[charn]

Hey all,

Having not touched my undead minions for about 5 years, I've once again taken them out to participate in my school club's new Fantasy campaign, starting next week. I haven't played Fantasy at all in 5 years, so I'm a little bit rusty - please bear with me. Anyway, I'm having trouble coming up with an 800 point list that I feel will be competitive and able to stand up to the likes of Chaos, Ogres, Wood Elves and Lizardmen. Here is the list that I was considering:
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[size=8pt]
Heroes

Blood Dragon Vampire Thrall @ 88 points
- Two Hand Weapons
- Heavy Armour

Necromancer (Army General) @ 125 points
- Level 2 Wizard
- Book of Arkhan

Necromancer @ 100 points
- Level 2 Wizard

Core Units

20 Skeleton Warriors @ 185 points
- Hand Weapons & Shields
- Standard Bearer
- Musician

19 Skeleton Warriors @ 177 points
- Hand Weapons & Shields
- Standard Bearer
- Musician

Special Units

5 Black Knights @ 141 points
- Lances, Heavy Armour, Shields
- Barding
- Standard Bearer


Total : 796 points[/size]
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Basically, I'm trying to take a solid core of cheap skeleton warriors, backed up with alot of Necromancy magic and supported by the mobile, hard-hitting Black Knights. I plan to bolster the skeleton units with Invocation, and try to outlast the enemy. However, I have a couple of issues:

1 - I feel the army is lacking any serious offensive power. Skeletons appear to be very weak in actual combat - strong only when causing fear. I know that in 40k, it's not wise to rely on armies failing Leadership tests often for a win - there are too many fearless and high-Ld units. Is the same true for Fantasy, or is Fear actually a very effective strength across the board? Otherwise, is there anything I could replace in the list to make it more effective in the Combat Phase?

2 - The army general is a very vulnerable Necromancer. Does anyone have any tips for how I should go about keeping him alive?

3 - Are there enough skeletons / zombies? Should I split these guys into smaller regiments? Should I fork out for Light armour / spears?


Any other general advice or comments about the list would be very much appreciated. If you think it needs a complete overhaul, please say so.

Thanks!

[Tenseiga]

Originally Posted by Charn

Basically, I'm trying to take a solid core of cheap skeleton warriors, backed up with alot of Necromancy magic and supported by the mobile, hard-hitting Black Knights. I plan to bolster the skeleton units with Invocation, and try to outlast the enemy. However, I have a couple of issues:

1 - I feel the army is lacking any serious offensive power. Skeletons appear to be very weak in actual combat - strong only when causing fear. I know that in 40k, it's not wise to rely on armies failing Leadership tests often for a win - there are too many fearless and high-Ld units. Is the same true for Fantasy, or is Fear actually a very effective strength across the board? Otherwise, is there anything I could replace in the list to make it more effective in the Combat Phase?

2 - The army general is a very vulnerable Necromancer. Does anyone have any tips for how I should go about keeping him alive?

3 - Are there enough skeletons / zombies? Should I split these guys into smaller regiments? Should I fork out for Light armour / spears?


Any other general advice or comments about the list would be very much appreciated. If you think it needs a complete overhaul, please say so.

Thanks!

Your basic strategy of trying to outlast the enemy sounds good. The 2 Necros should help if you can get off Invocation with regularity. Fear is really effective against low-Ld armies. I wouldn't lump Chaos, Lizzies, and Wood Elves under this. Still, it could come in handy in certain situations. Also, regarding Chaos, be wary of Marks of Slaanesh (immune to psych) and Khorne (frenzy--- which essentailly makes them Immune to psych until you BEAT them in combat.) Fear will be useless against these marks.

As far as smaller regiments go, I'd say that making the existing units slightly smaller and adding a 3rd reg (remember, Invoc CAN bolster numbers) I like the spear option for maybe one reg, but I wouldn't really reccomend light armor for this reg. Maybe, MAYBE for a unit of HW/sh skellies.

Other than that, you may wish to consider goving the Thrall a shield instead of add HW... this is the one character who could benefit from the improved AS.