First 2k Tourney in 8th Ed!

It's been a long time since I wrote anything here. And an even longer time since I played in 40k tournaments.

I have been slowly dipping my toes back into 40k tournaments for a couple of months now - but nothing serious. By not serious, I mean I just use existing models and paint jobs, and have zero practice games in.

I played a doubles event at Alexandria in the dying days of 7th ed, using a 1,000-pt version of my AirCav, teaming with Amin's Ravenwing. And a 1,000-pt 8th ed kick-off tourney using my Brandenberg IG.

But last Saturday was what I regarded as my first real 40k tourney since 2009, which was also in Singapore. In between then and now, I was very involved in a lot of the early Legio tourneys, but not as a player.

The Road to War 2,000-pt 40k tournament held at and run by the good folks at Gamersaurus Rex was a blast! It was a tiny tourney, but the terrain, the TOs, the players, the atmosphere and the whole thing was just a lot of great fun! I also really enjoyed that they chose to use the ITC ruleset. It was my first experience with the ITC rules, and I must say it's a brilliant set of rules and scenarios for tourneys.

I brought my Eldar Windrider army for the tourney. In the run-up to the tourney, the army went through several iterations. The list started off as a direct port from my 7th ed list, complete with Fire Prisms and Warp Spiders, but without the scatterbikes. After a few weeks of lots of 40k games, learning the Craftworld Eldar index, learning 8th ed itself, trying out stuff, and lots of fine tuning, I ended up with the following list:

FALCHU WARHOST OF ALAITOC

Windriders of Alaitoc - Outrider Detachment
Farseer Skyrunner - jetbike, singing spear
8 Fire Dragons, with Exarch
3 squads of 4 jetbikes, all armed with shuriken cannon
8 Dark Reapers, Exarch with tempest launcher
2 Wave Serpents for the Aspect Warriors, both armed with twin shuriken cannon in the turret and a chin-mounted shuriken cannon. The Fire Dragons' Wave Serpent was also equipped with spirit stones

Wings of Khaine - Air Wing Detachment
2 Hemlocks, one with spirit stones
1 Crimson Hunter Exarch, with bright lances and pulse laser

This tiny list came in at 1,996-pts, with 5 CPs. Going in, I was expecting to have a hard time against hordes, but I really like the speed of my army.

Round 1: vs Tsui's Defenders of Macragge
ITC Combined Arms Mission 1 - Retrieval
It's a real pity I didn't manage to get a pic of Tsui's army, and of the game itself for that matter. Really nice-looking army. His list was:

Roboute Guilliman
Tigurius
Sergeant Chronus
2 Venerable Dreadnoughts with plenty autocannon dakka
5 Terminators
3x 5-man Scout squads with bolters
2x 5-man Devastator squads with heavy bolters
1 uber Predator with the funky autocannon and lascannon sponsons
2 Rhinos
1 Lord Commissar
20 Conscripts (nicely painted as Macragge PDF)
1 Acolyte
Eversor assassin
Culexis assassin

Deployment was Dawn of War and most of his army was deployed on his far right flank, anchored by a hill. His center was held by the Conscripts and a Scout squad and his left by the 2 other Scout squads. My deployment pretty much mirrored his - heavy on my left, light on my right.

I managed to get first turn and the Air Wing proceeded to attack his anti-aircraft assets, destroying one venerable dreadnought and severely damaging the other. Because of Chronus, I largely ignored the Predator until later in the battle (the tank survived with 3 wounds left).

A couple of highlights of the battle:
On turn 3, I switched flanks, abandoning my left flank and hitting his weak left and center. All the Scouts and PDF troopers were wiped out, and I easily controlled all objectives on that flank. The bulk of the Ultramarines were simply too far away to respond.

I had been using one of the Wave Serpents to screen my Farseer against infiltrating assassins. At some point, I actually forgot about that assignment and moved the Wave Serpent up to support the attack on his left flank. A Culexis assassin appeared and I was really lucky that he failed the 9" charge (with CP reroll). The nearby Dark Reapers then took care of that threat.

Aftermath: Decisive Eldar victory. I controlled almost all the Eternal War objectives, and scored almost all Maelstrom ones too, and scored Linebreaker. Neither of us got Big Game Hunter (mine were the Dark Reapers, and his was Guilliman) or Slay the Warlord. I lost a Wave Serpent and both Hemlocks. Ultramarines lost all their Scouts, the Terminators, a Rhino, both Venerable Dreadnoughts, the Commissar, the Conscripts, the Acolyte and the Culexis.

