In The Mind: What to Take to Nova?
The Nova open is the biggest and most competitive event in North America and I am hoping to attend. I have everything sorted out so unless something comes up then I will be there. I want to take a list that screams me, a playstyle I like using and other such things. I made a list of different armies. Among these were the men of the west (after my success last year with the underwhelming list), I would only take that if they add the elven twins to the list with the next book, The second list was my necromancer legion, as well as the Wolves of Isengard, Garrison of Ithilien, Minas Morgul (with SPAM spectres and a foot witch king), I also had the thought of taking out my Iron Hills with a chariot. Lately I have come up with two additional ideas that I will add later to keep some thrill to the read to the ultimate list I am thinking of taking.
I wanted to take something that was either a micro-warband esc army or something that is unconventional for kiting. So with those two things as my criteria I wrote different lists for each of my different choices.
Men of the west had a very interesting micro-warband style but unpredictable with the points since i dont have the twins and would only take it if they arrive in the list. The last edition it was insanely powerful and I love it so much and it really showed off how I can truly play the game with skill rather then using good lists to place well at tournaments. Interesting list, still unknowns, 99% sure it wont be showing up at Nova.
The Necromancer has been a staple list that no one saw coming or thought was that good until i started tearing up the scene with the list this year. The spiders wraith Sauron and a captain combo hits hard with a good amount of cav. It has a very interesting relationship against heavy shooting lists but skydiving the wraith and necro by themselves works very efficiently. It has an unkillable leader and a nearly unkillable support hero for fog of war missions. i like the list and it is still a consideration.
Garrison of Ithilien is a very fun list and at 38 models 13 might with 17 bows it is very good with banner vps, as well as 3 free ones essentially means you can take losses to wins with relative ease as well as taking certain scenarios down with ease. In my opinion a top 3 list for sure this edition.
Minas Morgul may be my favorite list this edition if run a certain way. I love taking 33% spectres, 33% spears, 33% bows with a banner and 1-2 trolls and the witch king on foot. It can out shoot any enemy list with ease. The reason why is with 8-12 spectres pulling archers around the enemy very rarely gets much shots off while i get 10 shots with bows and normally a throwing stone or two. Very fun and unpredictable.
now for my top 3 picks for this event. These will have a lot more depth and the lists i am specifically looking out fully written out. PLEASE comment on which list you would most like to see at Nova, I am taking all of this into a LOT of consideration for this event.
My number 3 Pick is as follows:
The Battle of Five Armies: Contrary to the common opinion I do not have Legolas or Nori in the list at all. Instead I went for Fili and Kili. Admittedly it does have the big bird, but with a twist...
The list is:
Gwaihir (Leader)
1 Great Eagle
1 Fledgling Eagle
Kili
1 Banner shield
8 Spear Shield
2 Crossbow
Fili
4 Spear Shield
1 Mattock
1 Goat Rider
700 Pts 22 models 9 might
This is SO much fun. You can run around and choose when to engage and pull some nasty tricks with barges and your dwarves rallying behind as support. Initial turn you can except quite a bit of nasty damage. And from their you have mostly d8 across the board along with shields on nearly everyone meaning shielding can keep you alive, enemy heroes dont have an easy time munching through you and you can inflict quite a bit of damage before the battle really happens along with having 3 good heroes as well as 2 additional eagles. A banner behind a wall of this is insane power. I love dwarves that are able to constantly be moving hence why I only took 2 crossbows to plant on objectives and act as mini turrets shooting anything that comes near them. It has all the tools I need as well as having so much fun variation to the list and looks sick on the table and ahs a lot of nostalgia as my first ever tournament list I ran was very similar at 800 points 3 years ago.
My second pick is... THE WOLVES OF ISENGARD!
These are SO much fun and I have way enough riders and wargs to make this list work at this points and at 700... its actually pretty scary.
The list I have right now is as follows:
Sharku (leader)
3 Wargs
4 Warg Riders w/ Throwing spears and Shield
1 Warg Rider w/ Throwing spears
2 Warg Riders w/ Bow
Orc Captain
3 Wargs
4 Warg Riders w/ Throwing spears and Shield
1 Warg Rider w/ Throwing Spear
2 Warg Riders w/ Bow
Orc Captain
3 Wargs
3 Warg Riders w/ Throwing spears and Shield
1 Warg Rider w/ Throwing Spear
3 Warg Riders w/ Bow
Orc Captain
3 Wargs
3 Warg Riders w/ Throwing spears and Shield
1 Warg Rider w/ Throwing Spear
3 Warg Riders w/ Bow
700 Points 44 Models 9 might 10 Bows 18 throwing Spears
This list is quite simply insanity. It will literally cover the entire board and engage everywhere with insane power that cavalry has, Its main advantage is it loves every single scenario in the game and with all gave actual banners are nearly impossible to keep safe as one charge and lost combat and it will die and be gone since it will be prone. It is a list I have written a lot about and I love. It plays the real game rather then the game of simply killing.
My number 1 pick as of now is: Erebor and Dale. A bit of background for this is this. I was listening to the Unexpected Podcast (second only to the Green Dragon) and they talked about how this is possibly the worst list in the game as of now. That is what I was told about the Men of the West a year ago... although this wasn't a personal telling me how bad it is, I still took it as a challenge. I wont lie, i only thought about this much this morning and wrote up a list and instantly fell in love with the look of it. It is nearly identical to what my Men of the West Army was... but if something it is by far superior. I will share the list then break down just why it is SO oppressive and powerful.
