After seeing a few topics on Druchii.net concerned around a resurgance of cauldron lists, I have taken a personal interest in creating an army that revolves around this handy little device. So, without further ado, I present my new list:

Asirion’s Malice
A 2250 point force


Lords and Heroes

Asirion (Lord), 213 Points- Mounted on a cold one, lance, shield, heavy armour, seal of Ghrond
Sira (Noble), 237 points- Rides in a cold one chariot- Hand Weapon; ; Heavy Armour; Battle Standard Bearer; Sea Dragon Cloak; Standard of Slaughter
Val’Markith (Sorceress, though he’s actually a sorcerer… poet… guy), 140 point- Two Dispel Scrolls

Core Choices

20 Warriors, 185 points- Full command, Spears, Shields
20 Warriors, 185 points- Full command, Spears, Shields
14 Warriors, 174 points- Musician, Repeater Crossbows, Shields
5 Dark Riders, 120 Points- Repeater Crossbow

Special Choices

15 Executioners, 195 points- full command
5 Cold One Knights, 190 Points- Full Command
7 Harpies, 91 Points
Cold One Chariot, 97 Points- Spears
Cold One Chariot, 97 Points- Spears

Rare Choices

Cauldron of Blood, 205 Points
Reaper Bolt Thrower, 100 Points
Reaper Both Thrower, 100 Points

Total: 2231 Points



The purpose of this list is to take the Dark Elven ability for troops to work in conjunction and basically up it to a new extreme. The two blocks of spearmen act as the anvils of the army, drawing in main units and holding them for a turn or two. The Executioners are also large enough to take up a similar role, though I seriously hope I won't be needing them for this purpose, as it's never a good thing to use 5+ great weapon troops as an anvil.

The Flankers are relatively easy to spot- Cold One knights w/the general (though it can be used as an unreliable hammer if necessary), the executioners (on a good day), the chariots, and the warriors with crossbows, if necessary.

To draw the enemy toward the cauldron, I felt two reaper bolt throwers were in order, combined with the force of 14 RXB warriors, and the dark riders. The riders also serve for mage hunting duty, along with the harpies. The harpies will be deployed near the cauldron, so that if a unit of scouts should reveal themselves, the 360 line of sight from the harpies allows the beasts to charge and at least hold them for a bit... harpies aren't the best creatures in close combat... but what can you do?

A few things on the list:

- I don't like Witch Elves- crazy effective with a cauldron or not, I simply don't like them, and therefore won't be fielding any in this list. Does it weaken it? Yes. Do I care? No. I want this army for the most part to look rather disciplined, and the Witch Elves simply do not fit my conception of that. granted, the harpies aren't "Disciplined" at all, but I'll allow7 excpetions as to two sets of 15 or so.

- The purpose of the cauldron is to maximize the use of the other units in the army. The ability to reroll failed wounds is quite powerful, especially for units such as executioners, chariots, even high strength units like cold one knights. Suddenly, however, everything becomes a fair threat- even the basic 7 point spear elf is a half decent threat to the opponent's forces.

- This list is fairly new, and I'm fully prepared to make a fair number of changes. Thoughts that come to mind are dropping the cold ones for more executioners (making use of the cauldron's affect on killing blow). Things I've considered include dropping the spearmen for Corsairs (though I'm rather hesitant to do this, in all honesty), taking more Dark Riders, and throwing my general on foot. Not sure on any of these yet.


With all that in mind, comments and criticism welcome.

Pretty nice. I like the idea of a chariot-riding BSB.

Don't do that. Ever since they've lowered the spearmen's cost to only 7 points each, Corsairs are no longer worth it in my opinion.

More Dark Riders will be useful, though: like all fast cav, they tend to drop like flies.

I would swap out the smaller unit of Warriors for Corsairs, myself. As you said, the two big units are the anvils: especially with the sorcerer in the front rank (I assume, from the unit size), it looks like that unit is set up for a more mobile role, rather than soaking charges alongside its bigger brothers. Two hand weapons lets you charge in and still maintain the same high number of attacks, which is what you need to aim for if you want to use the Cauldron to maximum effect.

You've definitely got the right idea with the Reapers & the Harpies - you want the enemy to come to you so you don't have to forfeit the Cauldron, so you need to control the shooting phase. Since there's not much space for RXBs in the list, what with all your combat infantry commitments, it seems to me that a little more magic might be handy: right now, you're forfeiting that phase, which means that a magic-heavy army is probably going to be able to force you to abandon your Cauldron provided it can handle your firepower - which isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination. I've got to say, though, that I can't see where you'd find the points: perhaps losing a Harpy or two, and a rank off the Executioners (that third rank is probably superfluous, considering that they should be operating in tandem with a fully-ranked Warrior unit from what I gather of the list).

