The 4th and 5th Foundations of Vengeance

I am a military history buff. I think it goes hand in hand with war games. In fact the whole reason I read Sun Tzu's “The Art of War” was not because everybody said I need to read it because its a great treatise on war and even business. Most people say they read it and quote it like Nietzsche, which they also only read snippets of just to appear deep and smart, and do not truly understand the work as a whole. I don't fully understand all the nuances, but I try to. I read it because General George S. Patton thought it would make an excellent field manual for the Army when he read it as a Colonel in 1919. I bring up Patton mostly because he is one of the Figures in the American Military I really admire and he personifies the Fourth Foundation Of Vengeance. Relentlessness.

Relentlessness goes hand in hand with the 5^th Foundation Of Vengeance so I will be doing a double feature. Speed is the 5^th Foundation of Vengeance. Speed is the essence of war or Sun Tzu tells us. So what does this mean for you as a Dark Eldar or even Eldar player?

You must be relentless in your persecution of the enemy. This means no stopping. No break. No letting your enemy have even a second to breathe. You can't be relentless without speed. The Dark Eldar have speed. The Craftworlders do as well, but they cannot match the pure unbridled speed of a Dark Eldar army. That said you should not just hurl your whole army in an orgy of speed and relentless fury at your opponents army. Remember we are building on the other Foundations of Vengeance.

You must have a distinct plan laid out. Speed and a relentless assault means nothing if you are not focused. In fact your speed can work against you. You are able to move about the board and harass the enemy rather easily. Troops can even move fast to assault the enemy. You have to really think though about your targets. Case in point. Last time I played OST I removed his gaunt screen effectively and then took out his center mass of Genestealers. I also took out some hive guard. The only real issue about this blinding fast assault is that once it was over I was out in the open and the momentum of my attack was broken. I was using speed without thinking about the consequences.

So you must temper your speed with planning. Being relentless can also get you into trouble without planning. Pursuing a course of action that bears no fruit is a waste of resources. You must temper your relentlessness with wisdom. Pouring all of you fire into a target, although dangerous, that really does not have the ability to effect the outcome of the game is not something you want to waste your time with. The only effect it will have will be to force you to loose because you did not hit targets that could take objectives or contest table quarters.

So you must be relentless and have speed. Hit your opponent hard and fast, but with focus and a definitive plan. You must not let up. Plan carefully because it is very difficult, impossible sometimes, to redirect the focus of an army once it is dedicated its full might to the relentless pursuit of a foe. The Dark Eldar as an army is not a blunt object like the Imperial Guard, nor is it a Pinpoint attack like their Craftworld cousins. They are the knife from the shadows. They strike fast and without warning. It is a surgical and remorseless strike at the heart of the enemy. It is well planned and directed with one purpose.

SO next time I will have a battle report. I am heading out to the FLGS to continue Webway list development. OST and CVinton are on the schedule for tonight.

Until next time............

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!