Dreadspear Legion 2K

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Merdoc Lefey
Slave on the Altar
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Dreadspear Legion 2K

Post by Merdoc Lefey »

Dreadlord - 419
+Potion of Strength
+Dragonhelm
+Giant Blade
+Heavy Armor
+Sea Dragon Cloak
+Manticore
++Blind Rage

Khainite Assassin - 142
+Cloak of Twilight
+Additional Hand Weapon

Sorceress of Dark Magic - 165
+Tome of Furion
+Dispel Scroll
+Lvl 2 Wizzard

14x Darkshards - 192
+Shields
+Guardmaster

40x Dreadspears - 400
+Lordling
+Musician
+Standard Bearer
++Banner of Eternal Flame

14x Executioners of Har Ganeth - 188
+Draich Master
+Musician

14x Executioners of Har Ganeth - 188
+Draich Master
+Musician

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 70

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 70

War Hydra - 160

Total Points - 1994

I was part of the Toughest Girls in the Galaxy 2 Kickstarter and I was planning to make a Sisters of Battle army, but changed my mind since like a year ago when I funded the project. So I really liked the Void Elves (Dark Eldar) and Dark Elves models. I have already tried the Dark Eldar thing, so Fantasy elves it was.

I wanted to make my Dreadlord into an extremely formidable hand to hand fighter while keeping it WYSIWYG with the model (Sword in one hand, other hand empty, riding a manticore).
The assassin is there because my friend that I'm likely to be playing most of my battles against plays Vampires, so assassinating his necromancer is a big boon.
Sorceress because no elf army is complete without a wizard.
The Dreadspears are to be my main anvil, relentlessly marching across the board with the Darkshards following behind with supporting fire.
The Executioners will march along each flank of the Dreadspears to hammer any enemy units that get caught by the spearelves.
Bolt Throwers will soften up any ideal targets
Finally there is a War Hydra because why wouldn't I bring a War Hydra?

I've never played Dark Elves, and I want to know if this list is too weak or possibly too cheesy. Fantasy Battles is my "for fun" war game. I don't want to have my army loose all the time or be no fun to play against. I wanted to do an army with lots of models so that lots of models can be killed, because that is fun for my opponents, but I also like painting big stuff like the Manticore and War Hydra.
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Daeron
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Re: Dreadspear Legion 2K

Post by Daeron »

Interesting... I'm not a high end player myself, but for me the list feels like it has a lot, but just enough to cut it.
- There is little mobility in the form of fast cavalry. I'm perhaps a bigger fan of fast cavalry than I should be, but I would recommend 2 units of DR or Warlocks (any combination is fine)
- 2 Bolt Throwers and 14 RXBs is a decent amount of shooting, but the limited magic support means it won't punch holes in the opponent. It would clear chaff and soften up the big boys but it might fall a tad short of being deadly.
- A level 2 sorceress is nice, but if the opponent fields a level 4 wizard it will be a challenge to get anything done. You might get the odd spell through, but not that many. Just try to work out a few scenarios in your head, where you have 12,11,10,9,8,.. dice. Your opponent can afford to throw as many dice to dispel as you threw to cast because of the level difference. The low level will make boosted spells costly or a risk. IE: a level 2 isn't likely to succeed the boosted version of Doombolt, even on 6 dice. And 5 dice is a lot for the unboosted version. 4 dicing it means the opponent is quite likely to have enough dice to counter it. As you only have 2 spells, choosing which one to stop might prove trivial.
- I like the Assassin, but the cloak of twillight feels like an expensive upgrade. It will only work in the first round of combat, and the ward doesn't work in combat. It's worth trying it out, but I'd consider working with the poison and ability upgrades instead.. And maybe give the Assassin a defensive upgrade.
- The Dreadlord has a decent attack but a fickle save. Anything hitting him with some strength will kill him. I'd go for a few reliable classic (assuming you don't want to give him a shield): Cloak of Twillight, Dawnstone, dragonhelm. This will give him some protection against ranged fire, and make him last longer in combat. I still wouldn't want to face him with a combat character either.
- The Banner of Eternal Flame is a tough call. If your opponent has a combat character with a 2+ ward against flaming attacks, then the character could charge your dreadspears and keep them locked in combat for a very long time. You could pick the Gleaming Pennant, which might be handy since you lack the BSB.
- For the Darkshards, I'd recommend the musician over the champion. The musician can win a tie in combat resolution, and give swift reforms. A swift reform, and another 5" step gives a lot of mobility and you can still shoot in that same turn.

So.. aside from the equipment tweaks here and there, the minimal unit changes I'd recommend is to drop 1 of the support units (probably 1 unit of executioners) for one of these options:
- 1 unit of Dark Riders. Use the remaining points to upgrade the Sorceress to level 4 with a dispel scroll and no tome of furion
- 1 unit of Warlocks. Use the remaining points for an extra Bolt Thrower and upgrades on the Assassin.

Both configurations will boost mobility and magic.
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Languste
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Re: Dreadspear Legion 2K

Post by Languste »

Hi,

first of all, it's good to see something else than the usual types of lists.

The Manticore-Lord is nice but always remember that's it's not at all a very competitive build, just as your list isn't competitive in any way (which doesn't mean bad!!!). Like I said, i like people checking out other stuff than what people in forums say is the only way to go.
Back to your Lord: Dragonhelm and Giantblade are nice but he doesn't need the Potion of Strength. With the Giantblade you are s7 which is more than you need in most cases. The problem with him is, he isn't protected very well. I like my characters better with a ward save and lances. The other thing is, he is the perfect target for any cannon, but that'S just the fate of any monster.

The CoT on the Assassine is not a very good choice, as you waste the defensive potential of the CoT (which would help your Lord A LOT by the way...) as long as you don't let him walk around on his own, which is something you also don't want to do. I like the Assassine best with Manbane, Sword of Strength and Glittering Scales.

Your Sorceress can't have the Scroll and the Tome of Furion because they are both arcane items and you are allowed to take only one item from each category.

I think the rest of the list is playable but I agree with Daeron, as you have no fast cav and therefore miss out on the best feature of Dark Elves: being friggin fast and hitting hard. I would also make one bigger unit of Excecutioners out of your two. They are really strong. RBT's are also a very good choice to compensate for your weak core. The Hydra has it's moments and is quite save from shooting as everybody is gonna try to take out your lord on his T5 Manticore first.

40 Dreadspears are okay compared with other army books, but they are the weakest core choice from our book. They can be fun if you give your Sorceress the Sacrifical Dagger though! And you can also hide your Assassine in there and give the Sorceress Power of Darkness which will make the unit really okay. They will die in no time to any death star still.

In your case, I would rethink your character builds (there are recommondations in this forum for certain) maybe drop the darkshards for 2 units of dark riders and make one 30 or more strong unit of Executioners.
nevaenuffbass
Warrior
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Re: Dreadspear Legion 2K

Post by nevaenuffbass »

Regarding your lord, if you combine the Potion of strength, giant blade and cloak of twilight, you'll have a very formidable vampire killing machine, hitting on 3's, wounding on 2's0and doing multiple wounds on your way through. Drop the potion for a divine icon and you'll force a re-roll on his saves and still be wounding on 3's (S6 vs T5 I assume), but r-rolling 1's. Problem will be the black knights or skeletons that will probably accompany him.
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