Tactical changes Pt. 2 - Assault, the new challengers

I was hoping to get a couple more games in with the new FAQ to add to this, but a small visit to our house by Papa Nurgle left everyone in the house a plague zombie for a week plus, so I missed our normal gaming time.

With the changes that 6th Edition brought, when I analyzed my play style and the new rules it quickly became apparent that  I would need to make some changes.  With my Dark Eldar I always tried to use speed and assault to overwhelm my opponents, while dropping some deadly cover fire.  The firepower is actually better with the changes to rapid fire, and vehicles being easier to counter, but obviously it would require a bit more resiliency to consistently make it into close combat.  So I went back through the codex, and re-evaluated some units.

Bash Brothers

One of the first units that was re-introduced to the list was the Talos.  In  the twilight of 5th the Talos had sort of fallen to the wayside in favor of the Ravager and Razorwing, but with the Ravager seeming less reliable, the Talos was re-inserted with some haywire blasters.  Luckily my first few games after this change were vs. Tau, so I really got a good feel for how the Talos did vs. shooting and overwatch.  T7 and a 3+ save let the Talos get in close to where it wanted and once he got that first pain token he laughed at the AP1 and AP2 that had previously been the  bane of his existance.  Being AP2 in close combat the Talos can handle all those 2+ Meganobz, terminators and broadsides that became so much tougher vs the AP3 power weapon.

Bringing the Pain . . . Tokens

Along with the Talos, the Cronos was also re-introduced.  The Talos was always a beast in close combat, the Cronos not quite as much, being only strength 5 with a limited number of attacks hurt him.  But thanks to the Smash special rule, the Cronos can now play like a big boy giving up 1 attack to swing at strength 10.  This really lets him reliably ID multi-wound models, and take apart vehicles.  I've found it harder to include the Cronos with how well the paired Taloi work and the sheer firepower the Razorwing brings, but I may work more to including him to distribute the pain tokens.

The Ultimate Archon standing in for now

Something else that I've been re-visiting is one of the units that I had previously found a waste compared to other choices, the all seeing Archon.  Since he is already running a really high initiative, the furious charge changes meant less wracks and less use for haemonculi, so an HQ slot opened up to play with this guy.  So far my standard loadout has been shadowfield, blaster, djinn blade, with combat drugs and phantasm grenade launcher when I can fit it in.  I know the Djinn is a gamble, but really I want him to be perceived as more of a threat than he actually is, and it's worked out well for me; although the huskblade is really looking appealing.  Telling someone he's WS 7, I7, with 8 attacks on the charge, a 2+ invuln and an 18" dark lance causes some concern.  The trick is he can do some real damage, but he's just there to draw the lambs to the slaughter of the anvil he's running with.


One of the units that I had been eyeing up towards the end of 5th edition has become a true anvil for me in 6th, the Grotesque.  T5 with 3 wounds and a pain token for Feel no Pain off the hop make these guys hard to deal with.  There are two draw backs to these guys.  First is that they are slow, usually travelling on foot because they take up 2 transport slots each.  Second, they require a babysitter or may 'explode' causing potential ruin.  The resilience means they can take the time to footslog across the board, so it's not that big a drawback.  As I alluded to above, dropping an archon in with these guys brings the big boys to them.  With the Aberration and 4 other Grotesques, they can be dropping up to 23 attacks themselves, usually wounding on 2's.  They have been a true shining star for me and will get a full tactics article in the near future.

A Future Purchase

Lastly, one of the units that has been important in my assault testing has been the reaver jetbikes.  My intial thought was that they can easily get in position to support other units in an assault, ideally charging first and soaking up the overwatch with their T4 and 4+ Jink save.  This did work a certain amount, but as I switched my other assault units, I found that the sheer harassment potential of these guys worked much more in my favor and could easily get in close enough to tanks to make a mess with the heat lances.  They brought another high priority target for the enemy to deal with while slower units like the Grotesques go into position to do some real damage.  I'm still tweaking numbers of guys in a unit and the number of units, the fast slot is full of high demand units now.  I have found a distinctly beardy advantage to 3, as long as even 1 bike is alive, he ALWAYS regroups on his normal leadership because he is more than 25% of the starting unit.

So next I'll review how these changes have built my current 1750 point list and what my expectations are of them.

Tactical changes Pt. 1 - Assault, the returning contenders

Tactics article all set to post, GW releases new FAQs, I've tried to edit this real quick.  If something doesn't make sense it may be because of edits, or FAQs.  It was going to be longer, but I decided to break this into a series of articles.

