Ush Push, Come and get a little...

Tonight's album reference is in the title of the thread.

It looks like I will get in a game or two tonight with an army that is likely to be pretty darn close to what I am taking to Adepticon. I have a backup list just in case I don't get all the bow ushabti painted up to a high standard, but I plan to get very little sleep this coming week, so I should be fine.

Reports will follow, though they will be of the semi-abbreviated nature that the last Friday night game was. Still, I'll do my best to capture the essence.

Tomb Kings Army List - 2200pts

1 L4 Nehek Liche - Earthing Rod

10 Archers
20 Archers - FC
6 Chariots - FC, Flaming Banner

3 Ushabti with Great Bows
9 Ushabti with Great Bows + FC
1 Warsphinx with Breath Weapon


1 Hierotitan
1 Colossus with Extra Weapon
1 Colossus with Extra Weapon

I wish I could work Khatep in there, just to make sure I get the two spells I really want (Vengeance and Smiting), but there's a 73% chance I'll get them anyway with a regular level 4 (and a 98% chance I'll get at least one of the two), so I'll take the chance.

EDIT: Putting together this list, I realized I was very close to having an army where every model had ranged attacks. Neat. Just need to have GW put out a colossus kit with great bow so I can switch over.

good luck, looks solid. not sure what the 10 archers are for besides redirectors, i would feel better with dropping the 10 and the champ in the other for some horse archers, but hey, they may do their thing.

I've been having a very sleb run of dice rolls recently so if you roll avereage maybe i can too. cant wait for the new dice, mine simply hate me.

@Slepb i have a question. Wouldnt it be better to split the chariots up in 2*3 chariots and smash face with 2*3D6 times str 4 impact hits instead instead of the 3D6 str 5 hits?

or do you need them in 6 to keep them alive long enough to charge?

I only played 800 points games so far that is why i ask

@midget- the 10 archers serve three purposes-
1) They are a drop that buys me a little more time to see where I need the rest to go. Horse archers actually work opposite to that.
2) They give me something with enough shots to take out an eagle and the like without having to commit the larger unit to the task. This gets me target flexibility.
3)They are a safety net for the liche to jump to if needed.

@zacret - The chariot question is one I have mulled over as well. I think that if I saw them as true throw away units, then yeah, I'd split them up. Since they have the Fire Banner, I get more out it them by grouping them. More flaming shots as I cross the table. There is a chance I'll get S5 impact hits as well.

Plus, since I don't have many points of Fortitude, I need to make sure that the unit sticks around long enough to not give up its banner.

ok that makes sense, especially with the drops. i had figured about the skirm killerbut i hadnt realized it was a banner holder (thought you were lacking as well but its good now) but you didnt post a standard for that unit.

anyhoo good luck.


as an aside, i have been having issues lately where ive been packing a crapload of banners into games, and then i keep losing (rather than drawing) by about 10-50 points, so sometimes banners can be a bane as well giving 25 points per cap.

??? Now I'm confused. It's not a banner holding unit. I have three banners in the army - the 20man bow unit, the larger Ushabti, and the chariots.

Now, I _may_ add a banner to the unit at some point and drop the champ from the 20man unit, but probably not. I always figure that an early loss in B&G is an excuse to hit the bar sooner.

Come on Sleboda, you know that with your dice rolls that really equates to more like a 73% chance that you *won't* get them! Nice to see the Earthing Rod making an appearance though - I will be watching eagerly to see if it actually makes an impact in your games.

With a list like this it seems that the Casket would synergize nicely - any particular reason for not including it? Would you swap the AHW Colossi for Bows if you had the models? (Aside - didn't you run a bow-armed Colossus in the first battle report with this list?)

=> True enough!

=> My wife won't let me play with the one I won a Slayer Sword with since she's afraid I'll get it damaged. Quite sensible, really. And my other one won't be done in time.

=> I would. I think the additional hand weapon build is the poorest option by far.

=> I did. It was an experiment against my one opponent who lets me get away with it. As much as I liked it, I won't have time to make on for the event, which means there's not much sense in still playing with it at this point.

