Banner of Nagarythe Tactics: The magic Deathstar
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:39 pm
Banner of Nagarythe Tactics: The magic Deathstar
The concept is as follows: An unbreakable. unbeatable bunker for your mages that support the rest of the army with combat bonuses, shooting and tons of magic.
The magic Deathstar consists of (adjust as you see fit!):
Supreme Sorceress (Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth)
Sorceress (Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll)
Master BSB (beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed, Banner of Nagarythe)
Assassin (extra hand weapon, rending stars, manbane, Cloak of Twilight)
30ish Spearmen (shields, full command, Warbanner)
Suggested formation:
SS = Supreme Sorceress, SO = Sorceress, MB = Master BSB, AS = Assassin, CH = champion, ST = Standard, MU = musician, SP = spearman
SS CH MB ST AS
SP MU MB SO SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
As you can see, the focus familiar sorceress is in the second rank safely away from combat. This is legal since the front rank is already occupied by command models and characters. The Supreme Sorceress needs to be in the front rank to use most of her magic and crossbow, but she has the pendant to protect her. If neccesary she can switch place with the musician.
If you use the Cloak of Twilight on the assassin to move him out of the unit, or if you choose to deploy your assassin in another unit from the start, you can let the musician take his place and still keep the focus familiar sorceress safe.
Magic:
The magic Deathstar delivers an amazing magic phase on its own. Possibly over 11 power dice with the sacrificial dagger + PoD and Cloak of Twilight. The sorceress in the second rank retains her full casting ability when in close combat. The supreme sorceress cannot cast magic missiles in close combat, but since only two of the spells from Dark Lore are magic missiles, she will always have at least two of her four spells to cast – even if engaged.
Shooting:
The unit also adds to the shooting of the army. The lifetaker Crossbow is a very cost-effective weapon that almost always cause the enemy some grief, while the rending stars assassin takes care of tougher opponents. The master BSB also has two precise crossbow shots per round. All these shots can be used to stand and shoot, causing wounds to the enemy and reducing their rank bonus before combat starts.
Combat:
The unit has 8 SCR!!! – add to that an assassin that always strikes first with manbane and a master with three armour piercing attacks and 2+ AS.
The unit is hard to overcome and only the most potent enemy units will stand a chance in a frontal onslaught. Even if The magic Deathstar is flanked, it is unbreakable and the high number of spearmen will take forever to kill, allowing support units to come to aid. As long as the master bsb is alive, this unit is close to unbeatable.
Since the unit depends on the master bsb, keeping him alive is the most important thing. Use the unit champion or assassin to accept challenges, or challenge the opponents unit champion with the bsb to reduce the number of attacks on him!
The supreme sorceress can challenge high strength opponents with her Pendant of Khaeleth – effectively taking them out of the battle. This is particulary effective if she has “soulstealer” and can get up to 6 wounds and heal lost wounds. Just be careful with low strength attacks and killing blow!
Imagine a bloodthirser stupid enough to attack this unit! Challenge with the supreme sorceress and watch the big demon crumble to SCR in a single round!
Even though The magic Deathstar is no pushover in combat, its main strength is at range, and you should be mindful of which enemies to engage. A long combat of attriction will only limit your shooting and casting, so be sure to have flankers standing by. A unit of Cold one Knights or a hydra on each side are ideal.
Supporting the rest of the army:
Every unit within 12’ of The magic Deathstar recieves the following bonuses:
Leadership 9
Reroll break tests
+1 to combat resolution
I suppose it is uneccesary to say that this is VERY powerful – expecially combined with alot of small potent units (MSU), such as Cold one Knights, War Hydras, Cold one Chariots or Dark Riders. Even crossbowmen with shields become an obstacle.
Every unit within 12’ have the equal to a standard bearer, but unlike with standard bearers, your opponent does not get extra victory points for capturing standards. And furthermore the bonuses from The Banner of Nagarythe add up in a single combat. If two units within 12’ engage the same enemy, you get +2 to CR! Imagine just how devastating that can be with chariots!
