For VS, I have 3 decks built. We've recently had a new expansion (Legacy) that adds cards to the existing Marvel factions, adds some Level 3 Main Characters and adds some Loyalty Plot Twists.
Firstly, I've got a Good Midrange deck lead by Luke Cage. With a mix of Defenders, Guardians of the Galaxy and Weyland Corp characters, it's a classic deck. Trying out some new choices, there is a mix of Beatdown and Disruption. It's built around one of my favourite characters, so I hope to learn about it's card choices and tune this deck down the line.
Secondly, I've got a Evil Control deck. It was originally built around Black Cat, but with the Legacy cards, she has been replaced by Baron Mordo. This has allowed me to streamline a little and remove all the Femme Fatale cards, making this just Villains and Underworld. It revolves mostly around discard, with a some choke cards and big finishers.
Finally, I've built an Aggro deck lead by Wolverine. It's mono X-Men to take advantage of their powerful Loyal Plot Twist, which draws 2 cards, and let's me experiment with a Level 3 Main Character.
Just because the game has ceased production and the licensing has been returned isn't going to stop us playing. I only have two decks built, as I wasn't happy with my Necron self-mill deck. It struggled in the Command Phase and doesn't really fit my play style.
My main deck is the format's Boogie Woman; Packmaster Kith. Allying her Dark Eldar with Chaos, it combines the classic Drukhari card/resource denial elements with some Chaos Elites and cost-reducers to hit hard before the opponent recovers.
The other deck is my attempt at building a mono-Eldar control deck. The Warlord is Eldorath Starbane, and the deck is packed out with control elements and Command Phase units, and an emphasis on exhausting enemy units so they never get the chance to strike in combat.
Anyway, on to the main topic:-
My First Eighth Edition Game
I say my first game, but it will be Jack's as well. I've only picked up one Index so far, so I'm going to be looking at an Aeldari army. I believe that Jack is looking at Chaos, but I have no idea if he is going to try out different units, focus on a subfaction or something in between. We are going to play a 2000 point game for several reasons. Firstly, that will be the tournament standard. Best to start now, as the game will give us a gauge on how long a game will last and how large an army will be. Secondly, it gives us plenty of room to try units and detachments. Finally, Jack may wish to try out the Summoning rules, and this should give him room to bring in some Daemons while still having some actual models on the table at the start of the game.
So, I sat down to build and hit a problem. How do I build?
I looked at the range of Detachments available. There are twelve and each one is clearly aimed at building a specific type of army, or adding support to one. This doesn't help when I'm not sure what I want to do with the army.
What are my goals? Try out some Aeldari units, play a game and try and win. I don't know what mission we are playing, so I can't build with a victory condition in mind. Also, the layout in the Indexes is bollocks. There is no other way to put it. The unit profiles are the opposite end of the book to their points costs.You have to pay for everything, including the basic wargear of a unit. Granted, some base weapons cost 0, but you still have to look things up. It's a lot of flicking back and forth between 2-3 pages just to build one unit. And then you have to do that for every unit.
I hope the upcoming codexes and "general's handbook" work out an improved layout.
My solution. Point up units I want to field until I reach 2000 points. Then look at the Detachments and see which one best fits the units I'm taking. Adjust the units if needed. And as for the shoddy layout; guess I've just got to suck it up.
Harlequins
I started with the Harlequins, as the Internet reports that they are much better with this edition. I took a Solitaire, as he has 8 attacks and looks like he's really nasty in combat. I then bulked his force out with a Troupe, Troupe Master, Shadowseer, a couple of Skyweavers and a Voidweaver. Upgrades were simple, as I went WYSIWYG with the models as I've built them.
It ended up coming to 677 points, or power level 35. Their Battlefield Roles meant I could fit them into a Patrol Detachment. It's essentially the old Allied Detachment, so perfect for a small force of Harlequins. This is essentially one squad and some support.
Drukhari
This was going to also be simple, as I own few units from this faction. In fact, having only bought Gangs of Cammoragh, I pretty much only own Fast Attack choices. So I looked at the Outrider Detachment. 2 units of Reavers, 1 of Hellions and a Succubus. Again, WYSIWYG on the upgrades.
This, despite being a detachment with more slots available, came out to 407 points. Or, if you prefer, power level 19. It will be interesting to see if the relative power levels between my three detachments show up in their battlefield success.
Asuryani
I had taken two fast moving assault detachments, and have 916 points left. Guess the Iyanden contingent will have to form the core of the force, and provide the lion's share of the shooting. I looked at building this around the Battalion Detachment, as the triple mandatory Troop choice looks like a good core.
One unit of Guardian Defenders and both of my Dire Avenger units should hold the centre reasonably well. They provide decent mid-range fire power and a fair amount of bodies (for Eldar). I wanted decent long range punch though, so turned to the classic masters of death from afar; Dark Reapers. Five of those with an Exarch should start putting holes in the things they point at. I then added a Fire Prism, as the stats on it's cannon look amazing now.
I had yet to take the two mandatory HQ choices, so I simply built a Farseer and an Autarch. I had few points left, and tried to take a War Walker but he proved too expensive. After flicking through to see what could fill those last few points, I stumbled upon the Warlock Conclave. Just a pair of Warlocks for more Psyker support.
This came out to 916 exactly, with a power level of 45. 18 of that power level is the Fire Prism and Dark Reapers. They better pull their weight then.
There it is, my first 8th Edition list. I'm packing it in the bag as I finish typing this post up. I'll post a (hopefully) detailed report on how it does later this week. 2000 points, 7 Command Points, power level 99.
Wish me luck!
