Rawes Meets USF

A few days ago Keith and I teamed up against David Rawes and his friend Andrew. Our side? Alaitoc and Ulthwe Strike Force. Theirs? Basic Marines and Dark Eldar.

4000 points per side. Secure and Control. Gamma level.

The story is an interesting one. Keith and I got first turn and, holy God... we hit them harder than I've ever seen someone get hit. Keith's disruption table took a considerable amount of the enemies off the table before the party even started. Then, before anything else happened in turn one, my Seer Council (which included Eldrad Ulthwan) laid Fortune and Guide all over the place, fortifying my Dark Reapers, of which there were 15. When the starter pistol fired and turn one commenced the Reapers laid down a hail of fire that left the enemy's noses bleeding and then Keith followed up by knocking enemy teeth loose with a shower of Ranger and Pathfinder fire.

It was a good start from us, but it didn't last like it looked like it would.

Later on some tactical mistakes were made; the Seer Council took some blows and got wrapped up in a prolonged hand-to-hand battle. Some Eldar tanks got corked and Wraithguard were mowed down mercilessly. The real pain came, however, when the Raider full of Wytches hit the table with a Screaming Jet Deep Strike. Anyone who knows anything about Wytches will already be cringing to hear it; not one, not two, but three Guardian squads were eviscerated with Wytch weapons, and the only reason our side didn't lose more is because it was the end of turn six. Keith and I turned white with horror as we watched the severed Eldar heads fly through the air, spinning. It was so not good.

In the end we got a Solid Victory, by GW's Rulebook standards... but Keith and I both knew that if we hadn't pounded our tent stakes so deep when the game started then we would have been the losers. We shook David and Andrew's hands after the game, but once they'd left and it was just Keith and I standing there, we both did a collective "PHEW" and wiped the sweat from our foreheads.

It was a good game. Here are a few snaps.

Checkerboard Wave Serpent

I've had a Wave Serpent just sitting around for ages, and I decided that it was time to paint it. I've had a white/gold/red/black paint scheme for as long as I can remember, and I wanted to keep with it as best I could... but was out of ideas. Finally, I remembered something I saw in a White Dwarf that gave me a little inspiration... so here it is

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

The only real "trick" is I took a plastic net bag (which came from a box of clementine oranges) and stretched it over the vehicle, and then spray bombed it with red. After drying, i did the same thing with black. Then red again. Then I added some details and this is what we ended up with. There's a lot more left to do, but I like what's happening so far.

The pics aren't so good, as my digital camera has gone missing, so I used the one in my PDA. It'll do for now.

Reaper Madness

So tomorrow I play a mega-battle and I am fielding not one, not two, but three units of Dark Reapers... four strong per unit. It's all part of that new Ulthwe Strike Force I was discussing below. I painted up eight of them tonight and, if I may say so myself, I am darn good with the assembly-line speed painting.

I'll be back to hand out more info later, but for now I'm going to finish painting up Eldrad so he's looking sharp-o-rino.

Falling in love with Eldar... all over again.

Ok. I'm so sleepy right now it's retarded, but I felt like jotting a few words.

It's not that I ever really fell out of love with my Eldar... it's just that I've been getting a bit bored of it. See, I'm the kind of guy whose personality makes him play a certain way. I take a lot of tanks. I take a lot of Aspect Warriors. I don't rely on Guardians like some guys do (though I do use them often because I just feel like it's more Eldar-y to do so). I find that I punch really hard and that I'm very, very tough to take down. My main weakness as a "general" is in small number of models and high points cost for them. So... my games generally go: Farseer, Banshees, Scorpions, Wave Serpent, Falcon, Vyper, Bright Lance, Star Cannon, Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

Ulthwe Seer Council is a particular sub-set of the Ulthwe Craftworld that really caught my attention. It's like a perfect antidote for my usual style of playing. Here's some of the info:
- You must take a Seer Council (meaning lots of points into HQ, which I rarely do)
- You can't take any heavy vehicles like Falcons, Wave Serpents or Fire Prisms (there's another one of my usual techniques gone)
- You can't take more than one squad of Aspect Warriors... period (there goes another one)
- Half your units, rounded up, have to start in reserves (GAKKK!)
- A "Wraithgate" is placed on the table by a unit that carries it, and all your reserve deploy from it.
- If a squad fails a morale roll and falls back, they go to the closest Wraithgate and they never rally... even if they're above half (Ai Carumba)

The benefits?
- You can take Phoenix Lord Maugen Ra without your opponent's permission and at any game point value
- All Defender Guardians and Guardian-driven vehicles (like Vypers and War Walkers) use Black Guardian rules, i.e. they're all at BS4 (except for Storm Guardians, which are WS4).
- You can take all the Dark Reapers you want (as long as they fill up the Heavy Support slots and remain five models and less per unit).

So basically this army weans me off Aspect Warriors (aside from Dark Reapers), encourages the use of Special Characters, forbids the use of heavy tanks and makes it highly advantageous to use Guardians.

So guess what? I'm doing Ulthwe Strike Force... and so far I love it. Here's a 2000 point list I'm currently working on:

Eldrad Ulthran: Shuriken Pistol, Staff of Ulthamar (can either cast a third psychic power, even if it's already been used in the turn, or used as a weapon which wounds on 2+, no save. Can't be do both in the same turn), Eldritch Storm, Fortune, Guide, Mind War, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Spirit Stones, Ghosthelm

Seer Council
4 Farseers: Witchblade, Shuriken Pistol, Runes of Witnessing, Ghosthelm, two with Fortune, two with Guide, one with Wraithgate
4 Warlocks: Witchblade, Shuriken Pistol, one with Enhance, one with Embolden (oddly enough, Eldrad doesn't make the squad fearless), two with Augment and Runes of Witnessing

(3x) 8 Black Guardian Defender Squad: Shuriken Catapult
Black Guardian Grav Platform & Crew: Star Cannon
Warlock: CC Weapon, Shuriken Pistol, Conceal

(3X) Black Vyper: Bright Lance, Holo-Field, Spirit Stone

(3X) 4 Dark Reapers: Reaper Launcher

Models in Army: 57
Total Army Cost: 2000

Watch this space for more news about the development of my Ulthwe Strike Force army and the use thereof. I bet I'll have some things to say about it...