The making of an army.

Get critiqued on your latest army here...

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Dalamar
Dragon Lord
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Joined: Sat Sep 21, 2002 6:42 pm
Location: Designing new breeds of Dragons

The making of an army.

Post by Dalamar »

Little change after little change, this army hasn't lost a single game so far (had a draw against vampire counts, but now I know what I could've done better), out of 9 games played with one of its versions I think I'm on to something.

Characters:

Dreadlord @ 277.0 Pts
General; Heavy Armour; Sea Dragon Cloak
Dragonhelm
Pendant of Khaeleth
Crown of Command
Soulrender
Cold One

Supreme Sorceress @ 335.0 Pts
Magic Level 4; Lore of Shadow;
Talisman of Preservation
Sacrificial Dagger
Ironcurse Icon

Sorceress @ 180.0 Pts
Magic Level 2; Lore of Death
Tome of Furion
Seal of Ghrond

Death Hag @ 225.0 Pts
Cauldron of Blood; Battle Standard

35 Dark Elf Warriors @ 260.0 Pts
Shield; Standard; Musician; Lordling

20 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen @ 215.0 Pts
Standard; Musician

20 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen @ 215.0 Pts
Standard; Musician

5 Harpies @ 55.0 Pts

5 Harpies @ 55.0 Pts

War Hydra @ 175.0 Pts

War Hydra @ 175.0 Pts

Now here's the funny part. At this point I have exactly 333 points left, and I'm toying with three options. First two I already had a chance to test out, both performed reasonably well but I'm leaning more towards executioners... because they're cooler :P Knights still need to be tested though I'm wary about the mere 10 wounds total.

20 Black Guard @ 330.0 Pts
Standard; Musician; Tower Master
Banner of the Eternal Flame
Armour of Darkness

24 Har Ganeth Executioners @ 333.0 Pts
Standard; Musician; Draich-Master
Banner of Swiftness

10 Cold One Knights @ 315.0 Pts
Standard; Musician; Dreadknight
Gleaming Pendant

Thoughts?
7th edition army book:
Games Played: 213
Games Won: 114 (54%)
Games Drawn: 33 (15%)
Games Lost: 66 (31%)

8th Edition army book W/D/L:
Druchii: 36/4/16
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Calisson
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Post by Calisson »

- CO Crown unkillable dreadlord, just to tie up the most dangerous opposing unit.
- dagger Lvl4+Lvl2 = strong Shadow magic + Death character snipe.
- COB BSB
- bodies: 35 dagger fuel, 2 x 20 RXB.
- 2 x 5 harpies to annoy behind the opponent's lines.
- double hydra.

Agree that you need a killing elite unit to complete this excellent army.
Any of them three could work well.

The COK have 13 wounds... with the lord.
I was trying to figure out if the Gleaming Pendant was an Enchanted Item or a Talisman... found it! it's a Magic Standard! :)

With only 4 more Execs than BG, BG are better: the 4 additional Execs will be dead before they can strike. And the BG are more versatile, they can be blessed with KB or +1att if required. Also, BG can shelter a character if necessity arises.

BG vs COK? Sure, COK have less wounds, but BG have less armour. BG have eternal hatred. COK would have the equivalent, if they had BoHG ASF rather than the pendant, er pennant. Anyway the pennant is not required with a Ld10 BSB-rerollable test.
The advantage of COK is a moderately higher speed, and they hit harder on the charge. On the other hand, COB works better for BG.

Overall, I feel that the BG variant is slightly superior.
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|--}
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Aveleys
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Post by Aveleys »

I think either the black guard or the executioners would be good choices, and I would be leaning on taking the black guard as the rerolls to hit every round is really good against steadfast enemy units. Also, I think you might want to invest in shields for your repeater crossbowmen, it will give them more of an edge in combat.

cheers,

Aveleys
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Dalamar
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Post by Dalamar »

Knights have the Gleaming Banner/Pendant/Pennant/Whatever dangly thing on a stick because their operating speed would put them outside of the slow bsb range... failing that Ld10 stupidity with no reroll is bad.

