Jetbike Counter Attack?
Recently I have had some great success (read fun) using my Jetbikes in an attack role supported by Vypers…
I deploy two Vypers (Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, & Holo Field) next to a group of six Jetbikes (one with a Shuriken Cannon) behind cover. Given that both units can effectively ignore terrain I support them in combination. I keep the Vypers in a 12” radius of the Jetbikes with the Jetbikes behind LOS blocking cover as the Vypers hunt down my target. Tactically I want to try and damage or wipe out a unit so my opponent goes after and give chase to the Vypers. Previous battles include a squad of Witch Hunter Seraphim, and Black Templar’s working very well. I draw them close with the Vypers to my Jetbikes (who are in that 12” sphere of movement) and then I rush my Jetbikes out from cover firing away with the S. Catapults & Cannon whittling down my opponent’s squad some more before closing into the assault and finishing them off.
The picture in this post is an example of this setup in a recent game Vs. the Witch Hunters. See my Vypers to the left and the Jetbikes behind them to the right. (There is another group of Jetbikes out of picture to the left.) I popped the Rhino’s at the far end while moving up to draw out the Seraphim assault Sisters before then closing with my Jetbikes.
In the end I have wound up loosing my Jetbikes which was expensive victory points wise but the sacrifice of them gave my Vypers, Fire Prism, Wave Serpent, etc. virtually free and impenetrable reign of the table.
I deploy two Vypers (Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, & Holo Field) next to a group of six Jetbikes (one with a Shuriken Cannon) behind cover. Given that both units can effectively ignore terrain I support them in combination. I keep the Vypers in a 12” radius of the Jetbikes with the Jetbikes behind LOS blocking cover as the Vypers hunt down my target. Tactically I want to try and damage or wipe out a unit so my opponent goes after and give chase to the Vypers. Previous battles include a squad of Witch Hunter Seraphim, and Black Templar’s working very well. I draw them close with the Vypers to my Jetbikes (who are in that 12” sphere of movement) and then I rush my Jetbikes out from cover firing away with the S. Catapults & Cannon whittling down my opponent’s squad some more before closing into the assault and finishing them off.
The picture in this post is an example of this setup in a recent game Vs. the Witch Hunters. See my Vypers to the left and the Jetbikes behind them to the right. (There is another group of Jetbikes out of picture to the left.) I popped the Rhino’s at the far end while moving up to draw out the Seraphim assault Sisters before then closing with my Jetbikes.
In the end I have wound up loosing my Jetbikes which was expensive victory points wise but the sacrifice of them gave my Vypers, Fire Prism, Wave Serpent, etc. virtually free and impenetrable reign of the table.
Saim-Hann Vs. Witch Hunters
1850 ReconFacing off against a Witch Hunters army of Battle Sisters in Rhino’s, three Exorcists tanks, two Seraphim Jump Squads, and the Throne of Judgment I deployed my forces evenly across the board behind cover with my Fire Prism on one side and my Wave Serpent with Storm Guardians on the other while a group of Jetbikes backed each group of Vypers. Witch Hunter deployment was matched to my own with a Sister squad in a Rhino backed by a Exorcist, with the Jump Squads deployed behind that.
I took the first turn to get my skimmers moving and to swing out with my Vypers to take down some of his armor. Shifting all my forces to the right I wanted to use my speed to concentrate all my firepower on half the board and keep the other two of the Witch Hunter Exorcist tanks from firing back at me.
Brightlance and Star Cannon fire dropped the first Exorcist with Guide and popped a Rhino pinning the Sisters inside. Moving ahead two of the Witch Hunter Rhino’s popped smoke as their squads got out behind them into cover. Wanting to draw out the Witch Hunter Seraphim squads and crush them in a single swoop I advanced my Vypers a bit forward more as they took down the remainder of the Rhino transports now forcing the Sisters to walk it across the board. Ending their movement just into move and assault range for the Seraphim the Vypers set the bait- which the Witch Hunters took.
Jumping out from behind cover the Seraphim fired with plasma pistols, bolt pistols, and flamers and krak grenades, stunning two Vypers and downing one (Thanks Holo Fields!) On the opposite side of the board my Fire Prism tried to holds its own against the two Exorcist tanks and the Throne of Judgment but was taken down even with the skimmer and Holo-Fields- now leaving that entire end of the board open for the Witch Hunters to just walk down and score- which is exactly what I wanted- his tanks moving to the recon objective and not shooting at me or joining the battle on the other side of the board.
Moving my Vypers away to regroup I surged my three Jetbike groups forward blasting away with Shuriken Catapult & Cannon fire as my Wave Serpent dropped off a squad of Storm Guardians as a second wave backup. Taking down a few of the ‘Sisters my Jetbikes then assaulted as they began to loose combat from the various acts of faith powers but held their own with some good morale rolling. Charging my Storm Guardians into one group and my Farseer into the other on the next turn I completely wiped out both Seraphim squads as my Storm Guardians swept into another sister squad and later put them down in the next turn.
Swinging my now recovered Vypers around with the Wave Serpent they moved to the other side of the bard with their fast movement and took down the two remaining Exorcist tanks with their 36” range firepower. Moving into turn six the Witch Hunters only had the ‘Throne left and two ten woman squads at their side of the board. Moving my Vypers into my opponent’s recon zone I weathered their fire taking no losses cleaning up on both victory points and objective points for the win.
