High Elf

With all this talk about Beastmen i don't want to forget to talk about the High elves. Coming back to Warhammer the High Elves were my first choice. I love using infantry so i figured they would be fun with the always strike first. In 7th, my army was made up of units of sword masters. Get one unit into combat and it could be over. Now with everyone getting a chance to swing back I decided to go with units that have a better chance of getting into combat at full strength or staying a live in combat.

I was a fan of White Lions in 7th and i became an even bigger fan in 8th. It seems like there is a lot more shooting in 8th so i figure it never hurts to have the extra armor against it. Strength 6 is just crazy. Wounding on 2's is great. Almost every combat i have gotten my group of 25(5x5) in to they kill other infantry in groups of 9-10. While that my seem high, the 11 attacks hit on almost 10 every time with the re-rolls. The wounding on a 2+ almost all the time is great. They hit just as hard as Cav but for half the cost. You may have lost that great armor save in close combat but you get extra wounds and ranks in their place.

The Phoenix Guard is starting to grow on me for my other Elite Infantry Unit in the High Elf army. At first I was not thrilled with their power until I combined them with the Beast Magic spell Wyssan's Wildform. With their 4+ ward, this gives them even greater staying power and some killing power.

I used to love running Sowordmasters in small groups, but for me that is a thing of the past. With units getting attacks backs, you can't go into combat at half strength and expect to win. They get chewed up so easily to shooting, just like in 7th. Now the problem is they get crushed in Close Combat with other infantry.

I am all but against using Cav with the High Elves. I am not saying their's is bad. They are great. I have just found White Lion Chariots to be very powerful. In my last game vs K they knocked out one of his main infantry blocks. I took on his 450 Point Swordman unit and barely, thanks to a bad leadership test, broke them. I love the fact that they are almost "throw-away" units. If they die they die. If someone doesn't worry with them they can do good damage.

Things have change in some interesting was in 8th. I have to say Swordmasters are the worse of the 3 special infantries. If anyone out there has a good use for Swordmasters i would love to hear it!!

We have MOVED!!!!

At last an entire area dedicated to our "lil army men" as the wifey calls them. We were playing in the crowded enclosed breezeway of my humble abode and moved to a larger space. The Man Cave, The Dungeon, The Pit, Storage Area are all names of basements but now it is the new home of our beloved hobby. Lots of space, Open gaming area to a future home built gaming table, with room to grow our hobby it is the perfect place for us to escape the realities of life. As we transfered all of our boxes we started realizing the vast amount of armies we have collected in a short period of time. Sadly, we became apparent to the fact of not a single army is fully finished to the last model. Our new goal is to fully complete an army each by Christmas. Or hopefully Santa Ebay will help us with this goal by then. HE and Empire are the closest with Lizardmen and Bretonnia nipping at their heels. Pics are to be introduced very soon to show our new setup for our budget gaming.

Empire List Revised

After a few test games under the belt, I have adjusted my empire army. The changes are small and also use other models already purchased and assembled. Comments, Advice, and Critics are welcomed. Having all phases of the game covered, I am confident to use the war of attrition to win. Utilizing the Warrior Priest's remain in play spells (4+ Ward Save) on the first turn is the largest improvement to remember. Oh and a quick shout out: CONGRATS to Rhellion on his recent tourney victory! Onto the list:

Lords:

General of the Empire - 345
Full Plate, Shield
Sword of Sigi
Potion of Foolhardiness
Griffon

Wizard Lord lvl 4 - Shadow - 225
warhorse

Hero:

Captain of the Empire -100
BSB and Armor of Meterioc Iron

Warrior Priest - 96
Heavy Armor, Shield

Warrior Priest - 96
Heavy Armor, Shield

Core:

38 Swordsmen - 253
Full Cmd with BSB and WP

39 Halberdiers - 215
Full Cmd with WP

20 Flagellants-200

10 Knights of the Griffon-230

Specials:

30 Greatswords - 330
Full Cmd

10 Outriders - 210

2 Cannons - 200

2500 total

Killer charriot

Fighting K's Empire army I got to test a lot of ideas out with the Beastmen. The main test I wanted to do is see what happened when my Lord on chariot got into combat. It may cost a lot of points but my plan is to run it in again large units to deal massive casualties. The basic idea is to give him a large base size and try to use that to gain as many attacks as possible.

Beastlord on Razorgor Chariot - 374
Brass Cleaver
Ramhorn Helm
Slug-Skin

This guy can get crazy when fighting a unit of infantry. Even if it gets charged by a single model it will have 9 S 5 and 2 S 3 attacks. If it charges a unit that is at least 4 models wide it will get at the minimum 4 S 6 attacks, 9 S 5 attacks, 1 S 4 attack and 4 S 3 attacks for a total of 18 attacks. If i role max on impact hits it will have 5 more strength 5 attacks. If I get frenzy on Primal Fury i will get 1 more strength 5 and 1 more strength 3 attacks. Now I know that is a lot of numbers so let me break it down this way. The total max attacks is 25. If i am fighting a Horde unit of say great-swords(full cmd) or Dark Elf spearmen(full cmd), they will have 13 or 17 attacks respectively. Even if i only role 1 for impact hits i will have more attacks then them at 18. Most at higher strength.

While you could try and kill the chariot(T5, W5, AS4+) out from under him, the impact hits and slug skin happen at the beginning of combat. So i would lose the Razorgor's attacks(4 S 6) and the Ungor driver's attack(1 S 4) , but it would still leave me with lots of attacks(D6 Impact, 4 Slug-Skin, 8 Beastlord). While this build may seem expensive, think of it this way. It has as much, if not more, killing power then a dragon, but cost less*. You lose the flying and breath weapon, but it is a smaller target and unless someone knows the Beastmen really well, they will under value it.

