8th Ed. Chosen Deathstars

[Wistrel]

Hey guys, at my local GW there is a player who always fields a horde of 30 Chosen with a level 4 tzeench mage and 2 warshrines- how do I defeat this monstrosity, or should i just avoid it entirely?
Thanks in advance

 

[Lord Tsunami]

ye, that or go metal with your slann and pepper them with final transmutation a few times. easier to avoid it though. even if only 10 or so remain they could be too much to handle in CC. the ward save of 3+ is sooooo powerful.

 

[Stonecutter]

First off, I fully agree with the previous views that the chosen-star (CS) is best left alone or delayed by feeding it cheap units to redirect it. With so many points in the unit (well over half the army with the wizards), this approach will allow you to go after the rest of the army while only sacrificing a few skinks.

However, there is a chance of dealing with the CS in combat if you can weaken it prior to it gaining the 3+ ward save and stubborn (i.e. within the first two rounds usually). Even with the save, it can be tackled but it is very difficult. Here is an approach I have found that worked reasonably well.

Attrition - weaken the chosen-star(CS) as much as possible prior to combat. Dwellers is excellent since no save is allowed but I have found that repeated sallie templates will work based on mere volume of fire. A decent template hit will cause 6-7 wounds and hence kill 2 Chosen on average. A couple rounds of shooting from a pair of twin sallie packs can thus kill over a dozen chosen and you might even get lucky and have them fail a panic check!!

Pin & Assassinate - Tackle the depleted CS with a large block of hw&shield saurus arranged to keep steadfast while simultaneously hitting the flank with steggie (preferred) and scar vet cowboy. A cowboy tooled with cold one, dawnstone, dragonhelm, g/w & others tricksters shard will do nicely. With the chosen star pinned in place and unable to reform and a life slaan BSB nearby, the scar vet can kill off the characters one by one, earning some major points (WoC characters must issue challenges). Depending on how the chosen star is equipped it shouldn't really be doing too much damage to the saurus, especially if the block can be buffed by life magic. (most Tzeentch variants use h/w & shield and so are only dishing out S4 attacks.)

Grind & pray to the dice gods - Even with re-rolls, WoC are usually only LD 8 and thus can fail fear and/or stubborn checks. Consequently, killing the BSB also becomes very important as life buffs on the saurus will make repeated break tests almost a certainty. Between steggie stomps and the cowboy and occasional woound getting through from the saurus, the unit should be ground down over time or you may get lucky and break them.

Hazards - another favourite variant is the banner of rage (unending frenzy) and halberds, which makes the unit a lot more dangerous. Like any frenzied troops they can be led astray by a flank charge from a single file of skinks (who will undoubtedly lose combat and be pursued away from your lines). Alternatively, the same approach as above can be used but hit the front with the cowboy and then the flanks with saurus and steggie. The scar vet will be fighting challenges for several rounds and minimal attacks will be put on the saurus and steggie - you might even break even in wounds (but don't count on it). At the very least, the CS will be testing for losing combat every round since you will start combat up by +4). With luck, one of the break checks will fail and the unit can then be run down (now there is optimism!!).

 

[Lord Tsunami]

just a note

assuming the chosenstar is done correctly it will be kitted out with terror banner (so he is immune to fear) and he has the "modify the eye of the gods roll by 1"-thing on his champ. then he will be allowed to reroll any result that is not 1+S OR the 4+ ward before the battle starts. Counting on him not getting the 4+ ward is a bit of a slim hope, and if he does not, he will have S5 (with two warshrines to support he will have to be very unlucky if he doesnt get 4+ ward on his first turn). with S5, dwellers become very ineffective. all in all, it becomes very unlikely that you will be able to dent the unit enough to weaken it.

 

[Wistrel]

Well to put things into context, the last game I played against this guy I charged his unit it the front with 30 saurus (5x6) after my slann unit was charged- 20 temple guard and the slann (6x4), then I charged him in the rear with a stegdon, 2 turns later the slann and his unit were dead, the stegadon was on 1 wound and i only had about 15 saurus left, he had taken 3 casualties from this. While the Cowboy scar vet sounds like a good idea, I'm tempted to just redirect it and stay away from it with my main units.

 

[Lord Tsunami]

just one more thing.

if you do go life slann (and many do) you can let the TG go toe to toe with these guys but only to stall them. if he has both +1S and 3+ ward (and he might well have) he will inflict about 3 wounds per round on your TG IF you have T8 on them. if you get regen too, its only 1,5. you should do ~1 wound in return. you wont kill it, but your TG should not die or run, so its a tie. his ~700p unit (plus his wizard who has many magic missiles he wont be able to use) will be stuck fighting your ~400p unit (and your wizard who has to use one or two spells to keep the unit alive, but other than that can act pretty much as normal. That could be seen as a favorable situation, but if he locks down your magic phase he will do ~12 wounds per turn all of a sudden and your unit will vanish before you get another magic phase.

so it CAN be done, but it is probably easier and safer to redirect.

 

[HoverBoy]

Transmutate their ass off the field, if you manage to cup off his wizard in the process that's even better.

 

[Kharn The Betrayer]

I've had success with 4 cowboys to the front and a steg to the side (or preferably both on side) after I picked some off with skinks and magic (All cowboys have Gw and 1 or 2 magic armours)

 

[Lord Tsunami]

2 magic armours?