Regular Dakkanaut
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After several weeks suffering from the latest bug to go around the office, I finally got a chance to field the new Shadow Spectres I received last month as a gift in my Harlequin list to see how they do on the board. My test would come against an Unbound Space Wolves list. The armies:
HARLEQUINS
Primary Detachment: Harlequin Masque
Troupe (10) w/ 9x Embrace, 9x Shuriken Pistol
- Troupe Master w/ Kiss, SP, Starmist Raiment, Haywire Grenades [warlord]
Troupe (10) w/ 9x Kiss, 9x SP
- Troupe Master w/ Cegorach's Rose, SP, Haywire Grenades
Troupe (6) w/ 5x Caress, 5x Neuro Disruptor
- Troupe Master w/ Caress, ND, Haywire Grenades
Shadowseer w/ ML2, Mask of Secrets
Shadowseer w/ ML2, Laughing God's Eye
Death Jester
Starweaver
Skyweavers (5) w/ 5x Shuriken Cannon, 4x Zephyrglaive, 1x Star Bolas
Voidweavers (3) w/ 3x Prismatic Cannon
Secondary Detachment: Shadow Spectre Shrine
Shadow Spectres (4)
- Exarch w/ Haywire Launcher
2x Shadow Spectres (3)
SPACE WOLVES
Bjorn Fell-Handed w/ Hellfrost Cannon
Iron Priest on Bike
Grey Hunters (10) in a Drop Pod
- Champion w/ Power Fist
Wolf Guard (10) w/ 4x Plasma Gun, 6x Plasma Pistol, 3x Power Fist, 1x Power Sword, 3x Chainsword in a Drop Pod
Venerable Dreadnought w/ 2x Assault Cannon
Wulfen (5) w/ 4x Great Axe, 4x Autofrag Launcher
- Champion w/ 2x Wolf Claws
Terminators (5) w/ 4x Storm Shield, 4x Thunder Hammer in a Drop Pod
- Arjack
Long Fangs (5) w/ 3x Missile Launcher, 2x Plasma Cannon
Land Raider w/ 2x Hurricane Assault Launcher
Vindicator
Logan Grimnar on Stormrider [warlord]
I won the right to go first. My warlord trait granted ID on 6s to Wound and 5+ with the Kiss of Death attack. I fielded everything except the three Shadow Spectre units, which I declared as DSing. From left to right, the units were:
Skyweavers, Starweaver w/ Caress Troupe, Kiss Troupe w/ Laughing God's Eye Shadowseer and Death Jester, Voidweavers, Embrace Troupe w/ Mask Shadowseer.
My opponent deployed, from my left to right:
Wulfen, Logan, Vindicator, Land Raider (empty), Dreadnought, Long Fangs on second floor of a ruin, Bjorn.
His attempt to steal failed.
TURN 1
Harlequins
I advanced the Embrace Troupe 6" N into a ruin. The Kiss Troupe advanced 6" towards a solid ruin wall straight N of their position. The Voidweavers moved 12" NNW between the Kiss Troupe and Embrace Troupe. The Skyweavers moved 12" N to get LoS on two of the Wulfen behind a ruin wall deep in his deployment zone. The Starweaver moved 12" NNE to the other side of the ruin it was hiding behind. In the Psychic Phase, the Embrace Troupe got off Veil of Tears while the other failed to do so. In the Shooting Phase, the Voidweavers managed to immobilize the Dreadnought. The Embrace Troupe ran 4" forward to the front side of the ruin in which they stood. The Kiss Troupe ran a couple inches N to hug right up against the ruin wall that had no windows, preventing the opponent from any LoS on them. The Skyweavers killed the two Wulfen they had LoS on (made Ld check). In Assault, the Skyweavers retreated back 6".
