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So I want to compile a list of the must have units for each army to better aid those who are writing lists and aren't sure what mainstay units to take.

I'll start with what I know best:

Lizardmen:
Slann with Temple Guard (second best caster in the game and beefy guard unit)
Terradons (great flying unit and drop rocks is awesome)
Salamanders (with no more partials the template is brutal, as well as the burn thru armor)
Chameleon Skinks

High Elves:
Teclis( best caster in the game if you simply want to win, opponents don't like him)
LV4 archmage with book of Hoeth( if Teclis is a no no where you play)
Phoenix Guard( on of the best units in the game IMO, fear, wards, just wonderful)
Great Eagles ( great at warmachine hunting)

Beastmen:
Gors
Minotaurs

Warriors of Chaos:
Warriors
Hellcannon

Skaven:
Slaves( lots)
Hellpit Abomination

Dark Elves:
Hydra
Shades
Repeater Crossbows
Black Guard

Empire:
Cannons
Mortars
War Altar

Dwarves:
Cannons
Grudge Throwers

Wood elves:
Treekin
Glade guard
Level 4 with lore of life
Dryads
Great Eagle

We need lists for every army and I'll update the main post as we compile more of them.

Terradons really, well they are pretty good, i still think camo skinks should be in there too.

Beastmen: Gors and Minotaurs. Both perform really well and can be a pain if units of them relatively intact hit your enemy in close combat.

Warriors: Warriors and Hellcannon, apparently marauders are pretty good.

Skaven :

Slaves = excellent tarpits. cheap expendable troops you can rely on to hold up and bog down your opponent.

Hellpit Abominations = one of the most destructive monsters in the game. cheap in points, and just rocks all round.

What about the doomwheel its dirt cheap for what you get.

Oh and for DE the hydra. For dwarfs cannons and grudge throwers. For empire mortars and cannons. For brets trebuchettes (seeing a trend here), men at arms and maybe pegasus knights. For orcs and goblins – fanatics, doom divers, rock lobbas, spear chukkas and well orcs.

Yeah, thats all i've got.

updated

I still demand camo skinks
Seriously i never hit the table without at least 5.

Who is still using Dragon Princes?

At 30 points a model, lances, S3, T3 I just don't see how they are elite. You could use them as flanking units, but you'd need 2 ranks of em (300+ points) to break rank bonus of enemy units.

There are far better ways to spend points in the High Elf selection now.

Not saying they are useless, but "Must have"? I'd say no.

Phoenix Guard and Teclis are the High Elven "must haves."

Same goes for Terradons now. Not so great due to the fact that war machine crews cannot be stomped, and they can use the T value of the War Machine against the drop rocks ability.

Salamanders, Chameleon Skinks, Slann are the "Must Haves" of the LM army.

I think that Black Guard are more mandatory than shades for DE

I think DE are best served by those annoying crossbows.

Wood elves:

Treekin
Glade guard
Level 4 with lore of life
Dryads
Great Eagle

Nothing else, really.

Empire:

Need to add WP/AL characters to the list...bonus DD for the win! I don't know how other armies put up any resistance to "always get 10-12 PD" high elves, but even with +3 for having an AL and a WP, I was facing 10+PD with 7-9 DD. I can't imagine facing high elves (or TK) with 4-6 DD!

TK:

tomb scorpions

characters

I don't know if he's an absolute neccesity but a lot of people from beastmen have told me you wanna go for slugtongue.

Organ gun approaches must have on the Dwarf list. It certainly competes easily with the rest of the rare choices in that list.

I would have put Warp Lightning Cannon on the Skaven list, and I'm not so sure on Black Guard for Dark Elves...

Lehnsherr wrote:Who is still using Dragon Princes?

At 30 points a model, lances, S3, T3 I just don't see how they are elite. You could use them as flanking units, but you'd need 2 ranks of em (300+ points) to break rank bonus of enemy units.

WS5, 2 Attacks, 1+ Armour Save & ASF (so likely to re-roll hits)

They actually have a 2+ save, not a 1+.

They have 2 attacks at WS 5 with rerollable hits, that is nice. However, they are no longer completely immune to fire. They have S 3 after the first turn of combat. You aren't going to kill anything that has any kind of armour with them.

They cost 30 points per model, and in order to break rank bonuses you would need to spend 300 points. Thats without a Standard or a Musician too.

With Steadfast, Step up, and all the other additions to the rules in 8th, you are far better off spending your points on Phoenix Guard, or Swordmasters than on Dragon Princes.

They are ok, but they are not must haves.

imho, drop the black guard, they aren't even close to a "must have" this edition.

For dark elves it should be:

repeater crossbowmen
hydra
caster


I didn't see OnG up there, so I'll throw in my take:

Mork's spirit totem
night goblin blocks (fanatics optional this edition)
doom diver
rock lobba

Ogre Kingdoms.

Full unit of 16 Ironguts, complete command, Tyrant and Slaughtermaster.

1,400 points locked away in a unit that can murder pretty much anything in HTH. Just be wary of I Test Death Spells, natch!

It was said before but hasn't been added in just yet...

Empire Armies must have a couple of WPs if not an AL running around. No only are they great for the extra Dispel Dice but with their prayers they can turn a simple block of state troops into an unbreakable unit who is now Immune to Psychology which is always handy.

I second the choices of cannons and mortars, but you could probably just say War Machines in general. Yeh the other two aren't as reliable but when they work smoothly (possibly with the aid of an Engie) it's wonderful.

Daemons:

flamers
bloodletters

Ogre Bulls no seriously you must have a unit of bulls

Skittiez wrote:Ogre Bulls no seriously you must have a unit of bulls

Its either that or Gnoblars... but seriously, who uses Gnoblars as anything but points fill?

Beyond Bulls, usually, you need Ironguts and Leadbelchers (basically, if you buy 2 or 3 Battalion boxes, you'll be good to go for an Ogre Army, minus Lords and Heroes)

Bretonnia- Knights of the Realm, Trebuchet, Men at arms with a Lvl 2 Damsel with Lore of Beasts

Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Skittiez wrote:Ogre Bulls no seriously you must have a unit of bulls

Its either that or Gnoblars... but seriously, who uses Gnoblars as anything but points fill?

Beyond Bulls, usually, you need Ironguts and Leadbelchers (basically, if you buy 2 or 3 Battalion boxes, you'll be good to go for an Ogre Army, minus Lords and Heroes)

Actually Skittiez meant that literally the OK book requires you to take at least one unit

Ooh, has nobody done Vamps yet?

Vampire with Forbidden Lore (access to all spells from any given Lore except Life) and then Lore of Shadow for making opposing units next to useless in combat.

Necromancers for 'topping up' units.

And hordes of Skeleton Spears - a potential 40 hits that will stay at a potential 40 hits of you keep them topped up. They also don't suffer from the reduced rank bonus as they are unbreakable and thus, don't need steadfast.

Kinda sad no White Lion in the HE must haves...

They used to be great in 7th. I think out of all the units for HE, the White Lions (some of my favorite models) took the biggest hit. Step up really hurt them as they lack the killing power to win any war of attrition with only 1 attack each. At 15 points a model, the fieldable unit size won't really scare anyone for what they do.

Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Skittiez wrote:Ogre Bulls no seriously you must have a unit of bulls

Its either that or Gnoblars... but seriously, who uses Gnoblars as anything but points fill?

Beyond Bulls, usually, you need Ironguts and Leadbelchers (basically, if you buy 2 or 3 Battalion boxes, you'll be good to go for an Ogre Army, minus Lords and Heroes)

I take 3 blocks of 60 gnoblars at 3k not as point filler.... gnoblars do work