List building – The Greylord Archives

The Kontroller Module

Igor Khador — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 15:14:00 +0000

For quite some time I have been thinking about modules in Khador. This is by no means my invention. It is a quite common approach across the game. With the January ’25 update, the Kontroller has suddenly gone from being unheard of to something quite interesting by becoming a ‘Jack Marshal. So, what could a Kontoller module look like?

Until recently, the Kontroller has been living a rather anonymous existence. However, as our only ‘Jack Marshal it really deservers a closer look. I think we can make a pretty good module consisting of the Kontroller, a ‘jack, a Battle Mechanik, a Winter Korps Officer and a unit of Arkanists. It is a self contained module, yet parts can contribute to the rest of the army. This module can be plugged into any list.

The Kontroller

The Kontroller comes with a standard Man-O-War armour, giving him SPD 4, MAT 6, RAT 6, DEF 10, ARM 19, and 10 boxes. All in all, the normal Man-O-War OK stats. He is also, as standard on a 50 mm base, has Unstoppable (he can walk out of combat without loosing his combat action), has Resistance: Blast (one less dice when damaged by a blast), and has Dual Attack (can do both melee and ranged attacks in the same activation). His main new addition is ‘Jack Marshal.

Furthermore, as all other Man-O-Wars he is Study (cannot be pushed), Steady (cannot be knocked down), is Repairable, and can Bulldoze (push models 2″ during normal movement). He has the addition of Girded (models base-to-base also get Resistance: Blast) and a special action: Hauler, which allows him to move Defenses 2″. His final and main addition is of course the Drive he has as being a ‘Jack Marshal.

Both the Kontroller’s MAT and RAT is 6. Thus, he will on the average hit DEF 13. There really isn’t any good way of fixing this, outside putting him in a Baranova list, where she will be casting Invocations of Wrath; or aiming for a better RAT. However, the Kontroller is probably not going to charge into melee at every single opportunity. He should be using his fantastic spray whenever possible.

The Froster is a pretty nice range 10″, POW 14 spray. It is cold damage and is a Pistol (shooting into the model’s melee ignores the -4 to attack). Its claim to fame is straight up stationary (unless immune to cold). We like stationary. In particularly, when looking at this model’s Drive (more on that later). The Kontroller will hit DEF 13 on the average, and DEF 15 when aiming. The threat range is 10″ when aiming, 14″ when walking, and 17″ when charging. The RAT is a bit on the low side with respect to hitting. However, an average damage of 21 is not to be frown upon. Remember that it is stationary on hit so no requirement for actually doing damage.

The spray is also that which makes his Drive marvellous. Warjacks’ melee weapons under his control gain Shatter. That is an additional die on damage against stationary targets. So, any charging ‘jack would arrive with four dice (average of 14) and any additional damage rolls will be on three dice (average of 10). As a ‘Jack Marshal also allows a ‘jack to charge for free (to compensate for not powering up), a charge and any additional attacks are guarantied.

Which ‘jacks should we put on the Kontroller

We can currently choose between the two character ‘jacks: Medveditsa or Razor; or any layout of the Great Bear or the Dire Wolf; or the Avalanche. Let’s investigate all the options.

The Dire Wolf

The lovely Dire Wolf. Our only “light ‘jack” option. It is kind of inexpensive and has some interesting options for heads and arms.

I think the most sensible head for the Dire Wolf in this configuration is the Shield Guard head at 1 point. It allows it to take a hit on behalf of the Kontroller; and lets face it, a Dire Wolf is much more robust than a Kontroller. The Kontroller needs to stay alive to keep the benefits of ‘Jack Marshall around.

For the right arm, I think the discussion is whether or not to go ranged. Having a ranged weapons obviously allows the model to contribute in more rounds. However, the Drive doesn’t do anything for a ranged attack. So, I would argue that it is either the Ice Hammer or the Long Axe. The Ice Hammer is one more POW that the axe, yet at one less range. It does have Critical Freeze, though, which doesn’t really do anything here as we are relying on the Froster. The Long Axe is POW 16, range 2″ and has Critical Grievous Wounds. I would pick the Long Axe. The additional range is golden and there is alway a roughly 14% chance (on two dice) to trigger the critical.

The left arm is more difficult. There is a Flame Fist with a POW 14 melee attack and a 6″ flame thrower spray; the Heavy Chain Gun could give us a range attack and some anti infantry clean up; the Plow Shield is another POW 14 attack and two additional ARM; finally, the Scrap Saw is another POW 17 with critical Shred (make an additional attack). I like the Plow Shield. It gives us an ARM 21 ‘jack, which is always nice and even more so when it is a Shield Guard.

So, if we are picking the Dire Wolf, I would go for the Shield Guard head, Long Axe right arm, and Plow Shield left arm. All of this for a mere 10 points. This brings the package to 14 points. Obviously, it is only MAT 6; but we are relying on the Froster. It can charge and touch things at 10″ (5″ + 3″ charge + 2″ Long Axe), which corresponds with the range of the Froster, if aiming.

The Great Bear

The Great Bear is our standard heavy Warjack. Compared to the Dire Wolf, it does have an additional MAT, one less DEF and SPD, an additional ARM, and Bulldoze. Generally at a slightly higher cost.

There are four options for the Great Bear’s head: Aggressive, Mage Static, Reposition and Slammer. Agressive doesn’t really do anything for this module. A ‘jack will already charge for free under a ‘Jack Marshal. Although, the additional +2 SPD when running is nice, but the Kontroller needs to be able to keep up. The Mage Static head probably requires the ‘jack to be pretty close to the front, which is not necessarily the role of this module. The Reposition [3″] head is always nice to block lanes to the Kontroller or just to get to a better place. Finally, Slammer allows follow-ups from a slam, it can slam for free and move the slammed model an additional 2″. I would pick the Slammer. It is inexpensive (1 point), and assuming that something survives, being both Stationary and knocked down is expensive to get out of. Only one can be shaken curing the Control Phase. So, something would most likely have to be given up.

For the right arm, we can choose between: the Battle Mace, the Deep Freezer, the Grinder and a Heavy Cannon. Again, are we going melee or ranged? The Battle Mace is an excellent choice for melee. POW 19, range 2 at four dice charging (33 points of damage on the average), and 3 dice normal (29 points of damage on the average) is a lot of damage. There is even Beat Back and a Critical Smite. The Deep Freezer gives us a range 14″, AOE 3, critical Stationary gun. The Grinder can surly clean out enemy infantry. The Heavy Cannon is a range 12″, POW 16 momentum gun. I will follow the same reasoning as with the Dire Wolf: ranged is nice, but to use the Froster we need melee. Thus, I’ll go for the Battle Mace at 7 points.

The left arm give us two purely melee options (Battle Axe, Blasting Fist), one ranged only (Dozer), and one having both (Heavy Cannon Shield). The latter is alway nice. This gives us an ARM 22 ‘jack with an additional melee attack, and a (short) ranged one. The Dozer gives us two POW 15 shots and range 10″. The two melee arms are basically a choice between an additional POW and critical amputation versus an open fist and critical knockdown. To keep it at a low price, I would go for the Blasting Fist.

So, if we are picking a Great Bear, I would go for the Slammer head, the Battle Mace and the Blasting Fist (this is, by the way the closest we get to the good old Juggernaut). It can charge and touch things at 9″ (4″ + 3″ charge + 2″ Battle Mace) at ARM 20. All of this for 12 points, which would bring the package to 16 point.

Named Warjacks

Beside the two standard ‘jack platforms, we could also attatch one of our three named ‘jacks to a Kontroller.

Avalanche

The Avalanche aka the Slam God. This is currently my favourite ‘jack. However, I’m not sure it is particularly suited for a Kontroller. The Avalanche would really like to slam stuff. So, the free charge from the Drive doesn’t really do anything, as it can already slam for free. Further, it would like to be filled with focus, which of course can be done by Arkanists. Finally, it is 15 points, which would make the whole package 19 points.

Medviditsa

Mother Bear

Motherbear is now priced as a comparable Great Bear (the AAD version). In general, this makes her interessting on the table. She has a larger damage output than the AAD Great Bear, thanks to Grab & Smash. She is actually a candidate for a Kontroller. She has Shield Guard. She can charge for free. She is still expensive at 15 point. Again, this will make a 19 points package. Yet, it could be fun.

Razor

The weird ‘jack, on paper; but according to wisdom of the crowd, really good on the table. I don’t think it will have a place on a Kontroller. It is 18 points, making the whole package 22 points.

Summary

There are, probably two good choices: the Dire Wolf and Great Bear; two bad ones choices: Avalanche and Razor; and one fun one: Medveditsa. Damage output from each of the choices are somewhat different. The table below summarises the average damage output (also compared to standard Khador ARM) if the ‘jack under Drive charge a model that is stationary.

Model	Att.	Pow	Dice	Avg.	Arm 20	Note
Dire Wolf (ADC)	Charge	17	14	31	11	Crit. grevious wounds
	2. initial	14	10	24	4
	Sum			55	15

Great Bear (AAB)	Charge	19	14	33	13	Beat back, crit. smite
	2. initial	17	10	27	7	Crit. knockdown
				60	20

Medveditsa	Charge	18	14	32	12
	2. initial	18	10	28	8
	Grab & Smash	12	10	22	2
	Sum			82	22

Avalanche	Charge	17	14	34	14	Grand slam
	2. initial	17	10	27	7
	Sum			58	18

Razor	Charge	18	14	32	12	Beat back, crit. shred
	2. initial	16	10	26	6	Momentum, siege weapon
	Sum			58	18

Summary of attacks by marshalled ‘jack, if opponent is stationary

Unless there are some very specific requirements put on this module from the rest of the army, I would make the standard package Kontroller + Dire Wolf (ADC). It is a lovely little package at only 14 points all in all. That is less than just a random Great Bear or an Avalanche on their own.

It could be fun attaching Medveditsa to a Kontroller. It is a pricy package at 19 points. However, with the rest of the module (see below) it might be an option for ‘casters who do not do anything for their battlegroup.

Other parts of the module

In addition to the core parts of the Kontroller and the Dire Wolf, this module also consists of three other parts that completes it. Yet, these parts also contributes to the rest of the army. The tree additional parts of the module are: a Battle Mechanik, a Winter Korps Officer, and a unit of Arkanists.

Battle Mechanik

A Battle Mechanik is always nice. At a mere two points, it generally does a lot for any Khador army. It is immune to Cold, so it will not get into too much trouble if it is caught in the Kontroller’s spray. It can obviously repair both the Kontroller and the Dire Wolf. However, the most important ability here is Tune Up. Tune Up allows the Dire Wolf to stand up, loose stationary and all continuous effects. Finally, it gets Pathfinder.

Begin able to standup is potentially quite important. Somebody might knockdown the ‘jack, either directly or because it used it Shield Guard to catch a shot ment for the Kontroller. Also, if the Dire Wolf is caught in the Kontroller’s spray, it can become stationary. Finally, Pathfinder on a ‘jack is nice.

The Battle Mechanik do have weapons: a gun and a spray. However, if the Battle Mechanik really needs to use its weapons, it is probably in a lot of trouble.

Obviously, the Battle Mechanik is not exclusively for this module. When not required, it can move around and do its things for others, contribute to scoring a terrain objective or contests. Just remember that all its abilities is only range 1″. So, it should probably stay within 6″ of the Dire Wolf.

Winter Korps Officer

Officer

The Winter Officer, the backbone of the command structure of the Winter Korps. Their contributions to the army is well known and celebrated. They have build in Pathfinder and Tough, which makes them moveable and survivable. Also, on their own they can remove minor annoyances with a POW 11 Weapon Master attack (25 points of damage on an average charge) and the classic Hand Cannon (POW 12, range 12″ and Pistol). Both hit at MAT/RAT 7. Finally, together with the Battle Mechanik they can score a terrain objective.

The extra cool stuff is their Battle Plans, which can be used even when charging. There are three plans to pick from: Combat Coordination, March, and Press the Advantage. All are range 5″. So, with a SPD of 6, an Officer should probably stay within 11″ of the Kontroller.

Combat Coordination synergises really good with the Kontroller’s spray. The Dire Wolf will work so much better if the target is Stationary. So, everything we can do to help the Kontroller is appreciated. Combat Coordination allows the Kontroller to re-roll one attack or damage roll. As the Kontroller only has RAT 6, being able to re-roll is really nice.

The other two abilities are not to frown upon either. The combination of the Battle Mechanik’s Tune Up and March from the Officer, will give the whole core module Pathfinder. Finally, Press the Advantage gives Swift Hunter, which obviously can be used on the Officer self, but also gives the Kontroller the possibility to get 2″ out of the way after killing something with the spray.

Just like the Battle Mechanik, the Officer can obviously contribute to the rest of the army, whilst not occupied with the module.

Arkanists

The final part of the module is a unit of Arkanists. Arkanists are perhaps the only true auto-include unit in the Winter Korps. Their main purpose in life is to give focus to our magnificent Warjacks by using Empower.

Empower has a pretty nice interaction with a ‘Jack Marshal. Since it can charge for free due to being marshalled, such a ‘jack actually counts as having four focus (or being Aggressive). If the Arkanists fill up the Dire Wolf, it gets four attacks with the Long Axe and one with the Shield. That is quite a lot of damage. The table below summarises the expected damage from a completely fuelled Dire Wolf charging a stationary target.

Charge (free)	2. initial	Long Axe	Long Axe	Long Axe	Avg. dam.	Arm 20
31	24	27	27	27	136	36

Summary of attacks by fully fuelled marshalled Dire Wolf, if opponent is stationary

There are also two other abilities: Razor Winds and Sigil of Power. It is always nice to spray chaff at POW 12. However, that is typically for the late game if we run out of ‘jacks to fuel. Magical Weapons actually has a pretty good use against, in particular Dusk using Void Engines where Incorporeal stuff appears all the time. A Magical spray is nice.

Summary

This is the Kontroller module as I see it. The whole module is only 23 points. It gives opportunities to score 50 mm objectives, terrain objectives, and 40 mm objectives; whilst also contesting. It can run completely autonomous irregardless of which Warcaster runs the army. Some will obliviously not do a lot for it, whilst others can do good things. Yet, it is lovely that it can operate without any explicit support, e.g. far out on a flank. Some of the scenarios in Steamroller 2025 almost requires abilities to operate autonomously on a flank.

Further, all the components in the module can naturally contribute to the rest of the army without diminishing the power of the module.

Finally, training with a fixed module should make playing it almost a reflex. Thus, we can spend our faculties on the rest of the army. The complete module is as follows.

        Kontroller [4]

         – Dire Wolf [10]

            HEAD – Shield Guard

            RIGHT ARM – Long Axe

            LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield
        Battle Mechanikm [2]
        Winter Korps Officer [3]
        Arkanists [4]
        Total Points 23
    

Until next time.
For the Motherland!

January update 2025 for the Winter Korps?

Igor Khador — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 21:22:00 +0000

The long awaited January update has finally arrived. The entire Khador has been anticipating this. Will it fix some of the general issues with Winter Korps? Will the less played models have an upgrade? Will some models have an unnecessary downgrade? And many more questions. Let’s look at the highlights of this update. I’ll focus on Winter Korps and might not go into other armies, unless something really stands out.

Finally! I have been waiting like a child waiting for the result of the acceptance test from the Druzhina. All in all, it is an OK update. Some clever changes, some that are OK, a few meh and one clear typo. I’ll attempt to go through each of the updates as objective as I can (I’m obviously biased). I’ll try not to look at updates in the context of whether they make models more powerfull, but more in a context of whether they make sense. I’m so much looking forward to moving models around again. It has been a bit quite waiting for the update.

This is my summary of the quality of the updates. I’ll walk through each of them in details below

Model	Good	OK	Meh	Bad	Really bad
Battle Mechanik	✓
Dire Wolf		✓
Great Bear					✓
Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova				✓
Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk	✓
Kommander Tatiana Sikora		✓
Kommander Valerii Savaryn				✓
Kontroller	✓
Man-O-War Wrecking Crew			✓
Mastodon					✓
Medveditsa		✓
Mortar Team		✓
Shock Trooper Gunners			✓
Shock Trooper Pikemen			✓
Winter Korps Infantry			✓
Winter Korps Officer		✓

Summary of updates

Winter Korps Rack (Superiority)

We have lost the ability to put Superiority on the Mastodon. Of course it makes the Mastodon a sad panda. However, it has gained a extra SPD (from 4″ to 5″), which does compensate somewhat. On the bright side, we can now cast Iron Flesh on it without feeling we are missing out on something. In isolation this is fine.

Winter Korps Models

Battle Mechanik

The Battle Mechanik has gotten an ARM increase from 15 to 16, which is always nice. It will now only die to POW 11 on the charge or POW 14 being shot at. So, no big change here; fair enough.

There is a very positive thing. Mechaniks now have Tune Up: Tune Up (* Action) – RNG 1. Target friendly Faction Cohort model. If the Cohort model is in range, it immediately stands up and is no longer stationary, continuous effects on the model expire, and it gains Pathfinder for one turn. This is very neat. Until now, it was only Sergeant Sergei Krol who could do that. Having the ability to remove continuous effects and stationary is very nice. The Command Card Put the Fires Out is no longer an auto-include. We also get a Pathfinder on a stick for Cohort models (Like the Winter Korps Officer’s Mach for warrior models).

All in all nice update. I like the new Battle Mechanik.

Dire Wolf

So, the Dire Wolf has three updates: Ice Hammer, Scrap Saw, and Long Axe. The Ice Hammer increase one point in cost, so it now has the same cost as the Long Axe (5 points). This ruins my favorite 9 point Dire Wolf (Shield Guard Head, Ice Hammer, and Plow Shield), which increases to 10 points. We now actually have to choose between the Ice Hammer and Long Axe — and the Long Axe now has Grievous Wounds!

So it is either an Ice Hammer at RNG 1″, POW 17 and critical freeze (probability of ~17% and ~42% if boosted), or a Long Axe at RNG 2″, POW 16 and critical Grievous Wounds). The Ice Hammer can do a bit more damage, but only at base 9″. I think the pendule might swing towards the Long Axe more often than the Ice Hammer.

The Scrap Saw has increased to POW 17 from POW 15, but also increased two points in cost (to 5 points). I am not sure about this. It gives us the possibility to have an OK powerfull melee weapon on the left arm, whilst having a ranged weapon on the right arm. That is obviously nice. But, I think it requires some tinkering to see if it actually does anything for us.

My verdict is OK. I’m going to miss the 9 point Dire Wolf, however.

Great Bear

The Great Bear also has three changes: A change to the Reposition Head, the Deep Freezer and the Heavy Cannon, and the Deep Freezer. Let us start with the easy one: Reposition goes from 2″ to 3″. This is obviously nice.

The Deep Freezer goes from RNG 12″ to 14″, which is very nice; It also grants Resistance Cold, which is OK but now game changing. It does also increase from 7 points to 8 in cost; Finally the Heavy Cannon drops 3″ in range from 15″ to 12″!

The increase in range for the Deep Freezer makes perfect sense. It has never really been in competition with the Heavy Cannon. At RNG 14″ it is a real choice. Perhaps even with the same cost as the Heavy Cannon. However, the Heavy Cannon dropping to RNG 12″ (this must be a typo). This is generally really bad. I have collected all my complaints in a seperat point on the Heavy Cannon below. Yet, the range drop hurts the Great Bear the most. I can now touch things 16″ away (move 4″ + 12″ shot) and stay 15″ away from retaliation (12″ shot + 3″ Reposition). It sounds impressive, but it is inside a lot of enemy fire.

If we ignore the typo on the Heavy Cannon it is a good update.

Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova

Only minor changes (on the surface) for Baranova. She gains Resistance Cold, which is always nice but…? Her Feat now only imposes a -2″ to the range of models shooting ours (from -4″). I guess this is just another Storm Legion coffin nail. She is a good ‘caster, at least with the old Mastodon; but not that good. She has to move from being an anti gun line ‘caster to a melee ‘caster. We seem to have lost our main (only?) denial ‘caster.

Well, what to say. Baranova is out of fashion. She got nerfed.

Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk

Boris really needed som help. I’m pretty sure she has only been a mantel piece model, basically since his release. He got Arcane Precision (If this model uses its Normal Movement to aim, it ignores cloud effects when determining LOS and ignores Stealth that activation.) This is really good. It removes the Volkova tax.

Unnatural Darkness got upgraded to Veil of Mists (Place a cloud effect template anywhere completely within the spellcaster’s control range. The template does not block friendly Faction models’ LOS. While in the template, friendly Faction models gain Pathfinder and can move through obstructions and other models if they have enough movement to move completely past them.) This is a very nice upgrade. Damien is now out of a job and Veil of Mist is just better.

The most prominent upgrade is probably his feat. Where it used to be only Feat attacks by the Battlegroup it is now all ranged attacks by the Battlegroup.

This opens quite a few interesting avenues for a shooting Battlegroup. In particular when Steamforged fixes the typo on the Heavy Cannon. I think Boris has had a very nice update.

Kommander Tatiana Sikora

Tatiana has lost one ATT down to 6. This is fine. I can’t remember ever wanting to cast an offensive spell with her. She is just going to upkeep Iron Flesh, Avenging Force, Superiority or Puissance, and perhaps Tactical Supremacy. That is six focus. She would now have been naked if it wasn’t for the fact that she also has been upgraded to ARC 7; which is very nice.

None of this changes her play style. She is still quite one dimensional. She has game but not into anything that can shoot. Except mirror matches of course. Until Steamforged fixes the typo on the Heavy Cannon. All in all an OK update.

Kommander Valerii Savaryn

Valerii only received one update. His feat got heavily nerfed. We lost Blessed and Damage Type: Magical on the ranged weapons. I have no idea why. I assume that it is because we have seen a lot of Valerii and Baranova. Thus, they must be sacrificed to the great nerf-god. I would have preferred to rather change them or other ‘casters to get more varsity. It is not like Winter Korps was the top dog on the competitive scene. According to the nice podcast Tyrants on the Field, we are at about a 50% win rate in 2024.

All in all, I think this was an unnecessary and bad update.