Most importantly, though... a Dark Elf poet? Isn't that kind of like an Ogre lap-dancer, or a Snotling wrestler?

I don't see any reason why there shouldn't be Dark Elf poets.* While it's true that the Druchii despite waste in all it's forms, it is quite likely that they have thriving literature of all kinds. It's just that, unlike High Elves, their poets are first and foremost warriors. None of this ivory tower stuff, none of this lying about in a puffy shirt composing hymns to a beloved nonsense. Certainly Terran warrior cultures had poets amongst them, so I see no reason this elven warrior culture would not.


*Or for that matter, Snotling wrestlers, even if only amongst themselves.

Benedictus hit the nail on the head- I am of the opinion that even though the druchii culture is a rather sadistic, socially darwinistic-minded bunch, they are still elves, and an appreciation for the aesthetic is common in all elves. As a result, poetry, even at the very least as propoganda for Malekith, could and would exist. I'll address this point in the fluff bit I'm writing for the army- I have a fair amount of ideas swirling aroudn in my head for the creation of this army. Also, Val'Marith's inspiration comes from the poet Val'miki, who is said to have written the Ramayana, a story about the life of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, and his wife Sita.

That aside, on to a few points.

@ All- while I realize I'm stretched pretty thin for points, what do you all think of giving my General the Driach of Dark Power? With it's Killing blow ability, combined with the reroll, it would certainly have some nice little advantages- namely the whole I can kill you many times over mentality...

@ Chili:

I've put some consideration into the idea, but I still can't help but feel having the RXB elves is a better option. Here is my logic: In order to get the enemy to come toward me, I need to have enough incentive to actually draw them in. While the two RBTs are certainly going to help, I would like that extra little umph to suggest, hey, you may wanna get into combat before your troops become pincushions. I feel like an extra 10 to 14 shots may very well accomplish this goal. I say 14 because I may arrange the warriors in a 7x2 formation. While this makes them very difficult to manuever, that is not so much their purpose. Rather, they are there merely to add a psychological aspect to the list. Seeing these guys on the table with the RBTs and the Dark Riders may be what I need to tip the scales to worry the opposing general, and make him send his army forward into the rerolls of death. Even if they don't add the psychological effect, they add the lovely effect of those 10 to 14 extra shots, and a unit which can flank, or hold the enemy a turn as a last ditch effort, if necessary. While not as killy as the corsairs, I feel like they help augment the shooting phase and the psychology of the army enough that their presence is justified.

Tough call- While magic really just isn't somethign I'm interested in, I can see it being of great benefit to the army, and as a result I can't deny it's use... Then again, if I wanted to control all phases, I probably built a magic heavy, dark rider heavy army. And as much fun as it sounds to simply run circles around your enemy and pepper them with RXB fire before drawing them back into the CoB zone for a Dark Rider Charge with Rerollable strength 4 hits, it would get old after awhile...

Still something completely different to consider though...

@ @ztech:

An Argument ot defeat myself here... just because I can.

The worth of the corsair comes from the fact that it is highly resiliant to shooting, with it's 4+ save due to its sea dragon cloak, and the fact each warrior has two attacks. These two facts would serve well in my army. First, the extra resiliance against missle weapons would encourage the enemy to come towards my army, in some respects- if you're haing trouble actually killing the blasted things with missle fire, then you may as well exploit the fact that they only have a 5+save in combat. Of course, the two attacks on the charge or when being charged would make them a force to not scoff- especially with the cauldron around. A lot of people talk about how the corsair is meant as an offensive unit, and this of course, is true. However, when you stop to think about the fact that the corsair can dish out the same number of attacks when they receive a charge as warrior, and hace the same save, the extra 3 points may well become worth it- they suddenly can take on so many more roles in the army whereas the warriors are slightly more limited.

While I honestly think the Corsairs may be more effective in the list, I simply prefer the look 40 ranked spearmen will give my army, plus I have some rather interesting conversion ideas booked up for then, whereas I can't think of anythign as nifty for the corsairs. So Spear Elves it is.

--------------------------------

After thinking about who I could include in my army a bit more, I'm contemplating a completely different hero make up. While this make up would essentially cost a fairly high amount of points, it could be quite potent in round out the list a bit more. The concept of a High Sorceress, A DoDP-wielding noble in a chariot, and an Assassin with the Death crosses my mind. This combination would up my magic-phase, give me a S6 Killing-blow noble riding around in a chariot, and a nice little surprise with more killing blow goodness. On the flip side of all this, I suddenly lose my BSB, the very strong canopener in the form of Asirion on a cold one, and the use of two dispel scrolls, as my HS would be offensively based. I suppose I could throw in another noble in a chariot for the BSB effect, and just cut the cold one knights completely, but I'm just not so sure about this...

Maybe I'll go back to the drawing board then...

