AoS My first 2000 point list

[Christopher]

My first 2000 point AoS army

Slann Starmaster (260)
--General
--Leader
--Command Trait: Great Rememberer
Bastiladon (280)
--Behemoth
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (240)
--Leader
--Behemoth
--Celestite War-spear
--Artefact: Blade of Realities
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (160)
--Leader
--Artefact: Incandescent Rectrices
10 Saurus Warriors (100)
--Battleline
--Celestite Spears
--Stardrake Icon
--Wardrum
10 Saurus Warriors (100)
--Battleline
--Celestite Clubs
--Stardrake Icon
--Wardrum
Razordon (40)
--Artillery
Salamander (40)
--Artillery
Shadowstrike Starhost (170)
--Warscroll Battalion
Skink Starpriest (80)
--Leader
6 Ripperdactyls (280)
20 Skinks (120)
--Battleline
--Boltspitters & Star-bucklers
5 Chameleon Skinks (120)

Points: 1990
Wounds: 106
Drops: 9

For the final, 2000 point week in my local Spring AoS Escalation League, I was originally going to run a version of one of the Shadowstrike/“Kroaknado” lists floating around. My experience with Lord Kroak atop a Balewind Vortex in my 1500 point game last night, however, left a bad taste in my mouth. The local Age of Sigmar scene is growing, but still relatively small, and I don’t want to be the guy nobody will play against. Even as it is, the first three games in the League I’m playing in have not been particularly competitive, with my opponents conceding in Round Three the first time and in Round Two the second and third times.

So, the above is what I’ve come up with this morning. I’m, of course, limited by the models I own. The only other two Behemoths I have besides those listed are a Troglodon and a Stegadon. I could run a Thunderquake Starhost list, I suppose, but it would be relatively anemic, as it would be built around the Troglodon instead of an Engine of the Gods (still need to get one of those).

I think of this as a “generalist” list, with the alpha strike from the Ripperdactyl Riders, some okay shooting, some pretty good spellcasting, and some pretty good melee (thanks mostly to the Carnosaur). I suspect its main weakness is that very generalization. I’m still not experienced enough to know how many wounds is too few at any given points level, but 106 for 58 models seems like it might be a touch low. There’s also limited synergy between the units, no really good “tricks” except the double teleport (though there are some interesting possibilities in the Battleshock phase between the Warriors’ Stardrake Icons and the Carnosaur’s Bloodroar ability, dependent on their relative positions). That said, it seems pretty mobile, which I guess is good, depending on the victory conditions of the particular game we wind up playing.

With 9 drops at 2000 points, I figure I have a better than even chance of going first, so I thought I’d start with buffs and spells and the battalion’s extra movement, then try to take out something nasty on the other side with the probably-not-long-for-this-world Ripperdactyls’ Explosion o’ Beaks. I won’t know the Objectives and Deployment we’ll be using until this afternoon, and I probably won’t know who my opponent is or what army I’ll be facing until I show up at the shop for the game next Wednesday or Thursday. I imagine, though, that the Objectives revealed later today will probably lead to changes in this list. As will the good counsel of you, my fellow Seraphon enthusiasts!

 

[Christopher]

I'm already second guessing myself! Given that the two units of ten Saurus Warriors are basically there as chaff or objective holders, I could replace them with two units of ten Skinks, freeing up eighty more points. I could use those on two more Salamanders (I only own one Razordon) or a Skink Priest. Hmmmm...

 

[Aginor]

I agree with most you said, but 9 drops should pretty much mean you will not go first unless your opponent allows you to.

It is a mixed list so yeah, you will miss out on some synergy, but I think it will be fun to play. I'm the future you can then transition either into the Saurus or the Skinks direction.

 

[Christopher]

Thanks, @Aginor!

Here are the Deployment, Objective, and Twist cards drawn for the game.


The three together look to me to make for kind of a wild game.

If this list (or whatever list I eventually settle on) does well, I'm thinking about taking it to a little local monthly AoS tournament at the end of the month, which will be my first time playing outside my Games Workshop location.

 

[Christopher]

For my sins, I have come up with a quite different version of this 2000 point list. I'll explain why below!

Slann Starmaster (260) [7]
--General
--Leader
--Command Trait: Great Rememberer
Skink Priest (80) [4]
--Leader
--Artefact: Prism of Amyntok
Bastiladon (280) [8]
--Behemoth
Troglodon (180) [12]
--Behemoth
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (160) [6]
--Leader
--Artefact: Incandescent Rectrices
5 Saurus Guard (100) [5]
--Battleline
Razordon (40) [3]
--Artillery
3 Salamanders (120) [9]
--Artillery
Shadowstrike Starhost (170)
--Warscroll Batalion
Skink Starpriest (80) [4]
--Leader
6 Ripperdactyls (280) [18]
20 Skinks (120) [20]
--Battleline
--Boltspitters & Star-bucklers
20 Skinks (120) [20]
--Battleline
--Boltspitters & Star-bucklers

Points: 1990
Wounds: 116
Drops: 9
Units: 11
Models: 60

Same general principle, but even more suboptimal!

But, given the deployment and the objective, I think I can be competitive with it so long as I'm patient and play to the win condition. I anticipate that people will be gunning hard in the first two rounds to remove enemy models from the board before the location of the objective is revealed. My plan is to keep the Rippers in the sky for as long as possible and use the relatively high mobility provided by the Skinks and the double-teleport to try to keep as many models on the battlefield as possible for as long as possible. The win condition is whoever controls the objective at the end of the fifth round, and in an Open War game, control is defined as belonging to "the player that has the most models with 3" of them at the end of any turn." So, sure, I'll try to be tactical, and sure, I'll try to put out some offense (particularly against units with large numbers of models), but mainly I hope to be able to pile onto the objective late in the game with a whole lot of models and ride it out.

Now, there are obviously other lists that could accomplish that same general idea more effectively. But...

I only have to build three Ripperdactyls and two Salamanders, and only have to paint eight models (those five plus the Slann, the Astrolith Bearer, and the Bastiladon) to field this list fully painted! And that's important to me for a number of reasons, both in terms of the game (get an extra League point) and in terms of aesthetics and simple personal satisfaction. I just dropped my wife off at the airport and she won't be back until late Sunday night. I think I can get this army ready before she gets back, though the Bastiladon will be a big task.

 

[Xasto]

I would run the skinks as my battleline, especially considering the twist is free mortal wounds. Running warriors or even worst, guards might be asking for them to get zapped by the wrath of the gods!

 

[Xasto]

I only have to build three Ripperdactyls and two Salamanders, and only have to paint eight models (those five plus the Slann, the Astrolith Bearer, and the Bastiladon) to field this list fully painted! And that's important to me for a number of reasons, both in terms of the game (get an extra League point) and in terms of aesthetics and simple personal satisfaction. I just dropped my wife off at the airport and she won't be back until late Sunday night. I think I can get this army ready before she gets back, though the Bastiladon will be a big task.

The bastiladon is really not so hard to do! Trust me! I painted it in sub-assembly and it didn't take me as much time as I anticipated! Check my painting blog for the pictures!