Kontroller

The Kontroller gained an extra RAT, going up to 6. This is really nice. I’m so happy that one is on my painting table. I have always wanted to get the Kontroller on the table. I have managed only once, and that was because I accidentally selected him rather than Sergei in the app. He has a tremendous spray, yet RAT 5 doesn’t really cut it. RAT 6 might just.

He also gained Jack Marshall with the Drive: Shatter (While within 10” of this model, the melee weapons of a warjack under its control gain Shatter. (A weapon with Shatter gains an additional damage die against stationary models.)) This is quite interesting. I think I might have been missing a Jack Marshall. I think it opens up some interesting possibilities. Thanks to the Arkanists we are not as focus starved as we used to be. Nevertheless, everything helps.

It could be fun to live the dream. Having an Avalanche under a Kontroller’s control. Proceed to spray something dangerous to make it stationary. Shoot it with a Heavy Cannon from some, now closeby ‘jack, to knock it down. Go in with the Avalanche. Fully loaded, that is 4 times POW 17 at 4 dice (for an average of 31 points of damage) and 1 POW 15 (for an average of 29 point of damage). That is 53 points of damage against standard Khador armour. Too bad Colossals can’t be made stationary.

This is potentially the best update. Nothing too over the top. Just a small boost to make the spray look promising and a Jack Marshall.

Man-O-War Wrecking Crew

The Battle Saw is now Grievous Wounds. It is pretty nice to have better access to this; in particular since the Savagery Card has gone away. But why not all saws? Although they are still just Man-O-War Crew. The Wrecking is still lacking.

OK update. They could still need som help.

Mastodon

The marvellous Mastodon has really taken a beating. It has lost access to Superiority, which is somewhat compensated with an increase in SPD to 5. It has also been hit by the typo in the Heavy Cannon.

The loss of Superiority is obviously not a good thing. Yet, it is kind of OK. Having MAT 8 is pretty good, and SPD 6 + RNG 15″ and 16″ ranged weapons is an impressive threat range. One could have wished for MAT 7 in addition to SPD 5. But it is OK.

As with the Great Bear, the update to the Deep Freezer is pretty good. It makes it a real choice: POW 16, RNG 15 and knockdown, or POW 14/8, RNG 14, and critical freeze. Very good update. Unfortunately, the Heavy Cannon is now the worst option.

It changes the role of the Mastodon (and by extension the Great Bear). It looses a complete round of shooting if we keep the Heavy Cannon. It is now needs to be a much more melee oriented ‘jack. This really nerfs the Mastodon. With the abondance of high damage output right now, it is a really high investment in a model that struggles to survive front row combat.

The Mastodon was very much defining the Khador way. Big, somewhat robust and with big guns. It seems that we are being pushed more towards a melee army. However, with our low speed, low DEF, and given these two things not a sufficiently high ARM, I think we are kind of in between right now.

This update is actually quite good. Except for they typo, which brings it into very bad update.

Medveditsa

Mother Bear has dropped two points, down to 15. This makes sense. At 17 points, it did not really see any action. There is also a quality of life update, putting the Hand of Vengeance on the right place on the card.

This is a very sensible update.

Mortar Team

The model nobody has ever seen – and for good reason. It has dropped one point to 2. This is a good choice. This solo is now interesting. Having it at an objective, lobbing grenades at the enemy.

Shock Trooper Gunners

Gunners have received and ARM increase of one, up to 16. I’m not sure this does anything good or bad.

Shock Trooper Pikemen

Pikemen has also received and ARM upgrade of one, to 17. An rather unimportant update. It is not really the issue with them. It is speed, in particular in a shooting heavy environment. They still need a solo (I recently did an in depth analysis of them here).

Winter Korps Infantry

What is supposed to be the bread and butter of the Khador army, has received updates to two of the Weapon Attachments: The Auto Cannon and the Rocket Launcher.

The Auto Cannon has lost Lone Gunman and gained CRA (Combined Ranged Attack). It is also now ROF D3 and not D3+1. On the one hand, this is pretty good. It makes for better CRA attacks. We can now do D3 CRA attacks with RAT 14 against large targets (base RAT 5 + 6 from full unit CRA + 1 from Inspiration + 2 from Volume Fire) with a POW of 19 (base 11 + 2 from Volume Fire + 6 from full unit). This is pretty good. On the other hand, it is a complete mystery why it lost and attack.

The Rocket Launcher lost AOE, but gained 2″ in range. It also exchanged ‘Jack Hunter with Brutal Damage. I would say this is an update…

Winter Korps Officer

Everybody’s favourite cheap solo is not so cheap anymore. It is now 3 points. It has lost Stand Your Ground (Set Defence) but gained Combat Coordination (RNG 5. Target friendly Faction warrior model. If the model is in range, during its activation this turn, it can reroll one attack or damage roll, then Combat Coordiantion expires.). This is actually a very good thing. I think we need a reroll more that +2 ARM when receiving a charge.

The saber went from POW 9 to POW 11. Still Weapon Master, though. This is actually a pretty good. The POW 11 is surprisingly much better than POW 9.

Finally, it lost Feign Death. That is perhaps a minor thing. However, I can’t conut the times that one of my officers have made a tough roll and then survive thanks to not being shot again.

All in all, OK.

Heavy Cannon Gate

The biggest nerf to the lovely empire is the Heavy Cannon. It used to be RNG 15, POW 16 with Momentum. Obviously a very powerfull gun. It has now been downgraded to RNG 12, still POW 16 and Momentum.

It is clear that the old Heavy Cannon made, in particular the Mastodon a very powerfull beast. Yet, it is also in many ways a defining weapon. It made the Deep Freezer more or less a non-choice. However, with the sensible upgrade to the Deep Freezer (RNG 14, POW 14/8, AOE 3, Critical Freeze), I would argue that the choice is now real.

I can also see that such a powerfull weapon in most other armies will have a shorter range. However, we haven’t got access to any extensions, such as Snipe. We are slow (in particular the Mastodon after loss of Superiority). The max range for a Mastodon was 21″. Yes, this is really far. But, compared to e.g. Storm Legion, not really. It is now, only 17″. Yes, it is in the distance, but not really.

Also, it is not like we are RAT masters. The best RAT a Mastodon can do is 7 when aiming and 5 when not. Boosted, it is hitting DEF 17 or 15 on the average. Elevation, concealment and cover will obviously change these numbers. Our arch enemy will typically be around DEF 16-17 against shooting on their ‘jacks (Deflection and Concealment/Elevation). Knockdown is obviously good. But with Empower everywhere the focus cost of standing up again is negligible.

It is even worse for the Great Bear. Typically it will only have one gun. Its range is more or less the same as the Mastodon 18″ under Superiority. The Great Bear’s Deep Freezer has received the same upgrade. So, again it was a sensible choice (under the old Heavy Cannon rules). It becomes more difficult to argue for the Heavy Cannon now. With the improved Reposition, a Great Bear can be 15″ from its target. In a shooting heavy environment this is not a lot.

I think this nerf has puts Winter Korps in a pretty weird place now. We were to a large degree a shooting army. Even though we are quickly falling behind the arch enemy, Storm Legion. Now with this nail in the coffin, I’m pretty sure we are going to loose the gun battle — hard. Also, since Baranova lost 2″ protection on her feat.

Our arch enemy has just received the Maelstrom that displays only RNG 14″ guns (and a RNG 12 spray), Stryker also presents a 14″ gun. They also have universal access to Snipe, which brings most of their guns to a minimum of 15″; and Deflection adding 2 points to DEF against Shooting. In addition to the new shoot them all ‘caster Caine 4, Huxley 1 now has Field Marshall [Reposition 5″]. Oh, and did I mention Storm Vanes? and the list goes on. With our classic Khador DEF of 10 and only (yes, I mean it) ARM 20, we are going to struggle a lot making it to the front lines.

I think a drop to 14″ would have made sense. It would still make it a real choice between the Deep Freezer and the Heavy Cannon: “Do you want AOE and Critical Freeze or Knockdown?” This would be sensible.

Another, less sensible option would be to keep a good one on the Great Bear and a bad one on the Mastodon. It is a messy solution. But, if somebody is worried about the Mastodon, only nerfing that would be an option.

I really thing that this is a redo. The Heavy Cannon must be a typo.

Summary

I have walked throug the update for Khador Winter Korps. I’m obviously bias. However, I have tried to as objective as possible. Here is a table summarising my views. I have ignore the changes to Command Cards. But, in general I’ll say I’m positive.

Model	Good	OK	Meh	Bad	Really bad
Battle Mechanik	✓
Dire Wolf		✓
Great Bear					✓
Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova				✓
Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk	✓
Kommander Tatiana Sikora		✓
Kommander Valerii Savaryn				✓
Kontroller	✓
Man-O-War Wrecking Crew			✓
Mastodon					✓
Medveditsa		✓
Mortar Team		✓
Shock Trooper Gunners			✓
Shock Trooper Pikemen			✓
Winter Korps Infantry			✓
Winter Korps Officer		✓

Summary of updates

Until next time.
For the Motherland!

Shock Trooper Pikemen – The Unpolished Gem?

Igor Khador — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 19:53:00 +0000

The Shock Trooper Pikemen have long been sitting idle in the Khador barracks waiting for some action. Partly because other parts of the Khador military has been busy. Yet, also partly because I haven’t been able to figure out what to do with them. Baranova brought four units to this year’s WTC and they seem to be performing. So, here are some musing over what the Pikemen can do, which Warcasters do what, and how to polish the gem.

Shock Trooper Pikemen are probably an uncut gem in the Empress’ arsenal. They can be made quite a lot more dangerous than what they look on their card. Here I’ll go thorough the basics of the Pikemen; how to keep them alive, getting them to the enemy, and getting them to kill stuff. I’ll also go through what our different ‘casters can do for them.

The basics of the Shock Trooper Pikemen

Shock Trooper Pikemen comes in units of three, all on 40 mm bases. They come with build in Resistance to fire, cold and blast (roll one less die when damaged, also immune to Fire continuous effect); which is nice. They have a base ARM of 16 and Shield Wall (+2 ARM when base to base, and no knockdown); and five boxes. This is pretty OK. Although, anyone with POW 15 in melee or shooting will take a model out (POW 13 on the charge). Their DEF of 12 is not really helping here. So, keeping them alive before they can engage is a challenge (see ‘Keeping them alive’ below).

Offensively, the Shock Troopers come with a range 2″ Blasting Pike at POW 15 and Critical Armor Piercing, and a range 1″ Shield at POW 10; both delivered at MAT 7. They will hit DEF 14 on the average and do 22 points of damage from the Pike and 17 points of damage from the Shield. They do have Combined Melee Attack (CMA), which gives interesting options.

Weapon	MAT	Avg. DEF	POW	Avg. dam.	Avg. dam. charge
Pike	7	14	15	22	26
Shield	7	14	10	17	21
CMA (2)	9	16	17	24	N/A
CMA (3)	10	17	18	25	N/A

Properties of different attack modes for the Pikemen

A very normal straight forward charge would be charging with the Pike and then hitting with the Shield. Assuming that they can hit, that would give an average damage of 26 + 17 (we are ignoring Critical Armor Piercing as there is only a 14% chance on two dice).

They clock in at 7 points per unit, which is OK, I guess. However, their biggest handicap is their speed of 5″. This gives them a charge range of a mere 8″ and a pike-poking-distance of 10″. It is a very static charge distance that we really can’t do anything about (except for Yana and the Sky Raider, which is covered below).

Keeping them alive

The main issue with the Shock Troopers is actually keeping them alive until they can wreck havoc. Having only DEF 12 (which is actually high for Khador) isn’t going to help them a lot. Most people, and their grandma can hit them. On the average only a MAT/RAT of 5 is required.

First and foremost, we can screen them against shooting. The Man-O-War Suppressors quite nicely fill the role here. They are 50 mm bases, pretty robust and like to shoot stuff. So advancing behind a line of Suppressors could do the trick.

Another interesting option is the AC-2 Bison. It is really robust and offers cover (+4 DEF against ranged and arcane attacks, and +2 DEF against melee for being an obstacle). That is a respectable DEF 16 against shooting (we are looking at RAT 9 or boosting to hit), and DEF 14 against melee. Two units fits nicely behind a Bison and the troopers are Blast Resistant. The only main annoyance to this is Sprays, which ignores cover.

Finally, the Winter Korps Officer can hand out Stand Your Ground, giving them Set Defence. That is DEF 14 against charges and slams.

With respect to using Command Cards, there are a few option: Defences, could give then a Barrier to hide out behind, giving them Cover: Infiltration would give one unit Stealth for one round; High Alert could give somebody nearby Shield Guard; and finally, True Inspiration could give them Tough.

The main problem here is obviously that cards can only do something for one unit for one round. This is of course better than nothing, yet not a pretty sustainable way of keeping them alive.

Other options can be found in our Rack Spells: Fog of War is the first, and most universal. Everybody gets Concealment (+2 DEF against shooting and arcane attacks). This would bring the Pikemen to DEF 14 against shooting (RAT 7 needed to hit them on the average), which is ok; the second option is Iron Flesh (+2 ARM), which would bring them to ARM 20 in Shield Wall. It would then require POW 18 to kill them on the average; finally, Weald Secrets is an option. Stealth is nice for one unit. Finally, there is, of course the card True Inspiration for giving one unit Tough for one round.

My choice would be either advancing behind a wall of Suppressors, potentially in combination with Fog of War; or advancing behind a Bison (the latter is clearly the coolest).

Getting them into the fray

Not only do they need to survive until they can actually hit the lines, they also need to get there as fast as possible. Unfortunately, we currently haven’t got any sure way of speeding them up (except for Yara below). There are basically only two way of helping them. Either be enlisting the assistance of a Winter Korps Officer giving them March (Pathfinder). Then at least they won’t be too much hindered by terrain.

The second one is through playing cards: Hit & Run card, which will give one model Reposition 3″; Duck and Cover! gives a unit Cover for one round (DEF 16 against shooting); Careful Reconnaissance for Pathfinder for one unit, one round; Infiltration for Stealth for one unit, one round; and obviously Defence to have things to hide behind. The problem with cards is that there are typically a lot of cool cards that you want for some other reason, and that is it typically one unit, one round.

Making them kill stuff

The Pikemen are obviously capable of killing stuff (see also the basics above). However, it is always nice to make them kill more or harder stuff. Killing stuff boils down to hitting it and then inflicting as much damage as possible.

They are already, out of box equipped with MAT 7, which will hit DEF 14 on the average. That is pretty OK in itself. Unfortunately, we don’t really have any good way of fixing MAT, except for what specific Warcasters can do for them. The only thing we can do is to either knock models down or make them stationary; and we do have the arsenal for that.

Model	Knockdown	Knockdown (crit)	Stationary	Stationary (crit)
AC-2 Bison	Momentum
Dire Wolf		Cannon		Ice Hammer
Great Bear	Slammer Head	Battle Mace		Deep Freezer
	Heavy Cannon	Blasting Fist
Kontroller			Freeze spray
Mastodon	Heavy Cannon			Deep Freezer
Medveditsa	Grab & Smash
Volkova				Hoarfrost
Wrecking Crew		Smite

Who can help the Pikemen hit stuff

As the table above shows, we do have quite a lot of options to either knock things down or make them stationary. As always, one should not base a plan around Critical Effect, since there is only roughly a 14% chance of that happening. However, non-critical effects are quite likeable. The most consistent way is of course getting help from ‘jacks as they can boost to hit (and with a bit of luck Aim). Unfortunately, they tend to cap out at RAT 5, which of course is RAT 7 boosted if aiming (hitting DEF 17 on the average).

Spell wise, we only have two rack spells that can help: Freezing Grip for Stationary (at a hefty price of 4 Focus) and Tempest for Knockdown (also at 4 Focus). Not a terrible viable solution in my mind, as our ‘casters often can’t spare 4 Focus.

So, once we have hit the opponent, either through our own effort alone or be enlisting help, we would like to deal as much damage as possible. The first solution here is obviously to charge! That is 26 points of damage on the average. Again, there really isn’t any general, army wide solution for increasing this. The only general approach is the Rack Spells: Puissance. This gives a +2 to damage rolls and Beatback. That would be an average of 28 points of damage on the charge and a Beatback.

What can the Warcasters do for them?

Pikemen unassisted by specific Warcaster will be somewhere between ARM 16 and 20; between DEF 12 and 18; moving at SPD 5, potentially with Pathfinder; hitting at anywhere between MAT 7 and 10, with anywhere between POW 10 and POW 28. The six, currently available Warcaster can help them in different ways.

Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova

Baranova doesn’t do a lot to keep them alive. She can to a certain degree help them with getting near the enemy; or rather getting the enemy near them as she has Gallows to pull models in. She is, first and foremost, a Invocation of Wrath bot. Having an extra dice on to hit, whilst dropping the lowest move a MAT 7 Pikeman from hitting DEF 14 on the average to hitting DEF 15 (rounded down). Finally, Banishing Ward might come in handy if somebody has cast a nasty spell on the Pikemen.

Her feat is also pretty good for both keeping them alive, and to a certain degree getting them delivered. Storm of Ages stop enemy models activating in her control range (14″) from charging, slamming and trampeling, and gives enemy models -2 SPD. Finally, if the opponent tries to shoot somebody or cast spells on them, they will have -4 RNG. This is really good for protecting Pikemen (and everybody else) on the way to the frontline.

Baranova is so-so in helping the Pikemen.

Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk

Illari is also not the born Pikemen ‘caster. He doesn’t really do anything for the Pikemen. Boris is not particularly helpful.

Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy

Kapitan Yana actually does offer a couple of very interesting things to the Pikemen. She doesn’t really do anything to keep the alive. However, quite importantly she helps them getting there fastish. She can (and will) cast Dash! A whole extra inch on SPD suddenly allows a pike-poking-distance of a mighty 11″.

Once within pike-poking-distance, she does offer quite a lot. Her spell Spirit Fang can lower an opponents DEF with 2, making the Pikemen effectively base MAT 9. He feat gives them Cleave and Overtake, which offers more attacks and more manoeuvrability once engaged (assuming that the Pikemen kill something). Finally, the gold: Battle Lust. I have missed that spell. An additional die on melee damage roll, whilst loosing 2 DEF.

Battle Lust really cranks up the damage output. Additional dice is golden. That is four dice on a charge. See the table below for a summary of the average damage output under Battle Lust.

Weapon	MAT	Avg. DEF	POW	Avg. dam.	Avg. dam. charge
Pike	7	14	15	26	29
Shield	7	14	10	21	24
CMA (2)	9	16	17	28	N/A
CMA (3)	10	17	18	29	N/A

Damage output of Pikemen under Battle Lust

Combining Battle Lust and her feat really makes for a lot of fun. The dream scenario is obviously charging in, doing 3 pike attacks at 29 points of damage, followed by 3 shield attacks at 21 points of damage, and the additional 3 Cleave attacks with the pike for an additional three times 26 points of damage. Obviously, it could also be any combination of CMA attacks, plus Cleave. Unfortunately, it is impossible to combine Battle Lust and Puissance, since they are both upkeeps. That would have been fun! She can, of course have Battle Lust on one unit and Puissance on another. Making two pretty dangerous Pikemen units.

Yana is for sure a helpful lady.

Kapitan Zahara Vilkul

The newest addition to the Warcaster stable is Zahara. Out of the box, she doesn’t really do much for the Pikemen. The only thing she do is her feat, Pall of Ashes. It opens up many interesting options. However, it requires skill, the right terrain and a bit of luck to really do something consistently for the Pikemen.

The feat can help, both getting the Pikemen into the fray and killing stuff. It produces d3+3 cloud effect, which can help getting there. These clouds allow for friendly models to move through obstructions (kind of a poor mans Ghostwalk). It also gives Pathfinder. In addition, if put on an enemy, they get -2 DEF, -2 to hit and looses tough. One only has to be within the template for friendly and enemy effects to work.

Zahara doesn’t really do a lot for the Pikemen.

Kommander Tatiana Sikora

The cadre caster, Tatiana Sikora can do quite a few things for the Pikemen. She can help keeping them alive, getting into the fray and making them kill stuff.

Tatiana’s feat improves the probability of keeping the Pikemen alive. It does, however require that they are in melee. Her feat gives Unyielding (+2 ARM against melee attacks) in her control range (14″). This will bring them to ARM 20, which is pretty OK. With 5 boxes, an enemy needs a POW 18 to kill them on the average, or a POW 15 on the charge. So, once they have dug into the enemy’s lines, it will help.

Tatiana comes with Tactical Supremacy on her spell list, which helps getting them into the fray. This gives Reposition [3″] for one unit. Reposition is nice and can help one unit to advance more. However, there is a tradeoff. Spreading out a unit with Reposition allows them to cover much more real estate for the next round. However, Spreading out Pikemen removes their Shield Wall, which makes them quite soft and squishy.

Where Tatiana shines is in making Pikemen Kill stuff. First off, is the second half of her feat. It gives a reroll on attack rolls, which always help. In addition, she has Positive Charge on the spell list. Put it on a ‘jack and park the ‘jack within 3″ of Pikemen and they get +2 to hit and +2 POW, bringing them to MAT 9, POW 17 before more fun. Bring Damien Korovik and do it with two ‘jacks.

Tatiana can make one unit pretty dangerous. If she picks Puissance (+2 to damage) for the rack, cast it on a unit of Pikemen, park a ‘jack nearby with Positive Charge, the damage potential really adds up. It is quite similar to the damage output under Battle Lust with Yana, just a teeny bit better; and better MAT.

Weapon	MAT	Avg. DEF	POW	Avg. dam.	Avg. dam. charge
Pike	9	16	19	26	30
Shield	9	16	14	21	25
CMA (2)	11	18	21	28	N/A
CMA (3)	12	19	22	29	N/A

Damage output of Pikemen under Puissance and Positive Charge

Tatiana can also be a rather helpful lady.

Kommanders Valerii Savaryn

The final Warcaster, so far, is the poster boy Savaryn. To keep them alive, he does two things: the spell Rock Wall gives a nice Obstacle to get cover from and the Battle Plan – At All Cost give another unit Shield Guard to divert shots from ht Pikemen.

The only thing he does for getting them into the fray is another Battle Plan – Precision Strike, which allows models to move through other models. Pretty neat for not getting in way of each other.

