AoS Is The Eternal Starhost a Feasible Way to Start Seraphon?

[TMTMTPoS]

Hey guys,

I recently decided to get into AoS and instantly fell in love with the Seraphon army. I'm a complete noob, but spending a little time at my local GW, i noticed that I could build an army and formation through just two boxes of Seraphon - the guards and warden.

Eternal Starhost:

-Eternity Warden

-3x5 Saurus Guard (with drums+banner+alpha somehow mixed through?)

I really like the look of the models but I am unsure as to whether I will see any success at all with this - due to the fact that while the army would be incredibly tough it would probably get pelted to death by most other armies before reaching combat. I am aware of the start collecting box but the warriors, while cool, don't quite look as pretty as the guards (although summoning them is apparently not a terrible idea). The carnosaur is amazing (Kroq-Gar ) but the cold ones also look . . . well . . . a little silly. I do also love the look of the skinks and other large dinosaurs.

I'm not hugely competitive minded (the painting really caught my attention though) but I would like an army that would at least stand a chance against everyone else. The army base where I am is very diverse and I think everything is represented in some numbers.

So, would the army idea I have stand up in a fairly relaxed meta and would it be good as a base for building a larger force? I know these sorts of questions get asked a lot but I was not able to find one here that quite answered my question (although I would be perfectly happy to be proved wrong!)

Thank you for any feedback!

P.S. Something I also have to say is that the Start Collecting! has a lower savings value in Australia than in the States, and is more expensive overall.

 

[Bowser]

It's a good foundation to build on. Get a Lord Kroak and some deep strike units like chameleon skinksand you have a decent build right there .

 

[TMTMTPoS]

Thanks a lot! Really appreciate the help!

 

[Bodestig93]

as bowser said, and to top things off i woul also get a skink starpriest... if u play restricted point game (so you cant afford to start with the priest) just summon him and he will make your guards even tougher (mystic shield) and also give them a nice attack bonus.

 

[Bodestig93]

AND the skink starpriest is alot of fun to paint

 

[TMTMTPoS]

as bowser said, and to top things off i woul also get a skink starpriest... if u play restricted point game (so you cant afford to start with the priest) just summon him and he will make your guards even tougher (mystic shield) and also give them a nice attack bonus.

Sounds good, but don't the saurus already have 2+ from the formation and their ability? The wording is very strange so I don't know if the bonus applies to them or the nearby hero. Some people classify armour saves above 2+ as rend canceling but I don't know if that's an actual ruling.

The starpriest does look very pretty! Not to mention he would be very useful for expanding into a shadow strike formation in the future too. Thanks!

 

[Crowsfoot]

I think it all depends on your playstyle, Eternal Starhost is a defensive build where you would have Lord Kroak bunkered behind the guards, using Camo skinks, Terradons as fast units but saying that you could buy the starter box and convert the warriors into guards using left over parts from your *2 boxes of guards, then use the Carny as your monster/war machine hunter and your cav as a flanking unit, convert the priest (trog rider) into a starpriest.

Maybe a basillidon further down the line.

 

[Killer Angel]

IMO Eternal Starhost gives you a really solid defensive block. By itself, it won't do much, but it's really easy to expend it with additional units (a Slann, some shooting and a monster), thus building a small but strong force.

 

[TMTMTPoS]

Well, thank you all for the advice! I now feel a lot more comfortable in the direction my list will go in (although I have no idea which order I will buy all these units in ). Once I buy the saurus and warden and settle on a paint scheme I'm happy with (got some ideas, but I havent settled on anything as of yet) you will probably hear from me over in the painting section!

Thanks again!

 

[Tozon]

I think it looks like a great defensive core and the starhost is an amazing deal increasing survivability and output. At 820pts for 30 guys I think we are going to see this a lot going forward and the central line for an army.

As above, sitting just in front of a Slann (1080 for all that) which is nice and defended you then have half an army worth of points to focus on the damage output.

 

[InfamousBeany]

Just my 2 cents on this- if you feel like branching out and including other Order factions with your army- the Sisters of the Thorn (from Wanderers) are absolutely superb alongside some Saurus guard due to having a unique combination of rather good ranged attacks and an incredible unique spell- their spell allows you to re-roll saves for a target unit. In addition to that, any saving roll you make for target unit that is a 6 or more (so units in this formation would trigger it on a 4 or more) in the combat phase, you inflict a mortal wound on the attacker. If you would rather stick with just lizards, a Skink priest can also give you re-rolls to your armour save (albeit less reliably).

Also, as others have said above me, you will definitely want a balancing element to your army as the eternal Starhost is inherently pretty static- so something with mobility (to chase the enemy) or great ranged capability (to force the enemy to you) would be great picks. Now, the world is your oyster here, as we have units like Ripperdactyls and Chameleon Skinks (high mobility) and Kroak, Stegadon and Bastiladon (strong ranged weapons) that work great in these roles. Again, if you're up for branching out into other factions, Wanderers and Sylvaneth both have excellent ranged options (especially Kurnoth hunters, which also double as fantastic models!) that can supplement your force.

