Flames of War, what next?

So, reading the big book o rules (Thanks Dave!)...  Not sure what AT support I should be bringing for my Parachute Rifle Company...  I can massively overload with Bazooka teams, but I suspect that will not work nearly so well as it did in 1st edition...  So, I can bring Glider AT Guns (57mm) or M10 GMCs...  The Tank Destroyer Doctrine (forget if the rule is still called that) with the security teams starting on the board and the TDs just appearing from ambush looks like one of those "when it works, awesome...  If it doesn't work, you die"...  And since looking over the German and Soviet lists it does look like I'd best be able to stop tanks.

Artillery, yes...  I have some set up now and I'll be setting up more...  Now, the way I was taught was that the Infantry holds and calls down Artillery.  Dealing with the tanks is hard without Air Support, and why I;m concerned...  Air Support seems really random, and Artillery just isn't going to stop a tank horde in time...

:-)  Probably time to start painting again...  Been hitting the weights more recently, and just not as much time painting....  But I am looking at the "Army Painter" stuff to knock out a few armies quickly...  Grey Knights, etc...

1500 Point North Africa, Parachute Rifle Company

So...  I happen to have a full Platoon of M3 Lee tanks...  And since that's where my Grandfather started out, I'd really like to use them...  So a mid war Airborne company with M3 support...  Might work :-)...  Yeah, probably not, the M3 wasn't a particularly great tank, and Mid War, the US Infantry wasn't exactly at their top form yet...

So, from the North Africa book:
Company Command  30
Parachute Rifle Platoon (2 rifle squads, 1 mortar squad, Bazooka team) 255
Parachute Rifle Platoon (2 squads, Mortar, etc)  225
Parachute Machine-Gun Platoon (4 gun teams) 100
Parachute Field Artillery Btty (6 guns)  210
Parachute Mortar Platoon (4 gun teams)  130
Field Artillery Btty (105's, 4 guns)  165



Tank Platoon (4 M3 Mediums, 1 w/ long 75)  360

1485 points...  And the best of both worlds :-)...  Lots of Artillery.  Starting to read over the rules (side note, GREAT book, well worth the money), and Artillery might be fairly random, but the US rules are still pretty good for their guns...  Random, but Airborne operations are always a gamble, even in "training".  So, I'm fairly comfortable taking big risks...  Yes, my luck will run out at times, but the lads are Fearless Vets, and we'll fight it out to the bitter end either way :-)...  And since most wargames reward decisive, aggressive play, I get to play Airborne the way we were trained to fight...   Might need more Bazooka Teams though...

It'll be a starting point for me, guessing I'll get stomped at first and will have to tweak it out some...  At least it gives me options to play Mid War should that be where the games are...  Most of what I WANT to play is Late War, but that does limit things a bit :-)

1500 point FoW?

Well, not sure the "real" point level things get played at, guessing 2000, but I'll start with a 1500:

From the "D-1" book, 82nd Airborne being one of the places I ended up briefly when I played Army...

1 Company HQ (+3 Bazooka Teams) 95

Parachute Rifle Platoon   (3 Rifle Squads) 365

Parachute Rifle Platoon   (3 Rifle Squads) 365

Parachute Machine-Gun Platoon (2 sections + 2 Bazooka Teams) 240

Parachute Mortar Platoon (2 Sections + 2 Bazooka Teams) 190

Glider Light Anti-Tank Platoon (3 Gun Sections, 57mm upgrade, 3 Bazooka Teams) 120

Glider Field Artillery Battery (3 Gun Sections) 120

Kind of min/maxing adding Glider stuff into the Parachute company I guess, but no real point bringing a 37mm AT gun to a late war fight I'd be guessing...  Loads of Bazooka Teams, and if they work as they did in 1st ed, kind of a nasty surprise for tanks getting ready to try and roll over my lads...  A little Artillery to keep things honest, a few Mortar tubes in there as well for smoke...  Mind, I have precisely zero experience with 3rd ed FoW, so this is just the way I would go having been trained to do this in "real life"...  I'll have to add in an Engineer Platoon just because that's where I started, and I'll want to use them...  No clue if they have any in game use, but assuming there are mines and the like... 