Round 2: vs Chris' IG horde
ITC Combined Arms Mission 3 - No Mercy
I really didn't want to be paired against Chris. Not only could we have done this game back home in JB, but I somehow suspected that his army's got more bodies than I had ammo. His list was:

4x Company Commanders
4x Commissars
4x 50-man Conscripts (that's 200 guys, with a potential of 800 lasgun shots combined!)
2x 10-man Infantry squads
2 mortar squads
2 Manticore
1 Baneblade
2 Taurox

I felt a little outnumbered.

Deployment was Vanguard Strike, and 3 of his Conscript blocks were deployed in line forward, with one more immediately behind the center block. The Baneblade, Manticore and other hard hitters were deployed in the rear, making ready for a first strike by my jets. My deployment was heavier to my left flank, except for the Fire Dragons on the right (which proved to be a mistake).

Again I managed to get first turn, with the Air Wing sallying deep into enemy territory. The Hemlocks made easy work of one of the Manticores, scoring my First Strike. The Crimson Hunter, with supporting long-range starshot fire from the Dark Reapers, quickly stripped away 10 wounds off the Baneblade.

Some battle highlights:
The IG return fire in turn 1 was not effective at all, which denied him what turned out to be a crucial point for not scoring First Strike.

Mortars! I would say the IG's most effective units that day were his mortars. They wiped out a jetbike squad that got within range, helped kill my Fire Dragons after their Wave Serpent was destroyed, and was even harrassing my flyers (with some special airburst shrapnel rounds I assume).

Engaging and wiping out large blocks by rolling up the flanks works just like clockwork. We all probably know this, but to see it in action is pretty cool. When I remembered to do it, I was able to wipe out more than 100 Conscripts by creeping up his far right flank and firing away. I should have done that right from turn 1, instead of waiting for them to come closer.

Spirit stones are awesome! The Hemlock with the spirit stones eventually died, but it took the IG the entire battle to shoot it down.

Aftermath: Perfect Draw. I scored more Eternal War kill-points (based on Power Levels - the Baneblade alone was 30 points). He dominated Maelstrom objectives (no way I could contest those, which is why I needed to use my massed shuriken cannon firepower from turn 1 against the hordes). I scored First Strike, he easily did King of the Hill and no one got Slay the Warlord. I lost a Wave Serpent, a jetbike squad and the Fire Dragons. The IG lost the Baneblade, both Manticores, a Taurox and 2 Conscript blocks.

Round 3: vs Gavin's Imperium Tourney Warhost
ITC Combined Arms Mission 6 - Secure & Control
Gavin came into the final game by tabling both his earlier opponents. I only managed 1 win and 1 draw. So I did feel like the underdog - a little. His list was:

Roboute Guilliman
Celestine
2x 5-man Scout squads - sniper rifles. One of the squads had a heavy bolter, the other a missile launcher
3 Primaris Aggressors
5-girl Retribution squad with heavy bolters
Thunderfire cannon with attendant Techmarine
Lord Commissar
50 Conscripts
Culexis assassin
2 Stromravens

Deployment was Spearhead Assault and Gavin made good use of the huge ruined complex near the center to anchor his line, Conscripts bubble-wrapping the ground quite effectively and Stormravens in the rear in defensive positions. He was prepared to go second. I won the roll-off to start - and then he proceeded to seize the initative!

A combination of orders and Guilliman's presence saw the mon-keigh bound forwards like World War Z zombies, both Stormravens sped forwards and focused fire on my spirit stone-less Hemlock. And he survived with 2 wounds left!

Some highlights:
Scoring First Blood. That was a good feeling - starting second and still scoring First Blood. I got lucky his shooting was not so good in his first turn. The heavily damaged Hemlock sped forwards as best as it can and unloaded Heavy D-Scythe death onto the nearest Scouts, sending them to oblivion. One of the Stormravens was also destroyed under the combined firepower of a Hemlock, Crimson Hunter and massed shuriken cannon fire.

That one time when my Hemlock went for Smite instead of Conceal was a bad move. It was easily shot down in the turn after that.

