Another try out for the Elysians, this time using a legal army. I wanted to see how the Elysians worked, still in a slightly 'popcorn' form, and to try out the Valkyries and Lightning Strikes.

Standard rules + 2008 amendments
Dark angels list
Elysians 2.1.5

Dark Angels (from memory)
Raven wing (4x bikes, 4x Attack bikes)
Assault
Assault
Assault
Devastators with Hunter
Tacticals with Rhinos
Tacticals with Rhinos
Terminators
Scouts with Rhinos
ThunderHawk
ThunderHawk
ThunderHawk

Elysians
HQ Drop Infantry + Fire support, Mortars
Drop Infantry + Fire support, Mortars
Drop Infantry + Fire support
Drop Infantry + Mortars
Drop Infantry + Mortars
Drop Infantry + Mortars
Drop Infantry + Mortars
Sentinels (MW) in Valkyries
Sentinels in Valkyries
Sentinels in Valkyries
Sentinels (MW)
Sentinels (MW)
Sentinels (MW)
Lightning Strikes
Lightning Strikes
6x commisars are placed, 3x on the Valkyrie sentinels and 3x on infantry companies

Deployment
We used the same terrain as for the earlier battle against the Eldar, with the Elysians taking over the Eldar encampment (the last few bodies were buried with appropriate ceremony). Blitz were both placed centrally, with the T&H alternating across the centreline.

The three sentinel / Valkyrie formations set up around their Blitz while the DA spread across the width of the table with some Assault Marines and Devastators on the Western end and the scouts garrisoned ahead of them in some woods. On the Eastern End the Ravenwing is positioned behind another Assault Marine formation, with the two tacticals and the third Assault Marine formations in the centre.

Turn #1
Teleports
The terminators appeared in the woods north of the Elysian camp, opposite the central sentinal(MW) + Valkyrie formation #B.

Drop infantry #3 arrived next to the sentinels to lend some support
HQ Drop infantry occupied the central rough ground near the objectives
Sentinel #D appeared alongside the HQ
Infantry #4 occupied the eastern rough ground by other objectives
Sentinel #E arrived in some ruins due west of the enemy scouts
Infantry #2 dropped alongside them opposite the western enemy Assault Marines on the end of the DA deployment zone.
Infantry #5 dropped behind the same Assault formation.
Remarkably few BMs were received for teleporting.

(2x infantry and 1x Sentinel squadron were kept in reserve).

Strategy roll :- Dark Angels
The Terminators launch an assault on the intermingled Sentinels (MW) + Valkyries and infantry, moving all four stands into contact with the leading two sentinels. Three sentinels, a Valkyrie and 2x infantry die without the loss of a single terminator (ouch).

After a brief pause to survey the carnage the Elysians decide they need to carry out the planned assault on the western wing of the DA army. Sentinels #D are ordered to assault the scouts in a clipping attack so only the two lead scouts would be able to fight, while it was also intended to remove the OW fire. However  one falls to the OW fire of the two leading scouts and having 2x BM already, the formation breaks.

ThunderHawk #1 arrives to strafe Sentinels + Valkyrie #C, killing a Sentinel. Sensing a pattern, Sentinels #A sustain on the terminators dropping one. So a second ThunderHawk arrives to strafe sentinels #C killing a second sentinel. The two unsuppressed Valkyries of Sentinels #C advance on the Terminators miraculously dropping a second, finally breaking them. The third Thunderhawk decides to concentrate on Sentinels #A merely placing a BM

The Elysians then try out the shiny new Strike craft targeting the equally shiny RavenWing. However despite 3x hits, only one attack bike was destroyed. In reply the Devastators opened up on Sentinels #E in the ruins, killing two and breaking them,

Getting a little desperate I then made a silly mistake, trying to assault the Western Assault Marines using Infantry #2 from the ruins rather than the other infantry positioned behind them. The Assault Marines duly counter-charged out of the trap demolishing infantry #2 for no loss, and then promptly turned about face to repeat the performance on Infantry #5.