Finally, once they are at the battle line, the Battle Plan – Kill order is pretty good as it is not tied to a friendly unit, but the enemy model/unit exposed to it. It gives +2 to hit and +2 damage. This gives him the ability to make Pikemen as brutal as Tatiana above. In particular, if he racks Puissance (see table under Tatiana, above).

Savaryn does a bit for the Pikemen.

How I like to run the Pikemen

I have had some success running four pikemen units under Baranova with two Bisons and a Mastodon. However, I don’t think it is the best configuration. I’m suggesting two different configurations: Tatiana or Yana.

Tatiana is the slow lady, at least of these two. She relies on slow and steady, and once her armies get there, they’ll beat the crap out of the opponent. It should not be any surprise that she really likes Man-O-Wars. Perhaps even so much that she would actually prefer them over Pikemen. Nevertheless, she can run them quite well.

Below (to the left) is the core model that would make up a Tatiana Pikemen list. Obviously, all the pikemen she can bring. A couple of officers to help out and work with objectives. Damien is there to, primarily cast an extra Positive Charge on a ‘jack. Finally, two units of Suppressors to march in front of the Pikemen. This clocks in at 57 points, leaving 43 points to play around with.

My suggestions for the additional 43 points can be see to the right below. In addition to the core list, Sergei is there to support the Man-O-wars. There are two of the inexpensive, yet very versatile Dire Wolfs (my favourite configuration). The have Shield Guard and Anchor; and take Positive Charge really well. Finally, a Great Bear to hang around Tatiana as a bodyguard, shoot something and knock it down. In the late game it is also a pretty good hard hitter.

Kommander Tatiana Sikora
   – Fog of War
   – Puissance
Winter Korps Officer [2]

Winter Korps Officer [2]
Koldun Lord Damien Korovnik [3]    
Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Man-O-War Suppressors [11]

Man-O-War Suppressors [11]
Command cards

    – High Alert

    – Hit & Run

    – True Inspiration
Total Points   57/100

Kommander Tatiana Sikora
   – Fog of War
   – Puissance
   – Dire Wolf [9]
     HEAD – Shield Guard
     RIGHT ARM – Ice Hammer
     LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield
   – Dire Wolf [9]
     HEAD – Shield Guard
     RIGHT ARM – Ice Hammer
     LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield
   – Dire Wolf [10]
   – Great Bear [16]
     HEAD – Aggressive
     RIGHT ARM – Heavy Cannon
     LEFT ARM – Heavy Cannon Shield
Winter Korps Officer [2]

Winter Korps Officer [2]

Koldun Lord Damien Korovnik [3]

Sergeant Sergei Krol [5]
Arkanists [4]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Man-O-War Suppressors [11]

Man-O-War Suppressors [11]
Command cards

    – High Alert

    – Hit & Run

    – Old Faithful

    – Power Swell

    – True Inspiration
Total Points   100/100

The second option, and perhaps the one I prefer is Yana. She is fast, so she needs a fast army. Below (to the left) is the core list, consisting of: Two Bisons can keep up and the Pikemen can tag along behind them for the sweet cover; and two officers are there to do what they do best. This leaves us with 48 points to play around with.

My suggestion for filling the 48 points can be seen below, to the right. I like the Mastodon. Inspired by the experiences with Baranova running a Mastodon, that module fits nicely to Yana. The standard Mastodon-module consists of: the Mastodon, a Mechanik, Volkova, a unit of Arkanists, Blessing of the Gods, Old Faithful, and Superiority. She will also bring a unit of snipers to ba annoying.

Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy
   – Fog of War
   – Puissance
AC-2 Bison [10]

AC-2 Bison [10]

Winter Korps Officer [2]

Winter Korps Officer [2]
Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]
Command cards

    – High Alert

    – Hit & Run

    – True Inspiration
Total Points   52/100

Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy
   – Superiority
   – Puissance
   – Mastodon [34]
     HEAD – Fire Support
     RIGHT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon
     LEFT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon
     RIGHT ARM – Great Axe
     LEFT ARM – Grinder Fist
AC-2 Bison [10]

AC-2 Bison [10]

Battle Mechanik [2]

Magziev Zariyah Volkova [4]

Winter Korps Officer [2]

Winter Korps Officer [2]
Arkanists [4]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Shock Trooper Pikemen [7]

Winter Korps Snipers [4]
Command cards

    – Blessing of the Gods

    – High Alert

    – Hit & Run

    – Old Faithful

    – True Inspiration
Total Points   100/100

These are currently my two favourite list for the Pikemen. They are still quite a lot therorycrafting. However, they will be heavily tested shortly.

Exotic tricks

In addition to the polishing tools offered within the friendly Faction models, there are some slightly more exotic options when employing mercenaries, which might, or might not be good. The current available mercenaries can help in the following ways

Alexia, Queen of the Damned can, in some strange way help keeping them alive. She has Death Toll on her sword, which returns a grunt nearby when killing something. She can do the same thing using Grim Returns as a Star Action. This is obviously nice if somebody manages to kill one of the Pikemen.

Krueger, Wrath of Blighterghast has Burning Blight, which can help them kill stuff. It gives +1 to attack rolls within 5″ (also for the enemy), and Ashen Veil (-2 to attack rolls), which the Pikemen are immun to, but will benefit from.

Final remarks and wishes for the future

If you made it here, I’m impressed. I really think that the Pikemen are really underrated.

I would really like to see a Shock Trooper Officer or something like that. Some way of speeding up the Pikemen would be golden. Whether that is a solo or unit attachment, I think is unimportant. Another, less reliable option would be one giving the Tough, which would be very nice as they already are immune to knockdown when in a Shield Wall.

Let’s see if they can bring pain to our enemies. Until next time.

For the Motherland!

The Motherland returns to WTC

Igor Khador — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 14:41:00 +0000

Following the success (I think) at last year’s WTC in Belgium, the Motherland is attending this year’s WTC in Denmark. It is a new time with Mark IV live. This year I’m bringing Malakov and Strakhov, both in 5th division. I think that Legacy models perform pretty well in the new environment. However, as so many times before, the armies were led down by the man behind the line. Yet, all in all it was pretty good.

I went to WTC last year and it was so much fun that I’m returning this year (for a walk through of my experiences last year, see here). All list are available online and Tyrant of the Field has even gone through them in his very nice podcast. I was planning to attend with the new Winter Korps. Yet, that would require me to actually finish painting both armies. Thus, I have opted for existing Legacy troops.

My ambitions is, as always to win at least one and not end up last. I’m not going to do a long a complicated write-up; I’ll just go briefly go through each battle and see if there are any lessons learned.

This year’s Khador lists are Kommander Andrei Malakov in a shooting Winter Guard list and Kommander Oleg Strakhov in a list containing as many ‘jack as I could stuff in there. If I can count, there are only three examples of 5th division (Germany and Portugal in addition to this one). It is going to be interesting to see how they fare. Without any further ado, here are my two lists:

Khador – 5th Division

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Malakov 2] Kommander Andrei Malakov

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Victor [27]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [3]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]
Battle Mechaniks [2]

Greylord Ternion [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Infantry [5]

    – Officer & Standard [2]

Winter Guard Mortar Crew [4]

Winter Guard Rifle Corps [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]
Defenses

    – Barrier

    – Barrier

    – Fire Pit
Command Card

    – Defenses

    – Old Faithful

    – Power Swell

    – Sapper

    – Sentry Duty [1]

Khador – 5th Division

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Strakhov 1] Kommander Oleg Strakhov

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Kodiak [10]

    – Kodiak [10]

    – Marauder [9]

    – Marauder [9]

    – Marauder [9]
Kovnik Apprentice Kratikoff [4]

    – Rager [8]
Battle Mechaniks [2]

Greylord Ternion [4]

Greylord Ternion [4]
Command Cards

    – Arcane Forces [1]

    – Hit & Run

    – Old Faithful

     – Power Swell

     – Sapper

Malakov 2 in 5th division

It is no secret that I’m very fond of Winter Guards; and lots of them. I have played a lot of Vlad1 in Winter Guards. So, I was so happy when 5th division arrived. The changes from the classic Winter Guards to 5th division are not huge. Most notably, the Rocketeers are no longer Weapon Attachments but units on their own. This is a good thing. Joe has been toned down a bit. The Artillery Kapitans have become even more useful; and we can have Ternions for Empower.

I finally get to field Victor (with the paint almost dry). I think he is a beast. His main gun, is actually better with the new AOE blast rules. Finally, we can “field” Barriers, which is pretty cool for the new Rocketeer units to hide behind, making the DEF 16 against shooting. The Fire Pit is there to support a flank if there are Ambushers around.

This is clearly my main army. I would not be surprised if I’m only going to field this. In general, the plan is going to be pretty simply. Grab cover, shoot a lot. Focus on killing the high value, or dangerous targets first, and them mob up.

Strakhov 1 in 5th division

Khador Legacy ‘jack are as we know them. The are rather inexpensive, hits hard, but are slow. They are also relying on their base ARM 20. Their “high” arm has not really been high for many years. I suspect it is the same problem in MARK IV: ARM 20 is not going to cut it.

Nevertheless, Strakhov with all the ‘jacks should be fun. There are Juggernauts for normal killing; Marauders for addressing huge bases; and Kodiaks for movement, thorwing stuff and clouds.

Some Mechaniks for repairing and potentially scoring zones. 6 Ternions for feed the ‘jacks focus. Sorscha is there for the Boundless Charge on a stick.

I’m not sure that I am going to play this list a lot (at all). But if the right situation arrives.

Round 1 — Mercenaries of Sweden

First up is the Talion Charter, so Swedish Pirates! Something we are historically well acquited with in Denmark. I think this should be manageable, I just need to kill the Gallon fast.

We are playing Invasion, so two zones for troops. Also, the pirates do not have a lot of shooting, so I’m going for Malakov with all the men. The Swede went with Fiona, which I think is OK. The two armies are:

Mercenaries – Talion Charter

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Fiona 1] Fiona the Black

    – Galleon [30]

    – Mariner [14]

    – Mariner [14]

    – Toro [10]
Bosun Grogspar [3]

Dirty Meg [2]

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile [2]

Powder Monkey [1]

Powder Monkey [1]

Powder Monkey [1]

Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]

Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]

Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Press Gangers [5]

Press Gangers [5]

The Commodore Cannon & Crew [6]
Defenses

    – Spike Trap

    – Spike Trap

    – Spike Trap
Command Card

    –  Blessing of the Gods [0]

    –  Careful Reconnaissance [0]

    –  Defenses [0]

    –  Sapper [0]

    –  Sentry Duty [1]

Khador – 5th Division

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Malakov 2] Kommander Andrei Malakov

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Victor [27]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [3]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]
Battle Mechaniks [2]

Greylord Ternion [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Infantry [5]

    – Officer & Standard [2]

Winter Guard Mortar Crew [4]

Winter Guard Rifle Corps [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]
Defenses

    – Barrier

    – Barrier

    – Fire Pit
Command Card

    – Defenses [0]

    – Old Faithful [0]

    – Power Swell [0]

    – Sapper [0]

    – Sentry Duty [1]

My plan is pretty simple: i) Shoot a lot; ii) Kill the Galleon; and iii) deal with the rest. How hard can it be?

Both parties are ready to roll. The pirates won the roll-off and opted to go first. The picture below depicts the situation after deployment.

Swedish pirates attempting to raid Denmark

Fiona advances carefully. She is afraid of Victor and his big gun. On the right flank there is a large trench where a unit of Press Gangers hide. This is slightly annoying as I would rely on blasts to kill all the Press Gangers. Fiona also hides in some rubble. Everything else tries to stay out of Victors fire range.

Malakov advances his troops. Rocketeers run into cover behind the two barriers strategically placed within running distance.

As always, the first round is pretty boring. The picture below shows the result of the first round.

Somewhere in the middle of the game

I got carried away, so I forgot to take many pictures. Loosely based on my memory, this is what happend.

Fiona had to move up. The two Mariners turned out to be pretty good a shooting and moving. They, more or less cleaned out most troops on the right flank. Also, the Press Gangers mostly just sat there nice and cozy hiding from Khador’s artillery.

The left flank was a bit more cautious. Fiona was pretty worried about loosing the Commodore Cannon, so it never really got to do a lot.

At some point. the Galleon had to move forward to join the fray and that did have some effect.

Malakov would really like to get rid of the Galleon. So the first couple of turns all shooting was directed into it. The Galleon went down somewhat easy. Concentrating fire on the Galleon obviously meant that other enemies had to be ignored; which cost a lot of dead troops. However, I think the priority was worth the effort.

After killing the Galleon, Fiona was on her heels. Unfortunately, a lot of shooting, many little men and a rusty player has its consequences.

End of game

At the end of the day, I spend too much clock time. I think the primary reasons were: not being sufficiently prepared by knowing my models’ capabilities by heart; and not sticking to a plan. I did decide to kill the Galleon and then deal with the rest. However, I think I spend to much time being somewhere between greedy and questioning myself.

All in all, the Swedish pirates manage to set up a beach head on the Danish shores. Fiona won on my timing out. She ended up with a mere 46 army points and 6 control points. Malakov managed to do 39 army points and 2 control points.

I was a very nice game with a very lovely opponent. I’m pretty sure we both enjoyed it — probably him slightly more than me, though.

Round 2 — American Orgoth

Next up are American Orgoth. In some bizarre way a natural continuation from my first match. This time it is just pirates from distant shores to the west attempting to land on Danish shores.

We are playing Split Decision, so it is troops and solos for scoring. I’m sticking with Malakov as he actually did it pretty well in the last round. The American went with Horruskh. I think I’m good. I have only met Orgoth twice, so who knows? The two armies are:

Orgoth – Sea Raiders

Grand Melee – 100 pts 
Horruskh, The Thousand Wraths

	SPELL – Carnage

	SPELL – Death March 
 	– Jackal [8]

 		HEAD – Bloodthirst [1]

 		RIGHT ARM – Pole Arm [4]

 		LEFT ARM – Assault Shield [3]

 	– Jackal [8]

		HEAD – Bloodthirst [1]

 		RIGHT ARM – Pole Arm [4]

 		LEFT ARM – Assault Shield [3]

	– Jackal [8]

 		HEAD – Arc Node [1]

 		RIGHT ARM – Mace [3]

 		LEFT ARM – Assault Shield [3]

	– Jackal [8]

 		HEAD – Arc Node [1]

 		RIGHT ARM – Mace [3]

 		LEFT ARM – Clawed Fist [3]

	– Tyrant [16]

		HEAD – Hunter [2]

		RIGHT ARM – Belcher [7]

		LEFT ARM – Quad Bolt Thrower [7]

	– Tyrant [16]

		HEAD – Hunter [2]

		RIGHT ARM – Belcher [7]

		LEFT ARM – Quad Bolt Thrower [7]
Reaver Commander [3]

Reaver Commander [3]

Vulcar Forge Master [2]

Vulcar Forge Master [2]

Vulcar Forge Master [2]
Rhok Harriers [10]

Ulkor Axers [8]

Ulkor Axers [8]

Warwitch Coven [4]

Warwitch Coven [4] 
Command Card

	– Careful Reconnaissance [0]

	– Hit & Run [0]

	– Old Faithful [0]

	– Power Swell [0]

	– Savagery [1]

Khador – 5th Division

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Malakov 2] Kommander Andrei Malakov

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Victor [27]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [3]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [2]
Battle Mechaniks [2]

Greylord Ternion [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]

Winter Guard Infantry [5]

    – Officer & Standard [2]

Winter Guard Mortar Crew [4]

Winter Guard Rifle Corps [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]

Winter Guard Rocketeers [5]
Defenses

    – Barrier

    – Barrier

    – Fire Pit
Command Card

    – Defenses [0]

    – Old Faithful [0]

    – Power Swell [0]

    – Sapper [0]

    – Sentry Duty [1]

I won the roll off an went first. As always, two barriers are place within running distance of the Rocketeers. Besides that, there really isn’t a lot to say about the deployment.

Horruskh deploys most of the ‘jacks in the middel, with troops on the flank, and the flying monsters on the right to harass Malakov’s flag and objective. The picture below depicts the situation after deployment.

Orgoth arriving on the shores of Khador

Again, the sound of battle and charging enemies made me forget to take pictures. So, it will be loosely based on my memory.

Shooting is good. I did manage to kind of follow a plan of concentrating fire on single models until they are gone. However, some thinking was required as the Vulcar Forge Masters hand out Shield Guard. Also, the shooting Orgoth Tyrants are no slugs. They did thin out heavily in Malakov’s troops.

At some point during the altercation I manage to move Victor into charge range of too many Orgoth ‘jacks; which killed him. That was rather silly. I should remember to measure more thoroughly.

I did manage to score consistently on my flag, and keep my objective alive. The Winter Guards on the right flank could, surprisingly easy deal with the Rhok Harriers. Something that allowed them to kill the Orgoth objective and on a regular basis contest the flag.

At some point it became clear that the real battle was on the left flank. That was the most bloody part. It was back and forth with the Juggernauts being damaged a lot, the repaired and hitting back. Malakov had Horruskh on the defensive for scenario points. Finally, Horruskh came forward as the last remaining model that could do anything sensible (scenario wise). Malakov threw everything at him…

End of battle

My clock went bip before the remaining Juggernaut manage to make its last attack. Horruskh was on three boxes with no focus left. One more minute on the clock and he would have been toast. The battle enden with me loosing on time (again!), with the Orgoth scoring 60 army points and 6 control points; and Malakov scoring 47 army points and 8 control points. Well played by the American.

Again I’m too slow. This is clearly a result of too little preparation. Loosing Victor was down to sloppy playing, yet it was not a catastrophe. All in all, it was a very good game, which we both enjoyed.

Round 3 — Swedish Crucible Guards

Next up, more Swedes. This time it is Crucible Guards, which is actually very bad for Khador. They can typically swing ARM a lot. I got matched up with them, partly based on thinking Malakov should have a fighting chance. We are playing Bunkers. Partly because I had a stroke (not of genius) I decided that I hadn’t played Starkhov yet and Marauders are very good agains huge bases (there is a Vulcan). So Strakhov it is. The two armies are:

Crucible Guard – Crucible Guard

Grand Melee – 100 pts
Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart

	– Mr. Clogg

	– Retaliator [8]

	– Vanguard [9]

	– Vulcan [28]
Ascendant Mentalist [4]

Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]

Crucible Guard Mechanik [1]

Crucible Guard Mechanik [1]

Crucible Guard Mechanik [1]

Doctor Alejandro Mosby [4]
Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7]

Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7]

Crucible Guard Infantry [7]

	– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]

Crucible Guard Storm Troopers [9]

Dragon’s Breath Rocket [4]
Command Card

	– Blessing of the Gods [0]

	– Hit & Run [0]

	– Power Swell [0]

	– Sapper [0]

	– Sentry Duty [1]

Khador – 5th Division

Grand Melee – 100 pts
[Strakhov 1] Kommander Oleg Strakhov

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Juggernaut [10]

    – Kodiak [10]

    – Kodiak [10]

    – Marauder [9]

    – Marauder [9]

    – Marauder [9]
Kovnik Apprentice Kratikoff [4]

    – Rager [8]
Battle Mechaniks [2]

Greylord Ternion [4]

Greylord Ternion [4]
Command Cards

    – Arcane Forces [1]

    – Hit & Run [0]

    – Old Faithful [0]

     – Power Swell [0]

     – Sapper [0]

I won the roll-off and went first. I did have some kind of a plan. I would get one or two Marauders to the Vulcan, kill it and mop up the rest. I assumed that I could bait it with one Marauder or perhaps a Juggernaut. The picture below shows the deployment.

Deployment of both armies

First round was good. I followed my plan and moved ‘jacks up behind the house in the middle and putting one in harms way to lure the Vulcan to my Marauders, feating quite early to make sure that all my ‘jacks had Stealth. The plan worked.

The plan actually worked so well that the Vulcan, the Infantry (which shoots ridiculous good against high arm) and the Assault Troopers basically remove all of my ‘jacks on the right flank without breaking a sweat. I think they were swinging ARM with -6 due to rust and other nastiness.

End of battle

So, basically I played the worst possible army into the worst possible enemy. I was thinking that I might be able to catch the enemy off guard (no pun intended). They didn’t even have to be on guard. I lost on scenario, with Crucible Guards scoring an impressive 92 army points and 8 control points; with me only scoring 29 army points and 3 control points.

This was just bad pairing (my own fault), bad judgement (my own fault) and bad playing (my own fault). Kudos to the nice Swede for keeping up with a ever increasing grumpy Khador player.

Game 4 & 5:

For logistic reasons I couldn’t make the fourth game and unfortunately had to leave my opponent with a victory without putting models on the table. The fifth game game had the same problem, just the other way around. So, I actually manage to “win” one game.

Summary & Lessons Learned

First of all, WTC is fun. The people are very nice and there is a fantastic atmosphere. I am so much looking forward to next year.

I had two very good games, and a very bad one (which was only down to myself). It is quite clear that I need to practice more. There are a few recommendations for myself (and others perhaps):

Know exactly what your models do;
More practice games;
Form a plan and stick to it, unless it goes completely haywire;
Develop patterns for movement of models that interact. E.g. move Artillery Kapitan, then move Artillery and shooting ‘jacks;
Don’t get greedy; and
Read up on opposing armies.

I’ll try to adhere to these lessons learned in the future.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

Winter Korps core army box, what can we build?

Igor Khador — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 20:45:00 +0000

The Winter Korps is finally here. At last we can field the new improved Winter Korps Army. A good starting point is the core army starter set. This gives us most of what we need to build an army. The set itself easily allows us to build a 50 point army; but not enough to build 75 point. Here is some musing over what this starter set can give us.

The Winter Korps core army starter set contains the following models:

Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk
Dire Wolf Heavy Warjack
Great Bear Heavy Warjack
2 x Winter Korps Infantry unit with all possible attachments (12 models)
2 x Winter Korps Standard
Shock Tropper Gunner unit (3 models)
Arkanist unit (3 models)
Winter Korps Officer

All in all, this gives us 68 points of army if we choose the most expensive ‘jacks and most expensive Command Cards. The most realistic army we can build is a 50 points army. So, what could we build that makes sense?

These musings are only base on theorising. So far, I have only manage to play the Armored Korps army in MK IV (see here for an overview of my first MK IV tournament).

