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Hey guys, so I have taken way too long to get an army ready for KoW but have finally started playing and am enjoying it. My current army being undead, but since I first looked at it I had decided Undead and Twilight Kin would be my 2 armies that ally with each other as needed.

Now that my undead are built I am looking to the elves on the horizon I am wondering about tactics. Ideally I'd love to play my Kin like I used to my Dark Elves with multiple small units dominating the movement phase.

So my question to you dakka, is do the twilight kin/KoW in general work that way?
An example army at 2000 points being something like:
2x regiments of spearment
4x troops of crossbowmen
2x troops of shadows
1x regiment of reaperguards
2x troops of gargoyles
2x regiments of abyssal riders

And for characters something vaugely along the lines of a high priestess, a couple of standard bearers and an assassin.

I'd like to think it is a good balance of speed, shooting and melee but I honestly have no idea how it would work on the table, I've neither played as an MSU or against one yet.

I dunno about Twilight Kin, but based on a few recent battles I've had, MSU works just as well as horde armies but they play very differently. I'm playing a KoM army and with MSU it's very maneuverable and you have chaff/sacrificial units, but your battle line is less solid and falls apart quickly (especially with shooting!).

That sounds cool, I remember it being harder to do in WHFB but way more rewarding when you block your opponent's charge lanes, maneuver around them, and feed their best units cheap chaff while your best units get behind their lines and wreak havoc.

I can speak to this as my wife has just gone all in on Twilight Kin, and we have, or rather she has had five or six games to date.

1. Remember Kin are in flux. The current list is probably seeing significant fluff/content/points changes, as the rules committee has been open about that. I'd suggest not buying too many models so specific as to only fill one role, in case they change drastically in the revamped list.

2. A Horde of Crossbowmen, coupled with the piercing item, and a bane-chanting individual is horrific. I mean... outright disgusting damage out-put. She tried little troops of shooters and they proved grossly ineffectual only to keep getting rolled in the later game by something, often a good solo, who made it through. I'd go so far as to say troops of Crossbowmen are crap. :-p

3. Protected, and as a second line, Blade Dancers are terrific. They make a devastating second string, or flanker, and have tremendous mobility for a foot-unit. They really can't take a hit, but boy can they deliver one.

4. Dark Knights are excellent for the points. Mobile, hard-hitting, just good solid, workmanlike cav who do what they need to do. She had a lot of success with a Hydra and Dark Knight regiment on each flank.

5. If you want to be spendy, the Avatar of... something or other, can be very powerful, and a good center-piece model for the army.

 jonolikespie wrote:
Hey guys, so I have taken way too long to get an army ready for KoW but have finally started playing and am enjoying it. My current army being undead, but since I first looked at it I had decided Undead and Twilight Kin would be my 2 armies that ally with each other as needed.

Now that my undead are built I am looking to the elves on the horizon I am wondering about tactics. Ideally I'd love to play my Kin like I used to my Dark Elves with multiple small units dominating the movement phase.

So my question to you dakka, is do the twilight kin/KoW in general work that way?
An example army at 2000 points being something like:
2x regiments of spearment
4x troops of crossbowmen
2x troops of shadows
1x regiment of reaperguards
2x troops of gargoyles
2x regiments of abyssal riders

And for characters something vaugely along the lines of a high priestess, a couple of standard bearers and an assassin.

I'd like to think it is a good balance of speed, shooting and melee but I honestly have no idea how it would work on the table, I've neither played as an MSU or against one yet.

I've been playing TK for a few months now. They can do MSU very well due to gargoyles. They are amazing for their points and help set up charges for your other units that need to get the charge off (anything with TC, blade dancers).

Out of what you listed, I think Crossbowmen and Abyssal Riders both work better as Horde.

Crossbowmen because of what NewTruthNeomaxim said... banechant is amazing on them. Either the +1 to hit magic item or the +1 piercing. Hordes in general are great for getting the most out of magic items and crossbowmen are nasty.

Abyssal Riders I prefer as horde so they can get the most out of their regen. I like the caterpillar magic item on them (gives them pathfinder) so that they don't get hindered charges through terrain (and therefore lose TC).

I'd take Knights over Abyssal Riders if I was doing MSU.

Something you didn't mention, but it's worth taking in 1500 points up... it either a Dragon Lord or Abyssal Fiend with Ensorcled Armor. Just a nasty unit. Very fast and very tough.

TK may have a temporary list, but it's very strong.

Red Viper's last item was the one I was articulating badly (and the name I was mis-remembering)...

Abyssal Fiend w/wings and Ensorceled Armor is expensive, but absolutely devastating. I think we all know any of the flavors of Lord-on-Dragon, game-wide, are incredibly potent right now, but with how speedy the entire Kin army can be, its just a devastating alpha or beta strike waiting to happen.