Prot Quickie Batrep: Craftworlds VS. Orks (some pics)

[Prot]

So again this will be quick as I have a busy day going here, but I promised I'd follow up on my WraithKnight experiment.

I think this is basically my list:

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Aeldari - Craftworlds) [68 PL, 1,261pts] ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Craftworld Attribute
. *Custom Craftworld*: Expert Crafters, Wrath of the Dead

The Path of War

+ HQ +

Autarch Skyrunner (Legends) [6 PL, 105pts]: Banshee Mask, Laser Lance, Twin Shuriken Catapult

Warlock [2 PL, 45pts]: 0. Smite, Shuriken Pistol, Witchblade

+ Troops +

Guardian Defenders [5 PL, 95pts]: 10x Guardian Defender
. Guardian Heavy Weapons Platform: Shuriken Cannon

Rangers [3 PL, 60pts]: 5x Ranger

Rangers [3 PL, 60pts]: 5x Ranger

+ Elites +

Wraithblades [10 PL, 175pts]: Ghostaxe and Forceshield, 5x Wraithblade

Wraithguard [11 PL, 185pts]: D-scythe, 5x Wraithguard

+ Flyer +

Hemlock Wraithfighter [10 PL, 210pts]: 6. Impair Senses, Spirit Stones

+ Dedicated Transport +

Wave Serpent [9 PL, 159pts]: Spirit Stones, Twin Shuriken Cannon, Twin Shuriken Catapult, Vectored Engines

Wave Serpent [9 PL, 167pts]: Spirit Stones, Twin Bright Lance, Twin Shuriken Catapult

++ Spearhead Detachment +1CP (Aeldari - Craftworlds) [9 PL, 120pts] ++

+ Heavy Support +

Support Weapons [9 PL, 120pts]
. Support Weapon: Vibro Cannon
. Support Weapon: Vibro Cannon
. Support Weapon: Vibro Cannon

++ Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Aeldari - Craftworlds) ++

++ Supreme Command Detachment +1CP (Aeldari - Craftworlds) [40 PL, 636pts] ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Craftworld Attribute
. *Custom Craftworld*: Children of Prophecy, Masters of Concealment

+ HQ +

Farseer Skyrunner [7 PL, 137pts]: 0. Smite, 2. Doom, 3. Fortune, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear, Twin Shuriken Catapult

Spiritseer [3 PL, 55pts]: 0. Smite, 4. Protect/Jinx, Shuriken Pistol

Spiritseer [3 PL, 55pts]: 0. Smite, 5. Quicken/Restrain, Shuriken Pistol

+ Lord of War +

Wraithknight [27 PL, 389pts]: Scatter Laser, Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield

++ Total: [117 PL, 2,017pts] ++

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

The Game was a 2019 CA Maelstrom. Very cool. Used the new 18 card deck rules creating a much tighter, and enjoyable game of Maelstrom. The rules were good for this as we chose the scenario (randomly) for (can't remember the name) the one where you get to draw an extra card into your 5 card hand if you control more objectives at the beginning of your turn than your opponent. This would be a massive challenge since I have such few Obsec units. And he's... well... Orks.

The Ork list was basically large squads of boys in a battalion, and I think 3 more Grot squads in a second Battalion. He had the Gorkanaut and Morkanaut. Protected with the 2 Smasha Guns, and 1 relic Shock attack gun and a non relic Shock attack gun. A psyker, and Killer can squad of 3. Also 2 deepstriking dreadnoughts.

Rundown:

- Orks pick deployment map (Dawn of War). Eldar deploy first, and choose to go first. Orks steal the initiative. D'oh!!!

- My Wraithknight takes a metric TON of firepower. It does not fall. It gets down to 5 wounds. I think a re-roll of an Invuln saved its life! Finally the Orks realize they don't have first blood yet. They fire a Morkanaut 2 times to try to seal the deal, but they have to split fire to kill a Support Platform, and get first blood. However his shots are horrible against the Knight and he lives with TWO WOUNDS.

