AoS 2 - Clan Pestilens Discussion

[wander]

I did do a game once at a small scale for a test-play of what the Plague Furnace can do, where I didn't play the Verminlord Corruptor for it. I found the Plague Furnace to be really fun and Rabid Fever was an amazing lil Prayer. The Great Censer was amazing for mortal wounds until it started to take damage and lobbing it via Plague Monks into 3" away from enemy for the charge later felt really good.

I was playing against an army without a Wizard though, so I had no magic woes to try and counter.

[SolarBur]

29 minutes ago, Mayple said:

In my experience, the rat horde/beastclaw approach grows stronger the fewer points you play with, simply because the tools to eradicate them are not often present, or numerous enough to chew through it all before getting drowned in rats. 

As the points increase, so do the damage output of the opponent, but most problems and matchups can still (very) effectively be solved by throwing more rats at the problem.

And if you play to win, most magic problems are sorted with a simple plague furnace with Verminous Valour and a Refraction Lens from Hysh No need to worry about spells if they can't hurt you, and your prayers can't be dispelled, so compensate with that. Makes Lord Kroak cry, I can tell you that

Well making the forces of order cry is always a treat. Teach them for being so order and shiny ! 

Is the reason we don't see these pure horde pestilens armies in bigger games, or allying in other factions simply because pestilens needs the support, or is it just daunting and time consuming to build, paint, then play the army ? 

In terms of armies, i find clan pestilens to be a pretty simple army to play. Literally kill kill the thing things, quick quick. The casualties will be high, but that's to be expected and is ok. There is a bit more strategy to it than that, but like beastclaw, its a rush and scare the opponent army. Simple armies like that i find are pretty enjoyable, yet not overly complicated or bogged down in so many special rules that half the game time is taken up by reading what your stuff does. 

Sadly since they came out and up to this point now, i've never seen a clan pestilens army being played at any of my local stores. Which is a shame. Skaven were one of the most iconic horde armies

 

25 minutes ago, wander said:

I did do a game once at a small scale for a test-play of what the Plague Furnace can do, where I didn't play the Verminlord Corruptor for it. I found the Plague Furnace to be really fun and Rabid Fever was an amazing lil Prayer. The Great Censer was amazing for mortal wounds until it started to take damage and lobbing it via Plague Monks into 3" away from enemy for the charge later felt really good.

I was playing against an army without a Wizard though, so I had no magic woes to try and counter.

What was the army you were playing against out of curiousity ?

But yeah, that furnace can do some nice damage when the rats decide to behave and listen to you. Glad to hear you having a good time without a wizard. Sounds like it was a fun game   

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by SolarBur
multi quoting

[Mayple]

@SolarBur

Pretty sure the sheer number of the rats to build is what keeps the horde approach minimal. You also have to get good at moving all the models across the board in a timely manner. If you can get past that you're in for a treat because pestilens is now, in context of the new edition, definitely a hidden gem who can take on and best forces they never could before. 

Good use of Inspiring presence will be the number one thing that determines a good pestilens army from a bad one

Edited July 16, 2018 by Mayple

[ChuckESleeze]

24 minutes ago, Mayple said:

@SolarBur

Pretty sure the sheer number of the rats to build is what keeps the horde approach minimal. You also have to get good at moving all the models across the board in a timely manner. If you can get past that you're in for a treat because pestilens is now, in context of the new edition, definitely a hidden gem who can take on and best forces they never could before. 

Good use of Inspiring presence will be the number one thing that determines a good pestilens army from a bad one

Any idea on what a very good list would look like?

[SolarBur]

1 hour ago, Mayple said:

@SolarBur

Pretty sure the sheer number of the rats to build is what keeps the horde approach minimal. You also have to get good at moving all the models across the board in a timely manner. If you can get past that you're in for a treat because pestilens is now, in context of the new edition, definitely a hidden gem who can take on and best forces they never could before. 

