AoS Fun with Ark of Sotek

[StealthKnightSteg]

I'd contest that. Last time I went up against an army fielding a tonne of 1 wound infantry, my Engine was capable of wiping out entire units with a single shot each, it was devastating.

The only problem with the Solar Engine is hitting and wounding, unlike the Ark which just randomly throws mortal wounds out. But by combining the Astriloth Bearer to get rerolls to hit, and making the bastiladon savage with The Creator's Will from the Thunderquake Starhost to get rerolls to wound (plus rerolls to saves which is good for the basi,) you just do absurd damage.

But then you are counting on some combinations to make. And of course it's a matter on how you are focussing your army.. Do you have the Thunderquake starhost or are you battling with another and bastiladon as support.

To me it just sounds like it's a matter of doing battle pre-planned with an army (thus counting on the specific starhost) or going in blank and just see what comes your way.

 

[Bainbow]

But then you are counting on some combinations to make. And of course it's a matter on how you are focussing your army.. Do you have the Thunderquake starhost or are you battling with another and bastiladon as support.

To me it just sounds like it's a matter of doing battle pre-planned with an army (thus counting on the specific starhost) or going in blank and just see what comes your way.

Personally I'm a major advocate of "build your army to be able to fight any enemy." And in my humble opinion, the Thunderquake Starhost is our most adaptable battalion, making it a perfect fit for any army.

 

[Freddy25]

Are you kidding? The Solar Engine if a FRICKIN' LASER BEAM! Combine it with the Slann's command ability which grants units fly but no movement speed increase and you have a gigantic, slow moving, levitating turtle with a laser cannon mounted on its back, disintegrating wave after wave of infantry like its a War of the Worlds flying saucer while slowly advancing across the battlefield skies while saying "NYORMF" because that's what I imagine a Bastiladon sounds like.

If that's boring to you, then you have some weird priorities.

Ahaha, ok, I admit that sounds badass, but I still prefer a coldblooded squad that mounts a coldblooded monster that overflows of coldblooded snakes: a walking poisonous fortress sounds better than a laser shooting giga-saurus to me, but I guess it's a matter of taste!

Probably I prefer the first one simply because i think the Ark model gives me the impression of a HUGE NASTY monster, ready to have Skaven or Aelves for breakfast, while the second seems to me a lot less intimidatory...

[By the way, despite the discussion Ark VS Engine, I think the Bastiladon is the most beautiful model Seraphon have.
And probably in the whole Warhammer/AoS world.
The troglodon could take the silver medal, but the Basti is simply unattainable to me.]

 

[Bainbow]

Ahaha, ok, I admit that sounds badass, but I still prefer a coldblooded squad that mounts a coldblooded monster that overflows of coldblooded snakes: a walking poisonous fortress sounds better than a laser shooting giga-saurus to me, but I guess it's a matter of taste!

Probably I prefer the first one simply because i think the Ark model gives me the impression of a HUGE NASTY monster, ready to have Skaven or Aelves for breakfast, while the second seems to me a lot less intimidatory...

Jokes aside, though. I do prefer the image of a walking tank slowly coming over the horizon as a line of infantry squint their eyes to try to make out what sort of creature it is just before a blast of light errupts from the creature and the infantry are reduced to ashes by the Searing Beam.

 

[Killer Angel]

Ahaha, ok, I admit that sounds badass, but I still prefer a coldblooded squad that mounts a coldblooded monster that overflows of coldblooded snakes: a walking poisonous fortress sounds better than a laser shooting giga-saurus to me, but I guess it's a matter of taste!

Jokes aside, though. I do prefer the image of a walking tank slowly coming over the horizon as a line of infantry squint their eyes to try to make out what sort of creature it is just before a blast of light errupts from the creature and the infantry are reduced to ashes by the Searing Beam.

I'd say that The Bastiladon is simply AWESOME, because he's a Bastiladon. The kind of weaponry changes only the look of badass.

 

[Freddy25]

I'd say that The Bastiladon is simply AWESOME, because he's a Bastiladon.

Right.
And it is awesome both to play and to look at: I find the model so beautiful that I have built one many weeks ago, but not painted.
I haven't touched it for now because I'm afraid I won't be able to paint it well, so I'm keeping it just basecoat-ed to avoid ruining it!

Oh, and also because I still haven't figured out a nice color scheme to use on it...

Coming back in topic: what does the Thunderquake Starhost do to our monsters exactly to make this formation so good?
I know it grants some sort of regeneration, but can you give me some more details?
I'm sorry but I still haven't bought the Seraphon Battletome!

 

[Bainbow]

Right.
And it is awesome both to play and to look at: I find the model so beautiful that I have built one many weeks ago, but not painted.
I haven't touched it for now because I'm afraid I won't be able to paint it well, so I'm keeping it just basecoat-ed to avoid ruining it!

Oh, and also because I still haven't figured out a nice color scheme to use on it...

Coming back in topic: what does the Thunderquake Starhost do to our monsters exactly to make this formation so good?
I know it grants some sort of regeneration, but can you give me some more details?
I'm sorry but I still haven't bought the Seraphon Battletome!

I personally went for a deep purple colour for mine, topped off with a giant pink gem for the Solar Engine.

 

[Killer Angel]

Coming back in topic: what does the Thunderquake Starhost do to our monsters exactly to make this formation so good?
I know it grants some sort of regeneration, but can you give me some more details?

