my bro is running Skaven and I wanted to know if there were any specific tactics the Lizardmen should use against said ratty silliness. I was thinking it would be smart to use more ranged against them. is this a good idea?
As somebody who plays a lot of skaven, I'm here to tell you: rats have more guns and all their shooting will out-range yours. HOWEVER, skinks are extremely useful for their shooting ability, and they tend to be the best way to deal with the big stuff (e.g. abomination, doomwheel, etc.). Magically speaking, a Slann will out magic a grey seer any day, although I dare-say either of the skaven lores is overall better than lore of heavens. Not saying heavens is bad, it's just more prone to rolling spells that don't help much (but then, I'm biased). The only thing that should be charging the furnace in the front is an oldblood with either blade of realities, or a carnosaur. Otherwise, charge those disease-ridden vermin in the flank (or just tow them about the field with frenzy). Skaven ranked units in general fall apart very quickly to flank charges, the exceptions being stormvermin (since they have REAL armour) and any units pushing a bell or furnace. A couple general notes: Charging the bell in the front is actually not a bad idea if you're looking to kill the seer. He's relatively fragile and definitely worth it. Your basic magic missile (i.e. 1d6 S4) is typically enough to take out a weapon team if you need one gone. If you take a steg then don't forget the terror. Also, don't take slaves too lightly, they STILL hit on 4's and are S3, so they can do some damage if they get the charge, and enough of them can give you grief even when you break them (yay, exploding...). The unit I'd be the most concerned with is censer bearers. Those guys hit hard! Remember, he knows most of his units will lose a straight up fight against saurus unless he's really lucky, so be prepared for baiting tactics. Sometimes it's better to let him come to you. For magic lores, I tend to favor lore of death, mostly because of Drain Life, although walking death on your skinks might be effective (and I just find it hilarious). If he's running a gun line, lore of life is also nice (for stuff on hills), and lore of beast is great against the abomb.
i had a few rant posts about lizards v. skaven 1-2 months ago, i'll look them up tomorrow and post the links also, don't charge the plague furnace with a carnosaur. he will get challenged by the plague monks champion, the plague monks will win combat sooner or later an the old blood will either die or wastea few turns. same goes for the blade of realities. just poison he thing to death.
I thought Blade of Realities was a good choice. Don't the Screaming Bell and Plague Furnace have Ld. - ? If so page 5 of the BRB states that if it has to take a characteristic test (like say against the BoR) it automatically fails.
Much to the displeasure of those who play skaven (myself being one), I have to agree on this. Here's to hoping the Skaven FAQ determines otherwise. I think what Bibamus is getting at, Stegadeth, is that the monks need only challenge with their champion, and then it's gassing from the furnace + gas from any censer the priest has attacking your general with impunity for a turn. Then, next turn it's MORE gas, plus static CR will probably mean the monks won last combat (ranks+numbers+standard+you failing ANY of those toughness test) so they'll be attacking before you. Then you're in REALLY bad shape if they charge you with censers on top of that. Let's not forget lore of plague and all the goodies IT has. If they DON'T have a champion, then it's a simple matter of challenge the priest and don't miss. If you've got blade of realities you should win combat easily (8 wounds vs their CR+Gas wounds). Of course, you probably won't have them beaten so badly they break... in which case, hope they don't have something ELSE to charge in your flank or rear. So, moral of the story is... don't charge the furnace in the front if you can help it. EDIT: Of course one has to remember, the monks are ALSO taking those toughness checks, and they fail on the same roll you do, so the gas might actually work in your favor.
ohh yeah, i actually forgot about the gas i jsut meant that a carnosaur challenged by a bringer-of-the-word (champion) will kill 1 model and even if he wins the monks will remain in combat due to unbreakable and the plague priest will strike 1st next turn (i think he has bigger I than plague monks who have 3). also, if the guy hase a plague censer equipped priest remind him he has to take T tests every single CC phase (even when out of combat, that means 12 tests/game) for 15 plague monks in base-to-base so don't even bother with the furnace, it will kill its own unit and then its a sitting duck for anything, icluding skinks or an EotG parked 1" away from it
http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2825 this is the thread i was talking about, sorry for the double post