I like the list. Unlike some of your older ones you seem to have taken a theme and gone with it. The only think I'd consider doing differently is dropping a collosus for 2 units of carrion or horse archers to redirect or threaten war machines. I actually think the 2nd collosus is probably a better choice against many lists though.

I'd rather see a Colossus with a Great Weapon rather than extra hand weapon. Your guys cap out at S6 and against a 1+AS, that doesn't do a whole lot.

Alternatively, 2 Hierotitans so you have 2 Magic Missiles. But if it's a model thing or lack thereof, that's unfortunate.

@ Bad Mojo - Yep. I agree. As you guessed, no models.

If GW ever makes a kit, I'll be getting 5.

1 more Titan.

2 Colossi with bows.

2 Colossi with great weapons.

??? Now I'm confused. It's not a banner holding unit. I have three banners in the army - the 20man bow unit, the larger Ushabti, and the chariots.

Now, I _may_ add a banner to the unit at some point and drop the champ from the 20man unit, but probably not. I always figure that an early loss in B&G is an excuse to hit the bar sooner.

oh ok. you were talking about keeping the banners around in your first reply, i thought you were talking about one in that unit, but you were referring to keeping the others alive. gotcha. and a bar is always good as well

Pshaw, it's already won it's award, done its job and now can go to retirement in the form of being used in games!

I think you mean "... go to retirement in the form of an unfortunate case of butter fingers."

hey Sle nice list good luck at adeptacon, ive been practicing my NOVA open list latey to prep for that tourny. best of luck to ya

Results.

Two games played. First was vs Ogres, second vs Orcs.

Vs Ogres

The Ogre list was something like 6 yetis, 12 great weapon guys, 6 maneaters, 3 mournfangs, a BSB, a L4 and a L2.

He had Comet, Chain Lightning, Blizzard, and Midnight Wind...because, you know, their L4 wizard doesn't have to take their own lore.
The other wizard had Stubborn and Maw.

My spells came up 6,6,6,5 which I traded around for Wind, Smiting, Vengeance, and Desiccation. Awesome!

We roll up Battle For the Pass.

The game unfolded as you might expect, with him advancing toward me and me trying to shoot the hell out of him.

Key Moments/Highlights
- Mournfangs were pelted by S6 shots a ton...but made every save.

- Almost all my spells were dispelled, but I did get a Vengeance off early on his Maneaters and they, much to my surprise, opted to not move that turn! Once again the reaction to this spell surprises me.

- The sphinx was a yeti killer. Even though the breath attack only did 4 hits, and I could not thunderstomp, I still killed three yeti on the charge and sent them packing. They eventually left the table.

-The Ushabti units both charged his mournfangs on the same turn, in the front with the larger unit and the flank with the smaller. My opponent advised against it, and maybe he was right, but after two rounds of combat, I had killed the mournfangs.

The result was a solid loss for TK, but I felt ok about it, having killed two units of his four.

Not sure why maneaters are allowed to be big units that can also scout. Most (all other?) scouting units are fairly light, but these guys are tough to kill and pack a punch. If I played ogres, my lists would have two Ironblasters and as many big units of scouting maneaters as I could get. I'm not sure what else you would need.

I'll do a combined unit evaluation at the end of this whole post.


Vs Orcs & Goblins
He had 30 black orcs, 30 savage big 'uns, 30 night goblins with two fanatics, 6 trolls, 2 catapults, a fully upgraded snot wagon (though I did not know this until it got into combat...see below), a BSB, a Gobbo Lord, a Gobbo hero, a black orc warboss, a L4 and a L2.

His spells were...1-6 Big Waagh (or, as I called them, crush, fight, zap, snipe, more fight, and move).
I got Wind, Protection, Smiting, and Vengeance. Awesome again.

We rolled up Battleline.

Key Moments/Highlights
- I had perfect position to unleash my flaming chariot shots and all my ushabti bowmen, plus the unit of 20 bowmen, on his trolls in the first turn. I had to expose the flank of my chariots to the pump, which looked like a regular pump, but it was worth the risk to eliminate the trolls straight away. Besides, the risk was minimal, as he was still about 17 inches away.

