[Thodrik Strongfist]

In a little less then a month, I have a 2500 pt tournament. Im basing my selection on models I currently have painted. I'll only have a month to buy and paint any filler models.

Heros:

I. Lord- great weapon, shield, Rune of Kragg the Grimm,Rune of Might,Rune of Splori Spanglehelm 224pts

II. Thane- shield, Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Stone, Master Rune of Swiftness, Rune of Brotherhood. 157pts

III. Runesmith- Great weapon, Rune of Stone, shield, Rue of Spell Breaking (2) 131 pts

IV. Additional hero??

Core:

I. Quarrelers (10) shields 120pts

II. Thuderers (10) shields 150pts

III. Warriors (25) full command, shields 250pts

IV. Longbeards (24) full command, shields 361pta

Specials:

I. Hammerers (24) full command, shields 342 pts

II. Miners (12) musician 137pts

III. slayers(10) 110pts

IV. Cannon engineer, handgun, rune of burning 115 pts

Rare:

I. Gyrocopter 140pts

II. Organ Gun 120pts.

My thoughts are the three large blocks of infantry (hammerer, longbeards, warriors) would form the line. Lord and Runesmith in hammerers and longbeards respectfully. Slayers would guard one flank (along with table edge) and other flank would be guarded by all shooters: thunderers, quarrels, cannon, organ gun, and gyrocopter to slow movement down.

I would try and position infantry blocks close to an edge, so the miners could enter and threaten a flank of enemy (with Thane of Pain to give them more hitiness).

Quick math, I have roughly 143 points to spend. I could take another runesmith for spell protection(?) or add a banner to improve the stayability of the infantry blocks. I'd appreciate any advice you all can give.

Thanks in advance.

[Halbrad]

Some suggestions without having to buy lots of models
- I think the Brotherhood thane in the miners is not the best choice. I'd much prefer him to be a BSB (replace shield, brotherhood and stone with MRoGromril) and keep him in the line. Without a BSB reroll the Warriors and longbeards are to likely to break on the charge. If they are sent running it costs you a massive load of points and gets the unit that breaks them in a position that's very bad for the other blocks as well.
- Cannon needs RoForging as it's the only War machine you have that really scares monsters. You want every use every opportunity to shoot them to the fullest. I'd think he needs a Master engineer as well.
- The lord needs RoStone instead of a shield and master rune of challenge would come in handy as well.
- The longbeards could do with RoBattle to make it easier to win combats.

All of this adds up to more than 143, so you'd have to make some choices, or you could drop 2 miners and 4 hammerers as I think that's more than they need to do their jobs. The cannon engineer and his handgun could also be dropped as with RoForging you probably won't misfire. If he uses the gun he can't use Artillery specialist rules anyway so it's a really expensive handgun you're using then.

Regarding the battle plan I think the blocks are way better used to protect the shooters than to have them on seperate flanks. If I were fighting you I'd sent everything after the shooters and ignore the blocks which should get me enough points for a win with table quarters added in, and perhaps shoot/magic the slayers and then try to get one block in turn 6. The shooting certainly isn't powerful enough to threaten an entire army coming their way.

[Thodrik Strongfist]

Halbrad, on 20 March 2010 - 12:28 PM, said:

Some suggestions without having to buy lots of models
- I think the Brotherhood thane in the miners is not the best choice. I'd much prefer him to be a BSB (replace shield, brotherhood and stone with MRoGromril) and keep him in the line. Without a BSB reroll the Warriors and longbeards are to likely to break on the charge. If they are sent running it costs you a massive load of points and gets the unit that breaks them in a position that's very bad for the other blocks as well.
- Cannon needs RoForging as it's the only War machine you have that really scares monsters. You want every use every opportunity to shoot them to the fullest. I'd think he needs a Master engineer as well.
- The lord needs RoStone instead of a shield and master rune of challenge would come in handy as well.
- The longbeards could do with RoBattle to make it easier to win combats.

All of this adds up to more than 143, so you'd have to make some choices, or you could drop 2 miners and 4 hammerers as I think that's more than they need to do their jobs. The cannon engineer and his handgun could also be dropped as with RoForging you probably won't misfire. If he uses the gun he can't use Artillery specialist rules anyway so it's a really expensive handgun you're using then.

