I recently played a few games with my "tournament" Eldar list to prepare for the Golden Throne GT so here are some battle reports of how my army did and what I learned about my army and Eldar in general:
Theory-hammer is one thing while playing games and seeing how things work in real situations is a whole different story so I was glad to test my army list I was working on and get some good data. My friend played two different lists to try out while I played the same list both games. Each game will list the army used by my friend but first, the list I used:
Eldar Primary: 1475
HQ: 170
-Farseer
-Spiritseer
Troops: 811
-5x D-Scythe Wraithguard
-Wave Serpent w/ Scatter Laser, Holofields, Vectored Engines
-5x Dire Avengers
-Wave Serpent:Scatter Laser, Holofields
5x Dire Avengers
-Wave Serpent:Scatter Laser, Holofields
-3 Windrider Jetbikes
Fast Attack: 152
-8x Warp Spiders:
Heavy Support: 342
-5x Dark Reapers: 4x Star Shot, Exarch w/ EML/Flak and Fast Shot
-Wave Serpent: Scatter Laser
Fortification: 85
-Aegis w/ Icarus
Tau Allies:440
-Commander: multi sensor suite, puretide engram neruochip, heavy iridium armor, velocity tracker, early warning override, target lock, 1xmissile pod
-Riptide: Ion Accelerator, Fusion Gun, Early Warning Override
-10x Kroot
Game 1:
My friend this game used the following list:
3 Farseers; 3x10 Dire Avengers; 8 Rangers; 2 Fire Prisms; 3x3 War Walkers w/ Scatter/Brightlance; 5 Warp Spiders w/Exarch, Fast Shot; 2x Aegis Defense Line w/ Icarus Lascanon.
Mission:
Big Guns w/ 5 objectives and Dawn of War deployment.
Set-up:
Nightfight: yes
Steal the initiative: no
Friend's Psychic Powers: Fortune x2, Guide/Prescience x2; Hallucination and some other nifty powers I forgot.
My Psychic Powers: Guide, Prescience and Perfect Timing; Conceal and Destructor/Renewer
My friend got first turn and deployed relatively centrally behind his Aegis with a unit of War Walkers on the left flank.
I tried to counter his deployment by placing most of my vehicles out of 36" range and behind cover as much as possible so I could enjoy a 3+-2+ cover save from Stealth or Shrouding combined with the 4+ from my Aegis or the Hills. I was not sure how much firepower I'd have coming my way so I also kept the Riptide as far back as possible since he had Nightvision and a 72" range. I started the Farseer/Spiritseer in the Wave Serpent with the Dark Reapers.
Overview of deployed armies:
Turn 1:
My friend tried to get closer via scout moves but kind of blocked himself with the Dires out front but still managed to get into an ok positon this turn. Since there was Night Fight in play he didn't have much to shoot so he focused on casting powers and getting into position to do some damage when Night Fight wears off next turn.
On my first turn I cast Prescience/Conceal on the Reapers, got out of their Serpent to use the Icarus Lascannon and joined the Tau Commander to them while moving everything else up to engage his forces. Shooting from the Reapers (thank's to the Tau Commander's Night Vision/Ignores Cover/Tank Hunter) took out a unit of War Walkers for First Blood and a bonus point since Heavy Supports are worth 1 VP in Big Guns. Warp Spiders (I proxied Horrors as Warp Spiders in the pictures, sorry) and D-Scythe Wraithguard Serpent moved up to central hill to hopefully pounce on the Rangers and Dire Avengers on the right most objective. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that my Riptide failed his Nova charge and took a wound (was going to try to move 4d6" closer to enemy models).
