8th Ed. vs WOC

[TheGreatBeard]

So last weekend I had my very first battle with my brothers WOC. It was a 1500 match and we are trying to learn the rules so it took forever. I have a couple tactical questions about our rematch so I'll give a quick run down of the battle and then put my questions in.

My list was:

Oldblood, CO, Piranha Blade, Glittering Scales, Dawnstone
Skink Priest Lvl 2, channeling staff (Beasts)
Skink Priest Lvl 1, Ruby Ring (Heavens)
20 x Saurus w/ FC (Sword and Board)
20 x Saurus w/ FC (Spears)
3 x 12 Skink Skirmishers
8 x COR x w/ FC

His army was something like, Chaos Lord on Manticore, Exalted Hero on Demonic Steed, a couple units of Warriors, a big unit of knights and two units of hounds. He won by 300 points but his exalted hero had one wound left when he killed my oldblood so it could have gone either way. We also played on a way to small table so there were charges first turn.

Highlights: skink skirmishers wiped out his hounds easily, it took his exalted hero three turns to kill my lvl 2 priest (I got awesome rolls), and because we were so close, his chaos lord died in his first turn to my oldblood and his manticore died in my first turn.

That's when it turned down hill. I struggled to even wound his warriors and knights because I was getting butchered before I could even attack. Magic was also a bust with zero spells getting off the whole game (some bad luck with the dice)

We are having a rematch at 2,000 point. I will put my list up in the army list section when it is completed but I have a couple of questions first:

1. What builds should I make two Oldblood Cowboys to fit in the 500 point allowance for lords?

2. I'm also planning on taking a skink chief, scar-vet cowboy and two priests- is that too many lords/heroes?

3. I have one kroxigor and am interested in a skrox unit; is it viable against WOC for a 10 unit of skinks, one krox and the skink chief?

He hates cannons and might not even run magic so no issue with cowboys been sniped.

Any feedback or suggestions welcome!

 

[SilverFaith]

What is the oldbloods preferred target?

If that target has S7 or more, dawnstone starts to pale quite a bit, and with piranha blade, you are obviously going up against characters or monsters. S7 will reduce your save to a 5+ rerollable, where a wardsave would be 5+/4++.

Or worse if he throws something at you with armour piercing, or even worse still if it ignores armour entirely for one reason or another.

Without a canon, and without magic, it is possible that you would be fine without a ward save, it's just something to keep in mind. His current kit looks like something you'd throw against low strength blocks with a high volume of attacks and multiple wounds.

 

[Ixt]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with two Skink Priests. If you prefer to run them, however, then I suggest running two with the same lore in order to double up on Signature Spells (double Iceshard on Warriors).

Do you have a Bastiladon model? Solar Engines wreck face, especially since your short list of spells can see more power doce thrown at it. These make a great stand-in for a priest imo.

As far as Core goes, Skinks will likely be of more use to you than Saurus in this fight.

Some advice:

Skrox darts are awesome for dropping the small elite squads & hulking lone models of WoC.

Whether you take one Krox or two, I'd definitely invest in the Poisoned Attacks upgrade. Units of 14-18 Skinks & one or two Krox have always helped me out. Their role in this battle is specific - kill 'Monsters.'

Scan the forum ('Tactics' section, I believe) for the thread about fielding Cohorts. It was pretty recent, and iy relates to one of your questions.

Salamanders (two) combo'd with Iceshard Blizzard can really ruin a block of Chaos Warriors. Per Fire Thrower rules, just one wound from a Salamander template causes Panic. If he's made them immune to Panic, it'll still do a good number of wounds - much more efficient than Saurus.

Stegadons w/ multi-wound impact hits -- yes.

As for cowboy builds, I'll leave that up to others 1+/4++ w/ GW on a CO is always good.

I'll probably post in more depth later - just got to work.

 

[SilverFaith]

As for cowboy builds, I'll leave that up to others 1+/4++ w/ GW on a CO is always good.

This is always good, especially against Chaos where s7 really helps against their really good armour.

It is also worth noting that you CAN have 2 scarvets with 1+/4++ saves. Slap them on coldones, and their base save is 3+, give one of them armour of destiny for 1+/4++, and give the other a Talisman of preservation and a Light armour for 2+/4++ if you want the GW, or just give him a shield for that 1+/4++. I'd recommend charmed shield for that extra "ward save" against cannons. 2+/4++ against a cannon shot makes a lone scarvet pretty much invulnerable to the first hit he suffers. If you want the additional strength, you could just throw on a spear for +1 on the charge, without losing out on your shield.