Links To Other Saim-Hann Warhosts
Saim-Hann Falcon: http://codefox.livejournal.com/52258.html
Custom Saim-Hann Jetbikes: http://sidestreaker.multiply.com/journal/item/30
Saim-Hann Project: http://www.lostknights.org/dblog/storico.asp?s=Saim+Hann+Project
Guide Vs. Doom
I’ve been thinking about tweaking my Farseer from Guide to Doom and perhaps dropping Mindwar all together to get the points to upgrade my Wave Serpent & Fire Prism’s Shuriken Catapults to Shuriken Cannons.I normally play my Farseer next to a unit of my Vypers where she Guide’s their Star Cannon and Shuriken Cannon fire. With a S of 6 for both weapons if I hit I usually wound. Hitting on a 4+ with the Vypers get more out of it with Guide. As an aside why can’t we get some Dire Avengers to pilot and shoot the Vypers and ditch the Guardians?
Normally I try and mob up with my Vypers on one unit and a good Guide roll of hits can almost wipe out a unit of Space Marines but with my Farseer riding alongside the Vypers she is often picked out and easily killed earning some nice victory points for my opponent.
If I switch over to Doom and send her with the Jetbikes who go rear guard hunting maybe they can do more damage to troops then the Vypers? With the twin-linked Shuriken Catapults I always get a lot of hits in a 10 unit Jetbike squad but with only a 4+ to wound on average (Space Marines) that is 50%. Doom might really push that above and beyond even with armor saves.
Re-roll wound on the unit- I wonder if that would work with my Warlock casting Destructor on the unit also?
Saim-Hann Dire Avenger Tactica
Following the mounted theme of the Saim-Hann my Dire Avengers (10 led by an Exarch with Bladestorm) are delivered in style aboard a Brightlance armed Wave Serpent. Depending on the points of the game they may also be lead by a Farseer with the Doom psychic power. Tactically I use the speed and mobility of the Wave Serpent to either drop them off to claim objectives or as a surgical strike unit to hunt down and wipe out those pesky rear guard, isolated, or Devestator Space Marine squads. Tactically I quickly learned that shooting my Star Cannon and Brightlance Vypers into Space Marine in cover was a waste with the inv. of the cover save. Better to save the Vypers for troops out in the open while my Dire Avengers had the mounted mobility in most cases to get there in one turn, disembark and fire with their 18" range on the Avenger Shuriken Catapults. In at least two games I got and took the first turn wiping out Devestator squads before they could respond. In return with the 4+ save at least the Dire Avengers will be around a bit longer as opposed to the 5+ of Guardians when they get shot up. Additionally the 18" range means one can fire even without moving and be out of a return assault range.
Rolling two sets of dice randomly with a Doom Farseer and without yielded the following results (+ Bladestorm):
With Doom: 30 shots, 23 hits, 16 wounds, 8 Dead (Space Marine 3+ Save)
Without Doom: 30 shots, 20 hits, 10 wounds, 4 Dead (Space Marine 3+ Save)
Two examples of being more then enough to take down or wipe out a Devestator squad or as lone unit hunters.
Grudge Match: Storm Guardians Vs. Space Marine Dreadnought
Moving to aid is battle brothers to the right the Space Marine Dreadnought lumbered forward through the ruins unaware of the ambush about to take place. Waiting for the proper moment to spring the trap the Storm Guardian commander looked to his Guardians with silent resolve as the unit took to action... 9 Storm Guardians with close combat weapon & shuriken pistol.
2 Storm Guardians with fusion gun.
VS.
Space Marine Dreadnought with assault cannon, storm bolter, extra armor.
Rolling off D6 the Storm Guardians took the first turn firing away with their two fusion guns with both missing. Turning to repel the ambush the Dreadnought's assault cannon whirred to life killing four Storm Guardians as the storm bolter downed one more.
Passing their leadership test the Storm Guardians stood thier ground as they fired off two more fusion gun shots with one hitting rolling a fourteen on the armor pen. followed by a six which casued the Dreadnought to explode in a shower of hot metal and fire out five inches killing two more Storm Guardians.
Victor: Storm Guardians
Grudge Match: Storm Guardians Vs. Space Marine Assault Terminators
Advancing through the ruins of the crashed starship the Storm Guardians made their way to the objective as a wedge of Jetbikes streaked on overhead. Pausing for a moment as the air around them became heavy and distorted the Guardians raised their weapons as the space infront of them shimmered and warped materializing forth a group of Space Marine Assault Terminators...
9 Storm Guardians with close combat weapon & shuriken pistol.
2 Storm Guardians with fusion gun.
2 Storm Guardians with fusion gun.
VS.
5 Space Marine Assault Terminators with lightning claws.
Deep striking in the Assault Terminators held their ground as the Storm Guardians rushed forward firing away with their shuriken pistols and fusion guns. Hitting with five of the pistol shots and one of the fusion shots one Assault Terminator failed the invulnerable save and was cooked to slag by the fusion gun while the pistol shots were deflected by the heavy Terminator armor.
Deep striking in the Assault Terminators held their ground as the Storm Guardians rushed forward firing away with their shuriken pistols and fusion guns. Hitting with five of the pistol shots and one of the fusion shots one Assault Terminator failed the invulnerable save and was cooked to slag by the fusion gun while the pistol shots were deflected by the heavy Terminator armor.
Realizing the Assault Terminators would charge next turn having recovered from the deep strike the Storm Guardian commander gave the order to charge as the group closed in scoring seventeen hits, and eight wounds with two of the Terminators failing their armor save. Returning their attacks the Assault Terminators scored nine hits and nine wounds, killing nine of the Storm Guardians with their lightning claws.
Passing their leadership the Storm Guardians vaiantly fought on scoring four more hits and two wounds with the Terminators making their saves. Returning their attacks the Assault Terminators wiped out the Storm Guardians to the last.
