Reasoneably CR'd Monsters?

[Dusk Eclipse]

We all know how the CR system is pretty borked with tons of monsters Under CR'd (like most dragons) or Over CR'd (like the Ogre Mage). So I was wondering if by some chance there are some monsters that you see their CR and go "Yeah, that sounds just right". Ideally they would be round CR 9 to CR 15, I'm planning on homebrowing some monsters and I would like to have a point of comparison.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeraa]

If you don't mind Pathfinder materials, they have a chart (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/monsterCreation.html) with average monster statistics by challenge rating. Its close enough to 3.5 that only minor conversion would be necessary. (Pathfinder undead, for instance, don't have a d12 hit die. They have a d8, and get use their charisma modifier to determine hit points like living creatures use their constitution. Also, Pathfinder creatures get feats at every odd level, instead of 1st, 3rd, 6th, etc.))

[Dusk Eclipse]

I'm not really a PF fan, there are some cool ideas there; but there is some stuff I don't really like, however that article looks really useful, I definitely will have to read it carefully when I have more time on my hands. Thanks.

[DonEsteban]

There was a nice thread about MM2 monsters recently*: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187046
Complete with reference to a heuristic CR calculation formula that works pretty well.

*Sadly, like so many others, it died way to early...

[Dusk Eclipse]

I know about that CR calculator; but it works backwards of how I need, using that you make the Monster first and then calculate the CR.

[Eldan]

The problem is, before you can define what is appropriate for a party to fight at a given level, you'd first have to know how strong a normal party is at a given level. And party strength can vary wildly.

[Dusk Eclipse]

This is purely theoretical BTW, I can't give more details than these.

Assuming a tier 3 party composed of a Warblade (beat-stick) a castery bard (arcane support) a Favoured Soul (divine/healing (I couldn't remember a divine tier 2 class)) and a factotum skill-monkey.

Nothing too optimized, say the Warblade has Power Attack and Leap attack; but that is as far charge multipliers go.
The Bard is more focused on being a caster; but will not go into sublime chord, he has some IC optimization, say a badge of valour and song of the heart.
The Favoured soul focuses his spells in party buffs and some backup healing, he is able to serve as a back up fighter; but isn't that spec for that (say no Divine power)
The Factotum has about 3 iterations of Font of inspiration and knowledge devotion; but isn't using any other trick (such as Iajutsu focus+Gnomish quick razor)

[Sylthia]

There was a nice thread about MM2 monsters recently*: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187046
Complete with reference to a heuristic CR calculation formula that works pretty well.

*Sadly, like so many others, it died way to early...

That's a nice chart, I'll have to use it for some of my Pathfinder creations to see if they match.