While I'm figuring out what the heck I'm going to do with my Dark Elves, I really should decide on how I'm going to run my Empire.
I don't really want to run pure (or even primarily) gun line if I can help it. I think it's very boring, and such an army doesn't take a whole lot of skill to play. What's the point if it's neither fun or challenging? Unfortunately, Empire DO need the use of some of their artillery. It's a major part of their army's capability and flavor. So I'll have to include some.
Here's the list I'm thinking about (for 2500 pts).
Wizard Lord (lvl 4) w/ Rod of Power, Holy Relic (Lore of Life)
Captain w/ Pegasus, Lance, Full Plate Armor, Shield, Pistol, Dragon Helm
Captain (BSB) w/ Armour of Meteoric Iron, Wyrmslayer Sword
Battle Wizard (lvl 2) w/ Dispel Scroll (Lore of Shadow)
32 Halberdiers w/ Standard Bearer, Musician
-15 Swordsmen
33 Spearmen w/ Standard Bearer, Musician
- 15 Swordsmen
12 Knightly Order w/ Great Weapons, Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame
30 Greatswords w/ Standard Bearer, Musician
- 15 Swordsmen
Great Cannon
Great Cannon
Mortar
Mortar
Helstorm Rocket Battery
Helstorm Rocket Battery
This army competes competently in every phase of the game. For shooting, I'm still running 6 war machines, and am likely to get a lot of firepower out there. For combat, I have 3 good blocks with support, plus the Knights who may add some power to whatever fight they join. During the magic phase, I have two wizards who hopefully will support my army.
The Captain on Pegasus' primary goal will be killing war machines. Secondary task will be going after mages.
I have a few concerns with this list, primarily the low Leadership (8), but I'm hoping I can by. We'll have to see. A few games trying the list in the new edition will give me some insight on how this army should change.
Let me know what you think!
Who ends up being your general in this list? I'm not sure of the leadership characteristics of Capatains and Wizards. Does it end up being your Wizard Lord?
ReplyDeleteI assume your blocks will be fielded 6 deep? Have you compared the stats to something like 4 deep blocks of saurus warriors or chaos warriors? How long do you maintain steadfast against smaller blocks of more elite troops on average?
I like that you're going with a block of knights. Empire knights are one of the heavy cav units I think will still do really well in the new edition.
Are there any other ways to give your Wizard Lord miscast protection? I'm personally still not sold on Lore of Life. It can make a single unit really hard to kill but really to shut it down, all your opponent has to do is dispel Throne of Vines every turn and not charge the units you buff. You're going to have enough other units (detachments etc.) to charge instead that will be far easier to kill.
I do love Dweller's Below though. Fantastic spell.
I hate mortars now they forced me into making my Lizardmen army largely on the skirmish skink side, if your taking that many warmachines I would cough up for a couple of engineers and if your taking lore of life that will drain most of your power dice as the spells are so good I wouldnt even take the 2nd mage. also consider lore of light if you have large infantry blocks as you can make the ws = i 10 or have your knights with first strike to negate the asl from the weapons. i have lost only 2 games in 5 to empire so far 1 through my own incompentence and the other due to karl franz mashing all my big stuff single handedly, i hate him
ReplyDelete@Minute: The Wizard Lord probably becomes the general (Ld 8). The Captains are also Ld 8. I can take a general to give me Ld9, which may be a necessity after trying it out. I've been fine with my Ld 8 Empire in games thus far, however (in 7th edition). We'll see.
ReplyDelete6 deep for blocks, and although they won't be steadfast for long, I suspect that the damage done to those units on the way in will let me stick around somewhat. 6 warmachines is still a lot (though I may drop one).
Empire Knights are one of the few knight units that I agree to be worth taken. They weren't good in 7th, so having them in 8th can't make them any worse, no? ;).
I could take a Luckstone for miscast protection, but I wouldn't bother. If I miscast, the Wizard Lord is toast, regardless.
@Noveltyboy: Yeah, Mortars are pretty fantastic now! I thought about a few engineers, but I was struggling for points. I may drop a Warmachine to fit other things in though, I'm not sure.
Dropping the lvl 2 wizard isn't a bad idea, actually. One of my friends suggested taking a Warrior Priest to make the Greatswords better. That's actually pretty good advice... hmm..
I may be changing this list some, so we'll see! I'll be playing soon-ish, so I'll get some experience with them (or my Dark Elves).
Warrior Priest = goodness as his stuff is remains in play and he is immune to miscasts so you have the added annoyance too your oppo of stopping him or your nastier spells or wasting power dice to dispel it in their turn, which most people forget they can do or dont want to waste the power. if your going to drop a WM then one of the rockets as they are the less predicatable of the 3. Knights are good although charging doesnt let them strike first anymore they are still cheap for 1+ save units ( if you have shields i cant remember) and the psychological factor of having them is great anyway)
ReplyDeleteIs 2500 the norm where you are? We seem to be 1500 on 4*4 tables in the store I go to. Lots of new armies so even getting to 1500 is work for some...
ReplyDeleteI think personally my armies get a lot better at 2000 points but 2500 requires me to do more painting, which I don't have that much time and energy for after busting my ass to get 1500 ready in time for 8th Edition campaign.
No one is running Empire in our campaign oddly enough.
The standard round my way now is 2.5k to 3k, you can so this is about 3 hours and means you get to use a decent size army and with the % now its the only way you can use big nasty characters.
ReplyDelete@NoveltyBoy: Nathan suggested the same thing, about dropping a Rocket Battery for the Warrior Priest. I'm going to try to give the list a look-over this week, I expect I'll change it up some.
ReplyDeleteI love Empire Knights, but for so long they just weren't very good :(. Hopefully I'll have enough to reason to continue using them now. Time will tell.
And 3000 points must be crazy! I bet it looks great on the table though!
@Muskie: We're not really sure what the standard size will be, but it seems like every edition of a game manages to increase the points total, so we just carried that along without putting too much thought into it.
And no Empire??? What the...? What armies are you seeing in the campaign?