Raiding party on the prowl for a Croneworld specialty: Cronekin. Arriving with such speed and ferociousness, they take the Croneworld Warhost by surprise, hoping to slay the disparaged Cannibal before he has a chance to slip into the shadows once more.
Opponent's List:
[spoiler]
Realspace Raiders:
Archon Warlord – WWP, Shadowfield, haywire, etc.
Blasterborn in Venom
2x 10 Warriors in Raider w/ Splinter Racks
Venom
6 Reavers – 2x Caltrops
5 Scourges – 4x Haywire blaster
Eldar Allies:
Farseer – jetbike + Guide, Doom, etc.
D-guard
Wave Serpent – starcannon
6x Scatbikes
5 Dark Reapers
[img] [/img]
++
Croneworld Eldar have the home advantage, winning to choose DZ and also winning the roll to deploy first and go first! But Night Fighting is not in effect, as the Dark Eldar failed to take into account the irregular movements of Croneworlds in the Eye of Terror.
Despite the surprise attack, the Cannibal senses an intruder, and is able to infiltrate the Warp Spiders, Hawks, and D-guard in their serpent into the centre of the battlefield, behind terrain. The rest of his forces form up around him in the rightmost corner, Wave Serpent screening to the front, guardians to the right, bikes in the middle.
The Dark Eldar form up in a line behind cover as much as possible, from left to right there are the blasterborn in venom, a raider with warriors, the scourges, reavers+farseer, scatbikes, another raider, and a venom with reapers. The Archon and D-guard wait in the Webway to strip the Cannibal of his soul at the first opportunity.
Spoiler:
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
Objective – Emperor’s Wil + Maelstrom Secondary
Deployment – Dawn of War
Eldar Warlord Trait: infiltrate 3 units
Psychic powers: Guide, Mind War, Executioner, Eldritch Storm.
Dark Eldar Warlord Trait: 12” Fearless or something
Turn 1
Spoiler:
Turn 1 Croneworld Eldar
- Nope, the Dark Eldar Seize the Initiative in their surprise attack!
Springing forth, the dark kin and craftworld warriors will not be held back from annihilating this abomination of their kind: the croneworld mutants. Scourges leap onto the central spire, reavers, Farseer, and raider turbo boost to the left flank behind cover, ready for a T2 assault, while the raiders, venoms, reapers, and scatbikes unload into the two wave serpents, hoping to take them out of action. Both Wave Serpents are reduced to a single hull point, and one is forced to snap fire. A less than successful surprise assault on such weathered and efficient forces as these.
Turn 1 Croneworld Eldar, actually this time.
Tanaka considers the field and feels his opponent’s forces too small – there must be a hidden contingent waiting to catch him on the counter attack. Fools.
Rather than wait for the inevitable, the Cronekin take the fight to their invading cousins – the D-guard dismount from their serpent, move forward, and remove a raider and 9 of its warriors from existence. Unfortunately the explosion claims 2 warp spiders, but this is no matter. Meanwhile shooting from the Dark Reapers destroys a venom, and all of the enemy Reapers are brought down by monofilament wire and scatterlaser fire.
On the left, the Swooping Hawks leap straight over their Dark Eldar equivalents and instead shoot and engage the scatterbikes, who have been left unsupported by the farseer, reavers, and warriors. A hail of laserfire takes down three of the riders, while the Exarch and another hawk are dismembered by return fire as they charge in.
This rapid offensive across the right flank leaves the Dark Reapers exposed to incoming fire from the left, but takes all Croneworld units out of the threat range of the blasterborn, warrior Raider, and reavers for next turn – a deft ploy to divide and conquer once again.
2 Maelstrom points to the Cronekin, 1 point to the Dark Eldar/Eldar
Turn 2
Spoiler:
Turn 2 Dark Eldar/Eldar
Taking unexpected casualties on the right side, the Archon jumps in to try and turn the tide and eliminate Tanaka the Cannibal – the Wave Serpent with D-guard drop in by Webway, and unleash the fury of their d-scythes across two squads of jetbikes, including the Croneworld Warlord. As the soulless bodies of jetbike riders slump to the earth, 6 jetbikes are removed, yet the Cannibal remains unscathed. Shooting its starcannon and serpent shield, the Archon’s transport attempts to destroy an enemy serpent, but fails.
[spoiler]
Photo taken at beginning of Turn 2 right as WWP Archon arrives, notice the cloud of smoke where previously there was a Raider and a Venom.
[img]
[/img]
Spoiler:
The Dark Eldar Archon with Wraithguard lining up a d-scythe barbeque on Tanaka the Cannibal:
[img] [/img]
On the left side of the field, the reavers turbo boost once more to find a position to charge from next turn, while the Farseer’s powers continue to be ineffective. The blasterborn vernom and warrior raider move up to pepper the dark reapers with splinter shards, killing two and wounding the Exarch.
Turn 2 Cronekin
Warlord Tanaka reprimands his guardian bodyguard for letting the enemy Archon get so close to him, calling them to bring their guns to bear and then flying to command from a defensive position behind them. Sensing the many escaping souls on the battlefield, the Croneworld Wraithfighter comes onto the field and eliminates many of the wraithguard with its heavy d-scythes. Fire Dragons deploy from their transport and battle focus into position, exploding the unshielded wave serpent easily. Having eliminated the wraithguard with D-scythes, the Croneworld forces then pour massed shuriken, laser, and monofilament firepower into the lone Archon seeking to bring down his forcefield. Finally he rolls a 1 against the Warp Spider Exarch’s unexpected enfilade, and is brutally dismembered. A great misfortune that his pearly skin could not be added to Tanaka’s collection.
Spoiler:
[img] [/img][img]
[/img]
On the left side, Dark Reapers tear into the blasterborn venom, destroying it, while the Swooping Hawks and jetbikes continue to fight it out without result.
2 Maelstrom points for the Cronedar, 1-2 for the Dark Eldar/Eldar
[/spoiler]
Turn 3
Spoiler:
Turn 3 Dark Eldar/Eldar
With limited options, and with the warlord horrifically slain before their eyes, the remaining Dark Eldar and Eldar forces reposition to shoot the Dark Reapers and exposed Wave Serpent while minimizing return fire. The Reavers turbo-boost backwards to rescue the scatbikes next turn, as they are still too far from a viable assault yet.
Shooting does in fact destroy the Wave Serpent, while the Dark Reapers remain. Fighting between the hawks and bikers continues.
[spoiler]
[img] [/img]
Turn 3 Cronedar
With the right flank completely under control, the field is one of opportunities for slaughter, and Prince Ibushi spurs his bone-white steed onwards to wet his blade.
The Hemlock dances left and lines up the 2nd warrior raider and blasterborn as targets, failing to kill any with psychic shriek, but utterly destroying the raider and many of its riders, who are further reduced by shots from the Dark Reapers.
