Thanks for the feedback. It seems like pretty universally people think I should either drop the outriders, or own the "taking things in lots of slots" and try to fit brigade. I'd rather not try to go for brigade and take an army with a lot of units i'm not sure how to manage. Having a simple battle plan is easier for me, especially in a tournament with time constraints. I think I'll go for making things work with 1 Battalion, 1 Vanguard so I have an army that is easy to use effectively.
RE what I own:
So I do in fact have 5 Dire Avengers! I just painted some up this weekend, though they are still a WIP:
Despite the incomplete paintjob, these are tournament legal since they have 3 colors: the blue basecoat, the silver armor and guns, and the lighter blue striping on the plumes. I could really quickly paint up another squad of 5 in a day if needed.
I don’t have any storm guardians ready to go, so I can’t run 16 of them. 10 rangers I can do, I have them already painted up.
Shining Spears would take some conversion work to have ready in time. If the regular jetbikers aren’t a good choice I could just drop the outriders as a whole.
I do have the rest of the models listed though.
I like the idea of a Serpent carrying 5-6 Fire Dragons and 5 Dire Avengers: that sounds like a really good group to have in a Serpent, capable of dealing with most enemies. A big squad of Dark Reapers with using the Forewarned stratagem sounds like it could be really good vs deep strikers. However, I’m not sure how good Wraithlords would be without the Iyanden Chapter Tactics to keep them effective at low wounds.
—
So, let’s say I cut the outrider detachment to take some Dark Reapers, and stick them in a Wave Serpent…
Ulthwé Army - 1 Battalion, 1 Vanguard - 1983 pts, 7 CP++Ulthwé Battalion Detachment - 442 pts
Foot Autarch with Spar-Glaive
-Warlord Trait: Fate Reader
-Remnant of Glory: Faolchu's Wing
Eldrad Ulthran
10 Guardians + Shuriken Cannon Platform
5 Rangers
5 Rangers
++Ulthwé Vanguard Detachment - 1506 pts
Warlock
6 Fire Dragons, 1 is Exarch with Firepike
8 Wraithguard with Wraithcannons
5 Wraithguard with D-Scythes
5 Wraithguard with D-Scythes
7 Dark Reapers, 1 is Exarch with Aeldari Missile Launcher
Wave Serpent with 3 Shuriken Cannons
Wave Serpent with 3 Shuriken Cannons
Wave Serpent with 3 Shuriken Cannons
The changes being made are,1) lose the Outrider detachment
2) add some Dark Reapers
3) give the FD Exarch a Firepike instead of DB Flamer since they Deep Strike now
So my deployment would look like this:On the Board:
Autarch nestled between serpents
Wave Serpent with Scythe Wraithguard + Warlock
Wave Serpent with Scythe Wraithguard
Wave Serpent with Dark Reapers + Eldrad
Guardians screening
In Reserve:
5 Rangers with Appear Unbidden
5 Rangers with Appear Unbidden
6 Fire Dragons with Webway Strike
8 Wraithguard with Webway Strike
I’ll typically start a game with 4.5 CP (7, minus 3 for Webway Strike, Autarch makes back half a point).
Upsides to this:
1. I now have a lot more damage output due to Dark Reapers being some of the best shooting units in the entire game, especially against heavy infantry. This also means I have significant ranged output
2. My ability to jump in and reinforce with versatile or anti-infantry focused firepower, is reduced (10 fewer warp spiders, 5 fewer swooping hawks)
3. I’m spending a bunch of CP to webway in a squad of Fire Dragons
—
I could also swap out the Guardians and 1 Rangers squad for Dire Avengers, then swap the Outriders for another Wave Serpent with Fire Dragons + Dire Avengers inside, so I’d have 4 Serpents:
1 Serpent with 5 DAs, 6 Fire Dragons, Autarch (or perhaps Autarch on foot)
1 Serpent with 5 DAs, 6 Fire Dragons, Eldrad
1 Serpent with 5 Scythe Wraithguard, Warlock
1 Serpent with 5 Scythe Wraithguard, Warlock
And for Reserves:
5 Rangers with Appear Unbidden
7 Wraithguard with Wraithcannons with Webway Strike
It might make sense just to go with the first thing, swapping out the Outriders for a Dark Reaper squad
Thoughts?