AoS 1st Attempt - 1000 pts General's Handbook

[Freddy25]

Ok guys, I've just tried to come up with an army list I could use this summer for the Global Campaign.

Before we go into detail, I have to say that I DIDN'T want to field any Temple Guard or Bastiladon: that's because almost every Seraphon player has at least one of them in his own army, and this sound boring to me.

So, here's my list:

MAX 1000 p.ts (Allowed: 1-4 Leaders, 2+ Battlelines, 0-2 Artillery, 0-2 Behemoths, 0+ Other Units)

60 - 1x Firelance Starhost
100 - 1x Scar-vet on Cold One (Lead)
120 - 5x Saurus Knights (Battle)
120 - 5x Saurus Knights (Battle)
120 - 5x Saurus Knights (Battle)
60 - 1x Salamander (Art)
60 - 1x Salamander (Art)
40 - 3x Skink Handler
100 - 1x Skink Starpriest (Lead)
100 - 1x Skink Starpriest (Lead)
120 - 5x Chameleon Skinks

Total: 1000 p.ts, 28 models, 59 wounds.

The concept is a fast, heavy hitter army able to inflict a good amount of damage and maybe to cause nasty battleshock tests to enemy units.

Spoiler: Which means...

I'd like to use the Firelance Starhost!

I've tried to add some Mortal Wounds dealers (by adding Terradons/EotG) but they cost too much in terms of points, and their addiction would break the synergy among my Leaders and Battlelines.

I've decided to field 2 Starpriests in orther to defend my troops in case of need, buff them with the Serpet Staff ability and occasionally deal some Mortal Wounds with Arcane Bolt.

My aim would possibly be to buff every turn 2 units of Knights with both the Scar-vet and Starpriests' abilities (and their spells) to make as many knights as possible deal 5 attacks [2 from the Saurus and 3 from the mount], re-rolling 1s To Hit and doubling the Damage of wound rolls of 6 for Vice/Jaws attacks... and then obviosly infert 2 Mortal Wounds every roll of 6 from the Celestite Lances.

Final considerations:
- I'm afraid I could have some problems facing Monsters, cause the only units with Rend are my 2 Salamanders;
- despite my Chameleon (who are there to assassinate enemy mages/generals) I probably lack some shooting;
- all of my models are fast, but they aren't many, and I could be outnumbered.

Any suggestion on how to work around these problems?
Every criticism will be taken into account!

 

[Bowser]

You may get overwhelmed by some lists, since you don't have a lot of models on the table. Keep moving and hopefully the battleshock works in your favour.
I do like this list though, I think it has a lot of potential especially if you are escalating but must keep the same army and add to it in subsequent weeks.

 

[Freddy25]

Thank you a lot, @Bowser !
Yeah, you are right, probably I'll have some problem with armies like Skaven or similar... Oh, well, at least my Cold Ones will have lots of meat to put under their teeth!!!

Aside from joking: I don't know yet if my local store will give the ability progressively increase the model count, but yeah, it would be really interesting to see this force grow during time!
It would be nice to add a Starseer in the future, for example...

 

[Bowser]

I guess it depends on if it's a GW store or a locally owned one. I know the one store in a small town not far from me is running a sort of league, where he has a hex map for which territories the players control, and has printed off triumph cards that players can use in the campaign,or even in the store for non campaign games. Works well because the store tracks them, and players hand the cards back when used. But you could start up your own escalation league as well if you wanted.

 

[Padre]

This actually looks like a list I'd be willing to try. I was trying to come up with a similar list, but I was using more Saurus Knights. I think your list is better than what I was looking at.

At 2k, I'd probably expand the knights to 10 per squad and possibly upgrade the Scar Vet to ride a Carnosaur.

 

[Killer Angel]

Nice idea.
What I really like is that you have units with good mobility, and playing with objectives is a good thing.

Monsters can be a problem, as in many lists of 1000 there's often one, and some of them have good speed too...
2 sallies are not bad, 3 would be better but i don't see points to squeeze.
Your success will depend on who you are going to face. You could have some problems against Death.

 

[Freddy25]

Thanks for your answers!
I agree with @Padre : units of 5 Knights wouldn't probably be the best choice in a 2000 pts match, and it'd be smarted to use bigger units.

My aim was indeed to have an army capable of doing well playing with objective, @Killer Angel , that also is another reason I choose to field 3 fast Leaders and my two Sallies as 2 different units: it gives me the possibility to split my artillery into 2 groups in case of need.

As you said, this list will probably suffer:
- "lots-of-wounds" units (Skaven, Skeletons, Swarms )
- big nasty monsters with high Saves (Basti...)
- mortal wounds, since I have only 28 models (Thundertusk )
... but who can really fear not these things???

