Guys just a discussion on a battle I got coming up with my brother (cracks nuckles). we both haven't played in years an this will bit of a grudge match! From what he has been telling me he could be fielding either a combat orientated side fielding tough vamps an improved GG etc, or magic based aimed at replenishing horde numbers an raising units. the game is 1,500p with the exception on 1 lord allowed, but no named characters hero or otherwise. iv toyed around with a few lists but what I want is an army that could challenge either of the two lists he fields. here's what iv got in mind; slann priest general, bsb skink priest scar vet 2 blocks of sauras 2 blocks of skinks 1 small unit of chameleons 1 steggie with pipes 1 unit of 2 sallies looking at that I then have to decide which magic items/character upgrades to bring to the game as well as unit sizes. finding a balance is the hard part. basic strategy is to minimize his chances of rezzing units by putting plenty of dispell dice on, this will help while his army is picked off in the first few turns moving, during CC an crucial turns I will use up dispell scrolls an items to effectively shutdown 1-2 turns of his magic phase hopefully buying me enough time to fully destroy a unit or 2(fingers crossed i flank attack during this time). If he decides to field a combat heavy list then he will be playing a smaller magic phase an I will be able to focus more on bringing down his buffed units of GG or buffing my own units. concerns I have are a small unit of ethereals possibly ghost swarm, tying down my scouts which is why I would opt for a small unit, and my steggie. as well as the possibility of a vargulf which he has hinted at. this guy could prove fatal if he can work his way around my flank an hit my slann. I didn't think temple guard would be cost effective in this sized battle, thoughts?? other than that my other idea was to have the sallies about 6 inches out on 1 flank and a steggie outside of that again, have him run up the side (providing there is no ethereals) and try to get a flank charge in and pin a unit for the sallies to burn into nothingness.
id say you have WAY too much characters. either use scar vet + skink priest OR the slann. not both. (slann is always pretty fun tbh but with only 375 points to play with he wont be super imba. he will be good, but not incredible) etherials arent that big a deal. they can not charge your blocks and hope to win, though they can hold for a round or two. they should never get to hit your skinks. you are faster than they are. The stegadon can easily be trapped with hexwraiths though, and then hes stuck for the rest of the battle. A slann with lore of life can harm them a lot with shield of thorns and awaken the woods. shield of thorns is incredibly good for this actually. hmm, just hit me that a EOTG is superb against vamps. you have to have a skink to ride it, so your character point value will sky rocket, but tbh its a monster rather than a character... TG are incredibly nice if you can get them, as long as you have the slann. the slann will be well protected in the unit. A slann with loremaster and extra power dice would cost you 350 points (with BSB). a unit of 16 TG with banner will net you around 300 more. expensive as hell, but it is totally doable. lets see... Slann (loremaster, extra die, BSB) 16+ TG (champion with magic weapon if you are scared, but you shouldnt be tbh) Skink priest (possibly with scroll and dawnstone or something) stegadon with EOTG 20 Saurus 10 skink skirmishers 10 skink skirmishers 2 Sallies I think that can all fit in 1500p with some tweaking. you have two good fighting blocks that become absolutely impossible to beat when buffed by the slann. you have two skink units to annoy and redirect. you have a badass monster that pulses with magic attacks to all nearby enemies and two salamanders to obliterate any infantry he has. your infantry can fight most thing he can churn out, and will oblitirate his core (do not be afraid of reforming to a wide formation to get more attacks when fighting skellies/zombies). Your skinks can shoot at any monsters or be used to redirect him. a unit on the edge of the 12" bubble around his general that is redirected can end up outside the bubble and thus unable to march, potentially leaving it gone for the rest of the battle. The stegadon is the bane of anything ethereal AND any heavy cav he deploys (no armour against the burning alignment) The salamanders will munch through even elite infantry as GG very quickly. just beware of hexwraiths. use shield of thorns on them if needed.
yea sounds like good advice, so revised list; slann priest -bsb -extra dice -loremaster -cube of darkness 20 sauras +command 16 temple guard +command -burning blade of chotec 11 skinks blowpipes 11 skinks blowpipes 1 x2 salamanders stegadon with giant bow should be about 1496 I think main hiccup I found in my own plan is I am unable to field a ancient steggie due to 1 rare restriction.. sallies or EotG also I think he is employing screaming banner to counter a cold blooded unit, an his BsB counters mine, making me re roll passed leadership tests!! annoying!
I would bring the Slann at this pt level just to shut down his magic phase. As an avid VC player, I usually bring upwards of 3 mages to a game this size. Usually a lvl 3 gen, and 2 lvl 2 necros. They're ONLY 100 pts. That means im rezzing 30+ zombies a turn. That's a lot of tarpit. The key to beating VC is knowing where the point sinks are. The big blocks of zombies look impressive, but are only about an eighth of the army, watch out for his monsters and Lords/Heroes. He'll have over a 1000 points on one side of the field but make it look like the battleline is balanced and overwhelm your flank and steamroll you. I do it all the time. Salamanders are going to be golden in this match-up. He can't panic, but he'll have lots of large low toughness blocks for you to crisp up a little. If only shooting dmg counted towards combat res...
I agree and can speak from experience - the Engine of the Gods is fantastic against VC. My main opponent has a love for banshees and spirit hosts, and that is a way to have a big monster that won't get bogged down for the ENTIRE GAME if one of those finds him. If he does bring Spirit Hosts, a regular or ancient Stegadon and your Salamanders are going to be their prime targets.