Why'D You Pick That? Vanquisher Heavy Warjack

Howdy folks!  I'm back with another installment of my series on why I choose the models I have for my Menoth army.

This time around I am going to talk about the Vanquisher Heavy Warjack.  It's generally accepted that our best all-around Warjack is the Reckoner, which I don't generally disagree with all that much.  However, I really have been enjoying the Vanquisher.  It provides a lot of utility to our army in the way of shooting and anti-infantry ability.  So, let's break it down.

My Vanquisher, ready to rumble.

The Vanquisher will strike most players immediately as an obvious choice for clearing infantry out.  The Flame Belcher cannon is a flaming, continuous fire 4" AOE at POW 14.  This will effectively kill most infantry and solos outright despite armor and defense buffs.  The large AOE means that even on misses, clumps of infantry will get hurt badly and at very least, they will be set on fire. The POW 14 also means that you will have a bit of warjack damaging ability.  With a boost to damage you can even put a significant dent in heavies, though there are better targets for this gun.  The fact that the gun is a 4" AOE also means that you don't have to fear those high defense and stealth models so much.

If that weren't enough, Vanquisher's blazing star melee weapon is P+S 16 and has thresher meaning that if this 'jack can get into melee range of several infantry models, he will start clearing the field quickly.  I like pairing him up with a Vassal of Menoth so that I can get into melee, clear some models out, and then use Ancillary Attack to get off an out of activation shot on additional models that might have been previously blocked.

If that weren't enough, I think that the Vanquisher could be a sneaky heavy killer.  It couldn't necessarily take out a heavy warjack on full damage, but it could certainly finish one off with a complement of focus.  With a choir buff (which you will take if you play any competitive Menoth list), you are looking at P+S 18 for the blazing star.  On average dice you will take about 6 boxes per hit on a heavy.  With boosting, you can take out whole columns and then some.  Not to mention that it can handle most warbeasts which typically are looking at slightly lower ARM stats.

I am really seeing the Vanquisher come into its own in my current 35pt eFeora list.  The lists looks like this:

eFeora +6
- Redeemer (bonded) -6
- Vanquisher -8

Avatar -11
Min Choir -2
Full Temple Flameguard +UA -8
Visgoth Rhoven and Honor Guard -4
Vassal of Menoth -2

The bonded Redeemer get continuous fire on all of its shots and with some focus from Feora, can pump up to 3 shots out in its activation.  The Vanquisher will normally merit the use of the Vassal as I mentioned above.  This means it can fire twice per turn early in a game or make additional melee attacks if need to clear out infantry.  The Flameguard provide me with some tough denial ability while the Avatar is my main beatstick.  Rhoven is there to provide an option against stealth and protect my backfield.

So, there you have it.  The Vanquisher is a spiffy warjack and one that I find shines time and again as a reliable staple for my Menoth lists.

What are your thoughts?  Is the Vanquisher capable of playing an all-around role?  Do you mainly use it as an infantry clearer? Is that a better option in the current meta where we are beginning to see a lot more infantry?  Let me know.  Thanks.

War Room is Here!

http://privateerpress.com/war-room-now-available-for-download

As I write this, War Room is downloading. Expect a review soon.

Am I Crazy? A Different Look at pKreoss' Feat

Alright.  I'm going to start this out and admit that I am not anywhere close to a knowledgeable Warmahordes player.  In fact, I am relatively new and still learning quite a few basic dynamics to the game.  That said, I may be seeing things differently (and perhaps incorrectly), but I wanted to throw out an idea that I encountered a game or two ago when I played a pKreoss list.

Everyone knows pKreoss' feat.  His feat gave rise to the term "pop and drop". Thus, it is widely accepted that pKreoss' feat is an assassination feat, a game-ender.  I want to suggest something else in this post.  I believe that pKreoss' feat can also be an insurance policy.  It allows you to play your army aggressively and then retract before a decisive counterattack can occur.

Let me explain by telling you what happened in my last pKreoss game.  I was playing a Circle player who was running pKrueger.  He had several feral warpwolves, shifting stones, gallows grove, and wolf riders.  After only a turn or two, we had begun to engage with me really making the first concerted effort towards hurting his army.  It was at this point that I realized that I was a bit overextended.  I did this because I felt that he would be on me the next turn if I didn't try to bloody his nose and blunt his assault quickly.  Thus, I moved pKreoss up and popped my feat. In doing so, I knocked down the vast majority of his army.  This immobilized the wolf riders and knocked down two warpwolves among other things.  In his turn he had to expend quite a bit of fury to get his warbeasts up and then to get their animi cast and them attacking.  This in turn meant that while they did some damage, it wasn't nearly as bad as what they could have done had they not been hindered by the knockdown effect that I threw out.

