Tuesday 27 August 2013
Revelations
Hey all!
Well we hit mid-week and i'm really looking forward to my game of 40k tomorrow evening against Jan's Orks. But before that I would like to make a couple of announcements here on Wild Serpent. Firstly some bad news I'm afraid, Wild Serpent blog is going on hold for the foreseeable future. Why? Well that brings me to the good news my friends, because alongside some 40k Eldar buddies of mine, we have launched a new joint blog.
The New blog is called The Witchblade and you can get to it HERE. We are all Eldar players and nuts about Eldar so expect great content from the new blog. Please add The Witchblade to your respective blogrolls as this will greatly help us from the very start :)
Finally I want to thank you all for following this blog for so long and I hope to see you all over on the Witchblade along with Jay and Mike.
Many Thanks,
Johno
Monday 19 August 2013
Eldar Units in a Nutshell
Johno here and today I’m going to summarize each section of the
new Eldar Codex and pick out the good, the bad, and the ugly of each section. I
know there are lots of excellent in-depth reviews of the new book online so I
will take a lighter approach so for those of you at work can skim over this and
get all the information you need without getting caught by your boss with your
head in your smart phone. We are very lucky that our new book is very strong in
nearly all areas and we have a lot to choose from. I'm going break this
analysis it down into HQ, Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, Transport, and Heavy
Support.
HQ Section
Excellent Choices:
Avatar – Fearless Bubble, Attracts fire from
other units, anti-EVERYTHING. Cheap for what you get!
Loadout – 205pts with Fast Shot
Eldrad – Best Psyker in 40k, Nice special rules
with a sprinkle of cheddar. You WILL lose friends.
Loadout – N/A
Farseer – Excellent Psyker and very versatile.
Makes already excellent units amazing.
Loadout – No Addon’s really worth it
Loadout – Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Power Axe, Banshee
Mask.
Karandras – Godly close combat character. Powerfist
strikes at I7.
Loadout – N/A
Asurman – Another great close combat character
with good rules to match. Close call between him and Karandras.
Loadout – N/A
Fuegen – Really good close combat character and
has feel no pain, whats not to love?
Loadout – N/A
Prince Yriel – Fantastic close combat character but at
a hefty price.However you get a lot of nice special rules and a lot of killy
for your buck.
Loadout – N/A
Moderate Choices:
Wraithseer – Crucial if you are taking
Wraithguard/blades and can give them great buffs. Don’t bring if not taking
Wraith units.
Loadout – No Addons
Warlocks – Excellent support units for large
groups of guardians. Is 35pts too much for a guy who’s head can explode on a
roll of 9 on 2d6? You’re Choice.
Loadout – Singing Spear (Basically a 12” range Lascannon).
Maugan Ra – Decent close combat and ranged
character however he’s not exceptionally great at either really. Definitely not
worth the outlay in points.
Loadout – N/A
Illic Nightspear – Comes with a great sniper rifle and very killy.
Very Fragile. Unlocks Pathfinders. Can be a thorn in your opponents side.
Loadout – N/A
Poor Choices:
Jain Zar – Great Close Combat character however
with lack of grenades means she will die fast.
Loadout – N/A
Baharroth – Can be useful but unlikely to really
make back his points in most games. Can be good for stealing Line Breaker in
late game.
Loadout – N/A
Troops Section
Excellent Choices
Guardian Defenders – Cheap and once in range are
devastating. Great buy!
Loadout – Support Platform with Scatter Laser or Brightlance.
Blobs of 20 are amazing.
Dire Avengers – Upgraded version of the Guardian. 18”
range can be crucial. Better Armor and invun save from Exarch. Excellent unit.
Loadout – Exarch with Powersword and Shimmershield.
Guardian Jetbikes – Extremely fast and durable. Cheap and
very reliable Catapults (Twin linked).
Loadout – Take in units of 3 or 6 with upgraded Shuriken cannon
for every 3 you take.
Moderate Choices
Rangers - Still a great sniper unit however
compared to other races snipers they are expensive for what you get. Not sure
if worth it.
Loadout – N/A
Pathfinders - Amazing Snipers but having to spend all
those points on Illic Nightspear to unlock them relegates them to moderate
choice.
Loadout – N/A
Poor Choices
Storm Guardians – A close combat unit that does its intended job quite poorly.