In combat the warp spiders attempt to finally kill the jetbikes, but are unsuccessful, while Prince Ibushi single-handedly takes on the Reavers, but they hit & run away, seeing their fate written across his blade.
[/spoiler]
Turn 4
Spoiler:
Time is called and game finishes T3 with an 11-1 victory for the Croneworld Eldar!
Turn 5
Spoiler:
Game ended!
Turn 6
Spoiler:
Game ended!
++
Post-game:
Spoiler:
11-1 victory for the Croneworld Eldar!
Opponent had a really nice shot at crippling both wave serpents T1 by Seizing the Initiative, but was unable to focus fire either of them down completely due to terrain and deployment. Losing either Serpent could have made a big difference, especially if it was the wraithguard transport. Then a huge mistake was turbo boosting the 2nd raider along with the reavers and farseer to such a remote position on the left flank, in order to be out of LOS, effectively taking the unit out of the game without the Croneworld army having to do anything. Once the forces were split up like this, it was a matter of the Eldar concentrating firepower on one unit at a time on the right flank and just evading and delaying the left flank until that job was finished.
While the Hawks were not that effective, they do get a special kudos for tying up the enemy jetbikes for the entire game, they did a great job of taking them out of the game despite heavy losses at first (there was maybe 1 left by the end).
MVP from the Croneworld side would be the D-guard for killing two units in T1, and almost another two in T2 (just needed 1 failed save from the Archon!), while the Warp Spiders were also very effective at putting on the last wounds to eliminate hard-to-see units.
On to the next battle, against another player with full battle points! Should be fun.
Game 2: Grudge Match against Gary's Wraithstar Necrons
Spoiler:
[spoiler]
A few weeks back I played a close and brutal practice game against Gary's wraithstar Necrons, in the end almost tabling them, but only after a stroke of luck T1.
Fate has contrived to make me play this fine gentleman and his lean army once more, exactly what I was hoping to avoid!
I was actually quite nervous going into this one, as the table we drew was basically empty, and he has the tools to hit things very hard from T1. As a result, I totally forgot to take pictures, so apologies for that.
Gary's List:
[spoiler]
Destroyer Lord with kitchen sink
Cryptek with Solar Staff
3x5 Deathmarks
2x5 Immortals
Nightscythe
6 Wraiths
6 Wraiths
2x Doomsday Ark
Void Shield Generator
Objective is Kill Points – ah crap. Necrons have 13 to my 19 much softer targets. Will aim to win the Maelstrom secondary + Linebreaker.
Deployment -- Vanguard strike, at least there is lots of space to maneuver in.
Eldar Warlord Trait: -1 to Enemy Reserves (forgot about this).
Psychic Powers: Guide, Executioner, Mind War, Doom. Again with the Executioner and Mind War haha.
Eldar win First Turn and deploy behind what scrub of terrain there is, using the serpents as an additional screen for cover. It is night fighting.
Necrons deploy in the usual phalanx of Lord+Cryptek+Wraiths+Wraiths at the edge of the Void Shield Generator, with Immortals and 2 Doomsday Arks holding backfield, a Nightscythe and 3 units of deathmarks in reserve.
Turn 1
Spoiler:
Cronedar
Necrons thankfully fail to Seize the Initiative, as the pie plates of death would have been brutal on such bunched up forces.
Eldar spread out as much as possible to avoid casualties from Doomsday Ark, while hugging terrain for saves. Swooping Hawks Skyleap.
Farseer casts Doom, gets a Perils, forgets Doom. Ah, again with this. I suppose he is not a real farseer, but abuses the captured souls of ancient seers -- seems reasonable that they would frequently try and screw him over.
Units sit at max range and put shots into the Wraithstar, taking down all three Void Shields, maybe wounding a wraith.
Turn 1 Necrons
Wraithstar move forwards, second wraith squad splits off right to hold an objective for Maelstrom.
The Doomsday Arks put nasty shots into the bikes and warriors, taking down some scatbikes and a couple of warp spiders. He didn’t make the mistake of shooting the Wave Serpents this time, as they can tank mad damage.
Eldar & Necron both get +2 Maelstrom
Turn 2
Spoiler:
Turn 2 Eldar
Unable to really shoot let alone damage the Wraithstar, the Eldar continue spreading out to hug the leftmost board edge, and pour shots into the 2nd squad of wraiths, taking down two. The guardians & dark reapers have to run to get further than 12” from my table edge for a Maelstrom Point (prioritizing maelstrom over shooting in this mission), limiting my firepower, and putting the guardians precariously close to some beatstick models.
Wraithfighter fails to come in this turn, but the Swooping Hawks drop down to throw a haywire grenade at a Doomsday Ark, forgetting that the Deathmarks can immediately counter-deep strike. Brutal sniper shooting sees the Hawks reduced to just the Exarch, who then fails to hit with her grenade. Ouch.
+2 Maelstrom though
Turn 2 Necrons
Wraithstar moves up and takes out all the guardians in assault, as expected, putting them a few inches away from the D-guard serpent. They try to spread out as much as possible with the consolidation. The second wraith squad moves up to centre table (they are a turn of movement behind after capturing an objective), while two squads of deathmarks teleport in behind my units, one in each corner of the board. One squad targets the Reapers, killing two including the Exarch, while one squad takes out some jetbikes and puts two wounds on the Cannibal Warlord. The Doomsday Arks then unload into Tanaka's unit also, killing all the jetbikes. Ouch!! Really brutal turn!
Then in the Necron backfield, gauss shooting does a wound to the Hawk exarch, but miraculously she survives with 1 wound left!
Necrons get +2 Maelstrom again – we are still neck and neck, and Eldar are starting to disappear...
Turn 3
Spoiler:
Turn 3 Eldar
Surrounded by Necrontyr warriors, this turn is going to make or break it for the Croneworld Warhost.
On the left flank, Prince Ibushi splits off from his jetbike entourage and takes on the deathmarks single-handedly, delivering a wound but taking one in return. On the right flank the 2 dark reapers and 1 wave serpent line up on the other deathmark squad and are able to kill all of them. Feeling good about the fate of those pesky deathmarks.
In the middle, the Wraithstar's feeble attempt to avoid the D is confounded, as the D-guard combine fire with jetbikes to wipe out the wraiths + cryptek. Warp Spiders make a decent 13" jump to lace the Lord with rending wires, but are unable to bring him down. Fire Dragons step up and unleash their potent weapons, causing another wound but failing to bring down the mechanical monstrosity. Finally the wave serpent unloads a hail of lethal discs into the Lord's iridescent carapace, but fails to down him. The Lord remains! Oh dear!
