Stupid Lance Formation

[Deleted]

Has anyone got any general advice for dealing with Brentonian Knights. My Wood Elves get massacred, by the way two units of 6 wardancers, 12 Dryads and a Noble are supposed to win when they charge a Knights of the Realm unit? All the players field full units of 15 knights plus a damsel who deals out the damage and then runs away.

Appreciate all feedback,

Karskin. ;D

[Deleted]

i cant remember if elves can get the lore of metal but if they can use that hopw u get spirit of the forge. its one me 2 games against brentonians so far. also see if u can get your hands on a tree man

[knight (M.I.A)]

Do you have any blocking units who can survive the initial charge? If so, let the knights run in them and then charge in their flank.
If you don't have such units it will be hard time for you. Since I sold my Skaven I only have Vampires left and I use Zombies for blocking while I move Skeletons, Black Knights or Grave guard with Vanahels Dance Macabre in the flanks of them.
So either use cheap unit or one that can withstand such a charge for one turn. For me the flanking works wonders. For you it will be a bit more expensive since you can'T simply summon a new block of Zombies during the game like me, but I'm sure that you have a unit that can block. Also the Dryads, the Noble, and the Wardancers should kill them easily when they charge the flank

[Deleted]

My Dryads can usually take a charge and then i get my Wardancers to make a flank charge but they kill so little and wardancers and dryads don't get banners which really turns against me in the combat resolution. By the way what are the undead like to play? I like the new models and i really like the fluff behind Vampires.

[knight (M.I.A)]

Hmm that's a problem. Zombies can live without banners you simply have to summon new ones...

Vampire counts were fun to play after the new codex and I think I'll buy a spearhead box on the 23rd.
Biggest problem were and to some point are still the lack of good models. The vampires have still no good Black Knight models so that most players converted them from Bretonnian KotR or Empire Knights. There are also no really good bat models (but I'm not sure if they still have bats in the new AB).

For playing style:
Old vampires were somewhat difficult to play, since you had to keep your general alive at all cost, but when you had a vampire count or prince leading your army he was also one of the most powerful units you had. This should thankfully change with the new army book. He/She is still important, but not that important, that your whole army will fall into dust when he/she dies. For the new rules I only know lots of more or less confirmed rumors.

[Deleted]

Do Vampires have their own magic Lore?

[knight (M.I.A)]

Yes. They have the Necromancy Lore. But after the old AB all sorcerors could choose between Death and Necromancy.

Right now it contains 6 spells. (Which will most likely be changed or altered with the new army book)
Invocation of Nehek (every sorceror can get it since it summons undead)
Hand of Dust (gives the sorceror a deathblow that affect everything)
Hellish Vigor (first strike for one unit)
Gaze of Nagash (magic missile)
Vanhel's Dance Macbre (mighty movement spell)
Curse of the Years (really mighty, permanent damage spell)

So for what I know already (even if those are still nothing more than rumors we can expect:
1 Lord choice, Vamire Count (old AB = 3 choices)
3 Hero choices, Vampire Thrall, Wight Lord, Necromancer while the Wraiths are no longer heroes

Core:
Zombies = really weak fighters, best to be summoned on the battlefield
Skeletons = tougher than Zombies, but still not the best
Dire Wolves = light cav
Tomb Ghouls = now a rank and file unit, no idea what its role will be, but they were skirmishers in the old AB
Bat swarms = no idea if they'll still be in the AB

Elite:
Black Knights = strong cav, that is supposed to have etheral movement if the rumors are true
Grave Guard = strong infantry that can be armed with two handed weapons
Fell Bats = same as about the swarms
Ghost swarms = etheral swarms. do I have to say more?

Rare:
Wraiths + Banshee = etheral! skirmishers!
Black Coach = chariot with special abilities
Varghulf = fast and strong moster
Knights of the Blood Keep = really strong cav, consisting of Vampires! point costs are estimated to about 60-70! points per Knight

[starwoof]

The best way to deal with those knight is to get them in the flank, or better, the rear. Its not as difficult as it sounds. With wood elves its even easier. Dryads are a good bet, so are wild riders.

Personally though, I just magic them with Gaze of Gork or hit them with fanatics.

Oh, magic. Tree sing trees into their way and then get them clogged up for the whole match. Keep the battle on YOUR terms, thats what welves are best at.

[sammy1979]

i suppose hardcover might work, but mostly force them to make loads of ranged saves eventually they'll get whittled down, by arrows (sometimes) and hide alot. wood elfs in the open = dead elfs

[acolyte]

eagle riders/ fast cav to restrict move and shoot shoot shoot. works for my skaven

[knight (M.I.A)]

The lance formation is indeed a problem. On last Saturday we played the Battle of Hel Fenn. The Emperie and Lizardmen died really fast, but those damned Bretonnians ran through our undead lines.
Magic was dominated by us vampires with several counts and normal vampires. The "good" ones only had one level 2 Skins and one Empire level 4 Sorceror. But that isn't the point.

Those knights simply ran through our left flank. They hacked through several regiments of our skeletons and zombies. If we didn't control the magic phase we would have been in huge trouble, but so we could simply reinforce them all the time and could stop them for really long time...

[greenbubbl]

wood elves, because they have no armour saves, excel in the *surprise!* woods, keep them there and shoot the crap out of anything (ive won countless times by doing so) get a treeman too those are EEVIL! try eternal Guard and a highborn or whatever its called (i always forget). Even better, go for dogs of war and get pike men! those did plenty of carnage for me. all you really need to deal with anything with wood elves is to balance glade guard, scouts, and close combat. wardancers are overrated treemen and dryads are better. just keep to the trees and fire!