looking for some balance with my highborne.

[Darwin_Green5]

I've been collecting my highborn force for a while, but I only played a few games with them. I mostly use a range heavy list with some mobility. My Atgm and Nyss are constantly on the move while the mules allow me to keep the distance.


In assasination missions I do fine since I can just kite any heavy melee unit and fight them on my terms, it's the take and hold missions that give me fits. I'm not saying I cant win them, but I don't want to unnecessarily handicap myself.

this is what I run for 25pt games.

Ashlynn d'Elyse

Vanguard

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages with officer (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Mule

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 5 Grunts)

Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

also I'm thinking of picking up either Damiano or McBain as my second caster.

[pattison]

Ever tried Forge Guard with Ashlynn?

[Darwin_Green5]

I can see them being useful with quicken. How's your exp with precursor knights?

[pattison]

Oh, I don't think I'm the proper person to talk about precursors. I wouldn't even touch them with a long stick...
But Forge Guard is mean with Ashlynn I can tell. And you're looking for balance, and as I see you lack some punch from your list.
Nyss hunters are truly versatile and all, but nothing wrecks heavies like Forge Guard!
And if you pick up Damiano - they're also great with him, as Death March speeds them up as soon as they suffer casualties.

[MagnustheJust]

The PK's hit like a freight train dropped from orbit if you can keep the UA alive and use the mini-feat during Ashlynn's feat turn. They are also a decent tarpit unit due to shieldwall and spell immunity.

MacBain!! and Damiano both would work well with what you have, and add some interesting play style twists for you to throw at your enemy.

Also, give a peak at Harlan Versh. Dirty, dirty, dirty...

[LiamPiver]

Sam and the Devil Dogs aren't bad with her either if you're looking to mix it up. Quicken on them makes them a lot more resilient to range attacks and gives them a good charge threat or a solid move and shoot threat with their PS 14 guns. Pattision mentioned the damage capabilities of the Foreguard, well Sam and her boys hit like trucks on anything knocked down and don't work to badly with a couple of buccs on Sam.

[GlassJaw]

PKs have the added benefit of Ranked Attacks, so the rest of your army can fire through them. You can't give them Quicken though.

[pattison]

Forge Guard also have ranked attack. And weapon master by default (witout relying on KD like DDogs or UA like PKs). And Reach. And you don't use shield wall (order) but simply b2b. And they look so much cooler.
I'd pick them anytime over the precursors.

[LiamPiver]

Well Forgeguard are easily one of the better units with her. They are a good cost. They hit hard. They have good Armor. Their crit can be good (best for freestrikes). They have reach for optimal charging angles. The reason they really shine with Ashlynn is feat turn since you can both pretty much ensure some high end rolling on charges for massive damage and crits when wanted. She also fixes their biggest weakness in a speed boost. However, anything with sniper or PS 12 will run through them. So watch for that (meta dependent) They do provide a good dichotomy to the Gun Mages who are hard to hit but have paper armor though. I like the Foreguard myself. However, I have to disagree with Pattison on the look. The DDs are some of the most characterful models in the game. While I do like Ram Man from He-Man, a whole unit of him isn't neccessarily needed

[pattison]

DDogs look really characterful and mercenary-like, I talked about Precursors. They're taking out the R from Gray Knights...

[Darwin_Green5]

well, I'm compelled by your arguments for the forge guard then, so.. how many? 6 or 8. I got the piper to back them up so tough is an asset.

[LiamPiver]

Go max with them. Quicken and Roulette really make running the max unit worth it.

[pattison]

Well I own 30 of them, so it's a bit hard to give advice on that part.

I'd say it depends on their role. Most of the people prefer min units, so even if they want many of these little buggers they bring 2 min units. And I can see the reason behind it.
But as you only have 1 Quicken and 1 Rhupert I'd say bring a full 10 strong unit and enhance them with it + Tough (or Pathfinder if needed).
More speed means more survivability, so you're likely to be able to hit hard even if some of them fall on the way.
Their threat range is 11" which is very good for a weapon master unit, and their good MAT combined with Ranked Attack, Reach, their small bases & high number pretty much ensures that you can even smack the crap out of a higher-ish DEF caster. And you didn't even take Roulette into account; slam galore! Not that you really need it outside of free strikes - that thing will go down anyways.

Just give their positioning a good thought as they can melt easily if charged. Even a blind zombie can hit them and charging P+S9 kills them on the charge.
Also be wary of cont. fire and corrosion effects.
They're a proper 2nd line unit and really shines if combined with some high DEF front line.

When it comes to deployment I tend to use 2 loadouts with them:

a) 3-4-3, with up to 18" between the two triangles. The leader is the head of the 4 man part. Everyone is in b2b with 2 other models in the unit. The points of the triangles are looking towards yourself to screen 1 out of the three.
This is the defensive b2b triangle type, but as you have Ranked Attack the fellow behind will also be able to charge and hit, thanks to Reach.

b) 5 behind 5, this is the good ol' double wave charger loadout. You charge with 5, stay behind with the other 5. If the target survives it has to handle the 1st five, then you charge again with the 2nd five. Be careful with tramples though. It helps a lot if you place a medium based model between the 2 parts to close down trample routes, then move away (or charge) before the 2nd row charges.

Try to proxy them and you'll see if you like some hammertime in your army.
Good luck!