Tactically, the game has changed in extreme ways for my army.  Running a hybrid webway army in 5th edition, relying heavily on the alpha strike type of assaults that it allowed for made my glass cannon a thing to be feared, death by a thousand cuts as I liked to call it.  But 6th edition came, and karma thought it would be fitting to disassemble my list in the very same way, death by a thousand nerfs.  A lot of the changes aren't that big by themselves, add overwatch, random charge distance, no run and assault, no fast moving vehicle assault, nerfs to feel no pain, nerfs to furious charge . . plus others that don't come to mind right now.  None of them seemed overly big changes by themselves, I enjoyed most of them, but coming together, they were the perfect storm of destruction for my webway list.

So as many Dark Eldar players learned, assault is much harder, and more dangerous, to get into.  Wyches take this the hardest, arguably one of the best assault troops in the game in 5th, they were the perfect dichotomy; gods in assault, wet blankets when they were shot.  The bounce back though is their access to haywire grenades.  Wyches are no longer the tarpit unit that they were, now they are used to run up to a vehicle and hit it a few times with haywire and watch the hull points melt away.  It's an odd change for a unit that doesn't want to be shot, and preferred to hide in an assault last edition.

Run from the guns . . . But get the tank?

In a similar vein, the wracks were a powerful short range torrent type squad.  10 strong with a Haemonculus out of a webway portal usually saw 3 flamer templates, followed by an assault where they leveraged 30+ attacks at initiative 5, re-rolling to wound in most cases.  They were easily the workhorse to a beautifully themed Coven army.  Now, unfortunately, wracks often loose as many models as they kill between the loss of the initiative boost and nerf to feel no pain, they could do short range fire fighting with the liquifiers, but that turns the rest of the squad into a delivery system.  With wounds coming from the front and random charge distance, they are self defeating, leaving themselves out of range for a followup assault if the liquifiers do cause any damage.  For all the struggles I've had in getting a decent set of them together, there is a good chance they are going to be sitting on the shelf mostly.

But it is about balance, and other armies are having similar issues.  So some units came through perfectly fine, or in some cases even better.

The plus side is the beasts seem to be just as good as they were before, in fact I'd almost say they are slightly better.  You loose a little average charge distance, and the wound allocation shenanigans, but that's not a big deal.  Ideally, you want the Khymera out front now anyhow, the benefit here is the differing initiative values.  When you move into combat, Khymera and Beastmasters are out front and make it into base to base with the rank and file guys.  Once they kill a few at initiative 6, the Razorwings now get to pile in at initiative 5, hopefully into holes created at I6 that lets them into base to base with the important guys like special weapon troopers and character upgrades.  Since wounds have to be taken from base to base with the razorwings who go on initiative 5, there is a good chance we can burn off those characters/special weapons.  Tactially, I'm looking at adding the Baron as my second HQ, just to make these guys so much better.  They will get Stealth, Hit and Run, and someone with a shadowfield to soak up wounds; oh, and thanks to a FAQ clarification that indicates that they still go at I1 even though they ignore terrain, he also gives them grenades.  With the Beastmasters being characters, it will take quite a bit to have the Baron locked in a challenge, so it should be quite effective.

Come here Mr. Terminator, tell us about your 2+ save again?

Incubi are another squad that is still pretty effective.  Up until a few hours ago, I was going to comment on how these guys would be great for challenges, and continue to fulfill most of the roles they had before.  What a difference a few hours makes.  AP 2 Glaives according to the FAQ, this means that they should still peel through terminators the same as they did before, which is one thing we were maybe going to have to worry about.  Again because of the differing initiative between the Klaivex and the squad, we can use the Klaivex to pick out characters/upgrades.  Because of their 3+ save, these guys are much more likely to survive overwatch and make it into combat with full effectiveness.

I've already touched on the Talos in a previous post, but he had mostly been on the fringes of the list, so I'll review and start with him in part 2 of the series, Assault, the new challengers.

First Slaves of the year

So I got thrown into a small 1000 point per side team battle today.

I ended up partnered with a Space Wolves player vs an Ork/Tau team. It was a Spearhead deployment, with the objective being kill points.

Overall, the game went rather poorly, I just couldn't get any dark lances to bring to bear on the Tau tanks, and ended up most of the game rather boxed in. We ended up loosing in the end, but I did manage to capture both the Tau Shas'o and a Crisis Battlesuit.

Kabal of Agony - 2000 point list

So building the list up to 2000 points I built up again, adding a third Raider squad, and added a Warpbeast squad. The Raider squad is going to be a very shooty squad, unloading and hopefully dropping alot of shots onto squads. I would have went with the Shredder, but couldn't quite fit it into the points limit.

