Lets start with a Dark Eldar CAD. Take 2 characters, one with the Armour of Misery, the other with the Arch Angel of Pain, and one of them with a Webway portal.
Then we move on to two level 3 Sorcerers from the Crimson slaughter book, they will roll their powers on Telepathy for the most part, Psychic Shriek, Dominate, and Terrify being the important considerations.
Next we incorporate the Formation Kranon's Helguard.
Finally we consider the Crimson Slaughter warlord trait Maelstrom of Torment.
At this point you should have about 500 points to fill in the blanks and buy upgrades and transports and such.
So what do you get when you combine all those things together? Lets do the math...
The Armour of Misery dishes out a -2Ld to anyone within 6", Kranon's Helguard add a -1Ld if you are within 12" of any unit, Terrify adds yet another -1Ld to the target unit, and if you happen to get Maelstrom of Torment, that will add another -1Ld. Add all those negatives together and you get a whopping -5Ld penalty.
Then you cast Dominate on one unit, and Psychic Shriek on the other and watch and your enemies army either runs away, dies, or stands there dumbfounded
Add to that the Archangel of Pain which piles on another -2Ld penalty when it activates, although it doesn't effect units with Fearless or ATSKNF, for a whopping -7Ld check that inflicts a wound for each point you fail by on each unit with 9"
So lets have a look at my test army...
Kranon's Helguard:
Chad Lord, Axe of Blind Fury, MOK, Aura of Dark Glory
Cultist (x10) flamer
Cultist (x10) flamer
Land Raider, Fourth Quadrant Rebellion Legacy of Ruin
Terminators (x3) x3 combi-meltas
Chosen (x5) no upgrades
Helbrute
Raptors (x5) x2 melta-guns, meta-bomb
Dark Eldar CAD
Archon, Armour of Misery, webway portal, Venom (x2 splinter cannons)
Haemonculus, Archangel of Pain
Warriors (x5), blaster, Sybarite, Phanasm grenade launcher, Raider, dark lance, shock prow
Warriors (x5), blaster, Sybarite, Phanasm grenade launcher, Raider, dark lance, shock prow
Crimson Slaughter CAD
Sorcerer, level 3, Sigil of Corruption, spell familiar, Warlord
Sorcerer, level 3, spell familiar
Cultists (x10) flamer
Cultists (x10) flamer
The basics are as follows...
Turn 1, try to open as many transports as possible with the Land Raider, Raiders and warriors, Helbrute, and Raptors.
Turn 2, deep strike the Archon and Haemonculus somewhere really close to the enemy, getting as many units within 6" as possible, the Armour of Misery gives them -2Ld. Then drop in the Terminators somewhere useful, distracting, or sneaky. Meanwhile I move up with Kranon's Helguard, the Lord, both sorcerers, and the chosen in the Landraider and deploy within striking distance. If I managed to roll Maelstrom of Torment, that is a further -2Ld, if not it's only -1Ld. Then I use the Raider with it's shock prow to ram any AV12 and under facing possible as a last ditch effort to open any transports.
In the Psychic phase I try to cast as many powers as I can throwing minimal dice and relying on the spell familiar. I realize that one of the sorcerer's will have to bail out of the squad in order to be ale to cast multiples of the same power, but it's a sacrifice worth making for this to work.
I'll start with Terrify on units affected by the other penalties that's a further -1Ld. This may cause them to run if they are not fearless.
Then I move on to Dominate, which I will cast on units not targeted by Terrify but still being affected by the other Ld effects. This will help ensure my safety as those units won't be able to retaliate...I hope.
Then I cast the Shrieks on the units I want to die. With a potential -5 to their Ld, Psychic Shriek will inflict 5-6 wounds on average assuming the target was originally Ld10, which it probably wont' be.
In the shooting phase I work on popping more of the transports and use the Phantasm Grenade Launchers and Archangel of Pain for more Ld shenanigans(assuming I'm not playing Space marines). The Archangel of Pain forcing a Ld check with a possible -7Ld modifier. Ouch.