Spoiler: One last thing

If I can, I'll try to make a 2000 points list starting from this one... But probably I'll use the Bloodclaw Starhost instead of the Firelance.
Every knight able to make 6 attacks and potentially being able to reroll 1s To Hit, double Vice/Jaws Damage, generate further attacks on 6 To Hit and dealing Mortal Wounds on charge?
Yes, please

 

[Killer Angel]

Thanks for your answers!
I agree with @Padre : units of 5 Knights wouldn't probably be the best choice in a 2000 pts match, and it'd be smarted to use bigger units.

My aim was indeed to have an army capable of doing well playing with objective, @Killer Angel , that also is another reason I choose to field 3 fast Leaders and my two Sallies as 2 different units: it gives me the possibility to split my artillery into 2 groups in case of need.

As you said, this list will probably suffer:
- "lots-of-wounds" units (Skaven, Skeletons, Swarms )
- big nasty monsters with high Saves (Basti...)
- mortal wounds, since I have only 28 models (Thundertusk )

Let's see...
lots-of-wounds units. the most dangerous of them (the ones that regenerate ala skellies or zombies) are also often slow.
Nasty monsters: leaving aside particular things (basti), they lose power after some damage, and sallies are your friend.
Mortal wounds: other than dispel opponents' magic, not so much you can do.

You have some points that are "locked" (the Starhost).
what can you do with the rest, for you shooting?

possible idea: you could leave home the chama skinks. It hurts, and I don't know if i would do it, but with those 120 points you could field 2 razordons.
Move sallies + razordons + hadlers as a block: you threaten basically 20", with a huge amount of shooting, re-rolling 1s for razord AND granting a good protection for the sallies tnx to stand and shoot from razordons.
Such a group would be huge at only 1000 pts, and imo could give you some victories, but the price (no chama) could hurt you.

 

[InfamousBeany]

I agree with @Killer Angel on the point about including more razors/sallies, as I think they may just be our most under costed units so far. 3 of them is the same price as 3 Kurnoth hunters, or 3 Kroxigor, and they can fit into any army rather nicely. I would personally always favour the Sallies, as they have some seriously insane damage potential, and having ranged -2 rend is just plain silly.

However, I'm not sure if dropping the cham skinks is the right way to go about it. Nothing else really gives us the flexibility and total board coverage that a unit or 2 of cham skinks do. With AoS's emphasis on overlapping buffs and synergies, those cham skinks work so well when it comes to removing the opponent's force multipliers (Wizards, priests, banners etc) that I would be hard pressed to recommend against them.

Could potentially leave one of the starpriests at home (Can't use starlight more than once per turn) and take the Sallie/Razor and second set of handlers instead? Would give you great options against swarms (Razor) or monsters (Sallie) that way.

When expanding out to 2000 points, if you're considering the Bloodclaw Starhost, may i advise going for an Order allegiance as opposed to Seraphon? That way you can give some of your big scary Heroes those rather nice artefacts. This would of course mean taking skinks or warriors as your battleline though, so it depends on how you want your list as a whole to function.

 

[Juxtion]

Personally would swap out the scar-vet for a Sunblood. As he has a command ability you can use for your knights so they do more reliable damage.
I know hes not as mobile. But with the re-rolls of hits and the serpents staff your more likely to land a wound of 6. Plus he's a beast in his own right.
Not sure but i thought you get a unit of skink handlers for free with sallys. If so you will be able to field 3!

 

[Killer Angel]

Not sure but i thought you get a unit of skink handlers for free with sallys. If so you will be able to field 3!

Sadly, not with points. You must pay 40 to field 3 of them

 

[Freddy25]

You have some points that are "locked" (the Starhost).
what can you do with the rest, for you shooting?

Probably the alternative could be what @InfamousBeany said: drop a Starpriest and add another Razordon/Salamander + Handler!
I was also thinking about some regular Skinks, but after all they would simply be a waste of points: excluding their retreat ability, there's no reason to field them as a unit of 10, I guess.
I don't think leaving Chameleons at home is a good idea, by the way: I know their 120 pts could be spent elsewhere, but they are my only way to snipe enemy warmachines' crews and heroes/mages. I need them in order to keep my dinos safe from cannons and catapults!

Unfortunately, @Juxtion , switching from Veteran on Cold One to Sunblood would mean 2 things:
- loosing the opportunity to use the Firelance Starhost
- having a (beast of a) hero which costs 20 pts more
... which means having to think again this list from the start!

 

[Freddy25]

Guys, I'll use this current post to write a 2000 pts list I built yesterday: I'll edit it in a moment!

