I thought I might write about how I came about choosing the army in its current form. It's still subject to change while I playtest it, but here is the thought process behind why I chose what I did.
Some general info first: This is the army I will bring to a tournament in a couple of months, and as such I'm bound by the restrictions the TO implements. Nothing too drastic, fortunately.
It's a 2400 point tournament, no special characters, a max of 2 duplicate Special Choices, and a max of 1 on duplicate Rare choices. Which is to say I can only take every Special Choice twice, and every Rare just the once. Nothing too bad, although I would like to have been able to take two Ironblasters. Oh well.
Starting with Lords, I decided on taking a Slaughtermaster over a Tyrant. While the Tyrant is a powerful fighter and is the only model that can give me Ld 9 Inspiring Presence, I feel taking a lvl 4 wizard is more important in tournaments. The reason I think this is the potential devastating effect Magic can have on the game currently. I doubt I have to explain how crippling a irresistible Purple Sun or Pit of Shades can be, but that is not what I'm talking about here. Irresistible spells suck, but there really isn't alot you can do about it. What a level 4 wizard allows you to do is get a boost on dispelling that is on par, at least, with the bonus your opponent is getting with casting. At the same time, having a level 4 wizard means you can cast your spells more reliably and you have a wider selection of spells to choose from during the battle. Combine this with the fact that a Slaughtermaster, being an Ogre, has less to worry about when it comes to miscasts as his human or elf counterpart, for instance, and a Slaughtermaster becomes an even more enticing choice as your general. Also, while not great in combat, the SM certainly is no slouch there either. And I can remedy the lower ld by putting him in a unit of Ironguts carrying the Standard of Discipline.
On to equipment: a SM is already fairly expensive and I probably will need all the points I can spare, so for now I will try and keep upgrades to a minimum. I'll upgrade him to a lvl 4, give him an Ironfist for cheap protection, and give him the Hellheart. As you might know, I love this item. It is somewhat unreliable, but if you hold on to using it until about T3-4 there is a good chance you'll be able to cancel one of your opponent's magic phases completely. Just wait until you are within 10" of at least one enemy wizard, and preferably within 15" of another. Even if you roll a 2, you'll still have caught one wizard in the Hellheart's effect radius, which is generally enough to neuter your opponent's magic phase. If you catch two or more wizards, the magic phase is as good as over.
The lore I choose for my Slaughtermaster is the Great Maw. Like I mentioned, one of the advantages of taking a level 4 wizard is being able to have a wider selection of spells to choose from during the battle. The Lore of the Great Maw has a spell for most every occassion. Need to hit harder? Cast Bullgorger. Need to stay alive and in a fight? Toothcracker, Trollguts and Spinemarrow are there to help. Braingobbler, The Maw, and Bonecrusher allow you to start doing some damage while you are still crossing the table. So being able to take four of those spells to the battlefield means my SM will have a magic tool for most every occasion! Also, the Lore attribute is a nice way of keeping your wizard in the game even longer.
On to the heroes:
With an army that has such low average leadership as the Ogres, a BSB is even more of a no-brainer choice than usual. I plan on using a small amount of units deployed on a flank for most battles, so the BSB reroll bubble should reliably cover most of my army. By giving him heavy armour and an Ironfist he gains a fair, but definitely not great, amount of protection. I think dishing out points for a 4+ ward save will make me put way too many points in characters, so I'll rely on the Bruiser's toughness and wounds to see him through. It's a gamble, but one I'm willing to take. This does give me the option of equipping him with a magic banner. I think the best choice in this instance is giving him the Banner of Eternal Flame. This way he can provide a unit flaming attacks as needed. This being an army for a tournament, I'll see my share of Hydras and HPA's, and I can then place my BSB with either Ironguts or the Leadbelchers as needed.
I really don't want to overspend on characters, but after choosing my General and my BSB I feel I need another wizard. Why? Because it offers me magical redundancy, or back up if you will. Having another wizard means I still have a dispel bonus should my SM be unable to dispel, while giving me a handy carrier for a Dispel Scroll. Furthermore, having another wizard allows me to access more magic spells, and from different Lores, to further boost my army. Lastly, a Butcher is still a fairly resilient model, especially for a wizard.
So, I've opted for a level 2 Butcher, using Heavens. I think Heavens provides excellent utility, giving me spells that will make my army better. The signature spell is also great, not only somewhat countering my army's generally low WS but also giving a unit -1 Ld, which can only help in combat with all my models causing fear.