Victor: Space Marine Assault Terminators
Jetbike Tankhunters
Jetbikes as tankhunters are often overlooked by an opponent as they lack any of the high powered shots of a Brightlance or Star Cannon and it is because of this and their tactical flexibility that Jetbikes can be brutal tank killers.Given their speed either moving normally or turbo boosting they can get to the other side of the board and in place within a turn or two. Deploying as troops makes this even easier since your opponent will have already deployed his heavy support out and you can match that deployment to get there as fast as you can.
Now onto the loadout for tankhunting. Currently I have been experimenting with six Jetbikes with Shuriken Catapults, one with a Shuriken Cannon, and one with a Warlock with Destructor and a Witchblade.
Moving across the board to their target I use the Shuriken Cannon to try and glance some side armor along the way before moving in and behind to the rear armor to attack it with Shuriken Catapults (Twin-linked!) the cannon, and the Witchblade in assault.
So far in game I have immobilized a Defiler with the Witchblade, taken out a few Rhino’s rushing forward, and dropped a Predator with rear Shuriken Catapult fire. Jetbikes taking down armor is often a real surprise and doing it with the Witchblade is even more so. Funny that the Witchblade works better in this role then in an assault against troops- one wound on a 2+ but not being a power weapon really isn’t that great- maybe if everybody had one…
On a board with less terrain getting your Jetbikes there in one piece might prove a bit difficult so zoom them forward with another unit behind them as bait. Something like a Vyper or Skimmer Tank that might be more tempting to shoot at by the Heavy. Of course if you turbo boost you’ll get the inv. save which should negate the effects of getting hit with las-cannon fire, etc. by the heavy support unit you are going against. So, in addition to close in troop killers, and objective grabbers due to their speed, look to expand the tactical use of your Jetbikes considering them in a tankhunter role if needed.
Saim-Hann Vs. Space Marines
1850 Loot
Mission: Secure three loot counters on a ruined mechanicus world. Unknown chapter of Space Marines with Devastator squads, Predator tanks, and Land Speeders entrenched in heavy cover. Drop pod reinforcements of ten Marine Tactical squads, Terminators, and a Dreadnought at the ready.
Throwing the full force of my Vypers, Jetbikes, Wave Serpent W/ Dire Avengers, Jetbike Farseer, Fire Prism and Storm Guardians I consulted the Runes of Witnessing to assess the Saim-Hann battle plan.
Two loot counter were placed about center and to the left of the board, and one on the far right. Scattered over the table was groups of refinery buildings offering hard cover. Space Marines deployed in cover with a number of Las and Plasma Cannons backed by speeders and a tank on the left side of the board.
I deployed my Jetbikes, Wave Serpent, & Fire Prism to the far right to swoop around attack his exposed side- and to capture one of the loot counter uncontested. The other two loot counters in the center I planned to strafe with my Vypers keeping the Marines at hold and then advance my Storm Guardians at the last moment to claim the prize.
Saim-Hann took the first turn and moved out laying Vyper Star Cannon fire into two groups wiping out a Tactical squad not in cover and halving a Devastator squad in cover thanks to the Guide of my Farseer. The right wing of my forces (Jetbikes, skimmer tanks) turbo boosted or fast moved ahead. Brightlance fire from my other Vypers destroyed the auto-cannon on the Predator and stunned it for a turn. I would have preferred to destroy it but at least taking its fire capacity out for a turn wasn’t too bad.
The Space Marines returned fire with Las-Cannons and a few 24” bolter shots into my Vypers stunning two of them as their Spirit Stones and Holo-Fields kept them up. Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter fire from the Land Speeders also caused a few more stunned glances on my already stunned Vypers.
Moving the stunned Vypers away I continued to pour fire into the Space Marines in cover as my right wing moved around now with a line of fire to his backside. My first Jetbike unit swooped in blasting away with Shuriken Catapult & Cannon shots as my Warlock rolled Destructor over a Devastator squad taking it down to one man who was finished off in the assault from my Jetbikes.
At this point I was feeling pretty solid as my Vypers were engaging on his main front/formation as my Jetbikes were swooping in from the rear where they could isolate their fire on one unit at a time before moving the 6” in the assault back behind cover.
Rolling for his reserves two Space Marine drop pods came in with ten Marine Tactical Squads- who landed near the two loot counters and a third pod containing a group of Terminators lead by a Chaplain in Terminator armor dropped down near my Jetbikes, Wave Serpent, and Fire Prism. Curiously with my Jetbikes out in the open for two Assault Cannons and four Storm Bolter shots my opponent elected to fire on my Fire Prism which shrugged off the shots on the front armor. Massed Tactical squad fire of Plasma Guns, and Bolters brought down two of my Vypers with double 6”’s on the glancing roll for the Holo-Fields.
Sending my second Jetbike unit ahead they engaged one of the newly arriving Marine Tactical Squads as I pumped four Star Cannon and four Shuriken Cannon shots into one of the Tactical Squads along with fire from my Jetbikes wiping out the squad.
Turning my second Jetbike pack onto the Terminators along with the Fire Prism, Wave Serpent, and a disembarked group of Dire Avengers who blade stormed their Avenger Shuriken Catapults I wiped out the Terminators and wounded the Chaplain as he then charged and closed with the Dire Avengers eventually wiping them out as my Jetbikes sped away.
Continuing to engage and skirmish I lost my Wave Serpent to a Las Cannon shot but wiped out one of his Land Speeders and another Tactical Squad finishing the game with the Space Marines controlling one loot counter and the Saim-Hann controlling two securing the win on the victory points alone.
Mission: Secure three loot counters on a ruined mechanicus world. Unknown chapter of Space Marines with Devastator squads, Predator tanks, and Land Speeders entrenched in heavy cover. Drop pod reinforcements of ten Marine Tactical squads, Terminators, and a Dreadnought at the ready.
