Building up my army for league matchs

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PaintedDeath
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Building up my army for league matchs

Post by PaintedDeath »

Back when I played 8th edition (I didn't play much) my army was pretty fragile and never really fared well and I always wanted to build it up but never spent the money, and ended up building up my Dwarves instead. I've decided to focus on my Dark Elves for now though, and I think I'm ready to commit.

My army is fairly small, but I decided to go to a league match the other night to play outside of my usual circle, and to see what happened. I was severely wiped off the board. It was embarrassing.

I went with the expectation of losing though, and my experience from that battle, and from the hard glare I gave my warscrolls later that night, have convinced me that the Dark Elves "core" are expected to be fielded in large numbers.

This has prompted me to decide to go ahead and drop the cash to build an army such as I've always wanted. I have decided to build up a Exiled Warhost battalion, just to get a sizeable force to expand upon later.

This is my current list.

12 Dreadspears
16 Darkshards
20 Corsairs
5 Cold One Knights
5 Shades
Sorceress
Sorceress on Cold One

Basically the Battalion boxed set with a few additions.

So as of now I've decided I am going to buy
4 boxes of the Dreadspears/Bleakswords to build up 2 forces of 25 each Dreadspears and Bleakswords.
1 box of DarkShards to bring my count to 25
1 box of Dark Riders
1 Dreadlord
1 box of Corsairs to add 5 corsairs and mod 5 Shades


Other possible planned purchases include
1 more sorceress
5 harpies
1 Kharibdyss

I have a few questions though.

I heavily debated building more Dreadspears instead of the Bleakswords, as with Exiled Warhost they gain the +1 to hit while charging, City Guard gives them the +1 to hit if they didn't move, and Formidable Bastion gives them +1 to hit with 20+ (I've decided to take 5 more models in each to be able to suffer a bit of damage). With the 2" range, I would possibly get more attacks in, and there is more than enough bonus's there to bring them to a 2+ hit, and Exiled Warhost allows them to re-roll 1's on wound. However, I decided to just go Bleakswords (at least for the variety if nothing else) but their extra attacks from their Quicksilver Strike could possibly make them dangerous, as they would have a 2+ to hit on a charge from Exiled Warhost. Anyone have any thoughts as to the better option here?

My thoughts are use the shields in the rear as a defensive line for my Sorceress (who could pull models for her Blood Sacrifice) and use the Bleakswords as an offensive unit since they will be able to move and charge to get their +1 to hit.

I'm mostly iffy on my Dark Shards, as they have proven themselves time and time again to be mostly useless, but I figure with a +1 to hit from Storm of Iron-tipped Bolts, 50 shots against the enemy will at least be impressive.
(though I know that Image is the suspected outcome of a 4+ save.)

One of my fears is a eventual downward spiral of lose as my force begins to lose models and they lose some of their "horde" bonus'. I would plan on using the 2 Sorceress to mostly buff and debuff the enemy units to post-pone this till the enemy force is of a more manageble size. Also, in smaller games I may not be able to gain the bonus from the massed troops, and would have to make sacrifices in certain units.

I'm looking passed this initial massing of troops though to what I'd like to do after this. I'd like to eventually try and capitalize on model loss during Battleshock via Corsairs + Harpies + Dark Riders + Kharibdyss, with the rest being filler.

I'd really appreciate any input into this plan before I go spending on my money just to potentially be let down.
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Phox532
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Re: Building up my army for league matchs

Post by Phox532 »

This is close to my warhost, except I am using Executioners and not Corsairs, and I'm using an Assassin over a Sorceress on Coldone. But I think that you have a good base and a good idea. I have also build the Exiled Warhost as my base. But I do agree that the "core" is a little squashy, I think you'll find Exes a better fit than corsairs.
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Daeron
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Re: Building up my army for league matchs

Post by Daeron »

I tried the Kharybdis and it got shot down pretty fast. In the comp we used then, it was fairly expensive for what little it delivered.
Is there any comp or rules system in your league?
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PaintedDeath
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Re: Building up my army for league matchs

Post by PaintedDeath »

Yes, basically the two players can agree on a wound total, generally being 25, 50, 75, so on and so forth. Once that is decided, there is a required number of wounds for heroes, and required number of wounds for troops. Mounted heroes can only be fielded with Victory Points earned through participating in the league, along with named heroes and monsters.

Also, units that require a 10 model minimum, the models are considered half wounds per model, so 10 models = 5 wounds. This will give me a edge in model count with DreadSpears, BleakSwords, Corsairs, but not Darkshards.
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Daeron
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Re: Building up my army for league matchs

Post by Daeron »

At half the price, I think Dreadspears or Corsairs are a solid choice, for a unit that's a little over 20 models big. Say, 30 models or so.
I have had only a few AoS games so far, and what I learned was that you have to try to control your opponent by pinning units down while keeping one or two large units to bring down the big troops.

But I haven't tried it out myself. Last game, I played Corsairs against High Elves and lost pretty badly :P
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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