Turn 2:
 |
| Friend's turn 2 |
My friend Fortunes a Dire squad and War Walker squad and guides some Walkers/Fire Prisms. He moves up on the left flank while remaining relatively static with the rest of his army. His shooting takes out my D-Scythe Wraithguard's Serpent and follow up shooting takes the squad down to 2 models while he kills a Dark Reaper and puts a HP of damage on my Dark Reaper's Serpent and another HP of damage on a Dire Avenger Serpent. All in all, rolling a bunch of 2s for a 3+ cover save hurt a lot =(.
 |
| My turn 2 |
On my second turn, I healed the wound on the Riptide (renewer), manage to successfully Nova charge this turn then cast Conceal/Prescience on the Reapers and Guide on the Riptide. I moved my Serpents up to take pot shots at War Walkers and take one out from each squadron while my Riptide fails to do anything to anything and my Reapers take out a Fire prism. My D-Scythe Wraithguard move up and flame the Rangers killing all of them while my Warp Spiders jump up and bring a Dire squad down to 4 then charge. In combat, nobody does any wounds so it's a tie between the Dires and Spiders while the Riptide did his 4d6 boost to get to that tower in the center of the board. Sofar I have First Blood and 2 VPs from killing 2 Heavy choices while all of the other objectives are still up in the air as the game is too early to see who will end up with what objectives.
Turn 3:
My friend cast Fortune on a few squads, Hallucination on my Riptide making it unable to do anything this turn and Misfortune on my Warp Spiders. His shooting blew up my Dire Avenger's Serpent but the Avengers pass their pinning test while his other shooting kills a single D-Scythe Wraithguard. Everything else in my army passes their cover saves from shooting. My Warp Spiders Hit & Run towards the left flank.
On my turn I kick myself for moving my Riptide into range of Hallucination but better him than my Warp Spiders IMO. I cast Conceal/Prescience on the Reapers and bring his left most Dire squad down to just 2 models and the Farseer (Farseer tanked quite a bit with his 4+ Invul). Rest of my shooting brings War Walkers down to 1 Walker each while my Wraithguard runs behind the terrain on the right to hopefully claim that objective while my Warp Spiders shoot/charge that Dire Avenger squad on the left. In Combat nobody does anything so we hold.
Turn 4:
This turn my friend cast Misfortune on my Spiders and Fortune/Prescience on his main Dire Avenger unit. His shooting put a few more Hull Points on my Serpents (gotta love the Serpent Shield) and his 4 man Dire unit on the right moves up to try and pick off my last Wraithguard with a lucky 6 but fails. He then charged my Warp Spiders and rolled well for hits/wounds but I passed ALL my saves even with Misfortune up! I Hit & Run my Warp Spiders out of combat.
On my turn, I blow up his remaining War Walkers, my last Wraithguard flames and kills the Dires that tried to kill him while I also take out his Fire Prism.
At this point, we call the game as there is no way he can get any objectives safely with how much cover ignoring shooting I have and I'm already so far ahead with First Blood/Line Breaker and 5 VPs from his Heavy choices.
Post game analysis:
This game was simply an experiment for both of us in trying out different units/tactics so I think we both learned quite a bit.
-For starters, I was amazed how fast Warp Spiders are and how useful they were. I would usually write them off before but now I think I will try to have them in as many lists as possible. Speed and firepower? Yes please.
-Wave Serpents put out amazing amounts of potent shooting and are very survivable as long as dice don't totally hate you.
-Dark Reapers+Tau Commander are ah-mazing...Basically guaranteed to kill something a turn (I wish I had points for a full 10 man unit).
-D-Scythe Wraithguard were cool when they got to a target, basically they killed whatever they flamed and survived decently well when I didn't have armor saves to fail =).
Game 2:
My friend this game used the following list:
Eldrad; Spiritseer; 2 Avatars w/Fast Shot; 8 Rangers; 10 Dire Avengers; 2x3 Windriders w/Cannons; 2x3 Vaul's Wrath Battery w/D-Cannons; 2 Wraithlords with dual Bright Lances/Ghost Glaive; 2x Aegis Defense Line w/ Icarus Lascanon.
Mission:
Scouring with Vanguard Strike.
Set-up:
Nightfight: No
Steal the initiative: No
Friend's Psychic Powers: Fortune, Guide/Prescience, Perfect Timing; Destructor/Renewer and Conceal
My Psychic Powers: Guide, Prescience and Precognition; Conceal and Quicken/Restrain
I try to counter his deployment as best as possible by staying out of LOS where possible and hugging cover while making sure I am out of range of his D-Cannons even if he moves up. My friend later redeployed his Wraithlords/Avatars to his left side to engage the bulk of where I placed my army.