Digging more stuff out...

So, here's a bit of what I'm digging out...

'course my Airborne stuff is not in the v3 book at all...  A touch annoying, but I'll just use the "D-1" or "Stars and Stripes" book I guess...

On the 40K side, guess my Praetorians will continue, Vet squad, the boys in blue will hit the table to support the death chickens (Scout Sentinels)...  Shoot them lots being the order of the day...

400 point League list...

So, looks like I'll play my old Praetorian IG...

Infantry Platoon:
  LT and 4 SW troopers, either flamers or GL's in a Chimera
  2 Infantry Squads (MG, GL, 2 AC)
Sentinel Squadron (or 2 separate ones)  1 AC, 1 Multi laser
Hydra (+heavy stubber)

400 points of "We shoot things...  A Lot"...  On the plus side, it all fits nicely into one of the cargo racks on the bike (those ancient Armory figure cases fit perfectly) :-)  Up to 3 "Troop" sections in objective games, a crapton of Str 6/7 shots potentially...  But I still think it would die trivially to a lot of things locally...  Whatever, it will be amusing to field 4 vehicles...  I could field a Tech Engineer by dropping one vehicle...  Might be even more amusing overall...  If the Techmarines/Tech Engineers were IC's like the Grey Knight version, I would take them in almost every list...  But it is really hard to justify, especially since none of my "Marine" armies can field the new and improved "Thudd Gun"...  We'll see what happens, and how quickly I get wiped off the table :-)

So, what next?

So, new league starts Monday...  Not sure what I'll play.  Silly loyalty, I'll play because Dave is pack...  So, IG or Fleshtearers?  Maybe Grey Knights, but with the limited nature of the 400 point games, I cannot actually field 80% of the stuff in the book, and none of the things I normally use...Deathwing is out for the same reason, no 2+ saves allowed...  Wolves would be good, but ultimately boring I think...  At least IG I can bring weird ancient things no one has seen before...  And more importantly I can fit it on the motorcycle at this level...  :-)  Rationalize it away I guess...

15mm stuff is shaping up nicely, and I do think I'll scrape together the $60 or so to pick up the 3rd ed FoW books...  Not entirely sure I'll ever actually play the game, at least locally...  But, at the very least I'll have the mental exercise of building armies and the like...  Wonder how historically accurate my builds will be?  Guessing fairly...  But then I also know that the TOE is not very accurate with respect to what the lads are actually bringing to the field with them...  For instance, I carried my M-16/203, 2 pistols, a shotgun, a LAW, and a wide variety of knives, etc...  By the TOE, it was the M-16/203...   And I was only slightly more heavily armed than the rest of the lads...  Not sure I ever saw a "Line Dog" actually JUST have the issued weapons...  Reserve guys or non- Combat Arms, yes...  And with my big collection of WWII weapons and the like, hell, I was issued some :-)...  My 1911 was manufactured in 1935, and it is the most reliable weapon I've ever used, I trust it with my life and those of my family without hesitation...  Cue the Obi Wan Kenobi voice with the line about the more elegant weapon from a more civilized time...

Looking like a good week for the bike :-)  One thing I got last year I REALLY am glad I picked up...  Might be time for me to look into getting a bigger one in the longer term...

15mm?

Mkay, dug up some more of the FoW troops...  Anyone out there know how close the points in the 2nd ed (I think) books like "D-1" are?  I think I can actually field an Airborne company...  Line platoons, Weapons platoons, loads of Bazooka Teams, an Artillery Platoon, etc...  I have a Platoon of Lees as well, but not really connected to my Airborne stuff...  My Grandfather on Dad's side commanded a unit of them during the War, wound up in Armored Cav, so I'll likely snag a few of the Greyhounds, etc...  Ironically, a Great Uncle was an Engineer...  Dad was Armored Cav, I started as an Engineer before doing the really silly "Airborne" stuff...

