8th Ed. 1k game heavy hitter

[Dog On Todd]

Hey guys, asked this in another thread, but it might have been lost amongst the other advice.

I'm currently making a 3-way (probably battle royal, maybe necropolis) 1k list, and I'm having a hard time deciding my last unit.

I need a heavy hitter in case my opponents bring monsters/combat their heavy unit.

So I'm looking for mobility, ability to damage tough multiwound units, and most importantly survivability.

I've narrowed it down to:

A) Ancient steg
B) Tooled out Oldblood
C) Krox unit

-benefit of the steg is impact hits, high toughness, and the blowpipes for clearing fanatics and manglers
-benefit of the Oldblood is he can have the most survivability and do damage after/instead of impacts
-Krox are cool

The Oldblood builds I was debating between were:
1. Cold One, GW, Armor of Destiny, Dawnstone
2. Cold One, Glittering Scales, Dawnstone, Piranha Blade
or

3. Talisman of pres, glittering, dawnstone, gw, Cold One

Any thoughts much appreciated! Leaning towards oldblood (would be running solo), but Steggers is definitely tempting for blowpipes

 

[A Steaming Kroak]

I really like Old Bloods, however, the first two that you listed are over the 250pts limit in a 1K game. The third Old Blood is illegal, as he has two talismans.

I would consider switching the GW on the first Old Blood to a halberd to get under the point limit. Or, go with a cheaper build, such as: Old Blood on CO with GW, glittering scales and either talisman of preservation or dawnstone.

At this point level your opponent will have a very difficult time stopping one of these guys.

 

[Dog On Todd]

I really like Old Bloods, however, the first two that you listed are over the 250pts limit in a 1K game. The third Old Blood is illegal, as he has two talismans.

I would consider switching the GW on the first Old Blood to a halberd to get under the point limit. Or, go with a cheaper build, such as: Old Blood on CO with GW, glittering scales and either talisman of preservation or dawnstone.

At this point level your opponent will have a very difficult time stopping one of these guys.

Thank you! What a difference a fresh set of eyes can make. You are absolutely right of course.

I'll go with an Oldblood w/ CO, GW, Glittering, and Talisman of Preservation. Seems better for a solo guy anyways, especially because I am not running any other cavalry so no LoS.

Hopefully he can dish out enough wounds to grind/win combat. Multi-charges will be rare

 

[Dog On Todd]

Backup question:

Should I upgrade my Skink priest from lvl 1 to lvl 2 (only other magic support is a venosaur, and I have two opponents dispelling me), or get 4 more Saurus to add to my 20 block? I feel like 4 more saurus is better, I just may never get a Wyssan's off

 

[A Steaming Kroak]

It would be helpful to see your full list before giving any advice about what you should add. I will say though, that with a bound spell and a level 1 you will at least be able to throw up to 6 dice at each spell. (I am assuming the Venosaur is a Bastilidon) This may be enough magic. 16 saurus warriors does seem to be fairly small, even for a 1000pts game. So I would probably add 4 more saurus.

 

[Dog On Todd]

It would be helpful to see your full list before giving any advice about what you should add. I will say though, that with a bound spell and a level 1 you will at least be able to throw up to 6 dice at each spell. (I am assuming the Venosaur is a Bastilidon) This may be enough magic. 16 saurus warriors does seem to be fairly small, even for a 1000pts game. So I would probably add 4 more saurus.

Its already a 20 man unit, would bring it up to 24 or get a lvl 2. Can't think of a backup beasts spell I would want though, so 24 Saurus it is!

List is cohort, skirmishers, bastillodon (venosaur version), Oldblood (courtesy of a steaming kroak), rippers and that saurus block with a priest babysitter

 

[Scalenex]

In low points game I like a level two Skink Priest with the Ruby of Ring of Ruin. That's three spells for pretty cheap.

 

[Dog On Todd]

In low points game I like a level two Skink Priest with the Ruby of Ring of Ruin. That's three spells for pretty cheap.

I'm a fan too, but it feels like my anvil is too small at 20 saurus. Considering I'm fighting WoC and manglers/fanatics, more bodies seems better. If I was going heavens I would definitely go lvl 2 though for Iceshard + 1. Can't think of a beasts spell I want other than Wyssans, and I have venosaur shooting lazers as well

 

[RipperDerek]

Just in case it's helpful, here is a chart showing the number of wounds caused to an oldblood (with various kits) by 10 S[X] attacks:

                                  S2	  S3	  S4	  S5	  S6	  S7	
Armor of Destiny + Dawnstone      0.01	0.01	0.02	0.14	0.42	0.93	
Stegadon Helm + Dawstone          0.02	0.02	0.02	0.19	0.63	1.48	
Trickster Helm + Dawnstone        0.00	0.00	0.02	0.14	0.56	1.54	
Stegadon Helm + Talisman          0.07	0.07	0.07	0.28	0.63	1.11	
Trickster Helm + Talisman         0.01	0.01	0.05	0.21	0.56	1.16	
Armor of Fortune + Dawnstone      0.02	0.02	0.03	0.19	0.56	1.23	
Glittering Scales + Talisman      0.05	0.05	0.09	0.28	0.56	0.93

This assumes you're using a great weapon - against opponents with weaponskill values of 3, 4, 7, 8, or 9, Paired Blades can make some builds even more resillient.

 

[Dog On Todd]

Just in case it's helpful, here is a chart showing the number of wounds caused to an oldblood (with various kits) by 10 S[X] attacks:

                                  S2	  S3	  S4	  S5	  S6	  S7	
Armor of Destiny + Dawnstone      0.01	0.01	0.02	0.14	0.42	0.93	
Stegadon Helm + Dawstone          0.02	0.02	0.02	0.19	0.63	1.48	
Trickster Helm + Dawnstone        0.00	0.00	0.02	0.14	0.56	1.54	
Stegadon Helm + Talisman          0.07	0.07	0.07	0.28	0.63	1.11	
Trickster Helm + Talisman         0.01	0.01	0.05	0.21	0.56	1.16	
Armor of Fortune + Dawnstone      0.02	0.02	0.03	0.19	0.56	1.23	
Glittering Scales + Talisman      0.05	0.05	0.09	0.28	0.56	0.93

This assumes you're using a great weapon - against opponents with weaponskill values of 3, 4, 7, 8, or 9, Paired Blades can make some builds even more resillient.

Wow! That's quite helpful. I'm surprised glittering scales don't help more against monsters. Don't they typically have worse WS? I was building with WS 3/4 in mind against WS 6 with -1 to hit. Armor of Destiny + Dawn looks like the way to go though

 

[A Steaming Kroak]

Armour of Destiny + Dawnstone will almost always outperform other Old Blood Cowboy setups. It has the drawback that it uses up two of the good Cowboy items, but it does create the single most all-around survivable build. Fencer's Blades + Glittering Scales + Dawnstone will outperform against ws4 and lower due to being hit only on 6's, BUT it is not nearly as survivable against ws5 or better - also, you give up str7 for an extra str5 attack, which is not as good. Trickster's Helm + Dawnstone also outperforms against str3 and str4, but falls off considerably against str5 or better.

The problem with you face is that you cannot have the Armour of Destiny + Dawnstone + GW in a 1000pts game. You can drop to a halberd, or use one of the other setups. Personally, I would probably go with Glittering Scales/Armour of Fortune + Dawnstone + GW at this point value. But, the halberd option would be very good as well. It just depends on what you are facing. If facing Warriors of Chaos, then I would want a GW to pierce the armour of Skullcrushers and Knights. If you are not playing against heavy armour, then the halberd should be fine.