8th Ed. Novice Decisions.

[Mako88]

Hi guys.

After my first post where i talked about painting, im now moving onto Tactics.

I managed to do a heroic building session over night last week and manage to play a 2.5k game against Vampire Counts and Ogres, both of which i won, and then a final game against Dark Elves, which i lost.

But from those 3 games, i have a bunch of tactical decisions to make, in regards to army, and model choice. So here goes.

I am IN LOVE with the Idea of Jungle Swarms, i just think with my Saurus Warriors they will rock for the Poisoned Attacks, i know in another thread here (Yes I have lurked) that they only do an extra few wounds, but its the SHock factor for my opponent that i would love to see, and also when it works its going to be amazing.

On that vein, i have found that my Solar Crystal Bastilodon thing, did ok. But, would i be better off using an Ark of Sotek, they are certainly not used locally but is there a glaring reason as to why? I think it would be a sick little combo?

Other things, i am using a Skink priest, lvl1, just with Wyssans Wilfdorm, because its too good to ignore, but is it worth finding the points for a second with Lord of Heavens, everyone raves about it, but does it actually reliably do anything worth while?

Also, Old Blood on Carnosaur, i mean, to use this guy i would have to drop the Slaan, and he is a Froggy Badass, so i dont want to do that unless i have to, but has anyone found these guys to be beat trains?

And finally, what are people doing with their Stegadons? I used all 3 varients, as in, bow, engine of gods, and with skink priest, and found them all to be amazing, but what do you guys prefer, i think he might be my Priest mount, and then in higher points games where i cant really use a Slaan and him and Skink priests on foot, i may bring a different one.

Anyone have any thoughts, i know its quite a jumble of crap i have asked, i am just new to the army and hungry to learn

Thanks guys.

 

[Mortheim]

For me, skink priest with Heavens is totally worth it. So, you see, -1 to all to hit rolls is good (ofc, this will help saurus) and a 50% chance for cannons not to fire is REALLY good.

 

[n810]

Have you checked this giant thread of awesomeness yet ?
http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/8th-edition-lm-tactica-index-newest-link-march-2nd-2015.8681/

 

[LawGnome]

Regarding the Stegadons, I always take at least one ancient with the engine of the gods and sharpened horns. It gives you a very durable threat that can happily handle almost any unit (except regular cav).

The engine typically is used for the ward save, which lets you take spear saurus that are almost as durable as sword and board saurus. You can use it to super charge Tetto, but honestly he's good on his own. The ward save is really nice.

The sharpened horns lets you take on ogres and monsters pretty easily.

The thunderstomp lets you take out regular infantry.

Regular cav can be beaten, but a lot of your stuff doesn't work. The sharpened horns do nothing and you can't thunderstomp, so you are relying on causing terror and your 3 str 6 attacks. Your steg can handle it, sure, but he'd rather hit other targets.



I find the double blowpipes to be next to useless, and I never hit anything with the giant bow. The extra str on the ancient is well worth the extra cost.

 

[teufelhund]

If you're going to run Ark of Sotek and jungle swarms you may as well run Tehenhauin as you lord and go for the full on theme; he's lore of beasts so it fits your playstyle.

 

[Ixt]

1. Jungle Swarms... ehh... with Tehenhuain and a couple of Ark of Sotek Bastiladons, they could probably be cool. I'm not sold on them, though. Like you, I've read the thread... they've got my attention, so I may give them another try soon.

2. Heavens is an excellent lore. For a level 1 wizard, Iceshard is perfectly priced. The other spells are pretty inexpensive too. Off-topic, but are you equipping your priest(s) with the Cloak of Feathers? It's a sweet item.

Anyway, Heavens: our Cowboys, Temple Guard, Bastiladon, Stegadon really, really, really like rerolling 1's, the Comet can be a game-changer, and Urannon's hits like a truck (flyers especially).

