Dealing with assassins

[spla5hmummy]

I tried a search for stuff about them but nothing seemed to come up.

The question is simple. How do you deal with these? Is it something we can plan against?

 

[TMS]

The only thing that springs to my mind would be the nightshroud as well as the cadaverous cuirass. The first armour would give your character a chance of dispatching the assassin before he got to strike while the second would make sure that he would not be able to land a killing blow on your lord, for example.

 

[N.I.B]

Depends on which unit it's in. Slam them in the flank and run them down. Or kill them with ethereals. If he's revealed - Curse of Years, or pick him out with Lore of Death spells.

 

[darebear]

Nightshroud/Cadaverous Cuirass works well on a Dreak Knight option. Nightshroud, Crown of the Damned plus whatever other magic toys you give him will provide a good measure of protection against such nasty things. Dark Elf assassins have no armor (although maybe a 5+ward) so killing them should be relativeley simple, espeically with the sword of striking and infinite hatred. They are an easy 165 points if you ask me. In fact, my opponents hardly ever play assassins due to their high cost and fragile nature.

 

[TheBlackBey]

Take away their initial attack and assassins (Dark Elf and Skaven) are easy pickings for a vamp. Try Cursed Book or Nightshroud if you suspect assassins will be lurking.

 

[spla5hmummy]

Will nightshroud allow the vampire to strike first against charging black guard? I seem to remember they have a 'no matter what' clause. I could be wrong.

I like the ethereal and curse of years ideas. I can see them being quite effective.

 

[Zachariah]

A Wight King with Sword of Kings and Gem of Blood can work pretty well when in a unit with a Banner of Barrows, too. The King is likely to survive the first round of combat (the Gem of Blood can deflect one Killing Blow wound back onto the Assassin), and then take the Assassin down. The Assassin's only chance of survival is to kill everything first, and if you survive the initial barrage you'll be in a good position.

The Wight King will also not weigh you down needlessly, as it's a strong character killer with its 5+ Killing Blow, and is a durable Hero for you to give your Battle Standard to.

 

[Zaggo]

I recently faced a DE assassin with the following lord...

Vampire @ 145 points
Dark Acolyte, Summon Ghouls

The most astute amongst you will notice this the general(!) was not exactly equipped to deal with the pesky swashbuckler…

However I managed to last three rounds of combat, until finally succumbing to the poison blades. This was through a combination of my rolling quite well and my opponent rolling somewhat worse (also a couple of well placed IoN helped).

While this may not be typical, and in all probability my general should have bitten the dust much faster, I only relate this to demonstrate that assassins don’t present a dismal fore gone conclusion for your vampires.

As outlined above, a vampire kitted out for such a sneaky eventuality as a DE assassin, can give as good as he gets; and often quite a bit better!

 

[TheBlackBey]

Will nightshroud allow the vampire to strike first against charging black guard? I seem to remember they have a 'no matter what' clause. I could be wrong.

I like the ethereal and curse of years ideas. I can see them being quite effective.

I haven't seen the write up on the Standard of Hag Graef that bestows ASF and I:6 to the Black Guard, but Nightshroud should cancel both of those out (also any other bonuses that are dependent on charging, something to remember when facing lances ) on the turn the Black Guard charges.

Not sure about the Dark Elves, but the Skaven assassin's attacks are automatically considered magical, so being ethereal won't help against him.

 

[Zachariah]

Not sure about the Dark Elves, but the Skaven assassin's attacks are automatically considered magical, so being ethereal won't help against him.

The Dark Elf Assassin's attacks are non-magical. The only way to make them magical is through a 75-point magic weapon that I have not seen any assassin take as of yet. The weapon is pretty crazy though (pass a Toughness test on 2D6 or die).

 

[Nikkelhero]

Just be afraid of Shadowblade...

Nothing will make you angrier than having this guy pop up in your own unit next to your general, killing him, and ending the game in turn two.

 

[Ithurel]

I have seen people try to mix the Nightshroud and CC on the same charecter too many times now. You may only have 1 of ech type of magic item on a char at a time. You can not have 2 pieces of magic armor (this includes the enchanted shield) just like you can not have 2 arcane items (except scrolls and PS). Personally nightshroud by itself on a lord should work great. That assassin doesnt have any armor and is T3 with 1 wound. He would fall quick to anything any vamp could drop on him.

 

[adrift]

I dont think he meant to imply nightshroud and CC at the same time.