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- SPEARHEAD
1 Grey Seer ( ally ) ( soulsnare shackles or other similar endless spell )
1 Plague Censer Bearers (size 5)

- MAINBODY
2 Plague Priest on Plague Furnaces
2 Plague Monks ( size 20 each )

- REARGUARD
1 Plagueclaw

The combination Rabid-Rabid!/Death-Frenzy on a charging 20 Monk unit would only be more devastating in this 1K setting : 4 attacks each of 4+-hit re-rolled with 4+ wound followed by each dying skaven splashing a mortal wound on a '6' then making 3 more of the same attacks as it dies squealing. But, the Furnace would be an immobile sitting duck if its escort were no longer there to push it.

any suggestions?
thank you in advance

A plagueclaw is unlikely to be useful as there will not be as many large units around for it to shoot at, I would replace it with more plague monks.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
A plagueclaw is unlikely to be useful as there will not be as many large units around for it to shoot at, I would replace it with more plague monks.

max 2 units on a Warscroll so no 3rd Monks. What else might work for you?

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Well drop a plague furnace then take congregation of filth so you can exploit the battalion loophole and spam more plague monks. Censer bearers are also not as good as plague monks so you can drop them as well. And you'll have an extra artifact to throw on the grey seer.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Oh yeah, forgot about that. Well drop a plague furnace then take congregation of filth so you can exploit the battalion loophole and spam more plague monks. Censer bearers are also not as good as plague monks so you can drop them as well. And you'll have an extra artifact to throw on the grey seer.

Okay. 1 Congregation Of Filth, 1 Plague Furnace w/ artifact, 4 20-count Plague Monks, 1 Grey Seer w/ artifact and we are 20 points over 1K.

Comparing that to 2 Furnaces ( 1 w/ Liber Bubonicus and Master Of Rot And Ruin, 1 vanilla ), 2 20-count Plague Monks, 1 Plagueclaw, 1 5-count Censer Bearers, and 1 Grey Seer at 20 points under.

I really do not see what vision you have for them. Admittedly, if all 4 Plague Monk units stay within 18" of the single Furnace, there will be no Battleshock ever. But the Congregation/Furnace combo is the deathknell of this army if it is killed. 2 Furnaces and 1 Plagueclaw provides 3 Strongpoints to potentially bolster the footsloggers.

There is a lot of subtlety that I am oblivious to, but what is it about pinning all hopes and dreams on a single core unit that have I missed? I can just imagine someone deep striking an unforseen enemy into just the wrong spot and being able to remove any single given lynchpin.

I did not mean to suggest every plague monk unit be 20-man, but looking back I can see how I was ambiguous about that.

I think you may be underestimating how durable the furnace is; with a 5+ fnp it really soaks up a lot of damage before it goes down. A bigger issue would be all the plague monks dying and stranding it without any movement, something congregation of filth helps with by giving the monks a 6+ fnp. The plague monks will generally be surrounding the furnace anyways to give it movement and to benefit from its buffs, so it is unlikely to be out in the open. Running two furnaces simply creates a more vulnerable lynchpin; kill the monks and your army is neutered, because the furnaces can't move and censer bearers lose the buff that makes them viable. 40 monks will die really fast.

The reason to spam monks in the first place is that they simply deal a ludicrous amount of damage for their point cost. But if you want to avoid congregation of filth you could fill the space with censer bearers/plague priest(s) on foot instead. Either way running two furnaces seems dangerous because if/when the infantry are wiped they are stranded with no movement and nothing to buff.

Now all this is based on the assumption that the idea behind your list stays the same. Full min-max would be putting in a verminlord.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I did not mean to suggest every plague monk unit be 20-man, but looking back I can see how I was ambiguous about that.

I think you may be underestimating how durable the furnace is; with a 5+ fnp it really soaks up a lot of damage before it goes down. A bigger issue would be all the plague monks dying and stranding it without any movement, something congregation of filth helps with by giving the monks a 6+ fnp. The plague monks will generally be surrounding the furnace anyways to give it movement and to benefit from its buffs, so it is unlikely to be out in the open. Running two furnaces simply creates a more vulnerable lynchpin; kill the monks and your army is neutered, because the furnaces can't move and censer bearers lose the buff that makes them viable. 40 monks will die really fast.

The reason to spam monks in the first place is that they simply deal a ludicrous amount of damage for their point cost. But if you want to avoid congregation of filth you could fill the space with censer bearers/plague priest(s) on foot instead. Either way running two furnaces seems dangerous because if/when the infantry are wiped they are stranded with no movement and nothing to buff.

Now all this is based on the assumption that the idea behind your list stays the same. Full min-max would be putting in a verminlord.

Thanks. That is really helpful. I'll chew on that a while and hopefully digest it.

Happy to help! Let me know how it works out; local meta can mix anything up, plus I've been wrong before and will no doubt be so again.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Happy to help! Let me know how it works out; local meta can mix anything up, plus I've been wrong before and will no doubt be so again.

Usually, it is the sort of feedback received in that last post that I am looking for. How do I go about asking for it in so many words so that I don't waste your time or patience?

First off you didn't do either! Sometimes it is just about getting engaged in a discussion and doing some back-and-forth. It is easier to ask for details than it is to give them, so going into detail about what your asking helps.

If that makes any sense.