Here is my army list to the best of my memory (AB list I left in the car):
HQ
Vect
Succubus - agonizer, blast pistol, haywire grenades
Elites
5x Incubi incl. Klaivex (demiklaives)
Raider - flickerfield, shock prow, aethersail
10x Trueborn incl. Drachon - 6x shard carbine, splinter cannon, 2x blaster; splinter rifle
Raider - flickerfield
Troops
10x Warrior incl. Syrabite - splinter cannon & blaster; venom blade & splinter pistol
Raider - flickerfield
10x Warrior incl. Syrabite - splinter cannon & blaster; venom blade & splinter pistol
Raider - flickerfield
9x Wych incl. Hekatrix - haywire grenades; agonizer & blast pistol
Raider - flickerfield, shock prow, aethersail, tormentor grenade launcher
Fast Attack
6x Reaver jetbike incl. Arena Champion - 2x melta lance; agonizer & cluster caltrop
Heavy Support
Voidraven - flickerfield & Shatterfield Mine
Vect always attached to the Incubi and the Succubus always attached to the Wyches.
Here is my opponent's army list to the best of my memory:
Vulkan
10x tactical Marine - multi-melta & meltagun; power sword - rhino
10x tactical Marine - multi-melta & meltagun; power sword - rhino
10x tactical Marine - multi-melta & meltagun; power sword - rhino
5x assault terminator - thunderhammers & stormshields - landraider Crusader/multi-melta
Ironclad dreadnaught - drop pod
Landspeeder - heavy flamer & multi-melta
Landspeeder - heavy flamer & multi-melta
Vindicator
Vindicator
Predator - autocannon turret & heavy bolter sponsons
Mission
Annihilation
Deployment
Spearhead
I won the roll for deployment and chose to go first.
Pre Game Analysis
I had faced the same army a few months ago back when I was playing my Blood Angels DoA army so I knew what to expect. I lost that game because I underestimated the basic strengths of Salamanders. Salamanders are probably the best army to field from the SM codex for competitive play in my opinion. Ben Mohile, captain of the US ETC team, won BoLScon last year with his Salamanders. So I have learned to respect the forgefather.
My advantages were greater mobility and ranged shooting. The predator was the only long range threat to my army so I had to keep a safe distance with my shooty units and plink away. I decided to use Vect and his Incubi to enter my opponent's deployment zone to hunt Marines. The Succubus and her Wyches would hang back as a counter assault unit to tackle the assault terminators.
Note
I forgot about my jetbikes and never rolled for them to come out of reserve so that was one killpoint I automatically gave up. I also forgot to disembark a squad of Warriors from their wrecked raider so that was another automatic killpoint I gave up as well. I also made a mistake and was rolling for Vect's grenade pack versus enemy toughness instead of leadership the first game.
Combat Drugs
The Succubus and her Wyches got the drug that let's them reroll failed wounds... Nice one that !
Deployment
I opted to hold my jetbikes in reserve. I then circled my raiders and Voidraven around my quarter circle right up on top of my deployment zone.
My opponent combat squadded all of his tactical squads with Vulkan joining one squad in their rhino. Multi-melta combat squads setup in cover with the meltagun|power swords in the rhinos. The pair of Vindicators deployed a bit back side by side. Landspeeders were on either flank. Landraider Crusader setup right on top of the Salamander deployment zone and the predator went into the far flank. My opponent attempted to seize the initiative but failed.
1st Turn - Dark Eldar
All of my raiders (except for Vect's) dropped back 12" each to take them out of range from most of my opponent's army then opened up with their shooting along with the Voidraven first focusing fire on the Crusader which I destroyed. I also immobilized one of the landspeeders and shook a Vindicator. Vect's raider flew up and dropped behind some LOS blocking terrain. One of Warriors' raider immobilized itself landing in difficult terrain.
1st Turn - Salamanders
Both Vindicators moved up plowing through some difficult terrain with no problems at all due to their fabulous siege shields. The mobile landspeeder zoomed up out of the Salamanders' deployment zone over towards mine. The rhinos and combat squads all sat still as did the predator. The terminators moved and ran towards my deployment zone. The Ironclad landed in my deployment zone close to two of my raiders. The predator shot first and destroyed my Voidraven. The Ironclad then dropped it's flamer on both raiders but failed to inflict any damage.
Killpoints - 1 Dark Eldar, 3 Salamanders
2nd Turn - Dark Eldar
The other Warrior squad's raider also immobilized itself landing in difficult terrain. Vect's raider came out of hiding moving 12" beside a combat squad - Vect and his crew of Incubi then disembarked. The Succubus' raider dropped back 12" landing behind a building with the prow sticking out so I could target the mounted dark lance on the immobilized landspeeder. The Trueborn's raider also dropped back 12" beside the Ironclad and they disembarked facing the dreadnaught's rear armor. Shooting saw the Ironclad destroyed, I shook the mobile landspeeder and destroyed the immobile landspeeder. Vect tossed his grenade pack on top of the combat squad - it drifted 3" and killed one Marine - they then assaulted and wiped out the rest of the squad consolidating back into cover.
