I finally tried out the Battlescribe app and it's pretty awesome. Before, I kept most of my lists in a spreadsheet on Google Drive but this makes it even easier and displays in a nicer format with all applicable rules appended at the end of the roster. Very handy indeed.
One of the first lists I put together using the app was a Dark Eldar Webway Portal (WWP) list. The WWP has been a sore subject with the advent of 6th edition and the abject nerfing of this particular wargear item / style of play. However, I must admit that I still find myself thinking about ways to make it work. One of the things it has going for it right off that bat is that no one is using them anymore, so you'll probably catch opponents off guard. Of course that isn't reason enough to use one, and at 35pts a pop it isn't exactly a cheap trick. So what
can you do with a WWP now that you can't assault from it and only 50% of your list is eligible to reserve (and NO allies)?
Options are certainly limited now, so you wont be seeing either of these (or anything else) assaulting out of one:
That leaves...
guns! Luckily, the Dark Eldar have some excellent shooty-based units (for example, 4 Trueborn each equipped with a Blaster is only 108pts). You can craft some decent shooting squads, but that's not the only consideration with WWP's. Only half of your units (non-vehicle & non-ally) can be held in reserve to take advantage of the portal, which means half of your army must survive until the rest show up -- not an easy task for a fragile T3 army. So I had to make sure I included larger, more survivable squads that can take advantage of Pain Tokens (namely for Feel No Pain and eventually Fearless). I also thought the inclusion of an Aegis Defense Line w/ Comms Relay would significantly help in both departments -- increased cover saves for the half that deploys and re-rollable reserve rolls to ensure the good stuff shows up turn 2-3.
Caveats: I haven't tested any of this and the list lacks any ability to deal with flyers, so this will certainly need some tweaking.
DE Webway (1997pts)
2000pt Dark Eldar 6th Ed (2012) Roster (Standard)
Dark Eldar 6th Ed (2012) (Standard) Selections:
HQ (460pts)
- Asdrubael Vect (240pts)
Ancient Nemesis, Fearless, Fleet, Independent Character, Master Tactician, Night Vision, Power from Pain
Ghostplate Armour, Haywire Grenades, Obsidian orbs, Plasma Grenades, Sceptre of the Dark City, Shadowfield, Splinter Pistol
- Haemonculus (220pts)
Altered Physique, Independent Character, Night Vision, Power from Pain
- Haemonculus (85pts)
Close Combat Weapon, Splinter Pistol, Webway Portal (35pts)
- Haemonculus (85pts)
Close Combat Weapon, Splinter Pistol, Webway Portal (35pts)
- Haemonculus (50pts)
Close Combat Weapon, Splinter Pistol
Elites (431pts)
- Kabalite Trueborn (173pts)
- 4x Trueborn (108pts)
Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
4x Blaster (60pts)
- Venom (65pts)
Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon (10pts)
- Kabalite Trueborn (173pts)
- 4x Trueborn (108pts)
Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
4x Blaster (60pts)
- Venom (65pts)
Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon (10pts)
- Mandrakes (85pts)
Baleblast, Close Combat Weapon, 5x Mandrake (75pts) (Infiltrate, Move through cover, Stealth, Inv (5+), Power from Pain, Fleet, Night Vision), Nightfiend (10pts)
Troops (680pts)
- Kabalite Warriors (200pts)
- Wracks (Troops) (180pts)
2x Liquifier Gun (20pts), 10x Wracks (100pts) (Power from Pain, Altered Physique, Night Vision)
- Raider (60pts)
Dark Lance
- Wracks (Troops) (180pts)
2x Liquifier Gun (20pts), 10x Wracks (100pts) (Power from Pain, Altered Physique, Night Vision)
- Raider (60pts)
Dark Lance
- Wracks (Troops) (120pts)
Liquifier Gun (10pts), 5x Wracks (50pts) (Power from Pain, Altered Physique, Night Vision)
- Raider (60pts)
Dark Lance
Fast Attack (156pts)
- Reaver Jetbikes (156pts)
Close combat Weapon, 2x Heat Lance (24pts), 6x Jetbikes (132pts) (Skilled Riders, Power from Pain, Combat Drugs, Fleet, Night Vision), Splinter pistol
Heavy Support (200pts)
- Cronos Parasite Engine (100pts)
Fearless, Move through Cover, Night Vision, Power from Pain
Close Combat Weapon, Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex (20pts)
- Cronos Parasite Engine (100pts)
Fearless, Move through Cover, Night Vision, Power from Pain
Close Combat Weapon, Spirit Syphon, Spirit Vortex (20pts)
Fortification (70pts)
Aegis Defence Line (70pts)
Battlefield Debris Terrain
Comms Relay (20pts) (Comms Relay)
Notes: Vect and naked Haemonculus deploy with 20 man Warrior squad behind the Aegis. One of the WWP Haemies deploys as far forward in cover as possible, to be joined by the Mandrakes during the infiltrate/scout move; the other rides with the small Wrack unit in a Raider to turboboost to an ideal location for the second portal.
Both Trueborn and 10 man Wrack squads have the flexibility to deploy with or without their dedicated transports. I'm leaning more towards reserving both Trueborn squads to have them come on through an upfield portal to eliminate a high armored threat on the way in (removing the risk of going up in flames when the Venoms goes down, cause they will go down). The Wracks I'll probably try 1 reserved and 1 aboard a Raider just to have the option of walking on 2 templates hopefully in the enemy's deployment zone.
The Reavers and both Cronos will be held in reserve to make use of the portals where they can be most effective. Reavers can reach anywhere on board to begin with and from portals in the midfield can almost always get within melta range for the Heat lances. Cronos are there to shower the rest of my forces with pain tokens and help out with any mech targets that survive my lances.
62 Infantry (all deploying with at least 1 Pain Token, aka FnP), 5 Vehicles, 6 Jetbikes, 2 Monstrous Creatures, 1 Fortification
13 Lances, lots of Poison (both ranged & close combat), 7 template weapons, 2 large blast AP3 + Vect's Obsidian blasts
So there you have it. Despite leaning on 2 elements (WWP's and Pain Tokens) that have lost potency in 6th edition, the list seems like fun to me. Question is, can these elements still form a viable strategy on the battlefield?
.png)
.JPG)
