Mbutler132000:
There is a tournament coming up in September I’m going to try and go to. Its a ways off, but armies must be fully painted so I need to make my list soon so I know what to prepare. The tourney will be 2200 and use a comp system based on certain units taken in each category. There are 4 categories, Lords\Heroes, Core, Special, and Rare. You get a point if you fulfill one category unit type. 3 for two categories, 6 for 3 and 10 if you have all four. The rundown for each is as follows
Lords\Heroes - Castellan (not BSB), Lord on Lammasu or Great Taurus
Core - 25+ hobgoblins (no bows), 15+ IG (no great weapons)
Special - Ironsword, Fireborn
Rare - 10+ wolfriders, giant
The following are the models I have. Not looking to get any more so the list will have to come from this
Forgeworld Daemonsmith pack (3 models could be Prophets, daemomsmiths, or castellans)
Lord on Taurus
5 Khans on wolves
30 IG and 3 command models all with fireglaives
A ton of goblins with bows
9 Fireborn
Magma Cannon
Deathshrieker
Iron Daemon
Hell Cannon
15 wolfriders
K’Daii destroyer
Trying to come up with a good all around list. Not sure if I should run the mounted lvl 4 on death and hellcannon, or on foot with a magma cannon. I want to get as many of the bonus points as possible.
Mbutler132000:
Here is a list I have so far. Was going to play test it.
Lvl 4 on hashut, D scroll, ES, ToP
Lvl 2 on metal, Chalice
Castellan, Black Hammer, CS, Fireglaive
31 IG, FC, Fireglaives, Gleaming Penang
10 Wolfriders , shields and spears
5 Fireborn
Iron Daemon
Magma Cannon
Get a full 10 bonus points and aside from the wolfriders I’m not sure anything is that bad. The castellan is good in combat, especially if I get Ashstorm off. The IG get a single reroll, on LD 10 that should be enough. 5 Fireborn will be tough to crack and can get combat heavy against horde or take on a monster. Wolfriders can deny rank bonuses with flank charges. And IG can put out good firepower along with the warmachines.
TheHoodedMan:
If you have a castellan give him the Battle Standard! :hat. That 25 points pay out, believe me.
The bonus in this system seems easy to get, at least for us Chaos Dwarfs :-).
The fireborn and big wolfriders are normally no max. tournament choices but if you expect similar competition, why not.
It`s surely a fun list.
If you want to hit people hard or expect tough competition a second warmachine would be very nice and then I would think about the fireborn, they are very fragile.
Mbutler132000:
I could swap out the Fireborn, add in a hellcannon, change the lvl 4 to death, and make the castellan a bsb. My bonus points are now 3. There is a total of 160 points possible for the tournament. 50 for each of the following: Appearance, Game, Gentlemanly Gamer. So the bonus 10 may not be that important, only 6.25% of the available points. This also leaves me about 60 points. Figured a Khan on a wolf.
Mbutler132000:
Here is a new list I came up with. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Lvl 4 on Death, scroll, ToP, Charmed Shield
Lvl 2 on Metal, Chalice
BSB, Enchanted Shield, Fireglaive
Castellan, Shield, dragonhelm, (35 points left over for a weapon)
20 Hobgoblins, bows
25 IG, fireglaives, FC, bombs
Magma Cannon
Deathshrieker
Iron Daemon, Hellbound
Hellcannon
My big question is the Iron Daemon. I know everyone is always talking about how great it does on the table. I can definitely see it’s merits. But I’m a little unsure of its optimal use. Against low T characters on mounts out of a unit, and monstorous cav I can see it doing well. But even MC won’t be wiped out by it, but I suppose you play for a flee. And I know its a great tarpit, albeit a very expensive one. But 300+ points for a model that can be held up by a unit of reavers seems a bit much. Ingfantry doesn’t seem to be all that popular now, so it does almost nothing in combat. Maybe its the area I play in the model isn’t that good. Mostly flying things, or stuff that doesn’t have to get that close. If there is a better way to utilize this model I’m all ears. The model is awesome looking and I’d love to field it.
sam585:
You should really approach the irondemon from the perspective that it is two different units in one. It is an organ gun that does d3 wounds and can move and shoot. And it is probably the hardest thing to kill in close combat in the game. Now does a gunline need these two things to be successful? No. I would argue it works much better in more mobile, combat focused LoA armies where a tarpit and reliable monster killer would go a long way. In your force, chaff would be more beneficial.