So, need to get some "Dark Green" if Dave has it (Vallejo) to paint the lads up in the 1943 Uniforms...  Most of the operations involving my old Divisions (82nd and 3AD) were "late war", so...   Probably some of the Army Painter sprays since I'll probably want to quickly finish my Grey Knights, some random "Barbarian" type armies for other game systems...  Who knows, maybe WFB will make a comeback some day...  That and I guess I need the 3rd ed FoW book...

But in essence, not even sure if I'll play in the upcoming league...  Maybe after the weekend I'll lighten up, but 40K is just getting really stale and boring to me at the moment...  Not a problem with Dave H's league, I'm really just bored with the same things over and over...  By now I've seen pretty much all of it, and even my quest to try to use everything in all of the Codexes I actually play has more or less been done.  And by now there really aren't many surprises.  Sadly, I can usually predict with a great deal of accuracy what the game plays out as by looking at lists and books...  So, I guess I am waiting on the next edition.

Airborne!

Yeah, after a LONG ride on the bike split by a bit of maintenance on her, digging out some of my old FOW minis...  Surprisingly a degree in Mechanical Engineering does NOT make one a Mechanic :-)...  But I really like the older, simpler bikes...  Nothing subtle, and with the manual and a decent set of tools, very little I cannot fix on her.  And it feels REALLY good to be able to fix minor things and feel the ride smooth out...

But on to the Flames of War stuff...  Looking like I have the bulk of my Airborne force (82nd :-)  I spent some time there, and in the 3rd Armored)...  Not sure how many stands of Infantry I have, but saw 5 Howitzers (the light Air transported ones...), "several" Mortar teams, etc...  Some silly things too like a Lee/Grant platoon...  I suppose I'll have to break down and order the rulebooks, etc. from the Gopher...  Not looking like the free mini 3rd ed book is still being given away, so no real need to dig up my 2nd ed stuff :-)...

Is 40K getting stale or is it just the waiting for the next edition?

So,seems locally at least it is getting stale to the point of dying...  Not sure if it is just that it is so predictable, or it it is the general feeling of " Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! "....  I get the general feeling of a dying game system, having been here a few times before...  Confrontation, MechWarrior, Chronopia, Planetstorm, guessing I have a few armies of random crap down in the basement that I've forgotten, these I remember though :-)  I'm not really concerned that GW will kill their system, unlike all of the ones before them...  At least I HOPE they will not do so.  I have a LOT of stuff for 40K, and since I basically get one night per week for gaming and with the death of the Warmachine/Hordes group here...  Well :-)...  Yes, purely selfish reasons to hope for the the game continuing, but...  So, yes, seen the signs and they are very familiar...  Hoping inertia is enough to keep 40K going in the long run...

So, no tournament today...

Well, only two of us showed up for the tournament...  Weird, given the huge 40K group we have on Mondays.  So, didn't get to test out my Grey Knights as actual Grey Knights...  Well, we played a quick game, but deep striking in an inch away from one of his Long Fang squads allowed me to actually kill a few...  But the Stealth and cover saves kept the squad alive..  Took one casualty, and took a wound on Mordark which brought the Ghost Knight back.  Mind, I was helped immensely by REALLY poor dice on Dave's part...  of the 3 Plasma Cannons, 2 1's coming up killing one of them meant even fewer cover saves and pretty well summed up the shooting phase...  So, REALLY not a good test for the army concept...  I'll probably give it a shot in the next one, I might even have the lads all painted up by then...  'course, the whole army is 26 models, and I already have the bulk of them painted and WYSIWYG...

