Saturday, April 16, 2011

'Ard Boyz is today

...meh


Well folks, as you read this, I'm likely playing in the Fantasy 'Ard Boyz.  My own LGS is only likely to have like 6 or 7 gamers at most, so I figure I have an alright chance at getting into the next round, which actually has some great prize support.  I'm not sure how good the players in my area are, since none of them ever play at my LGS.  They're probably alright, and people who are willing to spend extra money will naturally have better lists than mine, by nature of buying (usually unnecessary) extra rare/special choices (i.e. 3 Steam Tanks, 6 chariots, etc.)

As it is,
my army is basically everything I own (well, not quite everything- I left the assassins at home).  I'm even borrowing one of my friend's (ugly ugly) old Hydra.  So, here's my list, rationale at the bottom- as if anything could really excuse a list this terrible haha

So, here's my list (Dark Elves, for those of you who haven't been following along):

Supreme Sorceress
-Lifetaker (S4 bow 3x shot, always hits on 2+)
-Sacrificial Dagger (kills guys for extra power dice)
-Talisman of Protection (4+ ward save)
-Lore of Shadow

Dreadlord
-Crimson Death (always hits on S6)
-Armor of Darkness (1+ save)
-Pendent of Khaleth (Reverse Ward Save)
-Ironcurse Icon (unit has 6+ ward vs. Warmachines)
-General

Death Hag
-Cauldron of Blood
-BSB

30x Warriors
-Fullish command (no lordling)
-Shields
-Banner of Flaming Awesomeness (flaming attacks)

10x Crossbowmen
10x Crossbowmen
10x Crossbowmen
5x Dark Riders w/ crossbows w/ Musician
5x Dark Riders w/ crossbows w/ Musician
5x Dark Riders w/ crossbows (no Musician)

20x Black Guard
-Standard/Musician
-Banner of Murder (Armor Piercing)

Cold One Chariot
Cold One Chariot
Cold One Chariot
Cold One Chariot

War Hydra
War Hydra
War Hydra

So.... not a whole lot extra going on in this list vs. my 2200 list.  It has these things different:
  • 15 Dark Riders
  • Dread Lord to lead either warriors or Black Guard (nabbed Pendant of Khaleth from the Sorceress)
  • Cauldron of Blood (changed this to my BSB)
  • Extra Hydra
  • Guess that's it, this line is to make the changes look bigger
Not much added in there for 800 points.

Let's do a quick Q&A session:

Q:  Why not more chariots, since I could have taken 8 (including masters)?
A:  I didn't have the money to buy them, not the inclination to build/paint models I will only ever use in 'Ard Boyz.

Q:  Why not 4 hydras, since 4 is way better than 3 in this situation?
A:  I didn't have the money to buy them, not the inclination to build/paint models I will only ever use in 'Ard Boyz.

Q:  Why put a (pretty expensive) character in one of the somewhat useless blocks of infantry of your army?  You know he's not going to do much, don't you?  At least, not 200 points of damage.  Dumbass...
A:  Yes, I know.  I had the model.  That's why.  If I could fit the Sorceress in with the Dragon, I would have.

Q:  Why on earth would you ever want a dragon?
A:  Because dragons, while terrible choices, are fucking epic.

Q:  Why is your Death Hag your BSB instead of a Master on a chariot?
A:  Finally, a real question.  Well honestly, because the Chariots only need the stupidity reroll as they're walking up.  Since they only move up 7" at a time, the cauldron can (for the most part) keep up since it can move 5".  Once they're finally in combat, who cares?

Also, I've noted that my master BSB isn't 100 points better in combat than my other chariots.  It's never a question of winning combat with the chariots- it's always how many models can I kill- so the BSB is of negligible value. Anyways, that extra 100+ points you pay for a master on a chariot is for redundancy- you normally need more than 3 chariots in a chariot spam list to make it work.  In this list, the 100 point 'tax' you pay isn't needed, so I took it off.  Much much more efficient, if you ask me.  I mean look, I get 2 extra squads of Dark Riders out of the deal :)

So, that's my list.  The general plan for the tournament is to do well until game 3, then get screwed by multiple rolls of a '2' on the table, and lose.  Seriously, the only way I can see winning mission 3 is by getting lucky and not rolling a 2.  Cauldron of Blood? Dead on a 4+.  Hydras?  5+  Chariots? 4+  Dark Riders?  4+

Lol, I didn't even try to go MSU with this build. (HA, on second glance, it looks pretty MSU to me.  I didn't try to design it that way though, it just happened, hahaha)

Alright, I'm outta here.  For the record, if I had to pay to actually get in, I probably wouldn't go.  The missions are such that my games may or may not be competitive at all, with no fault going to my opponents.  It's free though, and I get more experience in 8th edition!  Semi-finals have amazing prize support if you can win.  Plus, you guys get a battle report out of it :)

Peace out, wish me... well, not luck.  Well, maybe luck, in that my games are interesting, so the battle reports are interesting.  If I have to be bored and annoyed in my games, you guys get to be bored and annoyed later, by reading a bland report.  heh

3 comments:

Ulven said...

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing the utter cheese that people will bring :)

ServvsUmbrarum said...

I've been thinking about starting up a fantasy army. I thought the undead looked neat. How are they in the ways of competitiveness?

Xaereth said...

Servvs:

Hm, which undead are we talking about? The Vampcounts are pretty terrible now, since you have to start the game with 25% core, and all of their core is designed for 7th edition, where you can summon them for free. As it is, you pay waaaaay too high a price for what the core can do now.

The Tomb Kings weren't very good, but are coming out with a new book. It seems to me that they'll be pretty competitive, though of course we'll have to wait a few months for playtests to come out and such. Still, if you're looking at undead, the new Tomb Kings are likely what you'll want.