2250 Tournament Cavalry

[CaptainSarathai]

So, I just borrowed a friend's Dark Elf armybook and had a read through it. I was hoping to be able to punch a new tournament army out of them, but I can't really see how they're any more powerful than my Vampires. So, instead, I decided to try to make a really nasty tournament-grade cavalry list. At least it would give me something different than the usual foot-slogging Vampires. It's a small list, almost all plastic, so it's a cheap Christmas project as well.
Here it goes:

LORDS
Morathi
Darksword
blackstaff
535

HEROES
Sorceress
Lvl 2 Wizard
Dark Steed
Staff of Sorcery
192

Sorceress
Level 2 Wizard
Dark Steed
Dark Star Cloak
172 points

Sorceress
Lvl2 Wizard
Dark Steed
Seal of Ghrond
177

CORE
(7) Dark Riders
Repeater Crossbows
154 points

(7) Dark Riders
Repeater Crossbows
154 points

(7) Dark Riders
Repeater Crossbows
154 points

5 Harpies
xx points

SPECIAL
(5) Cold One Knights
Standard Bearer
151 points

(5) Cold One Knights
Standard Bearer
151 points

RARE
War Hydra
xxx points

War Hydra
xxx points

ARMY TOTAL
2245 points

Go ahead and pick it apart as much as you want, it's my first list and I don't really want to have to buy more models than I really need. I'm not worried about "playing fair", I have plenty of 'friendly' lists, and I like to at least start with a WAAC feel with more promising armybooks. I was thinking of dropping the Hydras and the Harpies to buy 4 RBTs, but I like the damage that a Hydra can inflict, what do you guys think?

[GMJoeSolarte]

Well its certainly not a BAD army, certainly themed for what it does.

With so few troops in some of those units, I had to question that just a few casualties can cause a panic check. I might want to find the points to put a Master in a Cold One Chariot sorta following behind your cavalry troops in order to rally them should they panic. And the fact that a Cold One Chariot would be a great coup-de-grace thing to deliver that punch to the enemy at the right moment.

Otherwise I think it is actually a pretty solid list.

[Talljester]

I'm assuming your converting the dark riders? $20 each isn't exactly going to make a cheap Christmas project, may I suggest using glade riders? or have you something else in mind?
but onto the list, with 13 PD and PoD I can see entire units disappearing each turn, you certainly wont make many friends, The only problem I could see you having would be against A strong RnF unit with some magic resistance, but I'm sure you'd find a way around that.

Tj

[notabot187]

The way to beat a block of MR guys is just to cast with 4 dice over and over. Eventually you will get something through, or blow up the wizard. It is how I play my wizards, 3-4 dice at everything! Then again I am the kind of player who shrugs off multiple miscasts a turn as a price of doing business...

OP: don't go with Morathi. She is at least 100+ points higher than a similar normal lord. most of the points difference is defense and combat ability that just doesn't come up that often, or isn't as effective as you would think. That many points for fluff bonuses is too much. Go with a normal Supreme Sorceress instead.

Also If you just want power dice spam, it is possible to make a lord wizard roll at least a minimum of 11 dice. That is even assuming that power of darkness is dispelled. Sac dagger for 5 spells = 5 dice, 4 from her normal generation, 2 from pool. So if you are just wanting PD, there are more efficient ways of getting them than how you have it. I would use a lvl 4 stabby, a lvl 2 tome of furion (3 spells for a level 2 means she gets the army dice most of the time) and a darkstar cloak wizard. That is 4 for the lord, 5 from the 2 lvl 2s, and 2 from the army. 11 base dice, and 0-5 dagger dice a turn before PoD even enters into it. All you lose going with this configuration is 1 business spell and 2 dispel dice. 6 dispel dice is usually enough, if you want more you can give the SS or a master the seal of ghrond.

I know this is a mostly mounted list, but I would really look into getting a decent number of black guard. They are easily one of the best foot units in the game, and they give a nice stubborn ItP anvil for the cav hammers to work against.

[Talljester]

who's she going to Stab in an all Cav list?
It could be quite costly. unless you want too include some spearmen or RxB units?

[notabot187]

yeah the idea if you want a stabby wizard is to get warriors in there. They are certainly cheap, and with a mostly cav list, the opponent has closer things to worry about.

[GMJoeSolarte]

but this is an all cav army list so that is why I think there are no infantry or RBT's in them. It is clear that magic and the fast movers are the hitting part of this army.

[CaptainSarathai]

Hmm...
I will concede that Morathi might be a bad idea. I wanted someone that I could also use as a bit of a fighty-beast, and add to the Hydras, but I guess that the 2 hydras are scary enough.
I'm just too used to my Vampires being both CC and Casting monstrosities.
If I do drop Morathi and pick up an SS, how should I run her?

I'd like to avoid adding infantry at all. There are really two reasons for this. The first is for aesthetics. I have a Caledorian High Elf army that features cavalry and minimum core infantry. The second and most important reason is for tactical purposes. It's foolish to pay points for an element of your army that won't engage. Infantry slow down cavalry, or force you to engage with "fewer" points than your enemy has. My only concession in this, is the potential to field RBTs. But these aren't good for stabbing, because suddenly you have dice, and no crew for firing.

I was initially, I was looking at including an Altar of Khaine (do the effects have to target khainite regiments only?), making it a BSB, and giving it the Banner of Nagarythe, and then deploying it at the extreme rear of my army, behind the CoK regiments. That would give the army a pretty potent boost within the sphere of influence. However, that is a very expensive addition. If someone can find me the points, without trading off overall effectiveness of the army in other phases, I will certainly add either the altar or a master on a CO. (that would make him an MCO, haha)

Again, I'm not looking to make friends in any way at all. If people hate my Dark Elves, so be it. I have Empire, Gobbos, and infantry Warriors that they can take on instead. So I'm still asking if this list is going to be as devastating as my VC, WoC cav, or HE.

[Intrepid]

So I'm still asking if this list is going to be as devastating as my VC, WoC cav, or HE.

I would not expect this list to be very strong at all. The low model count plus the typical fragility of Elf units is a terrible disadvantage, the Cold One Knights are too few in number to withstand any amount of attrition and only the Hydras will be effective against hard targets.

At a minimum, you should consolidate the Cold Ones into a single unit. If the reason for having two small units is to limit the danger of Stupid checks then I think you'd be better off to swap the Supreme Sorc for a Dreadlord on Cold One. The War Hydras can run flank for them.