The magic Deathstar usually costs around 1000+ points, and the rest of your army should proberbly be MSU. In other words: There are no real victory points to be had for your enemy, unless he takes out the death star – which is near impossible if you play your cards right!
Resiliance to shooting and magic:
The unit is immune to all psycological effects of magic and shooting and it will absorb a huge amount of shooting, simply because of its size and desent armour save. If the enemy targets your death star with shooting and magic, you can be happy that he is only killing 7 point spearmen with no chance of causing panic! If he focuses excessive amounts of shooting or magic at your death star, you may option not to use the sacrificial dagger as frequently.
Sample army lists (2250) with The magic Deathstar:
Standard heavy shooting and magic. Assassin can either go with death star or shades.
Supreme Sorceress (350)
Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth
Sorceress (185)
Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll
Master BSB (268)
Beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed
Banner of Nagarythe
Assassin (171)
Extra hand weapon, rending stars, manbane, cloak of twilight
33 x Spearmen (271)
Shields, full command
Warbanner
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
5 x Harpies (55)
5 x Harpies (55)
Cold one Chariot (100)
5 x Cold one Knights (135)
5 x Shades (80)
War Hydra (175)
War Hydra (175)
Slightly modified: Banner chariot/hydra storm! Since chariots and hydras REALLY benifit alot from +1 CR, I have put together this particulary nasty list, if one would like to go more extreme!
Supreme Sorceress (350)
Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth
Sorceress (185)
Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll
Master BSB (268)
Beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed
Banner of Nagarythe
Assassin (121)
Extra hand weapon, rune of khaine
26 x Spearmen (222)
Shields, full command
Warbanner
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
5 x Harpies (55)
5 x Harpies (55)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
War Hydra (175)
War Hydra (175)
The concept is as follows: An unbreakable. unbeatable bunker for your mages that support the rest of the army with combat bonuses, shooting and tons of magic.
The magic Deathstar consists of (adjust as you see fit!):
Supreme Sorceress (Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth)
Sorceress (Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll)
Master BSB (beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed, Banner of Nagarythe)
Assassin (extra hand weapon, rending stars, manbane, Cloak of Twilight)
30ish Spearmen (shields, full command, Warbanner)
Suggested formation:
SS = Supreme Sorceress, SO = Sorceress, MB = Master BSB, AS = Assassin, CH = champion, ST = Standard, MU = musician, SP = spearman
SS CH MB ST AS
SP MU MB SO SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
SP SP SP SP SP
As you can see, the focus familiar sorceress is in the second rank safely away from combat. This is legal since the front rank is already occupied by command models and characters. The Supreme Sorceress needs to be in the front rank to use most of her magic and crossbow, but she has the pendant to protect her. If neccesary she can switch place with the musician.
If you use the Cloak of Twilight on the assassin to move him out of the unit, or if you choose to deploy your assassin in another unit from the start, you can let the musician take his place and still keep the focus familiar sorceress safe.
Magic:
The magic Deathstar delivers an amazing magic phase on its own. Possibly over 11 power dice with the sacrificial dagger + PoD and Cloak of Twilight. The sorceress in the second rank retains her full casting ability when in close combat. The supreme sorceress cannot cast magic missiles in close combat, but since only two of the spells from Dark Lore are magic missiles, she will always have at least two of her four spells to cast – even if engaged.
Shooting:
The unit also adds to the shooting of the army. The lifetaker Crossbow is a very cost-effective weapon that almost always cause the enemy some grief, while the rending stars assassin takes care of tougher opponents. The master BSB also has two precise crossbow shots per round. All these shots can be used to stand and shoot, causing wounds to the enemy and reducing their rank bonus before combat starts.