Next league, we'll be voting on Monday and next week...  Is looking like we'll do a Combat Patrol, similar to http://www.adepticon.org/12rules/2012cp.pdf  Should be interesting...  Grey Knights are right out...  Wolves might be interesting, Fleshtearers would probably be VERY competitive, IG seem like they'll be one of the "power" armies along with the Dark Eldar...  Eldar are out for me, but mostly because I just played out the 8 week league with them...  And at 400 points, I think they'd be a a HUGE disadvantage given the ancient codex they have...  IA11's Corsairs on the other hand...

Looking like I'll need to get a "Gun List" together as I'll be selling a few off...  Found another crate of ammo (7.62 NATO on stripper clips for either Indian Enfields or some of the odd Mauser variants), and by and large I've not used any of them in the last decade...  Keeping the IBM carbine, the Garand, my old sidearm, etc...  M1911's are still my pistol of choice, the one I learned to fire with, so the one I am most comfortable with.  Also the only one I know I shot someone with, but like I was taught "If you are expecting a gun fight and only have a pistol, you brought the wrong weapon"...  Big fan of the "I don't care" class weapons everywhere, and so the Garand with 30-06 AP ammo fits that as the most powerful standard round for a shoulder fired weapon.  Not a cop, so if I am shooting, I am not overly interested in taking prisoners.  Center of mass, high powered AP round...  But time for the collection to get pared down I think...  So, anyone looking for this sort of thing, shoot me a line :-)...

Slightly less silly GK list...

Slightly less silly GK list...  Guessing that this will fit my style a bit more...  Terminators, Deep Striking, hyper aggressive play style...

Grand Master Mordrak w/ full Ghost Knights (BH Banner)   (425)
Librarian (Might o Titan, Warp Rift, Sanctuary, 2 Servo Skulls)  (175)
Terminator Squad (9 + Thawn, BH Banner, 2 Psycannon, Psybolt ammo)  (570)
Strike Squad (Psycannon, Rhino)  (150)
Dreadknight (Teleporter, Flamer, Sword)  (260)
Dreadnaught (TLAC x 2, uber ammo)  (135)
Dreadnaught (TLAC, Assault Cannon, Uber Ammo)  (135)

So, on Kill Point missions, 8-9 points total...  Not a really hard to kill group like the Eldar Wraithguard, but I can Deep Strike, Combat Squad, the Grand Master can make me more scoring units for those missions...

Looking more like I'll run these lads this weekend over the Deathwing force...  Probably won't win as I think that there are some lists that I think will tear me apart...  Mike's Dark Eldar being one.  But the Purifiers really didn't fit in the concept I think...  The Strike Squad to be honest is just there for the required second Troops squad...  If I drop 75 points, another Terminator squad would fit better, but of course those points are a bit tight...  The Librarian powers I'm not at all sure about really...  But planning on dropping him with the GM's squad, and so I want some of the REALLY aggressive powers for a quick and powerful hit there...

Silly GK list for local tournament...

Never actually played this, but...

Grand Master Mordrak and 5 Ghost Knights(425)
Librarian w/Warp Rift, Sanctuary, Might of Titan (165)
Purifier Squad 4 Psycannon, Halberds, Rhino (335)
Terminator Squad, Psycannon (225)
Strike Squad, Psycannon, Razorback w/ TLLC (190)
2 Dreadnoughst, 2 x TLAC and uber ammo (135 x 2)
Dreadknight, Teleporter and heavy flamer (235)

Gives me a Grand Master for silliness...  Strike Squad could easily be swapped for another Terminator squad (I REALLY like Terminator armor...) as I do not really think the SS does much of anything the way I'd play it.  Mordrak's unit with the Librarian can deep strike on turn one without deviation for a REALLY aggressive backfield strike (Vortex of Doom perhaps?)...  The DN's and Dreadknight advance with the Terminator squad if they need to...  Silly list, but it might work out fairly well...  Or at least I can transport it easily on the bike :-)

Feeling craptastic... Prep for the weekend I guess...

