A big army! Vs the Empire

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Dante valentine
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A big army! Vs the Empire

Post by Dante valentine »

In my local campaign, my plucky Druchii have decided to invade a local trading port that is defended by the Empire! As a result, the next battle will be a whopping: 4000 points of Dark Elves versus 3500 points of dug in Empire troops.

The empire troops will also have 2 towers, 3 walls and a large hill to deploy!
Now i normally don't have a huge amount of trouble dealing with the Empire, i find that while they can deal a lot of damage with shooting, once i get in combat i will give them a thorough whooping! My normal tactics, at 3k points are as follows:

Left Flank: 3 Chariots sent down there, normally supported by a flanking unit of shades.

Middle: 50 Spear men, flanked by 2 hydra who in turn are flanked by 2x20 RXB

Right flank: Big unit of CoK's that, with hero attachment can deal with anything that is in their way (last game they broke a unit of 30 black with battle standard bearer and a further hero on the charge, inflicting a whopping 19 casualties!).

I generally dont field a CoB. But i do field either a level 4 mage or a level 2 one and save points elsewhere and field some DR's. My Harpies are there as fillers, used to pull out fanatics, pick off war machines etc.

Now, with another one thousand points i'm not sure really what to do. My initial thoughts were as follows:

Shadow-blade (bye bye war machines!)
another 1-2 chariots.
2 more bolt throwers (bringing a total of 4)
maybe another Hydra
More CoK's?

I was thinking of removing my DR and Shades, due to the sheer amount of troops the opponent will have I'm thinking they will have a hard trouble making a mark on the enemy. RXB's I'm tempted to max out on as they slaughter empire troops, even Great Swords, in droves while my Reapers will deal with heavy cav or the prospect of a steam tank (which to be fair i doubt he will take).

So, any ideas/comments/advice on playing such a large game. I have never faced so many empire troops before so am curious as to how devastating they will be in the first few turns.

Regards

D
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Malus99
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Post by Malus99 »

Taking some anti-shooting will be a good bet because you can probably beat him in combat relatively easily, you need to concentrate on getting your units to his side intact. Shadowblade is a good bet for taking out warmachines behind enemy lines, especially in big games where your other light hunter troops will find it hard to break through, chillwind on sorceresses will help alot.

What have you got in the way of R&F beyond the spearmen? You have plenty of hammers in the CoK, Hydras, chariots etc. But you will definitely need some big R&F units to back them up against empire, a unit of 20 BG, units of corsairs will scythe through T3 Empire and witches will do well too, maybe even take some executioners in a block of 20. for a 4K force I would include 40 warriors (the most I have) 40 RXBs in two units of twenty, 20 BG, 20 Corsairs (would include more but don't have the models) and 10 witches, maybe some executioners too, all of these units do well against empire R&F and provide the hammers of your force with something to work with.

I think with an extra 1K adding in more chariots is not a very good idea, you already have 3 and if there are walls and similar in the way then chariots will be restricted in movement, extra hydra, RBTs and CoKs are all things to consider, but only one of these things because when adding an extra 1k to a force you need to add in extra R&F so I would advise add in another character, be it shadowblade or someone else, add in either a hydra, extra CoK or some bolt throwers and then spend the rest on R&F, Character +hammer unit should equal about 300-700 points and the rest on R&F, you will need some footsloggers against empire lest their numbers overwhelm you
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

Using the reaper bolt throwers against heavy cavalry and Steam Tanks is probably a waste of resources, I'm sorry to say. Unless he goes with White Wolf Knights, he's still going to be taking a 3+ save against your repeater shots, and I've never found the single-shot to really be reliable enough to justify the points spent on an entire bolt thrower. Similarly, don't forget that Steam Tanks are now Toughness 10, so even bolt throwers are going to need 6s to wound the thing.

In light of that, I would really try to make sure you have a decent magic phase. You mentioned your character loadout a bit, including a Supreme Sorc, so that's a good start. With so many points to play around with, you can really afford to get a well-geared Level 4 and supporting Level 2 while still have plenty of points left over for other toys. A Level 4 with Shadows can let you debuff the Ballistic Skill of big handgunner/crossbow regiments while also reaching out to threaten the steam tank with Pit of Shades/Pendulum, while a Level 2 with Metal can toss out her magic missile to roast those 1+ Save knights and steam tanks with ease.
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Auere
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Post by Auere »

I would include Chuck Norris. He is only 215 points, and there is really few things the empire player can do to prevent him from running havoc on his warmachines and knights.
Dante valentine
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Post by Dante valentine »

I forgot about Steam Tank getting a toughness boost (obviously they have found a better source of steel for its hull!). I'm still tempted to go for a few RBT's just to thin a few ranks off the enemy troops, either missile or infantry.

Think that Chillwind is going to be useful for stopping any big shooting units. a unit of thirty handguns not being able to shoot for a turn after i kill just one of them is making me grin already!

No more Chariots - 3 is sufficient I suppose, as a bad roll on the terrain chart could leave me destroying my own beloved machines!

In terms or rank and file i have access to another 50 spearmen (without shields) and 30 ish corsairs (the models arent mine but i can loan them for the battle) so i could bump them up.

I'm second guessing my initial choice of shadowblade - yes, he is going to maul a warmachine (reveal him first turn, he will kill all of them by the end of my enemies turn at MAX), then he might be able to charge another unit if he is lucky, otherwise it will be turn 3 and my troops will be on his battle line by then anyway. For 50 more points i can have 2 Hydras? That might be more worth it anyway. I'm going to have to bear the brunt of some shooting regardless, so why not just take it on the chin and have more monsters!

I'm currently thinking, and then re-thinking my army and, after i've worked out some equations to confirm that i will win the combats i think i will come against, then ill post what i'm fielding.

Regards

D
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