- As you can see the Orks are advancing, losing first turn really stunk.... as it always does. The orks are screening with bodies. My Wraithknight is surprisingly alive.

- Moment of Note: In T1 he "Da Jumped" that big boyz squad. I kept the Farseer within 6" of the Wraithknight and used Foresight (or whatever it's called) to shoot the Wraithknight's Suncannon and 2 Scatter Lasers at the squad. This killed a fair number, and might be one of the better implementations I could have (using the Wraithknight) for that Strategem.

- The Orks lead 2-0 with one card accomplished and First Strike.

- I used as many psychics as I could to help the Wraithknight out. My other Wraith units stayed embarked.

- My Wraithknight was healed for 3 points with a Strat taking him up to 5. He would shoot, the army would shoot. I would nearly kill his Morkanaut (the one with the invuln) ( I cast Doom an Jinx on it for the 2 remaining Vibro cannons to take advantage of, and Brightlance Serpent) but couldn't do it. He was down to 5 wounds. I charged the WK into the remaining Boyz squad and killed a bunch of them. I score 1 point and we are tied 2-2 (with first strike).

I get first blood with the Wraithfighter.

- My WK is near death, and at least it forces him to withdraw his units and pull back a bit giving me a touch of breathing room. I have to admit Fortune was key in extending his life. I knew he wouldn't make it, but I had hoped he would draw a decent amount of firepower again. And he did. But then he blew up, and and took a few more boyz with him.

This is my Chaos Knight being proxied as a Wraithknight.

- He took a lot of shots to get that unit killed. I forgot in T1 my Wraithfighter flew over to one smasha gun and got 2D3 shots off killing one of them for my First Strike point. He largely ignored the Wraithfighter because of bigger targets this game.

- His shooting cleared out a lot of my Rangers. I was left with 4 I believe. But barely took damage on the Serpents as a result of their shields and the WK absorbing so much.(Thanks to Fortune.)

- He plays the mission though and has a whopping 4 point turn.

- I do what I can. The Wraiths finally disembark but I have some Objectives that are going to be very hard. I Doom his giant Walker again, but don't bother with Jinx. The Axe/shield Wraiths get Fortune, and Protect. This helps. They rush in and Kill his Warboss on Bike, the Shield carrying dude (5++), and a Killer Kan. Good turn for those boys. I can't do much to the Gorkanaut.

- My other wraiths get out, and D-scythe 2 other walkers, leaving 1 wound left on 1 model between the damage done by all Wraiths.

- I deepstrike the Guardians and they start hosing a bunch of Boyz from a fresh squad. But not enough for a morale threat.

- My Wraithfighter flies right in -perfect- position to fire at his Shok Attack gun. I roll snake eyes for shots. I roll snake eyes for wounds! But I had taken the Wrath of the Dead trait, and re roll them. But he takes the damage on the "Oil rigger" (some kind of grot that is assigned to the Shock dude.) and he takes 2 damage, leaving the Shokk attach gunner still alive! That kind of sucked.

- I end the turn with another 2 points, but fall behind by 2.

- Orks come in with the deep striking dreads on my left flank behind my empty Serpent.

- The Gorkanaut charges my Axe Wraiths, and with Fortune/Protect running, they only take 2 wounds some how! They do 4 back though!

- The Ork shooting rips one Serpent almost dead. He's still ignoring the 2 last Vibro's and the Wraithfighter. He is threatened by the Wraiths too much. His bulk anti-infantry shooting rips into the Guardians but the Platform actually tanks 12 saves in a row!!!

- He has a good turn though aside from the Gorkanaut assault and scores something like 4 points.

- So I'm behind the 8 ball but I have almost pure capture objective cards. I do try to get them but my Serpent with Brightlances can't kill 10 grots which are obsec... very frusrtating.

- I withdrew the axe wraiths. And that allowed me to shoot at the Doomed Gorganaut and ALMOST destroy it. My issue is I want to shoot his Deepstrike Dread with my Wraithfighter because Ill surely kill it and it threatens my back line .I was VERY careful how I placed the flyer base so I could measure that even if he moves over my base, he cannot complete his move clearing 1" from my flyer base (essentially blocking him from my HQ's).

