eVlad - The Dark Champion the Motherland deserves

Today I'm going to write an article about one of my favourite casters: Vlad2!

eeeh.. right. I couldn't find a decent pic, so this will do.

I rarely see this guy getting played, and apart from Jason Flanzer talking about him Here I don't hear all that much about him anymore, so I thought I'd put a change to that.

Vlad2 was the first caster that made me feel in full control of the game. He has so many great tools and options up his sleeve and the threat ranges are long enough for me to be able to dictate the pace of the engagement in most matchups. He truly is a joy to play simply because every game with him is uniqe and requires you to use your abilities as a player in different ways.

So what does he do for Khador in a tournament environment? A few really neat things actually:

 For starters he is the best drop we have into Gaspy2. Between Wind Blast to take away his clouds, Hand of Fate and Transference to make sure attacks on high value targets do what they have to and the excellent threat range our models get under his feat he really has all the tools to give the cursed Lich Lord a run for his money. He also doesn't die easily to Gaspys feat thanks to Might of Kings (unless you're knocked down. Look out for that Helldiver!) and actually can make short work of Gaspy himself if he gets to him thanks to Balefire on his sword.

He's also a really good drop into Vayl2, however he requires a slightly different army build for that (however you can compromise a build that can handle both Vayl2 and Gaspy2 ok). The big thing here is that everything in your army can potentially make huge holes in Legion beasts and be a pain in the ass to remove after having done so. The battle plan is to push the Legion army back because they want to minimize the effect of your alpha and then jamming them there and following up with more heavy hitters.

That said he can deal with a lot of opponents thanks to his fluent and adaptable playstyle.

The Legion drop

In contrast to some popular Khador casters it's what Vlad brought with him that sets the limit for what he can and can't do, moreso than for others. First off, let's look at the list I brought to last years WTC:

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion (*5pts)
• Juggernaut (7pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
Greylord Outriders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
• Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount) (5pts)

This is a dedicated anti-eVayl list. It has some game against Gaspy2 as well, but it's not the best list for that matchup.

To make it better in the Legion matchup I have taken out some othewise great things to have, like Eliminators or Nyss, but I'll go into how Vlad makes them awesome later.

As it turned out I played this list 3 times, 2 vs Gaspy2 and once vs Vayl2 and ended up 2-1 with it. Pretty solid.

First off, this list cannot at all handle Lylyth2, and Saeryn is a problem if she doesn't feat defensively. However, if your other list is a shooting heavy list Saeryn is unlikely to get dropped.

So, what makes this a great Legion drop? Doom Reavers, Pikemen and Uhlans all tear up Legion beasts like it's their job, if you can get them there in one piece. Your feat enables you to deliver them and puts their damage output up three notches. Eiryss2 needs to be in here to shoot off Admonition and Tenacity. She's important, so don't get her killed before you feat. Gorman is in there because he's a nucieance to the Legion player and can decide the outcome of a game with a well timed Black Oil. The Outriders doesn't do terribly much in this matchup, but are important none the less as they can clear any jams the Legion player tries to protect his beasts with. You can also use them to block LOS to your Uhlans and the Drakhun. The IFK also mainly clear jamming lessers, but he is also a great Feat target in this list, plus some added utility with his abilities. The Drakhun is just money with eVlad and one of the best Feat targets Khador has to offer. And becuase the feat is in effect for a round, his Counter-Charge hurts alot the turn after you feat. I chose to go with the regular UA for the Pikemen becuase:
a) Pathfinder is important
b) the minifeat synergizes oh so well with the feat. Feated IFP will walk 9" and Shield Wall after charging 12" and will now be DEF 16 ARM 21 jamming even further into the Legion lines, and are difficult even for boosting Legion heavies to remove reliably.

The plan

First turn is huge in this matchup, but you can never count on it because Vayl2 usually has +1 on the roll. If you get first turn you catch the Legion player on the back foot and he has some difficult decisions to make already, because you have the speed to position for a turn 2 feat. Let's do the math: 7" deploy + 16" run + 16" feat turn charge threat and you will have Uhlans in his deployment zone top of 2, tearing up his beasts. Most Legion players will stay defensive and not come at you, which is the right call. 

I'm always looking to feat on turn 2 in this matchup as you want the swing to happen early so he can't sandpaper you away. This means you will take some losses for one turn and then you will be on him. You want to make it hard for him to get your Uhlans and the Drakhun as they have the longest threat and are also hitting the hardest. I usually screen them with the Outriders since they aren't super important in the matchup. You don't want to screen your infantry, because you will just give him good targets to place Scathers off of. 

I usually aim to incapacitate 2 heavies on my feat turn, because that is realistically what you will get to. You might end up with less than that because of the random nature of the feat, but you will generally be able to tear up 2 beasts pretty good, if not kill them. You then want to position the models not charging into the enemy as a strong followup, which is key. The Legion beasts will struggle with the enhanced stats of your feated charging models, and then you get to charge them again with fresh troops. 

Let's take a moment to consider how awesome the Feat makes some models defensively:

Uhlans go to DEF 16 ARM 20, 22 if they have Defensive Line (which they should have) and 5 boxes. Armour Piercing Angels will still kill them, but other than that nothing is really guaranteed to oneshot them, and the Angels still have trouble hitting them. 

MoW Drakhun just goes nuts. DEF 14 ARM 22 10 boxes, and if you got the dismount (which you also should, seriously, it's hard to get more worth out of 1 point) 8 more boxes after that. DEF 14 forces them to boost to hit, so he will take less attacks than he otherwise would. It will cost the Legion player alot of resources to get rid of this guy altogether. 

IFP is similar to Uhlans at DEF 16 ARM 21 (because feat turn is likely to be your minifeat turn as well) being 1 box infantry they are easier to deal with though. 

Doom Reavers go to DEF 16 ARM 17 you mostly feat on these guys because they hit like trucks. 

Dealing with jams

Legion players will do almost anything to stop you getting to their heavies. Therefore you need to position to clear jams as well as threaten to tear his throat out. 

The ususal suspects are spawned Stingers or Shredders, Raeks or Hex Hunters/Legionnaires. Here is where the Outriders shine. They can both shield your valuable Uhlans and clear them a path should your enemy try to block it. Legion infantry is generally not a problem, because they will die to Outrider sprays not to mention impact attacks from feated Uhlans. Lessers are more troublesome, but the Outriders handles them pretty well, with the IFK as backup. Raeks is another story. Here you need some serious hitting power and the Outriders can't realiably deal with that many High-def boxes, so here I would consider the IFP. They are excellent, because you can feat on 1 or 2 and lead CMAs with the feated models, kill the Raek and then minifeat to get out of the way of the Uhlans. 

On turn 1 I always put Hand of Fate on the unit I think will be doing the unjamming, let them do their thing and then feat and swap it to most probably the Uhlans, or the IFP if they have better targets. 

The Long Game

So what does all this get you? It generally gets you an engagement on the Legion player's side of the board where he will struggle to get anything that will survive a round of beating into a zone. Therefore Scenario is very important in this matchup. Every CP counts. This is also why I have chosen to go with a Juggernaut for the battlegroup. That guy kills heavies dead, unlike the Berzerker and can clear a zone if he needs to. Drago on the other hand can be made an argument for, but he's 1 more point for less-to-similar hitting power and less durability. The increased MAT and Affinity is nice though.  

I ususally think of this list as a wave attack:

The first wave are generally your feat targets, plus any other models that were in range to charge. Usually Uhlans, the Drakhun and some Doom Reavers or IFP. The first wave sets the line of engagement and forces a reaction.

The second wave are the guys from those units that didn't get to charge. They should have positioned to attack whatever is now trying to deal with your first wave. I also count Gorman to the second wave, becuase a Black Oil is huge in the attrition game at this stage. The second wave's mission is to cripple the enemy's ability to hurt you in any significant way.

The third wave are comprised of your Jack, any remaining Outriders, the IFK and any guys that couldn't charge with the second wave. If they are needed, the third wave will insure total victory on all fronts.

