One of the major problems I've been dealing with lately has to do with Epic Thagrosh. I'm a huge fan of both the model, and he's a big part of why I got into Everblight in the first place, but when it comes to playing him, I'm running into some problems. It feels like Shredder Spam is his only good list, particularly since I like to use my feat to go after the enemy Warcaster, and Shredders are really the only beasts that can hit their high DEF due to Rabid. While this wouldn't be a huge problem on its own, Shredder Spam has some serious issues dealing with infantry, meaning more often than not I find my favorite dragon-possessed Ogrun sitting on the sidelines.
I've been thinking about new ways to use Thagrosh, and decided to seriously try using Scourge for an assassination. This can also help the problems I'm having with his feat, since even my MAT 6 heavies can hit a knocked down Warcaster with their feat attack. With that in mind, I built the following list:
Thagrosh, the Messiah
* Shredder
* Carnivean
* Scythean
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Striders
* Officer & Musician
2 Spell Martyrs
The Striders are there to help clear problematic infantry, and the Blackfrost Shard can also help my heavies hit Warcasters without boosting thanks to Ice Cage.
I went up against one of the Retribution players at my LGS yesterday, and he brought this list:
Adeptis Rahn
* Chimera
* Phoenix
Battle Mages
Full Houseguard Halberdiers
* Officer & Standard
* Soulless Escort
Stormfall Archers
Arcanist
House Shyeel Magister
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress
Only one unit of Battle Mages, rare for Rahn, though I'm not liking Lanyssa Ryssyll. My opponent wins the roll but decides I should go first.
Terrain
Everblight Deployment
Deciding that the wall will be the best way to hide Thagrosh, I deploy most of my force on the left side, with Thagrosh on the far left, the Carnivean, Scythean, and Shredder next to him, and the Spell Martyrs behind them. I don't want the Blackfrost Shard to have to take abomination checks, so I deploy them on the right, behind the rough terrain.
Retribution Deployment
My opponent deploys his force across from Thagrosh and my beasts. The Houseguard Halberdiers form the front line, with the Stormfall Archers and Lanyssa Ryssyll next to them. Rahn, his jacks, and the Arcanist deploy in the middle, and the Battle Mages deploy on the right, across from the Blackfrost Shard.
Everblight Advance Deployment
The Striders deploy in front of the Blackfrost Shard in the terrain, hoping to contain the Battle Mages so they can't do much with Rahn's feat.
Everblight Turn 1
Everyone but Thagrosh runs forward, setting up so if my opponent moves forward, I get hit him next turn. Thagrosh moves up behind the wall and gives himself and the Carnivean Spiny Growth.
Retribution Turn 1
My opponent advances cautiously, moving his Houseguard up in shield wall and sending Lanyssa Ryssyll into the forest so she can benefit from stealth. The Chimera runs forward, and Rahn moves up behind the Halberdiers and arcs Chain Blast into my Striders, killing one. The Battle Mages move up behind the Chimera, and the Phoenix and Arcanist follow Rahn behind the Houseguard. The Archers move up and use Snipe to try to hit the Scythean, but are all out of range and the scatters fail to do any damage.
Everblight Turn 2
I don't like Lanyssa as far up as she is, so I have both my Carnivean and Thagrosh try to incinerate her with their sprays, but to no avail. I then use a Spell Martyr to arc Scourge onto her, but fail to kill her by rolling snake eyes for damage! The Striders pick off several Battle Mages, and the Blackfrost Shard moves to the center, taking a few shots at the Chimera.
Retribution Turn 2
He once again moves up slowly, bringing his Halberdiers into range of most of my force but hiding Rahn, the Phoenix, and the Stormfall Archers behind them. On the right side, the Battle Mages and Chimera take down 3 more Striders, bringing them to half their number.
Everblight Turn 3
Things aren't looking good for me, but my opponent has moved Rahn up far enough that I can take a shot at him. I run my remaining Spell Martyr onto the hill, then have Thagrosh arc Scourge onto him to knock him down. I feat, and have my Carnivean charge the Houseguard so I can catch Rahn with the assault spray. The Blackfrost Shard also steps up and take shots at the Warcaster, but he still has 5 health left. I run my Scythean over the hill to the back of his lines, and after the Striders take down most of the Battle Mages, the heavy beast uses its feat move to step up and crush Rahn under its scythes.
Aftermath
I can't believe how well the plan worked. Running + feat gave me great threat range, and using the hill I was able to hit Rahn despite behind behind his line of Halberdiers. Pretty much everything in my list helped out: the Striders cleared enemy troops, the Spell Martyrs let me arc scourge, and my heavies gave me the killing blow. While I initially thought Typhon might be a better option than the Carnivean, I remembered why I dislike him when I checked the spray range - Rahn was 9" back from the front line, out f Typhon's range but in the Carnivean's. The one thing I'm thinking of switching out is the Blackfrost Shard. While Ice Cage and Kiss of Lyliss may help my heavies on feat turn, drawing line of sight is still pretty tough. I'm thinking of replacing them with a Nephilim Soldier, since that gives me another beast that can help with the feat assassination, especially with reach and POW 14. Overall though, I'm pretty excited, since this is the first game I've played where it felt like going for the assassination was a better idea than trying to dismantle the opposing army. Though I'm still not that comfortable risking the entire game on the assassination working, hopefully as I get more experiance I'll get more comfortable and better at it!
