I am tossing around some ideas for WargamesCon and this is the list I am leaning towards.
I was going to use Nids as they were so painfully underrepresented at Adepticon, but seeing as how my Footdar article on BoLS was what started my writing career with them way back when, it seems fitting that I would bring the Mighty, Mighty Footdar to Wargamescon. Also, seeing as how this will likely be the last major event of 5th edition, and my Footdar are my favorite army, may as well go out swinging!
2,000pts is my favorite level as it allows you to build lists with the tools to take on anyone. 1,500pts is the sweet spot for Footdar no doubt, but I really enjoy a challenge and so I would like to scale them up to 2,000 and see how they do.
The key to shoring up the weaknesses of my list is adding some long range punch and beefing up the Fire Dragons. Smart players will smoke the Firedragons first in a lot of situations, forcing me to Fortune them up to keep them safe. So long as the Exarch is alive with that brilliant Crack Shot/Firepike/BS5 combo, that unit is a huge threat. I decided to add Tank Hunters as I often take shots at maximum range and that increase to Str9 means a big difference.
I am also leaning towards dropping a Wraithlord for another unit of War Walkers. This seems like an obvious choice but it actually changes the dynamic of the list a great deal. With one unit, I can both Fortune and Guide them every turn, keeping them really powerful and hard to kill. That leaves a 3rd power to toss around, usually Fortune for the Avatar to make him incredibly hard to kill. With 2 units you now have a tough choice. Do you Fortune both and leave the Avatar vulnerable? Guide both and leave them vulnerable? A combination of the two? The fact that their are two units makes them a lot more durable, but Fortune really, really makes a unit tough to kill.
The other factor is that 2 Wraithlords are a bear to deal with. While they typically never kill a damn thing, they are fantastic tar pit units and they physically provide cover to other units. They with the Avatar and Harlies make a great deterrent to any would-be assault units. I plan on play testing them out against some tough opponents to get a feel for how they play and how they will change the dynamic of the army.
A last, minor change was adding a Death Jester to the Harlies. I had 6 points so it was the only thing I could really add, but it also means the Harlies can take some pot shots while waiting to strike, and can pop a transport and hit the squishy bits inside with a little luck.
The other choice was to swap a unit of Dires for Guardians with a Scatter Laser. This gives me some more long range punch for dealing with things like Dark Eldar which can be a really bad match-up for me. I was contemplating swapping all the Dires for Guardians with Scatter Lasers but decided against it as the Dires just add so much at close range. The increased range on their guns, Leadership 9, BS4, armor, and I5 all may seem minor, but add up to game changing differences in the right cirucmstances. A mix of the two seemed best to me.
Otherwise the list remains the same and that is a good thing. The core is rock solid for me and there are few to no match-ups I don’t know how to play right away with this army after so many years of playing it. It is a tough army, surprisingly resilient, hard hitting, tricksy, dominant in the Psychic phase and a force that is uniquely mine. I look forward to sending the boys out in style to celebrate the end of 5th edition!
| Footdar | 2000pts | ||
| Unit | Description | Size | Cost |
| HQ | |||
| Eldrad | 1 | 210 | |
| Avatar | 1 | 155 | |
| Troops | |||
| Dire Avengers | 10 | 120 | |
| Dire Avengers | 10 | 120 | |
| Guardians | S.Cannon | 10 | 85 |
| Guardians | S.Laser | 10 | 95 |
| Jetbikes | S.Cannon | 3 | 76 |
| Elites | |||
| Harlequins | Shadowseer, Kisses x 9, Death Jester | 10 | 256 |
| Fire Dragons | Exarch, Pike, Crack Shot, Tank Hunters | 9 | 184 |
| Fire Dragons | Exarch, Pike, Crack Shot, Tank Hunters | 9 | 184 |
| Fast Attack | |||
| Heavy Support | |||
| Wraithlord | B.Lance, EML | 1 | 155 |
| War Walkers | S.Laser x 6 | 3 | 180 |
| War Walkers | S.Laser x 6 | 3 | 180 |
| Totals | 80 | 2000 |
I like the 2 war walkers better than the 2 wraithlords.
Also, why no pathfinders and why no bladestorm?
Pathfinders aren’t worth the points, I’ve found. They kill nothing. Guardians hold an objective just as well and can actually pop transports. I find them to be a better, cheaper alternative. Bladestorm is too expensive for what you get. Naked Dires perform very well for me and shoot every turn. I much prefer them, actually. For the price of 3 squads with Bladestorm, you can get 4 without. More shots per turn, more bodies, more scoring units.
Glad to hear you’re taking the Footdar again! I’ll be rooting for ya, for sure. Love to see something like this come out of nowhere and hit the top lists where they hurt. 🙂
Thanks! I think it will be a lot of fun regardless but if I somehow do win it, hahaha, that would be awesome!
I like the double WW over the Wraithlord. WWs are potentially worse tar-pits if the opponent is all str4 or less, but they seem to be much better than the WL against things like a power-fist. The only thing I would say is that if I was taking WWs, I would be less likely to want to put them in a tarpit role since they are SO good at shooting. Guess it depends on whether you feel like the switch still leaves all your bases covered.
Also, have you considered Grey Knights? I hear that army is good.
I donkey punch Grey Knights!
I was hoping there’s be another hive brother there.
:'((
I wanted to bring the bugs, but I think this is more fitting. Also, less to paint! haha
Where is the love ??
😛
How’s the Dark Footdar getting on ?
Good! It’s just sort of in a holding pattern until 6th. I want to start painting stuff, but I want to see the new rules before committing to buying anything as everyone else is doing, too.
awesome, i really enjoy your footdar batreps reecius, so i look forward to seeing how this plays out!
my last (and probably favourite!) games of 3rd, 4th, and now 5th edition have been with footdar as well, they’re just so much fun to play, and real beasts on the tabletop!
I know it ruins the aesthetic, but i swapped out my 2nd wraithlord for a Falcon a while back (shuriken cannon, HF, stones, and star engines), and its been game-changing almost every time for me, mostly due to its speed, but also for how much firepower it can soak up while behind cover. Still haven’t had a chance to try out the dual WW setup though.
Good luck with the painting — definitely post some close-ups of your awesome army when you get a chance!
-ibushi
Yeah, Super Falcons are amazing! Such good units. I actually don’t use them not because of the Aesthetic, but because I lose so much firepower to bring them. They eat points like nothing. If they work for you though, that is great!