Writing Army Lists
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 2:27 pm
Hey Guys,
Because I'm a huge strategy nerd, I have taken to writing a series of tactics related articles for my local gaming group. Since we're only about 10 strong, I figured there's no reason why I shouldn't share these with you too.
They're written with no particular army in mind, in order to be applicable to all readers, so they aren't High Elf specific.
Anyway, without further Adieu!
Writing Army Lists
I spend an inordinate amount of time mulling over lists. I write 'em, then I change 'em, then I write 'em all over again because I'm not happy about how it turned out. I stress over magic item combinations and I sweat over 5 points in a 2500 point list.
But there is both rhyme and reason to my insanity. The reason I do this is because I love what list writing is: deciding what, where and how you're going to crush your opponent!
Recently I've been involved in helping write several lists, and in doing so I've compiled some pointers for getting a solid, unified army down on the board. I'm going to summarize these points in a simple list form, for reference next time you're having difficulty putting together a list you can get behind.
1. How are you going to win the battle?
Simple question, right? It's tougher than you think; summarize in one sentence what the army you want to play is going to accomplish. Some examples:
I am going to overwhelm my opponent by separating his units and concentrating force on one unit at a time, thus mitigating incoming damage
I am going to delay my opponent while I bombard him with shooting and magic
I am going to overwhelm my opponent with superior numbers, and attack his flanks with compact, hard hitting units
Once you have that written down, you can now begin spending your points on accomplishing that goal. Whenever you buy a unit, think to yourself "How does this unit fall in line with my theme?". For example, if your list's theme is the third one listed, how would a unit of 10 archers help your list over the course of the game? Well, they could help protect your flanks... but your list is supposed to have superior numbers, so your flanks should be covered. They could put a few casualties with big blocks, but again, you have superior numbers. In this case, the archers don't fit well within the context of your list. If you really want to bring the archers, maybe you need to rethink what you want to accomplish?
The other thing this does is moves your list writing away from "This is a killer unit" and moves it more towards "This is a unit that will accomplish its task". The sum of a well coordinated army is often much, much more powerful than its individual components.
2) Are your units equipped to accomplish their task?
When you have an overarching list theme, you can now devote units to specific tasks. I'll use one example from a list I wrote recently. I had a fast moving army of elves, who would be deployed in a refused flank method. My main leadership would be in that flank, leaving the unit of spearmen tasked with holding the center of the line high and dry. This presented a risk - their job was to hold, but they would be at leadership 8 with no re-roll from the Battle Standard Bearer. One out of place panic test could spell disaster for my carefully laid plans. To mitigate this, I gave them the "Gleaming Pennant" (Credit to Seredain's army list thread here, for giving me this idea!), which allows them to reroll their first failed leadership test. This unit is now a solid steadfast block that can take some punishment before running off like wimpy elves.
The unit is built for a specific purpose within the overall context of the army.
Let's use another example - "I am going to overwhelm my opponent with superior numbers, and attack his flanks with compact, hard hitting units" - to illustrate further.
This list needs two key components - large steadfast/unbreakable blocks to keep the opponent locked in combat, and small, maneuverable units for making mincemeat of troops and generating combat resolution. Using an army that I know does this well, a Skaven player might accomplish this by including large blocks of slaves for cheap steadfast blocks, and a hellpit abomination or doomwheel for flank assault.
The sum of these two units is much greater than their individual accomplishments.
3) What is the least amount of points you can spend to accomplish your goal with any given unit?
You've got a limited number of points to spend, and there will always be something else you want. So how do you choose what to take?
let's take that slave block as an example. They're 2 points each, and another 2 points for the musician. Their job is to hold the line long enough for me to bring my heavy hitters to bear. How many rounds of combat will this take? I think 3 is a safe bet - they charge in and flankers move into position, then a round of combat in the opponent's turn, then finally a turn of combat with the flanking force charging in again on your turn. You still want your rank bonus for static resolution when your flankers hit, and we think we'll be facing some nasty stuff and losing 10 guys per combat. This puts us at an even 50 slaves to accomplish their goal. Any less, and you're running the risk of losing steadfast early and the plan dissolving. Any more, and you're spending unnecessary points for very little marginal benefit.
Same thing goes with hitting units. If your goal is to do maximum damage on the flank with your unit of Black Orcs, is it necessary to take a unit of 30? Remember your overall goal states that you want compact, hard hitting units. Any troops past the second rank don't produce any more damage - which is why they're there in the first place - and are essentially just extra wounds for the unit. Is it worth 13 points for an extra wound? Are the Black Orcs even the best choice to fill that role, or is there another unit that can do it better/cheaper?
Using this methodology will allow you to assess whether you're dumping too many or too few points into any given unit.
4) Putting it all together
Finally, consider your opponent. What are you going to need for that particular opponent? Chance favours the prepared, so in a game based on chance it is important to have solutions for the problems you expect to face. Think you're going to see regeneration? Better fit that flaming banner in there.
Heroes are a great help here too. Between magic, magic items and combat potential (not to mention leadership bonuses!) heroes are a great way to augment your list.
Notice that I said augment.
It's not worth it to just put a hero in for the sake of putting them in. Heroes (especially in this edition) tend to be costly and as such need to have a specific goal in mind. If you take heroes recklessly, your opponent is going to thank you for allowing him free points.
Every army has its individual nuances, and of course some are more character dependent than others, but universally it is important to think about what they are going to accomplish and whether those points would be better spent on something else.
