8th Ed. 2500 pts Storm of Magic vs Dark Elves

[rychek]

My next game of Warhammer will be against Dark Elves. I generally don't worry about this particular opponent as he has never beaten me in the past, but I was alwyas playing HE in those games. This time I will be fielding Lizardmen and throwing in Storm of Magic just to make it completely bonkers. My initial list looks like this (this list was built for a non-SoM match):

Lords
Kroq-Gar

Hereos
Tetto'Eko
Beast Priest lvl2 (Cube)
Beast Priest lvl2 (Scroll)

Core
22x Saurus (Spears, full command)
Skrox (26 skinks, 2 Krox, musician, banner)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)

Special
5x Chameleons
Bastilodon (Solar)

Rare
Ancient Steg (Unstoppable Stamp, Sharp Horns)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)

This is supposed to be a fun/fluffy game so I had intentionally not taken a Slann in this list, but now that Storm of Magic is in, I'm thinking of swapping Kroq-gar for a channelling Wandering Deliberations Slann, dropping both Beast Priests (I really want Tetto for the vanguard move) and working in a Scar Vet cowboy or Scarnosaur. I haven't decided on the SoM items yet, but there will either be a Dragon or a Hydra and some magic items in my list.

It a safe bet that my opponent will take either Malekith or Morathi and possibly Malus (if he can fit him in). He is also likely to bring at least one Hydra, two units of 20 RxBs, at least 2x RBTs and a unit of 20 Black Guard. Everything else is variable/unknown.

Do you see any glaring holes in my list? Anything that will definitely be a problem? I'm a little worried about holding fulcrums as Magic Duel is LD based and skinks have terrible LD compared to DE Sorceresses.

Do NOT post points values for individual units.

 

[rychek]

I have reworked my list a bit and here is what I've come up with:

Lords
Channeling Slann (Focus of Mystery, Harmonic Convergence, Channeling Staff)
Old Blood (Light Armor, Shield, Halberd) <shield comes in handy against RxBs

Hereos
Tetto'Eko
Beast Priest lvl2 (Cube)
Beast Priest lvl2 (Scroll)

Core
21x Saurus (Spears, full command)
Skrox (25 skinks, 2 Krox, musician, banner)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)

Special
5x Chameleons
Bastilodon (Solar)

Rare
Ancient Steg (Unstoppable Stamp, Sharp Horns)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)

It's not too terribly different, from a base army perspective. Still working on SoM specific scrolls and artifacts.

Do not post points values for individual units, as above.

 

[rychek]

I just realized I made a mistake on the Chameleon calculations. I had a unit of 10 on my spreadsheet when I only wanted 6. Here is the final(?) list which includes the SoM goodies:

Lords 610
Channeling Slann (Focus of Mystery, Harmonic Convergence, Channeling Staff)
Old Blood Cowboy (Light Armor, Shield, Talisman of Preservation) <shield comes in handy against RxBs>


Hereos 440
Tetto'Eko
Beast Priest lvl2 (Cube)
Beast Priest lvl2 (Scroll)

Core 691
22x Saurus (Spears, full command)
Skrox (25 skinks, 3 Krox, musician, banner)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)

Special 228
5x Chameleons
Bastilodon (Solar)

Rare 512
Ancient Steg (Unstoppable Stamp, Sharp Horns)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)
1x Salamanders (extra snack)

Total 2497

SoM:
Dawnstar Sword (for the Old Blood)
Venom spitting Hydra (just because the Dark Elves shouldn't get all the Hydra fun)
Chimera (with Chomp attack)

My opponent rarely gets to see his Hydra in action because I tend to kill it very early on with a flaming spell or ranged attack. I intend to show him what a Hydra can do. Though I fear his hydra won't last long, unless my Bastilodon utterly fails at long range.

As above

 

[Scalenex]

No glaring holes but I'd recommend dropping your Skink Priests to level one and taking another Skink Priest. If you aren't taking any spellcasting monsters you probably need as many Skink Priests as you can to claim fulcrums you vacate (or reclaim fulcrums that you lose).

Dispel scrolls and the Cube of Darkness, but you can think outside of the box in Arcane Item selection. You can't dispel a Cataclysm spell with an item but you can use the Scroll of Leeching, Scroll of Shielding, Hex Scroll, Feedback Scroll, all work for Cataclysm spells and IF spells. You can also have a Forbidden Rod Skink Priest caddy. If he's on a fulcrum he gets a Ward save that makes his risk of dying pretty low.

 

[rychek]

I've got four casters which sets me up nicely for the two fulcrums I will start off with as we'll as the third I can summon with Couruscation of Fenrir and one left over for vassal shenanigans. Is another really necessary? I'll definitely look at the other scrolls though. I keep forgetting about Cat spells being immune to dispel scrolls.

 

[Scalenex]

Sounds like your reasoning is good. I hope you post a battle report. We don't have enough of those and we certainly don't have enough Storm of Magic battle reports.

 

[rychek]

After much thought I have decided to drop Tetto'eko. As much as I want to take him, I don't want to throw too many units or items that will make my opponent feel like I'm cheesing him. Instead I have taken another Skink Priest with the Hex Scroll and lore of Heavens. I'm still working on the rest of the list now that I have some points left over.

 

[Scalenex]

I'd recommend a few more spear Saurus since 22 seems a little light and maybe a few more Chameleons, since it should be relatively easy to drop a bunch of Chamos near an enemy fulcrum and spam them with shooting.

 

[rychek]

Here is the update. I ended up dropping the third Skink Priest as I couldn't justify such a small unit of Saurus and I wasn't willing to drop any other units to keep him. I did pick up a Scar Vet Cowboy though. This may not be an optimal list, but it should be plenty of fun. My opponent has never faced Lizardmen before, but he has faced HE many times, VC once and Ogres once (it's hard to get together for a game with him due to his work schedule). We should have fun with this one!

Lords 616
Channeling Slann (Focus of Mystery, Harmonic Convergence, Channeling Staff)
Old Blood (Gambler's Armor, Shield, Talisman of Preservation) <shield comes in handy against RxBs>


Hereos 362
Beast Priest lvl2 (Dispel Scroll)
Beast Priest lvl2 (Power Scroll)
Scar Vet Cowboy (Halberd, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Endurance)

Core 795
30x Saurus (Spears, full command)
Skrox (25 skinks, 3 Krox, musician, banner)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)
10x Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)

Special 228
5x Chameleons
Bastilodon (Solar Engine)

Rare 512
Ancient Steg (Unstoppable Stamp, Sharp Horns)
2x Salamanders (extra snack)
1x Salamanders (extra snack)

Total 2500 on the nose.

SoM:
Dawnstar Sword (for the Old Blood)
Venom spitting Hydra (just because the Dark Elves shouldn't get all the Hydra fun)
Chimera (with Chomp attack)

I'm going to try to take sufficient notes and pictures for a battle report. I've been wanting to do one for a while and this should be a fun battle to write up. Especially if the Dice Gods treat us both like they usually do.

 

[rychek]

I just finished the game. We only made it to halfway through turn 2, but it was a lot of fun. I won't have time to post the battle report until the weekend though. I'll link it here once I've got it written up.