How are folks dealing with Varanguard? It seems a little harder to ignore x3 blocks of 3 than say a morathi, gotrek, archaon etc. The usual screen and focus fire on one? Keeping screens farther away from our damage units to stay out of the 2nd pile in attack they can proc
I've played a few games against these dudes and it's really tough to get through that 3+ save enough before they crash into you and murder everything. You obviously won't be able to kill all of them in time so as you said, keeping screens outside of 3" of your key units is probably a good idea. Focusing fire on one unit is also a good idea. My experience has shown that StD isn't often short of CPs (particularly with Archaon on the field) and so they'll often burn a CP on Rally for the chance to bring a guy back - which you really don't want to happen considering the effort needed to kill them. How I deal with them probably varies depending on my own build: Magic isn't a surefire thing seeing as they ignore it on a 5+ (and maybe another 5+ if Tzeentch), but Comet's Call still goes a long way over the course of a game as they're unlikely to save everything. Your Realmshaper Engine is another good source of chip damage, especially when you can tag multiple units at once. Salamanders are always good, for both the high rend and the chance at mortals. Also keep a CP for Unleash Hell on these guys when they charge in. Try to bait the use of All-Out Defence early by shooting at one unit, then using the majority of your shooting on another. The way I do this is usually by firing a Stegadon at one unit ("Oh no, 3-damage shots at -1 rend, better use AOD"), and then putting both Bastiladons' shots (with one firing twice) into a different unit. Their placement might not allow this, but it's nice when you pull it off. Also, while it's not reliable seeing as it goes off on a 4+ and only has a 12" range, the Curse prayer can come in clutch seeing as we have access to fairly high volumes of attacks. I managed to get it to go off during a game last weekend and it allowed a humble unit of Knights to completely evaporate a unit of Varanguard.
Thanks for the tips, I got a 2nd game in against them. focused on the less buffed units, (opponent had 3x3) was able to wear them down and tie up the general. board control is a weakness to exploit against them I found
One thing to note with varanguard, if they’re being run with archaon melee becomes hilariously dangerous due to the presence of by my will. Your best bet is to try and maximize their casualties in the shooting phase, and charging ONLY if there is a single guy left, but even then remember a single varanguard can still knock the teeth out of lighter units and still put hurt on heavier stuff. Simply put; shoot shoot shoot