Then & Now: There is ONLY ONE!

I wrote the title before the new NQ came out, so now there are two…

Cephalyx caught my eye when they first came out back in Mk1 (working with Cryx). The Deneghra2 theme was attractive. Then the Cephalyx Mercenary Contract. Oh my…. The creepy look of the leadership and the mindless hordes of their enslaved army. I have been slowly picking up parts of this army when I could afford to or when I found a deal I couldn’t pass up. I am a bottom feeder! 😉

Operating Theater was the only theme when Mk3 released.

I must be honest, I don’t own any painted Cephalyx. I plan on painting them, but not yet. So I have to thank Nick Kay for his fabulous work on his Cephalyx. Here is a link if you want more info on his work.

No surprises on composition, all the Cephalyx Stuff. The Cryx tricks are gone, shrug….

There are three bonuses. This is a little bit like playing a Tier 4 list. All the bonuses and all the restriction. Take it or leave it. I want to see more.

For every 30 points of Drudge units, you get a free Overload unit. So in a 75 pt game you can get two free units worth 16 pts.

Monstrosities get Hyper-Aggressive. This can be good and bad.

Ambush with one Mind Slaver & Drudge unit, this is useful.

If your play Cephalyx you get free stuff and two bonus abilities. Maybe someday we will see another Merc Cephalyx or Cryx Cephalyx theme. I don’t think you will see a Menoth Cephalyx theme any time soon.

This theme gives you a choice of Casters. Two for now, maybe a new Cephalyx Caster someday.

Exulon Thexus – Spiderman. He has +2 points of STR so his one melee attack is a little better. His DEF/ARM and HP and nothing super. His melee weapon is 1″ range now. So don’t think he will be a melee assassin.

Aggressive Reaction, Sacrificial Pawn & Spell Driven are the same. New is Inflict Pain on his melee weapon. He thinks he is Skorny, Plus or Minus 1 Fury when he hits a Beast.

His spell list is the same, but there are some Tweaks. Deceleration is now +2 ARM buff, no DEF. Influence costs 2 Focus. Rampager is 4 Focus, it ignores free strikes and can only be cast once per activation. Hex Blast, Psycho Surgery and Telekinesis are what your used to….

Feat: Telekinetic Tide – Identical. Push enemy model in Control range 2″.

Was +6 WP, Now +29 WP

Telekinesis didn’t change. With 8 Focus and his feat he can manipulate his army and yours to set up some really nasty Charges. Psycho Surgery to heal his Battle Group. Hex Blast to clear spell from his brainless masses.

Cognifex Cyphon – Floating Coffin. His Stats are so close to identical, his melee weapon is 1″ range. The back of that card is identical. Essence Amplifier, Sacrificial Pawn, Steady & Silencer seem to have a copy & paste. Mk3 was designed for a long time.

His spell list has a new one. Affliction has been replaced with Breath Stealer. Blur is 2 Focus, +3 DEF vs Range/Magic attacks. Empathic Overload, Gallows, Onslaught and Perseverance have minor Mk3 wording changes.

Feat:  Adrenaline Rush – +3 SPD, STR & ARM – taking damage at the end of the turn. This is still a good reason to take a LARGE number of Monstrosities.

Was +6 WP, Now +29 WP

For the price of a drudge +5″ range is nice. I picture them dancing like a Muppet, then falling down like you cut the strings. His feat points at a big Feat turn your Monstrosities. Onslaught gives you a big circle of Pathfinder. Empathic Overload with +5″ is Nasty, run a drudge up and auto hit.

Monstrosities, in the new edition, got new rules. They don’t get free focus like jacks do. They get a focus every time they get attacked or continuous effects. Top that off, they don’t lose unused focus like jacks do. All of these guys are cheap, easy to hit and 36 HP each!!

Subduer – This big meat shield’s blade is now 1″. No other Stat changes. Catch and Quake are the same. Knock stuff down and pull the target in and beat on it. Was -7 Pt, Now -11 Pt. Damn he is cheap now. One of them is a nice trick.

Warden – Just like the cousin, melee weapons are 1″ and NOTHING else changed other than Mk3 wording. He wants to be a Titan Gladiator. Grant Slam and Follow Up are always nice. Shield Guard – is he a Titan Sentry? Was -6 Pt, Now -10 Pt. Again, cheap. Use him.

Wrecker – Stat line is the same, I might be a broken record. He lost Chain Attack Bloodbath. Beat Back and Thresher have Mk3 wording and he is still very Nasty…. Was -7 Pt, Now – 14 Pt. A big large threat range (best you have) beat stick. He costs more than his cousins, he should.

Cephalyx Agitator – The only solo. His Command when down to 5″, his melee is now 1″ and he has Stealth. Anatomical Precision and Sacrificial Pawn got Mk3 wording. Still magic Ability 7, Influence has Mk3 wording. Instigate is Monstrosities. So, it doesn’t work on Drudges any more 😦 …. Guess that is why t he Command area went down. Pychic Assault is GONE!!!! No Spray.  So he is a buff for the Big Boys now. Was -3 Pt FA3, Now -4Pt FA3. He will still see the table, but he isn’t what he used to be. He Buff’s Monstrosities, say that three times so you don’t forget!!!

Cephalyx Overlords – The Command when down to 7″, melee is now 1″ and they have Stealth. Sacrificial Pawn is Gone. Death Toll is Gone, no more adding Drudges. Anatomical Precision and Influence have Mk3 wording. Psychic Assault is still there, sigh of relief. Three good magic sprays that ignore LOS. New is Veteran Leader [Drudge] +1 Attack Rolls while in Command Range, I can dig it!!! Was -4 FA1, Now -8 FA3.

Cephalyx Mind Slaver and Drudges – Mind Slaver is 6 SPD, Command went down to 7″, his melee is now 1″, he added Stealth and CMA. He lost Anatomical Precision & Sacrificial Pawn. The Drudges are still tough, got CMA and lost 1 point of POW. Reanimation is replace with Prep for Surgery. This looks pretty sweet. Living enemy boxed by a attack from this unit, while in Melee with 2 models in this unit get RFP. Add one Grunt in Command range. Wow, you can get a bunch of shinny new Drudges now… Was -4/-6 Pt FA2, Now -8/-12 Pt FA3. Cheap, in your face unit that can replace some losses. The leader has stealth and no ranged attack. He is there to make new Drudges that is Grunts make. The CRA will help a lot. MAT 7 and P&S 14 for two model teams. Keep the Mind Slaver alive and safe.

Cephalyx Mind Bender and Drudges – Mind Bender’s 6 SPD, Command went down to 7″, his melee is now 1″, he added Stealth. Sacrificial Pawn is gone. Psychic Projection and the Magic Abilities look the same. You can cast it or channel with up to three Drudges and triple cast that magic abilities. 3 Sprays, AoEs or Buff a Drudge. Quite a trick.  Drudges POW of fist is down 1. Was -4/-6 Pt FA 2, Now -7/-11 FA3. I’m pretty sure you can cast Adrenal Rush on Drudges in a different unit too…

Cephalyx Dominator Mercenary Unit Attachment – His Command went up to 10″, his melee is now 1″, he added Stealth. Anatomical Precision got Mk3 wording. He still give Tough to his unit. Sacrificial Pawn is gone. Are you sick of me saying that? He gained a Magic Ability. Seduction moves a BtB enemy model, moves it and make a melee attack. Was -1 Pt FA1, Now -1 Pt FA2. Risking a whole mercenary unit for one Seduction doesn’t seem like a great idea. Things like adding Alexia to gather some corpses is so tempting. Adding Croe’s Cutthroats for some Backstab action with Spiderman is nuts. I’m sure can come up with more options in this list of options.

I considered writing a sentence or two about each Mercenary unit. Nope! Not going to happen! To Damn many!