Loadout - Can be ok if you take blobs of 20 with flamers or unit
of 10 in a wave serpent with two fusion guns.
Elites Section
Excellent Choices
Fire Dragons – Still amazing even with points hike.
Very reliable.
Loadout – 5 Fire Dragons in Wave Serpent, Done…
Wraithblades – Phenominally hard unit to shift if
attached with Wraithseers giving buffs. Capable of 2+ armor save. Extremely
killy and will worry your opponent from turn one.
Loadout – Axes and shields are best. Buy a unit of 10 with two
spirit seers and march them across the board.
Wraithguard – Shares the W.Blades durability but
lacking an invun save however give these Wraithscythes and they WILL kill
anything you point them at.
Loadout – 5 bodies with Wraithscythes in wave serpent.
Striking Scorpions – Fantastic Close combat unit. The Exarch
really makes them shine with his I6 Powerfist.
Loadout – 5 Scorpions with Exarch and Scorpions Claw.
Moderate Choices
Harlequins – As good, if not better close combat
unit than Striking Scorpions, however you have to pay through the nose to get
them.
Loadout – Shadowseer, Troop Master, Kisses all round.
Poor Choices
Howling Banshees – Best Model, Worst rules. Decent for
protecting backfield troops or counter attacks. Will die in droves.
Loadout – 9 Banshees and Exarch with Executioner.
Fast Attack Section
Excellent Choices
Crimson Hunter – Best Air Superiority fighter in the
game, epitome of “glass cannon”.
Loadout – Keep with the Pulse Laser and Bright lances and upgrade
to an Exarch for BS5 goodness and able to pick out models in a squad on a roll
of 6 to hit.
Warp Spiders – Amazing damage output, extremely fast. One
of the codex’s best units.
Loadout – 8 Warp Spiders with Exarch and Dual
Spinners.
Moderate Choices
Vyper Jetbike – Packs a huge punch but fragile. Very
flexible. Can make back their points but die easily.
Loadout – Upgraded under Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon or
Scatter Laser Turret.
Swooping Hawks – Great harassment units, Can win you
games. Great at claiming line breaker. Will destroy tanks and infantry.
Loadout – 5 Hawks with Exarch and skyleap.
Poor Choices
Hemlock Wraith Fighter – Too expensive and rather situational. Can
horrify your own units too. Best to leave at home.
Loadout – No Addons
Transports Section
Wave Serpent – Expensive transport but absolutely
worth it. Probably best transport in the game right now and our best tank in
general.
Loadout – Holofields, Scatter Laser, Upgraded under
Shuriken Cannon
Heavy Support Section
Excellent Choices
Wraithknight – Extremely durable, fear factor, kills
everything. Expensive but worth it.
Loadout – Standard two Heavy Wraith Cannons is best.
Fire Prism – Kills armor and all types of infantry
with ease. Can be very difficult to kill. Avoid getting close to close combat
troops.
Loadout – Holofields
War Walker – Good Value, More durable now with inv
save, a lot of firepower.
Loadout – Dual Scatter Lasers is best
Moderate Choices
Falcon – Excellent anti-tank platform, Can carry
small units. Typical tough Eldar tank design.
Loadout
– Pulse Laser and Bright
Lance, Holofields
Nightspinner – Kills all infantry with impunity.
Durable grav tank. Cheap.
Loadout - Holofields
Wraith
Lord – Very tough, Decent
price, good all rounder. Can get bogged down in close combat with hordes.
Loadout – Ghostglaive, Brightlance, Missile
Launcher
Dark
Reapers – Expensive, Very
killy, Can kill all infantry and vehicles and also aircraft with an Exarch.
Loadout – Upgraded all missiles to Starshot, 5
Reapers with an Exarch included, Night Vision, Skyfire, Fast Shot.
Vauls
Battery – Very Cheap and
durable but slow, move OR shoot.
Loadout – D-Cannons
No Poor Choices in Heavy
So there you have it, the Eldar codex in a nutshell. All the good
and bad points of each unit. Hope you found this article useful for those of
you wishing to know which units to take and their strengths and weaknesses. The
above evaluation is by no means the bible but it should give you a snapshot of
all the Eldar units.
Thanks for reading!
