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Thanks for the advice, everyone! I've spent a while reworking the list, and this is what I've come up with.

Caliban Karakh Mavael, Thrall of the Kraken and Captain of The Tempest
Master, Manticore, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Lance, Shield, Ring of Darkness - 334

Mirai Prospera Sycorax, Witch of the Serpent Sea
Sorceress, Level 2, Darkstar Cloak - 185

10 Corsairs (with Prospera), Handbows, Reaver with Pair of Handbows - 113

5 Harpies - 55

7 Shades, Great Weapons - 126

7 Cold One Knights, Standard Bearer with Standard of Slaughter - 167

14 Black Guard, Tower Master with Ring of Hotek, Standard Bearer with Banner of Hag Graef - 245

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 100

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 100

---

Total: 1498

So, there you have it. It's a very fragile list, I know, but in some ways I think that's a perk, as it means I will never be certain of the outcome and will have to be very careful with my units. My strategy will essentially be to isolate and destroy units with combined charges. The big, scary monsters will draw fire away from my squishier infantry units, and can still be nightmares in combat. It's a razor blade, basically - very fragile but capable of doing immense damage if used correctly, which is how Druchii should roll, IMO.

I still don't know what to do about Prospera's Power Dice Problem (it's alliterative, too!). I could give her the Sacrificial Dagger, but I can't afford to have her kill her bodyguard. I could take warriors, but I just plain don't like 'em much - winning combats by static resolution has always seemed a little boring. I could have a unit of ten just there to be killed, but then she couldn't use her Hydra's Teeth (and I quite like the combo, as both they and the Corsairs are good at killing the same things) and she doesn't get the protection the Corsairs offer.

A few more questions: can this "very low unit size" style of army work? Every unit hits harder than a ton of bricks, and if used in concert they could rip a sizable unit apart, but they're all very fragile. Also, though I know it's a widely discussed question, do you think 2 Reapers or 1 Hydra would work better for this list? Finally, I've changed around the kits for Prospera and Caliban. What's the verdict on those?

Just to be clear about the intent of this list - my intention when playing, like most people's, is to have fun. A large part of my enjoyment comes from executing devious strategies and slaughtering my foes, but I have no desire to create a cheesy list that will win the exact same way every time. I like to have to think on my feet, and to be suprised on occasion. On the other hand, being stomped on is no fun either, and though I don't mind losing (as long as I throw a few monkey wrenches into my opponent's plans!) I'd like to be competitive at the local tournaments I plan on attending, and maybe win one or two. Also, I will be regularly playing against my friend's Orcs and Goblins army. He hasn't begun collecting it either, so I only have a vague idea of what I'll face (other than that there will be squigs), which in my mind is good, because I don't really have much interest in winning against him every single time. On the other hand, I don't want to be crushed every time. How, in your opinion, would the list fare against Orcs?

Double post.

Yeah, i'd like to see your fluff, the list looks good too.

Fluff, Posted Here for Your Convenience!

Mirai Prospera was born to the Noble House of Sycorax, in the city of Har Ganeth. She was the heir to her house, and was soon to rule, as she had nearly reached her maturity and had thus naturally already begun plotting her assassination of her father Alonakh. She had even been initiated in the ancient secrets of the Sorceresses and was soon to be one herself. So focused was she on her plans and her forthcoming power, however, that she did not think to account for the treachery of her younger brother Antonath.

Prospera's family had many holdings in the Viper Mountains, and one year, it was her fathers' wish that she go to perform the necessary inspections. She decided to take a voyage, sailing throgh the Sea of Chill, around the Black Forests and down, following the Bleak Coast. Her brother volunteered to go on the trip, and, unknown to her, secretly had the warriors that were to accompany them murdered and replaced by mercenaries under his own pay.

Just before the ship reached its destination, Antonath's men seized the ship and sailed it towards the Sea of Serpents. Once land was far out of sight, he threw the kicking, screaming, biting Prospera over the side, and sailed back to perform the inspections on his own. This, perhaps, would have been the end of Prospera, were it not for a storm that began to rage not an hour after her brother had left her thrashing in the deep water of the sea. She battled the waves and stinging rain for hours, keeping her head above water through sheer willpower. Just as her muscles began to give out, she saw a shape looming before her, silhouetted against the tormented sky by a flash of lighting: a craggy island jutting out of the boiling water. Using the last of her strength, she flung herself upon its shores and collapsed into unconsciousness, the sound of thunder ringing in her ears.

When she awoke, the storm had passed, but her clothes were ragged and she was exhausted to her very core. She would have slept again, but suddenly, the memory of her brother's treachery swept through her and flung her to her feet. Gripped in a fit hatred, she screamed and raged against the rolling sea, vowing her vengeance, swearing to taste his heart between her teeth, to drink his blood and wear his cowardly hide as a cloak. Soon, she was again spent and lay down once more on the island's sandy beach to drift into the shadows of blood-filled dreams.

She slept for two full days, and when she awoke, her strength was restored but she was wracked with hunger and thirst. The beasts of the island had never before seen her kind, and so when Prospera approached a young deer, it did not flee. It had little time to learn its mistake, however, as she had bashed its skull in with a sharp rock within seconds. Sated on blood and red meat, Mirai began to explore the island. It was small, and there was only one feature that drew her attention - a round cave set into the side of the mountain at the island's center, which stared out at the sea like a hollow eye.

Hacking her way through dense jungle and clambering up the crags of the mountain, she reached the cave entrance. It was a shallow hole in the rock, obviously unnatural, and obviously uninhabited. It seemed empty, and Prospera was about to turn away when she noticed something that caught the light at the back of the cave. She stepped inside and walked slowly towards the object. It was a gold mask in the shape of a great Kraken, laid reverentially upon an outcropping of rock crudely carved with the same likeness. As she looked at it, something stirred. A voice whispered to her from the deep places of her mind, a voice that spoke in the language of the depths, of the sea's abyss. But Mirai Prospera Sycorax was unafraid, and she knew what she must do. This mask held power, and it was therefore the only way she had of returning to her rightful place and gaining her vengeance. So, without a second thought, she reached out and placed the mask upon her head.

The moment she did, the thing that lived in it seized her and ate her mind. Or, at least, that is what it tried to do. It did not expect the onslaught of pure, burning hatred, nor did it forsee the savage willpower of Mirai Prospera. The two battled, perhaps for minutes, perhaps for days. Both lost track of time in the roiling tempest that was the meeting of their minds. Eventually, neither was victorious. The mask fell from Prospera's face and clattered to the stone floor, and she picked it up, and set it back upon its altar.

In the years that followed, the mask taught her many things. It showed her how to travel the shadowy paths of sorcery, it whispered the names of the eight fell winds, and told her a hundred terrible secrets and a thousand forbidden names. It told her the way to the Screaming Land, and she strode into it and tore out the writhing Daemon Ariekel, and bound it to her service. So, for twelve years, Prospera learned and hunted and plotted and waited for an opportunity to escape from her island prison.

That opportunity came in the form of Caliban Karakh Mavael, captain of the Pirate Ship Talon of Woe, whose course took him near to Prospera's isle. When she sighted she ship, she called up a terrible storm and spitting obscene words of power into the wind in a tongue older than Elves, she blew it from its course and towards her shores. When the ship landed, the corsairs immediately began to scour the island, but they soon found that their captain was not among them. Behind the rain and thunder, he had heard a voice, soft and sweet and full of danger, which had called him up to the cave at the top of the hill. He did not resist when Prospera took off his helmet, nor when she lifted the mask to his face.

When the crew saw their Captain return, walking through the pouring rain, wearing a strange golden mask illuminated by the lightning, and accompanied by a ragged sorceress, only one dared to ask what had happened. Caliban simply looked at him, and the man began to scream. They left him on the island, still weeping, curled up in a twitching fetal ball. After that, no-one seemed to have any wish to inquire further.

Today, Prospera and the thing that was once Caliban ply the coasts of Ulthuan and Lustria. Twice now, they have sailed through the Underworld Sea with the mask as their guide, to bring terror and death to the towns of the Empire and Bretonnia. With each passing year, their wealth and numbers grow. Soon, their ship, renamed The Tempest, will need to be replaced. News of his sister's survival has not reached Antonath's ears, and that is just the way Prospera likes it. She waits for the day when she has enough might at her disposal to storm the towers of her House, and when she sleeps, she imagines the look of utter confusion that will cross Antonath's face as she rips his heart out.

Well my personal opinion questions how competitive this list is. 1 lvl 2 sorcerer even with the extra PD isn't really going to do anything other than eat points. A level 1 scroll caddy, or a pair of lvl 2 is better IMHO. I am also not a fan of using corsairs to get static res, they are much too costly for this compared to the warrior. The extra +1 vs shooting is offset by being -1 in combat compared to the cheaper spear men with shields. Also the range of shooting for corsairs suck. They do a good job as MSU, screen your important elements, contribute in flank charges (for the extra chance to catch them when they break. I also like the idea of shades with great weapons, now that's a nasty surprise!

Your CoK dread knight has a crappy weapon. Getting a extra attack at the cost of losing 2 strength is not worth it. Wounding on non 1s with a -3 to armour twice is better than wounding most thing on 3s and 4s and only being -1 to armor 3 times. I like giving him a null stone, and he can use the lance like other guys.

Monsters at this point level are hard to deal with. And his load out is just fine as is. (though expensive)

My biggest issue with your list probably has to do with model count. You are practically going for the most expensive option at every choice. Considering that DE are pretty squishy, you are going to have to be extra careful on how you use them. You model count is in the 50s, whereas its not hard to make a good DE list with 70-80 models. And the list I'm talking about has much better shooting, much better magic, better combat by a small margin, better static res by a large margin.

Nice and fluffy, yes. Competitive? My opinion is that its not as competitive as it could be.

Thanks for the advice! I should have explained myself more thoroughly in the first post - sorry about that. I intend on taking the list to tournaments, and I'd like to have a good win/loss ratio, but I don't need to win every time, and the tournaments will likely be smallish local ones. My main objective with this list is to have the most fun playing it as possible, and thus, I don't want to get crushed. If I'm going to lose, I'd like to at least cause a lot of trouble.

The idea with the corsairs is that they will hopefully break the unit they charge within the first turn. With frenzy, additional hand weapons, and run seven wide, they'll dish out an obscene number of attacks, and combined with a CoK flank charge or the proximity of the Terror-causing Manticore, this should be enough to ensure they won't have to rely on their armor saves overly much.

The handbow unit is intended to be a "Gunfighter" detachment. It protects the Sorceress, as any light, flying mage-hunters will think twice about getting near 24 crossbow bolts. Also, it can whittle down low-toughness units quite well, especially with the Sorceress and her Hydra's teeth. Thus, the Sorceress' use will be to get relatively close and fire off spells into enemy ranks, accompanied by a hail of bolts. That's the plan, anyways.

You're right on the Dread Knight - it didn't register that he'd lose the +2 Str. Why the null talisman, though? It seems to me that magic resistance wouldn't be that huge a benefit at this point value.

You're right about the model count, I think. I'm not sure how to raise it, though. I could drop the manticore for a Chariot, I suppose, but Terror is a beautiful thing. I could give him the Deathmask to make up for this, but it doesn't make up for the nastiness of the Manticore or the flight, which makes him a great missile troop and Warmachine killer. Do you think an extra 10 Corsairs would be worth dropping the Manticore for? I could also drop a bolt thrower, but I feel as though 2 will get the job done so much better than 1, as they can concentrate their fire and wipe something out completely or split it between two targets. What do you think?

Well every bit helps, when it comes to magic at tourneys. Personally at 1500 i bring 7 PD with a dagger... That's enough to obliterate a list with as little magic defense as you are bringing.

As for the corsairs unit, frenzy at tourneys is a good way to auto lose to a good player. Also 21 attacks is alot, but they are still S 3. Vs lets say a random 4+ save T4, WS 4 core unit which many armies get, you will hit 1/2, wound 1/3 and they will save 1/2 of those wounds. So thats what 2 wounds? Not very not that great CR if you ask me. Sure you can have those days were you roll well, and he rolls like crap and you kill 5 and don't get hit back, but those will be less then the days you do average and worse. Corsairs are excellent vs T3 WS 3 units. But so aren't just about anything.

My advise is to not try and go for big combat with corsairs, A block of 20 warriors with shields and FC will get the job done for less.

Here is a list mostly based off yours, with my bias added (though I don't run corsairs any more)

Master: (as you run him)
Sorc: lvl 1 2x scrolls (yes I know, lame, but effective)

25 warriors shields FC and war banner
10 corsairs w/musician and bows
10 corsairs w/musician and bows

8 shades with great weapons
5 CoK FC standard of slaughter

reaper
reaper

The tactics is for the corsairs to shoot anything that tries to get close as your SR block and hammer unit team together to try out flank. March within charge range of a unit, with CoK protecting with a counter charge. If they don't take the bait you will suceed in getting a good CoK flank charge, or they could go to face the knights, and get charged in the flank with your block AND you will nail them in the front with CoK. Corsairs would be deployed on the opposite side of the block of warriors from the the CoKs. If you can pull it off, corsairs assault to get an extra good chance of a run down. The shades and manticore are there for the fear factor. Both kill a lot, both have special non standard rules, and if used well will win games you have no business winning. (as in winning in the face of blunders, or facing a on paper better army) And if your enemy tries too hard to kill them, you will win with the important parts of the army.

Are the spearmen really that much better, though? 10-14 attacks, depending on how widely you field them, also at Strength 3, which works out to approximately 1 unsaved wound. Even with a +3 rank bonus and a standard, that's the same as a Corsair unit with 1 less rank

The main difference, as I see it, is that Corsairs have their 4+ save against missiles, and Spearmen have theirs in combat. IMO, I think the missile save is better - since DE troops tend not to survive protracted combats, it seems better to strike harder (with more troops at the beginning and more attacks) than to last longer. The intent, after all, is to break them on the first (or maybe second) turn.

Plus, Corsairs are better models and go with the fluff. I could convert some spearmen as slaves... but then why would they have shields? Or Eternal Hatred? Hmmm...

I'm still open to being convinced as far as the spearmen go, but I'm reluctant to make the change as of now. I'll take your advice about the Shades, though - great weapons are nasty and I just thought of a neat conversion for them.

As far as magic defense - 7 PD is quite a bit, but I'd be getting 5 with the cloak. Why do you think this wouldn't be enough? Would it be worthwhile to give the Dread Knight the Ring of Hotek?

What does "FC" stand for, by the way?

It's easier to build Static Combat Res when you're spending fewer points.

FC = Full command.

S3 doesn't kill anything reliably enough to get worthwhile CR. Cheap ranks and a banner get you 4-5 CR easily. At most you should get 5 attacks with the spearmen, since you aren't using the actual spears, but the hand weapon shield combo. Compare this to your corsairs who have 3-4 Static res, and HAVE to kill at least 2 models to equal what spear men start out as. And you are paying more points for a unit that has a much higher risk in combat. (I prefer to limit luck as much as possible, fight battles you already won) Eternal hatred does make the choice between corsairs (with much more attacks) and spear men actually difficult, but if you are looking for a unit that will kill things, try the black guard. (Don't know if you can fit it into the fluff for your army though)

As for magic PD, a army that brings a Lvl 1 scroll caddy will be able to shut down the important parts of your magic phase. Sure its only 3 Dispel, and 2 scrolls, but unless you get a good Power of Darkness through, you aren't going to overwhelm anybody. If you are going to bring firepower, overkill is better than not having enough.

5 dice at your points level, so long as its a friendly game, is fine, but to have an effective magic phase in competitive play you need more.

The ring on the knight unit is great, so long as you are careful with your own spells.

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I've spent a while reworking the list, and this is what I've come up with.

Caliban Karakh Mavael, Thrall of the Kraken and Captain of The Tempest
Master, Manticore, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Lance, Shield, Ring of Darkness - 334

Mirai Prospera Sycorax, Witch of the Serpent Sea
Sorceress, Level 2, Darkstar Cloak - 185

10 Corsairs (with Prospera), Handbows, Reaver with Pair of Handbows - 113

5 Harpies - 55

7 Shades, Great Weapons - 126

7 Cold One Knights, Standard Bearer with Standard of Slaughter - 167

14 Black Guard, Tower Master with Ring of Hotek, Standard Bearer with Banner of Hag Graef - 245

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 100

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 100

---

Total: 1498

So, there you have it. It's a very fragile list, I know, but in some ways I think that's a perk, as it means I will never be certain of the outcome and will have to be very careful with my units. My strategy will essentially be to isolate and destroy units with combined charges. The big, scary monsters will draw fire away from my squishier infantry units, and can still be nightmares in combat. It's a razor blade, basically - very fragile but capable of doing immense damage if used correctly, which is how Druchii should roll, IMO.

I still don't know what to do about Prospera's Power Dice Problem (it's alliterative, too!). I could give her the Sacrificial Dagger, but I can't afford to have her kill her bodyguard. I could take warriors, but I just plain don't like 'em much - winning combats by static resolution has always seemed a little boring. I could have a unit of ten just there to be killed, but then she couldn't use her Hydra's Teeth (and I quite like the combo, as both they and the Corsairs are good at killing the same things) and she doesn't get the protection the Corsairs offer.

A few more questions: can this "very low unit size" style of army work? Every unit hits harder than a ton of bricks, and if used in concert they could rip a sizable unit apart, but they're all very fragile. Also, though I know it's a widely discussed question, do you think 2 Reapers or 1 Hydra would work better for this list? Finally, I've changed around the kits for Prospera and Caliban. What's the verdict on those?

Just to be clear about the intent of this list - my intention when playing, like most people's, is to have fun. A large part of my enjoyment comes from executing devious strategies and slaughtering my foes, but I have no desire to create a cheesy list that will win the exact same way every time. I like to have to think on my feet, and to be suprised on occasion. On the other hand, being stomped on is no fun either, and though I don't mind losing (as long as I throw a few monkey wrenches into my opponent's plans!) I'd like to be competitive at the local tournaments I plan on attending, and maybe win one or two. Also, I will be regularly playing against my friend's Orcs and Goblins army. He hasn't begun collecting it either, so I only have a vague idea of what I'll face (other than that there will be squigs), which in my mind is good, because I don't really have much interest in winning against him every single time. On the other hand, I don't want to be crushed every time. How, in your opinion, would the list fare against Orcs?

Harpies don't count towards min core. Yes this sucks. Anyways your list of course will have trouble if they can attrition you before you reach them, but you have very lethal units that will have a very good chance of killing enough to over come static res.

Since you are going to be moving foward quickly, I would probably run the hydra instead. The Reaper x2 is very nice, but with this rest of the army moving forward so aggressively, it has a chance of having its firing lanes blocked early if you don't get a hill.

This is a list, in general (other than not enough core), I can support. If you can get some solid combined charges off, not much can hold up to these units.