Hello fellow generals. I will soon be making the dive into Zharr-Naggrund with a small (1k+) army and while I am making full use of the resources you guys have made available through various topics and especially the daemonsmiths handbook, I wanted to spark some conversation about things I’ve observed in my local meta, and wanted to see what you all have to say about it.
We recently ran a siege battle and I got a good chance to see everyone’s general playstyle. some of the things I know I will be seeing a bit of:
- large Witch elf horde with cauldron - large greatsword horde with Karl Franz on foot + demigryphs - Skaven with plenty of slaves, an abomination, and various war machines. - Warriors with Galrauch and multiple mid sized infantry units - High elves with an emphasis on flying but expect to see large units with world dragon banner etc. -Also expecting to see Undead Legions with Nagash.
Of course this can’t paint the entire meta, and I know there is never a definite answer as to what will work and what will flop, but I just wanted to spark some conversation and get some fresh perspectives while I am reading through what the website has to offer me.
General ideas that I have had for my army would be to of course start with a magma cannon and a death shrieker. I’ve picked up that these 2 nicely compliment any chaos dwarf army. I’ve also acknowledged the praise on the Iron Daemon, but I start to worry that if I bust out all three of those right away at smaller points, people might be hesitant to pick up a game.
With those 2 war machines, I’ve thought of anchoring a single block of either GW or Blunderbuss dwarves, with the general idea that the artillery whittles down the strongest threat of the enemy army, and my unit receives it ready to blast or hack it to pieces.
I figured a hammer in the form of Bull Centaurs (i love the model, but I also love the Kdaai, the Bull Centaurs just seem like the obviously better option at my first glance) would help.
After thinking about it though, I see that obviously I might start to have troubles when dealing with anything that has more than a couple of targets.
All of that musing out of the way, the main goal of my post is to take advantage of any wisdom you guys are willing to impart on me. Anything you have to say is truly appreciated and I look forward to hopefully learning a bit more while I take into consideration how to start my army.
Skaven uncomped at low points are a real menace. Doom rocket is very strong. The abomination is a killer. Flame banner might be a good idea. Altogether bringing hobgoblins will be useful, be it on foot or wolf, unit or khan. This helps slowing down the enemy at the flank and protecting your main unit from multiple charges. There are some advice at the army list section for low points cost, especially from Bloodbeard if I remember it right. Wouldn`t field bull centaurs at low points, you will lack the points elsewhere.
Skaven uncomped at low points are a real menace.
Doom rocket is very strong. The abomination is a killer. Flame banner might be a good idea.
Altogether bringing hobgoblins will be useful, be it on foot or wolf, unit or khan. This helps slowing down the enemy at the flank and protecting your main unit from multiple charges. There are some advice at the army list section for low points cost, especially from Bloodbeard if I remember it right.
Wouldn`t field bull centaurs at low points, you will lack the points elsewhere.
TheHoodedMan
Thanks for the quick response. I am definitely looking at adding hobgoblins to my army, and I know I need to start thinking about how I am going to do it. First off is acquiring models which I peeked at some of the ideas for converting, and Im also keeping an eye out on ebay to see if I can find some of the actual models. (I really want to try to keep everything GW / FW )
I'll check out the older topics and see what I find at low points, most things have just been a cursory glance so far.
Khans w. light armour, giant wolf and spear are great. Alot of bang for the buck so to speak. Idk, one of each units shouldnt be a problem, when they learn to play against you they find their counters and strategies. I say go ID :cheers
Khans w. light armour, giant wolf and spear are great. Alot of bang for the buck so to speak. Idk, one of each units shouldnt be a problem, when they learn to play against you they find their counters and strategies. I say go ID :cheers
MadHatter
I've certainly heard praise of the khans, I plan on finding out what all the hype is about. Thanks for the encouragement :cheers
Problem with khans is to get them in the heroes limit. Or should I say that was the problem?
TheHoodedMan
4 Khans w. Light armour, wolf and spear are like 200ish, 3 str 5 attacks on the charge + 1 from the wolf. Awesome as they are fast cav and the topping is the throwingknives. Killed one chaos warrior each time one rode by one game, lucky rolls and my opponent was so frustrated he almost chewed on the carpet :cheers
Potion of Strength (3 str 8 attacks on that charge) terrifying mask, glittering scales and ruby ring of ruin are fun items to use on them :hat off
One untried method I'm wanting to check out is to put a couple of mounted shielded khans in he front of in a hobgoblin unit orc-style. Will have 4+/1+ and nasty sharp budget items hyuck hyuck hyuck
If you use khans from hero choices on wolfs as cheap trash drops they do several things for you.
1 No animosity as they are units of 1 and not 5+.
2 Very cheap.
3 Has punch because it is a hero.
Given what you have said will be in your meta I can not stress 2 rockets with an engineer enough.
Large template to thine out big units of t3 troops. Thanks to the FAQ the single dot rocket will wound both rider and mount of a cauldron. Also its much easier to dot a target with a marker that is 1 inch or less in size on most bases vs the tiny hole in middle of a 3 inch template.
Guys thanks again for all of the useful tips. I really am starting to see the possibilities that open up when using a Khan, and I’m excited to try them out when I get a chance.
The rocket does seem particularly attractive given all of the T3 hordes I know I will be facing in my meta. You guys are definitely giving me some food for thought, and I’m really enjoying reading everyones contributions to the Daemonsmiths Handbook. You have all carved out a great community over here.