In the Necron backfield the Eldar Wraithfighter makes an appearance and goes after the second squad of wraiths with Psychic Shriek, rolling a lucky 14 and taking them down to two 1-wound models, but then the heavy D-scythes completely whiff against a Doomsday Ark, failing to penetrate on a double 2. Argh, good luck on the psychic powers, but really needed that Ark to go down.
Meanwhile the Hawk Exarch throws another haywire grenade, misses for a second time, but then charges in against the second Doomsday Ark, shoves a haywire grenade right down the barrel of that infernal engine, rolls a 6 to penetrate (I have never caused a penetrating hit with Haywire before!), and then rolls another 6 to send the Doomsday Ark to oblivion in a shuddering explosion. Wow! That really turned things around!
+1 Maelstrom, potentially giving the Necrons a lead, but +4 KP, and very nearly 6.
Turn 3 Necron
Gary knows he's in a tight spot after losing that Ark unexpectedly, but just has to keep trucking on to pick up Maelstrom and snag some more KPs. Deathmarks in his backfield move forward next to the wraiths who cap centre objective for Maelstrom. Lord and Arks shoot the D-guard, clipping the Serpent and taking a hull point, while taking the D-guard down to 1 model, which the Lord then sucks up and charges, destroying the wraithguard for no wounds in return. Deathmarks continue to slap Prince Ibushi, who in his fury hits all three remaining Deathmarks right in the head, slaying all 3 and consolidating forwards. +1KP for both sides!
The Necron Nightscythe also comes on, arcing Tesla shots through the Wraithfighter with mortal intent, but the Eldar flyer has tricked the Necron sensors with psychic concealment, preventing any hits from damaging it.
In the backfield, gauss shooting does flay the Hawk Exarch alive, but it's too little too late in that regard.
+2 Maelstrom for the Necron, taking the lead!
Turn 4
Spoiler:
Turn 4 Eldar
Suddenly KP is not looking so bad, but the Necrons are 1 pt ahead in the Maelstrom of all things.
They cannot be allowed to take the Maelstrom, as the bonus points are Ground Control (who has the most objectives on last turn), Linebreaker, and Table Quarters, which are all too easy to draw on. This game is going to be decided by either winning BOTH primary and secondary, or its going to be a bloody, bloody draw.
Surveying the field, the Maelstrom objectives decide it for the Eldar – capture central objective (where the Wraiths and deathmarks are), and have a unit in enemy DZ.
One lone jetbike with scatter laser zooms towards the central objective, using objective secured to take it from under the wraiths after an Eldar jetbike move, but surely sacrificing his life in the counterassault next turn for 1 KP.
Hemlock Wraithfighter pivots and flies off the table to prevent further damage and to take out that remaining Doomsday Ark next turn.
Rest of the army consolidates around the Necron Lord to (hopefully!) bring him down. After the Fire Dragons, Warp Spiders, Jetbikes, and Wave Serpents unload into the defiant Warlord, he fails his last save, fails the Feel No Pain roll, fails the Reanimation Protocol, and finally bites the dust. Boy did it take a lot of shooting, and goodness was that close. With the Warlord laid to rest and the Eldar free to roam, the Necrons are in bad shape. But if he had made any one of those rolls to survive, there were no more units left to shoot him with...
In centre field, the lone scatter laser jetbike puts 4 shots into the 2 remaining wraiths before him, and shockingly manages to kill both – what a windfall.
+2 Maelstrom AND +2 KP for the Eldar
Turn 4 Necron
Taking heavy casualties, but far from finished, the Necrons continue moving forwards. Immortals teleport onto the central objective, backed up by deathmarks, while the rearguard immortals also move forwards, protected by the Void Shield.
Shooting sees the lone jetbike gunned down, a HP taken from a Wave Serpent, and the Dark Reapers obliterated by the Night Scythe.
+2 KP and +2 Maelstrom for the Necrons as well – the game continues on a knife’s edge.
Turn 5
Spoiler:
Turn 5 Eldar – we agree will be the Last Turn due to time
Wraithfighter comes in to destroy the Doomsday Ark for good this time, nosing its way inside the Necron Void Shield to deny its defenses. Casting another unworldly Shriek, the Hemlock rolls a 5 and fails to harm any immortals. Discharging its D-scythes into the Doomsday Ark, it scatters wildly with one shot, then only manages 2 Hp and an ineffective Stunned result with the other. Most unfortunate. To make things worse, the Hemlock then also fails to cast Conceal on himself, denying that extra layer of protection.
In the Eldar quadrant, jetbikes and Wave Serpents move up rapidly, while Fire Dragons hold down a backfield objective. Warlord Tanaka and Prince Ibushi move separately into the Necron DZ to claim Linebreaker even if one is eliminated, while the Warp Spiders roll an unexpected 18” Warp Jump, putting them 1” away from the Immortals, who are then quickly turned into metal fragments. This fell blow claims the backfield and central objective for the Eldar (+1 Maelstrom as well as gaining Ground Control unless the Necrons can remove the Fire Dragons, Warp Spiders, AND Wave Serpent via shooting, as obsec Necrons are too far away), while Linebreaker and possibly Table Quarters are even.
Necron Turn 5
The Necrons unleash guass fire into the Hemlock, taking it down to 1 HP but not quite destroying it.
Deathmarks put shots into the last remaining jetbike unit, slaying them for 1 KP.
Nightscythe is forced to fly past the Eldar, leaving it unable to shoot.
+1 Maelstrom for the Necrons, and +1 KP -- some lucky hits on the serpent or hemlock would have sealed it, but alas.
The Deathmarks are able to secure linebreaker, and table quarters end up being tied.
Conclusion
Spoiler:
Final KP:
Eldar: 8
Necrons: 7
Final Maelstrom
Eldar: 8
Necron: 8
Phew, that makes it 8-7 to the Eldar, with the Warlord hanging around at 1 wound, a Wave Serpent sputtering along at 1 hull point, and the Wraithfighter limping along with 1 hull point left. What a battle.
Then in Maelstrom we tally up the results, only to discover we have ground ourselves to a brutal draw!
Looking at the bonus objectives, we are even on Table Quarters, both have Linebreaker – but the resolute Eldar have managed to sneak through with Ground Control by contesting 1 objective and claiming another, while the Necrons only contest 1.
Aha! A hard, hard-pressed win for the Croneworld warhost. Very glad that the Necrons didn't get first turn and drop pie plates of doom onto the bunched-up forces before they could reposition.
MVP of this game is also really tough to call, as all of my units really pulled their weight, except for the Guardians who I put out of position too early unfortunately. Swooping Hawks were looking to be a disaster, a totally free KP, but then that lucky penetrate turned the game around, and ended up taking the 3rd unit of deathmarks far out of position which was useful. But on the other hand, that stroke of luck more than made up for the Hemlock failing to destroy a non-jinking Doomsday Ark with no less than four D blasts.
