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AoS Some questions from a new player

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Jungle Swarm

Dalker

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Hi,

My girlfriend and me recently started playing AoS and picked up the starter box of Sylvaneth and Seraphon.
We'll be planning to work our way up to 2 1000 point armies for 2vs2 or one 2000 point-army, but preferably combined at start.
So for now, we have

12 Saurus warriors (spears) (10 are 100 points)
1 Troglodon (I liked the model much more than carnosaur ;)) (200 points)
1 Saurus oldblood on foot (100 points)
7 Saurus knights (5 are 100 points)
1 Scar-veteran on cold one (converted it from a knight, read somewhere on this forum) (100 points)

1 Spirit of Durthu (400 points)
16 Dryads (10 are 120 points)
1 Branchwych (100 points)

We played a couple of games and it always seems to resolve around the spirit of Durthu with its 3+save.

So I had a few questions:
1) What would be good purchases to get both armies up to 1000 points while keeping them more or less balanced, but also able to be combined into 1 big army?
The bastilladon, salamanders and kurnoth hunters seem strong and something we're lacking (artillery). An extra Sylvaneth starter box seems great too.

2) My second question was on combining different armies. There seem to be a few Order units (Hurricanum, gryph hound, loremaster, kurnoth hunters,...) that look a bit overpowered for their costs and thrown into a lot of random lists.
The hurricanum especially seems to combine very well with both Seraphon (skink starseer) and Sylvaneth (dryads) and its model looks great.
Is this considered too cheesy (we will not be playing competitively for now) and is the tradeoff of having to use basic battlelines worth it?

3)Is there a website like this for Sylvaneth tactics?

Thanks a lot!
 
I can't help you with Sylvaneth, but for Seraphon I would add a Stegadon and box of Terradons/Ripperdactyls (whichever you like the look of most).
The Stegadon with it's great bow gives you a bit of that artillery you are looking for whilst being very good in melee when it tramples up to battle. The flyers will give you anti-artillery as they can get across the board very quickly and either have a ton of attacks (Ripperdactyls) or drop rocks on the units they fly over (Terradons).
Some units to consider at higher points would be a Starpriest, beefing up your Saurus Warriors and/or Knights.

Your 1000 point list would look like the following. It will be a fun list; maybe not as competitive as if you dropped Saurus Guard and Bastilidons in it right away - but that is everyone's lists. I guess it depends on what you want to do.

10 Saurus warriors (spears)
1 Troglodon
1 Saurus oldblood on foot
5 Saurus knights
1 Scar-veteran on cold one
1 stegadon
3 Terradon/Ripperdactyl Riders
 
That stegadon looks great! Seems a bit of everything I need, artillery, short-ranged javelins and melee rend. Looks like its flanks have to be protected though.
I had not really considered the flyers before actually. Their batallions for an eventual 2000 list army seem very aggressive, and need skinks. Are they worth it on their own?
 
Dalker said:
That stegadon looks great! Seems a bit of everything I need, artillery, short-ranged javelins and melee rend. Looks like its flanks have to be protected though.
I had not really considered the flyers before actually. Their batallions for an eventual 2000 list army seem very aggressive, and need skinks. Are they worth it on their own?
Click to expand...

I have only used Rippers, but since I got them they are great, even without the Battalion. In a low point game they are worth 140 points. Some games they end up wreaking more havoc on my opponent then my Carnosaur. To put it into perspective, I killed an undamaged Spirit of Durthu in a single activation of my Rippers.
 
Let's see, to get your army up to 1000 I would probably take a stegadon and ripperdactyls as well. The rippers offer a bit of board control. If you want to increase in the future I would get some chameleons or regular skinks and a starpriest.


For the Sylvaneth I haven't played them but I would probably take a ubit of Kurnoth hunters a unit spite revenants and a branch wraith.
 
Zheddikus said:
I have only used Rippers, but since I got them they are great, even without the Battalion. In a low point game they are worth 140 points. Some games they end up wreaking more havoc on my opponent then my Carnosaur. To put it into perspective, I killed an undamaged Spirit of Durthu in a single activation of my Rippers.
Click to expand...

How good are ripperdactyl against artillary? With the new rules you can only make an extra attack once, and they will be vulnerable if you move them in. Just an honest question, because I think the Ripperdactyl models are bad ass!
 
Yes they are a glass cannon, so your positioning of them is key. I don't really know much about them versus artillery since the friends I play with don't use any, (Wood elves, Sylvaneth, and Sigmarines.) But I can say that even with the nerf they are still strong. With good toad positioning you get 9 beaks that are re-rolling failed everything because of swooping, so I tend to average about 10 wounds that need to be saved, and you still get to do your spear and claw attacks. If you are worried about them once they are in I tend to give them Mystic Shield from my Star priest. And at 3 wounds a piece they can last a while. Heck with a bit of luck you can use terrain to your advantage too. If your opponent diverts a lot of resources you can always retreat them and look for new prey while all their units are in a convenient blob.
 
Welcome to the fold!

In regards to the rippers, they're half decent by themselves, but the Shadowstrike formation is what really makes them worthwhile, especially against enemy casters and artillery. The formation as a whole is pretty excellent, and I would atrongly consider it when you go up to 2000 points, especially with the Cham skinks.

I personally think that magic is the way to go forward- you could either splash a little magic in and take a Starpriest for 100 points, or you could really make the most of your Troggy and take a Slann for 260 (I think?). I echo the thoughts on the stegadon, its a great all round big beasty. If you want some serious damage, I would be hard pressed not to recommend a Bastiladon- just be warned he may be a tad too tough for casual games.

