My Wych Cult neutered Draigowing

[eldargal]

Last night I had a game between my Wych Cult and a club members Draigowing. He was looking for a re-match after I drew against the same list with a mixed Kabalite/Wych force a few weeks ago, he wasn't very happy about me playing to draw rather than win (I didn't think I could).

I'm not writing a battle report so no army lists or whatnot but the two critical units were:

Draigo
Librarian
10 Paladins with stuff

Succubus with Agoniser and grenades
9 Hekatrix Bloodbrides w 3 shardnet & impalers, Syren w Agonsier
Succubusbus, raider with shock prow and Torment Grenade Launchers (-1LD to nearby tests)

Rolled 4 for combat drugs giving re-roll to wound.

Haemonculus w Crucible of Malediction
9x Hekatrix Bloodbrides 3x hydra gauntlets in raider, Syren w Agoniser

The Paladins were split in two with Draigo and the Librarian in one squad. I managed to get the raider with the haemonculus between the two squads, closer to Draigo. In the shooting phase I popped the Crucible of malediction, forcing Draigo, the Librarian and the purifier squad to take a LD test at -1 (TLG. Draigo and the Librarian both failed (glee). I charged the squad formerly known as Draigo's with the succubus and her Bloodbrides, inflicting 6 unsaved wounds, killing one paladin and seeing the BB win the combat by 4. They fell back, were caught in sweeping advance, suffered four more wounds one of which was failed. Result=two dead paladins, two dead BB.

The other Blood Brides charged the other Paladin squad, I rolled well for Hydra gauntlets dealing out 50 attacks in all. With some good rolling and the re-roll to wound I managed to inflict 8 unsaved wounds, killing three paladins thanks to wound allocation. BB win combat by 4. They in turn failed their LD test, fell back, but were caught by the Bloodbrides (I do love I6) suffering four more wounds which were saved.
Result = three dead paladins, four dead BB.

Total result: Dead Draigo, Dead Librarian, five dead paladins. Six dead Bloodbrides.

Or to put it another way, around 90 points of dead hoes to around 600 points of dead bros.

The BB proceeded to finish off the paladins over the next two assuault phases.

An awful lot of luck was involved and I'm not saying this is some kind of foolproof strategy for dealing with Draigowing but it was extremely satisfying.

I'm a bit sleepy ad going by memory so if the numbers don't add up or something it doesn't matter, you shoudl get the gist of it.

Edit: Changed references to purifiers to paladins.

[the jeske]

is that paladins ? becaure purfires would have dished out that +4 psychic power on every charging unit before even strikes were made.

[eldargal]

Yes, it was paladins, drat. I'll go back and change it, like I said, sleepy.

[Mr.Pickelz]

Indeed,if the paladins can't kill the other assault unit, then they will eat the wounds. one of the biggest weakness with paladins in CC is when their armor is ignored (IE power weapons, etc...) changing that 2+ armor save into a 5+ invul is not a good outcome for those paladins.

[eldargal]

Wyches don't have power weapons, I had to rely on rolling lots of dice.:) In fact I'm a bit surprised the Succubus squad managed to kill two, their main purpose was to tarpit while the other squad rolled ridiculous numbers of dice and tried to overwhelm the 2+ saves. Though they did have the Succubus with Agoniser adding to it.

In hindsight I should have tarpitted the first squad with the S&I BB and kept the Succubus with the other squad to help maximise attacks. In the end it didn't matter. Also, the look on my opponents face when he had to take Draigo off on turn two after failing a Leadership test. Teehee.

[isotope99]

Anyone taking a minmax army like draigowing can't complain when you use sneaky tactics against them.

Out of curiosity was the crucible taken because you knew you were facing grey knights?

Wyches are good against any unit with a low number of powerful CC attacks.