HQ
Dracon - Punisher, Tormentor Helm
- 4 Incubi, Drazhar in Raider
Haemonculus - Reaver Jetbike, Destructor, Shadowfield
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor

Elite
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider
5 Warpbeasts with Beastmaster

Troop
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex
10 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Xenospasm, Raider with Disentegrator

Heavy
Talos
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators

Kabal of Agony - 1750 point list

So there isn't a ton of changes over the 1500 point list, primarily the addition of the Incubi/Drazhar and Raider. I did add a Blasters to each of the 10 man Warrior squads, but had to remove scissorhands from the jetbike Haemonculus to keep them similar. Drazhar is going to be there to take the hits for the Dracon against other ICs since the shadowfield is being used elsewhere in the army.

HQ
Dracon - Punisher, Tormentor Helm
- 4 Incubi, Drazhar in Raider
Haemonculus - Reaver Jetbike, Destructor, Shadowfield
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor

Elite
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider

Troop
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances, Blaster
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances, Blaster
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex

Heavy
Talos
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators

For the few times that I may have to play 1850, the primary addition will be a 5 strong Warpbeast pack, then give the Dracon a combat drug dispenser.

Kabal of Agony - 1500 point list

So here's what I will be using as my final 1500 point list for the Kabal of Agony experiment in 2010.

As I've noted elsewhere, I was looking for a certain theme as well as competitiveness, so while I normally wouldn't take a Dark Eldar Lord or Incubi, I'm going to try and fit them in.

For this list this only comes through as a Dracon to ride along with a Raider squad. Each Raider squad will also have a Haemonculus join them.

HQ
Dracon - Punisher, Tormentor Helm
Haemonculus - Reaver Jetbike, Scissorhands, Destructor, Shadowfield
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor
Haemonculus - Scissorhands, Destructor

Elite
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider
8 Wyches - Wych weapons, Succubus with Agonizer, Raider

Troop
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex
8 Warriors - Splinter Cannon, Blaster, Sybarite with Agonizer, Raider with Horrorfex

Heavy
Talos
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators
Ravager - 3 Disentegrators

The 1750 list should be up probably tommorow.

Dark Eldar Theme

There's not alot of fluff out there for the Dark Eldar, but the few stories in the codex, combined with others like the Torturer's Tale give a definite hint as to what the Dark Eldar are, and why they do what they do.

Especially from the codex fluff, it's pretty apparent that the Dark Eldar are after souls, and that some of those Dark Eldar channel those souls into themselves. So obviously they are quite demonoic or vampiric in nature, which shows through in the cruelty and terror they cause.

There is obvious evidence that they Dark Eldar use the souls of others to sustain themselves, and that by their nature the Dark Eldar souls are brighter in the warp. I've always been of the opinion that in order to get the most out of the souls of other races, they have to be wiped into a state of high emotion to get the very most from those souls. Obviously the two easiest ways are pain and pleasure, of which they are masters of both.

My thoughts on the Dark Eldar court are similar to those of the ancient Mongolian or Chinese empires, where there is one Emperor or Khan and all others serve him because of his strength and cunning, but there is always duplicity. The Haemonculi are like the court sorcerors or advisors, making sure all is as it needs to be in the court, whipping the slaves into a suitable frenzy for the lords. All others are expendible, while valued for their prowess or loyalty to differring extents, they are only there to serve.

Because of this, I've decided when I post my Kabal of Agony lists over the next couple days I'm going to try and maintain a true Dark Eldar theme. By this I mean that contrary to how I'd normally build my list, this time I will be including Dark Eldar Lords, as well as Incubi in higher points lists.

Slave Capture

For the purpose of my Kabal of Agony experiment I've reviewed the slave capture rules, and the various FAQs and will use the following to determine prisoner capture.



If the Dark Eldar win a close combat, and the opponent is forced to fall back, each model killed in that combat is captured on a 4+. If the squad is caught in a sweeping advance, then all models destroyed this way are captured.



In the case where the enemy squad is destroyed at the end of the assault phase, any models killed during the close combat will be captured on a 4+. This will include any loses due to no retreat, or self inflicted wounds such as perils of the warp, bosspoles, etc.

Kabal of Agony - 2010

So in case you haven't heard the lastest rumors, it's being reported that there are new Dark Eldar mini's that may see the light of day this year according to Stickmonkey over at Warseer.

I'm not going to hold my breath, but it did help me come to a decision on what I'm going to do with my army for this year. With the new models, that likely means there is a new codex in the future. I'm not sure if this will be good or bad, but I want to give the current codex one last hurrah as it were.

