AoS 2 - Clan Pestilens Discussion

[Mayple]

13 hours ago, Ratcliff said:

 

 

Oh cool. Why is that? Bear in mind curse of rust is a realm of Chamon spell and the tournament is set in Chamon, so I think I'm okay?

Oooooh!

Yeah, my bad. I got thrown off due to it being listed on your army list, and assumed it was a nurgle spell. Sounded pretty nurgly Well, in that case you're all good! Best of luck

[Skreech Verminking]

13 hours ago, wander said:

Do Plague Monks still count as battleline using the Chaos Grand Alliance? I thought you specifically needed Pestilens allegiance to gain them as Battleline. I know when people use them in Nurgle allegiance they throw in a cheap battleline tax to get more in.

List looks interesting and fluffy, would love to know how double Plague Furnaces fair, I'm still debating whether to go for that or not myself.

My one comment outside of battleline concerns would be what are you going to do when facing a gunline style list? Having some ranged support allied in rather than Clanrats may be a thought. I see people use Warp-Grinders to help move their Monk blobs and deep strike them to slay enemy Heroes leading from the back.

Sadly plague monks aren’t a battleline option if your going for the grand chaos allegiance.

in other words you’d have to play mixed skaven and have to take clanrats as battleline.

if you truly want the crown of conquest.

[Wiggles]

Has anyone tried running plague monks with warp grinder weapons teams and popping up anywhere on the board outside 9”? Seems cool, not sure if it’ll work. Ordered a few weapons teams to convert and try for myself.

[Mayple]

6 hours ago, Wiggles said:

Has anyone tried running plague monks with warp grinder weapons teams and popping up anywhere on the board outside 9”? Seems cool, not sure if it’ll work. Ordered a few weapons teams to convert and try for myself.

Yeah. Tried it once, but it failed horribly Had three units of plague monks on the field, and two set up underground along with warp grinders. They failed to show up twice, and my initial momentum was lost by the time they did show up. I concluded that monks running up the field getting shot to death is far superior than never showing up at all (or failing to show up at a critical moment). Besides, Gutter Runners do a wonderful (and consistent) job of hitting the opponent's flanks Either way, you'll see for yourself how it works out if you get your hands on some warp grinders, though my personal reccommendation would advise against it.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Mayple

[Johnny Pestilens]

Hey guys,

So, fresh from Blood and Glory at the weekend, wanted to share the list I used. Had moderate success, 3 wins (Skryre, Sormcast, KO) and 2 losses (Sylvaneth and Stormcast) so all in all Pestilens did me proud!

Allegiance: Pestilens
Mortal Realm: Aqshy

Leaders
Verminlord Corruptor (220)
- General
- Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin 
- Artefact: Thermalrider Cloak 
Plague Furnace (180)
Plague Furnace (180)
Plague Priest with Plague Censer(80)
Packmaster (60)
- Herding Whip & Blade
- Allies
Arch Warlock (140)
- Allies

Battleline
20 x Plague Monks (140)
- Foetid Blades
20 x Plague Monks (140)
- Foetid Blades
20 x Plague Monks (140)
- Foetid Blades
20 x Plague Monks (140)
- Foetid Blades
20 x Plague Monks (140)
- Foetid Blades

Units
4 x Rat Ogors (200)
- Allies

War Machines
Plagueclaw (160)

Endless Spells
Balewind Vortex (40)
Aethervoid Pendulum (40)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 0
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 172

Winners -

Monks: Killed lots and died lots. Rabid Fever was the MVP blessing of the weekend, no one came off unscathed from battle.

Rat Ogors: All the damage, also gave my opponents something to think about.

Verminlord: Having the extra movement and the fly keyword from the cloak, he bounced around the board causing trouble.

Other notable mentions go out to the Arch Warlock (on a balewind he weathered some nasty offense) and the Plagueclaw Catapult (got 12 wounds off in one turn against KO, the look on the guys face...)

