Thursday, April 22, 2010

Aren't Khador jacks supposed to be slow?

Yikes!

Me and Rob played a game of Warmachine last night. I'll only post a brief writeup, since Rob posted one already here.

I took a Cryx list, using:
Iron Lich Asphyxious
* Nightwretch
* Nightwretch
* Nightwretch
* Slayer
* Skarlock Thrall
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith

My standard assassination list, with Asphyxious instead. Part of my goal to give all my casters (and slowly, all my models) a try under Mk II. Ashyxious is a different beast than Denegra. No stealth makes him more vulnerable to ranged attacks and he doesn't have nearly the debuff abilities she does, but he is more durable, and can lay a HUGE beating in close combat. I figured with the Slayer, the Bane Thralls, and Ashyxious, I should be able to get the jump on my Khador opponent, and grind him to the ground.

Rob's list:
Kommander Strakhov
* Beast-09
* Devastator
* War dog
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Koldun Lord

Lots of close combat punch.

I tried to play more conservatively than usual, trusting my spells and slight shooting advantage to try to take a few parts of his army away before I made my assault. Rob also advanced very slowly straight up.

Then, Rob surprised me, and would've won if he had planned a turn ahead.

Strakhov is a cool caster. His feat adds +4" to a model's speed. He also has a spell that adds +2 to a model's speed. Another spell allows a model to get a full advance when an enemy model is killed under certain (easily obtained) circumstances. Combined with Beast 09's reach weapon, that's a threat range of 21 inches (Spd 4, +4 from feat, +2 from one spell, +6 from other spell (including bonus from previous spell, +3 charge, +2 reach). I had Asphyxious about 14" away from him, thinking that I was safe. And I even KNEW what Strakhov's spells did. I just never made the connection.

Anyway, to the point- Beast 09 charged Asphyxious, and took chunks out of his health. Not enough to kill him, thankfully. Rob had to cast Superiority on Beast 09 this turn, instead of upkeeping it from a previous turn, depriving him of focus, and therefore critical extra attacks he'd need to win.

In response, Asphyxious wrecked Beast 09, but that was a very very clear message that I was underestimating my opponent! I moved things into hiding, and worked on creating more advantageous positions while healing. We ended up calling it because it was getting late, and although I'm fairly confident I would've won at this point, it was still a VERY close game.

As Rob gets another game or two with this caster, I'm going to need to be extra careful!

Next game, probably in two weeks, will have me use Skarre. Should be fun, as I never tried her under MkI (she was VERY cheesy then, and is less so now).

11 comments:

  1. I read Rob's battle report and it sounds like he's really picking up the tricks of Khador and how to lay the beating out there. I really like the model for gaspy (Asphyxious) and it would work so well as a stand in Necron lord too without needing any modifications.

    Looking forward to facing off against Cryx at some point soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. He absolutely is! Having him do it without reading the tactic is a good sign too. The synergies of the units in the game is key to winning. Grasping it is a fantastic skill.

    And the new Cryx caster (Lich Lord Venethrax) looks like a good Necron choice too! They look like perfect Necron models, haha :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good point on Venethrax. I was thinking that Terminus would look great with a little greenstuff and painting to make him into a winged Nurgle Daemon prince too.

    I like being able to get the excellent quality of PP models and being able to use them in 40k as well. It just feels like I'm getting double my money that way :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think he would too, it's a very cool model.

    I've actually been looking, slowly, at what models I could find dual-use for. GW is just so expensive these days. Some alternatives would be nice. :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. I know what you mean. I find the Warmachine models reasonably pricey on a per-model basis but then realise that I'm good to go with less than 10 for a small game and about 20 for a bigger game. My Tau army really could do with another battleforce, more crisis suits, more piranhas and another tank to be really playable at regular (1850) points levels).

    I might do a post on alternative models and what they could work for. That would make for a good list and it could get some inspiration out there.

    So as a top-of-the-head list for 40k:
    - Asphyxious (Necron lord)
    - Venethrax (Necron lord)
    - Terminus (winged Daemon prince of Nurgle)
    - Harbinger of Menoth (Living Saint)
    - Khador Jacks with magnetised orky bitz (Deff Dreads). You could take the bits off depending on whether you're playing 40k/WM
    - Khador Man'O War troopers with magnetised ork heads (Mega-armoured Nobz)

    That's all from Privateer press I can think of but there are loads more gaming companies out there. Wargames Factory's Greatcoat soldiers could do great for Death Korps Imperial Guard (http://wargamesfactory.com/_product_16676/Shock_Troops_-_Sci_Fi_Greatcoat_Troopers) and at $19.95 for 18 models are well priced.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That would be a fantastic post idea. It would be good to have information for alternative companies for some of these games! I know there are tons available for fantasy (mostly using historicals), but I imagine 40K ones are more difficult to come by.

    Would certainly make for a very interesting read!

    ReplyDelete
  7. And those shock troops are actually really good! And really affordable!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah, they really are. If I played Guard I would definitely buy them to bulk up my forces.

    As far as the post goes, I'll try to put it up today. I spent the weekend working on the Harbinger of Menoth and reading Prime mk2. The book is great and I really want to play all of the factions (a sign of a good book methinks). I think Cygnar will still be my first choice, but the Harbinger makes me want to play some Menoth (10 focus!!!), the Khador Decimator Jack is awesome and Asphyxious is just too cool not be used. It doesn't help that Trollbloods and Circle Orborous also get me going :-)

    I'll think about all of the models that come to mind. Feel free to add suggestions if I missed anything.

    Pete

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'll keep an eye out for the post, certainly.

    I remember so many people having issues assembling the model. Beautiful model, great rules, but I can't imagine how much of a pain it would be.

    Oooh, and Hordes MkII rules come out officially like July, don't they? Then your Trolls can get even MORE love!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It really is a bitch of a model (no rudeness intended to the young lady) to assemble, though it will be great once finished. I'll need to spend some time making a custom carrying case though to protect it.

    I can't wait to see Primal Mk2 as well. I think the new books are great and I want to get pretty much all of them, for the artwork and vibe as much as for the rules. First will be the Cygnar and maybe Khador books. Then I might do Menoth/Cryx, Primal Mk2, Trollbloods and then I'll be done for books :-)

    Anyway on with the post. It's fairly well finished. Shouldn't take more than half an hour.

    Pete

    ReplyDelete
  11. And I see it's up! I'll be reading through it as I get time during the work day :)

    ReplyDelete