griffon prince

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matrim
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Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 6:46 am

griffon prince

#1 Post by matrim »

hello, I have been desperately trying to put a griffon rider on a competitive list. I originally tried 2 commanders then a commander with a huntsman prince but in the decided on griffon prince and huntsman bsb. Please help me to make him relatively competitive.

general prince @398 pts
griffon with all upgrades
dragon scale helm, ogre sword, toss
heavy armour, shield

bsb @ 263pts
royal huntsman on lion chariot
deamon hunter helm, togs
heavy armour, GW

lv2 alchemy @ 130pts
book of arcane lore, iron curse

core @ 628 pts
2 x 6 ER with bows, mp (5+) and standard
26 Sea Guard FC, flaming banner

special @ 541pts
2 x Lion chariot
23 SM, FC, banner of speed

rare@540 pts
frost phoenix
2 x eagle
3 x reaper all upgraded

The main idea as I said to place a griffon on board. So I thought I need target saturation; enter frosty, SM block, huntsman bsb, and of course griffon prince.

bolt throwers, reavers and eagles will do their usual job.

lion chariots are hard hitters but could be used as redirectors, road blocks if needed. Three of them together will hurt a lot of opponents. but because they are single models their foot print is small and I can control a large area with them. Or separate them based on match ups.

Sea guard will provide light shooting and a medium sized combat unit which could be an anvil for a turn.

I went for SM instead of Lions or Wardens because I have enough monster hunters and if my opponent decides to focus on fliers SM will deal the most damage. If opponent decides to go after SM then fliers can advance and do their business. I don't think lions or wardens would force such a decision.

Alchemy mage without scroll was a tough one. I considered scroll, white mage with scroll, and replacing a bolt thrower and eagle for a second level 2 (to be white scroll caddy) so the current set up is not definite. I think alchemy offers good buffs for us and a better deterrent for big nasties. White has a great signature but I think my reapers and sea guard cover that base.

So yeah please let me know what you think...
SpellArcher
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Re: griffon prince

#2 Post by SpellArcher »

Griffon Prince looks decent as far as I can tell. A little unsure about double Ward on the BSB. I know low-magic is a thing in 9th Age but defence looks a little thin here. Love the Core, two scoring redirectors plus a multi-purpose foot block. Again, Rare looks good with two redirectors, decent shooting and the Phoenix. Not so sure about Special.

I get the Swordmaster rationale, movement banner makes sense, still not sure I trust them to get across the table with just a 5+ AS though. The shooting helps vs enemy shooters, little assistance from magic though. Again, Lion Chariots are decent but I'd be tempted to get Knights of Ryma in. You have the Griffon but lack something like a Dragon to put the fear of god into the enemy. KoR hit very hard and march which means a turn two threat the enemy has to react to.
Cold Phoenix
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Re: griffon prince

#3 Post by Cold Phoenix »

Agree with SpellArcher, mostly. Not quite sure about the core setup because you only have two infantry units to hide the mage in and both are combat-oriented. If you're not putting the Sea Guard into combat, Archers would probably be a better bunker. I'd be tempted to swap them for a unit of archers and 5 Silver Helms with Champion.
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JimmyGrill
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Re: griffon prince

#4 Post by JimmyGrill »

FYI, not much point in putting banners on the ER, as light troops can never be scoring ;)
matrim
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Re: griffon prince

#5 Post by matrim »

thank you guys.
I did some changes to the list.

General = 398
griffon with all upgrades
dragonscale helm, ogre sword, toss

BSB = 255
royal huntsman on chariot
long bow, great weapon
armour of fortune, divine icon, dragon fire gem - still 3++/5++ is an option for challenges

lv2 Alchemy = 110
tome of arcane lore

core:
2x 5 Reavers with bows = 180
5 Lancers with banner, 2+ = 125
23 Sea Guard, FC, Flaming Banner = 326

Special:
10 KoR, FC, Devastating Charge, Banner of Ryma = 380
15 SM, FC, 15" march banner = 235

Rare:
Frosty = 200
Eagle = 50
3 x bolt Thrower with upgrades = 240

In the original list ER with banner was for combat resolution as they tend to loose bodies on the way to WMs and +2 combat res from the beginning is good.

Now core has three small cav units, lancers are there as heavy chaff and possible scoring duties. And also I lost an eagle to maintain a respectable SM unit.
Not quite sure if 15 SM or 2 LC are better, but in the end SM can secure an objective and 15" march can help them to get to targets quickly.

I see the Deamon Hunters Helm as the mini BotWD, more or less does the same job but for a single model. I may still go with the original 2+/3++/5++ as opposed to 2+/5++ with divine attacks. As he would either be going after wounded big nasties or opponent characters.

Lv2 will hang around with Sea Guard fingers crossed I get 0,1,3 for my spells :)
SpellArcher
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Re: griffon prince

#6 Post by SpellArcher »

JimmyGrill wrote:light troops can never be scoring
Live and learn!

:)
matrim wrote:Not quite sure if 15 SM or 2 LC are better
Could you drop 3 Knights for a Lion Chariot? I assume second rank attacks are limited to one per model in 9th Age? If so, the upgrades will benefit front rank guys much more and you usually won't want to go more than six or seven wide.
matrim
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Re: griffon prince

#7 Post by matrim »

3 KoR isn't quite there and finding that additional 4 pts seems to be an issue, however I can drop the SM altogether and change special as;
2 x 7 KoR, FC, Devastating charge
1 x Lion chariot

this is getting interesting but don't know how it'll effect the game play as I'd left with a single unit of infantry. Liking the fast hitting army though...
Malossar
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Re: griffon prince

#8 Post by Malossar »

I would keep the sword,asters to draw fire from your characters.
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wisetiger7
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Re: griffon prince

#9 Post by wisetiger7 »

Cold Phoenix wrote:Agree with SpellArcher, mostly. Not quite sure about the core setup because you only have two infantry units to hide the mage in and both are combat-oriented. If you're not putting the Sea Guard into combat, Archers would probably be a better bunker. I'd be tempted to swap them for a unit of archers and 5 Silver Helms with Champion.
I agree that archers might be a better bunker, but lets not forget about the benefit of spears in 9th Age. Fighting in Extra Rank and AP(1), plus Lethal Strike to the front vs Cav, MCav, and Chariots. Couple that with Sea Guard rules: Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Master to switch to hand weapon/shield for Parry, and another Fight in Extra Rank. If I were going against that, it might deter me from charging them in the first place. Might just be the best bunker for a mage.

wise
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matrim
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Re: griffon prince

#10 Post by matrim »

thanks to everyone. My local club is about to start a campaign with 12+ players. I'll try to batrep my musings.
SpellArcher
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Re: griffon prince

#11 Post by SpellArcher »

You're welcome matrim, look forward to hearing about it.

:)
Ferny
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Re: griffon prince

#12 Post by Ferny »

I like the general and the army generally. I'd be tempted to go for duskstone rather than ward on the BSB though, to capitalise on that juicy AS he's sporting.
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