I keep playing lately Water Elementals as an army theme and I must say they are some issues with that theme (which should be ICONIC in TR).
I will start from pros:
-
Elementals are relatively fast. SP7 and Rushing Tides is a solid combination. This gives some adventage over most infantry.
-
They do regenerate. 5+ is not great. It happens not to regenerate a single wound from 3-4 wounded units but if I can control the ammount of damage WE take they can survive longer.
-
Surge as a tool allows more charge angels.
Nokken are a very nice unit. I wish I had points for 2 hordes!
Cons:
- Elementals hits like butterflies. I have 1-2 situations a game when I have a GWE to the front and WE to the flank (vs def 5+, 114/16, 15/17 unit) and I am unable to even waver it in one round of combat. i.e. WE break an ogre horde charges to the flank on 8+ (on average) which is painful.
- WE relly on Weakness as “chaff”. I would love to have 2 Weakness casters in a list but even 1 helps. Most Cav units use Sir Jessie Boots to ignore terrain so weakness is the only way to slow them down. Dagons are a bigger problem as they have CS3+
- WE theme is very expensive and require cheap main like units. We have only DHs to choose from. I do like DH anyway (but I need Mantic models!).
- I try to use Dambuster regiments as WE support. (Enthral (of “3”) can help sometimes) and it looks nice on paper but it is so hard to pull off… I have 7 regenerating units in my list (GWE, WE, Nokken and dambusters) but 6+ is super situational and hard to rely on.
Conclusion:
- WE theme is very expensive. I usually have less CS, less nerve, less US and less speed than my opponents (and I never have drop advantage due to high cost). WE are not punchy at all and there is a constant dilemma between 2 surge casters, weakness and maby a BC source. Again - high costs.
- I hope Tier 2 on Aquamages will kick in.
- Enthral should be better. Siren is an option but is very expensive with Weakness and Drain Life (another needed tool) and she does not Inspire. AGAIN.
- Whole water theme is based on Casters, Unit placement and SKILL synergy. This is a hard combination to pull and it cost a lot. KoW does not change costs of units which makes rulebooks valid for the duration of the whole edition. This is great. That is why I expect either 1. more thematic WATER spells, 2. more Waterbound syneriges.
My latest list is this one. I need some more shooting it this list really. Another Nokken horde would be good option (instead of 1 WE horde). I could replace Eckter with King for some speed and more shooting.