Warcaster — Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk

Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk is, for some reason the chosen warcaster in our starter box. I would so much have preferred Kommander Valerii Savaryn. I still think Ilari is the long lost love child of Yuri and a Widowmaker.

He is a bit of a strange fellow. He is rather nimble at SPD 7 and native Pathfinder. The latter he also lends to his ‘jacks through Field Marshal. He has Reposition 3″ and Prowl, which he can trigger by casting Unnatural Darkness on himself each round. He clearly needs to be nimble and stealthy. He is DEF 16, which is pretty good. But with only ARM 14 and 16 boxes he dies if you stare hard at him.

Ilari carries a small knife, which is only POW 10 and at MAT 6. Yet, if he is in a situation where he needs to use his knife, he is probably already dead — he just haven’t noticed it yet.

He is far better with his gun, Shadow of Death. It is range 14″ at RAT 8 (average hitting DEF 15). It is only POW 10 yet. However, he is weapon master with it (average 20 points of damage), and he can choose three different types of ammunition:

Critical Armor-Piercing, which is pretty good if it hadn’t been on critical. There is a ~50% chance of a critical assuming that the opponent only has DEF 12. Obviously boosting increases the chance.
Flare, which makes the opponent suffer -2 DEF and loos Stealth. He just needs to hit something with Stealth to begin with. A command card comes in handy here (see below).
Grievous Wounds removes tough and target cannot have damage removed from it. Always shoot a Warlock before an assassination run.

On the bright side, he can reload once. So two shots. He appears to be a solo hunter primarily.

His feat is kind of cool. If a model in his battle group (that is him and his ‘jacks) destroys a model, somebody else can move 2″ and make a basic attack, which is boosted. He can probably start the chain. Shoot and kill something, shooty ‘jack moves and kill something, next ‘jack does the same, and finally Ilari moves and shoots something; and then he reposition. Funky movement.

He comes native with two spells: Dark Unravelling (his battlegroup gets Magical weapons and Blessed (ignores bonuses from spells adding to DEF or ARM), and Unnatural Darkness (center a Cloud effect on a friendly model). The former is pretty nice, whereas the latter sound really crap for 2 focus. It is of course Stealth on a stick for himself. But still. He can also pick two spells from the Khador rack, which gives him 90 different combination of spells.

I can’t be bothered to go through all of them. I’ll just describe my two favourite picks: I’ll go for the old standard spell, Fog of War. +2 DEF to models within 12″ of him helps, in particular the Winter Korps. The second spell is Superiority, which give +2 to SPD, MAT and DEF to a ‘jack and stops it from getting knocked down. That spell is so much going on the Great Slam Bear (see below). He then needs to upkeep two spells, which turns him into a Focus 4 ‘caster; hurrah for Arkanist.

He seems a bit lackluster (at least in the vacuum of not having looked at the other armies). His feat is cool and Dark Unravelling is a nice spell. Pathfinder on his ‘jacks is cool. He might be best as an anti-hordes ‘caster. Nevertheless, I can’t wait for Kommander Valerii Savaryn.

Warjacks

There are two ‘jack kits in the army set. One of the new Heavy version, the Great Bear; and one of the new Khador light version, the Dire Wolf. Both types can be customised with a lot of options. A more thorough walk through of the different ‘jack options and comparison to the MK III ‘jacks can be found here

For the purpose of the army core set, here are my two favourites.

Dire Wolf

Like all native MK IV ‘jacks the Dire Wolf can now be customised with several different heads and arms. The Dire Wolf is something as innovative as a light ‘jack — Khador style. This means only ARM 19 but fast as a shark at SPD 5!

Any ‘caster, or some other somewhat soft target need a Shield Guard. So, my preferred build is such a thing:

Head: Shield Guard
Right Arm: Bombard
Left Arm: Plow-Shield

This gives us an ARM 21 Shield Guard (or CDA), which the ‘caster might even wish to hug as it gives Anchor (no knockdown) and Girded (Resistance: Blast) when base to base with it.

When it is hanging around with the ‘caster just playing guard, it might as well lob a few grenades at stuff. The Bombard is an excellent tool for this as it has Arching Fire and can deliver two 2″ AOE, POW 14/8 up to 12″ away. It is only at RAT 5. But, it is better than just hanging around doing nothing.

When the second wave goes into action or it needs to step up, it can deliver a POW 14 hit with its shield in addition to its Bombard. Not too shabby at only 11 points.

Great Slam Bear

The Great Bear can now also be customised with a broad selection of heads and arms. There are several good builds. However, I think this is my favourite. Perhaps not from a purely tactical point of view. It does, however have quite a high entertainment value:

Head: Slammer
Right Arm: Battle Mace
Left Arm: Heavy Cannon Shield

This gives us the Great Slam Bear (GSB, or CAD to be consistent), which can deliver a POW 19, range 2″ mace attack, a POW 14 shield attack; and a range 6″ POW 14 shot.

Slamming is fun. The GSB can slam for free and does so for an additional 2″. The GSB can slam something 8″ away (and bulldoze itself there). It slams the opponent d6+2″ away, at POW 14 and 12, and can follow up (the opponent is now most likely knocked down). All this for free. It can then buy an attack with the mace (POW 2d6+19), slam the opponent another 3″ and follow up; buy an attack (POW 2d6+19), slam 3″ and follow up; and finally buy an attack (POW 2d6+19), slam 3″ and follow up.

So, a fully loaded GSB can move, on the average 21″ up the board, whilst slamming something (durable) in front of it. The theoretical maximum is 39″! This comes from the 7″ charge + 8″ slam + 8″ critical mace + 8″ critical mace + 8″ critical mace. I can’t be bothered to calculate the probability of this. But it is low. Only drawback is that sometimes (perhaps too often) one really wants to boost the initial to hit roll to get the slamming going. MAT 7 is “only” hitting DEF 14 on the average.

The average damage output is 19 + 26 + 26 + 26 = 97 points of damage. Against standard Khador armour that is 18 points of damage going through.

As a bonus it does come with ARM 22, which is nice and the possibility to shoot something if it is not is a slam mood. All of this for a mere 14 points.

The tactical sane person might opt for a 13 point AAB, which is basically the closest we get to a classic Juggernaut. But that is no so much fun.

Units

There are three unit types included in the army starter: the pride of the Kdadorian army, two units of Winter Korps; one unit of the new Shock Troopers; and one unit of Arkanist.

Winter Korps Infantry

The new and improved infantry now consists of a base unit of 3 grunts and 2 weapon attachments. In line with Khador tradition a Standard Bearer can also be added; making the unit 6 man strong (which is pretty big in MK IV). Units of Winter Korps can directly be supported by an Officer solo. So, the whole package will be 11 points (7 points base, 1 point for standard and 3 points for the officer solo, who can lead more than one unit).

Charge range is 9″. So, the charging trooper can reach out and touch something 10″ away. Thus, maximum range a unit can touch something with an axe is 13″ away (rounded down). This is: 9″ charge + 2″ placement + 1″ base + 1″ reach.

The models will arrive at MAT 6, with a standard (hitting DEF 13 on the average) and a damage output of 3d6+9 (average 19 point of damage). Not a killer unit as such.

There really isn’t a lot we can do to help here. Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova can help them to hit by casting Invocation of Wrath, giving them an additional die on attack rolls and discarding the lowest (only giving them the ability to hit DEF 14 on the average). Kommander Valerii Savaryn is slightly better, and can help by giving a Kill Order, adding 2 to attack and damage rolls (hitting DEF 15 at 21 points of damage on average).

Winter Korps have access to quite a lot of different guns. They come equipped with the standard Military Rifle, yet they can attach a Auto Cannon and Rockets; in addition they can all carry Fragmentation Grenades. Each unit has two attachments and one can pick and choose any combination of the three.

The Military Rifle is the run of the mill standard rifle. It can shoot 10″; so, the same as the charge distance. It hit at POW 11 (average 18 points of damage), and they shoot at RAT 6 (again assuming a standard), allowing them to hit DEF 13 on the average. So shooting and charging is more or less the same. Obviously, shooting allows for aiming, allowing the unit to hit DEF 15 on average. With Kommander Valerii Savaryn they will peak at RAT 10 (hitting DEF 17 on the average) and hitting at 2d6+13 (average 20 point of damage). Everybody, except the Auto Cannon and Rocketeer attachments can also do Combined Ranged Attack. The maximum is 4 (3 grunts plus the banner). There is a potential for up to 6 combining, if the attachments are Porters. This gives us a maximum (without Porters) of RAT 10 and POW 15.

So, in summary there is a slight damage advantage in charging, yet a major to hit advantage in shooting.

Winter Korps Auto Cannon

For crowd control, the Winter Korps can also carry an Auto Cannon. It is basically a Military Rifle, just with 1d3+1 shots; so twice as many shots on average. Besides that, it is Encumbered and reduces the units SPD down to 5.

Winter Korps Rocketeer

To deal with ‘jacks. the Winter Korps can carry rockets. They shoot at POW 14 with a 2″ AOE (POW 7). The main advantage here is that they are ‘Jack Hunter giving an additional die against ‘jacks. This means an average damage output of 24 points of damage (26 under Savaryn). Again, Encumbered, reducing the unit’s SPD to 5.

Winter Korps Porter

Finally, the whole unit can be equipped with Fragmentation Grenades by including a Porter. A grenade only has a range of 8″. However, it is at POW 12 and a 2″ AOE. The extra points of damage makes throwing a grenade exactly the same average damage as charging, yet aiming allows for a far better chance to hit. Finally, it does not reduce the SPD of the unit.

Winter Korps Standard

The Standard is in my book an auto-include. It is actually cheaper than a standard Winter Korps trooper which cost 1,4 points. It adds +1 to MAT/RAT and gives Rise, which is handy if the unit somehow acquire Tough, which currently only is available trough the Command Card True Inspiration.

Summmary

All weapon possibilities are summarised in the table below.

Model	SPD	MAT	RAT	DEF	ARM	POW (m)	POW (r)	AOE	RNG	ROF
Grunt	6	5	5	13	13	9	11	–	10	1
Auto Cannon	5^†	5	5	13	13	9	11	–	10	d3+1
Porter^‡	6	5	5	13	13	9	12/8	2	8	1
Rocketeer	5^†	5	5	13	13	9	14/7	2	8	1
Standard	6	5	5	13	13	9	11	–	10	–
Officer	6	7	7	14	14	9	12	–	12	1
^†This weapon in Encumbered which drags the whole unit down to SPD 5 ^‡All models in the unit get Fragmentation Grenades

I’m pretty sure that the best combination for a standard unit is one Porter, giving the whole unit grenades and a rocket to deal with ‘jacks; or potentially two Rocketeers if in a ‘jack heavy environment. I don’t think an Auto Cannon actually adds anything; and, of course a Standard.

Shock Trooper Gunners

The Shock Trooper are actually quite cool. They are immune to fire, cold and blast. They are 5 boxes at ARM 15, which will keep them alive against shooting but not in melee; which makes sense since they don’t really want to be in melee.

They have a Heavy Scattergun, which is a SP 10 at POW 13 and RAT 6. So that is hitting DFE 13 for 20 points of damage. If they aim, they can do two shots. Finally, they have Reposition 2″.

In general, sprays used to win Warmachine games. I’m not sure if that is as clear a case in MK IV. So, one should actually bring them. However, partly due to the point costs of what is in the starter army, and my fondness for Winter Guards… I mean Winter Korps, I have left them out from this list.

Arkanists

The Arkanists are a pretty good addition to the Khador forces. 3 guys working as support staff for Warjacks. They can do Arcane Reinforcement, which gives a friendly ‘jack Magical Weapons; and Empower, a free focus on a ‘jack. In a pinch, they can also do Razor Wind, which is now a spray with range 10″ and POW 12, and on critical fill in unmarked boxes or circles on the last column or branch damaged (kind of like Amputation).

In my book, Arkanist are a auto-include. 1 1/3 point for free focus with a spray on top. That is very nice.

Solos — Winter Korps Officer

The army starter contains only one solo: the Winter Korps Officer. His primary job is to keep the grunts of the Winter Korps motivated. To do that he has three Battle Plans that he can use: March; Press the Advantage; and Stand Your Ground.

In addition to supporting the Winter Korps, he also carries a saber (axes seems to have gone our of fashion in the Motherland) and a hand cannon. His saber attacks at MAT 7, with a POW 9 (weapon master) giving 19 points of damage on the average, 23 on the charge. The hand cannon is POW 12, range 12 at RAT 7! He can potentially use both attacks as he has Dual Attack.

Finally, he has build in Pathfinder and Tough, and combined with Feign Death makes him durable against shooting. Finally, he has Dodge to move 2″ out of the way when an opponent misses him.

Suggestet 50 points army

The army is now ready for construction. Ilari and his ‘jacks are ready, so are the units and solo(s). The only thing missing is the command cards.

Command Cards

We get five of the new Command Cards. I really like this new thing. It gives a flexibility that we only got from solos before. I think this might be to compensate for squishy solos dying to AOEs.

There are 14 to choose from. Some of them for free, some at a cost. I can’t be bothered going through all of them, so I’ll just list my favourites:

Old Faithful — Repair d6 points of damage from a Warjack during Control Phase. Who would not like to fix a Warjack?
Power Swell — Ilari immediately gains 1 focus during his activation.
Sentry Duty — A model or unit gains Eyeless Sight. Shooters adores this, charges love it.
Take Cover! — A model or unit gains Cover for one round. This brings our Winter Guards to DEF 17, which is nice.
True Inspiration — A model or unit gains Touch. Works wonders with the Rise ability from the Winter Korps Standard.

Army list

That is it. The army is ready in all its glory. Ilari is leading the two ‘jacks in the starter set; all the units, save for the Shock Trooper Gunners; and the single solo.

Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk

– SPELL – Superiority

– SPELL – Fog of War

– Dire Wolf [11]

– HEAD – Shield Guard [1]

– RIGHT ARM – Bombard [6]

– LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield [4]

– Great Bear [14]

– HEAD – Slammer [1]

– RIGHT ARM – Battle Mace [7]

– LEFT ARM – Dozer [6]

Winter Korps Officer [3]

Arkanists [4]

Winter Korps Infantry [7]

WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Rocketeer

WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Grenade Porter

– Winter Korps Standard [1]

Winter Korps Infantry [7]

WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Rocketeer

WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Grenade Porter

– Winter Korps Standard [1]

Command Cards

– Old Faithful [0]

– Power Swell [0]

– Sentry Duty [1]

– Take Cover! [1]

– True Inspiration [0]

That is it. The best army I think can be build from the Starter Army set. Now I just hope that my models will arrive soon, so I can get them painted and onto the table. They I might discover that all of these theoretical thoughts are worthless. I hope not.

Assuming you, me dear reader has arrived all they way down here, I hope you have enjoyed these wild speculations. With a bit of luck, battle reports will appear in the foreseeable future.

For the Motherland!

The Motherland went to the WTC

Igor Khador — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:10:00 +0000

I’m have been representing the Motherland at the WTC in Belgium this year. This was a first for me. It is the last time MKIII will be played as MKIV was recently been announced. I brought Old Witch 2 along with her half-naked crazed people in Wolves of Winter and Karchev 2 with all the Warjacks he could find in Jaws of the Wolf. I’m happy with how I performed. I’m excited and I’ll be returning in 2023. So, here are some impressions.

It was my first time at WTC and I was obviously going to bring Khador. It is 50 teams from 19 different countries. I expect to meet a whole lot of different armies that I’m not used to seeing, nice people and a lot of playing Warmachine. What more is there to ask for?

My ambitions is, as always to win at least one and not come last.

Obviously, I’m playing Khador. If it is not the last time in MKIII, it is very close. I’m also clearly going to bring K2D2 as he is the current hot stuff (17 lists of Khador running K2D2 and 10 in Cryx, out of 500 lists) in Jaws of the Wolf. K2D2 needed a partner. Who better than The Old Witch 2 (only two lists in Khador and one in Grymkim)? I have always loved the long legged lady. Clearly Zevanna needs some eye candy, so she is accompanied 40 naked buffed up men (well some of the are women, but details) in Wolves of Winter. So, my two lists are:

[Theme] Wolves of Winter
[Old Witch 2] Zevanna Agha [+29]

 – Destroyer [13]

 – Destroyer [13]

 – Greylord Adjunct [3]

Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire [6]

Greylord Forge Seer [4]

Greylord Forge Seer [4]

Koldun Lord [3]

Koldun Lord [3]

Battle Mechaniks (min) [2]

 – Battle Mechanik Officer [1]

Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10]

 – Greylord Escort [3]

Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10]

 – Greylord Escort [3]

Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10]

 – Greylord Escort [3]

Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10]

Greylord Ternion [0(5)]

Greylord Ternion [0(5)]

Greylord Ternion [0(5)]

[Theme] Jaws of the Wolf
[Karchev 2] Malignant Fusion [+27]

 – Behemoth [20]

 – Devastator [14]

 – Juggernaut [13]

 – Juggernaut [13]

 – Marauder [11]

 – Greylord Adjunct [3]

Death Archon [9]

Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)]

Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)]

Kovnik Apprentice Kratikoff [0(4)]

 – Rager [9]

Battle Mechaniks (min) [2]

Kayazy Eliminators [4]

Kayazy Eliminators [4]

I’m not going to run through the two list in many details. Just some rough ideas as to why they are as they are, and why they are together.

Old Witch 2 in Wolves of Winter

I went with Wolves of Winter to counter infantry spam (one should always counter spam with spam – and ham perhaps); also to a certain degree as an anti-shooting list. The combination of Zevanna’s Windstorm covering 18″ using Vexing Alignment, the two Koldun Lords using Wind Ravager, and all the clouds on Doom Reavers from the Ternions should provide some protection against shooting.

Alexia is there to pick souls and pop three Thrall Warriors in inconvenient places to threaten ‘caster or score and contest. The two Destroyers are there to do a bit of heavy lifting and shoot at Objectives and other stuff.

So, the plan is more or less to run the Doom Reavers in two waves. The first (potentially carrying clouds) to jam opponents and just be annoying. The second wave is there to hit back at what ever kills the first wave. Alexia will pick up a few souls and hurl them at something, and the Destroyers will clean up the rest. Solid plan! What can possibly go wrong?

Karchev 2 in Jaws of the Wolf

The opposite to lady long leg and fast half naked people is clearly K2D2 with all the ‘jacks. This list is slow, robust and hits hard (though, very few attacks). It does, however have a pretty good feat giving the ‘jacks (and K2D2) SPD 8. Along with Sorscha0 this gives a threat range of 14″ (SPD 8″ + 3″ charge + 2″ Boundless Charge + 1″ Reach).

All ‘jacks have Pathfinder (except K2D2), which is nice. The four Eliminators are there to score, contest and just being annoying. The Death Archon give an additional +2 ARM when the opponent is living (a Devastator can go to an effective ARM 29 against melee with a base of 23 + 2 from Locked Horns +2 from Death Ward and + 2 from Mortal Fear. It can also clear out enemy Archons. This is what Khador armour should be.

The plan is, again strait forward: Lumber forward until one can reach the enemy under feat, the feat and bring axe to face. A classic point and click army.

So far, so good. Now on to the six battles.

Round 1 – Retribution of Italy

First up is Retribution. This is not one of my favourites. I really dislike the lawn mover a lot. Goreshade has a very annoying feat. So it’s either bad or bad.

[Theme] Defenders of Ios
[Issyria 1] Sibyl of Dawn [+29]

 – Sylys Wyshnalyrr [0]

 – Hemera [15]

 – Manticore [14]

 – Chimera [8]
Dawnguard Trident [16]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]

Arcanist Mechanik [2]

House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6]

House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6]

Hermit of Henge Hold [0]

Ghost Sniper [0]

Ghost Sniper [0]
House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14]

 – Soulless Escort [1]

House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14]

 – Soulless Escort [1]

House Vyre [5]

[Theme] Defenders of Ios
[Goreshade 4] the Forgiven [+28]

 – Sylys Wyshnalyrr [0]

 – Chimera [8]

 – Harpy [9]

 – Harpy [9]

 – Aeternae [16]
Hermit of Henge Hold [0]

Aelyth Vyr [0]

House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6]

Lys Healer [2]

Arcanist Mechanik [2]

Arcanist Mechanik [2]

Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15]

 – Soulless Escort [1]

Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15]

 – Soulless Escort [1]

House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14]

 – Soulless Escort [1]

The scenario is Invasion, which requires a lot of troops. So, I’m dropping Old Witch since there are enough bodies for some of them being frozen whereas I can’t really afford the ‘jacks in K2D2’s list to be frozen. The Wolves also has a lot of could immunity. Finally, the anti-shooting tech can hopefully interfere with the lawn mover.

Issyria floats onto the table along with the lawn mover. My plan is to get up the table fast and press for scenario; whilst getting anti-shooting close enough to be annoying. Then see where it takes us. The picture below depicts the starting situation.

Retribution in the hands on the Italians

The plan kind of worked to being with. Enough Doom Reavers to make the Retribution struggle. The anti-shooting kind of worked, however, the Wardens are no picknick. So in the end I’m struggling with time and scenario. I simply have to minimise the damage.

I had my eyes set on the lawn mover and tried to remove it twice, using a Destroyer. Getting rid of that would make my life so much easier. It obviously shoots a lot. Yet, more importantly it takes up a lot of real estate making it next to impossible to get an assassination run on Issyria; which to be honest is my only chance.

The Destroyer tried twice. Fully loaded and charging should at least put a dent in the lawn mover. Our of the six (or perhaps seven, I might not have charged both times) attacks, I manage to hit only twice and put an impressive four points of damage on it. It is base DEF 12 and ARM 20 (perhaps with a bit of modifications). Yet, on the average the Destroyer should have been able to put in around 25 points of damage (assuming the lawn mower was unbuffed). So, four points of damage is slightly below average.

Nevertheless, it was not dice alone that made me loose the game. A better player on the Retribution side also contributed a lot. The picture below depicts the sorry state of the Old Witch when she ran out of time.

End of the game

I’m not convinced I could win this. Yet, I still think it was the right drop; unless I had known it would be Issyria, that K2D2 would probably have been better (there is a Marauder to take care of the annoying lawn mower).