- Since the Vibro's were so terribad with 1 shot each, the Gorkanaut lived. So the Wraithfighter was forced to finish off the Doomed Gorkanaut. 5 of the specialty boyz (with axes, can't remember the names) with 2 wounds a piece come tumbling out. Sure I will get charged again, but can't charge since I just retreated the Axe Wraiths.

- I need to kill SOMETHING in close combat. I make a mistake. I don't have a big target for the D Scythe Wraiths and I don't want to accidentally kill ALL the Grots on an objective so I don't shoot, I charge them, and I can't kill them. lol The Spirit Seer tries to assist but sucks. Luckily I surround the remaining Grots, they can't escape, and not all of them run.

- I get one more point but am now seriously behind.

Summary of End Game:

- Ork Turn: He is unable to kill off my D Scythe Wraiths. He does blow up a Wave Serpent, and nearly kills the second one. It remains on 1 wound, still fighting with its brightlances trying to kill 4 bloody Grots for an objective. A slap fight that's been going on for 2 full turns!

- Orks run out of firepower, and can't make a serious threat to my HQ's so I feel lucky. The Ork Boyz with Axes that fell out of the Gorkanaut assault the Fortuned/Protected Axe Wraith (I still have 2 left!). He fails to kill any. I kill three of his dudes in return.

- His turn ends scoring a point. He hides his last Dreadnaut with 1 left in my corner.

- Eldar Turn: Eldar smell blood. The Farseer Skyrunner and Autarch Skyrunner zoom ahead to his Shock Attack guns. The WraithFighter returns to his orginal positon to try to snipe the Shock Attack dude he previously injured.

- The DScythe Wraiths kill all the rest of the 2 remaining Smasha Guns.

- The Farseer Smites a Shock Attack gun. The Autarch finishes the kill.

- The Wraithfighter shoots down the last Shock Attack gun.

- My last, severely wounded Serpent disperses its shields (after shooting terribly) to kill the last Grots, finally gaining that point I've been fighting grots for the last 2 turns for.

- My last 4 Rangers cause 3 wounds on his Dread (with 1 wound left) in my zone. He passes all 3 saves. This gets Orks Linebreaker.

We tally the score. I get 4 points to come within 1 point, but we both have linebreaker, and if I could have killed that dread, I would have tied.

Post Game:

So I am without a clue after this game. I know my opponent admits this wasn't his tournament level ork list, but he did say he usually is very competitive with it. I told him I am 'attempting' to play my Eldar competitively without going into Dark Eldar or 8 flyers. So my final thoughts:

- He felt the Wraithknight was a no go. Even though I did explain the immense firepower he soaked up would have surely cost me 2-4 other units (as it stood I only lost the one Vibro in T1.)

- I felt the Wraithknight did very little damage, and was capable of very little damage in this configuration. Although the Shield most definitely prevented it from dying in T1 from Shokk attack guns alone!. The damage out put was lethargic, even if I remove the damaged state. Is Gorkanaut is making like 16 attacks with bonuses to my 12 'stompes'. The Suncannon 2D6 shots is only about 5-6 shots a turn at S6. The Scatter lasers are just cheap enough to use. I'm very uncertain about the WK. When I got seized on and came within a hair of losing him... at that moment I thought I'd be better off with hiding a pair of Fire Prisms perhaps, and filling out the army with more shooting.

- Both me and my opponent felt I did not have a lot of firepower. I had trouble removing chaff. It felt like killing something was exceptionally difficult without Doom/Jinx on the target.

- I took a command dedatchment to get the Spirit Seers and Farseer counting 1's as 2's in the psychic phase. This resulted in my passing 1 save I wouldn't have otherwise. The confusing thing was since I had different 'craftworld' attributes on these psykers I wasn't sure if I could still cast powers on the rest of the army. I believed I could, and did so.

- The Vibro's were incredibly mediocre. I could see 6 of them really working. 3 is really just 'pitching in' and helping to kill a vehicle/tough unit when it's almost dead.