----
Sit rep:-
The Elysians have two isolated Infantry and a Lightning Strike formation yet to activate while the Dark Angels still have 2x Tactical, 2x Assault Marine and the Raven Wing formations yet to move!  

While there was still some fight left (with the 3x off-table formations), it was becoming too one-sided to be worth continuing. The 3x Sentinel + Valkyrie formations would possibly have been able to wipe out the remaining two terminator stands, but in doing so would deprive the infantry companies of the much needed support. Meanwhile, the 5x remaining companies and 3x teleporting sentinel squadrons would be very hard put to even dent the Dark Angel formations, and that is assuming everything rallied which is unlikely.

So we reset the troops and tried again

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

Ouch!  That is a painful game for the Elysians.  Two mobile armies going head to head would be pretty tricky and probably would get twisted in a hurry (which it did).  

Of course I think we've all had games like this where things go bad in a hurry and there is no point to a turn 2.

Question: Where is your AA (a.k.a. Lightning Fighters)?  In a blind tournament setting I would have thought it a good idea to bring them.  Why weren't the Lightning Strikes CAP'd with all those Thunderhawks?

_________________
author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

So we reset the board and tried again, same forces but with a slightly different disposition, and ended up with very similar results. In summary the Terminator pre-emptive assault failed this time while the Elysian assault fared much better on the Marines Western flank.

This game was much more interesting given the more even numbers of formations remaining to both sides, but unfortunately we had to pack up at that point

======================================
Observations
In this incarnation of the Elysians, the 'popcorn' effect was virtually non existant because the use of the Strike a/c together with the Valkyries meant that the Elysians were almost 1:1 with the much stronger Marine formations in the 'front line'. Indeed, poor positioning on my part of both the formations and the units in them sometimes gave the marines a tactical advantage that they exploited well.

The Marines clever use of keeping the Assault Marines on the table and the use of the ThunderHawks etc meant that they were able to delay advancing into the range of the Valkyries, while the terrain dictated the location and attacks of the Elysian forces (which have to make extensive use of cover to gain some form of resilience).

To specifics:-
I did not take the Lightning interceptors because of the cost (I was still trying for a 'popcorn' effect). I am still labouring somewhat under the impression that to be effective, the Elysians need to work with an activation advantage and a significant local numerical superiority (gained via teleport), which in turn limits the upgrades that can be taken.

However, this particular list was not working well because it automatically reduced the numbers of formations that could be concentrated in any area. Effectively I had only ten formations that could teleport in a concentrated area over the duration of the game. Keeping some back for later and leaving 'outposts' reduced this further to the point where the army became ineffective at the intended strategy of a concentrated assault on a local area.

The three Valkyrie formations in the Deployment area were an obvious target, and they will always be one unless protected by other formations, further diluting the strategy. While they did keep the Marines from advancing, they could not advance themselves for fear of being targetted in return, which resulted in a "stalling activation" game that the Marines were winning reasonably well.

I think that converting 1x Valkyrie upgrade to be another sentinel squadron, coupled with converting a Strike formation to Interceptors might well play slightly better, but then that leaves only two Sentinel + Valkyrie formations on table at the start of the game, which is likely to prove too weak.

The current list forces some difficult choices in building the army, and requires precise handling on the battlefield. This is not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but I am starting to wonder whether this army is a 'one-trick-pony'. High activation numbers and being able to teleport everything are the main strengths of the list, offset by the lack of so many of the *normal* elements that make up the *standard* army. Army choices that dilute these strengths will tend to weaken the list, and perhaps more so than usual lists. This tends to place a greater emphasis on using the correct strategy and tactics, making it challenging to play well in its current form. But these are early days, and perhaps we will come up with better ways of using the list that those I tried over the weekend