Anyway, it was fun playing and I also think my opponent had fun. The game ended on time with a scenario score of 5-2 in the Italian’s favour. The rest of the team did no fare a lot better. We lost 2-3 and are a bit shaken going into round 2.

Round 2 – The French Legion

Second round is against the French. I get the foreign legion (of Everblight). Again, I’m not a huge fan of Legion. I do, however, have a history of doing OK against them. The two lists presented to me are:

[Theme] Children of the Dragon
[Lylyth 4], Mekanolyth [28]

 – Azrael [17]

 – Ravagore [14]

 – Ravagore [14]

 – Nephilim Bolt Thrower [9] 
Yssylla [0]

The Forsaken [0]

Beast Mistress [2]

 – Naga Nightlurker [7]

 – Mekanoshredder [4]

Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]

Spell Martyr [1]

Spell Martyr [1]

Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [15]

Blighted Nyss Archers (max) [13]

 – Blighted Nyss Archer Officer & Ammo Porter [0]

Ice Witches [5]

[Theme] Primal Terrors
[Kallus 1], Wrath of Everblight [+30]

 – Ammok the Truthbearer [0]

 – Blightbringer [30]

Thagrosh Hellborne [0]

 – Harrier [3]

Warmonger War Chief [0]

Spell Martyr [1]

Spell Martyr [1]

Chosen of Everblight (max) [20]

Chosen of Everblight (max) [20]

Hellmouth [6]

Hellmouth [6]

Blighted Rotwings (max) [9]

Blighted Rotwings (max) [9]

The scenario is Split Decision, which requires scenario pressure. I’m thinking Old Witch can do this and also deal with Mekanolyth; despite having no idea what she does. I don’t think I have anything against Kallus. I can only hope that Doom Reavers can kill enough when the annoying Incubus arrives under feat.

So, again I opt for Old Witch. Obviously, Kallus arrives on the table. The picture below shows the starting position of the battle.

Legion a la France

There really isn’t a lot to say. Kallus throws everything up the table as fast as possible (going first). Old Witch attempts the same. However, in the second round the same happens and Kallus feats. It is basically game over.

Zevanna looses on scenarion with a score of 6-1 in Kallus’ favour. I basically had my rear end, and several other body parts handed to me. I think it is a very well designed army in the way that the models supplement each other well and it is more a less a point a click army: go first, move fast, move again, feat, win on scenario. I’m outmatched.

The rest of the team kept up their approach. Again, we went 2-3 and are now low on morale. There is one more battle left on the first day. On to round 3.

Round 3 – Circle of England

It is only fitting that the island of druids should present a Circle list to me. I like Circle; not that I consistently beat them. But I think I actually got a chance here. As long as I can keep Ghetorix away from anything (or everything) of importance I at least stand a chance. The two lists presented to me were:

[Theme] The Wild Hunt
[Wurmwood 1], Tree of Fate [+27]

 – Cassius the Oathkeeper

 – Ghetorix [17]

 – Warpwolf Stalker [15]

 – Feral Warpwolf [14]

 – Loki [15]
Gallows Grove [0]

Gallows Grove [0]

Gallows Grove [0]

War Wolf [0]

War Wolf [0]

War Wolf [0]

Krueger the Stormseer [0]

 – Woldwyrd [8]

Blackclad Wayfarer [3]

Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3]
Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron [5]

Death Wolves [9]

Shifting Stones [3]

Shifting Stones [3]

Wolves of Orboros (min) [7]

The Wild Hunt
[Kromac 1], the Ravenous [28]

 – Druid Wilder [3]

 – Ghetorix [17]

 – Loki [15]

 – Warpwolf Stalker [15]

 – Feral Warpwolf [14]
Well of Orboros [10]
Krueger the Stormseer [0]

 – Woldwyrd [8]

Chuck Dogwood [0]

Lord of the Feast [0]

Blackclad Wayfarer [3]
Wolves of Orboros (min) [7]

Shifting Stones [3]

Farrow Valkyries [8]

The scenario is Recon II, which only requires ‘jacks and solos. Also, Wurmwood’s feat will shut down most of the Doom Reavers (except when charging, but we can’t see though the forest); whereas all K2D2’s ‘jacks have Pathfinder and can trample far under feat. Kromac is ‘beast heavy. So, there really isn’t a choice. It is K2D2 all the way. The picture below shows the situation after the first round (I forgot to take a picture to begin with).

Druids of the islands about to kick Khadorian ass

I just follow the plan. Lumber forward until I get into range. Clearly it is not an intricate plan. So, my opponent can probably figure it out. Luckily, it is a K2D2 friendly scenario. There is no way of winning on scenario without engaging the enemy.

K2D2 keeps himself and his ‘jacks out of Ghetorix’ threat range. He can easily kill a heavy without breaking sweat.

The right flank is most of the time pretty uninteresting. One of the Juggernauts, a unit of Eliminators and a bit of support from the Devastator fight it out with the Death Wolves, Wolves of Orboros and the Boil Master.

All the action is on the left flank. Wurmwood and his pet, along with most of the rest of the army put pressure here. The battle waves back and forth. Loki tries to pick a hole in K2D2’s line, so K2D2 has to kill him.

Near the end, K2D2 and most of the army ends up at the top left corner and does a serious threat to Wurmwood. Unfortunately all the lumbering means that I run out of time. K2D2 looses at a scenario score of 7-5 in the druids favour.

This was a very fun game. I’m pretty sure that both my opponent and I had a lot of fun. I lost, but if I had been faster I think I might have had a chance. So play faster, but stick to plan. This was the last battle of the first day. I lost all three but had a lot of fun. The whole team did not fair any better. We lost all three matches. It is now time for the bar.

Round 4 – Trolls of Belgium

It is very fitting that we are facing Belgium as the first opponent on day two. We will stand up being helped by the Belgian as we fell down last night by the Belgian (beer).

This time I’m facing Trollbloods. I like them. They are kind of Horde’s version of Khador. It turns out that proper Belgic trolls are a good deal more dangerous that the commonly know traditional blue guys from Belgium – the smurfs. I’m presented with two lists: Kolgrima in Storm of the North. I’m assuming that Kolgrima is actually Mémé Schtroumpf (or vice versa); and Madrak 3 in Band of Heroes:

[Theme] Storm of the North
[Kolgrima 1] Kolgrima Stonetruth, Winter Witch [+28]

 – Earthborn Dire Troll [12]

 – Earthborn Dire Troll [12]

 – Pyre Troll [8]

 – Trollkin Runebearer [0(4)]

Boomhowler, the Destroyer [8]

Death Archon [9]

Madrak Ironhide, Champion of the Kriels [0(5)]

 – Dire Troll Brawler [14]

Valka Curseborn, Chieftain of the North [0(5)]

Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (min) [5]

 – Northkin Elder [3]

Northkin Bear Handler & Battle Bears [10]

Northkin Bear Handler & Battle Bears [10]

Northkin Fire Eaters [6]

Northkin Fire Eaters [6]

Band of Heroes
[Madrak 3] Madrak, Great Chieftain [+29]

– Earthborn Dire Troll [12]

– Pyre Troll [8]

– Storm Troll [7]

– Trollkin Runebearer [0(4)]

Fell Caller Hero [0(4)]

Fell Caller Hero [0(4)]

Horthol, Long Rider Hero [7]

Stone Scribe Chronicler [2]

Stone Scribe Chronicler [2]

Kriel Warriors (min) [7]

– Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (3) [6]

Trollkin Fennblades (max) [13]

– Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer [4]

Trollkin Fennblades (max) [13]

– Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer [4]

Trollkin Long Riders (max) [17]

The scenario is King of Hill. This could potentially be played by both lists. Mémé Smurf is a lot of cold and Madrak is a lot of infantry. So, I think that the cold immunity and number of attacks from the Doom Reavers are the way to go. K2D2 probably can’t cut it here.

I forgot to take a picture in the beginning, so it will be by memory. Zevanna deploys in the normal way. All the Doom Reavers up front and the rest in second wave. Kolgrima is slightly to the left and Madrak0 is slightly to the right. Both the Bear Handlers opt for not ambushing.

The Doom Reavers run and jam. Zevanna is actually kind of frisky and actually ends up in the middle zone.

At some point an Earthborn ends up in each of the rectangular zones along with a unit of Bear Handlers. The right zone is also visited by the Brawler. Zevanna counter with a Destroyer on each flank along with what Doom Reavers are left.

At some point when the lines have clashed, Alexia ends up “near” Kolgrima with three souls. She finally does her thing and pops three Thralls near Kolgrima. The picture below depicts how Alexia should be played.

Alexia finally doing her thing. Kolgrima having visitors in her back

This marvellous manoeuvre leaves Kolgrima at three boxes and the rightmost Earthborn very damaged. It is now a kill or be killed situation for Kolgirma. She Vanish away and moves to the middle to spray Zevanna away. The picture below shows the situation when Kolgrima does her spray thing.

End of game

It is a lost cause for Kolgrima. She did not manage to spray Zevanna of the table. Just to the left of her is a fully functioning Destroyer ready to be fully loaded and pay Mémé a vist. Before that happens the time runs out for the Trolls. Zevanna wins on time with the fantastic scenario score of 0-0.

Once again we both had fun. Actually, I think I played pretty good this time (the nice Belgian beer apparently helped). I think Kolgrima had the terrain against her, or at least got it when exposed to hard scenario pressure from the Doom Reavers.

Finally, a win. Not only for me, but for the team. This time we went 4-1. So we are happy for now. On to the Netherlands.

Round 5 – Cryx of the Netherlands

The fifth round is against the Netherlands. This time I’m presented with Cryx. This is also the player I played a grudge match against Friday evening. That battle was a blast. So, we both know this is going to be fun. I’m presented with the following lists:

[Theme] Scourge of the Broken Coast
[Skarre 1] Pirate Queen [+28]

 – Doctor Stygius [4]

 – Stalker [8]

 – Stalker [8]

 – Stalker [8]

 – Stalker [8]
Axiara Wraithblade [0]

Severa Blacktide [0]

General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0]
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius [4]

 – Kharybdis [15]
Blighted Trollkin Marauders (min) [14]

 – Jussika Bloodtongue [4]
Asphyxious the Sanctified  [14]

 – Inflictor [11]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [5]

[Theme] Black Industries
[Witches] Coven of Garlghast [+26]

 – Egregore

 – Barathrum [13]

 – Deathjack [18]

 – Kharybdis [15]

 – Deathripper [5]

 – Deathripper [5]
Machine Wraith [2]

Pistol Wraith [0]

Warwitch Siren [3]

Warwitch Siren [3]
Asphyxious the Sanctified  [14]

 – Inflictor [11]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

Mechanithralls (min) [6]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

 – Brute Thrall [0]

The last time he dropped Skarre against K2D2. He lost, but it was close and decided that his Skarre game can play into K2D2. He could trick me and drop Witches, which Zevanna is going to be best into. He could also go for Skarre again and assume that I’ll drop K2D2, which is the sensible choice. So, I obviously drop Zevanna to mess with him. It worked. He got a bit confused; and I’m probably in trouble.

We are playing Spread the Net. The picture below depicts the start situation.

Let the battle commence

The battle commences. I’m clearly in trouble. Stalkers are so dangerous. They can move, jump and does grievous wounds. Doom Reavers are not to a lot of help here.

As the game progresses, the normal plan of putting pressure kind of works towards denying scenario points. However, they are dying as flies. My opponent is also pretty good a picking out the Escorts. The Trollkin Marauders are also quite Doom Reaver unfriendly. Luckily, the Koldun Lords do deny some of the shooting.

After a few rounds I’m clearly in trouble. On the right flank my zone is occupied by Stalkers and I’m not going to score the flag over there. I might contest with a bit of luck. The middle zone is just there. None of us is going to score there. I can easily score on the left flank on “my flag”. The zone is consistently contested by Doom Reavers. The scenario score is at 3-1 on Zevanna’s favour.

Kharybdis has also moved up. He is ridiculously dangerous. It is clear that I’m about to loose. After a lot of thinking, complaining about Cryx and trying to teach new swear words to the bystanders I have an initial plan. I can make Kharybdis stationary with the Ternions and try to kill him with everything I have on the left flank. That will not win me the game (Asphyxious is still around and he makes Kharybdis look like a rubber duck). But it will buy me some time to find a rabbit and a hat.

The plan works, except for the latter part of actually killing Kharybdis. He is ARM 23 or something like that; and 30 boxes). I’m in trouble. Skarre activates and removes even more of my dwindling army. To my great luck he forgets to shake Stationary, which means that my Destroyer are left alive. One more turn.

It seems I found a rabbit and a hat. Alexia does her thing (again). Three Thralls with a bit of help takes out the Stalker contesting my right zone. Nothing is contesting my flag so if I run Zevanna to the right zone I’m at 5-1. One more point at I can see the rabbit. There is no way that I can score Skarre’s zone, but I might be able to kill the objective.

So, plan: kill Kharybdis to release the Destroyer who most likely will not be worth much if exposed to a free strike. I can then shoot the already damaged Objective and probably kill it. Leave the Greylord Forgeseer who has been hanging around at the flag and run Zevanna. Off we go.

The last remaining Doom Reavers manage to kill Kharybdis. The Destroyer can now move and shoot the objective. I’m ready to party until it leaves the Objective at 3 boxes. I am 3 minuets on the clock…

Lo and behold, there are a unit of Ternions just hanging around doing nothing. They can actually advance and cast Bonds of Woe on the objective. It is a damage roll at minus three, but it is all I got. They over perform and take out the Objective. Zevanna runs to the zone. Less than a minute left on my clock (around five on his), and I’m at 6-1 on scenario, securing a win for the Motherland.

That was a rabbit out of a hat, and the name of the rabbit was Mary. Let us hail it. Fantastic game. We both had a lot of fun and the grudge is still there. So next year there will be revenge. I’m now at 2-3, which is good. The rest of team also did well and we are as a team also at 2-3. On to the final game against Spain.

Round 6 – The Spanish Grymkin

The final round is against Spain and I’m facing Grymkin. I have never played them before. I only know three things about Grymkin: 1) Clockatrice are OP; 2) Zevanna can play them, and 3) they do weird stuff. I’m presented with the following lists:

[Theme] Dark Menagerie
The Child [+29]

 – Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts [0]

 – Cage Rager [13]

 – Clockatrice [13]

 – Clockatrice [13]

 – Clockatrice [13]

 – Skin & Moans [14]

 – Skin & Moans [14]

 – Crabbit [0]

 – Crabbit [0]
Death Knell [11]
Gremlin Swarm [0]

Gremlin Swarm [0]

Defiled Archon [8]

Lady Karianna Rose [3]

[Theme] Bump in the Night
The King of Nothing [+28]

 – Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts [4]

 – Clockatrice [13]

 – Clockatrice [13]

 – Crabbit [3]

 – Crabbit [3]

 – Crabbit [3]
Isaiah, Dread Harvester [8]

Defiled Archon [8]

Defiled Archon [8]

Lord Longfellow [0]
Malady Man [0]

Malady Man [0]

Dread Rots (max) [12]

Dread Rots (mx) [12]

Neigh Slayers [12]

 – Neigh Slayer War Horse [4]

I have no idea. I’m pretty sure that Zevanna will be confused and the Doom Reavers are not going to do nothing. If I am to have just a bit of a chance, I’m going for K2D2. The picture below depicts the start of the situation.

Off to bumping thing in the night

We are playing Bunkers, which is probably one of the best possible scenarios. It is going to be all about the flags and getting the Devastator to the Grymkin zone to just contest away. That is the plan-ish.

The Grymkin starts out very aggressive, but does a Cygnar-advance when K2D2 et al. moves forward. Most of the time the mostly dance around. I’m actually doing pretty well. We are scoring equally good.

There is a lot of weird stuff going on. All sorts of Abusing (of the ‘beasts that is) is going on. The ‘beasts have fury and corpses. Arcanas are getting poped and I’m really confused. There is a good way of ending confusion: axe to face.

K2D2 feast and charges a Skin & Moans. That is robust and K2D2 is left naked. Behemoth steps up and removes it. It then damage a Clockatrice a bit until it teleports away. The Marauder charges the Death Knell, whilst toeing the Grymkin zone. It is easy for a Marauder to kill a huge base. The Devastator manage to bulldoze its way to the far side of the opponents zone. Standing right next to the child.

On the right side a Juggernaut charge a Clockatrice, makes it Stationary and hacks away. It turns out that Stationary does not prevent the teleporting thing. Nevertheles, I’m at 4 scenario points and having a perfect Devastator parked in the Child’s face. I think the Grymkin is at a kill or be killed situation.

Unfortunately, the Grymkin opt for the kill part. A Skin and Moan hacks away at K2D2 and does a lot of damage. They are really dangerous. However, he survives. Unfortunately, there are two Clockatrice that can spray and hack away. They are also surprisingly dangerous. K2D2 goes down with a scenario score of 5-5.

This was a weird game. Half the time, I had no idea what was going on. So, I think I actually over performed. Being confused most of the time does not make for the most fun game. Luckily, The Spanish guy was a lovely man. It was a very good and fun game.

Apparently, my results are indicative of the team. I enden up going 2-4, which was the same for the team as a whole. Despite one of our players going 6-0.

Summary

I’m really impressed if you made it all the way here.

I ended up playing 5 out of 6 games using the Old Witch. I should probably have played K2D2 once more into the Dutch Cryx. Yet, I won the game. So, that is OK.

WTC was fantastic. Lovely people and good games. I’m already committed to next year in Copenhagen. I’m pretty sure there will be at least a grudge match against the Dutch. Bring it on.

This was possible the last time I got to play Mark III. There is a rumour that I might go to one final Mark II tournament where I’ll bring Khador. So, perhaps one more report before Mark IV.

I’m so much looking forward to Mark IV. If you want to read about my enthusiasm here.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

A venture into Brawlmachine and Disciples of Agony

Igor Khador — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 10:39:00 +0000

Welcome to something completely different. I have attended a one day Brawlmachine event, and I though I would try something completely different. I am trying a Hordes faction that somehow resemble Khador (which I normally play) in the sense that it has very heavy Warbeasts and interesting infantry: Skorne. But why keep it simple, when I can also play Minions. Enter Disciples of Agony, where Skorne and Minions can mix. Here is some rational on my list. Reports on how it went will follow later.

Brawlmachine has become a very popular format; which is understandable. It is a marvellous piece of work that seems to be a very good way of getting new players into the game. I finally have the possibility to actually attend a Brawlmachine event, and the reflex was obviously to play Khador. However, I though that it is also an option to try the fury mechanics. So, what to play?

I my mind Skorne has some similarities to Khador. There are slow, but dangerous heavy Warbeasts and interesting infantry. It kind of looks like a combined arms type of army. It then dawn on me, that Disciples of Agony allows me to play elephants (some of the coolest models in the game), crocodiles (I mean, it’s crocodiles), and pigs (mad pigs with weapons. Hello!). What could be better. So, I settled on a Skorne Disciples of Agony list as a zoo. The list is a follows:

   [Theme] Disciples of Agony
       [Xekaar 1] Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
       – Blackhide Wrastler [14]
       – Blind Walker [9]
       – Titan Cannoneer [14]
       – Aptimus Marketh [0(4)]
       Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
       Paingiver Task Master [3]
       Farrow Bone Grinders (max) [7]
       Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]

It’s going to be fun to play this list. It has all the animals. The fury mechanics is somewhat different from the focus mechanics that I’m use to. Finally, a Warlock plays somewhat differently that a Warcaster. In particular, as the Warlock gets access to the ‘beasts’ animus as spells. This is going to be fun.

Skorne & Disciples of Agony

Skorne has always been a thorn in my side. I usually get my middle back part handed to me when I play against them. Except for the Titians, they have never really appealed to me. However, when I stumbled upon Disciples of Agony, I was sold. I’m probably not going all in. But Brawlmachine seems like a nice place to put Skorne on the table.

The theme Disciples of Agony allows a Skorne player to take a lot of Minions model; or a Minion player to take a Skorne Warlock, ‘beasts and a few units. So this list actually allows me to play elephants, pigs and crocodiles; a whole menagerie of coolness. How can this not be fantastic?

The benefits are that a Skorne Warlock can control non-character Minion Warbeasts and are considered Skorne ‘beasts (that is friendly faction). In addition, the list can include any Minion unit or solo that will work for Skorne. However, they do not become friendly faction, only friendly. They do‚ however, allows Sacrificial Pawn for Paingiver models.

Finally, the Requisition Points can be used on: a non-character Agonizer, one Skorne Command Attachment (which is a bit weird as there isn’t any available for the units allowed), two Paingiver Task Master solos (which in the case of Brawlmachine is only one, according to the rules), or one small- or medium-based Skorne solo at a cost of 5 or less.

Beast Master Xekaar & Marketh

Xekaar

Beast Master Xekaar is the Battle Box ‘caster, so he should be among the easier Warlocks to play. On paper, he should be able to play somewhat ‘beast heavy.

His build-in abilities do support a ‘beast heavy list, as he has Alpha Hunter, which allows his ‘beasts to run, charge, or make power-attacks without being forced. If Xekaar also manage to kill a model his ‘beasts also gets +2 SPD and MAT for one round. He can also at anytime during his activation Maltreat a Warbeast and remove one fury. However, the ‘beast will suffer d3 damage, which he potentially can fix by casting Psycho Surgery (see below).

If he tries to kill something, it needs to be something small or already damaged. He has two initials at MAT 7 (hitting DEF 14 on average) or MAT 8 if the Master Tormenter is around, and at P+S 10, weapon master though (average damage of 10 points, or 24 points on the charge). It is range 2″ so he can reach out a touch something 12″ away if he can’t get some speed help, which he can’t. Finally, he can attempt to get out of trouble as he has Reposition [5″].

Xekaar packs four spells: Deadweight, Mortality, Psycho Surgery, Pursuit. Since he is a Hordes ‘lock he can also cast the spells of his ‘beasts as his own. In this case they are: Far Strike (Titan Cannoneer), Rites of Power (Blind Walker), and Rage (Blackhide Wrastler). Far Strike (he has no ranged weapon) and Rites of Power (he can’t be an arc node for himself) doesn’t do anything (except use focus). So, it is basically only Rage that he can use.