So over the next couple days I'm going to work up my Kabal of Agony lists, a 1500 point list, a 1750 point list, a 2000 point list, and a 2500 point list. Those should cover any possible game/tournament scenarios possible, ideally each list will be similar to the previous with a few extras. Through the course of 2010 as a whole, or until the new codex comes out, I will attempt to record, or photograph any games played with the Kabal, and will keep a running win/loss/tie record, as well as a slave count.

Should the new codex come out before the end of the year, I will build and test a new Kabal list and keep track of the same stats over the same number of games.

Kabal of Agony

So I realized, I haven't really touched on what my standard list/tactics are for my Dark Eldar. So I figured I'd remedy that problem.

We usually do 1750 point games, so I'm going to give my 1750 list, and how I use it.

HQ:
Haemonculus - Jetbike, scissorhands, destructor, shadowfield
Haemonculus - scissorhands, destructor
Haemonculus - scissorhands, destructor
Haemonculus - scissorhands, destructor

Elites:
5 Grotesques - Raider
8 Wyches - wych weapons, succubus w/agonizer, Raider w/horrorfex
8 Wyches - wych weapons, succubus w/agonizer, Raider w/horrorfex

Troops
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
10 Warriors - 2 Dark Lances
9 Warriors - Sybarite w/agonizer, blaster, splinter cannon, Raider w/horrorfex
9 Warriors - Sybarite w/agonizer, blaster, splinter cannon, Raider w/horrorfex

Heavy
Talos
Ravager - 3x Disentigrators
Ravager - 3x Disentigrators

I may play with loadouts and numbers a little, but this is what I like to start with. It's obviously a fairly optimized list, I'm a bit of a min/maxer by nature. But it's easy to define roles for the squads.

The 3 Haemonculi on foot will acompany the Raider squads, and the Grotesque squad. So that leaves the only things not Raider mounted the 2 Warrior squads on foot, the Talos, and the Jetbike mounted Haemonculus. If I'm going second, I'll generally try and hid the Ravagers in the middle of the Raider groups, and stay as far away as I can. If I'm going first, I try and spread out my forces to draw my opponents deployment across a larger area to try and counter me.

From there I choose 2 units I want dead. I generally prioritize long range, or fast moving targets, and troops of those types whenever possible. The Wych squads head for one target each, while the Raider squads split and back up one Wych squad each. The Grotesques will back up which ever group looks like they will have a tougher time. If the enemy looks like they are within 24"(or I rolled a 12" assault), I'll move directly after them with the wyches, hoping to move 12" disembark, fleet and assault turn one. The Raider squads will get ready for a turn 2 strike, moving flat out to get a cover save, but staying more than 12" away.

During this movement, I'm keeping an eye on fire lanes to targets, and moving my Ravagers in such a way to take advantage of cover, not moving more than 6" though. The Talos is used as mobile cover, if my Ravagers look like they are too wide open, I move him just to the edge of a fire lane, then after the Ravager drops it's 3 templates, I'll run it into the firepath to grant a cover save to the Ravager.

The Warriors on foot, generally get deployed on an objective, or as close as they can
get to an objective in cover. The dark lance shots usually head towards whatever vehicle looks like it's in range, hopefully something like a rhino if possible.

Lastly the jetbike mounted Haemonculus heads off to whatever unit is castled in cover, getting ready to harrass next turn. If he doesn't get overlooked, people waste a ton of shots trying to kill him.

What I've generally found from most opponents, is they simply can't ignore the fact that there are 5 Raiders that will be in CC next turn, if not already on turn one; because of this, they forgo shooting at the Ravagers, who will efficiently pick apart units from 36" away, and instead focus on the Raiders. For the same reason, the Jetbike Haemonculus, and Talos get a free ride to the front lines. Focus will always start on the wyches, because that's who I talk up the most. They have invulnerable saves in CC, they reduce your weapons skill, etc. Opponents fear them, and rightly so. I also make a point of sending the two combined wyches against any of the opponents strongest CC squads. With 2 agonizers at I6, I can generally count on winning the combat and making that super unit look a little weaker, and help reinforce the idea that Wyches are what to watch for.

Of course, both squads of wyches are considered completely expendable. I'm counting on my Ravagers, and Raider squads to do all the work. Because the Ravagers are so far away, and so much is a more immediate threat up close, they can fire unaccosted for atleast 2 rounds generally, this lets them quickly make their points back. Then the Raider squads with Haemonculi get to disembark and drop a variable AP flamer template, and a large number of shots to take out squads, with a decent CC ability to finish up.

Cheers