All Melee Armies!!!

[Guerillinator]

Originally Posted by Ugly-Caco

Is there a strategic position where ninjas or sentinels of jandar or emperiums cant go? My gf like uses taelord and raelin a lot...and 3 out 4 games, I get to kill raelin and taelord. Actually its fun hunting 'em down!

A lot of it depends on the map. On some maps its easier to hide Raelin from range, but in an all melee game that is not even a concern. If you move Raelin out first, you should still have time to cover her with enough Warriors of Ashra to prevent someone from engaging her. Then, you can leave the Ashra engaged while you put all the turn markers on the samurai to attack. Even if someone comes with gruts (disengage), the samurai should still be able to handle them (and with the Gruts low defense, you can power up the Tagawa quickly). Of course I only say "should still be able to handle them," because there are effective strategies to defeat any army. I like this army though because Raelin's ability would greatly enhance the Ashra Warrior' one-shield-blocks-all skulls ability as well as boosting the samurai counter-attack.

[Kahrma]

Originally Posted by atmospro

Brunak 110
Ne Gok Sa 90
Marrden Hounds x3 180
Dumetef Guard 25
Total 495 ponts 12 figures

3x Hounds is 270 (but your army total is correct)

[scorpiusx]

jotun
raelin
izumi
warriors of ashraX3
rats

Keep jotun close to your army. When the enemy approaches, make jotun kill everything. If he is swarmed, toss them into the izumi, WoA, or rats.

[Draconious]

Charos
Kelda
Braxas

Weeeee....

[Ugly-Caco]

Problem: Warriors of Ashira
The Remedy: Grimnak + Tornak

Chomp those melee-Krav-Magas while having +1 defense. To maximize offense, draft Blade gruts too!

[Marduk]

Originally Posted by Velenne

Now if we're saying standard 500, I'd go for the heavy orcs:

2xHeavy Gruts (140)
1xBlade Gruts(40)
Tornak (100)
Ornak (100)
Grimnak (120)

Play your cards right and you've got 4 attacks of 5 with your Utgar symbols counting as skulls....without height.

Don't mix heavy and blade gruts unless you have 30 points left over after buying heavies or 40 points left over after buying blades. Or if you expect to face Dund. Going with all of one type gives you more flexibility of movement - any one order marker lets you move any four of a greater number of figures. The difference between one squad of blades and one squad of heavies is usually worth the inconvenience, as is the difference between nothing and one squad of blades. But that one squad is going to sit out a lot of the fight, simply because it's not as worthwhile to put an order marker on it.

[darkclown789]

Originally Posted by Velenne

Now if we're saying standard 500, I'd go for the heavy orcs:

2xHeavy Gruts (140)
1xBlade Gruts(40)
Tornak (100)
Ornak (100)
Grimnak (120)

Play your cards right and you've got 4 attacks of 5 with your Utgar symbols counting as skulls....without height.

Arn't Ornak and Tornak the same guy???

Maybe you meant Nerak...

Anyways, I had fun and did well with this army today (it was a tourney-practice, my opponents army had ranged figures).

Sgt. Drake 110
Grimnak 120
Heavy Gruts 70
Kozuke Samurai 100

I bullrushed the Orcs (it was a fairly small map), they did some nice damage to the a couple squads of fourth mass, Kozuke followed, cutting their way in. Drake cleaned up.

Darkclown

[ASmiles]

Originally Posted by darkclown789

Arn't Ornak and Tornak the same guy???

Maybe you meant Nerak...

Ornak - Utgar Flagbearer
Tornak - Orc Champion riding the small Dinosaur
Nerak - Orc Champion riding the Snow Swog

[philowar]

For the longest time we played nothing but melee-only games, and in my experience the following are the deadliest 400 point melee armies you can field. Note all these matchups have been played out countless times over a 8-12 month period.

1. Marcus + Roman Legionnaires x6. 5 move, clustered 4 defense, and 4 attack around Marcus. 24 Legionnaires. Inexhaustible manpower. The Roman meat-grinder can consistently crush any all-melee opposition you throw at it (almost always trouncing an equal number of Greeks with Parmenio), whether going up against other large hordes or big boys like Krug and Charos, with the following exceptions...

2. Knights x 4 + Alistair MacDirk. The knights are slow, and if you're fielding them against #1 you are at a numerical disadvantage: 16 knights vs 24 Romans. Also, the Romans will almost always get first strike when the two sides initially clash. Still, the knights pulled off a few solid defeats, concentrating on the Roman flanks or the stray Roman that did not have the full 4 defense of the shield wall.

3. Blade Gruts x7 + Grimnak. 28 Blade Gruts. Grimnak's chomp means one squad figure is going to die every time you bond with him (this is especially painful to 400 point 6-man Minion and Sentinel armies), possibly two if you get at least one skull with his two-dice attack and your opponent rolls blanks on defense. With so many gruts to deal with, your opponent will be overhwhelmed. The key is keeping a defensive perimeter around Grimnak so that he doesn't get swarmed and die, which can be tricky. Also, don't be afraid to tie up enemy figures with your 2/2 Gruts, even if they're not in Grimnak's orc-boosting aura. Even 2 attack die against 3 or 4 defense often means a kill for the Blade Gruts. 500 points? Add Tornak, as another orc champion providing orc warriror enhancement is a major boon.

4. Taelord + Minions x2. This is THE deadliest melee army, with the exception of it being vulnerable to #3. Just be careful Taelord is well shielded by the minions and doesn't get swarmed. This army easily crushed the knights and Romans time and time again. Only 6 Minions, but their defense usually lets them hold out against superior numbers unless you're really crapping rolls. Watch your opponent's figures drop like flies as you consistently dish out 2 - 6 skulls of damage every time! And if you get high ground it'll be an even worse massacre. Scary stuff.

Man, all this talk of melee brawls really brings back memories of some great games. What intense and exhausting battles those were!

[MrBarkypants]

Originally Posted by TyrionXavier

I fielded this army recently that was exactly this, and let me tell you, "totally kicks butt" is an understatement. And that was against ranged attackers, too!

This one is pretty brutal, and soooooooo simple to use. I like the 500 pt army version (1 less Shade). In fact, with 600 pts, I would spend that 100 pts on something else. Maybe Raelin to keep them all undead.....or a ranged squad + rats.

[MrBarkypants]

Originally Posted by philowar

For the longest time we played nothing but melee-only games, and in my experience the following are the deadliest 400 point melee armies you can field. Note all these matchups have been played out countless times over a 8-12 month period.

1. Marcus + Roman Legionnaires x6. 5 move, clustered 4 defense, and 4 attack around Marcus. 24 Legionnaires. Inexhaustible manpower. The Roman meat-grinder can consistently crush any all-melee opposition you throw at it (almost always trouncing an equal number of Greeks with Parmenio), whether going up against other large hordes or big boys like Krug and Charos, with the following exceptions...

It seems to me that Marcus + Greeks would be just as successful.

[Kahrma]

Here's one I haven't seen mentioned in this thread:

Kee-Mo-Shi: 130
Marrden Hounds x3: 270

Total: 400

Could be a fun to field. If nothing else, it certainly looks killer on the board!