Court of the Archon

[Lord Hanaur]

I start very few threads these days because I'm always a little concerned that the minute I suggest anything outside the box, my heads gonna' go rolling.

 

BUT, I am seriously considering this unit for inclusion.  I am really asking three questions here.

 

1.  What models (with links and part numbers or whatever) would you recommend using for it to make it cheaper AND

 

2.  What, if any, experience do you have fighting against or with it?

 

3.  Comments on the usage.

 

So I'll tell you why I'm thinking of including it.  The main goal I am after is a melee oriented Dark Eldar force.  So:

 

I have had out of this world tremendously excellent experience with the Grotesques.  Just really brutal damage output.  They start the game tough as nails and in close combat with Urien they are simply unstoppable.  Its a blood bath.  They'll take out parking lots, they'll take out Wraithlords, they'll take out anything.  STR 7 on the charge, lots of wounds and lots of attacks.

 

However there is only ONE Urien Rakarth to make that unit awesome.

 

So given that I have already managed to min/max Rakarths unit I want another hammer for the force.  I have already taken the liberty of using a BeastPack.  It is indeed in my army.

 

The remaining choices are essentially more Beasts OR the Court of the Archon if I want a much more deadly shooting attack to go with the speed.  The Liquifier gun the Grotesques carry is awesome fun and the beastpacks FEW shots are pretty non-impactful.

 

Now the Court is a bit more than meets the eye when you first look at the stats.  They are frankly confusing at first and I am going to guess that its easy to forget things when using the Court of the Archon.  Nonetheless here is why I am leaning their way over another Beast Pack.

 

1.  The Archon.  He can travel with one unit in his very fast Raider with his very cool 2+ invulnerable save and switch to another faster unit the round he gets out.  His Grenade Launcher (which acts as Assault Grenades and Defensive Grenades for the whole unit) can be used if he joins the beast Pack as it arrives.  Alternatively he can stay with the Grotesques and Urien if that makes the most sense OR if they are busy clobbering things that cant fight back (like Vehicles) he can jaunt into the Court of the Archon unit and protect THEM.  The enemy would dictate that but the flexibility to protect one unit from wounds while the Raider is killed (and make no mistake, his Raider is GOING to die) and then essentially join whatever charge makes sense is cool.  His Electro-corrosive Whip reduces a models STR by half if he wounds you on INIT 7, so he is also useful for protecting the unit he's with by nerfing a single model threat; or by being in a challenge and essentially making it very difficult for the enemy leader to even get chances at that 2+ invul.  So taking him does not feel like much of a "tax".  His weapons are pretty cool.  he does a lot of cool stuff for the unit he's with.

 

2.  The Court, for those who don't know. 

 

a.  It can contain Medusae.  the Medusae have what is essentially a better Liquifier gun and the Medusae only costs 15 points, weapon and all!  You can have two in the unit.  That on its own was pretty eye catching.  Players who have been victimized by one can tell you how fun it would be to hear an opposing player go "okay and now lets see what the AP is on THIS one...".  The STR is D6+1 and AP is D6 so its better than a Liquifier and cheaper than you can get it anywhere else in the list.  That got me excited.  Two flamers, of any sort, hurt as Seraphim can tell you and these flamers if they are LUCKY can do a lot of damage.  it also provides the unit with sorely needed Leadership 9.

 

b.  Sslyth.  I love these.  I took 3.  They pump out 5 STR 5 attacks on the charge, 2 wounds, 5+ armor plus FnP and they are toughness 5, so when 3 of his buddies get pummelled into the ground eventually from shooting, explosions and all the indignities of war, the units majority toughness becomes 5!  They go in the back to protect the Medusae and to pound vehicles and people alike.  They also shoot Shard Carbines, which are 3 shot weapons.  You're getting more from the shooting on this unit by a long shot than the Beastpack offers and a volume and quality of attacks that is every bit as good though perhaps with less wounds to give.