True, but with spearmen, twice as many warriors can attack (except when charging). If you lose a Corsair when getting charged, you get -2 Attacks; while when you lose a spearman, you get only -1 Attack.

So, as you say, spearmen are more suited to a defensive style of playing.

Not sure it's all that useful to kill the enemy many times over. The Draich would be superb against the Hordes of Chaos; but against other armies, it's like paying a fortune for a cannon that you'll be aiming at a mouse.

But Dang If you wont get that dern mousey preety darn good.

*hillbilly chuckle*

[Insertsomethingsoitisn'tspam]

I agree with Chili though, take one corsair unit, just because, that way, you can have an offensive block as well.

Think if you have to fight Dwarfs, his firepower will make you attack, and then you will be stuck with some pretty bad first round charge attacks.

Not only are they good against Dwarfs though, they should give you some whole new tactial options.

[/Insert]

Burro Boskov

Actually I see it as being useful against Chaos, Brettonians, and Dwarves- some of the more played armies in my opinion. The Driach makes a great can opener due to the fact that it has a good chance of hitting, wounding, and also has the killing part thrown in there. Also would be useful for Empire and High Elf Cavalry lists. Just my thoughts on it.

This isn't a tournament list, just something to have fun with. If I was going against Dwarves, I don't think I would bring this list along...

*LACK OF MOVEMENT VS. LACK OF MOVEMENT! One army has cannons, the other doesnt! Who will win?!*

Alright, I worked through another list to see what I could come up with, thus yielding V2 of the army. Here it is:

Lords and Heroes

Val'Markith (High Sorceress), 355 points- Level 4 Wizard; Dispel Scroll(x1); Lifetaker; Heart-stone of Darkness
Sira (Noble) 155 Points- Heavy Armour; Battle Standard Bearer; Sea Dragon Cloak; Blade of Ruin; Rides in Cold One Chariot
Asirion (Assassin), 175 Points- Driach of Dark Power

Core Choices

20 Warriors, 185 points- Full command, Spears, Shields
20 Warriors, 185 points- Full command, Spears, Shields
14 Warriors, 174 points- Musician, Repeater Crossbows, Shields
5 Dark Riders, 90 Points

Special Choices

12 Executioners, 132 points
5 Cold One Knights, 145 Points
7 Harpies, 91 Points
Cold One Chariot, 97 Points- Spears
Cold One Chariot, 97 Points- Spears

Rare Choices

Cauldron of Blood, 205 Points
Reaper Bolt Thrower, 100 Points
Reaper Both Thrower, 100 Points

Total: 2231 Points



I'm not entirely certain whether I like it or not- It's lost a bit of it's ability to hit hard with combat through the loss of the powerful Cold One Knight contingent, but on the flip side of that, it's defiantely become more powered up in the way of magic, and I would say shooting remain equal (Horsies lose RBXs, gain the lifetaker).

Val'markith is decked out as a multipurpose hero- cast magic well, has plenty of protection, and can do something other than just shoot bolts of magical energy at the opponent (namely also shoot bolts.... ummmm, boltiness at the enemy). The Heartstone may be a bit over the top, and I still need to get the seal of Ghrond in there somehow, so we shall have to see if I decide to drop it or not. Also, I could maybe give him an actual item to help with spell casting. I just don't know what to do with him though- at the moment there's a feel of the "jack of all trades, master of none.

Sira is meant to replace the role Asirion used to take, which is to act as a can opener. With the blade of Ruin negating armour saves, and the rerolls from the cauldron making sure her attacks hit, I feel like she does a pretty good job of it. One thing I am considering, however, is to drop the Blade and chuck in the Wand of Khadarion instead. Again, drop in combat, but gain in magic and shooting.

Asirion has taken the biggest turnaround, going from a highborn lord to an assassin. The logic behind this is mainly fluff- Asirion is suppose to be the common soldier found at Har Ganeth from which Val'Markith saw the blessings of Khaine literally seeping from- originally an executioner, he was one of the few who spent almost all his time training, and was rightly feared by his fellow compatriots for his unparalelled strength, and ability to kill a man with one well placed blow. I also like the idea of his before each battle "blessing" a unit by hiding himself amongst their ranks, only to jump out as they charge the enemy and take dow na few of the buggers. Fluffwise, cool, gamewise, eh. He's meant as a nice little surprise way to beef up some of the weaker infantry units, and turn some of the anvils into phaux-hammers. However, the extra point cost behind him as compared to a noble is quite noticable, and I can't help but wonder if it would be better to swap him to a noble, slap some armour on him, give him a good weapon, and use the extra points either to arm my dark riders with Repeater crossbows, or add some champions to my Executioner and Cold one units for the extra attacks. The fluff just sounds fun, and the modeling options are rather tasty when you're not wearing movement robbing armour. Of course, there's the fact he has NO armour...

Tell me what you think.