Combat:
The unit has 8 SCR!!! – add to that an assassin that always strikes first with manbane and a master with three armour piercing attacks and 2+ AS.
The unit is hard to overcome and only the most potent enemy units will stand a chance in a frontal onslaught. Even if The magic Deathstar is flanked, it is unbreakable and the high number of spearmen will take forever to kill, allowing support units to come to aid. As long as the master bsb is alive, this unit is close to unbeatable.
Since the unit depends on the master bsb, keeping him alive is the most important thing. Use the unit champion or assassin to accept challenges, or challenge the opponents unit champion with the bsb to reduce the number of attacks on him!
The supreme sorceress can challenge high strength opponents with her Pendant of Khaeleth – effectively taking them out of the battle. This is particulary effective if she has “soulstealer” and can get up to 6 wounds and heal lost wounds. Just be careful with low strength attacks and killing blow!
Imagine a bloodthirser stupid enough to attack this unit! Challenge with the supreme sorceress and watch the big demon crumble to SCR in a single round!
Even though The magic Deathstar is no pushover in combat, its main strength is at range, and you should be mindful of which enemies to engage. A long combat of attriction will only limit your shooting and casting, so be sure to have flankers standing by. A unit of Cold one Knights or a hydra on each side are ideal.
Supporting the rest of the army:
Every unit within 12’ of The magic Deathstar recieves the following bonuses:
Leadership 9
Reroll break tests
+1 to combat resolution
I suppose it is uneccesary to say that this is VERY powerful – expecially combined with alot of small potent units (MSU), such as Cold one Knights, War Hydras, Cold one Chariots or Dark Riders. Even crossbowmen with shields become an obstacle.
Every unit within 12’ have the equal to a standard bearer, but unlike with standard bearers, your opponent does not get extra victory points for capturing standards. And furthermore the bonuses from The Banner of Nagarythe add up in a single combat. If two units within 12’ engage the same enemy, you get +2 to CR! Imagine just how devastating that can be with chariots!
The magic Deathstar usually costs around 1000+ points, and the rest of your army should proberbly be MSU. In other words: There are no real victory points to be had for your enemy, unless he takes out the death star – which is near impossible if you play your cards right!
Resiliance to shooting and magic:
The unit is immune to all psycological effects of magic and shooting and it will absorb a huge amount of shooting, simply because of its size and desent armour save. If the enemy targets your death star with shooting and magic, you can be happy that he is only killing 7 point spearmen with no chance of causing panic! If he focuses excessive amounts of shooting or magic at your death star, you may option not to use the sacrificial dagger as frequently.
Sample army lists (2250) with The magic Deathstar:
Standard heavy shooting and magic. Assassin can either go with death star or shades.
Supreme Sorceress (350)
Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth
Sorceress (185)
Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll
Master BSB (268)
Beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed
Banner of Nagarythe
Assassin (171)
Extra hand weapon, rending stars, manbane, cloak of twilight
33 x Spearmen (271)
Shields, full command
Warbanner
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
5 x Harpies (55)
5 x Harpies (55)
Cold one Chariot (100)
5 x Cold one Knights (135)
5 x Shades (80)
War Hydra (175)
War Hydra (175)
Slightly modified: Banner chariot/hydra storm! Since chariots and hydras REALLY benifit alot from +1 CR, I have put together this particulary nasty list, if one would like to go more extreme!
Supreme Sorceress (350)
Lifetaker, Sacrificial Dagger, Pendant of Khaeleth
Sorceress (185)
Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll
Master BSB (268)
Beastmasters scourge, rep. crossbow, full armour, dark steed
Banner of Nagarythe
Assassin (121)
Extra hand weapon, rune of khaine
26 x Spearmen (222)
Shields, full command
Warbanner
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
10 x Crossbowmen (115)
Shields, musician
5 x Harpies (55)
5 x Harpies (55)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
Cold one Chariot (100)
War Hydra (175)
War Hydra (175)