 

c.  Ur-Ghul.  I wasn't excited.  Stat line and price dont match.  But its got furious charge.  So it is Init 5 at STR 5 and bangs out 4 attacks on the charge so it's actually faster than the Sslyth and can help negate some attacks on the unit that it would otherwise take.  Better yet is that it can FnP also.  For 15 points it is hard to swallow, but STR 5 is exactly what you need for a pound tastic unit like this.  And since you can only take 3 Sslyth, its not a bad buy to take some of these to increase the STR 5 poundage.  Like Sslyth, It can kill any target type.  3 of them will cause 4 saves before the enemy can strike and up to 7 against less capable combatants before they can strike.  I could squeeze one more in since the strategy is not necessarily to take the Archon with us to the front but instead to deliver him there and then have the OPTION to join.  Thoughts on taking a 4th one?  Yes?  No?

 

d.  Lhamaean.  Lets face it:  this is a tax.  No way around it.  INIt 5 and that's about as exciting as she gets.  She averages 1.25 wounds on the charge and costs 10 points so I suppose not a total loss.  She is there to "Make sure" you put the Archon in the unit because if you do, his (and hers to be fair) poison attacks wound on a 2+.  Well that's kinda a big deal if you happen to have a Poisoned weapon worth talking about.  But the Venom Blade is already wounding on a 2+ and Archons inexplicably cant take Flesh Gauntlets!  Sigh.  So what poisoned weapon might it help? Yeah.  His Splinter Pistol.  The Archon can literally take no other Poisoned weapons that it will matter on.  Seriously stupid.  I took one of her and put her out front to die like she ought to.  Damn tax figs.  Maybe Ill hit and wound a Riptide with her on a 2+ or something if she even escapes my wrath long enough to try.  Probably not though.

 

So what do you get?

 

Well it looks like this:  Lhamaean, 2 Medusae, 3 Urghul, and 3 Sslyth.  Add the Raider. 

 

What you get is a unit that is just as fast as any of the alternative units for about the same cost.  It streaks 30 inches in round 1 to the front line and waits patiently for the enemy to bash the hull in with shooting, and then springs out to cover save and FNP some wounds.  Then it charges  forth, fires TWO Uber Liquifier guns (WAY AWESOME) into your face, plus some pistols and Carbines, and then does a whopping 27 STR 5 attacks plus 3 attacks that wound on 2's (whoop d do) and 4 str 3 attacks just for good measure.  That's 3 Glances and 3 Penetrating hits on most vehicles and its going to cause 11 wounds to Tough 4 units before saves.  Once they get a Pain Token, the Designers saw fit to make the Ur-Ghul and Sslyth exempt from the Power From Pain rule.  Lame.  But what can ya do?

 

So what this does for us really is gives the Raider a dual purpose.  Against armies that like to come close, we can sit back and fire into them because thats what Dark Eldar do and then cook them when they get too close.  But if the enemy is entrenched, you simply push there front door in with three very large hammers:  Grotesques with Urien, The Court of the Archon and then the BeastPack.

 

And if the enemy has a lot of armor, they wont for long.

[Lord Hanaur]

Okay folks I have been pondering this list for a bit.  Not much feedback but then i didn't expect a lot since its a rare unit. 

 

I've tweaked it about a dozen times as I get more games in (been getting practice in on VASSAL and in person of course).

The Night Shields are awesome time and again and allow for a real tactical flexibility that isn't totally obvious to the uninitiated.  For those who dont know, if you are facing an Assault based army that comes at you, the Night Shields allow the long range of the Disintegrator Cannons to do their macabre work, invalidating ALL but 42" or longer shooting ranges.  This SIGNIFICANTLY reduces enemy firepower and often forces them to come forward and out of their better protected positions to do damage.  For example a 36" Plasma cannon on an Astra Militarum Sintinel could not fire back if the Night Shielded Raiders started 37" away from it. because even if it moves to 31" on its turn, the Night Shieldds put it out of range.  In this way, the Dark eldar can focus fire on exposed infantry safely and only an enemy willing to put their armor forward of their infantry can really protect them.  But then that means the enemy assault is slowed considerably.  It also means that the Dark eldar are able if going second to essentially deploy with almost no enemy fire coming in on them round 1.

