Matt’s Dark Elf list evolution
Cancon prep.
Looking at trying to figure out my Dark elf army. Trying not to be too cheesy but would like to be quite strong.
Let’s assume that the magical model painting elves will paint my army for me (thanks Kat!).
My list is currently:
Characters
Lv 4 Shadow Soreceress, sacrificial dagger
L2 Fire Sorceress, dispel scroll
Master BSB on cold one, 1+ armour save, hydra banner (all models, including mounts, +1 attack in first round of combat)
Cauldron of Blood (never leave the temple without one!)
Core
17 warriors, full command, standard of discipline (lv 4 goes here)
19 repeater crossbows, shields, champ and muso (lvl 2 probably goes here)
21 Corsairs, extra hw, banner, muso, frenzy banner
5 harpies
5 harpies
Special
10 Cold one knights, full command, banner of murder (armour piercing)
20 Black Guard (one of the most under costed units of all time), standard, muso, flaming banner
10 Witch elves
6 shades, extra hw
2398
Had a game against Tucky’s ogres the other day. Very close all the way through. Learnt that mindrazored witch elves don’t even slow an ogre bus down. Lv 4 died really easy. I’m pretty sure I want a 4++ save on her (esp given death magic and orc ‘eadbuts).
The knights are probably sub optimal but I wanted a unit that made games quicker (both to win and to lose), and that worked without magic support. Fully buffed that unit is a bit silly (+1 attack from cauldron + charge = 18 S4 attacks (cold ones) + 25 WS5, S6, armour piercing, hatred attacks, striking at I6 – without magic).
All thoughts are very welcome.
Keep cool kids!
January 3rd, 2013 at 9:45 am
So my current thoughts are to go back to splitting the xbows for the extra deployment.
That means you may be able to drop a unit of harpies for the ward save….
Otherwise i think you need to drop back to a level 1 to get the ward, and I’d definitely split the xbows if you did that.
Does pendant of kaeleth save you from death magic??
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:00 am
Hmmm. Cheers for the input.
Splitting the crossbows does yield about 19 spare points (from dropping the shileds). It also means that those units will die to anything that makes combat. A unit of 19 with shields can actually be a bit tougher to shift. Yes, both are equally morning mist to the alpha unit charge (ogre bus, savage orcs, bloodletters, white lions etc.) but may be able to withstand the chaff charges. – Whoops, core is at 601 pts. Scratch the point bonus. I’ll still think about splitting them. Extra deployment is good.
Pendant of Kaeleth doesn’t protect against anything without a strength value – eg. death magic, metal magic 😡 Also not taking the pendant is seen as a concession but given the consistency of comping dark elves, I don’t think any results are possible except a ‘1’ or a ‘resub’ so that probably doesn’t matter.
A level 1 still feels like a very expensive scroll. Lv 2 feels like options. I could be persuaded to drop her entirely though. No dispel scroll does frighten me just a bit.
I could just drop a unit of harpies for the ward. Not a bad idea. It was a nice luxury having that unit to throw away. It is a pricy insurance policy though…
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:10 am
Its very strong, but perhaps not a resub this time (stress perhpas). No pendant, egg, hydra or double shades will go a long way to making it look less menacing. The cold ones are a nice change.
Still, you have the usual combo of a L4 Shadow mage with dagger, cauldron, and multiple units with high numbers of attacks (corsairs, black guard, witch elves). That alone may prompt a resub. It may just be my opinion Matty, but it seems you keep trying to make only minor variations on a list which has a high likelihood of getting a resub every time. And your minor variations are quite strong anyway.
However, if you can get away with it – definitely take it. After all, thats my strategy with my own potenital empire list which i reckon is pretty strong 🙂