Yeah, but aside from the LoC learning your spell there isn't really a negative to you failing to cast. There's no real reason to not attempt arcane bolt, mystic shield or summon starlight with your starpriests even if chances are they'll fail. Worst case the LoC now knows summon starlight, but let's face it he probably has better stuff to cast anyway. Best case you kill some daemons.
Oh, yes Starpriests. I agree. However, in context, Gwendar's advice was given specifically after the Starpriest had been slain and I had attempted casting Summon Starlight from the Slann. I wanted to see those D3 MWs get applied to the LoC. But it was a silly decision. Especially in this scenarion, I should have banked the points.
@Killer Angel Yes and I normally do simply use the Slann as a summoning battery. The temptation of D3 MWs got the better of me and I didn't even think about the likely failure or unbind.
Talk about a good victory. Those ripperdactyls really were effective. The bastiladons solar solar engine also did good damage. Keep these reports coming!
Talk about a good victory. Those ripperdactyls really were effective. The bastiladons solar solar engine also did good damage. Keep these reports coming!
I was actually concerned that the Rippers wouldn't see their full potential this game for two reasons:
The Tzeentch player was doing an effective job screening heros, up until the LoC came around the house that was protecting its right side.
Once I saw the opening, I was worried that not having the Blot Toad buff would potentially keep the volume of attacks to low to chew through his wounds and auto-saves. BUT, I recalled during the game reading in a thread here recently that the Rippers get a +1 Wound roll in their first combat phase. It definitely helped! I had completely missed that text in my previous uses of the Battalion.
I was actually concerned that the Rippers wouldn't see their full potential this game for two reasons:
The Tzeentch player was doing an effective job screening heros, up until the LoC came around the house that was protecting its right side.
Once I saw the opening, I was worried that not having the Blot Toad buff would potentially keep the volume of attacks to low to chew through his wounds and auto-saves. BUT, I recalled during the game reading in a thread here recently that the Rippers get a +1 Wound roll in their first combat phase. It definitely helped! I had completely missed that text in my previous uses of the Battalion.
you get re-rolls for failed hit and wound rolls, not a +1 to wound. And with those re-rolls you basicly hit something like 70-80% of your attacks or something (which for a squad of 3 will average out to something around 15 wounds without toad) which is a massive threat with or without toad.
you get re-rolls for failed hit and wound rolls, not a +1 to wound. And with those re-rolls you basicly hit something like 70-80% of your attacks or something (which for a squad of 3 will average out to something around 15 wounds without toad) which is a massive threat with or without toad.
Ah, thought you meant swooping dive. Though given that you're already re-rolling failed wounds & your worst to wound is 4+ that's a rather minor benefit when it comes down to it.
I think the list was perfect for this arrangement. The Bastilidon is such an amazing unit. I've only played him twice, but his utility is impressive and the potential for damage against Chaos Daemons really makes him fierce.
Edit: Actually @Schwaaah I would change one thing. As casting against an army with +2 to cast, +1 to unbind, and basically having at least one (possibly more) auto unbind, thanks to Destiny Dice and LoC's matching of dice, I should have used Great Rememberer over Vast Intellect on the Slann General. I didn't even get to use Curse of Fates anyway.
Yet another battle against our ages old enemy, the Skaven(tide)! This match up is against my friend Gwendar and is the first time using either Dracothion’s Tail or Firelance Starhost. Of course, I’m really only utilizing DT for the 1 drop ability, as Total Commitment does not allow for any army reserves. As I haven’t played Skaventide in a several weeks, I wanted to see how the army performed with its refresh. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to use Strike from the Skies, I figured the unit’s other abilities would still make for a devastating attack. Also, I planned to attempt a CP bomb on the Oldblood after T1.
As I technically only had one drop, I was able to go first. I still spread out the deployment phase, just to get an idea of how his army would be setup. That said, I don’t think I deployed correctly as I had very little to deal with his to large Clan Rat hoards at the beginning of match.