Good use of Inspiring presence will be the number one thing that determines a good pestilens army from a bad one

Well if i did start pestilens i doubt i would be hitting any tournaments since i was a pretty casual gamer back when ^^;;

So my moving of models wouldn't be too problematic, it would just be nice to the opponent not to have them take a smoke break every time i start my movement phase XD

The inspiring presence is really good. Going from making a unit immune only for the opponent to target a different unit was a pain. Now having them to split fire while we just choose which is more beneficial to  use it on before the panic sets in, fantastic  

[wander]

I faced Khorne and my Plague Monks fared pretty well, though started eventually to take casualties. I was an idiot  though and completely forgot about using 'Inspiring Presence' at one point. I had 2 Command Points also, though it just slipped my mind. I'm coming into AoS from 40k 8th edition, so the extra rules slip my mind often. I actually willingly changed my Verminlord's artefact to the Aetherquartz Brooch partly as before then I used Bilious Bell and always forgot to use the thing, what with Master of Rot and Ruin giving me prayers, then magic, then command ability (Gouge-Tear the Eyes), having a more simple artefact to help refund my Command Point tally was in theory to help allow more Inspiring Presence and Gouge-Tear uses.

Anyways, next time it seems like a blob is gonna go down the tubes I'll hopefully now remember to fire off Inspiring Presence and hopefully have a Hero in range! (which is another way I tend to get bit playing my Clan!)

My main woe actually with Clan Pestilens is forming my narrative behind my Monks. They're from Hysh and I'm coming mostly blank for any lore or good colour schemes (including basing) for that realm. There needed to be more on it in the Corebook. Closest I've got is noticing the reference to them corrupting 'The Bastion of Ilos' in Hysh and Ilos is the olde name of Troy IRL.

[SolarBur]

5 hours ago, wander said:

I faced Khorne and my Plague Monks fared pretty well, though started eventually to take casualties. I was an idiot  though and completely forgot about using 'Inspiring Presence' at one point. I had 2 Command Points also, though it just slipped my mind. I'm coming into AoS from 40k 8th edition, so the extra rules slip my mind often. I actually willingly changed my Verminlord's artefact to the Aetherquartz Brooch partly as before then I used Bilious Bell and always forgot to use the thing, what with Master of Rot and Ruin giving me prayers, then magic, then command ability (Gouge-Tear the Eyes), having a more simple artefact to help refund my Command Point tally was in theory to help allow more Inspiring Presence and Gouge-Tear uses.

Anyways, next time it seems like a blob is gonna go down the tubes I'll hopefully now remember to fire off Inspiring Presence and hopefully have a Hero in range! (which is another way I tend to get bit playing my Clan!)

My main woe actually with Clan Pestilens is forming my narrative behind my Monks. They're from Hysh and I'm coming mostly blank for any lore or good colour schemes (including basing) for that realm. There needed to be more on it in the Corebook. Closest I've got is noticing the reference to them corrupting 'The Bastion of Ilos' in Hysh and Ilos is the olde name of Troy IRL.

The Khorne troops wondering slowly why they are getting out done in combat by something that does not wear armour and fights harder than them 

I think being able to do inspiring presence when we can, and lacking in a command ability at low point games is going to be of great use. Just getting into charge range and turn 3 and stacking up command points. Getting that big charge off with the army, and the enemy finding out that no matter how many they kill, the army refuses to run. 

Also Verminous Valour and Look out sir! on a plague furnace sounds like a nightmare for the opponent to deal with. Just killing off skaven characters is hard to do. And every wasted shot is more minions to throw at them 

Oh quick question. Where are all these extra artifacts from the realms ? Could you direct me to the page number. I keep seeing people mentioning realm artifacts but i'm not sure what book they are in or where they are located. 

I think that's normally the problem when doing an army in general, the narrative and theme. I think in terms of going for Hysh the realm of light is a tricky one, just mostly because its so far out of the clans comfort zone. Maybes make them a group that was ousted by one of the rival clans, pushed through the gateway that was meant to send them to a place to die. They managed to do what the do best, dig deep, hide, plot and scheme for revenge against their clan rivals. As for colour scheme, why not keep it simple. Go for white robes on them, but agrax earthshade it down to make them a filthy white. 

Just shooting off some ideas ^^:;

[Mayple]

@SolarBur

The artifacts are in the malign portents book I don't remember the page number off the top of my head, and don't have the book next to me at the moment, but the index section of the book should direct you to the right part.

Narratively, I've tried to make sense of the Hysh predicament by having my Skaven be from Ulgu, and forging a narrative where they regularly raid Hysh for the purpose of stealing it's light (artifacts) - Since Hysh is all about symmetry and symbolism, having a pilfering darkness destabilizing the realm seemed fitting. Rats getting squished by perfectly balanced constructions as they remove a vital part of it's carefully crafted foundations

 Means I won't have a force for the other realms, but two choices is good enough for me. 

