Greetings Dash28! Today we have another segment of our new series, the Army List Spotlight. Every Sunday in September we will pick an army list from competitive events worldwide and get three Dash28 writers’ thoughts on that list. This should be a great chance to see a variety of tournament lists from events and to get some expert (and not so expert in my case!) opinions on those lists.
If you have ever wished there were articles on building Kings of War tournament lists, then this series might be what you have been looking for!
Check out last week’s article on Jon Quayle’s Speed Freak Basileans.
Jess’s Thoughts
What Stands Out about This List? What are the Core Units?
Errr. Didn’t we do a flyer-heavy list last time? Is this a thing now? Do we have to make it a thing? Has the Aeronaut list been forgiven?
So core units then. Gargoyles, gargoyles, and more gargoyles. They are quick, they have Regeneration, and they are just tough enough to threaten a run-of-the-mill regiment with a flank charge. Then BOOM, in with a heavy hitter when you least expect it.
How do these units impact how it plays? Well, the Gargoyles are going to threaten weaker units and block stronger ones from dealing with the horse folk and Tortured Souls. It’s all about making sure those hammer units can strike in the best place. Then the Spellcasters make certain that the hammer blow will be lethal with a Bane Chant. All about taking control of the board to disrupt the enemy’s plans and make decisive charges.
Army Strengths
Strength-wise this army has the zoomies. Deployed badly? Not an issue, take a turn adjusting. Want that objective? Not an issue, grab it when you feel it. Enemy trying to find a favourable position? Not an issue, go threaten their flank.
Army Weaknesses
Weaknesses though? Those Gargoyles will fold under the attention of an army with a large number of quick units or shooting able to catch them and dispatch them. Against the Basilean army from the last article, it will be trickier to control the board. More importantly, there is a distinct lack of ranged attacks. Possibly the mobility of the army negates the need for ranged damage but you never know when it might help to step back and bombard.
What Would You Change?
As to what I’d change, hmm, I’d probably swap Bane Chant for Enthrall to mess with my opponent’s careful positioning and draw them into my threat range. I’d also consider dropping all the Gargoyles because transporting those models will be a nightmare. 😀
Mike’s Thoughts
What Stands Out about This List?
This list feels pretty samey to the Basilean list we looked at last week. Alpha strike? Check. Loads of flyers? Check.
But wait! There are actually pretty subtle differences here that are worth exploring. Yes, both lists go for multiple fast threats backed by some Heal, but where the Basilean list went for speed speed speed, Bryan’s list gives up some speed for some more utility.
It comes with a flock of Gargoyles that are poised to serve as chaff, token holders, or wide flankers. And this list features a load of Regeneration and Lifeleech, with the Well of Souls to keep units sticky. Oddly enough, coupled with Fury on the cavalry, this makes this list sneakily resilient, and if a unit isn’t popped, it will probably stick around and just be annoying.
What are the Core Units?
Without a doubt, it’s all the gargoyles. Fifteen drops allows Bryan to see what his opponent is doing before he drops the cavalry. He can use them smartly to set up some scary charges with the Tortured Souls, and his scenario game should be strong if he can keep them out of trouble and not commit them early.
Army Strengths
Board control is a thing, and Bryan’s list should give him some good options to put pressure on his opponent. The real key here, I think, is the Regeneration and other ways to Heal in the list. Not as straightforward as a pair of Phoenixes, but it’s everywhere, all the time. Regeneration, Lifeleech, dumping souls down a well — it’s happening every turn. Armies that bring smaller numbers of high-value attacks or shots will suffer against this list. (My sharpshooters, for example, would have a bad time).
Army Weaknesses
There is no terrain mitigation in the list. No Pathfinder. No Jesse’s Boots. And if you’re gonna play alpha, you gotta have that. Besides that, the Unit Strength is pretty low at 20, and a bunch of that Unit Strength is probably gonna get eaten up when he throws away some Gargoyles for chaff or loses a hammer unit or two. So in some scenarios, Bryan is gonna have to play super aggro to remove his opponent’s army from the field. It’s either gonna work great or make for a great story…
What Would You Change?
Similar to last time, I’m not smart enough to make this list work, so my suggestions revolve around making the list more reliable. I’d drop one unit of Gargoyles and pick up Jesse’s Boots on one of the cavalry units, and I’d put the Helm of the Drunken Ram on one of the Tortured Souls, and the Brew of Sharpness on the other. This would make the hammers more hammery and give Bryan a better chance to smash and turn a flank.
Alex’s/Jake’s Thoughts
Unfortunately, Alex’s thoughts weren’t fully uploaded to our planning doc. You all will get Alex’s great analysis, and I will fill in the gaps with my okay analysis.
What Stands Out about This List? What are the Core Units?
It’s not hard to miss what stands out about this list. *Queue the Oprah Winfrey meme throwing out Gargoyles. While it feels like there is a comical amount of Gargoyles in the list, there is a really cool idea behind it all.
Yes, it’s alpha strike, but the idea is that this list can always win the chaff battle. You have so much chaff to throw at opponents that you can even double-charge your chaff at enemy hammers and make them waste two turns! The core is again four hammers at Speed 8, backed by the individuals who play a Swiss army knife role of either hunting characters, war machines, or adding damage when needed.
Army Strengths
Warning, entering Jake’s analysis!
This list obviously brings an incredible amount of speed and flexibility. Some of the other reviewers have mentioned how capable it is of choosing what to charge and win chaff battles; however, another major strength it has is how easily it can redeploy.
Set up purposefully to try to spread your opponent out and then shuffle to shift everything to a focused point on the battlefield. Unless the opponent has some shooting, there isn’t a lot they can do except try to shift their lines in response. Few armies will be as capable of shifting around their lines to pivot which areas they are pushing.
Army Weaknesses
Shooting, shooting, and more shooting. I’m not positive how this list lives in the arrow-clouded depths of the South East, but Elf shooting or even some Lightning Bolt begins to strip away the Gargoyles and it is quickly in trouble.
What Would You Change?
I’ll be honest, I’m not positive what I would change. I feel like the list could really benefit from an Efreet zooming around and Fireballing, but I don’t see anything the list can lose but the Blood-masque. I’d be interested to see how the list changes to hit 2300, since it is made for 2175.
I’m with Mike, Tortured Souls are bad hammers without fixer items to make them hit harder. About a year ago I did some Abyssals testing to see how they felt, and I was really surprised by the lack of hammers. I tried to make naked T. Soul hordes work but even in the flank I was doing next to nothing, then even less in the grind. Regs really seem to be the way … except this list needs unlocks and doesn’t really need even more chaff, thick or otherwise!
I’d be tempted to pressurize the list to get double Moloch hordes in, those are the only units I really trust to lift in Abyssals, and the ocean of gargoyles and individuals means they should make contact where they want to be. Plus if the opponent shoots the Molochs (De 4+ is bad on them), it means they’re not shooting the flock of scenario winners swarming everywhere!