Anyway, I went to cast boosted Smiting, with the L4 and the help of the Titan. This would be glorious as it would double _all_ the shooters. I rolled 4 dice, figuring the average at 14+4(level)+2(titan)=20. It was all my power dice. I got a roll of 1,1,1,6. Fail.

Fine, at least I still had all that shooting. I started with the flaming chariots, of course, to negate his regen vs everything else. All I needed was a single wound. With 12 (dammit, why not 24?!) shots, that would be 4 hits and a great chance at a single wound. Nope. In fact, all the shooting, the 12 from chariots, the 20 from bowmen, the 12 S6 from Ushabti...killed not a single troll.

- The pump then pumped harder, even though the model showed no upgrades. Lucky for me it failed to make the distance. In my next turn I was compelled to do a swift reform with the chariots, to bring the bows to bear since our chariot are not fast cavalry anymore. I failed. He then charged me, killing 2 chariots (more upgrades I could not see), and getting killed.

- The next turn, the chariots charged the exposed flank of the night goblin unit (which had already let its fanatics go...see below). 3D6 S4...oh wait, make that S3 because of insanely awesome, and again not modeled, nets...impact hits + 13 S4 (no, S3) spear attacks plus 6 S3 (err...S2) horse attacks resulted in .... 2 dead goblins. Two. On a flank charge. Over time the goblins killed all the chariots, despite them getting a smiting once and restoring 3 wounds.

- Early, I tried to kill the trolls with a combined Colossus charge. Both made it! Both were hit by fanatics that came through the trolls (doing no damage). One Colossus died on the spot, and the other took 3 wounds. The remaining Colossus did kill two trolls before dying.

- The Titan and Spinx combo charged the black orcs. Even with Smiting up, the 8 attacks from the crew, the 5 from the sphinx, the breath, the titan, the two Thunderstomps...it all killed a total of 2 black orcs. The Titan was smashed by his Lord. Eventually the Sphinx did kill the black orcs and the Lord and Wizard Lord that were in the unit. By the way, choppa great weapon black orcs are S7. Just a tip.

- The smaller unit of Ushabti charged a troll unit that was down to a single troll with 1 wound already taken. That's 9 attacks to get two wounds. Did none. Eventually lost the Ushabti unit to the one wounded troll.

- The savages got to the sphinx and made short work of it.


At the end of the game, I had killed his black orcs, both wizards, Orc Lord, and the pump wagon. I had lost all but the hierophant and the larger bowman unit.


The following comments came from 4 observers during the orc game

"High Priest should be Ld9." Not really. I actually like that they are not. It gives you a reason to take mummies as leaders. It's appropriate. This comment came up because I failed every single swift reform by rolling a 9. That was a lot of shots I did not get to take.

"How is this even possible?"
"Yeah, here's where it turns around, Joe. You've got him now...oh...my...god....I've never seen so many 1's."
"Have you tried new dice?"
"Have you tried a dice tower?"
"Have you thought about hiring someone to roll your dice?"
"Is there a way to roll dice without using actual dice?"
"Man, you got 'diced' this game."
"Now I see why you don't take wards on your guys. They wouldn't matter."
"This has been like this for you for how long? Man, how do you keep playing?"
"You made the right moves, but nothing works with those dice."


And so on.

Every gamer ever complains about dice luck. It was nice to have witnesses who were literally stunned to see it in action. And this is nearly every game for me.


Oh, I also broke two Ushabti bows. Thanks Finecast.



[bUnit Evaluations[/b]
Liche - Two games, not one miscast rolled. That Rod is doing its thing just by being there! The Liche did everything I asked of him. I was only let down by superior dispel rolls and my own casting rolls.

Archer - Once again useless. Piles of S3 shots do nothing to blocks of T4 units.

Chariots - Mighty, mighty Night Goblins fended off their flank charge. When the fastest, hardest hitting unit we have can't take on goblins, something is wrong.

