Usher of the Black Wind (1K vs HE, Skaven, VC)

[Barn Owl]

Quick-read in red. : )

I'd just like to say thanks in advance to anyone willing to take the time to read my rather lengthy post and provide any feedback / advice / encouragement; I've been browsing the board and am excited to become involved in and contribute to the community.

I'm brand new to war gaming and purchased Island of Blood and a VC army, and want to add a Druchii army so me and three friends can try the game out together. Expense-wise, I am not concerned if playing doesn't become a regular thing, as I have been happy to spend on the models for the simple pleasure of painting and creating my own armies.

I've read D.R.A.I.C.H. and the armybook. From what I gather HE and Skaven are relatively straightforward; VC is a bit more nuanced; Druchii is the most advanced of the four.

If someone would be so kind as to help me build a Druchii army that complements my other three armies, I'd really appreciate it. My reason for posting those army lists is purely as reference for constructing the Druchii army rather than for C&C. That said, if one or two changes to the armies would allow me to field a vastly more fun / awesome DE army that would otherwise be overpowered, I'm happy to invest in the models and adjust each list.

I'm less concerned with the style of army and more concerned with it just being fun-- fun for both for the DE player and his opponents; something not so advanced in design that a total noob loses game after game and never wants to try DE again, but also free of obvious fun-killer models / units that would sour opponents on the game. I'd prefer an army that's tactically geared towards Dark Elf flavor--namely swift, surgical assassinations--but this is secondary.

High Elves - 999/1000

* High Elf Prince (Giant Eagle, Great Weapon, Armor of Caledor): 237 pts.
* High Elf Mage (Annulian Crystal, Lv. 2 Wizard Upgrade): 175 pts.
* Lothern Sea Guard (Full Command, Shields, Banner of Eternal Flame): 295 pts.
* Sword Masters of Hoeth (Full Command): 180 pts..
* Ellyrian Reavers (Musician, Bow, Spear): 112 pts.

Skaven - 900/1000

* Warlord: Armor of Silvered Steel, Skalm, Halberd: 168 pts.
* Warlock Engineer: Doomrocket, Warp-Lightning Condenser: 150 pts.
* Clanrats x20: Shield, Musician, Banner, Warfire Thrower: 172 pts.
* Clanrats x20: Shield, Musician, Banner, Poison Wind Mortar: 167 pts.
* Rat Ogres x2 and Packmaster: X pts.
* Doom Wheel: XX pts.
* Skaven Slaves x40 (x1 musician and x1 pawleader): 86 pts.

Vamps - 756 + X/1000

* Necromancer @ Level 4: 250 pts. (per the VC board this is legal? I thought Lords were illegal below 2K)
* Vargheists x3: XX pts.
* Crypt horrors x6: XX pts.
* Zombies x20: XX pts.[/b][i] (was orig gonna go x30 but the VC board recommended leaving space for raising more in-game)
* 2 units of Dire Wolves x5: XX pts.
* 1 unit of Ghouls x20 or 1 unit of Ghouls x10 as bunker and 1 unit of Skeletons x20

The VC board helped me construct the vamp army and tweak the Skaven to hit 1K. For anyone interested, I used these two articles to put together the HE and Skaven armies: http://garagehammer.net/oldforum/army-li...index.html and http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/08/w...d-and.html

Druchii Army - X/1000

Mandatory:

* Black Ark Corsairs (just because I love the models and the flavor of their rules)
* War Hydra (Doesn't neeed to be mandatory, but I like the monster and have a feeling a 1K DE army needs a tank; if I'm incorrect I'd be willing to explore builds without it. Doomwheel vs. Hydra alone must be pretty epic.) :

Like em but not mandatory:

* Sorceress w/ Dark Pegasus Mount (I love the idea of a highly mobile magic-wielding General; what support would go well with her? Harpies?)
* Lokir Fellheart (love the model / concept but I'm guessing S > LF by a landslide as a 1K General)
* Cauldron of Blood (looove the concept but I gather it's not worth it at 1K)
* Assassin (almost positive this is way too expensive at 1K since it can't even be the General, but I want an assassin so bad! haha. Maybe Shades instead?)
* Harpies
* Cold One Knights

Thematically, the idea behind the "Herald of the Black Wind" is that my General is sent out to foreign races as their first contact with the Black Wind, giving them a 1K taste of the horror that will follow. The Black Wind is the name of both the mobile, army-ant-style civilization of the dark elves and its chief god (anyone familiar with the Call of Cthulhu RPG might recognize the Black Wind). I think the Warhammer universe is very rich and interesting, but I like making up my own little backstories and am not interested in adhering to canon.

I used this thread as a rough idea for the Druchii army: http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/dark-elves/221514-1000-pt-dark-elves-starter-idea.html

Sorry again for the length of this post. I really appreciate any advice / help / encouragement Thank you very much for our time!

- Barn Owl

[Rabidnid]

OK, 1K of stylish but fun DE.

CoKs are good. A unit of 5 with a muso is cheap and very flexible. Alternately you can run a larger unit of 9 with a character in it.

Harpies are good, with most people making their own out of demonettes and the winds off tyranid gargoyles or these dark eldar guys with wings.

Black guard are an option and probably don't suck as badly as the witches do in fine cast. They make a nice centrepiece unit.

Corsairs are a fine idea as your core and can be quite effective. 10 man units with hand bows and musos, and 20+ with two hand weapons and full command both work. Repeater crossbows are awesome, and I have seen people just stick a shield to the left hand of a corsair with a handbow in their right hand to represent them.

Chariots are cool if you find them on e-bay

Hydras are also pretty wonderful. At 1,000 points it would be BG or a hydra for me, but you can fit both if you want both.

Dark riders are not mandatory. Harpies and CoKs are what i used.

Executioners are beautiful, but a lot of work in the current book. I would stick with black guard if you want pretty armoured dudes.

As far as units go, I have used a CoB general and a lvl 2 mage,

As far as armies go, you could mirror your HE list:

master on a dark pegasus for about 200 points.
lvl 2 for about 150 points.

Corairs in a 20 man unit for about 250 points
A unit or 2 of harpies at about 110 points

a unit of cold one knights at about 150 points
A unit of 15 black guard at about 240 points

[Barn Owl]

Thanks very much Rabidnid for your help! Thanks also for commenting on model quality, etc., as it is as important to me as the composition of the army itself (I've been looking online for better Harpies, since the GW ones are so static and outdated, but your idea of modding is great).

[Barn Owl]

As far as units go, I have used a CoB general and a lvl 2 mage,

Just to confirm, this is independent of the list you included below, correct?

As far as armies go, you could mirror your HE list:

master on a dark pegasus for about 200 points.
lvl 2 for about 150 points.

You mean throw a master on a pegasus and then also run a LVL 2 sorceress? I was thinking of putting the sorceress on a peg but if the masters are more useful mounted I suppose I'd divvy up the points between the two models.

Corairs in a 20 man unit for about 250 points
A unit or 2 of harpies at about 110 points

Thanks--those Scourges are great, I'll pick up two packs and some Dark Elves weapons to make 'em work

Having looked over the BG models and suitable stand-ins from other companies, I've decided to go use those points for a War Hydra instead. Is there anything in particular you would cap this off with? Thanks again!

* Corsairs in a 20-man unit
* Harpies in two 5-man units
* Cold One Knights in one 5-man unit (muso included)
* War Hydra
* Sorceress on Dark Pegasus