Elysian Droptroops in 8th edition – theory and practice pt.1

Veterans of the 101st Company advancing into firing positions. Picture by: Benny Sand.

G’dafternoon troopers! At ease!
It’s been a while since I talked about the gem of my nerdcave, namely my Elysian Droptroops army. Since the release of 8th edition I’ve managed to get about ten games under my belt, and with No Retreat V on the horizon, time has come to evaluate the main tactics and playstyle behind the army lists that I have tried so far. I also took the 101st Light Company to a 30 player tournament recently where I managed to end up second best (scoring the most victory points in the entire tournament), which gave me an opportuniy to run the Elysians against some of the tougher lists in the current meta. In this series of articles I’ll discuss the general changes that the new edition brought for the airborne, while moving on to a more detailed unit-by-unit review the closer we get to the tournament day!

The feeling of fresh air under your wings
Generally speaking, the Elysians are one of the few armies that truly capitalize on the major changes to the core rules of Warhammer 40k. Obiously a few changes stand out more than others, and I will therefore leave the overall points decrease out of the equation for now. So, in what radical way did we move from being a mediocre “elite” guard regiment, to becoming one of the top tier predators of 40k? The answer can pretty much be summed up under the terms ‘Quality’ and ‘Control’. Here’s what meaning I put into them.

Quality: The new detachment system gives you a lot more freedom to pick specialized units for the style of play that you’re building your army around. Gone is the army structure of olden days, where Commanders and Command squads had to support your army’s core (usually made up of Veteran squads). Nowadays every unit can work independently from each other, but will benefit from (instead of being dependant on) the different synergies that you unlock through your choice of characters. Commanders provide the all important orders to nearby squads. The ones that really stand out of course is the ability to re-roll 1s to hit or to wound, the (Elysian unique) ability to change the type of ‘heavy’ weapons into ‘assault’ after moving, and the option to fire after disengaging out of combat! These are powerful tools that make the army very dynamic and able to handle several situations depending on who and what you are facing. Commissars not only provide an offensive boost when leading from behind the frontline, as it is now pretty easy to set yourself up for a ‘Heroic intervention’ using cheap powerweapons and powefists. They also, like their vanilla counterpart, provide your rangers with some stiff lips to keep them from running off the table. The last character to take note of is the Officer of the Fleet. These fine gents are one of the few ways to give your flyers (and every other Elysian unit!) a boost to their marksmanship. By pointing at especially interesting targets to strafe within 18″ – the Officer will vastly improve the performance of Vultures for example, who hits most of the time on 4+. Do note that when the officers of the Aeronautica Imperialis roll with the flyboys, they get to strap a grav chute to their back and arrive using the ‘Aerial drop’ rule! Very powerful when you need to support flyers on the far end of the table. This flexibility combined with the fact that units have a much clearer role on the battlefield makes the Elysians a very potent force. Plasma and melta squads along the right orders will take down even the toughest of foes, while Tauros buggies and Vultures provide you with the all important ability to clear off objective grabbers, chaff, and dangerous hordes.

Elysian Dropsentinels vanguarding ahead of the army. Picture by: Benny Sand.

Control: is all about the way the reserves mechanics changed from 7th to 8th edition. Since the entire army can deep strike onto the battlefield – yes, even your fliers, which means no, the opponent won’t get to shoot at them during turn 1 – you have a lot of control over what tools you deploy and which ones you keep off table. There is no longer a roll to determine wether reserves arrive or not, you simply choose which units you need and when you need them. Be aware that you need to bring everything in by the end of turn 3. Another big change to the way in which reserves arrive is the fact that there is no longer a chance to scatter off target. You pick a unit to deploy, make sure that every model is placed mor than 9″ away from enemy models, and deploy your unit. Simple as that. This means that cheap command squads armed with special weapons and supported by an officer can make surgical precision strikes exactly where you need them. Play around with the idea of four overcharged plasmaguns, an overcharged plasmapistol, appearing out of nowhere, hitting on 3s, re-rolling 1s, wihtin rapid fire range, dealing 2 damage per shot for roughly 100pts and you get an idea of the amount of hurt you are able to put out with the Elysian way of fighting in the new edition of 40k! This gives you an edge over most armies in terms of board control, and the ability to counter strong units with high-toughness-multi-wound profiles. Did I mention that you don’t even have to check your LD to issue an order? Hmm. Yes, this is how the airborne should control the battlefield.

Tauros assault buggies laying down suppressive fire using their assault grenade launchers. Picture by: Benny Sand.

So what’s the catch? Well, no matter how fine gentlemen they are, the Elysians are not (and have never been) close quarter fighters! This means that after that initial shock and awe, you need to be aware of the counter punch your opponent might hold in return. This makes the Elysians a very interesting army to play in my opinion. We can dish out a lot of hurt and we are almost as mobile as the space elves. But we still wear a 6pt flak jacket, a helmet, and a track suit. Human filling is free.

In the next article I’ll go over the 1650pt army that I took to the event Malmö Wargaming Weekend, share some thoughts on the different armies that I faced, and how I beat them!

Until next time trooper!