While all this is going on you should be able to score some CPs. The Outriders usually have nothing better to do after your feat turn, so they and other models of the third wave are a great tool to remove contesting models. Vlad should stay reasonably safe, however camping 3-4 focus + Might of Kings ususally means Vayl can't kill you reliably herself. The Ravagores are therefore an important target for the second wave to ensure they never get to shoot Vlad. If you fail to take them out or tie them up significantly you will have to keep Vlad somewhere safe, preferably behind a wall or in a trench, but a forest or hill will make due in a pinch. I usually win my games against Legion on scenario with this list, so take all the CPs you can.

Lets talk army building!

Alright, let's move along into some army building discussion, as the above list is almost exclusively focused on taking down eVayl. So what do I like with the Dark Champion if I'm bulding him as an all comers list?

Man-O-War Drakhun: This guy deserves a place in every Vlad2 list. He's a good model to begin with, but Vlad2 makes him into a beast. Again, one of the absolutely best feat targets. You should always get the dismount for him as well, for only 1 point it's well worth it.

Kayazy Eliminators: Preferably 2 units! Seriously, these girls are insane under the feat. They are also a very  real assassination threat if the opposing caster is within 13,5" of them. With the feat and Gang they go up to MAT 12, P+S 14 and have 2 attacks each. Charging through models and ignoring free strikes. If you can get Hand of Fate in there as well it gets ridiculous and then there is always Transference so you can boost the non-charge attack damage roll, or the attack rolls for that matter (getting screwed by dice sucks). They also tear up heavies, as they are P+S 18 if they use their Combo-strike. Or you can clear 4 infantry models with them and stand on DEF 20 against melee attacks and ARM 14, 5 boxes. Do you think all this is worth 3 points of your army? Then go buy yourself some murder-twins, silly!

Iron Fang Uhlans: Ironically the best Uhlan caster is not Vlad3, in my opinion it's Vlad2. I usually take a min unit at least. Why I hear you say? Because they really like the feat. Think about it this way: During feat turn they are like a charging Juggernaut (and costs the same). That threats 16". At MAT 11. Getting all 3 attacks with boosted damage. That can impact attack through impeding models. For no Focus cost. Interested yet? These guys pretty much oneround a heavy, especially with Hand of Fate (might as well throw it in there to make sure).

Greylord Outriders: Vlad also synergize well with our Light cavalry. Hand of Fate is just what these guys ordered and I always take a max unit of Outriders. That's how great they are. There are also occations when you want to feat on these guys, especially in the Gaspy2 matchup. It won't help them hit or damage their targets, but their threat range go up to 20" which enables you to keep them back and safe, but still be relevant. 

Doom Reavers: These guys are good with Vlad for a couple of reasons. First off, his feat is one of only a few buffs that work on them thanks to Spell Ward. And what a buff it is. MAT 10 P+S 16 Berzerk Weaponmasters sound ridiculous to you? They are also good in the Gaspy2 matchup as a first wave, since they can't be excarnated they can do some nice early work, but make sure to keep your other vulnerable infantry out of Excarnate range as they can certainly still be eradicated by Purges. 

 Nyss + Valachev: A great all-round unit for a great all-round caster. These guys are awesome on their own with Valachev giving them Zephyr, but when you add the Feat and Hand of Fate into the mix it gets ridiculous fast and their adaptable nature of both strong shooting and melee power synergize very well with how Vlad2 wants to play. Have you ever tried Hand of Fated Nyss? If not, please do. It's a pleasure. You will have to look after Valachev though since he is the enabler of this awesomeness. 

Iron Fang Pikemen: First off, I always take the regular UA with Vlad2. The synergy you get from the minifeat is awesome and Relentless Charge is very useful. Hand of Fate is just what IFP needs to shine as well. You'll notice I bring up HoF alot. That's because it's awesome and you should cycle it each round to get maximum use out of it, it really makes all Khador models tick. These guys are always solid and Vlad2 does some really nice things for them. 

Then there is always the ususal support solos: Eiryss2, Gorman, Saxon Orrik (important if you are running Doom Reavers and/or Eliminators), Orin Midwinter, Widowmaker Marksman, Iron Fang Kovnik (very nice feat target) as well as nice-to-have things like Widowmakers (usually don't take these guys if I take Nyss) or, as an alternative to the Nyss, Winter Guard Rifle Corps + Joe. I would probably take Nyss over the WGRC module though, unless they are a must have for my other list. 

A sample army list might look like this:

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion (*5pts)
• Drago (8pts)
Man-O-War Drakhun (with dismount) (5pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)

Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
Greylord Outriders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)

Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena & 9 Grunts) (10pts)
• Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader & Grunt) (3pts)

I would be quite comfortable taking this into a tournament and play into a variety of different matchups. You can easily re-distribute the points of the list. You could, for example, take the Doom Reavers out and put in another unit of Eliminators along with a couple of extra solos, or a unit of Widowmakers if you change Drago into a Juggernaut. You could also easily swap Nyss+Valachev for IFP+UA+Kovnik if you want it to play better into heavy armour (although the Nyss are almost as good with their Weaponmaster claymores) and it would still preform nicely. 

The Gaspy2 matchup

So let's discuss the Gaspy2 matchup.

First off I would like to highlight important units to have in your army for this matchup specifically:

Greylord Outriders:  Nothing clears Banes like Outriders with Hand of Fate. Absolutely must have in this matchup.

Doom Reavers: are great here simply because of Spell Ward. No excarnate = no insane purge threat, so these guys usually form the vanguard and do the early work on whatever they can get their Fellblades on. 

Nyss + Valachev: While they can't engage the Bane Thralls, Nyss under Valachev are excellent for killing Bane Knights. With Hand of Fate you are now killing them on average with single shots and Zephyr let's you escape retaliation from the rest of the unit. The threat of a large CRA onto Gaspy himself is also great to have.

Eiryss2: First off, she is vital in other Cryx matchups like B&S or pDenny, but she is important here too, because she is the only one that can enable a melée assassination on Gaspy, shooting off Hellbound. She's also a RAT 9 sniper and killing dudes is always good against Cryx.

Uhlans: Yep, I want them here as well, but a min unit is enough. They can take out any heavies, if they brought any, and are great for taking out Tartarus for example and can kill a fair few models between impact attacks and charges. They also kill Gaspy dead if Eiryss succeeds in shooting off Hellbound.

So how do you play the matchup? Cautiosly. I usually send in Doom Reavers first, preferably 2 units and hold back everything else excarnateable so they can do their work without getting Purged to oblivion which is tricky in and of itself. They will eventually die, but they can hopefully get some work done and get the ball rolling. You still want to threaten any scenario zones with your Uhlans, but 16" is a long way and you need to use that to your advantage. Uhlans are still very excarnateable, even though it gets dicey, but Puppet Strings makes it quite likely. It's only after this clash that you want your Outriders and Nyss to engage, which is why it can be important to feat on the Outriders in this matchup. If they hang back they might not have that much of an impact, which you must make sure they have as quickly as possible after the Doom Reavers have faded.

When the Doom Reavers are gone, you start wearing down the Banes for real, with the Nyss and the Outriders. Between them you should kill most of the Banes. Also keep a look out for taking out the Biles, as they are a strong tool against your list. Remember to use Wind Blast if he puts up clouds, the key to winning against Gaspy is to take away his options (and his Banes) while not loosing your caster to the feat.

The Helldiver is super important to keep track of, as a successful headbutt/slam into Vlad will loose you the game. You want to make it as hard as possible for him to even get there, so keeping your heavy just over 3" in front of Vlad will go a long way. He can still run one of his own models to slam into you, so that's why you need to kill alot of dudes quickly. Also remember that Vlad has Defensive Strike, should the Helldiver slam Vlad directly, or walk up to Headbutt him. It's not much, but at least you have a chance to cripple an important system. Best not let him get to there though.

