Hey there! Been a lurker for a while and finally played my first game of AoS a couple weeks ago so I figured I would finally join! I'm looking for some advice on my list. Long story short, my first game went poorly for my Arcanites. I would say that most of this was due to some fundamental misunderstanding of the rules on my part and some poor dice rolls early on. However, I think my list wasn't well suited for the situation, so I am hoping to come back stronger next time!
I bought the Arcanite battle box a couple of years ago and basically fielded that in a 1000 point game against my buddy's Ironjawz. My army had a Tzaangor Shaman, some Skyfires, some Enlightened, a unit of Acolytes and a 20 block of Tzaangors. The Ironjawz had some Brutes, Gore-gruntas, but most importantly, a Megaboss with an artifact that gave him a 2+ save. Although most of my misfortune was my own (forgetting unit rules and initially misunderstanding how turns work), in retrospect I don't think my list would have fared too well against the Megaboss even if I had been on my game.
My main takeaways are:
Tzeentch seems like it is best played with as many wizards as you can cram into a list, and a lone Tzaangor Shaman doesn't seem like it makes the cut.
A lot of rend destroys Tzeentch troops! Similarly, I needed more rend (or mortal wounds) in my list.
A 20 block of Tzaangors is really great but probably overkill in a 1000 point game.
The potential for six spells a turn means that I might have enough points to summon something in round 2 or 3! Unfortunately I might need to go get some more Horrors, as I think all I could summon right now would be Screamers. They don't seem particularly threatening, but some last-minute objective stealing might be in the cards!
Assuming these points are correct, I have whipped up a new list for next time:
Allegiance: Tzeentch- Change Coven: Pyrofane CultLeadersLord of Change (380)- General- Command Trait: Shrouded in Unnatural Flame- Artefact: Chainfire Amulet- Lore of Change: Bolt of Tzeentch
Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch (240)- Lore of Change: Bolt of Tzeentch
Battlelines10 x Kairic Acolytes (100)10 x Kairic Acolytes (100)10 x Tzaangors (180)Total: 1000 / 1000Extra Command Points: 0Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 84
I think this list should work better for a few reasons:
This army casts four spells a round instead of one, and all of them can deal mortal wounds. They will also be more reliable with Beacon of Sorcery.
The Chainfire Amulet seems pretty great when combined with the Lord of Change. With 2d6 (7 average) attacks from the Rod of Sorcery it's likely that one will come up a 6, not to mention I can dump my fate dice results of 6 here since I have no Skyfires. Rend on normal attacks is great too!
More accurate Acolytes means more likely to land attacks that rend, which is a plus.
Horrors to help bog down the Megaboss or Gore-gruntas will be much appreciated.
I would love to hear any and all thoughts! Since I am still so new to AoS, any general advice would also be appreciated.