I've been thinking about new ways to use Thagrosh, and decided to seriously try using Scourge for an assassination. This can also help the problems I'm having with his feat, since even my MAT 6 heavies can hit a knocked down Warcaster with their feat attack. With that in mind, I built the following list:
Thagrosh, the Messiah
* Shredder
* Carnivean
* Scythean
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Striders
* Officer & Musician
2 Spell Martyrs
The Striders are there to help clear problematic infantry, and the Blackfrost Shard can also help my heavies hit Warcasters without boosting thanks to Ice Cage.
I went up against one of the Retribution players at my LGS yesterday, and he brought this list:
Adeptis Rahn
* Chimera
* Phoenix
Battle Mages
Full Houseguard Halberdiers
* Officer & Standard
* Soulless Escort
Stormfall Archers
Arcanist
House Shyeel Magister
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress
Only one unit of Battle Mages, rare for Rahn, though I'm not liking Lanyssa Ryssyll. My opponent wins the roll but decides I should go first.
Terrain
Everblight Deployment
Deciding that the wall will be the best way to hide Thagrosh, I deploy most of my force on the left side, with Thagrosh on the far left, the Carnivean, Scythean, and Shredder next to him, and the Spell Martyrs behind them. I don't want the Blackfrost Shard to have to take abomination checks, so I deploy them on the right, behind the rough terrain.
Retribution Deployment
My opponent deploys his force across from Thagrosh and my beasts. The Houseguard Halberdiers form the front line, with the Stormfall Archers and Lanyssa Ryssyll next to them. Rahn, his jacks, and the Arcanist deploy in the middle, and the Battle Mages deploy on the right, across from the Blackfrost Shard.
Everblight Advance Deployment
The Striders deploy in front of the Blackfrost Shard in the terrain, hoping to contain the Battle Mages so they can't do much with Rahn's feat.
Everblight Turn 1
Everyone but Thagrosh runs forward, setting up so if my opponent moves forward, I get hit him next turn. Thagrosh moves up behind the wall and gives himself and the Carnivean Spiny Growth.
Retribution Turn 1
My opponent advances cautiously, moving his Houseguard up in shield wall and sending Lanyssa Ryssyll into the forest so she can benefit from stealth. The Chimera runs forward, and Rahn moves up behind the Halberdiers and arcs Chain Blast into my Striders, killing one. The Battle Mages move up behind the Chimera, and the Phoenix and Arcanist follow Rahn behind the Houseguard. The Archers move up and use Snipe to try to hit the Scythean, but are all out of range and the scatters fail to do any damage.
Everblight Turn 2
I don't like Lanyssa as far up as she is, so I have both my Carnivean and Thagrosh try to incinerate her with their sprays, but to no avail. I then use a Spell Martyr to arc Scourge onto her, but fail to kill her by rolling snake eyes for damage! The Striders pick off several Battle Mages, and the Blackfrost Shard moves to the center, taking a few shots at the Chimera.
Retribution Turn 2
He once again moves up slowly, bringing his Halberdiers into range of most of my force but hiding Rahn, the Phoenix, and the Stormfall Archers behind them. On the right side, the Battle Mages and Chimera take down 3 more Striders, bringing them to half their number.
Everblight Turn 3
Things aren't looking good for me, but my opponent has moved Rahn up far enough that I can take a shot at him. I run my remaining Spell Martyr onto the hill, then have Thagrosh arc Scourge onto him to knock him down. I feat, and have my Carnivean charge the Houseguard so I can catch Rahn with the assault spray. The Blackfrost Shard also steps up and take shots at the Warcaster, but he still has 5 health left. I run my Scythean over the hill to the back of his lines, and after the Striders take down most of the Battle Mages, the heavy beast uses its feat move to step up and crush Rahn under its scythes.
Aftermath
I can't believe how well the plan worked. Running + feat gave me great threat range, and using the hill I was able to hit Rahn despite behind behind his line of Halberdiers. Pretty much everything in my list helped out: the Striders cleared enemy troops, the Spell Martyrs let me arc scourge, and my heavies gave me the killing blow. While I initially thought Typhon might be a better option than the Carnivean, I remembered why I dislike him when I checked the spray range - Rahn was 9" back from the front line, out f Typhon's range but in the Carnivean's. The one thing I'm thinking of switching out is the Blackfrost Shard. While Ice Cage and Kiss of Lyliss may help my heavies on feat turn, drawing line of sight is still pretty tough. I'm thinking of replacing them with a Nephilim Soldier, since that gives me another beast that can help with the feat assassination, especially with reach and POW 14. Overall though, I'm pretty excited, since this is the first game I've played where it felt like going for the assassination was a better idea than trying to dismantle the opposing army. Though I'm still not that comfortable risking the entire game on the assassination working, hopefully as I get more experiance I'll get more comfortable and better at it!
Very cool. Nice to see a functional list with eThags that isn't just Shredder spam. Based on tourney reports I've read it seems to be the only eThags list that people use.
ReplyDeleteNice one.