Lately, I've run into two problems with my pMorghoul beast heavy list at 35pts, and both are infantry related.
My first problem was Bane spamming, though any high quality, small based, Weapon Master infantry would be just as bad. My second problem was Kayazy Assassins, some of the best high defense infantry in the game.
The list I'm running is:
Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Brute (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
I still like the list. It's a lot of fun to play. So, rather than change it around, I'll try to use my experiences to come up with a coherent plan for dealing with both types of infantry. High-def infantry is more problematic, so I'll start there.
1) Slams
One of the most common ways to deal with high def infantry (if you don't have a specific answer like splatter/chain spells or multiple AoE's) is to slam your own models over them. This is pretty viable, but I need to plan ahead to set it up.
For the Morghoul list, the Krea is the best slammunition target thanks to Paralytic Aura. She can charge or advance into the high-def unit I'm targeting, use Paralytic Aura, and wait. I'll want to get her in as good a line as possible to take out multiple targets. After she's been slammed, the Aura will continue to debuff defense to anyone alive within 2" of her. The Brute is the next most viable target, by simple virtue of being faster and more maneuverable (as well as slightly more expendable) than a Titan. It lacks a large base, but its medium base should catch a bunch of infantry anyway. It will probably use Shield Guard on whichever model the Titan Gladiator is slamming, because KD immunity is very good for this tactic, and Grand Slam cancels out the -2" to Slam distances Safeguard also grants.
Of the Titans, both the BB and Cannoneer can be Slam targets, while the Gladiator will do the slamming along with whichever other Titan wasn't used. The advantage to using the Cannoneer is that it's more expendable, and has a Str debuffing animus to help it live through a melee retaliation. The advantage to using the Bronzeback is that even after being slammed, it has tremendous offensive potential. If it has Safeguard, and the Gladiator Slams it, it can still move around (and make tons of attacks) with Train Wreck and its high Fury stat. I'd usually expect to attack first, then slam, but slamming first is certainly an option.
Anything that was missed by the warbeasts I slammed with has to be mopped up. The best candidates for this are Morghoul with his Rippers and Overtake and the Bronzeback with its high Mat and the ability to Train Wreck itself. Against normal high-def infantry (in the 15-17 range), this should work ok. Against crazy high def infantry, I'll have to do a lot of boosting.
2) The Setup
Setting this up will be tricky. Most people know the trick of slamming your own models to beat high-def infantry, so I have to leave my options open for it to work. I'll lead with the Cannoneer, who'll have the job of blasting an AoE or 2 into the infantry. The Cannoneer will have Admonition up in order to retreat when they jam or charge it, and will be between 3" and 5" ahead of the rest of my beasts (except against eEyriss). The rest of the pack will be more spread out, leaving the Lights room to run up around the Cannoneer to become slam targets. Against eEyriss, the Cyclops Brute should stay within 2" of the Cannoneer, because Shield Guard can stop Admonition and Diminish from being stripped by her arrows.
3) Other Options
Another option is to make use of Abuse and Rush to get some excellent Trample distances, and just go right over the Kayazy. Eleven inches is a very long distance, and if I can place a Titan base on the opposite side of a Kayazy unit, I'd do it. If I do it, however, then I absolutely need to make sure Kayazy retaliation is minimal. It's not as much of an issue with other high-Def options, who don't have Backstab. If I go for a long Trample, I'll probably do it with my two biggest melee threats, the Bronzeback and the Gladiator. I'll probably combine it with a Slam on my Krea and some attacks by Morghoul to kill off as many of the bypassed unit as possible.
Against Weapon Master swarms, I have some better options. They have lower Def, so it's less resource intensive to kill them as long as I get the first strike in.
1) First Strike
Against swarms who kill my beasts fairly easily, I'll need to get my beasts into the action first. That's not too hard with pMorghoul. He can give Titans a threat range of 11.5" with Rush and Abuse, and can do it enough to get both my melee heavies into battle as long as the Gladiator casts Rush on itself. There are a couple more subtleties to this one, including using Admonition well.
2) Use Morghoul and Spam Train Wreck
Morghoul is great against living weapon masters with Anatomical Precision, Overtake, and Double Strike. He's not as excellent against Banes due to his low Power, but I've killed off a few in one activation before. You just have to hope for above average rolling.
Train Wreck grants a warbeast Beat Back, which actually makes it better than Overtake. Furthermore, since Weapon Masters tend to have Def in the 12-13 range, they're pretty easy for most of my beasts, even the Cannoneer and Brute, to hit most of the time. The Bronzeback and Gladiator, of course, tear units apart with Beat Back.
The trick to setting up Beat Back rampages is to get the enemy to clump. If I can, I'll funnel them through terrain. It's actually not that hard to do against infantry swarms. They have to clump together to fit through. The other way to get infantry to clump is to throw a beast under the bus (sorry Candes). If I give them a heavy of mine, they'll have to charge several (typically 3 to 5)) models into melee in order to kill the beast. The Cannoneer can complicate things a little further with Admonition and Diminish. The Brute is actually very good at surviving Weapon Master charges due to Set Defense. Most elites will need 8's to hit it, and Banes will need 9's. Only a few need to hit in order to kill the Brute, but the Brute is a relatively small investment to set up the Train Wreck.
I have a few other thoughts, but they're more experimental, and I need to give them some table time to see if they're viable.
For those of you who run high-Def infantry and Weapon Master swarms, how would you deal with your own shenanigans?
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