Not sure this idea will work, but...

Playing Eldar in the current league, I know I need more Troops...  But giving myself a REALLY solid "Rock" unit to stand there and just take whatever punishment is being dished out and just survive and be Scoring and Alive at the end of the game...

Eldrad
Karandras
Wraithguard, full squad with a Spiritseer w/ conceal and Singing Spear

Yes, insanely expensive, but we play with a LOT of area terrain.  Stealth from Karandras for the unit gives me a 3+ re-rolable cover or armor save against almost anything (Fortune from Eldrad) on a unit of T6 Fearless Troops assuming I am 50% in area terrain...  But even just walking out in the open, you'll have a 4+ cover save.  Yes, not the hyper competitive list, but good luck killing them in the few turns you'll have...  And 2 decent or better HtH IC's waiting in the squad should you get them in HtH...  The wizard is just OK, but the Scorpion is just brutal...  Does mean the rest of the army at 1850 is a bit sparse, but I think they'll win me some games just by not losing...  :-)  Be funny in any case...

August coming to an end...

Well, new league starting up at the Store (Armored Gopher Games) tonight, and since I packed my Eldar last night, looks like they'll be what I play.  I considered the DA, and if we are not locked to a single army this league I might play them a week or two...  1850 points is a LOT of Terminators for people to deal with, but I really only see one or two viable builds for the DA: Deathwing, Ravenwing and a mix of them...  For a tournament with just a few games, I can see playing it...  But for 8 weeks?  No, I'd get bored too quickly I think...

So:
Eldrad
Maugen Ra
Pathfinders (7)
Wraithguard (Troops, max unit)
War Walkers
Scorpions (w/ Exarch for Infiltrate/move through cover)
Banshees w/ Wave Serpent (Exarch)
and ?  I think that was it...  Might go with the Scorpion Phoenix Lord in place of Ra to get stealthy, infiltrating moving through cover HtH nastiness...  Overpriced, but it would I think scare the hell out of some folks to have them hit the backfield...

Work is...  Work :-)  Getting new people by next week, and so I will be MUCH better off I am thinking.  But until then, much running about...

22 August and beyond...

Well, classes began today...  Busy day at work, looks to be the norm for now at least.  But things are starting to look up...

Not 100% sure what I'll be playing in the upcoming league, but Eldar and Deathwing are the frontrunners...  Eldar are fun if less "competitive", but they might surprise a lot of the locals...  Deathwing are hard.  Terminator troops with Ravenwing support that might just be fun, but only for a bit...  Pretty boring build really.  Effective, yes...  But so very limited.  :-)  I'll likely take the Eldar into the league just to play something different...

Base build:
Eldrad
Wraithguard (fully kitted out as Troops)
Pathfinders (7 seems to be the magic number)
Scorpions?
War Walkers?
Banshees?

Not sure beyond the base...  And then there is the possibility of taking Maugen Ra for the circus of doom :-)  We'll see...

Mid-August, gathering storm :-)

Ah, it’s that time of the year again…  And the Faculty and Students are coming back…  This year though I have 3 Departments to be responsible for and there are major changes sweeping through while this is going on…  The fun never ends.  Ah well…

Spent some time cleaning ancient firearms this weekend….  I’d forgotten a bit just how perfect the M1911A1 just feels.  Now, as an Engineer, I KNOW it isn’t the best in terms of balance, accuracy, etc…  But to me it just feels right.  The one I have was produced in 1935 IIRC, and rebuilt after I left the Army…  It is the same old Colt that I’ve carried for the last 20 years or so and across several continents.  Yes, the new Sigs, Glocks and the like are very pretty, and probably every bit as good…  Many would argue better, but still…  The old Colt has always just worked when I needed it to, and it just feels right to me, and I’ve always been very big on loyalty and tradition I guess…

Bike is having some electrical difficulties…  I am REALLY hoping it is just a dead cell or three in the battery, but I’ll be working on her tomorrow to check the grounds and the voltage to see if she is charging at all…  Really hope so because the bike is really quite nice to ride in to work, etc…

Oh, I have a new office…  A real office in the Psych building…  Haven’t seen it yet, and I’m sharing it in the short term with my new boss, so that will be a bit odd in the short term at least…

Gaming?  Dunno…  Really finding myself missing Magic, so might get back to playing that a bit…  Looks like we’re doing something like the Adepticon tournament for the next league…  Not at all sure what army I’ll bring out to play, but the Eldar might be it for this one…

Humans are amusing some times...

:-)  Sometimes it is amusing dealing with people who have clearly never encountered anyone remotely dangerous...  Now, I'm certainly not the most dangerous individual I have ever encountered, I ran across some real BAMF's out in the real world, so I know exactly where I sit on the food chain as it were...  'course, having said that, I am pretty good at the whole "controlled violence" thing...  But that is one of the reasons I really can smile, say (usually to myself) "fuck it, it don't matter" and walk away from a lot of silliness....  Knowing with absolute certainty that you can kill anyone you want any time you want does make "interpersonal relations" a bit easier, at least on my end...  Whatever, Just more of the same silliness from people who have way too much to prove to themselves...  I got all that out of my system years ago playing Army.

Anyway, off to game tonight I guess...  Not sure who I'll end up playing, and no clue what list to bring :-)  But since it's what I packed on the bike, guessing it is going to be REALLY close to what I brought last week.  Lemartes and the Death Company (Compagne le Morte?  My French is not THAT good) really do have a hugely game changing impact when they can get their charge off...  And I'm fairly good at the whole Jump Infantry thing, so we'll see what happens...

Lemartes....

Well, on his second outing the Chaplain Lemartes in my Fleshtearers list really kicked much ass.  He accounted for the best part of 3 full Tactical Squads on his own in 3 charges killing 7, 7, and 6 at Init 7 with the re-rollable to hit and wound...  The trick was having him get hit by the Heavy Plasma for the one wound to really set him off.  His not being an IC was really quite helpful actually, and with the "Dawn of War" setup he and the DC set themselves 18" away from the enemy allowing me to get in fast and let the rest of my army free reign to move up and take the field, or at least the scraps that were left by then...  Now to get the actual model painted up for next week...

What Next?

Well, my Fleshtearers are coming together quite nicely...  I ordered a Chaplain Lemartes from Dave up at the Gopher since it appears that I'll be fielding him, or a "Fleshtearers" equivalent...  So, I guess it is down to an "Angels Choice" with either the Dark or Blood Angels being what I field in the event we wander up to Adepticon next year...  Pretty sure I can come up with a 1000 point "we're just here to kick asses, who's next" list with either of them...  I guess I have some time to get them together either way though...

DA plus side:  Fearless Scoring Assault Terminators with CML's.  Yeah, that pretty much sums it up...  Combine it with teleport homers on the Ravenwing bikes, they have the ability to appear almost anywhere on the table, and issue the "Molon Labe" while sitting on an objective...  Hard to dig out, and could potentially win a lot of games...

FT plus side:  Well, they're FAST and hit like a ton of bricks.  They win by being the only things left alive at the end or...  No, that's pretty much it.  Kill them all, or lose.  So, I'd have to bring a "hybrid" list with my Scouts to perform "objective babysitting" for my half of the list.    Not quite as confident with them, but I can react to a LOT with them, and I can not really think of better shock troops in any of my armies for pure offensive power...

Any thoughts?