Forced to choose one MVP for the whole game though, I would go with the Warp Spiders for being such sneaky b*****ds and taking so few casualties despite being shot by the doomsdark ark several times, and then jumping huge distances back and forth each turn to put the hurt on whichever unit need eliminating, as well as cinching the win by killing all of the immortals and taking the central objective in the last turn.
For the Necrons it would definitely be the Necron Lord, who taked two whole turns of shooting until the D-scythes turned up and took away his unit. But then he charged through a D-shaped Wall of Death and dealt with those Eldar constructs in a Necrontyr fashion. If he had just passed a single more invulnerable OR Feel no Pain OR Reanimation Protocol, he would have lain waste to at least one more unit if not more, and prevented the Eldar from getting more objectives. A true Warlord.
With 2 wins under the belt so far, the stakes keep getting higher – on to Game 3 and seeing what Fortune (which has not been a useful power for me yet) may bring!
* it is also worth noting that we misplayed this scenario by counting Maelstrom at the end of Player turns instead of Game turns, meaning the Necron definitely would have won the Maelstrom if we had done it properly. This would have given Gary a few more battle points, but with Ground Control the Eldar still win either way.
[/spoiler]
Game 3:Larry's Shuffling Zombie Horde, arrrghh!
Spoiler:
Croneworld Sengoku is Invaded by Zombies!
In a truly epic matchup, Game 3 brings two dastardly Nurgle sorcerors onto Croneworld Sengoku to raise thousands of deceased Eldar from their infected lands, and cast them against Tanaka’s beleaguered forces as yet another incursion by the forces of Chaos.
Oh my goodness, 101 zombies, 2 huge beast machines, 2 nurgle cavalry, and 8 jetpack cavalry, hurtling towards the fragile Eldar in a cloud of flies and pain.
The good news: only ranged weapon in the army is a single bolt pistol.
And this army is 2-0 at a 40-person GT.
++
Mission: The Relic, oh goodness gracious, fearless, FNP zombies clambering all over the Relic.
Deployment: Hammer & Anvil, ok great, lots of space.
Warlord trait: infiltrate 3 units, fair enough. Psychic powers: Guide, Mind War, Executioner, Doom again ha. Apocalyptic Eldrtich blast could have been useful in this one..
Eldar win DZ and First Turn, and choose to take it. Jetbikes, HQs and dragons form up in a phalanx in the centre on DZ edge, 12" away from the Relic, with Dark Reapers in terrain with a commanding view from behind. Wave Serpent on each flank, and the hawks + spiders infiltrated out on the left flank.
Zombies line up in a huge wall from right to left, with Typhus right in the middle, 12ish” away from the Relic. A Maulerfiend is on each flank, with the nurgle beasts behind terrain in the middle out of LOS. Nurgle decides to Deep Strike the Plague Drones (YES, such good news!), and the Nurglings as well.
Deployment:
[spoiler]
" border="0" />
" border="0" />
" border="0" />
The PLAN:
Spoiler:
Alright, there are 2 units of 30+ zombies immediately in front, but they move 6" and cannot run. There are also 2 nasty daemon engines that move live cavalry and will rip stuff up, followed by beasts, the plague drones, and for sure summoned units from the GUO & sorceror.
Plan is to focus down anything that can move more than 6", and just keep repositioning until the plague drones arrive. Once those are down, Typhus will be holding the Relic unless the Eldar get there first, so either he needs to be delayed or destroyed.
Probably not going to be able to move the Relic, so best bet is to keep a kill zone around it where zombies in range can be killed, while winning Maelstrom and at least one bonus.
Fingers crossed!
++
Turn 1 Cronedar
Spoiler:
Phalanx shuffles slightly and unleashes its first round of firepower into the Zombies across from them, but Typhus marches back and forth catching all the lasers on his 2+ armour, only taking 1 wound. Drat. Fortunately Dark Reaper and Wave Serpent shooting is much more effective, destroying the rightmost Maulerfiend, while Warp Spider and Wave Serpent shooting on the left take 2 HP off the other Maulerfiend, but fail to destroy it. Due to LOS, other units are unable to tag the beast.
In the psychic phase, Tanaka casts Guide on his scatbike bodyguard, but manages to Perils and forget Guide. Well there you go captured Farseer souls, you did it again.
+ 2 Maelstrom for Eldar, + First Strike
Turn 1 Zombies
Spoiler:
Everything moves forward 6”, while the Maulerfiend bounds forth 12” and is shockingly close to the D-guard Wave Serpent, oops.
Psychic power sees the Eldar deny Cursed Earth from being cast, but are unable to stop Machine Corruption from striking the jetbikes.
Sure enough, the Maulerfiend barrels into the Wave Serpent and destroys it entirely, also gaining +2 Maelstrom and First Strike for the Zombie Plague.
Turn 2 Eldar
Spoiler:
The D-guard are unfazed from losing their transport, and render the Maulerfiend’s twisted soul into oblivion.
Guardians run forward to screen the Phalanx from any long charges by Typhus or the bests, while shooting puts another wound on the Nurgle Warlord, and takes out a pile of zombies too.
Without Guide, and suffering from Machine Corruption, a jetbiker explodes.
Turn 2 Zombies
Spoiler:
The Zombies continue to shuffle forward, while Typhus moves up to claim the Relic as his own. Bounding from behind cover, the Beasts of Nurgle also join their master by the Relic, oozing with excitement, looking at the Guardians with glistening rheumatic eyes.
Psychic powers are ineffective aside from summoning a Herald of Nurgle onto the field, and the Sorceror’s bolt pistol is out of range for shooting.
Building up momentum from his two turns of marching, Typhus is able to continue his assault straight into the Guardians, taking no wounds from Overwatch. The slavering beasts also make it into combat, quickly devouring 5 unfortunate Eldar, while the Zombies and Typhus dismember the rest. Consolidating 3”, the forces of Nurgle spread out to gorge upon the freshly fallen, while Typhus hides behind his fell minions.
Turn 3 Eldar
Spoiler:
Overwhelmed by the foul stench emanating from Typhus, and jealous of the cannibalistic spectacle, Warlord Tanaka promises a fresh human to every warrior who brings him the skull of a nurgle folllower, and an undamaged craftworld Eldar to the warrior who sunders Typhus' thick armour.
Hearkening to this call, even the Hemlock Wraithfighter comes screaming on to get a piece of the action.
Fire Dragons deploy from their transport, jetbikes shuffle, warp spiders jump behind Zombies lines (the exarch particularly keen on winning a new Eldar prize), while the D-guard ready their weapons to reach even to Typhus himself.
In the psychic phase, Shrouding is removed from the nurgle beasts by the Hemlock, while executioner causes a wound or two to them, and Doom is cast upon the Nurgle Warlord.
