| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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Hi,
I played a 3000-point game today, against Imperial Guard.
Here are the army lists:
Imperial Guard
Infantry company
Infantry company
Infantry company + Fire support
SHT company (2 Shadowswords, 1 Baneblade)
Sentinels
Stormtroopers + Valkyries
Shadowsword
Warlord Titan
Thunderbolts
(10 commissaries)
Iyanden
Spirit Warhost + 6 Wave Serpents + Wraithseer
Spirit Warhost
Guardian Warhost
Aspect Warriors (Dire Avengers) + 2 Wave Serpents
Aspect Warriors (Swooping Hawks)
Nightspinners
Wraithlords
Revenant Titans
Vampire (for Spirit Warhost)
NOTE: No Wraithgate, simply because I had forgotten it at home  and because my army list was worth 3050 points with the Wraithgate, so this put it at 3000.
This battle report will be short, as unfortunately I don't have much time. I'll try to concentrate on the strengths and weaknesses of the Iyanden army and not so much on what the IG did.
Turn 1:
I won the initiative, and immediatly assaulted the Stromtroopers with the Vampire + Spirit Warhost. I vaporised them, with no casualties on my side (thanks to RA). Only 1 Valkyrie and 1 Stormtrooper survived...
This formation was then assaulted by an Infantry company, lost the assault with only 1 casualty (RA again), killed 5 IG units and kept their ground (thanks to Fearless). I got lucky at the end of the turn, and they rallied (despite needing a 5+).
My Wraithlords got near an Infantry company in woods, were shot at by the SHT company, broke and got even closer to the Infantry company (thanks to Fearless). Me being a lucky #######,  they of course rallied at the end of the turn (despire needing a 5+ too!).
Turn 2:
The Avatar and Hawks appeared... and didn't do much. Small AW formations are quite weak compared to their Biel-Tan equivalents.
The Warlord Titan destroyed 1 Revenant and left the other one with only 1 DC and no Holofield.
The Spirit Warhost in Wave Serpents, not knowing what to do due to a lack of targets, moved near the Warlord and removed most of its shields. They then tried to support the Hawks assaulting the Titan... but the Hawks were utterly destroyed before that, so no support. Bad move on my part.
The other Spirit Warhost finished off the Infantry company.
Turn 3:
I broke the Titan, and my opponent resolved to destroy my Spirit Warhost in WS to achieve the BTS goal. Despite firing at it with all of its remaining units (bar one), he only managed to break it (RA4+ AND Fearless helped me A LOT).
Note to self: do not try to assault an infantry company in ruins, even when it is broken... 4+ save vs. no saves for my Guardians = very dead Guardians.
End of turn: 0 - 0.
Turn 4:
We both realise that we don't have enough formations left to control more than one or two objectives... It's going to be a close call.
Again, my opponent tries his best to destroy my Spirit Warhost in WS. Again, he fails, although only 1 Wraithguard is still standing at the end of the turn.
My other Spirit Warhost assaults and destroys the lone Shadowsword, earning the title of Most Valuable Unit of the day (it destroyed 350 + 250 + 250 = 850 points worth of troops all by itself).
Nothing much happens, as we run out of units.
End of turn: 0 - 0. 
Victory points:
Iyanden : 2100
Imp. Guard : 1950
So, I won, but barely.
My thoughts:
- Spirit Warhosts are probably amongst the toughest formation, if not THE toughest formation on the game (RA4+, Fearless and Extra Attacks MW4+ are huge assets  ).
- BUT, you have to get it in an Assault, otherwise you're wasting precious points. For this reason, I think Spirit Warhosts in Wave Serpents are harder to use efficiently and generally not worth their salt. Using Vampires, Storm Serpents or a Wraithgate is much better IMO. That way, you can drop them in the middle of the enemy lines where, frankly, they rule! 
- I have read concerns about the power level of the army, and it's true that Spirit Warhosts are a fearful thing. While this is true, you HAVE to buy them a transport, otherwise your 350-point monster unit is almost useless. So a Spirit Warhost is really worth either :
* 650 points (if using Wave Serpents)
* 600 points (if using Storm Serpent)
* 550 points (if using Vampire Raider)
* 400 points (if using Wraithgate, in which case it is limited to assaults in the vicinity of the Wraithgate)
These high costs mean that you get less activations. That said, I still think it's a bit cheap at 350 points. But only just a bit : I'd vote for upping its cost to 375 points.
That's it. I you need more details from the battle itself, just ask and I'll try my best to answer.
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