So, my question here is, can Kreoss' feat be used defensively?  Is it possible to use it to invalidate the efforts of your opponent in one turn and then use that chance to continue to build momentum and bull doze his army?

I agree that the straightforward nature of Kreoss' feat lends itself, without any imagination, to getting that caster kill, but I think it can also be used defensively should you find yourself overextended and needing some way to soften the impending blow of your opponent.

I would love to hear some people's thoughts on this subject.  Maybe I'm just a noob and completely inexperienced, but this seems like a valid, though less optimal, tactic to be used.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Why'd You Pick That? Exemplar Bastions

I'm back after a couple weeks and I wanted to talk about one of Menoth's two medium based infantry, Exemplar Bastions.  Bastion are, in my opinion, pretty sweet models and reek of high fantasy.  Models encased in huge armor wielding magical, blessed halberds. 

Let's talk statistics.  Bastions, like many Menoth modes, aren't all that special as far as stats go.  They are terribly slow for infantry, going only as fast as a Crusader heavy 'jack.  Their MAT is decent, but not great, hitting def 14 on average rolls.  Speaking of which, their defense is fairly low for infantry at 11, but there ARM is a bit better ringing in at 16.  

Bastions start to get good with their weapons.  They tote magical, blessed, weapon master halberds that have reach.  This boils down to P+S 12 attacks that deal damage with 3D6 (4D6 on the charge).  That averages 26 on the charge and 22 when stuck in.  This is easily enough for a unit to handle light/medium warjacks and warbeasts. Reach means that they are a great defensive screen (more on that below) and can threaten models that might normally be though of as safe.  Their magical nature means that they can harm incorporeals which can really help some of our lists.  Finally, blessed on the halberds means that defensive buffs to enemy models mean nothing.  These guys will slice through like a hot knife through butter. 

What makes Bastions super cool is their innate unit ability, Sanguine Bond.  When a Bastion is hit, it can split the damage done amongst the other models in the unit.  This is especially good when you consider that each Bastion has 8 damage boxes.  This means that an opponent may hope to clear a lane through your Bastions to a caster behind, but won't be able to because the damage dealt is split between the models in the unit keeping the model alive.  A full unit of Bastions (5 models) has 40 damage boxes (more than a heavy warjack). 

Bastions are great as defensive pieces and their stats dictate this rule. They will usually be behind the rest of the army due to their speed and they can soak damage like none other.  Bastions can use their medium bases to block LoS and charge lanes to your casters and support. Then as your opponent gets closer, they can serve as an anvil unit for a countercharge by a 'jack or unit.  I actually like Bastions as a bodyguard unit for a warcaster.  They and Cinerators are the only infantry that can even block LoS to Reznik. Overall, Bastions play a very interesting role in our army as defensive pieces that can pack a wallop when they need to as well.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
That.Was.Awesome.
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Warmachine the Way I See It: Synergy...Ad Naseum

Yeah, I know.  I've mentioned synergy quite a few times in regards to important parts of the Warmahordes dynamic.  It's quite obvious.  However, I really found this out from a practical standpoint this week in my games at my FLGS. 

My example:

Temple Flameguard aren't all that flash when sizes up.  MAT 6, P+S10.  Their greatest asset is shield wall.  This gives them a respectable ARM 17. Add to them the UA and you have terror, fire attacks that give out continuous fire, and minifeat that yields a one turn additional +4 to ARM.  So, where's the synergy? 

This week I played a pSeverius list.  I found that Eye of Menoth and Defender's Ward are worth their weight in gold.  +1 to attack and damage rolls for the entire control area is great.  +2 to DEF and ARM for a unit is also great.  pSevvy synergizes so well with these guys.  He makes them more efficient at handling other infantry.  On top of that, Defender's Ward is great on jacks, but amazing on units of infantry.  If you steadily move forward staying in shield wall, you are adding an additional +6 to ARM (19) at DEF 15.

This makes Flameguard amazingly resilient.  On top of that, with Eye of Menoth up, you can generally pose some sort of threat to enemy infantry and casters. This is where the synergy makes Flameguard great.  They won't scratch a jack unless you throw down a massive CMA, but they do pose a threat to everything smaller.  Because of their resilience and threat to infantry, they become what I call a shepherd unit.  They corral those smaller units by spreading out and moving forward.  In a turn where you are preparing for that calculated strike, they can go into shield wall and pop their mini-feat, you are looking at DEF 15/ARM 23 models.  Not much will punch through them and then, when your turn occurs you can go for the counterpunch. 