Regarding the battle plan I think the blocks are way better used to protect the shooters than to have them on seperate flanks. If I were fighting you I'd sent everything after the shooters and ignore the blocks which should get me enough points for a win with table quarters added in, and perhaps shoot/magic the slayers and then try to get one block in turn 6. The shooting certainly isn't powerful enough to threaten an entire army coming their way.

Thanks for your reply. I'll work on my list, based on your recommendations and repost.

Your points were also concerns of mine. I didnt want a weak battle line, and was trying to figure out how to make them harder. I like the idea of a thane with brotherhood rune flanking and adding his kills to any resolution, but whats the point if he arrives and the army has run away and Ive lost all those points? Too little to late. I'll shift him into a BsB and put him in the line too.

When you mentioned the cannon and dropping the engineer. Do you mean take a master engineer as a 4th hero?

Other then that, the blocks are ok? I see many lists with fewer warriors per block. I was thinking 4 ranks, 6 per row, for the extra attacks. But am I too concentrated? should I cut back warriors per block and possile add another unit of warriors? Or even condense the thunderers and quarrelers into 1 unit of 15 that could actually rank up in a pinch, and hold for a round or 2?

[Thoin Ironfist]

I agree with all the points Halbrad made. You definitely need a BSB before a regular Thane the cannon should always be equipped with the RoForging at this level. The Longbeards and the Hammerers could both use a runic banner. Battle for one, Stoicism for the other is what I'd recommend. Going back to the cannon, I like taking a brace of pistols on my Engineers/Master Engineers instead of a handgun. The brace has a shorter range but provides an extra attack in the shooting and close combat phases. If this appeals to you, then it may be a good decision. Lastly, the Miners are a little big in my opinion since I usually only run them in units of 8 with no upgrades, but at this size they could serve as war machine hunters or support units on the battle line, so a larger than average unit isn't a horrible idea.

On another note, the characters look good and the close combat units are all at a nice size. This is a nice list and it should do well in battle. Good luck and I hope this helps!

[Thodrik Strongfist]

Thoin Ironfist, on 20 March 2010 - 09:09 PM, said:

I agree with all the points Halbrad made. You definitely need a BSB before a regular Thane the cannon should always be equipped with the RoForging at this level. The Longbeards and the Hammerers could both use a runic banner. Battle for one, Stoicism for the other is what I'd recommend. Going back to the cannon, I like taking a brace of pistols on my Engineers/Master Engineers instead of a handgun. The brace has a shorter range but provides an extra attack in the shooting and close combat phases. If this appeals to you, then it may be a good decision. Lastly, the Miners are a little big in my opinion since I usually only run them in units of 8 with no upgrades, but at this size they could serve as war machine hunters or support units on the battle line, so a larger than average unit isn't a horrible idea.

On another note, the characters look good and the close combat units are all at a nice size. This is a nice list and it should do well in battle. Good luck and I hope this helps!

Thanks for your input Thorin. I'll consider your suggestions: brace of pistols, and runic banners (battle and stocism) once I get comments on the current version:

Heros:
I. Lord- gw, rune of kragg the grimm, rune of might, rune of splore spanklehelm, rune of stone, rune of challange. 251 pts

II. Thane- BsB Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Stone, Master Rune of Swiftness, Master Rune of Gromni 190 pts

III. Runesmith- gw, rune of stone, shield, rune of spell breaking 131 pts

IV. Master Engineer- hand weapon, gromi armor 70 pts


Core-

I. Crossbow (10) shields 120 pts

II. Thunderers (10) shields 150 pts

III. Warriors (24) full command, shields 241 pts

IV. Long Beards (23) full command, shields, gw, rune of battle 372 pts

Specials

I. Hammerers (23) full command, shields 329 pts

II. Miners (12) musician 137 pts

III. Slayers (10) 110 pts

IV. Cannon rune of burning, rune of forging 130 pts

Rare

I. Gyrocopter 140 pts

II. Organ Gun 120 pts

total cost 2491 (9 pts left)