Tuesday 12 March 2013

Evolving list: An overdue change



Its been a while since i reviewed my army list in any major way, over a month now, so i would like to go over it again and see what i can do to improve it. Looking back over the last month i have had a mixed bag of results with the list, so before i go crazy and rip it apart i'm going to look at it and see its strengths and weaknesses.

This is the list in its current form: Wraithstar V 2.1


Farseer – 140  w/ wraithguard

10 Wraithguard – 396
Warlock, spiritseer, conceal

10 Guardians – 95
Scatter laser

6 Warp spiders – 149
Exarch, 2 x spinner

3 War walkers – 180
Scatter lasers

2 War walkers – 80
Shuriken cannon

The Baron – 105 w/ wraithguard

5 Warriors – 60
Blaster

Venom – 65
2 x splinter cannon

5 Warriors – 60
Blaster

Venom – 65
2 x splinter cannon

Ravager – 105
3 x dark lance


My current record with this list is standing 50/50 with 2 victories and 2 defeats. 

Imperial guard - loss
Orks - win
Dark angels - win
Blood angels - loss

Looking over the battle reports the key to the victory has been not getting the wraithguard shot to pieces while the rest of the army takes out key enemy units. Against the orks the wraithguard took out the mega nobz and warboss while the rest of the army took out the boyz. Vs the dark angels the war walkers shredded the command squad while the wraithguard took out the terminators.

My losses have stemmed from my opponent taking out everything else first then dealing with the wraithguard later on. The imperial guard went for the dark eldar and guardians first then the wraithguard second, and the blood angels tried to take out the wraithguard, but used an expensive unit to take out my back units. 

Its pretty self explanatory looking at this, i need to protect my other units, not just my wraithguard. But the army list isn't the only thing that's a key to victory, my tactics are key. Vs orks and dark angels i took out his army piece by piece, against blood angels and imperial guard, i spread myself too thin. So in future games i need to go after a part of the enemies army, not go after everything. 

Anyway back to the army list. what units haven't been great for me? 

  • War walkers: These guys have been good for me with the scatter lasers, but the out flanking shuriken walkers have very limited ability with their 24 inch range. Maybe if i can drop some points i can get the second squad scatter lasers. 
  • Dark eldar warriors: Having 5 in a squad is hard to hold an objective, as much as i like the venom transport i want to try out a warrior squad with dark lance so i have another long range ant-tank shot if i need it. Plus having 10 men mean they can hold an objective if i put it in my back field. Loosing the venom will hurt then. 
  • Warp spiders: Strength 6 shots? what's not to like? But deep striking is risky, so i will try a few games with them walking up.

The rest is more or less the same. So what will my new list look like?

Eldar/Dark eldar 'wraithstar' version 2.2

Farseer - 100 w/ wraithguard
runes of warding, fortune

10 Wraithguard - 396
warlock, conceal, spiritseer

10 Guardians - 95
scatter laser

6 Warp spiders - 149
exarch, 2 x spinner

3 war walkers - 180
scatter lasers

2 war walkers - 120
scatter lasers

The baron - 105 w/wraithguard

10 warriors - 115
dark lance

5 warriors - 60
blaster

Venom - 65
2 x splinter cannon

Ravager - 115
night shield

So that's the list, not a great deal difference but i hope the subtle differences will help. Having a cheaper farseer means i can afford more scatter lasers but i can't cast guide on a war walker squad, that will hamper one but help the other. Having the big squad of warriors might be useful, but i'm not 100% sold as i will miss the venom.

Tactics wise, i'm going to keep the wraithguard out of harms way for the first two turns i can hopefully devastate what ever unit they attack. Also i will take down half the army if i can instead of taking the whole army on.

What do you think? better or worse?

2 comments:

  1. The new list seems good.

    As a long time DE I am not a fan of static units like the Warriors with a Dark Lance. I prefer to put them in a Raider. I think the squad is very limiting and wont do as much as the Venom will. Remember the Venom Squad still has a Blaster so they can still bust tanks. I think the range is very nice with the Venom and you will miss it.

    The 2nd squad of Walkers is nice to have with Lasers. Do you plan to Outflank them? The reason why I favor the Cannons is because they are cheaper and perfect for Outflanking purposes. The 40pts saved gets you Guide and Stone back on the Farseer, but reverts back to the same list as before.

    I think you will miss Guide very badly not only for the Walkers but for the Wraithguard as well. The Wraithguard could kill any flier when Guided and Overwatch is just disgusting with them when they are Guided.

    I know you have expressed distatse for him, but what do you think about adding Eldrad? I know he is expensive, but he adds a lot to the army. You can add him by dropping the foot Warrior Squad or the Spiders. He will enable you to Fortune the Wraithguard, Guide the Walkers and wither Doom someone or Guide the Wraithguard as well. Hell you could even Fortune the Walkers and their 5+ Cover Save.

    Just a suggestion. I think your new list will do fine. My main concern is the foot squad. I think they will under perform and are just a one shot Dark Lance.

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    1. It's not that i don't like Eldrad, its just hes so expensive for 1500 points. If i started playing 1750 or more points i would happily add him. Fortune on the wraithguard and then guided war walker squads could be quite scary.

      I know what you mean about the static dark eldar warriors, but i just want to try them out for a little while. If they don't fit they will be dropped and probably get the venom back. But lets wait and see.

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