Thror (Leader) 130
7 Grim Hammers 77
7 Warriors of Erebor w/ Spear and Shield 77
1 Erebor Dwarf w/ Shield 10
Girion 80
1 Dale warrior w/ Banner 32
2 Dale Warriors w/ Esgaroth Bow 18
1 Dale Warrior w/ Spear and Shield 9
Erebor Dwarf Captain 75
1 Erebor Dwarf w/ Shield 10
1 Erebor Dwarf w/ Shield and Spear 11
Erebor Dwarf Captain 75
1 Erebor Dwarf w/ Shield 10
1 Erebor Dwarf w/ Shield and Spear 11
Erebor Dwarf Captain 75
THIS LIST IS INSANE! I mean just look at it. Even then it doesn't look like anything specifically special... To give the Unexpected Podcast some credibility to their claim about Erebor and Dale being bad let us look at the current stats on longshanks for this list out of the 74 lists.
Overall I think the top 3 lists I have look insanely fun, all scream me in some way shape or form. The top 2 are ultimately what I am leaning towards as I love those lists so much. But let me know... WHICH list SHOULD I take to the most competitive event in North America. i read through every comment and will ultimately 99% of the time take what the community around me votes on taking. So let me know and I will respond to all. Thanks for reading this article of the Minds of Moria... Until next time I will return to the depths...
Outside of your top3 I'd personally love to see the necromancer list in a super competitive enviroment. Minas Morgul also sounded interesting!
ReplyDeleteI like both of the top 2 lists - Wolves of Isengard looks absolutely bonkers and I'm very curious to see how well Erebor & Dale would do. I'd gladly read a tournament report on either of them.
Ok, I love that list (Rise of the Necromancer) I may switch that into the top three and play it over the summer as well. I will definitely run both at some point and for sure my necromancer a lot we shall see if it makes the cut for Nova... honestly it may be my most competitive list that I run...
ReplyDeleteI've been trying the Erebor & Dale list . . . I think spamming heroes to try to get the free Might is a bit of a trap, personally. That said, the #1 thing I'd recommend you try before NOVA is to swap out Thror for Thrain. Yes, Thrain doesn't get the 3" banner rule. Yes, it makes Girion your General and he's easier to kill. Yes, there's good reason for taking Thror so you can get S4 Grims - but Thrain hits WAY harder than Thror and he costs the same and gets his Ring. I like Thror, but I think Thrain is the better pick here.
ReplyDeleteI'd also recommend swapping 3 of your shield/spear guys for Grim Hammer Warriors - spears are great and spears are good, but as a long-time Khazad-Dum player, I can say that having enough shield guys to charge two people to tie them up and then slam into one person each with throwing weapons/two-handed weapons will crunch a lot of bodies (especially if Thrain is crunching into the ranks too). The threat of 11 throwing weapons that are D7 in response to enemy shooting is huge - and it won't increase your cost at all. You're also going to be limited in the amount of spear-supporting you can do anyway, so it's not like we're breaking apart a whole battle line to get more throwing weapons.
One final thing to consider: if you lean harder into the throwing weapons, consider downgrading a 3A Captain for Balin. He's a competent fighter who gives you three additional rerolls for priority, which is great if your opponent is rolling so-so for priority and can make your throwing weapons more effective OR force your opponent to spend precious Might points to charge you first. He's also got 2 Might and Heroic Defense, which means Thror/Thrain isn't the only answer to something big and nasty.
Thanks for the input! You know I haven't even remembered the might thing once. Frankly i dont view that as anything but maybe a once a game plus. And the two games i have played with the list I haven't rolled for it once. I see why Thrain looks really good but for my I just cant justify the buy. He is just not worth it at 130 points compared to thror. Thror has way more value then thrain in every game I have played. I could see the masterforged weapon cutting through guys but the d9 this edition with it being mithril means he just isnt really scared of anything. I have had monsters go into him win the fight and do nothing to him because they just cant. That plus the presence of a shield means he can go 6 attacks to stay alive. I would happily trade d9, a shield, the arkenstone, the banner reroll, 1 free standfast, and just that durable leader over girion over that plus 1 to wound and a 12 inch standfast... I will definitely try it out for sure though since it seems like you have had experience with that and I am simply looking at it all on paper. I really like the spear shield guys and I dont really use most of them as spears. I really only do that if i can find a choke to fight in right by my enemy so it doesnt hurt me that much not having much spears. For the most part they are their to create a almost weird anti fly at the edges of my flanks to stop my flanks from getting over run by simply shielding. 5 3 attack heroes can chop through most things super fast.
DeleteI recently just played a game versus richard lins 700 adepticon list with gwaihir elves and the d7/8 iron hills. It had everything I didnt like, the f5 warriors to tie my captains, the high defense to bog them down, the big bird to force my hand at a anti fly. I chopped the list to bits. I set it up so even when he first committed gwiahir could only barge and get one captain which he wisely did instantly setting me back those 75 points plus the few warriors he had killed in shooting (i had killed 2 elves as well though). I then was able to move my army to help slow down the bird until i got thror into him. Thror never got wounded once and eventually took out the bird relatively easily in about 5 turns (only winning 3) with 2-3 friends. At the same time the two remaining captains just absolutely mopped up dwarves with the few elven glaives as supports behind them. I quartered them being broken myself by one model because legolas kept getting some crazy lucky 6s on shooting to take out 1-2 spearmen per turn while still engaged in combat for 3 turns straight. It ended up as a 9-4 major win for the first game against possibly the hardest matchup considering the combination of high defence and matching fight value and a flying monster and 12 shots a turn...
I will definitely take some of those ideas into consideration. I really like running micro-warband armies and I love the way the captains slot into that so we will see how this all continues to progress and change as needed!