Not going for Celestine was a mistake that cost me the battle. At one point, Celestine had sallied forth and charged my Dark Reapers. I could have easily fell back with the Dark Reapers, disembarked the nearby Fire Dragons and fried Ms Celestine to a crisp. He would be less aggressive with the second incarnation of the girl. Celestine was really the only unit he had (other than the flyers) that could chase down my army. Instead, the Fire Dragons went for another close target - the second Stormraven. Although they easily killed it (overkilled it, more like), the Stormraven would also have easily been crippled by massed shuriken cannon fire.

Also, with only 50 Conscripts, I should have used my shuriken firepower from turn two onwards to thin their numbers down, or even destroy the unit.

Aftermath: Decisive Imperium victory. I only managed First Blood and Linebreaker. Ignoring the Conscripts cost me the Maelstrom and Eternal War points. My army was doing ok until after my mistake with Celestine, and only the Fire Dragons and one Wave Serpent survived the battle. I managed to kill both Stormravens, the Retributors, both Scout squads, and the Thunderfire cannon.

Thoughts on the Tourney:
I thoroughly enjoyed it! Had a superb time with some excellent games with great people. A road trip to go play 40k with new opponents in a different environment is always fun, and the TOs for this tourney really helped make sure that it is indeed fun.

I ended up 3rd overall. I'm not sure what my generalship score was, but I imagine it wasn't that high with only 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.

If I were to use this Eldar army again in another tourney, I will definitely give all eligible vehicles spirit stones. They are just awesome and totally worth the 10 points.

I enjoyed all the games I played, and each had its own character. In the first game, I was able to use my army's speed to outmanouver the mon-keigh, but his skill in using the assassin threat minimized the effectiveness of my hard-hitting aspect warriors. In the second game, I got over my horde-phobia, realizing that they die faster than you think - though by turn 3, Chris just wanted to game to be over as he was getting physically exhausted moving around 200++ dudes. The last game was really enjoyable and was the most tactical for me. I had to plan and execute each move purposefully, and there was simply no room for tactical errors at all. Unfortunately, I made a few.

Thanks again to my cool opponents, the other participants, the Malaysian contingent, and a huge thanks to the awesome TOs and hosts at Gamersaurus Rex. It's a great store, and I highly recommend a visit there. I ended the day buying some excellent terrain kits from the store.

On to the next tourney!

Last Hurrah of 6th Ed!

So it came to pass that 6th edition became the one with the shortest life ever. There have been all sorts of whining, complaining, fear, doom, gloom and overall trepidation about the coming of 7th. The good thing is, there have also been a fair amount of optimism of late. I happen to be optimistic. Which is why I needed to have a last game on 6th before confining that book into my ever-growing archive of rules of past ages.

My very first game with 6th edition was with my Alaitoc Ranger Force, so I thought it appropriate that my last game in this edition would be with the Ranger Force too. My opponent was the insidious traitorous Eldar corsair Hak'im, who chose to ally his renegade Wild Riders with the Dark Kin. His 1850pt gang of cut-throats was made up of:

- Farseer Hak'im, with singing spear on jetbike
- Warlock with singing spear on jetbike
- Dark Kin Archon scum
- Jetbike squad - 6 Eldar with 2 shuriken cannon
- Jetbike squad - 6 Eldar with 2 shuriken cannon
- Dire Avengers - 5 in a Wave Serpent
- Dire Avengers - 5 in a Wave Serpent
- Dark Kin Warrior scum - 5 in a Venom
- Dark Kin Reaver jetbike scum - 6 with 2 blasters
- Vypers - 2, each with 2 shuriken cannon
- Crimson Hunter with Exarch
- War Walkers - 3 with full load out of scatter lasers
- Fire Prism

The Alaitoc Ranger Force was led by Illic Nightspear himself:

- Illic Nightspear
- Farseer with singing spear
- Pathfinders (5)
- Rangers (5)
- Rangers (5)
- Rangers (5)
- Rangers (5)
- Striking Scorpions (10) - with Exarch w claw
- Warp Spiders (8) - with Exarch and twin-spinners
- Crimson Hunter with Exarch
- Swooping Hawks (6) - with Exarch w Talon
- Wraithlord Agaith
- Wraithlord Pikarid
- Dark Reapers (6) - with Exarch w missile launcher, fast shot and flakks

The battle was Purge the Traitor Eldar Alien Scum, and we played it on Hobby Forge's lovely winterscape table (with a nice amount of ruins and woods), with Hammer & Anvil deployment and Night Fight.

