Let's see:
- If you're looking to get the EC into combat, I'd recommend a Holy Relic for his kit, or at least a White Cloak, as he is otherwise very easy to kill. This gives him enough protection to make the use of a Great Weapon a responsible choice, to allow him to dish it out a bit too.
- Detachments of 8 FC are risky if you have no screening troops; I'd consider upping them to 10.
- I'm not sure what you're up to with those 23-strong Swordsmen units. 24 would give you a filled-out 4x6 formation; 25 would make for a solid 5x5.
- 14 Greatswords with the EC makes a unit of 15 (5x3); consider adding three more to make it 18 (6x3), giving them more fighting frontage for their Great Weapons. You'll want a Musician in them as well - there's nothing as frustrating as losing a combat by 1 point when you draw on CR, and Murphy
will make you fail that Stubborn Ld9
- A Battle Standard Bearer is almost a given with Greatswords, as it makes them twice as likely to stand their ground. He doesn't need to be in the unit, you can keep him mobile behind the lines so he can even rush to the other flank if your units there need the support more. A BSB with the Armour of Meteoric Iron and Sword of Might will set you back some 125 points for a well-rounded character.
I think you'll spend around 200 points on those upgrades, which leaves about 80 to play with. You could purchase a Mortar but that might be a bit too much if you already have two cannons and a helblaster, and besides, mortars don't work all that well unless they are in pairs. Another option would be a unit of 10 or so Handgunners or Crossbowmen to sit in the rear, or if you're feeling a bit more unconventional, a small unit (around 16 for a 4x4 formation) of Free Company or Halberdiers to act as a reserve and artillery guard.
But now for the tricky bit.
I don't know which GTs you want to attend, but if it's the UK ones, you'll be in for a very tough ride with only one caddie for magic defense. You will definitely want another caddie in that case, and that means making some choices in your character suite. You should either forego the BSB or drop the Pegasus Captain, and neither is a pretty option. You'll hate yourself if you don't have the BSB re-roll with your Greatswords and Murphy decides to take a look at your dice; but on the other hand, you'll sorely miss the supreme versatility and positive tactical attitude of the Pegasus Captain. There are three options:
- Drop/don't take the BSB. Risk a fatal collapse of your battle line.
- Don't take the Pegasus Captain. Curtail your freedom of operations on the flanks and enemy rear.
- Don't bother with the second caddie. Risk getting torn to pieces by enemy magic.
I've had to make this decision in my GT army as well, and opted to drop the Pegasus Captain in favour of a stronger battle line and solid magic defense. This is a choice that may or may not work for you - in fact, it may or may not work for me (we'll find out next week!). I'd give my left arm for another character slot, but them's the rules
I suggest you try each combo before you pick one to take to the GT. I think it really comes down to personal preference and playing style, although I would put the second caddie quite high on the priority list, making it essentially a choice between the Pegasus Captain and the BSB.
As a more radical option, you could also go for a
Richtmark Battalion by dropping one of your Swordsmen units and getting a Tank in there. It may be too expensive to combine a Steam Tank with Greatswords though, but you'll have to do the math on that if you want to consider it.
As an aside: Aren't GTs 2250 points these days?
And finally: This pretty much comes down to army list rating so I'll move it to the Parade Ground for you