Johno
Friday 16 August 2013
The Tournament Dilemma
Hi guys,
Johno here with idea’s for a couple of new look Eldar Saim
Hann lists for an annual 1600pt national tournament coming up at the end of
September called NWG. I love themed armies with lots of background and story to
them, but sometimes we are led astray by wild thoughts for just a cool army
regardless if it fits fluff or not. Well these new army lists kind of go
against the usual make-up of a traditional Saim Hann army but I think it
could be good fun to play and look brilliant on the table-top.
List 1:
HQ’s
Autarch 150pts – Jetbike, Mantle of Laughing God, Power Axe,
Banshee Mask
This guy will boost my reserve roles for my Jetbikes or my
fliers or allow me to delay them with his master of strategy rule. But also he
is quite good on his own. With mantle of the laughing god he can’t join another
unit but gains hit and run, shrouded and stealth and can reroll all cover saves
which on a Jetbike can be a potential 2+ cover save. Pairing a Banshee Mask
with the Power Axe should allow him to still hit with his axe before most
enemies. He’s isnt going to kill Abaddon or anything but still quite good.
TROOP’S
10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and
Shimmershield
10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Bright Lance
10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Bright Lance
5 Guardian Jetbikes – 85pts
The Guardian squads and their bright lances man backfield
objectives if possible, the Avengers move forward using battle focus to kill
enemy infantry and heavy infantry from afar. The Jetbikes will either go in
reserve and contest or steal late objectives or backup another squad.
FAST ATTACK
Crimson Hunter 160pts – Pulse Laser, Bright Lance x 2
Crimson Hunter 160pts – Pulse Laser, Bright Lance x 2
Nightwing Interceptor 145pts – Shuriken Cannon x 2, Bright
Lance x 2
This will be my source of a good amount of anti armor in my
army. Although hard to hit for regular based weaponry, Eldar flier’s are
extremely fragile so I will have to be intelligent in my placement of them.
Luckily the Crimson Hunter’s weapons are ranged 48” so if im smart I can stay
out of that intercepting weapons like Aegis etc.
HEAVY SUPPORT
2 War Walkers 140pts – Scatter Lasers x 2
5 Dark Reapers – 217pts – Exarch, Fast Shot, Skyfire, Night
Vision, Starshot missiles.
Here my two War Walkers will tackle all types of targets,
from infantry to light vehicles to fliers. My Dark Reapers excel at killing
infantry and armor and the Exarch is pretty handy at taking out fliers also.
List 2:
HQ:
Farseer 100pts - Guide, Precience
Farseer 100pts - Guide, Precience
My two Farseers will take Guide and Precience and spam cast
both powers on the Wraith Knights and Dire Avengers. I will run both Farseers
in the Dire Avenger Squads.
10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and
Shimmershield
10 Dire Avengers 160pts – Exarch, Power Sword and
Shimmershield
10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Scatter Laser
10 Guardian Defenders – 110pts – Scatter Laser
4 Guardian Jetbikes – 78pts – Shuriken Cannon
Both Dire Avenger Squads will benefit from guide from the
Farseers spitting out 18” bladestorm death with rerolls to hit. The two will
hold back field objectives and kill light vehicles and infantry with the 36”
range scatter lasers. The Jetbikes will go in reserve and hopefully come in to
steal late objectives or boost other units.
HEAVY SUPPORT
Wraithknight 240pts – Heavy Wraith Cannon x 2
Wraithknight 240pts – Heavy Wraith Cannon x 2
Wraithknight 300pts – Sun Cannon, Shimmershield, Scatter
Laser
The two Wraith Knights with the Heavy Wraith Cannons will pop Tanks and Transports and Monstrous Creatures with their instant death Distortion rules, all the while advancing to get into close combat. The Sun Cannon Wraith Knight will take out Elite Infantry and Light Infantry while also advancing. Should be hard to deal with these three.
So there you have it, the two lists I am pondering for this
tournament but I just don’t know which one to take. List one is excellent at
anti-flier and air superiority however I know it won’t dominate some of those
airforce lists out there but it should do ok. Plenty of troop’s choices with 5
squads in both lists at 1600pts. The Autarch will hopefully help manipulate reserve rolls
and kick some butt with his Power Axe although he will stay well clear of
Greater Daemons or Typhus etc. List two introduces three Wraith Knights. This
could be a lot of fun and a pain in the arse for opponents to deal with
provided they aren’t sporting a load of poison weaponry. The dual Farseer
support should mean that all shots hit from these monsters and also from the
Dire Avengers. The Farseers will also help with the Wraith Knights hitting
fliers however it’s still a long shot and I suppose list 2 somewhat ignores
fliers to an extent.