I won the roll and proceeded to deploy one Wraithlord on each flank, roughly 24" from each other,. Between them were the Warp Spiders, spread out in line and masked by ruins. Everyone else infiltrated, except for the Scorpions (my Outflankers), Swooping Hawks (Deep Strike), and Crimson Hunter.

The traitor Eldar were deployed in a long line deep in their deployment zone. The Farseer and his jetbike squad on the right, with 2 Wave Serpents to their left, the Vypers, then the other jetibike squad, then the Venom and Reaver jetbikes, the War Walkers, and in the extreme left and deep in their deployment zone, the Fire Prism.

Then my infiltrators moved in. The tall 4-storey ruins in the center right and closer to my lines was filled to the brim with Alaitoc kinsmen. The top 2 floors were occupied by the Dark Reapers, Illic and the Farseer, the floor below became a Pathfinder warren, and the ground floor was taken up by Rangers. My deployment zone had woods in each flank, and a Ranger squad occupied each. The last Ranger squad deployed forward, behind the tall ruins in center right. They couldn't occupy the ruins as that would take them too close for infilitrators. The idea was to use the first movement phase to creep into the ruin and act as a speed bump against the enemy.

But. The renegade Eldar managed to seize the initative! I fear that forward Rangers squad is all but toast.

Lucky for me the enemy had deployed conservatively, and was not in an optimal position to bring his firepower to bear. Also, Night Fight was really helpful. His allied Reaver jetbikes sped forward and turbo-boosted right into my lines, lopping off some Warp Spider heads as they did so. Concentrating firepower on the Warp Spiders, the War Walkers, Wave Serpents and Venom opened fire on them too and by the end of the turn only half of the Spiders remained. The Farseer's jetbike squad on the right turbo-boosted deep into my territory, while the other jetbike squad took potshots against the forward-most Rangers, who had really good cover. The Fire Prism's fearsome blast against my Rangers in the woods scattered harmlessly away.

I must say I was really lucky to have lost only 5 Warp Spiders and a Ranger after losing the initiative. The Dark Reapers' Guided missiles rained their brand-new S8 missiles into the nearest Wave Serpent, blowing it up in a fiery explosion. A couple of surviving Dire Avengers and the Archon bailed out into the crater, only to be peppered by sniper fire, wiping out the Dire Avengers. Illic had tracked the speeding Farseer on the right and put a sniper round into him. Wraithlord Pikarid peeled right and advanced against the Farseer's jetbike squad, his 2 flamers engulfing the nearest bikers in searing Eldar flame. The surviving jetbikes held firm, and the mighty Wraithlord waded into them, calling out the enemy into a challenge. The plucky enemy Warlock answered his challenge and narrowly avoided death. Wraithlord Agaith in the meantime advanced against the enemy Reavers. The surviving Warp Spiders had jumped behind the Reavers and killed a couple of them before Agaith smashed into them. The 2 survivng Reavers managed to fall back. The forward Rangers and the Rangers in the woods on the left shot up the other jetbike squad, killing half of them. They broke, and narrowly missed fleeing off-table.

The renegade Eldar firepower was still strong, as I had not even begun shooting at the War Walkers. The Archon, who had survived the Wave Serpent wreck, sought shelter in some ruins to the right. The Venom moved forward, disembarking its Warriors into the large ruin, intent to fight off the Rangers occupying half that ruin. But the enemy had seen how deadly the Dark Reapers were, and focused nearly all their firepower on them, killing everyone, including Illic and the Farseer. The rallied Reavers sped forwards again, managing to kill yet another Warp Spider. In the ensuing assault phase, the Warriors in the building attempted to charge the Rangers, but failed to reach them. Wraithlord Pikarid mashed the Warlock, but also took a wound from his cursed singing spear.

Screaming into the battlefield my Crimson Hunter opened fire on the surviving enemy Wave Serpet, easily blowing it apart. Again, the surviving Dire Avengers tumbling out of the wreckage were picked off by sniper fire and wiped out. The Striking Scorpions arrived from their outflanking manouver, gunning down the Archon as the strode onto the battlefield. More sniper fire poured into the Dark Eldar Warriors, wiping them out. In my deployment zone, the surviving Warp Spiders shot at and charged the Reavers, to no affect. Wraithlord Pikarid mushed another 2 jetbikes, but thanks to the enemy Farseer's leadership, the held firm still.