Ushabti - Vastly overcosted still, but at least with them having bows, their lack of movement is not as big a problem. I really wish specials were not capped at three of a unit. I'd like to take 3 units of 4 bow ushabti and a block of 8 great weapon with FC. Oh well.

Warsphinx - He was definitely the best unit in my army. People were still stunned about his lack of a save, his lack of wounds, and how easy it is to get past T8 (could have added a good 6 more quotes up above on this), but still, he killed some stuff.

Titan - There were a few spells he helped with, and his own spells kept pressure on the dispel pile. He did not do well in combat, but did ok-ish. I'll keep him, and when a plastic kit comes, may add another.

Colossus Brothers - Really? Death by fanatic? Oh well. In the ogre game they were fantastic re-directors. They really need to be either bow or great weapon. Come on GW, where's that kit!? More comments from the observers centered around how dumb it is that their special rule is only one turn, and even then only when the charge. How many other monsters get to do their thing only once and only in the best of circumstance?

BTW - I am right that monsters in general do not get Swiftstride, right? It's only "horse" things and flyers that get it, right?

Monstrous beasts have swiftstride, such as giant eagles, scorpions, etc.

I made a giant bow Collosus, cut off one sword and glued it tot the underside of the other one. bent them some and strung a string. Stuck the old knight lances in the ground next to him with him picking one up as if too fire. Turned out pretty cool!

J

Don't jinx our custom TK dice when you roll all 3000 of them!

Right.

Ogres with little shooting, battle for the pass, and all the right spells you wanted, what can go wrong? Dice rolls, that is!

And I hate Fanatics too, so cheap for what they can do. And nets are also ridiculous, lowering the strenght of everything is kinda silly, impacts, thunderstomps, breath attacks, yeah, make sense. Didn't the opponent told you before the game that he had unconverted upgrade? When we have something not modeled that should be obvious (like that pump wagon) we annonce it, usually during deployement. That's kinda lame if he didn't do it.

Regarding swiftstride, I think that models/units that previously had 7+ of movement or fly (granting them 3D6 for pursue/flee instead of 2D6 under the previous editions) now have swifstride as a result.

Well, decent batrep.

I'm absolutely amazed the Ogres made all their saves, what with their armour being reduced by 3. What do they start with, 1+? Or was it all Ward saves?


Also, isn't it capped at 3 of the same unit? Don't unit upgrades or changes make them 'different' units? So you couldnt' have 4 units of Bowshabti, but you could have 3 units of Bows and a unit of GW?

Mournfangs are a 1+ (or maybe 2+).

=> No. Just like you can't have two catapults with Skulls of the Foe and two without. Or a unit grail knights without a musician, one without a banner, and one with both.

Options don't make them different units.

Mournfangs are 2+ with all upgrades. They sure made a lot of saves on 5+ !

Mournfangs are a 1+ (or maybe 2+).

=> No. Just like you can't have two catapults with Skulls of the Foe and two without. Or a unit grail knights without a musician, one without a banner, and one with both.

Options don't make them different units.

they are 2+ save and they move 16". yeah. one of the few 8th ed nasties (including the ghoul king vampire with sword of bloodshed).

I was the one the "astounded gamers" watching those dice rolls.


Now with that said and since we were all just hanging around watching the game, (Our games ended before hand) I did notice some things.

Maybe it was due to a couple of beers but Joe forgot to do a couple of things that could have really changed the battle.

1. Without knowing about the kit on the BO Warboss I would have charged both the Titan and Warsphinx into the Black orcs ( with general and lvl4) when they were in the venom thicket. I know the fear about the poison attacks but they would not be stubborn against - all the attacks from - 8 str 5 from sphinx, bw str 4 and stomp. + the titans 3 str6 and stomp.

good chance of breaking them in 1 round with the combat res high.

^^The Reason why the O'nG opponent had coming around the corner his big bolock of Savage Big'uns to flank everything.

And Joe keeps forgetting combat reforms....

BTW I smashed my opponent with my TK against Skaven. Granted a newer player but still.

Great games and a fun time all around.

Ric