In a breath of silent destruction, D-scythes then rack up 23 hits against Typhus and his zombies, 20 of which wound (played this wrong, as Doom apparently does not work for D weapons). Fire Dragons are then able to burn flaming holes through the lumbering Warlord's ceramite, earning a delicious slave for the Dragon Exarch after the battle.
D-blasts and shuriken tear through the chattering Beasts, exploding them in a vile cloud of pus and mucus.
Having watched this grim spectacle of Eldritch efficiency unfold, the Warlord and his jetbikes send laser bolts searing through the belly of the Great Unclean One on the horizon, while the Warp Spiders jump into the pestilent beast’s path, lacing its rotting flesh with Monofilament wire, making it disintegrate into fetid lumps. Displeased with losing his prize to the Dragon coven, the Spider Exarch leads his warriors back far behind Eldar lines to sulk.
Lastly, the Dark Reapers turn around and send explosions rippling through the Nurglings in the backfield, popping them with satisfying shrieks.
A brutal turn for the Eldar!
Top of Turn 3:
[spoiler]
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[/spoiler]
Turn 3 Zombies
Spoiler:
Not to be overcome, the Nurgle Sorceror harnesses the excess of warp energy surrounding the destruction in order to summon a Greater Daemon onto the field – but the attempt is thwarted by Tanaka’s tenacious willpower.
Instead the Sorceror urges the zombie minions forward to claim the Relic and be done with this Eldritch scum, while Plague Drones appear from the Warp behind Eldar lines, hiding in dense terrain. With the Plaguefather’s blessing, this fight is just beginning.
Turn 4 Eldar
Spoiler:
The Hemlock circles around to target a straggling Plague Drone, and manages to cast Reveal on the repulsive riders, exposing their frail bodies through the clouds of flies obscuring them.
Cronedar shooting is able to remove the Plague Drones entirely, although a D-blast scatters onto Prince Ibushi, reminding him he has yet to contribute in this battle..
Eldar infantry and jetbikes continue their smooth withdrawal from the Zombie horde to instead surround the Plague Drones, while D-guard move up to lay claim to the Relic. A wave serpent, unit of jetbikes, and the swooping hawks all leap forwards to provide a screen around the Relic to prevent its recapture next turn.
Top of Turn 4:
[spoiler][img]
[/img]
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[/spoiler]
Turn 4 Nurgle
Spoiler:
With time drawing to a close, the Nurgle forces make a crafty and decisive play on the Relic – first the Sorceror is able to cast Cursed Earth, followed by summoning a unit of Plague Bearers, who without scattering are able to land exactly within 3” from the Relic, contesting it.
Zombies are also able to move up enough that the unit makes a charge into the Swooping Hawks, who fail to gun down any Zombies by Overwatch. On the other side, Zombies are able to cover inhuman distances to charge the D-guard, but are are then obliterated in a Wall of D-Death. At this moment Dice Down is called.
Conclusion
Spoiler:
A horrible thing has happened! While the Eldar were annihilating the Nurgle forces one key unit at a time, in the end Zombies were still able to get within that crucial 3” of the objective, and seeing as they have objective secured, not only did the Plaguebearers contest the Relic, but by making a long charge the zombies actually managed to claim it back off the Eldar.
This was a huge mistake, which could have changed in four ways:
1. Instead of placing the Swooping Hawks 1” in front of the D-guard as a screen, I should have used the full extent of their movement to screen from 1” in front of the Zombies, preventing them from moving at all. In this case it is also unlikely that plaguebearers could have been summoned into the gap, but maybe they could have.
2. Instead of moving jetbikes forward to be a screen to the other zombie unit, I should have kept them within 3” to have an obsec unit on the Relic
3. I could have let the wraithguard move up to screen rather than the jetbikes, meaning any charges would have to suffer the Wall of Death and likely fail.
4. Instead of moving to where the zombies were with my wave serpent on the right, I could have Tank Shocked them even further (at no risk as they cant hurt it), and made it impossible for them to get in charge range.
As it was, through two key mistakes (not putting the jetbikes on the objective, and not moving the swooping hawks far enough), Nurgle still claimed the Relic!
Looking at the Maelstrom tally, the Eldar ended up 1 point ahead, so now the Eldar and Nurgle are tied with 4 Battle Points each.
Looking at the bonus points, we both managed to achieve First Strike, we are at a draw on Table Quarters, but yet again the tenacious Tanaka the Cannibal has proven his worth as a formidable and survivable Croneworld general, by brutally slaying the enemy Warlord and yet staying out of harm’s way himself.
VICTORY!
Phew that was both a highly enjoyable, quite stressful, and hilariously cinematic game – a truly great opponent and army, with another close and satisfying result.
MVP goes to Warp Spiders for just covering so much ground and being so slippery while putting out ridiculous firepower – downing tons of zombies, the GUO, putting a wound on Typhus, and taking out some Drones. Runner up is Hemlock for casting Reveal on Nurgle units, removing their shrouding and making it much more efficient to kill them. Makes me want to include a Warlock in all my lists just for that.
Onwards and upwards to Day 2 and Game 4, still undefeated!
[/spoiler]
Game 4:Brent's Terror from the Deep!
Spoiler:
Sunday morning I turn up and my scheduled opponent is unable to make it, so I get to play a Tyranid FMC list, which can be tough but I am always a big fan of playing against.
Eldar Warlord Trait: Night Attacker
Pyschic Powers: Guide, Executioner, Fortune, Mind War.
++
Eldar take deployment zone and choose one with a nice LOS-blocking cliff in one corner, while the Nids get to hid behind a large LOS-blocking mountain in the centre.
Nids deploy first and take first turn, infiltrating 2 genestealer broods after Eldar deploy.
Eldar forces group up behind cliff, screened by the two wave serpents on the left. Guardians hide in a small forest on the far left to prevent infiltrators and hold an objective on that side.
Eldar choose not to seize.
++
Turn 1 Nids
[spoiler]
Flyrants & Hive Crone move up, genestealers hold back to keep maelstrom objectives.
Shooting takes a hull point off 1 wave serpent, which jinks.
Top of Turn 1:
[spoiler]
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[/spoiler]
Turn 2 Tyranids
Spoiler:
Hoping for a unit of outflanking genestealers, the zoanthrope spore, and two mawlocs to come in and devour the Eldar, the Tyranid warlord was disappointed for only a single mawloc to appear.
Bursting from the earth, the mawloc still managed to claim 5 warp spiders and a fire dragon in its chitinous embrace, while the Flyrant jumped forward and filled the graceful bodies of the Dark Reapers with burrowing grubs.
On the left the Hive Crone took advantage of being grounded to charge the Guardians and send them running away with 2 left, for no wounds in return.
Turn 2 Eldar
Spoiler:
Tanaka nominates the Mawloc for death, and the Hemlock comes screaming on to sever its soul from its body, while the Croneworld forces form up to bring their weapons to bear.
