new army ideas

iv had my fill of decent armies i'm now ready for a challenge!!!


the final army I want is a list that I can play without vehicles.  so this first barrier takes out all but 2 codex's


the first is deamons:


iv played deamons since 4th ed on and off and seen them go from quirky and unique to a serious punch and with 6th ed they have become more generic with standard deployment and normal psychic powers.  which is quite disappointing the main reason I chose deamons in the first place was gone!!!


iv read the codex and 2 main lists stand out a nurgle biomancy list with GUO DP's and plague bearers lots of durable units playing the waiting game and grinding down the opposition


or a tzeentch list with a screamer star the list iv written up is a pure tzeentch fire list  BUT iv already had a deamon list so their isn't anything new and its a list a lot of players use already as its doing really well and that's the problem I want a list like my dark eldar that works with effort and will surprise people


and in pop the second viable choice NIDS


when I started playing 40k I learnt to play against this army when fex's where taken in both elites n heavy support n everything had ID protection and grenades.  2 editions later with several changes to the book and 40k its evolved into what I think dark eldar are; the spoiler army!!!  without biomancy and data slates at non GW events nids will struggle with tau and eldar etc BUT their are some armies that nids will beat generic marines  and other marine codex's and with skill they've proven to stand up to the big boys they may not win but they'll be able to annoy other players


so I need 2 buy a new case for my eldar then ill move onto nids with a skyblight swarm list and a normal list lol :D


 

thinking of footdar :D

so im looking at a footdar list where I can run lots of different units that I wudnt normally with mechdar  and for this list I need some heavy hitter and id either choose:


clownbomb or seer council


so first off the clownbomb a unit of harlequins tooled up with their characters and rest equipped with harlequins kiss


to boost this unit I add


2 far seers(1 with shard) and a warlock  the farseers will be aiming for fortune forewarning and prescience this will get me a 4+ inv with a re-roll and re-rolls for combat then a 3+ cover for area terrain


the warlock will have conceal  to improve the cover saves of the unit


so how surviveable are they well this depends on where they are and if u get veil of tears of as this reduces the range to 4-24"


the average should be 14-16"  which means turn1 ur safe turn 2 should still be safe unless they move closer to shoot but that puts u closer to charging :D


with a 4+ inv if u get it and re-rolls if u get it on 6 dice ull pass 50% saves its even higher in cover :)


on the charge the unit with re-rolls is pretty devastating VS marines as a staple


9 attacks from the farseers/warlock
41 attacks from the unit  with WS5  is an average of 5 misses  with an average of 12-15 wounds with more normall wounds than rending


the total points for this unit is 551points


now the seer council is an iconic unit that has been used since 4th ed eldar were kicking around then and their still here but with random powers the ummf may or may not be their lol


so the unit


2 farseers this time on bikes and again 1 with the shard I like the fearless units :D
again I want the same powers prescience fortune misfortune


warlocks x10 on bikes
warlock powers I want protect for a 2+ armour save  10 rolls I should get it and conceal for a 2+ cover n fortune 2 make it a re-roll :D


attacks
36 attacks  that hit on 4's so not as gd as the quins  BUT  these wound on 2+  and force massed saves with misfortune :D the average is


on average the warlocks will hit with 20-25  and wounding is off the charts as its 2+  with average of 20 wounds that's a decent conversion rate


I haven't turned this into actual wounds just a theoretical with both

now the seer council costs 740points


so ill be looking to add either a footdar list I may even add the seer council to my mechdar :D

while the cats away

the  mice have been mega busy on projects my goal is to have both done for the end of the year and today im making a massive dent in that i still have lots to do but so far to day ive


sprayed loads of wyches and warriors
made n sprayed a jetseer and 2 bikes
finished sprayin 11 reavers
done the last 2 ravager sponsons
put the arms on the wraithknight


for the rest of the day ill have
sprayed 2 more venoms
finished off 2 venoms
sprayed 2 raiders
converted up 5 warp spiders with bases and sprayed them
base and spray wraithguard
re-spray my eldar bikes
base and spray some beasts


this will leave me with this left 2 do over all
finish converting a baron
finish beasts handlers
base 8 razorwings
then spray them all
then 2 fully finish the armies ready for painting i need 2
fully convert 15 warp spider base n spray
build n spray 6 more reaver jetbikes
spray n base crimson hunter


then that's both armies completed I also have 2 magnetize the sails on all the dark elder ships as well lol n then im really done but im hoping to get these fiddly bits done by the of april so I cant start painting in may time. the bonus is everything is the same colour for both armies so I can do large batches at a time