Both Warcaster have their strengths. Movement tricks for Spiderman. Floating Coffin has 2 good defensive spells, a debuff, pathfinder bubble and a Monstrosity buff Feat. They both can work. Being able to add one or two Mercenary units with Tough has a ton of variety. The addition of Stealth to Cephalyx Solos and Unit leaders really will help their suitability.

Which ever caster you try, Cephalyx still have a small number of options. There have been some tweeks, nothing earth shattering. Will this theme get played a lot?

Only time will tell….

Till next time..

Just do it..

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Now and Then: Zaal’s Immortal Host

This one is my favorite Skorne theme. The Lord Assassin is fun, but Zaal is the best.

A theme that requires Hakaar the Destroyer, 3 Extollers and two units of Immortals. You get souls on Extroller, Advanced Deploy Ancestral Guardians and the only way to start the Game with a Kovaas on the table.

My Mk2 list:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal – WB: +5
–    Kovaas
–    Aptimus Marketh
–    Aradus Sentinel – PC: 8
–    Cyclops Raider – PC: 5
–    Basilisk Krea – PC: 4

Hakaar the Destroyer – PC: 4
Extoller Soulward – PC: 2
Extoller Soulward – PC: 2
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 3
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 3
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 3

Praetorian Karax – Leader & 5 Grunts: 4
Praetorian Karax – Leader & 5 Grunts: 4
Immortals – Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Immortals – Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
_______________________________________________
Zaal must have been close to perfect in Mk2. The only change on the front of his card was WB Points going from +5 to +26. I was so surprised that I check it three times. Directed Spirit, Ghost Sight and Soul Converter got Mk3 wording without any notable change. Union [Damage transfer to Ancestral Guardians] is gone. Annihilating Gaze added undead to the list of eligible targets.  To bad for the followers of Turok.

His Spell list has one real change. Inviolable Resolve (+2 ARM & Fearless) is gone. Death Pact has the same stat line and gives you +2 ARM & Undead on a model/unit. A nice ARM buff vs losing the souls from something. Interesting, it reminds me of Hollow (gain Tough & Undead)…..

Rage of the Ancients is his Feat and it did NOT change. Your army dies, he collects Rage tokens. Pop that feat and boost melee attack & damage on models in his control area. Talk about a big feat turn! That is the idea….

Kovaas is still his angry buddy. I’m in shock he lost his CMD!!! Why did he need it anyway. Desiccator (*Action) now works on Undead too. Destruction Spawned is identical. Wasting Touch is (you guessed it) the same! To be honest, I expected something to change, not sure what. Nope, I was wrong. Kovaas is perfect!!! Kovass now has to be spawned by the destruction of an Ancestral Guardian. Zaal can’t transfer damage to them anymore. That used to be a trick to Spawn Kovaas when a clever player tried to keep him off the table.

Aptimus Marketh (Extoller who forgot how to shoot) – His cost is exactly what you would expect for Mk3, -6 Pt. Attached, Ghost Shield and Soul Tap are still there. Spell Slave got a Mk3 change, Cast a 3 focus spell, no upkeep, none with RNG Self or Ctrl. So he can cast Hex Blast or Sunder Spirit. In the theme he started with souls. Now he has to collect them which hurts his ARM bonus and it is harder for him to pay souls for upkeeps. Shrug, things will die and he will gather souls.

Cyclops Raider – His CMD went down and his Animus Changed a little. Far Strike is a SELF spell and costs 1. Pretty much common knowledge by now. He was big part of this list in Mk2. Zaal would hand that Animus out to whoever needed it. Krea, Acid Bug, Extoller or himself. He is also very helpful at blasting a stealth model every now and then.

Aradus Sentinel (Acid Bug) – His CMD when down and is Venom Blaster gain +1″ of Range. Gone is Swarm (conealment and attack roll debuff), now he has Acidic Touch for his Animus. I can’t see Zaal using continuous corrosion on his weapon very much. An old Skorne in melee leads to new Construct Warlock. Didn’t that happen?

The Krea took a big hit, but she is still useful. Her ranged attack only works on living, and her Animus – Force Aura – is Self within 3″ of the model, granting Force Barrier – +2 DEF vs Range and immunity to blast damage. Zaal is not big on surviving assassination runs. The Krea’s Animus is sometime the difference you need.

Hakaar the Destroyer – Another near perfect model. His has a soul now (Soul Vessel). The loss of Life Drinker isn’t a huge loss. He still has Ghost Shield, Righteous Vengeance, Gate Keeper and Combo Strike. Top that off with a small decrease in his cost at -7 Pt. I have seen player rearrange their army because of him.

Ancestral Guardians (Hakaar Wannabees) – He has a soul. That’s it. Honestly. Hakaar and AGs seem to be exactly what Skorne is supposed to be about. A 10 foot tall Statue with high ARM, 10 HP and huge weapon that it is an expert at using. On top of that, it got cheaper too. How many can I have?

Extoller Soulward (Zaal Wannabees) – Another model that need a big red sign that says I want Souls. She collects up to 3 souls (used to be 5 souls) and for a * Action can transfer soul tokens to and AG/Hakaar. Ghost Shield still attempts to keep her alive. Her spirit eye works just like Zaal’s.  Her Mk3 price is a little lower. It was a nice thing to have multiple Spirit eyes with Snipe, boosted attack and damage. If the target is a STR of 10, they are Boosted POW 16!

Immortals (More AG Wannabees) – They lost a point to DEF, gained a soul. Vengeance is a big one on this unit. The big one is the loss of Resonance [Ancestral Guardian]. Resonance gave them +2″ of movement if they started in CMD range of an AG. They are big, they hit hard and they are SLOW.Fear not gentle readers, Mk3 taketh away and Mk3 giveth back! Another price decrease, just a little.

Praetoian Karax (nickname Souls) – These or Praetorian Swordsmen are what was in the first line. First to die. Feed the Souls to the AG and Extollers to make the whole thing work. They lost Ranked Attack, so what. SPD and ARM +1  more than make up for that. They still have CMA, Girded, Set Defense and Shield Wall. Did all the Skorne unit get better and have the price go down?_______________________________________________

Mk3 version

Supreme Aptimus Zaal – WB: +26
– Kovaas
– Aptimus Marketh – PC: 6
– Titan Cannoneer – PC: 0
– Cyclops Raider – PC: 0

Hakaar the Destroyer – PC: 7
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 5
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 5
Ancestral Guardian – PC: 5
Extoller Soulward – PC: 3
Extoller Soulward – PC: 3

Immortals – Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
– Extoller Advocate – PC: 4
Immortals – Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
– Extoller Advocate – PC: 4
Praetorian Karax – Leader & 5 Grunts: 7
Praetorian Swordsmen – Leader & 5 Grunts: 8

_______________________________________________

Two changes, a smaller Battle Group and two Unit Attachments for the Immortals.

The Extoller Advocate is a big deal for Immortals. I never tried him in Mk2. I don’t have him/them painted yet. He is a cheap Unit Attachment for Immortals. He has a magic Staff and a Spirit Eye like Zaal. He gets the souls from his unit (unless Zaal passes them around). He will be staying with his unit, Sacrificial Pawn keeps him alive. He can have up to 5 souls. Spending them is different. He can’t boost attack and damage. He can give his unit +2 DEF and Concealment, give them +2″ movement or make them incorporeal. I need to buy a 2nd one and paint them soon.

I took the Cannoneer and Raider for ranged attacks and Animus.

There is another option. Don’t take any Praetorians and go with two full units of Immortals. Let Zaal hand out the Souls as needed. I will play both of them as soon as I have the models painted.

