Warning,
very long post. If you just want the results without much explenation, just skim to the bottom. I just put in the long version it has little use to suggest changes if you don't understand why on earth I'd suggest them.
Characters
First of all, the characters. The High Sorceress is sometimes used as general but if she is the only caster in your army, you’ll have to get lucky to get anything done with her. In the current form, your army generates 5 power dice, 2 for general use and 3 for the Sorceress. You could credibly cast 2 spells with her. Ironically, a single level 2 Sorceress has access to 2 spells and 4 dice and could try to cast two spells as well.
A minimal scroll caddy gets 3 dispel dice, 2 by the army and 1 by himself. And he usually carries two dispel scrolls. This means that he has a fair chance of dispelling one spell per turn using dice and one using a scroll. Your Sorceress would be blocked for the first two turns and could afterwards cast 1 spell per turn.
Usually, if you want to go ‘magic heavy’, you’ll need to enlist supporting casters. Basically, you bombard your enemy with spells and some have to get through. Because each caster can only use the dice he/she generates, you’ll want to balance the number of generated dice with the number of spells the caster has, using the dice your army generates as ‘grease’.
Anyway, for your High Sorceress, I’d advise you to try and make her generate more dice for her to use. An extra level of gets you that plus an extra spell to choose from. You can also take the Darkstar Cloak for an extra power dice per turn. Sadly, however, this conflicts with the Soulstone and given the nasty miscast table, you might want to hang on to that one.
And finally, characters have become more vulnerable with the targeting rules in the 7th edition. Mounting characters is smart since they can still join units. Since most of the Dark Lore is short ranged and/or needs line of sight, it would still be prudent to buy some form of protection for her in the forms of a ward save. If you are allowed to use the Storm of Chaos and Albion magic items, the Heartstone is a good choice, otherwise the Crown of Black Iron is a valid alternative.
This makes you character more expensive but she’ll be better suited for her task. If you only want some magic defence, just replace her with a level 2 caster with Dispel Scrolls. If you anticipate strong magic, two level 1 casters might be more useful but it starts becoming expensive and focussing on mage hunters might become a better option.
The army standard bearer looks good although I never used him in that configuration. If you’re light on magic, expect it to work only once if you follow Cenyu’s advice. If you’re heavy on magic, odds are your opponent have to ignore the Ring of Darkness more than he’d like to. Anyway, it could work, it might not, only one way to find out.
Most starters take an assassin but most regulars play without them. As they are, they are often considered overpriced for what they can do. If they are included, Touch of Death and an extra hand weapon is the most common configuration. Since Dark Venom and Touch of Death don’t work well together, I’d suggest you drop either one of those if you keep the model. Remember that a basic assassin is just as many points as a Noble on a Pegasus. Depending on what you want to do with the Assassin, you might to consider replacing him with something else. A Sorceress could give you that edge you could use to get more magic through and a Noble could help you to hunt down casters or to bolster a unit or chariot.
Core
As Cenyu mentioned, spearelves are a
lot better if they get shields. For 1 point per model you increase their survivability a great deal. Also, the number of 15 makes the unit too expensive to use as a sacrifice and yet, it is too small to claim the maximum static combat result (CR). The main use of spearelves is just to provide either that CR or to be used as bait. Since your army seems geared to more straightforward combat as opposed to MSU (Multiple Small Units) I’d suggest you boost the number to at least 20 models.
If you have to skim points, you can drop the unit champion but if you can keep him, so much the better.
The 10 crossbowelves look good but I’d drop the command altogether. They shouldn’t get in situations where they have to rely on those. You could buy them shields so they could act as a makeshift flanker. With those 10 points, they suddenly get a 4+ save instead of a 6+, not bad, eh?
Most of the time, Dark Riders are used in units of 5. Some use them in units of 6 or 7 and have some success with it so you might want to try them out in various sizes. Concerning the unit options, you opted for the unit champion, giving you an extra BS but you don’t buy any crossbows for the unit. Usually, only the musician is taken along since it allows them to rally on a Leadership of 9 instead of 8. Whether or not to buy crossbows is a matter of taste. I like the added flexibility but others do just as well without the shots.