Throwing the full force of my Vypers, Jetbikes, Wave Serpent W/ Dire Avengers, Jetbike Farseer, Fire Prism and Storm Guardians I consulted the Runes of Witnessing to assess the Saim-Hann battle plan.
Two loot counter were placed about center and to the left of the board, and one on the far right. Scattered over the table was groups of refinery buildings offering hard cover. Space Marines deployed in cover with a number of Las and Plasma Cannons backed by speeders and a tank on the left side of the board.
I deployed my Jetbikes, Wave Serpent, & Fire Prism to the far right to swoop around attack his exposed side- and to capture one of the loot counter uncontested. The other two loot counters in the center I planned to strafe with my Vypers keeping the Marines at hold and then advance my Storm Guardians at the last moment to claim the prize.
Saim-Hann took the first turn and moved out laying Vyper Star Cannon fire into two groups wiping out a Tactical squad not in cover and halving a Devastator squad in cover thanks to the Guide of my Farseer. The right wing of my forces (Jetbikes, skimmer tanks) turbo boosted or fast moved ahead. Brightlance fire from my other Vypers destroyed the auto-cannon on the Predator and stunned it for a turn. I would have preferred to destroy it but at least taking its fire capacity out for a turn wasn’t too bad.
The Space Marines returned fire with Las-Cannons and a few 24” bolter shots into my Vypers stunning two of them as their Spirit Stones and Holo-Fields kept them up. Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter fire from the Land Speeders also caused a few more stunned glances on my already stunned Vypers.
Moving the stunned Vypers away I continued to pour fire into the Space Marines in cover as my right wing moved around now with a line of fire to his backside. My first Jetbike unit swooped in blasting away with Shuriken Catapult & Cannon shots as my Warlock rolled Destructor over a Devastator squad taking it down to one man who was finished off in the assault from my Jetbikes.
At this point I was feeling pretty solid as my Vypers were engaging on his main front/formation as my Jetbikes were swooping in from the rear where they could isolate their fire on one unit at a time before moving the 6” in the assault back behind cover.
Rolling for his reserves two Space Marine drop pods came in with ten Marine Tactical Squads- who landed near the two loot counters and a third pod containing a group of Terminators lead by a Chaplain in Terminator armor dropped down near my Jetbikes, Wave Serpent, and Fire Prism. Curiously with my Jetbikes out in the open for two Assault Cannons and four Storm Bolter shots my opponent elected to fire on my Fire Prism which shrugged off the shots on the front armor. Massed Tactical squad fire of Plasma Guns, and Bolters brought down two of my Vypers with double 6”’s on the glancing roll for the Holo-Fields.
Sending my second Jetbike unit ahead they engaged one of the newly arriving Marine Tactical Squads as I pumped four Star Cannon and four Shuriken Cannon shots into one of the Tactical Squads along with fire from my Jetbikes wiping out the squad.
Turning my second Jetbike pack onto the Terminators along with the Fire Prism, Wave Serpent, and a disembarked group of Dire Avengers who blade stormed their Avenger Shuriken Catapults I wiped out the Terminators and wounded the Chaplain as he then charged and closed with the Dire Avengers eventually wiping them out as my Jetbikes sped away.
Continuing to engage and skirmish I lost my Wave Serpent to a Las Cannon shot but wiped out one of his Land Speeders and another Tactical Squad finishing the game with the Space Marines controlling one loot counter and the Saim-Hann controlling two securing the win on the victory points alone.
Another Viewpoint On Vypers
A good review of some Vyper Tactica, but I still think once you play with Holo-Fields there is no going back despite the +35 point costs- makes Vypers tougher then a Land Raider. Check out the link @:
http://spunkybass.multiply.com/journal/item/28
Saim-Hann Vs. Thousand Sons Dustwing
1750 Patrol
Hoping to recover my draw game against a drop pod SM army I faced off against Chaos for a rematch- having won the last two games against him. Chaos brought twenty Thousand Sons Terminators, a Defiler, Obliterators, two World Eater Berserker squads in Rhino’s and a mutated slug lord- now titled Sir Slugs-A-Lot.
Playing Recon none of my stuff came in till the third turn- nothing- which allowed Chaos’ forces to come on out of reserve, and move onto my end of the table. Fanning out he had most of the table covered and as I came on with my units there was no where to hide. Blasting away at the Terminators I couldn’t down a single one- even with Starcannon fire their 4+ Inv. Save saved them- truly the dark gods possessed those dice!
My Jetbikes tried to break out and head away hoping to snipe with the Shuriken Cannons and then hide in the assault move but they were caught by the World Eaters and destroyed. Even my Wave Serpent got power fisted and went down.
I did manage to destroy the Obliterators and Defiler and one TS Terminator but clearly moving into turn 5 there was no way I could recover enough victory points. Even with the holo-fields I lost two Vypers, with the only saving moment was when my Farseer Mindwared Sir-Slugs-A-Lot killing him with five wounds taken.
A devastating defeat for the Saim-Hann craftworld…
Saim-Hann Vs. Drop Pod Space Marines
1750 Alpha Recon
Facing off against an all cleanse and purify drop pod Space Marine army proved to put the legendary speed of the Saim-Hann to the test. My Vypers, Jetbikes, Fire Prism, Wave Serpent, and Dire Avengers faced off against eight drop pods full of ten man Space Marine Squads, Terminators, and Dreadnoughts.
Taking the first turn by default I made full movement into my opponent’s deployment zone hoping to draw some of his incoming pods over there and away from my deployment zone, or at least keep me out of range of his bolters, etc. if he went directly to my deployment zone. On his turn all but one of his ‘pods came in and he deployed the ones with the ‘Dreads, and Terminators into my zone and a few of his Space Marine squads right next to my Jetbikes and Dire Avengers. With little to no scatter they landed dead on and wiped out my two Jetbike squads and Dire Avengers. Already down four scoring units I destroyed a Dreadnought with some Vyper Brightlance fire as my Fire Prism and Star Cannon Vypers started working down the squads dropping one to below 50% before moving to the next.
