Vermin Lord Corruptor in 1 on 1, can he cut it?

[Percivael]

As the weakest of the Vermin Lords, who do you think the Vermin Lord Corruptor can stand a good chance of winning against amongst the other behemoths in a one on one situation? With sixteen attacks causing an extra mortal wound on 2+ but lacking any rend, I was thinking he might be okay against low save behemoths. 

[Shane]

Used her a few times and she hits like a wet flannel. Unit of 10 Chaos Warriors held her up for several combat phases. Three of those big hammer Stormcast guys took her out in one turn. Would have to be a poor behemoth...none come to mind.

Good against horde armies in principle. Horde armies being the rarity. 

[Percivael]

25 minutes ago, Shane said:

Used her a few times and she hits like a wet flannel. Unit of 10 Chaos Warriors held her up for several combat phases. Three of those big hammer Stormcast guys took her out in one turn. Would have to be a poor behemoth...none come to mind.

Good against horde armies in principle. Horde armies being the rarity. 

Oh dear! I feared as much looking at it on paper. Unfortunately I was gonna go with a Corruptor for a fluffy Pestilens list as I have a Virulent Horde box set... Skreech Verminking might look cool with his half rotted face but then plague monks wouldn't be battle line.

[daedalus81]

A corruptor is a scant 60 points more than 10 chaos warriors.  They trade about the same damage back and forth, but the corruptor has a really great anti-horde spell so we'll call it a wash.

It's a lower end behemoth itself at that point range and it isn't geared to fight big things like a chaos gargant.  You'll find more success targeting smaller units in combat (chariots, ogres, etc) and using the spell on big units.

 

 

[Percivael]

13 minutes ago, daedalus81 said:

A corruptor is a scant 60 points more than 10 chaos warriors.  They trade about the same damage back and forth, but the corruptor has a really great anti-horde spell so we'll call it a wash.

It's a lower end behemoth itself at that point range and it isn't geared to fight big things like a chaos gargant.  You'll find more success targeting smaller units in combat (chariots, ogres, etc) and using the spell on big units.

 

 

Good points. Yeah he's not good one on one with the big guys, but those 2 spells per hero phase and a decent buff command ability sort of make up for it. I suppose it all fits in with the Pestilens fluff too - the Vermin Lord Corruptor stalking amongst the hordes, spreading corruption, urging the Plague Monks on, keeping his distance and pouncing on weak targets. Not cowardly you understand! Just calculating and conscious that his plans are more likely to succeed if he his alive!

[James McPherson]

I used him to take out a Vampire Lord general in my first game with Pestilens, he did alright there. He made a sneaky pop up attack from behind cover. And you can use the Plague Priests to buff him, Bless with Filth or Wither prayers will help him in combat.

I currently use him at the back of my deployment, behind cover if possible. I find his high movement is useful for getting him into place if there is an emergency objective to take or someone needs some 911 support in combat, or an enemy character creeps to close as an assassin, kind of like a quick reactionary force. Keeping his wound count high is imperative to keeping his effectiveness up. So I tend to hide him behind scenery, use his +1 attack command ability (or with Crown of Conquest use him to add inspiring presence 2x in a turn) and use his 2 spells per turn to either summon or cast plague & mystic shield. Having 2 spells is pretty big, not many wizards have that in game. If he does get bogged down either retreat and outrun them or use another unit to support him and break him out of a costly footslog. He is best darting around the battlefield filling in where you need him in an emergency., and at 12 wounds is your best chance as a general for survivability, and you need to keep him alive. Skrolk is the only other Pestilens character with a command ability (-1 to hit on a friendly unit of your choice) but he only has 6 wounds. I would still use him though as your Virulent Horde Plague Priest model. Maybe keep Skrolk and the Corruptor together as a team and they can support each other.

The most important reason I keep him at the back in reserve is I have nothing else to guard my Plagueclaws which always end up at the back of the board , so he is a big deterrent to any chaff or light cavalry unit thinking of making a sweeping flank move or STE teleporting in. Otherwise my Plagueclaws usually cop it by turn 2. 

