Dark Eldar Tournament Results!

My W.I.P Tournament Army

I attended another local tournament this past weekend hosted by The Realm in Brea, CA.  I finished with a Massacre victory and two minor losses - the losses coming at the hands of the 1st and 3rd place finishers.  Despite the 1-2 record, I was happy with how the army performed.  Here's a brief summary of the games:

Kabal of the (adjective) (noun)

Succubus (Agonizer, Haywire)
2 Heamonculi (2 Liquifiers)
2x4 Trueborn (Venom SC, 4 Blasters)
5 Incubi (Raider FF, Klaivex)
5 Wracks (Venom SC, Liquifier)
3x5 Wracks (Raider FF, Liquifer)
8 Wyches (Raider FF, Haywires, Hekatrix; Agonizer, PGL)
2 Ravagers (NS, FF)
1 Ravager (3 Dissy, NS, FF)

Total: 1,847
22(!) KP

Game 1:
Deployment: Spearhead
Scenario: Seize Ground 5 Objectives
At the end of turn 2 and 4, roll a scatter dice and 2d6 to see where the objectives move (except for the middle one)
Bonus points:
Kill a nominated opponent HQ (+2)
Keep your nominated HQ alive (+1)

I played against a mostly footslogging Plague Marine army.  Good player, but his army just didn't stand a chance against all my AP2 shots.  He was able to shoot down a Raider, but I quickly took out his fire support (Predator, Defiler, Oblits).  I lost a Wrack squad after charging into a Plague Marine squad to tie them up away from an objective.  My Incubi and Wych's didn't even get out of their Raiders, and I was easily able to control 3 objectives.  My HQ is left alive, and I pop his during turn 6.  20 points for me and I'm in a 3-way tie for first.

Game 2:
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Scenario: Annihilation
All HQ, MCs and Vehicles (including Dreads) are worth 3 points (Squadrons count as 1 choice)
All Troop choices (not including vehicles) are worth 2 points
All Elites, Heavies and Fast Attack are worth 1 point.
Killing double his kill points gives you a decisive victory.
Bonus points for having a scoring unit in enemy's deployment zone (+1), and having more units alive than your enemy (+2).

From memory, my opponents list:
Mephiston
2 Sanguinary Priests
2x10 Assault Marines
5 Assault Marines in Rhino
2 Furioso Dreads in Drop-pods
2 Baal Predators
2 Predators

Kill point missions for any breed of Dark Eldar army is a tough draw, but note the first line; all vehicles and HQ count for 3 KP's.  That's 41 KP's against me right there and 54 KP's total if I'm not mistaken.  My opponents list gave up 38 KP's and his were much tougher to get.  My goal for this game: escape with a minor loss and collect as many bonus points as possible.

This was a very fun and tactically challenging game, despite the lopsided mission.  We traded blows all game long.  The MVP for me was, once again, Trueborn in a Venom.  I also found that the Disintegrator Ravager is fantastic for any sort of Marines on foot (or Mephiston).  I'm tempted to swap them for Dark Lances, but 4-5 dead Marines a turn is just too good to pass up. The game ended in my opponents favor; 33 KP for my opponent, 18 for me.  I had more units alive, so I got +2 bonus points.  I'm sitting at 29 points total and in fourth place going into the final round.

Game 3:
Deployment: Spearhead
Scenario: Seize Ground (3 Objectives)
One objective is in the middle and each player places an objective in the quadrant to the left or right of him.
Capturing all the objectives gives you a decisive victory.

Same opponent, different army comp. at the previous Realm RTT

I'm not very familiar with guard, so I know the basics of my opponents list, but not the details:
6 Chimeras with dudes inside - some tri-plasma others tri-melta...
2 Vendettas
3 Hydra's
2 Manticores

I needed to win big in order to get a top 3 finish... and I drew a Mechanized Imperial Guard army.  He won the roll to go first, and I opted to reserve my army.  I knew I couldn't stand up to his firepower, so I figured the later I came in, the more likely chance I could snag some last second objectives.

As my stuff came on I took potshots here and there, but failed to do any substantial damage.  His return fire effectively eliminated all of my vehicles the turn they arrived.  This was when FNP came in very handy on the Wyches, Incubi and Wracks.  They survived the wrecks and clawed their way to contest objectives.  The T4 on the Wracks withstood Hydra shots, the Wyches haywired a Chimera.  My third Ravager finally came in turn 5 to contest an objective.  If the game ended it would have been a tie even with the majority of his army in tact, and mine blown to bits.  The game goes on to turn 6 and by blowing up the Ravager contesting an objective, my opponent essentially sealed his victory.

Even with my army in ruins, I was thrilled to make a game out of it.  My opponent likened my late push to a swarm of fire ants.  Another minor loss for me gives me 36 points total, and put me somewhere in the middle of the pack.  The Imperial Guard took home first, Blood Angels got third and my friend Adam took home second place with his "Iyanden" Jetbike Eldar (Saim Hann imitators). 

Some final thoughts:

• The Incubi didn't provide much during this tournament.  Game one they didn't get out of their transports.  Game two they got shot out of their transport, charged by Mephiston, failed to wound in return and broke.  Game three was not a good match-up for them anyway, but once again did not effect the games outcome.
• MSU Wrack squads with Liquifiers are great.  Not so much for the liquifiers, but for their durability and scoring ability.  
• Trueborn and the Venoms they ride in are probably the most consistent unit in the list.  It takes a turn or two to get in position, but they bring the pain once they do.
• The Succubus is a fantastic investment for only 85 points.
• I'm still torn on how to arm the third Ravager.  I DO need some additional long ranged anti-tank, but the anti-MEQ capabilities of the Disintegrators is just fantastic.