I usually save the feat and the Uhlans for as long as I can, just to threaten an assassination, or if I can get hold of a bunch of important stuff like Tartarus, Darragh, an Arcnode etc. Eiryss2 is key, so keep her safe. She can sit at 12" from the frontmost bane and contribute to the attrition game with her shot until she can get a bead on Gaspy. Her threat is 19", so be careful when you position her and keep in mind what areas you want to threat. Ideally you want her to be out of excarnate-purge threat from the Biles. If Gaspy walks into it you can always pull the trigger and see if it works out. I prefer the Uhlans to go in on him if you successfully remove Hellbound, but Doom Reavers will do if he exposes himself eary, or even Nyss Hunters in the late game. You will usually have to clean up some crap in front of Gaspy to get to him, but nothing that Outriders and Nyss can't handle, however Though on the Bane Thralls might make it a dicey proposition.

If you haven't screwed up and gotten Vlad knocked down Gaspys feat will likely go into your heavy, or just trying to kill as much of your stuff as possible to even the field. Gaspy can be quite hard to deal with lategame, so make sure you got Eiryss2 around and put the Lich back in the ground. Transference works wonders if you can't shoot Hellbound off since you can still boost your damage rolls.

There is actually a way to kill Gaspy in melee even if you can't shoot Hellbound off. It requires Saxon Orrik, Doom Reavers and your feat.

1) Saxon grants Pathfinder to the chosen unit of Doom Reavers
2) Vlad feats on said unit of Doom Reavers and moves up to apply Transference
3) Doom Reaver 1 Runs close to Gaspy, preferably into B2B.
4) Doom Reaver 2 Charges Doom Reaver 1 and makes sure to keep Gaspy in his melée range and LOS
5) Doom Reaver 3 Charges Doom Reaver 1 or 2 and makes sure to keep Gaspy in his melée range and LOS and so on....
6) Doom Reaver 2 kills Doom Reaver 1 with his Charge attack and Berzerks into Gaspy, boosting with Transference
7) Doom Reaver 3 kills Doom Reaver 2 with his Charge attack and Berzerks into Gaspy(or, if he also charged Doom Reaver 1, redirects his attack to Gaspy). And so on.

Doom Reaver 1 can be from another unit activating before, so as to grant the Back Strike bonus.

I have never preformed this maneuver myself, but it looks hilarious on paper and I'll be sure to try it if I ever get the chance.

Enough of that piece of jank. In all seriousness the way you win this matchup is through attrition, since your army excels at it and also by keeping your caster safe. Sometimes you need a finisher, but if Gaspy is all he has left you will be able to win on Scenario pretty quickly.

Playing the Dark Champion

So why is Vlad2 good? I would say it's his adaptable playstyle that lets you analyze the situation and come up with the suitable response, and the potentially huge atrittion swing that should come with your feat. However it takes player skill to identify valuable targets in the enemy list, the best way to neutralyze those targets and really, creating good matchups for the variety of units you bring. Vlad2 was the first caster that I actually swapped sides with my units on turn one if I weren't happy with what they were going up against. Of course, the variety of high SPD units you bring with him makes this easier. You also need to know when to pop your feat and when you should hold on to it. Usually you want to feat early to create a snowball effect, but sometimes that's not the case. 

Another thing that is quite important is to be aware of your threat ranges, because they are so long. You need to be able to tell if your Uhlans are within 16" of that enemy heavy, or if your Doom Reavers are within 14" of that cluster of infantry. Another challange is to identify targets for the feat. This is not always as easy as it sounds, and it comes down to priorities. When you roll only 4 models for your feat you need to know what target is the most important and what target you can take the risk of not killing fully. 

When you got him down though, Vlad2 is an attrition machine that rarely runs out of gas. He has some bad matchups though:

Lylyth2: The only Legion Warlock I wouldn't consider dropping Vlad2 into. Her superior threat ranges forces you to feat defensively and try to run to engage her greatest assets, which really sucks and even through that she can kill alot of your stuff. This is a very bad matchup for Vlad2, possibly the worst.

Cygnar: Khador has a general problem with Cygnar, and so do Vlad2 although it's not as bad as the Lylyth2 matchup. You can certainly make a game out of it, but beware that he has trouble killing the Stormwall because of his reliance on single wound infantry. The Uhlans only go so far. 

Protectorate of Menoth: More specifically Harby. He has very little going for him in that matchup when Harby can prevent his units from charging. If you feat you can go in with Uhlans and the Drakhun on her feat, but Enliven is gonna suck because nothing else is likely to make it close to his Jacks and you have nothing to prevent Martyrdom apart from volume of attacks. 

Those are by far the worst, and you usually have a fighting chance in most other matchups.

So what would I pair him with? Butcher3 is indeed a good second list here, as he covers all the shortcomings of Vlad2 and currently is the only one to do so in the Khadoran stable of Casters in my opinion. While Reckoning doesn't really change anything for Vlad2, it might shake some things up for the other list and we might see someone else emerge that can handle these matchups, probably with a Rager at his/her side. Thinking about it, Irusk1 could be our man. 

General Tips & Tricks

With regular IFP and Outriders you have excellent jam-clearing as the Outriders can just Light-cav out of the way and the IFP can minifeat to make room.

Don't underestimate the Nyss' melée power. Under feat they are MAT 9, P+S 12 Weaponmasters that threat 13,5" with Pathfinder and can see through forests. That's like more accurate, faster Great Bears. 

You usually want to allocate nothing turn one and get all 3 of your upkeeps out (that is Hand of Fate, Assail on the Jack and Transference). It's almost always worth it to upkeep these spells throughout the game and it's ALWAYS worth it to cycle Hand of Fate. That shit cray.

Learn the Cavalry rules. You are going to be playing Cavalry alot with Vlad2 so you better know what they can do. Impact Attacks is a very important part to know, as well as Tall in the saddle and the fact that you get +2 MAT on the charge attack.

 The Drakhun get the Feat bonus on your opponents turn as well, so if he trigger Counter-Charge he will be sure to regret it.

If you feat on a unit Leader they get +3 CMD for CMD checks, which basically makes you pass them automatically. It also allows you to spread out further, but be aware that at the start of your next turn your CMD goes down to normal and anyone outside of formation will not get to attack.

Other than that I can only encourage you to learn how to weigh the flow of battle and getting a feel for what course of action is the strongest, but that can only come with practice. 

Vlad2 is the caster I have had the most fun with playing this game and would thoroughly recommend him as he is very rewarding to the player once you learn his if's and but's.

That's all for now! I'd be more than happy to recieve any feedback on this article, so please let me know how it was for you.

Over 'n out!

Reckoning: what is it good for?

As promised, here is my take on Reckoning:

Obavnik Kommander Zerkova & Reaver Guard

New warcasters are always exciting, especially when they bring something new to the faction which Zerkova2 certainly does. Lets go over her base stats to begin with: She is SPD 6, MAT 6, DEF 15, ARM 15, CMD 9, FOCUS 7 and has 16 boxes. She retains her Immunity: Cold, but somehow loose Pathfinder. In some of my testgames I have actually used that to my advantage, with her placed behind a wall she can cast Occult Whispers, and whatever else she wants and then issue a charge order and just charge straight into the wall, going nowhere, while her Reaver Guards get to charge stuff. This is highly situational though and generally to have pathfinder is better, but alas. 

She has Inspiration [Greylord] which essentially makes Greylords in her CMD fearless which is of huge importance (especially since she brings two abominations herself). Also remember that any unit Valachev joins is considered a Greylord unit as long as he's alive which can very useful. 

Her entire unit also comes with Sacred Ward on their cards, which is awesome. A lot of spell assassinations don't work on her. 

She also has Self-sacrifice to her Reaver Guards, which basically gives her the ability to tank 2 extra attacks if someone is going for an assassination. Remember that the Reaver Guards need to be within 3" of her for this to work.

The Reaver Guards also has Counter-charge which can be useful.