Because I'm a huge strategy nerd, I have taken to writing a series of tactics related articles for my local gaming group. Since we're only about 10 strong, I figured there's no reason why I shouldn't share these with you too.
They're written with no particular army in mind, in order to be applicable to all readers, so they aren't High Elf specific.
Anyway, without further Adieu!
Writing Army Lists
I spend an inordinate amount of time mulling over lists. I write 'em, then I change 'em, then I write 'em all over again because I'm not happy about how it turned out. I stress over magic item combinations and I sweat over 5 points in a 2500 point list.
But there is both rhyme and reason to my insanity. The reason I do this is because I love what list writing is: deciding what, where and how you're going to crush your opponent!
Recently I've been involved in helping write several lists, and in doing so I've compiled some pointers for getting a solid, unified army down on the board. I'm going to summarize these points in a simple list form, for reference next time you're having difficulty putting together a list you can get behind.
1. How are you going to win the battle?
Simple question, right? It's tougher than you think; summarize in one sentence what the army you want to play is going to accomplish. Some examples:
I am going to overwhelm my opponent by separating his units and concentrating force on one unit at a time, thus mitigating incoming damage
I am going to delay my opponent while I bombard him with shooting and magic
I am going to overwhelm my opponent with superior numbers, and attack his flanks with compact, hard hitting units
Once you have that written down, you can now begin spending your points on accomplishing that goal. Whenever you buy a unit, think to yourself "How does this unit fall in line with my theme?". For example, if your list's theme is the third one listed, how would a unit of 10 archers help your list over the course of the game? Well, they could help protect your flanks... but your list is supposed to have superior numbers, so your flanks should be covered. They could put a few casualties with big blocks, but again, you have superior numbers. In this case, the archers don't fit well within the context of your list. If you really want to bring the archers, maybe you need to rethink what you want to accomplish?
The other thing this does is moves your list writing away from "This is a killer unit" and moves it more towards "This is a unit that will accomplish its task". The sum of a well coordinated army is often much, much more powerful than its individual components.
2) Are your units equipped to accomplish their task?
When you have an overarching list theme, you can now devote units to specific tasks. I'll use one example from a list I wrote recently. I had a fast moving army of elves, who would be deployed in a refused flank method. My main leadership would be in that flank, leaving the unit of spearmen tasked with holding the center of the line high and dry. This presented a risk - their job was to hold, but they would be at leadership 8 with no re-roll from the Battle Standard Bearer. One out of place panic test could spell disaster for my carefully laid plans. To mitigate this, I gave them the "Gleaming Pennant" (Credit to Seredain's army list thread here, for giving me this idea!), which allows them to reroll their first failed leadership test. This unit is now a solid steadfast block that can take some punishment before running off like wimpy elves.
The unit is built for a specific purpose within the overall context of the army.
Let's use another example - "I am going to overwhelm my opponent with superior numbers, and attack his flanks with compact, hard hitting units" - to illustrate further.
This list needs two key components - large steadfast/unbreakable blocks to keep the opponent locked in combat, and small, maneuverable units for making mincemeat of troops and generating combat resolution. Using an army that I know does this well, a Skaven player might accomplish this by including large blocks of slaves for cheap steadfast blocks, and a hellpit abomination or doomwheel for flank assault.
The sum of these two units is much greater than their individual accomplishments.
3) What is the least amount of points you can spend to accomplish your goal with any given unit?
You've got a limited number of points to spend, and there will always be something else you want. So how do you choose what to take?
let's take that slave block as an example. They're 2 points each, and another 2 points for the musician. Their job is to hold the line long enough for me to bring my heavy hitters to bear. How many rounds of combat will this take? I think 3 is a safe bet - they charge in and flankers move into position, then a round of combat in the opponent's turn, then finally a turn of combat with the flanking force charging in again on your turn. You still want your rank bonus for static resolution when your flankers hit, and we think we'll be facing some nasty stuff and losing 10 guys per combat. This puts us at an even 50 slaves to accomplish their goal. Any less, and you're running the risk of losing steadfast early and the plan dissolving. Any more, and you're spending unnecessary points for very little marginal benefit.
Same thing goes with hitting units. If your goal is to do maximum damage on the flank with your unit of Black Orcs, is it necessary to take a unit of 30? Remember your overall goal states that you want compact, hard hitting units. Any troops past the second rank don't produce any more damage - which is why they're there in the first place - and are essentially just extra wounds for the unit. Is it worth 13 points for an extra wound? Are the Black Orcs even the best choice to fill that role, or is there another unit that can do it better/cheaper?
Using this methodology will allow you to assess whether you're dumping too many or too few points into any given unit.
4) Putting it all together
Finally, consider your opponent. What are you going to need for that particular opponent? Chance favours the prepared, so in a game based on chance it is important to have solutions for the problems you expect to face. Think you're going to see regeneration? Better fit that flaming banner in there.
Heroes are a great help here too. Between magic, magic items and combat potential (not to mention leadership bonuses!) heroes are a great way to augment your list.
Notice that I said augment.
It's not worth it to just put a hero in for the sake of putting them in. Heroes (especially in this edition) tend to be costly and as such need to have a specific goal in mind. If you take heroes recklessly, your opponent is going to thank you for allowing him free points.
Every army has its individual nuances, and of course some are more character dependent than others, but universally it is important to think about what they are going to accomplish and whether those points would be better spent on something else.