joshuaslater Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Well, apologies in advance if this post is long winded and has some whine and cheese. Me and my friend and weekly gaming opponent came back to Warlord after a lil' hiatus where we played our first love, Chronopia. We have played 2nd edition Warlord a number of times and enjoy it, but tonight was a little soul crushing and a bit of a downer. In my excitement over great models, I put together a Warlord force of Bathalian goodness. My Primarch captain led his four Exarchs and two Centurions into battle, with a book of tactics and a luck stone. To add to the fun, there was a band of four Spawn of Mashaf, ready to tunnel forward and wreak havoc. The sweeperback showed up too: a Devourer of Mashaf. I hurriedly basecoated my army and prepared for tonight's battle in advance. Dalton brought the Dwarves. Swiftaxes, Miners, Halberdiers, Freya with a Mighty hammer, a burrowing caster with his miners, and all the pain. My frustration came first from the unfamiliarity of my force. I forgot how the disable worked, concentrating on the Nauseating SA, and spreading my force too thin. It was over quickly, and so fast that we had time to run it back for round two. What I didn't realize was how crazy the Dwarves were against my entire army of large base models. They gained +1 to their MAV and +1 to their DV against my whole force. It really seems stacked against me. Add insult to the base size, the Miners are another +1 against my Burrowing models, and got the gang up bonus too. The Nauseating SA worked a few times, but the high discipline of the Dwarves pretty much ignored it, and even with the Bathalians being immune to gang up, they didn't last long. The second game was a little more satisfying knowing what I did wrong the first time, but these odds seem pretty steep. If I have to rearrange my list every time I fight the Dwarves I'm wondering if my cool models will ever be fielded against them. I've beaten the Dwarves very seldom. Mercs did it, and my Reptus have, but many games of Reven being killed and now my Bathalians I'm starting to wonder if only an army of small bases will win. I'm already planning to get rid of one Bathalian and swap out the squad of Spawn for some other units, but it's depressing knowing that every large base model is affected by the Doctrine of Giant Slaying. Got any advice on this, or should I just fight the Dwarves with a force at a less steep disadvantage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Regarding the Miners getting the Burrowing bonus, that only works if they are actually burrowed. So, if you were fighting them underground, don't do it. If you field almost an entire army full of large or giant based models (here's looking at you, Korbolas ), then yes you are going to fear the wrath of the Doctrine of Giant Slaying. But if you have only a couple of large or giant based models, I usually don't take that doctrine as it does nothing long term for me. Granted, each game is situational at the start but still...Every faction can be beaten. Maybe the Bathalian's strength is not trying to just duke it out mono-y-mono, as it sounds like you were trying to do. Was this a 1,000 point battle? Or smaller? I am not getting a good sense of the scale. If it is smaller than 1,000 points, maybe they just don't fare well at that small of an army. Scale it up to 1,000 points and try it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 It was 750. I actually had 751. I did change my tactics in the second game and it was better. The Spawn did fight underground, but even without that bonus, I found them to be less than deadly. I think I will scale up to 1000 points, and swap out some models for some other guys to better complement the Bathalian crew. I'm still inspired to paint them and push them around. Thanks for the tea and sympathy wildbill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyberwolfe1 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 If you're going with a Bathalian build you really want Xeldorian. His warlord ability really plays well with the Nauseating SA. I get you're going with a theme but making models shaken when they fail a nauseating roll is pretty boss because they become shaken too. You may also want to add some Broken Fodder in. The problem with DS is they are a glass cannon. They hit real hard but if played wrong, or compromised by bad dice it's just over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 We were playing with just Captains in a 750 point game, but it's time to bring out the Beholder and go crazy. Thanks for the input!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I am all about the theme armies. I love fielding those. One thing I always try to remember about them is that I am playing them to have fun first, win second. Why? Because usually a theme has some big gigantic weakness that is easily exploited by your opponent. So what? You look cool while getting your butt kicked. I have a 12 model Darkspawn army that revolves around Rauthuros. I had a good friend of mine paint it up for me (as my painting skills are legendary for being craptacular. ) to look as evil as possible. Do I look badass on the battlefield. Darn tootin'! Can I win a game? Of course, but I need a whole truck full of things to go my way. Do I have fun playing it? Absolutely! Try playing those Bathalians against other factions. They may suck against the Dwarves but kick the crap out of the Crusaders or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 (edited) I forgot completely about my love of coolness. Now that we're playing Warlord again, I realize my "Snakes on a Plane" Reptus army is the same way. It may not win all the time, but it looks great and it's a blast. Not to worry, I've regained my composure, found some hardware to pin Conjuntivius as my Xeldorian proxy, and just bought some teal/blue dice to use with the force. I'm still stoked to finish painting everything up and field them. I will post pics. Finishing anything is near miraculous and needs proof. Edited September 12, 2013 by joshuaslater 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Ah-ha!! I think I have figured out the crux of your problem as to why you lost: you didn't use the proper dice!! Now that you have dedicated dice to your army, it is guaranteed to do better. LOL! I use the same dice for most every army I field on the table. However, I typically use the Dwarf models as proxies for everything. So, even though they may be "not Dwarves", they are still Dwarves and thus my dice are cool with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 Last night was assembly. I have two different Beholders that I will prime and paint. We'll see who looks coolest with my turquoise theme. I have my list ready, but will share it with y'all in the coming days. I'm going to post a WIP thread to actually see this through. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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