Deneghra's tiered list is a little weird. Its very jack focused, which is not how I usually run her, but it gets some interesting advantages.
- Extra Warwitch Sirens plus Advance Deployment on them. Everyone seems to love these girls. They are basically mini-Deneghras, and get Power Booster to help out with Jack efficiency, as well as an extra venom attack for killing infantry or going in for the assassination. This is already a pretty good start.
- +1 on the starting roll for the game. You'll already have a lot of Advanced Deployment/Movement. Going first means you can be in your opponent's face really early.
- Free bonejack! Of course, you'll have to take 4 bonejacks just to achieve this, but how can you turn down a free jack? I chose a Ripjaw, since it's the most expensive. Also, it'll fill a role we'll need some help with.
- Advance Move on Helljacks. Moving my jacks 6" forward to start the game and increasing my chance to go first lets me get some great threat on my opponent early.
Pretty good advantages. Of course, that really will depend on what we can take to take advantage of it.
My list:Warwitch Deneghra
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Ripjaw (free!)
- Stalker
- Seether
- Seether
- Skarlock Thrall
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith
Warwitch Siren
Warwitch Siren
Warwitch Siren
Warwitch Siren
That looks pretty unpleasant. Let's take a look at some of the pieces.
Deneghra: Well she has to be there, since this is her list. Deneghra is the starter box caster, and will probably get the most play for any new-ish Cryx player. Fortunately, she's fantastic. Her feat can both allow your assassination run to work flawlessly, as well as provide your models some protection (by reducing your opponent's attack stats). If things are bad temporarily, you can always just walk away (ignoring free strikes), and with Stealth she gets some protection from ranged attacks.
Her spells are FANTASTIC. Parasite and Crippling Grasp will cause you to debuff multiple units (and on her feat turn, it's going to be even worse!). Ghost Walk is going to get your tools into place safely. Scourge will get you a bunch of knockdowns, and Venom is your primary way of killing things (2 focus for a POW 10 spray? Awesome). With your debuff spells (and the feat, of course) even that POW 10 is going to be scary. She can't completely win on her own, but her spells are going to make anything you take better.
Light Jacks: I took 3 Nightwretches, a Stalker, and a Ripjaw, which is free. You are required to take 4 bonejacks to get that free bonejack, but even if it wasn't required I could see taking that many bonejacks with her anyway. You need those arc nodes to get spells into position, and here we have 4.
The Nightwretches provide some moderate short range shooting, but on a target that's been Crippling Grasp'd, you can actually put out some damage. Of course, their primary role is as an Arc Node.
The Ripjaw functions as an arc node as well, but it also can deal some damage to heavy jacks, which is something this list needs. It's free in the list, so it's definitely worth its points! It can also help lock an opponent in place, which combined with the Pistol Wraiths could come in handy to set up an attack lane.
The Stalker is interesting. It's not an arc node, but can ignore spell effects that add to my opponent's DEF or ARM. That's only things that add to it- so if I am debuffing the model, those will still count. This means that I can kill most things that have been Crippling Grasp'd. Pathfinder + Spd 7 will help it get there in time to matter.
Heavy Jacks: I chose two Seethers here for one reason: focus efficiency. Not only do they and charge for free, but they generate a focus point on their own! Deneghra has a good focus value, but she'll be pretty strained with all the spells she's going to need to get off, as well as having to put some focus on her jacks to get them into position. Anything that helps out is great. These guys qualify.
Chain Attacks: Grab & Smash is kind of cool too- beat something and then two-handed throw it? That's some pretty hefty disruption. There are certainly potentials there.
Units: Well, I included a single unit of Mechanithralls here. They don't have a main role they are designed to fill- they can function as a good anti-infantry unit, or deal some damage to jacks. Really they are there solely for numbers. They may kill a few things, and for their cost that's really all you can ask of them.
Bile Thralls were another allowed option, but going anti-infantry isn't a problem with this army anyway, I'm guessing.
Solos: 7 Solos in this army, so they had better be good!
The Skarlock doesn't require much explanation. He gives me a free spell a turn. Even another casting of Venom every turn can add up to something useful. He might also try to throw a Parasite on something prior to Deneghra's activation if something dangerous is in range.
The Pistol Wraiths, strangely, are there to handle heavy jacks. Shooting infantry can really come in handy (to get some tokens), but I'm mainly concerned with freezing enemy jacks in place with Chain Attack: Death Chill. Other than chipping away slowly at heavy jacks, I don't have a good way to kill them. With the Pistol Wraiths, I might not have to. They can either move or take their action. They can try to move into contact with some of my things to hold it in place, but then you can just Ghost Walk whatever it was out of there. If the jack doesn't have a ranged attack, they really don't have many ways to use them once I chill them (other than killing the Pistol Wraiths while they are vulnerable).
Finally, the Warwitch Sirens. They, as said, act as mini-Deneghras, plus give some more focus assistance. Power Booster is handy primarily early on, to give a focus to your Bonejacks so that they can move up into range. Some turns, they'll even give some focus for your jacks to use for something more useful. They will be great when your army meets the opposing army, because they can cast Venom. Every one will be using a spray template that not only will do some damage (with Deneghra's spells), but also will cause Corrosion if they hit. That's death for most infantry, and if you get lined up on your opponent's caster on the feat turn, it's going to be a scary thing. At 2 points apiece, you may as well take as many as you can.
Necrotechs were another allowed Solo, but I didn't see much point. The jacks should be pretty far up right away, and while picking up the wreck markers would be pretty helpful, I'm not sure the byproduct from that labor would pay off in time. I'm expecting to put the pressure on quick, keep it on for a few turns, and then go for the kill.
Anyway, there you have it. Should be a fun army to run, I'm guessing. Thoughts?
I assume the idea is to pair each Siren with a bonejack, and use the one focus per turn from the Sirens to run/charge/slam the bonejacks into place, while any that need more than one point will have it allocated to them from Deneghra?
ReplyDeleteIt's a good plan. I'm not sure you need so many Sirens and, personally, I'd be tempted by a Necrotech (maybe just the one) to fix up broken nodes and get them back into the fight. That said, your rationale for not using them is solid, so... I don't know. You'd probably be all right.
That's what I was hoping, with the Sirens. Once the Bonejacks are close enough to do the job, the Sirens can go pick off some infantry (assuming I can keep them safe while doing so).
ReplyDeleteI really considered a Necrotech, and I may end up switching after trying the army out. Deneghra without an arc nodes is a lot less effective. We'll have to see :)