autarchs multipurpose CC units

so for the first time I tried an autarch and their great the set up I used was:


autarch
warp spider generator
shard of anaris
phoenix gem
death spinner
banshee mask


this comes to 165 points n makes the unit fearless that he joins  banshee masks means the can take on other high I units like elder dark elder and nids 


the death spinner means he can join in with the fire and a full unit of 10 kicks out 23 shots


the shard makes the unit fearless and in combat he gets 2+ str rending and in a challenge he gets ID and fleshbane  so very gd and phoenix gem means when he dies he has a chance to come back with 1 wound


their equipment list means they can join nearly every unit to boost their potential or they can be made unit a super single man death star with


bike
laser lance
shard
mantle
phoenix gem


this gives  a fearless autarch re-rolling 2+ cover save and when he charges str8 ap3 with rending :D


not as the warlord they can be played very aggressively a unit that is well worth looking into

warp spiders tactics

so  I know warp spiders are gd as ever the maths speaks for itself but I made a slight error in judgement (ie didn't their rules properly)


here is another steller tactics article featuring warp spiders Ive bin meaning to add these to my list and the now have a double feature


warp spiders x8
exarch
fast shot


warp spiders x7
exarch
fast shot


so  what can warp spiders do? 


well  firstly their very fast n move 6"+2d6 +d6" run with fleet in the movement phase +12" range for their guns that's an average of 29" on average for threat range


also  3+ armour which is great for eldar and mitigates the T3


next str6 basic weapons wound most things on 2+  with 2 shots each means their is a decent volume which gets better  VS i3 or less with a +1 str  and rolls of 6's are ap1  this means they'll shred tanks and troops as be a pain for heavy troops as well


a unit of 10 with an exarch with fastshot costs 215 that gets you 21 shots its a bargain also the large volumes of shots will help take down flyers


their are 2 ways to use these units


firstly u can deep strike them and aim for the first threat on the board this can be a MC or a tank for first blood etc etc


or they can be kept on the board n move up when ready to counter then be defensive to protect tanks objectives and scoring units


ways to beef them up  adding an autarch with shard of anaris spider jump pack and death spinner makes a fearless unit that u can be really aggressive with them u can also add phoenix gem to make the autarch more annoying lol

eldar list finalised

so iv bin testing a few combos and have finally found the list I think will work at 1500 for throne of skulls.


HQ
farseer
jet bike
mantle


troops
avengers x5
serpent
holofield
scatter laser
shuriken canon
x3 units


FA
spiders x8
exarch
fastshot


spiders x7
eaxarch
fast shot


HS
wriathknight
fire prism




I think this list covers near enough all the bases   my next problem is anti flyer as I have no actual flyer


but twin linked spiders should take out a flyer  ill have to roll some dice n play some test games

new nids secret weapons :D

well well well gw adds insult to injury with the first data slate which was shocking their  was some interesting ideas but none of the formations were any good.


and then gw pulls out the skyblight swarm formation BOOM! that's what im taking bout endless swarm loads more flyers and gargoyles are troops and they can capture even if contested it makes for a very fast army its what nids have really needed.


and then living artillery formation more big heavies added to the army with warriors now serving some function to give preferred enemy to exocrines and biovores.


now with these additions nids can take on the big boys at the top the problem is its not obvious their is no 1 click unit or trick it takes hard work n skill although either formation will help loads so lets take the list n add a formation


HQ
flyrant
flyrant
flyrant


elites
venomthrope x2


Troops
gargoyles x10
gargoyles x10
gargoyles x10
termaguantsx30
tervigon
warriors
canon


FA
crone
crone


HS
t. fex
exocrine
exocrine


now im not sure on points but 5 FMC and 4 normal MC  that's lots of heavy duty as well as lots of bodies so now nids are looking pretty strong u can even change up the fast for a slow heavy walking list.


so try out the new formations their well worth it

new nids slightly improved

so iv been watching loads of battle reports and played against them 3 times now with my eldar and here are my findings

from the battle reports what iv said is in the previos blog  the core nid list looks like this

HQ
flyrants
devs
x2

Elites
venomthropes (2)

Troops
gaunts x30
tervigon

FA
crone

HS
exocrines
t.fex

the main tactic now is stay out of range if possible  the t.fex with FNP is very hard to kill even with re-rolling successfull saves which makes him a great choice for nid players and a key unit to support by hiding venomthropes behind him and some synapse.

the exocrines are a priority unit with ap2 large blast or 6 shots theyll be moving/shooting or moving running to get into position. i found that if they stack up they can down a large target or annoy light tanks.

as synapse is so vital now start to them down fast!!  the army does crumble quite quickly the bigger creatures can survive at ldship8  but the lower dugs at ldship5 have a really hard time.

i have seen a nids list similar to the above beat tau riptide list  the ap2  once in range is devastating.