Overall, this will be harder to play. The Extollers don’t start with 3 souls, AGs don’t Advance Deploy and No Kovaas. Zaal can still spend one focus to give all the AGs in his Control Range a soul token. So turn 1 all of them can Run with a +2″. Who you push forward to get destroyed and where the souls go is a big part of playing this list. I never said it would be easy.

It is nice to see that this list concept is still in Mk3 and it looks like it will still roll along.

Until next time.

Just do it…

Then & Now – Karchev’s Iron Curtain

The man, the machine, the Legend!

I have only played one caster for Khador, Karchev. I wanted to make him work. The image of Karchev with a bunch of Jacks, Man-o-War and some support just pulls me in… I played it in Mk2 without much success. I hope the first Theme list book (December 2016) will be a Man-o-War theme book.

For his theme you get and increase on the Field Allowance of Koldurn Lords, Man-o-Wars Units get advanced move, 3″ AoE clouds placed before deployment and -1 Pt per jack in his Battlegroup. Being up field is good for a slow unit like Man-o-Wars. FA for Kordurn never did anything, smoke on turn one never did anything. Cheaper Jacks helped a little. Two unit of Shocktroopers eats up a lot of the list.

Karchev survived the design space pretty well. I had to look really hard to see a change on the picture card. Focus us 6, well Arcane Turbine used to do that. His damage grid doesn’t have an “B” (body) on the grid. Turning the card over. Arcane Turbine, now you spend a focus to get +2 Movement. Man in the Machine has been cleaned up. He is a living model, not a Warjack and not a Warrior. Power Attacks happen without spending Focus. Things that effect the damage from or the damage applied to a Warjack effect him too. He can’t heal himself. Repairable like a construct isn’t a surprise. Unyeilding is a nice addition. His axe still does knockdown too. Better wording, a little simpler and maybe a little better too.

Karchev’s Spell list is a big change. Three new spells.

• Eruption: POW 14 Fire AoE cloud hasn’t change.
• Ground Zero: 5″ AoE with a D6 push. Ok, I know that one.
• Battle-Charged: Battlegroup gets countercharge. Nice upkeep.
• Jumpstart: Cheap way to clear knockdown, stationary and change facing.
• Road to War: Battlegroup spell that trigger a Jack to move 3″, nice upkeep spell.

Karchev lost Tow, I never like the turn you back to get your jacks into charge position. Unearthly Rage was to much free fury, no surprise if you think about it, but…. Sidearms was knockdown prevention and DEF bonus when in BtB with a Battlegroup Jack. Not sure why that one is gone.

His Feat has changed, well kind of….
Old Feat – Total War – Battlegroup can charge for free, pathfinder and change facing. Hmmmm…. Jumpstart changes your facing.  New Feat – Unearthly Rage (sounds familiar) – It was to much for a Spell, but as a Feat it is still really good. The whole battlegroup gets boosted melee attack and damage rolls while in his Control Range. Big Thumbs up!

Karchev still has that Big Axe, one open hand and that 10″ spray. On a big turn Road to War can move all of your Jacks 3″, Countercharge can easily disrupt someone assassination run. Jumpstart adds flexibility and Kreoss & Barnabas hates it. A big fire AoE Cloud and a way to move stuff that gets to close. So many tools, He is still a Large based caster with a low DEF. I hope you bring some Mechaniks too.

Karchev wants jacks, I’m only going to talk about a few. There are to many to do them all. His Jack point went from +5 -> +30…. Ding ding ding..

Behemoth – He was part of Karchev’s Gunboat list. Tow was used  to drag Jacks around so they always got to aim. You might be able to get a few inches of free movement now with Road to War. He lost some ARM and gained some MAT. I was surprised that his twin guns got AoE 4″. Sub-Cortex gives the guns Powerful attack. His points went down a whisker too. He is putting a lot of eggs in one Big Basket. The Big Boy got a little cheaper

Berserker – Old, cheap and dangerous is my idea of fun. His changes are on the back of his card. Aggressive and Chain Attack are gone. Free focus is bad. He still has twin POW 16 axes, Berserk and Unstable. If you “spend more than one focus point” you have to roll. Heck, you get a free one every turn anyway. His points  went from 6 -> 8. Thirty one HP for 8 points. For 2 extra points you can take four of these in his Battlegroup. Not recommending this as the best option, but it would be funny…

Mad Dog – Old chassis, new Jack.  Take a Berserker, change the Weapons and give it Jury Rigged. Smasher give him trample bonuses and unstable. 30% cheaper than Mk2.

Rager – Berserker with a sword and a BIG Man-o-War shield/cannon. Now he has Shield Guard (like Mk2),  Unstable and he swapped Aggressive for Point Blank. Just a little cheaper than Mk2. Shield Guard never hurts.

Battle Mechaniks – Lost some DEF, Jack Marshall, Iron Sentinel & Assist Repair. Sounds bad?  Base to Base they Heal D3 damage on a construct. That’s it “PERIOD”… Price is a little cheaper, don’t leave home without them. Field Allowance is three. I might need some more.

Battle Mechanik Officer – He is 3 Points for Girded and he repair for D3+3. So he keeps his unit a little safer and is better at repairing. He can be repaired too. I will always take one.

Greylord Ternion – Three single wound models with Magic and a 1″ Axe. The command went down. The Magic Abilities are the same. Apply Blizzard clouds to guard your approach. Get close and spray or use Ice Cage. Price went down a whisker.

Greylord Outriders – Junior Ternions – There isn’t any substantial change except cost.  Light Cav with concealment all the time. 8″ spray can happen. Winter’s Wind can make enemy models, without immunity to cold, stationary for a a round. Hmmm, put that on 5 models….

Man-O-War Shocktroopers – The original. To expensive and to slow was the book on them. Shield Wall, CMA a reach weapon and a shield cannon. Adding the Battle Mechanik Officer in Mk2 made them repairable. Nope, not enough.  Mk3 they are cheaper, kept 8 HP per model, easier to repair (no die roll) and promises of things to come.

Man-O-War Demolition Corps – Same changes as Shocktroopers, Their weapon got a boost, but lost Backswing and Ice Breaker. It gained Critical Freeze.

Man-O-War Bombardiers – Again, same changes as above in general. Only significant change was the price drop and Field Allowance of 3.

Man-O-War infantry have been promised a theme list. I hope…..

Koldun Lord – Lost Jack Marshal and Iron Wall. I never understood why he was a Jack Marshall anyway. He is a battle Wizard and makes Greylords into them too. That alone is worth his points. His 1″ axe has Critical Dispell. Nice addition. Power Booster is gone. He doesn’t do jacks now. Wind Ravager in his command range, enemy models cannot make ranged attacks. I really like these changes and his points are the same.

Man-O-War Drakkun – Such a beautiful model. He lost some DEF & +1 ARM. Still has Countercharge, Dragoon, Steady, Critical Knockdown on the mount. The price went up a whisker. He is repairable and Preposition 3″ now . Between the two models, it is 18 HPs of Weapon Master. Still worth his points.

Man-O-War Kovnick – In Mk2 he was a Jack Marshall who never saw the table. He increase the Field Allowance for Shock Troopers and Demo Corps, but they never got used. In Mk3 he lost Weapon Master on his Axe, some DEF and ARM. Not looking good is it. He is repairable. He has Desperate Pace – * Action – Man-O-War unit gets +2″ movement this turn. Jack Marshal got better. His drive gives his Jack Assault. His points went down a little. Overall, the movement bonus to a MoW unit is very useful. If your running a MoW unit, he deserves a chance.