Her only weapon, the Orgoth Blade will seldom be used, but it is P+S 12 and has Blessed, so it's not too shabby. Being a spellslinger though, means she will do most of her damage with her awesome spells:

Banishing Ward Retained from her old version, this spell removes upkeep spells on target friendly model/unit and they can't be targeted by spells or animi while the spell is active. This is very useful, especially in the B&S matchup, as you don't need Eiryss2 in your Cryx drop anymore (and Khador really wants Eiryss2 in other lists)

Dissolution Bolt RNG 8, POW 12 this is her cheap bolt. If you have nothing better to do you can always throw out a couple of these to do some work. It also comes with the added benefit of preventing channeling through a model hit, which can be really good in certain matchups. 

Hoarfrost RNG 8, POW 14 and crit stationary. This spell is good on paper, but even better with Zerkova because of Occult Whispers. 4 dice attack rolls makes the crit so much more probable, and the potential of this spell skyrocket. Realistically you will only have a 4 dice Hoarfrost on her feat round though, as you are probably going to want to upkeep one spell at least (and I'm not a fan of Sylys with her, will go into that a bit later).

Occult Whispers What makes Outriders even better than Hand of Fate? This spell does. All Friendly Faction models that make magical attacks in Zerkovas control area gets an additional die on the attack roll. This is including Zerkova herself which makes her boosted Hoarfrost so good. Also, you get really accurate Frostbite sprays, Ice Cages, Harm or Flame Blasts(depending on where Valachev is). In my opinion this spell defines Zerkova2 and together with her feat practically forces you to play with Magic using models and also makes her want to use Valachev to maximise the use you get from this spell and the feat. 

Sacrificial Lamb Probably the least exciting spell on her card. Together with the Koldun Lord it allows you to get a Disrupted warjack up to 2 focus at least, but that use is very situational. I don't really see her using it to fuel a multitude of Warjacks either, since we're Khador.

Telgesh Mark And now, the spell that makes Zerkova2 work. Finally PP are giving Khador access to another Arc Node, and Zerkova really needs it to function, otherwise Hoarfrost and Dissolution Bolt are pretty much dead spells. Khador have some really nice options when it comes to decide where you are going to put this spell:

Kayazy Eliminators tried and tested by Fiona the Black, the murder twins are a great target for the Mark. Hard to get rid of for most factions thanks to Stealth, 5 boxes and high def is fantastic and Acrobtics make them impossible to tie up and block. They also murder face for only 3 points. 

War Dog (and/or Nyss Hunters) Yep. Another reason not to take Sylys is the fact that our trusty canine has Hunter, which means he (and by extension, Zerkova) can see through forests if he recieves the Mark. He is also SPD 7, 5 boxes, Tough and is only 1 meager point. Definatley worth it imo. 

Gorman di Wulfe (or Assault Kommandos) The Gas Mask rule makes Gorman a great candidate for the Mark. To be able to see through clouds is a great abillity and it's not like he's a bad solo if the opponent doens't bring any clouds. I mostly recommend taking cheap solos/units as Mark targets that can fill other roles as well for you if their niche ability is not needed and therefore I don't really recommend AKs to fill this role. 

Clamjacks Want a durable arcnode that the opponent will have trouble removing? Look no further than the Spriggan/Devastator/Demolisher chassis. Bulldoze make it very hard to tie them up and they can take a high number of heavy hits before going down. Personally I'm not really considering this option yet, because I want a colossal in her battlegroup for added punch and a mobile bunker, however this is a solid choice and I can see it working well. 

Feat: Arcane Convergence makes all Friendly Faction models in Zerkovas control area immediately cast one spell, without spending focus, performing a special action or a special attack. So, what this means all of your friendly faction spellcasters get to cast a spell for free, including Zerkova herself. This is huge for a number of reasons. First off, the threat range of our spells becomes ridiculous. Outriders can run for 18" and then spray for a total threatrange of 26". The threat of Ice Cage is 22" from a running Ternion. Aiyana + Valachev can run, then zephyr and then harm for a total of 25" threat. All of this, with an additional dice on the attack roll and a free Hoarfrost from Zerkova herself makes for a very real assassination threat that is hard to defend against, apart from putting so much meat between your caster and the Greylords that they can't physically get to them. It is also one hell of an alpha strike. 

It also has great attrition potential. If the enemy has jammed you, you can Occult Whispers + Feat first and spray everything in front of you and then activate the units and attack again. 

You can also activate the units first to do their thing (without Occult Whispers) and maybe do some damage, and then feat for even more. The Outriders Light cav move is excellent for this as they can move, spray, lightcav and then spray again. 

Also note that the feat circumvents effects that prevents you from doing *Attacks or *Actions, like pDennys feat or Crippling Grasp, since you are in fact not doing a *Attack/Action.

I think you will primarily use the feat for attrition, but the assassination potential is great to have in your pocket. 

To recap, Zerkova2 actually fixes some neat things for Khador. She is one hell of a Cryx drop and with Banishing Ward she opens up Eiryss2 for your other list. She can probably take on a multitude of matchups though, especially with a Colossal in her battlegroup as I intend to play her. I was very disappointed with Behemoth in my test games, since she does so little for him. Victor seems good with her and I will make sure to try her out with Conquest as well. Between Hoarforst crits and accurate Ice Cages you can actually make some plays on using Stationary as a great tool, especially if you are going for an assassination. 

And most of all: SHE IS SO FUN TO PLAY! I was lucky enough to get my hands on her during Lock n Load and she really is a blast. I can potentially see her taking a place among our top tournament casters, but further playtesting is required. All in all though, a great caster.

Ah yes, Sylys! Here's the deal. Arcane Secrets don't work on Zerkova, because you should always put up Occult Whispers as the first spell, which uses up the Arcane Secrets S&P effect. She doesn't need the increased range on spells (even though it might be nice at times) becuase of Telgesh Mark and then you are pretty much just taking Sylys for the free upkeep. While that may be worth it at times, Sylys has some great uses elsewhere in our faction and Zerkova doesn't really need him to do her thing. Plus, the War Dog is amazing with her.

Ruin

Ruin is a great warjack. I have pretty much nothing else to say, but lets look a little closer on him.

SPD 4, STR 12, MAT 8, DEF 10, ARM 20

Abomination

10 points

Black Iron Mace - P+S 18

Dispel Removes upkeep spells on a model/unit hit immediately. Great for things like Arcane Shiled, Defenders Ward, Inviolable Resolve etc. 

Affinity[Zoktavir] He gets Boundless Charge while in Butchers control area. A Huge boost to the otherwise slow Khadoran warjacks. Especially with Butcher3 where he reaches a whooping 14" threat range between this ability and Energizer. Only with the Butchers though.

Orgoth Seal If the enemy targets him with an offensive spell, the spell suffers -3 RNG, which can catch some opponents off guard. Also, if they hit him with an offensive spell whatever hit him takes d6 damage. 1/3 to kill Aiyana if she uses Kiss of Lyliss on you is not bad. The last part you will have to be aware of though, because it doesn't specify enemies. If your Greylord spray touches Ruin and you hit  him, the unfortunate Greylord will take d6 damage. 

Soul Taker Here is where the money is at. Combined with his affinity he can go and kill as many living models that gives up a soul as he can reach, without any focus. My record so far is 3 Vengers and 5 Errants. Having extra attacks from the souls are great when you're sending him in against a heavy as well and with buffs you can even make him capable of one-rounding colossals. 

One of the best Warjacks in Khador right here, and with a quite cheap pricetag for what he does as well. This guy will do great with a number of our casters, not just the Butchers. Strakhov Overrun shenanigans will be epic. I also see alot of potential together with Vlad3. Infernal Machine (abomination and terror stacks btw) and the feat means he will kill alot of stuff. All thanks to Soul Taker. He also doesn't need Eiryss2 to shoot off any buffs that are upkeep spells from his target which is a really nice ability and further lessen Khadors reliance on her. 

Victor

Conquest has some not-so-great abilities, so maybe this guy can do it better? Making him cheaper for the same melee power is of course a start!