Well, no gaming this evening....  Picked up a few quad auto-cannon emplacements for DN's and Hydra Flak tanks...  Was a LONG weekend and today pretty thoroughly sucked.

So, gearing up for a local tournament this weekend, last chance to get out for a while I think...  Back to the UC transition after this...  1850 is a weird point level after so long at 1500 for me...  Playing around with my Fleshtearers (BA), Grey Knights, Deathwing and Wolves...  No clue where I'll end up at this point, but building a few lists here and there...  Trying hard to avoid the obvious point sinks while staying away from min/maxed silly lists...  So, the FT Terminators in a LRC is a bad idea...  Likewise the Wolf Guard in the same and likely the Deathwing...  Of them the DW is probably the strongest as a Terminator Squad in a LRC, but 250+ points sunk into a single vehicle is a LOT of points that might well do nothing but die.  We'll see what I end up with I guess...

Lists... And life in general :-)

Probably list....  Round one at least...

Master of the Deathwing (TH/SS)
Deathwing Squad (Apothicary/Banner, 4 TH/SS 1 LC and CML) 290
3 Deathwing Squads (4 TH/SS, 1 LC/CML) 235 each
2 Ravenwing Typhoon class speeders (MM/TML) 75 each
Ravenwing Squadron (Melta, Plasma, Attack Bike w/MM) 195
Vindicator (Dozer Blade) 130
Land Raider Crusader (Ancient MK I model I have) 250

So, 1850 for 4 Troops sections, one transport, assault gun, 2 Speeders and the bikes with Teleport Homers for placement shenanigans...  Should be interesting for missions, but I think I cannot beat a true horde force like Kevin's Nids or Orks...  IG are in trouble against me, I feel like it is a decent one against Mike's DE...  Good overall, assuming I stay focused on the mission, and only the mission...

Grey Knights I have a few options, Terminators, loads of Purifiers/PAGK, etc...  I DO like the Dreadknight, so that would have to make an appearance...  I also lack Storm Ravens, so those are out...  Not as sure about them as I've only played them in one league...  Could also bring out my "Logan Wing"...  Kind of an all stars list, and the "Wolf Claws" on the lads in Logan's squad give me re-rolls on the to his and to wound with Power Weapons, so really effective in HtH...

Busy building "Green Stuff" weapons for weapon swaps...  But sick for the last few days, and so all work on toys has stopped...  About ready to collapse now.  Overall liking my job, but it is a LOT more stress and work than I had to do in the past...  And now they're talking about removing the employee children's tuition waivers...  This after a few decades of the State not paying into the retirement fund like they were required to...  'course, the fact that the State does not pay SS taxes on us, they are supposed to pay an equivalent amount into those pension funds...  'course the rules are different for the State, especially Illinois...  Less and less reason to work at the University these days....

Tournament coming up...

But what to play?  Did pick up some heavy weapon sprues from the Gopher, so in theory I can have a few Eldar vehicles WYSIWYG with the correct heavy weapons...  Just thinking that knowing the local competition, I'd just lose too many :-)

Dark Angels, Grey Knights or Wolves I guess...

My poor Eldar got absolutely tabled in my first league game this evening :-)  Stupid mistake on my part and well played my Mike (playing his DE)...  Dawn of war sucks in so many ways, and facing one of the better modern codexes with a seriously outdated one...  Tried flanking with my War Walkers, Scorpions, etc...  But of course with the DE having enough vehicles to completely block off a flank meant that anything having to deploy there was destroyed...  Ah well :-)  Well played on his part, learning experience for me...  But really convincing me that the Eldar really are hopeless in the current environment...

Think I'll break out the Dark Angels for the Tournament...  At 1850 I can actually break out a LOT of stuff...  And at least they'll have a chance against almost anything out there...

