Swissdictator:
Vampire Counts is very hard for me, and I even know VC as I played them for years until switching to Chaos Dwarfs! I only field one unit of Blunderbuss these days, but when I field two I can do alright as I can make it very hard for them to keep the units up to par… plus the Taurus and/or Bull Centaurs can be a pain when flanking. If I played a little more hard core I might do alright against them. Wraiths are the biggest problem for us as we have very limited magical attacks. Sadly short of sneaking in magic missiles, either being lucky and getting them in the front or a Lord (on Taurus or a Bull Centaur character) is the only way to deal with them. Perhaps the best is a Bull Centaur character with Black Hammer or Sword or Might in a unit of Bull centaurs with banner and warbanner.
Dark Elves They’re a challenge, but they can be beat. The T3 and weak armor helps a lot. Dark Elves (unlike VC or DoC) can be anywhere from very weak to very tough (which is why I never complain about them as an army). Some of their tougher builds (very high magic, or 2 hydras and other monsters) will be a problem for anyone. Standard tournament builds, however, that take comp into consideration… they can be beaten. Blunderbuss just tear them apart, as does our warmachines. Our T and armor allow us to take the pounding they can normally dish out. Just know which units to target… (black guard, CoK, and corsairs in that order). The knights hit hard, if you get to charge with Centaurs or Taurus, you can pretty much pop them.
Daemons Assuming it’s not one of the nasty builds… and a more reasonable list… it’s a tough fight, but I have beaten daemons with Chaos Dwarfs. Rockets are FAR more valuable than Bolt Throwers against them, as the ward save (or regen) can stop a bolt in its tracks… and the rocket or shaker can still drop a bunch of guys. A lord on Taurus is so much more valuable against them. Plus Black Orcs and Hobgoblins (with full armor) can prove very effective, as even though they may flee… you won’t panic. You’d be surprised how long a decent sized block of Hobgoblins with a 4+ save in combat can last against most daemons.
Warriors of Chaos They’re fighty enough, with decent strength, where they can pose a threat. Thank fully you can pretty much eliminate one unit from meeting your lines… even with a fairly reasonable list. With the mobility of centaurs and/or a Taurus you can possibly wreak havoc as well pinning them in the flank… or march blocking while the Earth shaker slows them down. Unless they go Marauder heavy we tend to outnumber them, so that is one advantage we have… plus we tend to do better in soft res. If you spread out the damage to multiple units… the soft res advantage might be a bit better overall. I recommend picking one or two units and doing what you can to either destroy or otherwise render largely ineffective.
High ElvesI tend to do very well, unless they play those stupid dragon, ungodly magic, and chariot spam lists. (Don’t get me started, one of the worst sportsmen I ever played against ran such a list and he alienated me against such builds). However, if they’re playing a more reasonable tournament build… we can win. Again, like Dark Elves they will fear the Blunderbuss as with the exception of their knights a blast from Blunderbuss at full strength kills their save.
Bull Centaurs can tear them up easily as well, as with Dark Elves you’re better going with the extra hand weapon and hitting them with a lot of attacks. They’re T3 like Dark Elves, but they’re not as deadly in combat (except for the Swordmasters). So they die fairly easily, especially against anything S5 or better. While they may have ASF, most of their units don’t have the S to cut us down easily. We can take punishment from most of their units. Be wary of using bolt throwers, the 4+ ward on the Phoenix Guard will easily stop a bolt in its tracks. Again, the Death Rocket prevails over the bolt thrower as a good shot can hit most/all of the unit… and drop plenty of them… the same applies to the Earth shaker. Assuming there are no dragons (which I loathe at anything under 3k) killing off Swordmasters, knights, white lions, and than Phoenix Guard are the priority for your warmachines. For blunderbuss: Any elite infantry.
