1850 Eldar list, something different for me...

So, the Wraiths work really well...  Will try testing something different...

1850
Farseer (Phoenix Gem)
Dire Avengers (5, Wave Serpent w/ HF and TLSL)
Dire Avengers (5, Wave Serpent w/ HF and TLSL)
Rangers (5)
Striking Scorpions (9, Exarch w/crushing blow and chainsabers, Wave Serpent w/HL, TLSL)
War Walkers (BL/SL on each)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch, Marksman's Eye)
Swooping Hawks (6, Exarch w/ sun rifle and Marksman's eye)
Warp Spiders (5, Exarch with Spinneret Rifle and Marksman's Eye, fast shot)
Dark Reapers (3, Exarch w/Tempest and Fast Shot, Wave Serpent w/ standard loadout)

So, a LOT of Marksman's Eye...  Yes, I know it means I need to roll 5+ to hit, but getting to place the shots can be huge...  The Jaeger seems like it will be nice with the 4 Str 8 AP 2 shots to deal with Paladins nicely and getting to kill off say, an Apothecary on a flyby?  Not bad...

A little short on actual Troops bodies, but DAMN, there will be a lot of shooting....  And accurate shooting at that...  We'll see how it works out I guess...

Saving up my hobby money, guessing the Wraith Knight will be coming here soon...  Anyone looking for a few ancient Magic cards :-)  Probably break apart my old decks with things like Taigas, etc...

Broken Units in 40K now…

Saw this (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/07/40k-top-10-units-that-are-ruining-game.html) and it got me thinking that while I agree with a number of those on the list…  There are a number of questions I’d raise and of course, my opinion differs a bit…  Could very well be how things are played locally here, but here it goes.  Mr. Vela lists the following as the 10:

Space Wolf Rune Priest

Wave Serpent

Necron Nightscythe

Heldrake

Tau Commander

Nurgle Daemon Prince

Eldar Wraithknight

Necron Annihilation Barge

Tervigon

Codex Imperial Guard

The Necron things I kind of agree on, though there are a LOT of things in the Necron codex broken.  The Barge is pretty low on the list for me.  Tesla getting the 6’s count for 3 hits mean their AAA is pretty darn good given the number of Twin Linked Tesla things they have.  Cheap fliers that ignore a lot of the 6^th edition rules?  Yes, that is the biggest problem I have with them I think.  Cheaper and better than later actual fliers, and no disadvantages for the transported unit should you shoot it down?  This to me screams of a game design problem more than anything, and having seen too many good games die out as game design issues pile up and ruin the base game…

Tervigon?  Not sure I agree here…  But then I am surprised that so few players actually play Tyranids.  I honestly consider them to be among the more difficult ones to face overall, though they DO suffer from a fairly limited list of “these things are good” in their book.  Flying MC’s and the other big nasties though…  Guessing the general feeling from the online “competitive scene” constantly calling the Nids useless combined with the difficulty playing that army in a timed competitive environment mean it ranks pretty low.  For me, it was always a matter of target prioritization and I usually do fairly well against them.  But I tend to pick a target, shoot it off the board, then move on to the next target.  People shooting at a lot of targets will usually end up not killing enough to stop the rush and get overwhelmed.

Heldrake?  Yeah.  When it goes beyond an “auto include” to a “serious players are bringing at least 2” thing…  I made that last comment last night, mostly kidding, but the reality is that there is almost no down side to the thing, it IS a hard counter to almost any army in 3+ armor, or bike based forces and did more to kill off a lot of people’s interest in playing those armies locally than almost anything else.

Tau Commander?  Guess I haven’t played against enough of the Tau at this point…  Though there ARE something like 5 players now locally…  That in and of itself might be telling…

Wave Serpent.  Agreed, and covered here previously.  Probably too good.  Not un-killable, but darn good for the points.  At least it isn’t a damn flier like the Necron equivalent. 