[eldargal]

The Haemonculus & Crucible (Need a smart name like Draigowing, Crucibleculus?:rolleyes:) was the one concession to the fact I was playing Grey Knights, the rest was a reaonably fluffy Wych Cult list. I say reasonably because some people consider things like ravagers to be kabalite rather than Wych cult. Which I think is a bit narrow given that the codex shows ravagers painted up in Wych Cult colours.

I didn't really expect it to work to be honest, though I suppose rolling a 10,11 or 12 on 2D6 to fail the test is a one in four chance? Not bad for the price.

[Sure]

What I like best about wyches is that their stats and gear make it so that they can play up to their opponent. It's almost as if the bigger challenge lets them shine. Rarely does the game mechanic so closely resemble the fluff.

[celestialatc]

I had to learn the hard why, never get in CC with Wych, not matter what the unit is. They are queens of CC.

Frankly he should have just shot you down. He probably had 4 psycannon, which would have been awesome against wychs. Would have been the smarter move then getting into CC.

[Nosmo75]

The Haemonculus & Crucible (Need a smart name like Draigowing, Crucibleculus?:rolleyes:) was the one concession to the fact I was playing Grey Knights, the rest was a reaonably fluffy Wych Cult list. I say reasonably because some people consider things like ravagers to be kabalite rather than Wych cult. Which I think is a bit narrow given that the codex shows ravagers painted up in Wych Cult colours.

I see where people are coming from with the whole 'Ravagers are a Kabalite unit' thing, especially when almost every photo of them shows them crewed by Kabalites, carrying Kabalites and toting Dark Lances (a weapon synonymous with Kabalites), but having read 'Path of the Renegade' (a *really* good read, btw), it seems that things are more looseweave in Commorragh than in Codex: Dark Eldar. The Cult of the Blades of Desire featured in PotR uses Ravagers en masse just as much as Raiders and Venoms, and even have ground-based anti-air batteries, and long-range firepower is not something to be expected from a Wych Cult.

It's just difficult sometimes to see past these boundaries that the tabletop game throws up. :)

Irrelevant Sidenote: Kudos galore to Chris Peach for his Cult of the Red Grief (the army with the painted up Ravagers featured in Codex: Dark Eldar), which inspired both my paint scheme (the colours are all different, but I love the look of having a basecoat that isn't black and then highlighting it) and my desire to put together an all-Kabalite force (with a couple Cult and Coven units floating around for funsies). :D

[Nosmo75]

Also, congratulations on defeating a Draigowing army! ^-^

[thecactusman17]

Glad to hear you had such as great match, EG. But even with -1Ld, I think it's pretty fair to say that him losing both the Librarian AND Draigo in one turn was a spectacular fluke.

[eldargal]

Absolutely agreed, Mr Cactus.:) It's why I tried to be quite clear I'm not advocating this as a reliable anti-Draigowing tactic or anything, just something it may be worth trying. 70pts gets you a haemonculus with CoM and a 25% chance of making GK characters heads explode. Oh, plust a few more poitns for the TGL.

I used Wych bits and venom crews to make my Wych Cult Ravagers have Wych cult crews. The gunners aren't perfect, I wasn't game to try torso swaps so they just have Wych heads, but painted properly they don't look too bad.

Regarding purifiers, their psychic CC ability says it should be treated like CC attacks, I wonder if that means Wyches get their 4++ save? I usually just shoot them with massed splinter fire.

[thecactusman17]

Wait, how did you get 25%? The Crucible lets them roll 2D6, and even at -1 Ld. that's still a 1 in 6 chance of failure at best.

[eldargal]

Needing to roll a 10,11 or 12 on 2D6 (LD10 -1) is 1 in 4 chance isn't it? Surely 1 in 6 would be 11 or 12? Pfft, I studied humanities not mathematics.:p

Regardless, 20pts for a CoM on a haemonculus you will probably be taking anyway for FNP doesn't strike me as a waste of points.