Losers -

Plague Priest: Just didn't get much out of him, felt a bystander in most matches

Aethervoid Pendulum: Didn't do much at all

considering dropping the spells and the priest for another Catapult to offer additional threat until the Monks can make it into combat.... Or dropping the Priest and Pendulum, upgrade a block of 20 monks to a block of 40 and adding shackles.... Gonna be fun to try either way

[wander]

How did the twin Plague Furnaces turn out in the matches? I've been told they're a bit of a trap unit, though fielding one it puts the work in.

My current list I'm building up to is:

Verminlord Corruptor (Master of Rot and Ruin, Aetherquartz Brooch), Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicus), Plague Priest, 3 units of 40 Plague Monks, 2 units of 30 Plague Monks, 2 Ratling Gun Team allies and a Congregation of Filth. 1950pts on the dot, so I go in with 2 Command Points pre-game, from the battallion and the 50pts spare.

However, I could switch things up and go:

Verminlord Corruptor, 2x Plague Furnaces, Plague Priest, 4 units of 40 Plague Monks, 2x Ratling Gun allies, Congregation. Still 1950pts.

 

Basically 2nd list has reduced and consolidated the Plague Monks (from 5 blobs totalling 180 to 4 blobs totalling 160) for the 2nd Plague Furnace.

I honestly don't want to waste money and time on a big model if it doesn't do the work, same on an extra box of Plague Monks. So having some advice on the viability of my planned lists would be great.

[Johnny Pestilens]

For me I found the 2 Plague Furnaces essential in order to be able to split my forces and still buff the monks. Kinda keep them between the 5 packs of 20 monks so any unit could be buffed in order to keep my opponent guessing. They held their own in combat, rolling in after the initial monk wave, (when the Censer works, it really  works) plus as Hero's they were able to claim objectives. Not to mention that each Furnace is another shot at the Echo of the Great Plagues coming  off with each prayer. I think for the points they are super useful!

[wander]

Thanks for the response!

I have Liber Bubonicus on my solo Plague Furnace atm, so I can dole out two prayer buffs a round. I agree so far in my experience in smaller scale games that the Plague Furnace is a monster for throwing damage, really good beatstick. I don't tournament, so there's no 'only Heroes can capture objectives' rule in the games I play. I like their damage out-put and that they do stick about though. And yep, boosts the chance of a Great Plague going off with that extra prayer.

As an aside, I feel if we get an update to Pestilens forces in the future, the Censer Bearers need buffing. For what they currently cost in points, I'd increase the mortal wound damage from Poisonous Fumes (d3 mws seems not too op) and change Plague Disciples rule to have the Monks auto-pass Bravery on a d6 roll of 4+, similar to a Grey Seer's command ability.

[Johnny Pestilens]

On 11/10/2018 at 1:11 PM, wander said:

Thanks for the response!

I have Liber Bubonicus on my solo Plague Furnace atm, so I can dole out two prayer buffs a round. I agree so far in my experience in smaller scale games that the Plague Furnace is a monster for throwing damage, really good beatstick. I don't tournament, so there's no 'only Heroes can capture objectives' rule in the games I play. I like their damage out-put and that they do stick about though. And yep, boosts the chance of a Great Plague going off with that extra prayer.

As an aside, I feel if we get an update to Pestilens forces in the future, the Censer Bearers need buffing. For what they currently cost in points, I'd increase the mortal wound damage from Poisonous Fumes (d3 mws seems not too op) and change Plague Disciples rule to have the Monks auto-pass Bravery on a d6 roll of 4+, similar to a Grey Seer's command ability.

Yeah, as they are I just can't see a place for the Censer Bearers, points wise you're always better off just taking more monks. Perhaps even leaning on the fact they are all high on poisonous fumes, if GW game them some sort of save, 5+ or something, they'd instantly become more useful, tie that in to the auto pass on bravery as you mentioned and they'd suddenly have some sort of role to play! I've got 20 of them just sat in a drawer at home and they'll stay there until something changes.