Turns 3 and 4 are Rinse and Repeat as long as I am alive. There is an added bonus to the Helguard, if an enemy unit is within 12" of 2 or more units of the Helguard, they get a -1BS modifier as well. Top that off with the fact that most of the army causes Fear you should be relatively safe in the assault phase. I also want to keep the Cultists as a barrier from deep striking units getting tot he Land raider and the Legacy of Ruin will keep them fearless as long as the tank is alive. Those 3 things will help keep me alive to deliver the payload.
So, what do you guys think? Is it crazy enough that it just might work? Or an insane idea destined to fail? Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, keep them dice rollin.
Kranon's Helguard:
Chad Lord, Axe of Blind Fury, MOK, Aura of Dark Glory
Cultist (x10) flamer
Cultist (x10) flamer
Land Raider, Fourth Quadrant Rebellion Legacy of Ruin
Terminators (x3) x3 combi-meltas
Chosen (x5) no upgrades
Helbrute
Raptors (x5) x2 melta-guns, meta-bomb
Dark Eldar CAD
Archon, Armour of Misery, webway portal, Venom (x2 splinter cannons)
Haemonculus, Archangel of Pain
Warriors (x5), blaster, Sybarite, Phanasm grenade launcher, Raider, dark lance, shock prow
Warriors (x5), blaster, Sybarite, Phanasm grenade launcher, Raider, dark lance, shock prow
Crimson Slaughter CAD
Sorcerer, level 3, Sigil of Corruption, spell familiar, Warlord
Sorcerer, level 3, spell familiar
Cultists (x10) flamer
Cultists (x10) flamer
The basics are as follows...
Turn 1, try to open as many transports as possible with the Land Raider, Raiders and warriors, Helbrute, and Raptors.
Turn 2, deep strike the Archon and Haemonculus somewhere really close to the enemy, getting as many units within 6" as possible, the Armour of Misery gives them -2Ld. Then drop in the Terminators somewhere useful, distracting, or sneaky. Meanwhile I move up with Kranon's Helguard, the Lord, both sorcerers, and the chosen in the Landraider and deploy within striking distance. If I managed to roll Maelstrom of Torment, that is a further -2Ld, if not it's only -1Ld. Then I use the Raider with it's shock prow to ram any AV12 and under facing possible as a last ditch effort to open any transports.
In the Psychic phase I try to cast as many powers as I can throwing minimal dice and relying on the spell familiar. I realize that one of the sorcerer's will have to bail out of the squad in order to be ale to cast multiples of the same power, but it's a sacrifice worth making for this to work.
I'll start with Terrify on units affected by the other penalties that's a further -1Ld. This may cause them to run if they are not fearless.
Then I move on to Dominate, which I will cast on units not targeted by Terrify but still being affected by the other Ld effects. This will help ensure my safety as those units won't be able to retaliate...I hope.
Then I cast the Shrieks on the units I want to die. With a potential -5 to their Ld, Psychic Shriek will inflict 5-6 wounds on average assuming the target was originally Ld10, which it probably wont' be.
In the shooting phase I work on popping more of the transports and use the Phantasm Grenade Launchers and Archangel of Pain for more Ld shenanigans(assuming I'm not playing Space marines). The Archangel of Pain forcing a Ld check with a possible -7Ld modifier. Ouch.
Turns 3 and 4 are Rinse and Repeat as long as I am alive. There is an added bonus to the Helguard, if an enemy unit is within 12" of 2 or more units of the Helguard, they get a -1BS modifier as well. Top that off with the fact that most of the army causes Fear you should be relatively safe in the assault phase. I also want to keep the Cultists as a barrier from deep striking units getting tot he Land raider and the Legacy of Ruin will keep them fearless as long as the tank is alive. Those 3 things will help keep me alive to deliver the payload.
So, what do you guys think? Is it crazy enough that it just might work? Or an insane idea destined to fail? Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, keep them dice rollin.