Finally finished & Final Musings

I am finally done with the army, based, sealed and front arcs marked. I took some pictures (not great since I'm no photographer) which I'll post later today. I was actually done back on Monday. I did get a little lazy and not bother finishing the Cetrati - instead I'll use a max unit of Arcuarii.


The list has changed a little bit, given apparent weaknesses that I figured out on a 50 pt level: Two Flayers are overkill. I have been finding that the Flayers have not been making their points back regularly. Additionally, Strafe and add'l attacks take time to deal with and therefore eat away at my clock. At this point, I'm better off with two Catapults. The Catapults actually make their points back and eat away at the opponent's models.

My thoughts on Xerxis Tier:

The tier performs amazingly well. It is very well balanced in terms of ranged & melee units, a typical army that I like to play. Additionally, the skorne artillary helps compensate where the Cetratii and Arcuarii get held up - large single wound units. T3 - AD Artillery increases their effectiveness. Quite often I'm getting early attacks with them and I'm able to take better positions. And Xerxis permitting my own models to move through them means that the Catapult and Reiver are not getting in the way of my own army most of the time. Ability to take Reivers also helps.

The point reduction for Cataphracts is tremendous and should not be understated. Arcuarii are simply amazing at 5/8. Cetratii however I continue to find lackluster. For the points, they simply have not been achieving what I want of them. They are a solid brick, but at 10 points for a max unit, it's a liability. I almost wish I had Vorkesh. I have found that Influence and other control enemy model spells are doom to the unit and Vorkesh greatly improves their ability to survive said spells. Additionally, I actually like the Sentry with Defender's Ward. An ARM 23 warbeast with Locker is nothing to sneeze at and with running the Cannoneer next to the Sentry means that I'm looking at in some cases an ARM 25 warbeast with Set Defense.

I keep on forgetting Advance Move, but it'll help my forefront warbeasts (Cannoneer & Sentry). I'm also missing magical weapons or something to pry the lid off of the Troll brick, but I knew that was going to be an issue.

Some other observations:
I need to remember that I should not go and do the Catapult attacks first but wait to see what the Gladiator or Xerxis slams.
Venators + UA are the best thing Skorne got since Mk II. And this is above and beyond the PGTM + Gator combo. It would be an oversimplification for me to state how much Reform improves the unit and how underestimated Extended Fire is in gaming.


NonTier thoughts:
After playing the Tiers, I am missing a few models. Sentry + Agonizer is an excellent combo. Orin Midwinter helps Xerxis in so many ways against magic. Marketh is missed to free up some fury or to bounce Fury around as needed. A Shaman is also appreciated. Unfortunately the point increases in the Cataphracts would change my choice options greatly, but I could fill it in with Nihilators or Praetorians. Part of me is also looking to the Ferox for speed and Hakaar to make use of the meat grind that the list presents.

I'll have updates from Hardcore hopefully Sunday or Monday.