Battle Report: Ynnari vs Alpha Legion (1500 pts)

The final in the series of battle reports today from the "End of 7th" tournament we had. This time, I am using my 30k Alpha Legion forces against Eldar Ynnari, in the third match of three (following on from the Tau in Game Two). 

I also have a confession to make. This was the first time ever that I'd faced a true Ynnari Eldar force. I really had not much of a clue what to expect beyond knowing the mechanics of the "burst" a little bit.

My forces remained unchanged from the previous matchup: 

Alpha Legion List: 

HQs: Autilon Skorr (Pride of the Legion Rite of War), Master of Signals 

Elites: Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought (Kheres) 

Troops: Assault Squad (plasma pitols, serg with thunder hammer); Terminator Squad (Axes, plasma blaster, thunder hammer); Veteran Squad (two melta guns) 

Fast Attack: Storm Eagle (las cannons) 

Heavy Support: Heavy support squad (missile launchers)

The Ynnari were running the following.

Ynnari Eldar List:

Reborn Host

HQs: Eldard, Farseer with singing spear and Anath'lan stone

Elites: 5 Wraithguard, Death Jester with lost shroud, haywire grenades, shrieker cannon, Shadowseer with mask of secrets, haywire grenades, mastery lvl 2, neuro disruptor

Troops: 5 Rangers, 3 wind riders with scatter lasers

Aspect Host Formation: 4xDire Avengers with exarch; 6xDire Avengers with exarch and wave serpent (target matrix, holo fields, shuriken cannon, spirit stones, bright lance), 5xWarp Spiders with exarch.

Ulthew Strikeforce:

Elites: 10x Black Guardians with eldar missile launcher platform 

To be honest, I was dreading facing this list. Plenty of firepower in there and nothing I can do against the psychic strength of the list either. 

The one thing -- and it was a very critical thing -- that I had going for me was that I managed to gain the initiative to go first. Deploying across the board, I decided that I wanted to take out the Eldar piecemeal style and target their key assets. The game objective was the simplest one possible: annihilation of the enemy. The winner would be decided by the points value of the opposition we managed to take down. Really as simple as that.

Early Turns (and the flank).

In the early turns, I advanced my foot-slogging veterans up the table to try to out gun the dire avengers that they had in front of them. They took several out.

But they were rapidly reinforced by the jet bikes who retaliated well against my marines.

A game of cat and mouse followed on this particular side of the board featuring me trying to keep pace with the Eldar and gunning them down whenever I could. The chance to charge the Eldar never really materialised, so I relied on the bolters and the melta guns I had to do the dirty work here. But it was not without significant casualties. 

Middle Turns (and the rest of the board).

In the middle of the game, several key things happened, broadly in swift succession.

The first one was that I made the mistake of killing the warp spiders with the Master of Signals. This prompted the Death Jester to spike in his burst. Its a very nasty combination that I hadn't really thought about too hard. The Death Jester shot at my assault squad, forcing them to take a morale test. Which they dutifully failed and started fleeing backwards off the table.

Rallying them the next turn, I charged them toward the Jester. Shooting on overwatch, the Jester killed again. By the time I'd taken out the wave serpent with my contemptor dreadnought, he was bursting again. I really didn't think that vehicles could cause a burst, but they do. Drat. I'll remember that for next time.

Hence, by the time I actually managed to get in to combat with the Jester, the situation looked grim for my assault squad.

However, the thunder hammer marine was able to prevail here and finish the job finally. But it was a close run thing.

The turning point in the game really only came about when I managed to get my storm eagle on to the board though. With its extra fire power, it soon started to eliminate wraith guard and shadow seer. Eldrad lasted a little while longer, but eventually Skorr claimed his head for the Legion. Not bad for the King head hunter!

Late Turns.

By the end of the fourth turn, there were few Eldar left on the table due to the fire power (and fluke die rolls that I was managing to pull off). The sheer firepower that the storm eagle was pumping out eliminated any threat to it from the board.

The last few threats were the highly mobile units that were still around.

My decimated veteran squad finally did the trick though, seeing off the final jet bikes and their dreaded scatter lasers to ensure that the Alpha Legion scored a decisive Massacre victory by the 5th turn. No eldar left on this world whatsoever.

