Xerxis 2 ADR

Don and I are going to do some list development for Xerxis 2 and we figured we might as well do it here.  Maybe we'll come up with something new, or at least playable.

Overview
I've played this guy for most of the last year so I'm pretty familiar with him.  Mobility is quite good in Skorne, giving you real board presence and threat range.  It also frees you from the tyranny of the Gladiator, as good as that guys is. Ignite gives you additional board power . The feat is obviously good.  All reasons to play him.

On the other hand Xerxis has some real problems.  Most of the stem from his huge base.  He is always visible, making him an easy target for stray spells/shots/charges.  More importantly the Rhino is quite difficult to position.  Terrain is a real issue.  Even simple things like walls dictate where you can put must put your warlock and hence your army.  X2 can't easily dominate and I generally win by attrition leading to assassination.

X2 generally doesn't see combat.  He doesn't really have the hitting power to kill most heavies and delivering him is somewhat tricky.  I occasionally use him to un-jam my army.  I cast stranglehold once and it was quite good, but in general fury 5 makes it unfeasible.

Builds
I've seen a few builds for X2.

1. Drakes spam.  This build uses 6-8 Drakes, 2 Kreas and gator posse/nihilators.  This build has theoretically good infantry clearing (I haven't played it) and is generally considered a cryx drop.  I feel like this sort of thing is generally one-note and I'm not interested in buying the entire drake farm.

2.  Gunline with Sentinels.  More of a theoretical build as these guys haven't come out yet.  X2 makes sentinels fast and Ignite gives them hitting power, solving two of their weaknesses. He can bond to a raider, giving him a manageable fury plan.  One big appeals of the Sentinel plan is that X2 doesn't have to go forward to extend his control area.

3.  Pachyderm spam.  Really fast titans.  I don't know too much about this so I'll let Don speak to it.

4. Karn + Archidon.  This is what I've been playing for the last few months.  Probably the most satisfying Karn yo-yo in the faction.  Karn easily kills heavies and sprints 8 inches away.  My problems have been two-fold.  The first is keeping Karn in my control area.  The second is figuring out to do with the rest of the list.

Goals
I'd like to build an X2 ADR list that has some game against cryx.  Not a lot mind you, but something that is playable.  I'm probably going to keep playing the Karn yo-yo.

List
This is what I've settled down on lately.

X2
Molik Karn
Archidon (bond)
Drake
Drake
Drake
Krea
Brute
Brute

Incindiarii (min)
Beast Handlers
Beast Handlers
Swamp Gobbers

ADR:
Gladiator
Shaman
Extoller
Mortitheurge
Orin Midwinter
Feralgeist

The plan is pretty basic.  Karn, the Archidon, the swamp gobbers and the beast-handlers control one side of the board with Karn shaving the opponents army piece by piece.  Everyone else is dedicated to clearing infantry and providing a distraction.

Next time I post I'll talk about what matchups I'd play this into along with my ADR plans.

Faction and Caster Rankings

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?231691-Astra-Presents-LIST-CASTER-POWER-RANKINGS

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?231690-Astra-Presents-FACTION-POWER-RANKINGS

Thoughts?

Croak Raiders! Moar SKRON Ranged Game

Croak Raiders (spoiler posted here) are going to be a solid release for Skorne.  I'll talk about how they fit into the Skorne faction and discuss a couple of lists where they might be useful.  Pretty stock-standard introduction.

Why They Don't Suck
Croak Raiders fill a couple gaps in Skorne and provide a few opportunities.  A 10-man advanced deploy unit is unique in the faction; providing us the mobility and board presence necessary to get work done (and not lose on Incursion).  That alone makes them worth considering.  Ranged attacks, with some possibility for aiming are invaluable in Skorne and will hopefully force the engagement with typically slow Skorne armies.  Croak Raiders deliver the hard hitting shots are at a premium in the medium-based meta-game.

Anti-Skornergy
There are some really cute interactions in the faction that are worth pointing out.


1) Taskmaster. This is an obvious one, but giving Croak Raiders tough means that vitriol might actually come into play.  I'm not sure that this is worth the two points, but I think it's worth mentioning.  In lists where you can double dip on the task-master this will be a really nice synergy.

2) Krea.  I think this is the biggest one.  A Krea with Mortitheurge has a strong chance of paralyzing  a warbeast (or Warcaster/Warlock) and then the Croak Hunters can deal huge damage to it.  I think this is a real threat to Legion and is a play that will be available as soon as the bottom of 1.

