The Book of Venoc Vipers

[brunakor]

venoc vipers rock. I'm not a total fan of the planet Marr, but snake aliens with a special abilty that allows them to repeatedly take turns to wipe out your opponent? You'd have to be blind to reject including them in your army. They work especially with Venoc Warlord, who of course is meant for them. 0 Defense may be bad, but, really? who cares when you got power?

[Shades fan]

I should try to make a real snipers/Vipers team if you look carefully at them in a map that has a lot of height it is a pretty good team send vipers as main attack force. Then have the snipers ready to shoot anything that comes in range. I love the vipers and they are great for killing squads with 2 or less defense.

[arp12]

Snipers/Vipers team:
2or3x Snipers
2x Venoc Vipers
Venoc Warlord

I haven't tried it, just something I had thought of.

[Sir Dendrik]

Venoc's are definitely worth their points when fighting heroes with few attacks, but you really need a couple of lucky frenzy rolls to be viable against most other units.

Still, the Venocs will always be my favorite unit. Frenzy? Frenzy!

[Snotwalker 8000]

While the Venocs often seem to get little attention nowadays, they remain a personal favorite, given their unpredictability and devestating potential. Granted, it's their unpredictability that usually turns some people off, but never ever underestimate their "devestating" component either!

I recently fielded an army including a core of Mittens and Venocs X3, and won the game at the end of TURN 4, thanks to the snakes. My opponent fielded a vampire/wolf army, and killed 2 of my venocs in turn one with his wolves... and then it all went downhill for the canine/undead forces from there. Due to a movement of 9, racing across water areas, and several key frenzies, my Venocs killed 2 Wolves of Badru, Cyprien, Sonja, and Iskra by the end of turn 4... My opponent wisely conceded... My army lost only a total of 4 snakes.

Venoc Vipers are often referred to as "cruise missles", and I agree.... that is indeed their primary role in games... but let's not underestimate what a well-placed cruise missle (or 12+ cruise missles) can do in a battle! For a measley 40 points, a squad of frenzying venocs can inflict a whole world of hurt on your opponent before he knows what hit him!!

Frenzy... it's more than a word. It's a way of life.

SW8K

[killercactus]

Ask Tiberius about how devastating these snakes can be. In a truly sick game, he was ripping me apart with the Elves at their last tournament (standard 500 point version with all the new wizards). I sent one Viper in at a time to engage Jorhdawn and flanked around the back with 2. Then, at the beginning of round 3 or 4, I won initiative and my flanking Vipers made it to Ulginesh, and both had height. He had been wounded by Zetacron previously (the only damage my army had done thus far - none of the elves were dead yet), and my 2 snakes finished the job. All of his Order Markers were on the mounted Elf for that round, and I hit 3 or 4 Frenzies.

By the time the round was over, he had Isamu left. It was brutal.

[beaglescape]

heres a themed viper army for around 400 points. it is:
venoc vipers x3
onyx elite vipers x1
armoc vipers x1
venoc warlord x1
the idea is the venocs swarm the enemies base using the warlords bonuses while the armocs hang back and cover the big guy. use the onyx against any ranged enemies who give you trouble.

[killercactus]

It might be worth saying that, with the release of the Mohicans and Brave Arrow, these guys receive a boost due to the boost Mittens gets. The Venocs are arguably the best units for the Venoc Warlord to enhance, since they're cheap, common and receive both of his synergies offered. So now, the Vipers have the chance to become great allies to the Mohicans.

The fast-moving, ranged Mohicans are just the type of unit that the Vipers need to move in first and thin out the enemy. Once the Tribe has done it's job, the lightning-quick Vipers rush in behind, cleaning up anything the Mohicans left over. If Brave Arrow has survived the initial onslaught, tactical positioning can be used to even boost the Vipers' attack! So far, my new favorite army for the Vipers (I think) is going to be:

Venoc Warlord - 120
Venoc Vipers x3 - 240
Brave Arrow - 290
Mohicans x3 - 500, 20 hexes

This army seems to lack on defense, but the sheer speed of it is really amazing. With Mittens, the Mohicans are basically Gorillinators on crack, and that's before they engage the enemy! If your D20 is hot, this army has the potential to completely crush anything it faces. I can't wait to play it.

[Einar's puppy]

Originally Posted by killercactus

Venoc Warlord - 120
Venoc Vipers x3 - 240
Brave Arrow - 290
Mohicans x3 - 500, 20 hexes

This army seems to lack on defense, but the sheer speed of it is really amazing. With Mittens, the Mohicans are basically Gorillinators on crack, and that's before they engage the enemy! If your D20 is hot, this army has the potential to completely crush anything it faces. I can't wait to play it.

I proxied it, and KoW DESTROYED it. The vipers and Mohicans combined only killed 3 KoW. Sure, Mittens went on a rampage after that killing two squads of KoW, Gilbert, and Nilfheim before the final knight killed him. I don't think that happens often. Sure, I never roled one frenzy, but still. No powers here are reliable. You have to have luck.

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Einar's puppy

I proxied it, and KoW DESTROYED it. The vipers and Mohicans combined only killed 3 KoW. Sure, Mittens went on a rampage after that killing two squads of KoW, Gilbert, and Nilfheim before the final knight killed him. I don't think that happens often. Sure, I never roled one frenzy, but still. No powers here are reliable. You have to have luck.

To be fair to the Vipers, that's one of their worst matchups (Ashigaru first, Q9 second, Grimnak+Orcs 3rd, then other bonded melee squads IMO). 5 attacks per turn just plain rips through Vipers. I'd rather face the Mass than the KoW.

I'd have thought the Mohicans would've done a little better though... I'm curious - how did you play it?

[nyys]

I'd also point out that it's only one game. Over the course of several you could very well get the same result, but after only one you can't draw any conclusions.

[Junge Roman]

I've so far found that more than 2 squads of Venoc Vipers are a waste. Here is why:

1st, they seem much more effective as a counteroffensive than a first wave. That way they can get straight to the already advanced enemy without having to suffer casualties en route. At that point, they get 1 or 2 turns before they get wiped out. Putting more than 2 order markers is far too risky. So, 2 squads with 2 order markers just works out. You better have another cleanup unit in reserve to use after they die.

2nd, using only 2 squads saves you a few points and starting zone spaces. You know you are going to bring Venoc Warlord along. You should always try to bring at least 1 squad of Armoc Vipers with him. Use the saved points to make that happen.

In the above army example from killercactus, I'd say you don't really have room for Armoc's because of the 3x Mohicans, which you probably need. I'd rather have Theracus than another squad of Venocs in this case. He's a melee force in himself, and can either be used to help out Brave Arrow or as your cleanup/reserve unit.