I hindsight, I was very lucky. Although I played my set up correctly, the fact that I went first really sealed the match up. I think if I went second, it would have been a completely different story altogether. 

Combined with the master of signals doing a lot of the (lucky) dirty work with the orbital blast and the storm eagle coming on to team up its firepower with the contemptor, the game was sealed by the fourth turn. 

However, the lessons learnt here were painful. The Ynnari burst moves thanks to the death of nearby units is immensely powerful and one that I won't forget in a hurry!

Wargames Gallery: Coordinates Locked

++ Coordinates locked. ++
++ The Eldar will presence will be eliminated, and this world claimed for the Emperor. ++
++ Hydra Dominatus, brothers. For the Emperor. ++

Ynnead in the Gathering Storm

Oh. My. Word. 

I have just watched and re-watched the new video for the Gathering Storm II from Games Workshop several times over. I cannot quite wrap my head around what they are doing. They are seriously advancing the plot line! Something that I thought that they would not do in any great quantity is now getting real with celerity.

For an old timer like myself, this feels a bit like when GW first introduced Aspect Warriors. Contained within the pages of White Dwarf, the Eldar in that precise moment went from being a race of raiders and desperate pirates to one of nobility and early era glory. This video that has just been posted by GW feels like that all over again. Something new, fresh, exciting and full of promise for a plot line waiting to unveil itself. 

We live in interesting times.

[image credit: Warhammer Community]

Warhammer World: Eldar Cabinets

These images contain miniatures from all aspects of Eldar (no pun intended), including Dark Eldar, Harlequins and the Craft World Eldar themselves. Although I've not got any snaps of aspect warriors, these miniatures are representative of the resplendent painting schemes that are to be found in the cabinets around the major displays of the halls of Warhammer World.

Wargames Gallery: Overlooking Wraiths

Surprised that some Xenos Eldar even managed to scratch their land raider, let alone wreck it, the Tartaros armoured terminators of the Alpha Legion plot their next move carefully overlooking some Eldar wraiths!

[I lost today's game very narrowly, but it was a good one! If nothing else, its taught me that 30k legions can be competitive against even the might of 40k Eldar when played right. In the image, you can see my updated paint scheme on my terminators and a selection of Alpha Legion decals applied to the shoulders of the terminators.].

Wargames Gallery: Spinning a Web

Eldar warp spider aspect warriors creep up on Chaos Space Marine raptors to finish them off. Sadly, they lost one of their brethren along the way as they shunted through the warp (the first time I've seen this happen on the tabletop in a long while!). 

Heresy-Era Assault Squad

Behold: a fully assembled, kit-bashed, converted and undercoated Heresy-era assault squad!

This has been a project long in the making, with a gathering of components from a large variety of sources including (but by no means limited to):

Mk II, III, IV, V and VI space marines (both forge world and plastics, including command sets and other veteran sets);

Grey Knights;

Dark Angels;

Space Wolves;

Chaos Space Marines;

Chaos Raptors;

Khorne Berzerkers;

Eldar (mostly the bladed weapons);

Maxmini (the "iron pattern" jump packs).

The goal here was to create a 10-man strong squad where the leader has a plasma pistol and thunder hammer and is accompanied by 9 others, two of whom also sport plasma pistols. Each of them has been extensively kit-bashed and some have minor to strong conversion work applied to make everything fit together and pose well. 

They have each been individually based with a variety of urban-style rubble and mechanised junk. And they've all been undercoated in black spray paint (citadel) for preparation for the next layer. I'm torn on whether to paint them up as Alpha Legion or whether to go for some Black Shields now! The original idea was to go for just a plain assault squad. This idea then morphed in to having a unit of Ultramarine Locutarus Storm Squad stolen by the Alpha Legion under the Coils of the Hydra rite of war. Although the sergeant cannot take a thunder hammer there, I could use it as a counts-as standard weapon perhaps. And now I'm thinking of using them as Black Shields or similar. So many choices. I better get painting them up!

Given that I invested so much time in to them, I thought it appropriate to also take individual pictures of each of them (see below). This way, its easier to gain an appreciation of the level of kit bashing and posing each of them has undergone. 