Alternately, if the army is a more shooting oriented force and we must go TO the enemy, The Night shields steal Rapid firing from some units and overall lower the firepower of enemy's trying to take the Raiders down at shorter ranges.  Naturally the Raiders are not expected to live, just drain enemy resources and when normal infantry units start 25 inches away from the Raider, they get no shots!  This can allow you to crash the enemy lines and take less shooting from far flung units.  The enemy would have to clump up a little bit more to defend against being too far flung to shoot much which ironically is a very bad idea for them given the rest of the list.  So even in crashing the front lines the Night Shields give you value when coupled with Jinking.

Here is the form the list is in right now.

Razor Wing Jet Fighter (4 Monoscythe Missiles, 2 Disintegrator Cannons, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields)

5 Wracks (Liquifier Gun)
Raider (Disintegrator Cannon, Night Shields, Aethersails)

5 Wracks (Liquifier Gun)
Raider (Disintegrator Cannon, Night Shields, Aethersails)

5 Kabalite Trueborn (Haywire Grenades, 2 Splinter Cannons, 3 Blasters)
Venom (Dual Splinter Cannons, Night Shields, Flicker Field)

5 Kabalite Trueborn (2 Splinter Cannons, 3 Blasters)
Venom (Dual Splinter Cannons, Night Shields, Flicker Field)

4 Grotesques (Liquifier Gun, Acothyst w Scissor Hands. Master Haemonculus upgrade)
Raider (Disintegrator Cannons, Aethersails, Night Shield)

Archon (Electrocorrosive Whip+ Poison Pistol, Plasma Grenades, Haywire Grenades, Ghostplate Armor, Combat Drugs, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Shadowfield)

Urien Rakarth (Nuff said)

Court of the Archon (3 Sslyth, 3 Ur-Ghul, 1 Lhamaean, 2 medusae)
Raider (Disintegrator Cannon, Aethersails, Night Shields)

Beast Masters (5 Beast Masters w/ 1x Power Axe, 4 Clawed Fiends, 2 Razorwing Flocks)

Points:  2000
Kill Points:  16
Models:  53

[Guest]

If you want to see a really silly one, put the raider on top of a fortress of redemption. I've done this before. Skimmer base fits perfectly on top. The tower is 14" tall, without night shields, the raider is effectively immune to almost every melta weapon in the game. Add the night shields and laugh as most weapons can't even shoot it. Granted, they can just destroy the tower, but it's a bunch more durable than the raider, especially if you add void shields. It might not be a 7th thing, but I think the damage to a vehicle/skimmer that falls off a destroyed building is very kind by comparison to infantry in the same situation.

 

Doesn't really help damage output, but it's funny to see durable DE.

 

I will note, as niche as it is, that Mandrakes have a viable role manning turrets of fortifications on the battlements. This is especially true if the battlements are placed outside your own deployment zone, possibly by the opponent. I haven't found another role for mandrakes at all.

[Lord Hanaur]

Mandrakes?  LOVE Mandrakes.  I think I have a little linky winky here someplace...

 

blast from the past batrep

 

Of course this has zilch to do with the Court of the Archon but...  Still cool to talk about.

[AbusePuppy]

The Court has several really good units in it (Medusae, Sslyth), but is unfortunately weighed down by the much less-good ones (especially the Lhamean.) In particular, the Sslyth's excellent statline is essentially wasted due to being forced to take all of the other members- T5 is meaningless when you're hanging out with T3 friends. It also suffers from the usual issues with other DE assault units (no grenades, fragile, no way to cut through armor) and thus ends up being a fairly middling choice overall- Harlequins, Incubi, and special characters can all do the same job better.

 

I think the best thing you can do with it, if you really want it to work out, is to load up on Sslyth and Medusae and run it as a close-support unit. Cramming six or nine Raiders/Venoms in the enemy's face turn 1 may not be a terribly reliable plan, but it's better than most plans DE have. I would avoid spending many, if any, points on upgrades for the transports- quantity has a quality all its own, as they say.