The point:
Alone Flameguard are underwhelming.  Through synergy, they become nigh impossible to completely remove.  In both of my games, they were impossible to completely destroy and did a good job of being cast out as a net to entangle and cordon off areas to my opponents.  They even killed a few things including nihilators in one game and Harlan Vesh and some gun mages in my second game. Furthermore, they provide Menoth with something that it lacks in general, an anvil unit.  Thus, the unit contains its own forms of synergy, but also provides synergy for the entire army on the battlefield. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
That.Was.Awesome.
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Game Night: One Win, One Loss

I got over to my FLGS tonight to play some Warmahordes and got in two great games.  The first was against the local pressganger, a Skorne Player.  We played a 25pt. Killbox game.  Again, since I am learning quite a bit, we played pretty loose and my opponent was super cool about the game while still not pulling any punches.  He had:

eHexeris

-Titan Bronzeback
-Titan Cannoneer
10 Nihilators
4 Paingivers
Agonizer

I took:
pSeverius
-Reckoner
-Vanquisher
min Temple Flameguard +UA
min Choir
Covenant
Vassal
pEiryss

This game was a fun one despite facing a vastly more skilled opponent.  The game hinged around a critical setup in the middle of the field where I moved up my Reckoner to receive the Bronzeback.  I gave the Reckoner enliven and cast vision on him along with using the covenant to prevent knockdowns.  Unfortunately, my opponent had his Nihilators close enough to get a few into combat with him.  They were able to do damage to him triggering enliven and then the Bronzeback came in and tore him apart.  This signalled a huge shift from things looking to go in my favor to significantly in my opponent's favor.  I didn't have anything to jam up lanes to pSevvy at that point and so went in for a desperate assassination attempt on Hexeris and simple couldn't convert.  The Bronzeback summarily beat down my Vanquisher and then threw him into pSevvy for the kill. 

I learned a few things in this game though.

1) pSevvy really has some nasty spells.  Defender's Ward and Eye of Menoth are huge. 
2) Consequently, a unit of Flameguard with Defender's Ward and shield wall is annoying.  Adding iron zeal makes them horrendous to get rid of.
3) Ashes to Ashes is deceptively good, but suffers from low POW.
4) pSevvy really likes an arc node.  I kept wishing I had my Revenger out to play.

Game 2 was another killbox scenario.  My second opponent was open to a 35pt. game. 

He took the following Cygnar army:

Kara Sloan
- Defender
- Hunter
- Hunter
Gun Mages with officer
-Cyclone
Reinholdt
Harlan Versh

I took another pSevvy list:

pSevvy
-Reckoner
-Vanquisher
Avatar
min Choir
max Flameguard + UA
Covenant
Vassal

This game was interesting to say the least.  Turn 1 saw my opponent move up and wait.  Chiefly, he swung his two hunters around on my right flank which diverted me a bit.  In my turn 1, I moved up and tried to potshot his hunters.  My Vanquisher missed, but deviated onto a gun mage.  My Reckoner shot a nasty shot into one of the Hunter severely damaging it.  Otherwise, I put up Eye and Defender's Ward on the Flameguard where they held my left flank facing off against the Defender, many of the gun mages and Harlan.

In my opponent's Turn 2, he popped Sloan's feat and went to town on my Avatar.  Unfortunately, I lost him.  However, it took the whole turn.  My only other casualties were a couple Flameguard. In my turn, through some snazzy movement, I was able to charge the damaged Hunter with Reckoner and destroy it.   My Vanquisher dropped a template on the other Hunter and did a few boxes of damage and set it on fire.  My Flameguard were able to get into combat with Harlan, but couldn't charge his gun mages due to some cover fire from the Cyclone.  They ended up doing 2 damage to him.

In turn 3, he began to go to work on my Reckoner and while really damaged, it survived and still posed a threat.  It was at this point though that my support began to get whittled down.  I lost 2 of 4 choir and my Vassal.  It was looking harsh, so I knew I needed to work something out quick.  In my turn, I moved my Reckoner out to tie up his Hunter, but didn't accomplish much with my club arm damaged.  My Flameguard, charged a few gun mages and killed one I think.  pSevvy stepped though and did some real damage by casting Ashes to Ashes on his Cyclone and using it to blast 4 gun mages including the officer.  I also popped feat which would make my opponent's next turn really hard.  Finally, my Vanquisher got lucky and missed a shot on the last gun mage which deviated onto Reinholdt and Sloan.  Reinholdt died and Sloan took something like 2 damage and caught on fire. 

