Where to Go From Here

I spent the better part of the weekend taking a nice hard look at my Skorne army and analyzing the warlocks I would love to consistantly play and what kind of force composition I would love to try with them. This reflection came about from 10 hours spent in Dallas - Lovefield Airport on Friday, Feb 4th as well as in the evening, as I lay in bed, trying not to think how disappointed I was with the city of Dallas, on a whole, for my botched attempt to get myself into Providence, RI for Templecon.

I own all the warlocks except Primal Makeda, who I just never really got into. I aim to play Mordikaar and Zaal more now and I am now rounding out my finesse with epic Makeda. My playstyle is such that I enjoy fielding units/models that are normally considered subpar and finding competitive "niches" for them, balanced with general utility for all-comers lists. Unfortunately this means my woefully inadequate Skorne army needs to be broadened.

To give some background, I either gave away, sold, or trashed most of my Skorne models during the move from New Jersey to Texas. When I unpacked and catalogued the model count, I was left with an 8-man unit of Venator Reivers, min Ferox unit, two Void Spirits, two Extollers, an Agonizer, three Ancestral Guardians, min Pain Givers, and most of the warlocks. I had every warbeast except the Worm. I also had a quite a few minion units - seven Farrow Brigands, min Gatormen, Orin Midwinter, Saxon Orrick, Swamp Gobbers and a Totem Hunter. Despite the limitations, I was able to coble a pretty effective pMorghoul list, which tied for first once (with Apollo's pMorghoul) and won the Hordes Mk II release tournament.

I then jumped onto the Xerxis wagon. I have tried Xerxis' tier list which provided me with an appreciation for the Titan Sentry and the Skorne Catapult. I was really gung-ho about the Flayer Cannon, but now in practice, I find it suffers a similar fate as the Cygnar Trencher Chain Gun. Also, once you get out of the mentality that Arcuarii are ranged models first, the price point for them is pretty amazing given their combat prowress and stats. The more I played Cetrati, the more I dislike them. Xerxis himself continues to be a favorite of mine and with his abilities I still see potential for him in Hardcore formats. I probably would not try his tier list again on a National Setting (although I did never get to try it out).

So now, having finished Xerxis, I am looking hard at eMakeda and Zaal. I'm thinking with eMakeda a min unit of Bloodrunners might be very effective, especially on an early feat turn. A Drake paired with a Gladiator gives me a surprising amount of speed and ranged spray. PGBH's are not necessary and I might just take a min unit. Min unit of Reivers with the UA gives me decent ranged firepower. Marketh is almost not necessary with her. Sure Leash is great not to upkeep, but he's back far enough that I don't need him. I actually approve of an Extoller and Hakaar. Saxon Orrik OR Tyrant Commander rounds out the list for Pathfinder and Orin Midwinter for anti-magic support. I have to play around with what I want at 35 and 50. At 50, I might a full unit of Ferox with Rhadeem for crazy threat ranges, replace the Bloodrunners with Nihilators, throw in a second Drake and maybe take Immortals.

Zaal on the other hand I am looking at Tiers again. I also feel that the much maligned Ancestral Guardian does work especially well for Zaal. Discounting his transfer ability to them, Zaal can also spend a fury to give each AG, including Hakaar, a soul token. I'm looking at Immortals and a cheap living unit (I'm thinking Karax). Where I get flustered with Zaal is in picking the right beasts. Part of me wants to take a Savage for the good old days, part of me wants a Sentry, and part of me wants Molik Karn. I have time to try them all fortunately. It does mean though that asides my recent Immortal acquisition that I will need to pick up Bloodrunners, rebuy Nihilators (since I sold my unopened box), and find Rhadeem. Oh, and a second Drake. Which is unfortunate, since I really don't want to spend more money.

Anyone want Cryx? I'm looking for Skorne. :)

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.

Stoopid Venators

Well, maybe more like stoopid Armory Black Primer. After finishing the black armor, I began working on my Reivers + UA's gold trim when I noticed that the trim, on all the models sprayed with Armory, had clumped and completed disrupted the trim area's. It didn't clump into the black armor areas - no that would have been too simple and I would have caught it. So now I have dunked the models and stripped their paint. Back to square one.

On the plus side, I finished one unit of Arcuarii - I'm going to have to borrow the second unit I think. I have also finished the Paingiver Beast Handlers, Tyrant Commander, and most of my warbeasts. And a few odd models here and there (a Thrullg, Totem Hunter, and Rorsh & Brine). Oh, and an Ancestral Guardian.

