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Tacticas for W-E: Beastmen

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phillyt:
This is the draft thread for the W-E Tactica against Beastmen.  PhillyT is currently working on it.  If you have comments for the things posted here, go ahead.  Any help will be appreciated.

Phil

phillyt:
Here are some of the unit overviews:

Chaos Hounds:  The fast moving core choice for Beasts, these MV7 US2 beasts are made for flanking and to be used in concert with the gor and ungor blocks or chariots.  While they are WS and I 4, they are completely lacking in both offense and defense, with S3 and T3 with no AS.  They will rarely cause wounds.  This forces them into their flanking role, since they are not even capable of chasing off fast cavalry with any regularity.  They have the ability to be upgrade dwith scaly skin saves of 6+ or poison, neither of which is worth spending the points on.

Imperial Response:  Shoot them, stab them, breath on them.  Individually, the Empire army can beat hounds with free company in a pinch.  Normally hounds will be trying to get flanks or to war machine crew.  Force them to confront something else or shoot them if you have the small arms available to do so.  Another great tactic is to charge them with knights or another fast moving unit to force them back into the Beastman lines where they can cause panic.


Chariots:  The ubiquitous chariot is one of the mainstays of a good beastman army.  As a core choice, the opportunity to deploy large numbers of them means that the variety of army types and tactics increases exponentially.  With a WS5, one S5 and a S4 attack, coupled with two S4 attacks from the tuskers, the chariot can pack a heavy punch.  The chariot has lost its mark of chaos undivided and its scythes, meaning it is far less able to stick around if forced to take a panic test.  The unit is fairly cheap and can be deployed in hordes for a rather nasty core assault force.

Imperial Response:  If there are no better targets on the board, cannon shots into chariots is a great choice.  The price per unit is low, but destroying a chariot is never a bad option when the large monsters and flank minotaur units are no longer available.  Handgun shots or helblasters will also remove them with ease, but remember that a chariot with a single wound left can still be a massive headache for an imperial line.    Knights can be strong anti chariot attackers too.  In all cases, Imperial generals must be aware that that chariots come in packs.  If you have one on the way, two more will probably be nearby.  Watch your charges with knights, and don’t let a trio of chariots near your line since they will break almost anything an Empire army can deploy.

Specials:

Minotaur:  The Minotaur are a fluffy and powerful unit within the beastman list, used as the hammer for the normally soft or flexible beastman army.  While hounds, harpies, ungor skirmishers, and Centigor run along the edges, move amongst the woods and forest, or scale the rocks searching for an opportunity, the minotaur run straight in, barreling into the enemy ranks where their great axes and rend the enemy into the dirt.  The threat of a unit of minotaur on the front make the unit of beastmen moving on the side look like a far less dangerous opponent.  Unfortunately, this is exactly what the beastman player wants you to think.
Minotaur can be given either great axes, shields, or additional hand weapons.  While another attack on their 3 attack profile is nice, almost every time, as is the norm when there is a choice, the great weapon will be placed in the minotaur’s mitts.  The power of 3 S7 attacks, backed by WS4, is too much.  Add the impact hit of S5 that each minotaur gives and you have a horror show.  With 4 models, this is a vicious 12 S7 swings and 4 automatic S5, which can be combined nicely with flankers which the army can field with great regularity.  While this would seem to be enough, the fact that the unit gets Blood Greed, which gives the unit frenzy when it wins combat and an additional attack for each round it wins after the first, and you have a terrifying combat machine that gets better as time passes.  The downside of this monster unit is the Bloodgreeds side effect:  minotaur can only overrun or pursue 1d6” which is godaweful.   

