Warhound spam viable?

[Closet Skeleton]

I haven't played this game or or bought any models but I've heard of this Legion Solaria and thought it sounded cool.

 

So if anyone could tell me how a pure warhound army would work and how many I would need for a normal sized tournament game that would be helpful so I can work out how much money I would have to spend.

 

I wouldn't mind a few reavers and a bunch of warhounds if that's objectively better, I just like the idea of of a warlord free list that relies on outnumbering. I like the knight lancers too so warhounds and knights appeals as well.

[Spleenex]

Hey there! So, I have to admit that my playing experience is limited (not for lack of a local community, for once, but due to general adulting), so I haven't much practical advice to give. That said, an all- or almost all Warhound list is definitely viable, IMHO.

 

First off, from a rules perspective it is explicitly allowed. One of the official maniples (formations) is 3-5 Warhounds. Said maniple has special rules increasing their formation felxibility and firepower. You could also do a Venator or Janissary maniple - each with one Reaver and four 'Hounds, which allow an extra Reaver shot, or synergies with knights, respectively. All which would seem to meet your preferences.

 

So practically speaking, you probably want to start with 4 Warhounds (2 boxes) and a Reaver for maximum flexibility. Throw in a box or two of knights, and you're at about 1500 points. I'm not sure that there is a "standard" tournament level yet, but most people seem to play at the 1500-ish level. 

 

From a practical, gaming standpoint, outnumbering is a valid strategy. Due to the way activations work in the game, having more units can give you an advantage by allowing you to act without the enemy responding. What's more, from my limited playing experience, a pack of hounds can be viciously effective. I've been on both ends of one. The issue is that hounds are much more fragile, and prone to overheating, so they require some finesse, and careful resource management. That, however, is a big part of their appeal for me. Personally, I use almost exclusively 'Hounds and Reavers in various combinations. I have one Warlord that I haven't even built yet, and a few knights languishing on my shelf. 

Hope that's of some use. Cheers ;)

[Sherrypie]

It is indeed very viable, Lupercal does quite well. Full five Hound maniple is ~1100 points, which could then be supported by two Cerastus banners for 1500.

[Spleenex]

Also worth noting is that the rules grant players whose force is significantly below the point value of their opponent's additional strategy points with which to buy dirty tricks etc. I forget the exact breakdown, and don't have my book handy, but I believe at the 1500 point level, the "underdog margin" is 200 points - each margin by which the enemy force exceeds yours grants you 1 strategy point, IIRC. So, showing up to a 1500 point game with 1100 points of 'Hounds isn't necessarily kneecapping yourself the way it would be in other games.

 

Reasonable people may and probably do disagree about the relative utility of stratagems and battlefield assets vs. actual titans or knights, but it IS an option.

[Warsmith Uveron]

Well.. 

 

It is viable, and It can work well, but they are the "Elder" Army of AT. 

 

The times I have faced off against them with my own force, I have been able to stop them maneuvering and then crippled them fast with a much smaller force. 

 

Now that said, the trick I think is to find ways to improve the maneuvering, and I think  Legion Solaria using the Corsair Manaple (As they can swap Reavers for Hounds) would be the best bet, as the ability to move 8" in any direction adds to the maneuvering and lets you glide around the table alot more. 

[Mandragola]

A Solaria corsair maniple of warhounds (and maybe some reavers) is certainly interesting.

 

There are two problems for hounds. One is that they can’t really hurt things that are far away so they are forced to advance, while the big guys can engage from wherever they like. The other is that they want to move after the warlords so they aren’t caught in that corridor arc. If they do get caught they tend to run out of shields pretty fast.

 

So the problem with an all-warhound army is that everything wants to move last, so it can get out of the arcs of the big scary things, but obviously someone has to go first. And actually, as you tend to organise them into squadrons, you can have a relatively small number of activations, leaving your opponent with stuff still to activate after all of them have gone. A pair of hounds costs around 440 points while knights are a lot less and a reaver is around 310 or so. Knights might not be the answer anyway as they generally want to go quite late too.

 

The solution is probably reavers. A really nice 1500 point list is two Venator maniples, each with a reaver and two hounds. Against heavy maniples you could put your warhounds into squadrons but against other opponents you might not need to. To go to 1750 (which seems to be becoming the “standard” for matched play) you could add some knights or maybe another warhound.

 

In terms of what to buy, I think I’d still recommend the battleforce box if you think there’s any chance of using a warlord. But I really love that model, and you’d effectively be picking it up for very cheap. Then probably grab a melta reaver and a box of warhounds. You’ll probably have to buy one or other weapon spruce for the reavers at some point unfortunately, though you should be fine for the warhound guns. You’ll need the rule box and some more warhound terminals and weapon cards (it only comes with two terminals and one of each weapon card)