AoS 500-2500pt Escalation league list. 1.5k List help needed.

[Drofnum]

I'm joining a league at my local store that is starting at 500 pts then adding 500 points each month until we are at 2500 points. I was thinking of starting with this list at 500:

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)

Units
Chameleon Skinks x 5 (120)
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline

Then going to this list at 1000:

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)
Skink Starpriest (100)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)

Units
Chameleon Skinks x 5 (120)
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline
Ripperdactyl Riders x 3 (140)

Battalions
Firelance Starhost (60)

I would like to go to a Bloodclaw Starhost eventually, not sure if i would want to have to do with starhost with that many knights or not. Opinions on the lists here or what to take at 1500 and up?

 

[m0gstar]

Personally I would skip knights until later. They hit pretty hard but when you have objective games you are going to have a lot of wounds and points sitting on objectives.

For starting, I would probably go shadows trike since it offers a higher model count and a good amount of overall map presence.

Just my thought though

I played a firelance starhost in my last game and was pretty impressed, luckily we rolled an objective games that I could move of objectives and still hold them. The knights of on enough pressure that forced opponent to be completely defensive so I ended up winning out.

 

[Bowser]

I like this build up to the bloodclaw, @m0gstar is right though, it is a lot of points and wounds for objectives, but I think that the knights will be fun and should provide a decent offense at 50 points. So I would go for it. Normally Ibqoukd go for guard, but I like your build better.

 

[Drofnum]

Yeah objectives might be a pain. I wanted something a bit out of the norm though cause I know there are 2 other seraphon armies in the league.

I think the knights should be fun to play though. I've read that it's a good idea to basically charge them in one unit at a time,then retreating back as the next unit changes in. Does that work well?

 

[Bowser]

That's one of the best tactics for knights, as you will always get the charge bonus. Obviously you must play the situation, but if you can, charge retreat charge until you have gotten a whole lot of killing done!

 

[m0gstar]

Knights are definitely fun! They look intimidating

Does retreating and charging with another unit really net more wounds? In my game my firelance only rolled two 6s to wound netting in only two extra mortal wounds. A vast majority of my damage felt like it came from the cold ones with 3 attacks instead of two. I'll have to try that next time

 

[Bowser]

You are likely to net a few more wounds, but it won't take away from the wounds you are already inflicting, as you will have a unit constantly in combat. It is situational though, obviously you wouldn't want to retreat if it just opens them up to being charged.

 

[Drofnum]

For 1500 I should be able to just drop in my Eternity warden and old one on Carno/Kroq gar. I need to see what the rules are regarding changing batallions since there are some in regards to replacing units, but i think it should be ok.

 

[Drofnum]

I just learned that they dont care about battlelines for this league, which really makes me want to build up to the thunderquake starhost. I cant see any way to reasonably do that though.

 

[m0gstar]

Careful running this at such low points. You will almost guaranteed lose out on any objective and will rely heavily on tabling your opponent.

That being said that this formation also really shines with a slaan which is another chunk of points. The wound healing in addition to the 4 dice eotg brings so much strength to the list.

 

[m0gstar]

I really liked it when I played it, but that was at 2k.

Personally I would start with balanced army and then add on models as you progress to get to the tgunderquake host. I just think it's a dangerous list to run under 2k points

 

[Drofnum]

Yeah its definitely a risk and i dont think i will do it. Problem is I cant swap units out just have to add on to what i have so a thunderquake host is most likely out of the picture. Just sticking with my original plan of firelance -> Bloodclaw and will add on from there.

 

[m0gstar]

Probably a much safer bet. I was taking a quick look at the points requirements for the Thunderquake:

60 salamander (1)
40 handlers (3)
260 steg (1)
260 steg (1)
240 EoTG (1)

You are already looking at 860 points minimum (Assuming you dont run troglodon over EoTG) before the points cost of the battalion. After battalion you are at 980

Add a Slann onto that and you are another 260 down for a total of 1240 points. And you are still at 8 models on the table

Sticking to your original plan will yield a strong list with a lot more wiggle room. Bastiladons etc still roll face outside of a starhost, so they are always easy to add in once you are ready to add some behemoths.

 

[Drofnum]

I tried this against my friends ironjawz army and got destroyed! Not sure if it was just poor play on my part or if he had a good counter for my army or what. Slightly disappointed with it for now but I'll see how it performs in our league play.