Which list would you take?
Friday 19 July 2013
WraithMight!
The ground shook under foot, rubble from a ruined Imperial communications outpost poured off the rough edges of broken walls with each footfall. Luther’s Noise Marines dived out of the crumbling structure just in time as the alien construct smashed through what remained of the reinforced armored wall. With its elegant shape and smooth lines the Eldar Wraithknight moved with an un-natural grace for a silhouette of its size. The Wraithknight stood upright among the broken ruins bringing it to its full colossal height, challenging with its tank sized sword. Then it charged accelerating at breakneck speed….
I may be no author but I do like to think I know a little
about Eldar and today I want to talk about the Wraithknight. This beast is the
tallest kit GW has ever released standing at an impressive 9”, it even towers
over the Tau Riptide and rivals the Ork Stompa. Aesthetically in my opinion
this model is very nice, especially when armed with the Ghost Glaive and
Shimmershield. So let’s take a closer look at this monster:
Type: Monstrous Creature
WS
|
BS
|
S
|
T
|
W
|
I
|
A
|
Ld
|
4
|
4
|
10
|
8
|
6
|
5
|
4
|
10
|
That’s a very impressive stat line right there especially
with it’s incredible strength 10 and toughness 8 along with 6 wounds. This means
most fire arms won’t be able to even wound the Wraithknight requiring weapons of
strength 5 or more to even be allowed to roll to wound and at that, they are
needing 6’s. Also in 6th edition monstrous creatures only need to have their
toe in cover to claim that invaluable 5+.
Armaments:
Wraith Cannon’s x 2
I recently played a doubles game with this configuration and
popped a Land Raider quite easily. This gives you two strength 10 shots at BS4
with an AP of 2. Also any roll of a 6 to wound causes instant death due to the
distort rule. At base, this set up costs “just” 240pts and it WILL reliably
kill armored targets. You pay the points to kill the enemy tanks and it will do
it well but what happens when all the armor is destroyed? Well this is where I think
investing in two shoulder-mounted Scatter Lasers might just come in handy.
In
my recent game I destroyed the Land Raider and a Razorback, oh and managed to
send Marneus Calgar into the warp but after all that there was very little to
shoot at. I was shooting just two shot’s a turn so it felt like it was a little
redundant, bit like shooting a high powered rifle at a swarm of rats. So my
recommendation would be to take two Scatter Lasers along with the 2 Wraith
Cannons bringing the points cost up to 280pts but making it much more flexible.
Suncannon & Shimmershield
Straight away im just gonna come out and say the Suncannon
is awesome. It’s a 3 shot Strength 6 AP 2 small blast weapon with a decent
range and is sure to melt infantry of all kinds in large numbers. Then there is
also the Shimmershield which gives the Wraithknight that invaluable 5+
invulnerable save. So no more trying to touch cover, you can get that 5+ out in
the open and in close combat. Then at least one Scatter Laser is a must have.
That will allow you to reroll the scatter dice for the Suncannon shots making
it super accurate. This is an absolute beast and will cause havoc with all
armies you face. Just beware that everyone and their granny will be out to get
it, but that’s what you want!
Ghostglaive & Shimmershield
Not as good as the other two set ups in my opinion but it certainly has
its merits. Taking into account that the Wraithknight can jump 12” and then a
potential 12” charge, that bring's its threat to a fantastic 24". Upon the charge the Wraithknight will also get a
single Strength 10 Hammer of Wrath strike at initiative 10 so before the combat
even starts you can take out that character in a 1v1. Then striking at
initiative 5 with 5 attacks on the charge and at Strength 10, very little will
survive. Just beware that if your Wraithknight gets charged by 30 Ork Boyz or
Chaos Cultists or Plague Zombies that they will tar pit it for the rest of the
game. Like all Eldar units it is still a precision tool and should be used for
smashing vehicles or other monstrous creatures and small elite squads.
Overall the Wraithknight is an excellent addition to any
Eldar army and will serve the player well. It isn’t a battering ram, but a
destructive tool that in decent hands it will ruin your opponents day. Also enjoy the pictures in this article from various talented hobbyist's from around the globe.
Thanks for reading,
Johno
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