AoS 2k Monster Mash

[Tozon]

Hey guys, after playing a few games over the weekend I really enjoyed busting out some of the larger units.

What are peoples opinions on a list like this:

The Monster Mash
Allegiance: Seraphon
Total Points: 1980 (1001-2500)

Leaders: 4
Battleline Units: 4
Artillery Units: 0
Behemoth Units: 4

1x Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (Quiksilver Potion or whatver it is called, the attack first artifact)
1x Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur
1x Skink Priest (w/ Priestly Trappings)
1x Skink Starpriest

30x Saurus Warriors (Battleline)
30x Saurus Warriors (Battleline)
10x Skinks (Battleline)
10x Skinks (Battleline)

1x Troglodon
1x Bastiladon


Points of Note

• Saurus over Saurus Guard - this is almost entirely to get the "Order" alleigiance so I can get the Attack first potion meaning I can charge with 2 Carnosaurs and attack first both times. The bonus for having 30 won't last until combat, that's not a problem - it's a nice to have but they are a bit of a tarpit.
• If you really wanted Saurus guard replace the 60x Saurus with; 15x Saurus Guard, 10x Saurus Guard & 10x Skinks
• If playing a casual game where I can go a few (20) points over I would switch one skink unit with Chameleon Skinks for some objective control
• Bastiladon their mages, you have little magic defense and some debuffs will ruin you, the main exception is if there is wrathmongers. Kill them and kill them quick.
• Maximise the priest bubble, the armour reroll is......amazing.
• Your most common Command Trait will be Inspiring Presence, don't underestimate it.

 

[dwarfepic]

I really like the list, the idea of the carnosaurs is frankly quite scary. using the saurus warriors as battle line is a good idea, as no only will it allow for order artifacts and command traits, but also gives more wounds to bulk out the force with. they can take on units with high rend and few attacks fairly easily, unlike the temple guard, who you would not want up against high rend going into their two plus save ( well, at least the one most people buff them to have!) as losing five temple guard is far more substantial that five warriors. as for the basi, the ranged fire it gives is undeniably valuable. its like a ranged unit of kroxigor. my one question is the troglodon, why is it in there? without a slann to arcane vassal from it, and it only having mediocre melee stats, it fills no role other things could do for less points. it may unbind, but cant skink star seers do that? other wise, good list, with some nice ideas!

 

[Tozon]

I really like the list, the idea of the carnosaurs is frankly quite scary. using the saurus warriors as battle line is a good idea, as no only will it allow for order artifacts and command traits, but also gives more wounds to bulk out the force with. they can take on units with high rend and few attacks fairly easily, unlike the temple guard, who you would not want up against high rend going into their two plus save ( well, at least the one most people buff them to have!) as losing five temple guard is far more substantial that five guard. as for the basi, the ranged fire it gives is undeniably valuable. its like a ranged unit of kroxigor. my one question is the troglodon, why is it in there? without a slann to arcane vassal from it, and it only having mediocre melee stats, it fills no role other things could do for less points. it may unbind, but cant skink star seers do that? other wise, good list, with some nice ideas!

Thanks Dwarfepic, I'm glad you see the reasoning behind the Saurus - I always see people favouring SG here but given the low wound count I'd have with them I decided to have plain Saurus instead to add some mortal wound resilience.

So the Troglodon. There's a couple of reason to play him - the biggest plus being his points, at 200 he is one of the cheaper monsters and still pretty beefy (12/4+). He has a ranged attack which can help finish up characters started on by the Bastilidon and in combat he's genuinely not that bad, though the lack of rend means you need to be sensible, the 6 attacks with 2 dmg are quite tasty, and his aura works well with the Carnosaurs aura if they are in tandem.

One thing I noticed in my games so far is that for unbinding quite often you'd end up out of range, so having the chance for a non caster on the front lines to unbind whilst your caster sat out of the unbind range of the opponent is really quite nice. And when push comes to shove, 2 unbinds are better than one!
You also have the option to chuck him out on a flank and Spittle/Charge a long way to mess up any lighter flanking units that are pushing for objectives....

It may not work like I envisage but for 200pts I think it's worth a shot.

What change would you make for it? The obvious one I feel is to swap it + one unit of skinks for Basti #2 or Carno #3?

 

[dwarfepic]

The troglodon could be exchanged for 2 salamanders and 6 handlers. This way you gain a lot of ranged potential and fills in for the lack of high rend in the army. This may scrafice the melee potential the trog has, but honestly, the army has enough melee tankyness in it already with two carnosaurs.

