That leaves what I believe are the Top 2 Tournament Competitive armies. Both armies have the ability to take on all-comers through their innate capabilities.
2. Daemons of Chaos
Daemons were the strongest army under 7th Edition and they remain strong under 8th Edition. The make up of the list might have changed a bit – Flesh Hounds have slipped down the pecking order – but they remain strong for the same reasons they did. They have an army wide 5+ Ward save which reduces “all” casualties by a third, their heralds are cheap and have access to Daemonic Gifts that enhance the capability of the fighting units, ability to take loremaster on more than one Tz herald, cheap diverters (Furies and Fiends) and the ability to take the 30” range Flamers.
Most lists these days are built around Bloodletters (never let them take a building with a Herald), usually in blocks of 20+, backed up by 1-2 blocks of Flamers, Fiends (either singly or in blocks), Furies and Heralds. Interestingly, this is a list where the main constraint is Hero points.
It is possible to take a Lord level character and here the GUO is probably the best. He holds his points well.
Probably one of the smaller armies (model wise) going around.
1. Dark Elves
This army just screams synergy. It was great under 7th and it is great under 8th Edition. Dark Elves are the other great combined arms force with great Magic, shooting and combat.
Shadow magic is the favourite giving access to Mindrazor which turns your Troops from Str 3-4 to Str 8-9. This becomes very important when it is combined with the buffs from the Cauldron of Blood – which is pretty much compulsory in all DE lists. Suddenly that unit goes from 15 Str 3 attacks to 20 Str 8 - all with Hatred. And the critical thing is that unless you’ve held a scroll there is not much you can do to stop it (Given the DE can through unlimited dice at the spell and generate more dice through PoD).
On top of this you have the underpriced Hydra, great shooting from your Repeater Crossbows and scouting Shades. Black Guard are a solid Anvil (to be buffed if needed) and Harpies as a great diverter unit. All in all you have winners across the park.
IMO the Dark Elves are the total package and in the hands of a strong player will always be a strong favourite to take out tournaments.
So there you have it. My take on the tournament competitiveness of armies. Your mileage may vary, but then isn’t that the beauty of the game.
Great reviews. I agree with most of your ratings, but I would rank the new Orcs a bit higher.
ReplyDeleteIn our games so far the Orcs have performed really well and are competing with the top tier armies. They have a very good synergy between their core troops and support elements and are backed up by two really nice magic lores.
This has been a good read, cheers Pete. I think there are a few armies that could be adjusted up or down, but really, that would only be for one particular build from the lower ranked armies and personal bias for the higher ranked (daemons.. a top army? pah!)
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