12-17-2009, 05:57 AM
Hello all,
So far I have played the majority of my games at 1250 or so points, but recently i stepped out of my comfort zone and proxied my way up to 2250 at the request of a Skaven player, who wanted to try a Lord.
My army was more or less my standard force, brought up in points, with a few alterations, here is a quick rundown...
Wizard Lord
Level 3, 2x Dispell Scroll, Staff of +1 to Dispel
Captain
Pegasus
Heavy Armour
Enchanted Shield
Sword of Might
Brace of Pistols
Paymaster
Barded Horse
Heavy Armour
Shield
Morning Star
25 Pikemen
Heavy Armour, Full Command
25 Republican Guard
10 Crossbowmen
20 Crossbowmen
8 Dualists
8 Dualists
8 Dualists
5 Light Cavalry
Spears, Shields, Musician
5 Light Cavalry
bows, Shields,
5 Heavy Cavalry
Barding, musician
25 Paymasters Bodyguard
Heavy Armour, Full Command, Warbanner
cannon
cannon
His was not what I expected at all.
Clan Pestilens special character, level 3 magic lord/fighter
2x clan pesitlens level 2 mage fighters
1 Clan pestilens mage fighter/battle standard bearer
3 units of 31 (7x3) Plague Monks, full command. One hero in each, Lord with BsB
3 Units of 8 Plague Censor Bearers (possibly the single best unit in the skaven army, one of the hardest hitting units in the game)
2 plague Claw catapults. Now, let me start off by saying, the Plague Claw, for the points of an empire cannon, puts out large template, S2, ignore armour, even one casualty is a panic check shots. The ONLY reason we will hopefully not see to many of them is because the other Skaven rare choices are EVEN BETTER.
The game itself ended in a tie, with my force ahead by just over 100pts. I consider this an incredibly victory, and here is why.
On the First turn (his, I hadn't gotten mine yet), I lost 43 infantry and 4 cavalry. 47 models dead, before I got to roll a dice, from two Plague Claw hits, and two irresistable Plague spells getting off. The only thing that kept me from calling it game right then was that nothing panicked.
From then on, it was a battle of trying to kill his censor bearers before he mopped me up entirely.
Ricco's guard, one of the few units in the entire game that can actually defeat Skaven Censor Bearers, saw themselves reduced to less than half strength, ending up being 4 models large (one being a wounded Ricco) and never saw combat, as I was not about to throw away the points they represented.
My Paymasters guard also never saw combat, being reduced to a half dozen models before being destroyed by magic in the 4th turn, causing my Wizard Lord (also my general) to flea, and taking 10 crossbows, a unit of light cav, and a cannon with him.
I pulled off a tie on the last turn, when a combined charge of 10 pikemen to the front and 2 Heavy cav to the rear defeated and routed his general, BSB, and the 1 remaining Plague monk with them, running them down.
All in all, i was shocked to even have a chance at the tie, and I must say that nothing about the new Skaven book encourages other armies to use large infantry blocks. Infact, if the no partial templates are a sign of things to come, as well as more unit-affecting spells (whole unit takes a S1 hit, no armour) and even more devastating elite units and monsters (censor bearers and Hellpit), infantry heavy forces are going to be in even MORE trouble soon.
In closing, good luck against the Skaven. They are beatable, but they are not fun.
So far I have played the majority of my games at 1250 or so points, but recently i stepped out of my comfort zone and proxied my way up to 2250 at the request of a Skaven player, who wanted to try a Lord.
My army was more or less my standard force, brought up in points, with a few alterations, here is a quick rundown...
Wizard Lord
Level 3, 2x Dispell Scroll, Staff of +1 to Dispel
Captain
Pegasus
Heavy Armour
Enchanted Shield
Sword of Might
Brace of Pistols
Paymaster
Barded Horse
Heavy Armour
Shield
Morning Star
25 Pikemen
Heavy Armour, Full Command
25 Republican Guard
10 Crossbowmen
20 Crossbowmen
8 Dualists
8 Dualists
8 Dualists
5 Light Cavalry
Spears, Shields, Musician
5 Light Cavalry
bows, Shields,
5 Heavy Cavalry
Barding, musician
25 Paymasters Bodyguard
Heavy Armour, Full Command, Warbanner
cannon
cannon
His was not what I expected at all.
Clan Pestilens special character, level 3 magic lord/fighter
2x clan pesitlens level 2 mage fighters
1 Clan pestilens mage fighter/battle standard bearer
3 units of 31 (7x3) Plague Monks, full command. One hero in each, Lord with BsB
3 Units of 8 Plague Censor Bearers (possibly the single best unit in the skaven army, one of the hardest hitting units in the game)
2 plague Claw catapults. Now, let me start off by saying, the Plague Claw, for the points of an empire cannon, puts out large template, S2, ignore armour, even one casualty is a panic check shots. The ONLY reason we will hopefully not see to many of them is because the other Skaven rare choices are EVEN BETTER.
The game itself ended in a tie, with my force ahead by just over 100pts. I consider this an incredibly victory, and here is why.
On the First turn (his, I hadn't gotten mine yet), I lost 43 infantry and 4 cavalry. 47 models dead, before I got to roll a dice, from two Plague Claw hits, and two irresistable Plague spells getting off. The only thing that kept me from calling it game right then was that nothing panicked.
From then on, it was a battle of trying to kill his censor bearers before he mopped me up entirely.
Ricco's guard, one of the few units in the entire game that can actually defeat Skaven Censor Bearers, saw themselves reduced to less than half strength, ending up being 4 models large (one being a wounded Ricco) and never saw combat, as I was not about to throw away the points they represented.
My Paymasters guard also never saw combat, being reduced to a half dozen models before being destroyed by magic in the 4th turn, causing my Wizard Lord (also my general) to flea, and taking 10 crossbows, a unit of light cav, and a cannon with him.
I pulled off a tie on the last turn, when a combined charge of 10 pikemen to the front and 2 Heavy cav to the rear defeated and routed his general, BSB, and the 1 remaining Plague monk with them, running them down.
All in all, i was shocked to even have a chance at the tie, and I must say that nothing about the new Skaven book encourages other armies to use large infantry blocks. Infact, if the no partial templates are a sign of things to come, as well as more unit-affecting spells (whole unit takes a S1 hit, no armour) and even more devastating elite units and monsters (censor bearers and Hellpit), infantry heavy forces are going to be in even MORE trouble soon.
In closing, good luck against the Skaven. They are beatable, but they are not fun.