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I owe you guys a Battle Report from yesterday... I finally broke my winless streak! First win since Jan. 2020, since before we started having to wear masks to our battles. First game I ever played as Skaven, the plan worked exactly as I intended it to work-- I was prepared to sacrifice low cost units and fail LD tests while keeping my railgun shooting line intact and I was able to table my opponent with a big Massacre!

But enough celebrating; I'm already looking ahead to next month's league matchup... I'm Tomb Kings and Corey is Dark Elves, 1500 Pt Pitched Battle, in Khemri.

Any general advice for that matchup? Any units or magic items in particular that screw up the Dark Elves' game plans?

I'm forced by the 6th Edition Army Book to take a Priest as Hierophant and a Prince as General. I'm thinking another Priest with the Casket to round out my Character and Rare slots, something he will spend resources worrying about that will also make him think twice about pointing too much shooting my way? Should I be putting my General in a Chariot and using him to spur a unit of Chariots forwards with his incantations?

This is what I have so far:


HEROES:

Tomb Prince (General). In a Chariot. Spear of Antarhak. Light Armour & Shield. ------184 pts
Liche Priest (Hierophant). Skeletal Steed. Dispel Scroll. -------- 147 pts
Liche Priest (Casket) ------- 115 pts


CORE:

Tomb Swarm x 4 --------- 180 pts
Skeleton Heavy Horsemen x 10. Full Command. --------- 195 pts


SPECIAL:

Chariots x 4. Full Command. ------- 210 pts
Carrion x 9 -------- 216 pts
Tomb Scorpion ------- 85 pts

RARE:

Casket of Souls ----- 165 pts


TOTAL:

1497 pts

COngrats on your win with Skaven! I dare not ask.... did you play your Orks vs Orks game already? The one you went with Azhag against the big blob of Savage Orcs and Skarsnik?

Now, to your list: I am really no expert for Khemri, but 9 Carrions seem to be really a lot. What are they supposed to do?

And the 10x "heavy" horsemen. I guess your Liche Priest will accompany them. Is there a possibility to buff them at least a bit? I see them die very quickly, they are still vulnerable to elvish ranged attacks and also stand no chance against an even smaller unit of Cold One Knights, which he will probably field, as it is a very point effective unit. And deadly in combination with an ASB with the Hydra Banner as well.

Maybe you would be better off with some Archers as core? They always hit on 5s, and he has only a Tougness of 3 so your S3 attacks will maybe even do some damage...

Just an idea! Really not sure if it's worth anything.

Thanks for the advice!

Yes, we played our Orc History Month battle- Azhag vs Skarsnik back in the beginning of March. It took all day since it was 2500 pts vs 2500 pts and we are still learning. It ended in a draw. We didnt take pictures and write extensive notes because it was just an exhibition game instead of a competitive league game.

As for your advice here: those are some solid points to think about. My reasoning was that I wanted a lot of fastmovers to close the distance quickly and get some charges off. I was planning on having the Hierophant trail behind the Chariots and Heavy Horsemen to use his magic to speed them forwards. That way he's using them as a screen and theyre benefitting from his ability to double their movement. That's why I wanted him mounted and why I wanted lots of Carrions ready to join my cavalry, chariots, and It Came From Below units on the enemy side of the board. I definitely will try and take another look at the numbers and consider what their purpose is and what units I'm expecting him to send against me, as well as considering my options for that Core unit

I also got advice on the ClassicHammer site saying to nix the casket. This was interesting to me but I suppose we have maybe talked it up too much and given it too much respect, at least in the context of a 1500 point game. I had to weigh how much he might fear it vs how useful I really think it will be. Having a second Priest up in range of my Death Ball offense could tip the scales of the battle for me.

I strongly strongly expect my opponent to run a Hydra as 1) we have the model 2) we LOVE monsters 3) it causes Terror and thus is immune to my guys causing Fear or Terror 4) it breathes fire (my General will be Flammable and we have buffed breath weapons with House Rules that allow breath weapon usage as a Stand & Shoot response and in Close Combat [exception: Salamanders]).