With only my Vypers left I was forced to hit and run as best I could using the 36” range of their Starcannons and Brightlances- loosing two in the process from a Venerable Dreadnought- which I “6”ed on the first penetrating roll but then “1”ed with the re-roll. Moving to the end of the game it was a dash to the deployment zones with both of us having four scoring units in each zone- a tie, but so close and so hard fought.
Thinking things over tactically I wonder how to address an all drop pod army? With their ability to land dead on near a unit and then get out and rapid fire with Bolters, Plasma, and Melta fire my fragile Jetbikes didn’t stand a chance. Once they were down and I had what survived I did run, hide, and snipe but that burned up a turn of not really shooting. I need to review some tactica for taking on ‘pods.
Some More Saim-Hann Tactics...
Saim-Hann Tactics This army has very good hit-and-run firepower and a potentially deadly assault capacity, but it has few models and little staying power, so you must be cautious and careful for the first few turns. All of your jetbike-mounted troops have a 12" move, plus another 6" move in the Assault Phase in any direction. This gives them the ability to move out from behind line-of-sight blocking terrain, fire, then move back behind terrain so that they cannot be shot--a very useful ability and one that you must use, given the fragility and low numbers of your forces. Some ways to do this:
Using terrain to block line of sight, your jetbikes can dash from one terrain piece to the other without being shot so long as they are no more than 18" apart. They can even take a potshot with their guns 12" into their dash from cover to cover.
Sit behind some woods or a ruined building, pop out 6", shoot, then move back to your original position (a favorite Tau tactic). Your jetbikes have a considerable amount of firepower, as every squad has a shuriken cannon, BS 4, or both. You must use it to soften up enemy squads before you attempt an assault, because you need to be sure that you will win the assault on the same turn you charge. When you assault, hit one target at a time with the Shining Spears, the Wild Rider Chief, and possibly one or both Guardian Jetbike Squads. The Shining Spears (and to a lesser extent, the Chief) are very powerful on the charge, generating a ton of S5 attacks and S4 shots, but if they get bogged down in a long melee, they revert to a single, nearly useless S5 attack.
It's hard to think of a better choice for the Saim-Hann's single Heavy Support slot than a Falcon Grav-Tank, as it has everything: speed, armor, firepower, and even a modest transport capability. Against mechanized foes, escort the Falcon with your two Vypers and go tank hunting. Use your superior speed and mobility to isolate enemy tanks and deal with them one at a time.
If there are no tanks to threaten the Falcon, send the Vypers off to deal with transports and gun platforms while the Falcon targets heavy infantry and big creatures with its high-strength, multiple-shot lasers. The Dire Avengers can serve in two roles: on a mission like Cleanse, they can fulfill the mundane but necessary duty of holding your original table quarter, or they can ride in the Falcon to claim objectives further up the board. They can also ride in the Falcon to defend it from any infantry that get too close with meltaguns.
Warlock Tactica
I’ve been playing around with taking a Warlock on a Jetbike with Destructor for each of my Jetbike units as a close range fire support model. Moving forward with my Jetbikes into the 12” range for the Shuriken Catapults means I can also blast away with the template. I like the idea of moving my Jetbikes behind cover, then coming out and sniping away with 2 Shuriken Cannons, before using the assault move to get back behind cover. Hopefully whittling down the enemy unit a bit before charging out and blasting with the Shuriken Catapults and Destructor followed by the assault. Good in theory and so far I have only used it against a group of Chaos Marines who all made their saves but where then cut down from Shuriken fire and then the assault. The down side is that with the Warlock in the unit victory points for killing the unit go through the roof. More to report in a few games.
Farseer Tactica
I wargear my Farseer (center front) with a Jetbike, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Spirit Stones, Guide, & Mindwar. In this role she provides both support for my Star Cannon Vyper group with Guide and as a HQ sniper with Mind War. With the Jetbike I gain +1 T and the mobility to keep up with my Vypers along with the 6" assault move which help when using Mind War as a sniper- more on that in a sec. I need the Spirit Stones to use the two psychic powers, and the Runes of Witnessing to make sure they go off. Some might say with such a high leadership on the Farseer the Runes are not needed to pass a psychic test but I have found for the points they are a good buy to make sure they do go off every turn.
Runes of Warding are also a good buy for facing Tyranids and Chaos, a big + with the new codex and Chaos models coming out since everybody will suddenly be playing Chaos. At worst the RW will be an annoyance and at best they will cause perils of the warp on the casting model. So far I've dropped two Zoranthropes and a Thousand Sons Sorcerer with this so far. Onto using Mindwar as a sniper...
With the Jetbike Mindwar becomes a true sniper weapon. Move the Jetbike 12", Mindwar 18" range and then move 6" begind line of sight blocking cover. A regular Farseer with Mindwar is often left out in the open to use the power- even if they are part of a unit- and then they have to use the power on the unit they joined that is being fired at. On a Jetbike your Farseer is free from this limitation. Good targets are Tau suits, Space Marine Commanders, Heavy Weapons, and Necron Lords with Res. Orbs. Of course facing a model with a high leadership does make it a bit more difficult.
The downside to the Jetbike mounted and psychic tooled out Farseer is the victory points they are worth to your opponent. One hast to plan out movement a turn in advnace and anticipate which enemy units could come in and try to shoot or assault. Sometimes turbo-boosting away is needed rather then spending a turn blasting off powers.