3) Incindiarii.  Alchemical Accelarant really turns on Incindiarii blast damage and allows them to threaten medium based infantry.  It also allows them to threaten heavies.  Croak Raiders and Incindiarii complement each other well; together they threaten most types of infantry and some heavies.

4) Gatorman Bokur. This guy needs bodies, and the Raiders are perfectly positioned to provide corpses.  Both units want the Taskmaster and Krea, so you get to double dip on the support pieces that make these units really shine.

ADR
Is huge for these guys.  There will definitely be times when you don't want them and times when they are amazing.  Being able to swap them out with Posse or a Heavy is going to be a really strong play. They don't love fighting warmachine, particularly high-defense infantry, and being to bring in better tools will be quite nice.  Here are two lists:

pMorghoul
I've been thinking about pMorghoul ADR for a while now.  I think he is one of the better Sentinel casters, as he can protect them and make them threats in melee.  This list is tuned to fight Trolls/Menoth/Circle/Legion and has some tools to fight other lists.


pMorghoul
Aradus Sentinel
Aradus Sentinel
Aradus Soldier
Basilisk Krea
Cyclops Raider

Beast Handlers
Croak Raiders
Incindiarii (min)

Mortitheurge
Mortitheurge
Extoller
Swamp Gobbers

ADR:
Gatorman Posse
Paingiver Taskmaster
Agonizer
Extoller Soulward
Cyclops Brute

This list shoots really hard and is quite capable of closing in melee.  The Krea threats 31 inches on the bottom of 1, setting you up to steal an early Angel.  pMorg has some really nice control elements and mostly focuses on hiding behind the Aradus and not dying.

The solos can be optimized as needed.  Croak Raiders + Gobbers + Mortithuerge can be swapped for Posse against Warmachine, and Incindiarii + Gobbers can swap for Brute + Agonizer against legion.  This list has a mean assassination against any living Caster/Lock (via Morghouls feat).

I'm really looking forward to playing this and I think it will be very viable.  There's a lot of stuff that's not obvious and should be surprising to opponents.  It might even be able to play three flags! 

Rasheth ADR
I've thought less about this but I think it is worth including.  Here's a rough template.

Rasheth (Chain Gang Tier 4)
Bronzeback Titan
Titan Sentry
Titan Gladiator
Basilisk Krea
Basilisk Drake

Croak Raiders
Bokur and Shamblers
Beast Handlers
Swamp Gobbers

Paingiver Taskmaster
Agonizer
Agonizer

ADR:
Gatorman Posse
Titan Sentry (Or Bronzeback...)
Beast Handlers?

I'm still not entirely sure how to construct this one.  The idea is you get one list that has an infantry bend while having the option of removing the infantry and skewing hard armour for center scenarios/favorable matchups.  You've also got a credible range game against warbeasts with Blood Mark/Krea/Croak Raiders.  I used to bring Venator Reivers specifically for their ranged abilities and Croak Raiders fill most of that role with some additional functionality.

 The +2 SPD is a really nice benefit here.  It helps the shamblers get into position early to soak corpses.  You've also got the option of going deep turn 1, running all the way to 31" mark on top of 1 for the deep flank.  Thanks totally new to Skorne and something worth trying out.

I'm not as excitied for this but at least its a new spin on an old list.

I'm Gonna Buy These Fuckers
And I hope they are fun to paint.  I've also got some ideas for including them with eHexeris, but I've already written too much.

Reckoning First Impressions

So Reckoning was a book I was rather looking forward to.  The artistic design of everything spoiled was incredible as were the pre-released models.  It looked to be an excellent book.

Sadly, this didn't hold up.  As far as WM releases this is likely the most disappointing in living memory.  Far too many Jacks, in an era where Jacks are back down to minimum numbers.  Really disappointing casters(for the factions I care about at least), especially after the last batch of casters.  This doesn't seem like it has really sunk in yet on the various faction forums, but I'm honestly surprised that a faction receiving two MAT 5 warjacks is taking it as well as it is.

If you somehow haven't seen any Reckoning spoilers they can be found here.

Cygnar
I'm not sure what to think yet of Hailey3.  Temporal Flux is a solid spell, as is repudiate.  She is incredibly focus starved, even with 12 focus.  Revive is likely only going to happen once a turn due to this.  I'm also unsure where Tactical Supremacy will gain some good effect(people say Trenchers but then you've spent points on Trenchers).

