Bump in the Night

Hi peeps!

So you like Ghost Warriors? BOO!! Ok time to grow up a bit John. I covered Saim Hann in my Fun and Efficient article, but this time I would like to go over my second favourite Craftworld which is Ilyanden.
 

From a fluff point of view it really has everything hasn’t it? Great victories in the early days with Biel Tan against Chaos, followed by humongous losses to a ravaging Tyranid fleet only to be saved by an Outcast Hero and then the devastation inflicted by a renegade pirate fleet caused by nuclear torpedoes (ref Ilyanden Supplement). Now though, Ilyanden is an enormous Craftworld with large sections devastated and devoid of any activity. A true ghost ship amidst the stars where only a handful of the living Eldar tend to the dead and keep them alive in menacing wraith constructs. As is customary on other Craftworlds, the dead are usually released back into the infinity circuit after a battle, but not on Ilyanden for the dead refuse to go to sleep while their drifting cosmic continent is on the brink of destruction.

Bear in mind that if you do decide to do a Wraith army, that all the other Craftworlds keep an extensive stockpile of Wraithguard pattern constructs along with Wraithlords and Wraithknights when desperate times require help from long dead heroes. With that in mind I will be doing a Saim Hann Wraith themed army. You can imagine the wave upon wave of Jetbike clans and Vyper Squadrons supported by aircraft and Grav Tanks zooming on ahead and the Autarch ordering the Wraith Constructs to stay in reserve incase some heavy handed work is required. Standing there with their ornamental loincloth bearing their warrior house insignia flapping in the wind waiting for the order to charge head on into the enemy lines.

So to lead our army we have a number of fluffy HQ choices that would fit the bill very well. The Dire Avenger Aspect Warrior shrine is on Ilyanden so to see the likes of Asurman leading an Ilyanden army wouldn’t be unheard of. Then you have the Mighty Avatar which would be called upon perhaps more than any other Craftworld due to the low numbers of warriors Ilyanden can deploy. Naturally Yriel would be a very fluffy and decent HQ choice to lead your Ilyanden army, maybe you want to do a pirate themed Ilyanden army? Then there is the Autarch who has taken a somewhat revival in the new codex and could be useful. This then brings us on to the Farseer and the Spiritseers. If you want to do a true Wraith army you will need a Spiritseer. These guys make all Wraithguard and Wraithblades troops which is key to this army working. I would take 2-3 of these guys, certainly one for each unit as you can have up to 5 Spiritseers for one HQ slot. I would then take along a Farseer to boost your army and hopefully give it an edge with Fortune and prescience etc.

For the troops section Dire Avengers would be very fluffy if you want some fairly cheap boots on the ground. Throw in and Exarch with Shimmershield and then they are quite solid. Guardians as with all Craftworlds would be quite numerous so taking a squad or two of Guardians might be of interest to you. Of course being a Wraith army we are going to take Wraith Guard and Wraith blades. A unit of 10 Wraith Blades with the Ghost Axe and Shimmershield supported by two Spiritseers would be awesome to say the least. An expensive unit but extremely durable and the core of the army. The Farseer will hopefully be casting fortune on this unit too. I would then take a unit of 5 cheesy Wraith Guard with D-Scythes in a Wave Serpent to cause your opponent some attention. The Serpent is loaded out with Holofields and Scatter Laser and upgraded to Shuriken Cannon.

Finally we need some heavy firepower; ok well we have that but more heavy fire power! Throw in a Wraithknight with standard Heavy Wraith Cannon loadout and a Wraithlord with a Ghostglaive, Brightlance and Missile Launcher and Heavy Flamers and we are laughing. Then a squadron of three War Walkers with dual Scatter Lasers for tackling flyers and transports and infantry alike.

So here goes my list (2000pts)

HQ

Farseer with Runes of Warding

Three Spirit Seers (two go with W.Blades, one with W.Guard)

Troops

Wraith Guard x 5 with D-Scythes and Wave Serpent

Wraith Blades x 10 with Ghost Axes and Shimmershields

Dire Avengers x 10 with Exarch, Power Weapon and Shimmershield

Guardian Defenders x 10 with Scatter Laser Platform

Guardian Defenders x 10 with Scatter Laser Platform

Heavy

Wraithknight with Heavy Wraithcannon x2

War Walkers x 3 with Dual Scatter Lasers

Wraithlord with Ghosglaive, Bright Lance, Missile launcher, Heavy Flamer x2

I could have gone all Wraith units but although it would look awesome, it would get very monotonous after a few games and the fun levels would go way down. So a bit of variety while sticking loosely to the Wraith theme and I think we have a nice army that will look great with those big Wraith constructs and the big intimidating wall of 10 Wraith Blades marching across the tabletop. It should be able to tackle most non power build armies. Would it do well at a tournament? I think it would do ok although against heavy flyer lists it will struggle. I have most of the models mentioned above, I just need a War Walker, a Wraithlord and 10 WraithBlades.

Thanks for reading guys!

Johno