Warband campaign

[Melkhar]

Hi everyone, I am starting à Warband campaign with some of my friends that are starting warhammer. What we want is a mix of competitive and fun gaming.

So, I had to choose a 250 points starting army. With the 150 points limitation and the commander obligation, I'm not too sure about what kind of list I should field to have a general that can sustain some attacks and a minimum degree of troops to start with. We need a minimum of two core units.

So, first list: Melkhar's skullmongers Warband

Commander : Melkhar Von Carstein, Vampire, lvl1, Flayed hauberk, Summon ghouls. (140)

Ghouls x 8 (Commander's unit) (64)

Ghouls x 5 (40)

Total = 244 pts.

This list would spend the first turn bolstering its ranks and it has a really tough commander for this scale of points.

Second list: Araknor's bookwurms Warband

Commander: Araknor, Necromancer, black periapt (70)

Ghouls x 10 (80) (Some punch)

Zombie x 15 (60) (easy IoN)

Dire wolves x 5 (40) (Flankers, warmachine hunters, redirect)

Total = 250 pts

This list has a very sqeashy commander (that is going to hide), but a much more concrete starting army. I won't be able to create new ghouls, but I can still raise the fallen. The dire wolves will be either very versatile (with unit strenght 10) at this size of the game or they are going to die to ennemy shooting.

Those are the lists that I thought about. If you have any other ideas or suggestion, I'm open !

 

[Mikael.K]

I personally like the first one. Like you said, the vamp has two things going for him: 1) he´s a good fighter and 2) he can raise those ghoul unit above their starting numbers. That is extremly powerful at these points. The downside obviously is that he´s expensive, but I would still go with the vamp list.

Hopefully nobody plays woodies with that god awful hail of doom arrow :mrgreen: .

 

[Melkhar]

Hopefully nobody plays woodies with that god awful hail of doom arrow :mrgreen: .

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping... But with toughness 4, Ghouls are quite good at resisting at those kind of tactics. I would have liked to include a small regiment of faster units (2-3 knights or wolves), but I think ghouls are much better in numbers at this scale.

But, as you say, summonning powers are REALLY powerfull in those small battles. I'm thinking of removing the power so that my list is not too cheesy. What do you think about that?

I'm still working hard to try and convince the campaign organiser to up the points to a standard of 300-400 points.

I will tell you how it is going after some battles.

 

[Flailing-Axes]

Looks nice, though I have to wonder, have you agreed to disregard the rule that says a vampire has to be the army general?

 

[LidlessPraetor]

I think in the warband specifics it says that a necro can lead the army, much as saying that the brets don't have to have a BSB in a warband. I think it's only fair, that and, most opponents should be happy they're not fighting against a vampire, b/c at the points value, a vampire is a steal of a deal; mainly because he can cast and fight well in CC.

My personal warband list has a lvl 1 vamp, with the black periapt, and a corpse cart. That's 4 PD ( after turn 1), and 1 bound spell. I find it's very hard to counter in low pt games.

 

[Melkhar]

Yes, in warbands you don't need to have a vampire commander, his minions are doing his biddings.

Heres some other lists I wrote after reading your suggestions (I don't have any copse cart and I wouldn't play one at this level)

Commander : Vampire, lvl 1, Black Periapt, Night shroud (or avatar of death?) and Summon ghouls (150 pts)

Ghouls x 7 (56)

Ghouls X 5 (40)

Total = 246pts.

Fighty vamp, with summoning powers (4pd on 2nd turn) and a very small army that looks quite pitifull on the table.
Or:

Commander : Vampire (100pts)
Ghouls x 10 -champion- (88)
Zombies x 9 (36)
Dire wolves x 3 (24)

Total = 248 points
Naked character (still powerful), that can still cast zombies on one dice. Some dire wolves for more versatility and a ghoul unit (6*5 with character) that can dish out some dammage, even more if the wolves flank the ennemy unit.

Or:
Vampire, Ghouls summ. (115)
- 3 ghouls (24)
- 3 Dire wolves (24)
- 10 ghouls (80)
= 243 points
More summoning, but less starting troops and no protection for the vamp.

