Thursday 9 January 2014

A Return to Tournaments (and a 1500pts List)

Greetings, Aseldi here. Recently, my local GW hosted a small lock in tournament for the release of the Tyranid WD. Having not played a game since the Invasion tournament 6months back, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get back into things.

In short, I turned up with much the same list I'd used for the previous tournament, with Njal added on and minus a power fist on the Grey Hunters since the points limit was 1500pts.


HQ:

Njal, Lord of the Tempests - 265pts
-runic terminator armour

Rune Priest - 120pts
-Runic armour


TROOPS:
Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 220pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-plasma gun
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 210pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-flamer
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen


ELITES:
Wolf Guard Pack (5) - 270pts
(Drop Pod)
-5x terminator armour
-combi-plasma, wolf calw
-combi-plasma, wolf calw
-assault cannon
-combi-melta, power fist
-combi-melta


FAST ATTACK:
Thunderwolf Cavalry - 265pts
-3x storm shields


HEAVY SUPPORT:
Longs Fangs Pack - 140pts
-5x missile launcher


Total - 1495pts


1st Game:
My first game was against a Dark Angel DeathRavenwing build. I'm pleased with the way my force acted here, as they were easy able to divide his forces and whittle them down with bolter fire from the Grey Hunters, and missiles from the Long Fangs, before charging in for the kill with the Thunderwolf Cavalry. I'd go as far to say that this is the best method with which to use them.

As before, the Rune Priest stayed back with the Long Fangs as well as in range of one of the packs of Grey Hunters, able to cast Prescience whenever necessary.

Njal himself was rather underwhelming this game. Without a squad he could easily be attached to, since the Grey Hunters had Rhinos and the Wolf Guard being at full capacity in a drop pod, it was hard to move him anywhere meaningful without fear of him being gunned down easily.


2nd Game:
My second game happened to be against my friend, who I'd arranged to attend the tournament with. He was fielding a nonsensical bunch of Eldar units which i stood no chance of distinguishing. All i know is that it was horrible to play against, with his Guardians, once a favoured target to be easily mowed down with Bolters now have access to an almost perpetual 2+ cover save and have Rending… I still suspect some of the rules, but he wiped the floor with me in 2 turns, with the tanks (no idea which ones) wiping out entire squads in 1 shooting phase… If someone could tell me I'm not alone in thinking the Eldar are a tad OP, that'd be much appreciated.

Njal died turn one...


3rd Game:
A suitably exciting game to end the night on. My opponent was fielding Imperial Guard, and it turned out that we were using the Escalation and Stronghold Assault Rules, so he'd brought one of their massive tanks (the one with the Vulcan MegaBolter, I should really brush up on my unit knowledge). Anyway, I managed to seize the initiative, and my Wolf Guard managed to destroy a Leman Russ by Dropping behind and using the combo meltas, and my Long Fangs dispatched another. The game continued in much the same manner, me destroying tanks, his Vulcan Mega-bolter firing a silly amount of shots… It all came down to the last turn when I managed to seize victory by charging the Apocalypse Vehicle with my last remaining Thunderwolf, and destroy it with the power fist. Epic conclusion.

Also, Njal survived until the penultimate turn! Rolling well on the Tempest table, and causing half of his infinity units to flee from the game!


Placings wise, I achieved 2nd for painting, which I'm astounded by, and 2nd overall! Considering my length of time away from the game, and the ageing codex, as having not intention of high placings, I'm very pleased!


So what I learned from this tournament… That Eldar are a nightmare to play against. Escalation and Strong Hold assault, in my opinion and that of the group I regularly play with, aren't expansions we'll be picking up any time soon. Mainly this is due to the rather high cost of even more books, and the models which they allow. Almost bordering on Pay to Win in a way?

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Especially on the devious ways of the Eldar, and whether Stronghold Assault and Escalation really are worthwhile additions.

-Aseldi

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