2500 point Friendly play List

[TypeSet1]

Been trying to decide which army I want to invest in lately, and I've been borrowing books to write up some army lists. This may be my favorite so far, and will most likely be the one I'll run with standins for a friendly match next weekend (hopefully.) Anyways, here's the list, I'd appreciate any input on it, I've never ran DE before! :)



TOTAL: ( 2497 )


LORDS: ( 622 )

Dreadlord (General)
-Heavy Armor
-Sea Dragon Cloak
-Cold One
-Pendant of Khaeleth
-Sword of Striking
-Enchanted Shield
-Crown of Command

Supreme Sorceress
-Cold One
-Cloak of Hag Graef
-Black Amulet


HEROES: ( 610 )

Malus Darkblade

Sorceress
-Feedback Scroll

Sorceress
-Crystal of Midnight
-Tome of Furion
-Lvl 2 Wiz


CORE: ( 641 )

2 x 19 Repeater Crossbowmen (One Sorceress in each)
-Shields
-Full Command for both

8 Dark Riders
-Repeater Crossbows
-Musician


SPECIAL: ( 624 )

7 Shades
-Add'l Hand Weapon

15 Cold Ones (Dread/Malus/Supreme Sorc here, 6x3 formation)
-Full Command
-Standard of Hag Graef
-Death Knight has Pearl of Infinite Blackness


RARE: ()





Well, what do the pros here think? Shades to distract turn one, maybe latch on to a war machine/wizard. Dark Riders to distract/flank. Crossbowmen to bunker/rain 76 bolts-turn. Lvl 3/2/1 casters to keep the magical edge, with some nifty surprises. Finally, a beefcake of a unit in the Cold Ones. Spite gets rid of Stupidity, Crown of Command grants Stubborn, standard gives ASF. Not to mention the fact that since Cold Ones are MC, they get horde frontage at 6 wide, and get to use all of their attacks to support, not just one. :) Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Only change I can think of that may/would help would be to swap out a Sorceress for a BSB.

[Vezzax]

Hi, funny idea for an army list using a horde of cold ones but it will probably not be the most competitive - here's why:

If you but your 2 lords and Malus in with your unit of cold one knights then you are spending 1402 on one unit (more than 56% of your entire army) which makes my alarm bells start ringing! If this unit is destroyed you've lost the game. Or if your opponent is smart he'll try and ignore it by redirecting it or tying it up with cheap and expendable infantry units and kill all of your remaining units who are easy to pick off. The unit of cold one knights is killy, but relatively easy to destroy. If you get charged you won't get lance bonuses and will hit at str 4, if your sorceress miscasts you could lose half your unit right away, and enemy magic can destroy the unit as well (lore of tzeetch infernal gateway, lore of metal, etc.)

I would probably also change a bit in the item setup of your characters, maybe ditch a sorceress, ditch malus, ditch some cold one knights, add a hydra or 2 and add more infantry (but that is my preference)


Note: Only change the things I mentioned above if you want a more competitive army with more pros and less cons. If you like the feel of your current list then go for it! But if you want a higher chance of wining then you need to reword your list.

[TypeSet1]

Vezzax- Thank you very much for the input. I think that when I made that list, I got caught up in how awesome those COK would be and stopped thinking about winning. It's definitely something I would like to try fielding one day, maybe in a high points game, but for now, I've revamped my list. I should say that my biggest worry for this new list is the squishiness of my main block, the Witch Elves. Thoughts?



TOTAL: ( 2497 )


LORDS: ( 569 )

Dreadlord (General)
-Heavy Armor
-Sea Dragon Cloak
-Shield
-Pendant of Khaeleth
-Sword of Swift Slaying
-Other Trickster's Shard
-Cloak of Hag Graef
-Black Dragon mount!



HEROES: ( 545 )

Death Hag
-BSB
-Rune of Khaine
-Manbane
-Standard of Hag Graef

Sorceress
-Dispel Scroll
-Level 2 Wiz

Sorceress
-Crystal of Midnight
-Tome of Furion
-Lvl 2 Wiz


CORE: ( 662 )

2 x 19 Repeater Crossbowmen (One Sorceress in each)
-Shields
-Musician for both

2 x 5 Dark Riders
-Repeater Crossbows
-Musician


SPECIAL: ( 545 )

2 x 5 Shades
-Add'l Hand Weapon

30 Witch Elves
-Full Command
-Hag has Witchbrew
-Bearer carries Banner of Murder

RARE: ( 175 )

War Hydra w/ new enemy chomping action!



So, I ditched the Supreme Sorceress/Malus/Cold Ones. My General is fairly killy I think, especially with his mount, but more importantly he's extremely mobile and extremely tough. With the friends I play against, he will probably draw a lot of fire, do you guys think he can stand up to it? I have a BSB now, which should help, and I think that if the Witch Elf blocks manage to get into CC they will be extra killy, with all of those poisoned/armour piercing attacks. As I said before, though, out of the whole list my biggest concern is the squishiness of the Witch Elves. Is there any way I can counter that? Or should I just hope that the General/Hydra draw most of the fire? Finally, once again, if I made any really silly mistakes, please let me know. I really, really like this game, but I tend to lose a lot.