Back to building... Soon :-)

So, still not sure what army I move to next, might well stay with Eldar if I wind up coming up with a good way to make Wave Serpents or their equivalent...  Or I may end up with IG and Half Tracks of doom?  Hydras as AA mounts on the halftracks (M16/T15 type for the American ones, the German equivalent  SdKfz 251)...  Not to mention the Chimeras that I'd need :-)...  Might be amusing, especially with the Vendetta/Valkyrie as the Space 1899 style Airships...  We'll see how the test model turns out for that one...

The point of boredom...

Ah, yes...  The cycle continues :-)  I seem to have painted myself into another corner with my Eldar build.  It's good.  Really good in the local environment at least...  I suspect it would get stomped against a top tier army elsewhere, depending on the match-up at least...  Playing the out of the book missions, it breaks the Annihilation (kill points) mission by simply being ridiculously hard to get a lot of kill points from, assuming I play it right.  OTOH, I think it would almost automatically lose in a "Take and Hold" mission with lots of objectives with only 2-3 "Troops" out there...  So, if I got a good draw in a Tournament and "favorable" missions, I could go far...  But depending on external luck to win is not a good idea, and frankly the army is getting fairly automatic for me and therefore more than a bit boring.

I did play it a bit different this week with the War Walkers deployed behind the Wraithguard for the Guide and I subbed in a Wraithlord for the Fire Prism for even more HtH deterrent...  Turned out I played against a Tyranid list, Dawn of War and I seized the imitative dooming his Hive Tyrant and guaranteeing that my Eldar Castle deployed as FAR away from the Genestealers as they could...  For the record, Guided War Walkers loaded out with Scatter Lasers are a REALLY good way to deal with a horde...  Turn one, 24 shots, 24 hits at Str 6...  I'm ALMOST kicking myself for trading off my other 3 War Walkers as I suspect that 2 squadrons of them, one with AT weapons (ML or BL?) would be brutal against a lot of things...

'course that brings me to the "But the new (to me :-)) models are REALLY nice..." part...  I really like the new War Walkers and Wave Serpents, but with money being as tight as it is these days I'd have to sell off a rifle or two to afford a major upgrade to an army that is barely competitive in the current edition of the rules...  :-)  Mind, I'd do it in a heartbeat just to have to toys, so if anyone is looking for some older firearms I'm sure we can work out a deal...  Just it wouldn't be a short term thing for me...

So, the cycle of boredom continues, where to go next?  Made my first green stuff combi weapon, and it turned out "OK"...  Glad the "Instant Mold" stuff is reusable :-)  I will be remaking the model for the next version and we'll see how it works...  Seems a good way to make smaller pieces for the armies, guessing I'll be making shoulder pads/icons for some of my forces ASAP, weapon swaps, etc...  Simple things at first...

Painted armies...

Well, getting better over the years in terms of fielding mostly painted forces...  My Eldar for instance are almost fully painted, or at least "base coated"...  Need to get some Wave Serpents or to make some more of the ancient Falcon class tanks (the wedge type) to field more than the "Brick of doom".  Foot Eldar are a bad choice overall...  While I CAN do it, fielding large units of troops weaker than IG (Lack of Special/Heavy weapons, good cheap transports, etc...) just doesn't work well in the local "modern" 5th ed environment.  Kevin's Tyranids would feast on them as I would not be able to throw out enough firepower to even slow them down, nor could I fight off even the weakest bugs with my basic troops...  Even the best of the best for my poor Eldar, Scorpions or Harlequins, would be little more than a speed bump for them... So, Brick or Mech...  Mech I think is quite strong, Dave does an excellent one...  Unfortunately lacking the Falcon hulls, I can't really field it...  Besides, I tend to play a bit more aggressively and waiting patiently to try a last turn or two rush just not really fit my style at all...  Not to say it doesn't work :-)...  It does, but that's why I was a REALLY good Wolfen/Kelt player in Confrontation, and had a really hard time playing some of the other forces


My Wolves are the same way, but I have a LOT more rhino hulls ready for them.  My Dark Angels are completed, but then Deathwing is fairly simple...  IG?  Yeah...  Time to get serious about the vehicles there too...

