8th Ed. The continuing futility of my Quango Chief ...

[Dyvim Tvar]

Had a game last night against Warriors of Chaos in which I got nearly wiped out. But with a little bit of better luck from my Quango Chief, it could have gone the other way.

Bottom of turn 1, my Skink Chief on a Terradon was able to charge a unit of 9 Chaos Marauders accompanied by my opponent's Level 4 Shadow Wizard. The Chief has light armor and Enchanted Shield for a 2+, spear, and the Egg. I charged in with the Egg and actually rolled well (breaking a streak of very poor luck) and killing 7 Marauder horse. I then issued a challenge with my Chief to minimize attacks back, and the Chaos Sorcerer Lord couldn't refuse since there was no longer a back rank. But then my luck turned.

Between the 2 of them, the Sorcerer Lord and his steed get 3 wounds and I fail 2 saves on a modified 3+. Dead Skink Chief. Had he survived (which was the likely result), the enemy unit would have been taking a break test needing snake eyes. Also, if they broke, they were almost certainly off the table given their facing and direction of flight.

The level 4 went on to be decisive in the game. He got irresistible Mindrazor on some Chaos Knights. They weren't in combat, but it completely screwed up my plans since I was planning on hitting them with my Oldblood. Then with my Stagadon (sharpened horns of course) and Oldblood lined up for a flank charge on his Bloodcrushers, he got irresistible Penumbral Pendulum that killed my Oldblood (failed his Initiative test, was wounded, failed his 4+ ward, and took 2 wounds after having already lost 1 due to difficult terrain) and did 2 wounds to the Steg.

And it all goes back to the stinking Quango Chief failing his armor saves ... the guy just never quite seems to do the job.

 

[n810]

Does your chief have room for the one time armor reroll item, I think it was around 5 points.

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

Does your chief have room for the one time armor reroll item, I think it was around 5 points.

Yes he does.

I put the Luckstone on my mounted Scar Vet BSB, but it might be better on the Quango Chief. I may have to consider that. Good suggestion.

 

[Sleboda]

And it all goes back to the stinking Quango Chief failing his armor saves ... the guy just never quite seems to do the job.

=> I feel your pain on this. There are lots of things in Warhammer that are Fun Little Tricks. The more variables these FLTs require to succeed, the more we have the chance to be disappointed by them.

The guy you are using has more of these variables than I would feel comfortable with. I'd really like to see these cheap flying chiefs do more, but low T and low W are killer.

 

[GhostWarrior]

What's kinda funny is - the fact that your opponent can't stop his FLT in combat means that the pressure is all on you and your dice for him to succeed.

Counter that with the Solar Bastiladon - which your opponent has an opportunity to dispel, and you have a totally different FLT. He could choose to let it go, but then he risks the big roll from you.

It's almost like the Egg guy would work better if he was dispell-able, or something.

Just a weird thought I had.

 

[teufelhund]

Counter that with the Solar Bastiladon - which your opponent has an opportunity to dispel, and you have a totally different FLT. He could choose to let it go, but then he risks the big roll from you.

^Why I love my bastilladon^

As far as the egg chief goes. He's a kamikazee. Sometimes he hits the vital target in a big way sometimes he misses. It's all a gamble. I run mine on a ripper so I get the benefit of adding another toad; and well I like the combat effectiveness of rippers over dropping rocks. It takes some practice avoiding the frenzy bait, but it's nice to know you can beat up chaff without using the egg. (Still a gamble) Plan A is always to avoid if at all possible and look for the juicy target.

 

[Sleboda]

I run mine on a ripper so I get the benefit of adding another toad

=> No, you don't.

The book is actually fairly clear on this.

You place a toad for each "unit of Ripperdactyl Riders" you have - not for each 'thing that is mounted on Rippers' so some such.

Toads only get to the table with the Unit called "Ripperdactyl Riders" and a chief riding a Ripper is not, oddly, a Ripperdactyl Rider unit.

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

As far as the egg chief goes. He's a kamikazee. Sometimes he hits the vital target in a big way sometimes he misses. It's all a gamble.

He is a hit-or-miss build.

But sadly he's always been a miss for me. I keep taking him hoping the luck will even out but it hasn't. Even when I win, this guy just doesn't seem to pull his weight.

I've had better luck with the Solar Bastiladon.

 

[teufelhund]

You place a toad for each "unit of Ripperdactyl Riders" you have - not for each 'thing that is mounted on Rippers' so some such.

My mistake; is he still able to use the toad rage when attacking marked units? I usually take two units of rippers.

 

[Sleboda]

That's the slightly more grey area (though still clear to me).

The Toad Rage rule is a rule in the Ripper Rider unit entry. There is no such rule listed in the generic Ripper listing for Chiefs.

As with all other rules in this book (PF, Burning Alignment, etc.) , I tend to take the most literal/direct and least me-centric/beneficial course.

I say they don't get to benefit.

 

[Knight Errant]

I've dropped the egg on the chief altogether now. I run charmed shield, opal amulet (1x 4++), light armor, spear, terradon. 99 points and a pretty versatile guy.

I save the egg now for my ninja slann if I need points.

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

For those points I think I would just run a second unit of 3 Terradons so I can have a 3d3 rock drop attack.

 

[Knight Errant]

For those points I think I would just run a second unit of 3 Terradons so I can have a 3d3 rock drop attack.

I run him in addition to my 3 units of 3 terradons

Plus (usually) Tetto's D3 vanguards, means I can set the tone early in the game.

 

[Ixt]

I've dropped the egg on the chief altogether now. I run charmed shield, opal amulet (1x 4++), light armor, spear, terradon. 99 points and a pretty versatile guy.

Seconded.

Mine hovers juuust behind the monsters - chaff dread the flying egg!

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

This could definitely work in a closed-list environment -- make them think you have the Egg even when you don't. It does have a strong psychological effect.

 

[dms505]

"He is a hit-or-miss build."

Yes, sometimes you can throw him into an Old Blood on a Carnosaur and he kills the Carnosaur and leaves the OB with 2 wounds lol.

Egg, Enchanted Shield, Other Tricksters Shard.

Scares the hell out of Daemon Princes too.

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

Yes, sometimes you can throw him into an Old Blood on a Carnosaur and he kills the Carnosaur and leaves the OB with 2 wounds lol.

Bastard.

Why did you have to bring that up?

 

[Ixt]

"He is a hit-or-miss build."

Yes, sometimes you can throw him into an Old Blood on a Carnosaur and he kills the Carnosaur and leaves the OB with 2 wounds lol.

Egg, Enchanted Shield, Other Tricksters Shard.

Scares the hell out of Daemon Princes too.

It's illegal, unfortunately. Two Enchanted Items.

Still, the 'Rule of Two' applies nicely to flying Skink Chiefs!