2500 - "Pegwitch" No Comp Tourney list (all comers)

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Hey everyone! Time to start my first army list thread! Woo hoo!

I'm calling this one the "Pegwitch", and it's got to be a strong list vs all armies as I'm not sure what I'll be facing. Please see below and leave lots of comments and suggestions.

This list derived from this discussion: http://druchii.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75542

Lords: (588)
(293) Dreadlord on Peg with Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cloak of Twilight, Dawnstone, Dragonhelm and a Lance
(295) Level 4 with Ring of Hotek, Dispel Scroll (Lore of Life) goes with Witches.

Heroes: (624)
(208) BSB Master on Peg with Heavy Armor, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Talisman of Preservation and a Lance
(141) Master on Peg with Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Charmed Shield and a Lance
(275) Death Hag on Cauldron

Core (666)
(220) 2x 5 Dark Riders w/Sheilds, Xbows and Musicians
(296) 26 Witch Elves w/ Musician
(150) 10 Dark Shards with Musician and Banner of Eternal Flame

Special (380)
(210) x4 Reaper Bolt Throwers
(100) 5 Shades w/ Additional Hand Weapons

Rare (250)
(250) x2 5 Warlocks

In total, that's 2498!

Comments? Thoughts?

[Mikael.k]

I´d give the lord the dragonbane gem and the other tricksters shard, makes him a bit more effective. GW or lance is depending on if they´ll be in any fights lasting more than one round? Otherwise the potion of strength can solve some issues.

A magic banner would be good for the witches, depending on what lore your level 4 has? Looks like a strong list!

[Amboadine]

So.....

Impressed you managed to get the CoB in aswell.

Okay, some comments. BSB on the Cauldron can be easy points for your opponent, especially if they are fielding cannons, the ability for pinpoint sniping makes her a liability in some cases, as she has very little in the way of protection. You are far better off making on of your ward save peg masters the BSB the whole army is fast moving so the banner range should not really be an issue.

I would really suggest relooking at the CoT. The concept behind many peg masters is that they hit hard in combo and break the units first turn. The ability to give the multiples and killing blow is one of the reasons it is pretty much a staple in most list, the ward is an added bonus. This also ties in with the use of lances over Great weapons, charge, break, rinse, repeat. If you are stuck in a grinder, you have chosen the wrong target that should have been left to the Cauldron horde.

As mentioned before one of the dragonbane items can be very handy against certain opposition, you become next to impossible for any flame armed unit to kill off and can hold them up, this is the only time I might consider a GW, as you are purposefully aiming to hold a unit up for multiple turns. It is however very situation, but if you know your opposition can be used to your advantage.

Have you as yet decided on a lore? Life may work nicely here if you are open to suggestions.

Not really sure of the need for a muso on the Shades, possibly better off arming them with AHW or GW, whatever your personal favourite maybe. Both are viable and have a place in the list.

[T.D.]

Cloak of Twilight is ideal for Master or Lord

- Master = 3++ vs spells and shooting, D3 wounds KB (S6 with lance) charge.
- Lord = as above but with more attacks and ability to combine with other magic items.

Cloak and Dawnstone on the Lord is a devastating combo (and can even be combined with Dragonhelm for near immunity to metal lore/tanking flaming enemies).

As Mikael K has said, giving the OTS to one of your masters will really help out with either combi-Peg charges, or combi-Witch charges.

Generally, the best array of items for Peg characters are:
AoD -- Master (unless combined with Dawnstone on a Lord)
ToP -- Master or Lord (combines with Charmed Shield) or Sorceress
Black Amulet -- Lord or Sorceress
Dawnstone -- Master or Cloaked Lord
ToE -- Master or Cloaked Lord
Charmed Shield -- Best on the BSB or Lord for one-off anti-cannon/doom diver/bolt thrower protection.
OTS -- Ideal for combos

As Amboadine has said, lances are better than GW as it is the charge phase that counts for Peg lists, and you don't want to lose initiative or re-rolls. GW can be useful for special builds/roles i.e. AoD/Dawnstone Lord.

[Thraundil]

As someone with reasonable pegasus experience, I have a few comments on your list.

1. Cloak of Twilight. Its that good. The biggest strength of fliers? High impact where you want it. See a fight you cant win? Dont charge in. For this reason alone, you dont need the static ward save - because you choose when and where you strike. The lord is the best option for the cloak, as it combines the best possible ranged protetion (he is target number one for cannons and snipes) with his higher WS, I and number of attacks compared to a master. My favorite lord setup: cloak of twilight, dawnstone, dragonhelm. 1+ rerollable, 2++ vs flaming attacks. Stick a lance on him - you want to break stuff on the charge.

