AoS Help vs. 1000 pts. Tallyband of Nurgle

[Furnus]

Hello everyone!

My friend and I are playing the Clash of Wills campaign from the Generals Handbook. Sadly, my Seraphon army has been bested on both the Veridgris Plains and on Revenge at Blackblood Weald. We're now heading "Into the Realm of Fire".

My friend plays Nurgle and has so far consistently fielded the Tallyband of Nurgle:

Allegiance: Chaos

Leaders
Great Unclean One (240)
- General
- Trait: Dark Avenger
- Artefact: Chaos Talisman

Battleline
10 x Plaguebearers Of Nurgle (100)
10 x Plaguebearers Of Nurgle (100)
10 x Plaguebearers Of Nurgle (100)

Units
1 x Beasts Of Nurgle (60)
1 x Beasts Of Nurgle (60)
3 x Plague Drones Of Nurgle (220)

Battalions
Tallyband of Nurgle (100)

Total: 980/2000


At our last battle (Revenge at Blackblood Weald) I fielded a Sunclaw Starhost:

Allegiance: Order

Leaders
Saurus Sunblood (120)
- General
- Trait: Tenacious
- Artefact: Phoenix Stone
Skink Starpriest (100)

Battleline
10 x Saurus Warriors (100)
- Clubs
10 x Saurus Warriors (100)
- Clubs
20 x Saurus Warriors (200)
- Clubs

Behemoths
Bastiladon (300)

Battalions
Sunclaw Starhost (80)

Total: 1000/2000

I selected the 20 Saurus Warriors as the rearguard, which entailed them taking 14 mortal wounds upon deployment. We discussed whether or not I could opt to use the Bastiladon as the rearguard (seeing as it can make save rolls against mortal wounds), but my friend thought it to be unfair.

Starting the battle with 14 warriors less and thereby a points deficit I decided to setup as close to the middle line as possible. I shot and withdrew until his (fairly slow) units finally caught up to me. This tactic allowed me to kill off his Beasts of Nurgle before the armies even engaged. He however kept his Plaguedrones way behind until everything was engaged. The Plaguebearers “-hit” against shooting and healing from the Tallyband kept them fully healed until we effectively engaged each other in melee combat.

The battle was initially fairly balanced. However, after the first combat round finished the tides started to turn. He healed and healed. All the while my poor Warriors we’re slowly riddled down. Even with the battalion bonus I wasn’t able to effectively deplete his units of Nurgle Plaguebearers. In the end I believe I managed to bring one of the three down.

My Sunblood ferociously attacked the Plaguedrones who had finally ventured to close. He ripped the wings and heads of two and mortally wounded the last remaining one. My friend rallied by rolling a 1 in the battleshock phase, which in turn brought the two dead back – and with a vengeance. They retaliated by killing my Sunblood and the battle went downhill quickly from that point.

By pulling back and by luck of rolls, I managed to keep his GUO from getting into combat, but I doubt I’ll be as lucky next time.

Thinking back upon the battle I cannot help but being amazed at how hard it was to even kill his battleline units. I dear almost not even think what would have happened if the GUO wielding both a mystic shield and a double 5+ ward save had gotten to the frontline earlier.

I’m now about to plunge into the Realm of Fire and I was wondering:

How do you guys deal with the Tallyband of Nurgle at 1000 pts?

 

[Bowser]

They're a tough one. The great unclean one isn't so bad, but the drones just keep healing up. The monks don't have a durnace nearby, so should be pretty easy to break.
Leaders
Skink Starpriest (100)
- Artefact: Phoenix Stone
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (100)
- General
- Trait: Master of Defense
- Artefact: Quicksilver Potion

Battleline
20 x Saurus Warriors (200)
- Clubs
10 x Saurus Warriors (100)
- Clubs

Units
5 x Chameleon Skinks (120)
5 x Chameleon Skinks (120)
3 x Ripperdactyl Riders (140)

Battalions
Shadowstrike Starhost (120)

Total: 1000/1000

Should be better to fight this. Rippers should be able to take out GUO and chameleons should be able to pepper the monks enough to cause panic. The warriors can grab objectives or play clean up.

 

[Furnus]

Thanks for the input.

Would you try and snipe the GUO right off the bat?

Also, when you say monks, which units do you refer to?

 

[Bowser]

It's his only wizard/hero, the drones will lose their extra attacks from command ability and extra mortal wounds, you may want to use chameleons to ensure he dies. After that the plague monks should fall turn two. Don't let them get the charge though, they will destroy the saurus at full power.

 

[Furnus]

I love the Shadowstrike tactic!

The math on 3 rippers and 10 camo's appears to show, that the GUO - on average - won't or will just barely die from the initial assault though.

One thing is the 4+ save, the next is the double 5+ Ward save >.<

 

[TheSkeptic]

Yeah, a Tallyband of Nurgle is quite tough to deal with, especially at 1000pts. I'd say our troops are a smidgeon better pound for pound, but the real problem lies in the fact that, provided you can't kill them outright, they're usually right back up, and mostly none the worse for wear. The only really effective way to bring down a Nurgle army is to be able to kill it outright, and with only 1000pts to work with, that can be very difficult to do. One of the best strategies, as mentioned above, is a Shadowstrike with ripperdactyls and chameleon skinks, targetting the GUO. It's a bit iffy, but there's a fairly good chance you can kill it outright, unless it gets lucky with it's rolls, and if you're lucky enough to get some 6s with the Chamo skinks, you'll be able to deal an impressive amount of damage. Another creature I may suggest bringing to bear against a Nurge force would be a Salamander. It only has one ranged attack, but hoo boy is it a doozy, hitting on a 3+, wounding on a 3+, and dealing d6 damage at rend -2, and the enemy he hits has a 50/50 chance of taking another d3 mortal wounds at the end of the shooting phase, making him quite good at chewing through high wound units and models. He has a range of 8 normally, but with some skink handlers in close proximity that increases to 12. His attacks at close range aren't to shabby either, so he's hardly neutered if the enemy close with him.