Captain Nick is running Fields of Blood this year which means I finally get to play again! Boo-yah! Even better I've gone bunny-hunting and lined up the hilariously over-confident Antony Kitson using, as the result of a foolish bet earlier this year, Wood Elves (my choice).
I've taken a magic-lite, mixed bag Vampire list with a bit of everything (ok, not really... lots of different units though). This is my first 8th edition tournament so for me, aside from smashing Ant, I'm only interested in playing a variety of armies/players and learning more about the game.
Here's the list:
Vampire Lord - Red Fury, Infinite Hatred, Walking Death, Ogre Blade, Flayed Hauberk, Crown of the Damned
4 strength 7 attacks, rerolling to hit, and a further attack for each wound he causes. +1 to combat res from Walking Death. 2+ armour save, 4+ ward save. Stupidity (rerollable thanks to the BSB).
Wight King - Battle Standard Bearer, Gem of Blood, Glittering Scales
Wight Kings are the boss. This one is tricked out to dodge bullets more than anything else. Most Heroes/Lords will hit him on 4s thank to the Scales. Toughness 5 and 3 wounds is nothing to sniff at and of course will attempt to rebound a wound (now FAQ'd to rebound Killing Blow!) when he takes one.
Wight King - Sword of Kings, Nightshroud
Didn't use Wight Kings much in 7th but this one was quite popular so I thought I'd try him out. I was pleasantly surprised to be proved right in my assumption that there will be a lot of WoC armies at FoB - having to accept challenges against something that makes you initiative 1 and can KB you on a 5+ is going to be quite frustrating :)
Necromancer - Van Hel's Danse Macabre, Dispel Scroll
With the ridiculous new option to bung 6 dice at a spell regardless of level this guy was always going to make his way into my list. He'll likely burn his scroll against something trying to hammer me on the way in or on a hex to burn me in combat. Otherwise he's all about the multi-casting of Van Hel's on the Grave Guard or Skeletons (or Wraiths). How this happens is down to the vagaries of the roll for power dice in the magic phase. Against my first opponent who is using a L4 Mage with Wand of the Wych Elm (and no dispel scroll) it will be 5-6 dice casts where possible.
40 Skeletons - full command, Banner of Hellfire
Skeletons are crap - no doubts about that. 8pts for toss does not a bargain make. I am however quite proud of the models and I have a heap painted up (and no Ghouls - yet!) so they were always going to be the go-to-guys for some time. Banner of Hellfire gives them magical, flaming attacks as opposed to the cheeky 10pt flaming banner from the Common Items list in the BRB. Handy against Wood Elves. Coincidence? :)
20 Skeletons - full command
Necromancer bunker and a useful unit to hold another banner for Blood and Glory (or whatever that scenario is called where you need banners to no get your ass kicked).
34 Zombies - musician, standard bearer
More toss. I'm such a fluffy bunny :) Wish I could say there was a secret awesomenes hiding here but really it's just point on offer for anything that can be bothered spending a turn in combat. Something I'm suffering with until I get some Ghouls painted up.
20 Grave Guard - full command, Banner of the Barrow
A sweet choice for VCs but not quite optimal - theoryhammer and net-reading suggests a bigger unit with Great Weapons is the better buy. Still, combined with the two Wight Kings the unit is a massive threat for most stuff. Barrows is an especially nice buff for the supporting Wight King. Especially if they're the beneficiaries of a timely Van Hel's from the Necromancer.
3 Fell Bats
3 Fell Bats
These guys are looking to either hit warmachines and keep them busy or take advantage of the new charging rules in 8th edition but declaring charges against already fleeing enemy units (i.e. whatever is trying to get the zog out of the way of the Grave Guard or Vampire Lord). They're also a handy deployment drop that doesn't give anything away. Not seeing a lot of deployments/units on the table in 8th for some reason...
3 Wraiths
An experimental selection. They can hunt warmachines, tie down big stupid Steadfast units by themselves (especially with no +1 for Outnumbering a la 7th edition). They take up bugger all room in deployment (i.e. the 1" rule annoyance), can sprint like mad to get where they need to go, and with less magical weapons (or so it would seem) look to be slightly more survivable. With no Banshee they can't be challeged out and prevented from attempting a Mage assassination if I find any careless characters in units without something/someone to hide behind. All theoryhammer of course and I'll be interested to see what I can get out of them.
Varghulf
Poor old Vargy's been having a bloody tough time of it recently. I don't expect much from this guy but I so like the model I just couldn't leave him at home. Another (somewhat suicidal) warmachine hunter, Thunderstomp could be useful (if I remember it), Terror... not so much.
Black Coach
One of the big winners of 8th edition for VCs and going magic-lite an obvious choice from a defensive point of view. I've had mixed results from the Coach in combat with so many big units out there. Absolute gold against a small Frenzied opponent like Khorne Warriors though - force bait with Bats (i.e. charge the Bats, or restrain and wait around, or risk getting charged by something really dangerous), force the overrun, hit in the flank with the charged up Coach, laugh all the way to the bank. All depends on whether I see those lovely 6s in the magic phase though.
So a list with a bit of everything. Might write up some reports and post my feelings post-FoB. Good to be back. Someone's going to have to pick up the slack if Trent starts playing/writing about Warmachine. Yuck!
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