SPD 4, STR 18, MAT 6, RAT 4, DEF 7, ARM 20

18 points

62 boxes (same as Conquest)

2x Fists P+S 22 Open fists

Siege Mortar - RNG 20 AOE 5 POW 15 

Has Arcing fire, which us Khadorans are used to. It's also Inaccurate, so he will be shooting it at RAT 0 if he doesn't aim. Minimum Range[6] I don't really see as a problem, becuase if your target is that close you might as well hit them with your P+S 22 fists instead. With some exceptions of course. 

The revised big gun also comes with some pretty nice abilities. You can choose one each time you fire:

-Crater the AOE leaves an area of rough terrain where it lands. Can be very useful against things that lack pathfinder.

-Flare Models hit suffer -2 DEF. Also a great ability, but I don't see myself using it all that much. Most single wound infantry will die from this attack, and if you just want to kill some infantry the Incendiary round is much better. On heavy targets it's good, but if it's already low enough def for Victor to hit it you might not need it that bad. And if Victor can't hit it.. well you see the problem here. Sure, you always have a 1 in 3 chance to stay on the target, but that is a little too random for my taste. 

-Incendiary Probably the type I will use the most. Setting stuff on fire is great, and with the great range of the gun together with arcing fire you can get it pretty much anywhere you want. Look for easy to hit models near your target, or alternatively just shoot it in the middle of a unit and you should be able to catch some of them at least. Might be fun to scatter this off your opponents caster as well if you have nothing better to do. 

2x Auto cannon - RNG 10 POW 12 

Auto Fire [D3] Makes Victors secondary armament superior to Conquests. The whole "if-I-kill-my-target-I-don't-get-my-second-shot" bullshit is gone, and instead we have these slightly random auto cannons. An improvement in my opinion, even with the RNG nerf and the fact that you can no longer scatter more pie plates into light infantry (we're Khador, we have other solutions for that). Which, apart from shooting a heavy, was the only thing the old secondaries were good for. They also have:

Flak Fire - Victor gets an additional attack dice when he shoots his Auto cannons on a model with Flight. Just an added bonus, but can be really nice in some situations.

All in all a good Colossal. I would say that he's better than Conquest, because he is cheaper and retains the same melee power. He also has some really nice abilities on his guns. However, I don't think he replaces Conquest. I know for sure some casters that rather take Victor without looking back, however I also see some casters wanting Conquest more for the accurate shooting. For some casters I can't even decide which one would be better and I can see myself playing either one with. Sorscha2 is a good example. She would really like a Victor for the price reduction, and the better secondary armament, but she might miss his big gun when you want to shoot a heavy off the table on your feat turn. 

Rager

This guy is both great and unexpected. Khador finally gets it's in-faction Shield Guard!

SPD 4, STR 11, MAT 5, RAT 3, DEF 11, ARM 18/20

6 points

31 Boxes

Shield Cannon - RNG 8 POW 15

Shield - P+S 12 Gives the Shield advantage for +2 ARM as long as it isn't crippled

Gladius - P+S 15

Aggressive - He can run or charge without spending focus

Shield Guard - If a friendly model within 2" is directly hit by a ranged attack Rager will take the hit instead. Once per round. Cannot use if Rager is knocked down, stationary or incorporeal.

Unstable - If he uses focus he might explode (same as Berzerker)

So, here he finally is! Khadors in-faction shield guard, and what a shield guard at that! ARM 20, 31 boxes doesn't go away easily. The fact that he runs for free (so you don't need to waste any resources on him) makes him even better, as this guy is primarily for casters that just want to fill their WJ points. 

So who would I play this guy with? I have a couple of casters crossing my mind. Irusk2 being the first. Seriously, this guys is pretty much made for him. Irusk2 is a caster that just want to fill up his WJ points and then take loads and loads of infantry. He also wants to play a bit upfield with his Martial Discipline and Total Obedience abilities, which might make a target out of him. That combined with his ok-but-not-great defensive stats makes him perfect for Rager and if Rager is your only Jack he will get the benefit of Irusks bond, which is great for his purpose. +2 DEF makes him harder to remove, coupled with knockdown immunity it's perfect for a dedicated shield guard. Irusk2 also has Fire For Effect which Rager is a perfect target for. His gun is pretty powerful, but his pathetic RAT makes you want to boost it if it weren't for Unstable.. so here is a way to fully boost his shot without using any focus on Rager. Also, the bond lets you allocate 4 focus to him, for when you really want him to blow up in the midst of your foes. 

I have thought about replacing my Raluk+Vanguard package in my Butcher3 list with this guy to also fit a War Dog, however I'm not sure about that trade. Both Raluk and the Vanguard do work in that list, and I am very doubtful Rager will even come close to that output. Not to mention Raluks ability to repair my Warjacks. I will probably try him out though and see how it feels. 

I won't use him with every caster, but he's a great addition to the Khadoran arsenal and just having the option is a nice thing.

Mad Dog

SPD 4, STR 11, MAT 5, RAT 3, DEF 11, ARM 18

5 points

31 Boxes

2x Hammer spike P+S 14

Aggressive - He can run or charge without spending focus

Unstable - If he uses focus he might explode (same as Berzerker)

Crusher - He can Trample for free and gains an additional die on all Trample attack rolls

Jury-rigged[SPD] Mad Dog can spend 1 focus to gain +2 SPD for his activation and suffer 1 damage to his first available Movement system box. (and possibly blow up from Unstable)

Okay, so this guy is our cheapest Warjack to this point. However, that is pretty much all he is, because I can't really see myself using this guy alot at all. He might be a thing for casters that just want to fill up their WJ points, but Rager fills that role so much better since he is a shield guard. So casters that don't really want a shield guard, but only want to fill up their WJ points? That list is pretty short. 

I have seen mentions of Mad Dog spam on the forums, but I don't really think that is going to work out great. One caster I would consider there though is pButcher. With Full Throttle you get hyper-accurate trample attacks and between Fury and the feat you actually get some real hitting power. Could be fun to try out I guess.

He is our worst release in this book for sure, but I don't really think he is BAD. At 5 points you can't really expect much more. I have a hard time seeing much table time for him though.

To sum it all up, a great book for Khador! I see Zerkova, Ruin, Victor and Rager getting alot of table time. Mad Dog is the odd one out here it seems, but just remember that he's a heavy that costs 5 points. Cheap and survivable for his cost might be his strong point.

Masters of the Universe (and Westridge) Day 2

Game 4 vs. Denis Korzun (Trollbloods) Two Fronts

 

So I'm facing Denis, bringing his custom pDoomshaper list and a Madrak2 list. I believe he will drop pDoomy because of my high-def skew in Sorscha2. He actually doesn't have Janissa in any of his list and that makes me consider dropping Butcher, which I end up doing. With Silence of Death and a ton of Jacks I should be able to kill any contesting Warders and go hard for scenario.

Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Objective: Effigy of valor


He has one unit of Warders to each flank with Mulg and Doomy in the middle, Pyre and Pendrake to my left and Scattergunners to my right. I deploy my battlegroup heavily towards my left side with a single Juggernaut and the Pikemen to the right.

He runs up everything, including the Burrowers onto a central hill. I put Silence of Death onto the Pikemen and Energizers for 3. My Widowmakers pick off a couple of Pygs and Eiryss runs up on the extreme right flank.

The Pygs burrow and he contests my zone with 2 Warders. On the right most of his Warders there contests the zone and the Scattergunners follow behind them. Mulg and Doomy has taken up position on the central hill and Pendrake hangs out in the forest to my extreme left, ready to contest the zone in future rounds I assume.

I want to go for a dominate of my own zone, which means I have to kill 2 Warders and I also want to destroy his objective. I allocate 3 to the left Juggernaut and upkeep SoD on the Pikemen who charges his rightmost Warders and the objective. They successfully kill one of them and also takes down the objective with some good rolling (it was in the stone aura) and minifeat. I then swap SoD to the loaded Juggernaut who goes in to finish the 2 Warders. He kills his charge target, but miserably fails to kill the last one contesting the zone with a string of bad dice. My Vanguard is also up there engaging some models, with Ragman and Raluk hanging out in the back of the zone, with Ruin centrally on the table. Widowmakers and Eiryss makes a concerted effort to put down some Scattergunners, but only get 2 or 3. 1-0

His counterattack is swift and painful. Pygs pop up and go to town on half of the unit of Pikemen. The rightmost Warders charge in on the Juggernaut on that flank and makes large dents in it, also ripping off both his arms. Scattergunners spray some more Pikemen and with Fortune they are quite successful. On the other flank the Vanguard takes a beating, but remains fully operational, while my Juggernaut only takes moderate damage. Doomy feats and casts Runebreaker.