[Ratcliff]

Played a two-day tournament at the weekend, did okay. Fell short of my 3-win target, with 2 major wins, 1 minor loss and 2 major losses. Should really have won the minor loss, but a bad decision and a lack of experience proved my undoing. Still, learned a couple of things:

• I would advise people not to max out every unit, it made such a difference for me compared to my last tournament. 40 plague monks suffer debuffs, wound contagion and inflexibility, so the saving you make on having 40 of them isn't worth it. One big blob and loads of units of 10 are the way to go
• I'm starting to look at Plagueclaws again, really need a way of troubling the back of the board
• I have yet to find a decent role for the Verminlord Corruptor. Good players are too savvy at protecting their heroes, so Sword of Judgement rarely pays off, giving him prayers and making him a pure buff unit has been my best utilisation of him thus far. I'm still not a very good player, so maybe there's something I'm missing
• Clanrats are the absolute business, taking 40 more of them from now on

Next tournament in January. Hoping for 2 wins out of 3, will consider anything else a failure so gotta get practising

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Ratcliff

[Kimhot]

Hey guys. Just started aos and og ofcause i went for the right army - the good natured og loving rats. 

So i just had a 2 k fight with a Friend. The idea was to bring the hardest list we could. 

I did 2 battalions with 2 furnace 2x40 monk 1x 30 monks and 2x10 to protect and push the furnace. Furthermore 1 corrupter and 3 priests. The idea was to turtle and survive the Alpha strike (My Friend plays sylvanith, lots of kurnith and that big durthu guy).

He started and killed the 30 rats, loosing 2 kurnith hunters in doing so. 

My 2x40 ran in with thier d***s flooping around (the rat way) and killed around 800-1000 point. He called It after that. 

My question is why the dear rats is not placed Better in tournements? With 3 attacks in charge plus 1 from warlord we get 4 with reoll hit and with Prayer or one time priest we get reroll wounds aswell. When a rat dies There is both mw and the get to hit. This is damn ugly to fight. Few enjoy having to make 50+ saves some with -1

I ser the problem is that It is a bit og a slow army in that they need to be within 13 inch og the furnace but still. 

What weekness am i Missing? 

[The_Yellow_Sign]

 

14 hours ago, Kimhot said:

Hey guys. Just started aos and og ofcause i went for the right army - the good natured og loving rats. 

So i just had a 2 k fight with a Friend. The idea was to bring the hardest list we could. 

I did 2 battalions with 2 furnace 2x40 monk 1x 30 monks and 2x10 to protect and push the furnace. Furthermore 1 corrupter and 3 priests. The idea was to turtle and survive the Alpha strike (My Friend plays sylvanith, lots of kurnith and that big durthu guy).

He started and killed the 30 rats, loosing 2 kurnith hunters in doing so. 

My 2x40 ran in with thier d***s flooping around (the rat way) and killed around 800-1000 point. He called It after that. 

My question is why the dear rats is not placed Better in tournements? With 3 attacks in charge plus 1 from warlord we get 4 with reoll hit and with Prayer or one time priest we get reroll wounds aswell. When a rat dies There is both mw and the get to hit. This is damn ugly to fight. Few enjoy having to make 50+ saves some with -1

I ser the problem is that It is a bit og a slow army in that they need to be within 13 inch og the furnace but still. 

What weekness am i Missing? 

Once you play a good Daughters of Khaine list you'll realize that they're just better in every way to Pestilens, unfortunately.

[Ratcliff]

On 12/6/2018 at 8:21 AM, Kimhot said:

Hey guys. Just started aos and og ofcause i went for the right army - the good natured og loving rats. 

So i just had a 2 k fight with a Friend. The idea was to bring the hardest list we could. 