For those reasons I am now considering running a Giant equipped with the Giant Bow option from the 2004 Book (This has been approved by both of us for our competitive League games, which this is.)

Benefitting from an ability to shoot over friendly models, using Arrows of the Asp to move-and-shoot and always hit on 5's, and with the assumption that his Rare slot will be a Monster rather than 2 Bolt Throwers, could this be the right call? With the understanding that obviously this is a rock-paper-scissors gamble; he could bring 2 Bolt Throwers and delete the Giant in the Top of the 1st with some good rolls.


Here's where I'm at right now:



HEROES:

Tomb Prince (General). In a Chariot. Spear of Antarhak. Light Armour & Shield. ------184 pts
Liche Priest (Hierophant). Skeletal Steed. Dispel Scroll. Hieratic Jar. -------- 173 pts
Liche Priest. Skeletal Steed. Death Mask of Kharnut. ------- 158 pts


CORE:

Tomb Swarm x 2 --------- 90 pts
Skeleton Heavy Horsemen x 11. Magic Standard: Banner of the Undying Legion. Full Command. --------- 236 pts


SPECIAL:

Chariots x 4. Full Command. ------- 210 pts
Carrion x 5 -------- 120 pts
Tomb Scorpion ------- 85 pts

RARE:

Bone Giant. Giant Bow (Bolt Thrower, Str 5, D3 Wounds, May Move-and-Fire) 240 Pts


TOTAL:

1496 pts





Right up at the starting line: My Chariots with the General embedded, trying to get a charge off as soon as they can.
Right beside them will be the Heavy Horsemen, with the Priest embedded wearing his Kharnut mask to cause Terror.
On the other side will be a Terror causing Giant who doubles as my Bolt Thrower. His job will be to get rid of the Hydra I'm expecting to see.
Behind this frontline will be the Hierophant, mounted to keep up with them and still benefitting from targeting restrictions lurking in my backfield because everyone around him is also mounted.
Behind them will be the Carrions, babysitting the Hierophant from Scouts and who move-as-skirmishers and can quickly support any flank I need them to.
I will have my Scorpion and Swarms use It Came From Below! to attempt a nice flank charge.

This is absolutely a bumrush offense designed hoping that he is expecting me to bunker up around a Casket. There will be maximum 3 Terrain pieces on the board because MOHL rules allow me to decline to place terrain after my first placement. I see this as a High Risk/High Reward strategy. If I am right about how my opponent plans/reacts and I get even average dice rolls I believe I could engage him in CC by the end of Turn 2 and take away all the time and space he needs to make his counter attack work.

If you can get the chariots in the front and the horsemen in the side of their battle line, I think it's a win for you.

Not overly familiar with 6th edition, but can Dark Elves get Dark Riders as core in that edition? My sentence above relies on the idea that they're going to have spears/crossbows to hammer/anvil

Rihgu wrote:
If you can get the chariots in the front and the horsemen in the side of their battle line, I think it's a win for you.

Not overly familiar with 6th edition, but can Dark Elves get Dark Riders as core in that edition? My sentence above relies on the idea that they're going to have spears/crossbows to hammer/anvil

Yes they can. One of the more infamous army builds from 6th was the all Dark Riders build circling and pot shotting with Repeaters.

 Just Tony wrote:

Rihgu wrote:
If you can get the chariots in the front and the horsemen in the side of their battle line, I think it's a win for you.

Not overly familiar with 6th edition, but can Dark Elves get Dark Riders as core in that edition? My sentence above relies on the idea that they're going to have spears/crossbows to hammer/anvil

Yes they can. One of the more infamous army builds from 6th was the all Dark Riders build circling and pot shotting with Repeaters.

In that case, I'm now sweating for you, MattyFenby. If they bring Dark Rider swarms and don't give you meaty targets to smash into I'm worried they'll just run circles around you.

His list would do poorly against an avoidance list, an infantry heavy force could simply deploy picket line style and march from one end to the other. Not much choice for the DE player at that point. It's also worth pointing out that the Dark Riders will probably be hitting on 6's.