Battle Report: Eldar vs. Alpha Legion (1000 points)

This is a video battle report -- one of the first I've ever made. The game is a Crusade Mission (with 4 objectives) and secondaries of Slay the Warlord and Outnumber (i.e. have more units left than the opponent at the end of the game). It is also part of a local league that we're playing out, hence victory is only decided on the primary objective and the secondaries give points in the league table at the end of the day. 

I am playing my Alpha Legion force, the army list for which is described here. The Eldar force is described in the video.

We're playing on the Deep Cut Studios gaming mat, for those interested. The terrain is deliberately a little bit on the sparse side -- I'm aware that a few buildings would not have gone too amiss here.

Okay - hope you enjoy the video and please be kind if you're going to comment - editing skills are being learnt and we probably mince our words rather a lot (I know I did when talking about scouts vs. infiltrate -- to be clear: Skorr is providing the infiltration via selection of warlord traits here for a few units and the Alpha Legion mutable tactics is giving scouts; the eldar similarly are infiltrating via warlord trait).

Warhammer World: Eldar vs Tyranids

In this epic diorama at Warhammer World, we see a large ensemble of Tyranid organisms invading an Eldar protected planet. There's so much to this diorama that its tough to talk through it all. In no particular order, I really liked the glowing yellow / red of the lava, the flying tyranid and Eldar battles in the skies, the drop pods from the hive mind, the Eldar war machines and titans marching to war and the way that the smaller organisms are cautiously winding along the narrow ledges to avoid falling in to the lava itself! Take a look and see what you can observe amongst all this goodness!

Alpha Legion Melta Support Squad

Combining aspects of Gun-Kata with posed special weapons, this is an Alpha Legion support squad armed with meltaguns. Now, in an environment dominated by Armoured Ceramite, there's probably little reason to take Meltaguns. Unless you're encountering zero meltaguns, in which case you've probably saved points by not taking the armoured ceramite upgrade. In which case, here's my meltaguns coming to make friends. With extra melta bombs just for fun.

Although the bases need some work and attention yet, the squad is essentially complete, including arduous (near hobby-mojo-killing levels of truescale leg conversions).

Alpha Legion Heavy Support Squad

I finally finished assembling a small squad of five Alpha Legion heavy support marines with missile launchers. 

As with my initial test models of these men, they're toting Eldar missile launchers. The reason for this is that I see this particular Alpha Legion splinter group as having zero tolerance for not making use of anything and everything that they come across. Therefore, isolated and away from central command structures, they actively use everything that they can land their hands on - including Xenos technology, just like their Primarch, Alpharius is observed to. 

Each of the space marines is a true scale interpretation -- they have had their legs lengthened by an extension to the thighs, as will almost every marine in this army. This gives them extra height. For the squad sergeant, I've used terminator legs rather than regular marines to make him look more sturdy. In addition, I've attempted to model some high-tech binoculars in his hands as well.

All of the marines in addition to the main conversions are extensive kit bases from a variety of sources. These include not just Forge World parts, but also Eldar, space marines, chaos space marines, grey knights, dark angels and others. 

I'm looking forward to painting these guys up using the air compressor!

Legion Assault Squad Marine Conversion

Another day, another conversion. This time, its an assault squad member. Unlike most of my other space marines, the assault squad will not be featuring true scale legs. I feel this is unnecessary for this squad given its dynamic nature and huge range of poses that I'm going to undertake for it.

The parts are as follows:

Forge World: Torso, right arm
Khorne Berserkers: Legs
Grey Knights: Helmet
Maxmini: Jump pack
Space marines: left arm, bolt pistol, shoulder pads
Eldar: right hand, sword
Base: 32mm

Despite such a wide array of bits being used, the overall aesthetic is certainly one of a legionary, and will make a good complement for the growing 30k forces that I'm assembling. The 32mm base is something that I can whole heartedly recommend to other space marine fans. With miniatures of this scale and with such a large, dominant jump pack, the large bases allow a range of positions and poses to be readily modelled and offset with a quality scenic base.