My turn 3, and I go for the dominate again. I upkeep SoD (Butcher takes 3, thanks to feat) on the Jugger and allocates 1 to him and 2 to Ruin. There is now 3 Warders and Pendrake contesting the zone. The Juggernaut finishes off his Warder and I swap SoD to Ruin, who charges into the remaining 2 Warders and Pendrake. I need both of my initials to kill the first Warder, but I then miss 3 bought attacks in a row against Pendrake. Things are not looking good. On the other flank I manage to kill roughly half of the Burrowers thanks to a Koldun Lord spray. Eiryss and the Widowmakers kills a couple more Scattergunners. Raluk runs up to Pendrake to maybe do some work on him next turn.

Mulg goes in on my left Juggernaut and kills him handily. Ruin takes some hits from Warders and loose his Mace. The Swamp Gobbers now also enter my zone to contest. On the right only 2 of the Pikemen remain after Scattergunner sprays and Burrowers attacks, the Warders there continue to pound on the Juggernaut and take him down to below 10 boxes. Doomy casts Runebreaker.

I'm in serious trouble now, but I do what I can. Raluk tries to repair Ruin, passes the abomination check but fails on the repair check. Ruin punches a Warder to death. I force a Terror check on the Burrowers from an Argus, but they pass. I kill enough for them to check command though, and this time they fail. My Iron Fang Kovnik charges a Warder, but misses. Things are certainly looking bleak, but Butcher is still alive and has his feat left.

Mulg actually backs off now and returns to Doomshaper on the hill. He then casts Runebreaker. The Warders to the right kills the Kovnik and leaves the Juggernaut on 1 box. Denis then goes for Raluk and kills him with a Stranglehold from Doomy after he toughed a Warder. Doomy then also puts up Runebreaker and stands next to Mulg. The Swamp Gobbers puts a cloud between Mulg/Doomy and Butcher. The Pyre Troll cripples Ruin even further.

Things are looking bleak. I see an assassination though. I just need to kill a Burrower engaged to one of my Argii and Butcher will have a clear chargelane to Doomy if I Energizer to get LOS past the cloud. I might make it even with him there, but I wanted to be sure. The Koldun Lord activates and misses. Which leaves me little choice than to try an Obliteration from Butcher. Unfortunately I cannot Energizer first, because of how my feat works so it scatters off the Burrower. Oh well. I'll just have to go for it. My Argus take a freestrike to get out of the way and dies. Butcher feats, puts Silence of Death on himself and Energizers for 3. I then realize I have a clear chargelane from my current position to Doomshaper. Oh well, it looked tight seeing it from my starting position. I get the charge and oneshot Doomshaper with a big damage roll.

I really feel like I was cheating Denis here. I was loosing the game pretty handily, and my dice really didn't help. But this is why Butcher3 is such a strong caster. 1 slight mistake and you're dead. Doesn't matter if you have transfers, or high defense or high ARM. Butcher will kill you dead. We discussed the game a bit afterwards and he said that I surprised him with dropping Butcher and I can see why. Thing is the 3-jack list doesn't really care that much about spell hate. It gets work done in spite of it (at least when your dice are working). He could also easily have stopped my assassination by moving one of the rightmost Warders to block my chargelane as well. There is no way I would have gotten to Doomy then.

I'm not really sure if I dropped the right list here. I usually don't drop B3 into Trolls, but since Janissa wasn't present I felt a lot more confident in this lists ability to just bully a zone between the jacks, Butcher himself and Silence of Death. That plan didn't work, much thanks to bad dice, but I don't really know if it would have been enough in the long run. Seems like a tight matchup, but it was really fun to play.

Game 6 vs. Emil Rosenberg (Circle of Orboros) Outflank

 

Emil is a guy from my club who has been struggling a bit with Legion. This time he brought the Circle he've been trying out around the club lately and I was delighted that he was doing so well with them. It stops for one of us here though. He brought Moshar and eKreuger and I already knew that it was going to be eKreuger vs Sorscha2.

Krueger the Stormlord (*5pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
Druids of Orboros (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)
* Druid of Orboros Overseer (2pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
* Stone keeper (1pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Tharn Bloodweavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Blackclad Wayfarer (2pts)
Blackclad Wayfarer (2pts)
Druid Wilder (2pts)
Gallows Grove (1pts)
Una the Falconer (3pts)
* Rotterhorn Griffon (3pts)
Objective: Fuel cache


He wins the roll and choose to go first. I pick the side with a wall to the left and a nice hill to the right.

He runs everything up behind the Druid clouds and sets up for some turn 2 action.

My Winter Guard runs up aggressively towards the right zone and gets Iron Flesh and tough. The Nyss kinda hangs back to my left and the Conquest runs up to be able to walk into the left zone next turn. Sorscha and the Great Bears just hang out behind the wall.

 I have positioned Conquest so that he can only get a single Stalker into it, so he choose to not take the bait. Instead he contests the left zone with a Druid and a Bloodweaver, and the right with Swamp Gobbers another Druid and a Blackclad. Druid clouds goes up again, Kreuger casts Stormwall and he passes to me.

I'm going for 2 CP this turn. Iron Flesh is upkept. Conquest advances into the zone and puts down a Creeping Barrage across it to stop the Bloodweavers from messing with my Nyss. Sorscha puts Shatterstorm on the Nyss because he placed the contesting Bloodweaver inside the contesting Druids cloud. One Nyss-CRA later and they are both dead. On my right Joe boosts the Attack Rolls for the Winter Guard, but they fail to clear the zone. Both the Blackclad and one of the Gobbers make it. 1 out of 2 is ok I guess. 1-0

Emil is having some serious doubts about what to do at this point, since scenario is running out of his hands. He sends a Sprinted Stalker into Conquest, does about 15 damage, kills a Mechanik and then Sprints away. The freestrike does 17 damage to the Stalker. He manages to hide it from the Great Bears with some Druid clouds though. He then sends in a Primaled Stalker anyways and rolls really good and kills the Conquest. The Bloodweavers now all contest the left zone and one has managed to sneak around the Creeping Barrage to engage a Nyss. The Rotterhorn kills 2 Winter Guard with its aoe and Una kills another and upkeeps Watcher. Kreuger casts Stormwall.

This is my Feat turn, preferably I have to kill both of his heavies this turn. Sorscha feats and makes sure both Stalkers are in, then Cyclones back behind the wall and put Iron Flesh on herself. Yarovich and Kolsk takes care of the Primaled Stalker (who was also kissed). The Nyss goes for a 3-man into the sprinted Stalker, but miss which means it will live. They also take some aimed shots at the Bloodweavers (thanks to Zephyr) and kill a couple. My plan on the right is to CRA the remaining Blackclad and Gobber and then run Joe up to score. I totally forget Watcher though, so the Rotterhorn goes into the zone and kills a Winter Guard. I then manage to shoot both the Blackclad, the Gobber and kill Una with a CRA (so the Rotterhorn no longer contests) not to mention the Winter Guard hero who managed to spray 2 Druids dead without buffs. What a guy. Joe then runs up and controls the zone. 2-0


Emil panics a bit here and goes for an ill adviced assassaination, trying to Trample to Sorscha with his last remaining Stalker, but doesn't quite make it. He also doesn't contest the right zone, so Joe scores again. He kills a Nyss, but is still witholding his feat. 3-0

Sorscha charges Aiyana and Cyclones into the right zone for the win. 5-0 Scenario Victory!