Mbutler132000:
Still!l working to find a good all around list for this. Here is the new one I’m going to start trying. I don’t want to make any major changes to it, but would be open to small teaks that may make it work better
LVL 4 Death, scroll, ruby ring, enchanted shield, ToP
Lvl 2 Metal, Chalice
2x Khan on wolf, light armor and spear
BSB, Fireglaive, Charmed Shield
Castellan, Fireglaive, shield, dragonhelm, black hammer, potion toughness
36 hobgoblins, bows, standard bearer
20 IG, Fireglaives, FC, bombs
Deathshrieker
Magma cannon
Hellcannon
10 wolf riders, muso, standard, spears
I debated between taking death or hashut on the level 4 but ultimately because of the hellcannon I feel D&D is better than ashstorm. Khans are meant to slow any large blocks moving up. I’m not too worried about chaff, gobos and IG should be able to take care of them. High fortitude, in case it comes into play. Wolf riders will be there for flank charges to deny ranks on anyone who gets into the IG or gobos. This list gives me 6 of the possible 10 bonus points.
Doombeard:
You could split the hobs up into two units of 18 so you can divide their fire if need be
Mbutler132000:
I had two 20 man units. Have to go with a minimum of 20 in a hobo unit. I would have to cut some points from somewhere. I figured the bigger unit could tarpit if needed.
TheHoodedMan:
In your list, which is dominant in magic and shooting, you won`t need two units of hobs (tarpitting is a good idea).
In this special case I would keep them in one unit.
I would recommend to give one of your sorcerers the charmed shield and to place one of them outside your CD unit (remember CDs are not allowed to join Hobgoblin units). This way you can reach all of your warmachines with rerolls if necessary (and it will be necessary).
Castellan: You can save some points by not taking the fireglaive and instead changing to a more defensive equipment (fx armor of bazerak and dawnstone or the classic mask of the furnace and luckstone).
The list concept could well work within 2200 pts, go for it!!
Mbutler132000:
My plan was to place the three warmachines directly behind the line of IG and hobos, and the two wizards between them. This will allow for both to use the Look out sir from the warmachines and keep them close enough to the IG to join the unit if needed. Be something like this
Infernal Guard Hobgoblins
Hellcannon LVL 4 Magma Cannon LVL 2 Deathshrieker
With the two IC in the IG unit. The Khans and wolfriders protecting the flanks. Have to keep the level 4 close enough to cast his death magic. If I take the Fireglaives off each castellan and drop a khan this gives me the points to add the Armor of Bazherak and tbe dawnstone to the bsb, put the charmed shield on the level 4 and have 20 points left over. I could add a Fireglaive to one of the IC. Not sure if there would be something better to spend it on. Possibly a magic banner for the IG.
TheHoodedMan:
This could work.
Banner of Swiftness/ Eternal Flame and a Great Weapon for the Castellan.
(There will be some setups where a ward save/ luckstone would be better, that depends what you like more or what you expect. There are some magic lores where the MR is not so effective.)
I would sacrifice some wolf riders and perhaps a few archers for some more IG, 20 is not enough and you have no close combat output otherwise.
Magic lores are great, I`d take the same in this constellation.
Mbutler132000:
I like taking something MR just because it buffs up the 5+ ward to flaming the IG already get. I have to take a minimum of 10 wolf riders to get the bonus points. I considered the flame banner. I think for a lot of things with regen this unit taking it wouldn’t be bad. I know there is a good deal out there with a 2+ ward to flaming, but the war machines and hobos can deal with that. I could leave the BSB as is and give him a great weapon. And for the other castellan the potion of toughness, dragonhelm, stone mantle and GW. Have to drop a hobo for the points. And the IG get the flaming banner.
