AoS Kroak Kroak (feat. Celestant-Prime) - 2k

[Dhol]

Hi there!

This 2k pts list is based around Lord Kroak being a painful pain in the ***.

I know many of you think he is overpriced, but each time I pretty much win (several times, mostly against demon armies ok). The thing is, I was not even using the celestial Deliverance skill. His snipe is so powerful it can take out any annoying target and mixed with an Starseer, it was very easy to get good score with Comet Call.

In this list, I am trying to also take advantage of his Celestial Deliverance skill, including a Saurus Astrolith Bearer to improve its range by 8. With Balewind Vortex (we allow that kind of infamy in our playgroup), Celestial Deliverance will probably hit everybody on the table (and now I understand why GW nerfed him so bad). D3 mortal wounds for everyone, that’s pretty badass, then sniping the annoying targets, most of the enemy’s heroes can die turn 1 :/

The Astrolith also allows to reroll the failed hit roll for the Bastilladon, which is nice to have.

Then, the idea of the list is to simply make a wall around Kroak and protect him while he kills everything dangerous on the table. Judicators will kill some enemies and then be used as cannon fowder just in case. Retributors will be a nice additional touch of mortal wounds for enemies coming too close.
Each turn, if possible, all my troops move back.

Turn 2, the Celestant Prime will come. It will be a great asset when melee combat begins, and while waiting for that, he can also deal free mortal wounds to grouped enemy units.

I have not play this list yet, but I think it can hurt my opponent quite well. What do you think, what other combo would you, chances ect ?


LEADERS
Lord Kroak (540)
- General
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (160)
Celestant-Prime (360)

UNITS
Judicators x 5 (160)
- Skybolt Bows
- Shockbolt Bow : 1
Judicators x 5 (160)
- Skybolt Bows
- Shockbolt Bow : 1
Liberators x 5 (100)
- Warhammers
Paladin Retributors x 5 (220)
- Starsoul Mace : 2

MONSTERS
Bastiladon (300)


WOUNDS: 77 TOTAL POINTS: 2000 / 2000

 

[InfamousBeany]

Interesting concept, but I feel like it moves past the boundary of 'specialising in an aspect' and into 'all your eggs in one basket'. That may not be too bad, if the eggs weren't so...overpriced.

Moving past my somewhat wonky analogy, I feel there are a few core issues:

1. Low model count- sitting at a dicey 24 models, you are at risk of being outnumbered by beastclaw raiders. That's pretty ballsy. This will mean that you have little to no board control (barring the Prime), and objective based games will be the bane of your existence.
2. One-trick pony- the goal of your list is to cast Kroak's sig spell with a wide range. That's really it. Against low wound, high save elite armies, it would be ok. Unfortunately, only having a single cast is just not particularly impressive against most forces, and when you have 700 Points invested into it, there just isn't enough return to make it worthwhile.
3. No Contingency- what happens if your opponent uses any one of the many ways to plonk a unit right in front of your army? Having a grand total of two melee units, and no way to provide defenses (Gryph Hound, Razordon etc.), you're going to lose a quarter of your army pretty sharpish. After you lose Kroak, what then? Yes, Bastiladon, Prime and Retributors are all solid units, but not enough to carry games on their own.

Now, please don't mistake my above points for an attempt to shoot down your idea- I love creative army lists and this has a good concept behind it, but I feel its too inefficient for what it wants to achieve.

A few thoughts:

• Kroak is overpriced. Unfortunately that is just the sad truth. A worthwhile replacement comes in the form of the Celestial Hurricanum (Link if you haven't read about it: https://www.games-workshop.com/reso...lls/aos-warscroll-celestial-hurricanum-en.pdf ). Also spits out mortal wounds, can snipe from a distance, and offers an army wide buff to hit- not to mention, its a rather palatable 320 points- 220 points cheaper than Kroak.
• Astrolith bearer doesn't do enough. It's amazing in a more dedicated army, but only having two units to affect, its way too pricey at 160 points. Now, you could either invest back more into Seraphon to get more value for your points, or you could cut it and replace it with a catch-all unit/hero. Some examples would be a Skink Starseer, or a Starpriest + Gryph Hound.
• Judicators are good, but may not be a good fit for what you're trying to achieve. It may just be worth dropping down to more basic battleline, so you have more points available for your punchier, elite options. This is more down to personal choice.
• Get some mobility. The Prime is a great unit, but will absolutely wither under your opponent's focus if left unsupported. Some Cham skinks (or shadowstrike starhost), or one of the Stormcast Battalions that lets you drop in aggressively would be absolutely perfect in both objective grabbing, and controlling the board.

As much as I want to love the daft old frog, death has not been particulalry kind to him- and neither have Games Workshop. I think this list is definitely worth trying out, but probably needs a lot of refinement to get the absolute most of your gameplan.

Best of luck!

 

[Bowser]

I like this list, but as @InfamousBeany said it's not really an all comers list. looks like a lot of fun, but I wouldn't take it ti a tournament. You will have to try it and let us know how it performed. I think Kroak has great uses in a 2k plus army, especially with the vortex, but I would go more Seraphon based with other armies in support roles.

 

[Dhol]

Thanks to both of you for your feedbacks!
For Kroak, let's say that I want to play it (in local playfor now, not tournament )
I will try several tweaks - I alreadyw rote a version remplacing all the Stormcast Battleline with seraphon, so the astrolith bearer will be more useful.
I willupdate this thread once I play this army and let you know!