I would also like to know which of the characters archetype you think would be best for a vampire general. I was thinking about Intellectual, but there is also the magician and barbarian ones that are interesting.

 

[Vulf von Carstein]

Personally I don't like using the Barbarian archetype for a vampire as the starting ability is useless for a vampire counts army. I've gone with magician for mine as one of the abilities you can gain is an extra magic level, which i believe can really help to balance a combat vamp between awesome in hand to hand, yet still a powerful wizard

 

[LidlessPraetor]

I agree with the magician archetype, as it's the best one. It really can be nice to have those benefits. The other one I like is the tactician, for choosing which deployment zone/style, and I like the Speedy deployment. Still not as good as the magician, but I like to flavor things up a bit.

Also, since this is a warband, with either list, I would focus on having one large group of ghouls, then the bare minimum for the other core(s), until you get the first filled out nicely. That way, if you're fighting dwarves, you still have one solid block of infantry even with they're big time dispels, and we all know the key for VC is combat resolution anyway. Remember, that for a warband, the minimum cost of a core that fits the bill is 12pts. That's a cheap throw away zombie unit that still saves you points for upgrading your other unit. And the funny thing is, a couple of casts of IoN, and that 12 pts base squad just got turned into a sizeable unit. =)

 

[Melkhar]

So for my final 500 points army list, I’m debating some choices. This final choice is going to dictate what is going to be my first 250 points list.

Commander:
Hero (limited to 150 with equipment, magic items, etc.):
Vampire, Black Periapt, Summon Ghouls. (130)
With the last points I’m thinking about one of these : Night Shroud (6+, always strike first), Avatar of death (3+save or GW), Enchanted shield (4+), Cadaverous cuirass (5+ and Imm. Killing Blow+Poison), Lycni Talisman (18” charge or move) or one of the magic swords: Sword of Battle, Sword of Might, Sword of Hitting or even Biting Blade.
What should I choose?
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Army (I follow the 250+ Warband rules (min size of 3 for 20x20, 2 for 25X50, 1 for 40x40. Only 0-1 special and 0-1 rare or 0-2 special if no rare)
1)
Ghouls x 11 + champion (96)
Ghouls x 10 + champion (88)
Dire wolves x 3 (24)
Black Knights x 5 (120)
Fell Bats x 1 (xx)
348 + 150 character = 498pts.

The Fell Bat would be march blocking, redirecting and diverting.
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2)
Ghouls x 10 + champion (88)
Ghouls x 6 (48)
Dire wolves x 3 (24)
Black Knights x 5 (120)
Spirit Host x 1 (xx)
345 + 150 character = 495 pts.

The Spirit Host will be awesome against small elite troops that don’t have any magical attacks. And there is not a lot of magic in Warband games. But he is very costly and could be an easy target for fast moving characters with magical attacks.
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I was also debating putting Barding on the Black Knights (2+ save in Warband is awesome) or even a Banner (Because with CC3, they don’t hit that hard and CR is vital), but they would cost much more points.

I was also thinking about maybe fielding a cheap 20 zombie unit with Standard just so the Capture the Colors (capture a standard) unknown objectives had to be chosen by my opponents if they roll it and I don’t think they could ever take it with the number of zombies I could IoN each turn. Because if I don’t have any standard, they get to choose freely their objective if they roll the Capture the Colors one.

 

[dienekes00]

Howdy, new here and to WFB, in general.

Yet this thread has riveted me. I was looking for some low points ways to ease into the game and this seems perfect.

A few questions, if you don't mind:

1. What are the Warband rules and where can I find them?
2. What is this archetype stuff?
3. Any advice on building a collection slowly (over several months) from scratch? What would you suggest first?

 

[Melkhar]

You can find the Warband rules on the official GamesWorkshop download pages (and the archetype stuff is explained in the rule book).
As for suggestions, I would say :
Buy a vamp, some core units (skellies or ghouls (as you like, zombies (for invocations)) and some dire wolves. Then I would think about expending into specials and rare units.
As for advice, I will redirect you in the general discussion forum, where it has been discussed aplenty. I don't want to be rude, but I would like this thread to stay on it's original topic.

 

[Melkhar]

Anyone else has played Warbands scenario or could help me with my crucial dilemma?