Hail!

I'm new to these parts, but I think this is the right section to post my questions.

Part 1:

As a fairly new DE player, I'm a bit stumped on what elite infantry block to take. I currently got 3 packs of unassembled Executioners/Black Guard and want to gear them up as a deathstar, forming the core of large-scale armies (2500+ pts). A semi-competitive to competitive list is my goal, even though our local tournaments are more in the 1500 pts range usually. However I'm unsure whether to assemble them as BG or Execs.

The rest of my army looks as follows:

Sorceress on foot
Peg SS

3x10 Darkshards
3x5 Dark Riders
10 Witch Elves

15 CoK
3 RBT
Hydra

10 Doomfire Warlocks
Kharybdiss

The question is obviously "what I'd like to do" with the deathstar. Executioners are obviously better at breaking heavy armor, but I'd like to run a CoK bus which would kinda compete with them in this role, whereas Black Guard are inherently Stubborn and dish out more attacks on the base - without going too much into detail.

Part 2:

Vanilla DE aside, I'd like to gear up for EoT battles, which are usually at 5000 pts in our local store. In a combined elven army, how would you setup a block of these guys? Is it a good idea to put in a CoB if Alarielle is in the list and hanging back with, say, a small bunker of Phoenix Guard (4++/4+Reg) in range? Couldn't one just run Hellebron to give the unit +1 attack and maybe a Razor Standard? Or is there a way to make them more durable/hard hitting?

Thanks in advance!

I think Executioners benefit from ET more than BG before taking into account buffs etc. ET gives them an extra rank to fight in, which increases the number of attacks. This is something that benefits Executioners more. If you would stack Executioners deeper, then they are more likely to be steadfast... something that the Black Guard don't need.

Of course, that is before buffs. With power of darkness being spammable, a single Dark sorceress on foot could turn your Black Guard into the most elite killing machine in the game. I would definitely be tempted to try that out. For a sorceress bunker, the BG are an interesting unit. They are immune to psychology, permit more tricks and benefit more from the Sorceress herself.

Welcome to D.net, Charged Blackness!

On this point - ward saves and regeneration saves no longer stack. Phoenix Guard might benefit more from the High Elf High Magic lore attribute to improve their ward save to 3+.

PoD being spammable...I completely missed that. That is truly sick. Black Guard also pack I6 and Eternal Hatred, which ensures that they hit first against quite a lot of elite infantry aswell. If HE characters could join the unit, it could get a BSB with the Banner of the World Dragon, making them almost immune against magic missiles.

Now, a L4 Dark SS would be quite convenient in this unit, pushing the unit slightly above 1k pts if my calculations are right, even without a Cauldron. In fact, I really think Hellebron is better than a cauldron, for the fact that the avaliability of a 4+ regeneration save makes her much more durable than before, and by giving only +1 attack (Frenzy) to the BG, they wouldn't get -3 to LD to resist the urge to charge. Furthermore she is a combat monster with Fear and a nasty -3 to enemy Fear checks. With a frontage of 7, that'd mean an optimum of 21+14[supporting ranks]S5(or higher)+7(+d3)S10 attacks, not considering magical buffs. What do you think?



This would mean that, theoretically, Alarielle would push the Exec/BG unit to 5+/4++ essentially, with a 6+ ward vs flaming attacks? Also, is this ET exclusively or has it been FAQ'd? I'm not really familiar with either.