Hello all,
I’ve recently been thinking a lot about Warhammer and the school league format. I’ve very little experience playing in 8th edition (though that is slowly changing) and built myself a Lizardmen force to use to begin with. I have, I must admit, a love-hate relationship with Warhammer Fantasy Battles – I love the history, the rules and the models for many armies and units, yet I hate the fact that some of those armies or units are unfeasible for various reasons.
I spend far too much time reading the black library novels and this in turn fires my imagination and desire to produse units and armies (and in turn means I cannot keep focussed on any single force for very long). I love the fact that 800 points can be extremely restrictive and so completely different to the now standard 2400 tournament sized game.
As part of my ponderings I’ve been trawling the forums looking at army lists and trying to design my own. I came across a brilliant post on Warseer the other day about 1000 point games and one user posted up an evil Night Goblin list. I’ve spent some time communicating with them and have refined the list to the following:
Night Goblins - Da Red Squigz
Night Goblin Warboss, Light Armour, Shield (61)
Night Goblin Shaman, lvl 2, Feedback Scroll (135)
44 Night Goblins, Shortbows, Full Command, Netters, 1 Fanatic (232)
Night Goblin Shaman, lvl 2, Feedback Scroll (135)
44 Night Goblins, Shortbows, Full Command, Netters, 1 Fanatic (232)
5 Squig Hoppers (60)
5 Squig Hoppers (60)
Squig Herd : 12 Squigs, 8 Herders (120)
Mangler Squig (65)
Mangler Squig (65)
Total 798 points
There's a bit of flexibility in there, you could replace the Shortbows of the block of Night Goblin with Spears or Hand Weapos for the same point cost (but at 800 pts I'd prefer the shortbows), the Squig Hoppers can be combined in an unit of 10, or dropped altogether for a second Squig Herd, of even for a big Squig Herd of 24 Squigs + 16 Herders.
Quite a nasty army, for the points! I love the fact that this list is completely competitive... when it works. There is a chance with so much random movement that I’m more likely to kill more of my units than my opponents!
5 Squig Hoppers (60)
Squig Herd : 12 Squigs, 8 Herders (120)
Mangler Squig (65)
Mangler Squig (65)
Total 798 points
There's a bit of flexibility in there, you could replace the Shortbows of the block of Night Goblin with Spears or Hand Weapos for the same point cost (but at 800 pts I'd prefer the shortbows), the Squig Hoppers can be combined in an unit of 10, or dropped altogether for a second Squig Herd, of even for a big Squig Herd of 24 Squigs + 16 Herders.
Quite a nasty army, for the points! I love the fact that this list is completely competitive... when it works. There is a chance with so much random movement that I’m more likely to kill more of my units than my opponents!
There are however two other armies that have caught my attention recently and they are High Elves and Warriors of Chaos. The lists are below.
High Elf Sea Patrol Force
High Elf Noble, Armour of Destiny, Shield, Longbow (147)
20 Lothern Sea Guards, Shields, Full Command, Lion Standard (310)
14 Archers, Light Armour, Full Command (193)
Giant Eagle (50)
Repeater Bolt Thrower (100)
14 Archers, Light Armour, Full Command (193)
Giant Eagle (50)
Repeater Bolt Thrower (100)
Total 800 Points
An all out shooting force, themed around the Sea Guard of Lothern and as an added bonus completely in keeping with the old storm of chaos rules that they used to have. The noble has a 4+ armour save twinned with a 4+ ward save. The sea guard can all fight in combat and the eagle can march block (is that still a valid tactic anymore?) and flush out things like fanatics or play catch with frenzied units.
Warriors of Chaos – The North Crow Tribe
Chaos Sorcerer, Barded chaos steed, Level 2, Spell Familiar (151)
5 Marauder Horsemen, Flails, Musician (81)
5 Marauder Horsemen, Flails, Musician (81)
5 Marauder Horsemen, Flails, Musician (81)
5 Chaos Knights (200)
5 Chaos Knights (200)
Total 794 Points
A fully mounted force with each unit striking at strength 5 on the charge. The wizard has 3 spells and will mostly use fire magic (taking the signature spell for a few 3d6 fireballs!). The Chaos knights are fear causing, magical attack nightmares with a 0+ save allowing the Marauders to flank charge and lay down even more strength 5 attacks!
So the only question that remains is which should I spend my time building and painting for the club campaign?
Dan
