Anti-Titans: Eldar Revenant Titan

The Eldar Revenant Titan isn’t actually that hard to kill on it’s own. For 800 points, it is actually pretty fragile. However, it has three things that make it really hard to kill:

First, the guns. Four destroyer shots with 60″ range. And while that is not the highest range, it is enough to cause massive damage to most enemies.

Secondly, the holo-fields. A 4+ invulnerable save, whether hit with a S6 weapon or a SD weapon.

Lastly, the mobility. This thing is nearly impossible to get in combat, because of it’s mobility. If it want’s to, it can move 36″ in the movement phase, with no penalties that may cause it damage.

So what do we do about it? The destroyer weapons are too powerful to ignore, and it is difficult to lock it in combat, so I say shoot it. Blow it to pieces. Deffkoptas, once again, work great against rear armor. Five deffkoptas will destroy 1 structure point in the shooting phase, and half of the time the deffkoptas will also destroy a weapon, or cause a drive damaged result. It is best to use 2 deffkopta units, though, each a certain distance apart, so your enemy will have a harder time hitting rear armor. Also, any S8+ weapons nearby will help. However, don’t ignore the rest of the army. If the revenant titan is not much of a threat, (If both weapons have been destroyed, maybe,) focus your firepower elsewhere. No need to waste bullets.

Battle Reports: Orks VS Black Templars

So, yesterday I played a couple game with a Black Templar’s army. I thought I would share how that went.

The game was 2500 points:

I had Ghazkull Thraka and Mad Dok Grotsnik, meganobz, regular nobz, (with really up-graded wargear,) Kommandos, (Who I forgot to use,) 10 Stormboyz, 30 ard boyz, 30 boyz, 5 Deffkoptas, (who I outflanked,) and 2 battlewagons which were transports for the nobz and meganobz. Not the most competitive list, but still pretty deadly and really fun to play.

He had the Emperor’s Champion and High Marshal, 6 Terminators, 2 land raiders, 10 Assault Squad marines, (the ones with jump packs,) an elites squad, (can’t remember what, but they were hard to kill,) 2 drop pod dreadnoughts, and a several units of 5 troops with a lascannon in each unit.

So, we were playing Dawn Of War, and Seize Ground. Which happened to be perfect for my army. I left my ‘ard boy unit surrounding the objective on my home field, and used the Meganobz and Ghazkull as the other troops choice and HQ. I used the one boyz unit to sit on the objective for the entire game, and used the majority of my remaining force to kill his warriors. (A note, we used two buildings in the game, one on both side, each one with the objective on top. Both were AV12.) On turn 1, he destroyed my Meganobz battlewagon with a lucky Lascannon shot. (He rolled 3 6’s in a row.) I moved my guys closer. On turn two, my stormboyz killed his assault squad, a mid-air clash. He then killed my stormboyz and the Ork Horde that had Mad Dok Grotsnik inside. (But not after losing the High Marshall to a PK attack.) On turn three, I called a Waaaagh! and completely surrounded the building that he had his objective in with my meganobz, then blew it up. And since the people couldn’t deploy, they were destroyed. I left my meganobz there to hold the objective, (Ghazkull made them troops,) and sent old Ghazkull off to fight some marines. His two Drop Pod Dreadnoughts landed next to my objective, but I outflanked my Deffkoptas, and used their rokkits to immobilize and stun one of them, (Making it worthless, a couple turns later I killed it.)  I assaulted the other dreadnought, and destroyed it’s CC weapon after it killed two boyz. (Allowing me to keep my 4+ armor save, since they were ‘ard boyz.) By the fifth turn, I had killed it, and I used my consolidation move, (6″ yeah!) to get the objective. However, he had used his terminators and other Elite squad to kill my stormboyz and the boyz that were with Mad Dok, and I only had 15 boyz protecting the first objective. (and they could still be shot at by the drop pods.) I used the Nobz to kill his first elite squad, but the terminators were heading towards my objective, which I only had 4 meganobz protecting. His terminators would probably win in combat against them, since they had lightning claws and would get the charge. Then… the game ended. Another turn and he might have killed the Meganobz, making me lose an objective and getting him one. His Drop Pod could have forced my boyz horde to run off the edge, making me lose another objective. It was a very close game, one more turn and I could have tied, though not lost. (He didn’t have any troops left, and he could not have held an objective.) But as it happened all of my objectives were too far away from his terminators for him to kill me. On a side-note, he was a really good sport, and was really fun to play against. It was the first time for both of us playing with buildings, and we both had a great time.

