8th Ed. 2500 Pts. Vs. Brettonians

[Kblock]

Well, I have been planning on playing against a Vampire Counts army for the last few weeks. My opponent informed me this week that he had purchased a Brettonian army from another player and wanted to use that army instead. So, I had to create a new army list since the list I have for the VC army would not really work well against Brettonians. I was able to see his new army so I have an idea of what I might be up against. Lots of mounted Knights of the Realm/Errant, Questing Knights, Grail Knights, Pegasus Knights, 2 Trebuchets, Damsel/Faye enchantress, Peasant Bowmen. He also has a Green Knight model but I do not know if he will use that.

Lizardmen:

Slann: General
Becalming Cogitation
Harmonic Convergence
Wandering Deliberations
Channeling Staff
Ironcurse Icon

Scar Vet: BSB
Great Weapon
Gamblers Armor
Dawnstone
Potion of Speed

Scar Vet:
Great Weapon
Armor of Fortune
The Other Trickster's Shard

Saurus x 34
Spear/Shield
Full Command

Skink Skirmishers x 10
Blowpipe

Skink Skirmishers x 10
Blowpipe

Skink skirmisheers x 12
Javelin/Shield

Temple Guard x 26
Full Command
Razor Standard

Terradon Riders x 3
Fireleech Bolas

Bastilidon
Solar Engine

Ancient Steg
Engine of the Gods
Sharpened Horns

Salamander x 2
Extra Snacks

I hope to use some spells and to cut down on the Knights. To try and avoid the charges I will use some of my Skirmishers. The Terradons and perhaps one Skirmisher unit will go after the Trebs (maybe a spell or two to take these out too). The Saurus and TG will be the main blocks and with the Dinos, hopefully get some flank charges. The Salamanders will be a nuisance. This player really hates them and will spend some of his early shooting and spells to concentrate on them (I hope).

 

[themuffinman873]

I have limited experience against brettonians but from what I remember...
They have high armor saves
They move really fast
They fall to pieces if they don't get the charge.

That said, I think wandering delib may not help you out very much, lots of small magic missiles do wonders against T3, but terrible against 2+ armor. Metal might be a more devastating choice against lots of cav, but since you already know his lineup you should probably not over tailor your list. Nobody can claim you are tailoring to their list if you bring WD.

Getting the counter charge is the best strategy in my opinion. So you will want your SVs on CO, and heck even a bus of CoR would be great for this. Set them out at a far distance and entice a charge. You can also entice him to come after some skirmishers and when they run away he will have to either make a long distance redirect, or stumble forward in a failed charge (after which you take advantage of him).

The fliers are a good choice and should be able to deal with the trebs. I would give the slann the Egg of Quango, this has been a life savor for my TG block against nasty cav charges. Although best suited against wild riders, it may save a few TG lives if it scores a couple wounds.

If sallies play the distraction that you anticipate then they are a great investment. Something to remember (which I find strange) is that with Monsters/Handlers, your opponent must roll to hit and wound against the salamander, THEN he distributes wounds (not hits as most people think).

 

[Gary_M]

I have no idea if that Bret list is optimal but my club has a Bret (& lizardman!) player and his Brets list looks almost exactly the same of this (from what I remember).

Like to know how your game goes.

Good luck!

 

[Kblock]

Thanks for the replies.

I thought about Metal as a magic lore. Since I would only get 4 of the spells, and not sure which ones, I did not think it was worth it. I know that there are no armor saves allowed and the to hits can be much lower, but looking at the spells, I think a WD Slann gives me more options.

Metal:

Searing Doom - Great spell - I also get it with WD
Plague of Rust - Nice Spell but only affects a single model - WD gives me Spirit Leech that can cause wounds with no armor saves for the same casting cost
Enchanted Blades - OK - WD gives me Wyssans which gives extra strength and toughness. The strength covers the same plus as armor piercing and I would rather have the bump in toughness than a +1 to hit in combat.
Glittering Robe - Does nothing for our Lizards
Gehennas Golden Hounds - Nice Spell - Spirit Leech in place of this is a good option
Transmutation of Lead - Good spell - WD gives me Melkoths Mystifying Miasma which is very similar with a lower casting cost
Final Transmutation - Good spell, but requires 5 or 6 to affect the models - With WD I can cast the bigger version of Shems Burning Gaze that gives me a D6 Strength 6 hits that is a nice option in place of this spell for the same casting cost.

Plus I get a couple more buff and hex spells with WD so I am going to try this instead of Metal.

No room for the Cold Ones. Will have to keep my Scar Vets on foot this time and see how that works out. I want them in my infantry blocks to handle challenges and provide some extra punch.

 

[Kblock]

I played the game tonight and lost. I was able to avoid charges for the first 3 turns and then things went poorly. Both my Suarus block and TG block were charged and flank charge in the same turn. The front charges on each unit were from Knights of the Realm buses with characters. I was able to block them with some Skirmishers at first, but eventually the Skirmishers were out of position or destroyed. The flank charges were due to a really good charge roll for his Pegasus Knights (he needed a 9 and rolled a 10), and because of a magic banner on his Grail Knights that let them be ethereal for one turn. I had positioned my Saurus block with a tower blocking one flank and a forest a short distance behind them. Then the Grail Knights turn ethereal and go through the tower with just enough room to put his unit of 6 Knights into my flank. Both Knight units hitting the blocks on the same turn were just too many casualties to withstand. Both units fled and were run down.

The WD magic worked OK except for my pathetic Winds of Magic rolls. Turn 1 I rolled a 3, Turn 2 I rolled a 5, Turn 3 I rolled a 7, but then proceeded to cast my first spell using irresistible force. I was using 3 dice, and the miscast caused me to lose the rest of my power dice.

If my Suarus and TG had held, I had my dinos set up to flank charge both Knights of the Realm buses on my next turn. Instead, the Knights pursued and the dinos were out of position. I also still had 2 units o Skinks on the field and my Terradons. I am starting to figure out how to use them. The Terradons took out one of the trebuchets and also did some damage to the bowmen, who they were ready to charge on my next turn when we called the game.

I have some ideas for next time so we will how it goes.

My next game is in a couple of weeks with 2200 pts. of Lizardmen with 2200 pts. of High Elves as my allies. We will be fighting 2200 Pts. of O&G with 2200 Pts. of Warriors of Chaos allies.