The Baron Mordo deck needs work, the Luke Cage deck needs tweaks and the Wolverine deck....
In the second game with the deck I got him to level 3 on turn two. I wasn't even trying to level him quickly, I happened to draw a lot of X-Factor to ready Wolverine and get the 5 solo attack stuns needed to level up twice, across two turns. Doubt that will happen often, but it was pretty sweet.
Now, onto the game you came here for:-
The Armies
This was the army I tried out. 2000 points/99 power level.
Aeldari Warhost
Iyanden Battalion Detachment
Autarch; Banshee Mask, Power Sword, Shuriken Pistol, Sunburst Grenades
Farseer; Shuriken Pistol, Witchblade, Smite, Guide, Doom, Inspiring Leader warlord trait
Warlock Conclave; Shuriken Pistols, Singing Spears, Smite, Conceal/Reveal
Guardian Defenders; Shuriken Catapults, Heavy Weapons Platform, Shuriken Cannon, Sunburst Grenades
Dire Avengers; Avenger Shuriken Catapults, Sunburst Grenades, Exarch, Shuriken Pistol, Diresword
Dire Avengers; Avenger Shuriken Catapults, Sunburst Grenades, Exarch, Power Glaive, Shimmershield
Dark Reapers; 2 extra Reapers, Exarch, Reaper Launchers
Fire Prism, Prism Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones, Crystal Targeting Matrix
Wych Cult of Strife Outrider Detachment
Succubus; Splinter Pistol, Archite Glaive
Hellions; Splinter Pods, Hellglaives, Splinter Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Stunclaw
Reavers; Splinter Pistols, Splinter Rifles, Bladevanes, Heat Lance, Grav-Talon
Reavers; Splinter Pistols, Splinter Rifles, Bladevanes, Heat Lance, Grav-Talon
The Veiled Path Patrol Detachment
Troupe Master; Neuro Disruptor, Harlequin's Kiss, Prismatic Grenades
Shadowseer; Neuro Disruptor, Miststave, Hallucinogen Grenade Launcher, Smite, Twilight Pathways
Solitaire; Harlequin's Kiss, Harlequin's Caress
Troupe; Shuriken Pistols, Prismatic Grenades, Harlequin's Embraces
Skyweavers; Haywire Cannons, Zephyrglaives
Voidweaver; 2 Shuriken Cannons, Prismatic Cannon
Two fast assault detachments with a shooty-ish anchoring detachment.
Jack fielded:-
- 3 squads of 3 Obliterators
- 4 squads of 10 Cultists
- 2 squads of 10 Chaos Space Marines
- 3 Chaos Spawn
- 3 Chaos Sorcerers, one of which was his Warlord
- 3 Hellbrutes
- Maulerfiend
- Forgefiend
The Game
We played the Only War mission from the Battle Primer, as neither of us have purchased the Main Rulebook yet. After setting up we rolled on the Victory table and discovered we were playing Slay and Secure. Objective Markers.
I lost.
It's hard to say how much of that was due to the points/power level balance and how much was due to dice. Tactical mistakes were made on both sides. The Obliterators turned up and slaughtered the Reapers and an Avengers squad, but then got stuck into fighting the Guardians, and couldn't really shift them. The other Avengers squad got held up by a Chaos Spawn and neither side could hurt the other for a few turns. I wasted my Reavers charging the Maulerfiend. I realised after I had done it that it was a mistake, but was already committed by then.
I did kill his Warlord in the first turn though.
He took Sorcerers to experiment with the Psychic phase. I was able to use combat to take them out, rather than shooting. Also, between his Casting rolls and my Deny rolls, he got very little use out of them. I rule the Psychic phase apparently.
The 'Fiends were difficult to hurt with what I had taken. I think losing the Reapers didn't help. The Helbrutes were a little easier to hurt, but I rapidly ran out of capable units.
Unit Analysis
Farseer - Doom is still a really good power. Between that and Smite, the Guardians we able to slowly kill the Obliterators. He wounds on 2s in combat, but with 0 AP and only two attacks though, it's not really a factor.