I did 2 battalions with 2 furnace 2x40 monk 1x 30 monks and 2x10 to protect and push the furnace. Furthermore 1 corrupter and 3 priests. The idea was to turtle and survive the Alpha strike (My Friend plays sylvanith, lots of kurnith and that big durthu guy).

He started and killed the 30 rats, loosing 2 kurnith hunters in doing so. 

My 2x40 ran in with thier d***s flooping around (the rat way) and killed around 800-1000 point. He called It after that. 

My question is why the dear rats is not placed Better in tournements? With 3 attacks in charge plus 1 from warlord we get 4 with reoll hit and with Prayer or one time priest we get reroll wounds aswell. When a rat dies There is both mw and the get to hit. This is damn ugly to fight. Few enjoy having to make 50+ saves some with -1

I ser the problem is that It is a bit og a slow army in that they need to be within 13 inch og the furnace but still. 

What weekness am i Missing? 

 

Plague Monks are incredible unit, and possibly one of the hardest hitting in the game, but there's more to aos than just running into things and blending them. Pestilens lack and ability to threaten things at the back of the board, their battallions aren't great and they lack any real ability to do something unpredictable or different that the opponent hasn't factored in. They're not a bad faction but have to be pretty direct which makes it easy for good opponents to defend against them. And, as somebody mentioned, Daughters of Khaine are Pestilens except 20 times better

[Feanor]

You miss the fact that armies with a good save are nearly impossible to beat (eg. Stormcast with 2+ rerolling 1) and armies with a good shooting phase that can snipe yuur heroes and negate your buffs. 

But penstilens are ****** (dont know why its censored ; nothing bad btw) fun to play and a good exercise to learn how throw dice really fast to speed up games

Edited December 7, 2018 by Feanor

[HorseOnABeachBall]

My biggest issue as far as winning tournament games is the sheer amount of bodies that one has to move. Takes forever. It's also difficult to win scenario games which require heros. Pestilens' limited hero choices all come with  some serious drawbacks.

 

[DmcZwerg]

Do you guys ever allied a GUO oder some other Nurgle demons with our skaven?

 

i like the idea fluffwise and a friend of me wants to build a „mixed Nurgle“ list. Maybe you have some advice for it 

[Ratcliff]

23 hours ago, DmcZwerg said:

Do you guys ever allied a GUO oder some other Nurgle demons with our skaven?

 

i like the idea fluffwise and a friend of me wants to build a „mixed Nurgle“ list. Maybe you have some advice for it 

 

I reckon Lord of Blights could be a decent ally choice for anyone running 40 man blobs of monks, but that is based on nothing, have yet to test it out

Here's a sample list I was thinking of

Allegiance: Pestilens
Mortal Realm: Aqshy

Leaders
Plague Furnace (180)
- General
- Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin 
- Artefact: Liber Bubonicus 
Plague Furnace (180)
- Artefact: Thermalrider Cloak 
Lord of Blights (140)
- Allies

Battleline
40 x Plague Monks (240)
- Foetid Blades
40 x Plague Monks (240)
- Foetid Blades
40 x Plague Monks (240)
- Foetid Blades
40 x Plague Monks (240)
- Foetid Blades
40 x Clanrats (200)
- Rusty Spear

Battalions
Congregation of Filth (170)
Congregation of Filth (170)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 2
Allies: 340 / 400
Wounds: 231
 

4 drops, 200 rats. Would get first turn most of the time and could use Plague Furnace buffs and LoB command ability to make 1 or 2 blobs of monks an absolute nightmare to deal with.

Has no magic though, so alteratively could swap out the clanrats and 10 monks for a Corruptor and give him a relic instead of one of the furnaces

Edited December 15, 2018 by Ratcliff

[Ratcliff]

23 hours ago, HorseOnABeachBall said:

My biggest issue as far as winning tournament games is the sheer amount of bodies that one has to move. Takes forever. It's also difficult to win scenario games which require heros. Pestilens' limited hero choices all come with  some serious drawbacks.

