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So I was playing in a "Soft Boys" event that used the 'Ard Boyz scenarios for those that did not qualify for the semi-finals. The winner wins a $200 voucher for the store. So whenever there is big money on the line, I try something stupid. I am beginning to think that I like to lose. Wonder how much money in winnings I could get if I ever really tried, and what is it about me that does not want to win? Why am I not working on a Space Wolf army?
So it is time to try out an assault based footslogging Eldar!
The army list and more after the jump:
HQ
Eldrad
Avatar
Elite
7 Harlequins w/Kisses
1 Shadowseer w/Kiss, Fusion Gun
1 Troupe Leader w/Power Weapon, Fusion Gun
1 Death Jester
7 Harlequins w/Kisses
1 Shadowseer w/Kiss, Fusion Gun
1 Troupe Leader w/Power Weapon, Fusion Gun
1 Death Jester
9 Striking Scorpions
1 Exarch w/Scorpion Claw, Stalker, Shadow Strike
Troops
15 Storm Guardians
1 Warlock w/Witchblade, Enhance
10 Guardians w/Brightlance
10 Guardians w/Brightlance
3 Guardian Jetbikes w/1 Shuriken Cannon
Warlock w/Singing Spear, Destructor
3 Guardian Jetbikes w/1 Shuriken Cannon
Warlock w/Singing Spear, Destructor
Fast Attack
5 Warp Spyders
Warp Spyder Exarch w/Dual Spinners
Heavy Support
Wraithlord w/Brightlance, Missile Launcher
Wraithlord w/Brightlance, Missile Launcher
4 Dark Reapers
1 Exarch w/Missile Launcher, Fast Shot
Why this? Well one of the reasons why is that I am working on a harlequin list and I wanted to see how a lot of them fared.
Round #1
In round #1 I faced a new player who never played his friends chaos army before and he ran at me and I tabled him. I do not want to sound like a douche bag, but I hate playing people like this. They have no idea about what their own army can do and have less of an idea about how to beat mine. I was never challenged, and I was bored half way through, and I just wanted to get the game over with as soon as possible.
Round #2
After game #1 I thought that I would play another guy who was not good enough to qualify for the 'Ard Boyz and so I was just going through the motions. Latter I found that he was guy who qualified for the 'Ard Boyz semi's but he overslept (this tournament started at 4pm).
By the time I found out that I was in trouble it was too late. I ended up getting tabled by a mech Space Marine army. I have not been tabled in a long time, but now it has happened in each of the last 3 months. Normally I am winning, and I am doing the tabling, and even when I start to get into trouble I start to conserve my forces. The last 2 times I was tabled it was because of a horrible match up for me (Dark Eldar vs. Thousand Sons) but this time these are the reasons why I was:
- Since these guys were not at the semi's I took them lightly.
- I did not really read over his army list. If I would have done that, I could have seen that he had a drop pod with Sternguard that had a bunch of flamers.
- I did not do what I had to do to win. I skipped over my first psychic phase and I did not think much of it. So when that Drop Pod came down and it BBQ my Storm Guardian squad that Eldrad was part up it let him shoot lascannons at him until I failed a save and was insta-killed. If I had fortune up like I should have he would have survived (probably).
- I was hurting him bad and rolling him up on a flank and then I forgot to move my jetbike squad and warp spyders during the assault phase to get behind cover. That left them open to shooting and getting them taken out.
- When placing units in reserve, the end of the game is not the time to realize that you forgot about a squad.
Learning points
- Losing Eldrad is what cost me the game. I never realized how fragile the Avatar is without Fortune. Eldrad is such a huge factor that I do not even realize it until he was gone.
- I have to be very careful playing against someone who knows how to take out harlequins. They are fragile, and a lot of people either do not have the tools or the know-how to kill them, but the ones that do I have to be very careful of.
- Harlequins are not the gods of assault like I thought they were. Without the augmentation of a farseer for fortune and doom, they are weaker than I thought.
- Storm Guardians suck. The only time they are useful is in a Wave Serpent with the tri-flamer.
