Swifthawks, Pew Pew!

[Thomas Lyons]

10 hours ago, Miarbi said:

Where you see that Reavers are Battleline? Is there an actualization of the profiles already?

Reavers have always been Battleline.  They just gain the Swifthawk keyword.

[Cinncinnatus]

Ok, so with the leak of the Guardians of the Dawnspire battalion, I've got a new list.

 Battalion                          40 

 Archmage on Dragon      360 

 Warden                            220 

15 Reavers                      480       Battleline

10 Spireguard                  120       Battleline

10 Swordmasters             200 

5 Reavers                        160       Battleline

1 Skywarden                    160

1 Skywarden                    160

1 Chariot                           80

                                       1980 points

 

Idea is to use the new battalion ability to let the big unit of Reavers get off two rounds of shooting a turn. Thought about maxing them out, but can't do that AND have the Archmage on Dragon. Thought that was a fair trade off for some mortal wounds output and the ability to unbind two spells a turn.

 

[ppetford]

Oooohhh! What's the battalion ability?? ?

[Cinncinnatus]

Gives Archmage and Swordmasters Swifthawk Agents keyword, and High Warden can pick one unit in the hero phase to either move (can't run with this move) OR shoot. So you can move twice or potentially shoot twice with this battalion. That's why there are 15 Reavers in the battalion choice. That's a potential of 90 Shots in one turn, 180 if you got the double turn.

 

PEW PEW!

[ppetford]

Oh wow, sounds awesome!

[Cinncinnatus]

Another take:

 

Battalion                          40 

 Archmage                       120 

 Warden                            220 

15 Reavers                      480       Battleline

10 Spireguard                  120       Battleline

10 Swordmasters             200 

5 Reavers                        160       Battleline

1 Skywarden                    160

1 Skywarden                    160

1 Chariot                           80

Shadow Warriors             200        Battleline

                                       1940 points

 

This list would be better for Escalation with 10 drops. Plue, the Shadow Warriors can move 12 inches after set up is complete. Reaver block pushes up on one side, spireguard and other block on the other. Shadow Warriors take the center. Lots of shooting, should keep other enemy Battleline wary from moving on objectives early.

[ppetford]

I'm loving how many different ways there is going to be to play the Swifthawk faction! 

With the Skywarden's +1 to wound bubble wouldn't even a large block of Swordmasters be effective? Especially with the hero phase movement from the Warden?

[Garxia]

I love how AoS just flows...

They took a "minor" faction like Swifhawk, and with just getting a rebox, some minor tweaks on warscroll/keywords and not even a battletome they just made a fully playable army.

 

[Nico]

Flesh Eaters were similar. Added sweet fluff and some clever rules and they made something awesome out of one of the least prominent Death sub-factions.

[alasdair]

On 16/12/2016 at 7:59 PM, Cinncinnatus said:

This list would be better for Escalation with 10 drops. Plue, the Shadow Warriors can move 12 inches after set up is complete. Reaver block pushes up on one side, spireguard and other block on the other. Shadow Warriors take the center. Lots of shooting, should keep other enemy Battleline wary from moving on objectives early.

I came up with a list pretty similar to this. 

Warden                220
    Legendary fighter, Relic blade
Archmage on Steed        120
    Phoenix stone
1 Skywarden            160
1 Skywarden            160

15 Reavers            480
20 Spireguard            240
10 Shadow Warriors        200

10 Swordmasters            200 
2 Chariots            160

Guardians of the Dawnspire     40

1980

 

It has to be said the High Warden is pretty damn nasty when given allegiance abilities.

[Cinncinnatus]

5 hours ago, alasdair said:

I came up with a list pretty similar to this. 

Warden                220
    Legendary fighter, Relic blade
Archmage on Steed        120
    Phoenix stone
1 Skywarden            160
1 Skywarden            160

15 Reavers            480
20 Spireguard            240
10 Shadow Warriors        200

10 Swordmasters            200 
2 Chariots            160

Guardians of the Dawnspire     40

1980

I'd break up the chariots into 2 separate units, that way if you played Escalation you'd be starting with 4 units. Also moving independently can let them more maneuverability.

[Votters]

How would you go about building this list at 1000 points?

[ppetford]

There's not a lot of wiggle room at 1000pts as the formation at absolute minimum comes in at 860pts. This leaves you with 140pts which I would put into boosting the ranks of the Spireguard unit.

Alternively, you could add a Skycutter chariot with the Bolt-thrower but that's about it.

If you can go to 1020 points, boosting the unit of Reavers to 10 models would maximise the battalion's ability allowing you to shoot a potential 60 shots at 4+/4+

 

Leaders
High Warden (220)
Archmage (120)

Units
Swordmasters x 10 (200)
Spireguard x 10 (120)
Reavers x 10 (320)

Behemoths

War Machines

Battalions

Scenery

Total: 980/1000
 

Hope this helps!!

[Cinncinnatus]

I wouldn't even bother with the battalion at 1000 points. Probably wouldn't bother with the High Warden either. Just take the savings on those other elements and throw them into a Skywarden, some Shadow Warriors, more Spireguard or Reavers. Swifthawks really need Skywardens to shine, as those to wound bonuses are key to making their high volume of shots effective.

[Votters]

So something like this?

Leaders
Archmage (120)
Skywarden (160)

Units
Swordmasters x 10 (200)
Spireguard x 10 (120)
Reavers x 5 (160)
Shadow Warriors x 10 (200)

Behemoths

War Machines

Battalions

Scenery

Total: 960/2000
 

[Cinncinnatus]

You'd need to drop the Spireguard for another unit of Reavers to meet battleline requirements, as taking the Archmage outside of the battalion loses you the Swifthawk allegiance and thus battleline status for the Spireguard. 

Either that, or replace the Archmage with another Skywarden and sub the Swordmasters for another unit of Shadow Warriors.

[aquietfrog]

New FAQ update lessened the new battalion's flexibility to some extent as the Archmage requirement is a unit name instead of a keyword.

[Tizianolol]

I check the cost of spireguard, app told me 200(for 10) .. Is an error?

[Tizianolol]

I check the cost of spireguard, app told me 200(for 10) .. Is an error?

[Grixti]

Yes the app is incorrect, they are 120 points for 10.

[Ravenwing]

Awesome tread. I have been messing around with Elves stuff myselves after the Spire of Dawn box came out. I really like the phoenix temple units. they seem a bit underpriced. Especially the phoenix guard with 4+/4++ and good damage output. Also easy to make immune to battleshock with a hero.

 

Thanks for all the insights, guys.

[Votters]

Seems like maybe the Battalion doesn't quite work at 1500 either.  Not sure what to fill in the last points with and if I have the punching power needed. 

Leaders
Archmage (120)
High Warden (220)
Skywarden (160)

Units
Swordmasters x 10 (200)
Spireguard x 10 (120)
Reavers x 5 (160)
Reavers x 5 (160)
Shadow Warriors x 10 (200)

Battalions
Guardians of the Dawnspire (40)

Total: 1380/1500

[Cinncinnatus]

You could add a skycutter, either with the regular crew or the bolt thrower. I'd be tempted to lose the shadow warriors and replace with something else, like more reavers. Points savings would let you add another Skywarden as well instead of the skycutter.