On the far left Tyranid backfield, the Swooping Hawks deep strike in behind some vagrant genestealers, killing half of their number with plasma blasts and laser fire, claiming objective 3 for Maelstrom.
In such close proximity to such foul and towering creatures, Tanaka joins his jetbike bodyguard and feels the strands of Fortune protect him.
Shooting is far less effective than necessary, bringing the Mawloc down 3 wounds, and doing another to the Warlord Flyrant, although the Hive Crone was able to be brought down as it was no longer flying. The jetbikes then spread out to ensure the Flyrant was forced to either land or fly off the table.
Turn 3 Tyranids
Spoiler:
Somehow the second Mawloc and the Zoanthrope spore still fail to come on, while the Flyrant dutifully flies off the table to come back for another go. Back in the Tyranid side of the board, a squad of genestealers outflanks next to the Swooping Hawks, and tries to pin them with a psychic ability. Somehow the Hawks fail on a 10, but remembering Aspect Host grants a re-roll to their test, they are fine.
The wounded Mawloc then charges in to destroy some Fire Dragons, not expecting to get hit twice by overwatch, and then wounded again by the Exarch in hand-to-hand combat! He survives with one wound, and kills 2 dragons, leading to tied combat.
Turn 3 Eldar
Spoiler:
Prince Ibushi screams forward to spear his cursed lance into the writhing tail of the Mawloc, but before he can do so the jetbike Hammer of Wrath attack does a wound to the monstrous creature, slaying it.
The various units form up to destroy the remnants of a genestealer squad marching their way, and then battle focus and reposition to hug impassable terrain to force the incoming mawloc to think twice.
In the Tyranid backfield, the Swooping Hawks bound 23” away with their jump packs and run move, and take down some genestealers with laser fire.
Turn 4 Tyranids
Spoiler:
Finally the Mawloc arrives, but it strikes the impassable mountain and is repositioned to burst forth just next to the Eldar, but striking none. Meanwhile the Zoanthrope spore also lands, spewing forth its contents and unloading shots into the Eldar Warlord’s unit.
With the reduced warp charges, and casting against a Farseer, no powers are successful, and no wounds are caused by shooting.
Back on the Tyranid side, the Flyrant jumps up and slays 3 hawks, including the exarch.
Turn 4 Eldar
Spoiler:
Hawks jump over and throw haywire grenades at the Warlord Flyrant, ineffectually. Jetbikes move up and put a wound on it with twin-linked shuriken fire, and the Hemlock pivots and moves up to destroy the flying beast with D-scythe blasts, sealing the monster’s fate.
In the Eldar half, D-guard deploy and take out the mawloc, while aspect warriors chew up the spore pod and zoanthropes, leaving two zoanthropes to be charged by Prince Ibushi – still looking to cleave these foul beings with his lance. Alas, Dice Down is called, and the fate of the Zoanthropes is left to the strands of Fate.
++
Spoiler:
Eldar take all possible objectives for 11pts, while the Tyranids snag Linebreaker.
This game was pretty brutal with the terrain placement and deployment type coupled with the missions requiring constant movement – a major uphill battle for the Nids either way. Having reserves come in only on turn 4 was a real clincher, as if they had all come onto the field Turn 2 it would have been a completely different game. Still a great opponent with a cool army, and fun to play around with the hawks as a backfield disruption unit again. This time they even survived!
MVP goes to the Fire Dragons this time! I have played with Fire Dragons for years, and they have never quite managed to be MVPs, and they die like clockwork every game – but this time it has been different. They put 2 wounds on a Flyrant in Turn 1, ouch, then they put 2 more on a Mawloc turn 2, followed by 2 more in the Nid half of the turn, 1 from overwatch, and then one from the Exarch in combat! They then put the final wounds on the other mawloc after it got hit with d-scythes, making them proper monster-hunters. The re-roll from the Exarch is so clutch, helping either get that 6 to hit, or making sure his hit does damage. And the extra reliability makes not including them in the Aspect Host that much better despite missing out on BS5.
So now the vile Croneworld Warhost has purged its planet of daemons, dismantled the Necron incursion, claimed a new planet being swarmed by Tyranids, and repelled a surprise raid by their unfriendly cousins. Looking forward to seeing how Game 5 pans out…
++
Game 5: Knights arrive to Purge the Alien!
Playing against Grey Knights with Blood Angels, a formidable, low-model, high-toughness list:
Terminator Librarian
10 Terminators w/ 2 psycannons, 2 hammers etc.
10 Purifiers w/ 2 incinerators
Dreadknight w/ psycannon, psilencer
Dreadknight w/ Psycannon, heavy incinerator (?)
Storm Raven- melta, lascannon, hurricane bolters
Blood Angel Librarian Dreadnought
Sniper scouts
Drop Pod
++
Mission: Big Guns Never Tire
Deployment: Vanguard strike
Warlord Trait: re-roll reserves (both Warlords rolled this actually)
Psychic Powers: Guide, Executioner, Fortune, Mind War
++
Eldar win choice of deployment zone and choose a corner with a huge LOS-blocking cliff.
Eldar also win choice to deploy first and give it to the Imperials, making them go first. Tanaka is keen to see how the Imperials will bring these lumbering, armoured cretins to bear before he commits his forces in any way – he does not choose to seize.
Grey Knights deploy with a dreadknight on the far leftmost corner of the DZ, another on the far rightmost corner, with the Librarian Dreadnought behind cover holding a backfield objective, and the scouts infiltrating centrally onto an inactive skyshield pad.
The Eldar hide behind their trusty wave serpents, the D-guard taking the right flank, the Fire Dragons taking the left, while all the warriors, guardians, and bikes bunch up in a cluster ready to strike.
Right side:
Spoiler:
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Left side:
Spoiler:
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Eldar Phalanx:
Spoiler:
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++
Turn 1
Spoiler:
Turn 1 GK
Using the GK formation, the Terminators combat squad and teleport onto the battlefield immediately, followed by the Purifiers in a drop pod, also in combat squads. 5 terminators with psycannons drop on the far right in space, with the drop pod coming in danger close to the d-guard serpent. Back on the left flank the librarian and terminators come in near the board edge, and are supported by a dreadknight shunting to just 1” away from the Fire Dragon wave serpent. The rightmost dreadknight Shunts onto the skyshield pad centrally.
Suddenly the Eldar are surrounded on all sides by knights in shining armour! But the kind that visit your Croneworld in nightmares and do terrible things.
Casting Cleansing Flame successfully, the Purifiers manage to torch 5 guardians right off the bat, setting them afire with Soul Blaze, and also causing Perils on their unit – but then they go Super Saiyan, gaining a 3++ for the squad!