2. Your two pegmasters. One without a 'real' ward, the other with 5+ ward. While 5+ is all nice and well, having no ward is definitely a liability. A singleshot from a bolt thrower, or a cannon, hell even a death snipe, and he could be a goner just like that. The most important thing is to protect your pegasus dudes until they can get their picked combat. Once in melee, they will take care of the rest. Put wards on them. Charmed shield as a bare minimum!

3. Take 4 RBTs. Just do it

4. Go with ring of hotek on your lvl 4. The 4++ works for one thing: miscast damage. You dont want to take too many of those, and if you do fall low on her, just stop taking risky casts and let your warlocks do the work. Magic resistance will protect her (very small!) bodyguard way more effectively.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Thanks again for the advice, all of it was great.

Ok, edited the list with the new setup. I have 41 points too many in the Heroes section... have to trim it down and I think it'll be good to go!

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to settle for a less than stellar build setup on the Masters.. or at least on one of them.

One other question.. Supreme Sorc goes in the Witch unit or the Darkshards?

[T.D.]

^^Looking stronger.

[Rmacdeezy]

Thanks again for the advice, all of it was great.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to settle for a less than stellar build setup on the Masters.. or at least on one of them.

You're going to have to drop a ward, so might as well give the charmed shield to the other peg after dropping AoD. That'll eat the first cannonball and then you can charge him out of the unit to fight stuff.

One other question.. Supreme Sorc goes in the Witch unit or the Darkshards?

Witch unit, everyone knows that.




















































Double check your witch rules

[Amboadine]

Do the maths with the witch rules and a ward save. She us actually pretty safe.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Ok, edits made!

Let me know what you guys think? Had to drop 12 points, so I think it best to take x bows off one unit of dark riders? 1 witch is only 11 pts.. needed 12.

[Amboadine]

Your points above are not correct, I assume the edit didn't edit it all, hopefully you are within your limit

You could save 10 pts dropping the muso on the Shaded if you want to try and get the xbows back.

Be interested in how you fair, I think you might be a unit or so short but looks to be very interesting.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Fixed. Changed the overall cost and not for each unit. This is the correct amount now.

I'm a drop or two behind other lists, and the units are smaller (26 witches instead of 28), but it looks pretty good so far.

Not sure, I'll have to play a few games and let you guys know.

I have matches set up with really good and competitive Warriors, High Elves and Wood Elves, and I think I have my list ready now!

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Had my first game as a Druchii vs Warriors of Chaos.

His list was about as hard as they come.. I should know, it's the list I typically play with WoC and I know it very well.

Lords: (555)
Nurgle DP LVL 4 Death w/ Sword of Striking, Charmed Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Soul Feeder, Flaming Breath, Scaled Skin and Chaos Familiar (Runs alongside Chimera and one unit of Skullcrushers).
Heroes: (459)
Exalted Hero BSB on Barded Daemonic Steed w/ Halberd Talisman of Pres, Potion of Foolhardiness and Third Eye(Runs alongside Throgg and Trolls, and in between the Chariots for Re-Rolls)
Throgg (Runs with Trolls)
Core: (641)
7 Trolls w/ 2 handweapons
3 Nurgle Chariots
Special: (275)
Chimera w/ Flamebreath and Regen
Rare: (566)
4 Skullcrushers w/ Musician and Ensorc Weaps
3 Skullcrushers w/ Musician and Ensorc Weaps
TOTAL POINTS: 2496

Short battle report summary coming soon!

[Thraundil]

Thats about as lame a warrior list as it comes. Although he doesnt have a skillcannon? That surprises me. Nevertheless... I really hope you beat the guy, to discourage such lists! Its not particularly fun to play against at all.

[Olderplayer]

One note Ring of Hotek MR3 does not protect the lvl 4 against wounds from miscasts. (FAQ for the BRB discusses this.)
Also, the witches attack a non-Khainite character at the end of your turn if you roll a 1-3 on a D6 and cause D6 S3 hits on the lvl 4 if in that unit. There is always a risk that a lvl 4, even with lore of life will take enough wounds that those hits will kill her.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Incoming wall o' text! I'll try to break it up by adding some bold and color!

Scenario: Battleline
Deployment & First turn: He won the roll for Deployment and I won the roll to go first. There was minimal Terrain, and it barely had any effect on our game, which was good because it helped me later in the game.

He decided to start with deploying his Chariots (as I knew he would) up as close as possible to the line, leaving room in between to allow for other drops if needed. Good Tactic. Eventually, I was able to get a refused right flank set up.. only one unit of Skullcrushers was coming head on at my right side. This was lucky, but he had some fliers. I kept my Shades back by the right Bolt Throwers to stop his Skullcrushers as a speed bumb/ flee tactic if needed.
Spells:
Sorceress - Awakening of the Wood, Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines, Regrowth
DP - Spirit Leech, Doom and Darkness, Soulblight, Fate of Bjuna and Purple Sun

Turn 1: Dark Elves
Movement: Having the first turn sees my units shuffle about a bit, keeping my Pegs directly behind my CoB unit for now, and I move my Dark Shards (right of my CoB) and both units of Dark Riders (left of my CoB) within 6" of it to receive re-rolls to wound. Two of my bolt throwers are within range behind the CoB unit also.