 

 

 

I've started using magnetised moving trays, has really helped

[gronnelg]

@Ratcliff what sort of trays are those, and would you say they are superior to non-magnetized tray with holes for the models (e.g. the typical 5 model trays).

[Ratcliff]

42 minutes ago, gronnelg said:

@Ratcliff what sort of trays are those, and would you say they are superior to non-magnetized tray with holes for the models (e.g. the typical 5 model trays).

 

Yeah, tbh I would advise anyone using a hoard army to get a magnetised setup, because even the process of unloading and arranging the units of your army  properly can take ages (was sometimes 30 minutes for me!).

I bought standard 25mm movement trays (straight lines) from element games. When it became clear that I needed to magnetize, I bought 200 rare earth magnets and bags of small metal washers. I glued the magnets into the trays and the washers underneath each model and voila! There are pre-magnetised trays I probably would have bought had I known I was going to do it in the first place.

The last tournament I was at, I magnetized baking trays into a large case. The magnets on the base of the movement trays were strong enough to cling to the removable baking trays, so I was able to take out 40-50 rats at a time in perfect formation. The case needs a bit of work (the baking trays would slide left to right in the case during bumpy parts of the journey and dislodge some of the movement trays), so I need to put in buffers to keep the trays in a fixed position left to right 

[gronnelg]

@Ratcliff do you have any pictures?

[Ratcliff]

46 minutes ago, gronnelg said:

@Ratcliff do you have any pictures?

 

Just digging through my library and found these two here, can take better ones when I'm home but you might get the idea. One is just the army on their trays, the other is the baking tray hanging upside down with the movement trays attached

Edited December 18, 2018 by Ratcliff

[kenshin620]

I think another factor holding Pestilens back popularity wise is that it is a very mono model army (plague monks) and also they're old as sin (pre 7th edition).

The leap between Plague Monks and the Plague Furnace is massive (well basically all pre 7th skaven vs 7th/8th skaven!)

Spoiler

 

compared to

Spoiler

With how Nurgle daemons and 40k Death Guard turned out (and also Night Haunt with all their cloaks), I really would love to see how crazy detailed new plague monks could be (albeit with some price increase, but I think it'd be worth it). would even make good conversion fodder for 40k poxwalkers I'd reckon.

 

But so far it has been forever since GW actually replaced a plastic set. Last things I can think of are Wood Elf Eternal Guard and Tau Fire Warriors. That was like what 4 years ago? But hey maybe Dark Oath will finally break that streak!

[Ratcliff]

Just now, kenshin620 said:

I think another factor holding Pestilens back popularity wise is that it is a very mono model army (plague monks) and also they're old as sin (pre 7th edition).

The leap between Plague Monks and the Plague Furnace is massive (well basically all pre 7th skaven vs 7th/8th skaven!)

  Hide contents

 

compared to

  Hide contents

With how Nurgle daemons and 40k Death Guard turned out (and also Night Haunt with all their cloaks), I really would love to see how crazy detailed new plague monks could be (albeit with some price increase, but I think it'd be worth it). would even make good conversion fodder for 40k poxwalkers I'd reckon.

 

But so far it has been forever since GW actually replaced a plastic set. Last things I can think of are Wood Elf Eternal Guard and Tau Fire Warriors. That was like what 4 years ago? But hey maybe Dark Oath will finally break that streak!

 

Tbh, I like the lack of detail on the plague monks, makes the 180+ of them far quicker and easier to batch paint!

[kenshin620]

1 minute ago, Ratcliff said:

 

Tbh, I like the lack of detail on the plague monks, makes the 180+ of them far quicker and easier to batch paint!

Spray dull green and brown tint wash, done!🤣

But yea that is always the downside. I remember when Skeleton Warriors were literally naked skeletons with weapons. So much easier to paint up than the newer armored up skeletons.