At turn 4, my opponent started to feel the pressure.  He knew he had to do some damage to pSevvy.  Everything moved up to try and kill him.  Sloan plinked off about 7 boxes, his Cyclone stepped up and rolled all 6 of its shots and left me on a single box!  At that point, with the failed assassination Sloan was hung out for my Vanquisher to charge in and smash her face with his blazing star.  Victory to Menoth.

This game was sweet.  I could not believe that last turn.  The Cyclone needed 8's to hit and couldn't do much since Sloan had no focus.  It was a nail-biter.  I think he hit 3 or 4 out of 6 shots, but not being able to boost meant that he had a hard time getting past ARM 14 + 2 camped focus.  It was tough seeing the Avatar go down in turn 2, but seeing him withstand so much damage including out of activation shots due to Sloan's feat was awesome.  By soaking damage, he really saved my bacon.  Again, my Flameguard were aces.  At one point, I had Defender's Ward, Shield Wall and Iron Zeal up.  I think they had DEF 15 ARM 23 and that simply made them heinous to do anything to. 

Warmahordes is really growing on me. I love the fluidity of the gameplay.  Having so many options available in an army, different combinations of activations, and synergies from multiple effects really adds to its depth. I got a real sense of how out-of-my-league I was in playing despite making some decent decisions along the way.  This game is really going to be a sweet learning experience. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
That.Was.Awesome.
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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More Progress: Menoth Vanquisher and Eiryss, Magehunter

I have taken the weekend to get a few more Warmachine models done.  Friday night and some of Saturday were used to lay some paint on a Vanquisher and pEiryss.  I really like these models and am already pondering how to get them into my lists.    Here they are:

Ladies first.  I really like the dynamic pose on Eiryss.  It screams the Matrix to me.  Very cool. 

Her cape is massive! I'm surprised she doesn't trip on it.  Still, the flowing nature of the cape looks sweet and adds to the elogence of the model.

And now the big guy with the big cannon.  I'm excited about having the Vanquisher.  I think he will be a great addition for sorting out infantry problems.

A side view and good look at blazing star his chain weapon. 

Again, I love the look of the steam engines.  You have the front which is all armor plating and veneer and then the real guts of the warjack is in the back.  The Vanquisher even has a temperature/pressure gauge on his steam engine.  I thought that was cool touch. 

And the cannon.  I'm excited to see this guy drop AoEs with impunity.  I think my Vassal is going to be great friends with the Vanquisher. 

That is for now.  The list of unpainted models is getting smaller, but there is still a ton to do.  I am currently working on my Covenant of Menoth.  Just need to finish a bit of basing before I move on.  My next big project is going to be getting a unit of Knights Exemplar together.  They are a super nasty counterattack unit and I'm excited to get them done and on the field. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, Grand Scrutator Severius
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, Grand Scrutator Severius

I'm moving on with my warcaster studies, but still hanging around with Menoth.  It makes sense that this happens as I'm growing in experience with the faction. 

My take on pSevvy

Grand Scrutator Severius.  The Big Cheese.  I actually tried to look up the word scrutator and found that it is someone who scrutinizes.  All of the fluff makes Severius out to not only be the undisputed head of the Protectorate of Menoth, but a scary dude who can look into your soul to discern whether or not a person is worth living and dying. The dude's fluff makes him out to be scary.  Consequently, he is a very handy warcaster for the Protectorate. 

Grand Scrutator Severius or pSeverius for short, is a great all-arounder.  He has pretty terrible stats with the exception of his focus, being 8, among the highest in the game.  What you take pSeverius for are his feat and his pretty stellar toolbox of spells. 

Let's talk about the feat first.  pSeverius' feat essentially shuts down an opposing warcaster for the next turn.  When in pSevvy's control area, models with the arc node ability can't use it and models with focus manipulation can't replenish focus for their the next turn.  This provides multiple threats to an opposing warcaster. First, the obvious effect is that you cause a caster in your control area to have no focus in the next turn.  Jacks won't have focus to cause trouble, spells can't be cast or upkept, and ARM can't be bolstered.  This is great.  This means you have a turn to get into position and possibly throw down a solid assassination attempt.  Even if you can't get to the caster, you have a full turn to position to hold objectives, clear enemy models, and strengthen fortified positions. 