Empire
I have only played against Empire a few times. I laughed when I faced a gunline, as my Earth shaker shut it down and my rocket decimated warmachines and their crews. If they play more reasonable lists… the pope mobile and stank are our biggest problem, but more so the pope mobile. The stank can be shut down by 1-2 good warmachine hits on it usually. As once it has several wounds it tends not to do anything.
If you have Bull Centaurs, that is the best unit to throw at the pope mobile (especially on the flank)… just be smart enough not to give them a champion so you deny a challenge. Great Weapons might be better in that case, but if there is no pope mobile… extra hand weapon is usually better. Like Elves, their troops tend to be squishy. However don’t underestimate them either. The Greatswords are often pretty deadly with a warrior priest leading them… and can tie you up pretty well.
Their shooting is the biggest problem for us as they can win out and force us to respond, unless you use the Earth shaker against their shooting to shut it down. Unless you go out of your deployment zone, the hand gunners will be out of range unless they move up. Using Hobgoblins as a meat shield can be helpful here if they don’t get good high ground for their gunners or warmachines. Don’t be afraid of using Orcs or Black Orcs for this either!
Our Black Orcs, Lord on Taurus, and Bull Centaurs can tear them up pretty well… though they will have a soft res advantage. So combo charges, or out maneuvering is needed. You may also need to deal with detachments, as those can be problematic at best. If you end up being able to force them to come to you with the Earth shaker… deploy your units close enough to make it hard for detachments to get in. If you’re going offensive, you may wish to consider still doing so in case they charge you once you’re close. Also dropping a rocket on a detachment can be helpfull too. I tended to field my detachments 3x3 so I can have enough to negate ranks… and be thin enough to deny a charge on the detachment usually.
Orcs and Goblins
These games are usually very fun. They’re no cake walk, but not overly challenging either. It’s a decent fight. Bolt throwers can work here, especially against Goblin hordes. We can deal with fanatics decently enough with Blunderbuss being able to pop several at a time. Most Orc builds I see tend to have decent magic defense to start due to the one banner they have where they get DD equal to the rank bonus.
A rocket or two… or a rocket and earth shaker can tear them up. As they’re in big enough units that it’s not hard to get a lot of hits. Blunderbuss also love goblins as there tends to be so many, and Goblins are very squishy.
Giants are usually a problem, and should be dealt with either with Bull Centaurs or your Lord on Taurus. Alternately you can also throw several magic missiles at it and hope sheer quantity will bring it down. Don’t under estimate Hobgoblin archers for this, as they can get enough shots in a round or two to make him hurt! I finished off several giants with my Hobgoblin archers!
Lizardmen
I’ve only faced them a couple of times. Rockets/Earth shakers tend to better against them as they don’t tend to have deep units (I usually see them deployed where they get a rank bonus of two, but are wider for more attacks). So the rocket or shaker can deliver more hits (as always practice your guess ranges).
The troops themselves are not overly nasty, although they are quite good… it’s the characters (old bloods and scar vets) that prove a problem in combat! It might be worthwhile sacrificing a champion, especially against and Old blood (let alone if he is on a carnosaur) to limit combat res… and damage to the unit to allow time for another unit to hit them (hopefully in the flanks). If you get get Bull Centaurs or a Lord on Taurus on a flank… they crumble. They have very low I so we tend to go first.
Their magic can be brutal, so learn the spells they can use and figure out which you need to stop. Also, if they go for magic at all they can probably shut down yours. Still, a magic missile or two into skinks makes for a decent payoff… and can get them going for dispell dice surprisingly fast… as the skinks are VERY squishy (hobgoblins cut them down quickly too!).
Your warmachines should focus on stegadons, temple guard, and saurus cav. Blunderbuss may be better going after the various types of Saurus… you need to get a bit of a soft res advantage when they hit. If you have Hobgoblin archers… don’t waste your time on the skinks with them… either go for saturation fire on the cav or monsters.
They will be like WoC for us… a challenge, but they can be beat.