*A Prince on Sun Dragon with NOTHING else is 380. Add a 2+ AS and GW puts it 417 and it has less of an armor save and only a strength 2 breath weapon. The same build with a Star is 557. I can field 2 Tuskgor Chariots or 1 more Razorgor Chariot for the price difference. Heck, it's 42 points away from adding a Giant to your list!!

Empire Army Results/Insight

Ok with the first launch of my empire army. I learned more strengths than weaknesses. First off I made a mistake with my points on my list. (to be adjusted before the battle or just take the time to figure out) I played against arnie's Beastmen which he was testing out alot of options with his army. He had no magic, experimental, and I used Shadow magic with my lvl 4. Shadow magic ROCKS! with this army. Lowering Toughness and/or Strength on units is powerful. The Outriders shot at his T2 reduced Minotaurs and chewed them up first turn. Shadow is a strong magic to take with any shooting army to reduce T and then fire away at the unit. Cannons are great even if they both blow up second turn, hurt the confidence a'lil. Griffon General is ok but not a big monster/character killer, more of a unit supporter or to take out fast cav, chariot, or single monsters with no riders. Never got my knights into combat to try out. I fled when a giant and a chariot charged them. The new 8th rules on fleeing and rally really hurt. Once you rally from fleeing you cant move or shoot at all for the rest of that turn, unless you are fast cav(i think). Hordes are nice cause you can go 10x4 or reform to go 5x8 to go at it for the long haul of combat. I possibly may change the list to have a unit of 15 cav core with full cmd just to experiment with non bretonnia cav unit. Until next time, enjoy the weekend!

The Emporer Demands Solland to be Reclaimed!

Tonight I tried out my new Empire Army List based on the Reikland Providence. The theme for the army is the Emporer called together a warhost to take back the fallen providence of Solland. Gathering units from the major cities, the Emporer charged General Lieter Olah to lead the battleforce. Dispatched to round out his ranks are Outriders, Knights of the Red Griffon (look up your old Empire history), Greatswords of Carroburg, and 2 Great Cannons. As the venerable general decided to bring a wide range of what the Empire has to offer to combat the forces now roaming the ravaged land of Solland. Facing all sorts of foul beasts, two Warrior Priests devoted to cleansing the land drew close bonds with the Griffon Tamer. Set to challenge the evils in the former state range from Beastmen, Orcs and Goblins, Undead, Skaven, and the foul stench of Chaos.

General of the Empire
Full Plate, shield, Sword of Sigismund (ASF +1S), Griffon

Wizard Lord
lvl 4 Shadow, 5+Ward talisman, Rod of Power, Warhorse

Captain of the Empire - Swordman unit
1+ A.S. Armor of Meteoric, BSB upgrade

Warrior Priest - Swordman unit
HA, shield

Warrrior Priest - Halberdiers unit
HA, shield

38 Swordmen full cmd

39 Halberdiers full cmd

12 Knights of the Red Griffon with Musician

2 Great Cannons

10 Outriders with Musician

30 Greatswords full cmd

2500 points total

comments, advice, or tactics please post a comment...will update after battle testing!

New Lease on "Life"

Just thinking a little about the list K and I have for the Brets. The thing they all have in common is the few number of wounds they have. This army is more "elite" then my High Elf army with around 80 models where as the High Elf has close to 100. Other then Ogre and Daemons I can't think of an army that will have less models. An Ogre Army can expand their numbers with noblars, some of their spells heal, and they have a multi-wound army. So when losing 10 men in a Bret army we lose 12.5% of our fighting capacity where the High Elves would only lose 10%. So keeping people alive is huge. The 2+ or 3+ armor saves and the ward saves help but I think the real key is to be able to bring them back or make them almost unkill-able. I think the best way to do this is through magic.

Lucky the Prophetess has access to 2 great lores for that. Life is the best and Beast is not bad. Give that life is the only way to bring models back I see it as huge for Bretonnia. If you lose the ward save on a unit of knights or put her with peasants the Regen spell is useful. Giving +2 or +4 toughness to any unit is huge for keeping it alive and Shield of Thorns is like giving a breath weapon to a unit. People will be less likely to want to fight a unit that has an extra 2D6 attacks. Beast's usefulness is held in it's signature spell. Making Men-at-Arms toughness 4 is great. Making a knight unit strength 4 after the first round of combat is huge. I can see the uses of Heaven but I find life to have more upside. Heavens is more about making someone re-role or just out right killing them so it really doesn't keep you alive as much as just out right kill them. The Damsel has Life and Beast. Life on the Damsel is tricky, with 1 spell making the others better it's hard to want to take a level 2 knowing the one spell you might end up with only makes you 1 other spell better. Beast is the better choice give that it's Signature spell is great. +1 Toughness and Strength at 10+ @ 12" or 13+ @ 24"

I guess tomorrow i might have another game to support this.

What is this Madness!!

After an almost 10 year lay-off from war gaming K-Dawg and I are returning to gaming. We start out playing Warhammer back in '99 or so. Played for a little and got side tracked to other things. Now that life has settled down we wanted to get back into gaming. I stated out back then with Bretonnia and spent many games playing against K-Dawg's Daemons. We have been playing again for almost a year now and want to share our ideas and maybe gain a few pointers from others. We both are more into the actual battle aspect then the painting. We both paint and enjoy doing it, but we are really draw to making up list and taking them to battle. While we still have a Bretonnia army we no longer have Daemons but have add a few others. Well that's all for today. Happy gaming!