Magic: I roll 3 and 3 and I channel 1, he does not channel. So, a nice 7 dice phase for me where I really don't need the dice, not in combat and he's way too far away for Awakening. I know he has no scroll, so I start by casting Throne of Vines on 3 dice, and it goes off with three 5's. He tries to dispel, eating up all his dice. I then two dice the CoB and give my witch elves super frenzy.

Shooting: With all the Shooting units near my CoB, I started with the Dark Shards with Flaming Banner hoping for a wound on the trolls before loosing the rest of my shots. Luck had it that they dealt a big 2 wounds to the trolls with some lucky rolling! After all was said and done, I managed to get 10 more wounds on the Trolls for a total of 12! with 4 out of 8 Trolls down, they Panic and hold steady due to BSB re-roll. That was a great phase and it left him reeling. I could see he was starting to sweat.

Cloes Combat: None.

End of Turn: Sorceress takes no wounds from the Witches.

Turn 1 WoC:
Movement: His whole army rushes forward as quickly as possible, his fliers move to my weak Flank, luckily I have some Warlocks and Dark Riders to mess with his fliers a bit.

Magic: He rolls 5 and a 1. I channel one, he doesn't. So it is 6 to 6. He starts off with a 6 dice Purple Sun from the DP , which luckily donesn't go Irresistable. I roll my 6 dice and it was marginally higher. He forgot to dispel Throne of Vines and I was pretty pleased with this phase. I couldn't afford to have my left flank fold so quickly and that spell likely could have hit 3-4 of my fast units and had some of them panic (even though I had them far enough apart to prevent the panic chain).

Shooting: None
Close Combat: None

Turn 2 Dark Elves:
Movement: His Daemon Prince and Chimera were getting ready to cut across the board to my center as I could see him playing them like in a checkers game. He planned on completely avoiding my fast units and going for some flank charges on my Witches. I moved my Peg Units ready to counter charge if he came anywhere near that decision, moved the Cauldron back 3", moved all my Fast units on the left flank backward and more near my center to support. His Skullcrushers were beginning to worry me a bit.

Magic: Magic saw 6 and 4 and I channeled one for a nice 11-6 magic phase and he had no scroll. I started off with a 3 dice Doombolt on the 1st unit of Warlocks, targeting his DP. He lets this go through; 7 hits = 1 wound. Damn he's tough. Next Warlocks do the same thing, he dispells it on 3 dice. I then cast Awakening (it's now S6 due to Throne) on the DP and roll 6 hits! He takes 2 wounds! I cast Flesh to Stone on the Witches and use the CoB to give them super frenzy again.

Shooting: With the DP only having one Wound left after my pretty stellar magic phase, it was time to take him out with shooting. All it took was 2 bolt thrower shots to wipe him. The first one missed, the second one stabbed him right though the heart! The remaining shooting focused on the Chimera, killing it to death after the Dark Shards managed a wound on him.
Close combat: None

End of Turn: The Sorceress takes 2 wounds from the Witch unit!! Uh oh!

Turn 2 WoC:
Movement: At this point, my friend was getting impatient and he declares long charges with his Chariots, some into my slightly closer Warlocks and some into my Witches. The left Skullcrushers fail their leadership and have to charge at my Dark Riders, and they fail miserably and are pretty far off the table center, and are ready to be flank charged by my Pegs. One chariot makes it into the Witches.

Magic: None. His DP is dead! Yaaay! He throws all dice at dispelling Throne, which he does. Booo...
Shooting: None

Close Combat: Chariot vs SUPAH WITCHIZ! It does it's impact hits, but at T7, it fails to do anything. The Witches strike back with a vengeance, utterly destroying the lone chariot.

Turn 3 Dark Elves:
Movement: My Peg unit charges the unit of 4 Skullcrushers, the Witches charge the Chariot that failed it's charge on his turn The Right Skullcrushers are now unable to charge because I'm out of their arc. The Trolls can charge in, but I'm not too afraid of them since I can still Magic and shoot them to death.

Magic: This was a pretty bad magic phase for me, 4 and 2 with one channel. Magic is 7-4, I cast Throne, he tries to dispel and can't! I then cast Doombolt on 2 dice at the Trolls and get 5 hits for 2 wounds! I then one dice Super Frenzy on the Witches and this makes sure the Sorceress heals up to 2 Wounds.