Seraphon T1: Hero phase the Shadowstrike Battalion marched forward with Stealthy Advance, though I only got double one’s for the Ripperdactyls. My hope is that the Ripperdactyls will be able to get into the right unit of 40 Clan Rats and decimate them. I didn’t move the skinks shielding the Razordons, other than to be sure their bases were just inside 3” to utilize Instinctive Defense. I successfully cast Cogs and Summon Starlight buffed the Rippers. The Trap is Sprung was placed on my first target, the right-side unit of 40 Clan Rats. I also got The Hunter’s Steed Constellation, which I was really hoping for! :-D
In movement, I used the War Drums for all 3 units of Knights as the measly 7” base movement wouldn’t get them anywhere near close enough for a charge. (O.T. RANT: How the HELL does a cavalry unit have worse movement then a foot unit, i.e. ANY Skink ground unit?! Even Kroxigor can move further!) I hoped that enough would survive to my next turn to make use of Blazing Lances and the Firelance Blazing Cohort. However, my first mistake came here: I completely forgot about the movement buffs from the Cogs, Azyrite Hunters, and The Hunter’s Steed denying myself 6” of movement AND charge! It’s entirely possible I could have gotten into the left-side Clan-Rats with these buffs. I realized it next phase and kicked myself around GW for the rest of the game because of it. >:’-O The Ripperdactyls swooped down to just outside 3” of the right-side Clan Rats with the Skinks and Starpriest behind them. I realized I had left the right-side objective uncontrolled and was able to move the Oldblood within range to maintain control. End of movement, I did summon in 10 Skinks to surround the Slann General, as he is not fond of being unguarded.
The only unit within shooting distance (thanks to forgetting to benefit from movement and buffs), were the right-side Skinks and they performed admirably, inflicting 2 wounds with their Boltspitters.
Time for Ripperdactyls to RIP. Charge was successful and I commenced with 7 spears, 18 claw (thank you Blot Toad), and 18 beak attacks. The 18 Vicious Beaks turned into 34, of which 32 wounded. Out of 57 attacks, I managed 27 wounds after his save rolls. Not great, considering I’ve seen this same unit of Rippers obliterate units of 40 before. The Clan Rats retaliation inflicted 2 wounds.
Thanks to the Verminlord’s anti-shock aura, there was no battleshock to take for the Clan Rats, which further exacerbated the mediocre outcome of this combat (edit: this was due to the Screaming Bell, not the Verminlord). At least I gained 2 victory points!
Skaventide T1, also known as the beginning of the end. The Slann General did manage some impressive dispels, negating two of opponent’s spells, but the spell I needed to block, Warp Lighting Vortex, went off directly over the Firelance Battalion. Even worse, it’s area of affect would include my Slann General. Here’s it’s Warscroll, for those not familiar with this devastating Endless Spell:
See that really important “and” in the first line of Warp Lightning Bolts? Yeah… On setup, WLV did 7 mortal wounds to the 3 units of Knights and 3 to the Scar Veteran on Cold One.
Shooting was equally destructive. The Jezzails wiped 2 Razordons and 5 Ripperdactyls away. Oof!
Movement wasn’t much better. The Doomwheel made a longbomb across my Knights and into the Skinks around the Slann. More mortal wounds inflicted by it and the WLV, slaying 2 Skinks and 6 Knights. Additionally, the rest of his armor moved forward. I was at least able to keep the Jezzails from using the Gnawholes, but this was little benefit with their 30” range.
Combat saw the remaining right-side Clan Rats killed the last Ripperdactyl. The Doomwheel inflicted 2 wounds on the Slann General. I used Wary Fighter to reposition the guarding Skinks, but didn’t place them to keep the Slann screened! DOH!
Even with all this, I was still thinking about potential to capture an enemy objective and win the game. If I could dispel the WLV and get the remaining Knights into the left-side Clan Rats, I could potentially gain the 3 VP from it. Additionally, I still had the Oldblood bomb. I wasn’t giving up! 2-2 tie at the end of T1.
Turn 2 priority roll went to Skaventide ☹ At this point, I knew the game was over. Between the WLV’s mortal wounds and the rest of the army’s abilities and damage, I knew I’d lose most, if not all my army. By the end of Skaventide T2, I’d lost all but 1 Knight, the Oldblood, the Starpriest, and right-side Skinks. With the Slann killed and the majority of my army gone, it confirmed the end of the game. I did play my T2, if only to attempt the Oldblood bomb. LoS&T went off with a 4 and I made the charge. With an additional 8 attacks, I only managed to get the Screaming Bell down to 4 wounds. I ended my T2 and conceded, with a 7-3 victory to Skaventide.
