Elismera The Red wrote:
what are your thoughts on no magic till over 1k points?
A quick question for you first: why the Bow of Loren? The amount of shots you get with the BoL is on average 1.5 more per game than with the HoDA, but you get the effects of the HoDA all at once. This means literally deleting half a unit or so (which, at this points level, is insane), and thus also limiting retaliation early on. It's amazing to use on enemy missile units and pretty much guarantees you win the ranged battle. I've had a single practice game against my brother's High Elves and he brought a ranged list too. At first I was kind of worried about being out-shot, but after killing his Bolt Thrower with the HoDA and through use of our free forest for cover and dryad-screening, the shoot-off was easily won.
Now, on to your question: I LOOOOVE magic. I can't deny it. My "main" army (my first and biggest, really) is Tomb Kings, who are absolutely dependent on magic in this edition but are also amazing at it (with Special Characters at least). With Wood Elves though, I feel like it's not absolutely necessary. All the currently used units (GG, Dryads, Treekin, etc.) are good at what they do without magic support. They obviously get better with it, but can perform well without magic, thus it isn't really necessary at low points limits. The most dangerous thing about it is not your own lack of magic, but rather the opponent's stronger magic phase. Having +4 to dispel and a dispel scroll is always extremely useful. Even just the scroll would be nice, but I don't think it's worth investing in a Spellsinger with the Lore of Athel Loren just for magic defence when you could just get an extra unit. Perhaps even a unit of Wardancers or so to assassinate the opposing Wizard, thus fixing the problem in the first place. I'm really starting to like this idea, because people - at least in my area - don't generally protect their Wizards very well, especially when they don't have many points to work with. The assassination unit could do more damage than just the Wizard, and partake in some serious psychological warfare
.
Now, I said that units are fine at what they do without magic, but the bigger problem is that those units can't fill all the roles you need them to. Things like dealing with Monstrous Cavalry. Sure, massed focus firing on them can take them down (seriously, what can't it take down?!), but a simple Amber Spear could save the day in that case, and be much more efficient. The way I plan on dealing with that kind of thing is to just avoid it. All game long if I have to. Keep chaffing it up and redirecting it with things like Great Eagles. That's why I've also added in the Eagle Noble at 1000 points, his S6 can kind of help with Armour or a least hold it up.
I just find that the Spellweaver is too expensive, even at 1250 points, to take over more units/utility. Let's hope that changes in our new book. She definitely adds something we can use (with the Lore of Beasts of course, boo to Life!
) and also gives us more safety against enemy magic. A risk with fielding her, though, is that she is very vulnerable, so make sure you have the means to keep her out of combat.
Good luck in your league Elismera, protect the sacred forest! It'd be nice if you could report your battles as well.
Mollesvinet wrote:
For escalation leagues i like to make a little story for the characters.
I was actually planning on doing the same thing! But then, not just for the characters but for the army as a whole. Maybe have the Noble be a main character and write a story around him and his warband.
Mollesvinet wrote:
Your lists look good, but again the only units you use from the entire book are glade guard, dryads and great eagles. Of course they are some of the best ones, so i can't really blame you though. Maybe try to get some other parts of the game in there, like scouting or fast cav? However, i do agree its hard to find points for it in such small games.
Thanks, and I do get what you're saying. I'm willing to add in Wardancers or Waywatchers but I just don't really know where to find the points. Perhaps switching out a unit of GG for a unit of WW? That means I'll keep some of the shots but have a terrifying scouting threat that can easily take out Bolt Throwers and the like (I get the feeling I'll regularly be playing Dark/High Elves). They could also help in the event of enemy cavalry. Thoughts?
EDIT:
I may have come up with an alternative 500 point list that includes Way Watchers. This way I technically lose 5 shots, but Scouting WW joined by a Scouting Noble could be very troubling and they aren't bad in combat against things like War Machines, or in a joint flank charge with Dryads. It also assures that the HoDA will hit on 2's (even through soft cover, as I'll always be in short range). Additionally, units at this points level likely won't be big (no more than 15 strong) and shooting could bring them down to the point where a bunkered hero doesn't have a LoS! save anymore. The Lethal Shot on the WW could be useful in that case. Plus, it'll just be fun to have units running around the enemy's backfield
.
- Wood Elf Noble (Light Armour, Scout Kindred, Hail of Doom Arrow)
Glade Guard x13 (Musician)
Dryads x8
Waywatchers x5
Which of the two lists would fare better? (I'll try to get a practice game in with this alternative list). Would it be better to keep the Noble in the GG unit, far away from combat, and add another GG for the points gained from the Scout Kindred?