2nd Turn - Salamanders
Again the terminators moved and ran making it into my deployment zone. One Vindicator moved 12" and popped smoke while the other moved up 6". The mobile landspeeder moved flatout into what would be a harassing position the next turn as dark eldar abhor templates. Vulkan and his combat squad moved out from behind a rhino to position themselves for a brave assault on Vect and the Incubi. Another combat squad disembarked from their rhino so they could join in the coming melee. The predator fired on one of the immobilized raiders and wrecked it. The Vindicator fired on a raider but the blast scattered off. Vulkan and his Salamanders then charged Vect and the Incubi. Vect dropped one squad down to just the sergeant while the Klaivex dropped a wound on the forgefather and the Incubi killed the other combat squad. Vulkan swung back and killed two Incubi then the Marines dragged down another. Vulkan broke and fell back a short distance - he would not be able to regroup the next turn due to his close proximity to Vect and the Incubi. The lone sergeant passed his morale check locking Vect and the Incubi in place... Drat !!! :'((
Killpoints - 5 Dark Eldar, 4 Salamanders
3rd Turn - Dark Eldar
The squad of Warriors disembarked from their immobilized raider then moved back towards some cover in an attempt to hide from the Vindicators. The Trueborn remounted and their raider zoomed back 6" away from the Vindicators as well but would be in position to shoot their blasters along with the mounted dark lance at the closest Vindicator. The Succubus and her Wyches sat still inside their raider. Shooting saw the mobile landspeeder shaken. Vect then beheaded the lone sergeant and they consolidated towards towards Vulkan to ensure that the forgefather couldn't regroup.
3rd Turn - Salamanders
One Vindicator turned about training it's demolisher cannon on Vect and his Incubi. Vulkan ran off the table. Another combat squad dismounted to rapid fire them as well. The other Vindicator moved up 6" to target the exposed Warriors. The landspeeder zoomed flat-out deep inside my deployment zone. Again the terminators moved and ran finally getting into a good position to launch an assault the next turn. First the combat squad rapid fired into Vect's unit but did no damage. The first Vindi then fired and destroyed all of the Incubi while the second killed seven of the Warriors who luckily passed their leadership test. Finally the predator wrecked the Wyches' raider.
Killpoints - 7 Dark Eldar, 6 Salamanders
4th Turn - Dark Eldar
Up to this point it was very tight when you take into account the two killpoints I gave away for free due to a pair of stupid mental errors. We were moving into the early phase of the end game so I knew it was time to try to turn up the heat. Vect had made all of his 2++ saves and was in position to excise another combat squad. The Succubus and her posse disembarked heading towards the terminators. The three Warriors made it behind cover and would be safe from the Vindicators but I still needed to get rid of the one troublesome landspeeder - one shot from the heavy flamer and they were burnt toast.
Vect moved in for the kill tossing his grenade pack on the combat squad - again it drifted 3" and killed two Salamanders whom passed their morale check. The Succubus and her posse fired their pistols into the terminators and dropped two (2x blast pistol). The Trueborn then disposed of the landspeeder removing that threat. Two raiders targeted one of the Vindicators on side armor and destroyed it. Another raider dropped the destroyed Ironclad's drop pod. Vect then charged the combat squad to finish them off. The Succubus and her Wyches closed out the turn destroying the three remaining terminators and one Wyche immobilized the remaining Vindi with her haywire grenade (multi charge action). Maximum carnage had ensued.
4th Turn - Salamanders
Things were looking grime now for the mean green Marines. They were heavily depleted following my fourth turn carnage and it would be quite a steep climb for them to get back into the fight. The remaining two combat squads were deep within their own deployment zone - one squad opted to high tail it away from the approach of Vect. Only the predator could muster any shooting and pivoted about to target Vect who then made it through unscatched. The lone Vindi could only sit there while the Succubus and her Wyches eyed it hard priming their blast pistols and haywire grenades for the next attack.
Killpoints - 12 Dark Eldar, 6 Salamanders
Final Turns
Both the lone Vindi and predator were destroyed over the next three turns along with a rhino or two. The combat squad closest to Vect kept running away and managed to escape his wrath unharmed. There had to be a few survivors to tell the tale of the dreadful battle versus the Kabal of the Black Heart.
I also was able to capture the tertiary objective which was destroying the enemy's most expensive unit.
Post Game Analysis
As I said up front my two biggest advantages were far greater mobility and longer ranged shooting. Immobilizing two raiders upon landing in difficult terrain early in the game had me worried for awhile but my shooting and counter assault into the terminators saw me well through for a major victory. Vect was most definitely the man of the match shredding Salamanders left and right. It's always a bit of a risk when he has to go solo but he came through very well passing all of his invulnerable saves like a champ. His grenade pack is hideous versus power armor and he got to chuck it several times - due to his amazing BS8 even with two huge scatters it still was quite the weapon of mass destruction. The Succubus and her Wyches took out the one hard enemy assault unit on the charge - a pair of agonizers with the drug to reroll failed wounds is priceless versus stormshields.
So it was a good game for the Kabal of the Black Heart indeed. My opponent is a good friend and took it well. We are now 1-1 in games.
Finally I'd like to make a shameless plug for an upcoming 40k GT that will be held in the Marriott hotel in the Tampa airport (Florida) this coming October. PayPal goes live this week and the Pre Registration list is constantly growing. Here is a link to the blogsite for more detailed information:
We would love to see you there!
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