It also works for first break test (any first failed leadership test gets to be rerolled)

Dreadlord operates alone, tying up the biggest, scariest unit/monster the enemy has.
7th edition army book:
Games Played: 213
Games Won: 114 (54%)
Games Drawn: 33 (15%)
Games Lost: 66 (31%)

8th Edition army book W/D/L:
Druchii: 36/4/16
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Vaari
Black Guard
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Location: NZ

Post by Vaari »

In the land of optimized lists, you have indeed proven yourself king.

I'd take Exe's, but would give them the banner of eternal flame. IT's my can opener of choice and also allows Dragon/Troll/Hydra slaying. Usually at the cost of the unit but one has to spend money to make money.

All of the options look good. Black Guard are probably the unit to take for tourney play, utility and consistent hitting odds are always welcome. I think that Knights, if they are to be taken, need to set up as a star - they need a LD banner/BsB, Iron Curse Icon etc to make sure they get to where they are supposed to be. Once they get there - they often clean up their objective. Once they get there.

Seeing that you have been awesomely consistent in reporting back your findings, why not find some poor guinea pigs and test all three options out?

The one that stands out would then be worth getting voted in to the Hall of Fame for 8th.
Group 28
Name - Seijl Illydrien Class- Shade
Character Stats
- WS 6 - - S 3 - - T 3 - - D 4 - - I 4 -
Equipment
MC Light Armour, MC Buckler, MC Longsword,, Repeater Crossbow, Dagger w/ UC, Dagger w/ DV Shade Cloak. Field Kit (Healing x3), Vials of Unseen Chains (x3 uses) , Vials of Dark Venom (x4 uses) , Lamia Fang, Harpy Claws
Circlets : 260, , Emerald Eye (200Circ.) Rations: 10/10 Bolts: 16/20 , Null Stone
Skills
Basic Stealth - Heal
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Malus99
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Location: A torture dungeon in Suffolk

Post by Malus99 »

excellent list Dalamar, I think the best of those three options are the BG because, as Calisson says, the extra execs will probably be killed before they get around to doing anything, that being said, all three are viable options and worth playtesting to see which work best with the army in battle.

This is 2500, correct? In which case, what would you cut down on to take 2k? I find many of the games played at my local GW are to round Ks of points. The DL would probably be the first thing to drop, and then take the rest from the crossbowmen and the chosen elite unit?
Veni, Vidi, Voro!!!

All things perish, this is the law of existence, accept your suffering and your mortality, only by using this truth, can you transcend it.
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Dalamar
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Joined: Sat Sep 21, 2002 6:42 pm
Location: Designing new breeds of Dragons

Post by Dalamar »

Around here battles and tournaments are played at 2500.
To make it 2k? Well, Lords would be over the limit so the Dreadlord would have to go, that's 277 points
Then drop warriors down to 30.
I think I would have to drop the elite unit completely.
That totals to 645 points cut down.

One of the crossbowmen unit would drop to 10
So that would be 245 points under the 2k limit.
For that I would buy 2 Cold One Chariots and for remaining 45 points bolster the harpy units to 7 models each. ending up at 1999 points.
7th edition army book:
Games Played: 213
Games Won: 114 (54%)
Games Drawn: 33 (15%)
Games Lost: 66 (31%)

8th Edition army book W/D/L:
Druchii: 36/4/16
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Malus99
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Post by Malus99 »

Great stuff, I know I wouldn't want to battle you in a tourney, well, not if I wanted to win in any case. We'll wake you up again when a new edition comes out and we need you to do this all over again ;)
Veni, Vidi, Voro!!!

All things perish, this is the law of existence, accept your suffering and your mortality, only by using this truth, can you transcend it.
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Ichiyo1821
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 3:03 am

Post by Ichiyo1821 »

@Dalamar, with the exception of a level 2(I opted for 10 shades instead making that 10 Shades and 10 Harpies) This is the same list I've been using since 8th edition came out should you opt for 10 COKs. I put the Gleaming Pennant on the Warriors and SoHG on the COKs for hatred rerolls and punching power in all rounds of combat with my Dreadlord. Should the need arise I could always just charge my general out to tie things.
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86/1/5

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W/D/L
32/1/0

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