[DarkLink]

Here's some math trivia for you: The odds of rolling a 1 or a 12 on 2d6 are 1/36. For 2 and 11, it's 2/36. For 3 and 10, it's 3/36. So on, until you get a 7/36 chance of rolling a 7, the most common result.

So the odds of rolling a 10, 11 or 12 are (3+2+1)/36=1/6 chance.

[Skari]

Draigo wing is one of those armies that DE love to annihilate :D.

"Sucubusbus" that made me lol.

The crucible is one of those do or die things... the one time I did use it, mephiston died :D Glee. And it is dirt cheap, for the chance to take out that 100pt+character (or more than one).

Cheers!

[eldargal]

And this is why I'm not an engineer.:p

Here's some math trivia for you: The odds of rolling a 1 or a 12 on 2d6 are 1/36. For 2 and 11, it's 2/36. For 3 and 10, it's 3/36. So on, until you get a 7/36 chance of rolling a 7, the most common result.

So the odds of rolling a 10, 11 or 12 are (3+2+1)/36=1/6 chance.

Still, 70pts for a cheap haemonculus with it and a 1/6 chance of making any GK character go made and start flining poo at his colleagues (aka removed from play) is worth it I think. as I've said I wouldn't go relying on it. Nasty surprise when it works, though.

I'm quite pleased with Succubusbus myself I have to admit.:rolleyes:

[Bean]

And this is why I'm not an engineer.:p


Still, 70pts for a cheap haemonculus with it and a 1/6 chance of making any GK character go made and start flining poo at his colleagues (aka removed from play) is worth it I think. as I've said I wouldn't go relying on it. Nasty surprise when it works, though.

I'm quite pleased with Succubusbus myself I have to admit.:rolleyes:

I think that the point is that, whether the Crucible is a good buy or not, anyone can beat Draigowing if he or she gets sufficiently lucky--and you did.

Grats, but winning because your opponent is spectacularly unlucky doesn't make for a very compelling anecdote.


also, Darklink

it's not 1 and 12, 2 and 11, and 3 and 10--it's 2 and 12, 3 and 11, and 4 and 10. You can't roll a 1 on 2d6. =P

[eldargal]

I disagree, I think taking out Draigo and a GK Librarian in one turn without them making the slightest impact on the game makes a worthy anecdote, even if it is down to luck. Certainly more compelling than 'yeah, I fired 108 splinter rifles at them and they died'. There is also the fact it was a Draigowing tournament list against a fluffy Wych cult list ( no blasterborn spam, no MSU venom/raider spam, not tailored for maximum DLs). I've also said from the start I'm not putting this forward as some kind of failproof tactic.

In fact the whole point of anecdotes in general is to tell stories of unusual and unlikely occurences.:p

[Aetaosrau]

In much agreement with eldargal here, anecdotes are for something unusual happening in the game and luck is one of many things that makes this game fun.

Also hearing that GN's got owned makes me smile anyway, nice one :)

[Mr. Furious]

I play against Draigowing a lot and have had mixed results but there is one tried and true strategy against any army, no matter how tough, how many or how badass they are: Make them roll saves. Its hard to survive round after round after round of poisoned shooting and huge numbers if high initiative CC attacks. I don't use spam lists, I have a pretty balanced list overall. I run 2 Venoms with Warriors, 2 units of Wyches in Raiders and 1 unit of Incubi in a Raider and usually do quite will against Draigo and his cronies.

My Reavers with bladevanes and cluster caltrops are always MVP's against Draigowing too. Turbo boosting over units turn after turn and making them roll saves can really soften them up and I usually land too far away for them to assault me and the turbo gives me a nice cover save against their ridiculous shooting.

[eldargal]

Yup, that was the overall approach I was taking with the Bloodbrides, tarpit the squad with Draigo, throw lots and lots of attacks at the other one. The CoM popping Draigos head was just an amusing extra.

Thanks, Aetaosrau.:)

[Happosai]

Very nice job, there :)

I have to say, I'm not looking forward to playing against my first one ;)