- I also learned that I am a shooting specialist and I do better with those armies. With an assault army I have to re-train myself and be more aggressive.
So I did get a lot of useful information about my upcoming Harlequin army. I realized that I need to be at the top of my game to win with such an army. I need everything to go right, and even then I might be hard pressed to win.
Have you seen that stupid Circuit City commercial? God, it's horrible, "That's a low price!" I just had that annoying voice go off when I read your comment about Eldrad and the Avatar... like, "That's what I've been saying!"
ReplyDeleteI apologize. I irritated myself there.
But seriously, I've been saying that all over the place. I played a hybrid Eldar list as my serious tournament army for a year - it's one of the reasons I've been telling folks not to underestimate your Footdar, because I'm aware of what they're capable of doing.
I also ran the Avatar and Eldrad and I maintain the Avatar doesn't work without him. When Null Zone hit the scene along with useful librarians to use the Psychic Hood, I knew my time with the Eldar was ending.
Still, I'm curious. You're obviously successful with the list in this environment; do you have any advice on how to deal with Hoods nowadays? I'd really appreciate it, even if its just a line or two, a rule of thumb or something.
Thanks in advance - Brent
So, just because these guys weren't at the 'Ard boys round 2, you took them lightly- but yet you were there also ;) But it looks like you learned more from the assumption than actually losing the game, although getting tabled was probably an exclamation point at the end of the statement ^_^
ReplyDeleteI'll admit when I was tournament playing, I'd get a little blase' about things if I thought the other player was going to be an easy win. Trying to keep it fun, or trying new tactics I wouldnt against a more skilled player. Sometimes its bites ya in the ass :o
The Avatar and Eldred are awesome. Even a regular Farseer is pretty hot shit. Fortune, Doom, even Mindwar are pretty damn good, especially for the more venerable codexs. Or should that be codices.
ReplyDeleteAnyway arrogance is your own fault. Failing to look over his army list more closely is your fault. Forgetting to move stuff and activate powers, again your own fault. So basically your worst enemy is yourself.
People always want to blame the dice, or their cheesy opponent or GW, but according to your own blog posting, you could have done a lot better. Time to go back to the Sun Tzu, know thyself, know thine enemy, know the battlefield, fight on killing field and if you want to mix a little Machiavelli in there hire mercenaries to do the fighting for you and the most powerful piece of advice coming down through history, but totally inapplicable to 40K tournaments is choosing when to engage in battle.
Reading books is all well in fine, but in the end it is just a game, so better luck next time and all that. Of course losing to a kid sucks the most in a tournament. ;-)
I blame my first opponent, he put me into a coma. ;)
ReplyDeleteI should have gotten the name and the store where the second guy plays. I am looking for good 40k players to play test my tournament armies. Right now the first time I play a list that I think will work is at a tournament, and I learn the hard way what I did wrong. Oh, and I think I would have won that game if I could have kept a unit alive because I think I was ahead on kill points. His Terminators went through most of my army and I had no answer for them. I am use to shooting them to death with small arms fire, and have them roll '1's, but I took out all of my shooting :) If my Dark Reapers could have only rolled 3" on my run roll (or not have forgotten to deploy a unit!).
Brent- I have not seen to many librarians around here, but they do love Vulcan though. When I do see them it is not that big of a deal because I have so few units with an inv. save. The Avatar rarely gets shot because all he is doing is keeping my army fearless and not killing stuff so he gets overlooked. Also the one thing that is nice about Eldar is that they have a good defense against psychic powers so I am able to shut it down a lot, and they are worried about dying to PotW. To my Thousand Sons though, a Librarian with Null Zone (and hood) is devastating. And the Hood vs. Eldar? Not to much of a problem. Eldrad can cast 2 of the same powers as a back up, it is only 24" range, and it does not seem to stop a whole lot of powers (although if they roll well for a period of time with that thing it can be trouble, but it is more like a little bump in the road).
And I never blame the dice. If I loose a game I can almost always look back and point to mistakes that I made that cost me the win.