The Saim-Hann Warhost
(Picture Games Workshop)Why play the Saim-Hann?
I started playing 40K back when it was Rogue Trader with a friend who played Space Marines. Not wanting to play Orks, Squats, or Zoats, I went with the Eldar since we rationalized that Imperial Guard would never fight Space Marines and they were at least human looking even if they were elves. Leaving the Eldar and moving on through the editions I somehow found myself as a dire hard Space Marine player gaming with a heavy assault themed army who occasionally fielded some Necrons here and there for some flavor.
Deciding to undertake a new army I wanted something that would really stand out on the table in terms of models along with something to perplex my opponent into wondering exactly what they were facing.
I thought about Tyranids but they were just bugs (no slight to the ‘Nid players out there who can counter saying Eldar are just rehashed fantasy elves) and it seems everybody these days at the 40K club and tournaments is playing Space Marines or their Chaos knockoffs. Perhaps returning full circle or the fact that in the club I belong to there are only two other Eldar players I decided to go the Eldar way, picked up the new Codex, and began to map out my Warhost.
While I liked the idea of an all ranger based army I went with the Saim-Hann because I liked their models- jetbikes, Vypers, and Skimmer Tanks, and the idea of owning the table in terms of speed offered a huge tactical advantage. It was only later as I tricked out my Vypers and Tanks with AP killer weapons that the broken firepower that the Saim-Hann is capable of came into the equation.
In total I’ve been playing them exclusively for about a year now (as of this writing) averaging in about 2 games a week either at the club, with friends, or at the local game shop. Once I got past the steep learning curve and played them as Saim-Hann Eldar and not as Space Marines on Jetbikes my victories tallied up and things keep getting funnier all the time.
So why should you play Saim-Hann? Play them if you like the Eldar Jetbike and Vyper line of models and would enjoy seeing dozen of them zip around on the table. Play them if the concept of extreme speed and concentrated firepower appeals to you. Play them if you are looking for a heavy theme based army that really stands out on the table and will turn a few heads at the club.
What follows next are a few advantages vs. disadvantages of the Saim-Hann Warhost which should help you decide if you want to start up such an army.
Advantages of the Saim-Hann:
The Unknown Factor: Right out of the case and on to the table most first time players against a Saim-Hann army don’t know what to expect. An all mobile Jetbike / Skimmer army is a scary prospect. Where are the heavy tanks? The core elite units? Any familiarity of a force organization chart is gone.
Skimmers: Move at least 7” and everything is a glancing hit. Add Spirit Stones and Holo Fields to that and you are pretty much impossible to kill.
Speed: Think ‘Nids fleeting are fast? Dark Eldar? Speed Freaks? Nah! Saim-Hann is the fastest with everything moving 12+, Jetbikes 18” or Turbo-Boost 24”, Vypers & Wave Serpent/Falcon’s 12” or 36” with Star Engines. One can literally be on the other side of the board in one turn which is a huge tactical advantage when playing Cleanse, Recon, or loot based missions. Nothing destroys an opponent more then speed. Imaging that Space Marine player with his lone devastator squad perched at the far end of the board. Against most other armies that lane of fire is long and casualties will be high moving to engage, with a Saim-Hann army you can be there blasting away in one turn with your AP Marine killing Vypers.
Heavy Weapons: Every unit can mount a heavy weapon ranging from Star Cannons, to Brightlances, to Shuriken Cannons. All MEQ killers on a fast movement platform.
Terrain: For the Saim-Hann army terrain is meaningless- all our units can either go over, past, or around it. With skimmers there is no such thing as impassible terrain.
Coolness Factor: Saim-Hann are the original “Raven Wing” Eldar Jetbikes are styling and a try full SH army will always garner compliments and a look on the table. You do want to be elite right?
Disadvantages of the Saim-Hann:
Lack Of Unit Selection: The Eldar as a model line have some very impressive and detailed models offering a range of painting and modeling opportunities. By playing a TRUE Saim-Hann list- everything is mounted on a Jetbike/Vyper, or inside a Skimmer- one is really limiting the range of models to paint and play with.
Fragile Core Of Units: Jetbikes are fast and fun but at 22 points a model they are fragile and with limited range of fire 12”. Getting up close and personal to wipe out your opponent requires some skill and finesse.
Lack Of Assault: Forget about assaulting except in a very rare and controlled sense. At best all you’ll have is a witchblade and a few Guardians on Jetbikes. Conversely, get assaulted and you can write off the entire unit.
Ok, so I’ve sold you on playing Saim-Hann. What next? Next is building up a core 1000 point Warhost that you can play against any army or objective while building up later on. For 1K points I would model up the following:
1000 Point Saim-Hann Warhost
HQ: Farseer W/ Jetbike, Doom, Runes of Warding & Witnessing (130 Pts.)
Troops: 10 Jetbikes (220 Pts.)
Troops: 10 Dire Avengers W. Exarch & Blade Storm (148 Pts.)
Transport: Wave Serpent W/ Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone (145 Pts)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (115 Pts.)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (115 Pts.)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (120 Pts.)