All-in-all, make sure you pick what you think looks cool! And if you do branch out into including small pockets of other races, there are some great opportunities to tie them together with small conversions or paint schemes- just make sure you share them with the rest of us to enjoy!

(Also, if you're looking to get into match play from the new General's Handbook, give us a shout- it's a whole new layer of tactics and we have some great players on here that can help!)

 

[TMTMTPoS]

Just my 2 cents on this- if you feel like branching out and including other Order factions with your army- the Sisters of the Thorn (from Wanderers) are absolutely superb alongside some Saurus guard due to having a unique combination of rather good ranged attacks and an incredible unique spell- their spell allows you to re-roll saves for a target unit. In addition to that, any saving roll you make for target unit that is a 6 or more (so units in this formation would trigger it on a 4 or more) in the combat phase, you inflict a mortal wound on the attacker. If you would rather stick with just lizards, a Skink priest can also give you re-rolls to your armour save (albeit less reliably).

Also, as others have said above me, you will definitely want a balancing element to your army as the eternal Starhost is inherently pretty static- so something with mobility (to chase the enemy) or great ranged capability (to force the enemy to you) would be great picks. Now, the world is your oyster here, as we have units like Ripperdactyls and Chameleon Skinks (high mobility) and Kroak, Stegadon and Bastiladon (strong ranged weapons) that work great in these roles. Again, if you're up for branching out into other factions, Wanderers and Sylvaneth both have excellent ranged options (especially Kurnoth hunters, which also double as fantastic models!) that can supplement your force.

All-in-all, make sure you pick what you think looks cool! And if you do branch out into including small pockets of other races, there are some great opportunities to tie them together with small conversions or paint schemes- just make sure you share them with the rest of us to enjoy!

(Also, if you're looking to get into match play from the new General's Handbook, give us a shout- it's a whole new layer of tactics and we have some great players on here that can help!)

Wow, this was amazing, thanks for your insight!

I never considered combining two armies together (although I'll admit the wood elves and sylvaneth models caught my eye when trying to choose an army). A 2+ re rollable save which has a 50% chance to inflict damage back sounds absolutely brilliant! However, it seems like the kind of thing I would have to keep aside for more competitive games as that almost sounds TOO good for your regular friendly match, but it does certainly restrict my choice of colour schemes for my army (good rather than bad at this point) and together they could create a really visually stunning force! That is certainly something to pursue in the future!

Thank you so much once again for these very different ideas!

 

[TMTMTPoS]

So, being a total newbie to the game I only just discovered the generals handbook and the changes it introduces to the game. This rather significantly shakes up my list building plans but also allows me to define my ideas more clearly. Owning no models as of yet (very soon though!!! ) I would like to quickly build a 1000 point list, then paint and learn it, then expand it into 2000 after a few months.

So, as a starter: (please forgive any incorrect values, I'm working from memory)

1000 Points Seraphon
Eternal Starhost - 80
Eternity warden - 140
5x Saurus Guard - 100
5x Saurus Guard - 100
5x Saurus Guard - 100

Bastiladon - 300
Skink Starpriest - 140

Total: 960

What do you think of this? Expanding into 2000 I'd look at Kroak, more guards and some chameleons. Of all my choices, the star priest is the one I'm least sure of - if there are superior low cost alternatives please let me know!

Thank you for any further help!

 

[baby_stega]

I don't have the generals handbook so I'm not sure if the points have been adjusted, but according to the leaks the skink starpriest is only 100 points. So you'll have an extra 40 points to use.

 

[Killer Angel]

Skink Starpriest - 140

Total: 960

Starpriest is 100; this would leave you with 80 remaining pts.
OR
Starseer is 160 (which is nice. I recommend it as a strong Slann substitute in a small point game as this... plus, your army will be at 980 pts, so you could have also the "reward" if your opponent got a 1000 pts army)

 

[TMTMTPoS]

My main concern with my list is that if I ever get into an objective based game I am almost guaranteed to lose as the army gains it's strength from staying together as a group and ideally remaining in one place. Is there some unit that provides a sort of "quick fix" to this or is it just a drawback of the type of force I intend to build? Also, would anyone recommend the stegadon over the bastiladon?

 

[Des_DS]

My main concern with my list is that if I ever get into an objective based game I am almost guaranteed to lose as the army gains it's strength from staying together as a group and ideally remaining in one place. Is there some unit that provides a sort of "quick fix" to this or is it just a drawback of the type of force I intend to build? Also, would anyone recommend the stegadon over the bastiladon?

For the stegadon vs bastiladon bit, they both are good choices! The Bastiladon is better at ranged combat then stegadon. The bastiladons laser is good against everything, while the stegadons ranged combat has to be specialize against ether anti large model count units(sunthrower) or anti-elite/monster units(bow). Also if your local playing group uses lots of ranged combat(especially if its high rendering or mortal wounding attacks) go with the bastiladon, it will live much longer On the other hand the stegadon is better in close combat. Its horns has an almost unfair rend value while unwounded and can pump out lots of attacks with its stomps. It really depends on your local playing group and if you want a close combat monster or a range monster.

Personally, I think in your list the bastiladon might be the better choice, you could clear off other objectives with him at range, and the bastiladon and even one unit of saurus guard could probably hold a flank at 1000pts