What requires:

• Engine of the Gods or Troglodon

• Two units from the following list: Stegadon, Bastiladon

• (One unit of Kroxigors) or (One unit of Razordon/Salamander and one unit of handlers)

What gives:

• EoTG/Troglodon can either be swift (re-roll failed charge and hit rolls) or savage (re-roll failed wound and save rolls); units from this formation within 8" of EoTG/Troglodon also receive this effect

• Each model from this formation heals a wound during the hero phase; increased to D3 wounds if model is within 10" of any Slann

 

[Bainbow]

What requires:

• Engine of the Gods or Troglodon

• Two units from the following list: Stegadon, Bastiladon

• (One unit of Kroxigors) or (One unit of Razordon/Salamander and one unit of handlers)

What gives:

• EoTG/Troglodon can either be swift (re-roll failed charge and hit rolls) or savage (re-roll failed wound and save rolls); units from this formation within 8" of EoTG/Troglodon also receive this effect

• Each model from this formation heals a wound during the hero phase; increased to D3 wounds if model is within 10" of any Slann

I personally take it for the Savage Bastiladon with D3 regen. One Arcane Shield and then bang, a 2+ rerollable save that cannot be rended and doesn't require a 4+ on a priest, and it heals D3 every turn so unless it's fighting Skarbrand or something then it'll heal faster than you can hurt it. Beautiful.

 

[Killer Angel]

I personally take it for the Savage Bastiladon with D3 regen. One Arcane Shield and then bang, a 2+ rerollable save that cannot be rended and doesn't require a 4+ on a priest, and it heals D3 every turn so unless it's fighting Skarbrand or something then it'll heal faster than you can hurt it. Beautiful.

Absolutely yes. You can even field 2 of them (if you have the models...)

Actually, I can use the EotG, one Steggy and one Bastiladon.

 

[Bainbow]

Absolutely yes. You can even field 2 of them (if you have the models...)

Actually, I can use the EotG, one Steggy and one Bastiladon.

Yeah but I prefer just the one because it's easier to manage, plus the steggy can fulfill a different role to give you more adaptability.

And yes you can, that's the combination I use for it.

 

[Freddy25]

Thank you a lot for your answer, @Killer Angel !
This formation/starhost is literally a BEAST!

 

[tom ndege]

I'm for solar engine!

Not my, but I like the idea behind it!
Didn't play the ark yet, but I think it can be real fun.

 

[ZeTe]

ha ha ha ha bastilabomb can i steal that llf . one of my friends stopped playing AoS after my bastiladon with ark wreaked 80% of his army with the mortal wounds alone, while 10% was killed with its melee attacks and 3% the rest of my army , he had 7% standing at the end of turn 6. i defiantly prefer the ark over the solar in AoS just my personal preference.

 

[Freddy25]

One of my friends stopped playing AoS after my bastiladon with ark wreaked 80% of his army with the mortal wounds

Well, it's a shame he decided to stop after this episode, because obviously his army has been destroyed by his own errors...
I mean, ok the Ark can make a real mess of the enemies, and you might have been lucky with the dice, but come on: if ONE bastiladon can wreck entirely someone's forces it's because
- he hasn't played even remotely well or
- he didn't know the model rules.

In case A, it is his fault, and I think rage-quitting is not a smart solution to succeed the next time.
In case B, now he knows what a Basti can do, so he should feel encouraged to find a way to overcome the beast!

You sure he wasn't simply in search of an excuse to stop playing AoS?

Congrats on your win, by the way, it certainly is a memorable victory!
The best I did with an Ark was being able to move it in range of 6 Tomb King units (2 mages and 4 troops), and luckily kill both heroes and a good amount of skeletons!
What a satisfaction!

P.S. The pic is hilarious, @tom ndege ! Brilliant idea!

 

[ZeTe]

tbh i won roll for turn one and marched the bastiladon right into the middle of the battle and move the rest of my army around it he had no choice but to charge and gain his buffs or not move and i gain my buffs next turn but after that i just played guard the turtle

 

[Freddy25]

In other words: a bloody massacre

Just to know, what was the army you were facing?

 

[ZeTe]

was the stormiest eternals i was fighting

 

[Freddy25]

Never had a chance to fight a Stormcast army, but when time will come I'll try to remember having an Ark on the field would help a lot!

 

[Killer Angel]

but...but...Sigmarines should be our friends!

That said, the more than I think to the Ark, the more i like it.
In some situations, the Ark is better than the Solar Engine... because it also depends from the rules you're using.
Many groups play with additional rules, and some of them put limitations to the shooting phase: for example, with the Azyr Composition System, units engaged in CC cannot shoot, except for models at least 3'' away from enemy units.
This means the Engine will do nothing, once our Basti is fighting in CC, thus its usefulness will be severely hampered.
This won't happen with the Ark, given that the tide of snakes is an automatic effect.

Now, my experience is that, when facing Seraphon, my opponents tend to "bunker" their heroes in a strong and large unit, to preserve them from shooting (chama skinks, sallies, razordons) and surgical strikes (ripperdactls).
This means that, if you send the Bastiladon agains this "deathstar", you'll have in range at least 2 different units.

the mistake is to think "i will lose 2/3 of my attacks". Nope, you are hitting your targets with 1/3 of your snakes... with 12 rolls for the snakes, this means 4 mortal wounds each combat phase. 8 mortal wounds in a single turn, plus the standard attack routine.

the Bastiladon is a CC monster, he's made to tarpit everything and win by attrition. If you use a system in which rules limit the shooting in CC, the ark is more effective than the Engine, especially if you're facing a CC-oriented army.