So, those are my characters covered. Next time I will talk about the rest of my choices.
Some general info first: This is the army I will bring to a tournament in a couple of months, and as such I'm bound by the restrictions the TO implements. Nothing too drastic, fortunately.
It's a 2400 point tournament, no special characters, a max of 2 duplicate Special Choices, and a max of 1 on duplicate Rare choices. Which is to say I can only take every Special Choice twice, and every Rare just the once. Nothing too bad, although I would like to have been able to take two Ironblasters. Oh well.
Starting with Lords, I decided on taking a Slaughtermaster over a Tyrant. While the Tyrant is a powerful fighter and is the only model that can give me Ld 9 Inspiring Presence, I feel taking a lvl 4 wizard is more important in tournaments. The reason I think this is the potential devastating effect Magic can have on the game currently. I doubt I have to explain how crippling a irresistible Purple Sun or Pit of Shades can be, but that is not what I'm talking about here. Irresistible spells suck, but there really isn't alot you can do about it. What a level 4 wizard allows you to do is get a boost on dispelling that is on par, at least, with the bonus your opponent is getting with casting. At the same time, having a level 4 wizard means you can cast your spells more reliably and you have a wider selection of spells to choose from during the battle. Combine this with the fact that a Slaughtermaster, being an Ogre, has less to worry about when it comes to miscasts as his human or elf counterpart, for instance, and a Slaughtermaster becomes an even more enticing choice as your general. Also, while not great in combat, the SM certainly is no slouch there either. And I can remedy the lower ld by putting him in a unit of Ironguts carrying the Standard of Discipline.
On to equipment: a SM is already fairly expensive and I probably will need all the points I can spare, so for now I will try and keep upgrades to a minimum. I'll upgrade him to a lvl 4, give him an Ironfist for cheap protection, and give him the Hellheart. As you might know, I love this item. It is somewhat unreliable, but if you hold on to using it until about T3-4 there is a good chance you'll be able to cancel one of your opponent's magic phases completely. Just wait until you are within 10" of at least one enemy wizard, and preferably within 15" of another. Even if you roll a 2, you'll still have caught one wizard in the Hellheart's effect radius, which is generally enough to neuter your opponent's magic phase. If you catch two or more wizards, the magic phase is as good as over.
The lore I choose for my Slaughtermaster is the Great Maw. Like I mentioned, one of the advantages of taking a level 4 wizard is being able to have a wider selection of spells to choose from during the battle. The Lore of the Great Maw has a spell for most every occassion. Need to hit harder? Cast Bullgorger. Need to stay alive and in a fight? Toothcracker, Trollguts and Spinemarrow are there to help. Braingobbler, The Maw, and Bonecrusher allow you to start doing some damage while you are still crossing the table. So being able to take four of those spells to the battlefield means my SM will have a magic tool for most every occasion! Also, the Lore attribute is a nice way of keeping your wizard in the game even longer.
On to the heroes:
With an army that has such low average leadership as the Ogres, a BSB is even more of a no-brainer choice than usual. I plan on using a small amount of units deployed on a flank for most battles, so the BSB reroll bubble should reliably cover most of my army. By giving him heavy armour and an Ironfist he gains a fair, but definitely not great, amount of protection. I think dishing out points for a 4+ ward save will make me put way too many points in characters, so I'll rely on the Bruiser's toughness and wounds to see him through. It's a gamble, but one I'm willing to take. This does give me the option of equipping him with a magic banner. I think the best choice in this instance is giving him the Banner of Eternal Flame. This way he can provide a unit flaming attacks as needed. This being an army for a tournament, I'll see my share of Hydras and HPA's, and I can then place my BSB with either Ironguts or the Leadbelchers as needed.
I really don't want to overspend on characters, but after choosing my General and my BSB I feel I need another wizard. Why? Because it offers me magical redundancy, or back up if you will. Having another wizard means I still have a dispel bonus should my SM be unable to dispel, while giving me a handy carrier for a Dispel Scroll. Furthermore, having another wizard allows me to access more magic spells, and from different Lores, to further boost my army. Lastly, a Butcher is still a fairly resilient model, especially for a wizard.
So, I've opted for a level 2 Butcher, using Heavens. I think Heavens provides excellent utility, giving me spells that will make my army better. The signature spell is also great, not only somewhat countering my army's generally low WS but also giving a unit -1 Ld, which can only help in combat with all my models causing fear.
So, those are my characters covered. Next time I will talk about the rest of my choices.
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