Turn 1:
My opponent cast Fortune on an Avatar while guiding a Wraithlord. His shooting took out a Dire Avenger Serpent from his Warp Spiders who jumped onto his 2 Icarus Lascannons as I rolled a 1 for my Serpent Shield save-1 Avenger was killed in the carnage and they became pinned. His Rangers take out 3 Warp Spiders but I pass Morale/Pinning. Otherwise I pass my remaining cover saves. First blood goes to my friend!
On my turn, I cast Prescience on the Reapers and my Spiritseer casts Conceal but Perils. I get my Reapers out to man the Icarus and take out a Wraithlord thank's to Prescience/Monster Hunter. The rest of my shooting brings his Rangers down to 1 model and I move my D-Scythe Wraithguard near his D-Cannn battery on the left to hopefully flame up the D-Cannons and his remaining Wraithlord (because if I roll a 6 the D-Scythe causes instant death regardless of toughness).
Turn 2:
On my opponent's turn, he cast Fortune on an Avatar again and moves around to try and take out my D-Scythe Wraithguard Serpent but I pass all my Jink saves and make all my saves with the rest of my army-a pretty uneffective turn IMO.
On my turn, I move the D-Scythe Wraithguard up, get out into the forest and flame the heck out of the D-Cannons/Wraithlord but fail to roll a 6 for the Wraithlord and I only do 3 wounds of damage to the D-Cannons...Probably not the best target for the Wraithguard. The rest of my shooting takes out that last Ranger in the central tower and I put some wounds on his Warp Spiders manning the Icarus Lascannons. Realizing how vulnerable my D-Scythe Wraithguard were to being combo-charged by a Wraithlord and Avatar I take out the Avatar that is closest to the Wraithguard so that if the Wraithlord charges I have a good chance of killing it with overwatch. Next turn I will wish I killed the Avatar closer to my Dark Reapers...I also realized that I forgot to shoot any Interceptor weapons at his Jetbikes that came on from reserves!
Turn 3:
On this turn, my opponent Fortunes the remaining Avatar, casts Guide/Perfect Timing on his central Dire Avenger unit. Then he plinks a HP off of my D-Scythe Wraithguard serpent, takes out a Warp Spider with the central D-Cannons because I was dumb and moved in range and then his Dire Avengers shot my Wraithguard in the forest killing 4 with his Cover Ignoring Blade-Storming Shuriken Catapults. His Wraithlord then charges and blows up my Wraithguard's Wave Serpent while his Avatar rolls a 5, 5, and 6 to charge my Dark Reapers and I smack my forehead wondering why I simply did not move my models away from that Avatar (incidentally he needed a 9 to get to me through difficult terrain, I guess I felt safe). The Avatar does no wounds as my Farseer tanks the wounds like a boss (thanks to Precognition being up) and we hold.
Well, my Reapers are now in combat so my shooting becomes not so effective and if my Reapers break or get wiped out my main lines are toast. I cast Precognition and Prescience on the Reapers while I Guide the Riptide. I wipe out my friend's Warp Spiders and my last Wraithguard takes out the D-Cannon Battery by doing 2 wounds and they fail their morale and run off the board. Other than that I just move around to get in position to see what can be salvaged of this game lol. Incidentally, I throw my Spiritseer under the bus and accept a challenge and pass Morale.
Turn 4:
On this turn my friend finishes off my single Wraithguard while moving his Wraithlord up...There really isn't much for him to shoot as his Wraithlord is the only long ranged shooting he has left but what he shoots at I pass my Jink saves. In combat my Farseer accepts the challenge and continues to tank the Avatar due to Precognition.
On my turn my Kroot come on and stay just out of range of the D-Cannons while waiting for an opportunity to jump on an objective while the rest of my army moves up to grab some objectives late game. My shooting then wipes out his central Dire Avenger unit while placing a wound on Eldrad. In combat my Dark Reaper Exarch heroically intervenes to die for my Farseer as I didn't feel like giving up Slay the Warlord just yet and I hold in combat.