Alpha Legion: Dynamic Heavy Support

A new model just recently completed for my growing Alpha Legion forces. For this model, I wanted to communicate a certain level of dynamism that is not ordinarily seen in a heavy support trooper. Hence I decided early on that this model would be posed to be firing his bolt pistol side arm, rather than his heavy support weapon. We don't get to see this kind of thing often enough in my opinion: a trooper who is flexible and has the presence of mind to remember that he actually has a side arm and knows exactly how to use it on the move. This, if nothing else, screams Alpha Legion to me. 

The heavy weapon itself is interesting. For this, I've used an Eldar missile launcher to represent a regular missile launcher. The weapon is mounted on a chaos space marine heavy bolter plastic fist in the left hand, slung away from the body to communicate the trooper being in motion. This is helped out by the pose -- the forward foot coming down hard on a ruined tyre and the back foot nearly off the 32mm base that I've used here. Indeed, this model is so off-kilter and off-centre that it had a permanent wobbly model syndrome. I've therefore glued a small coin to the underside of the base to prevent it from toppling over all the time. 

Apart from the helm being from the Grey Knight range, everything else is Forge World. Including the legs which, as can be seen, have been green stuffed to give this marine extra height as part of my drive to have true scale for many of these marines (I probably won't do this with some of them though -- particularly assault marines -- it tends to kill my modelling mojo and just isn't needed on every model to be honest). 

Overall, very pleased with this model! 

Contemptor fist with Sword

A small conversion project that will ultimately go alongside the true claw conversion for the other contemptor fist. This time, its a contemptor arm coupled with a wraithsword.

The main issue with making this conversion was the desire to have the blade almost in line with the arm. This resulted in a steep angle between the fist and the chassis of the arm. To accommodate this and fix it in to position, one of the skull embossed "knuckles" of the fist was removed and the fist pinned at the wrist such that the pin angles upward in to the chassis of the arm. The overall effect is not a bad one as the blade is well proportioned to the contemptor model. I'll post a full contemptor picture in due course.

Heavy Support Marine - with Eldar Missile Launcher

For my Alpha Legion force, I intend to leave no model unconverted. None. Whatsoever. They're all going to have some kind of modification, some kit bash, or some scratch build conversion about them. Indeed, all my infantry are going to be pseudo-true scale for starters. I'm trying not to do too much true scale stuff at the moment as it can be a bit of a killer on the hobby mojo.

I decided that for my heavy support squad (a squad of missile launcher guys), I wanted something that might be very characteristic of the Alpha Legion. Specifically: the use of alien technology that has been retro-engineered and put to full use (field testing or post field testing) in their arsenals. Of all the legions, it is the Alpha legion that has the least problems with this kind of thought. Note explicitly that Alpharius himself carries around a spear of unknown origin (perhaps necron, perhaps something else altogether).

Therefore, instead of normal missile launchers from the 30k range, I've opted to give my legionaries some eldar missile launchers.

In the image, you can see that the missile launcher is from the Eldar Wraithlord range. It has, however, been extensively converted. Firstly, I took some chaos space marine arms - specifically the ones that hold on to a heavy bolter - and modified them to carry the missile launcher. The left arm sits nicely on top of the planed eldar missile launcher. But for the rear, I have chopped off the rear of the missile launcher and inserted the right hand and arm, before re-pinning and connecting it. The look is finished off by adding some purity scrolls on to the missile launcher, as well as a veteran terminator crux accessory to the centre of the launcher. This gives the feel of something that might be Imperial - at least in the eyes of the Alphas.

The toughest part of the conversion by a long way was the pinning of the right hand. I had to drill right through the hand and ensure that it matched up with both the end piece of the launcher and with the main body of the launcher. By contrast, getting the left hand to line up and align with the torso of the (Forge World) body of the marine was relatively easy. That said, I might add a bit of greenstuff under the armpit to help with the angle. This will, of course, be eased in appearance once the left shoulder pad is added to the construction (and, needless to say, the legs as well!).

Wargames Gallery: Space Wolves Wrecking Eldar

Digging through my old photograph collection, I located this little gem featuring paladin84's Space Wolves facing off against Eldar. With a downed transport, the Fire Dragons are facing a grim future from Fenris' best.

Power Weapons: Are your Warriors using the right Weapons?