[Lord Hanaur]

Did you read the notes? I pretty much loaded up on Medusae and Sslyth. Took a Lhamaean cause I had to. But against a monster... the archon solves the grenade problem. 4 ur-ghul do good damage. I actually think they arent terrible. Plus you need a few guys to throw in front of you that first round in the open.

[Guest]

Mandrakes?  LOVE Mandrakes.  I think I have a little linky winky here someplace...

 

blast from the past batrep

 

Of course this has zilch to do with the Court of the Archon but...  Still cool to talk about.

Love to see a Mandrake tactica, if you would. I don't think tyranids are a good example of how well a DE unit functions. Got any battle reports where they function against marines or guard?

[Lord Hanaur]

My take is that the entire army was built to scare the willies out of opponents and use every dirty morale draining attack in the force...  and it got used to fight an essentially fearless force.  and won.  And the Mandrakes did well.  Really well i thought.

 

Problem is people are always asking a unit to cure cancer when its a Diabetes medication.  Maybe you should start a thread on the subject of Mandrakes and their uses?

[Lord Hanaur]

Kay so after more pondering, a few small changes, at 2K:

Razorwing Jetfighter (Night Shield, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, 2 Disintegrator Cannons, Splinter Cannon)

5 Wracks (Liquifier)

Raider (Night Shields, Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced Aethersails)

5 Wracks (Liquifier)

Raider (Night Shields, Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced Aethersails)

5 Kabalite Trueborn (3 Blasters, 2 Splinter Cannons, Haywire Grenades)

Venom (Night Shields, Flicker Field, Additional Splinter Cannon)

5 Kabalite Trueborn (3 Blasters, 2 Splinter Cannons, Haywire Grenades)

Venom (Night Shields, Flicker Field, Additional Splinter Cannon)

4 Grotesques (Liquifier Gun, Aberration has Venom Blade, Master Haemonculus upgrade)

Raider (Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced Aethersails)

Archon (Plasma Grenades, Haywire Grenade, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Electrocorrosive Whip + Blaster Pistol, Ghost Plate Armor, Clone Field, Soul Trap, Combat Drugs)

Urien Rakarth (Casket of Flensing, Ichor Gauntlet+Close Combat Weapon, Clone Field)

Court of the Archon (3 Sslyth, 4 Ur-Ghul, 2 Medusae, 1 Lhamaean)

Raider (Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced Aethersails)

BeastMasters (5 Beast Masters with 1x Power Axe, 4 Clawed Fiends, 2 Razorwing Flocks)

 

Points:  2000
Kill Points:  16
Models:  54

[Guest]

.

[Lord Hanaur]

Umm...???

[Guest]

Umm...???

Sorry, posted a comment regarding no homunculus, while forgetting that urien was a special character version. I noticed it before any comments were added, so I went to the edit page to delete the post, but couldn't, so I replaced the text with a single period.

[Lord Hanaur]

Sorry, posted a comment regarding no homunculus, while forgetting that urien was a special character version. I noticed it before any comments were added, so I went to the edit page to delete the post, but couldn't, so I replaced the text with a single period.

Yeah I did notice that no one can seem to delete posts.  Kinda annoying.  Especially if doing tourney updates.  Easier to delete and add than to keep a long running list of post updates.  But whatevs.

 

Yeah Urien is the ultimate bad arse when it comes to Haemonculus evil.  He basically made evil his beeatch.

[Guest]

I think I like the list, more or less. It certainly showcases the 7th boon for DE: the not needing "troops" for scoring.

 

For changes, in terms of list strength, I'd add allied eldar. A falcon or wave serpent would add an impressive transport option in terms of durability for the DE (BB in transports now). Plus, it would be fun to convert up "DE" versions of eldar vehicles.

[fluger]

Huh, this list is VERY interesting.  I see how all the moving pieces work more or less, but it's a standard LH list in which I'm sure what I'm perceiving how it will work won't play out on the field.  

[Lord Hanaur]

Huh, this list is VERY interesting.  I see how all the moving pieces work more or less, but it's a standard LH list in which I'm sure what I'm perceiving how it will work won't play out on the field.  