Shooting: Darkshards manage another wound on the Trolls (killing another after the Doombolt), then I aimed all 4 Bolt throwers at their face. 24 more shots see's the rest of that unit left with only Throgg. That unit then went into panic, but the nearby BSB saved them with the re-roll.

Close Combat: This saw my Pegs crush the Skullcrushers (who where just out of BSB range) with 9 wounds, they did 1 back. They fled and were run down. This also got my Peg unit behind his lines for a turn 5 charge if needed. The Witches blew through the Chariot they charged so hard that the Impact hits were nearly enough to kill it.

End of Turn: Sorceress takes 1 wound from the Witches. Lucky for that live spell!

Turn 3 WoC:
Movement: He charges his BSB and Chariot into my Witches. The Trolls just weren't with him this game, as they failed their charge by 1". The BSB and Chariot make it in easily. The Right Skullcrushers set up for a charge on one of my right Bolt Throwers.

Magic: He dispels Throne again.
Shooting: None

Close Combat: The BSB challenges my Sorceress, I decline. Sorceress goes to the back. I focus all my attacks on the Chariot because that BSB is so damn hard to kill. The Elves fought their hardest, but even with the Death Hag's help, they only managed to do 3 wounds with 26 attacks, and 11 wounds... he made some crazy saves. The they both only do 4 wounds back due to low impact hits and ward saves! We draw the combat. Not bad for taking that charge! If the Witches can hold one more round I can rear charge the BSB and get him out of my way.

Turn 4 Dark Elves:
Movement: One unit of Warlocks charges the flank of his BSB. I move my Peg unit about 5" away from the back of his BSB/Chariot and just behind his remaining 1 Troll (with 2 wounds) plus Throgg, getting ready for the rear charge next round. The other fast units rush over to aid the backfield Bolt Throwers.

Magic: Here's where I turn the tide, by casting Throne, Flesh to Stone and then Regrowth on the Witches. I recovered every one I lost and am now T7 and give the Sorceress back her lost wound easily.

Shooting: My Darkshards shoot at the remaining 2 Trolls who will likely charge into my Withces also. They manage to take off 2 wounds, and the two left side Bolt Throwers were enough to end that unit. The other 2 shoot at the Right Skullcrushers with single bolts, killing one.

Close Combat: The BSB challenges again, nearly Killing the Death Hag this time. Thank Khaine for T7 and Ward Saves!! The combined units manage to kill the Chariot easily this time around but still can't damage the BSB.

End of Turn: The Sorceress takes another wound from the unit.

Post-game analysis:

The BSB loses by a ton and runs away... right into my Peg unit and he is destroyed.

At this point we call it a game as all he has left on the table is Throgg + 1 mostly dead Troll and 3 Skullcrushers.

Between board control, and very good shooting phases on my part, this game was a wash.. even against one of the nastiest WoC lists.

I must say, I really enjoyed this army and list.

Lastly, the only unit that didn't do anything were the Shades... did absolutely nothing this game.. a few shots. Nothing even to report on them.

[Thraundil]

Nice fight. Couple of comments, though.

1. A purple sun on dark elf units is not a big deal, even if he had gotten it through. We're I5 and 6 across the board, meaning for each fast cav unit, 1 casualty max should expected. Its very risky of him to actually go for the 6-dice spell to kill one or two cav models.

2. Great magic phase onto the DP. If he truly makes the mistake of putting that guy within all your ranged stuff that fast, he deserves death ^^

3. Your turn 3 magic phase: "Magic: This was a pretty bad magic phase for me, 4 and 2 with one channel. Magic is 7-4, I cast Throne, he tries to dispel and can't! I then cast Doombolt on 2 dice at the Trolls and get 5 hits for 2 wounds! I then one dice Super Frenzy on the Witches and this makes sure the Sorceress heals up to 2 Wounds."
--> You only get to heal wounds when a spell from lore of life is cast. So, no wound back from the super frenzy spell.

4. "The BSB challenges my Sorceress, I decline. Sorceress goes to the back." Now, I dont know if this is a bad explanation or a rule mixup. He cant challenge your sorceress, he can call a challenge. You are free to accept it with e.g. the unit champion.

Nicely played game. Vs warriors, it is imperative to get their nasties shot down from range, or its pretty much game if they all make it into melee! I must say your lvl 4 sitting in a witch unit is risky. Consider that those games where turn 1 sees her take 2 wounds, then in your turn 2 magic phase you roll average 7-8 vs 4, he dispels one spell and scrolls the other. If your lvl 4 fails the check this time, she could be a goner.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Thraundil, thanks for the comments! My comments in red:

Nice fight. Couple of comments, though.

1. A purple sun on dark elf units is not a big deal, even if he had gotten it through. We're I5 and 6 across the board, meaning for each fast cav unit, 1 casualty max should expected. Its very risky of him to actually go for the 6-dice spell to kill one or two cav models.

