Reptile themed army viable in 8th edition?

[Beastlord Rakarth]

I don't have a specific army list yet, so figured this would be the more appropriate thread location.

I briefly played Dark Elves back in 4th edition, but never fleshed out the army and would like to return, especially since the model range is excellent. What really turns me on are Cold Ones and reptilian beasts; I also love phalanx's of troops. I was thinking of maxing out my Special selection with Cold One Knights and Cold One Chariots, having a War Hydra or two, and using hordes of spearmen and crossbowmen as core. I would also have a Dreadlord on Cold One, and perhaps on a Black Dragon on occasion.

Could this be an effective army? From what I have read, Witch Elves, Executioners, and Black Guard tend to be some of the most popular units, and am wondering if I would hamstring myself by relying on "Stupid" Cold Ones and core troops.

Also, I've read a compendium of Dreadlord builds, but am wondering if anyone ever takes a Dreadlord on Cold One Chariot. That could be a cool alternative to riding a Cold One, but perhaps isn't effective and is too vulnerable to war machines and such.

Finally, I recall that Cold Ones come from the Blackspine mountains, but is there a Dark Elf city that is known for having a lot of Cold One Knights? I can't remember and don't know where my 4th edition army book is at the moment.

[Calisson]

Hi, Beastlord Rakarth, welcome to D.net!

COK are said to be effective as can openers, more mobile than Execs or BG but having less wounds.
COC are very slow (can't march) but complement well infantry.
Hydra complement well COK with their anti-infantry capability, especially with their breath weapon.
Spearmen provide steadfast if required and are a good base for a sorceress.
RXBmen can give a fight when in large unit with shields.

What the army you describe lacks is:
- magic
- agile units to act as redirectors, hunt warmachines... These units are DR, warlocks, peggymasters, harpies or shades.
You could use small units of 5 "vanilla" COK, just muso, to compensate.

[Diobarach]

I'm running a bigger cold one unit, and 2 hydras, it is pretty effective and fun. You might want to look at using a high beastmaster on scourgerunner, unfortunately he's pretty expensive, so it is not the most competitive choice but kinda fun.

[Beastlord Rakarth]

Thank you for the cold welcome.

I was thinking about having 50 Spearmen in horde formation supported by Cold One Knights/Chariots on the flanks. Since the Chariots can't march, perhaps they would serve better than the Knights, and can try to keep up with the infantry and charge the opponent's flanks once the Spearmen are engaged. My regular opponent is Vampire Counts/Undead Legions, so inflicting a lot of damage in melee is necessary in order to maximize the Unstable rule. This is probably what I would attack my opponent's Grave Guard with, since their great weapons and Killing Blow would be disastrous against the Knights.

Perhaps I could have a couple units of COK's to accompany the Hydra, as you say (is the Hydra Rare or Special?).

Is it common to take shields with the Crossbowmen, or do they come with them as part of their base equipment?

I would definitely include a Sorceress in the list since I wouldn't want to get steamrolled in the magic phase. Perhaps I could use Dark Riders as redirectors. Back when I played, they didn't have models for the longest time.

[Beastlord Rakarth]

I'm running a bigger cold one unit, and 2 hydras, it is pretty effective and fun. You might want to look at using a high beastmaster on scourgerunner, unfortunately he's pretty expensive, so it is not the most competitive choice but kinda fun.

Define "bigger." I would love to have a large unit of COK's with my Dreadlord, but from what I have read, people use five-man units, or perhaps ten tops. I'd be interested to know how people have fared with even larger units of them.

[Diobarach]

I usually run 10+, either 11-13 depending on characters I intended to join up. I used to use smaller 5-6 units for a bit but stupidity kept causing problems since they'd ended up straying from the BSB. I switched to a single large unit usually with dreadlord and bsb and razor banner. Outsides of troll hordes and wood elves, it's pretty decent.

[Red...]

If you like Phalanxes, you can still field Blackguard. I'm not a huge fan of GW's most recent incarnations of Blackguard models, but check out this unit of "lancers" from Gameszone - very Phalanx-esque. I have three of such models and they work very well as Blackguard substitutes: http://www.gamezoneminiatures.com/tiend ... esin-.html

The full range is http://www.gamezoneminiatures.com/tiend ... dark-elves

[Beastlord Rakarth]

If you like Phalanxes, you can still field Blackguard. I'm not a huge fan of GW's most recent incarnations of Blackguard models, but check out this unit of "lancers" from Gameszone - very Phalanx-esque. I have three of such models and they work very well as Blackguard substitutes: http://www.gamezoneminiatures.com/tiend ... esin-.html

The full range is http://www.gamezoneminiatures.com/tiend ... dark-elves

Yeah, I preferred the metal 4th edition Blackguard, not that the current ones are bad. The problem is that they would compete with the COK/Chariots since they are all Special Troops.