Thats the standard for Lord Hanaur?  Lol.

 

Well give me a bit of tactica on how you WOULD use it.  Maybe I can steal some ideas.  Or maybe I've already stolen them?  It is Dark eldar after all.

 

I'm quite excited to report that I got the final model i need to actually do this.  So this list is going to get some attention now. 

 

Now I have a question in ADDITION to that:

 

The (somewhat) iffy anti-Psyker ability of the Crucible is pretty cool when coupled with the Torment Grenade Launchers.

 

So if I did trade out the Jetfighter, there would be no guarantees the enemy HAS Psykers worth the effort to kill AND no guarantee they fail their rolls anyways.  But it shores up a potential weakness and I cant argue against that fact.

 

So using a second CAD and the tradeoff would be the 165 pt Jet, here's what I could do (pros and cons):  

 

30pts  3 Wracks

 

30pts  3 Wracks

 

85pts  Haemonculus (Crucible of Malediction, Liquifier gun, Venom Blade)

 

Adding Torment Greanade Launchers to all 4 Raiders

 

The Wracks would become backfield type reserves.  The Haemonculus would no doubt accompany one of the Primary Detachment's Wrack units.

 

With this setup, you gain two objective secured units of highly dubious quality (but EASILY hidden in terrain once they come on, so I mean its not a total non factor), you gain the anti-psyker ability of the Haemonculus and the Haemonculus itself. If no Psykers exist/are important enough, it DOES both protect the Primary Detachment Wrack unit he's assigned to with the Liquifier gun; AND makes the Wracks he's with a suddenly quite potent saturation target to force enemy choices (two Liquifier guns is never a joking matter when they are on your door step turn 1).  In addition, the extra Wrack can shunt off a Token to say...  Beast Masters and then detach in turn one which is also a pretty decent way to go.

 

You lose the amount of resources the enemy would normally waste on the Jetfighter.  You lose the massive horde killing output that it can utilize UNANSWERED (in other words, the jets payload will definitely get off without fail whereas the Liquifier package of the new Haemonculi may never fire).  

 

There are pros and cons to both ways of looking at this.  But the Crucible with LD stealing Torment Grenade Launchers can spell the end for certain very influential models in a crucual situation...

 

With the style of list I'm using, the Crucible option does work.  The Psyker heavy enemy wont want that thing going off, and theres just so MUCH pain coming in round 2... They will have VERY hard decisions to make if they are Psyker heavy.

[fluger]

I like the second CAD better than the jetfighter.  

 

I'm not even sure what *I* would do with a list like that beyond the incredibly obvious:  Use combat-oriented units to put pressure and stay back with shooty stuff and plink away, go pick up objectives as needed with super speedy objective secured units (advanced aethersails is nice for this).  

[Lord Hanaur]

Updated now that the new Dex is out.

 

240pts  Court of the Archon (6 Sslyth, 3 Medusae, 1 Ur-Ghul)
75pts  Raider (Night Shield, Enhanced Aethersails)

 

The Ur-Ghul gives this hard hitting unit Fear.  The unit now pumps out 3 more STR 5 attacks than it did before (34), possibly without significant return blows if Fear works and with the Archons Armor of Misery, iot might well do so.  The Medusae STR 4 AP 3 Eyeburst template is no joke either and more reliable than before, overall.  Being in a Raider at point blank range by round 1, the templates could prove devastating if the battlefield situation doesnt call for disembarking.

 

265pts  BeastMasters (3 Beast Masters with Agonizers, 4 Clawed Fiends, 2 Razorwing Flocks)

 

The Beasts run up the field like they are shot from a cannon and Beast Masters have 3 Agonizer attacks on the charge, which means they can conceivably take out a WraithKnight with a bit of luck.  Clawed Fiends lost a wound in the new Dex, and with it they went down 5 points (a fair exchange).  Their high STR makes them important for pounding hulls and xenos alike into the ground and now that they have Rage I don't have to play wound shenanigan games with them.  They are hitting with a whopping 6 attacks on the charge each AND you also don't have to worry about majority toughness issues anymore.  This unit got way better for the way I used them.