[wander]

My friend plays small units of Blood Warriors as a battleline and has very elite Bloodbound Khorne, so whilst my rats were killing Skullcrushers, they were still getting tore up. The Slaughterpriest doing 2 damage with each hit and Monks having no save is nasty! Did get vengeance with Rabid Fever being cast though! I may be cheeky enough to slip an Icon of Pestilence in with a Contagion Banner for some more vengeful acid-blood splashes when monks get ganked! ?

I've been recently considering the usefulness of having the Chronomantic Cogs. Whilst 'Speed Up Time' is useful on the surface, +2 Move and +2 to charge rolls for 60pts is probably a little steep and I'm starting to think investing in a different Endless Spell or even an extra Command Point would be better. I don't think much on the other spells for Pestilens, so really veering to tweaking my list up and maybe including that Command Point instead (so starting with +2 when including the Congregation of Filth).

I'll talk more on my prospective fluff in a future post, though I was really feeling on doing the Monk robes with some colours like Screaming Skull, Flayed One Flesh etc, then shading tears using Seraphim Sepia and using Agrax Earthshade at the bottoms of their robes to represent trailing dirt. Considered basing them on a Texture Painted base that's highlighted gold, as I've seen some Stormcast on sprayed gold shattered domain bases and felt it made a nice Hyshian look. How do you reckon that sounds for a colour scheme?

[5kaven5lave]

I love the pale cloth idea, that’s working well for me on Nurgle Blightkings at the moment. Gold on bases sounds exciting, I’d do a few test bases first to see what you think. Post some pics!!

Not played any Pestilens before (Skaven got me into the hobby and have a Skryre army) so was looking for some tips for my Nurgle / Pestilens army if anyone has a second. The biggest one so far is how do you move the Furnace effectively? Saw someone post about dragging it up between 2 blocks of 40 Monks, is that a standard strategy? Cheers. 

[Lord_Skrolk]

 

3 hours ago, 5kaven5lave said:

I love the pale cloth idea, that’s working well for me on Nurgle Blightkings at the moment. Gold on bases sounds exciting, I’d do a few test bases first to see what you think. Post some pics!!

Not played any Pestilens before (Skaven got me into the hobby and have a Skryre army) so was looking for some tips for my Nurgle / Pestilens army if anyone has a second. The biggest one so far is how do you move the Furnace effectively? Saw someone post about dragging it up between 2 blocks of 40 Monks, is that a standard strategy? Cheers. 

Furnace movement can be a bit tricky. The key thing to keep in mind is the Furnace gets its movement boost from being next to Monks at the start of the movement phase, not when it moves

What I would recommend is deploy like this (X representing Monks from one unit, Y representing Monks from a second unit, F representing a Plague Furnace)

            F

X X FFF Y Y

X X FFF Y Y

  X X  F Y Y  

 

Then when you charge, charge the Monks in first, form a line in front of your furnace, and then move in the furnace so its just within half an inch and only one or two enemy models can touch it

*enemies of the great horned rat*

X X X X F Y Y Y Y 

X X X   FFF  Y Y Y

               FFF

                  F

Edited July 18, 2018 by Lord_Skrolk

[5kaven5lave]

Top response, thanks very much man.

[Lord_Skrolk]

Which artefacts/command traits do people usually take? Either from Pestilens allegiance or one of the realms in Malign Portents

I'm really intrigued by the Rune Blade from the Realm of Chamon on the Verminlord Corruptor's Plaguereapers. Getting -3 rend on a 10 attack/3+/3+ rerolling wounds weapon turns him into a wrecking ball against heroes or low model count/high armour armies like Stormcast

Also like the Ragged Cloak from Shyish (makes someone invulnerable to shooting for 1 turn) on the Corruptor to prevent him getting focus fired down on the 1st or 2nd turn like happens too often

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by Lord_Skrolk

[5kaven5lave]

Hoping to try out the Sword of Judgement on a Corruptor this weekend, D6 Mortal Wounds on a hit roll of 6 vs heroes and monsters sounds lethal with 10 attacks. 

