2000pts Dracoth-based SCE list

[Immersturm]

I love big monsters. Hence, I love big monstrous Cav In fact, I already use them to great effect at 1000pts. Last time I used them, it was like this:

Lord Celestant, Lord Castellan, Knight Venator, 4 Fulmenators, 2 units of 5 Liberators. I banked on the Lantern buff and it paid off. Mind you, it was a competitive event. I don't bring stuff like this to casual games.

Anyway, now I wonder how to expand on a list like this to 2k, either with pure SCE or some Order supplements (though I prefer the pure). It would mean going against Warrior Brotherhood, Thundertusk galore and Skaven dakka.

My feeling is that a list like this, at least as a pure SCE list, would lack reach to deal with heavy ranged hitters before taking too many mortal wounds.

Thought?

[Immersturm]

Anyone?

[StealthKnightSteg]

not from me yet... not into the extremis chamber yet, but I guess you could do something with the guard battalions and a stardrake

[Payce]

I think the idea of Extremis lists is pretty cool, although saying a list where only four out of seventeen models are Dracoths and calling it "Dracoth-based" might be a bit of a stretch.

Going forward, you obviously need a third battleline, I'd add Judicators. I'd also look into replacing the Venator and possibly Castellant with a Celestant on Dracoth and give him the Obstinate Blade artifact. That should give you room to add two or three units of Dracoths of your choice to round out the list. I know Fulminators are "the big thing" but I personally really like the Concussors as well.

You're fairly on the money with your adressing the mobility issues though - what makes ScE so good are the mobility battalions, and Extremis simply doesn't have anything that compares to Skyborne or Brotherhood. It's kind of the payoff - either you take the battalion and get stuck in with "vanilla" units and really good special rules, or you tailor your list and go with Extremis units. Either way, I think the army is strong enough to win games against most opponents in good hands.

[Ben Johnson]

I ran with this at the Warlords event and a had a blast with it, hits as hard and anything else in the game. Mortal Wounds will ruin your fun though. 

Best advice is to play with a few options to find one you like. 

[Immersturm]

3 hours ago, Payce said:

I think the idea of Extremis lists is pretty cool, although saying a list where only four out of seventeen models are Dracoths and calling it "Dracoth-based" might be a bit of a stretch.

Going forward, you obviously need a third battleline, I'd add Judicators. I'd also look into replacing the Venator and possibly Castellant with a Celestant on Dracoth and give him the Obstinate Blade artifact. That should give you room to add two or three units of Dracoths of your choice to round out the list. I know Fulminators are "the big thing" but I personally really like the Concussors as well.

You're fairly on the money with your adressing the mobility issues though - what makes ScE so good are the mobility battalions, and Extremis simply doesn't have anything that compares to Skyborne or Brotherhood. It's kind of the payoff - either you take the battalion and get stuck in with "vanilla" units and really good special rules, or you tailor your list and go with Extremis units. Either way, I think the army is strong enough to win games against most opponents in good hands.

Well, at 1000pts they are around half the army in in terms of points But for me, 'Dracoth-based' means that the central unit are the Dracoths an the entire list around them is there to support them. As an example, in my 1000pts list the Dracoths are the primary damage dealers. The Celestand is there to buff their melee, the Castellan is there to keep them alive, the Venator is there to take out characters or artillery that can damage the Dracoths before they get close, the Liberators are there because they have to and hold backline objectives so that the Dracoths can do their job.

In essence, a 2000pts list might only have one single Dracoth unit of 6 riders and it would still be a 'Dracoth-based' list if the rest of the army is there to support said 6 riders. Having said that, I am not opposed to giving up some synergy and running either one really big unit or two units of 4 (although I do prefer bigger units because of buffs and getting to attack with everything at one in melee).

2 hours ago, Ben Johnson said:

I ran with this at the Warlords event and a had a blast with it, hits as hard and anything else in the game. Mortal Wounds will ruin your fun though.

Yep, that the precisely the issue at hand. How to optimize such a list, be it one well-supported unit or the entire army filled with Dracoth-related stuff, to handle opponents that toss out massed Mortal Wounds at range like Clan Skyre and Beastclaws?

[Requizen]

While he's expensive, consider the Knight-Vexillor to teleport that unit of 4 Fulminators. Getting a near-free charge with them on a unit of your choice can be devastating, provided they don't bubblewrap super hard (even then, you should cleave through most chaff units in seconds and still be alright against countercharges).

[Immersturm]

Is that worth the 200pts price of admission? Sure, I like the idea. You have the Dracoths fighting on one end of the map and next turn they charge something on the other end. The banner also allows you to re-roll charges, which allows me to pick a different warlord trait. But 200pts is slightly more than a formation point tax with a similar bonus. Nevertheless, it sounds like something I would like to try.

Do you think a Drakesworn Templar or even a LC on Stardrake are worth it at 2000pts on top of Dracoths? Or save them for 2500pts games? They look like solid Dracoth supports on paper, but they eat points up pretty quickly. Well, if I take 6 Dracoths. 4 Dracoths and a Templar cost 980, leaving me plenty of room of other toys.

Thoughts?