AoS Escalation league - how to escalate to 750

[Tokek]

I have a thread over in the battle reports area about an escalation league I am in. Starting out my list is as follows

Allegiance: Seraphon
LEADERS
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
- General
- Command Trait : Mighty War Leader - Artefact : Light of Dracothion
Skink Starpriest (80)
UNITS
5 x Saurus Knights (90)
-Lances
5 x Saurus Knights (90)
-Lances
3 x Razordons (120)
ENDLESS SPELLS
Soulsnare Shackles (20)

While I know I am heading towards a Dracothian's Tail sort of list I wanted to let the journey there be a chance to learn my lizards.

With half of the month gone I am beginning to think ahead to the next month at 750 points and I am torn between a couple of options.

1. Go straight for the Slann and then probably play a waiting/control game in my matches as I rely on building up summoning points and CP before I have enough hitting power to take the battle to my foes.

2 Get myself some more Saurus Knights and go with the Firelance Starhost. More bodies on the table and less drops so I can control the pace of the game better.

I think we all know what a buff-machine the Slann is and if I can stay in the game for 3 or 4 turns the summoning can be a real pain for opponents. So while that list really lacks hitting power it has quite a lot more to it. We are not using realm spells so the Slann will mostly be sitting doing nothing but building up summoning points and while that list archetype really wants the soulsnare shackles I would most likely have to drop them to fit the Slann in.

The Firelance Starhost buffs the Saurus Knights differently but really not worse than a Slann. The additional charge distance is awesome on them and an additional CP gives them a lot more bite (literally) with the Scar Vet command trait.

So a question for the wiser heads is - will either or both of those lists really get into a lot of bother due to their lack of having all the tools. Help me make up my mind.

 

[LizardWizard]

Typically I avoid running any Battalions below 1500 vanguard. I think you will have likely have more winning games with the Slann. You could also just add in a big blob of Skinks or Bastiladon.

Good luck in your league.

 

[Tokek]

Yes the sensible part of me thinks that I probably start paying for battalions when I get to 1250 points and upwards. The only real question mark over that is that I will typically have more drops than most of my opponents which lets them set the tempo of the game.

 

[Crowsfoot]

Yes the sensible part of me thinks that I probably start paying for battalions when I get to 1250 points and upwards. The only real question mark over that is that I will typically have more drops than most of my opponents which lets them set the tempo of the game.

Tempo should not effect you too much if you can protect your Slann, he can teleport units, bring in summons etc so you can react to whatever your opponent does, keeping him alive is key in the early turns while you amass points or teleport units.

AS @LizardWizard has already mentioned battalions below 1500 will put strain on your numbers but again your Slann is key in bringing in more.

 

[Tokek]

Thanks for the replies.

After thinking about them and also questioning what is good/bad for summoning I have come up with the following idea for next month

LEADERS
Slann Starmaster (260) - General - Command Trait : Great Rememberer
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100) - Artefact : Light of Dracothion
Skink Starpriest (80)
UNITS
5 x Saurus Knights (90) -Lances
5 x Saurus Knights (90) -Lances
5 x Saurus Knights (90) -Lances
ENDLESS SPELLS
Soulsnare Shackles (20)

730 Points

I could fit in another cheap Endless Spell but i think I will leave it as it is and maybe get a Triumph in some games.
I dropped the Razordons and will be summoning them in. After 3 games I realised that I hardly ever use them as a turn 1 unit anyway so if I have to wait till turn 2 before I can summon them all in then that is OK. Similarly although I quite fancy getting some skinks in I can opt to summon them.

Essentially the list goes from a one-trick-pony (the stacked CP on the bite attacks for Cold Ones) to a two-trick-pony by adding in the summoning.

I went for Great Rememberer as I think I may need it some games to buy time and space to get off my summoning while in the later game it should let me get back into attacking positions to close out the game. Really neither of the other traits fit with a summoning themed list - much as I love both of the others in their own ways. I have kept the Light of Dracothian simply because there are a couple of other armies where shutting down that one key spell can make a huge difference; it will be useless in some games but its value when I need it is immense.

So 5 more Saurus Knights go on the workbench. I must be some kind of masochist.

 

[LizardWizard]

Don't forget that Light of Dracothion only has 15" range. I still use this artifact in my lower point games, but a lot of players assume it is now the 30" range or unlimited Slann range.

 

[DeathBringer125]

What is an escalation league?

 

[LizardWizard]

What is an escalation league?

It is league that starts at a small point level, like 500 or sometimes lower, and then continues to advance the army sizes on a weekly or monthly basis. This is to help new people enter the hobby. Some league operate similarly to Path to Glory and by earning wins you are able to take addition upgrades or gain access to league specific artifacts & command abilities.

 

[Tokek]

Exactly as @LizardWizard says. We are starting at 500 points and working our way up by 250 points each month until we reach 2000.

The other list building rule is that we can swap up to 250 points each month which was specifically to make it possible to bring the bigger models in the later parts of the league without having to cripple ourselves the previous month if you see what I mean. I had to drop something out of my list next month to make room for the Slann because my September list was precisely 500 points and that would make putting a Slann in the October list impossible.

There are also bonus points for playing against as many different players as you can and for building/painting models during the month to get your list fully painted by the end of the month; so we are encouraged to build new armies. While my army is technically the one I already had my plan is to be building at least one new unit each month either as a main part of the list or as a summoning option.

 

[DeathBringer125]

Oh cool! That’s sounds really fun.