Back when AoS first dropped I was all over it. Everything was exploitable, nobody really knew what anybody else’s army did (or what their own did usually) and the whole thing was carnage.
Back then I went 5-0 at a ToS at Warhammer World by exploiting terrain rules (I invented Balewind Vortex spam) to help me generate really overwhelming first turn force. (Back when the game first dropped, everyone was obsessed with going second to get the double turn. I made sure my lists were best going first because it doesn’t matter if you get the double turn when your army has already evaporated).
That was then, this is now
But fast forward a few years and everything has changed. I haven’t played the game for years. The game has exploded in popularity, there’s a matched play points system and a very hectic release schedule. It’s a completely different game in short. Completely different AND completely alien to me. So this list writing piece isn’t the place to come if you want a net list from a Masters winner. I’m going to lay out my principles of list building, show how it relates to the list I write and identify the strengths and weaknesses.
What’s the list for?
Great question. This is a 1,000 point Beast Claw Raiders list (you can find the thought process around BCR here) that will be half of a doubles list. My doubles partner is taking Khorne (not very fluffy, this is just a good excuse for us all to get together). After the event I’ll write a second part of this piece where I expand this 1,000 points to a full 2,000 point list (once I have more chance to see the army and the scenarios in action).
List building principles
My thoughts on list building are fairly consistent across game systems and are basically:
- Be active in as many phases as possible. Just giving up entire phases isn’t usually a route to success. Even Dwarves in WHFB had runic abilities in lieu of magic, for example.
- Be very good in at least one phase. Armies that do a bit of everything without being any good at anything are also problematic because they don’t force an opponent to make any hard decisions. If an army is very good at something, then an opponent will need to factor mitigating that at the expense of executing their own plans
- Build to compete in all scenarios (don’t have any ‘auto lose,’ scenarios). This is an absolute given to me but I’m surprised by how many players don’t really care. The number of times I’d play WHFB 8th at a tournament, roll the banners mission and my opponent would say ‘Oh, I’ve only got two banners in my army’. The scenarios are the game for me – the game isn’t ‘kill everything you can’
- Mine the books for synergy and hidden gems. This is the fun and, from what I’ve read, this is where AoS is really deep – lots of synergy, lots of hidden depth to lists.
- Don’t play the meta, play what beats the meta. I still think this is great advice and BCR definitely aren’t recognized as top tier but this falls down when you don’t know what the meta is. I’ve read and heard about FEC, DoK and Skaven but not sure how to build to beat these as I don’t know all their tricks. This will likely be more for the 2,000 point list.
Writing a BeastClaw Raiders list
Having got this far, I feel like I should own up to something here – the BCR book doesn’t have very many choices in it (and most of them are characters) so there’s not much finesse to picking something and not much flexibility when trying to write to the rules above. In fact, this is going to be a compromise of points / availability vs the rules above.
1,000 points and the army structure
This list is a Vanguard (1,000 points list). The limitations are:
- 1-4 leaders
- Minimum of two battle line units
- Maximum of two behemoths
- Maximum of two artillery pieces
- Up to 200 points of allies
The leader
One of the reasons I picked BCR was the big monster models and so my general will definitely be one of these. The big monster models take up a leader AND a behemoth slot so in this list will be one of a maximum of two of the big kits. The big decision here is Stonehorn or Thundertusk.
Stonehorns are cheaper and in a list where I need all the points I can get, this is important and they’re great in combat (they do impact hits, and they half the damage from multi damage weapons) but for a general they’re not for me for one reason: Frenzy. These models have to attempt a charge if they are with 12″ and, as per the FAQ, if the charge roll would get them in they have to make it. Now, it’s a combat model so that’s not a problem right? Well, I agree for battleline units but I want more flexibility over where I put my general. I want to make the positive choice to charge my general rather than having to. So, even if they weren’t awesome (which they are) it’s a general on Thundertusk for me.
But which general? Huskard or Frostlord. Easy; I think BCR should be led my the most powerful model available – Frostlord it is. This model is more survivable (an extra wound and a better save) which is important and although I think the Huskard command ability is very good, I think the Frostlord one (reroll charges) is good enough.
The battleline
Having spent 420 points on a leader, I’ve got 580 points left and I have to spend some on Battleline to make the list legal.
Now, here’s where the rules for list building can be referenced. On paper, my view is that Grots are the best battleline for BCR. You can take massive units of them to objective camp and work as board control where as the other choices (Mournfang / Beastriders) are either single units or very small. However, I don’t have long to put this army together and building / painting hundreds of grots isn’t for me. So, if you’re reading this, take grots. I’m taking mournfang because, fortuitously, the ‘Start collecting BCR’ box has a Frostlord on Thundertusk and four mournfang in it. That’s my leader and battleline sorted!
The rest
Ok so with five models I’ve covered my compulsory elements (a leader and two battleline units). I’ve also got 300 points left over. Now, again, looking back at my list writing rules, the smart play here is to ally in a wizard for less than 200 points (a Firebelly) and then spend 180 points on bodies to contest objectives (some yhetees / frost sabres). So if you’re reading this, do that. I haven’t – I’m putting in another big monster (Stonehorn Beastriders to be precise) as it fits the points exactly and it’s fewer models to prepare.
So that’s broadly the list
One Frostlord on Thundertusk
One Stonehorn Beastrider
Two units of two Mournfang
Six models. I should be able to get this built and painted in time. But how does it match up against my rules?
Rules are meant to be broken
Be active in every phase. This list has powerful command abilities, is fast in the movement phase and charge phase, shoots (albeit short range) and is combat focused. So that’s all great. It does, however, miss an entire phase (magic) which is a really important one in this game. Am I worried? Yes. My doubles partner has no magic either. Is there anything I can do to mitigate it? Kind of, there is a magic item which grants a dispel which is good. But there are lots of good items, I may just have to suck the lack of magic up.
Be really good at something. Fighting. Next.
Compete in all scenarios. This is a real weakness here. There aren’t enough bodies to contest any objectives, so I’m going to have to kill everything. A better list (and possibly my 2K list) will include grots / more bodies.
Mine the books. Having done this, there’s a great item in the realm of beasts called the feather. This makes all attacks -1 to hit against the bearer. So I put that on my general and he’s -1 against shooting and -2 against combat. Sweet.
Beat the meta. We’ll just have to see I guess
So, ultimately, this post has been more of a ‘how not to do it,’ than a lesson in list writing. Don’t be me!
Comments always welcome.