WHFB - 8th Army List: The Master & Margarita

[Kaptain Von]

Lords

The Master - Master Necromancer - magic level 4, Talisman of Endurance, Feedback Scroll

Heroes​

Margarita di Maddaloni - Vampire - shield, Biting Blade, Nightshroud, Beguile, Summon Creatures of the Night, Dark Acolyte

Cora - Banshee

Clarice - Banshee

Core​

Company of the Black Eagle - 39 Skeletons - champion, musician, standard bearer (Screaming Banner)

Templehof Pals - 20 Zombies - musician, standard bearer

5 Dire Wolves

5 Dire Wolves

The Local People - 10 Ghouls - Ghast

Special

Order of the Black Cross - 8 Black Knights - champion, musician, standard bearer

Black Monks of St. Herod - 1 Spirit Host

2 Bat Swarms

Rare​

Crimson Order of the Dragon - 4 Blood Knights - champion, musician, standard bearer (Rampager's Standard)

Lord Ruthven's Repose - Black Coach

Total: 2000 points on the dot


The above represents a good faith attempt to recreate my fifth edition army list in eighth edition. I started with this "Master and Margarita" army list when it became clear that I'd need a Master Necromancer (as the best spellcaster available under Tournament Battle conditions) and points were tight enough that my Vampire general would need to be a cheap Countess taking on whatever magical duties would help the army perform efficiently, and having a few other dirty tricks to her name. The named units are the ones I field in almost every game, with one exception because I wanted to field something that was unique to the eighth edition book.

The conditions of construction are as follows:

1. the List is to avail itself of newfangled opportunities where possible (the Skeletons deploy in Horde formation, the off-colour Knights receive a vampiric upgrade)
2. the List is to respect the necessities of the edition (a level 4 wizard and a secondary Lore of the Vampires caster)
3. the List is to preserve the character of the original (Margarita as off-caster doing something useful for the army and helping out with wolves, Lord Ruthven as “absent presence” in his Black Coach, with the core units providing further continuity)
4. the List must be constructed with models I already own (hence none of the “only in eighth” goodies like Terrorgheists, Mortis Engines or Crypt Horrors; while I like these things well enough they are dramatically out of keeping with the late-Nineties/early-Noughties aesthetic of the army as it stands and also I’m not buying them)

I reasoned that the Master would be wantonly throwing dice at big spells from his Zombie bunker, and fairly relaxed about Dimensional Cascades and so on as neither he nor they would be expected to last the game out. Margarita is a more conservative "throw a few dice at Invocation" caster with some protective kit and a budget magic weapon just in case she has to hit someone; she goes in with the Skeletons and they try to hold out until a Rare choice can get stuck in and help them out.

There are things I’d consider jimmying about. I’d like a magic standard on the Black Cross (even if ’tis but a War Banner), and I seriously considered Fear Incarnate on Margarita to try and get the most out of eighth edition’s tragically enfeebled Fear rule (but being able to summon wolves has always been part of her Carstein kit, and Beguile just suits her). I would also consider the Rod of Flaming Death instead of the Nightshroud, because I find that item hilarious (and it has a lot of battlefield control potential!) and the Banshees are just there for nostalgia’s sake, I could easily replace them with something else. Finally, the Blood Knights could easily be a bigger (even the only) unit of cavalry, or the Black Knights could expand to 12 and use the models currently intended to pretend that they're Blood Knights.

I know it’s somewhat idiosyncratic. I wanted to avoid the photocopy special, partly because I don't own any models released after 2007 and partly because we're not playing under tournament conditions any more and there's just no need to monobuild or go home. Instead, the goal was to maintain my Stillmania credibility as best I could without completely sacrificing playability.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Well, i plaud your coherency.
I like the list, and i hope you will be able to post a batrep

 

[Kaptain Von]

Well, i plaud your coherency.
I like the list, and i hope you will be able to post a batrep

Perhaps! This one is held in the back pocket in case I meet anyone who urgently wishes to play eighth and only eighth; there are no immediate plans to play it but one never knows what might happen.