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GHB17 brought some changes to my army, so I've decided to jump back into AoS and try and work things out.

Shadowblades / Order

Leaders
Assassin - General / Trait: Legendary Fighter / Artefact: Obstinate Blade
4 x Assassin
Battleline
50 x Dark Riders (10/10/10/10/10)
Behemoths
2 x War Hydra - Allies

2000(400 Allies)

The Good: Points Cost reduction and Allies. I went from running 60 Dark Riders on 2k down to 1.5k, which was huge because I had a good time with the 60 at the 2k mark. I've dropped down to 50 to allow for 3 heroes on my 1.5k. It just turned out easier to build on that and still have the 10 Backup riders if I find that I don't want to run the 5 Assassins on 2k. Not too much in the way of allies options that I found attractive. I have Stormcast available, and 3 Knight-Venators could be a good option for putting some punch on the enemy before the riders hit. I'm leaning toward the War Hydras for a variety of reasons, but the two main ones were staying with Dark Aelves and the cost is about the same on the wallet.

The Bad: Between the FAQs and the GHB17, I lost some things that I was able to do. I have to have a leader, and he has to be the General. So I'm no longer able to make any effective use of 'Inspiring Presence'. Only Heroes can have the Artefact as well, so I'm back to getting 1 use out of whichever one I pick of those as well. The small consolation here is that I'm less dependent on running the larger units, which has taken some getting used to. It's made it easier to get more models into melee while minimizing the effect debuffs have on my army.

Outside of the army, the scenario where only Heroes/Behemoths can claim/hold the objectives still exists. This has been an Auto-loss for me in the previous GHB as I don't start with any Heroes on the board, are super squishy when they pop out, and unless my opponent conveniently had his heroes on the objectives before more (not usually with a 14" move Battleline), the Assassins wouldn't even get to attempt what they're supposed to do. I've been running 0-1 Assassins and just taking the loss on this Scenario and have done better. The scenario changed to 2 objectives, so I'm hoping that running more Assassins with the 2 Hydras means I might have a shot.

The Unknown: 'Sow Terror and Confusion' is still waiting for an answer on whether it stacks or not. It's the last trick I've potentially got with the army. The rules question was sent a while ago, so no real need to discuss it here. Just that it's still unknown.

Well you don't have to have a hero as the general, you can make a random dude in a unit the general you'll just be forfeiting a command trait. Artifacts only being on heroes has always been the way it was, so no change there. At any rate, Shadowblades are really not a good fit for games more than 1000 points so there will inevitably be problems.

That said, the hero-only scenario went to heroes/behemoths (so your hydras can score) and heroes on foot heal wounds equal to the victory points they earn, so it's actually a huge improvement for you.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Well you don't have to have a hero as the general

Pg. 77 'In a Pitched Battle, your General must be a Leader, and may not be an Ally'.

Previously, I was able to pick a Dark Rider Herald and use the Default 'Inspiring Presence'. Doesn't appear I can do that anymore. It was wasted on an Assassin, since they weren't even on the board until the Combat Phase. I was running the Artefact on that same model until the FAQ clarified that they couldn't.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
That said, the hero-only scenario went to heroes/behemoths (so your hydras can score) and heroes on foot heal wounds equal to the victory points they earn, so it's actually a huge improvement for you.

The issue hasn't been the healing, it's the dying. The Dark Elf Assassins only have a 5+ with no form of protection. I've only ever been able to drop them on the board, hope they do their thing, then they die.

In 3 places of power, I REALLY struggled. Having your entire army have a move of 14" meant that I was usually getting to the objectives first, be forced to keep the Riders back so I could drop the Assassins off at the start of the Assault phase. Not only did I lose the ability to shoot, charge and possibly stall the enemy from getting there, but I also had to expose my Assassins to score and never really get to use there ability to do some damage. Even when I held off until my opponent got some heroes on the objectives, I either couldn't get through his screens, or more common, the Assassins would fail at removing the heroes.

I'm HOPING that the current scenario will be a bit more forgiving in there there are only 2 objectives instead of 3. I don't have to hold off my Dark Riders anymore and can put pressure on my opponent. I can put some/all of the Assassins in the Hydras if I need to move them off of the objectives late game. Since the War Hydras are the slowest unit in the army, I think it might give me a bit of breathing room.

Color me educated on the general needing to be a leader.

For two places of power, you can realistically put a hydra on each one and jump the assassins out when they try to move you. It limits your tactical options considerably but at least its something.