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Author Topic: Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).  (Read 1638 times)

Offline Kobe001

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Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).
« on: November 23, 2015, 09:57:50 AM »
Hello guys :)

I am an Ogre Kingdoms player who's looking at the Empire for my next project. Personally I feel like the 'flavour' aspect of warhammer is very important to me and as such I like my lists to have a certain theme to them, really making the army feel coherent. On the other side of things, I don't want this to render my army fit for casual play only. In other words: I'd like the gimmick to at least partially work on the tabletop as well.

My ogre list for example tries to capture this feeling for me by going all-out on shooting in a 1000pts game, featuring 8-10 leadbelchers, a firebelly and an ironblaster accompannied by nothing but gnoblar trappers as core.

For my next project I'm looking for something else to go all-out upon and I was thinking of a 1000pts empire cavalry force. My list however needs a bit of tailoring still, and perhaps some advice from the more seasoned empire players out there :)

I was thinking about something like this:

Core:

10x Inner Circle Knights 250pts

Special:

3x Demigryph Knights 174pts

3x Demigryph Knights 174pts

Rare:

1x Steam Tank 250pts

Hero/Lord:

????



The hero/lord section is really giving me trouble here. There's about 152pts left and I was thinking about a mounted life or beasts wizard, but the model for a mounted wizard doesn't even exist. I could perhaps attempt to convert the high elf mage model.. but I'm still entirely unsure what to do here.

Perhaps something like a mounted warrior priest would be better? How do you guys feel about this list in general? Perhaps it would be considered too cheesy? Or is it just a paper tiger even?

The fact that the models are so few and that they're all tons of fun to paint is a factor for me as well. Sadly I'm not particularly fond of the empire state troops models :/

My apologies for the wall of text, and thanks in advance! :laugh:






Offline CarolineWellwater

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Re: Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2015, 09:51:58 PM »
(( Morning Kobe001,

Okay, just some quick thoughts about your army.  Sorry if some of these seem obvious.

1) Are you including any command models in your units?  In smaller-point armies, you can get away with not including command; however, I would suggest at least musicians in all your units.  The ability to try for a Swift Reform is huge.

1-A) Standards can go either way.  In the Knights, the standard opens up the option of having a magic banner.  Yet, in the Demigryphs, with their units being smaller in size, if you fail a Break test, you auto-lose the banner.

1-A-1) Still, to me, I like starting with at least +1 to CR, due to the banner.

2) At small points games, a Steam Tank is going to win you zero friends.  And, it will be a very difficult unit for enemy units to deal with, as the high Toughness, 1+ Armor Save, and multi-wounds make it a beast.

2-A) Still, if you want to free up some points, you could swap out the Steam Tank.  You do lose offensive potential in doing so, but it does open up points for characters, a second unit of knights, pistoliers, or other, fast-moving units.

2-B) You could also swap the Tank for the Hurricanum.  It has the mobility to keep up with your cavalry, offers a spot of magical offensive power, and can help your units from being "Knights of the Rubber Lance"… and it also frees up some points to use elsewhere.

3) Are your Demigryph knights Lance-and-Shield or Halberd?  I prefer Lance-and-Shield, as I feel the 1+ Armor Save is boss.  And, most of the damage comes from the Demigryph anyway, so the rider should maximize his armor save.

3-A) Still, if you go Halberds, you get a swath of Strength 5 attacks, 1+ Armor Save as you move into melee, and a 2+ Armor Save in melee.

4) For characters, I would suggest a mounted warrior priest and a battle standard bearer.

4-A) You will be magic weak defensively, with only the Priest, as you'll be limited to one attempt to dispell each turn from the Army dispel, and you'll have no access to a dispell scroll.

4-B) But, you'll be able to power-up the Warrior Priests prayers, as most of them can be successfully cast on 1d6.  With most magic phases giving you seven power dice, you can 2d6 Prayers.

4-B-1) Keep in mind that Flaming weapons cause Fear to some troop types, and the protection aura from the Prayer is melee only.