Unfortunately for Emil this game started out pretty bad for him. Giving me second turn was probably a mistake, as he wants to score the zones as fast as possible. This in turn allowed me to start pressuring scenario and he tilted from there on out as he didn't even use his feat. He did really good in his other games though and I'm glad he did. You'll get me next time Emil ;)


And there we go! 5-1 was enough for a 3rd place. I also got the Magehunter trophy (we awarded both Magehunter and Executioner even though this was just a Masters tournamnet) thanks to my Holt-throw into pVayl and I also managed to sneak away with 2 painting prizes for best Large based model and best Small based model, Ruin and Vlad2 (henceforth know as 'the cape') respectively.

I'm happy about the results, but a bit disappointed at my performance in the pThagrosh game. Anyways, a great tournament, 6 awesome opponents and 4 trophies doesn't really leave a sour taste in my mouth. It was an awesome weekend!

For any future Battle reports I promise more pictures, as this is really just a wall of text, and those aren't much fun. Anyways, I hope this has been an interesting read to someone at least.

Next up is my take on the Reckoning releases for Khador and some thoughts on how to implement them. Stay tuned, and see you next time!

Battle Report from 'Masters of the Universe (and Westridge)' 43 player Masters tournament

This is the annual large tournament that my gaming club organizes, previously know as Battle of Westridge, but since we were doing it Masters-style this year someone had the bright idea to change the name into that.

We ended up with 43 players in the end, which is decent. Only 3 WTC-players showed up though, and toghether with a couple of up-and-coming players there wasn't really that many known names attending so I felt pretty confident going into the tournament.

Now, a quick disclaimer. Since I had not yet planned this blog at the time of the tournament I took very few pictures from the actual games to share with you, something I will change in the future.

The lists

The Swedish meta, especielly here in the middle of Sweden, is saturated with Trolls. Add to that an overrepresentation of Cryx & Legion and you really need to bring the right lists into tournaments to reach far. For this specific tournament though, I opted out of a dedicated Cryx-drop since all the really good Cryx players were not attending, with one exception, and instead focused on covering the Legion and Troll matchups while still keeping in mind what the players that I expected to go far were playing.

In the end my lists were the same as in the IG Finals:

Butcher3
-Juggernaut
-Juggernaut
-Ruin
Raluk Moorclaw
-Vanguard
Koldun Lord
Eiryss2
Ragman
Iron Fang Kovnik
Iron Fang Pikemen
-Black Dragon UA
Widowmakers

Objective: Fuel Cache

This list has really become a favourite of mine, especially given the Legion-heavy Swedish meta. I usually run Boomhowlers instead of IFP when I'm at home, because they are in my opinion better vs Legion and I choose IFP when I expect to face Cygnar (Who are very rare in the Swedish meta for some reason). This time I was just feeling at home with the list I played at Lock n Load, so the IFP stayed in.

I'm looking to drop this list into Legion, Protectorate and Cygnar first and foremost.

Sorscha2
-Sylys Wyshnalyrr
-Conquest (Bonded)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Battle Mechaniks (min)
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Winter Guard Infantry (max)
-UA
-2x Rocketeers
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters
-Koldun Kapitan Valachev
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Objective: Arcane Wonder (will swap this to Effigy of Valor)

Having played this list for about a year now I consider it one of the best in Khador. It covers a broad field of matchups and got many small tricks that helps in specific situations. I'm basically looking to drop this into anything the Butcher isn't designed for.

The one weakness with this pairing in my opinion is the Cryx matchup. Regular Cryx will have next to no problem steamrolling these lists if the players are equally good. This Sorscha2 list can play into Cryx, but it's not the best drop out there. 

Day 1

 

Game 1 vs Jan Jakubowski (Protectorate of Menoth) Destruction

He has High Reclaimer and Harby, which results in a list-chicken. My preferred matchups are Butcher3 into Harby och Sorscha2 into Reclaimer. However, considering the missions I decide Butcher3 into Reclaimer will be preferable over Sorscha2 into Harby, so I drop Butcher. He drops Reclaimer.

He has:
The High Reclaimer (*6pts)
* Devout (5pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Exemplar Vengers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Idrian Skirmishers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
* Idrian Skirmishers Chieftain & Guide (3pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)
Objective: Effigy of Valor

I win the roll and elect to go first. There is a forest in the middle of the zone which is going to be a problem for the player to get there last. He chooses the side where the forest cover the entrance to the zone the most which I'm grateful for.


I mostly just run up turn 1, Butcher energizers for 3 and a Widowmaker manages to pop one of the Errants.

He moves up slowly and puts up his cloud wall. Idirians minifeat and Vengers swap flanks to be on my left, while the Bastions and his mercs gets traffic-jammed behind his AD troops.

My turn 2 sees little action. He has his entire army behind clouds, so my Widowmakers just run up the right flank, while Eiryss runs up the left to try and draw some attention. My Juggernauts are well into the zone by now with Ruin trailing behind for a counter-attack. I Shieldwall and minifeat the IFP and position them to take out the objective. Since he has very little shooting to threaten Butcher I send in both the Vanguard and Raluk into the zone, ready to do work.

He takes the Eiryss bait.. sort of. 1 Venger charges her, while 3 other charge my objective and kill it. Eiryss lives. His Eiryss then tries to shoot mine, but miss. The forest is now screwing him over, as he takes some pot-shots on my Juggernauts, but he doesn't seem to want to commit so he just shuffels around a bit and keep blocking his Bastions. His cloudwall goes up again and Orin says that I can't do magic. 0-1

So, here we go. I need to kill 1 Venger and his objective to score the zone and go to 3 CP. I can also, thanks to his unwillingness to commit, jam past the zone with my Jacks and IFP, which is exactly what I do. The Vanguard runs into his frontline, engaging alot of Errants and Idrians. The Iron Fangs mostly just run into his frontline as well to jam further, while 2 charges the Venger in the zone and 3 charge the objective. They kill both targets. The Widowmakers also run into his lines since they got no good targets. Both Juggernauts are half outside the zone on his side, ready to kill anything contesting, Ruin on the right side to support there and Butcher walking into the zone on the left side (this was necessary because the forest cut LOS through the zone) camping 6. My Eiryss kills his Eiryss with an aimed shot. Take that imposter! I go up to 3-1

To my surprise he hardly tries to contest at all. Holt runs into the zone, but that's pretty much it. Most Errants and Idrians are engaged and the Bastions are caught behind them, which stops him from doing much but to hit my jam.

I try to be stylish by throwing Holt out of the zone (there will be more Holt-throwing later ;) ) but he misses the boosted attack. He then hits the unboosted Ice axe and puts it straight through Holts face. Oh well. I'll take it. 5-1 Victory

Game 2 vs. Fredrik Rabén (Legion of Everblight) Close Quarters

 

Fredrik is one of the up and coming players I was talking about earlier and we have had some really tight games in the past. I got a surprise for him today though. He have been talking alot about his pVayl into Butcher3 which could be troublesome to be sure, so I'm planning to drop Sorscha2. It's not without risks however, since his second list is eLylyth. That is close to an auto loss, but my gut tells me he will drop Vayl, so I go for it. I was right.

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight (*6pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Raek (4pts)
* Raek (4pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
* Seraph (8pts)
* Typhon (12pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
Objective: Fuel cache

Would she ever hurt you?

He wins the roll and elects to go first, which means he will be able to get into my colossal top of 2. I pick the side with a hill to the right and a wall to the left. He gets a trench in the centre and a forest to my left, opposite the wall.

He runs up with everything and Vayl throws up her upkeeps. He got Vayl centrally with Typhon, one Scythean and a Raek on each flank and the Seraph slightly to the left.

I make a very cautious advance this round. The Nyss take some cover behind the wall, but otherwise try to stay out of threat. Conquest runs up centrally, slightly towards my flag and I run the mechaniks to b2b him in the front, so as to stop Typhon from getting into melée with him (a neat trick that works well against Bradigus as well). I then cast Iron Flesh on them as well to get them to Def 18 Arm 14 with Iron Sentinel. The Winter Guard Bob & Weave up my right flank and gets Courage of the Forefathers to complete the turn.