 

[Ixt]

TG are good if you can double up Iceshard the Warriors.

If you run a Skink Chief, the Egg's pretty good. Otherwise, you could just make him killy.

He's pretty decent on a flyer with a spear or javelin, and maybe a Potion of Strength and/or Opal Amulet.

I sometimes put mine on a Terradon with Warrior Bane, Potion of Strength just to slam him into monsters, permamently reduce their attack values, and then die gloriously lol.

Best not to invest too many points in this guy if he's on a flyer though. If he's on the ground, that's another story.

Biggest question is: how do you want to use it? They are pretty flexible, the Chiefs.

 

[SilverFaith]

They are pretty flexible, the Chiefs.

And cheap too!

Just take note that their statline is pretty much that of an Elf without ASF. He's an assassin, and that's important to remember. For that reason, a cheap eggchief or a chief with sword of swift slaying + potion of strength is pretty good. 3 ASF attacks at Initiative 6 means you often get rerolls, though WS4 means you'll mostly hit on 4s. S7 means you hit like a truck, and for just 85 points, that's pretty good.

It's a one-trick pony though, as he'll die for sure in the counter attack. But hey, I've had him kill plenty of heroes with those 3 attacks. Even got a Vampire Hero once because he didn't have Quick blood.

The egg is good too, but a bit unreliable compared to straight up attacks. But with a bit of luck, and an OTS... it might even make your enemy avoid that little skink bunker like the plague, fearing for his characters life.

 

[Ixt]

You need two Chiefs for Egg & OTS if I remember right, but it does work pretty well!

Not only for the Egg & OTS combo, mind you - OTS in a unit full of Poisoned Skinks (and a Krox!) is clutch!

 

[SilverFaith]

You need two Chiefs for Egg & OTS if I remember right, but it does work pretty well!

Not only for the Egg & OTS combo, mind you - OTS in a unit full of Poisoned Skinks (and a Krox!) is clutch!

Yeah, they are both enchanted items.

Still cheap, and gives me the chance to add additional damage. That, or I just couple it with a Saurus Character. I use OTS pretty often to counter those ward saves, and if that enemy character dies to the egg.. well, my saurus character will just have a field day with his infantry instead

 

[Ersh]

Had a 1500 game vs WoC today, won.
WD Slann is the answer - he can snipe heroes with "low" ward (Spirit leech), and annihilate that monster 1+ cav with metal signature spell. Next - your scarvet will need Wissan's on him, and with the help of Miasma he can kill even a demon prince (Other Trickster's + Glittering Scales, GW - must have).

Kill manticora with tons of skink skirmishers, poison can do the job (tbh my opponent was unlucky with it's regen save).
Sharpened horns on Stegadon is nice, too.

Sauruses will not help u at all (only for lookout for scarvet may be). Chaos infantry is simply better, and Sauruses can't harm chaos monster cav at all. Only thing that can help - Temple guards with razor, if u failed sniping them with metal signature. Their (Skullcrashers if i'm ciorrect with it's name) other weakness - they will try to charge everything that they see. So place units to provoke them. If they will charge trough dangerous terrain - it's even better. Or out of the table, when pursuing skinks. That can give u a turn.

What's next...

May be (but not tested, tbh) one or two Jungle swarm with Sauruses. That can help them with monsters.

 

[TheGreatBeard]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Huge help!

One Oldblood will be more offensive and its targets will be the individual lords and heroes.
The other Oldblood will be more defensive and it will aim to tie up a unit of Chaos Knights or Warriors for a few turns.
I wanted to run two priests for more chances of getting a spell off but now I'm going to run a Lvl 2 Priest (Beasts) with the Ruby Ring. That will give me three spells, hopefully I will get one off.
I don't have a Bastiladon or Stegadon but they are my next two things to buy. I really need some heavy hitting units for support.
I've never used a skink chief before but I will def be taking the egg for some random fun.
I was seriously let down by the saurus last game but I don't think I should try to take Chaos warriors head on with them. A tactical mistake on my part. I think Wyssans would have helped so hopefully I will get it off at least once in the next game.

After I get a Bastiladon and Stegadon, should I invest in a Slann or some Kroxigor?

 

[Ixt]

If it were me, I'd go for the Slann... they are the best Wizards in the game, in my opinion.

Eat it, Nagash!!!