Hi all, Eldrad Vect here. Ah, the humble Power Weapon, the tool of champions and no name squad leaders, however in 6th edition they released the new rules on the different types of Power Weapons, this was awesome and I think one of the greatest things in the new rulebook (I love 6th Edition so much). It does beg the question though, what weapon should I use? well I'm here to give you the run down on what I think are the best choices for each race.

Space Marines/Chaos Space Marines (and Codex Chapters)
Power Sword and Power Axe:
Starting with the most popular race in Warhammer, Space Marines and their evil counterparts excel when using all weapon types but are particularly effective with these two. Since their base Strength is 4, the Power Sword is exceptionally useful, it's AP3 at full Initiative means in the hands of a Space Marine, can pull apart xenos and MEQs with equal ease. The Power Axe is also a great weapon for Marines but should be used defensively, i.e. if you have a Devestator (or Havoc) squad leader with a Power Weapon make it a Power Axe. The reason behind this is that the Power Axe's +1 to Strength and AP2 gives it sundering power unmatched, so it is effective at holding off attackers as it mean you won't lose combat and may even sweep your attackers since the upped Strength give you an greater chance to wound your foe.

Dark Eldar
Power Sword and Power Lance:
Dark Eldar need speed above all else and the Power Axe is too clunky for Dark Eldar and is also unnecessary because almost every Dark Eldar unit has access to AP2, whether it be shooting or CC, not only that but they have access to one the best Power Weapons in Warhammer, the Agoniser which always wounds on a +4 and is AP3 which can carve through Infantry and Monstrous Creatures. The Agoniser also makes the Power Maul useless too. Power Sword is for your shooty units to give them continuous AP3 to help even the Combat Resolution and maybe prolong combat so a more aggressive unit can help, where as the Power Lance is for your attacking squads, the +1 Strength on the charge is very handy for Dark Eldar. Personally, I typically use Agonisers but I do use Swords and Lances sometimes since they are cheaper than the Agoniser.

Imperial Guard
Power Maul:
Imperial Guard Sergeants should only ever wield Power Mauls, for them, the +2 to Strength allows them a chance to pummel even Marines in combat. No other Power Weapon is worth it, in my opinion the Sword is too weak, the Axe not needed and the Lance is pointless because IG don't often charge into combat, (well, I do).  

Sisters of Battle
Power Maul and Power Axe:
Sisters are weak, sad to say it but its true, S3 is not very good and unlike Eldar and Dark Eldar, these chicks ain't fast, with I3 they have the same problem as Guard. The Power Maul and Power Axe buff the Sisters to new levels, if your going to strike last anyway may as well do it with an AP2 Axe and take some foes out with you.

Eldar
Power Sword, Power Lance and Power Axe:
The Triforce of Power Weapons used by the Eldar all work well, Swords and Lances keep the Eldar's high Initiative whilst killing Infantry easy, even Terminators or other 2+ Armour save units if the Jinx Psychic Power is in play, however you may be wondering why I have the Power Axe on this list. Eldar Aspect Warrior Exarchs have good armour and WS, this means a good Power Axe doesn't go to waste, however I only use this on units that is makes sense to, an example of this is one of my Dire Avenger Exarch, I always play Power Weapon and Shimmershield but the Diresword is AP2 and in order to give the unit a +5 Invuln. Save I have to sacrifice the AP2... well, not really, I simply give my Exarch a Power Axe, this gives him both a lovely Strength bonus that makes him quite a good Marine killer and the AP of 2 that he was missing out on. So while it all depends on your squad and what you like to use.

Orks, Necrons, Chaos Daemons, Tyranid, Tau, Grey Knights.
Sorry you guys, you either don't have access to conventional Power Weapons or have unique weapons that a similar but way better (i.e. Boneswords, Warscythes, Hellblades...) just keep doing what your doing and you'll be fine. I know that some of them do have Power Weapons but it is not as widespread as the others.

Whatever Power Weapons your troops wield just remember, it better than a Combat Knife.

My Top 5 Favourite Special Characters

Hi Everyone, Eldrad Vect here giving you an insight to some of my personal favourite special characters in 40k and some of the tactics I use with them some, may just surprise you.

