Assassin Revival

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Tomcowlin
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Assassin Revival

Post by Tomcowlin »

Hi

I've noticed a few armies have been taking assassins these days, for example in the ETC lists, most likely (I think) to counter armour. However with only 3 rending star and 3/4 cc attacks I can only see 1 monstrous cavalry model going down before the opponent gets a chance to kill the assassin. So is there something I'm missing here?

Tom
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Omnichron
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Post by Omnichron »

Well... 3 shots at range 12, 3 shots when he charges you and 4 attacks. 2+ to hit and 2+ to wound on the first (6 or 7 str). 2+ to hit and 3+ to wound on the second (As he get to choose how the manbane and rending stars stacks), and then you get 4 attacks with 3+ reroll to hit and 3+ to wound... I think you might kill more than just one with it.

When that is said, you are right that the assassin is an expensive piece that can be killed quickly. If you have only the assassin to do the job, he will die.

If you have him in a shade unit, you should be able to manouver and shoot quite well, which means you can prevent any monstrous cavalry getting in close without getting a charge from your own pegasus hero, hydra or anything else you'd like to kill him with.

As with most other lists, composition is key. So if your army would benefit from such an assassin, I'd say go for it. The times I've used him most is in shadestars, where he is just one of many problems, and as I have 5+ ward from the cauldron as well as 3 MR from another character in the unit, he can't be sniped by magic either.

Try him for some games and you'll get the hang of how he should be used. Rending stars and manbane version is best with shades.
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Setomidor
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Post by Setomidor »

My guess is that most assassins are in for the stubborn-surprise trick, which is great in ETC environments where a draw may well suffice.

(Trick is simple, reveal the Assassin so it's within 12" of the CoB but preferably not in base contact with the enemy. Voilá, instant stubborn unit. Works best if you are flanked, since you can keep the assassin out of combat by never reforming.)
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Demetrius
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Post by Demetrius »

I find Assassins are very hit and miss. They will either kill whatever you send them after, or they will be a free 150ish victory points for the enemy. That said, I took a Manbane/Rune of Khaine assassin to a tournament this year and he took out a Keeper of the Secrets (mutual destruction) so thats always a good sign! In other games, he died without achieving much at all (ie kill 3 or 4 White Lions and then die from return attacks).
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Post by Sulla »

I was thinking this post had some awesome way to revive dead assassins... That'd be about the only time I'd consider one of those points sinks for my army... :(
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Blunch3
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Post by Blunch3 »

Demetrius wrote:I find Assassins are very hit and miss. They will either kill whatever you send them after, or they will be a free 150ish victory points for the enemy. That said, I took a Manbane/Rune of Khaine assassin to a tournament this year and he took out a Keeper of the Secrets (mutual destruction) so thats always a good sign! In other games, he died without achieving much at all (ie kill 3 or 4 White Lions and then die from return attacks).


That's just the risk you take when using an Assassin and it's always been that way. Unit placement and a bit of luck (what enemy units get to his frontage and when) are important. because of that I rarely ever take one in tourneys just because he is such a gamble, but alot of times in fun games or one off against power gaming jokers I'll take 1.
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Post by L1qw1d »

Agree with Blunch & Dem. It's like a sniper (well... I mean like IRL) they are VERY specific in their use and using them to do their job then get the HECK out of Dodge is primary importance- you don't go throwing a Sin against a unit unless it has your specific target in it.
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Scyloc
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Post by Scyloc »

Recently i have played 15+ games with 2x rending star assasins, and i must say that i have been very positively surprised on how effective they are.

They really bring a solid answer to many things we can struggle with in the DE army.

Most of the time i join them both to a single unit of either BG or Warriors, and you can play very offensively with this unit.
People can be very reluctant to charge it when they know that they will be faced with 6x 2+ to hit, 2+ to wound attacks.
This is a very big detterrent for small number elite units, characters, monster, chariots etc.

So for instance you face WoC. You join your 2 assasins to a BG unit. Move up aggressively facing a WoC lord on Disc and a Warrior unit. You fire 6 shots into warriors unit bringing them down to manegeable size. He declares a charge with his warrior unit. You hold, and suddenly he does not want to charge with his lord for fear of stand and shoot. You end up getting a good mactup where you can take his army piecemal.

Or another scenario:
You move up to within 12" of 4 Mournfangs. You shoot 6 times, bringing one down and wounding another. He charges you. On your stand and shoot you bring down another, and theres a good chance that you take the last wounds of the wounded mournfang. Even if you dont your facing 4-5 wounds of mournfangs and you have 8 attacks hitting on 3s wounding on 3s before he strikes with your assasins alone. Chances are his Mournfangs are going down with minimal losses to you.

The downside is of course, that when you make it into combat, they are quite squishy. Yes they are only hit on 5+ by most opponents, and yes you can give them 5+ ward with the CoB, but he still only needs a couple of lucky hits, and they can go down.
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Scyloc
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Post by Scyloc »

Another tip when using rending star Assasins.

You can relatively easily displace them to 2nd rank where they can still stand and shoot, and of course shoot normally.

Its especially easy if you have a Master on a Pegasus with a warrior unit FC 5 wide.

You can place your assasins in your 2nd rank, and its your decision if and when you want to move them to the figting rank.
This means you can very the number of kills you make in a round, and thereby insure that you break your opponent in his turn.
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Post by Setomidor »

I'm actually leaning towards trying Assassins out. I run a list quite similar to Scylocs "BG Executioner Axe List", but with a Lvl 4 Shadow instead of the DL on Pegasus.

@Scyloc: Good idea hiding them in the back rank, then you can just make-way to the front if you face something that you would like to fight with the Assassins, and stay in the back if you don't :)
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