Beyond that I don't think you will see much of Ace and even less of the Trencher Buster.  The loss of the storm pod on the Hurricane is huge.  It seems alright for focusing a target down or controlling a single target.  I expect to see the Stormwall more still.

Khador
eZorkova has an incredibly simple battleplan -> run greylords at enemy pop feat, win.  She is another case of a caster where they gave her a spell to create an arcnode but then forgot to give her some options in what she really wanted to arc.  I was expecting significantly more here.

As a faction that hates taking multiple Warjacks, the only other releases Khador received this book were Warjacks.  Two of them being on the berserker chassis and stuck at MAT 5 was just the icing on the cake.  Viktor is better than Konquest, partially due to being cheaper but also having a more reliable impact on the game with its guns.  Lighting enemy casters on fire should at least be fun.

Mercs
It was good to see a second Cephalyx caster.  He looks solid, with a workmanlike feat and a good selection of spells.  From a first pass he is also the only caster with a tier list that looks worth a damn.
Eh, on the battle engine.  I'm sure it will be adopted as  much as any other battle engine without a focus effect.  The Swamp gobbers suffer from incredibly bad stats, but are at least AD solos for Skorne.

Cryx
Denny3 is my favorite caster from this book so far.  She will be heavily taxed by that huge base but her abilities with souls is incredibly potent.  Gravewind will be obnoxious on the DeathJack and herself and Mostality is an incredible spell.

The soul collection solo is an excellent addition.  Too many Cryx casters had soul cages that were never relevant, even if it will still take a round for the souls to turn into focus.  It works with more than just the casters too.  I'm not sure why Barathrum is supposed to be Terminus's jack but I'm sure he will be used as often as the other random collection of rules Cryx character jacks.  Same goes with the trampling light.  The Sepulcher looks to be a solid upgrade over the Kraken, especially with RoF 2 Spiker guns.

Menoth
I'm not sure Durst is bad, mostly boring.  I'm also unsure of a battle plan that will want him marching close to his jacks on the front line as he goes up the field.

This is more than made up for with the Menoth releases this book.  A jack with a fully boosted to hit spray, that increases fire damage, has spd 5 and reach?  Sure, why not.  The Impenetrable Shield TFG seems solid too.  I'm not super sold on the light(its a light) or the Colossal(lack of range) but they aren't bad either.

Retribution
Retribution was really looks for an answer to Grayle I guess.  Thyron has a solid feat, solid stats, I like cleave on his battlegroup but his spell list is lackluster.  I just don't see much of a battleplan here outside of trying to feat to win the game.  Both Onslaught and SpellPiercer are more situationally good than consistently bringing value sadly.

The new soulless and electromancers are both solid releases.  Helios has been growing on me:  cheaper, virtuosos and a fun little selection of buffs

Bonus
Saeryn and Rhyas seem to take it in the pants with a worse spell list, worse feat and having to be tied to each other as a character unit.  I expect Rhyas to act as a super arcnode for a good chunk of the game.

Kromac, to use a term already used in this article, is workman like.  Stat buff feat, stat buff spell to use early game(with maybe a primal shock or two thrown in) and then a finish based on his own pure stats plus primal howl.  Letting him sprint to collect hearts for primal shocks seems fun to attempt to do some snipping.

Croak Raiders are really solid for Skorne.  They've tried really hard to not give Skorne any AD worth a damn, but they have solid stats and combo well with the pain giver task master.  They also combo well with Incinderaii.

eMorghoul Tier list:  Still doesn't overcome the base issues with playing eMorghoul but does make him significantly better.  Probably worth a play or two but it wasn't enough to overcome the base mistakes they made with eMorghoul.

Overall
I've been enjoying Ret and was eyeing Khador again.  While Ret received some good new releases the casters for both those faction aren't currently impressing me.  I will have to see how my impressions change after some play time.  I'm curious if I can buy the parts to magnetize the Colossals I have instead of sinking more money into models that don't ever justify their price.

Menoth and Cryx seem to have come out of this mess the best with Mercs/Cygnar in second tier.  While Menoth has been waning, Cryx and Cygnar didn't deserve the best releases this cycle.

It's still hilarious that CoC received nothing in the warjack book.  Especially after PP teased them that they were getting something.