On a side-note, I am about 2/5 of the way done with my Gargant, pics soon.

Apocalypse: The Emperor Battle Titan

Click to access m2440056_Imperial_Datasheet_-_Emperor_Battle_Titan.pdf

Odds are, the closest thing to this you will ever come across is the Warhound. Maybe a Warlord. But on the off chance you do, here is a strategy about how to kill it:

Did anyone notice that you could take up to 14 Destroyer weapons on this thing? 8 of them are 7″ blast and 6 of them are 10″ blast. Have fun with that. If any opponent takes that option, you are pretty much dead. And, since it is a super heavy vehicle, you can’t lock it in combat unless you have a super-heavy vehicle or a gargantuan creature. Wait a minute, that gives me an idea…

Take 6 stompas. It is costly, but it their combined total is still 400 points less than that of the Warlord. Make sure you have no big mek stompas. Make sure  you do either take a Big Mek with a Kustom Force Field, or (slightly riskier, but slightly cheaper,) take a Dred Mob formation and give a stompa a KFF. My suggestion is to do both, so you will have a backup. That and Grot Riggers+big mek within 6 giant machines can be handy. Possibly even 2 big meks, all with Grot Oilers, so you can repair the Stompas weapons. (Though the Dred Mob formation force field has a larger radius of effect.)

But all the force fields are just for protection till you get to the enemy. As soon as you can, to avoid destruction, get in combat with the Warlord. You will probably lose 2 of your stompas by the time you get into combat, but with 4 stompas charging, you will destroy, on average, 8.5 structure points. That leaves only 3.5 remaining. Gotta love those Titan Close Combat weapons. The warlord will cause 1 structure points worth of damage, and maybe a little other weapon here or there. (We will assume there are only 3 working TCCW’s remaining for the next example.) Next turn of combat, you take the same amount of damage, but you will kill the Warlord. Even if you lost 3 before you got into combat, you would nearly kill it by turn 2, completely killing it by turn 3. (Of combat.)

Of course, there will be other factors involved. You will have guns firing at the Warlord before combat, and they will be firing back at your stompas with other units before you get in combat. But that provides another advantage. While your enemy focuses everything on the Stompas, you can use the rest of your army to kill everything else while the are distracted. For instance, you could use ‘flank march’ to bring in 180 boyz on the enemy’s border, and assault them to death. Or, you could bring in a couple of fighta-bommas, and blow them to pieces.

Eldar: strengths and weaknesses

So, today I am going to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of Eldar, from my experience.

The Eldar can be a very effective army, if played well. One of their guns (nightspinner, I believe,) can pin an enemy unit, and then cause even more damage in the next turn. (First, it causes damage, and then the next time that unit moves, it is going through difficult and dangerous terrain.) They have a high number of barrage weapons, great firepower, and still have some units that are good in close combat. (Avatar, anyone?) However, they do have a couple of weaknesses which are easy to exploit:

First off, they tend to lack high strength/armor piercing weapons. Like all armies they can take some, but they cannot take a lot. That means well armored units, such as Nobz or Meganobz, are very difficult to kill, because small arms fire is rarely effective against them, due to good armor and large amounts of wounds. And it also means that tanks with good armor, such as Battlewagons, (Or, in other armies, land raiders, monoliths, and other super-tanks,) will be difficult to kill. Rear armor will help, but the tanks will have several turns more than an army such as Dark Eldar with a dozen brightlances. (On a side-note, every time I have used Nobz, Meganobz, or both against Eldar, I have won spectacularly.)