Wind Blast definitely has its uses, despite being one of the less-powerful and overlooked spells (push your opponent's artillery around, watch their face turn red when they realize they can't shoot... push fleeing units closer to the board edge/off the board edge... push units into dangerous/mysterious terrain... push their General out of Inspiring Presence range, same for BSB... shove stuff out of terrain... chariots make great targets, as they can't march). Roll both Wind Blast & Iceshard on a Level 2 Skink Priest w/ Cloak of Feathers, and your opponent might have two non-functioning pieces of artillery per turn, right out of the gate.

I tend to give Wyssan's to my Slann and leave it at that, as he can two-dice it with ease. A priest will usually want three dice.

3: A Solar Engine Bastiladon + Regadon w/ Sharpened Horns & Unstoppable Stampede (optional, but fun) make a pretty versatile monster-hunting/multi-wound-profile-hunting duo.

Most monsters in the game are I2 or less, yet the Regadon + a Solar Engine Bastiladon gives us an I3 monster (and, also, a monster with lasers!).

D6+1 Impact Hits (D3 Wounds), then 5 attacks at I3 from our Regadon... some augment and/or hex magic routinely tips this combat on its head, but mine has been fine with little to none.

So, yeah, this duo is typical in my lists. It's regularly dropped 5-wound monsters in one round, even unbuffed. The lower strength (as compared to the Ancient) has hardly been an issue, and it's one that's easily remedied with Wyssan's/various support.

That said, my Ancients -- despite having higher Strength -- have really suffered from their poor Initiative. If the Impact Hits don't do it, then you're probably in for a world of hurt. It may not mean much, but a Regadon with Unstoppable Stampede (and the charge) will put out 9 attacks in two rounds of combat-- 9 attacks will take the Ancient three rounds of combat. *shrug* Maybe it's just me, but I'm very uncomfortable relying on Impact Hits to wipe something out. It's nice when it happens, but it's failed when I needed it most.

When getting hit by other monsters, the one-point difference in their armor values rarely seems to matter... even the Ancient's 3+ has turned into a 5+ or 6+ pretty often. Again, I'd rather have the initiative in this situation.

Predictably, I've seen better use from the Giant Bow than the Giant Blowpipes when fielding High Magic. During early magic phases (turns 1 through 3) I usually throw a power die into buffing the ballistic skill of my dino at the end of the phase. It will shoot at things for the entire game, turn 1 and on.

The bow becomes pretty reliable within 18" & HoG, especially since it denies armor. The Ancient only begins shooting at 18", and not very well at that. Burning Alignment, meh -- good for scouts & skirmishers, I suppose. I'll take the bow. So, Regadon & Ancient Stegadon... pretty equally matched, but both bring something different.

Alone, the Solar Engine Bastiladon is fantastic for what it costs. I start my magic phases by throwing a single die at its bound spell when I don't need it, and two when I do need it.

Against my one power die, my opponent almost always throws two dispel dice. Against two power dice, there are typically 3 dispel dice thrown. Either way, my opponent sweats. A 50% chance of 2d6 S5 Flaming hits is nothing to shake a stick at! Its tail attack is pretty sweet too. With it, I'll target whatever gives my shooting a rough time, and lone models.

It's worth noting, too, that both of these choices are Special... so that saves you some points to spend in Rare.

4: Oldbloods on Carns are... tricky, to say the least. They're also very, very expensive. Still, they're good.

When you've got the time, read through this thread:

http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13052

Oldbloods & Scar Vets on Cold Ones are solid & much easier to hide.

 

[themuffinman873]

If you play any small matches I would give 2 thumbs up to the bastilla-beam. I am playing a 1000 point tournament right now and my bastilladon has made the MVP list every single game. Even in higher point games you can throw 1 PD at the beam and let your opponent fret over what to do. Just tell them what happens if the beam rolls a 6 and they will make darn sure that it gets dispelled. The beams do however lose effectiveness if your opponent is running multiple casters.

Swarms can be the death of your saurus as they will burn CR from you even while you are in the flank.

EDIT: I basically just repeated Ixt . I would argue that an opponent would be silly to throw 3 PD to dispel solar engine if you throw 2. At an average casting value of 7, the dispeller's casting level should make up for any fluffing of the 2 dispel dice.