Post Game Analysis
So, obviously missing out on movement bonuses really ham-stringed me. Not dispelling WLV was a big deal, but not a failing on my part. I definitely should have deployed the Ripperdactyls to take on the unit of 20 Clan Rats and Doomwheel; I’d likely have much better chance on that objective. The Knights could have tied up a unit of 40 Clan Rats to allow the Rippers the potential for survival and reuse. Of course, all of that depends on WLV not going off. The Skaventide double turn didn’t help either, but my mistakes combined with my opponent’s good luck spelled an end to the battle.
1) Paint your models, it totally makes em more effective
2) A shadowstrike seems fairly pointless if you can't use "Strike from the skies", the threat of that drop coming in anywhere is where most of its power comes from as it can take out a unprotected target, even without the toad. Once the rippers have landed they're a whole lot less scary to deal with as you can guide them into a fodder unit.
Beyond that, yeah I agree. The rippers should've gone for targets that they could easily kill, while your Knights held up the rest of their army. Plus, with some luck they could've pushed through and assaulted his jezzails, warlock or lightning cannon.
And yeah, screwing up the movement bonus was kinda of a big mistake.
Total Commitment is the hardest battleplan for this list to function on in my experience. I have had to play this one twice at tournaments. Both times I got lucky and rolled a 10+ for the stealthy advance on my Ripperdactyls while also having Cogs up.
1) Paint your models, it totally makes em more effective
2) A shadowstrike seems fairly pointless if you can't use "Strike from the skies", the threat of that drop coming in anywhere is where most of its power comes from as it can take out a unprotected target, even without the toad. Once the rippers have landed they're a whole lot less scary to deal with as you can guide them into a fodder unit.
Beyond that, yeah I agree. The rippers should've gone for targets that they could easily kill, while your Knights held up the rest of their army. Plus, with some luck they could've pushed through and assaulted his jezzails, warlock or lightning cannon.
And yeah, screwing up the movement bonus was kinda of a big mistake.
1) Ugh, painting... I kind of enjoy it once I get started, but I'm stupidly slow and have trouble getting motivation to start.
2) I agree that the Strike from the Skies is a big part of the Battalion, but the rest of it is still useful, plus having the additional command point and Artefact is valuable.
Speaking of Artefacts, Spellmirror worked for me, so that was nice. Miasmatic Blade was mostly ineffectual, though, as most of the damage on the Slann was mortal wounds. Never got to use Betrayer's Crown and I didn't roll a single 6 for Sword of Judgement.
Appreciate the input. At least it helps confirms my analysis was on par.
Total Commitment is the hardest battleplan for this list to function on in my experience. I have had to play this one twice at tournaments. Both times I got lucky and rolled a 10+ for the stealthy advance on my Ripperdactyls while also having Cogs up.
Well... that's actually encouraging! I knew the Battleplan would be difficult, but I think my tactics were sound, I just didn't implement them well, at all.
Consider switching it out for another battalion, or perhaps take Terradons instead of rippers, they're a bit cheaper so it'd allow you an extra razordon or some skink handlers, or possibly even switch out the 6 rippers for only 3 terradons so you can spend a 160 points on something else.
I feel like going for 6 rippers that can't strike from the sky is a rather big investement with likely relativly little payoff.
Consider switching it out for another battalion, or perhaps take Terradons instead of rippers, they're a bit cheaper so it'd allow you an extra razordon or some skink handlers, or possibly even switch out the 6 rippers for only 3 terradons so you can spend a 160 points on something else.
I feel like going for 6 rippers that can't strike from the sky is a rather big investement with likely relativly little payoff.
That's a good idea. I've told Gwendar I want a rematch, so I might do just that. I am somewhat limited, in that the 4 Razordons on the field are what I currently have, and I'd have to proxy the Rippers as Terradons.
Yeah, I'm far from flawless executions in my games. There's a local monthly tournament coming up at the end of the month that I am signed up for, but man, it's a bit daunting. Was thinking of using this list, or dropping SS for more models. But, as you say, the list wasn't really the issue.
Yeah, I'm far from flawless executions in my games. There's a local monthly tournament coming up at the end of the month that I am signed up for, but man, it's a bit daunting. Was thinking of using this list, or dropping SS for more models. But, as you say, the list wasn't really the issue.
In a few hours I will have time to really consider how you played the last game in your battle report. I would be happy to let you know how I would have approached the match. Even still, this is a dice game and sometimes that can be the deciding factor.
In a few hours I will have time to really consider how you played the last game in your battle report. I would be happy to let you know how I would have approached the match. Even still, this is a dice game and sometimes that can be the deciding factor.
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