Hola amigos. Now we are continuing on with the ongoing saga of my Dark Elf Army evolution. So when we last left I had played a bunch of games with my battleforce-y Dark Elf list trying to figure out what was strong what was weak. Just in time for the ‘Ard Boyz prelims I finished painting versions 1.1. I got in a couple test games with it. Got tabled in one of them and tabled the other guy in the other. So I didn’t think this was a perfect formula yet.
Dark Elves 1.1 3000pt.
Dreadlord 240
-PoK
-Crimson Death
-Armor of Darkness
-PoK
-Other Trickster Shard
Supreme Sorceress 315
-Lvl 4
-Sacrificial Dagger
-Seal of Ghrond
Sorceress 150
-Lvl 2
-Tome of Furion
Death Hag 200
-Cauldron of Blood
[I dumped the Assassin as he was irrelevant. I dropped the Dispell Scroll from the Sorceress as a waste of point. I also changed the Darkstar Cloak to a Sacrificial Dagger. The Dagger is the same points and is superior to the Cloak in every way. The ability to get an extra dice per cast AFTER you roll the dice is absolutely nuts. Combined with Power of Darkness and the Lore of Death it allows for absolutely broken magic phases even if I don’t roll many dice.
I also made the Dreadlord’s loadout much more optimal for his job as a character killer.]
16x Repeater Crossbowmen 181
-Shield
-Musician
16x Repeater Crossbowmen 181
-Shield
-Musician
16x Repeater Crossbowmen 181
-Shield
-Musician
40x Warriors 314
-Shield
-Standard
-Musician
-Warbanner
[I beefed the Spear Warriors up to a 40 strong horde. More fuel for the Sac Dagger and lot of attacks with Hatred so they aren’t wimps in combat either.]
20x Black Guard 345
-Champ
-Musician
-Standard
-Banner of Murder
-Ring of Hotek
20x Black Guard 340
-Champ
-Musician
-Standard
-Razor Standard
[Added a second unit of Black Guard since the first one was one of the few really bright spots during playtesting. The Shades were, like I said in Part One, grossly inconsistent and while I think they have a place in friendly games and they can be really strong against armies like Warriors of Chaos or Brettonians, they aren’t good enough in an All Comers list.]
War Hydra 175
War Hydra 175
2x Reaper Bolt Thrower 200
[Kept the rare choices the same. The Hydras are an attention magnet and they let the BG get to combat intact so they can’t go or else my BG will get shot to pieces. I found that the army needs the 4 serious CC threats to apply pressure.]
Total: 2997
So the army is a ton better than the original draft. It is overall much better in close combat, with better magic and just as good shooting as before. So I played in ‘Ard Boyz and did pretty well. 2 Massacres and a minor loss, but the minor loss had +3 bonus objectives so it was essentially a Draw. Good enough to get me to the Semi’s. So what did I do right and what did I get wrong?
1. The Dreadlord load out is much more efficient. I think the PoK is overkill and that there are better defensive options out there. Plus the PoK would be much more useful on the Supreme Sorceress.
2. I played Lore of Darkness on the Level 4 and Metal on the Level 2. The lore of meta was useful more for the buffs than any of the de-buffs or direct damage. My Lore of Darkness plan was for the Level 4 to cast all 4 of her spells each turn since they are really easy to cast and I’d have a ton of dice. That plan is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, those spells are relatively benign compared to Dwellers Below or Purple Sun. So even when they all cast successfully, not much happened that anyone cared about. I have come to the conclusion that the Level 4 just needs to go with the Lore of Death and be done with it. The extra dice, direct damage, and Purple Sun are just too good to pass up.
3. The troops were fine. My RBX only got into close combat once in all 3 games and the same for the spear warriors. The spear warriors, or 6 point power dice as I like to call them, did their job of bunkering the Level 4, and providing an absurd amount of power dice. If I have any criticism for the troops it is that I had too many units. It was hard to find table space to deploy all my units where the shooty elements would have clear line of site.
4. The Black Guard units were great again. They did all the heavy lifting, killing everything they were pitted against. They suffered against shooting and magic as you’d expect, but that’s a given when your opponents give them the respect they deserve.
5. The Cauldron. It always performed. The ward saves were nice when needed and the extra attacks were also very useful. But was it 200 points useful? Not really. It reminds me of a Farseer in 40k. Yes the buffs are good, but wouldn’t more firepower be better? In the case of the Cauldron, the answer is yes. 200 points of more Black Guard would have been more bodies than the ward save kept alive, and they would have killed more than the extra attacks contributed to. I’m having trouble thinking of a normal list where a Cauldron is better than another unit. What I’ve considered is that the better your list is, the less it should need the buffs to be effective.
6. The rares continue to trouble me. Part of me wants to ditch the Hydras and go with 6 or 7 Reapers. Another part of me wants to run 3 Hydras. But at this point I need the shooting and I need the regenerating fire magnets. I would love some advice on what to do in this slot.
That’s all for now. I’m working on version 1.2 to take to the Semis based on these observations. I’m definitely leaning towards 3 units of Black Guard and no Cauldron. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?
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