Turn 5:
On this turn my opponent continues to move his Wraithlord up and take potshots at my Serpents but I continue to pass my Jink saves (3+ Jink saves from moving behind 4+ cover is awesome). He moves Eldrad/Spiritseer up and otherwise doesn't have much to do. His Windriders move up to shoot at my Kroot but I pass my saves. My Tau Commander takes on the Avatar in a challenge for my greater good and only takes 3 wounds and I hold (opponent probably should have Smashed for S10 instant death goodness)
On my turn, I Nova myRiptide towards my opponent's lines while my Jetbikes zoom to grab an objective and my Warp Spiders move to grab the central objective while my Kroot move to grab another objective. The Central Objective held by Warp Spiders was 4 points, my Bikes held a 3 point objective while the Kroot held a 2 point one while my opponent's bikes held a 3 point objective. If the game ended here I would win for sure. Incidentally, the Avatar continued to finish off the Tau Commander for my greater good and I held in combat.
Turn 6:
So yeah, game went on...Eldard cast Fortune/Prescience on him and the Spiritseer and moved up towards the Warp Spiders while the Wraithlord moved up to take out my Jetbikes while his own Jetbikes continue to shoot up some Kroot. The Wraithlord takes out 2 Bikes but fails the charge roll (bikes pass morale) and Eldard/Spiritseer successfully charge my Warp Spiders (a great move I hadn't anticipated) but because he rolled so bad I only lost one Warp Spider and held in combat. His Avatar finally kills my Farseer and runs down my Reapers even though I roll an 6 on the Initiative test. My Warp Spiders Hit & Run out of the combat to go towards an objective.
On my turn I move my Serpents up to unload my Dire Avengers who move into position to get objectives while my bike and a 5 man Dire Avenger unit kill the Wraithlord with some crazy Blade-storm action. The rest of my shooting wiped out his Jetbikes leaving him with no more scoring units and the game ends with my Jetbikes on a 3 point objective, Warp Spiders on another 3 point objective and my Kroot have a 2 point objective along with Line-Breaker.
Game ends with 10 points for my Eldar (Objectives+1 FA choice) while my opponent has 2 from First-Blood/Slay the Warlod.
Post game analysis:
So some test games with my list proved to demonstrate the potency of certain units. I am glad I got to try things out and will probably be tweaking some things around as I put the list through some more testing (1850 RT battle report coming soon).
On my turn I move my Serpents up to unload my Dire Avengers who move into position to get objectives while my bike and a 5 man Dire Avenger unit kill the Wraithlord with some crazy Blade-storm action. The rest of my shooting wiped out his Jetbikes leaving him with no more scoring units and the game ends with my Jetbikes on a 3 point objective, Warp Spiders on another 3 point objective and my Kroot have a 2 point objective along with Line-Breaker.
Game ends with 10 points for my Eldar (Objectives+1 FA choice) while my opponent has 2 from First-Blood/Slay the Warlod.
Post game analysis:
Overall, quite a rough game once my Reapers got into combat but my Serpents, Spiders and Riptide were still able to lay down some good firepower. In the end, my maneuverability and firepower eliminated my friend's scoring units leaving me free to get them and win the game.
-In hindsight, I really should have moved my Reapers back even just a few inches but I will definitely think about putting Vectored Retro-Thrusters on the Commander for Hit & Run. Otherwise the Dark Reapers were doing a ton of damage taking out an MC a turn. With so many flying MCs around, I can definitely see this set-up being very strong as long as you can ground the MCs.
-Warp Spiders once again amazed me with their firepower and maneuverability. Definitely going to keep them in the list.
-D-Scythe Wraithguard were cool, they distracted my opponent well enough while doing decent damage though I should have used them to take out a scoring unit or better target...I really did not use them well this game. Incidentally, Vectored Engines don't seem like they are needed so I'll drop this (even though it seemed to work out so awesome in my tactical videos, they really are a luxury item and situational).
-Wave Serpents are amazing in terms of firepower, love them.
-Riptide is cool for getting into position and his gun is nifty though I am not sure if I used him properly.
So yeah, I think I was too afraid of his D-Cannons and I should have been more aggressive and tried to get them in combat with my Spiders.
So some test games with my list proved to demonstrate the potency of certain units. I am glad I got to try things out and will probably be tweaking some things around as I put the list through some more testing (1850 RT battle report coming soon).