________________________________________________________

Karchev the Terrible – WJ: +30
– Berserker – PC: 0
– Berserker – PC: 0
– Mad Dog – PC: 0
– Rager – PC: 3

Man-O-War Kovnik – PC: 5
– Rager – PC: 11
Koldun Lord – PC: 4

Greylord Ternion – Leader & 2 Grunts: 7
Man-O-War Shocktroopers – Leader & 2 Grunts: 10
– Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer – PC: 4
Man-O-War Shocktroopers – Leader & 2 Grunts: 10
– Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer – PC: 4
Battle Mechaniks – Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
– Battle Mechanik Officer – PC: 3
Battle Mechaniks – Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
– Battle Mechanik Officer – PC: 3

________________________________________________________

First, this list in Mk2 was 60 points with 5 Jack points. So 10 points over. The same thing in Mk3 is 75 with 30 Jack points. It adds two MoW Shock Trooper UAs too.

I can hear you now. Why the cheap Jacks that no one think is any good. Look at whole list.

Karchev with four Jacks makes Battle Charged very nasty. Who want to move closer to four Countercharging Jacks and Karchev. Four chances to activate Road to War (sadly Karchev can’t use that). Movement tricks on your turn and my turn.

The MoW Shocktrooper Officer is new. His unit gets Assault, can’t be knocked down or pushed. His axe has Critical freeze too. Icing on the cake. A nice addition. I can’t get the model soon enough. Why take a unit without him!

I have 14 models that can repair and a metric butt ton of stuff that can use it. If you don’t kill it, I will fix it.

I have 15 models that can be repaired.  They have a total of 265 HP.

• BigK is ARM 19+.
• Jacks are ARM 18 or 20.
• MoW Kovnik is ARM 18.
• Shock Troopers are ARM 17 or 21 with Shield Wall.

Two Jacks and all the MoW Shock Troopers have Assault. Nothing super on the RAT, but a shot is a shot.

Grey Lords and Koldun Lord are good utility. If you can get in a good charge, Battle Wizard will add some sprays to the carnage.

Nothing in this list is the best. Jack, Unit, Solo or Warcaster and all stuff that wasn’t top shelf in Mk2. I wonder if this list is better than the sum of it’s parts?

Till next time…

Just do it…

Good Bye Mk2….

Most of you realize that I paint a lot. Most of the Skorne models, 3 Menoth themes, 1 Khador theme, 2 Merc theme, 2 Cryx themes, Most of the Minons. Damn that’s a lot of cards.

When I paint something, I also pull out the card and laminate it. I use sleeves that are a lot thicker than a normal office supply store lamination.

I purchased the sleeves in bulk so they don’t cost very much to use. The laminator take 5 minutes to warm up. The card goes in the sleeve. Make sure it is lined up. Put it between the rollers and it comes out HOT! A couple of hundred Mk3 cards are almost smokin’…

I like them because they are easy to store. Almost indestructible. I had a card board box get soaking wet. The card inside the box got wet, but no damage.

I made a mistake and used a permanent Sharpy one day. No problem, a little friction from a finger and the marks came off.

I can wrap a stack of cards in a rubber band. Throw it in a bag with other things and not worry about them.

I could use War Room, but I like the cards. I put them in a stack after activation.

With the edition change there are new cards.

So it is time to say good-bye to my stack of Mk2 cards. Replaced by a new edition. So many memories are headed for a landfill somewhere.

I wonder if someday someone will dig them up and wonder what they are…..

Till next time.

Just do it…

 

Then & Now: Black Widows

Black Widows was Thyra’s Mk2 Daughters of the Flame list. I always thought it should be an assassination list, but it didn’t seem to have the tools to do it. Now it might…

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow – Her Stat line tells a big part of the changes. She has Stealth and Parry, nice. Her twin swords remain unchanged. The back of her card has Mk3 wording, but Acrobatics lost native Parry, Elite Cadre [Daughter of the Flame] and Overtake really didn’t change.

Her feat – Shadows of Urcaen  – still places all friendly models 2″.

Spell list:

• Carnage – price went down, now 2 focus for +2 melee attack rolls in control range.
• Gates of Death – Replaces Pursuit. Would you spend 1 Focus to Teleport Thyra at the end of every turn? That is what this 2 focus upkeep spell does. I can see this spell getting turned on turn 1 and being used every turn. Damn, this is good for her.
• Occultation – Mk3 wording, hand out some stealth,
• Silence of Death – Get “Removed from Play” on top of +2 STR – Nasty stuff. 2 focus and upkeep.
• Stranglehold – Unchanged ranged attack spell.

This little lady can move where she wants, through models, gets extra movement for a kill and teleports to safety. She has a huge +2 melee attack bubble and her feat moves everything in that bubble too. Give a unit/model +2 STR, hand out Stealth. Nasty nasty….

Blood of Martyrs – Like a lot of warjacks, he gained +1 MAT. His bond with Thyra give him Apparition; on Thyra’s feat turn, that is two x 2″ move. Hand of Vengeance still give him +2 to attack/damage rolls.  He lost Parry, but gained Side Step and Grievous Wounds. That Bond is very good. I think BoM will get used both with and without this little lady.

Sanctifier – I use it as a way to collect and use souls on an infantry heavy list. Stats are the same, but it has gained Immunity to Fire. The Grave Marker lost a Point of POW. It gained Ashen Veil – never a bad thing to have. Exorcist’s range has doubled – now 10″ of no Incorporeal. Cenotaph has one small change – the Sanctifier can now hold 5 souls. Holy [Watch it… Gday] Batman!!! He can gain 5 Focus!!! Well, power up +2 this turn, rerepeat. He got better and cheaper. It is easy to picture him with 3 focus every turn in the middle of a game and none of it is from Thyra.

Dervish – I tend to use jacks with twin weapons with Thyra, it just looks right. Stat line added Parry, everything else is the same. Side Step yup, Combo Strike sure. Still cheap, now more effective.

Vigilant – He has a specific job with Thyra: Protect the Daughters from Blast Damage. Stat line is identical, Girded is the same, but he picked up Roadblock, so he now provides cover like he is and obstacle. I like the way the jack looks and how he plays.

Purifier – He has another point of MAT, nice. He is a fireproof jack with two Crit Fire weapons with overtake. He lost Chain Attack: Combustion, but still has Flame Trail. Loss of the chain attack doesn’t bother me. Base to Base giving Continuous Fire is too much fun.

Nicia, Tear of Vengeance – This is the only solo in the Mk2 theme. Stat line added Parry, which used to be part of Acrobatics. The back of her card has Mk3 wording. Acrobatics, Quick Work, Rapid Strike and Sprint made her one of the best Solos around in Mk2. She still is.

Daughters of the Flame – The loss of a point of DEF is tough. They gained Parry because Acrobatics lost it. They kept CMA and the addition of Stealth lessens the Defense loss. Acrobatics and Anatomical Precision got Mk3 wording. Thyra has plenty of tricks to help out these ladies. The old theme list allowed FA:U, so now I wonder if I will ever get to use more than two units again.

Flame Bringers – Stat Line +1 MAT, gained Parry. Weapons are the same. Reposition 5″ replaces the Light Cavalry rule. Side Step and Crit Grievous Wounds got Mk3 wording. FA2. Cheaper still doing the same thing. With the addition of Stealth from Thyra’s Occultation and the new Cavalry rules they will shine.

Choir of Menoth – Stat Line -2 Command, reducing formation size. Hymns work the same way. Battle +2 Damage roll, Passage is the same, Shielding is the same. Still solid. A lot of Jacks got a +1 MAT because of the Battle Hymn change.

______________________________________________________________

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow – WJ: +29
– Blood of Martyrs – PC: 0
– Sanctifier – PC: 1
– Dervish – PC: 7
– Vigilant – PC: 9
– Purifier – PC: 8

Nicia, Tear of Vengeance – PC: 5

Choir of Menoth – Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
Flame Bringers – Leader & 4 Grunts: 17
Daughters of the Flame – Leader & 5 Grunts: 10
Daughters of the Flame – Leader & 5 Grunts: 10

______________________________________________________________

Here is a basic 50 point list. Are there are too many jacks? Keep BoM. Sanctifier or two Light Jacks are the basic package. Tweak the Choir to make them fit.

