4 Eagles?!?!?!

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mmirch54
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4 Eagles?!?!?!

#1 Post by mmirch54 »

Has anyone tried this?

I do understand that something like this would not be done in competitive play, and it has been my personal experience that 3 RBT and 1 Eagle is typically optimum for my lists (most are quite chariot/infantry heavy), but I though that this would be a neat build, and I haven't seen anyone use 4 Eagles in the 3-4 months I've been trolling the forums.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? I'd love to hear it!
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#2 Post by Bolt Thrower »

I have run 4 eagles with a prince and a noble also mounted on eagles for a total of 6. I moved them as if they were units of 3 each (kind of like flying cavalry). It was a lot of fun with the bow of seafarer and reaver bow as well as getting some nice support charges. Don't know if I'd do it all the time, but in friendly matches it is a good time. Watch out for heavy shooting lists.
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Eltherion
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#3 Post by Eltherion »

The problem is without RBTs our missile fire is much reduced 2 Magic bows by themselves wont be strong enough.

Maybe a Melee orientated army might work?

Could be fun for a friendly game though :)
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Musashi
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#4 Post by Musashi »

RBTs become more of a bargain the longer you can and have appropriate targets to shoot at.

If you feel that you can break your opponent by the third turn, then not taking them along wouldn't make a great deal of difference.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#5 Post by SpellArcher »

Eltherion wrote:The problem is without RBTs our missile fire is much reduced 2 Magic bows by themselves wont be strong enough.
I have to agree with this. RBT firepower is just too useful to leave out. If you do it puts too much pressure on your other tools to perform IMHO.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#6 Post by Bolt Thrower »

Overall, I agree that it is difficult to not take the RBT's. With all the various monsters out there, they are a necessity of life. S6 D3 wounds is too handy in those cases because we have nothing else to handle it (unless you play the Star Dragon).

That said, I sometimes wonder if my RBT's are making up their points should there not be a monster on the table. They're pretty easy to hunt. If eagles get crushing attacks in 8th (I don't even know if that's a rumor) I wonder if fielding them in a highly mobile army overall could really do some damage by getting into combat quick.

It's always fun to think outside the box, but I don't know if I'll be changing my name just yet. :D
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#7 Post by SpellArcher »

Bolt Thrower wrote:That said, I sometimes wonder if my RBT's are making up their points should there not be a monster on the table
So good for an all-comers list but not always if you know what you're fighting?
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#8 Post by WarpPhoenix »

There is only one rule to not waste points when using bolt throwers.

1. Do NOT shoot the infantry with a unit size of more than 10

Unless of course there is nothing but infantry left.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#9 Post by Bolt Thrower »

SpellArcher wrote:So good for an all-comers list but not always if you know what you're fighting?
I think that's a fair statement.
WarpPhoenix wrote:There is only one rule to not waste points when using bolt throwers.

1. Do NOT shoot the infantry with a unit size of more than 10

Unless of course there is nothing but infantry left.
This is a solid rule of thumb. For me, it's usually a target 2 units of 4 terradons that smash into the RBT in turn 2 or 3. I can usually take out one of each unit, 2 if I'm lucky as it's usually only one turn of shooting them due to clever terrain maneuvering. Or going for glory and taking down an ancient steggie with an engine.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#10 Post by grantmepower »

WarpPhoenix wrote:There is only one rule to not waste points when using bolt throwers.

1. Do NOT shoot the infantry with a unit size of more than 10

Unless of course there is nothing but infantry left.
This is sometimes true, but I'd say that in some cases it is worth shooting infantry because you can't engage them (blackguard for instance) or to knock off a rank bonus. Killing just 1 infantryman of a 20-man unit can be the difference between a broken enemy and an enemy that sticks around for another turn (though archers should probably fulfill this role; one of their few uses).
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#11 Post by Prince_Asuryan »

I ran four eagles as part of my all Shadow Warrior list. I learned two things.

1. RBT's a really important to deal with armour, though this was more of a problem due to the low hitting power of the army.

2. 4 eagles does work, and makes for a really fast and manoeuvrable army. They just have to be used correctly. In particular, they are great for clearing all war machines bar a gunline, as it's easy to double team 2 at a time.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#12 Post by Musashi »

The reason you don't usually shoot at infantry is because fliers and cavalry have an earlier ETA. And then there's the careless character placement.
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Re: 4 Eagles?!?!?!

#13 Post by mmirch54 »

Well, it seems workable, I played 5 1,000 pointers and a 2,000 pointer in the past 2 days, and barring some bonehead play and a few DP units rubberlancing, 3 of the 1,000 pointers and the 2,000 pointer were all major victories or better (3 were massacres, 2 of which I tabled the opponent, I was tabled in both losses though...).

I am proud to say that in the interest of science, I did not field a single bolthrower in any game, and although I did not once field 4 eagles, I found that a workable gameplan can be devised witout the overwhelming firepower that my bolthrowers usually bring.
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