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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.  

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. 

The Harassment

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

Kossite Woodsmen

The hardy north Khadorian woodsmen

Kayazy Eliminators

The ladies of death

Yuri the Axe

A man — an axe!

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] 

 – 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)]

 Kayazy Eliminators [0(4)]

 Kossite Woodsmen (min) [7]

 Manhunter [2]

 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. 

1. Lady Aiyana & Master Holt have never really performed; and
2. The combination of a Spriggan and a Marauder have left the list with too little ARM-cracking.

So, to mitigate these problems, I have been thinking hard about what changes could be made. The list needs to fix ARM-cracking and magical weapons, without loosing too many of the benefits from the existing ‘jack, and the lady and friend.

Greylord Adjunct

This guy solves a lot of problems for most Khador casters and lists. He comes with both passive and active abilities. Let’s start by looking at his two really good passive abilities: Arcane Assist and Spiritual Conduit. 

Eiryss1 and Eiryss2 are often used to Disrupt ‘jacks. This can really be terrible for any plan. One ‘jack out without focus is always bad. Both incarnations of this little lady have Stealth. Eiryss1 shoots 12″, which is within a Field Gun’s range. So, it can even aim, giving it a 71% chance of hitting. Hitting her means she is dead. Eiryss2 is slightly worse. She can also shoot 12″, however she can reposition 3″, brining her just outside a Field Gun’s range. Thus, the Field Gun would have to move, giving it a 50/50 chance of hitting her.

If we look at what Marauders are best at, it is knocking things down, and taking out huge based models. I almost always see one or more huge based models on the table. There are currently 53 huge based models (colossal/gargantuan (25), battle engine (21), structure (2), warcaster/warlock (5)). Assuming a Marauder is fully loaded, the following options exist (this is ignoring any issues regarding actually hitting the target): all structures, warcasters/warlocks, and battle engines can be taken out by one ‘jack; most colossal/gargantuan require two ‘jacks to be killed, only five can be taken out by one ‘jack. So, having two Marauders ready to deal with huge based models would be handy; thus, having a third in backup sounds prudent. Obviously, if everything goes completely wrong a Battle Lusted and Bear Strength Winter Guard unit can assist.

Irusk and his Winter Guards ready to take on the enemies of the Empress

All in all, I think that the change from Spriggan, and Lady Aiyana and Master Holt to triple Marauder and Greylord Adjunct solves the main issue of ARM cracking, without loosing all the benefits of the old setup. So, without any further ado, here is the new version of Irusk2’s WGK list:

Khador Army – 75 / 75 points