this was the first time i fought Beastmen (usually i play against Ogre, WoC, Khorne Bloodbound, Stormcast Eternal and once Skaven). Azyr comp rules, armies with 40 points. Beastmen Bullgor stampede formation: - Doombull - 3 minotaurs units (6 each) - 1 ghorgon plus 3 great bray shaman Seraphon Thunderquake starhost - EoTG (savage) - Stegadon - Bastiladon - 3 kroxi plus a Slann and 4 razordons It was the first time i used Thunderquake, usually i field Shadowstrike and I also play with 3 units of chama skinks, so I did lots of stupid mistakes, even in the setting of the monsters: I gave the Ark to the Basti and sunfire throwers to Steggy (my plan was to wait for all those units, sitting in my monstrous bunker, when lots of attacks and mortal wounds at short range would decimate 'em. It didn't worked that way). First turn I begin summoning 2 starpriests (for the starlight) and a Starseer... but I had nothing in range for the shooting phase (why did I choose the ark AND the sunfire throwers? ) All Beastmen run in my direction, one of the shaman manage to summon a Jabberslythe on my flank 2 turn tnx to Tetto, mi EoTG rolls a 18, so i have a double turn. nothing in range for the shooting phase of my monsters (why did I choose the ark AND the sunfire throwers? ) Magic and shooting from razordons kill the Jabber in my second free turn, magic and shooting from razordons kill also the ghorgon All beastmen run, but all fail to charge. A shaman summon another Jabberslythe. 3 turn I can shoot only with razordons. Again. 3 minotaurs killed. With magic i proceed to shield and starlight my first line of defence (razordons and kroxi) Beastmen charge, impacting on Razordons (with instinctive defence i kill another couple of minotaurs) The razordons are wiped away, and I also lose 2 kroxi (because I totally forgot the rerollable save... ) Finally, the ark starts to do 9 mortal wounds to the 4 units at range 4 Turn The basti moves, EoTg and Steggy charge the 5 "remaining" minotaurs in melee with the kroxi. The snakes of the Ark do their job (9 mortal wounds), the sunfire throwers are pityful, so is the Engine (just 1 mortal wound from the starfire Whirlpool Double steggies obliterate the minotaurs' unit. the 2 remaining units of minotaurs charge the basti and the steggy, the Jabber charge the Engine (doing 2 wounds), the Doombull rolls a 12 and turn around my monsters' block, impacting on Tetto. The Ark pay itself, inflicting 12 mortal wounds Tetto survive, so (easily) the steggy and the Basti... but, the damned acidic blood of the jabber, inflicts 8 wounds to the Engine, killing it. 5 turn Another mistake: the Death of the Engine means the end of "savage" for my formation, but I forgot that the healing factor should have worked the same for the other units. Anyway, i manage to kill all the remaining beastmen. I still have the Basti, the Steggy, the Slann, one kroxi and the skink casters. the 3 shamans run away, and summon a Cygor, that almost kills the Slann 6 turn I kill the Cygor, and the Stegadon kill one of the shaman A shamans inflicts 3 mortal wounds to steggy, slowering him down, the other one summons another cygor 7 turn - the end I have nothing to damage the shamans, they are faster then me and I have no ranged weapon, and i miss the chama skinks. EVER have some of them. The cygor reduces the Slann to 1 wound, and I kill it My opponent declares that I cannot take the shamans, and with summoning he will erode my army 'til the end. At that point, I remember him that the summoned units count in terms of killing, and even if he kills all my army without further losses, he cannot surpass me in killed points (With summoning, I have a total of 47 points on the field, and I've already killed 54 points of his units... a score that is doomed to increase, given that I still have a Basti, a slightly wounded steggy and 3 casters, plus a still alive Slann). In the end, a solid victory, and many errors to learn from.
Sounds like a really awesome game! Always good to make mistakes! Best way to learn new tactics! Haha!
The worst part of it, is that the beastmen army was largely proxied. A proxy Jabberslythe and a proxy ghorgon, aren't frightening as the "real" ones.
Personally I strongly oppose proxies. The only time I ever let it slide is if somebody can produce either an unfinished version of the model to prove that they do actually own it, or if their proxy is a converted model such as my Turtle Hydra model made out of Green Stuff, Kroot bits, and Carnifex bits that I used in 8th for my Transformation of Kadon uses. Side note, I'm impressed by your use of the Ark. Personally I still favour the Solar Engine as I think it's several times more reliable and less prone to backfiring, but you've clearly done well with your alternative.
I don't like them (at least, they should give a reliable idea of the original), but I can give a free pass to the shop's owner that's trying his new developing army... The Ark is not bad, but you need to field it in particular conditions: an attacking army that relies on CC, such Ogre or Beastmen... at that point, you can "entrench" your army, and when those charging units will swarm your defences, you're going to have 4-5 target units at range. In less than two rounds (aka 3 combat phases), the ark did 30 mortal wounds (also tnx to curse of fates from the Starseer) edit: In the end, I believe that the Ark can be a really efficient weapon… but I wouldn’t include it in an all-comers list, because it lacks flexibility and can be countered more easily then searing beams.