[Karnax]

I recently got the IoB set, and I am starting to work my way towards 1k, so I made this list.

Heroes

Mage
lvl2
Silver wand
Lore of Life

Core
21 spearmen
FC

10 archers
FC
Banner of eternal flame

Special
10 SwordMasters of Hoeth
FC
Banner of Arcane Protection
Skeinsliver

Rare
2* Repeater Bolt Throwers

I'll have my archers in front of my BT's, my mage in between them, and my swordmasters and spearmen will be in front of the archers to defend.

I have 26pts left so I was thinking guardian Phoenix for my mage, to make him more survivable, but then I'm not sure. Should I make my force more manoeuvrable, say, take out a bolt thrower and something else and put in a chariot?

All advice apppreciated.

 

[Lord Sven Kittyclaw]

I think two bolt throwers is overkill, I would maybe try and get more spears. You only have one combat block, not really ideal. Lore of life is the best choice for this army I think. but it looks ok

 

[VeronaKid]

I would definitely recommend not losing a bolt thrower in exchange for a chariot. The Tiranoc version is always a let down, primarily because of it's low strength coupled with weak attacks from the crew/horses. The White Lion Chariot is a good unit, but not at 1000 points.

Your list actually looks pretty solid to me, although I am a bit confused by the Skeinsliver choice. Taking the Lore of Life indicates a defensive posture; don't know why you'd be so anxious to get the first turn. Maybe if you took Fire or Metal. . . dunno. What I do know is that if you lost the Skeinsliver and coupled those points with the 26 you said you had left, you could get almost another rank of Spearmen, which will do you well.

The Banner of Discipline on the Spearmen might be a better choice than the Eternal Flame on the archers. Flammable units are fairly uncommon; if you regularly play against Wood Elves or Tomb Kings, though, you might think differently. Take it from me, though; Elven Leadership of 8 is not all that great, so if you can take a banner that increases your main anvil unit to 9, then do it.

Good Luck!

 

[Karnax]

I take skeinsliver so I can prepare for the enemies turn, and there is no real reason why you would want to go second unless it was an objective mission.

Those 26 points I am spending on a guardian phoenix for my mage, just to make him more survivable. I would probably take off a bolt thrower as well, mainly because I don't have the money yet. I am getting the battalion set soon though, so with the models I will have then, I have changed my list to this:

Heroes
Mage
Lvl2
Guardian Phoenix
Silver wand
Lore of Life

Core
15 spearmen
Musician
Standard bearer
Standard of discipline

15 spearmen
Musician
Standard bearer

10 archers
Full command

Special
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth
Full command
Skeinsliver
Banner of arcane protection

Rare
Bolt thrower

Now, I can have my bolt thrower, mage and archers staying back, whilst my spearmen flank the swordmasters and protect them.

However, I have 50 pts left.

Any ideas?:biggrin:

 

[Lord Sven Kittyclaw]

That list is a LOT better. No ideas for the other 50pts.

 

[Karnax]

Cheers Sven.

I could use a great eagle, but I'm not sure whether or not I can, because I have the prince on griffon from the IoB set, but I'm not sure whether I can proxy him as an eagle, as they are monstrous beasts, but the griffon is a monster, so I'm not sure whether the bases are the same size or not.

Also, do you think I need champions on my spearmen units? I don't really see the point, as he costs more than another spearmen, and my enemy can just challenge him, and I would rather he uses his attacks against the unit I'm facing, but if I don't accept, that's 2 attacks wasted as he will get sent to the back of my unit where he can't do anything, so I'm not sure.:dunno:

 

[VeronaKid]

As a general rule of thumb, it is ALWAYS better to accept a challenge with your champion than to decline it. Your champion will have a better chance of surviving than your basic troopers, so an extra point or two lost in overkill (where you lose one model) is better than losing three or four models, which can often strip you of a rank bonus that you might get otherwise.

I'd suggest taking the 50 points you have left, losing the command models from your archers (they don't need 'em) and trying to find another 25 points somewhere (maybe the musicians from your spearmen/swordmasters?) to add that 2nd bolt thrower back. Only having a single bolt thrower is begging for trouble against anyone that can take monsters, and the volley fire mode is priceless against base infantry when there aren't any juicier targets available.

You're getting closer!

 

[Karnax]

I suppose.... All right so put champions in the spearmen units and take off the standard bearer and musician from the archers, leaving me with 45pts left. I don't really want to get rid of the hawkeye, as he has +1 BS, which could help. I will get a 2nd bolt thrower eventually, it's just that I don't have the money at the moment. Do you think I should get rid of the SM's musician, giving me 50 pts left, as I am not sure whether he will do that much good. This brings me back to my previous question; can I proxy my prince on griffon as a great eagle?

 

[VeronaKid]

If I am remembering my IoB figures correctly, the griffon is on the same size base as the rat ogres, which, in turn, would be the same sized base as a Great Eagle. So, from a proxy standpoint, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it as long as my opponent let me know that my huge lanced figure of death was, in fact, a wee pouncy Great Eagle instead during deployment.

I'm not a fan of Great Eagles anymore in HE armies. Honestly, I don't see the point. They can't take on War Machines anymore, march blocking and re-direction are gone. . .they simply don't have any real purpose anymore.

 

[Karnax]

Actually, A griffons base is bigger than a rat ogres, so I don't think I can proxy it as a great eagle.
Doesn't really matter though, as I am just going to get 3 more spearmen and 2 more archers, as I just found out that the battalion contains 20 archers and spearmen instead of 16.
This will make my list:

Heroes
Mage
Lvl2, silver wand, guardian phoenix, lore of life

Core
18 spearmen
Full command

15 spearmen
Full command
Standard of discipline

12 archers
Hawkeye

Special
10 swordmasters
Bladelord w/ skeinsliver
Standard bearer w/ Banner of Arcane protection

Rare
Repeater Bolt thrower

So, whaddya think?

 

[VeronaKid]

This is good. Really good, actually, especially for only 1000 pts. You should do well against pretty much anyone at that point level.

The one suggestion I might make is to maybe trade the Silver Wand and the Hawkeye in order to try to get the Seerstaff of Saphery. Lore of Life is phenomenal. . .when you have the right combo of spells. You're really going to need Flesh to Stone and either Dwellers or Throne of Vines (depends on your opponent), and if you get stuck with one of the less useful spells (Shield of Thorns or Regrowth, for example), you'll be hard pressed to get your mage to earn his keep. I don't have my army book with me at the moment, so I'm not 100% on the points values; you might have to lose an extra archer, as well.

It's a minor change either way. I think you have a winner.