It was very risky.. BUT in the position he was in, it would likely have ran right through my whole Witch unit and would have done some damage.. he was playing very aggressively.

2. Great magic phase onto the DP. If he truly makes the mistake of putting that guy within all your ranged stuff that fast, he deserves death ^^

Agreed! It was going to be hit or miss, I think he knew that. But I also think he was mistaken on how quickly bolt throwers would take him out. He kept saying, "...they're not cannons, so...". This was definitely a new lesson for him.

3. Your turn 3 magic phase: "Magic: This was a pretty bad magic phase for me, 4 and 2 with one channel. Magic is 7-4, I cast Throne, he tries to dispel and can't! I then cast Doombolt on 2 dice at the Trolls and get 5 hits for 2 wounds! I then one dice Super Frenzy on the Witches and this makes sure the Sorceress heals up to 2 Wounds."
--> You only get to heal wounds when a spell from lore of life is cast. So, no wound back from the super frenzy spell.

That was a typo/misunderstanding and I should have been more clear. She had 1 wound left, I cast Throne of Vines bringing her to 2 wounds total.

4. "The BSB challenges my Sorceress, I decline. Sorceress goes to the back." Now, I dont know if this is a bad explanation or a rule mixup. He cant challenge your sorceress, he can call a challenge. You are free to accept it with e.g. the unit champion.

This was basically fluff on my part, he was acting out his BSB calling my Socreress out.. I know he can't choose but we had some fun at this point. I guess I should have been more clear there also.

Nicely played game. Vs warriors, it is imperative to get their nasties shot down from range, or its pretty much game if they all make it into melee! I must say your lvl 4 sitting in a witch unit is risky. Consider that those games where turn 1 sees her take 2 wounds, then in your turn 2 magic phase you roll average 7-8 vs 4, he dispels one spell and scrolls the other. If your lvl 4 fails the check this time, she could be a goner.

This is an issue I am faced with, but I made some mistakes along the way. When the Witches had Flesh to Stone on them, I didn't take that into consideration when dealing the S3 damage to the Sorceress. She should have taken far less damage from the Witches that game. This is why Life is the best lore for this list.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Got a game in against the Asur.

I'll give some Round summaries, since the game didn't last very long.

His List:
Loremaster General w/ Talisman of Preservation and Book of Hoeth-in PG
Noble BSB w/ sword of might, enchanted shield, dawnstone, barded steed, dragon armour

Silver Helms x9 w/ FC, shields, (BSB goes here)
Silver Helms x5 w/ sheilds & muso
Archers x10
Ellyrian Reavers x5 w/ muso, bows
Ellyrian Reavers x5 w/ muso, bows

Phoenix Guard x19 w/ Musician, razor banner, (Loremaster goes here)
White Lions x 26 w/ Musician, BoWD

Great Eagle
Sisters x5
RBT x3
Frost Heart Phoenix

Scenario: Battle for the Pass

Deployment: High Elves won the roll and deployed in a strange fashion, kind of sporadically in his deployment zone. He deployed all his bolt throwers and shooting units up as far as possible, so I had a feeling he wasn't waiting for me to come his way.

I deployed behind the really large piece of impassable terrain in the center of the table that was really going to cramp non-fliers from moving around it. I figure to make him come to me so I can shoot him to death and negate some of his bolt throwers. I deployed the core of my army behind the huge center terrain so his fliers couldn't pop over and occupy any spaces in a "Y" formation, with two bolt throwers in the far corners of the table, and two up about two feet behind the terrain in open firing lanes so they had line of sight to anything that would come around the mountain. My Pegs stay back in between these two bolt throwers so I can really decide on where to dedicate them after he moves.

Roll for First Turn: Dark Elves

Dark Elves Turn 1: I moved my vanguard units up just enough to be out of sight in cover of his bolt throwers, not really caring too much about his fast cav reavers taking some pot shots, hoping he'd attempt a charge leaving his units wide open to a few rounds of shooting. Magic sees me cast Throne, but the damn Book of Hoeth pushed his already awesome roll of a 5, 6, 1 to 5, 6, 6. Sigh...

High Elves Turn 1: He rushes all of his units up as far and as fast as possible, his Helm bus rounding out the left side behind a unit of Reavers, giving them cover from my shooting. He did the same on the other side with his smaller unit of helms and the second Reavers. Behind that his wave of infantry struggled to catch up. Things were looking pretty bleak, me with my one real combat block and his Frost Phoenix and Eagle threatening to fly down my left flank and start chewing on my war machines.