4-C) I also find Priests are very good at keeping your knights from having a bad charge, due to their Hate ability.

5) The BSB opens up your Empire Leadership fantastically, and makes you highly resilient to Fear, Panic, Terror, and Break Tests.  All this for fairly cheap.

5-A) And, if you're feeling gutsy, you can equip your BSB with a magic banner, and have him "jump" from unit to unit, using the magic banner where it would best augment your battle line.

6) If you do decide to use a mounted wizard, you might be able to go thin, and get a level 1 wizard.  Our mages are fairly cheap, and at low point games we might be able to have a wizard over other armies not.

6-A) Alternate to that, since our mages are fairly cheap, you might be able to get a rare Empire-Magic edge by upgrading to a level 2 wizard… but that uses up most of your current available points.

6-B) As for Lores… I'm more fond of Beasts than Life.  To me, Life just doesn't offer enough on its own, unless you get Throne of Leafy Green Stuff.  And, in order to really use Throne of Weeds, you need to be Level 4… where you get a good chance to get the Throne of Vines and Flowers, as well as some spells to use it with.

6-C) Beasts, in contrast, offers a solid signature spell, is made easier to cast on your units (so your lower-level wizard will have a better chance of success), as they're all animal-types, and has a good mix of augment, damage, and hex spells.

6-C-1) Plus, it has "Curse of Anheir", which is one of my favorite hexes in the game.

Anyway, just some thoughts. ))

Offline Jobume

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Re: Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2015, 10:53:12 PM »
It definitely looks like a hard list.  Maybe it has a weakness in its low leadership and no BSB. I would suggest trying out a four man unit of demis to make space for a bsb and possibly a mounted wizard. If you go with a naked bsb on horse you can fit a mounted lvl3 wizard in there (who then gets to be your general). In that case, I would suggest light. I find light magic to be a strong and versatile school that works well on any wizard level. I find the all-cav theme to be very entertaining. In bigger points games, I've had more success with gunline, light-council-type-lists, but the all-cav is so much more fun to play.

Good luck,

Job

Offline Kobe001

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Re: Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2015, 07:04:47 PM »
Woah thanks for the replies! :-)

I really enjoyed reading the pro's and cons of everything you listed and the elaborate feedback on everything has been most helpful. My apologies for not properly listing the unit options in my original list xd

I had not considered the Hurricanum in this list and I really like the idea. Since the model is so gorgeous I will buy one and make a more friendly variant of my list for those games against non-hardass opponents. As it stands however, my friends appear to be really into huge monsters (stegadons and war hydras in particular) and I think that justifies me bringing in a steamtank.

I've decided to go with this for the 'competitive' list:

HEROES
Warrior Priest : Dawnstone / Dragon Helm / Heavy Armor / Shield / Barded Horse
Rerollable 1+ (2++ against Metal) and my only magic resistance

CORE
10 IC Knights : Full Command / Lances
My main unit where the Priest will go to reroll Hit and Wound

SPECIAL
3 Demigryph Knights : Lances

3 Demigryph Knights : Lances

RARE
Steam Tank

TOTAL = 998

I know I don't have a bsb, which some people would really die without, but I believe I might be fine at 1k pts. My ogre list doesn't feature one either and they've got even lower leadership.

I'm certain a hurricanum and a mounted lvl 3 wizard would make the list more fun though so I'll definitely pick them up. Perhaps it would be more fun for everyone if our lists were a little less competitive and maybe my friends could adjust their lists accordingly by changing out an ancient steg for a troglodon or something ;p I know he likes the model xd

Anyways I bought the knights today and ordered the first box of demigryphs so I'm gonna start painting :)

Thanks a lot guys! :-)


Offline Fidelis von Sigmaringen

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Re: Cavalry List 1000pts 8th ediiton (help needed).
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2015, 08:39:14 PM »
- The 2++ from the Dragonhelm does not provide Magic Resistance, but a general ward save against Flaming Attacks. That means any kind of FA, not just Metal, and not just from spells.
- Given that you have no Wizards, it is important that you do not forget that the WP can channel magic dice.
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