I'll have pictures up this weekend. Been too busy with everything else.

Forces of Minions & Thoughts on Thornfall Alliance

I finally was able to pick up the Forces Book: Minions...up in NJ. Apparently my LGS in Plano has not wanted to get the new releases in since late November, but that is a gripe for another day. I immediately flipped to the tiers to review what was already spoiled for Carver and Arkadius, then reviewed the units and fluff.

The tiers and pact benefits excited mixed emotions from me. I enjoy the AD Farrow units for the pact - this greatly improves the benefit of the Razorback artillery. I think that the loss of AD when taking the tiers is greatly underestimated in my opinion. Sure we can look at Carver's and say, "But I get a lot more Brigands!" but in the end, it is about getting the alpha strike first. The pact being able to clear out the opponent's AD units and models first, then being able to get a jump on the heavier (and slower) part of the army in my eyes is the benefit of the pact.

However, for Carver's tier some items should not be ignored. 4/7 Brigands is huge and the FA: U means I can take cheap min units. It's almost like Mechanithrall cheap good. Carver immediately pushes this into ungodly good with the CRA benefits to the Brigands. Cheap CRA units? That can make both ranged and melee/Dig In actions? Yes please. Only one Brigand unit or Razorback unit gets AD (I would pick the Razorback) so kind of meh and the advance move for the T4 benefit gives me a little bit more of a jump for my SPD 4 beasts.

Something I think is overlooked in the tier is the point reductions for warbeasts controlled by Rorsh. Definitely risky, but I think the right combination could pay dividends. Reserving R&B as a 2nd or 3rd wave to get awesome assassination vectors means that they may not be doing a whole lot immediately. Why not give Rorsh a gun boar or two then? The Gun Boar's animus greatly helps Rorsh (using dynamite on the opponent's turn!) and it's not fury intensive or control-range restrictive as using a War Hog. It also alleviates fury management issues with Carver. I will have to try it out further, but I'm enjoying the idea of this one. It probably would not work in a 35pt list, but at 50 the idea merits further research.

Arkadius plays much differently. The advance deploying warbeasts reversing the loss of the AD units, although I don't like the idea of dropping certain ones. Point reduction in the War Hogs and huge alpha strike potential is immediately clear, but there is a lack of support overall from the rest of the army. This is one where I would have liked the Razorback ADing as well. Rorsh & Brine do not bring anything immediate to Arkadius and for dealing with pesky solos I would like to have Alten, Orrick, or Pendrake. I think Arkadius definitely brings something quite different to the table though. He might be the better caster to take for the pact than tier, if you can swallow the points.

I'll experiment further - hopefully I can borrow some models and see what exactly what is needed to purchase.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone, even though it is technically the 2nd of Jan now...

I have abandoned the Reivers and UA for now in favor of completing a Bronzeback and nearly finishing both a Cannoneer and Xerxis. I'm not particularly content with how the gold trim is turning out on Xerxis, but I'll figure it out. I have found, for the most part, that most of the painting techniques in the back of the various Forces books have helped, to a certain extent. I'm tinkering with my own paint scheme for the Skorne, but in general the techniques give me an idea of how to approach different color layouts.

I have ordered both Army Primer and P3 Primer, so I am hoping to do a side-by-side pic comparison of the two types of gesso, Armory Spray Primer, Army Primer, and P3 Primer. I am also going to be experimenting with the dipping painting technique, first on some Cygnar that I have then later on the Farrow. Hopefully I can get pictures up of the dipping. I should soon have pictures of my completed Skorne list for hardcore too. It looks like I'm just fine tuning 8 points worth of models now.

Speaking of the Farrow, I do have a strong desire to play the pigs. I love the look of the gators more, but I am drawn to armies/models that are not used as often, since Mk I. Back in Mk I, my favorite go to caster was Epic Deneghra, before the whole Overlord + Withershadow Combine twist was out. I also enjoyed Epic Goreshade as well. I am dropping my Cryx in favor of Mercenaries for Warmachine (I have found Mercs to be a little more wild and fun) and that includes, for now, the Minions. So Farrow are a logical choice.

If only the War Pig was a tad cheaper....

Anyway, on the to do list will be the min Arcuarii, a 2nd unit of min Cetrati (I prefer buying two min units over maxing out one - it's cheaper and I will probably never play with two max units of any kind). Need to finish the Reivers and Catapult and once the Flayer is out, two Flayers. I might have a second Catapult as well, depending how next week goes. It is highly likely that I will sprinkle some more beasts into the mix - I may just finish the remaining three Gladiators I own.