Space Wolves
The Terminator and Wolf Guard Drop Pods arrived, with the Terminators landing just N of the Skyweavers' centerpoint with the Terminators disembarking NW of the Drop Pod. The Wolf Guard Drop Pod landed immediately between the Kiss Troupe and Voidweavers, with the Wolf Guard disembarking N to NNE from the Drop Pod in order to get maximum LoS on the Voidweavers. The LR moved 12" SSE with the Vindicator following alongside. The Wulfen moved 6" SW around the ruin behind which they started. Bjorn moved 6" S. The Iron Priest moved 12" around the terrain feature in which the Dread was immobilized to get within 1" of it without touching the terrain. In Shooting, the Wolf Guard light up with all their Plasma attacks but only manage to explode one and take one HP from a second thanks to Mirage Launchers. Arjack IDs the Star Bolas Skyweaver. Bjorn kills one Player from the Embrace Troupe after making its VoT distance check. The Long Fangs fire at the Starweaver, taking off one HP and causing 1 wound to a Skyweaver. The Dread doesn't do anything to the Voidweavers.
TURN 2
Harlequins
The Exarch Shadow Spectre unit and one of the other Spectre units arrive from reserve. The Exarch unit lands midway and S between the Long Fangs and Bjorn. The other unit lands N of the ruin where the Wulfen started. The Kiss Troupe moves 6" N to get a bead on the Wolf Guard unit, but the Death Jester splits off and stays behind to nestle up against the ruin behind which the Kiss Troupe started the turn, with LoS on the Long Fangs. The Embrace Troupe moves 6" NW towards the Long Fang position. The two Voidweavers move 12" E to the other side of a ruin and straight S of Bjorn. The Starweaver moves 6" N with its prow pointing NE towards Logan. The Caress Troupe disembarks 6" ENE towards the Terminators. The Skyweavers move 12" NNW to get a straight shot on the advancing Wulfen approaching from the NE. In the Psychic Phase, the Wolf Guard get Fog of Dreams cast on them; nothing else was cast. The Exarch Spectres do a Battle Focus 6" SE to get LoS on Bjorn while staying w/in 12" of the Long Fangs. Unfortunately, none of their shots do anything to Bjorn thanks to hot invul saves. The other Spectre unit shoots at the rear armor of the Vindicator after Battle Focusing 2", but the vehicle makes all its cover saves from an intervening ruin wall. The Caress Troupe lights into the Terminator Squad with Neuro Disruptors, killing two. The Skyweavers manage to only wound the Wulfen champion once thanks to hot FNP rolls. The Voidweavers do nothing to Bjorn. The Death Jester shoots at the Long Fangs, killing one. The Embrace Troupe runs 4" towards the Long Fangs' position. The Kiss Troupe runs 3" to get closer to the Wolf Guard unit. At the end of Shooting, the Long Fangs have to roll 3d6 on its Morale check thanks to being w/in 12" of the Shadow Spectre Exarch's unit and fails counting the -2Ld. I force it to run towards the Embrace Troupe and it gets 4" closer after dropping down a level, making the charge only 5".
In Assault, the Kiss Troupe charges into the Wolf Guard, losing 3 to Overwatch. The Embrace Troupe charges into the Long Fangs, losing 1 to Overwatch. The Caress Troupe charges the Terminators. The Exarch Spectres Thrust moves 6" SW while the other Spectre unit Thrust moves 6" ENE up against his long board edge. The Caress Troupe kills the two remaining Terminators that aren't Arjack and reducing him to 1 wound remaining. He manages to kill 1 Caress Player. He fails Ld and I run him down but he stays in combat. The Caress unit H&Rs out 14" SE. The Kiss Troupe manages to reduce the Wolf Guard unit to only one model while losing none. He fails Ld, I run him down but he stays in combat. The Embrace Troupe does enough HoW wounds to kill the entire Long Fang unit, allowing the Troupe to consolidate 4" NNE deeper into the ruin feature in which they already are.