Nearly all of their units have either/both WS4 or BS4, so they are pretty elite in what they do, but they only have S3 T3, so they are not exactly marines. (Armor isn’t great most of the time either.) Anti-infantry weapons work very well against the. (Big shootas wound on 2’s and penetrate, bigbomms wound on 3’s and penetrate, even grot blastas wound on 4’s, so one unit of grots will kill 6-7 of them in a single shooting phase.)

The elite units that they have are either expensive or low in numbers. Not unlike most other elite units, but in this case they also have bad armor most of the time. There are exceptions, but for the most part a gun will kill the elites just as easily as the troops. So, killing them first, before they can cause much damage, is always smart.

One of my friends, (Hey, Patrick!) Always takes the Avatar, so I am going to put a word on him here:

The hardest part about killing the Avatar is that ork boyz hit on 5’s and wound on 6’s. And, not many weapons are good against him because they either don’t wound easily, don’t penetrate, or have a low number of shots. The one unit I have found effective is one you have heard of from me many times before. It isn’t deffkoptas, it isn’t ork hordes, and it certainly isn’t Mad Dok Grotsnik. I even mentioned them earlier in this very post! It is decked out Nobz. With a Waaagh! banner, they hit on 4’s instead of 5’s. With big choppas, they wound on 3’s or 4’s, depending on the charge. (Even regular choppas can wound on 5’s, if they charge.) With power fists, they wound on 2’s and remove the armor save, (so it is a 4+ invuln instead of 3+ armor.) And they are still effective against other units. Also, this unit is really really fun to play. And, since the Avatar is only S6, he doesn’t cause instant death, so he will have to cause 10 wounds to remove a model, if you assorted your wargear well enough.

1500 point Elites list

So, the other day I decided to build a quick list, and so here it is:

Warboss w/ Power Klaw, Attack Squig-100

10 nobz, 2 big choppas, 1 PK, 1 bosspole, 1 painboy, 1 waaagh! banner, cyborks and eavy armor all around

10 kommandos, 3 burnas, nob w/ PK, bosspole

24 ork boyz, PK bosspole nob

24 ork boyz, PK bosspole nob

10 Stormboyz, PK bosspole nob

3 Deffkoptas w/ rokkits

Battlewagon w/ armor plates, grot riggas, kannon, 4 big shootas, deff rolla

It is not a ‘standard’ ork list, (There are only 2 boyz hordes, and they are both small.) A total of 3 scoring units, including the Nobz. In many ways, this is just a collection of my favorite units. (The funnily converted Kommandos, the Nobz which I worked on for hours to convert the weapons, Deffkoptas are my favorite unit, I just finished modeling the battlewagon, ETC,) and a few boyz at the core. But, it will be very fun to play. And,of course, nobody will expect an ‘Elite’ ork list.

Ork Transport Tactics

It was pointed out in a comment that it should be ‘Carnifices’ not ‘Carnifaxes,’ but I think that will be okay. I am still going to do written posts, but this format will also show up sometimes.

Flash Gitz VS Nobz

So, in previous posts, I have strategized about Flash Gitz. I have also done many write-ups about Nobz. But point-for-point, which one is better?

