Ard Boy Semis Game ONE: Eldrad & Seer Council!

 General Oadius and I made the journey to Cupertino, CA last week to participate in the second round of Ard Boyz. It was a long drive and we stayed in a nearby safe house making final WYSIWYG adjustments to our armies Friday night. Last Saturday was the actual tournament, after we got our morning dose of caffeine  we made our way into the competition at Legends Comics and Games deep inside the Vallco Mall.

Vect has made his way into the Dark Eldar list for Ard Boyz. Both rounds I played this list with some minor adjustments:

1 Asdrubael Vect, 240 pts

1 Haemonculus, 205 pts (Venom Blade; Shattershard)
   1 Haemonculus (Venom Blade; Liquifier Gun x1)
   1 Haemonculus (Venom Blade; Animus Vitae; Liquifier Gun x1)

3 Kabalite Trueborn, 161 pts (Dark Lance x2)
   1 Raider (Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

4 Kabalite Trueborn, 181 pts (Blaster x4; Haywire Grenades)
   1 Venom (Splinter Cannon)

4 Kabalite Trueborn, 181 pts (Blaster x4; Haywire Grenades)
   1 Venom (Splinter Cannon)

8 Wyches, 238 pts (Shardnet & Impaler x1; Haywire Grenades)
   1 Hekatrix (Haywire Grenades; Phantasm Grenade Launcher; Agoniser)
   1 Raider (Enhanced Aethersails; Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

8 Wyches, 238 pts (Shardnet & Impaler x1; Haywire Grenades)
   1 Hekatrix (Haywire Grenades; Phantasm Grenade Launcher; Agoniser)
   1 Raider (Enhanced Aethersails; Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

7 Wyches, 226 pts (Shardnet & Impaler x1; Haywire Grenades)
   1 Hekatrix (Haywire Grenades; Phantasm Grenade Launcher; Agoniser)
   1 Raider (Enhanced Aethersails; Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

9 Wracks, 225 pts (Liquifier Gun x2)
   1 Acothyst (Agoniser)
   1 Raider (Grisly Trophies; Flickerfield)

5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
   1 Venom (Splinter Cannon; Grisly Trophies)

5 Kabalite Warriors, 130 pts (Blaster x1)
   1 Venom (Splinter Cannon; Grisly Trophies)

1 Ravager, 115 pts (Flickerfield)

1 Ravager, 115 pts (Flickerfield)

1 Ravager, 115 pts (Flickerfield)

Total Roster Cost: 2500

 Game One was vs Eldrad in a Wave Serpent AND a separate Seer council. Eldrad with a Firedragon unit, three units of Dire Avengers in Wave Serpents, a fourth 5-man in a Falcon, and Two Fire Prisms:

The first mission was Pitched Battle, Victory Points - each general also chose a model in a troop unit to be "The Messenger" that would be worth 500vp if it made it into the opponents deployment zone at any point in the game. I selected the Acothyst in the Wrack unit and the Eldar general went with one of the five dire avengers in the Falcon. He won the roll to go first.

Eldar setup mostly in the middle with the messenger falcon next to Eldrads wave serpent. With Vect my deployment has been the same almost every game. After the formation is down Eldrad allows him to re-deploy some units and he moves to the above formation, basically castled into his left corner. I failed to seize the initiative (ouch!)

Eldar shooting went well, taking out the Wrack raider and both Trueborn Venoms. None of the Wyches or Ravagers were touched and moved out. Wracks jumped in the Trueborn Raider and slid towards the enemy deployment zone screened by the Warrior Venoms. Warriors and Blasterborn crept forward to throw potshots on lead Wave Serpents but pretty much all lances failed except one Ravager trained on the messenger Falcon, no cover and that sucker exploded clean!

 

Eldar turn two shooting went well also, shaking a Ravager and downing all three Wych units. One ran away at this point and the second-lead unit was charged by the Seer Council. Vect and company took some shots from wave serpents but were mostly unharmed. During my second turn lances took out the Wave serpent his messenger unit jumped into - another clean explosion - but nothing else. My messengers moved flat out into his deployment zone and gave his messengers dirty looks. Vect and his girls joined the combat with the Seer Council.

Eldar shoots down most of my fleet and kills all the trueborn. The combat in the middle grinds along but I am winning. He shoots at my wrack unit and kills some, they move a little and murder his messengers. My remaining Ravagers are shaken and immobilized, and something similar for his Fire Prisms. Vect and the girls gain the upper hand in the middle but are still locked by a couple warlocks. 

Turn 4 the Eldar pile in tons of dire avengers and Eldrad and by the bottom of Turn 4 with time over, Vect and a few Wyches murder tons, and sweep everything. Eldrad failed every save possible. Dark Eldar Victory!