So, Wave serpents are the order of the day it seems...  Wonder if I have a template for this one?  Rhino hulls, Titans, and Land Raiders I KNOW I have...  Guess I'll see what I can come up with...

Karandras, have I played it wrong?

So, Karandras gives the squad he is with Infiltrate and Move Through Cover?  Stealth I knew...  Damn, if this is right, the Wraithguard brick o' doom being able to Infiltrate and therefore flank?  Over 800 points of really bad news hitting the table hopefully up close and personally...  Maybe an Autarch to mess with the reserve rolls and put even more eggs in that basket...  Course, that would mean no Farseer... Hmmm...

Wraithguard for the win...

So, played IG this evening…  Pretty good list, and he had an extra 150 points to play with, so I figured it was going to be a LONG game.  Brought my “Let’s Break the Kill Point Mission” list…  And it did just that.  Having 8 Kill Points in total, and starting a bunch in reserve meant that his list was at a serious disadvantage from the beginning.  The Wraithguard starting in cover with Stealth and re-rollable saves were just on fire…  For his first turn he basically emptied his army’s long range AT firepower into the squad causing the loss of a single figure when the dust cleared.  I sniped a few kill points while marching the brick forward, then his Vet Squads deployed and opened up on the Uber-Brick killing a few, but the majority of the squad lived…  Karanadras broke off to kill off the Company command squad single handedly (some named character, extra orders…  Not that impressive really), then wipe out a Vet Squad while the Wraithguard took a few kill points themselves before finally all dying…  Eldrad himself survived to link up with the Fire Dragons who were delayed a LOT by the Master of the Fleet, thus preserving in that transport almost half of my original kill points…  So, pretty much the one chance in 3 for that one I win on the basis of my army build.  One chance in three that I would have likely lost or at least would have had to bum rush the other side’s objectives…  MUCH more difficult if he plays smart, and Cyrus would likely have played it right…  So, likely a draw at best for me.  The last third, would have been a draw likely with me holding my objective and MAYBE me contesting his on a last turn rush with a fast skimmer if any survived J…  So, now likely I have an extra space on the map with the manufactorum for the 150 point bonus…  Probably will hurt more than help knowing my luck…

Eldar, Breaking the Kill Point Mission...

Mkay, so trying to refine the army a bit...  If IA is OK with the folks, the Fire Prism gets swapped for a Warp Hunter...  The D-cannon template shot is just way too good...  At least on paper, guessing that in actual play it isn't going to be too bad though...

Eldrad
Karandras
Pathfinders (7)
Wraithguard (10 w/ Spiritseer to be "Troops")
Dire Avengers (w/ Exarch in Serpent w/ EML)
War Walker squadron (3, all scatter lasers)
Fire Prism

1500 points, 8 Kill Points.  3 of them are going to be bricked up in a ridiculously hard to kill "Deathstar" of sorts...  But T6, 3+/3+ cover save, eternal warrior in there somewhere and at least a decent threat in HtH...  Oh, and Fearless to camp objectives.  May even remember to start the War Walkers right behind them for the Guide/Doom combo out to long range...  Pathfinders to snipe, camp objectives and flank in kill point missions I think...  Play "keep away" with a fleet unit that ignores terrain and can enter play "later", seems like it might even work...  DA just cruise around from reserve and try really hard not to get killed and maybe even kill a random light vehicle or two here and there...  Might swap them for Fire Dragons in the Serpent just for more "we kill things" firepower at the expense of a Troop to hold an objective...  Comes to almost the same points for a much better shooting option...  Ah well.  Depends on who I play I guess...