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

The current list forces some difficult choices in building the army, and requires precise handling on the battlefield. This is not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but I am starting to wonder whether this army is a 'one-trick-pony'. High activation numbers and being able to teleport everything are the main strengths of the list, offset by the lack of so many of the *normal* elements that make up the *standard* army. Army choices that dilute these strengths will tend to weaken the list, and perhaps more so than usual lists. This tends to place a greater emphasis on using the correct strategy and tactics, making it challenging to play well in its current form. But these are early days, and perhaps we will come up with better ways of using the list that those I tried over the weekend

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Honda

"Remember Taros? We do"

- 23rd Elysian Drop Regiment

You are correct that the main difference between the games was the number of formations in 'the front line', or within 15cm of the enemy. In the 1st game Vs the Eldar, the Elysians had 3x Drop infantry and 9x sentinel squadrons in 15 cm, and a further 1x Drop infantry and 2x Sentinel squadrons within 30cm. Opposing these forces, the Eldar had 9x formations fairly tightly packed inside their 'castle', or 15:12 ratio. This meant that virtually every Elysian activation was directed at the 'target area' and so kept up the pressure on the Eldar, even though the main Eldar formations were able to break out of the cordon to some extent.

In the 2nd game, army composition and a more cautious strategy dictated that fewer 'front line' forces were available, but even so there were 3x infantry and 2x Sentinel squadrons opposing 1x scout, 1x Assault Marine and 1x Devastator formation, or 5:3 ratio. But, the Valkyrie support could not reach the intended targets in turn #1, and the strike a/c could not hit the few AV in the deployment area without entering the lone Hunter's AA umbrella (a veritable suicide mission if ever there was one). Consequently the Elysians could not keep up the pressure. Equally, the 3x ThunderHawk transports were much more effective than the 2x Night wings at suppressing the Elysians.

However, the lack of cover near the enemy was probably the most important difference in the 2nd game. This restricted where the Elysian infantry could hide before the attack (unarmoured infantry without even AV to hide behind are sitting ducks in the open). This in turn restricted the number of formations that could reasonably be commited.

Possible formation changes (for next time)
I am less sure that a single squadron of Lightning interceptors would have had that much effect on the game. Sure they would possibly have downed a THawk per turn, but that would not have turned the tide fast enough. The main problem is that they are really too expensive at 300 points (but we have had that debate before )

I was hoping the Valkyries would provide the 'ranged' fire, and provide somewhat tougher formations to anchor assaults etc, but the Marines didn't come out to play. A squadron of Vultures is certainly worth considering in that respect. Also, storm troopers instead of a Sentinel+Valkyrie for added punch.

So, with these in mind the list looks something like this:-

HQ Drop infantry + 2x Mort 325
Drop infantry + FS               250
Drop infantry + FS               250
Drop infantry + FS               250
Drop infantry + 2x Mort       250
Drop infantry + 2x Mort       250
Sentinel                              125
Sentinel                              125
Sentinel                              125
Sentinel                              125
Sentinel                              125
Vultures                              300
Lightning Strike                   200
Lightning intercept              300
                                 
Total 3000 points, but only 14 activations, with the single Vulture formation feeling very lonely on the table at the start.

(modified the typos on costs)

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

Thanks for spotting the cost typo, which I have corrected.
However, you now have 7x support companies but only 6x Drop infantry, which is now illegal . (but we could convert that + an upgrade to be Valkyries)

Also, could I ask why you are so attached to the hardened veterans? Their 6+ armour is not really going to help much while their shooting is only AP. I prefer 1-2 mortars which can at least scare AV as well.

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

Also, could I ask why you are so attached to the hardened veterans?

_________________
Honda

"Remember Taros? We do"

- 23rd Elysian Drop Regiment

Hint: Look at their other capabilities  

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

Given that the 10 strong drop company will usually have at least 1x BM, is unarmoured and has 5+ assault stats, most enemy formations will probably welcome the chance to engage as they are likely to be ahead in the resolution or at worst, even. It really depends upon how much support both sides have - and even here, the Elysians tend to struggle unless they have dropped large formation numbers in close proximity to each other for mutual support (which seems to be the main tactic for the army).

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt