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Lords - 23.65%

Supreme Sorceress - 308pts
*Dark Steed
*Lifetaker
*Pendant Of Khaeleth

DreadLord - 165pts
*Ring of Hotek

Heroes - 22%

Cauldron of Blood w/ BSB - 255

Sorceress - 185
*Sacrificial Dagger
*Focus Familiar
*Level 2

Core - 34.10%

Repeater Crossbowmen x 10 - 105

Repeater Crossbowmen x 14 - 169
*Shields
*Standard Bearer
*Musician

Warriors x 24 - 183
*shields
*Champion, Standard Bearer, Musician

Dark Riders x 5 - 115
*Shields
*Repeater Crossbows

Harpies (2x5) - 110pts

Special - 6.5%

Black Guard of Naggarond x 10 - 130pts

Rare - 13.75%

War Hydra - 175pts

Reaper Bolt Thrower - 100pts

Strategy: Meet the enemy head on with my spearmen after thinning them out with sorceress' and Xbow-men. Harpies go take out warmachines. I'm unsure if I should put my Supreme Sorc in the darkriders squad to make a 3x2 or within 3" to get the Look out, Sir... bonus.

Further thoughts: I'm a newb and I don't have hardly any of these models so feel free to take apart this list and leave constructive criticism. I've been reading forums trying to get a scoop on whats best in the 8th addition, and its been pretty unclear. The one thing I have learned is lots of spearmen in 5xR ranks are good, sorceress' are good, and the our Repeater Xbow men are also good. Other than that I've heard mixed things about shades, and Dark Riders. I may have sunk too many points into my leader units as well. Let me know what you guys think and maybe if possible , give me further advice on special units. Preemptive thank you.

I suggest starting even more basic than this for now.

Start with a big-ish block of Spearmen with full command, like 30 of them. You may want to build two blocks of those just to start understanding how they work as an anvil in tandem with your more fragile and killy units like the Black Guard, Witches, Executioners, etc.

Crossbows got an up in this new edition so it wouldn't be a terrible idea to build 20 of them in one big group without shields until you decide if you like using those. A musician is a must for swift reforms, IMO.

Hydra is a great monster, so definately a no-brainer. Bringing two may not win you many friends in your local gaming group.

I'm a big fan of Black Guard, so I recommend at least 15 of them so you can choose to start the game with a coupla ranks or in a 7x2 formation (with one extra guy in the back). This can be a great unit to field a character in, especially if the character can support them with MR or just CR. A magic banner in this group might not be terrible either. I like using the armor piercing one if my Spearmen aren't using it.

Now that you have some blocks, the Cauldron of Blood may not be a bad choice so you can buff them with wards or whatever is clever. I haven't used one before because I typically fill my Hero slots with a Master BSB and Lv 2 Sorceress.

Speaking of those, in my few games of 8th I am seeing that a Lv 4 Supreme Sorceress is great for a strong magic phase. Backed by a Lv 2, they have a good chance for 2 out of 6 strong magic phases that can change the outcome of the game. For items, the Darkstar cloak, dispel scroll, Pendant of Khaeleth, Obsidian Stone have been interesting.

I am still using my Dark Riders (5 with Xbows and musician), but so far the Shades are outshining them in similar roles. You don't get easy marchblocks anymore, and their shooting usually doesn't have a lot of impact.

A long response, but I suggest getting some basic units built to a large size and seeing what complements your play style.

- Blackbone

The best things you can take are: Repeater Crossbowmen, Dark Riders with repeater crossbows, Warriors with spears, Black Guard, Hydra's, Sorceress and Dreadlords. So take lots of that stuff. The repeater bolt throwers are ok but not great imo just get more crossbowmen. The Cauldron of Blood and Witch Elves are cool but just meh for performance. Harpies and Cold One knights could be added in too to perform flank attacks and artillery killing. Any of your infantry units need to be size of 20 strong at the minimum too. Same for the Crossbowmen. Dark Riders in units of 10 probably. The Hydra is SO good for the points too!