1500 Army trying to bring one home for the team!

[JakeHunter52]

My FLGS is going to be hosting a tournament next month with the usual prize support but this time with a twist! To encourage more players (the last tourny had only 4....), they are going to be 1500 pt armies competing, 5 rounds. I particularly enjoy this turn of events as 1) I've been participating in a Blood in the Badlands campaign which has been scaling up from 1500 and 2) I will have quite a bit of options to choose from and I don't have to feel pigeonholed. However, upon writing a list up, I've come up with several dilemmas. Hopefully some feedback from the community will help out. Here's what I have come up w/ so far:

Lord
Wizard Lord- 205pts
Life, Lvl 3, Tailsman of Endurance

Hero
Warrior Priest- 117pts
AoMI, GW

Captain- 88pts
BSB, FPA, Charmed Shield

Core
Swordsmen (28 )- 193pts
FC

Swordsmen (27)- 187pts
FC

Special
Cannon- 1@@ pts

Cannon- 1@@ pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Greatswords (33)- 360pts
FC

Total: 1500pts

So, the two things that I am struggling with is first with the wizard. Not only is he a lvl 3, which is probably faux pas but I have recently seen the huge benefits offered by lore of shadow. I have traditionally used life as it is a great hedge against miscasts and the defensive bonuses are huge. However, Shadow is showing itself to be a great offensive weapon against all types of armies and also a great enhancer of my armies' strengths (imagine crossbows taking out T1 ogres). Furthermore, I have been stricken by my lake of fire-power and am wondering if Lore of Light might be the right answer, providing a balance between defensive buffs and offensive attacks. But I feel like this issue can only be settled once I figure out what the theme of my army is gonna be. I had a lot of success with running my Greatswords in a horde w/ the WP but I feel like it is just too much points for a one trick pony, especially after seeing how bad they can be roasted by a hydra. So perhaps reducing the greatswords to 27 or so (I also like running them 7 wide) dropping the priest for a battle wizard and focus on blasting them until they reach my lines and then magic buff? What are your thoughts?

[Marnepup]

Four pieces of artillery in a 1500 point game is hardly a "lack of firepower." Last time I took two mortars, I killed 23 DE spearmen with the first shot and 16 more with the second.

I'd make the mage L4 rather than give him a 5+ save. No matter what you do, though, give him the rod of power!

Might I recommend the lore of metal? It's aces against the sorts of stuff that your mortars and your infantry can't tackle, and if you're worried about hydras, worry more about the reverse ward lord... Since wounds caused by the lore of metal have no strength, they don't trigger the ward!

I would seriously reduce the size of the greatswords, and use the points to give both the wizard and the bsb a 4+ ward, and make the wizard L4. The bsb doesn't Need that shield, so you can probably still have over 20 greatswords without cutting anything else.

[JakeHunter52]

Thanks Marnepup! Interesting, I have considered lore of metal against hydras before actually which is not a bad deal all things considered. But totally right about the reverse ward! So, I think I will take my lvl 2 as a metal or light but I am leaning towards metal because the meta is better suited for metal. A question for you however: I usually would agree with you about the rod but with such a low point game and my list being so magic heavy, I can't really see me having any dice left over (especially since I am likely to be facing DE or VC). Do you think it might be better to opt for a power stone or dispel scroll?

Anyway, revised list:

Lord
Wizard Lord- 260pts
Shadow, Lvl 4, Tailsman of Endurance, Powerstone

Hero
Battle Wizard- 100pts
Metal, Lvl 2

Captain- 110pts
BSB, AOMI, Biting Blade, Luckstone

Core
Swordsmen (28 )- 193pts
FC

Swordsmen (27)- 187pts
FC

Special
Cannon- 1@@ pts

Cannon- 1@@ pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Greatswords (27)- 300pts
FC

Total: 1500pts

[Marnepup]

I like it, with the following caveats:

-I'd like to see a 4+ ward on both the wizard lord and the BSB. Bsb with 4+/4++ is generally the way to go, although I approve wholeheartedly of the biting blade.

-The battle wizard can be L1. The signature spell fully justifies his inclusion, and the chance of getting two good spells isn't really very good. I'd just go with the L1 with the plan that you'll usually just take the signature spell.

-the rod of power doesn't port dice into your next magic phase, it ports them into the next magic phase... So if you have left over DD, a fairly common occurence, believe you me, you can carry three of them into your next offensive phase. I think it's second only to that infernal puppet that WoC never leaves out of a list, and I use it three times per game at least.

[JakeHunter52]

After much deliberation, I think I have settled on something like this:

Lord
Wizard Lord- 275pts
Shadow, Lvl 4, Tailsman of Preservation, Power Stone

Hero
Battle Wizard- 90pts
Metal, Lvl 1, Dispel Scroll

Captain- 105pts
BSB, AOMI, Luckstone

Core
Swordsmen (28 )- 193pts
FC

Swordsmen (27)- 187pts
FC

Special
Cannon- 1@@ pts

Cannon- 1@@ pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Mortar- 7$pts

Greatswords (27)- 300pts
FC

Total: 1500pts

Marnepup, I think you're totally right w/ the lvl 1, shadow is gonna be used a lot more i think and there are always an abundance of spells that I don't use so trimming the fat should do me good. Since the Wizard Lord is gonna be my general, then having that 4++ is important, especially w/ no WP or Life wizards around to heal. However, I am not sold on the Rod. I use it frequently in games but I am thinking about who I am running against mostly: DE, Skaven, VC and Lizards. They all have powerful casters where I am sure to be using most, if not all of my dispel dice. I would reconsider the Rod if I had a WP or AL in the list but right now, I think I should focus on more sure things. However, I was also thinking that I might want to trade in the scroll and stone for the Seal of Destruction, which can make your opponent give such a priceless face. Thoughts on that?