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 |