The Rage spell gives a targeted Warbeast +3 STR for a turn. Xekaar can cast it 6″ or arc it through the Blind Walker if it has cast Rites of Power first. He can, however, cast it at a cost of 1, if Marketh has used Harmonious Exaltation first.

Deadweight is a so so spell, at least in the context of Brawlmachine. It is a POW 12 spell that, if it destroys a living or undead model allows Xekaar to chose a model within 2″ and decide whether that model must forfeit its movement or combat action in its next activation. He can only hit DEF 13 (DEF 14 if the Master Tormentor is around) on the average and do 19 points of damage (assuming he doesn’t boost anything). So, for it to work the opponent needs to be brittle. This is one of the spells that Marketh can cast as Spell Slave or it could be arched through the Blind Walker.

Mortality is the spell that will help the entire army. It is a range 10″ spell with a hefty price cost of 3 focus. However, the target model or unit suffers -2 DEF, -2 ARM, looses tough and cannot have damage removed from it. All of this for one round. This is the main candidate for Marketh to cast and for Xekaar to arc through the Blind Walker. If Xekaar does nothing else, he can potentially deliver three of these in one turn. It will obviously help Xekaar’s ‘beasts, but is basically a prerequisite for the Bone Grinders if they expect to charge anything (see below).

Psycho Surgery is Xekaar’s tool to keep his ‘beasts alive. Once per activation he can cast this and it will remove d3+1 points of damage from each model in his battlegroup (this includes himself).

Finally, Pursuit is another possibility for Xekaar to speed up his battlegroup. It is an upkeep, which allows a model in his battlegroup to make a full advance if the target (model or unit) advances. It is only range 8″ so it should probably be arched or cast by Marketh.

In addition to the list of spells, he obviously has his feat. Whisper of Torment makes enemy models within 12″ suffer -3 STR, MAT, RAT and THR. It is a very powerful defensive feat. It corresponds to an increases of 3 to the DEF and ARM of the Skorne forces; and if the opponent is also a Hordes player it forces a much more sober approach to running ‘beasts hot. Xekaar feast just before the enemy hits his line.

Marketh

Xekar also have Aptimus Marketh attached to him. Marketh does a lot for Xekaar. Not only can he cast either Deadweight or Mortality as a Spell Slave. For Mortality, this means that it can target something up to 22″ away from Xekaar. He can also make upkeeping Pursuit free either indirectly through Harmonious Exaltation (lowers a spell’s cost with 1, which is the same cost as an upkeep); or if Marketh happen to have a soul on im that can be used to upkeep.

In addition to helping Xekaar, Marketh can do some work on his own. He has a Magical P+S 11, reach 2″ weapon, which is not something he should find himself in a position to use. He does, however have a pretty cool range weapon (only RAT 5, unfortunately). Although it is only range 8″ and POW 6, the latter will be added to the the target’s STR for the real POW (so if the target has STR 12 it will be POW 18); assuming that the target is living or undead.

It also ignores LOS, concealment and cover. He also has Gunfighter, so he can use his range weapon in melee. However, only against models in the same melee. Also he has to choose between his melee or range weapon since he haven’t got Dual Attack. Again, if Marketh is in melee, he has bigger problems than choosing between which weapon to use.

Finally, Marketh can manipulate souls. He can have three of them at any given time. If a living friendly faction model (so, unfortunately not the Bone Grinders) dies within 8″, Marketh can collect its soul. In addition to be useful for a free upkeeps, Marketh can also use the souls to boost one attack or damage roll. Finally, he get a +1 ARM per soul on him; potentially bringing him up to ARM 16.

Oh, he is free here as the Requisition Points choice.

Warbeasts

The battlegroup consists of three Warbeasts and a Warlock attachment. There are two Minion ‘beast and one Skorne. The Minion ‘beast are a Blackhide Wrastler and a Blind Walker; and the Skorne ‘beast is a Titan Cannoneer.

The beat stick – Blackhide Wrastler

The Blackhide Wrastler is the primary beat stick in this list. It has a P+S 17 bite and two P+S 14 claws. The latter two are both open fists so double handed throws are on the table. At SPD 5 it can reach out and touch something 9″ away, and MAT 6 allows it to hit DEF 13 on the average. However, this is where animus, spells and other cool stuff comes into play.

First of all, it can charge for free thanks to Xekaars Alpha Hunter. Having this gives the Beast Handlers to stay a bit further away and use Enrage for an addition +2 STR. Rage can also be cast for an additional +3 STR, either by the Blackhide itself or preferably by Xekaar (for freeing up fury on the ‘beast). Finally, if the target is already under Mortality it looses 2 ARM, which corresponds to an extra +2 STR.

So, under optimal conditions the Blackhide Wrastler can hit something 9″ away (11″ if Xekaar actually managed to kill something before), arriving with an effective MAT 8 (MAT 10 if Xekaar has been killing stuff), with 7 attacks: 5 at P+S 24 and 2 at P+S 21. That is a lot of damage. On the average it is: 34+28+28+32+32+32+32 = 218 points of damage.

Against a standard Khador ‘jack it will be 78 points of damage. That is easily enough enough to kill any Colossal og Gargantuan, even if missing it a few times.

Since Rage is an important animus, also for the other ‘beasts it is kind of important to keep it alive until Rage isn’t necessary anymore. Snacking (remove d3 damage when killing a living model), Xekaar’s Psycho Surgery and the Beast Masters’ Medicate can help.

The all-seeing Blind Walker

The Blind Walker is a weaker version of the crocodiles. Its mouth is tied up so it only has two claws (opening up for double handed throws). In a pinch it can still do a lot of damage. Following the same stacking as with the Blackhide above, the Blind Walker can touch something 9-11″ away at MAT 7-9. It will have 5 attacks at P+S 21. Against a standard Khador ‘jack that is 44 points of damage. Easily enough to kill a standard ‘jack.

In addition to beating things up it can be used as an arc node if it casts its animus Rites of Power. It is an extra cool arc node as it has Eyeless Sight (which is a bit odd as it is called a Blind Walker). This means that arcing will ignore cloud effects (only for LOS, not the DEF bonus) and Stealth. As an extra ability, it is also a Shield Guard.

The elephant in the room

Finally, the Titan Cannoneer is the only elephant in the room. Yet, it is an elephant with a really big gun. It is range 12″ (16″ if it uses its animus Far Strike), POW 15 and AOE 4″. Unfortunately, it is only RAT 5. Again, Mortality is helpful. Under Mortality, it is effectively POW 17 at RAT 7 (9 if aiming).

Once the enemy is close (that is within 9-11″) it might be beneficial to switch to melee. Following the same stacking as for the two crocodiles, the Titan can arrive with MAT 7-9 bringing 6 attacks: 1 at P+S 22 and 5 at P+S 23. Again, this is 62 points of damage against a standard Khador ‘jack.

All in all, all three ‘beasts are quite heavy hitters. Yet, it requires stacking of buffs. So keeping the Blackhide alive is important, getting Mortality on whatever is going to be hit is key, and keeping enough at least one) Beast Handlers alive helps. The main challenges is hitting stuff. They are all either MAT 5 or 6, which is fine against most ‘jacks, but not so fine against many ‘beasts and troops. Having to boost to hit quickly limits the effectiveness. So targets must be chosen carefully. Or some cooperation is required. One ‘beast could make a double handed throw back towards Xekaar’s line, thus also knocking down to opponent, or the titan could slam something.

Unit & Solos

The list contains two units and two solos. The ubiquitous Paingiver Beast Handlers and a max unit of Farrow Bone Grinders, “supported” by a Paingiver Task Master. Finally, a Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormenter is also around.

Bone Grinders & Paingiver Task Master

The Bone Grinders with their “assistant”

The main Minions unit is a full unit of Bone Grinders. First of all, they serve as cannon fodder for the Paingivers in this army (that is the Beast Handlers, Task Master, Master Tormenter, and most importantly Xekar himself). Disciples of Agony gives Sacrificial Pawn to Paingiver models on Minion Warrior models. As Bone Grinders are Tough that helps a lot. The combination with the Paingiver Task Master who gives them immunity to knockdown from No Sleeping on the Job is golden.

The second usage for the Bone Grinders is supporting Xekar through Craft Talisman. This gives him and additional +2 RNG on spells that originates from him (so not when arching through Marketh or the Blind Walker, unfortunately). This means that he can now sling Deadweight and Pursuit 10″, and Mortality 12″. Every little thing helps. The can also almost keep up with him, in particular when the Task Master gives them Scutter (Reposition [3″]).

Finally, they can put up a fight if required; in particular if fighting other Hordes factions. Somewhat less so if it is Warmachine factions.

They are equipped with a Magical (which might come in handy) Cleaver, which is a meeker P+S 10, 0.5″ weapon. This is, however helped a bit by the Task Master who can give them +2 STR. Against Warbeasts (living and constructs, actually) they gain an additional damage dice. This gives them an average damage output of 26 points of damage when charging a Warbeast. That is not too bad for a cheap unit.

They also inflict Grievous Wound (denying tough and damage removal for one round) and can place or remove 1 focus on hit. Unfortunately, they are only MAT 6 (average hitting DEF 13). Something which the Task Master can’t fix. Finally, they gain +2″ movement when charging living models, giving them a mighty range of 10.5″.

If the Bone Grinders are to charge anything, it is probably a good idea to get Xekar’s spell Mortality on it first. This effectively allows them to hit DEF 15 on average (target has -2 DEF) and do 28 points of damage on average (target has -2 ARM).

Paingiver Beast Handlers

The ever present Beast Handlers

The ubiquitous Beast Handlers are obvious also in this list. As described above they are instrumental in cranking up the damage output of the Warbeasts. They can also heal the beasts for d3 points of damage, they can remove and add fury to Warbeasts through Condition. If they end up in melee (which should be avoided) they can also manipulate fury on enemy ‘beasts. Their 2″ reach whip is only P+S 8. However, they do have Anatomical Precision, which guarantees one point of damage and denies tough for this attack.

In this theme they are a bit easier to keep alive than normal. They have Sacrificial Pawn onto the Bone Grinders, who are tough and hopefully immune to knockdown.

Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor

The Master Tormentor

The final solo is a Master Tormentor. She is here to give Xekaar a +1 to hit (both melee and spells). Besides that she is also pretty good at capturing flags and contesting. She has Apparition, Pathfinder, Advance Deployment and Stealth. With SPD 6, Apparition and Sprint she is quite mobile.

She has the same whip as the Beast Masters (P+S 8). Yet, she is a weapon master and can do a thresher attack. This is quite powerful against infantry with one box, as she can charge at MAT 9 (8 native + veteran leader) and with the 2″ thresher weapon with Anatomical Precision she can clean out a lot. Unfortunately, I do not foresee too many units of easily killable infantry in Brawlmachine.

The zoo is ready for battle

This is the list that I’m going to play at our local team tournament. We are 8 teams of three people each. This is going to be so much fun.

Battle reports will arrive shortly.

Jaws of the Wolf under Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff (Sorscha3)

Igor Khador — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 14:30:00 +0000

The Empress has decreed that the Infernal pestilence has been removed from the Motherland. Thus, armies are moving again and battles are fought. Sorscha Kratikoff has for a long time lead her fellow Man-o-Wars as the Armored Korps. Thereby attracted a lot of Man-o-wars as irregulars; whom she is now leading in Jaws of the Wolf. The combination of heavy durable infantry and nimble light infantry; combined with the best armoured ‘jacks available will spell trouble for the enemies of the Motherland!

With the quality of life update to many things in Immoren, quality of life has indeed improved in many ways. Among the changes are some interesting twists to Sorscha3. Sorscha in her beautiful Man-o-War armour should to be able to support her Man-o-War fellows. However, I have never really managed to get her to work (for a walk through of the old Armored Korps list, see here). However, things have changed.

By royal decree from the Empress herself, Sorscha can now bring her Man-o-Wars into areas earlier banned as irregulars. She can now combined heavy armour with the numerous core Khador infantry in Winter Guard Kommand, support the combination of homicidal maniacs and Greylords in Wolves of Winter, add Iron Fangs to Man-o-Wars in Legion of Steel, but perhaps most importantly, she can now bring Man-o-Wars into Jaws of the Wolf.

In the text below I’ll go through a version of Jaws of the Wolf that I enjoy immensely, the models involved and some rationale behind the composition.

Theme — Jaws of the Wolf

Jaws of the Wolf — the classic theme for Khador. Heavy Warjacks combined with light infantry; and now also heavy infantry. The bonuses at a glance does not appear to be fantastic. However, it mitigates one of our Warjacks’ biggest weaknesses: the extremely rare native Pathfinder. Jaws of the Wolf now gives all ‘jacks this. This is huge. The second bonus can go both ways. Having the possibility to deploy a 5″ AOE forest 18″ completely within the rear end of the table is either stupid (if Circle of Orboros is facing the Motherland) or fantastic (if Yuri and Manhunters and present).

Sorscha3

Sorscha in her Man-o-war armour

First of all, Sorscha3 is just a cool caster (no pun intended). A Warcaster in Man-o-War armour — I mean, what’s not to like? Man-o-Wars was what originally attracted me to the Motherland.

She has two build-in and always on abilities that makes a combination of Warjacks and Man-o-Wars interesting. In addition, she projects a 9″ sphere of concealment, which is always nice.

First of all, her Field Marshal ability of Flank [Man-o-Wars] basically turns our already dangerous ‘jacks into Weapon Masters if a Man-o-War already has the opponent in melee range. This gives our standard Juggernaut an average damage output of 33 points on a charge attack, and the ability to hit DEF 16 on average. Not too shabby.

Secondly, she now has Irregulars [Medium-based Man-o-Wars], which is the whole reason for having her lead Jaws of the Wolf. She can now bring all Man-o-Wars, save for the Tankers and Chariots. Finally, being a Man-o-War herself, she is now repairable; and she also gives Flank, which I tend to forget.

She is equipped with two weapons: her old friend Frostfang, which has been with her since she graduated from Kovnik, and a cannon (not a hand cannon, an actual cannon in her hand).

Frostfang (2″ range and P+S 16) har improved quite a lot. It is no longer Critical Freeze, it is now just freeze. That is Stationary on a stick, which is just fantastic. Hit something a it is stationary (unless it is immune to cold, obviously). The Man-o-War Demolition Corps is already slightly impressed. Secondly, Frostfang has now acquired Critical Smite (slam d6″). Critical hits are not something to build a plan on. Yet, a Warjack being both Stationary and Knocked down is a very sad ‘jack; if it should miraculous survive into the next turn.

The cannon is not to be frown upon. It is a range 12″, AOE 3, POW 13 shot, with Arching Fire. Despite there actually being a cannon in her hand, I tend to forget it. If she can, why not take a potshot at something. It is RAT 6, so don’t get your hopes up. But, a drifting AOE can be nice.

She is, however surprisingly brittle! With a DEF of only 12, an ARM of 18 and only 17 boxes, she is not really a frontline caster. Any somewhat concentrated effort from an opponent will bring her down. She can be repaired though. So, Mechaniks might be a good idea.

Feat — Dead of winter

Her feat is a bit odd. At first glance it is not particularly powerful. This is not completely true. It is rather situational. She can place between 4 and 6 3″ AOEs completely within 12″ of her. They remain in play for 1 round and cause 1 point of damage if entered or one’s activation ends within them. Unless one is immune to cold.

The primary use of the feat is to shield the Man-o-Wars. They are clouds. So unless the opponent has some way of seeing through clouds, the Man-o-Wars are safe from shooting whilst they advance up the table. If your opponent can see through clouds; well, they really doesn’t do anything.

The secondary use is against cheap, one box Weapon Master infantry. Man-o-Wars really do not like cheap weapon masters, and there is so much of it around. Most weapon master infantry is around P+S 11, which means a nice 21 points of damage on the average charge. The opponent do not have to swing ARM, STR or just straight out damage a lot before Man-o-Wars disappear. These weapon master units also tends to be really cheap. However, they don’t like one point of damage. Forcing them to go through clouds tends to keep them sober and give the Man-o-Wars a possibility to charge rather than being charged.

The feat is often used on the first or second round, or not at all. However, there is a corner case, if it has not been used at the front. It can sometimes be used to keep enemy ambushers away from one particular edge for one round.

Iron Flesh

Iron Flesh, almost the Khador signature upkeep spell. This is what polish Man-o-Wars and makes lesser warriors less likely to be blasted of the table. It add +2 ARM (which brings Shocktroopers to ARM 19) and give a +4 ARM against blast damage (bringing e.g. Kayazy Assassins to ARM 18 against blast).

Cast it on the Assassins turn one, upkeep it (its free to upkeep, thanks to the Adjunct) until the Shocktroopers are joining the fray and smile at your opponent cursing. Then move it to the Shocktroopers before they hit the frontline, giving them ARM 23.

Stoke the Fires

A marvellous new spell in the Greylords’ arsenal. It speeds up our rather lumbering ‘jacks by giving them +2 SPD. They can now run a whooping 12″ or charge 9″. It also give Countercharge, which often is more of a threat than something actually being used. The idea that a Khador heavy can interrupt an otherwise carefully planned charge will often make the opponent think twice.

It is always a good idea to have one ready for each ‘jack. It is cheap and not an upkeep. Cast them before the ‘jacks activate.

Wind Rush

Wind Rush is back. It allows Sorscha to make a full advance and gain +2 DEF. The latter, combined with her build-in concealment brings her to a respectable DEF 16 agains shooting. DEF 14 against melee is still shabby, though. If she has no better to do with 2 focus, just cast it. She does not have to move.

There is a nice combination between her charging something, making it stationary with Frostfang and then using Wind Rush to get out of the way for the Demolition Corps to move in. Also, her stationary spell Winter’s Wrath (see below) suddenly becomes range 14″ (if the Greylord Adjunct is around), whilst Sorscha getting out of trouble again. It can even be 18″ in a pinch.

Winter’s Wrath

Winter’s Wrath is fantastic; in particular in combination with the Demolition Corps. Sorscha can make anything under the AOE 4 stationary (and it is POW 14 in addition). The cool combination of Sorscha walking forward, casting Winter’s Wrath and the Wind Rush, allows her to hit some thing 14″ away. Unfortunately, she will then be naked (in a Man-o-War suit of armour, though) as she often likes to boost to hit as well. However, if it works, the Demolition Corps will have a field day.

The Battlegroup

Sorscha’s battlegroup consists of two Devastators. Despite a ‘caster attachment not formally being part of the battlegroup, the Greylord Adjunct is also included in this part.

Greylord Adjunct

Sorscha’s best friend

The Greylord Adjunct has become almost an auto-include since the Greylords allowed them to join the standing army (poor War Dog). He solves a lot of problems for many Khador ‘casters and really helps Sorscha; making him her new best friend. He brings to build-in abilities that work by him simply being within 7″ of Sorscha.

First of all he offers Arcane Assist, which helps, typically focus-strapped ‘casters as it allows a free upkeep. Here, he allows Sorscha to upkeep Iron Flesh for free. This is pretty good since Assassins or Shocktroopers really want that spell on them. Sorscha is now back to being a 6 focus caster.

Secondly, he is also a Spiritual Conduit, which is really good as it allows a +2 range on spells; here in particular Winter’s Wrath. Sorscha can now freeze model 10″, or even 14″ away (see above).

He also brings three spells to the table: Blizzard, Frostbite and Guidance. Blizzard is a cloud, which is always handy; Frostbite is a POW 12, range 8″ spray. This is good. We all know that sprays win games, and if you haven’t got sprays you are probably going to loose. A quick brush up: sprays ignore concealment, cover, Stealth, intervening models, and the target in melee DEF bonus.

Finally, Guidance is where the real money is. Casting this on Sorscha gives her Eyeless Sight so she ignores concealment and Stealth, and can’t be made blind. This is so good when she needs to hit something with Winter’s Wrath or take out some annoying stealthy solo with her little cannon. If the Adjunct has nothing better to do, just cast Guidance every turn. Then you get into the habit and do not forget it when it really matters.

By the way, he is immune to cold, so he can walk through Sorscha’s clouds. I can’t fathom why he would, but it is an option.

Devastator

The ‘jack that goes Ka-boom!

The Devastator is now finally allowed to do Rain of Death without opening up its shell. That is really a quality of life update. It can now shuffle around at ARM 23 and blow stuff up, if required. The Ka-boom is POW 18 is the opponent is base to base, and POW 9 if the opponent is within 3″. Remember it can be boosted; that is 28 points of damage against a model bases to base, and 19 points of damage in a 3″ circle (on the average). All this whilst keeping ARM 23.

In addition to a functional Rain of Death, it can Bulldoze (push model base to base 2″ directly away), whilst it is immune to push itself (Sturdy). It is also Steady (immune to knockdown).

Normally, the role of a Devastator is just to shuffle about, bulldoze stuff out of zones on into trouble, and once in a while go ka-boom (oh, it can also Trample and Slam without giving up ARM 23). Sometimes, it does have to open up and hit stuff with its fists (and then only be ARM 19).

It has two standard fist, each with P+S 16. Which is a bit pillow fisted. However, thanks to Sorscha’s Field Marshal ability Flank [Man-o-War] it can attack with an effective MAT 8 and 3d6+16 (effectively a Weapon Master). This means that it can now hit DEF 15 on the average and deal 30 points of damage on the charge, and 26 points of damage on a normal attack.

For a Devastator to become Weapon Master the opponent also needs to be in melee with a Man-o-War. Luckily, this is achievable with the Shocktroopers and Demolition Corps, as they have reach 2″ and can move quite far in this list (see below).

Oh, and there is a devastating bonus in this list: there are two Devastators!

The Brick

Part of the major plan for running Sorscha3 in Jaws of the Wolf is to have a solid brick in the middle, where the opponent can break their inferior weapons on heavy Khador armour. It is also a place where Sorscha can hide (remember, the Man-o-War armour is misleading).

The Brick consists of a full unit of Shocktroopers and Unit Attachment, a full unit of Demolition Corp with Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich and a Man-o-War Kovnik to primarily speed the Shocktroopers up. The Shocktroopers are there to absorb attacks in their shield wall; whilst the Demolition Corps is there to kill heavy stuff once Sorscha has makes it stationary.

