Beating the Wood Elf Horde
This has bothered me since the Alamo GT. I ran into this unbeatable block. 70 strong, Ld 10, stubborn, re-rollable.
Sure I could stay away from it and kill everything else. Shoot and magic it to below half and win by a hefty margin.
But what if I wanted to take it down. What configuration of Skaven units & magic items could i use to pull this army down to where it should be and beat it into the ground? and make them run like a bunch of little girls.
Well, after much pondering, I think I have finally come up with the proper setup. But Skaven could beat this unit in Hand to Hand.
And could do it in under half the points he spent on that 1 unit with 2 characters.
It takes 3 units and 2 characters, with the right magic items.
His unit was 68 Eternal guard in a 10 wide by 7 deep unit with 2 characters.
High born with Rhymers harp, 5+ ward for entire unit and annoyance of netlings, (Need 6+ to hit him in challenge), LA, shield, great weapon.
BSB with Ariel banner so the unit causes fear, light armor.
Remember they are stubborn leadership 10 with a re-roll and cause fear and have a 5+ ward save and will always outnumber you.
Any guesses first. I'll be in meetings until lunch, I'll post the answer then.
Good luck
posted by Ben at 6:37 AM
4 Comments:
According to my calculations, an even bigger block of Night Goblins with fanatics should do the trick. Fanatics solve problems, and then cause their own.
For my TK's I think I'd be pretty hard to beat these guys because of static combat res, it would take either a HUGE shambling horde mass, or a slightly less huge Tomb Guard mass, but I believe they have a cap.
Good question
No, your fanatics would do a few casaulties, but probably not enough.
And if you hit them in the front, say you are 10 wide as well. You are looking at facing 30 WS 5 attacks coming your way.
After 2-3 rounds you'll be auto-breaking.
Well, EG are stubborn on a 9, not a 10. The presence of a noble/highborn in the unit makes them stubborn (see my post to your previous blog on the big EG block), but the character himself can never be stubborn, so the unit can't benefit from his Ld 10 when it comes to break tests (psychology tests, yes, but not break tests).
The best way to kill the big block? Take down the BSB. He loses his re-roll, +1 CR, and the unit would no longer cause fear. Put two characters in contact with the BSB. Have one challenge (preferably a champion). He'll accept with any of his other characters/champs. Fine...let him. The BSB is T3, 2 wounds, with a 6+ armor and a 5+ ward. Direct as many attacks as possible at him. You should be able to take him out pretty easily. Taking out the characters are key. If both the BSB and general are gone, the unit is no longer stubborn or immune to fear. Kill the characters, win the battle.
Once the BSB is out of the way, you should have an easier time of taking out the unit. You'll need static combat res out the wazoo, though, and a good T and armor/ward save. Each of his models in base contact gets 2 attacks at WS5 and I5, so he'll be striking first in subsequent rounds of combat.
For the TK, soften them up with catapult shots with the skulls upgrade. You might get lucky and panic them once or twice, too! They are not immune to psychology, so use that to your advantage. Once they're softened up, hit the BSB with some tomb guard (killing blow) and a flank charge from some chariots and you'll be in good shape.
Actually, the way to beat this army is to ignore the big block as long as possible. March block it ASAP. 10-wide and not being able to march, you should be able to avoid 'em, even with their M5. Wheels are a pain for a unit this big. Focus your effort on taking out the rest of the army.Don't look at this big block of goo as the main target you should go after. He's got 600+ points in other units. Eat them up first. Once they're gone (or while the focus is elsewhere, send Scorpions or swarms to take out the characters!
Rick, your correct. I think he was playing them Ld 10 stubborn, but I agree, they should be Ld 9 Stubborn.
You have to kill 18 guys to cause a panic initially, that isn't going to happen. Which on avg means 27 wounds.
They start combat with +7 combat res. Not to mention all the wounds he will do and an almost unkillable character in a challenge.
Avoiding the unit is obviously the smart way to play it. But I was trying to figure out if Skaven had a way to beat it.
Post a Comment
<< Home