So first off, my standard updates. First, Otakon was this weekend, and as usual it was a blast. I suspect this had more to do with staying in a hotel and walking around Baltimore with friends than it did with the actual con, but hey, I'm not complaining. It's surprising how little you can spend on food when you try, especially with the hotel's complimentary continental breakfast. Anyway, I watched most of Baccano! (yes, exclamation point is part of the title), and its a top-notch show, but I'll wait until I've finished it to rant about why its so great.
At work, I got transferred to a new unit: (Grand) Auto Theft. This was a transfer I'd specifically requested (though really, the request was basically "anything but Records"...), so I'm pretty excited about it. Don't ask me what I'm doing, because I can't tell you. I expect it to be tricky, but interesting, and I might actually land some convictions(!). I might also waste a month and earn the ire of a half dozen auto detectives, but hey, with great power comes great responsibility...
Besides all that, I've been generally wasting my time, and when I waste my time, I tend to waste it on 40k. I got a paycheck in the mail (from UMBC, which I forgot to pick up end of last semester), so I'll be buying the rest of my Tau army fairly soon. Painting is going to be another issue entirely; it'll probably only come together one piece at a time as I make use of the Battle Bunker's free paint bar.
In any event, I was flipping through the Eldar Codex (figuratively; its a pdf) and I began trying to think of what sort of list it would be able to field at 1000 pts. This led to me reading Eldar tactics online, which led to toying with different loadouts, which led to (after several hours) writing up my own Army-List for a faction I have no intention of playing purely as a mental exercise.
But it was interesting, and let me notice some weaknesses in my own list. More importantly, it let me recognize the strengths of an Eldar playstyle (jetbike Eldar, in this case), so I could more effectively counter them.
So I've decided on a new project for the next few weeks: I will write one army list for every 40k faction, and analyze its strengths and weaknesses. And I'll post them here, because I don't have anywhere better to write it down, and it shows off what is prehaps 40k's greatest strength: the variety of ways it can be played, depending on what you field.
So, Eldar! They're basically Elves-in-Space (40k was originally a spin-off of Warhammer Fantasy, hence the Elves/Orcs/etc.), and focus on fast, mobile troops at the expense of staying power, as well as a variety of excellent single-role elite units. However, I focussed on what I thought was coolest about this army: Jetbikes. Because even Space-Elves are cool when they're riding on jetbikes. Especially if they have lances.
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HQ: [note#1]
Autarch (70)
-on Jetbike (30)
-Laser Lance (20)
-Fusion Gun (10)
-Mandiblaster (10)
Fast Attack:
5x Shining Spears
-w/ Exarch (12)
-Starlance (15)
-Withdraw (25)
Heavy Support: [note#2]
Falcon Grav-tank (115)
-Scatter Laser (15)
-Shuriken Cannon (10)
-Holofields (35)
-Spirit Stone (10)
Elites:
6xFire Dragons (96)
Troops [note#3]
7x Guardian Jetbikes (154)
-2 w/ Shuriken Cannon (20)
7x Guardian Jetbikes (154)
-2 w/ Shuriken Cannon (20)
Note#1
The Autarch will be attached to the Shining Spears unit, and together they form the core of this army (read: a gigantically inefficient points-sink). Together, this unit is packing 2 Str8 (one of which is Melta) and 4 Str6 shots from 6" range, followed up by 16 Str6 powerweapon attacks (i.e. they ignore armour saves) on the charge. Ideally, these would jet up to directly behind an enemy transport, blow it up with shooting (good odds, considering the Aut's fusiongun is BS 6) and then assault whatever it's holding, killing it before it can attack back. 5th Edition is Transports Edition, and wiping entire transport units in one turn is extremely powerful. As far as upgrades go, this is a pretty standard 'Autarch Lancer' setup, with two exceptions: Withdraw on the Exarch, because Shining Spears are awesome on a charge but will lose most close combats if they get stuck in for more than one or two rounds (so Hit-and-Run is very useful, even if its just to break off and charge the same unit again), and Mandiblasters, which I took because I had a few extra points left at the end, and another attack never hurt anybody (or... it never hurt the guy making the attack, anyway).
Note#2
The Falcon Grav-tank is arguably the best, or at least the most versatile, tank in the game. Its a fast skimmer with both a Str8 AP2 Pulse Laser (two shots per turn) for killing heavy armor and Terminators, and (with Scatter Lasers and Shuriken Cannon) excellent volume of fire for transports and medium infantry. In short, its a threat to everything on the board, and with Holofields and Spirit Stones, its quite durable as well.
That said, it's here mainly as a mount for the Fire Dragons, which balance out the Falcon's versatility with single-minded killyness. Dragons, with their fusion guns, can take down any vehicle practically guaranteed, so much so that they're usually overkill. However, they can also dump low-AP firepower into tough units like Terminators, Carnifexes, Ork Nobz... Basically, they're a kill button: deploy them next to something, and that something dies. The combo of Falcon+Fire Dragons is rather common, and is known as the 'Dragon Wagon'.
Note#3
Oh, wait, I need to have troops selections? What a bother... Keeping with the 'all fast all the time' theme of this list, the two mandatory troops choices are filled in by two 7-man (6 makes more sense, but the points worked out this way...) Guardian Jetbike squads. With two shuriken cannons in each squad, these guys can dish out a reasonable amount of firepower, considering how few models they are. However, there's only seven of them, so even with their increased Toughness and 3+ Save, they're a pretty fragile unit. Thankfully, their speed allows them to keep (mostly) out of harm's way, and a last-turn Turboboost can still be used to contest or even control objectives (hurrah for 24"-move Troops!).
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So that's that. This army is extremely small (only 27 models!) and extremely fast (nothing that moves slower than 24"). Ideally, it would get second turn (and thus last move of the game), and keep everything off the board on Turn 1 to avoid getting shot up first turn. The Autarch and Dragon Wagon should systematically destroy high-value targets, with the Jetbikes keeping mobile and out of trouble. On the last turn, they zip onto lightly-defended (or undefended) objectives, blast the opponent off them, and win.
Next Time (40k): An Ork List! WAAAAAAAARGH!
Next Time (Cops Stuff): Ridealong this Saturday
Next Time (Philosophy): Um...well, I'm open to intriguing questions/enlightening discussion. Also, Hume is a jerk.
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