Space Wolves
The Grey Hunters arrive, landing on top of the ruin behind which the Death Jester is hiding but allowing only 4 of the disembarking models to see him. The Wulfen and Arjack advance S on the Skyweavers' position. The Vindicator turns around to face NW and 5" away from the Spectres against his long board edge. Bjorn advances 6" SSW towards the two Voidweavers. Logan advances 12" towards the Starweaver. The LR moves 6" SE to get a mostly straight shot on the Exarch unit. In Shooting, Arjack IDs another Skyweaver. The Wulfen run closer to charge them. The Vindicator fails to kill any Spectres. The Iron Priest removes the Dread's Immobilized status. The Dread turns to face NW and shoots at the Spectres along his long board edge, killing none. The Hurricane Bolters, Assault Cannons and Multi-Melta manage to kill one Exarch Spectre and put a wound on the Exarch. Bjorn does nothing against the Exarch unit. The Grey Hunters kill the Death Jester. Two Drop Pods manage to kill two Caress Players. In Assault, Arjack and the Wulfen charge the Skyweavers, who do kill the Champion Wulfen but that's it. Arjack IDs the remaining three models. Logan fails to do one HP on the Starweaver. The Kiss Troupe kills the last Wolf Guard.
TURN 3
Harlequins
The last unit of Spectres arrives, landing ESE of the Vindicator's position. The Starweaver moves 12" NW to get LoS on the Wulfen. The Caress Troupe moves 6" W to get LoS on Arjack. The Embrace Troupe moves 6" W towards the Vindicator. The long board Spectres move 6" S towards the LR. The Exarch unit moves 6" W towards the LR. The Voidweavers move 12" NW to get LoS on the rear armor of the Dread. The Kiss Troupe moves 6" to get on and under the ruin where the Grey Hunters arrived. In the Psychic Phase only Dance in the Shadows goes off on the Exarch unit. In Shooting, The Exarch unit manages to take off two HP from the LR. The long board Spectres Battle Focus to run and shoot at the LR but do nothing. Same happens with the newly arrived Spectre unit who runs 4" W to a nearby objective. The Voidweavers manage to wreck the Dread. The Caress Troupe kills Arjack with Neuro Disruptor fire. The Kiss Troupe runs to get all the models on the second floor of the Grey Hunter ruin. The Starweaver puts one wound on one Wulfen.
In Assault, the Embrace Troupe charges the Vindicator. The Exarch unit charges the LR. The Kiss Troupe charges the Grey Hunters. The other two Spectre units Thrust move so they can claim a 4+ cover save. The Exarch unit deals the last two HP on the LR with Haywire Grenade attacks. The Embrace Troupe wrecks the Vindicator unit with a whole mess of HoW attacks. The Kiss Troupe reduces the Grey Hunters down to four models, who manage to run away 4" N after going down to the first floor of the ruin.
Space Wolves
The Wulfen moves 6" towards the Caress Troupe. Logan moves 10" to just 1" away from one of the Spectre units. Bjorn moves 6" towards the Voidweavers. The Iron Priest moves 12" NNE to be right up against his long board edge. The Grey Hunters move 6" NNW to get distance from the Kiss Troupe in the ruin. In shooting, the three Drop Pods wipe out the Caress Troupe. The Wulfen runs N towards the Starweaver. Bjorn does nothing to the Voidweavers with shooting. In Assault, Logan charges the Spectres. Bjorn charges the Voidweavers. Logan wipes out the Spectres, who do nothing to Logan or his chariot. Bjorn explodes one Voidweaver and takes off one HP from the last Voidweaver. The Wulfen successfully charges the Starweaver and explodes it, causing the wounded Wulfen to die and reducing the unit to one untouched Wulfen model with a Great Axe.
