500 Series: Death Chasers of Thesk

[Zarrath]

Hey there! Zarrath here again with the next in the 500 Series, Death Chasers of Thesk! Now before let's dig into there stats and find out what there strong and weak points are:

Death Chasers of Thesk:
Life-1-Low
Move-5-Average
Attack-4-High*
Defense-2-Low

TaskMaster Bonding: Basically, before you take a turn with a squad of Death Chasers of Thesk (D-COT for short) you can first take a turn with a Large Wild Hero you control. More OM abusement For The Win!

Orc Battle Rush: At the beginning of the of the first round of the game (after order markers have been placed, and before Initiative). You can move ALL D-COT you control up to a maximum of 5 spaces. They must end their movement on an empty space. Note that this ability only works once, and though it can provide huge advantage it can only be used at the start of the first round.

*The reason I say 4 attack is high is for this reason. They are a common squad and they are only 55 points.*

Now after examining their stats we can there for assume their greatest strengths and synergies with other Units. For example Ogre War Hulk, Ogre Pulverizer, MeBurgSa, etc. Obviously, these guys need some Hero to bond so why not Ogre War Hulk, and Pulverizer! MeBurgSa can also work in an army with these guys but only at the point when a filler is required, he becomes beneficial.

Orcs, and Ogres:
3xDeath Chasers of Thesk 165
1xOgre War Hulk 150
1xMe-Burg-Sa 50
1xRaelin the Kyrie Warrior 80
1xMarro Warriors 50
Total Points: 495

WAAGH!!!:
3x Death Chasers of Thesk 165
2x Ogre Pulverizer 200
1xKaemon Awa 120
1xIsamu 10
Total Points: 495

Strategy Review Orcs, and Ogres: Here we have some of the standard support for most armies. Raelin for Survivability Increase (and to make up for the defense of D-COT). Marro Warriors for filler and nice Clean-Up. But then we come to D-COT! The primary purpose for these guys are numerous. With there Orc Battle Rush Special Ability you are able to mobilize half your army in the beginning of the round. Take advantage of this use them to take the heights, grab glyphs, or as a screen. Whatever purpose will prove beneficial for the army. Now, onto to the other asset of the army. The bonding! With the selections of Ogre War Hulk, and MeBurgSa. They both prove to work very well with the army. War Hulk is the beef-cake of the army being able to attack at everything around him in a single turn is definitely worth it. Stick him out where the opponent's horde is the thickest and have him wipe the field clean. MeBurgSa, however acts as a sniper. Use Paralyzing stare 16 to dish out some wounds on heroes or possibly kill them. He works best at Height Advantage, so keep him always at Height!

Strategy Review WAAGH!!!: Now this army is probably not as versatile as Orcs, and Ogres but it's just good. D-COT's purpose here is only so limited. As mentioned before they can act as a screen, glyph grabbers, and height advantage purposes. But they work best as a screen. There bonding synergies with Pulverizer can be effective in combating off whole squads and heroes. If comboed right you can possibly get 2 attacks of 5 with Pulverizer (if he has height on the target figure) and then 3 attacks of 4 from D-COT. Total 5 attacks of 4 average per turn is nothing to laugh at. Also, since Pulverizer in only a one Hex Figure and not two he's also very mobile in terrain then most huge figures. Making him even more advantageous. Kaemon Awa here adds insult to injury. With special attack of 2 shots of 4 and excellent clean up he works just fine with the army. And Isamu for filler, and maybe he'll get to kill something for once.

Well, that's it for this article of the 500 Series! Hope you guys liked it. Comments, Critique, Questions, are all welcome! Oh, later this year I'm gonna be starting an "Apotheosis" series of other people's armies. Just Private Message (PM) me, explaining what help your army may need, the basic strategy of the army, and point value of the army (so I know what I'm working with). I really can't wait until all these waves come out. These units are more than likely mold the metagame into a different direction!

Alright, that wraps this one up. Until next time play hard, and play fair!

-Zarrath

[aquamaniac27]

So I just found this thread, ad just played with this army.

Orc Swarm
3x DCoT
2x Arrow Gruts
2x Blade Gruts
1x Swog
Nerak
Tornak
500 pts

against a mostly melee army on a small battlefield.

Once the DCoT all moved, I won initiative and pulled Nerak up to be within range of all of them once they took their turn, set up an arrow pod on height. With an average defense of 3, the Capuans couldn't touch the DCoT, and got wiped out, while the Arrows finished off the stingers and Spartacus.

So pretty much "rush with the DCoT and Nerak, pick off cheerleaders with arrow pods, and have decent clean up units".

~Aquamaniac27

[dok]

Aquamaniac, that build is 29 hexes, and at any rate it's got a ton of moving parts that make it pretty tricky to play and relatively easy to play against.

