1k force, new to 8th ed

[Tich]

Hi all, this is my first force since getting back into the game, to start with some friends and I are going to be running a series of 1k matches. This is my list at the moment but I would appreciate any advice anyone has. I will be playing mostly against tomb kings, wood elves, high elves and very rarely dwarves.

Lords: Dreadlord with the Armor of Darkness + Halberd


Heroes: Sorceress, lvl 2, Tome of Furien + darkstar cloak

Core: 10x Repeater crossbows with musician

20x Warriors with spears, shields and full command

Special: 14 black guard with full command (the dreadlord will go with these guys)

Rare: War Hyrda


At the moment my main plan is to sit the sorceress in the crossbow unit, have the spear elves and the black guard in the centre and have the hydra curve round 1 flank and hopefully crunch its way through.

[Tmarichards]

At 1K a Dreadlord is a little much, a Master can have the same equipment for a lot less. That would allow you to add a unit of harpies.

The Sorceress is illegal- she's not allowed 2 arcane items.

It's a good start though, don't worry too much about fine-tuning your list if you're at an early stage.

[Red...]

It loks like a fairly strong list. A couple of suggestions:

Run the Blackguard as 2x7. If you are putting the dreadlord in with them, that means you only need 13 rather than 14 of them.

You are going to be up against a lot of shooty armies. So I'd arm the dreadlord thus:

Dreadlord, armour of darkness, ring of darkness, iron curse icon, halberd. It'll cost you 45 more points, but it'll make it much harder to kill those black guards with missile and warmachine fine.

I would give your black guard the standard of HG. You will need it versus the high elves.

I would change the hydra into a chariot - it's nearly as versatile as a hydra, much cheaper and less at risk from firey stuff.

You can't have both the dark star cloak and tomb of furion on the sorceress, she can only have one arcane item. Go with the Tome, it's a better choice in 8th ed imo.

Take 3 more RxBs to make the unit 13 (2 rows of 7 once the sorceress is included)

So in total, that would be:

-1 Blackguard = -13
+ Ring of Darkness and Icon curse Icon on DL = +45
+ Standard of HG on Blackguard = +35
-1 Hydra = -175
+ Chariot = +100
- Dark Star Cloak = -25
+3 RxBs = +30
Total: 3 points lower than before..

[Marlo]

that dreadlord is what, 171 points? for what,
1+AS and 4 str 5 attacks. total massive waste in points you can have the exact same gear on a master and save yourself 60 points at the cost of 1 attack, wound 1 LD, and buy yourself 4 more blackguard = 8 more attacks at str 4 and 4 more bodies.

or you can get 3 blackguard, and give the champ a crimson death weapon (always hits on str 6)

[Dirty Mac]

It's a good start though, don't worry too much about fine-tuning your list if you're at an early stage.

I agree, Just get out there and have a few games , and see how the new edition works.
Then come back and ask some more questions.

[Red...]

that dreadlord is what, 171 points? for what,
1+AS and 4 str 5 attacks. total massive waste in points you can have the exact same gear on a master and save yourself 60 points at the cost of 1 attack, wound 1 LD, and buy yourself 4 more blackguard = 8 more attacks at str 4 and 4 more bodies.

Your summation of the character I described is startingly incorrect (please read my posts fully before criticising):

The dreadlord I described has a 1+ AS, 5xS5 attacks with armour piercing (Whip of Agony is a beastmaster scourge, which means it has the extra attack special rule and armour piercing) on a leadership 10 model, with three wounds, who gives a 6+ ward save to the rest of his unit against warmachines and halves the BS of anyone shooting against the unit (and reduces the melee attack of any model fighting against him by half, meaning they'll usually hit on 5s rather than 4s). And he costs 211 points as it goes, and he's worth every penny.

Here's why: the difference between a unit being hit on 4s at long range and 3s at long range and a unit being hit on 6s at short range and 5s at short range is massive - particularly with Black Guard, who are 1 wound, T3 5+ AS models but cost a ton per model and are unit capped at 20 models tops (and given that the OP's opponents are set to include high elves and dwarves, this seems like a very useful area to buff up on). Similarly, a 6+ ward save is helpful versus repeater bolt throwers, dwarf artillery and screaming skull catapults. In combat, a character with 5xS5 AP hatred attacks, 3 wounds, a 1+ armour save and a halving of enemy weapon skill is far more hard hitting and durable than any master build you can create.

[Marlo]

I was talking about the TS's dreadlord. not yours.

[Red...]

Oh yes, my apologies then

[Tich]

Okays, Im beefing up my dreadlord, swapping the hydra for a chariot and dropping the BG down to 13. With the dreadlord I dont think I'll be taking the Iron curse Icon due to the fact that none of the people I'm playing against even have a war machine. For my Sorc I think I'll take Shadow, mindrazor on my spear block just seems nasty to me.