Finally back.

So the bug just hasn't been there for 40K for the last few months. I did a little bit of work on some of my Skaven for fantasy, but couldn't get much into that either. The only Warhammer I've been semi-interested in has been Warhammer Online.

But all of that has changed, from the heart of the Dark City has come a delicious new codex, finally. So that means I have lots of new things to play with, lots of amazing new models to put together and paint. I only got ahold of the codex on Saturday, and the weekend was a busy one, so I didn't have the time to pour through it that I want, but so far I am thoroughly impressed.

First and foremost, I have to comment about the models. I went light, and only picked up 2 raiders, a kabalite warrior squad, a wych squad, Lelith, and a box of Incubi. All of these kits are absolutely stupendous in the amount of detail, and customizablity for the plastic kits. These guys are gorgeous, and even though I had approx 4000 pts from the old book, I'm sure I'm going to get atleast another 2000-3000 of the new models if they keep this quality.

I'm save a full codex review for later this week once I get a better look at it, but I did cobble together a quick list to play with this past weekend. So I'll give the list and my initial impressions.

First of all, the Incubi are awesome. I was always kind of shyed away from them before because they were points prohibitive to me, for no more effectiveness than a good wych squad. But with the "Exarch"-type powers, a small points reduction, they definitely have a good kick. Drazhar is pretty close to what he was before, the Demi-klaives give him some nice boost. I think at one point he was swinging 8 str 4 power weapon, that turned into 12 hits because of Onslaught. The following turn he assaulted a killakan squad and made quick work of it with str 7(thank you pain tokens and furious charge).

Warriors and wyches weren't quite what they were before, they almost fall into the 'just troops' function that many other armies have. But a bit more playing may find me the niche for them.

The Talos and Chronos were terribly looming and caused alot of issues, especially once the Chronos made it close enough to start popping pain tokens off to other squads. In retrospect, the haywire launcher wasn't a good fit for the talos.

All the skimmers were hugely survivable with the flickerfield, I think it's standard gear for anything that can take it. The one thing I did find, was that the flickerfield caused me to play slower, "I'm going to get a 5++ at 12" and can fire" crossed my mind alot, as opposed to the flat out for the 4+ cover.

Beastmasters are never going to get Agonizer upgrades again. It was a mistake, and here is why. The razorwing flocks are quite effective, 5 Wds 5 Rending attacks. These are heavy hitters in close combat, but at T3 they are very prone to InstaDeath. So that's when a handy allocation to the beastmaster is nice, but it's a hard hit when he's 34 points because of the 20 pt Agonizer.

HQ
Drazhar
Haemonculus Ancient - Hexrifle, Liquifier, Electrocorrosive whip
Haemonculus - Hexrifle, Liquifier

Elite
5 Incubi - Klaivex, Bloodstone, Onslaught
/w Raider - Flickerfield, Chainsnares

Troops
10 Warriors - Darklance, Blaster
10 Wyches - Hekatrix, Agonizer
/w Raider - Flickerfield, Chainsnares

Fast Attack
3 Beastmasters 3 agonizers 5 Razorwing flocks

Heavy
Talos - Chainflail, TL Haywire launcher
Chronos - Spirit Bomb
Ravager - 3 lances, Flickerfield

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.

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