[Intrepid]

I'm not the best at WHFB but my Druchii list is similar to yours, so here goes!

The Cold Ones' Pearl isn't needed. All stupid models are naturally immune to psychology. Because they're the centerpiece of this army, give them some magic defense instead. A null talisman or even the Ring of Hotek is a good choice. The strider standard (I forget the exact name, it's found in the main rulebook) would help them reach their target; ASF isn't as godlike as it used to be.

The Supreme Sorc would be better off without the Cold One. The COKs want to be in combat as quickly as possible, which is no place for a mage, and if she's anywhere else then she must test for stupidity. Put her with the crossbowmen and be a toolbox. Dark Magic is excellent for that. (I recommend Metal lore for the other Sorc. It's our best option for countering both armor and regeneration.)

Alternatively, you could give her a horse to ride with the Dark Riders. I think that'll cost you their advance move but it's a reasonable trade for enhanced mobility. If they get shot up, however, then she'll have no place to hide.

Cold Ones are MC

Sadly, no. Cold Ones are just mean, ugly horses. But that's okay! While you can't rely on COKs to break an enemy on the charge, with Malus around they can play attrition as well as as most other units.

Overall, I think the army is top-heavy. Not only do you have minimal troops, but what you do have may end up decimated by miscasts. Swapping a Sorc for a BSB is a good idea and I would also trade in the Dreadlord for a unit of spearmen, Corsairs or Black Guard. You would be left with enough points to test-drive an Assassin, too, I think. Run him cheap with manbane poison and see if you like him.


EDIT: Oops, you just posted a new list! I liked the first one better, if only because relying on a Dragon can be so hit-or-miss. Two comments on the new one:

1. Don't worry about Witch Elf squishiness. What they lose in armor, they gain by ignoring enemy armor penetration bonuses. Just bring a lot of 'em, which you are already doing.

2. My best general advice for winning more games is bringing two Hydras. They seem to be our most hated unit, with Black Guard a close second. I like to give the Pendant to a Sorc; it helps me redline her magic with little fear of miscasts. Pity about the grunts around her, of course, but if I cared about them then I wouldn't play Dark Elves. Right?

[Vezzax]

Normally I don't tailor lists for other people, but I've made the following list to give you a good basic idea of how a solid and competitive army list could look like. From what I can tell you seem to favour a killy lord, cold one knights and repeater crossbowmen so I've included those.

Dreadlord (277 points)
- Heavy armour
- Sea dragon cloak
- Soul render
- Pendant of khaeleth
- Dragon helm
- Crown of command
- Riding a Cold one
This guy will never die - you can run him solo or with Cold one knights (just try and keep him within range of bsb)

Supreme sorceress (285 points)
- Level 4 (lore of shadow)
- Sacrificial dagger
Keep her out of close combat - stick her with a unit of repeater crossbowmen

Sorceress (160 points)
- Level 2 (lore of metal)
- Dispel scroll
Keep her out of close combat - stick her with a unit of repeater crossbowmen

Master (159 points)
- BSB
- Halberd
- Dawnstone
- Armour of darkness
Let him join the warriors - he's got 1+ armour save rerollable so he's hard to kill

49x Warriors (377 points)
standard
musician
banner of murder
shields
Try to deploy this unit in the centre of the map (they are most likely going to be steadfast so they can tie up enemy units - powerful synergy with the bsb master in the middle so he can cover the most of the map with his 12" leadership bubble)

20x Repeater crossbowmen (225 points)
musician
shields

20x Repeater crossbowmen (225 points)
musician
shields

5x Dark riders (xxx points)

10x Cold one knights (329 points)
Standard
musician
Banner of hag graef
Deploy on either flank - Not as strong as the unit you had in your first list, but its still strong and its at 329 points not 1402

Hydra (xxx points)

Hydra (xxx points)


Total: 2497 points


This list got a bit of everything. A hard as nails lord, powerful magic, plenty of shooting, a large block of warriors, 2 monsters, a powerful cavalry unit and some fast cavalry. It's a good starting point for a new player as it is pretty easy to play.

As I said - you can tweak it in any way you like if you rather want different unit options, but use this as a point of origin and you'll be fine.

Sidenote: some dark elf players like witch elves very much so they are viable option (I personally don't like them and will always take a master as my bsb instead of a Death hag unless I use a cauldron of blood)
Dragons are very cool and would personally like to test a dreadlord on a dragon one day (but only use him in fun lists as a dragon isn't too competitive)

[TypeSet1]

The Cold Ones' Pearl isn't needed. All stupid models are naturally immune to psychology. Because they're the centerpiece of this army, give them some magic defense instead. A null talisman or even the Ring of Hotek is a good choice. The strider standard (I forget the exact name, it's found in the main rulebook) would help them reach their target; ASF isn't as godlike as it used to be.

If Spite takes away their stupidity, are they still immune to psychology? Not that it matters any more for my redo of this list, but my friends and I have been talking about doing a massive battle sometime soon, 4k, and the list I'm working on for that brings back the Malus Cold One horde.

Also, I very much appreciate everyone's input, it's been very helpful in figuring out the strengths/weaknesses of this army. Repped all around.

[Intrepid]

The unit still has the stupid rule, even if they don't have to take the test, so they remain immune to psych.