So I've been trying to think of a list that's main focus is maximizing casualties by battleshock. Despite the obvious effectiveness of inspiring presence against this I still think it could be quite effective. Dread Saurian: -2 to units within 12'' Troglodon: -1 to units within 8'' Stardrake icon: +1 to battleshock roll within 5'' Carnosaurs: Potential D3 models lost if you win the roll within 8'' I might be missing something but with but with these in mind I was thinking something like this; Leaders Saurus Eternity Warden (140) Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur (320) Slann Starmaster (260) Skink Starpriest (100) Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline Behemoths Dread Saurian (400) Troglodon (200) Battalions Eternal Starhost (80) Total: 1800/2000 Not sure about the last 200 points. Could drop the starseer and get a bastiladon for some shooting or up the guard sizes to 10 each. Let me know what you guys think. I'm still inexperienced in general so I'm probably overlooking something obvious. Thanks
Honestly I would probably drop the slann an go for something like: Leaders Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur (320) Saurus Eternity Warden (140) Skink Starpriest (100) Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 10 x Skinks (80) - Boltspitters & Star Bucklers Units 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140) Behemoths Troglodon (200) Dread Saurian (400) Battalions Eternal Starhost (80) Shadowstrike Starhost (120) Total: 2000/2000
"I was thinking of creating such a list, it's a really nice idea. Too bad we can't have a shadowstrike within in order to snipe heroes that can make them immune to battleshock" That was my comment until Bowser made his. Brilliant !
Yeah, the shadowstrike makes it look really nice. I liked the slaan initially for the command ability. Having rerolls to saves during the shooting phase seemed quite nice when getting close (and the mental image of a flying dread saurian). Thinking about it more would it be worth using a scar vet on carno instead? The old bloods command ability seems kind of wasted here and it frees up points to run something like this; Leaders Saurus Eternity Warden (140) Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (260) - Warblade Skink Starpriest (100) Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline Units 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140) 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) Behemoths Dread Saurian (400) Troglodon (200) Battalions Eternal Starhost (80) Shadowstrike Starhost (120) Total: 1980/2000
Probably better to go with scar-vet over oldblood, 2 units of chameleons would definitely be better suited.
I'd go all in on the strategy and use Knights instead of guards (faster movement, easier to get stuff under your debuffs) A little bit of shooting is neccesary I feel, even causing one casualty under all those debuffs has a high potential to cause extra casualties. Finally, Killer Angel is right, get a star seer, it's probably our best unit and will help get you double turn and make opponent re-roll when he rolls 1 on a battleshock!
Ah yes, the Starseer would be a nice addition. Struggling to fit all theses components into a 2000 point list though. Something like this with the guard; Leaders Saurus Eternity Warden (140) Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (260) - Warblade Skink Starseer (160) Skink Starpriest (100) Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (100) - Seraphon Battleline Units 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) Behemoths Dread Saurian (400) Troglodon (200) Battalions Eternal Starhost (80) Total: 2000/2000 I feel that the knights, while being faster, would just get blown up early due to their lower save. I feel that the guards aren't exactly that slow if you use the wardrum. I'm partially biased because I hate the dumb looking cold one models though. Something like this maybe? it keeps the shadowstrike at least. Leaders Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (260) - Warblade Skink Starseer (160) Skink Starpriest (100) Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline Units 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) 3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140) Behemoths Dread Saurian (400) Troglodon (200) Battalions Shadowstrike Starhost (120) Total: 1980/2000
Could do something like this: Leaders Skink Starseer (160) - Artefact: Phoenix Stone Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (260) - General - Warblade - Trait: Master of Defense - Artefact: Quicksilver Potion Skink Starpriest (100) - Artefact: Phoenix Stone Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline 5 x Saurus Knights (120) - Blades - Seraphon Battleline 10 x Skinks (80) - Boltspitters & Star Bucklers Units 3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140) 5 x Chameleon Skinks (120) Behemoths Troglodon (200) Dread Saurian (400) Battalions Shadowstrike Starhost (120) Firelance Starhost (60) 2000/2000
Looks like I'll have to buy some dark elf cold ones . Is it worth using the shadow strike with only 2 deep strike units? Not sure if they'd be able to do enough damage. Would it be better to drop the rippers, the normal skinks and the battalion and take a few more units of chamos and maybe oxyotl?
Yeah, definitely great abilities, but not the best assassin out there, the 2 deep strikers will be good, the skinks rin up ahead and chaff, or shoot into combat.
Just to add my two cents- it may be worth considering Terradons over Ripper in the shadowstrike as you only need to inflict one wound on a unit to trigger a battleshock test, and Terradons can affect three different units the turn they drop opposed to the Rippers' one, potentially causing a mass rout. Of course, this goes all in on the battleshock gimmick over raw stopping power across a few turns, but definitely worth a thought.
Really good thinking, will keep it mind ! I do think that we're gonna need at least 3 kills at least *at 1 wound models* to really take advantage of it !