 

165pts  4 Grotesques (Liquifier Gun, Aberration)
60pts  Raider (Enhanced Aethersails)

 

These guys took a step back, losing their easy to gain Furious Charge and their Master Haemonculous Upgrade.  What was once a STR 7 beast on the charge is now STR 5, POSSIBLY STR 6 in round 3 if Urien is with them.  That hurt since a big reason for me taking them was their ability to annihilate enemy hulls, sometimes several at once.  but okay fine.  Still not bad at it.  However what they gave us is Poisoned Instant Death Weapons.  Well...  when you're str 6 on the charge, you're re-rolling to wounds.  And if their unit is smaller than the enemies unit numerically, they get to Rampage which is just silly.  because you of course realize that the enemy hulls will most likely never outnumber us.  In the end analysis, I think we came out ahead on hull bashing from that perspective.  But Dreadnoughts are now going to be a major issue.  At STR 5, we can be locked up indefinitely by a Dreadnought.  Not so excited about that.  Ironically, we now can kill a WraithKnight easier than a Dreadnought.  Fortunately, Dark Eldar probably won't prompt more people to want to play Dreadnoughts.

 

125pts  10 Kabalite Warriors (Splinter Cannon, Shredder, Sybarite w Phantasm Grenade Launcher)

75pts  Raider (Enhanced Aethersails, Splinter Wracks)

 

125pts  10 Kabalite Warriors (Splinter Cannon, Shredder, Sybarite w Phantasm Grenade Launcher)

75pts  Raider (Enhanced Aethersails, Splinter Wracks)

 

This is experimental because I've not used Kabalite warriors, ever.  I am forced by the Codex, for now, to use Kabalites as my troops.  If I have to have them, may as well make them do damage.  So I have given them three weapons to hammer the enemy with at close range.  The Shredder is a fairly good and probably underrated weapon.  The Phantasm Grenade Launcher (and its brother the Torment Grenade Launcher) are interesting weapons when the Archon is around with his Armor of Misery.  What's more fun is that if someone has a character that they are using to tank wounds that has fearless or ATSKNF, they cant have wounds allocated to them.  I thought "How dumb, that means the weapon is nigh pointless against Marines other than the SouldFright" but then after thinking about it, I realized that the Soulfright could not only be damaging at times but it gets through the Techpriest whose tanking, for example, or the Wolf Guard that joined the IG blob or what have you.  Also, Daemons arent actually Fearless, nor are Zealots.  So they won't be spared.  The more I thought about it the more I thought it might actually be worth taking.  Regardless, the Shredder and the Cannon will do damage as will their rifles so I expect some marginal production for the Kabalites against breakthroughs; and some scoring we hope.

 

 

130pts  5 Kabalite Trueborn (4 Blasters, Dracon w/ Haywire Grenade)
65pts Venom (Additional Splinter Cannon)

 

Someone has to pop the transports early.  Kabalite Trueborn are on the job.  Not much to say here:  5 chances to get er done.  The Trueborn lost access to Haywire Grenades which to my way of thinking was a pretty big deal.  No longer are they able to run up, then next round shoot AND/or charge to kill tanks in melee.  Now it's just more shooting and throwing a grenade.  Not as assured anymore.  So I am considering Dark Lances for the unit and changing them to a red herring for the backfield but I want to see if it is necessary, since Dark lances, already a suspect weapon at times, got more expensive to get.  unfathomable really.  I note a very large number of changes that have reduced our anti-tank capability.  I really do think this is a ripple effect of Knight players perhaps not liking how quickly the behemoths can go down with some luck.  Thats beside the point right now though.  We will stay with blasters for now.

 

160pts  Archon (Huskblade, Armor of Misery, Helm of Spite, Shadowfield, Plasma Grenades, Haywire Grenade)

 

So much I want to do with him but he gets expensive fast.  He will wallop people with this version and he does a lot for the force's LD manipulation and psyker defense so he's a must.  Shadowfields got way better, not ending til the turn is over even if you fail a save.  STR 6 will make that irrelevant as it did before so...  There's that.  One hopes we will have enough to keep the enemy busy until he can do his grisly work.