 

 

[Percivael]

13 hours ago, James McPherson said:

I used him to take out a Vampire Lord general in my first game with Pestilens, he did alright there. He made a sneaky pop up attack from behind cover. And you can use the Plague Priests to buff him, Bless with Filth or Wither prayers will help him in combat.

I currently use him at the back of my deployment, behind cover if possible. I find his high movement is useful for getting him into place if there is an emergency objective to take or someone needs some 911 support in combat, or an enemy character creeps to close as an assassin, kind of like a quick reactionary force. Keeping his wound count high is imperative to keeping his effectiveness up. So I tend to hide him behind scenery, use his +1 attack command ability (or with Crown of Conquest use him to add inspiring presence 2x in a turn) and use his 2 spells per turn to either summon or cast plague & mystic shield. Having 2 spells is pretty big, not many wizards have that in game. If he does get bogged down either retreat and outrun them or use another unit to support him and break him out of a costly footslog. He is best darting around the battlefield filling in where you need him in an emergency., and at 12 wounds is your best chance as a general for survivability, and you need to keep him alive. Skrolk is the only other Pestilens character with a command ability (-1 to hit on a friendly unit of your choice) but he only has 6 wounds. I would still use him though as your Virulent Horde Plague Priest model. Maybe keep Skrolk and the Corruptor together as a team and they can support each other.

The most important reason I keep him at the back in reserve is I have nothing else to guard my Plagueclaws which always end up at the back of the board , so he is a big deterrent to any chaff or light cavalry unit thinking of making a sweeping flank move or STE teleporting in. Otherwise my Plagueclaws usually cop it by turn 2. 

 

 

Excellent advice James thanks! I particularly like the idea of him as a Plagueclaw guard as from what I've heard these catapults are unpopular with opponents! I was thinking of going for a full Virulent procession 2 furnaces each with 2x 20 monks forming the bulk of a 2000 pt matched play army. This would give the majority of the army a 6+ Wound/Mortal wound save from the congregations of filth and the ability for the Verminlord Corruptor to heal wounds, increasing his survivability which, as you have pointed out is very important. This leaves the rest of my points for a Preist, 5 Plague Censer Bearers (I know 5 won't last long but I already own them from Virulent horde box and they could work out as Plagueclaw guards) and 2  Plagueclaws. 

[James McPherson]

Yeah that sounds good, I am thinking of taking more or less the same formation to Warlords but haven't playtested it enough yet. 

I know, the 6+ ward save is pretty handy, they do die in droves but the 6's come up surprisingly often when making 20 or so saves. And also with the icon of pestilence they get a roll to inflict a mortal wound back on the opponent when they die on the roll of a 6. And getting to re-roll charges from the formation rules helps a lot too.

 

Plague Chariots

The plague furnace has a prayer which will give the monks an extra pile in and attack each time one dies too which helps, not as good as a save but still useful. Bless with Filth is the better one for offence, and Rabid Fever for defence

If you have two plague furnaces, keeping them within 5.9 ins of each other, will do 2 things,

It will create a bubble for +2 bravery to ALL PESTILENS units within 5" with the Icon of the Horned Rat buff, pretty nice especially against sniping spells on your Corruptor which test against bravery.

It will also mean nobody will go between that gap to attack because they risk getting pile ins from both Plague Furnaces (as well as whatever you put between them 3ins back, Ie a unit of 20 PMonks. Also the rusty wheels and spikes attack will be 4D6 if you get enough Monks (10) surrounding each one. So I would put Lord Skrolk and the Corruptor between them if you want to make a deathstar, or if you want to safely 'carry' a unit onto an objective then use it as a Trojan horse.

