I've been thinking about this, as we often lose sight (I certainly do) of what an army is trying to achieve with some of the more outlandish lists we come up with.

So, I would like to start a discussion that gets into the key points that every army should have in order to stand a chance of winning. Here's my list:



1) A way of grabbing objectives
-With so many scenarios in the current incarnation of the game built on securing objectives, every army needs a way to do that. Whether it's fast models to get there first, tough models that can sit on it all game and not budge, overwhelming numbers so you have more models on it than your opponent, plenty of might to get key heroic actions; you always need a way to claim objectives.

2) A way of dealing damage
-Big combat heroes, monsters, elite troops, numbers (again), shooting, anything to get your opponent's models off the table.

3) A way of preventing/absorbing damage
-Your opponent also has ways to hurt you, and you need to be ready for that. High defence, lots of wounds, ensuring you win more fights, protection against archery, ways to stop big heroes/monsters, numbers (again again), target saturation (giving your opponent a list of targets that they need to expend resources on killing). As long as you have a plan.



There are other subcategories, but I feel like these three tend to cover everything.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Suggestions?

When I build an army, I make sure to get:

1. A solid troop base
A full warband per 250-300 point at least, unless I'm going really elite. This means I can then get some cool stuff after.

2. A good combat hero/spellcaster
This will be my main damage dealer/preventer. They will be the main focus of the enemy, so i also need a...

3. Supporting Element
Cavalry/Captain or cheaper named heroes. These guys help relieve pressure from my main force and help with a variety of specialized tasks.

Absolutely; then we can get into even more detail. I like to outmaneuver my opponents in key areas, whether that means having faster models or a way to control/block their movement.

We could turn this into an article eventually, with all the subcategories and whatnot, but to start with, what else are the fundamentals? The things that every single army, whether it's a horde or all-hero, elite combat or tricky gimmickfest, needs to be able to do.

When I make a list, my first rule is to recruit beautiful models that I like, or new combos !
I don't play tournaments, only with a friend for fun, so ...

I also try to use a few key models which will scare him :p I think that psychological control is really powerful

That's exactly it, I often do the same - even when picking out tournament list. That's why I wanted to start this topic, to get us thinking a bit more about what we're putting into the army and to think about how different models complement each other.

Ultimately, it still comes down to which models you feel like using, but I want to encourage thinking about synergy, whether you want to build a competitive list or not is up to you. Fun lists should still be able to win and should still be well thought out (in my opinion), but their focus is more about bringing out the models you want to use rather than dominating the scenarios and shutting down what you expect your opponent to have (which is really what tournament lists are all about)

The one rule I have discovered about building competitive lists is to always have multiple threats in your army. If an army is built around 1 big hero it can be too easy to shut them down, effectively neutralising your threat. By bringing multiple threats this is far harder for an opponent to achieve. Examples of these threats could be combat heroes, wizards, monsters or even just a group of elite warriors.

For example, my Angmar list contains the Witch King on Fellbeast, Buhrdur, a Shade and a Barrow Wight. This gives me 2 powerful monsters, 2 decent spell casters and a really powerful support hero (the rest of the army is filled out with orcs whose purpose is to stick around and allow these heroes to do the real damage).

I just go OTT on numbers

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Published ebooks:
Instrument of the Empire
A Note of Defiance
Phantom Ships, Ghost Flotilla
More to come!

In the current meta this has indeed become an important rule. And it isn't just limited to heroes, but troop variation is also important. In an Angmar list I would recommend a spectre in each warband. I won the latest tournament by sending Shades, bannerbearers and other nasty stuff away from the battleline .

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Backlog:
21/01/2015: still 319 Models to paint or 27,01%
30/12/2016: Somehow the backlog has risen up to 900+ models :/