I have decided to change my dark elf army again. This will be the 3rd incarnation with the current book. V1 was the monster army, no magic, little shooting but 4 large terror causers. Dragon, manticore, 2 Hydras. I also used the hydra models to convert 2 chariots so i actually had 4 hydras on the table!
V2 is the army i am currently using
2300 points.
Supreme Sorceress, Pegasus, Focus Familiar, Immune to Psyc, 2 Scrolls, lv4
Sorceress, tome of furion, lifetaker, dark steed, lv2
Sorceress, Sacraficial Dagger, Scroll, lv2
Master, BSB, Heavy Armour, Lance, Sea Dragon Cloak, Enchanted Shield, Pendant of Khaleth, Dark Steed
Asassin, Rending Stars, Manbane, xhw
10 Rxbmen, shields
10 Rxbmen, shields
5 Harpies
5 Harpies
5 Dark Riders, rxbs, musician
20 Warriors, Shields, Standard, Musician
5 Shades, xhw
5 Shades, xhw
Hydra
2 Bolt Throwers
I will be using this at a few more events while i playtest my V3 list with a view to take it to The Merseyside Meltdown at the end of February, or failing that the Bristol Brawl in march.
So whats in the list?
At the moment it’s all theory-hammer. The initial idea i had was to build a large horde of 150 spearmen backed up by 4 combat characters including a BSB with the Banner of Nagarythe. This essenatlly means that every ranked unit within 12″ starts on+6CR. I played a game last night against the Deamons of Chaos used by Micheal Biggs. The result was a massacre to the deamons but i learned alot. I started writing a revised list but changed my mind on the horde and have decided to base the list around the Cauldron of Blood and Banner of Nagarythe.
The Banner of Nagarythe gives +1 combat res to all friendly units within12″. This can be brutal when combining charges from multiple units and the Cauldron also giving then an extra punch to get a few more wounds or a ward save to soak up some damage. Because they are so many points it is important that i keep them safe, with this in mind the BSB is riding a Coldone and the Death Hag is going to lead the army. If they are both alive a the end of the game its a 5th of my army.
Using these 2 elements of the list i should be able to build an army that is infantry based but can be very hard in CC. Backing it up with a good amount of shooting should force my opponents to engage me.
The rest of my characters are 2 mounted Masters, 1 with the Pendant and the other with regen. These 2 guys can sit in wait and launch themselves out of my immune to psyc units to charge anything coming to threaten my firebase. When they are combined with the Banner of Nag. they can even hold a charge from a fear causing enemy that out numbers them. +1 combat res will cancel out the outnumbering in the same way as my BSB in my V2 list did. 2+ armour and either Regen of the pendant should mean they don’t take a wound. They are also very useful for rushing a gunline and taking out the opponents shooting.
My shooting phase is deceptively effective. 2x 10 Repeater crossbowmen, 5 Dark riders, 2 x 5 Shades and 2 bolt throwers. Its not an incredible amount of firepower but when concentrated on a single target it will leave big holes in it.
I have gone with 3 CC units, 14 Black Guard, 14 witch elves and 23 Warriors. All have full Command. The Black Guard have the Standard of Hag Greif and Ring of Hotek. The warriors have the warbanner. The General thinking is that all 3 units are pretty much unmovable. Witches are stubborn if near the Cauldron, Black Guard are always stubborn and the warriors with BSB are unbreakable.
Add in 2 units of Harpies and it comes in nicely at 2250 on the nose.
The only reservations i have is the armies ability to chase the game if my opponent decides to try and hide. Every army i build is alwaydesigned with that in mind, IMO warhammer is all about being incharge of the game and dictating what is happening instead of reacting to what your opponent is forcing on you. I’m not entirely sure this army can do that. The lack of magic doesn’t really bother me, the ring of hotek is as good as a scroll caddy, although i have thought about making the regen Master a Dreadlord and giving him the Seal of Ghrond. I’m not sure where i’d find the points though.
Thats enough ramblings from me for now. I have 2 games with this army lined up next week i’ll be reporting on them here so subscribe to the feed for the updates
Ben.