For 75 points, add a 2nd unit of Flame Bringers [ I don’t have a 2nd unit ] and fill it up with Jacks, maybe a 2nd small choir.

Is this list a delivery system for Thyra? I will have to play it to know.

Till next time…

Just do it…

Then & Now – Mortenebra’s Infernal Machines

While chatting with Dicewraith the other night, he mentioned that Mortenebra was worse in Mk3. She lost a spell to Venethrax. Of course I had to go look and I was quite surprised at what I found.

In Mk2 her theme list was pretty simple. Two War Witch Sirens, No units, Four Helljacks. You got bonuses too. Scrap Thralls Advance Deploy, Hell Jacks get Stealth first turn. Hell Jacks -1 pt and deployment +2″. Heck Mortenebra never really wanted infantry anyway. Her options included any Non Character jack, Death Jack, War Witch Sirens, Bloat Thralls, Necrotech and Scrap Thralls. I will stick with that and see if it works.

Mortenebra has very few changes, but one is significant and it will wait till the end. Her jack points went up to +24, still at the low end of the scale.

Her Feat is the same. Re-rolls for everyone, well almost.

Her spells.

• Doom Spiral – Shoot a Jack and hurt the Warcaster. Nope, that one is the same.
• Jump Start – Stand up, Skake it off, look around. So good, so cheap, no changes here
• Overrun – Kill something, move something. Cast it more than once for loads of fun.
• Spectral Steel – ARM buff and movement tricks, you can’t stop me. To good to change.
• Void Gate – AoE 4, screws your opponents spell casting and arcnodes, price went from 4 down to 3. It doesn’t stop you from forcing or allocating focus anymore.
• Teminal Velocity – Charge & Power attacks with boosted melee attack rolls vs living and +2″ movement for Charge or Slams. This super wonderful spell is gone. Someone else got that design space…

Doom, Gloom, Forum Rants, Rage table flips…..  Nope, I like what she got…

• Sacrificial Lamb has been on the High Reclaimer, but I think it is new to Turok’s kiddies.

For 1 Focus you remove one warrior model to give every Jack in your Battlegroup a Focus. The High Reclaimer doesn’t use that many Jacks does he? What, give up a warrior in a list with no units. Solos are to expensive you say? Scrap Thralls are 2 Pt for 3 of these little walking bombs. You can also make them with a Necrotech, So it you have 7 Jacks, that one scrap thrall gives you 7 focus. That means 2 focus on every Jack. Running a little bit hot.

Deryliss must be sad. He lost Arcane Extension, he doesn’t extend the control area anymore. He repairs for D3+1 and still has Spell Slave. Doom Spiral and Void Gate are his options.

Deathjack – His price went down a little bit. Necromancy still casts spells. Doom Spiral and Void Gate could have their uses. His Skulls of Hate allow him to have 5 focus total and a +1 focus for each working arm. Snacking will RFP a living model and heal d3 HP. Always nice. Hard Headed rounds out his card. Not many real changes. He is an Advance deployed Monster that wants to rip things apart. If he gets beat up, repair a couple of points and feed him some Grunts.

Deathripper got cheaper by 25%, but….  He lost some MAT, DEF & POW. His is still a cheap arcnode with sustained attack. You could take three of him and have points left over if you drop the Deathjack. Hmmm, how many chick jacks could Mortenebra take?

Stalkers are among my favorites Jack to drive my opponent crazy. His price didn’t change. He lost a point of DEF. Extended Control Range means he can be way out on the flanks. Arcane Assassin is gone, but he gained Bounding Leap – Spend a focus after a normal move to be places 5″. Still nasty and if you opponent keeps looking at them, he might miss something else.

Inflictor is really new, I have not put him on the table. His price went down a little, but he lost Soul Driven. A little Sad, but he will have at least 2 focus every turn. Shield Guard near your fragile little (medium based) caster is always a good thing.

Reaper is without significant changes or surprises. Cheaper, check. Drag, check. Sustained attack, check. He gained Hard Headed. Shoot something, drag it in beat on it…

Slayer a little bit cheaper. Gained Hard Headed. Cheap, fast (compared to most heavies) and nasty. Again a melee monster, get him in the Alpha strike and let him earn more than his points.

Warwitch Siren has +MAT, – DEF with Perry and stealth.  Seduction, check. Venom, check. Power boost, well – it’s gone! But Empower give one focus to a jack that has focus, better! Shadow Blade still works, but you can shake it. She is still a nasty little toolbox. Take two and call me on the morning. With two you can have two jacks with 3 focus or Death Jack with 5! Try it you’ll like it…

Necrotech doesn’t come with a Scrap Thrall anymore. I guess got sick of having a mobile hand-grenade as a buddy. Nothing change on his front card, the points are what you would expect. Steady, Repair D6 are no surprises. Spare parts collects scrap tokens from from dead jacks. Use them to improve repairs or Create Scrap Thralls. You get D3 Scrap Thralls for each scrap token spent. Still dirt cheap. We will see more of these now.

Scrap Thralls are 3 solos for 2 PTs. Not much to say really. If you can pull off a Pow 16 for 2/3 of a point, why not. A little knockdown goes a long way to BOOM!

 

____________________________________________

Master Necrotech Mortenebra – WJ: +24
– Deryliss
– Deathjack – PC: 0
– Deathripper – PC: 5
– Inflictor – PC: 13
– Reaper – PC: 13
– Slayer – PC: 10
– Stalker – PC: 8
– Stalker – PC: 8

Warwitch Siren – PC: 4
Warwitch Siren – PC: 4
Necrotech – PC: 2
Necrotech – PC: 2
Scrap Thrall – 3 Scrap Thrall: 2
Scrap Thrall – 3 Scrap Thrall: 2
Scrap Thrall – 3 Scrap Thrall: 2

____________________________________________

Here is my first shot at a Mk2 list. 4 Helljacks, 3 Lightjacks, 4 solos and 9 hand grenades (cheap warriors)

I can get 16 focus a turn with an option for 2 more from the Warwiches. That still leave the 6 on Mortenebra too. I’m sure there are some lists somewhere that give you more focus a turn, but not very many.

The typical tactic is a Jack-in-yo-FACE. Even a fully focused Slayer or Stalker can seal the deal. Other options are possible.

Spectral Steel opens a lot of charge and slam lanes by running thru the opponents army.

If you slam the target, the knock down make Doom Spiral a valid option. It is POW 12 so you might need some boost to damage. If you knock down a Warjack you get a D3 on the caster. You can cast it once with Deryliss, twice with Deathjack (it just says “spend focus to cast it’s controllers spells” so do it twice if you have 4 focus. Mortenebra give you 3 more. Most wounded caster won’t survive 6d3. Ya, it’s a finishing move, but it’s an option.

The loss of Terminal Velocity is a change, not a bad one to me. Try different combinations of Jacks. Slayer Spam. Chicken Jack Spam. Try the three Bloat Thrall flankers dropping a bunch of green circle all over that side the board. If you want run jacks like you never could in Mk2 try it.

So much focus, so much fun.

Till next time

Just do it.

Then & Now – The Commodore

I expect to see the Commodore on the table a little more in Mk3.

The fact that this unit can work with Fiona the Black and Captain Bartolo Montador will see to that.

The Stat line for the Commodore didn’t change and the Crew lost a point of ARM. 12 -> 11, Either way, they die from a stiff breeze. The Cannon crew now has a command of 3, it used to be 7.

Cross Trained is gone. So the three man gun crew can’t steal from Sea Dog Boarding crew anymore. I have never seen this happen, but it was a nice idea.

Focal Point is a little simpler because everything tied to a 3″ command.