Well, Flash Gitz have the same point value as Nobz in ‘eavy armor, (which should always be taken.) Flash Gitz may not have any CC weapons, (with the exception of the painboy,) but they do have awesome, (if slow firing,) assault weaponry. Lets look at both specifically:

Flash Gitz: these guys are probably more flexible. ‘More Dakka’ is a must, but the other two are not as nescessary. They may not have close combat weapons, but they still are ork Nobz, so they still have 3 attacks in close combat, 4 on the charge. Also, (assuming more dakka,) five of these guys will potentially be able to take down 2-3 marines, (or even terminators,) assuming they get a decent AP roll. The only disadvantage is BS 2, but as an ork player you should know that already. At thirty points each, (plus the cost of the looted wagon you WILL buy them to ride around in,) a unit of ten will come in at 335 points. However, that unit of ten, with a tiny bit of luck, can kill five space marines in the shooting phase, and then charge them and cause five more, easily. And even if the marines had 2 close combat weapons each, they will still not cause more than 1 wound. And, they will take 4-5 wounds on average. That means it is one dead space marine unit. Even if you shoot at terminators, 1/3 of the time, (1/2, if you take the -1 AP,) you will cause 3 wounds. (I don’t suggest charging this time around.)

Nobz: These guys are slightly less flexible, and weaker at shooting. However, in close combat, these guys annihilate. They could take combi-weapons, but that is sort of stupid, since they aren’t supposed to be a shooty unit anyways. Against marines, (assuming 6 choppa/slugga, 1 painboy, 2 big choppas, and a PK,) these guys will cause maybe 1 wound in the shooting phase. Then they will charge, and cause 8.5 wounds, and take a maximum of (assuming the marines have 2 CC weapons,) 1 wound. In the end, both results are pretty much the same. However, against other enemies, one will do better than the other. The nobz will cause more wounds against lighter armor, (4+ or higher,) and the Gitz would be slightly better against CC oriented armor-heavy units, because they have more effective ranged weaponry. However, against gun-based units, bring in the NOBZ!

Skullhamma’s and Squiggoths: Apocalypse Strategies

So today I am going to do a couple more strategies on Apocalyptic units.

Skullhamma:

The Skullhamma is not necessarily the most deadly of tanks. It’s range (Comparatively to other apocalypse guns,) is mediocre, it’s AP is only 3 (good, but not great,) and the armor and structure points are lower than the stompas, and it doesn’t have any other extremely good weapons. (the kannon/lobba is okay, but not great.) However, it has one main advantage over other super-heavies: It is cheap. At only 400 points, it is one of the cheapest super-heavy vehicles in the game. And, it is fast, and can carry a full horde of ork boyz. 24″ of movement is always handy. And, with 12″ movement that allows you to disembarks and assault, this tank will come in handy. Get across the board in three turns, and lay down firepower for the rest. Don’t take to many of these guys, though, because while they are cheaper than most, they still come with a hefty price tag. paying 400 pts for a transport vehicle is a bit expensive, even if you get to use a good gun for the rest of the game. Make sure you have some juicier targets so that they will be shunned, or perhaps ignored completely.

Gargantuan Squiggoth:

This thing is a BEAST! 8 wounds, ridiculous toughness, immune to instant death, and 5 attacks at S10. The only gargantuan creature outside of the tyranid army, as well. This thing is able to take down practically anything in close combat, with one main disadvantage: it only has WS2 I1.. So while it will shred through most anything, (especially awesome with the ‘stomp special attack’ against really large enemy units,) it can still be brought down (or at least hurt ) by such characters as the Avatar and the Hive Lord. however, they have the problem of low strength. what you really need to watch for is powerful ‘greater daemons’ and more importantly, tyranid gargantuan creatures. those are the close combat threats. The larger threat is shooting from your enemy. It doesn’t matter that this guy has 8 wounds, he will be brought down eventually, and when that happens, you are out 600 points. And remember, you can only be locked in combat with super heavy walkers and gargantuan creatures, every one else has to run away, so you are still vulnerable to shooting. So: Use this guy for ‘scare tactics’ and to bring down things such as powerful yet low-strength CC units. Remember, anything short of S6 can’t hurt you. you could take down a horde of boyz, and the only thing that would even potentially be able to damage you is a PK nob.

