Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Revisiting Asdrubael Vect


I was brainstorming today on how my Dark Eldar lists will play out if I went for more Warriors over Wyches.  Sure, Wyches are nice, but how do they compare to Warriors overall?  Warriors have the ability to inflict a lot of wounds at range as opposed to close combat.  Wounding on 4+ vs. everything is better than S3 in close combat for the most part.  Sure, the 4++ invulnerable in close combat is nice from the Wyches, but at the end of the day, killing things for that fast FNP is a must.  Plus, Warriors can take more AT from range and have the option to go either Dark Lances or Splinter Cannons depending on role.

Then it came to me.. what if I take a list with Warriors, Trueborn and Vect.  Just Vect, no other character is needed, but I'll also take his Dais of Destruction for a lovely AV13/13/13 shell for a 9-model retinue.  Since Vect has to come with 9 other models, I decided to gear them for dedicated CC.  Here's what the list looks like:

1750
14 kp

HQ:
Asdrubael Vect = 240
+Dais = 200

TROOP:
9x Wyches (Hekatrix/Agnoizer/PGL) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster, SC) = 185
10x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster, SC) = 185
10x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster, SC) = 185

ELITE:
10x Trueborn (Raider NS, 4x Blaster) = 250

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125


Short, simple, to the point.  Vect rides in his Dais with 9x Wyches, the Hekatrix w/ an Agonizer and PGL.  I had to put 10 points somewhere so I decided to just go with a PGL for Vect and the CC squad's sake.  In theory, the number of attacks and PW attacks I'm gonna put out should deter most units from assaulting me anyways.  Besides, they'll be well protected in the Dais of Destruction since it's pretty much the heaviest armored thing in the entire DE book.

The rest of the army looks like 10x Warriors w/ a Blaster and Splinter Cannon in each Night Shielded Raider.  I still like Night Shields over Flickerfields because I roll like ass when it comes to 5+ saves.  Besides, I'm pretty good at guess ranges and I should be able to limit my opponent's ability to retaliate if I deploy complete on one side.  Each Warrior squad should be able to put out 20 poisoned shots and a Blaster shot in Rapid Fire range which is pretty damn respectable.  Standing still in the Raider, 2x S8 AP2 Lance shots is also very welcome in a anti-tank role.

The Trueborn is still the same, boring Trueborn with their 4x Blasters and happy smiles.  Since I hit 1750 points exactly, I took out the Voidraven Bomber for the cheaper and more cost effective Ravager.  Since the entire army is Night Shielded or AV13 w/ cover (hide the Dais!), I'm pretty confident with my ability to declare war anywhere in the galaxy.

Here is how you win with this list:

  • Let your opponent deploy first so you can study his unit placement, the terrain he chooses and the best angle for your attack.
  • When you deploy, keep everything either out of LoS, in extreme cover or far away if he deployed well.  Leave no room for him to alpha-strike your units and use Night Shields and range to harass his first turn.
  • Deploy aggressively if you can.  Vect has the ability to seize initiative on a 4+ and you should take advantage of this whenever possible.  Also note that with my list above, when moving 12" with your army on the first turn, you can shoot out 14x S8 AP2 Dark Lance shots out from an 48" effective combat range.  That's a lot of pressure and pain right from the get go.
  • If you think that's rough, if nothing dies on your first turn, your next turn will consist of 23 Dark Lance shots once your Blasters are in range.  That's pretty absurd.
  • Concentrate firepower on one side of the table and be aggressive in your approach.  Pop transports with Lances, rapid fire poison the contents or just concentrate Dark Lances into MEQ for easy kills.
  • Don't be afraid to engage with Vect and his bodyguard of Wyches if you see the opportunity; especially if its an easy kill.  Vect is a CC monster and with 4x additional Agonizer attacks from the Hekatrix, you should be able to wipe most 10-man MEQ squads off the board with ease.  Once you obtain that first Pain Token, get into cover and back onto your Dais for additional protection.  Having a fast, skimmer AV13 scoring transport with FNP units inside is insanely good.
  • Also, don't forget that Vect has a S10 AP3 Blast weapon that's assault 1 and he has BS8.  That pretty much means it'll almost never scatter and it'll murder MEQ or low leadership models (like Orks) for free health.

Yeah, I'm pretty much in love with this list.  Looks great on paper, will probably suffer to horde-style armies, but that's why I have a good amount of shooting to compensate as well.  Plus, I can always run away and shoot while most foot-slogging armies cannot.

5 comments:

GMSN said...

also don't be afraid to put non-ID wounds on Vect as he has a good chance of regaining lost wounds with his shooting attack

HERO said...

Plus the guy has 4 wounds!

Ahrimaneus said...

I am hugely in love with Vect. I'm not totally sold on his Dais as 200 points is pretty steep for even AV13 open-topped which doesn't get to fire all 3 DL's on the move. It's certainly not a "bad" choice though. Phil Kelly did a good job of eliminating "bad choices" from this codex, with one or two exceptions (I'm looking at you, Mandrakes!!!)

With his 4 wounds, 3+ agonizer, preferred enemy, 6 attacks, grenades, shadowfield, 4W, Ghostplate, and spirit bomb thing, Vect is easily worth his 240 points. Oh, and he gives you a 4+ to seize the initiative!!! Just in case!!!

He'll probably make it into quite a lot of my lists. He's an absolute monster.

Dantalion said...

I won a tournament yesterday with somewhat of a similar list to yours hero, only exception is that I used one ravager and one talos plus 2 warrior squads and 2 wych squads and a trueborn squad with 2 blasters, 2 sc and 5 shardcarbines plus a haemonculi and I can say that astrubal vect rips things apart like crazy, he is totally worth his points..on the other hand, his Dais went down real fast to deep striking units, so I was wondering if he can have a regular raider if he joins with a troop choice? I need the flickerfield for his squad so they dont have to run all the time:P ( btw, flickerfield is a game saver)

HERO said...

Vect doesn't have to take his Dais with him everywhere. You can easily take 9 Wyches and Vect in a Raider if you want to.

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