Man-o-war Shocktroopers

The Empress’ brick

Shocktroopers are the backbone of a good brick. They often play the role of anvil, typically holding the middle of the field; where they slowly but steadily advance in Shield Wall, whilst other troops “hide” behind them. Typically, they will be in Shield Wall as often as possible, and Sorscha will also upkeep Iron Flesh on them. This gives then an effective ARM of 23, which is pretty OK. When accompanied with the Officer, they are also immune to Knockdown and Push. All in all, pretty solid. I do, however recommend having a unit of Mechaniks nearby, as ARM-cracking is currently abundant.

The quality of life update has been good to Shocktroopers. Shield Wall now gives an extra +3″ movement in addition to the +4 ARM. Combined with having a Kovnik (see below) nearby (within 9″) makes for fast Shocktroopers.

The Kovnik can give them Desperate Pace, for +2″ movement. This combined with Shield Wall allows Shocktroopers to move an impressive 9″ in Shield Wall. This is just one inch short of their max distance when running.

Shocktrooper Officer

The Shoctrooper Officer

The officer adds quite a lot of nice features. Some of them has already been detailed above. Not only does he give the troopers Steady and Sturdy, which remains even if he dies (Tactics); he also give them Assault, which the unit looses if he dies (Granted). He does have a slightly better axe, with an extra P+S and critical Stationary; and one better MAT and RAT. He is also an extra body in a small unit. I never leave home without him.

I have always wondered why Shocktroopers do not have shields? They have a shield gun, they can do shield wall; yet they don’t have a shield. Giving them a shield would bring them to ARM 25 with all the trimmings. 25 is a good number, which would make them the brick they are suppose to be. 23 is still too little in the current state of Immoren, where swinging damage quite a lot and cheap weapon masters are common place.

Man-o-war Demolition Corps

The Demolition Corps ready to wreck stationary stuff

The Demolition Corps is easily my favourite Man-O-War unit. They are Man-O-Wars, and equipped with huge hammers used for charging ahead and smashing enemies with. What’s not to like? They are, however more brittle than one would expect from huge steam-driven heavy armour. This can be mitigated by casting Iron Flesh on them, making them (most likely) DEF 12 and ARM 18, which is kind slightly better than victim stats.

This unit is basically five guys with P+S 16, 2″ reach hammers who really wants to charge stuff and get into the fray. They do have Critical Freeze, but perhaps more importantly they have Shatter. This gives an additional dice on damage if the target is Stationary. This is lovely in combination with Sorscha’s Winters Wrath, which gives a 4″ AOE of stationary. Charging something that Sorscha have tagged with Winter Wrath is an auto hit with 4d6+16 points of damage (an average of 30).

Remember that the Kovnik also can give Desperate Pace to these guys.

Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich

Dragos leading the Demolition Corps

Dragos is the Command Attachment to a Demolition Corps. He is twice as cool as a normale Demolition dude — he has two hammers. They do appear smaller, but they are not. So, that is twice the chance of a Critical Freeze. He is native tough and has quite a few nice abilities that benefit the Demolition Corps he is attached to. For a bit of lore background, check out the short story “The better part of valor“

He grants 3″ Vengeance (works whilst he is in formation), and has Tactics Defensive line (unit gains this even if he dies), which gives the unit DEF 12 against melee attacks and immunity to knockdown, whilst base-to-base with another model in this unit. DEF 12 is still not remarkable, but every little bit helps.

Dragos’ also has a mini feat, Band of Brotherhood that allows the unit to distributed damage amongst all members instead of just the one model getting hit (it’s the same as Sanguine Bond, if you have ever faced Trollkin Champions or Exemplar Bastions). This is super good for keeping a unit alive and weather the storm so as many as possible can hit back. Combined with Iron Flesh actually makes for a really robust unit.

Man-o-war Kovnik

The Mighty Kovnik

The Man-O-War Kovnik is slightly meaner than the average Shocktrooper. He has one better MAT; a slightly shorter axe, but at P+S 15; a shield cannon that can shoot 2″ longer, he can even hit people with this shield; build-in Assault; and finally, he clocks in at ARM 18 (including the shield).

A Kovnik does three things for a fellow Man-o-War. First and foremost, he brings Desperate Pace to the Man-O-Wars. These extra 2″ of movement to a unit means a lot to slow Man-O-Wars; in particular to Shocktroopers. They can now move 9″ in Shield Wall.

Secondly, he can actually Slam models! A good slam is not to be frown upon.

Finally, he is not a helpless solo in melee, he actually brings three attacks to a charge: one assault shot (hitting DEF 14, bringing 21 points of damage of the average), one charge axe attack (hitting DEF 15, bringing 25 points of damage on the average), and one shield attack (hitting DEF 15, bringing 18 points of damage on the average).

The Harassment

The harassment part of this army is there to, well harass the enemy whilst the Man-o-War lumber forward. The assassins are there to run up the middle of the board to tie down the enemy. The Eliminators and Kossites together take the role of threatening the flanks, thus forcing the enemy in clump up in the middle. Finally, Yuri and his Manhunters will be parked in a wood (potentially then one the theme brings along) to threaten a flag or just an extra bit of board control.

All in all, the Assassins are speed bumps and the rest is there to force the enemy to clump together in the middle to be served to the Man-o-Wars.

Kayazy Assassins

Assassins doing the Empress’ bidding (and getting handsomely paid)

Kayazy Assassins are among the winners in the quality of life update. They got a bit cheaper, gained dualist and a new and very cool Tactics [Shadow Dance]. I think they went from OK to really cool.

Assassins come with a load of build-in abilities. They have Stealth, Parry (cannot be target by free strike), Dualist (+2 DEF against melee attacks), Gang (+2 to melee attack and damage rolls if the enemy is within melee range of another model in the unit), Anatomical Precision (automatically one point of damage if damage roll doesn’t exceed ARM, and no tough rolls), and if the Underboss is around (don’t leave home without him) Shadow Dance (more on that later) and a mini-feat Kill Stroke, which gives them Backstab (an additional die on attack and damage rolls). They have almost as many rules as a Crucible Guard unit.

The Underboss makes Assassins shine

So, what do they do? They can get up the board without being shot off the table, thanks to Stealth. Just remember to keep them apart so a drifting AOE doesn’t kill a lot of them. They only have ARM 12. So, most, if not all AOEs will kill them. Also, they really really hate sprays. It is worth getting Sorscha to put Iron Flesh on them, until they have done their thing and the Shocktroopers take over.

Once they get into melee, they can be difficult to get rid of. Native DEF 13 plus dualist gives them DEF 15, which means that MAT 8 is required to hit them on an average roll.

If they get to do a charge, they can do fun stuff. They can poke stuff with their daggers 9.5″ away (which is not very impressive). When possible make sure that two Assassins gang up one each opponent. They will then arrive with an effective MAT 8 (hitting DEF 15 on the average) and P+S 12 + 3d6 (average 22 points of damage). But, wait there is more.

Getting into the back arc

The Assassin Underboss

Shadow Dance and Kill Stroke is a beautiful thing.

When the first model hits something, the magic can begin. After a model hits something, another model can be placed within 3″ the attacking model.

Assuming the model to be placed have successfully charged something, the Assassin can now potentially be place in the back-arc of the model it charged (see illustration to the left where two Assassins are charging a large base). There is some wriggling room when charging a large base. But careful measuring is advisable. Of course, the further into the back arc the model can charge, the mode room there is to be placed correctly.

Getting the Assassin to “charge” into the back arc, means that the Assassin will now on the average hit DEF 20 (MAT 6 + 2 from gang, and +2 and 3d6 from backstab)! It will also do an average of 26 points of damage (P+S 12 + 4d6)! Two of these little guys will take out a Shocktrooper under Iron Flesh (remember Shield Wall does nothing when attacking in the back arc).

Kossite Woodsmen

The hardy north Khadorian woodsmen

The Kossite Woodsmen is another unit that has gotten a lot of help from the quality of life update. Despite actually going up in cost, they can finally in the whole history of Warmachine be useful.

They are at the very core a unit with range weapons; unfortunately with poor eyesight. They only have a range of 10″ and their inferior bows, crossbows and rifles are only POW 10. So, what’s the big thing?

They have Ambush and Backstab. Ambush in itself is a very nice thing; in particular before it is used. The threat of having a bunch of shooters appear on any table edge (except the back of the opponent’s deployment zone) easily forces the opponent to pack their army in the middle (which is what the Man-o-Wars want). Sometimes the threat of ambushing is actually more important than ambushing.

When the Kossites are deployed they excel in hunting solos and other support. They can hit something 19″ way from the table edge (3″ deployment + 6″ walk + 10″ range). Unfortunately, RAT 4 is not good. This is where Backstab comes in. It allows them to hit DEF 16 on the average (RAT 4 + 2 back strike + 3d6). They will also do 20 points of damage on the average (POW 10 + 3d6). This will trivially kill most support and even dent frontline infantry. If they can’t find anything to kill, they are pretty good at contesting zones of flags.

On top of that they have Pathfinder, Prowl and when Yuri is in the army also Treewalker (allowing them to ignore forest for LOS and +2 DEF against melee when completely within a forest). Just remember they have victim stats. DEF 13 (15 in a forest) and ARM 11 means that they die to even a light sneeze.

Kayazy Eliminators

The ladies of death

Kayazy Eliminators are a small unit of two city chicks who excel in knife dancing. Like the Assassin brothers they also come with Parry, Stealth, Anatomical Precision, Gang and Dualist.

In addition, the do Acrobatics (advance through models and ignore intervening models when declaring a charge) and Side Step (when hitting a model, they can advance 2″ after the attack is resolved).

They work marvels on the flank. They are fast (SPD 7″) and with Stealth and a native DEF of 15 (17 in melee, thanks to Dualist) they can get most places fast. Thanks to Acrobatics they can also charge most things trying to hide behind other modes.

The two ladies will arrive with an effective MAT 7 or 9 (gang) and do 21 + 18 points of damage; or one time 25 points, using their Combo Strike. Remember the deny tough due to Anatomical Precision.

They are a threat that most enemies cannot afford to ignore. Having a unit on each flank will to a degree also force the enemy to pack their models into the middle of the board. In addition, the ladies are also really good in scenario play, as they can contest zones far away and score circle zones

Yuri the Axe

A man — an axe!

Yuri, the man, the myth. He is a Manhunter on steroids (in the literal sense, I think). He comes with a nice package of build-in abilities. Pathfinder is given; Stealth, obviously; Advance Deployment (6″ extra), naturalement; He is clearly Tough, just look at him; and finally Treewalker, allowing him to ignore forest for LOS (basically being able to see though them) and give him +2 DEF agains melee attacks when in a forest (effective DEF 16, needing MAT 9 to hit on average).

After the price adjustment in the quality of life update, he is interesting. He moves from interesting to cool when a list includes Kossites and Manhunters. He gives Treewalker to them as Elite Cadre (so it stays after he dies).

He is equipped with a pretty large axe, which is reach 2″ and P+S 13. He is obviously Weapon Master. As a bonus he can do Thresher. That means he can reach out and touch something 11″ away, hitting with MAT 8 (DEF 15 on average) doing 4d6+13 (average of 26 points of damage) on the charge attack. Remember only the charge target is boosted. One basically just parks him in a forest, preferably close a flag. The opponent simply can’t ignore such a missile.

Manhunter

Yuri’s two friends

Manhunters are Yuri’s outdoor loving friends. They also have Pathfinder, Stealth, can Advance Deploy and are obviously Tough.

They also get Tree Walker from Yuri. Helping their DEF 14, ARM 14, 5 boxes a bit.

Each Manhunter is equipped with two P+S 11 axes, olny range 0.5″ though. Luckily, they are Weapon Masters. So, they can touch something 9.5″ away.

They will arrive with MAT 8 (hitting DEF 15 on the average). First axe will do an average of 25 points of damage, and the second one 22. This will hurt most solos and light infantry.

They take much the same role as Yuri. Plant them in a wood somewhere close to a flag. With a bit of luck they can contest and are not somebody a flag scoring solo can afford to ignore.

The Support

The harassment part of the army is there to force the opponent to clump up in the middle. This is where the brick will hit them hard. The harassment units are probably going to die. It is, however important to keep the brick, Sorscha and Devastators alive. Enter the support. Mechaniks to fix damage and Bulkhead to remove jammers, and protect Sorscha.

Battle Mechaniks

For when stuff is broken

Battle Mechaniks have also been blessed by the quality of life update. They have gotten cheaper, and the officer has become much cheaper. The latter has finally become relevant.

The four Mechaniks can each repair for d3. The officer is somewhat more adept and can repair for d3+3. A unit of Mechaniks only is ok. But it is the officer that really makes them shine.

A Mechaniks officer has a command of 8, so that is a pretty large area that can be covered. He is also Girded (does not suffer blast damage) and anybody B2B with him is also Girded. This might be handy.

He will probably live in the middle behind the brick which can screen him; whilst the other Mechaniks are more free to roam on the flanks.

Bulkhead

The perfect bodyguard

This guy is the latest addition to the Man-o-War family. Bulkhead is an pretty hefty solo, and he is a Requisition Card, so he is free.

Bulkhead has a bunch of rules. He has standard Man-o-War DEF (10), ARM 19 (base 17 + shield), and 8 boxes. He can be repaired. He has two weapons: not a shotgun, but a shotcannon, and a shield.

The Shotcannon is a fantastic piece of artillery. It is ROF 2, spray 6″, POW 16. He can do Both Barrels for one POW 20 shot. His shield is less impressive being P+S 12 and range 0.5. He can use both in an activation as he has Dual Attack.

He is also surprisingly mobile. He has bulldoze (push enemy model 2″ is making B2B contact during normal movement), He can slam and has follow up. This combined with his different types of attacks and Dual Attack makes for some weird combinations.

He can start by slamming something. That is 7.5″ away he can touch something (7″ + 0.5 melee range). He can now slam something d6″ away for 2d6+9 points of damage (3d6 if slammed into an obstacle or equal- or larger-base size). He can now do follow up for up to 6″. This brings him up to 13″ away.

Dual Attack can now trigger and Bulkhead can fire his shotcannon twice up to 6″ away. So, under optimal conditions, he can spray something 19″ away. Don’t build a plan around it, though. He can, however spray whatever he slammed. It is now knocked down and quite easy to hit.

Bonus abilities are: Immoveable Object (no knockdown, can’t be placed, nor pushed, slammed or thrown), he can be repaired, and he is a Shield Guard.

He is a pretty good bodyguard for Sorscha. Make sure that he stays within 3″ of Sorscha to work as a shield guard. He can also slam, charge, bulloze, or spray stuff that might be threatening her.

The final Jaws of the Wolf list

Sorscha and her army. Ready to take on the enemies of the Motherland

That’s it. The whole list. Sorscha3 leading Jaws of the Wolf, which consists of three main parts: The battlegroup, the anvil and the harassement. The final list is as follows:

[Sorscha 3] Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff [+28]

– Devastator [14]

– Greylord Adjunct [3]

Man-O-War Kovnik [3]

Man-O-War Demolition Corps (max) [12]

– Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich [4]

Man-O-War (max) [15]

– Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer [3]

Kayazy Assassins (max) [13]

– Kayazy Assassin Underboss [4]

Kayazy Eliminators [0(4)]

Kossite Woodsmen (min) [7]

Manhunter [2]

Yuri the Axe [4]

Bulkhead [0(5)]

Battle Mechaniks (min) [2]

– Battle Mechanik Officer [1]

Tactics

The whole idea behind this list is to force the opponent to clump up in the middle. The Harassment part of the army threatens both flanks from the Eliminators and the risk of Kossites appearing on either flank.

The Assassins will run as fast as possible in the front to tie up the advancing enemy. They will be under Iron Flesh to begin with, have Stealth and a reasonable DEF. This should keep the opponent occupied until the Brick can arrive.

Manhunters and Yuri will advance deploy, potentially in the forest the theme brings. They will attempt to do a bit of board control by asking the question: “are you sure you would like to be charged by a missile?”

Finally, everything else will go into the Brick in the middle. Shocktroopers in front to soak up shooting and or charges. Demolition Corps behind to be protected and ready to charge things that Sorscha can freeze. Bulkhead to work as Sorscha’s personal bodyguard. The Brick is finished off by a Devastator on either side.

Army position after first turn (going first)

The picture above depicts the Empress’ standard deployment 11 after the first turn. It should implement the tactics described above.

Assuming you, me dear reader has arrived all they way down here, I hope you have enjoyed these wild speculations. With a bit of luck, battle reports will appear in the foreseeable future.

For the Motherland!

Winter Guard Kommand under Vlad1 – post quality of life update

Igor Khador — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 22:07:00 +0000

Vlad is back. He have had a long and proud tradition of leading the double Gun Carriage Winter Guard Kommand list. He managed to have a 50% win rate over a year of playing (which on this blog is considered very impressive). The recent Quality of Life Update has affected the Winter Guard Kommand and the corresponding troops. The changes are not huge. Nevertheless, this post will sum up the changes and how Vlad’s new and improved Winter Guard Kommand list looks.

I have historically been playing Vlad1 and his famous Winter Guards a lot. I played the double Gun Carriage list almost exclusively for a bit over a year (see here for a summary of a year of Winter Guard Kommand playing). The original list was pre-Oblivion (see discussion of list here), which was updated post-Oblivion (see discussion of list here and of Vlad’s famous last stand). It was a lot of fun. I still believe that this list has merit.

Now, the Quality of Life Update has change some of the models and their cost. So, perhaps we should brush the dust of this list and have fun again. The point cost change only releases 4 points from the original list. The low number of free points is primarily due to the fact that many of the models were, and still are Requisition Options. Thus, point changes doesn’t change a lot.

Nevertheless, some changes are made. In the text below, I’ll go through the new version of the list, the important changes, and what we can get extra for four points. The leftmost list below is the original (post-Oblivion) version, whereas the rightmost is the new one.

[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci [+28]
– Marauder [11]
– Marauder [11]
– Marauder [11]
– Greylord Adjunct [0(4)]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(4)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
– Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
– Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci [+28]
– Marauder [11]
– Marauder [11]
– Marauder [11]
– War Dog [2]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [3]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(3)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(3)]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7]
– Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7]
– Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Mortar Crew [3]
Battle Mechaniks (min) [2]

Winter Guard Kommand

The Winter Guard Kommand theme has had a few minor changes. Primarily, there has been a change to the Sacrificial Pawn rule that the ‘caster benefits form. Before the Quality of Life Update (QLU) we could chain a Sacrificial Pawn via e.g. Joe. This is not possible anymore as the rule now explicitly states that: “the Sacrificial Pawn special rile can only trigger once per attack roll“. This is OK. The old version was a bit strange. Also, I think I have only used chaining a very limited number of times.

The second change is in the models that can be chosen as Requisition Options. It is the same as the old one, except for one other small- or medium-based Khador solo with a cost of five or less. In principle, this changes a bit since some models have had a price change. However, for this version of Winter Guard Kommand (WGK) there really isn’t any change.

Battlegroup

The battle group comprises Vlad1 and the marvellous three Marauders. Neither, Vlad nor the Marauders have had any changes to them. So, that’s the same.

There are three solos in this list that has carried over from the older version: Joe and two Artillery Kapitans. In addition, the Greylord Adjunct is being exchanged for the trusted War Dog (more on this later).

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich has had two minor adjustments made: i) the universal change to Sacrificial Pawn and ii) a one point reduction in cost. The latter is really nice, as he is an auto-include in a WGK list.

The two Winter Guard Artillery Kapitans are still a single Requisition Option. They have lost Close Fire, which is fine, and gained Veteran Leader [Winter Guard] and a change to Fire & Displace.

Veteran Leader is huge, if you ask me. They now automatically give a +1 to attack rolls to all Winter Guards within 8″. This means that the Field Gun, Rifle Corps (and Rocketeers), and Gun Carriage are now RAT 6 if sufficient close; and if they aim (perhaps not particularly relevant for the Gun Carriage) they can now hit DEF 15 on an average roll (almost DEF 16 if Vlad goes first and does Signs & Portents). This is really good. They also works magic on the Mortar Crew. They are now an effective RAT 6 when aiming and under Artillerist; also bringing them close to hitting DEF 15 when aiming and under Signs & Portents – even without Joe. I’m almost tempted to bring four.

Finally, Fire & Displace has gained and extra inch for Reposition. It is now Reposition [3″], which is obviously nice.

The old version had a Greylord Adjunct attached to Vlad1. His primary jobs was to allow Vlad to cast Boundless Charge 8″ instead of 6″. However, points are tight so I have opted to exchange him for a War Dog. Vlad have had a bad habit of getting into more trouble that he could handle. He would quite often leave a safe hiding spot and join the battle. He is surprisingly brittle. The additional +2 DEF agains melee attacks (bringing Vlad to DEF 17), immunity to back strike bonus, and gaining Parry are what I think Vlad needs to get out of trouble. By the way, the War Dog became one point cheaper.

Units

The core of this list is still two Gun Carriages, two Field Guns and two min units of Rifle Corps with Rocketeers. The new version also includes a Mortar Crew and a min unit of Battle Mechaniks.

There hasen’t been any significant changes to any of these units. The Field Guns, Rifle Corps and Battle Mechaniks have all drooped one point; whilst the Mortar Crew has dropped two points. Nothing has happend to the Gun Carriage.

The main benefit here is actually the improvement to the Artillery Kapitans. As aforementioned, the +1 to attack rolls for Winter Guards is huge. The table below describes the DEF that can be hit on an average roll. Rat 5 is for all Winter Guards, save Mortar Crew (Rat 1), Joe (Rat 6), Artillery Kapitans (Rat 6)

Rat	Base	AK	Aim	FTM	S&P	AK+Aim	AK+Aim+S&P	AK+Aim+S&P+FTM
1	8	9	10	10	9	11	12	14
5	12	13	14	14	13	15	16	18
6	13	14	15	15	14	16	17	19

Where AK is Veteran Leader from the Artillery Kapitan (+1), Aim is the aiming bouns (+2), FTM is For the Motherland from Joe (+2), and S&P is Signs & Portens from Vlad (+1.5).

All of the minor point cost adjustments have left two point up for grabs. I’m opting for a min unit of Battle Mechaniks. The list heavily relies on the two Gun Carriages creating pressure on the flanks for as long as possible, and the Marauders surviving until they can make their fabulous 14″ piston to face manoeuvre. Thus, having a few Mechaniks around to fix minor issues seems like a good idea.

