PAW 2024 part one

 

 With a 40 player, 5 rounds, 2 day tournament taking place at PAW's annual Wargames convention, it was time to send some Dicks.Troll (Orks), Newby (Adepta Sororitas), Ky (Grey Knights), Olly (Necrons) and I are attending. Alex will also be there, but he is playing Kings of War. Lists and rules were locked in on the 26th of January, so the January Dataslate was not in use. The event itself is being run by Simon Corder of Cross-Swords Gaming Club.

The List

We all got various amounts of playtesting in, and this is the list I settled on:-

Se'an Iyanar's Iyanden Strike Force (2000 points) 

Aeldari Strike Force - Battle Host 

CHARACTERS 

Asurmen (135 points) • 1x The Bloody Twins 1x The Sword of Asur 

Autarch Wayleaper (140 points) • Warlord • 1x Dragon fusion gun 1x Mandiblasters 1x Star glaive • Enhancement: The Phoenix Gem 

Death Jester (105 points) • 1x Jester’s blade 1x Shrieker cannon • Enhancement: Fate’s Messenger 

Farseer Skyrunner (90 points) • 1x Eldritch Storm 1x Shuriken pistol 1x Twin shuriken catapult 1x Witchblade 

Spiritseer (80 points) • 1x Shuriken pistol 1x Witch staff • Enhancement: The Weeping Stones 

The Yncarne (350 points) • 1x Swirling soul energy 1x Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls 

OTHER DATASHEETS 

Dark Reapers (80 points) • 1x Dark Reaper Exarch • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Tempest launcher • 4x Dark Reaper • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Reaper launcher 

Dire Avengers (140 points) • 1x Dire Avenger Exarch • 1x Avenger shuriken catapult 1x Avenger shuriken catapult 1x Close combat weapon • 9x Dire Avenger • 9x Avenger shuriken catapult 9x Close combat weapon 

Fire Dragons (85 points) • 1x Fire Dragon Exarch • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Firepike • 4x Fire Dragon • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Dragon fusion gun 

Rangers (55 points) • 5x Ranger • 5x Close combat weapon 5x Ranger long rifle 5x Shuriken pistol 

Rangers (55 points) • 5x Ranger • 5x Close combat weapon 5x Ranger long rifle 5x Shuriken pistol 

Striking Scorpions (75 points) • 1x Striking Scorpion Exarch • 1x Mandiblasters 1x Scorpion chainsword 1x Scorpion’s claw • 4x Striking Scorpion • 4x Mandiblasters 4x Scorpion chainsword 4x Shuriken pistol 

Swooping Hawks (75 points) • 1x Swooping Hawk Exarch • 1x Aeldari power sword 1x Close combat weapon 1x Hawk’s talon • 4x Swooping Hawk • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Lasblaster 

Warp Spiders (115 points) • 1x Warp Spider Exarch • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Death spinner 1x Death spinner 1x Powerblades • 4x Warp Spider • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Death spinner 

Windriders (80 points) • 3x Windrider • 3x Close combat weapon 3x Shuriken cannon 

Wraithguard (340 points) • 10x Wraithguard • 10x Close combat weapon 10x Wraithcannon 

Asurmen and 10 Dire Avengers; Asurmen has always been my favourite Pheonix Lord and he really shines in 10th. Getting to Overwatch something twice or even just once for zero Command Points, is amazing. Especially if you can get to an Objective to hit on 4s. And get re-rolls from Guide. Few things are safe from firepower of this magnitude. Their weapons are also Assault, allowing to Advance and shoot/do mission objectives.

Autarch Wayleaper (Ja'me Iyanar); Critical as Warlord, to gain extra Command Points. I tend to be a bit cagey with this guy. The Fusion Gun gives him some punch, so he can threaten to finish off Vehicles/Characters. He's also a key source of the Grenade keyword. I give him the Phoenix Gem to help keep him alive when I invariably misjudge and leave him open to reprisal.

Death Jester (Geoffrey Dester); Fate's Messenger has been altered in the January Dataslate. Even then, it doesn't touch Geoff. Sniping Leaders, using Messenger and a Fate die for 4 Devastating Wounds, or using both and a reroll to get 12 hits from 3 shots, this guy does it all. Made of murder and still dodging nerfs.

Farseer Skyrunner (Se'an Iyanar) and 3 Windriders; Guide. I tried to live without it, but I can't. It makes everything else far more powerful, while being on a mobile unit itself. Gives me more play for getting Behind Enemy Lines or Engage on All Fronts.

Spritseer (Pol Iyanar) and 10 Wraithguard; the hammer, especially now Guide is back in the list. The Weeping Stones are a key source of extra Fate Dice, and I can often get 2 by killing an Elite unit and their Leader. The nerf to their War Construct ability is well deserved, so this event is the last time I can menace people with the threat of its use.

The Yncarne; my first real time using The Yncarne and they are the real deal. Again, "future" nerfs from the Dataslate are well deserved. The scalpel to the Wraith's hammer, they are a nightmare to deal with if you can't wrap your head around their teleport ability. Smarter players can bait it out though, so I have to be careful.

5 Dark Reapers; A controversial choice, as they have been massively depowered since 9th edition. However, they give me a backfield anchor and a modicum of Indirect Fire, which can be key for moving The Yncarne around. 

5 Fire Dragons; Some extra punch, as many players will avoid being near the Wraithguard. Their smaller footprint makes them easier to hide on the Glasshammer terrain too.

