At the weekend, I entered a monthly local tourney with 8 players. The tourney level was Gamma and played with 1500 pt armies.

This time, I played my Eldar army led by an Autarch on jetbike, 2 Pathfinder squads, 1 Harlequin troupe, 1 small Fire Dragon squad mounted in a Serpent, 1 Shining Spears squadron, 2 Fire Prisms, and 1 Falcon.

The favourites were Andy with mech Tau, Jo with Necrons, and me. The other armies were Eldar (x2), Black Templars, Slaanesh, and Black Legion.


First game was Recon against Andy’s mech Tau. He had 3 Hammerheads, 3 Devilfishes with Tau Warriors, 2 HQs, 2 Piranhas, and 3 Crisis squads.

I had first turn and shot down 1 Hammerhead, 1 Piranha (immobilized), and 1 Devilfish. Falcon and Serpent advanced on one flank, Spears boosted behind cover in the centre, while Prisms stayed back. His return fire stunned one Prism, nothing critical. Next turn, Fire Dragons disembarked destroying another Devilfish while the Falcon advanced. Spears boosted into his end zone close to the Fire Dragons. Second Piranha crashed, too. The Prisms repositioned to leave one flank blank (negating concentrating Crisis fire). His return fire killed the Dragons and the Spears fell back, while one Prism got destroyed. In my turn, Falcon downed last Devilfish, with Harlies disembarking (stationary Falcon) killing Warriors and Crisis left and right. The game was almost over for him with one Crisis squad remaining plus 2 Hammerheads on one flank. I won by +700 pts.


Second game was Cleanse vs. newbie Eldar army written by store owner, Simon, philosopher and business man: 2 Prisms, Falcon with Harlie troupe, Pathfinder squad, Dire Avengers, Swooping Hawks, Vyper, Farseer, and Avatar. Luckily, I could choose the quarter so that most of his army was left in the open.

I had first turn and shot down the Falcon (immobilized), the Harlies had to disembark, and one Prism was stunned. In his turn, the Avatar advanced with the DAs plus Farseer in his fearless bubble. My shooting was really crap during the whole game so that I will not report on this. My Spears charged his Pathfinders annihilating them, while the Serpent and Falcon slowly advanced. He stunned one of my Prisms again while the Harlies aimed at my Pathfinders on one side, and the Avatar advanced. Then my Spears charged the DAs and my Harlies the Avatar. The DAs survived the charge (decimated) but the Avatar was dead (meat). Next turn the Harlies knocked out the DAs with the Farseer surviving, while his Harlies got killed by a template from my Fire Prism. His Swooping Hawks struck deeply but bounced towards my Autarch. He charged them and wiped them out: 5 hits, 5 wounds, 5 dead Hawks. My Dragons disembarked to take on one of his Prisms and the Prism got immobilized. At the end it was a massacre, he had one Prism intact, Falcon plus 2nd Prism immobilized, while most of my army was intact.


Third game was Seek and Destroy vs. Jo’s Necrons, a nightmare. He had Lord w/ orb and veil, 2 Necron Warrior squads, 8 Immortals, 3x4 Destroyers, and 2x1 Heavy Destroyers.


Deployment was like this, he refused one flank:

4 D I 4 D 4D
N L N HD HD
**** ******


****
****
FP FP ** P*** ***P**
SS A Fal
Serp


I had first turn and managed that one Warrior squad fell back, downed several Warriors and downed all 4 Destroyers in the centred squad. One came back and joined the right hand squad. Warriors regrouped, of course. His shooting was disappointing, loosing one or two Pathfinders. Next turn the Dragons disembarked from the Serpent to kill one HD while the Serpent killed the other. Falcon downed a few Destroyers. Spears and Autarch moved behind the centre height 3 piece ready for next turn charge. Prism downed a few Warriors. His Lord teleported close to the Dragons aiming to kill them, while his Immortals advanced to take on the Serpent. But the Immortals’ Gauss weapons couldn’t get their job done. Next turn the Prism killed with the S6 pie plate all but Lord and 1 Warrior, and these remnants got charged by the Harlies killing them. The Lord came back, of course. The Harlies got smashed despite the Shadow Seer by the Immortals and the Autarch and Spears charged the 4 Destroyers plus the 2nd Warrior squad at the centre. This cc went on until the end of the game, the Autarch survived while the Spears got killed. At the end it was a draw, with slight advantage for me, +140 pts, but still a draw.

So I ended up 2nd, with Jo’s Necrons first and Andy’s mech Tau third.


Summary: I was really pleased with the performance of my army. My Spears normally struggle as I usually roll badly when it comes to a morale check. Autarch and Pathfinders are both an asset in this army, as are the Fire Dragons and the Harlies. Cannot decide what heavy support combo is more effective: 2 Prisms + 1 Falcon, or 3 Falcons. After this tourney the tendency goes to the first combo.