 He elects for a cautious play this turn, but he is sort of forced to feat anyway. Vayl walks up, Leashes Typhon and cast Incite and makes sure Conquest is within. She snowballs a Mechanik and feats. Typhon walks up and Sprays Conquest 3 times doing some damage, but nothing critical. Scytheans just chill. A Raek goes in to punch some Mechaniks and successfully kills 2 and putting some more damage on Conquest with the charge attack and is then stationary (he forgot about the bond). His feat allows him to walk out of most of my threat ranges, he puts Vayl in the trench with 3 transfers with Typhon a couple of inches next to her, also in the trench. Seem safe to you?

So, let's teach him the fabled Conquest-throw assasination! Now, I have a problem from right out of the gate. I don't really have a great throw target. My one surviving Mechanik is blocked by a Winter Guard and I need their attacks to kill Vayl. My only choice is Holt, so he runs into position 6" in front of Conquest, who then boost the Double-handed throw against Holt, hits it and proceed to hit Vayl as well with a boosted attack. 15 Damage from the throw forces the first transfer. Sorscha use Desperate Pace on the Winter Guard, which enables me to get 2 sprays as well as 2 rockets into her. She transfers one of the sprays that got a big roll and one of the rockets which leaves her at 4. The Nyss then go and Zephyr to get as many as possible within range, but the first one kills her. Assassination Win!

Game 3 vs Gustav Berggren (Legion of Everblight) Fire Support

 

Gustav is another good player, and he is rocking Vayl1 and New Blood (Thagrosh1 newest theme force) I feel like Sorscha2 should be a good drop into both of those, so I pick her again. He drops New Blood. I have never actually faced New Blood and this was an eyeopening experience.

Tiers: 4 - New Blood
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (*5pts)
* Naga Nightlurker (5pts)
* Ravagore (10pts)
* Ravagore (10pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (0pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (0pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Stinger (0pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Shredder (0pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Shepherd (1pts)
Objective: Armoury

Theme force benefits:
Tier 1: Increase the FA of Spawning Vessels and Beast Mistresses by 2
Tier 2: Each Spawning Vessel in the army begins the game with one corpse token.
Tier 3: Add one warbeast to each Beast Mistress’ battlegroup free of cost.
Tier 4: Beast Mistresses and warbeasts in their battlegroups gain Advance Deployment.

 He takes first turn, and positions aggressively. Winter Guard gets Bob & Weave and Iron Flesh. I advance my Nyss into the threatrange of his Harriers and loose 4 to autohitting sprinting Harriers. His Ravagores kills a couple of Winter guard.

Conquest starts off the turn with a crit on one of the pots, hurting it, throwing it backwards and killing all but 1 potlady. I put some damage into his lessers, but kill none. I get some rockets into another pot damaging it and killing 3 potladies.

A Ravagore advances to take a pot-shot at Sorscha, which thankfull misses, but she is caught in the blast and takes some damage as well as fire. He kills some Winter Guard and a Nyss, but atrittion looks good for me.

Sorscha feats, heals up to 12 boxes (she took a big old hit from the fire) and puts Iron Flesh on herself. Conquest charge the offending Ravagore and kills it easily (in retrospect I should have Shatterstormed him to prevent his feat). My infantry kills somewhere between 5-6 lessers this turn as well. I try to block LOS to Sorscha from the last Ravagore as best I can. I have one layer of 2 Great Bears and a second layer of Aiyana, the last Great Bear and a Mechanik.

He starts talking about going for a Mutagenesis assasination and sets it up, killing the Mechanik with a Harrier (who had to take a freestrike from Conquest) but he had 3 potential Harriers to send in and I missed my attack on the second one. He then tries to get to Aiyana, but is out of range. He changes plans and Mutagenesis as Winter Guard on my right flank instead and go there to stay away from Conquest. He Feats, camps 2 and bring up his other Ravagore.

Sooo, here is where my judgement lapsed. This was possibly the most fail turn I have played ever in Warmachine. So, I'm stressed here. I got the feeling I dodged a bullet and with my caster on fire I want to end the game as fast as possible. However, he only got something like 6-7 minutes on the clock and my left flank is looking pretty good. None of us has scored any points so what I should have done was just to focus on attrition and keeping Sorscha safe. That is not what I did. Not even close. Instead I go for a convoluted plan to unjam one of my Great Bears so he can get into Thagrosh, who is knocked down thanks to Conquest throwing a Ravagore into him. However, I brainfart in doing so, as this will give him another 2 transfers (it was a created Harrier from one of the pots) and my assassination fails miserably and that leaves Sorscha on no camp, without Iron Flesh in Thags charge range.

He kills the Great Bear that is blocking the lane, takes a freestrike from the other one which he transfers and charges Sorscha. He misses the 3 first boosted attacks, but hits the fourth and oneshots her with the boosted damage roll. Assasination loss!

Terrible play on my part and I really should have won that game, but my lack of judgement and the fact that I felt stressed because of the damage done to my caster already ultimately got me to loose the game. If I only would have kept Sorscha safe and kept attritioning I would eventually have won on time or scenario. Oh well, lessons learned.

Game 4 vs. Hugo (Charmant) Svanborg (Mercenaries) Recon

 

Hugo is a decent player, full of jank. I always have trouble placing his lists and trouble knowing what to drop against him. This time he brought Gorten and Ashlynn. I felt Butcher was better into Ashlynn, but couldn't risk facing a bunch of Kayazy Assassins which would be alot of trouble for his list, so I went with Sorscha2 again. He dropped Ashlynn.

Ashlynn d'Elyse (*6pts)
* Vanguard (5pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Steelhead Heavy Cavalry (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gastone Crosse (3pts)
* Vanguard (4pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Objective: Effigy of valor

There was a large area of shallow water right in the middle of the board (and the zone) otherwise the terrain didn't really matter. He won the roll and chose to go first.

He runs up aggressively, probably preparing to cast Distraction on my Winter Guard. Quicken goes on the Steelhead halberdiers who positions to jam me next turn with the Cav behind them.

My first turn is very cautious as I don't really want to get my Winter Guard hit with Distrcation. I do however position one of them a bit poorly. They get Iron Flesh and Bob & Weave and advance on the right flank. Nyss stays way back on the left flank since they are facing the Gunmages. 

The Steelheads run up and jam me, however Hugo made one critical mistake here and left one of them within 2" of Conquest. Ashlynn charges a Steelhead and successfully casts Distraction on the Winter Guard thanks to 1 poorly placed fellow. She is camping 3 and feats.

 Conquest gets 1 Focus and Sorscha moves forward to cast a boosted Freezing Grip on the stationary Steelhead. I get it and Feat on Ashlynn. Now, my initial plan was to Power Strike a Steelhead into Ashlynn, however, during Conquests activation I realize I will not be able to move far enough to get my target Steelhead past the Steelhead that Ashlynn charged. This was really bad planning, because both Sorscha and Holt could have shot this guy to death before I activated, but I didn't think about it. That almost lost me the game, but I lucked out in way. So, plan's changed. I instead do a Double-Handed throw at the Vanguard that is hanging out behind Ashlynn, hoping to scatter towards 1 and still hit her. Luck smiles on me though, and I hit the Vanguard with an unboosted 7 under Ashlynns feat and it knocks her right on her ass. I roll really bad damage on the throw though, only 6 damage with my feat. So, Holt activates and puts a 2 more damage on her and then the Nyss go. I have chosen to do CRA:s to break her ARM 18, first 2 hit and he Shield Guards it with the Vanguard. Next I elect to do a 3-man (I had 2 more that probably could reach her) and kill her. Phew! Assassination Victory!

I could easily have lost this game because I didn't shoot that Steelhead, but I lucked out and pulled through.

3-1 after day 1 leaves me not entirely happy, but I have only myself to blame for my loss. I'm still in the running for a good placement though, so I'm pumped to see me matched up against a fellow WTC-player in the 5th round: Denis Korzun and his Trolls!

Continued in part 2