8th Ed. The BEST close combat units in all of Warhammer.

I can play games at either end of the spectrum. With my friend, we used to play the strongest lists we could, and those were good games. Against my wife, I try to avoid playing my WoC because they are too strong.

That is my number one factor when deciding to collect an army or not.

I prefer having a mix of armies across the power levels. It's fun being spoiled for choice with the WoC, but it is equally fun trying to figure out how to make Tomb Kings work. My CD and LM are somewhere in the middle of the pack, while my WoC and TK occupy the opposite ends of the spectrum.

Random mathematical chance. Given enough time, it is bound to occur!

I find the WE to be a finesse army. In the right hands they are devastating, but in the wrong hands they can very badly under perform. I feel that the DE and HE are both stronger armies overall, but interestingly, in a head to head match the WE counter them both very nicely.

 

Round 12, Match #6 - Black Guard of Naggarond vs. Demigryph Knights

Key rules in play:

• Black Guard: ASF, Murderous Prowess, Stubborn
• Demigryph Knights: none

This one is easy to summarize... the Black Guard strike with S4 and the Demigryph Knights have a 1+ armour save!



The Demigryph Knights secure the Massive Victory they needed to keep pace with the pack. As a result, the Demigryphs, HPA, Skullcrushers and Witch Elves are all currently tied for fourth place with 5 points each. The Witch Elves still have a match in hand, so we'll have to see how that goes.

Who do you favour of these four?

As for the Black Guard, they are now tied for second last.

 

No discussion?

Come on boys, I'm already one match ahead of you!

 

Pffff....

There's literally nothing to say here. Absolute, total foregone conclusion.

If I was the DE general, I would have immediately started planning as if the unit was wiped out.

 

I honestly can't see the demigryphs winning any of their remaining matches. I don't think they have a shot at the podium, or even fourth.

 

Yeah, it was a rock-paper-scissors scenario, and they were definitely on the losing end.

That's interesting. Personally, I'd give them a chance in all three of their remaining matchups. Not saying they will win all three, but I'd be surprised if they didn't win at least one or two. I guess we'll see... I could very well be mistaken.

 

Round 12, Match #7 - Chaos Warriors of Soul Grinder

Key rules in play:

• Soul Grinder: Daemonic, Daemon of Nurgle, Caught by the Iron Claw, Natural Armour (4+)
• Chaos Warriors: Mark of Nurgle

A rare Massive Victory of the Soul Grinder. It's T7 defensively and its thunderstomp offensively, were ultimately enough to win the day. The Chaos Warriors were in a tough situation as their normally impressive S5 still needed 6's to wound.



We often talk about the battle for the top spots, but what of the fight taking place at the bottom of the standings? Aside, from the Aracknarok, who is the clear loser, there is quite the battle going on in the sunken depths of our standings. The Hammerers (-5), Chaos Warriors (-6), Mournfang (-7), White Lions (-8), Soul Grinder (-8) and the Black Guard (-10) can all still swap places over the course of the final three rounds of the tournament.

How do you think the battle between these lowly titans will play out?

 

Wow. Didn't see that one coming, but I guess that the S vs T match-up says it all really.

Hammerers I think will have three losses. The Executioners will win and so will the Beasts. I think that, based on the surprising CW result, they'll also lose against the Soul Grinder(!!!)

Chaos Warriors will lose against the Skullcrushers, same with Demigryphs, but I think their Mark of Nurgle will make them win in the Troll match-up (Troll WS being what it is, Regen notwithstanding).

White Lions I think will beat Arachnarok and Mournfang (Thundercats NOOOOO!!!!!), but I think they'll lose against the HPA.

Soul Grinder will also win against Mournfang (as the Ogre rider has S4 since we didn't give him a GW and the Mournfang is S5, so they'll have the same problem as the WoC), the Black Guard are totally toast in this match-up and I think also the Hammerers will suffer a loss (again based on the WoC result).

Black Guard will be toasted by the WE's, will win against the Executioners (their S6 is totally overkill in this scenario and they will lose due to the 1 attack and striking last) and will lose against the Soul Grinder.

Hammerers 3 losses
WoC 2 losses, 1 win
WL 1 loss, 2 wins
SG 3 wins
BG 2 losses, 1 win

I think it will end up being White Lions, then either WoC or Soul Grinder at the top of these match-ups.

 

I agree with your assessment in regards to the Executioners and the Beasts. I think the Hammerers have no chance in either of those matchups.

Against the Soul Grinder, I'm not too sure to be honest. That is a bit of a coin flip. The Hammerers' S6 will come in very handy in that matchup. The Executioners were able to beat the Soul Grinder, so the Hammerers being a similar, albeit worse version of the Executioners, at least have a chance. That will be a fun match!!

Two words... Troll Vomit.

You could be correct, but I'm putting my money on the Trolls in their matchup against the CW.

Black Guard will have a very easy win over the Executioners but will likely lose against the Soul Grinder as you suggest (wounding on 6's followed by a 5+ 5++ will be too much for them).

The Black Guard vs. the Witch Elves contest will be an extremely bloody affair. I wouldn't count he Black Guard out, and while they might still end up losing, the Witch Elves will be very unlikely to score a Massive Victory against them. I'd even go as far as to say that the Black Guard might dig deep and pull off an upset.

 

Round 12, Match #8 - Witch Elves vs. Savage Orc Big'uns

Key rules in play:

• Savage Orcs: Choppas, Frenzy, Warpaint
• Witch Elves: ASF, Murderous Prowess, Poisoned Attacks, Frenzy

You could say that was a frenzied affair. Quick, bloody and decisive. The Savage Orcs actually had an advantage in unsaved wounding rate per attack, but with the Witch Elves going first, they never got to unleash their full compliment of attacks.



The Witch Elves move out of the four-way tie for forth place and claim sole possession of it. The loss puts the final nail in the coffin of the Savage Orcs' (longshot) bid for a third place finish.

Things are getting heated, with each contestant having only 3 matches left to fight.

 

Round 12 of 15 is over!

Here are the updated standings...


We're starting to get groups of contenders clustering up in the rankings. Three of the final positions seem pretty much locked in (Destroyer, Beasts and the Arachnarok), but there is plenty of room for movement between many of the other units.


I think I'm going to try a quicker and more streamlined approach from here on out. The thread is getting pretty lengthy at this point and I worry that it runs the risk of becoming too drawn out and tiresome. We've lost the participation of a few people, most notably @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl and many others are participating less. As such, I plan to cut away all the fat from the matchups and present the matchup calculations only (no intros, outros, key rules or posed questions). This will allow me to release the match ups more quickly, without losing any of the important key details. Of course, comments and analysis are very much welcomed (honestly, that's the part I like the best!), but I'll leave them to develop more organically rather than guiding the discussion. So if you see something of interest, unexpected or satisfying, please share your thoughts!

Let's finish this sucker off!

 

Round #13

 

Round #13

 

Round #13

 

Round #13

 

Holy cow!

Go, go gadget-Nightbringer! That's a lot of fights!

 

Thank you good sir!

It did inflict a bit of damage! More than what might have been expected of it considering their relative standings in the tournament.

Good match for them! Perhaps their last hooray... tough road ahead of them in their final two matches.

New streamlined goodness. Only 20 matches to go in the tournament!

 

@NIGHTBRINGER just for the record, I think we have the answer to the question that started this thread.

I'm still interested in how the final score will look though!

 

We definitely know the two best. Places 3 through 7 are far from decided. It is crazy competitive.

You're right though, in a general sense the thread question has been answered.