I've played the same VC player twice and and drawn both games (last one I edged by 83 points, the first was even closer). I posted a small batrep on the second game and would really appreciate some advice as to how to beat the VC. I have most models available and can proxy some others. One thing I don't have is any flyers, so not taking those. Also, while I know Saurus aren't competitve, I happen to like them and want to use them! Maybe this is the reaosn for the draws? I'm thinking of the following: Lords - 271 pts OB, AofD, DS, OTS, Warrior Bane (to take on ethereals) 271pts Heroes - 599 pts Tetto Priest with scroll (Beasts) SV, CO, GW, Aof F, BSB SV, CO, GW, Light Armour, Steg Helm, Luckstone, Potion of Foolhardiness. Core - 625 pts 3 x 10 skink skirmisher units 1 x 35 saurus block, full command (not sure whether to go S&B or spears) Special - 450 pts 9 x COR, full command 1 x Bastiladon Rare - 552 pts Ancient Steg, EotG, Sharpened Horns 3 x 1 Sallie plus snack This little lot adds up to 2497. I think I want to use the CO Bus to chew up his army, use the skinks and sallies to deny a flank and poison / flame anything they can, while the saurus supported by the Basti and Steg plod forward (probably in the middle of my deployment so the dinos can support other units too). Tetto chucks the comet around and generally supports the army. I thought he'd go in the saurus block? As a relative noob, I have up until now always taken a Slann, but think this might becoming a bit of a crutch, hence the above list, but I'm still hesitating Any advice would be welcome. Thanks
Overall i really like the list. it is in some ways quite similar to the one i have used in my last couple of battles. while the general consensus seems to be that saurus units are not worth it, i have so far appreciated their use as a "pivot" unit, anchoring a certain part of the battle field while neglecting one side and ocntrolling the other. worked great and they are not that expensive. you unit however is quit a lot bigger then mine (i use 20-ish) and i am not sure such a big unit is worth the big investment. I would drop a few of those bodies for some more skinks or a small skrox unit, but maybe they will work just fine for you. another unit i am not sure about is the ancient steg with engine and sharpened horns, how has it worked for you in the previous games? i find stegs expensive already, but with both these upgrade he becomes a really big target. last thing; you can't use 3x1 salamander (max 2 of the same rare unit allowed up to 2999 point armies) so you could put 2 of those together in one unit, or (preferably) switch one out for some more chaff like 2x 5 chameleons or a unit of terradons. good luck with you game and let us know how it went cheers, J
Thanks - Finally got there after many false starts. Now all I've got to do is stop being a complete incompetant when playing!
Oh one thing I don't recoginise all the acronyms on the old blood, and I realy don't recall what wariors bane does, since it's not a popular choice.
Looks pretty decent. A little tweak I'd recommend is to give your lord a Great Weapon and put the Sword of Striking on the Armor of Fortune guy. Its not a half bad magic weapon, unlike the Warrior Bane .
Thanks for the responses. To answer some of the questions/issues: GW on OB - My bad as he does have this already. Sorry! The acronyms for him are Armour of Destiny, Dawnstone and Other Tricksters Shard. Warrior Bane - Don't have the rule book handy, but its something like any character who suffers an unsaved wound loses one attack to a minimum of 1. To be honest I wasn't bothered by this I just wanted a magical weapon to hit ethereals with and use up my points! I didn't realise the restriction on the Rare choices - Can someone point me in the right direction in the rule book please as I may have missed other stuff too. Thanks. On basis I have to drop a Sallie, I have 84 points spare, so Sword of Striking could be an option, although I'm happy to just use the great weapon and improve/keep defensive capabilities. Regarding the Steg, why EotG? Never used it before - Simple as that! Also the ward save and magic spell/buff I thought could be useful given I'm taking Tetto not a High Magic Loremaster Slann as had become habit for me. Trying to get out of my comfort zone! Lastly, the number of saurus. To be honest, I was playing around with points and got this group of core as being the absolute minimum required, so went for it. Usually I use two blocks of either 20 or 24 depending on rest of list. Dropping the third sallie would mean I could take some more saurus and have two blocks. As mentioned below, I too have found they can be a great pivot unit. I figured a unit of 35 would mean they'd stick around for some time, but then 2 units of 20/24 would give me more flexibility (and more saurus!) Just done a rough calculation from memory and dropping one sallie & snack means I get two blocks of 20 Saurus warriors with full command, but the idea of taking chamo skinks is also appealing. However what would they go after - No war machines in the VC army?
you don't have to drop the sallie if you don't want to, you can field a unit of 2 and a unit of 1. I often do that as the unit of 2 really seriously put the hurt on big low t hordes, and the unit of 1 is good at wandering about and being a serious nuisance. In the past against big horde armies I have fielded 2 units of 2 and that works well, if a little expensive.
Re taking two sallies in one unit, what is the cost? If I take a sallie and three handlers its 80 pts, plus another 4 for a snack. What element of the 80 pts is the sallie? Or does the second sallie come free?
You pay the pts cost per sallie and 3 handlers, so for 2 sallies and 6 handlers its double the base points, you can then add extra handlers to the unit at the option cost.
Oh, forgot to mention that you should probably remove the points costs from your post. Its in the forum rules about posting lists.
Ooops - Apologies. Well, played the game last night. One word description - Disaster! Apart from killing some dogs and some dead he raised, very little else happened. It was all over T3. We played Blood & Glory I think (the one where banners are important) Amongst other things he took a "blender lord" (and it did what it says on the tin) I made some silly mistakes (not dispelling a remains in play spell which killed first on a six, then a five etc etc and then forgetting to reform my cold one cav to fit through a gap to name but two). Still not convinced by Salamanders. Letting the razordons out of their pools is becoming a distinct possibility! One interesting thing though, he let the Bastiladon's laser beam go a couple of times, whereas he dispelled the Engine of the Gods spell. If I can fit these and a Slann in, might be different. Magic was an area he completely dominated - He had a level 4, I only had Tetto and just didn't roll decent WoM dice (5 & 1 and 6 & 1!!!) I like the look of the army, but not convinced it suits me, but will ave to keep playing it (or variations). One game an army list does not make (or break). I need to play more games, a lot more!