993 Points
Painting:
Painting your models is a personal preference with entire lists, groups, and books on how to do it. However, in keeping with the aim of this article I’d like to offer a simple painting solution based on a few colors and with a few shortcuts to getting a very presentable army on the table. After all, if you spend the $ to buy the models contain your enthusiasm a little while longer to really make a statement and get them painted for the table. My Saim-Hann Warhost (check out some of the pictures) was painted pretty much this way:
Grey Spray Primer
Flat Black Spray Paint
GW Scarab Red Paint
GW Bone White Paint
GW Black Paint
GW Green Paint
Start by building the models, cleaning off the flash, trimming the edges, etc. For your Wave Serpent and Vypers leave the cockpit canopy unglued. After you have built your army spray all the models with the grey primer followed by two coats of the black spray paint. This gives it a good base and is the first short cut to getting those nice unit markings and lines on the models. Next take some paint masking tape (I used the blue 3M kind) that doesn’t stick to applied pain and cut it into thin strips. Apply the strips to your model as marking lines for each unit- again just check out any of my Vypers or tank pictures. From here pain the entire model with the red getting an even coat. When it is dry pull off the tape exposing the black below creating which will create some nice clean lines. Paint the weaponry black with bone white highlights, paint the Eldar helmets and some gun bits white and do the spirit stones in green. After the spirit stones have dried paint a white dot or mark in the upper corner to give it a 3d shiny effect. Base and flock the model as your preference. In terms of the inside of the cockpit for your vehicles some people just paint/frost the inside of the windscreen so you can’t see inside or you can go the extra mile and paint the inside (recommended!) From here you will have a pretty striking Saim-Hann Warhost which you can then go back to over time and improve with highlighting, detailing, etc.
Saim-Hann Tactics
Now with your army built and painted its time to test it on the table. Read over the unit tactica on this blog for some ideas of how I make the army work and then adapt those ideas to your own style of play. Simple right? But you want something more? Ok.
As well as one can convey fluid concepts such as strategy and human interaction on a static medium such as this blog here goes….
Always play the mission. Other then Seek & Destroy removing your opponent’s models is a secondary objective. Keeping your models alive and claiming objectives is the primary goal. Use your speed to do so.
During the deployment phase of the game deploy all your units out of sight, range, and behind full cover. Leave nothing out in the open as your army is weakest on the first turn since nothing has moved 7” to get the glance. If you don’t get (or choose not to take) the first turn you don’t want to be hanging out in the open. When deploying try to place all your units in the center of the board or as close to it as you can while keeping in LOS blocking cover. Tactically your Warhost will be broken up into two parts- your Vypers and your Jetbikes, Dire Avengers, Wave Serpent, and Farseer.
Deploying in the center gives you tactical flexibility to use your speed to cause your opponent to react. Move your Vypers out into an attack role trying to isolate a unit to fire on while using terrain to block return fire as best you can. Fire all your Vypers into one unit at a time. With 4 Star Cannon shots, 1 Brightlance shot, and 9 Shuriken Cannon shots you want to wipe out the unit or at least take it to 50% to check etc. Concentrate fire to wipe out one unit at a time and then move on to the next. This will earn you the most victory points and immediately draw your opponent out to retaliate against your Vypers- which is what you want. If you wipe out that Space Marine squad or tank on the first turn expect heavy retribution which you should survive no problem with the tricked out Vypers. If your Vyper does get hit and can’t shoot next turn get it out of there behind cover for a turn, otherwise even if a weapon is destroyed keep it in the fight.
Now, while your opponent is focused on your Vypers and their badness you are moving your Jetbikes and Wave Serpent around the far end of the board to strike at his flank. Get your Jetbikes up as close as you can within 12” and Doom them with the Farseer. Wipe out a squad at a time perhaps even assaulting if there is one or two of your opponent’s men left. Take and rack up those victory points. Flanking to the rear use your twin linked Brightlance on the Wave Serpent to tank hunt as you drop off your Dire Avengers to Blade Strom and wipe out units. Dire Avengers Bladestorming with supporting fire from your Jetbikes should more then drop even a Terminator squad. Keep the pressure on your opponent and if he shifts heavily to either deal with your Vypers of Jetbikes then pull out and tubo-boost away to a new position. Hit and run, strike hard and fast.
HQ: Farseer W/ Jetbike, Doom, Runes of Warding & Witnessing (130 Pts.)
Troops: 10 Jetbikes (220 Pts.)
Troops: 10 Dire Avengers W. Exarch & Blade Storm (148 Pts.)
Transport: Wave Serpent W/ Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone (145 Pts)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (115 Pts.)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Star Cannon, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (115 Pts.)
Fast Attack: Vyper W/ Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stone, Holo Field (120 Pts.)
993 Points
Painting:
Painting your models is a personal preference with entire lists, groups, and books on how to do it. However, in keeping with the aim of this article I’d like to offer a simple painting solution based on a few colors and with a few shortcuts to getting a very presentable army on the table. After all, if you spend the $ to buy the models contain your enthusiasm a little while longer to really make a statement and get them painted for the table. My Saim-Hann Warhost (check out some of the pictures) was painted pretty much this way:
Grey Spray Primer
Flat Black Spray Paint
GW Scarab Red Paint
GW Bone White Paint
GW Black Paint
GW Green Paint
Start by building the models, cleaning off the flash, trimming the edges, etc. For your Wave Serpent and Vypers leave the cockpit canopy unglued. After you have built your army spray all the models with the grey primer followed by two coats of the black spray paint. This gives it a good base and is the first short cut to getting those nice unit markings and lines on the models. Next take some paint masking tape (I used the blue 3M kind) that doesn’t stick to applied pain and cut it into thin strips. Apply the strips to your model as marking lines for each unit- again just check out any of my Vypers or tank pictures. From here pain the entire model with the red getting an even coat. When it is dry pull off the tape exposing the black below creating which will create some nice clean lines. Paint the weaponry black with bone white highlights, paint the Eldar helmets and some gun bits white and do the spirit stones in green. After the spirit stones have dried paint a white dot or mark in the upper corner to give it a 3d shiny effect. Base and flock the model as your preference. In terms of the inside of the cockpit for your vehicles some people just paint/frost the inside of the windscreen so you can’t see inside or you can go the extra mile and paint the inside (recommended!) From here you will have a pretty striking Saim-Hann Warhost which you can then go back to over time and improve with highlighting, detailing, etc.