Shooting sees the purifiers reach out with storm bolters and incinerators to claim a further 3 guardians, bringing their number down to 2, who manage to survive the onslaught somehow, and do not run away.
On the left side, the Dreadknight torrents an incinerator template across the dark reapers, swooping hawks, and jetbikes, killing 2 hawks, 1 jetbike, and ALL of the Dark Reapers – ouch! Fortunately First Blood is not in play for this scenario… Both Dreadknights also unleash large blast psycannon templates into the massed Eldar ranks, reducing two of the squads to single jetbikes, both of which hold. Despite all the shooting, the only unit to be fully destroyed is the Reapers, although that is a painful loss this early in the game.
Librarian and bodyguard teleport in left:
[spoiler]" border="0" />
Dradknight shunts up:
Spoiler:
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Right side overrun with little silver men:
Spoiler:
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[/spoiler]
Turn 1 Eldar
Spoiler:
Incensed at the gall of the Knights to teleport and deep strike so close to his veteran warriors, Tanaka sees the blue robes of the enemy warlord in the distance and directs his warhost towards the upstart Mon-Keigh.
After carefully measuring exactly where the rightmost Dreadknight would be able to move next turn to set up assaults (not far enough to clear the cliffs, and if the d-guard wave serpent just doesn't move, then it cannot move more than a few inches closer either, because of the drop pod and marines blocking), there is no way to save the D-guard, so they dismount and bring their scythes to bear on the absolute worst target for them: a fully spread out 3++ combat squad. Unsurprisingly, the D-volley only kills 2 Knights, making it the most lackluster performance from the D-guard ever. However, the remaining 2 guardians, 1 jetbike, and Wave Serpent, all firing shuriken weapons, are able to roll enough unholy 6’s to eliminate the entire second Purifier combat squad. The guardians and jetbike then withdraw to the left flank as far as possible, the Guardians again getting that unholy 6.
On the left flank, Fire Dragons deploy and coupled with the Warp Spiders make very quick work of the Dreadknight, as it was unable to cast Sanctuary last turn. The remaining lasers and shuriken pour into the terminators, killing 2. The Swooping Hawks then jump and run right into the path of the terminators, preventing them from moving more than 2” next turn.
[/spoiler]
Turn 2
Spoiler:
Turn 2 GK
Suddenly feeling not so good after the Eldar ran so far way that most of the jetbikes are literally on the board edge, the Grey Knights put their hope in the incoming Storm Raven. The gunship jets forward right into the ranks of the Eldar, and unleashes its firepower into the Fire Dragons, Warp Spiders, and jetbikes, killing a dragon and a spider (down to 3). The Librarian and his bodyguard step forward and make short work of the Swooping Hawks, but are no closer to their prey: the infamous Eldar warlord.
On the right flank the 3 purifiers move up towards the serpent, not brave enough to charge 5 D-guard, while the scouts, dreadknight, and drop pod shoot into the reanimated warriors. After causing 5 wounds, 4 are promptly failed, and suddenly the Purifiers change their mind, charging in against the lone survivor. Wall of Death claims one more Purifier, but the 2 surviving brothers cut down the infernal alien. Terminators also lace the wave serpent with blessed psycannon shells, but to no effect.
[spoiler]" border="0" />
Spoiler:
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Turn 2 Eldar
Spoiler:
Re-rolling reserves, the Hemlock screams onto the righthand board edge, and completely obliterates the Blood Angel Librarian Dreadnought camping on the GK objective. Psychic Shriek also goes off on the terminators, but is ineffective, and conceal is cast upon the reprehensible Eldar flyer.
Meanwhile the D-guard wave serpent shifts towards the left flank to again prevent the dreadknight from moving into a charge range next turn, screening the fragile jetbikes and warriors, and then combining fire with the lone shuriken jetbike to take out both purifiers. On the left flank the warp spiders, scatbikes, and wave serpent pound the terminators and librarian until cracks in their armour appear, and they are each brought down by a thousand wounds.
Still waiting to unleash their fury, the Fire Dragons are then able to direct their blasts skyward, scoring two hits on the resilient imperial flyer (thanks Exarch re-roll!). On two dice, a mighty 5 comes up, gaining a Penetrate, followed by a horrific Explodes! result on a 6!! (only needed to roll a 4 though.) The Storm Raven disintegrates and falls from the sky, putting a wound on a fire dragon and a warp spider, but for no losses.
A brutal turn for the merciless Warlord once more, cutting down the leaders of both allied forces, taking the head from the enemy’s army in one fell swoop.
[/spoiler]
Turn 3
Spoiler:
Turn 3 GK
At this point the Imperials shuffle towards the central skyshield pad for cover and to hopefully claim King of the Hill. Shooting puts two hull points on the Hemlock, who refuses to jink to spite his foes.
Eldar Turn 3
Yet wary of the formidable dreadknight, Tanaka leads his entourage around the cliff and sends laserblasts across the field, but quickly scurries behind his cover once more.
In the middle, the fire dragons mount up and the two wave serpent form a moving front, pouring shuriken into the terminators, gradually wearing them down. Jetbikes zoom forwards to claim Maelstrom points, while Prince Ibushi and the warp spider exarch (lone survivor) jump forwards to get in position for next turn to strike the skyshield pad or terminators.
On the right, the Hemlock makes an attack run on the Dreadknight, but fails to cause any wounds through the thick armour. Conceal is successfully cast to confuse any return fire.
Turn 4
Spoiler:
Turn 4 GK
Overcome with anger towards the insufferable Eldar psyker flyer, the GK forces focus fire into the Hemlock, gaining 5 glances! The vile trickery of the psychic pilot’s mind is not sufficient to prevent the holy bolts from hitting home, and the fighter comes crashing down.
Turn 4 Eldar
Prince Ibushi jumps onto the skyshield to engage the scouts and finally bathe his hunting blade in the warm blood of mon-keigh, but alas they sensed danger and escaped by grapnel lines over the other side before he could reach them.
More shuriken and lasers find their marks against the drop pod, terminators, and Dreadknight, but they are all still found alive at the end of the turn.
Turn 5
Spoiler:
Turn 5 GK
In a move to reclaim an objective, destroy an enemy jetbike unit, and assert territorial control, the Dreadknight jumps away from the Skyshield pad towards a lone scatbike. Right then Dice Down is called, and the unfortunate Imperials are denied King of the Hill by a few precious moments, but it is already known that they have utterly failed in their mission to slay the repugnant enemy warlord, and his disgusting followers.
++
Post-Game
Spoiler:
Phew, that could have gone really badly, and had a pretty rough start – losing the Reapers T1, as well as the D-guard T2, neither of which caused any significant damage, was rough. But on the flipside, the GK are forced to come right into the clutches of the Eldar weaponry, where they are then completely at the mercy of Eldritch speed and trickery. Every time an unholy 6 comes up for Bladestorm or Monofilament, it is bad news for the lumbering knights. Then the Fire Dragons really brought their A-game again, taking out a Dreadknight and then Storm Raven for only one casualty, ouch.
