1000pts stationary, magic heavy army

Get critiqued on your latest army here...

Moderator: The Dread Knights

Post Reply
Tony 92
Trainee Warrior
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:13 pm

1000pts stationary, magic heavy army

Post by Tony 92 »

One of the main reasons I started Dark Elves was for the magic. So a stationary magic heavy army seemed obvious.
Here it is:

General:lv 2 Sorceress with Dispel Scroll (Shadows)
Hero: lv 2 Sorceress with tome of Furion and a Power Stone (Dark Magic)

Core: 16 Crossbows with full command + shields
12 Spearmen with full command + shields

Special: 15 Black Guard with full command and Banner of Murder

Rare: Reaper Bolt thrower

So, the army stands there and shoots and magics the enemy to death. I throw the hero forward casting shorter range spells and then pull her back using steed of shadows and casting any other good shadow spell I have. I have the Spearmen on the flanks with one of the Sorceresses and the Black Guard hidden behind the crossbowmen.

If the enemy reach my lines then the crossbowmen can put up a fight (32 stand and shoot shots and a 4+ armour save) with spearmen to flank. If the crossbowmen are beaten then I've got the Black Guard to fall back on.

This army is undefeated so far having played about 8 battles.
Hopefully I shall replace the spearmen with a few more Crossbowmen soon.
So what do people think?
Last edited by Tony 92 on Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Thanee
Rending Star
Rending Star
Posts: 5030
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 6:10 am
Location: Germany

Post by Thanee »

Looks like a strong army for this point size.

But why do you use Lore of Shadows instead of Dark Magic on your first Sorceress as well? Especially Chillwind is extremely good at this point size (disabling opposing shooters). ;)

You should put your Black Guard forward (a bit), intercepting units going for your Crossbowmen or Reaper. These guys are a bit too good to be kept in reserve.

Have you tried the Sacrificial Dagger with one of the Sorceresses (put her inside the Spearmen; never kill so many in a turn, that it could cause panic)? That one's a lot better than a Power Stone (also a bit more costly because of the sacrificed models).

Bye
Thanee
User avatar
Druchii77
Purveyor of Pain
Posts: 1721
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:24 am
Location: Wherever the fight is

Post by Druchii77 »

I would seriously recommend that you not stick to any one lore with your casters as we have access to dark, death, fire, shadow, and metal. Use what works against your given opponent. I would also consider dropping your crossbows down to 10 and beefing up your spears to full size (20). This will complemenet your black guard well.
castrensis in totus res
Fight my Brutehttp://suckerpunch77.mybrute.com
Try Evony!http://zao77s.evony.com
User avatar
Sidorio
Assassin
Posts: 596
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:53 am

Post by Sidorio »

yeh, darke elves have access to some of the best lores so it's best to make use of them for each battle... like metal against bretonians. though if your happy sticking to those lores, go for it.
Vash’nir - WS5 / S4 / T4 / D5 / I3
Equipment: 2 asrai short swords, assassins dagger, silver dagger, modified repeater crossbow (20/20), hunting spear, Cloak of Dusk, full leather armour
Inventory: talisman of protection, talisman of night, smoke bombs x6, rope x2, healing balms x10, climbing axe x2, skinning knives, winter gear, Vikarh map, pouch of powder, 4 fire bombs
Mount: Dark Steed (Falken)
Gold: 2270
Skills: Stealth, Two Weapon Fighting, Basic Ride
Class: Shade
User avatar
Calisson
Corsair
Corsair
Posts: 8820
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:00 pm
Location: Hag Graef

Post by Calisson »

I like to play stationary heavy magic as well.

Magic heavy, heavy to which point?
I recommend 2 levels of sorcery per 500 pts, as you do.
You could even go for a 3rd one at 1000pts (I did once), but that would be a little bit excessive.

About ranges:
Metal Lore has 24" range, perfect complement to MXB. Very effective against Dwarves, Bretonians or Empire.
Fire Lore has mostly 24" range, and is more agressive against softer targets.
Dark Lore is very powerful, although its range is shorter. You can take it with a mobile sorceress (pegasus or steed) and/or if you take the focus familiar.
I like less Death Lore, half of its spells being 12" range.
Shadow Lore has the shortest range and is more effective to enhance melee, where you don't want to go.

Focus Familiar. (FF)
Focus Familiar is your best friend. Ii is by far the magic object I use the most. 6" additional range is unvaluable and so is the ability to "shoot around corners".
It works fine from a wood outwards, or to get deep inside a wood and get safely after the skirmishers or lonely character hiding in there.
If the sorceress castels herself inside a building, it allows her to clear out an amazing 30" radius around the building.

You don't want to get in melee.
There are several ways of achieving this purpose.
- elusive mobility
- distant destruction
- proxy melee.

1. Stay mobile
One way is to stay mobile with your spell-caster:
- a Sorceress on Peggy is really good (and you can take shorter-range spells like Death or Shadow). FF helps a lot, unless it is a level 4 with the Black Staff.
- a Sorceress on a DS can still hide inside a footed babysitting unit, but in case the unit gets threatened with a charge, she can jump to another unit or run alone for safety. Your general should be mounted. Only drawback: you cannot go anymore inside a building.
- Steed of shadow is not reliable: it can fail to cast or be dispelled, letting your sorceress in a hopeless situation.

2. Keep them at bay with the help of shooters.
Shoot them and blast them at distance.
The best troops to complement stationary magic are shooters.
Either MXB or RBT. Both of them can shelter a sorceress.
I tried also MXB-DR for a mounted sorceress, but the unit is too vulnerable from shooting or spells.
A small RHB-corsair unit is effective as well, especially if you can put them inside a building, and if the sorceress has Focus Familiar. Then you would shoot/spell them at - short - distance, but still not in melee.

Two problems remain with this tactics:
- fast charging units => you need to slow them down with march-blockers and lure them away with baiters. Harpies! or other agile units (DR, shades).
- gunlines: if you play their game, you need to be better at it! => Chillwind! Metal #2 and 3 help also. The difficulty remains if their guline has longer ranges => FF! Harpies!

3. Intercept the assault.
Quick charging troops with good missile/magic defense, or very quick ones flying 20" will eventually come into melee. You have to take care of them.
- Your BG seems excessive for that sole purpose. Expansive and too vulnerable to shooting/magic, and it can be circumvented. Its good point is the stubborness. If you want to keep it, I suggest you to make it two or even 3 units of 5, naked. Whenever one unit is charged, hope it stand firm, and sidecharge whith whatever you have (even MXB!).
- a chariot is a good deterrent as well. It just has to stay and wait. After charging, it is very resistant and may stay alive quite long.
- another option is to hide an assassin in your shielded MXB. Whenever they get in melee, he takes care of the assaliant. This is especially effective against flying chargers:
The charger will try to maximize the impacts on the sorceress. Then you reveal your assassin next to her. If it is a big monster, you challenge and KB the rider (and the beast kills your assassin, but you win with static combat resolution). If it is a unit of cheap flyers, you kill most of them, in contact with the assassin i.e. close to the sorceress. Normally only 1 could strike back to the sorceress, and they would loose to CR.

A difficulty with the acceptance of melee is that most spells cannot be cast there, and you cannot shoot either. Keep one melee spell at hand!
Or, you could just leave the unit in melee to its fate and move your sorceresses away. The assaliant will run across, leave the Table, come back without charging nor double-marching, and receive then one more spell blast.


EDIT:
Could you edit the title of the thread to reflect it is magic-heavy stationary?
Thank you.
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
Post Reply