Number 5
Dark Angels: Grand Master Azrael

Counting downwards from number 5 to my all time favourite, we have Azrael. Az gets stuff done, with the ability to take both Ravenwing Attack Squadrons and Deathwing Terminator Squads as Troops, his wicked weapons and abilities like choosing his Warlord Traits and giving any unit he is with a 4++. I use him constantly in my Dark Angels force, he is either carving a path through the foe's troops or standing with my Tactical Squad or Devestator Squad. I do this because unlike other armies, Dark Angels do not have a lot of effective anti-flyer, instead of trying to take down flyers, I simply ignore them and this is why Azrael is placed with my troops, to give them a save against those pesky Helldrakes. Hes is an all-round great character.

Number 4
Eldar: Illic Nightspear

In number 4 is Illic Nightspear, I've always wanted a Ranger HQ and now its here, he looks really good, with his rifle and if you can see closely, his Power Sword is at his belt. I tend to use Illic as support for Striking Scorpions, yes you read right, Striking Scorpions, why? well simply because he and the Scorpions can Infiltrate anywhere they like ignoring the range restrictions, he also gives them Shrouded, combined with the Scorpions Stealth rule the unit gains a +3 bonus to any Cover Save they have. Illic himself has a Power Sword meaning hes is quite good in close combat.
I also use him to create immovable Dark Reaper Squads, cause Dark Reapers with Shrouded is a dangerous combination or I use him to Outflank short range units like Guardians and Fire Dragons.


Number 3
Tau: Commander Farsight

Since the old days, I've loved Farsight, a lovable renegade seeking to slay Orks. His new model is amazing and its a true testament to him that I bought the model before I even knew his rules. Apart from the obvious Mega Bodyguard Deathstar that I love using, I use Farsight and a single Bodyguard with XV8-05 Crisis 'Iridium' Armour this means that any small arm fire is palmed of to the Bodyguard and any AP2 is taken on Farsight's Invul. also since the Iridium Armour increases toughness by 1, Farsight and his Bodyguard have a majority toughness of 5 making them even harder to kill and leave a lot of points not spent on Bodyguards to put into things like Pathfinders and Riptides.

Number 2
Eldar: Eldrad Ulthran

My name says it all, this guy is BOSS! Since I started using him 3 years ago he has slain Thunderwolf cavalry, exploded the head of a Dreadknight pilot using Mind War slain countless Necrons and Space Marines and pried open a Dreadnought with his Witchblade. He is a legend, his psychic mastery means I use him for everything from buffing troops, cursing enemies and slain foes with Witchfires. I mainly run him with a unit of Dire Avengers or if I have Allies, an Archon, though I do place him in any unit where he is most effective.

Number 1
Dark Eldar: Lelith Hesperax

My all time favourite character, Lelith Hesperax, I loved her since the 2nd edition codex and when the 5th edition codex came out in 2010, on the day it came out, I bought Lelith and the codex, she was also my first Finecast model and I have 3 of her, and some conversion I've used her in, like my Female Commissar. Since 2010 I've played Lelith in almost every Dark Eldar army list. She has slain countless hundreds of models in this time, from whole Chaos Space Marine Squads to a Hive Tyrant, my devotion is quite silly though, there are some really good HQs in the Dark Eldar Codex that benefit the army in general, but I still like her and in 6th her BS of 9 is awesome... when throwing Plasma Grenades.
I typically give her a retinue of Grotesques, their Toughness, mass of Wounds and a free Pain Token make them great wound absorbers so that Lelith gets to combat unscathed, but other units like Incubi or Bloodbrides work well and I use them too. I also like sticking Lelith behind an Aegis Defence Line or on a Bastion with Icarus Lascannon, since we can't waste her BS9 now can we?

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a blog and hope to hear what you think :)  

Wargames Gallery: Not The Doom Of Mymeara

Despite some scatter upon arrival, the Soul Grinder had 2 good turns against the craft world Eldar, before the fire dragons sent the daemon machine construct back to the dark forges from whence it came!

Wargames Gallery: Eldar Templar Fusion

An eldar fire dragons aspect squad face down a squad of terminators rapidly approaching from the open maw of a Black Templars land raider.

(neither army belongs to me, I just thought this was a good, composed shot from one of the recent rounds of our local 40k league).