In this one though the MVP has to be the D-guard Wave Serpent, for completely confounding the right flank until the last minutes of the game, without even jinking. Through positioning, night fighting, and a natural Holo-Field 5++ the tank went the distance in prevent the Dreadknight from closing with the Eldar lines. The gunner was also on over-drive, slicing and dicing Imperials with razor shuriken, acing the stragglers of both purifier combat squads, one after the other. Definitely will keep this guy in my list moving forward!
++
Tournament Wrap-up, List Analysis
Spoiler:
So that puts the Croneworld Warhost at 5-0 over two days, Tanaka the Cannibal claiming the skins, body parts, spirit stones, and souls of 5 more warlords, one more Farseer, and countless enemies, all for just two wounds suffered. Granted, Tanaka is not a big player in the game itself, casting the occasional Fortune or Doom, but he makes the odds fall in the Eldar’s favour when it counts sometimes, and really helps in preventing enemy psykers doing the reverse.
MVPs:
MVP for the whole event goes to the Fire Dragons, who surprisingly never died despite every prior experience I have had with them. Yes the D-guard busted holes in most of Tanaka's opponents, but often it was the Dragons that put through those last key wounds, and who shot down the Storm Raven. Plus by not dying, they managed to take a few objectives also, particularly against the Necrons in that close-fought game.
Scatbikes threw out a lot of shots, but really were not the be-all, end-all of units. I wouldnt want to take too many more than this list has already.
Previously the Hemlock has been MVP a lot, and in Game 3 he really made a difference by casting Reveal and then dropping the D. Otherwise though he was not as great as I would have hoped at this event, but I remain a fan of this unit.
Was a big fan of the Aspect Host, BS5 is just so reliable, and bumping up the Exarchs to BS6 gives a re-roll to hit on a 6 which I managed to make a few times. Am thinking of switching the Hawks for Dragons, as the Hawks really didnt need BS5 to do their job, and seeing as I only deep-struck twice, the Exarch was not key.
Wooden Spoon Award:
Would I take the Autarch again? Well, he didn't do a ton, but he definitely was useful. 100pts of useful? Maybe not, but without a WK for combat stomping, that's what we have. Wish he had a decent AP2 combat option like the Iyanden Star Lance.
Wooden Spoon award for the Cronedar actually goes to Tanaka the Cannibal, the pitiless Warlord himself -- seriously, this guy is a shirker. Game 1, Turn 1: casts Guide, Perils! (at least he went Super Saiyan which saved his bacon against the D) Game 2, Turn 1: casts Doom, Perils, forgets Doom. Game 3, Turn 1: casts Perils, uhh Guide, forgets Guide. Game 4: cast executioner for no wounds. Game 5: cast executioner for no wounds. Even so, I would never leave home without the iconic Croneworld leader, and he does help a lot for Deny the Witch.
My favourite unit of the event? Definitely the guardians! Those bad boys have been rocking 40mm bases for me since the year 2000, and just die and die and die like a 40k version of Rocky. Occasionally they get off a volley of shuriken fire and it makes me so proud. In the last game against GK they literally got roasted T1, but the 2 survivors made their Ld check, shot (at) the GK warlord, killed a combat squad, and camped an objective for three turns -- what winners! Love these guys.
++
After sitting around for a while mulling over the highs and lows of how the units played out, the results start to be announced, and lo and behold, the TO says “I have been watching the results all weekend, and I did not see this coming – Best Overall to the Croneworld Eldar!” (I had 11-6-6-6-11, the UNHOLY 6s of KELLY, err Slaanesh!). There was one other undefeated player (jy2's friend, playing DA), who was 4-0-1, but the Eldar came through as a clean 5-0, with some bumps from sports and painting.
The Croneworld warriors have once again purged their decrepit home of invaders, and return to Vancouver to lick their wounds and prepare for the next onslaught of Mon-Keigh miscreants. Meanwhile Prince Ibushi gorges on the souls of the fallen and is infused with powerful magicks, transforming his body into a towering and terrible warrior -- keep your eyes peeled for some army pictures including his new incarnation.
++
Moving forward the big change to this list will be bumping up to 1850 and adding in a Wraithknight at the expense of the autarch -- am really looking forward to the added GMC and seeing how he does
For future events, there is the TSFHT coming up in Seattle August 22-23, so if you are planning on being there keep your eyes peeled for the Cronedar! Would be good to meet some more Dakka-ites in person.
++
Cheers
Ibushi
This message was edited 13 times. Last update was at 2015/07/10 17:48:22
Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB Best Overall
Tanksgiving Best Overall, Best Painted
22-2 for 2015
Cheers Homeskillet, glad you appreciate the gnarly samurai look haha. If it distracts you from what they are actually doing, my plan has worked all too well.
If you find yourself unexpectedly missing your epidermis, head, or soul while admiring strange white shapes and eye-catching pink patterns, now you'll know what happened.
Thanks Dozer slash GBF, you might remember playing these guys back when they were blue and white in Chapel Hill NC. Many a guardian was horribly decimated by Red Skull chainswords.
Game 2 is now up, and I am working on Game 3 which also has pictures to enjoy.
Moving forward I'm thinking about how to scale this list up to 1850 for another ITC event, including LoW. Any feedback appreciated.
Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB Best Overall
Tanksgiving Best Overall, Best Painted
22-2 for 2015
Interesting game 2. Normal maelstrom is scored bottom of player turn; only ITC changed it to bottom of game turn (which coincidentally makes it much harder and a bit unbalanced to going second).
How was the necron player getting feel no pain? A necron unit can only benefit from RP or FNP if it has it, but not both. Glad that you still won, but look out for that next time.
Jeez, wish I could have made it ot the tournament this year. Even just for the chance to see Garry lose with that god damn wraith star.
Though, he is still best sportsman, favourite opponent. :p
warboss wrote: Is there a permanent stickied thread for Chaos players to complain every time someone/anyone gets models or rules besides them? If not, there should be.
I'm still keen to play anyone who didnt get a shot at the Cronedar last weekend, if people are around shoot me a PM and see if the Cannibal takes your skin.
Games 3 & 4 up!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/09 18:17:49
Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB Best Overall
Tanksgiving Best Overall, Best Painted
22-2 for 2015
Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB Best Overall
Tanksgiving Best Overall, Best Painted
22-2 for 2015
Dashofpepper wrote:Thor665 is actually a Dark Eldar god, manifested into electronic bytes and presented here on dakkadakka to bring pain and destruction to all lesser races. Read his tactica, read his forums posts, and when he deigns to critique or advise you directly, bookmark it and pay attention.
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.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