Another option for taking out the trog is upgrading one carno to an old blood and putting in a skink starseer. You gain a command ability from the old blood to use on him and the other carno, and extra damage on the jaws. With the skink starseer you can cast and unbind, whilst also gaining the insights.

You can also mix and match with the two ideas, with things like a starseer and a salamander or a starpriest, a salamander and some handlers. Though the star priest may not be able to do the starlight spell, he can mystic shield and arcane bolt whilst still unbinding.

I like your idea of a front line unbinder who can hold his own in melee, and the troglodon has considerable speed to flank with, but the army already has enough melee potential as it is, so you may as well go for something that provides roles which may need beefing out a bit.

 

[Des_DS]

Heya, awesome list, the idea of the troglodon is great and is a real offensive unbind. People might just try to kill it to stop you from unbinding there spells, and to be honest, I would rather have them attack the troglodon then my carnosaur.

My main concern with this list is the lack of high rend attacks, this could be just me remembering the "old days" where people got like 5 mystic shields off, but i still think its a nessary thing to think about. I might drop a skink unit for a salamander. Just a salamander. No handlers. You hide her behind your saurus warriors and have her pop out once the enemy is locked in combat with the saurus.

I really think your list is good as is though. Cannons and monster hunters will ruin your day but you can't change that without changing your whole army. I would love to hear how your battles go with this army.

 

[Killer Angel]

...and now i'm dreaming about a Clash of Titans, against behemots from other armies (ogre's mammoths, TK's sphinxes and so on)

 

[Tozon]

Heya, awesome list, the idea of the troglodon is great and is a real offensive unbind. People might just try to kill it to stop you from unbinding there spells, and to be honest, I would rather have them attack the troglodon then my carnosaur.

My main concern with this list is the lack of high rend attacks, this could be just me remembering the "old days" where people got like 5 mystic shields off, but i still think its a nessary thing to think about. I might drop a skink unit for a salamander. Just a salamander. No handlers. You hide her behind your saurus warriors and have her pop out once the enemy is locked in combat with the saurus.

I really think your list is good as is though. Cannons and monster hunters will ruin your day but you can't change that without changing your whole army. I would love to hear how your battles go with this army.

Thanks Des_DS. Yeah minimal rend is the main issue (outstanding when you realise there's 4 huge monsters in it, how do claw attacks not have rend!!!). The Salamander idea is one that I will definitely try out but my experience with them so far has been......underwhelming at best. I had a unit of 3 fail to inflict a single wound on the weekend, having to roll to hit unlike other flamer units (Dwarf Flamecannon, Stormfiends) hurts the reliability.....



@Killer Angel That could make for some very cool games.... If I get time I'll make a clash of the Titans battleplan!

 

[Bowser]

I built an army for a friend, who is not only new to AOS but a destruction player. He wanted to enter Warhammerred. A tournament where you drink and play warhammer, but needed a painted army. They were playing 125 points take 100 SCGT as the rules package was handed out before the general's handbook was announced.

Heroes:
Kroak 1 model 25 points
Sunblood 1 model 5 points
Oldblood on Carnosaur 2 models 30 points
Eternity warden 1 model 6 points
Skink Starpriest 1 model 4 points
Units:
10 Saurus warriors clubs and shields 5 points
10 Saurus warriors clubs and shields 5 points
10 Saurus warriors spears 5 points
Monsters:
Bastiladon solar engine 1 model 15 points
Stegadon 1 model 10 points
Engine of the Gods 1 model 12 points
Formations:
Sunclaw Starhost 3 points
110 wounds
24 models
125/125 points.

He got 8th out if 28 which is pretty good considering I built this for him a couple of days before the tournament and had no time to play test. Although I think translated to new points this is a nearly 3 k list. But I wanted it to be simple for him to learn and play.

 

[Des_DS]

Thanks Des_DS. Yeah minimal rend is the main issue (outstanding when you realise there's 4 huge monsters in it, how do claw attacks not have rend!!!). The Salamander idea is one that I will definitely try out but my experience with them so far has been......underwhelming at best. I had a unit of 3 fail to inflict a single wound on the weekend, having to roll to hit unlike other flamer units (Dwarf Flamecannon, Stormfiends) hurts the reliability.....



@Killer Angel That could make for some very cool games.... If I get time I'll make a clash of the Titans battleplan!

I feel your pain. I went through a whole event last weekend and i failed to hit every salamander range attack. The only way i got work out of her was melee which is just sad to be honest. I still love salamander but man, it was painful.

On a side note, It would take alittle more rearranging but you chould try to fit a stegadon. They have some great rend and some range support. The only problem is making 260pts free in your list.