Heavy Artillery (cannon rules) didn’t change.

The Attack Types are ROF 1 and you pick which type.

Canister – Spray 10 POW 20 +2 RAT is brutal.

Cannonball – RNG 20 POW 16 – Slam directly away d6″ collateral damage POW 16, check.

Incendiary Shot – RNG 16, AoE 4, POW 14, Fire damage, models hit suffer Fire continuous effect. Menoth would like this.

This unit was 4 points in Mk2, now it is 7 points.

Captain Phinneus Shea’s feat moves Friendly Faction models in his control area 3″. Blow the Man Down knocks the target down. Coup de Main give +2″ movement. Phantasm give ranged attacks targeting -5 RNG, nice to keep the crew alive. Veil of Mists’ cloud could help keep the crew alive too..

Fiona the Black can use Affliction to lower DEF. Nonokrion Brand ignore intervening models and make this a magic attack. Maybe the crew are cultists and give Fiona an upkeep, but losing a model for it may not be your best option.

Bartolo’s feat knocks down everything in his Control range. His spells that might help are battle group….  Sadness.

 

Master Gunner Doughal MacNaile can (special action) add +2 RAT & reroll direction and distance once per shot. Once per game he can give Double Powder Ration – +2 RNG to friendly Privateer model’s in his 8″ command range.

Lord Rockbottom can spend some coins to give the crew tough or add +2 to ranged attack and ranged damage rolls.

Dirty Meg can repair the Commodore. That’s a small thing that can be a big deal.

 

Now back to that BFC. Big F’n Cannon!! Think about a 24″ Pow 16 with a +2 RAT and Damage roll that ignore intervening models… I hope your smiling now…

Those are some of the tricks. Now you can take a Privateer caster other than Shea, give the Commodore a road test. So I’m sure you can come up more tricks than I have listed here too.

Till next time…

Just do it!!!

Trying Mk3 and Balls…..

It has been impossible not to notice Pokeman Go for the last few days. I have zero knowledge about Pokeman. So I loaded it on my phone and tried it last night. Honestly, sitting at home doesn’t show much. I watch one video, but it didn’t say much.

I took the dog for a 2 1/2 mile walk this morning. My phone buzzed and I captured a few. Then I ran out of Balls. I found a stop at a crypt in the local cemetery, but I didn’t know what to do with it. There was this tall thing near the church, a gym. It said I wasn’t Level 5 yet. Trying to capture them is fun. The collecting is fun too.

Off to Paul’s. Wasn’t sure I would play. I spent some time assembling my stuff. Xekaar is painted, the Titan and the Cyclops are gold and Red. Need more work.

Paul showed me how the get more balls. Find Blue and spin it. The store was perfect. Right on a stop, so every few minutes I would pick up some more balls. I got some captures too.

 

Talk with some friends and did a little shopping.

Lunch at a very good Vietnamese place.

I came back and had an opponent. Mk3 Circle box.

He went first and run everything.

So did I. I had a Gladiator at the left side of a wall. Caster in the middle and the Raider on the right.  The Savage was in the middle and moved to the far right as I saw a flanking opportunity. Some blue thing tried to attack my opponent.

His two headed doggie moved close to his flag. The Wolf ran into the wood in the middle. His Caster ran to the opposite wall on my right. The Gorax was close to the his Caster.

I moved the Gladiator to control my flag. The Raider shot his Gorax for six points. My caster stayed on the wall and the Savage ran around my right and almost to her wall.  The first CP 1-0.

Doggie moved to his flag. Wolf ran into Bast to Base with Gladiator. Gorax ran to engage Savage. Strange moves, shrug. His caster put an AoE of rough terrain out that didn’t do much. CP 1-1

I tried a 2 handed throw and pitched the Wolf 6″ away. Xakaar move to dominate the flag. Raider Charged the Gorax some damage. Savage killed the Gorax. CP 3-2.

His caster did a ranged attack and damaged the Raider. She put a rough terrain so  the Savage couldn’t charge the Wolf. The Wolf shook off the knockdown. Charged the Gladiator. Hit, hit, hit, hit and the Gladiator had lost his Spirit. CP 3-3

The Savage charged his Caster. Hit for 16 points. She transferred it to Doggie. Xekaar healed the Gladiators spirit. Enraged the Gladiator. Bought an attack and hit the Wolf. That gave the Wolf Witch Mark so I could to get Mortality on the Wolf. Nice auto hit trick. So the Gladiator was hitting on all cylinders with +2 Strength and the Wolf was -2 DEF & ARM. That did it…  No more wolf. CP 5-4

While I was playing Paul was doing captures for me and kept spinning the stop.

We watched a couple of games, then cleaned up and got the stuff to the cars. We walked around Malden hitting more blue spots for supplies and some more captures.  Paul got bothered by a crab and a few other ones. Captures and jokes ended the day…

Overall, a really good day…

I’m surprised that a simple little game. A stupid simple little game can be so much fun that my morning walks with the dog will increase so I can play it. My wife thinks games are a bad thing. I don’t think I will tell her about this one.

Does anyone know of there will be changes in the Stop locations eventually?

Till next time…

Just do it…

 

Then & Now – Fatso’s Chain Gang

Dominar Rasheth – Fatso – was my first Theme list project in the summer of 2010. I liked Rasheth as soon as I saw the FoH Skorne book. Initially he got a lot of negative press, but after some prominent Skorne players won with him, he and his MkII theme force showed up regularly on tournament tables.

The theme required 3 Titans, 2 Agonizers, 1 minion unit, and a Paingiver Taskmaster. You got cheaper Titans, Fury on the Agonizers and a bonus move on a Minion unit.

Now in Mk III< Dominar Rasheth has minor changes in his Stat line. His MAT has increased by 2, for reasons unknown. Dark Ritual is friendly faction and does magic damage now. Impervious Flesh got better, now -1 die on any damage roll rather than being limited to Ranged Attacks. He still has three well trained Agonizers that never let him get knocked down.

His Spell list looks pretty much the same:

• Blood Mark is the same.
• Breath of Corruption is the same.
• Carnivore is the same.
• Castigate now stops Animus from being forced and stops spell channeling.
• Influence now costs 2 Fury.
• Sunder Spirit is the same.

Feat: Plague Wind – This is better. First, it effects all enemy models, whereas it used to be only Living. With a -2 STR, DEF & ARM, it still protects your army for melee, and makes a large part of the board a killing field. It still heals damage on Fatso when a living model is destroyed.

Overall, he has maintained the same play style. His Feat & Blood Mark give a target – 4 ARM and Carnivore will make almost any unit rip that target to shreds.

Agonizer – One target of a huge change. Gone is the 8 HP fury battery Solo, now we have a 13 HP Lesser Warbeast.  STR, DEF and ARM dropped, but he gained a melee attack, good luck with that one. The Animus is Repulsion. For 2 Fury push enemy models 3″ away. He has three agonies, each cost 1 fury and you can use one per turn.

• Gnawing Pain – 2 STR in an 8″ circle.
• Maddening – Enemy Warbeasts gain 1 Fury in a 6″ circle.
• Spiritual Affliction –  Living models can’t cast spells in an 8″ circle.

At 7 Pt, this little screamer will get a lot of use. He used to be a steal at 2 pt. Yes, he costs more, but he is such a little toolbox and won’t most casters love Repulsion in their spell list?

Bronzeback Titan – Early in the Mk3 release news we heard that Titans would lose some DEF, and also lost a point of Fury. His Animus still gives him beatback; Now Beatback is basic attacks and you must advance directly toward whatever you pushed. He lost Hyper Aggressive, so he can’t be pulled out of position be a single ranged attack. His leadership now removes a one fury from titan in his command range. Hard Headed, Counter Charge and Chain Attack got Mk3 wording without significant changes. He is theoretically cheaper at 18 pts. Yes, he is easier to hit. Yes, he has one less attack due to a fury loss, but he is still a huge beat stick you can buff into a big angry pachyderm.