We can't stop there though.  pSeverius has a great toolbox of spells.  He has two decent offensive spells and four upkeeps that can seriously bolster the efforts of your army.  Ashes to Ashes and Immolation can deal damage at alarming rates.  The fact that Ashes to Ashes also harms D6 enemy models within 5" of the intended taret means at you can clear out infantry fairly well.  Immolaion is a fairly standard ranged magical attack with the added benefit of occasionally cause the fire continuous effect on a model. 

The real stars of the game are pSevvy's upkeeps.  Eye of Menoth an Defender's Ward as insanely good.  Eye of Menoth gives a buff to attack and damage roles for models within pSevvy's control area.  This naturally synergizes with the Choir of Menoth's Hymn of Battle.  These two effects create some of the most destructive warjacks in the game.  Defender's Ward goes the the other way and provides a bonus to DEF and ARM for a model/unit.  This can make infantry units incredibly hard to shift or heavy warjacks nigh untouchable.  The Avatar of Menoth with Defender's Ward up has an impressive ARM 23. 

Alongside these two impressive spells come Death Sentence, a reroll for attack rolls.  This can make going for an assassination attempt more of a sureity. Vision is a really interesting spell that can be pretty situational, but at the same time, great if used in the correct situation.  A great example of some great synergy with Vision would be using it on a Revenger or Blessing of Vengeance.  Their repulsor shield rule states that if hit, after the hit is resolved, the model hitting is pushed back 1".  Coupled with Vision, you can prevent models without reach from even damaging these jacks which makes them incredibly resilient.  It can also help protect models with higher DEF since many hits miss anyway.  Vision provides extra insurance.

pSeverious also has a magical reach weapon with a P+S of 13, but if he is in combat, he is going to die.  Finally, he has an interesting ability called convert that is highly situational.  It basically states that when used, an enemy model in pSevvy's CMD range must pass a command check or become a friendly faction model for the rest of the game.  This sounds great, but it only works on a single model at a time and the model has to be a trooper.  Again, if you are close enough to use this, you are probably either about to win or you are going to die.

So, pSevvy has some great things going on.  He synergizes well with a variety of warjacks, units, and solos.  I think his feat works alongside pEiryss very well.  If you pop his feat at the right time with pEiryss positioned well, she can get into position to shoot a disruptor bolt for an added turn of your opponent's warcaster having no focus. 

As far as warjacks go, pSevvy really likes Blessing of Vengeance.  It is his signature warjack and can make his offensive spells hit harder.  pSeverius also work well with the Avatar.  Being able to put up Eye and Defender's Ward makes the Avatar a beast.  Couple that with a Choir and you have add +3 to attack and damage rolls to a model with P+S 19.  Watch heavy warjacks and warbeasts crumble to dust with this combo.  pSevvy has quite a bit of focus and 6 warjack points so he can handle a few more jacks as well.  I think he makes for a great ranged assassination caster and as such really likes Repenters, Reckoners, Redeemers, and Vanquishers.  Being able to strip a warcaster of focus and then pummel him/her/it with ranged attacks means that unless he is far back, there isn't a safe place near pSeverius' battlegroup.

Defender's Ward also means that strong infantry choices can be made even harder to shift.  Temple Flameguard with UA and Exemplar Errants with UA make a great core to your army. 

Support for pSevvy comes in the form of the usual suspects, Covenant, especially with multiple warjacks, Vassals of Menoth especially if using ranged warjacks, and the Choir.  I also like the spice that such units like Rhoven and pEiryss bring since they can offer additional options. 

Whatever you do, you will more than likely find pSeverius operating from the back using his impressive control area to send forth his army.  This means that he needs some thoughtful placement and protection, but if you can keep the pressure on your opponents, you may never need to worry about him.  pSeverius is certainly one of our best warcasters.  He provides answers for just about any situation and though he is fragile, he can threaten most opponents through good use of the tools he provides. 

Other Warcaster Studies:
The Harbinger
High Exemplar Kreoss
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Fire of Salvation Conversion, Building Complete

Last week I wrote a post about the the difference in converting Privateer Press models and other gaming miniatures.  In the past, I have done extensive conversions in my Warhammer Fantasy and 40k armies.  However, I have been really interested to find out that converting models for Warmahordes isn't necessarily look upon as good.  This kind of boggles my mind. 