Dark Elves Turn 2: I leave my Dark Riders and Warlocks in place for the double flee trick (Dark Riders in front so they can shoot. I plan on also taking out his Reavers to a man so that the Silver Helms fail a charge and get stuck with a nice round of shooting before I dedicate to fighting them. For now, I leave his Phoenix and Eagle alone, actually wanting them to target my far left bolt thrower so I can trap them there for a charge from my Pegs on my next turn. Position them so they are facing that direction. Then, I open fire. One unit of Dark Riders and two bolt throwers per side let loose a salvo of doom upon the poor Reavers. On each side, they died to a man leaving the Silver Helms unblocked. Dark Shards rain down some shots on the right, killing one Silver Helm.

High Elves Turn 2: His Phoenix and Eagle break off, the Eagle going after my left-central bolt thrower, making the charge range and his Phoenix flying at my rear-left Bolt Thrower, making a really long charge of 18". His Silver Helms on each side charge at my fast units, I double flee successfully on both sides. His infantry moves up as far as they can and will be in charge range next turn. I'm fearing his combat units at this point, the Knights were just a distraction. His Phoenix annihilated my rear left bolt thrower. Somehow, the Eagle didn't manage to kill my left central one... I knew I had to dedicate all my power to destroying them first. Luckily, the Peg units were ready to wipe out the Fliers on my next turn, then I could whittle down his infantry units afterward.

Dark Elves Turn 3: This was the defining turn. My Peg units charge his Phoenix, with nowhere to flee... it eats a dual Peg charge. With the Cloak of Twilight, it was destroyed on the first turn!! The Eagle took a charge from my 3rd Pegmaster and was destroyed. My right side bolt throwers single bolt shot at the flank of his large unit of Silver Helms, skewering 5 of them. Magic helped my Witches reach T7, flank charged them, destroyed them all but the BSB, who fled. I wasn't about to run him down since I had some fast cav available to do that. The Witches then reform to face the oncoming White Lions horde with Loremaster. I move the Warlocks in position on the right to take on the small Silver Helms and after that the Phoenix Guard.

High Elves Turn 4: His right Silver Helms charge at my units of Warlcoks on the right, double flee. They're sitting ducks. The White Lions and Phoenix Guard rush right up in my face. The sisters shoot at my unit of Dark Riders, killing 2. The BSB saved them here, so glad I left him in the center.

Dark Elves Turn 4: Witches charge the White Lions and they hold taking impact hits, Warlocks rally and Doombolt the Silver Helms to death. Shooting and another Doombolt sees 6 Phoenix Guard dead. T7 Witches kill tons of White Lions and take only a few casualties. They hold the line, but will be close to dead next turn taking 14 wounds on the charge.

At this point, finishing up he can't make the charge with his Phoenix Guard on my Warlocks. His Sisters take out my left Dark Riders, my BSB Pegmaster charges his BSB and wipes him out.

The next round would have surely seen the end of the High Elves.

Post-Game analysis

For a while, I was a bit worried that if I couldn't kill his Knights, and then his Infantry wave hit, I'd be overwhelmed.. but I have to say, you can never underestimate the killing power of the Dark Elves!!

Lucky for me, he decided to be aggressive instead of just waiting for me to come at him, I think he meant to surprise/confuse me by blitzing everything forward. If it were opposite, I'd surely have lost this game with all the shooting he had. I think the Loremaster really hurt him in this game too.. he couldn't get much through all game, and the Book only helped him a few times. My level 4 just dominated the magic phase.

After two games, I know now that the shooting/doombolt is what makes this list possible. The ability to get some high strength hits on key units to soften them up, and the amount of fast movers/redirectors makes this list very deadly.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Had a game against the Wood Elves last night.. battle report coming soon! This was my first game against the new Wood Elves.

His list is pretty sick... 82 (or more) shots per turn. I definitely had my work cut out for me.

Lv 4 (Death) Spellweaver - Power Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Steed
Lv 4 (Dark) Spellweaver - Wand of Jet, Talisman of Endurance, Steed

Lv1 (Shadow) Spellsinger - Dispel Scroll, MR1 item, Steed

6 Glade Riders - Musician, Standard, Trueflight
6 Glade Riders - Musician, Standard, Trueflight
5 Glade Riders - Musician, Standard, Trueflight
5 Glade Riders - Musician, Standard, Trueflight
5 Glade Riders - Musician, Standard, Trueflight

7 Sisters - Standard, Banner of Discipline
12 Scouts - Hagbane
12 Scouts - Hagbane

12 Waywatchers
12 Waywatchers

2500pts exactly

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

Battle vs Wood Elves

Scenario: Battleline

Roll for Deployment: He won the roll and decided to deploy first. This was a very long deployment. It took us almost as much time to deploy than it did to play the game, due to all the scouts and vanguards and tactical thinking. So many of our units were fighting for board control.. it was awesome. I managed to make sure none of his scouts were able to deploy within 12" of my line. I couldn't afford to lose my war machines this game since they are the equalizer when facing such a list.

