With the Fanatic tournament over, it's time to reflect on how the 'ard boyz did, how my army performed overall and what changes (if any) I should make going forward. I've graded all my mobs and units based on how they did with reflections on things I could have done to improve on their performance.
Savage Orc Big 'Uns
Grade: B
The Savages did well overall. Finally we Greenskins have a core unit that will put fear into the opponent. Although I lost them to a Bloodthirster thanks to Siren Song and to the final round of Game 4 against Dark Elves much thanks to poor play from my part, they were capable of going up against most enemies I came across. I probably should have played these a bit more aggressive.
Black Orcs
Grade: D
Poor performance for my favorite unit. I faced two hydras, had the flaming banner yet neither time were they able to take out the beasty. To their defense, this was mostly because the Hydras suicided into the Savages to take out my Shaman before I could charge them, and because I rolled a '1' for Foot of Gork that took out almost half of my own unit. They were also charged by 700 points of High Elf cavalry and barely lost, and a combo charge of Bloodthirster and horded Bloodletters. Ahem, yes, I probably let these guys down more than they did me.
Trolls
Grade: A
Although they suffered several Pit of Shades/Purple Suns, and 250 crossbow bolts, they always got their points back and demanded a lot of attention from my opponents. Against Warriors of Chaos they took out a unit of Khorne Chaos Warriors, as well as three Exalted Heroes on Juggernaughts for a total of 1300+ points. They also had no problem fighting off flaming attacks in both the Flamers and the Cold One Knights. Whenever I'm running a Warboss on Wyvern, the Trolls will be marching alongside him, since leadership rarely becomes a problem no matter where my General flies, but they also provide cover for my Warboss when enemies are shooting at him. Eight is the perfect amount of Trolls in my opinion.
Night Goblins
Grade A+
Always performed admirably in every match, first by taking out support units with their fanatics, then by holding up more expensive units with the Warboss in the near vicinity. They kept my flank safe against both Daemons and Dark Elves, and combined with the Giant to take out High Elven spears. I'm not sure if perhaps Nets might not be worth bringing, since the way I'm playing them with my 'ard boyz, they're rarely there to win combats, rather they want to keep enemies occupied without running away.
Goblin Wolf Riders
Grade: A
Did good in every match for such a cheap point investment, even took two wounds of a Hydra in one game. Sure, I tend to lose them over 6 rounds, but fast cavalry is still such an important part of the game that I'd never leave home without these guys.
Mangler Squig
Grade: A
Demands the attention of the enemy and ate up about 20 Dark Elves, a Pegasus Master, not to mention eating two rounds of Flamer shooting among other things. One is great for what it will do for you, two I think is a bit overkill since most armies have the shooting to take them out anyway.
Snotling Pump Wagon
Grade: B+
The Explodin' Spore and Outrigga upgrade makes for quite the useful unit that threatens heavy armored units for such a cheap point investment. During these five games they were mostly there to protect flanks from harassing units as well as the rear for flyers. More than anything they were used to take out Skirmishers, but one amusing point was when I Hand of Gork:ed the Snotlings to behind the Daemonic battleline when I faced Björn and watched him struggle to take it out (I think my own Fanatic got it in the end, but still).
Giant
Grade: B
The big guy did alright, even though he never got to fight the things I brought him along for. No Steamtanks, no Sphinxes, no Skaven contraptions. The Chaos Warriors even died before he got to stomp them. He did tie up enemy units at key times and took out half an Executioner regiment on his own. At one point I slammed in the dreaded combo of Night Gobbos with nets + Giant in corner to corner against S3 infantry, with the Gork Will Fix It spell to force a re-roll on those rare 6's that would hurt him. Still though, the Giant is more useful in Goblin armies, and especially as I'm running a Wyvern I don't need him for his Thunderstomp, especially not when I'm not facing armies where he would really shine.
Orc Boar Chariot
Grade: C
In previous army lists the chariots have been key in me breaking the enemy on the charge, but as I'm starting to run mobs that are so wide (7 for 'ard boyz, 4 for Trolls) I find that if I ever combo-charge with the Chariot I'll lose out on attacks, and most of the time my mob is enough to defeat the enemy on its own. The Chariot did take out some White Lions and some Black Guards which was great, but I couldn't help but feel that the army synergy was missing a bit for these guys.
What should I have brought instead? Well, bringing the Giant was a good gamble I felt but I think going forward with this army the big guy is out. He's better off helping the Gobbos. Instead, he will be replaced by three Wolf Chariots. The main reason for this is that with the Great Shaman buffing the Savages, I keep getting monster suiciding into them to take him out. It's a good strategy, especially as my boyz are so slow, and they often enough works. So I'd like to counter that with a suicide unit of my own. The Wolf Chariots will deploy straight across from the biggest threat out there and charge in to inflict as much carnage as possible. With an average of 14 impact hits, it is quite possible for them to take out a Hydra, perhaps even an Abomination, before they reach me. Not to mention leaving quite a dent in nasty units such as Bloodletters, White Lions and Witch Elves.
Also, since that alone won't make up for the Giant's points, by also dropping the Boar Chariot who I feel doesn't work out well in my list, I'd be able to bring in some artillery which I sorely missed against the Daemons and their Bloodthirster. A single Doom Diver and a Rock Lobber could have made a huge difference in that game, and can also help out in taking out the afore mentioned monsters. If my enemy has fliers or fast cavalry to hunt my war machines, I can keep my Pump Wagon around in the back to fight them off.
Friday, June 10, 2011