TheHoodedMan:
Flamebanner is definitely good.
I oversaw completely you have two castellans. The castellans are not so good fighters compared to other factions. You don`t need a second one even more if you have only 1 IG unit. Thats a good point ressource for a 4th warmachine 
(the war machines have flame attacks also, with exception of the doom rocket, but you have death magic and if a char is in a unit direct all attacks in the unit and try to beat him with combat score).
The Khans are very important better one more than one less ;-).
Mbutler132000:
The bonus points for the tourney depend on having a non BSB castellan. With the second IC I get 6 bonus points as opposed to 3. Although I see where you are coming from. This is only my second tournament so I have no delusions of winning. Might be better to take a better list than to get the bonus points. I could drop the second castellan, lower the number of hobos to 30 and increase the number of IG to 25 and that leaves me with about 130 points. Gives me either another deathshrieker or two more khans.
Mbutler132000:
Do you think running hashut on the level 4 and death on the level 2 would be better. I’m thinking I have enough to deal with hordes, its but multiple snipe spells might be nice. Doing it this way I could get Spirit Leech, Flames and Curse. I should be gaurunteed at least two of three. I know Dark Subjugation isn’t as good as D&D, but it another LD spell also.
TheHoodedMan:
That´s a difficult question that I ask myself regularly :-).
The good point for Death is that you get 100% three good spells. Spirit Leech with Ld 10 is a threat for every opponent. D+D can change the game with two warmachines that cause immediate panic checks, much better than Dark Subjugation.
Flames of Azgorh is a game changer as well, but you need 5 power dice to cast it relatively sure. And that means a high chance of total power as well and your prophet is about 400 pts.
The reason why to take Hashut is the Ash storm. You can take entire units out of the game for a whole turn with the spell and if multi wound models: Flammable is not bad also. Breath of Hatred could be good, but where would you cast it in your Army?
So I would clearly take Death on Lvl 4.
If you don`t know whom you play against I would take Metal for the second caster. Against Empire, WoC, Dwarfs, Bretonnia Searing Doom is very good and there are some other spells (including 2 good support spells), too.
If you play solely against elves, orcs and skaven, I would take Fire on the 2nd.
Mbutler132000:
This was another list I wrote for a heavily combat oriented army. This would get me the full 10 points on comp. I’ve put a star next to the units that have to be in the list to score on the comp system.
Lvl 4 of Hashut, Great Taurus*, Charmed Shield, ToP, Scroll
Lvl 1 on Fire
BSB, Hammer, Dragonhelm, Dawnstone, Ironcurse
30 IG, FC, Fireglaives, Bombs, Swiftness Banner
6 K’Daai Fireborn
K’Daai Destroyer
10 Wolfriders, shields, spears
I know avoidance armies will be a pain. Hoping the Fire mage and Flames of Az will take care of those. Other than that just march forward.
TheHoodedMan:
Against Avoidance Armies you have to be careful not to give away easy points, so it could well be a draw.
They have to stay away from your fireglaives as well. Ashstorm is nice, too. One of its best effects is that the target unit cannot march or charge. Maybe a destroyer could catch it then :-). I love this spell. Sadly there is a slight chance not to get it, and the other Lore of Hashut Spells are not better than say Death or Metal Spells.
You could put the earthing rod on the lvl 4 and the scroll on the lvl 1. Just in case. That 500+ pts for the lvl 4 hurt.
(By the way: Do you need the lvl 1? A khan and a 7th fireborn would be nice)
The Great Taurus is good as well.
Mbutler132000:
I don’t have to have a lvl 1. But I thought it would be good against fast cav. Don’t really have anything to deal with chaff. My Fireglaives don’t have the range. Plus with ashstorm I can turn those big monstrous infantry blocks flammable and then hit them with a fireball. Not going to do a ton of damage but its mainly for the range. I suppose I could run a khan on wolf with the ruby ring. Maybe put him in with the wolfriders.