Special
Shades are fairly popular hunters for the Druchii and pretty good at what they do. It remains to be seen how useful they will be in the 7th edition since fewer characters will be walking in the open and they can be march blocked. They remain very handy to block marches on their own, however. Since the Scout rule dictates that, if the unit wants to make use of this scouting, it has to set up outside the LOS of the enemy, most people take units of 5 or 6, this way, it’s easier to find terrain for them to hide in or behind.
Given the new standard 5-wide units in the 7th edition, 7 Cold One Knights should be able to get every model into combat, thus maximizing attacks. I wouldn’t add any more models to this unit, though. If you want to drop some points, the musician could be dropped here. Some people don’t use any command at all if they are intended as flankers (and cavalry will most likely be assigned this duty given that ranks are now even harder to get by). It depends on how tough you expect your opponent to be.
Crossbows have fairly little use on a chariot. A chariot is intended to be in combat and you can’t shoot then. Also, since you’re moving all the time and you’re paying 10 points for 2 crossbows, most people leave those at home. If you’re planning to go heavy on firepower, you could buy them to stay with the theme of your army but otherwise, leave them.
Spears, however, are very useful and cheap.
The chariot is best used in conjunction with another unit. Usually, they provide the kills while another unit provides the static CR. And if you place a Noble in the chariot, the model gets a Unit Strength of 5 and can break ranks on its own! Also, you could place the BSB there, giving him better protection, making the Ring of Darkness less needed and you increase the odds of it breaking that unit you’re flanking. Often, people prefer the Sword of Might instead then. Since it depends on what you’re going for, I’ll leave this as it is.
Rare
You forgot to mention that your unit of 19 Black Guard is 339 points but given the points you posted, you might as well have intended them to be 20 strong. The total point value of your army is 1983 with 19 and 1999 with 20 models.
Usually, elite units such as Witch Elves, Executioners and Black Guard are used in small units, ie. 10. the reasoning is that, for each rank, 5 models need to be bought and they only contribute 1 static CR to the unit. You’re much cheaper off using spearelves for the static CR. The small elite units are used as flankers.
The Black Guard differ there a bit since they are basically our only tarpit unit. A tarpit is a unit that can hold an enemy in place for a while. Swarms are the most common forms of tarpits. Of course, our tarpit is pretty expensive but it can lash out pretty hard against most opponents.
Now, this post was pretty involved because we covered every entry and it’s easy to get lost but the
shortened version is:
* Try to fit in a supporting caster or change the High Sorceress to a caddy, depending on which magic approach you want to take. If you choose the latter you might be able to fit in a Highborn as general.
* Review your options before taking the Assassin. He’s expensive and not nearly a surefire weapon in taking down enemy characters.
* Try to fit in more Spearelves. 20 models is a minimum to get a maxed out CR.
* Add shields to the spearelves and crossbow elves.
* Drop the command on the crossbow elves.
* Drop the champion and standard bearer on the Dark Riders and consider whether you want crossbows or not.
* Reduce the size of the Shades unit or swap them for Harpies.
* Replace the crossbows on the chariot with spears.
* Reduce the size of the Black Guard.
Pay attention to the following:
* You have few combatworthy units. As boring as it may sound, you need a solid base to work on. As you get more experienced, you’ll get away with taking chances like these.
* Being all-round is great, but you need strengths as well. Right now, you have the potential to do well in any phase if you’re willing to shift around some points. Think on what you’re willing to go for.
New list:
High Sorceress 333 points
extra level
Dark Steed
Soulstone
Crown of Black Iron
Noble 176
BSB
Cold One
Heavy Armour
Seadragon Cloak
Ring of Darkness
Noble 161
Pegasus
Heavy Armour
Seadragon Cloak
Shield
Lance
Ring of Hotek
Sorceress 175
Extra level
Darkstar Cloak
Seal of Ghrond
20 Spearelves 165
Full command
Shields
10 RXBs 120
Shields
7 Dark Riders 175
Musician
Crossbows
6 Shades 84
7 Cold Ones 248
Full command
1 chariot 97
Spears
10 Black Guard 160
1 Reaper Bolt Thrower 100
Total 1994
PS: This was intended to be post after Cenyu's post. Some troubles getting on Druchii.net.
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And I guess I never showed any promise as an army list builder, seeing as Ras never commented on my lists. !cry!