Two units of 5 Rangers; these guys may be too cheap. They Infiltrate allowing me to get early kicks of Servo Skulls, set-up on Objectives, corners for Investigate Signals or screen against aggressive forces. They snipe allowing me to remove powerful buffs or even teleport The Yncarne. Stealth and Path of the Outcast make them annoying to shift as well. All-stars.

5 Striking Scorpions; A third set of Infiltrators, they can also punch up in combat. They are a good counter to other skirmishers and the Scorpion's Claw let's them finish off damaged vehicles.

5 Swooping Hawks; the ability to leap off and on the board is key to the Secondary game. They also murder light infantry and are another source of the Grenade keyword. They are fragile though, so they want to be away from reprisal where possible, especially as they can't leap while in combat.

5 Warp Spiders; unlike a lot of lists, I only have one unit of these. So I cant be cavalier with them. Knowing when to start them in Reserve and when to start them on the table will be the key to hammering my opponent on the Secondary's.

For a lot of the test games, I ran an Avatar of Khaine. Unfortunately he didn't work out, I don't think my play style is aggressive enough for him. He also struggles into Elite troops with Invulnerable saves. I ended up calling an audible just before list submission and swapping him for the Farseer Skyrunner, Windriders, Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers. 

The Opposition

The event is on Best Coast Pairings, which allows me to see the other players and lists.

• 3 Adeptus Astartes
• 2 Adepta Sororitas
• 3 Adeptus Custodes
• 2 Grey Knights
• 2 Astra Militarum
• 2 Imperial Knights
• 3 Chaos Space Marines
• 3 World Eaters
• 2 Death Guard
• 1 Thousand Sons
• 1 Chaos Daemons
• 1 Chaos Knights
• 3 Orks
• 3 Aeldari
• 5 Necrons
• 1 Tau
• 1 Drukhari
• 1 Tyranids
• 1 Votann

14 Marine-esque factions, so a fair chunk of the Meta in Power Armour, especially once you add the Sisters. The loyalists are three different Detachments representing Space Wolves, Salamanders and Black Templars. All three want to get close to be most effective, though the Salamanders have access to a Whirlwind for Indirect and Battleshock, so it's something to bear in mind.

The Sisters lists aren't too dissimilar, although while Newby has gone for more tanks, the other list has the Triumph of St Katherine and more melee units.

Two of the Custodes lists are carbon copies of each other (and part of the same team), while the third lacks any Forge World units.

The Grey Knights lists have notable differences. Ky is getting really good with them, but the other player has played the faction at events for a long time.

The two Guard lists are polar opposites, one with a lot of tanks and one with a lot of Kriegsman.

The Imperial Knights both have a selection of Big and Little Knights, one has more littles and double Assassin. I feel a little happier into that one due to it having less firepower into the Wraithguard, but the Vindicare could be a menace.

A lot of Daemon Engines in one of the CSM lists, while the other two are more similar to each other with allied Daemons for scoring and utility.

The World Eaters all have Angron. He's going to have a busy weekend. a lot of Eightbound and Exalted Eightbound too.

Conversely, only one Mortarion with the Death Guard. He's accompanied by a lot of armour, possibly in an attempt to overwhelm target priority. Meanwhile, the other list drowns the board in Plague Marines.

The Thousand Sons have Magnus and TRIPLE Mutalith Vortex Beast. Target priority to reduce the Cabal points will be key.

Belakor and 2 Greater Daemons is a lot of beef, with his buffs for protection. I think there is potential play for trying to kill everything else and outscoring them.

Eleven War Dogs and some Daemons for scoring, this list looks like it came to kill everything and worry about points after.

The Ork lists are a mix of similar units, Squigasaur proving popular, with varying numbers of Squighog and Stormboyz to help with scoring.

The Tau has fish of fury and 2 units of Crisis Suits to ruin the day. Also a lot of screening units for scoring and Marker lighting as well. I think this list is deceptively strong.

I'm yet to face Votann. Ever. This list has one Land Fortress, but two bricks of Hearthguard and I've heard they are very nasty and hard to shift. They also have access to an Enhancement that lets them ignore Modifiers, which could include the halving damage of The Yncarne and C'tan. I will have to check if it comes up.

I'm in a similar boat with the Tyranids, having not faced them since the Codex. This list has a lot of bodies while still having big beats, including a Norn.

Drukhari get a lot of point drops, a buff to Pain tokens and a new Detachment in the Dataslate. For this weekend though, they are Trash Tier. Except.... George McCoulough. A long time faction expert and one of the few people able to take down events with pre-Dataslate Drukhari. I would expect this to be a hard match, and the Drukhari to be favoured here.

My list, Khaine with a Wraithknight and a double Night Spinner Ynnari list. The lists couldn't be more different from each other, similar to the three Marines.

The 5 Necron lists feel more concerning as they are in a really good spot at the moment. 13 C'tan and 63 Wraiths between them, though two lists are Hypercrypt and three are Canoptek Court. At least the Immortals are no longer able to kick out a ridiculous amount of Mortal Wounds anymore. These match ups are going to be difficult as those units are hard to shift and the lists are very capable of scoring points.

Expectations

I know I'm a capable player, playing my favourite faction, with a list that I have sculpted and practiced with. I've played each of the mission combos for the weekend twice. I have plans, without being rigid. 

However, there are lot of of good players at the event, with more experience of two day events. This doesn't worry me though. This is the first 2000 points, two day event featuring multiple members of Dick Van Dice so it should be fun regardless.

My goal is to win where I can, score as much as possible and have fun while supporting the rest of the team. Those that aren't playing are either popping in to see the convention, or supporting us via messenger. It's going to be a great weekend.