Recently I was asked by someone for some general advice on writing their first tournament army list. Now I don't pretend to be a top level player, but after a few weeks of deliberation here are a few points that I believe should be considered, based on mistakes I've made in the past.
'You cannot fight the shadow. Even now, you fade. One light alone in the darkness.'
One tip that has served me well over the years is don't put all your eggs in one basket. By that I mean avoid being overly reliant on a single model or tactic. There's a couple of reasons for this. Number 1 is that it makes it easier for your opponent to either focus on eliminating or avoiding your one big threat. And Number 2, if that model or tactic fails (is killed or has an unfavorable matchup for example) then it can be difficult to switch to a Plan B.
Instead, I recommend including several potentially threatening models so that the opponent has to split their attention between them and it's harder to shut down your main tactic.
'Even if it is breached, it will take a number beyond reckoning, thousands, to storm the keep.'
Ok, thousands may be an exaggeration but many of the scenarios do require you to have a sufficient quantity of models in order to capture objectives, hold ground, exercise board control and avoid becoming surrounded. However, it can be tempting to spend a lot of your points on the big heroes (especially if taking multiple big heroes, as advised above). So how can you balance these opposing points?
A fairly basic calculation for determining a decent army size is to divide the points total by 20 and that should give you a good average sized model count. For example, in a 600 point game then an army size of around 30 is reasonable (600÷20). This obviously isn't set in stone, a Goblin Town horde will naturally have a lot more models than an elite Rivendell Knight army, but it will give an indication of where your army sits on the model count scale.
'No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,' said Gandalf. 'And there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece. No, he will not smile.'
Might is arguably the most important resource available in the game. There's so much that can be said about how important Might is that I don't want to derail this article (I might come back to it in a future one though, no promises though). What I will say about Might is that make sure you have plenty, a Might point per 100 points plus a few extras, although this is a personal choice that depends on the army and how much it relies on Might to function. The other point about Might that I will mention is to ensure that you have quality Might. What I mean by that is to make sure that you have access to the more important Heroic Actions. It's widely accepted that Heroic Strike and Heroic March are far more useful than the likes of Heroic Accuracy for example, so priority should be given to Heroes with access to these actions.
"Who are you that would stand against me? Now that is a pity. What will you do now, Bowman? You are forsaken. No help will come!"
Bows often get overlooked in army lists with more emphasis being placed on close combat troops. In my opinion, this is a mistake and I would always try to ensure at least some shooting presence within an army. My reasoning is that having some shooting extends your threat range and if you can get a shooting advantage over your opponent (which can be possible with just a handful of bows if your foe doesn't have any) then it helps you to control the pace of the battle by forcing them to react to your shooting.
However, if you do choose not to, or are unable to, take any archery then you will need to consider how you are going to mitigate your opponents ranged advantage. This could be either through magical powers or special abilities, such as Blinding Light or through having high mobility and closing the gap between forces quickly.
I'm going on an adventure!
My final point (and probably my most important) is that you should play an army that you want to play. I'd recommend avoiding just copying the latest tournament topping list and instead craft your own personal army based on the factions, models or tactics that you enjoy. Play some practice games with it, adapting it as you go to address any issues you encounter. The more you play with it then the better you'll do with it and the more refined the list will become. Sure you might lose a few games at the start but that is part of the adventure and when things go right then there is more satisfaction in doing it your own way.