- 100% of the army seemed to rise and fall on the success of the Psychic phase. I increased that ability by taking another psyker (warlock) this game and it was notable.

- The Wraithfighter. I loved painting it, and it was super fun to use. I finally felt like I could reach out to units that are otherwise blocked off from danger. Character hunting forced my opponent to move very carfully.

- Wraiths. Ugh what to do. The D Scythes aren't great.The Axes and shields are fun, but MUST be buffed. All of my Wraith units (including Wraithlords which were pulled out for this game) MELTED against DE poison. I imagine it would be worse against Deathwatch. These guys were fun, and capable in this game, but those two match ups make this almost unthinkable in a tournament scenario..... Maybe Wraiths but Wraithlords can't be hidden really.

- I missed the Wraithlords as fun, terrorizing units, and fun models to paint in the future, but for effectiveness? I have to admit I did not miss them one bit. The WK was just more survivable.

- What would I change? No idea on the Wraithknight. I would appreciate thoughts on using him, and the build I have. (I wish he was shootier)

- Wraiths. Considering pulling Dcythes for... Wraithcannons? I don't know.

- Weapon Platforms are mediocre, but so cheap right now. I don't think I'll pull them.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading and input.

[Emicus]

Wraithcannons help slagging big targets, and have enough range to webway rather than transport.

 

You liked the plane. What about another one? ;)

[Prot]

That's a good point. I still have the issue of blowing away a buffer of chaff in time to implement that sort of strategy by Turn 2. Right now I'm hurting for points. I'd like to keep the Wraithknight, but you're right I did enjoy the Wraithfighter.

 

I just think I'm getting really thin on the ground and I felt it body count wise against Orks. I'd love another Wraithfighter, but since it is so role specific (2D3 isn't great either... effective against characters but not great.) Crimson Hunters perhaps? Again points are getting thin. I suppose if I pull the Wraithknight.

 

I think a BIG difference maker is I have to start using the Vigilus Defiant Detachment to really validate the WK. 

 

I have a game tonight. It will be a random match up so I won't change a ton of the list, but probably change the config of the Knight to dual cannons.

[Aothaine]

Thank you for sharing the batrep. I also want to point out that my experience with Eldar is solely based off the discussions and batreps that I have watched with them on Tabletop Tactics. Some of my thoughts could be outdated or even bad in the current meta.

 

So here are my suggestions. Since you want to play competitive and not spam flyers. I would suggest the following:

 

1) Verify the main theme of the army. Are you dead set on using wraiths? If so, they can be used effectively. The D-Scythes are really good but better to run them in all three units as your major threat units and build the rest of the army to help make these guys work.

 

2) Make sure the Wave Serpents have the upgrade that reduces the dmg they take by 1 to a min of 1. Especially if you're using them to transport your Wraiths.

 

3) Drop the Wraith Knight for sure. Pick up the bikers with lances I think? Keep in mind that the Eldar army can be exceptionally fast and re-positioning your army is something that can give Eldar a very significant advantage.

 

4) Your troops selections were good. But if you want to be really competitive I would run at least two max size squads and use the faction rules that give you the 6+++ save, they also have a bunch of strats that let you webway one of these squads and seriously nuke something. It is similar to the bloodletter bomb.

 

5) Rangers are not the best snipers, but they are snipers. I  would try and take at least the two squads you already have but if you have extra points trying to fit in another 1-2 squads might not be a bad idea in this aura-centric meta. 

 

6) Dark Reapers are really good. They are a bit pricey though. I would consider taking at least two squads though for competitive play. Use that second Guardian squad to help protect them or maybe the rangers?

 

7) Don't forget that Eldar have all the specialty units as well. It all depends on what type of army you're planning on building ya know?

 

Anyway, the game seemed to go about as good as it would. Your list isn't bad at all. It feels a little slow for Eldar for my personal tastes and I think you would have done better to throw in some more guardian squads since you were playing the static gunline type army. The Wave Serpents seemed to really only have been used to protect the wraiths which isn't a bad decision, but using the webway might have been a better option to protect your wraiths.