[Mayple]

3 hours ago, 5kaven5lave said:

Hoping to try out the Sword of Judgement on a Corruptor this weekend, D6 Mortal Wounds on a hit roll of 6 vs heroes and monsters sounds lethal with 10 attacks. 

Let us know how it goes I've been using it to good effect myself, but the more experiments the better.

[wander]

Plague reapers for sure are quite nasty when the Corruptor needs to take names, my only qualms would be that as he takes wounds he's rolling less of them (still better than his tail, mind) and whilst fairly tanky, he doesn't get 'Look Out Sir' like the Furnace does and being a bigger model, I see he's going to be losing wounds some. Also usually when he fights with me, often a few turns have gone by and it's never really been fully my choice for him to start killing.

So, basically whilst it's fairly cool to give him an artifact to make him more killy, I find you could be suited with something better quite often. I mainly use him for his Wizard ability and to either Gouge-Tear buff Monks or reliably debuff the enemy with Wither (as I have Master of Rot and Ruin on mine).

Edited July 19, 2018 by wander

[5kaven5lave]

It’s a good point, I’ve been daydreaming / listbuilding for Nurgle / Pestilens for a few weeks so this is my first real go. I’d like the VC to be a beat stick vs. Stormcast as there’s a lot around near me, especially the Stardrake who can be a real pain. I’ll test the Sword out but may even change to a utility artefact like the Fly and +4 move one. 

[WAAAGHdogg15]

My previous list involved two congregations of filth with 4 units of 20 Plague Monks.

Last night I had my first game with a new list which has 3 units of 40 Plague Monks in one congregation.

It made me wonder what the view was on unit size vs unit number. I was finding that I missed the extra unit and that 40 models was quite unwieldy. Even with 40 bodies, you very rarely get more than 20 into combat at one time, but the big block is a lot more survivable, especially with the furnace nearby.

Just wondered about others’ experiences? Given the choice, do you prefer fewer large units or more smaller units?

[5kaven5lave]

Anyone got any tips on painting that dirty yellow colour of the Monk robes on the warscroll in the battletome? I guess you’d use Agrax and highlight with a dirty white? Cheers!!

[Lord_Skrolk]

27 minutes ago, WAAAGHdogg15 said:

My previous list involved two congregations of filth with 4 units of 20 Plague Monks.

Last night I had my first game with a new list which has 3 units of 40 Plague Monks in one congregation.

It made me wonder what the view was on unit size vs unit number. I was finding that I missed the extra unit and that 40 models was quite unwieldy. Even with 40 bodies, you very rarely get more than 20 into combat at one time, but the big block is a lot more survivable, especially with the furnace nearby.

Just wondered about others’ experiences? Given the choice, do you prefer fewer large units or more smaller units?

Big blocks seem better for Skaven in general because you get more mileage out of inspiring presence that way 

Only exception for Pestilens imo is if you allied in a lot of shooting, like some Warp Lightning Cannons or a handful of Clan Skyre weapons teams, smaller units give you more flexibility for screening and opening up shooting angles 

[Oldmanlee]

1 hour ago, 5kaven5lave said:

Anyone got any tips on painting that dirty yellow colour of the Monk robes on the warscroll in the battletome? I guess you’d use Agrax and highlight with a dirty white? Cheers!!

Check warhammer tv there is a painting guide there on how to do the dirty robes as its what I'm painting mine as really simple too which is a good thing as I hate painting 

[Kyriakin]

What are the yellow robes? They always seemed to appear from time-to-time for Pestilens, but I never saw an explanation.

Are they some kind of sub-clan of Pestilens? The only yellow clan I was aware of is Skurvy.

[5kaven5lave]

Clan Feesik seem to be doing the yellow robes, Vomikrit go for darker hoods by the looks of it. 

So, Averland base, Agrax, then Yriel? Or maybe Pallid Wych?

[Mayple]

3 hours ago, 5kaven5lave said:

Clan Feesik seem to be doing the yellow robes, Vomikrit go for darker hoods by the looks of it. 

So, Averland base, Agrax, then Yriel? Or maybe Pallid Wych?

Can't go wrong with Pallid Wych

[HorseOnABeachBall]

Just took down a spammy TZ list with my Pestilens horde.  Cunning Deceivers value just went up 500% in my book. Kairos can't stop 200 rats from landing a charge when Cogs and command points are in effect. AoS2 should probably be renamed Age Of Geminids.