Titan Gladiator –  No surprises, lost DEF and lost some CMD. Animus, attacks and the back of the card are a cookie cutter version of MK2. He is a solid choice at 14 Pts and a little cheaper than he was in Mk2.

Titan Cannoneer – I always tried to use this little lady. I think she got some love and will be used more often in Mk3. Like all the Titans, she lost some DEF, CMD and Fury but gained a little MAT & ARM. Her Cannon is now AoE 4. Her Animus, Far Strike was a bigger surprise. So for 3 Fury I have a Boosted Attack & Damage on a RNG 16″ POW 15 Cannon. Yes, that fills her on fury, but Beast Handlers, the Bronzeback and some Casters have ways to fix that problem. I’m happy to see her at 17 pts.

Titan Sentry – He was solid in Mk2. He lost a Focus, DEF & CMD. Gained MAT and a POW on his shield. He has a new Animus, Ornery. It gives him one basic attack against a model that hits him. Brace for Impact is simpler, he can’t be moved by a slam. Cheaper than the Cannoneer with an Animus that some casters will enjoy.

Basilisk Krea – Her ranged attack is still nasty and her Animus – Force Aura – is Self within 3″ of the model, granting Force Barrier , +2 DEF vs Range and immunity to blast damage. Fatso can use +2 DEF, and now blast damage immunity.

Basilisk Drake – He lost ARM and CMD. His Spray and Animus (get some bushwhack) didn’t change. He was and still is useful.

He now has one theme list solo …

Paingiver Task Master  – Minion Unit boss. I’m surprised it wasn’t a Unit Attachment like the Cephalyx Dominator. She lost a little bit of CMD. No more Anatomical Precision, but her minions can’t be knocked in here CMD range. They are tough while within 3″.  She has a * Action that can give them +2 STR within 3″. Her Man Catcher still has -2 DEF. Gotta love the Skorne Lady Solos….

The only unit I ever used with PGTM was a Gatorman Posse.

Gatormen Posse –  They used to be the best Infantry in Skorne, Circle, etc… Well, Legion didn’t want any Infantry did they? They lost a point of MAT and CMD. You might have heard, 5 HP now with tough. They lost Blood Thirsty (kind of) and kept Unyielding. They Still have three Prayers…

• Dirge of Mists – They gain Concealment.
• Offerings to Kossk – ReRoll attacks vs Living.
• Predator’s Prayer – Blood Thirst – +2″ movement while charging a living model.

These guys seem well priced, with a Charge bonus, Attack Roll bonus and Concealment for the prayer. A great toolbox. Add in the Task Master for +2 STR and some knockdown protection. I will take them again and again.

Paingiver Beast Handlers didn’t see a stat line change. Anatomical Precision and Inflict Pain remain the same.  The special actions used to be one per turn, now you can do as many as you want. Condition is now one fury. Enrage is +2 STR (no free charge etc). If you think about it, the free charge was like free fury, medicate is B2B for D3 HP. Still a very useful unit, I like being able to use all 3 actions on one beast. I can use three models and do all of these actions on one model. People are already talking about using a full unit to healing a Mammoth 6d3 a turn.

The last time I played this list, I took the new Skorne unit I had painted. Slingers got a +1 DEF in Mk3, nice surprise. The back of the card has Arcing Fire, no surprise. Then three attack types.

• Acid Bath – Direct hit give 3″ AoE with Continuous Corrosion!
• Erosion – Addition die of damage vs Constructs. Jack, Stump & Trees can suck it…
• Flare – model hit lose stealth and -2 DEF

The RAT and POW of these guys has not changed, but with these choices I can see more uses. I will still use one of them as a back shot target for Acid Bath. What good Skorne commander doesn’t shoot his own troops in the back!

Venator Catapult Crew was my last 3 points in my Mk2 list. The Stats lost some CMD. The Catapult got a +1 POW. Keep the grunts within 1″ to keep the Catapult working. Burst Fire still makes it POW 18 vs Large/Huge bases. I played some lists with two of these in Mk2. A 4″ AoE can make you opponent regret it if they don’t spread out.

___________________________________

Dominar Rasheth – WB: +28
– Agonizer – PC: 0
– Agonizer – PC: 0
– Titan Gladiator – PC: 0
– Bronzeback Titan – PC: 18
– Titan Sentry – PC: 15

Paingiver Task Master – PC: 3

Gatorman Posse – Leader & 4 Grunts: 18

Venator Slingers – Leader & 9 Grunts: 13

Paingiver Beast Handlers – Leader & 5 Grunts: 7

____________________________________

I have not tried this yet, but I will. Two Agonizers, three Titans and two units. Paingivers for support. No Tier bonuses, but no tears….  This theme list still will live on in style of play that feels familiar.

It does feel like Mk3 gives a list with a little bit less in it.

Yes, I will play this and report on it.

Till next time

Just do it…

Then & Now – The Flames of Reclaimation

Before I give Lonelymonk the floor on this one, I guess I should chime in on The Flames of Reclamation. Typically for me, it’s a Menite theme force that no-one liked, so I kinda hadto play it. When the Protectorate first got their theme forces for MkII, this was one of two that everyone immediately dismissed, because it used the High Reclaimer but (a) didn’t allow him any Exemplars to resurrect in opponent’s back arcs, and (b) it didn’t allow the cheapest sources of Souls, the Choir. Oh, and (c) it required two units of Flameguard Cleansers, who nobody had any love for… and (d) tier 3 required three Reclaimers, who would all be competing with the High Reclaimer for souls. The trick, you see, is that Flames of Reclamation required the player to play a different game that what was generally accepted as “How you play the High Reclaimer”… and while the theme had some bad matchups (most notably, Legion) it worked. Every turn your army advanced behind a 23″ wall of cloud effects. Your opponent couldn’t see squat to shoot or charge at. If they couldn’t outmaneuver the smokewall, their options were:

1. Let you deliver the Avatar, backed by 20+ sprays and whatever else you had hidden behind the wall, to wherever you wanted it
2. Run into the smokewall to engage, at which point there were… 20+ sprays, the Avatar and a minimum of three Soulstorms waiting to nuke single wound infantry
3. Wait until they were in walking distance so that they could walk in and strike, but… at that point they’re in charge range of the Avatar and in range of all those sprays, and… 

It wasn’t a game-breaking theme, but it was a fun one, and if your opponent needed the Alpha Strike or was heavily reliant on ranged attacks without cloud negation, you got to do what the Protectorate does best: Deny.

Okay, that said, let’s see what Lonelymonk has for us…

At TempleCon 2011, I played G’day a game. Imperial Assassins vs The Flames of Reclamation. Two very different armies. Silent Bob (The High Reclaimer) has been a favorite of mine since I did a podcast about him in early 2010. I had some of the models and started slowly building his theme list. I played it a few times in Mk2. I think it is time to see how thinks work in Mk3.

Silent Bob – His stat line gives him another point of ARM and 2″ more command. Oath of Silence (no command) is gone, no surprise. Soul Storm gained Magic damage type. Soul Taker is the same, so he can still have a load of Focus on a big turn.

Cremator didn’t change. It’s still a big flaming mace.

Spells:

• Ashes to Ashes – Focus cost is now 3. It only effect D3 nearest enemy models within 4″. Wow, d6->d3 and 5″-4″. Was it that good? Yes. Yes it was. – Gday
• Burning Ash – Focus cost is now 2, and it only has effect if the model doesn’t have fire resistance. You can’t put out 5 clouds at turn, though one or two will still help.
• Hand of Fate – Bob’s new spell. Upkeep, roll one extra attack/damage die. Discard the lowest die. Model or unit. 2 focus. I can see using this.
• Immolation – Nothing has changed, a straightforward attack spell with Crit Fire.
• Sacrificial Lamb – Nothing has changed, but with a bigger battlegroup and free focus every turn, you get more bang for the poor fool getting sacrificed. It saw use in MkII, it will see even more use in MkIII.