EDIT

MAX 2000 p.ts (Allowed: 1-6 Leaders, 3+ Battlelines, 0-4 Artillery, 0-4 Behemoths, 0+ Other Units)

100 - 1x Bloodclaw Starhost
320 - 1x Oldblood on Carnosaur (Lead, Beh)
100 - 1x Scar-veteran on Cold One (Lead)
120 - 1x Saurus Sunblood (Lead)
120 - 1x Saurus Sunblood (Lead)
240 - 10x Saurus Knights
100 - 10x Saurus Warriors (Battle)
100 - 10x Saurus Warriors (Battle)

120 - 1x Shadowstrike Starhost
100 - 1x Skink Starpriest (Lead)
120 - 5x Chameleons
80 - 10x Skinks (Battle)
140 - 3x Terradons

60 - 1x Salamander (Art)
60 - 1x Salamander (Art)
60 - 1x Salamander/Razordon (Art)
40 - 3x Skink Handler

Total: 1980 p.ts, 59 models, 116 wounds. I may be wrong.

Ok, this is the list.
Onestly I don't like it very much: not many synergies, a lot of small and weak units, 20 pts not used, just one Behemoth and 5 Leaders (I'd like to use 6), poor magic...

But let's see what are the PROs and the general concept: later on we will focus on the eventual adjustments!

This is how this build could work.

Chapter 1. The Core
You have a big nasty Carnosaur who has a bubble of 20'' around him which grants any heros 2 more attacks with one of their weapons AND the possibility to use their own command abilities (thanks to the formation).
This means both your Sunblood will have 7 attacks each with their maces and are able to generate others.
Your Scar-vet on Cold One will also benefit from this: he know has 50% of possibility to make 8 attacks with his war-pick, but most of all can use his Command ability on him and on nearby units.
With "nearby units" I obviously mean the Saurus Knights: 10 of them would now make
11 Blade/Lances attacks;
20 Jaws'n'Shields attacks (thanks to the battalion);
30 Cold Ones attacks (thanks to the Scar-vet abilitiy).
On average this should mean 3 wounds by Celestite weapons, 3 by Jaws and 10 by Cold Ones, but attention: I'm NOT counting re-rolls (from Scar-vet and/or Sunblood abilities), nor Mortal Wounds by Lances, nor Serpent Staff ability from the Starpriest, nor Enemy Save (ok, my bad ).

Chapter 2. The Rest.
The rest of the army are what may come in help to our heroes and knights:
- we have 3 Sallies (or 3 razors, or any combination you prefer) with Handlers to deal with high save elite troops, monsters o large infantry units. I wanted to field more handlers, but didn't managed to find points ;
- we have 2 units of Warriors. I know, they are useless, but that's the point: they ONLY serve as meat-shields to stop 2 enemy units for 1 or 2 turns. Remember they have addictional Jaws'n'Shields attacks thanks to the Battalion, and if there's a Sunblood nearby the can re-roll failed To Hits;
- we have a Shadowstrike Starhost. Now, it is mandatory to keep the Starpriest near the Knights to use the Serpent Staff ability, while the other units have the mission to assassinate (chama), weaken (Terradons), distract (Skinks) the enemies, helped by the formation abilities and re-rolls.
My idea is Skinks should annoy a unit, (absorb a) charge to stop that unit, retreat and leave the rest to our knights.
Chameleons should kill warmachines crews.
Terradons shold be equipped with Sunleech Bolas, set amid the clouds, field in front of an enemy unit/leader, fly over it/him to release the deadly cargo, position behind it/him, charge it/him.
If you can charge with one of your model the front of that enemy unit it will have little possibility to pile-in and will hopefully suffer a deadly battleshock test.

Chapter 3. The Allegiance.
Now, this is important.
Seeing how this build his made you must choose to field an ORDER Allegiance, not a Seraphon one.
Knights won't count as Battlelines anymore, but here's why you have Warriors and Skinks in this list
- This Allegiance' battle trait will grants you battleshocks re-rolls for units near to your heroes.
You have plenty of heroes, so use them to make Skinks and Warriors keep their positions.
- Your general can have a Command Trait of your choice: choose the general you prefer and give him the ability you prefer! I'd probably go for the Oldblood on Carnosaur as my general (cause of thematic reasons and his Bloodclaw Starhost's ability shown in Chapter 1), and I would give him battle trait
#3 if I'm going to keep him near the Knights;
#5 if I want him more offensive;
#6 to keep him alive longer.
- Order Allegiance will grant one of your hero a magical item.
BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.
You can choose one additional Hero to have an artifact for each warscroll battalion you include in your army. You have 2! So choose 2 other heroes and give them what you prefer!
Build your High-Rend-Anti-Monsters Sunblood, or your Self-Healing-Carnosaur... it's free!

I hope I haven't annoyed you too much!
Any suggestion will be helpful and appreciated.