You were pretty bang on the money about the hurricanum, it is an exceedingly powerful unit that ticks so many boxes, not to mention it benefits both you and your partner (Kurnoth hunters hitting on 3s/2s? Yikes). It can also be really unfun to play against, and would only ramp up to using one if you fancy playing more competitively.

For the Sylvaneth, you definitely want more revenants (I would go for the chaps that have -1 rend and more mobility), and Kurnoth hunters are just too good not to take- Bows would give you some great board coverage in particular. Look into the Wargroves if you're looking to expand to a 2000pt army, especially as one lets you take ANY order wizard as part of it...

All in all, pick what looks fun. The lovely people on here won't steer you wrong, there's been some great suggestionsthus far. I don't k owany Sylvaneth exclusive forums, but The Grand Alliance forum has great discussions about various factions, and I believe they currently have a Sylvaneth post ongoing so I would advise checking that out.

Best of luck and keep us posted!
 
InfamousBeany said:
Welcome to the fold!

In regards to the rippers, they're half decent by themselves, but the Shadowstrike formation is what really makes them worthwhile, especially against enemy casters and artillery. The formation as a whole is pretty excellent, and I would atrongly consider it when you go up to 2000 points, especially with the Cham skinks.

I personally think that magic is the way to go forward- you could either splash a little magic in and take a Starpriest for 100 points, or you could really make the most of your Troggy and take a Slann for 260 (I think?). I echo the thoughts on the stegadon, its a great all round big beasty. If you want some serious damage, I would be hard pressed not to recommend a Bastiladon- just be warned he may be a tad too tough for casual games.

You were pretty bang on the money about the hurricanum, it is an exceedingly powerful unit that ticks so many boxes, not to mention it benefits both you and your partner (Kurnoth hunters hitting on 3s/2s? Yikes). It can also be really unfun to play against, and would only ramp up to using one if you fancy playing more competitively.

For the Sylvaneth, you definitely want more revenants (I would go for the chaps that have -1 rend and more mobility), and Kurnoth hunters are just too good not to take- Bows would give you some great board coverage in particular. Look into the Wargroves if you're looking to expand to a 2000pt army, especially as one lets you take ANY order wizard as part of it...

All in all, pick what looks fun. The lovely people on here won't steer you wrong, there's been some great suggestionsthus far. I don't k owany Sylvaneth exclusive forums, but The Grand Alliance forum has great discussions about various factions, and I believe they currently have a Sylvaneth post ongoing so I would advise checking that out.

Best of luck and keep us posted!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips :) But with regards to the Shadowstrike formation, won't they be vulnerable after you deploy them deep into enemy lines?

With regards to the Hurricanum, yes, I've also taken it. He works amazingly well with the Bloodclaw starhost and the Thunderquake starhost. Both with a Slann in it as well!
 
The key with rippers in the shadowstrike formation is that it lets them hit something of your choice while they are still at full power. Yes, it can leave them overextended, but if they have already done their job then it was worth it.

The trick is to identify what you want to do with them in the first turn when the game starts, recognise that they are not an elite killing machine. One or more artillery with crew? Target those first turn, save yourself 3-5 turns of getting shot at by a cannon. Squishy wizards? Take em out, deny those force multipliers. If your opponent has no soft important targets, DO NOT THROW YOUR RIPPERS AWAY. Use them instead to grab far off objectives, or even hold them until later in the game where they can help finish off a weakened unit.

Another thing to remember is that Cham skinks are a Shadowstrike Rippers best friends. You can combine their fire with the Rippers attacks to tear apart soft ranged units (freeguild in particular come to mind), or to team up on an important low wound character. Beany's tip of the day- if your opponent has a Celestant Prime, hold your rippers until the prime drops, then gang up on him on your next turn with your Cham skinks and rippers. Removes a very deadly unit pretty safely.
 
Wow so many great responses.
I will start by getting a stegadon and read up a bit to see if shadowstrike battalion is the way I want to go.
Ripperdactyls seem quite strong, but also quite expensive for their points value (so more expensive to build a 2000 point seraphon army)
For sylvaneth, we'll go with revenants and kurnoth hunters. Thanks for the grand alliance suggestion!

The shadowstrike battalion seems great, and skinks seem a good way to pay the battleline tax for a mixed order army.
They're cheaper pointswise than warriors and 10-model warriors units do seem quite useless (I might be wrong on this, but seems you would need to field warriors in big numbers and with a sunblood to actually make them good).
Would 3 or 6 ripper models be ideal for the shadowstrike battalion?

A lot of lists on here seem to have the eternal starhost (3 guards and an eternity warden) in them. It seems borderline overpowered against armies without mortal wound potential but quite bad against armies that can deal a lot of mortal wounds and kill them without allowing save rolls.
Would they be a good option if I ever want to go competitive (eg are mortal wounds common)?
 
Mortal wounds grow more common, and the eternal isn't overpowered, but definitely competitive. Add a bloodclaw starhost and it's a pretty killy army.
 
Good to know :). Pity you can't take the guards as battleline in a mixed army.
 
Dalker said:
Good to know :). Pity you can't take the guards as battleline in a mixed army.
Click to expand...

I know right? But fortunately you can take skink blowpipe units and together with your Celestial Hurricanum (+1 hit) they can still deal some mean damage. Or you can take the Bloodclaw starhost, and take 2 units of 10 warriors and 1 of 30-40.
 
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