140pts  Urien Rakarth (Casket of Flensing, Ichor Gauntlet+Close Combat Weapon, Clone Field)
.

Less Expensive, does less and...  He's okay I guess.Clone Field no longer makes him the challenge monster he was (but he dropped 50 points so...)  He gained a lot in shooting, and his casket is now solidly STR 3 ap3.  not game changing but at least you can kind of know when to use it. as compared to agonizing if you should or shouldnt use it because the variable str always made you unsure.

 

150pts  Razorwing Jetfighter (4 Monoscythe Missiles, 2 Dark Lances)
 

Purely taken as anti-air and I'll be frank, it feels like a pretty limp wristed measure at that.  Two shots usually don't take flyers down.  That's just math for ya' but hey the sun shines on a dogs butt once in a while.  No flyer will fail to kill IT.  Its anti-infantry weapons are okay and anti-TEQ is probably their strong suit but its just so limited in where it can be placed on the field if you dont dedicate yourself to killing the anti air that I didn't even bother upgrading it.  it'll be a crushing weight of fire when it comes in and if it survives coming in.  Big if.  It's worth 150 points to try though and at least it allows me not to totally concede the skies ot my enemy.  Flying Daemon princes and the like are a SERIOUS problem and even if I take one out with Disintegrator cannon fire, or dare to dream kill two of the big boys, well...

 

136pts 6 Scourges (4 x Haywire Blasters)

 

Reliable anti-Imperial Knight Hull Points is a good thing.  Nothing works better than haywire blasters at it and Imperial Knights are a thing.  So getting behind their shields is important and Scourges can do it and kind of force the question of where that shield is going to go.  Between the Scourges to the rear and Trueborn to the front, one hopes we can nuke a Knight.  Scourges are also just fine at starting the fun on transports in turn one on the approach.  A lot of good things to say about Scourges, compared to the last Codex, and I think you'll see many more of them swooping in.

 

Points:  1996
Kill Points:  15
Models:  61

[VonVilkee]

If you want to see a really silly one, put the raider on top of a fortress of redemption. I've done this before. Skimmer base fits perfectly on top. The tower is 14" tall, without night shields, the raider is effectively immune to almost every melta weapon in the game. Add the night shields and laugh as most weapons can't even shoot it. Granted, they can just destroy the tower, but it's a bunch more durable than the raider, especially if you add void shields. It might not be a 7th thing, but I think the damage to a vehicle/skimmer that falls off a destroyed building is very kind by comparison to infantry in the same situation.

 

Doesn't really help damage output, but it's funny to see durable DE.

 

I will note, as niche as it is, that Mandrakes have a viable role manning turrets of fortifications on the battlements. This is especially true if the battlements are placed outside your own deployment zone, possibly by the opponent. I haven't found another role for mandrakes at all.

Fyi fortifications are now placed just like any other model from your force and can therefore only be placed in your deployment zone.

[AbusePuppy]

The Ur-Ghul gives this hard hitting unit Fear.

 

Pay...paying points for Fear.

 

LH, you are a breed apart, I tell you what.

[fluger]

Reading the rules for the court, it appears you still MUST have at least one of each type in the unit.  So you need a Lamean

[Lord Hanaur]

No problem and then Abuse Puppy will be appeased that i took an Ur-ghul.  He's such a negative Nancy about things.  Fear is GREAt when you'r dropping the enemy's LD by 2!  Then all they can do is flail at you.

[pretre]

Unless you're playing against the majority of the field that is either fearless or ATSKNF. :)

[fluger]

My Orks certainly don't like it, but the change from hitting on 4s to 5s isn't really all that bad.  

[fluger]

He's such a negative Nancy about things.

 

Embrace your iconoclast nature and disregard those who would seek to dissuade you.  I mean, you KNOW that your opinions are contrarian of popular opinion, so getting flak should be second nature.  

 

I think you're mad most of the time, but I still like watching your ideas play out.