Saim-Hann Tactics
Now with your army built and painted its time to test it on the table. Read over the unit tactica on this blog for some ideas of how I make the army work and then adapt those ideas to your own style of play. Simple right? But you want something more? Ok.
As well as one can convey fluid concepts such as strategy and human interaction on a static medium such as this blog here goes….
Always play the mission. Other then Seek & Destroy removing your opponent’s models is a secondary objective. Keeping your models alive and claiming objectives is the primary goal. Use your speed to do so.
During the deployment phase of the game deploy all your units out of sight, range, and behind full cover. Leave nothing out in the open as your army is weakest on the first turn since nothing has moved 7” to get the glance. If you don’t get (or choose not to take) the first turn you don’t want to be hanging out in the open. When deploying try to place all your units in the center of the board or as close to it as you can while keeping in LOS blocking cover. Tactically your Warhost will be broken up into two parts- your Vypers and your Jetbikes, Dire Avengers, Wave Serpent, and Farseer.
Deploying in the center gives you tactical flexibility to use your speed to cause your opponent to react. Move your Vypers out into an attack role trying to isolate a unit to fire on while using terrain to block return fire as best you can. Fire all your Vypers into one unit at a time. With 4 Star Cannon shots, 1 Brightlance shot, and 9 Shuriken Cannon shots you want to wipe out the unit or at least take it to 50% to check etc. Concentrate fire to wipe out one unit at a time and then move on to the next. This will earn you the most victory points and immediately draw your opponent out to retaliate against your Vypers- which is what you want. If you wipe out that Space Marine squad or tank on the first turn expect heavy retribution which you should survive no problem with the tricked out Vypers. If your Vyper does get hit and can’t shoot next turn get it out of there behind cover for a turn, otherwise even if a weapon is destroyed keep it in the fight.
Now, while your opponent is focused on your Vypers and their badness you are moving your Jetbikes and Wave Serpent around the far end of the board to strike at his flank. Get your Jetbikes up as close as you can within 12” and Doom them with the Farseer. Wipe out a squad at a time perhaps even assaulting if there is one or two of your opponent’s men left. Take and rack up those victory points. Flanking to the rear use your twin linked Brightlance on the Wave Serpent to tank hunt as you drop off your Dire Avengers to Blade Strom and wipe out units. Dire Avengers Bladestorming with supporting fire from your Jetbikes should more then drop even a Terminator squad. Keep the pressure on your opponent and if he shifts heavily to either deal with your Vypers of Jetbikes then pull out and tubo-boost away to a new position. Hit and run, strike hard and fast.
Saim-Hann Vs. Chaos (The Rematch)
Once again the Wild Riders of Saim-Hann streaked forth against the ruinous powers of Chaos. Cityfight 1750 Recon. Setting up with everything that can move between 24-36 inches my plan was to keep out of site and let Chaos advance into the center of the city, followed by breaking my forces off to the side strafing what I could and then move into Chaos’ deployment zone for the victory points. Having my Vypers equipped with Holo-Fields and Spirit Stones I wanted Chaos to waste their shots on them as my more fragile bikes and Wave Serpent returned fire and made for the other side of the board.Fresh with a good memory from our last game Chaos formed a wall of vehicles on the far side of the board hoping to advance in unison and lay down ordinance fire from a Vindicator, Dreadnought, and Defiler supported by Obliterators. Behind them were three Rhino’s with Thousand Sons, World Eaters, Chaos Spawn and Deathguard, with a group of plasma gun Chosen infiltrating on the far end of the board near my deployment zone to pull me away.
Saim-Hann took the first turn and sprang to action firing off Vyper and Wave Serpent Brightlance fire into the Vindicator and Defiler completely missing despite being guided by my Farseer! Star Cannon fire from my Vypers tore into the Obliterators downing them as my Jetbikes rode forth.
Advancing in unison the Chaos Vindicator dropped ordinance on my Wave Serpent rolling well and destroying it on the glance killing two of the Storm Guardians inside and pinning them in the wreckage. Dreadnought fire bounced off my Fire Prism as the Chaos Spawn bounded forward taking me by surprise (I forgot where he deployed it) and assaulting my Jetbikes- missing me and with my Guardians scoring 6’s to wound killing it. As a side note it looks like Chaos Spawns really such- they have no armor save- tried as we could there was none listed in the codex.
Engaging his Chosen infiltrators my Jetbikes blasted them before routing them and cutting them down in the assault- Chaos Space Marines do know fear!
Star Cannon and Brightlance fire again hit the Vindicator destroying its battle cannon and immobilizing it as my Fire Prism discharged destroying the Dreadnought (with Guide as an extra measure). Moving my second Jetbike unit around they fired into the Defiler with Shuriken Cannon shots stunning it as they moved into the assault immobilizing it with my Warlocks Witchblade. Striking back and supported by the Chaos lord “Sir Slugsalot” the Jetbikes were wiped out in a costly gamble on my part.
With both Chaos vehicles immobilized Chaos was faced with driving his transports around them exposing them to Vyper and Fire Prism fire of disembarking and walking it through the wreckage. Disembarking Thousand Sons and Death Guard fired their bolters into the Vypers stunning them and bringing one down with an immobilization as the World Eaters advanced into my deployment zone.
Hoping to sacrifice my Storm Guardians to at least bring them down to half strength/non scoring the fired with Fusion Guns and Shuriken Pistols before charging. In the ensuring combat they were not successful as all eight were wiped out with only two World Eaters being killed.
Entering into the last turn my forces moved into Chaos’ deployment zone with multiple scoring units and with only the World Eaters into mine Saim-Hann secured a crushing defeat against the ruinous powers.
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