Hey all, Danny here with a special List-Briefing to go over the super-awesome-mega-prize for TFG Radio’s newest contest!
So that’s right, let’s take a look at how many flyers can Elysians really take!
The List:
Detachment 1: Elysian Droptroop CAD
HQ: Company Command Squad
4x Plasma Guns
HQ: Company Command Squad
4x Plasma Guns. Carapace Armour
TR: Veteran Squad
3x Plasma Guns
Valkyrie with Sponson Heavy Bolters
TR: Veteran Squad
3x Plasma Guns
Valkyrie with Sponson Heavy Bolters
FA: Vulture Gunship
Twin-linked Punisher cannon
FA: Vulture Gunship
Twin-linked Punisher cannon
Detachment 2: Elysian Droptroop CAD
HQ: Company Command Squad
4x Melta Guns
TR: Veteran Squad
3x Melta Guns
Valkyrie with Sponson Heavy Bolters
TR: Veteran Squad
3x Melta Guns
Valkyrie with Sponson Heavy Bolters
FA: Vendetta Gunship
FA: Vendetta Gunship
1840/1850
With all these flyers, how does it not lose on 1? Well, as per the Elysian rules, 2 of your 4 Valks may deepstrike onto the table on turn 1, so you can immediately get your flyers onto the table.
So here we have a list with 8 flyers. Yep, 8 of them, 4 of them being Objective Secured. You also have 3 command squads that can deepstrike on their own and can issue orders to themselves, namely fun things like Monster/Tank Hunter or Ignore Cover! Plasma guns that ignore cover? Seems good.
Ok, ok, that’s a lot of flyers, so how does it work?
Well, this list has two main advantages and a few sweet perks. The first main advantage is that it skews hard, meaning that the average list will struggle to do much against it. With 8 flyers, very, very few armies are going to have the firepower to be able to threaten this list. You need skyfire or other flyers, and you need more than a bit to be able to do any real damage to this list. Just by design, this list can stay safe from a lot of other armies, especially since you can always go off the table and come back next turn. The standard Valkyrie is actually pretty tough with Front Armor and Side Armor of 12, far hardier than AV 10 or 11. Even if a full scatbike squad opens up, they need 6s to hit and 6s to do any damage.
Next, this list has amazing speed since every vehicle but the Vultures have transport capacity, so you can easily zip around the board to where you need to be. Smart placement of objectives, namely in the corners in hard to reach places really lets this army capitalize on its speed. You can easily hover, pick up a squad, and then zoom over next turn and deploy the squad via deepstrike (thanks Gravchute Insertion!)
Of course, all this speed and skew doesn’t matter if it can’t hit, and oh boy does it. The vultures each pump out 20 Twin-linked S5 shots at BS4 at ground targets thanks to strafing run, making them ideal horde clearers. After a few turns, even a Wolftide or Greentide will start to feel the hurt. Since Vultures have Vector Dancer, they can also easily stay on target and keep pumping shots into big units or get clear sight lines to other units.
The Vendettas each bring 3 Twin-linked S9 AP2 shots, so they can easily tank hunt or after a few turns, whittle down a lot of GMCs. They are also excellent at hunting down other flyers as they are going to wreck just about anything out there as even against AV 12, they punch on 4s and get the chance to explode the target!
There are 14 plasma guns and 10 melta guns in this list as well, all of whom can deepstrike. With the possibility of getting orders from the command squad, they can also gain Ignore Cover or Tank/Monster hunter. Not too shabby at all. This list can punch well above its weight.
Another large perk that often wins the game is that this list has 8 Obsec units, 4 of them being flyers. They can of course hover to drop down and take objectives, so you have a list that is excellent and zooming over to objectives and taking it from your opponent. You also don’t need to keep the squads inside the flyers, so in a maelstrom mission, you can deepstrike them down onto objectives and claim them for the turn. Obsec flyers are very good, and a lot of players can struggle to do much to them late game. You also have so many that you can split the board, so one may die, but not all of them.
This really is an army that is about controlling the flow of the battle. You don’t want to commit your punches too early as the troops will likely die after they land, and you should rely on the Vultures/Vendettas to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the early rounds. With a Multi-Laser and Heavy Bolters, even the Valks can do a bit of damage, and when you really need them, they do have 2 S8, AP3 missiles to fire off (that are Ordnance, so make sure to snap fire with the other guns). Once you start dropping in, you can really punish people with each hit, and because these units are cheap, you are often winning the piece trading game.
This army loves to play against deathstars because they can’t do anything to it. You don’t even need to engage, just run around the board, score points when you can, then obsec rush them at the end game for a win. If their powers fail, then you can do some damage, but most of the time, don’t worry about it.
This list is about dancing around the board, taking out high value targets, and then settling in to win the mission with obsec flyers.
Wow, so that’s really good. How do I beat it?
If you have an absolute ton of skyfire, that’s one way. The main way is reserve manipulation. This list has no way outside of Death From The Skies to ensure that reinforcements come in on 2, so it is definitely possible to lose because your main punching power doesn’t show up until round 4.
This list also hits hard, but it cannot take a punch back. The vehicles are more or less resilient, but once they are jinking, they are less of a threat, and the guys who drop down are all T3. Castling up is a good idea against this army, so long as you have elements that can go out and take objectives in the late game.
Player skill is also an issue. This list requires a deft hand, so if you can bait your opponent into dropping units too early, you can take away a lot of their punch. As this list is most vulnerable on turn 1 with only 2 Valks on the table, it also can just run into the issue of bad lack and get tabled on turn 1. Such is life.
Tau can have a good matchup as well since interceptor hurts this army quite a bit, even if only picking off the troops.
Overall, this is a damn fun army that can compete against just about any of the big boys, but it can get screwed by the dice gods more than any other. In the end, it is a rewarding army that definitely showcases a general’s ability, and plus, it looks AMAZING to see 8 flyers on the table.
Of course, you get more of a chance to win these bad boys if you check out the TFG Patreon page. Just saying.