Then the enemy Crimson Hunter dived in, opening up on my jet. There was no way my Crimson Hunter could have survived the attack, and the jet disintegrated in a hail of pulse laser and bright lance fire. The War Walkers and Venom opened fire on Wraithlord Agaith, scoring a wound against the mighty construct. On my right, the Vypers and surviving jetbikes shot up my Striking Scorpions squad, cutting their number by half. They actually broke and started to fall back! In the assault phase, Wraithlord Pikarid dispatched yet another jetbiker. The combat between Warp Spiders and Reavers was well-matched, but one Reaver succumbed, leaving the lone survivor to face 2 angry Spiders.

The situation was grim. Both sides had lost much of their forces, and I had lost most of my anti-tank capability. Wraithlord Agaith advanced towards the War Walkers. The Rangers in the woods on my left did not have any other target, and lent supporting fire for Agaith. Miraculously, a well-placed sniper round took out a hull point and scatter laser from one of the War Walkers. Agaith waded into the enemy War Walkers, destroying 2 but took another wound himself. On the right, my Scorpions rallied, and moved into better cover, while supporting sniper fire took out most of the jetbikes bothering them, leaving a lone survivor. Wraithlord Pikarid smashed the last of the jetbikers, leaving the Farseer to face him alone. The Warp Spider Exarch was felled in the melee, but his surviving Aspect Warrior stood firm.

Now the enemy guns had fallen much more silent, with only the Venom, the Vypers and the Fire Prism being the major threats. The Vipers and jetbike survivor, supported by the Venom, gunned down the remaining Striking Scorpions. In the Assault Phase, Wraithlord Agaith easily ripped apart the last War Walker. Wraithlord Pikarid took another wound from the enemy Farseer, and he prepared to deliver the deathblow to the renegade psyker - and rolled triple 1s to hit.

Wraithlord Agaith strode towards the enemy Venom, holding his fire as he wanted to charge forward and destroy the enemy light craft with his own bare hands. Charging forwards, his initial hammer of wrath impact did not get past the Venom's invulnerable saves, and all his attacks failed to harm the skimmer. The Swooping Hawks deep striked far into enemy territory aiming all their fire at the lone surviving jetbike, but failing to kill it. The bike was then felled by concentrated sniper fire. The Rangers in the woods on the left had no targets, and shot at the enemy Crimson Hunter, with a lucky shot glancing the enemy flyer. Then the enemy Farseer cleaved Wraithlord Pikarid in two, while the Warp Spider and Reaver remained locked in combat.

The Farseer charged forwards into the nearest Ranger squad in the woods ahead of him, easily wiping them out in close combat as the Rangers tried to flee. Wraithlord Agaith was easy pickings for the enemy flyer, blasting him apart with pulse laser and bright lance fire. And still the lone Spider and Reaver remained locked in combat.

 

The enemy Farseer became the primary target for 2 Ranger squads and a Pathfinder squad, and while he jinked his jetbike madly in an effort to evade the concentrated sniper fire, the deluge of sniper rounds was too much, and he fell. And in the closing moments of the battle, the Dark Kin Reaver got the better of the last Warp Spider, emerging as the sole survivor of the drawn-out melee.

That was simply quite an epic battle and totally close run. My Alaitoc Ranger Forde scored 12 VPs, including First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker. The renegade Eldar-Dark Eldar force scored 11VPs, including Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker. The Ranger squad that was deployed up front, and whom I thought would have given away First Blood when the enemy seized the initiative - actually survivied the battle.

Bloody. A fitting end to 6th Edition.

Finally got this baby painted for the table ...

... but I must say I could have done a much better job. Well, I suppose I needed to get it done after 4 weeks of sitting on the painting table.

It's a lovely model, and I should probably get another to do it real justice. My original plan was to adorn the aircraft with lots of green and amber gems. But I did get lazy. Especially after I lost the pilot's head - the thing rolled off my table and mysteriously disappeared (it's probably lying right next to my Forgeworld Imperial tank searchlight which disappeared under similar strange circumstances some 4 years ago). So now, a hapless random Guardian is walking around without his head, as some files, glue, bits and paint created a new exarch's helm for the pilot.

Anyways, it was painted up, some basic decals put on, spray varnished, dried, and went straight into battle vs some mon-keigh in blue armor. Happy to report that while I'm not entirely happy with the paint job, the aircraft did extremely well, with the exarch dancing in the skies and picking off mon-keigh at will.

Next up will be the final push to finish the AirCav.