Matthias won a 505 point event with:

80 Raelin RotV
50 Nerak
100 OP
275 DCoTx5
505, 19 hexes

This has many of the hallmarks of a solid army - notably, lots of common squad redundancy, good defensive and offensive punch, and relatively straightforward order marker management.

I haven't played or tested the DCoTs, but my instinct is that the Nerak+Raelin combo is pretty powerful for them, and Nerak is the first hero you should consider using alongside them.

[TnT2]

Originally Posted by dok

Matthias won a 505 point event with:

80 Raelin RotV
50 Nerak
100 OP
275 DCoTx5
505, 19 hexes

I haven't played or tested the DCoTs, but my instinct is that the Nerak+Raelin combo is pretty powerful for them, and Nerak is the first hero you should consider using alongside them.

I had the chance to play for and against the Death Chasers in our mini-tournament. Though neither builds had Raelin - mine had Nerak - and I agree that he is essential to the Death Chaser's success. I found they played a lot like the MacDirks - very offensive - but very fragile.

My army was

220 Death Chasers x 4
100 Ogre Pulverizer
150 Orgre Warhulk
50 Nerak
520 in 17 hexes

(we were allowed up to 50pts more if your army had more that 300pts of D3)

By having the large bonding heroes - you push your number of attacks up - and believe it or not - the Warhulk took out Krug (though this was due more to good OM management on my part)

But Nerak was essential to this victory. At first he kept the Death Chasers alive, and then he drew the key attacks that allowed me to focus on Krug.

And being an all-bonded army doesn't hurt - OM management was a breaze.

The other army with Death Chasers seemed much more fragile without Nerak

It's too bad the trolls aren't wild. I think they would fit this build very well.

[Juniour]

I played multiple games with DCOT armies. I won all three of the games I used them. I actually played the exact WAAAGH!!!! army and won. I only lost a squad of DCOT. I also used another army that I felt had good synergy:

D3 For The Win:
3x Death Chasers - 165
1x Ogre Pulverizer - 265
Moltenclaw - 435
Me Burq Sa - 485
Isamu - 495

The Death Chasers made a screen with their 5 move before the game started. I use my 1 order marker with the DCOT to move the screen forward, and then I moved up Moltenclaw to destroy the opponents squads. Ogre Pulverizer was easily able to take out my opponents main hero (Moltenclaw) with his 2 attacks of 4.

When the pulverizer died I was able to use me-burq-sa with the bonding for the DCOT and was able to take out the rest. Easy peasy lemon squeezy

[Killometer]

I've played

Death Chasers x4
Nerak
Warhulk
Raelin I
500/17

to great effect. Three attacks of 4 can be devastating, and having two units that boost defense is nice because you can cover both sides of the map, use them to leapfrog, or double them up for 5 defense DCs.

And I can not stress enough how completely awesome Battle Rush is for getting an early, aggressive start to a match.

[Looking East]

I'm also a very big fan of the dual defensive cheerleader builds, although I think they work best in higher point matches.

[killercactus]

Deathchasers x4 - 220
Raelin - 300
Nerak - 350
Me-Burq-Sa + Pulverizer / Warhulk - 500, 18,17 hexes

[MattserTruckRally]

I like the idea of Marro Warriors for the Deathchasers since they can help with the 10th foot matchup and provide a solid end game option.

Dcot x 4
Raelin
Nerak
Krav
Me-Burq-Sa
500 points

I don't think this one would be to bad either. Being able to alternate between Dcots and Krav is a pretty powerful option for any army and at least gives you a chance versus 10th/4th Mass builds. If I had the extra 5-10 points I'd probably sub the Krav for DcoT/Marro Warriors.

[Looking East]

Originally Posted by MattserTruckRally

I like the idea of Marro Warriors for the Deathchasers since they can help with the 10th foot matchup and provide a solid end game option.

Dcot x 4
Raelin
Nerak
Krav
Me-Burq-Sa
500 points

I like this build a lot. It provides much needed anti-range and forces your opponent to come to you. Both are important when you fielding melee units with poor defence.

A possible variant on this build would be to reduce the roll of the DoCT to heavy hitting body gaurds and up the range fire power of the army. The Krav are excellent, but if you lose one or two to something like PKs, then your range pod is completely ruined. You could combine the Krav, Marro Warriors with Raelin to make sure that your range pod is much sturdier, then use a smaller pack of DoCT pluss a pulverizer as heavy duty body gaurds.

I would begrudgingly switch out Nerak and Me-burq-sa for a pulverizer so when the enemy units close on your rangers you can cut into them with a much beefier 5 attacks of 4. I think both Nerak and the Marro warlord both shine most when you are closing with the DoCT which you won't be doing since their primary roll will be as offensive body gaurds that are lurking with the range pod. The ogre can take point and the extra fire power should make short work of most incoming forces.

Raelin
Marro Warriors
Krav
DoCT x 3
Pulverizer x 1


18 Hex 595 pts