Lucky for me I won the roll to deploy my scouts first, which I did in the forest nearest the center of the table to stop him from putting anything in it. I lost the roll for Vanguard, but that turned out ok anyway. My warlocks were staring down his waywatchers on each side who were hiding in their woods. I planned on doing some Doombolts there as early as possible. I did manage to get them in 18" range and I was praying for first turn to blast them to bits.

Roll for First turn: I had the +1 to the roll, we tied twice... and then I eventually won the roll to go first. I was very happy with this and I think it was going to be the factor that would determine the game.

Roll for Spells:
Dark Elves: Regrowth, Throne of Vines, Flesh to Stone, Dwellers Below
Wood Elves: LvL 4 Death: Sig, Doom and Darkness, Fate of Bjuna, Purple Sun
LvL 4 Dark: Doombolt, Chillwind, Bladewind, Soul Stealer

Dark Elves turn 1:
Movement: I run my Warlocks up the flanks of both his left and right units of Waywatchers as close as I can get them so I could dance around them and keep firing Doombolts. I planned on using my Peg and Dark Rider units to engage his fast Cav and my bolt throwers on his sisters to whittle them down as fast as possible. My Cauldron runs up the center knowing his fast cav was in the way trying to bait a double flee. I'm planning on moving a Peg behind them to get them into combat.

Magic: I knew this first turn had to hit home hard with magic and shooting, or it was likely the end of me. I roll 5 and 5 and channel one, he channels none. I know he has a scroll, which really sucks. I start by casting Two Doombolts from the Warlocks, 3 dice each. I cast them both, one goes irresistible and I lose 1 Warlock. He dispels the normal one with 4 dice. That takes us to 5 and 2. Him with a scroll.

I roll 7 hits for the spell, and wound on 5. The right Waywatchers fail their panic test and run out of the forest screaming!! This incites panic to the nearby Glade Riders! Unfortunately, there were no more units in range.

I roll 3 dice on Throne of Vines, trying to force a scroll (which he does use), and then I finish up by casting Flesh to Stone on the Witches. He fails to dispel that by 1.

Shooting: I let loose all my bolt throwers into his Fast Cav since the Sisters are hidden behind a forest on the left. With Bolt Throwers, Dark Shards, Shades and Dark Riders, I manage to wipe out the two units of fast cav in front of my Witches threatening a double flee.

Close Combat: None.

Wood Elves Turn 1:
Movement: He makes both rally rolls for the units that were panicked. He then moves all his units around to the flanks. The sisters go into the forest to threaten a counter charge on the left Warlocks.

Magic: He had a pretty poor winds roll, 3 and 2. He did not channel, I had one. Magic was 5-4 and he really needed a stronger first turn magic phase. He casts a return Doombolt on my Warlocks which I dispel, and then a Chillwind on my Witches. He kills 1. Pretty underwhelming.

Shooting: Everything shoots. I'm happy to have 25 less shots coming my way, but it's still gonna hurt. The remaining 7 Waywatchers and his sisters on the left fire away at my 4 Warlocks. It's looking pretty bleak for them. 20 something shots pepper my Warlocks and it's just enough to wipe them out. His Scouts and other fast cav on my right flank let loose on my right Warlock unit devastating them, killing all but 1 (he had some pretty bad rolls and I made a good amount of saves). I'm REALLY happy to have him alive, and he doesn't panic. I need that Doombolt. His other 2 units of fast cav and his middle scouts shoot away at my Witches behind the forest in the middle of the board. They don't kill much.

Close Combat: None.

Dark Elves Turn 2:
Movement: Dreadlord charges in left Waywatchers, BSB Pegmaster Charges at his left-middle Scouts, 2nd Pegmaster charges his right Scouts.. I make all charges! I move my Witches around the forest toward the Sisters/Waywatchers setting up a flank charge if he decides to go after my Dreadlord, Darkshards move around the forest to take aim at one of the fast cav units, Dark Riders move to shoot at the other unit of fast cav in the middle. The last remaining Warlock stands tall ready to Doombolt the right Waywatchers.

Magic: Magic is 4 and 4 =8. We do not channel. Warlock on the right casts Doombolt on the rallied Waywatchers on the right on 3 dice. He throws 4 dice and dispels this. I have 5 dice left, so I cast Throne on 2 and then Flesh to Stone on 3 on my Witch unit, bringing them up to T7 (I knew he was going to try to snipe my Death Hag or Sorceress on his next shooting phase.)

Shooting: Darkshards and one unit of Dark Riders wipe out the Middle-right fast cav with shooting down to one guy. Dark Riders just ahead of my Witches and my left Bolt Throwers shoot at the other unit of fast cav and wipe them out. Right Bolt throwers focus fire on the Waywatchers, annihilating the unit down to 2 guys, they do not panic this time.