Nids new and unimproved

firstly this was goingto be a one off when the codex came out but im quite late!!  so itll be a small series going thru

initial codex review
games vs new nids
new formations

so the codex its self isnt that bad really gw made quite a few blunders as they normally do first major blunder was taking biomancy away from nids that was pretty stupid.

the next blunder was not giving them eternal warrior in synapse again lol

the next was making synapse far to important with no realy way to then protect those units (ie no biomancy)  bcoz once a synapse creatures dies the army starts to crumble

pyschic powers  arent that bad really but not great their is no real stat modifier at all for T  BUT the gem is catalyst  FNP on psyker + a unit so combo it with shroding its looking better AND pychic scream its a 4/5 in the table but still its their lol :D

but all is not lost!!!!!
their are some new gribblies and some re-writes that really shine

first up is the venomthrope gives shrouded to units within 6"  thats a 5+ cover to fearless units in the open or a massive 2/3+ in some kind of cover makes even the worst bugs more durable.

next is the crone str8 vector strike and haywire missiles mmmmm nom nom :D

the mawloc is now str6 ap2  ignore cover and 2 goes at terror from the deep before mishap add that to a lictor who can help them snipe out key targets its a juicy lil combo

exocrines are the bomb diggity with 40k mainly about the shooting game nids really need 2 step up and this bad boi does just that ap2  6 shots at 24" on the move or +1 BS standing still and a large blast they are deffinately a pain !!!

so a basic list for new nids has mainly stayed the same
HQ
flyrant
wings
double devourers

add hive commander if u will be running lots of outflanking units

elites
a unit of 2/3 venom thropes for the shrouding bubble

now u can choose lictors for the mawloc combo
or hive guard
or zoanbhropes for more pyschic powers

troops
its still all about  tervigons and gaunts

warriors are usefull for back field objectives and the living artillery foramtion but thats it!
stealers are still crap

FA
here the main choice is harpy or crone  id deff take crone all the time
other options are gargoyles for skybligh formation

HS
here is where its all happening for nids main choices are
mawlocs
exocrines
t. fex
dakka fexes

alpha strike dark eldar v1

iv been watching loads of battle reports lately with an elder dark elder alpha strike list, which cud b quite useful vs tau eldar taudar. Eldau guard and neurons as these armies can still bring the hurt as well.

Dark eldar have always been the first in alpha striking armies venoms with lots of splinter canons and dark lances means they'll tear thru most armies pretty quickly but they won't win the war of attrition. The best way to get the alpha strike is baron and vect but that's 345 before any thing else is added but what u do get is +1 to table sides then a +4 to steal the initiative so u have better odds of  gettin the best deployment zone then take first turn is a 50/50 gamble so set up slightly defensively

U can take just baron or vect for either and they'll work fine to save points.  But what I like is the addition of eldar.  As their battle brothers I can beef up the output of the ravagers while having the elders durable tanks to hide behind and add their fire power to take down  flyers or light vehicles

For a list I'd be looking at something like this
Hq
Baron
Heamonculus

Troops
Wracks x3
Venom
Splinter canon
Night shields

X2 units

Fa
Beasts
Birds x6
Dogs x10

Hs
Ravager
Night shield
Flicker field

X3 units

Allies
Hq
Fraser
Bike
Mantle of the laughing god

Elites
Fire dragons x5
Serpent
Holo fields
Scatter laser
Shuriken canon

Troops
Avengers x5
Serpent
Holo fields
Scatter laser
Shurikan canon
X2 units

Fa
Crimson hunter
Exarch

Hs
Wraith knight


Tactics
I haven't finished this list yet  or worked out the points but I'll skim it down to 1500 if possible.  The wave serpents will be out front and partially hidden to improve their cover save the dark eldar will be behind hiding to make them harder to hit.  The wraith knight will start behind cover then move up and be used as a fire magnet to keep the vehicles alive the beasts will do the same with
2 fast units moving up I should be able to keep my vehicle alive.  Then each part of the army will have it own roles

beasts wraithknight are fire magnets
serpents take out light vehicles av10-12
ravagers and wriathknight go for high av and lords of war
venoms  take out wraithknights nids etc
 the fire dragons will also go for high av and lords of war

possible alterations
at this point im not really sure what id change  id like to add some bikes but well see how the beasts play first.  ill do a v2 when i have both codex's with me.