 

something like this

                  xx                                     xx     ^                                        
                  PF          <5.9ins>            PF   2.9ins
                  xx                                     xx     v
                 PM              PM                PM  

or

                  xx                                     xx     ^
                  PF          <5.9ins>            PF   2.9ins
                  xx                                     xx     v
                 PM          Corruptor          PM  

 

If you get enough Monks surrounding the PF, (its possible to get about 32 if you go all the way around 360' with two layers) then the PF can move up to 15" effectively turning it into a very fast moving chariot and have a chance at hitting your enemy (who will be 24" away) on turn 1 if you roll a 9 or more to charge, before they get a chance to whittle down the Plague Censers effectiveness.

Getting off 2x D6 mortal wounds and 4d6 rusty wheels and spikes that hit on a 2+ (it counts by how many Monks surround the PFurnace AT THE START of your MOVEMENT PHASE ) could do on a turn 1 charge could be devastating!

This is where it falls down though, the PMonk's wouldn't be able to keep up with them, but, good news folks, the Corruptor WOULD!

Getting this charge off on turn 1 by rolling a 9 is pretty risky and only the brave would go for it, but ask yourself what a sneaky Skaven player would do? - and I think this may be more in line ......

As you are taking so many formations, you can drop your entire Virulent Procession in one deployment, pretty much ensuring you finish deployment first and get the choice of who takes first turn. Let your opponent come out towards you, give him the first turn. He will come towards you, (also bringing himself into range of your Plagueclaws) then you can get your turn 1 charge off guaranteed. He probably won't be expecting those Plague Furnaces to be so fast moving and you can just make mincemeat of his centre line and whatever he throws at you when lining up opposite your deployment drop. 

 

Scenery Rant

Then this brings us on to the one major caveat you will find as a Horde & Pestilens player, scenery is a ******! All of this falls down when somebody decides to place more than 6 pieces of scenery on a 6x4 because you just simply do not have enough room to maneuvre. The trend we are seeing now with the skirmish format is for people to pack the terrain board full of scenery, somewhat over exuberantly. It favors multi wound models and smaller armies, but is a nightmare for our larger units, causing bottlenecks in movement, breaks in coherency, not being able to deploy where you want to etc etc you get the idea. Scenery is your biggest threat and enemy because it lays havoc with your deployment and movement.

The Virulent Procession rule about the scenery becoming infested will help capture objectives though and is none too shabby and will help dislodge heavily fortified positions. <scenery rant over!>

 

Finding quarters in every pocket

If you take crown of conquest as your arcane item, then you can put inspiring presence out twice in a turn from your Corruptor to mitigate battleshock, as those 20 man units will die fast once battleshock sets in. Durthu killed 12 of my monks in one turn last game. Seeing as you have 3 formations, you can take 2 extra items, so unless anyone tells you otherwise you can spam up Crown of Conquest, take it on the Plague Furnaces as they have 12 wounds and count as heroes, and make all four of your PM units immune to Battleshock each turn. Nice!

The P.Censer Bearers work nice as a supporting unit to get through heavily armoured units and to reach out from behind, on a 32mm base with a 2" reach they have a very long reach so can hit from 2 ranks back, with their poisonous fumes attack too they can help whittle down high armour targets, (with plaguesmog congregation it gets boosted from 1 mortal wound on a 4+ to D3 on a 2+)

 

Summary

It's really all about rolling the 6's with these guys though, so no matter how well prepared or tactically astute you are, the success of your day will come down to how many times you can roll a 6! The Verminlord Corruptors Plague Spell is a great example of that, if you can get that alpha strike charge off on turn 1, he will be in and amongst their battle lines on turn 1 spreading disease, panic and confusion, and rat infestations with the battalion formation special rule! Glorious!

 

 

[Percivael]

Great analysis! I shall have to try those tactics out when I get them painted. Sixes are the order of the day! They used to say in White Dwarf that beautifully painted armies roll more sixes... I'll have to work on my painting then!

[Shane]

Rolling sixes is the best part of Pestilens. Especially Monks. Great unit.