Feat: Resurrection used to revide D3+3 warrior models, now it’s D3+5. Better by two models, surely a blessing from Menoth.

Avatar of Menoth – Terror is gone! We all knew that. His Stat Line is the same. His Shield is 1″ and gained one point of POW, while his Sword still blows up things and sets their neighbors on fire.

Avatar, Menoth’s Gaze and Sacred Ward are pretty much the same, though according to the forums, the Avatar can now be disrupted despite lacking a cortex. Further investigation is required. In the end, this is a warjack that doesn’t need a warcaster to operate, makes its own focus and he has enough power and abilities to make him worth taking.

Castigator – The Stat Line is the same, with two POW 16 flaming fists. Combustion is still a 2″ from his base fire circle with Continuous Fire. Ashen Veil seem to be everywhere I look, -2 to the attack roll within 2″ is like +2 DEF vs Melee. I’ll take that.

Purifier – He has another point of MAT, nice. He is a fireproof jack with two Crit Fire weapons with overtake. He lost Chain Attack: Combustion and still has Flame Trail, which is the main reason I see him being used. The loss of chain attack doesn’t bother me. Base to Base giving Continuous Fire is to much fun. Silent Bob could take 4 of these with is Warjack Points alone :O

Revenger – The Stat Line is the same, sounds familiar. The Shield’s melee gained one Point of POW increase. The Halberd remains unchanged. Repel & Powerful Charge still combine to make this one of the most survivable arc nodes in the game. A very useful jack.

Flame Guard Cleansers – The gained a point of MAT and STR. That, combined with another POW on the melee weapon, means they are not a joke in Melee any more. The Spray is remains the same, though the incinerate order is GONE!! No more 4″ AoE fire cloud that stays in play for a round. They gained Ashen Veil, because it’s a thing. More reason to get them in Melee.This unit got better. Try it, you know you want to.

Flame Guard Cleanser Officer – He gained a point of MAT & STR, but lost a point of DEF. Bushwhack order and Wall of Fire (I never used this) are gone, though Scouring Flame is still there – the once per game minifeat giving the unit 10″ range on their sprays. The real bonus is that he gained Tactics: Assault!!! Yes, yes, yes. Charge 8″ and 10″ Spray from 11 models. Ashen Veil too, get this guy into Melee. In MkII he wasn’t in demand, now I won’t take this unit without the officer. Assault baby….

Deliverers became Deliverer Skyhammers – The Stat line is the same, but they now have simple CRA. Gone is that wall of text on the back that provided pseudo-CRA’s with expanding template sizes. They are still inaccurate, as they should be.  Range 16, POW 8, 3″ AoE. All ten give you an effective RAT 11 and POW 18 on a direct hit. That will hit most of the time and POW 18 is a good kick in the yarbles to anything.

Deliverer Sunburst Crew – When I first compared these, the SPD – 2 seemed like a really bad hit, but Mobile Artillery give +1″ movement for each Grunt within 2″ of the Sunburst. So it is SPD 4 until you take losses. CMD went down to 5, so what. The Sunburst POW went from 16 -> 15, but it is now Fire damage and Continuous Fire. I will take that on a 4″ AoE any day. I’m surprised that the grunts don’t give RAT bonuses, Ranged finder is gone. The fact that it can move and fire in the same turn now means personal testing is needed to see the impact. Sure, without Rangefinder it’s slightly less accurate, but it’s now a cheaper, portable pie plate dropper setting mobs of infantry on fire for those days you can’t afford a Vanquisher.

Holy Zealots – MAT went up one and CMD came down by two. I guess they don’t spread out much, but then it’s not like these are well trained troops. Zealot Training document “Here go throw these and swing this mace if they get close”. Fire Bombs get another inch of Range, nice. The prayers changed though – Fervor lost +2 attack, Warding is the same, and Path of Flames give them Immunity to Fire, making them immune to their own firebombs. Toss into melee!

Monolith Bearer – He lost a point of RAT and a Point of CMD. What does he use his RAT for anyways? Could you throw anything with a big stone cross on your back? Greater Destiny now returns models to play rather than granting invulnerability. Holy Monolith is the same, granting +4 ARM to the unit when triggered. New is Sacrificial Pawn to keep this model safe.

Reclaimer became Reclaimer Gatekeeper – He lost a point of MAT and gained JACK MARSHAL!!!! Wow, I never saw that one coming. Ashen Veil (more!! – Gday) is always good. Mk2 Reclaimer collected souls and used the boost or give focus to Jacks; Mk3 Reclaimer can instead spend souls to give a model Ashen Veil, put a 3″ cloud on model or (think of the Cyclops Savage) give a model Future Sight. Think of the Avatar boosting after you roll the dice – More focus efficiency. Sadly this doesn’t work with Jack Marshal (except the Sanctifier). This toolbox need to get some play time before we will know much about it.

Vassal of Menoth – His MAT went down by 1, not sure why. Iron Sentinel is the same. His Magic Ability is also down by one. Arcane Bolt is the same, Enliven is still good. Sadly, Ancillary Attack is gone, but this is no huge surprise. Instead, more Warjack efficiency with Empower to give a jack a focus and removes disruption.

Vassal Mechanik – He lost a point of MAT, DEF and ARM. Shrug, he isn’t a melee monster. The loss of Iron Sentinel hurts a little, but even in MkII  this guy would die if you sneezed at him.  Now he auto repairs D3+1 points, that’s his job, don’t expect anything else. A one point Jack repair tool in a game where there will be more jacks. If you have an extra point, add him…

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75 Army

• The High Reclaimer – WJ: +32
  – Castigator – PC: 12
  – Castigator – PC: 12
  – Purifier – PC: 8
• Avatar of Menoth – PC: 20
• Reclaimer Gatekeeper – PC: 3
• Reclaimer Gatekeeper – PC: 3
• Vassal of Menoth – PC: 3
• Vassal Mechanik – PC: 1
• Vassal Mechanik – PC: 1
• Vassal Mechanik – PC: 1
• Flameguard Cleansers – Leader & 9 Grunts: 15
  – Flameguard Cleanser Officer – PC: 4
• Flameguard Cleansers – Leader & 9 Grunts: 15
  – Flameguard Cleanser Officer – PC: 4
• Deliverer Sunburst Crew – Gunner & 2 Grunts: 5

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It is very easy to go with one unit of Cleansers or drop the Avatar and add in a unit of Deliverer Skyhammers and a Sunburst. If you want to Marshal with the Reclaimers you can’t use Jack Points, so that will eat your infantry up. Bob’s Job hasn’t changed, a smoke cloud here, sacrifice a grunt to feed the jacks. The battlegroup all have continuous fire. If you want a Revenger, drop the Purifier and adjust the solos. Another option is Castigator, Crusader and Revenger.

Three Mechaniks to keep the jacks running. One Vassal of Menoth for zotting and Empowering. Two Reclaimers are a hold over from the theme list in Mk2. There are plenty of souls, collect some and move to make the best use of them. We’ll have to wait until we see the MkIII theme forces before we know if I will ever get to use the third one allowed my the Mk2 theme. The whole army is SPD 5 (except the Sunburst). Getting up the board fast in any way shape or form isn’t on the agenda. March up the table, 18″ spray range might be your Alpha strike with some pot shots from the Sunburst.

Even if you don’t try this crazy mess, Cleansers are going to be a surprise to some people. Especially when they light them up…

Till next time,
Just do it…