TURN 4
Harlequins
The Voidweaver moves 12" NE to get behind Bjorn. The Exarch unit moves 6" ENE towards Bjorn. The other Spectre unit moves 6" E towards Bjorn so they're 20" away from him. The Kiss Troupe moves 6" NNW towards the remaining Grey Hunters. The Embrace Troupe moves 6" NE towards the Iron Priest's position. In the Psychic Phase Logan gets Fog of Dreams cast on him. In Shooting, the Embrace unit runs 5" ENE towards the Iron Priest. The Exarch's unit takes off two of Bjorn's HPs. The other Spectre unit runs and shoots at Bjorn but does nothing. The Voidweaver snap shoots at Bjorn but does nothing. The Kiss Troupe shoots at the Grey Hunters, killing two of the four models. In Assault, one Embrace Player dies to Overwatch while the unit gets into combat with him. The Kiss Troupe charges in to the Grey Hunters. The Exarch unit charges Bjorn. The Exarch unit wrecks Bjorn. The Embrace Troupe kills the Iron Priest w/ two successful HoW wounds. The Spectre unit Thrusts 11" SE to the other side of the LR wreckage. The Kiss Troupe wipes out the Grey Hunters but only consolidates 1".
Space Wolves
Logan moves in position to charge the Kiss Troupe. The Wulfen moves 6" NE. In Shooting, the Wulfen run 1". In Assault, Logan charges the Kiss Troupe. He kills all but the Shadowseer and Troupe Master after suffering two wounds. The Kiss Troupe fails to H&R.
TURN 5
Harlequins
The Exarch unit and Spectre unit line up to shoot at two of the Drop Pods. The Voidweaver moves 12" W towards an objective. The Embrace Troupe moves 6" WSW. In the Psychic Phase Fog of Dreams goes back onto Logan. In Shooting, the Voidweaver moves Flat Out to claim an objective in the N central ruins where the Long Fangs and Embrace Troupe has been hanging out all game. The Exarch unit takes off two HP from the right Drop Pod. The Spectre unit blows up the central Drop Pod, which causes one wound on the Shadowseer. In Assault, the Exarch unit charges the right Drop Pod and destroys it with Haywire Grenades. The Troupe Master and Shadowseer manage to deal one more wound to Logan, leaving him with one left. They stay in combat.
Space Wolves
The Wulfen moves, runs and charges the Troupe w/ Logan. The Troupe Master and Shadowseer wipe out Logan, but are then wiped out by the Wulfen.
Roll to see if Turn 6 happens fails. Game over.
CONCLUSIONS
We played the Supremacy tactical objectives cards. It was a weird game to play with them. I wound up winning those 9-4. I also had Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker. We honestly don't remember who got First Blood, but I think it was him by a nose when the Skyweaver combat concluded before the Wolf Guard combat ended.
In the end, he had one Drop Pod and one Wulfen model remaining on the board. I had one full Spectre unit of three models, an Exarch with two Spectre models, the Embrace Troupe w/ 7 models plus a Shadowseer, and one Voidweaver model with one HP left. It was interesting seeing the Wulfen in action. I only killed one during the actual fight subphase, but that one's Death Frenzy did nothing as I made all my invul saves against it. He forgot to make any Curse of the Wulfen rolls with it, though to be honest I think there was really only one opportunity to do so.
The Shadow Spectres were very strong. Great mobility, excellent vehicle management powers, all in all a tremendous effort turned in by them. They managed to take out Bjorn and the LR at the loss of 100pts worth of models. Tremendous! It provides my Harlequin force a great means of coping with heavy mech lists. Excellent. The Skyweavers didn't do all that great thanks to amazing FNP rolls. The Caress Troupe did what it was meant to do: focus on Elite Termies. The Kiss Troupe was another highly successful unit, managing to kill Wolf Guard, Grey Hunters and Logan before succumbing to the last Wulfen. Definitely made their points up. The Embrace Troupe took out four Long Fangs, a Vindicator and the Iron Priest, so they also made up their points plus 100 more.
I didn't face the strongest list (though I'm wondering how he fit in so many rapid-fire plasma guns and plasma pistols in the Wolf Guard unit), but it wasn't necessarily soft, either. I thought he had a golden opportunity to light up the Kiss Troupe by disembarking the Wolf Guard S of the Drop Pod instead of N, where my guys would've been really exposed in the open. He tried his hardest to wipe out the Voidweavers but it didn't work the way he expected. Will definitely try this list again.
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