Now some slight disagreement:

Nurgle Prince?  Eh, though perhaps the other Princes hitting the field have hidden this one from us.  Besides, with him hiding in ruins means he isn’t flying about killing things…

Wraith Knight?  Note, I WILL be buying one.  Not though that I feel it to be overpowered…  I could be fielding 6 Eldar DN’s (Wraith Lords) right now, and I find them to be darn powerful at the moment.  The Knight?  For the cost ($ AND points on the field), the limits of it being essentially the same as its smaller brother make it a slightly tougher to take down target that does not have the offensive punch to double that of the WL.  As a MC it can fire 2 weapons.  Neat, and the Str 10 uber guns look amazing.  But the lack of an invulnerable save or immunity to Instant Death mean that configuration is likely out in general.  I CAN add 2 more have weapons I cannot fire most turns.  The WL has this free and the 2 flamers are actually useful at times…  Just saying J… So, the most likely configuration is the Sun-cannon with the 5++ shield and one or two shoulder mounted weapons.

Rune Priest?  Eh.  The only thing in the codex not really killed instantly by the swarms of Heldrakes.  Wolf Scouts have been nerfed out of usefulness, Long Fangs just die to Drakes.  Grey Hunters are still good, but really have been overtaken by lots of the other 3+ save armies.  Blood Claws are still crap.  Frankly everything with “Claw” in the name is crappy in the current book…  So, the wizard in the army still has a holdover magic defense.  Neat I guess, but facing most current armies?  Really not a big deal.  Having said that, if you regularly face Daemons, Tyranid MC or other armies relying heavily on magic…  Might well be different.  Not the current case really locally.  My old codex Eldar nerfed the GK, but it was a serious uphill battle even without their psychics/magic…  Right now, the bulk of the successful armies are simply shooting their opponents off the table, not a lot of reliance on tricks or magic…

Edit:  You know, typed all that and I didn't really add anything I think...

So, what do I feel is broken right now?  Well, there are a number of troubling things in the Tau codex for me.  Getting to fire overwatch at better BS, firing with multiple units, etc.?  No cover save, better BS...  So essentially there are a LOT of things that break the basic rules of the game built into the book.  I find that trend troubling.  Thankfully, other than the Wave Serpent the Eldar codex is pretty well balanced I think....

:-)  Of course, just my opinion on these things per usual...

Are the Eldar TOO good again?

The more I play the new Codex and understand better how to use the Units in the book, the more I think that perhaps the Eldar are back to being overpowered...  The 2 big things that worry me about this are: Marines are next, and if this is a power spiral, then that bodes ill for the game itself.  And the LAST time the Eldar were what I thought of as overpowered, they spent more than 2 full editions in "penance mode" with a severely crippled and craptastic codex.  I hope that neither of these happens again, but not holding my breath.

Don't get me wrong, the Eldar do not come off the shelf with the plug and play answer to every situation out there, but I do believe they have access to the tools that will make them able to stand against ANY other army out there currently and easily take apart a good number of them.  Most of them in fact.  There are only a few that I would hesitate to take my standard "All Comers" list against and be confident that at the least I will have a fighting chance against.  SO much (almost) Rending, D Weapons, re-rolls/twin linking and Ignore Cover firepower in everything that it just feels like I have a FAR better force than my old standards of Wolves or Fleshtearers.  GK and IG are I think likewise out shot and more importantly outmaneuvered by the MUCH faster Eldar forces.

Even my ancient Scorpions are getting back onto the field.  They are actually REALLY good these days, though require a lot more finesse than say, the Death Company :-)...  My Swooping Hawks are also quite good.  Not 2nd Ed good, but using them as Light Cavalry to harass a flank, assassinate something specific hiding in the rear, or even Score on some missions...  For 106 points?  NOT bad at all.  Mind, not like the FT's Vanguard Vets, but I think overall more useful.

Looking forward to testing out a Crimson Hunter.  I think that upgrading to the Exarch will be a good thing for the called shots, re-roll on AP against fliers, etc...  Not sure if the 5+ to call the shots will be useful in the short term, longer term as the massed Flier armies fade, I do think it will be.  Being able to call shots against say, the Apothecary in the Draigo Wing's Paladin Squads might well be something to consider...

