Dire Avenger Tournament List

In the most recent 1,000 point tournament, I fielded an experimental, exceptionally fluffy Dire Avenger list. It's practically a mono-unit list, which gives it a pretty significant downside. But first, the list:

HQ: Asurmen - 230
Troops: (7) Dire Avenger Squad, Exarch w/ Bladestorm, Defend, Power Weapon & Shimmershield; Waveserpent with TL Bright Lances, Spirit Stones, and Shuriken Cannon - 296 points
Troops: (6) Dire Avenger Squad, Exarch w/ Bladestorm, Defend, Power Weapon & Shimmershield; Waveserpent with TL Bright Lances, Spirit Stones, and Shuriken Cannon - 284 points
Troops: (6) Dire Avenger Squad; Waveserpent with TL Shuriken Cannons and Shuriken Cannon - 182 points

Total: 992 Points

The purpose of the list is to be exceptionally mobile and fluffy. The two twin-linked bright lances cover heavy armor, and the shuriken cannons help for light armor. Defend and shimmer shields reduce the effectiveness of close combat armies, massed avenger shuriken catapults cover hoards, and Asurmen acts as my sole close combat unit.

The downfall of this list is heavy infantry or strong close combat units and a complete reliance on scoring units to do all of the work. Asurmen did manage to take out a unit of Chaos Space Marines + Mark of Khorne with a Slaaneshi Terminator Lord, but massed attacks and tough monstrous creatures can easily overpower him. The three Dire Avenger units have no ablative armor; once they're gone, the list has no scoring units.

In practice (so far,) the list performs relatively well. The first turn or two are usually spent positioning and firing bright lances and shuriken cannons. Later turns see Dire Avengers pouring out and spraying fire, with the Wave Serpents staying out of reach until end game objective contesting.

At the end of the day, the list is fun to play, fluffy, and somewhat competitive. I would have severe issues against the harder lists in existence, but fortunately our local gaming scene tends to be more fun than beat stick.

The list gets to face off against a Tyranid list of Warriors, a Carnifex, and lots of gaunts with Without Number. Fortunately it's an annihilation game, so I'm hoping to get a win out of it. I'll be sure to post some sort of report.