 

[Drofnum]

Now that i have a little more time to type I'm going to expand on the previous post.

The list i was going against was this:

Megaboss on foot
5x brutes
10x 'Ardboys

He got the first turn both games we played cause he had less units to place and wont the roll to place first. The first game my placement wasnt great and he ended up getting a first turn charge on both of my units of knights. One unit was charged by the megaboss and he killed 4 of them before they could do anything. Second group got charged by his ardboys and they survived for a couple rounds, killing a few of the ardboys with support from my sunblood. I used the skinks to try and harass his brutes to no effect(his rolls in this game were great while mine were awful). I tried to retreat a unit of knights to cap some victory points but they only survived a couple rounds before the megaboss and ardboys got to them and it was game over.

The second game I set up as far from his brutes and megaboss as possible in some terrain. I ended up getting a group of knights charged by his ardboys first turn, they only lost 1 unit i believe in that combat killing 1-2 of his boys. Because of terrain i couldnt get my knights or sunblood in to that fight and he got to go first again on the second round, surrounding my sunblood with the brutes and megaboss. Sunblood survived that round and i made the mistake of charging my remaining group of knights in to his brutes, killed two of them and they then got wiped off the board along with the sunblood. At this point I had 2 knights left and my skinks and we just called it a game as he had lost 4 ardboys and we had a soccer game to get to.

I know my play wasnt great in either game but i cant help but feel that list is just better than mine or counters mine well. The brutes were hitting and wounding on 2+ with the megaboss near them and tossing out a ton of damage and the megaboss himself is definitely no slouch especially when sipping battle brew. I'm hoping that against another army things might go a bit better for me.

 

[Padre]

This looks like a fun list, but it really relies on luck with needing to hit 6s to do the mortal wounds. You really need to strike first, hit the enemy before they hit you.

In building towards a Bloodclaw Starhost, remember that you can field one at 1000 pts. My version looks like this:

Oldblood
Sunblood
Scar Vet on Cold One
Scar Vet on Carnosaur
10 Saurus Warriors
10 Saurus Warriors
10 Saurus Warriors
Bloodclaw Starhost

You can probably do something similar with knights in the place of warriors.

 

[Drofnum]

I'm basically stuck with the knights at this point, at least 2 units of them as i already turned my list in for the league. I may change it up at 1000 depending on how things go but i'll make the best of what i have for now!

 

[Killer Angel]

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)

Units
Chameleon Skinks x 5 (120)
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline
Saurus Knights x 5 (120)
- Lance
- Seraphon Battleline

I think this works well with so few points. You'll have troops with some mobility, nice combat prowess, and the chama will offer some decent shooting and a great ability to take distant objectives.

 

[Drofnum]

So, I won my first game. Not very convincingly but I cant complain much, I'm now going against my buddies Ironjaws(Same army I played last round and every single week. arrrrrgh) Here are the lists i'm taking at 1k, 1.5k and 2k. Any opinions/critiques are welcome! I'm split on taking the guard over warriors and vice versa, I like the survivability of guard but more warrior for objectives would be nice as well.

Ignore the weapon options as none of them are right. Knights have lances.

2000 points

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
Skink Starpriest (100)
Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur (320)

Battleline
10 x Saurus Knights (240)
- Blades
- Seraphon Battleline
5 x Saurus Guard (100)
- Seraphon Battleline

Units
10 x Chameleon Skinks (240)
3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140)

Behemoths
Bastiladon (300)

Battalions
Bloodclaw Starhost (100)
Shadowstrike Starhost (120)

Total: 1980/2000


1500 points

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur (320)

Battleline
10 x Saurus Knights (240)
- Blades
- Seraphon Battleline
5 x Saurus Guard (100)
- Seraphon Battleline

Units
5 x Chameleon Skinks (120)

Behemoths
Bastiladon (300)

Battalions
Bloodclaw Starhost (100)

Total: 1500/2000


1000 Points

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)

Battleline
10 x Saurus Knights (240)
- Blades
- Seraphon Battleline
5 x Saurus Guard (100)
- Seraphon Battleline

Units
5 x Chameleon Skinks (120)

Behemoths
Bastiladon (300)

Total: 980/2000

 

[Bowser]

1k list will have a tough time beating the Ironjawz. 1.5 I think will be close. 2k is a great list, lots you can do, just don't over extend your troops. Focus and pick off the right targets.