Close Combat: Dreadlord puts 4 wounds after all was said and done on the left Waywatchers. They do nothing back, didn't think they would, I won this combat by 5 and they're running as I had hoped they would and were run down, putting him out of charge range of his sisters. The BSB puts 3 wounds on the Scouts and they do nothing to him, they stay put. The 2nd Pegmaster takes an unlucky wound and does 3 to the right Scouts who stay put.

Wood Elves Turn 2:
Movement: He moves his Sisters up at my left Bolt Throwers ready to shoot/magic the heck out of them. The rest of his army are either in combat or dead.

Magic: Someone finally got a meaty magic phase, and he really needed it too. 6 and 5=11 and he channels up to 12. I have 6 and I channel 1 to 7. He casts uses his items to make sure the casting goes off and starts with the large version of Doombolt on one Bolt Thrower, getting 2 wounds through. He then casts Bladewind, and it manages to kill one of the two crew on the other Bolt Thrower. He then casts Shield of Thorns on his Sisters and I dispel it.

Shooting: His sisters and Mages shoot at the remaining Bolt Thrower and kill it.

Close Combat: The Pegmasters do a few more wounds, taking no damage. It's not enough to break the units.

Dark Elves Turn 3:
Movement: The Witches have little change at catching the Sisters alone, I knew this, so I detached the Cauldron from the Witches. Brought my Dreadlord, Dark Riders, last Warlock and Darkshards all heading toward the back-left corner where he just wiped out my Bolt Throwers. My right Bolt Thowers turn to face the Sisters. IT'S ON!!!! He doesn't have anywhere to go or flee to.

Magic: I roll 3 and 3=6 for winds. We both channel 1 making it 4 and 4=8. I throw 6 dice at Dwellers and 2 dice at Doombolt. Dwellers gets three 6's for an irresistible force. The Death Mage, Mage Level 1 and 3 Sisters get dragged into oblivion!! He dispels the Doombolt.

Shooting: I let loose 12 shots from my right Bolt Throwers and 10 shots from my Dark Riders, all managing to kill 3 Sisters. Not too bad, really. That leaves 1 Sister and his Lvl 4 Dark Mage.

Close combat sees the end of one unit of Scouts as they're run down by my BSB Pegmaster, and lots of Scouts dying on the right before they somehow manage slay my 2nd Pegmaster.

At this point we call the game.

Post-game analysis: I'm almost certain if he went first, he would have won this game. I was able to panic 2 shooting units which saved some of my fast units. Then, I charged my fliers in as soon as I possibly could to stop up as much of his shooting as I could. Doombolt again, was the key here early on. Shot into the forest making the Waywatchers panic and probably won me the game.

After that, it was a bit of confusion on his end. He want for my Bolt Throwers with his Sisters/Characters. I think he underestimated how quickly I could get my units to corner him like that. With most of his shooting tied up turn 2, he didn't have much that could kill my Witches, and that's the only way he could get the points he needed to come back.

All in all, this was a very scary list, but my 64 shots and magic missiles were enough to soften his shooting until I could get off my turn 2 peg charge. Taking out his fast cav also helped by doubling in removing re-directors and more deadly shooting.

So far, it's 3-0 with the list, but I have a game against Skaven and then Melee Dwarfs next... and I've been dreading horde armies with this list. The Dwarfs don't scare me much.. but Skaven? I hate that army so bad.

[Red...]

Thanks for the bat rep - sounds like an interesting game.

Post-game analysis: I'm almost certain if he went first, he would have won this game.

This is my biggest peeve in Warhammer. If you are facing a missile line and they go first, they get an additional round of shooting in against you, which can really change the entire dynamics of the game. A particularly saavy high elf or wood elf player can ensure that he is exactly 29.1" or more away, so that even if you walk forward on your first turn, you still can't quite shoot at him with counterfire from your RxBs. Of course, its worse in 40k, but that's not saying much!

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

It does seem that way, doesn't it. I know I'm one of the guys that employs this strategy.. because it exists lol.

I guess that's the blessing and bane of a shooting army: getting the first turn. You only have so much time to shoot before close combat hits. But, you'll have some games where it's really consistent and there isn't much of a close combat to be had since everything is already dead.

The Wood Elves seem to be the difference to that equation with all the mobility.. especially in this list. It was, however, very easy to kill with my shooting and magic missiles. I also don't think he could have deployed any better than he did.

My edge was clearly getting 1st turn.

[T.D.]

Glade Riders are Ambush so none of those units should have been on the field first turn.

Otherwise, I have to say you played excellently against what is a very hard anti-Elf list.

[Dreadlord Scorpio]

... what?

I had no idea. And my opponent is a veteran player, but new to Wood Elves. We both completely missed that!!