ARMY LIST: Eldar Torrent of Fire – 2000pt
This is my current Eldar list I’ve been tooling around with, that has given me good results so far.
Summary
I’ve been tinkering for a while on the concept of an army that is designed around the Torrent of Fire/Blows rule mechanic.
The goal of such an army would be to field as many units as possible that are capable of reliably delivering a volume of wounds needed to invoke the ToF/B rules.
The first question is what number that would be. In my expience of dealing with the high number of tweaked MEQ lists out there averaged with the occasional GEQ horde, I estimate the required wound count to be in the 8-10 range.
So big picture things first…why?
I was always intrigued by the tactical possibilities of the Vindicare assassin who on average will kill any model he can see @40% of the time. He was overcosted, but when used properly could often strip opposing min/maxed armies of their special models and drasticly reduce their effectiveness. ToF/B does something similar but it’s effectiveness is based on the target’s armour value. Thus against MEQs, you have a 33% chance to kill the selected model, 50% against Tau infantry, 66% against GEQs, and a whopping 83% against Orks, and Dark Eldar.
An army that can reliably generate 2-3+ rolls per turn, will slowly strip MEQs of their PF sergeants, or heavy weapons, and get better from there against the less armoured armies.
The problem is how to generate that volume of fire. Many armies can field large numbers of high rate of fire weapons, but the tradeoff is usually low-end AP, so the target gets their saving throws. The tradeoff however is just huge numbers of dice being rolled, usually result in decent casualties regardless and you dont need to worry about cover, as targets get their saves in general anyway. Finally, ToF/B armies tend to rely on volume of dice rolled and give more predictable results overall than other armies. Also a nice advantage for extended play and all comer’s lists.
Best case enemies against ToF/B forces would be armies what relied on nasty specialized troopers with crappy saving throws (like DE sybarites). Worst case would be high save armies that rely on faceless rank and file troops with no specialized squad members (necrons).
Army List
Codex Eldar ToF/B list:
—————————–
Farseer
Jetbike/stones/runes
Eldritch Storm (to expose weaker side/rear armour)
Doom (to further enhance chances of ToF/B)
Avatar
Scorpions (10)
Exarch Claw/infiltrate
(27xS:4, 4xS:6) or (36xS:4, 5xS:5 charging)
Dragons (6)
(6xS:8)
Dragons (6)
(6xS:8)
Avengers (10)
Exarch Dual catapults, Bladestorm
(22xS:4 or 32xS:4 bladestorm)
Avengers (10)
Exarch Dual catapults, Bladestorm
(22xS:4 or 32xS:4 bladestorm)
Warp Spiders (10)
Exarch Twin spinner/withdraw
(22xS:6)
Hawks (6)
Exarch Sunrifle
(16xS:3)
Falcon
Scatterlaser/ Shuriken cannon/ Pulselaser
Holo/Stones
(7xS:6, 2xS:8)
Falcon
Scatterlaser/ Shuriken cannon/ Pulselaser
Holo/Stones
(7xS:6, 2xS:8)
Warwalker (3)
Scatterlaser (x6)
(24xS:6)
The volume of S:6 fire is horriffic, and doom can enhance the S:3/4 fire to be almost as deadly. Several units per turn routinely invoke ToF/B (even the scorpions in assault) with over 10 wounds inflicted, resulting in usually 1 dead selected ToF/B model per turn vs MEQs and more vs GEQs.
-bigred