Imperial Response:  Combat against these monsters is impossible with anything but Steam Tanks, and even then, the minotaurs will generally do enough attacks back to render the Steam Tank useless for the remainder of the game.  Shooting with cannons, helblasters, handguns, or crossbows are the rules of engagement.  Using pistoleers on the flank and gunning away is a very strong tactic.  Using knights is not advised, since the minotaur will normally shrug off the attacks of a few lances and drop their vicious S7 attacks on the poor souls.  That moves the normally awesome AS of the knights to 5+ which is shockingly mortal.  You could also use cheap detachments to draw the slow minotaur away from the battle where you can rake them with more missle fire until they fall.


Centigor:  Centigor had one of the most frenzied rumor mills in the lead up to the new 7th edition book.  Would they be fast cavalry?  Would they have bows and offer beastmen a missile weapon to kill the enemy from afar?  Would they be core?  When the book arrived, things settled quickly down to earth.  No, they are not fast cavalry, no they cannot have bows.  What arrived was a S4 T4 unit with M8 and 2 attacks at WS4.  Add the ability to give them throwing axes and the likelihood that they will be frenzied some of the time and you have a compact, maneuverable alternative for an average cost.
   While their price is low and their hitting ability is high, it can be problematic to field them when minotaur take up the same slot and are significantly harder hitting.  Both of these are valid arguments. The centigor are better at hitting units, since they have a longer charge range.  They are also far better after beating a unit since they can pursue and overrun 3d6 rather than 1d6.   In addition, against the Empire, the unit can be used with considerable efficiency.  While Chaos Hounds are not likely to survive charges into knights, fast cavalry, or detachments, the one S5 and one S4 attack of the Centigor on the charge make them a real threat, with 11 possible attacks on a 125mm frontage.  Still, they are very uncommon on the tabletop due to the price of the models.

Imperial Response:  Charge them with knights, shoot them with crossbows or handguns.  Outriders or pistoleers will make short work of them as well.  Standing and shooting can be a very strong reaction since they come in small unit sizes with no real AS.

Bestigor:  The most powerful of the Beastman infantry, the Bestigor offer WS 4, S and T of 4, and heavy armor and a great weapon.  Their high movement means they will often get the charge off.  They have the ability to gain combat resolution for each banner they take and are the only unit that can take a magic banner, and the army has plenty of great ones.  They have lost a little bit since last edition, namely the ability to take marks and a point of weaponskill.  They will normally only be seen as the carrier for a doombull or gorebull, who will make them absolutely awesome as he grants them frenzy.  In the case of the gorebull battle standard bearer, they will often be seen with the banner of strength, giving all of them S7 and 2 attacks.  That’s a nasty unit when combined with the d3 S6 impact hits and 5 S7 attacks the Gorbull has.

Imperial Response:  Shooting with helstorms, mortars, and helblasters or using any small arms to weaken the unit is a great start.  Bestigor untis are very expensive and well worth removing.  A flank from a unit of knights or the steam tank will finish the job.  They are in no way protected from psychology unless frenzied by the gorebull or doombull, so panic can be used to scare them off.  Do not engage them with infantry, since they will grind most into the dirt.  If they are not led by a minotaur, they will most likely have a wargor or beastlord with them meaning they will almost always get their hatred rolls.

Fandir Nightshade:
Two minor additions:

First imperial response to minotaurs:

What works really great on units like these is a flank charge a 10 strong swordsmen detachment managed to destroy a full unit of khorne blood hounds during a game  last tournament. With 4 attacks S 7 the minotaurs usually manage two kills but with flanking and a rank you are still in a draw if you manage a wound even win the fight. Knights in the flank of minotaurs even could manage to kill a single one and win the combat by a large margin.

second:

don´t Centigor get +2 Strength with two handed weapon due to some funky special rule?

phillyt:
No, they count as mounted for some silly reason, meaning nobody uses GW since it is only S5 like the spear.  I will add the flank charge bit!  Thanks.

Phil

anvalous:
Centigors just have a profile of S4 and A2.  On the charge with spears, they have 2 S5 attacks.  Further, they are specifically stated as having a save of 4+.  Not great, but on par with the best thing the beastmen have available.

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