Death to the Little Greenskin Hordes!

[Red...]

1500 points versus a Goblin Army.

I was thinking along the lines of:

Heros
1 Level 2 Sorceress
- Lore of Metal
- Dispel scroll

1 Master
- Dark Pegasus
- Heavy armour, shield, sea dragon cloak, and lance
- Ruby Ring of Ruin
- Battle Standard Bearer

Core
29 Bleakswords
- Full command

14 Witch Elves
- Full command

10 Dark Shards
- Musician

5 Dark Riders
- Shields
- Repeating crossbows
- Musician

Special
8 Cold One Knights
- Full Command
- Gleaming Pennant

1 Hydra
- Fiery breath

I've been struggling with this list. I usually play 3,000 points and realized as I was putting this together that I have become a bit complacent at that level. I'm used to being able to have a big unit of 21+ witch elves with a cauldron, or 30 executioners, or similar that I can throw into the middle of the board and watch while my opponent is faced with the dilemma of: if he charges, I kill him with my uber unit. If he stands still, I charge and kill him with my uber unit. But at 1,500 points, getting that uber unit would mean deathstarring it (which I'm not really willing to do, as it is a definite point sync risk and not that much fun for anyone) as a unit of 21 witches and cauldron would eat up a huge quotient of my points and trying to make do with a smaller "killer" unit would not work, as they would distinctly lack that killing power (21 witch elves will kill a lot of enemies, but may not kill all of them, and those attacks back against T3 and no save are going to hurt!).

So, I guess my goal here was to try to build a mixed list that had some staying power (from the warriors block with sorceress), some killing power (from the witches and the cold one knights), and some maneuverability (from the dark riders and pegasus rider), supported by some magic (from the pegasus master and the sorceress) and missile fire (from the dark shards and the dark riders), with a hydra thrown in for some combination fun. The list is also intended to allow me to play a 100% painted army. I'd be interested in any thoughts, as I know that small points games are where I traditionally struggle the most with dark elves, as I can't rely as much on my usual synergy play style.

[Lord hajjij]

I play against O&G a lot. I think this looks pretty good. A few small suggestions:

I would strongly recommend taking Dark Magic on your Sorceress and potentially even dropping the scroll for the Tome of Furion. It's such a great combo for a level 2, and you can tailor your magic around what type of army he's bringing. Black Horror, Shroud of Despair, and Bladewind in particular can be devastating against Goblins.

You absolutely need something to draw out and stomp fanatics - you can't afford to take the hits from those. I think you do have ample units for this, but if you could somehow get some Shades in this list I think that would be even better. I'd personally rather have 7 Shades over 10 Darkshards. Shades (and Flyers, and Fast Cav) are amazing at drawing out fanatics when placed at the flank/rear of the Night Goblin unit, to force the opponent to choose which direction he's going to send them. If he's not bringing many fanatics, you can use the Shades to hunt his warmachines or just screen/shoot at chaff instead.

Also on the Fanatics/Mangler subject, this is one army that I love to arm my Masters with brace of RhB. They are extremely good at picking off a lone fanatic. Good choice on the Ruby Ring as well.

I'd consider the Banner of Eternal Flame on the Witch Elves in case you run into a big block of Trolls.

I really like your thinking with the larger Bleakswords unit - that's a good move. If you have the models, I personally feel Dreadspears are slightly better against Goblins. No biggie though.


My suggestions in summary:

Sorceress, lvl 2 Dark, Tome of Furion
Master BSB, Peg, full armor, lance, brace of handbows, Ruby Ring
29 Dreadspears, FC
14 Witch Elves, FC, Flame Banner
5 Dark Riders, Mus
8 Cold One Knights, FC, Gleaming
War Hydra w/Breath
7 Shades

Hope this helped!

[T.D.]

/Sorry for the threadjack

...but lovin' the title Lord hajjij

@Red...

Think you've got the tools to deal with the little green guys. Bleakswords are clever choice and a great foil to low quality troops, as is the Hydra. Lord Hajjij's suggestion about fanatic killers is a sound one

[Praetorian1979]

the hydra is defiantly a monster to be wary of in lower point games. Another thing I've fielded with great success in low point games is a chariot. But with a hydra, you are just as well set. (multiple wound model)

[Lord hajjij]

/Sorry for the threadjack

...but lovin' the title Lord hajjij

They say that anonymous, slime covered skulls often give the best advice if you listen...