Autarch - His buff is really useful, and Heroic Intervention meant he could join the Guardians when they were charged, keeping him out of shooting danger. Re-roll ones to hit for nearby Asuyani is amazing. I can see already that the buffing HQs are going to be important, which in turn could make Snipers important.
Warlock Conclave - I only took these guys to fill points. However the Singing Spears look good on paper. They got shot to death before they did much, but were an important source of Deny The Witch while they were alive.
Guardian Defenders - I held this unit back with the two characters to keep hold of an Objective. Again, the combat with the Obliterators stopped them doing much, but they were nicely holding their own in that combat.
Dire Avengers - These were decent units, nothing special but not bad either.
Dark Reapers - With the buff from the Autarch, these guys hit on a 3+ and re-roll 1s. That makes both of their missile choices pretty good. I'm guessing that's why all 3 squads of Obliterators targeted them after teleporting in turn one. Expensive, but probably worth it.
Fire Prism - Lascannons can really put a hurt on vehicles, and all the Helbrutes had twin ones. I also find the main weapon still a bit hit and miss, literally. Definitely wants Guide cast on it still, but the values on the weapon means that when it does hit it is quite devastating.
Succubus - Killed some Cultists, then got charged and killed by the Maulerfiend. She was taken because the Detachment required a HQ, however she doesn't have the movement speed to keep up with the Reavers and Hellions, even after combat drugs. Next time, I'll have a longer look at the availble HQ choices, see if something fits better.
Hellions - These guys are amazing. Fast, plenty of attacks and the Stunclaw has a chance of doing additional Mortal wounds. They chewed their way through Cultists and Marines, and have a great speed and decent shooting attack. Will look at taking more of these guys.
Reavers - Again, these are fast, and the Heat Lance does a lot of wounds to single targets. I really wasted them by charging both units into the Maulerfiend. Not a mistake I'll make again.
Troupe Master - The Harlequin buff character, he is also quite a fearsome close combat fighter himself. Nice that the Harlequins got a HQ at last, but he is essentially the squad leader from 7th.
Shadowseer - This guy is expensive. However, he gives your opponent -1 to wound Harlequins near him and his Psychic powers are good. I think I chose the wrong one, but he is still a good unit.
Solitaire - Now with 8 attacks in combat! This guy was a beast, he had to be gunned down by the Forgefiend, after killing two spawn, a sorcerer and helped to kill half the Marines. Really impressed with him.
Troupe - Didn't get to use these, all but 1 of the unit was killed by the Forgefiend in Jack's first turn. However the one that survived made good use of the Harlequin's Embrace. I like all three Harlequin weapon options in this edition.
Skyweavers - These guys were great. The Haywire Cannons did a lot of damage to a Helbrute, and using Rising Crescendo they were able to leap into the middle of Jack's army and charge his Warlord. I suspect he won't be as easy to charge next time.
Voidweaver - A mobile mini-tank. I quite liked it, it is even able to hide in combat, hitting on a 3+. The Prismatic Cannon suffers from similar problems to the Prism Cannon though.
Future Changes
I'd love a squad of Rangers, but I don't currently own any. Snipers in this edition exist to hassle/kill characters, especially the ones giving buffs.
I think the Fire Prism should have been my standard Wraithlord with twin Bright Lance and twin Flamer. He would have been effective against the 'Brutes and the 'Fiends.
The Warlock Conclave can be cut. It was essentially what I could afford with the remaining points.
I might need to invest in a Venom to carry the Succubus. While she died quite early, if she hadn't the Reavers and Hellions could have left her miles behind.
Other than that, I was pretty happy with the army composition. I might want to try out some of the Wraith' units in future games.
Final Thoughts
8th Edition is not the drastic change everyone acts like it is. My view may be jaded having played during the change from 2nd to 3rd. The rules are different in subtle ways, but not as many as people think. The return of movement values will probably take many people time to get used to, while I'm thankful that at last the Eldar have had their speed returned
However, a lot of the individual units have changed. Some have changed the way they operate, some have had a re-purposing. It's going to be fun to experiment with units in future games, and against a variety of opponents.
This edition is good, and I recommend playing it to anyone who has played 40k before and still has their army. Play some games, try your units and work out what every thing's battlefield role is supposed to be. I suspect some units will be surprisingly effective once you know what they are for.
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