Overall, I think that the Eldar Codex is a VERY powerful one in the right hands, just hoping it is not TOO powerful for TOO many people.

Getting the Apocalypse book read now.  Sad to see how many damn formations I CAN field without proxies all at once.  No clue the actual number of points I can field, but it is going to be a LOT over the 6+ full armies I own.  Only one Titan and one Super Heavy Tank (Eldar Tempest Class, no longer exists of course...), but still...  When the lads gather and march, might be needing a cargo vehicle to haul them all...  Looks like fun, but the potential for forever games seems there...

Eldar so far... Wave Serpents for the win...

OK, so far I have found that the Wave Serpent is in and of itself a game winner against certain armies.  Specifically, gun lines that are depending on cover or massed Infantry trying to rush across the field.  So, unfortunately for my Ork opponent last evening...  His exact army.  I had 3 of the Wave Serpents in the list, and I have to say, they DID do a big portion of the killing for my army.  The twin linked Scatter Lasers making the Shield shots also twin linked is powerful.  I would argue it is almost borderline TOO powerful, certainly for the points and lack of a slot in the ToE for it...  Yes, the WS can be killed, and it is not too terribly difficult for some things to do so, but really for the 135 or so points?  On the other hand, the ability to move out from cover or onto the table and get those 4+ (d6+1) shots, most likely all twin linked against everything but Fliers?  Heck, even Fliers should worry about this as lots of dice rolled with re-rolls will usually mean a few 6's come up...

So, while the WS is HUGE, and if rumor is correct being pulled off the bloody market...  Mkay, slight rant here, NOT sure this is happening, but the rumor is that it is going direct only going forward?  Wow, that does seem to put the independent retailers in a difficult position as the new codex comes out with a brokenly powerful unit that will only or mostly be available through GW itself?  Seems an "interesting" choice for a company to make...  Unless this is simply the interrim step as the kit is redone/repackaged?  Maybe.  But given their history, I am less hopeful.  Besides, this is NOT the oldest kit they have in that line...  Though making the old Falcon kit more efficiently would seem logical...  I guess we'll see.  I actually have a few Falcon hulls around and will likely be recasting some of the ancient Epicast/Armorcast ones I have...  They are just THAT different that they fit in with my ancient figures a bit better I think.

What else worked?

Swooping Hawks:  Well the Swooping Hawks were INSANE.  Though a lot of that had to do with him bunching up Lootas and Grechin behind cover.  The large blast template ignoring cover and what armor they had meant that between that and the Las Blaster shots after, there were no survivors.  I think I caught something like 26 Grots in the blast and killed 24 with majority T of 2...  NOT game winning in and of itself, but that was their second appearance.  They also cleared the Emperor's Will objective, were themselves scoring for line breaker and  holding that objective...  Of course, the fact they also more or less erased a full Loota squad on Turn 2 meant they had already more than paid for themselves...  More testing I think, but a six man squad seems to be an excellent thing to have.

War Walkers:  The loadout of Bright Lance/Scatter Laser seems to be an excellent "all comers" one, and with 3 of them hitting 195 points?  Flanking with the move/shoot/move potential?  5++ save, though a really light Vehicle with 2 Hull Points...  Oddly, mine never took fire at all as they appeared then used a building to shoot and duck for the game.  Again, not a list that included a lot of AT firepower or fliers, so further testing I think...

And...  Well, that was about it really.  The Spirit Seer DID use his Destructor power, then charge a few Orks killing them...  With the residual flames (Soul Blaze) unfortunately for the last one so he could not move after combat...  Left him in the open to get shot off the field.  Dark Reapers came out, killed a few things (Warlord power was Split Fire) but then they got destroyed by the BFG on the looted wagons...

So, basically, it was my TRANSPORTS that killed off the bulk of the other army...