My (new) Winter Guard Kommand List

All of the above sums up to my current WGK list. Despite only minor changes coming out of the QLU, I think the WGK is a winner. The Veteran Leader from the Artillery Kapitans alone is golden. It might actually warrant four of these solos. Time will tell.

I’m pretty sure that I’ll field this list again soon. I like the uncomplicated nature os an almost quintessential Khador list. It will be interesting to see it in action. I wonder if the War Dog is the right choice.

For the Motherland!

Warriors of the Old Faith under Vladimir Tzepesci, Great Prince of Umbrey’s orders (Vlad3)

Igor Khador — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 12:15:00 +0000

Some of the heroes of Umbrey are finally realised the errors in going south and joining the emerging cult. They have returned under the banners of the Tzepesci family to fight off the infernal threat. The Great Prince of Umbrey is the natural choice to lead the cavalry of the old faith. Warriors of the Old Faith demonstrates that Khador lists are not slow and lumbering. Charge of the horse lords for country, empress and the old faith!

Warriors of the Old Faith is one of the Oblivion cross-faction themes. There is only one proper Khador ‘caster. The other ones are all Protectorate ‘casters. So, clearly running this theme points directly at the third incarnation of Vlad: Vladimir Tzepesci the Great Prince of Umbrey. This is probably the fastes Khador list one can make with plenty of cavalry.

Theme —Warriors of the Old Faith

Warriors of the Old Faith is an almost pure cavalry theme. The natural home of Vlad3; perhaps the only home. It allows Vlad to run all sorts of Protectorate models, who are both Khador and Protectorate models in this theme. It also gives cavalry models Line Breaker, which gives an additional die on Impact Attacks (so three die on both impact and charge attacks for cavalry models). Finally, a reroll is allowed for the starting roll. This is good, as Vlad almost always wants to go first.

My version of this theme is as follow:

[Theme] Warriors of the Old Faith

[Vladimir 3] Vladimir Tzepesci, Great Prince of Umbrey [+27]

– Judicator [35]

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon [0(6)]

Menite Archon [8]

Uhlan Kovnik Markov [7]

Vassal Mechanik [0(1)]

Vassal of Menoth [0(3)]

Choir of Menoth (min) [4]

Exemplar Vengers (max) [20]

Iron Fang Uhlans (max) [20]

Also at conflict chamber.

In the text below, I’ll go through the different models making up my Warriors of the Old Faith list, as well as some rationale to the composition of the list.

Vlad3

Vlad, the man himself

The third incarnation of Vladimir Tzepesci finally sees him on his trusted steed Vasada. He is the natural choice for leading a Warriors of the Old Faith list.

Vlad3 is in many ways a well rounded ‘caster, without being super fantastic to one of the things he do. He is fast and has a 3″ Reposition (he is on a horse). He can also gain Pathfinder when charging. When he gets into it and have to beat stuff up on his own, Blood-Quenched give him an extra STR and ARM for enemy destroyed (which have an interesting, yet situational interaction with his spell Flashing Blade). He also gets Pathfinder on the charge thanks to Relentless Charge. This is handy, as this list doesn’t really have a way of handing out Pathfinder.

Despite appearing as if he wants to get into the middle of the melee, he is, however deceptively brittle. At DEF 15, ARM 17 and 18 boxes, he will die to somebody making an effort. Something like an enemy ‘jack, ‘caster, stuff shooting at him or Weapon Master infantry (if they can catch him).

His feat, Charge of the Horse Lords, is the epitome of his hit and run approach to battle. It allows Warjacks and Cavalry to move 2″ if their initial attack hits (side step), and make a full advance and the end of activation, if they manage to kill something. Side step is clearly super with models with more than one attack. Yet, it is also interesting with the two possible (heavy) cavalry units he can bring to the table (Iron Fang Uhlans and Exemplar Vengers).

Vlad brings six spells to the table: Dash for extra movement, Flashing Blades for more attacks, Hand of Fate the discount version of the signature spell Signs & Portens. Infernal Machine for faster ‘jacks, Razor Wind his single damage spell, and Wind Wall to keep him safe from shooting.

Even with 7 focus, Vlad tends to be a bit strapped for focus. In a perfect world, he would like to upkeep both Infernal. Machine and Hand of Fate, and he will probably be casting Dash every round. This is already four focus, leaving him with only enough to either cast Wind Wall or fuel a ‘jack. This leaves him naked and not really good for either attacking or defending himself. Also, Vlad often likes to go first (at least before the cavalry) for using Dash.

When not casting or upkeeping too many spells, he actually do have an assassination potential. Under normal circumstances he can charge 12″. To gain both impact attacks and both hand-weapons, this is a far as he can go. There are of course options under his feat (an extra 2″ via side step) and Dash for an extra inch. All in all, this allows Vlad to poke stuff with his spear 16″ away (with Pathfinder). He can arrive at 16″ with five focus, which is not too shabby. Unfortunately, his spear is only a POW 12 weapon, so any options for using Blood-Quenched on the way will be highly appreciated (see Flashing Blades below).

Dash

Dash is the spell that makes the army even faster. It adds +1 SPD to friendly faction warriors models within 14″. In this army the most important models affected are obviously Vlad himself, giving him SPD 9; all the cavalry, giving them SPD 9; and also the Archons, giving them SPD 7. This means that all cavalry can tie up stuff 18.5 to 20 inches away, and can charge stuff 14″ away. Also, the Archons becomes highly mobile with flight. Dash will probably go up every round. Dash also have a very nice interaction with Vlad’s feat. More on this later. Finally, it also gives Parry!

Flashing Blades

Flashing Blades is also known from Butcher3. When casting, Vlad makes one basic attack against each enemy model in range. This is always handy. Yet, the spell has a very nice interaction with the ability Blood Quenched; in particular when Vlad is on an assassination run. When Vlad charges, let’s say a ‘caster, he can pump up the charge attack by casting Flashing Blade between ending his charge move and carrying out his charge attack. He will receive a +1 to STR and ARM for each enemy model destroyed. Unfortunately, his two weapons are not the most potent ones. You can pick either a range 2″ P+S 12, or a range 1″ P+S 13 (Chain Weapon). Nevertheless, pumping up before using his spear for a charge attack will make it P+S 14, plus any number of models killed on the way in.

Hand of Fate

This is Vlad’s signature spell. Poor mans version of Signs & Portents. It gives a friendly model or unit an extra die on attack and damage rolls. Then discard the lowest. Everybody clearly loves an extra 1.5 on the average two die roll. However, the Judicator really loves it. It already has Reliquary, which is basically them same, yet it stacks. So, using both Hand of Fate and Reliquary add a nice 2.5 on the average two die roll. This is brilliant, in particular for the shooting of the Inaccurate Rocket Pods that only has an effective RAT of 2. This allows a Judicator to actually hit DEF 11 and DEF 15 (if boosting) on average roll.

Infernal Machine

This spell adds love to Vlad’s ‘jacks, or in this case ‘jack. It adds +2 SPD and murderous. The latter adds an additional die to attack rolls against warrior models. I’m not envisioning the Judicator attacking too much warrior models, so it is primarily there for the speed buff; which the Judicator needs to keep up with the fast list.

Razor Wind

Razor Wind is in the standard arsenal for many Khador ‘casters. It’s just a POW 12 range 10″ spell.

Wind Wall

This is Vlad’s protection spell against non-magical ranged attacks. It also protects models completely within 3″. As a side note it also hinders models from making ranged attacks. In this list this doesn’t really matter.

Charge of the Horse Lords — Feat

Vlad’s feat is a hit and run feat. Friendly ‘jacks and Cavalry models (remember this also applies to Vlad himself) gain Side Step and Sprint. The former allows a model to advance up to 2″ if it hits an enemy model with its initials. The latter allows a model to make a full advance at the end of its turn; if it killed a model. As a small note, the Judicator can’t Side Step nor Sprint as it is a Colossal.

Combined with Dash, the Feat caters to a beautiful alpha strike. Vengers and Uhlans can charge and hit something 14″ away and then, if the target is killed move 11″ (SPD 8″ + Dash for 1″ + Side Step for 2″) away; and be ready for the next charge. Away can also go into the enemy’s lines, for some weird flipping sides action. Also, remember that Dash gives Parry.

Warriors

Exemplar Vengers

Returning Umbrey Vengers

These are the proud horse lords who followed Menoth, but has finally re-rallied under Tzepesci’s banners. Exemplar Vengers are a pretty good heavy cavalry unit. It can be argued that they are flat out better than their Khador counter part, the Uhlans. They come with the classic Reposition 3″, which all cavalry has. In addition the also come with Battle Drive, which gives +2 to ARM and STR, as well as Pathfinder for one round, if the unit is damaged by an enemy attack. This bringes them to ARM 20 and P+S 17 on the charge (remember that the Cavalry rule gives them 3 die on charge attack rolls). This is pretty good. Often it is a good idea to bait the opponent to damage one of the models to overcharge to unit. It is an even better idea if the attack does less than 23 points of damage, so the model survives.

This unit also has the strange Lance rule. They are equipped with a Blessed Lance (thus also Magical), which can only be used on the charge. Blessed ignore spells or animi that adds to DEF and/or ARM. So, Vengers really wants to charge and not being tied down in melee. This is why Vlad’s combo og Feat and Dash is so cool. Obviously they can also do a POW 12 impact attacks from their mount. Remember that the theme gives them Line Breaker, which is an addition die on attack rolls for impact attacks. This will then hit a DEF 17 on the average.

If they are tied down in melee, they only have a sword. However, compared to the Uhlans’ pommel spike, this is a pretty good melee weapon. Vengers are Weapon Masters with this weapon. So, assuming Battle Driven, they are going to hit at P+S 12 on three die (average of 22 point of damage).

Iron Fangs Uhlans

Charge of the mighty Uhlans

These are the heavy cavalry of Vlad’s homelands. Compared to the Vengers they have stayed true to Motherland and tradition. Uhlans are to a large degree similar to the Vengers. Arguably they are worse for the same point cost. However, I’m not completely on that band wagon. I think that each unit fills a slightly different role, and I would not bring neither two units of Vengers, nor two units of Uhlans.

Uhlans also come with the classic Reposition 3″. They also have build in Pathfinder on the charge, thanks to Relentless Charge. Having proper horses, and not ponies like the Vengers, they are also Steady. Finally, if base to base with one of their comrades they gain +2 ARM (bringing them up to 19). In today’s meta, ARM 19 is still on the low side, despite having 5 boxes.

This unit also has the strange Lance rule. On the charge, they hit at P+S 16 (average 26 points on damage). Remember that both their impact attack rolls and charge attack rolls are on 3 die (thanks to Line Breaker and Cavalry, respectively). In addition to obviously hitting better on 3 die, there is also an extra bonus, since both impact and the lance have Critical Knockdown. On 3 die, the chance of a critical is around 44%, which is pretty good (ignoring rolls that will not hit the target).

As with the Vengers, Uhlans really don’t like being caught in melee. They only have their Pommel Spike, which is just a pathetic P+S 10. You are actually better off using the mount as a melee weapon. That is POW 12 and the critical knockdown. However, it is only range 0.5″ compared to 1″.

Finally, it is worth remembering that this list also includes Uhlan Kovnik Markov. He grants Tactician to Uhlans when within 10″ of him. Being able to ignore fellow Uhlans for LOS and move through them makes life so much easier. Make sure to plan accordingly.

I think that Vengers and Uhlans fill two slightly different roles. They are equally adapt at removing models that they can kill in a charge attack. Yet, when charging more robust models, Uhlans are to be preferred as they have a reasonable chance of knocking them down.

Choir of Menoth

The Choir singing their praise to the Empress

The famous choir finally available to Khador. They are now praising the Empress with their songs. As there is only on ‘jack in this list, albeit a rather big one, this is a good investment. The Choir of Khador offer three hymns: i) Hymn of Battle, which gives the Judicator +2 on damage rolls. This makes the fists P+S 23. Yet, perhaps even more interesting it makes the rocket pods POW 14 with a blast of POW 9, and the flame thrower POW 14; ii) Hymn of Passage, which stops the Judicator from being targeted by non-magical ranged attacks; finally, iii) Hymn of Shielding, which stops the Judicator from being targeted by enemy spells. Normally either Passage or Shielding will go up in the beginning, whereas Battle goes up when the Judicator starts bringing pain to the enemy.

As a side note, they are also pretty good at scoring zones since there are only four of them and the other two units are often preoccupied with charging something.

Vassal of Menoth

Mini Doom Reavers?

Vlad is often strapped for focus. Luckily, there is a solution to this. The Protectorate of Menoth has learned from our simple and elegant solution to traitors to the Motherland. In this case, it is people showing sorcerous abilities who are chained and masked, thereby resembling our Doom Reavers.

Contrary to the Doom Reavers who are homicidal maniacs, the Vassals are sorcerous maniacs. They offer Empower which gives a focus to the Judicator. On the rare occasion that they are not empowering, they can also do an Arcane Bolt for a POW 11 blast 12″ away.

Having two in this list is the optimal. Combined with Power Up the Judicator can be fully loaded without Vlad spending a single focus. As a bonus they are free in this theme. However, they are also a favourite target for long range shooters, ambushers or similar, as loosing them quickly puts strains on Vlad. So protect them. Being base to base with the Judicator does a little towards this as their DEF and ARM goes to 14. Not impressive, but every little thing helps.

Vassal Mechanik

Mechanics

Having only one ‘jack in the list is a hefty investment. So, ensuring that it runs smoothly is paramount. Enter the Vassal Mechaniks who are quite adept at maintaining ‘jacks.

They are solos and at 1 point a head they are a bargain (they are actually for free here). They are slightly more expensive than our own Battle Mechaniks. However, they are also slightly better at repairing stuff, d3+1 compared to d3; and you can have them in any number between 1 and 3. I never leave home without two.

They are also a favourite target for shooting and ambushing so try to keep them safe. They are also good for scoring or contesting. Just run them and annoy your opponent.

Menite Archon

One of the burning Archons

The Menite Archon is one of the many new models in Wingsmachine. As with all the archons this model has a whole lot of rules on its card. It has a few build in (passive) abilities that are always on. It has Flight, which is handy. It is immune to fire, which is handy being on fire. It cannot be knocked down, cannot suffer Blind, nor can enemies take control of it. It also hinders enemy models in gaining souls from friendly models within 10″. Finally, Ashen Veil gives this model Concealment (up to DEF 15 against shooting) and living enemy models who are not immune to fire suffers -2 to attack rolls while within 2″.

On the active side of build in abilities it has build in Hand of Fate (Divine Inspiration), allowing it to hit DEF 16 on the average. Archons are on the average also quite annoyed with the world, so Righteous Fury gives it +2 STR and ARM (11 and 21, respectively) if a friendly warrior model is killed within 10″. So, keep it within 10″ from the charging cavalry. There might even be argument of keeping it within 5″, as it also has Swift Vengeance, which gives it the 3″ move and basic attack during the Maintenance phase.

Finally, Menite Archons can also fuel flames. If a model (friend or foe!) suffers fire damage within 5″, add 2 to the die roll. This interacts very nicely with the Judicator’s flame thrower, bringing up to POW 14 is the archon is close. Strangely, despite doing Continuous Fire, neither of the archon’s weapons actually has damage type: fire. So, no +2 for itself.

However, the two weapons carried by the archon can still do some work. It has a 2″ sword, which in addition to being P+S 15 also dispels spells and animi. This is on hit, so any ARM buffs will have expired when damage is rolled. The second weapon is a huge flail. It is a 2″ Chain Weapon (ignoring shields and Shield Wall) at P+S 13″. Even more likeable it denies Tough and can do Thresher.

The archon is highly mobile, in particular under Dash, making it SPD 7 and Parry; enabling it to go most places. This could for an example be near something the Judicator wish to spray. Also, being imune to fire it doesn’t matter if it gets caught in the spray.

Uhlan Kovnik Markov

Dorek “Stalin” Markov

Kovnik Markov is a more expensive and better Uhlan. He has the same basic abilities: Reposition 3″, Relentless Charge, and Steady as the other Uhlans, except Shield Wall. I guess it is because he has his shield hanging from his sadle, rather than on his arm.

One of the main reasons to pick him is Tactician. It allows Iron Fangs to ignore each other for LOS and move through each other. This does obviously also include himself. Having this ability makes managing 6 modes on large bases so much easier.

He has the same Pommel Spike for melee attacks, and the same type of horse. So, as with his brethren it is often better to use the horse, having d3 to hit and an OK potential for knockdown. He also has a lance, which is a slightly better lance. In stead of the normal small powder charge, his actually has a warhead. This allows him to put down a 4″ AOE when hitting, which causes a POW 10 blast to everybody in the area except himself. It also causes knockdown on a critical hit. Again, on the charge, a guy on a horse has 3 die on the charge attack roll.

He is a bit expensive at 7 points, and his primary ability is actually giving tactician. So, he should be kept alive for as long as necessary, or at least until he can get a devastating charge off.

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon

The High Paladin

To a certain degree, Dartan Vilmon fills a substitute roll as he is the only thing left on the Requisition list worth taking. At 6 points, he is probably too expensive if the theme didn’t give him away for free.

Despite that he has a role to fill. He is a pretty good Shield Guard, and who doesn’t like a shield guard? Keeping him with 3″ of Vlad (or something else that for some reason shouldn’t be hit by a shot) and making sure that he has the option to go into his Stone-and-Mortar Stance (giving up either movement or combat action) allows him to take a shot at ARM 21. At 8 boxes this makes him pretty survivable.

Having no horse, he can have trouble keeping up. The traditional approach is to have him running in the first turn, and then making his stance for the rest of the game. If he isn’t on Shield Guard duty, he also makes a very good flag-camper. He is quite difficult to remove when doing his dance, I mean stance.

Warjack

Judicator

The Judicator in proper colours

Vlad only has one ‘jack in his list. But what a ‘jack. The Judicator is finally available to a proper faction (and in the case of this list, finally in a colour approved by the Empress).

The Judicator is slightly less robust that our own Conquest and Victor. Also, slightly less brutal in melee. It has two fists at P+S 21, normally at 23 when the choir is near and sining Battle (which they should do if it is in melee). However, its main selling point, weapon wise is actually the Flame Throwers. Sprays rule in Warmahordes. The two Flamer Throwers are rand 12″ and POW 12. Remember, this is POW 14 is the choir is sining, and POW 16 if an archon is near the targets. That is clearly not too shabby.

It also has two Rocket Pods. at range 14″ and POW 14 (16 with the choir) they can do some damage. In addition to the AOE 3″ where it hits, a deviation roll is also made for one more AOE 3″ at POW 7 (or 9 when listening to the choir). Unfortunately, the Rocket Pods are Inaccurate, which means that it has an effective RAT of only 1. Exactly the same as our own Mortar Crew. However, this is where the trump card comes in: Reliquary is the same effect as Hand of Faith, just with another name. This also means that they stack. So, 4 die rolled, remove the two smallest. The combination of Reliquary and Hand of Faith basically shifts the distribution of die rolls to the right (higher number). The table below describes the average DEF and max DEF the Judicator can hit under the different combinations of the base roll, aiming, boosting and Hand of Faith.

		B	B+A	B+A+Bo	B+A+HoF	B+A+Bo+HoF	B+Bo	B+Bo+HoF	B+HoF
Rockets	Avg.	9	11	15	12	16	13	14	10
	Max	13	15	21	15	21	19	19	13
Flamer	Avg.	13	15	19	16	20	17	18	14
	Max	17	19	25	19	25	23	23	17
Fists	Avg.	14	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18	19	15
	Max	18	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	24	24	18

Average DEF the Judicator can hit (B = base; A = aim; Bo = boost; HoF = Hand of Fate)

It should be clear that the Judicator really likes Hand of Faith. Yet, it also likes Infernal Machine. In particular the first round, when it really likes the +2 SPD when moving up the board, and perhaps when, and if it needs to charge into melee.

The Judicator is an expensive package. It is 25 points on its own. Yet, it really works marvels when it is combined with the choir, two Vassals, and at least one Mechanik. If paying for everything this package would be a whooping 46 points! Luckily, 7 of these are free in this theme. So, the package only cost 39 points. Make sure they count!

There are two important things to keep an eye out for (well actually three, the last one is getting the Judicator killed. But let’s assume we are always looking out for that): the enemy jamming with inexpensive models when the Judicator needs to get into melee; and loosing the support. Should the former happen, it can sometimes be mitigated by the cavalry, as they can charge in and the Reposition sway again, also the Thresher attack from the archon can clean stuff away. Finally, Trampling is always an option, unless the opponent is clever. The latter should be avoided. Always make sure that at least one of the choir boys is kept alive. It is possible to loose one Mechanik before trouble arrives. Loosing the Vassals puts a strain on Vlad’s focus.

My Warriors of the Old Faith list

So, that’s it. My approach to the Warriors of the Old Faith. It is a pretty strait forward list to play. The tremendous speed should be used for all it is worth. Making good use of the reroll to start, to make sure that Vlad starts is good. The speed of this army can really put a heavy scenario pressure on the opponent. To recap the army is as follows:

[Theme] Warriors of the Old Faith

[Vladimir 3] Vladimir Tzepesci, Great Prince of Umbrey [+27]

– Judicator [35]

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon [0(6)]

Menite Archon [8]

Uhlan Kovnik Markov [7]

Vassal Mechanik [0(1)]

Vassal of Menoth [0(3)]

Choir of Menoth (min) [4]

Exemplar Vengers (max) [20]

Iron Fang Uhlans (max) [20]

Also at conflict chamber.

Also, good use of the Feat is important. None of the models really likes being tied down in melee. So, if it is possible to charge under Feat and then sprint away to charge again, you get full value of the army.

The picture below depicts the Empress standard formation 7, which uses the maximum number of auras in the army. This is probably a formation that is only possible in theory, but it is worth keeping the many auras in mind when moving the army around.

Suggested unpacking to take advantage of all auras

Assuming you, me dear reader has arrived all they way down here, I hope you have enjoyed these wild speculations. With a bit of luck, battle reports will appear in the foreseeable future.

For the Motherland!