I ran two games with the Velnesh today. Thanks to a strange turn of events, I only had access to a random assortment of figures, the AotP boxes, and lots of Grok Riders, so I made due with what I had.
CUSTOM MAP:
440 Points
No Glyphs
Dawn: 3x Grok Riders, Me-Burq-Sa
Astro: Raelin (SotM), Deathwalker 8000, 1x Microcorp Troopers, Velnesh Alphas
GAME SUMMARY:
Spoiler Alert!
Dawn led with Me-Burq-Sa, overextending him a bit. I was able to capitalize on this by sacrificing Raelin (she had sustained heavy wounds in the first turn thanks to the small map and me underestimating the chances) in exchange for MBS and a Grok. It then became more or less a slugfest of Velnesh against the Groks, with the Velnesh holding their own for a long time before finally whiffing on defense. Blink helped a lot in them surviving for longer by denying attacks to other Groks.
I also threw a few turns on DW8k once two Velnesh were down (I was trying to compensate for giving Dawn Groks by having a mishmash army
), but he whiffed every single attack. The Microcorp were pretty much useless after whiffing on defense twice. Eventually, the Groks' numbers won out and the Velnesh couldn't keep up.
SURVIVING UNITS:
4x Grok Riders
~170 Points Left
POWER USAGE:
Shift and Blink were used almost every turn. The Velnesh wouldn't have survived as long without teleporting out of extra engagements with Blink, and Shift was used to escape unfavorable engagements and grab height on the others. Both powers were super fun and useful.
Total Damage Dealt: 3x Grok Riders ("130 Points")
Remember these are Groks. 130 is on the high end as far as estimates go.
THOUGHTS:
They felt pretty fair and balanced. They can be terrifying when the dice go their way, but 4 defense ensures that they'll whiff often enough that it'll hurt. I'll write up the other game I ran with these guys later, but I'm content with sending them on at this point.