May as well continue as I started. Here is a brief (or maybe not so brief) roundup of my games at the Team Tournament. Overlords Team 1 went into the tournament on a bit of a low, because we knew who our opponents were and had spent the night before steeling ourselves for a round of losses. The lists we were up against were high standard comp lists and ours, to put it lightly, were not. I’d say my Hellion list is decent, but not great simply due to the fact that there are certain builds that mince them. There were definitely a few of them in attendance that weekend!
Looking at the lists, I knew I didn’t have a chance against the Grey Knights (Psyspam-yawn) or the Guard (take a guess!), but the Space Wolves and the Tau looked a little less dispiriting. Anyway, after all the draws were complete, I was pitched against the Wolves.
Now Wolves can be a very bad matchup for the Dark Eldar. Split-firing Long Fangs with missile launchers will mess up a DE mech list. However, I’ve had a fairly decent competition rate against them due to the one thing that makes my list different from the other DE compers: the Hellions. I know a lot of Dark Eldar lists will run a unit Hellions. Mainly because they want the Baron’s +1 for priority and to use all the little rerolls and rules he uses. They don’t throw themselves into the Hellions as Troops idea enough in my opinion. What they bring to my list against the typical Wolf missile list is survivability, which seems like an odd sentence. The thing is, if you’re using cover properly, then it’s very hard to shift the squad, especially if they’ve already accrued a pain token. Missiles won’t cut it. By using the unit’s manoeuvrability and available cover properly, you can close in on static shooting elements quickly and with fairly low casualty rates (assuming halfway decent luck). Then you can descend on them and take them out en masse. They’re also great for disrupting the enemy attack plans, as no-one sticks to their battle strategy when there are 18 hellions multi-assaulting their backfield. It’s often a sacrificial role, but hey, it’s worth it. Most of the time. If you’re running the standard Venom/Raider spam list, then almost all of your anti-infantry is tied up in vehicles. The missiles flying around will shut your paper planes down even if it doesn’t kill them, massively reducing your firepower response and ensuring just as many rockets next turn. They have to deploy different tools to deal with Hellions, and many times my opponent has had to get nearly everyone out their transports to deal with a Hellion combat. They can kill the Hellions when they do that. But it means I can hurt them with poison weaponry during my turn now. Or, even better, get the drop on them with my second squad. If they don’t kill the Hellions (hey, it happens sometimes…) then I just Hit and Run out and I’m in an even stronger position. With a 3D6 Hit and Run move and the normal movement of these guys you can cover an obscene amount of ground and then assault a less well defended area (maybe some more Long Fangs, who knows?). Anyway, enough digression. Back to the game.
I can fairly safely state that we both weren’t playing our best that time. But that report I promised will have to wait for another time. Lunch is over.
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