As part of our escalation campaign, my friend and I take turns rewriting our army lists entirely, or having to bring the whole previous list as part of the new list. Since I lost last time, I get to make a new list, at 1500 pts. This is what I know my friend will bring: Liche high priest, hierophant, lvl 4, dispel scroll Necrotect, dragonhelm Tomb prince, great weapon, dragonbane gem, glittering scales 22 Skeleton archers, fc 3 chariots 3 Carrion 3 necropolis knights 3 sepulchral stalkers +300 pts In our last game, his archers and his stalkers hurt me quite a bit. The best counter to stalkers is making sure there are skinks everywhere, I think. The three characters give buffs to the unit they're in - necro gives rerolls to hit, tomb prince raises everyone's WS to 6 and liche priest gives 6+ regen. I expect to see a casket of souls in our next match, simply because magic was very good to him in the last match. This the list I'm thinking of right now: + Lords (370pts) + Slann Mage-Priest [Belcaming Cogitation, Channelling Staff, Harmonic Convergence] lore of life + Heroes (213pts) + Skink Chief [Light Armour, Shield] Battle Standard Bearer [Banner of Swiftness] Skink Chief [Light Armour, Pidgeon Plucker Pendant, Ripperdactyl, Sacred Stegadon Helm of Itza, Shield] + Core (500pts) + Saurus Warriors [Champion, Musician, 23x Saurus Warrior, Standard Bearer] Skink Skirmishers [15x Skink Skirmisher] Skink Skirmishers [16x Skink Skirmisher] + Special (164pts) + Temple Guard [Standard Bearer, 11x Temple Guard] + Rare (250pts) + Ancient Stegadon [Sharpened Horns] the ripper chief is there to try to tie up either the archers to keep them from shooting, or the chariots to keep them from charging. he is kitted out for survivability (though of course a lucky kb on a character wouldn't hurt). the skink BSB is there to give extra initiative to the saurus bunker (stalker protection). Right now the temple guard unit will only be on initiative 2, which is probably unwise, since they're such expensive wounds. I'm unsure whether I need combat characters. TK have a multitude of very cheap ways for getting killing blow, which is a definite minus for bringing expensive combat characters. On the other hand, saurus characters do pack a punch... The stegadon is there to give some shooting that can also backup a close combat, and to have somewhere to dump the healing from life bloom. I could also bring two razordons and free up points for something else, such as a priest with scroll or one more unit of skirmishers? The temple guard are there as a mage bunker, but I have considered also just placing the slann in a skirmishing unit? the only problem is that that unit will take a ridiculous amount of str 3 shots. Right now I don't really have a solution for big monsters with high toughness charging either saurus block - I suppose I could dump the TG, get some jungle swarms and put the slann in a big unit of regeneration skirmishers?
Would you consider running these skinks in three units... 11, 10 & 10? Killing blow is always a risk, but oldblood/scar-vet cowboys are probably our most point efficient units. They are extremely useful. A good ward save will help you quite a bit, and make sure you pick your battles carefully Poison shots from skinks are a safe bet. They can help bring the big beasties down. Magic can also lend a hand here. A tooled up defensive combat character can also hold up monsters and eventually wear them down. Personally I'm not a fan of jungle swarms... they bleed combat resolution points too easily
I'm not sure I understand this. Just read your post in the TK tactics thread. I understand your logic now. Guess I need to up my TK game! You can read my comment though if you want. I think you mean that he has a higher initiative and so gets to attack first. But I wouldn't bet on a Skink Chief doing anything worthwhile in combat, especially against a high toughness target. You're points would be better used if you put the BSB on the Slann and got a cheap Scar-Vet with a halberd/great weapon. Or a BSB Scar-Vet with a Great Weapon and Armor of Destiny. He'll eat up high toughness targets all day. Not saying that the Skink is a bad move, but he'll probably get squished pretty quick. YES! Lol. Nah, you don't need them. But in their absence you should have a solid plan for your infantry that doesn't involve getting into unfair fights. A combat character can help swing any fight, especially one of ours. Scar-Vet with a GW? Lol. In reality, assuming you use your skirmishers correctly, you can take out those monsters before they hit your lines. If not kill them you can at least knock off a model or some wounds. TK aren't immune to Poison even though there isn't "blood" in their bones. Absolutely agreed. There is no reason to bring a large unit of Skirmishers. Keep them light and keep them numerous. Final thoughts, your RipperChief build is a little interesting. I'd like to know how he works out for you! If you have the points for a Spear, I'd throw it on him. The +1 Strength on his charge will be worth it.
thanks for the comments, as to the skirmishers, I'll try doing as you suggest. I guess I think in bigger units because in our first match, where I had no BSB, one round of not particularly impressive shooting sent my skirmishers running off the board, meaning that I tend to like units that can loose a few wounds before having to test for panic. because of arrows of asaph, picking off skirmishers is not that hard. I'll keep you posted I will probably keep the hand weapon though, to have the ward save.