Fighting with an Eldar Army

Before we get started, many of you Ork players that are reading this will notice I have been doing more strategies with other armies recently. So, here are a couple of things you will want to know about all of these:

1. Most of the strategies will be general army strategies for a while. (until I have gone through every army.)

2. If there are any ‘Examples’ of results of shooting/combat, it will usually be against orks, (or space marines, because they are the most common,)

3. I will still be doing a lot of ork strategies.

4. All of these strategies are only mildly tested, through observation when I play against these armies.

With this in mind…

How to play with an Eldar Army.

First off, your troops are not overly cheap. While, (if you want too,) you could muster up a relatively large army of guardians, you are not a horde. Do not try and be a horde.

Eldar weaponry is strong, their troops are deadly, but the way I see it, most of eldar have one small problem. No matter how good their attacks are, they are fragile. a 5+ save a T3 all around. Not good. very few models have a better stat-line, (though some of them have a 4+, or even 3+ save.) That means that if you want your guys to live for long, you will desperately need to take advantage of cover. However, once you are in cover, autarch’s can severely help you. I can’t (or at least wont bother to count,) how many times I have seen a fortune cast on a unit, saving nearly all of it’s troops. Awesome. Also, avoid CC, unless the unit you have was specifically designed for it. you see, with only T3 and a 5+ save, as well as the fact that you don’t get cover in CC, and even with Fortune you probably won’t survive. (against CC units, that is. If you are facing a unit of tactical space marines, you will do better, because they only get 11 attacks total.

Also, your weapons are commonly powerful enough to blow a hole in the side of a squigoth. Shooting is normally the way to go. In many ways, your army resembles fragile space marines. They are cheaper, and the weapons are a bit more deadly. Stay back, use ‘shoot and run’ tactics, skirt around your opponents, and blow them to kingdom come.

Also, if I ever played Eldar, I would always use an Avatar. This guy is awesome, for only 155 points. A 3+ save, a 4+ invuln, immune to melta/flamers, WS10, (only S6, so not very much instant death…)  the wailing doom, and all special rules given to deamons.

Stompa Tactics

So, I decided that since I built a stompa, I should do a strategy on it!

The stompa is deadly, and relatively cheap. (Cheap for titans, that is.) The only disadvantage is AV 13, but if you throw in a Big Mek with a KFF and 3 grot oilers, you can repair it’s weapons, and the 4+ cover save on a 12″ model can come in handy. The way I see it, there are four things that is good at:

Anti-infantry. I mean ANY infantry. Whether it is a unit of Terminators or a unit of Grotz, the stompa’s main gun can kill it all. It can even kill HQ’s with ease, because with S10, it causes instant death against most units.

Anti-Vehicles. I am not referring to walkers. The chainsaw arm is SD, so it penetrates armor automatically and you get a +1 on the damage table, and with it the stompa has 4 attacks. So unless the vehicle moved at it’s maximum speed, (and even occasionally if it does,) your chainsaw will rend through vehicles and tear them to pieces. Even super-heavy vehicles will take huge amounts of damage. and if you happen to be facing a warlord battle titan, which will almost never have a titan close combat weapon, you will all hit at the same time, your stompa has one extra attacks, and the battle titan only has S10, instead of SD.

Anti-Air. Death to the air-based vehicles! now it is only good at AA once per game. When you fire your supa-gatla. You see, your BS is doubled because it is a pintle-mounted weapon. (well not actually doubled, but it will not be reduced to 1. All other weapons hit on a 6, and only on a 6. The supa-gatla hits on a 5.) and while it is only S7, that is still easily high enough to penetrate most Aerial Vehicles. (they usually have relatively low armor.)

Bullet absorber/terror aspect. The whole thought of bringing a 12″-14″ model will fill your opponents with shock and awe. Baneblades and other tanks are big, but they are also short and will not impose the same awesomeness as a stompa or a battle titan. Your opponents will either run in terror, or focus their firepower on it. If they run in terror, you should be fine. and if they focus their firepower, your Big Mek KFF will stop half of it, and with 3 grot oilers, you should have no trouble repairing it’s primary weapons.