It all stems from the fact that I want to create a Tier 4 eKreoss list.  eKreoss can put out an insanely wicked beatdown when coupling his feat with a ton of Exemplar weaponmaster attacks.  That said, to attain Tier 4, I need the Fire of Salvation heavy warjack.  Unfortunately, Fire of Salvation costs like $52 retail.  So, I have decided to convert up my own.  Fire of Salvation is based on the Crusader chassis, so I think it should be fairly easy to convert.  I even scored a classic Crusader for $12.  In fact, I decided to go a step further and convert the Fire's weapon using the sword from Scourge of Heresy.  The sword gives a more exemplar feel to the jack. Furthermore, if you look at Fire's card, there is nothing special about his weapon except it's ability to give the fire continuous effect. So, here is what I came up with.

So, as you can see. Here he is. You can see his sword complete with flames.  I also made my own back banners for him.  They add a bit more dynamism to the model.

Here's a side view.  Again you can see the flames on the sword blade and the back banners.  The spears come from a GW Warriors of Chaos Marauder Horsemen sprue.  You can also see that I added some extra armor plates to the backs of Fire's hands.  On each is a single greenstuff spike. 

The rear view.  You can see a greenstuff parchment on his right arm.

And the left.  Here you can see an added embellishment to one of the back banners.  I will probably paint it gold.

Here is a closeup of the filler around the menofix.  I tried to replicate it from a picture of Fire. 

So, after posting my conversion article and talking to some other players, I decided that I needed an out should a TO want my Fire's weaponry to look right.  Thus, I broke out the pin vice and drilled out the hand so that I can swap weapons.  For most games, I will shoot for using the sword as it fits the exemplar theme.  Otherwise, I can swap the weapons out for the mace for pickier TOs.

Another view of the mace.  You can see the flames a bit better here.  I think I might need to beef them up a bit.

So, there you have it. Does this look like a suitable Fire of Salvation?  I plan on painting it as it looks in all of the official Privateer Press pics.  Anyway, after seeing the model with the sword, would you allow it?  Do you think it would it be contentious with a TO?  It is obviously not a Crusader and also not Scourge of Heresy, so I thought it would pass well.  Thoughts?

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Warmachine the Way I See It: Ingenuity and Risk

I have been doing a lot of research lately, watching a lot of battle reports online.  Youtube truly is great.  I have noticed an underlying theme to Warmahordes games: ingenuity and risk.  The game is structured to encourage these things. 

I've played lot of strategy games from board games to card games to tabletop wargames and most games do not inherently encourage these things.  As a WFB and 40k player, what you find happening more often than not is actually the opposite.  You get into a routine.  You build your army to win in a certain way and you execute.  I think this happens because units are more structured, game play is more regimented, and overall your options are limited.

Warmahordes isn't this way.  Units are less cohesive with individual models in units able to operate far more independently, and models and units go through a complete activation from movement to action before the next unit goes.  Because of the endless variety this bring turn to turn, each player is freer to adapt and come up with interesting solutions to help them win.  For example, I haven't heard of another game where a model can charge its own units to move further or even to enact some effect that could change the game.  The rules of Warmahordes are created to encourage ingenius solutions to problems.  I think this is something that has gone lacking lately in GW games.  There are a small selection of tactics that generally work (WFB= devestating magic spells cast with loads of dice and horde units, 40K= min/maxing to control the board and torrent shots into your opponent). 

Another awesome thing that dovetails nicely with ingenuity is risk taking.  I'm not talking about careless risk taking.  I'm talking about crazily concocted assassination runs that look like longshots, but end up working.  I'm talking about building odd synergies that allow you to take down important models.  Taking risks can yield huge payoffs in Warmahordes in a way that is unique to it due to it's more chess-like approach to tabletop wargaming.  Because a caster kill means a win, this is always a viable solution to any problem.  Taking risks in order to kill a caster or warlock is more common because of its result and thus risky maneuvers that attempt such an outcome are encourage by the game's design.

This creates a truly unique and engaging experience that is unique to Privateer Press games.  I have learned this first hand in my inaugural game with Menoth.  It definitely has me intrigued and I think it will provide some great experiences in the future.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:

Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Ah, the Learning Curve is Back

If you read my last post, I had a great time playing my first game with my Menoth army. It was a blast, but it reminded me of something.  The learning curve. Ugh!  I forgot about this guy.  I have been playing Warhammer Fantasy for 8 years and 40k for about 2 1/2 and they are very similar.  I totally forgot what it's like to not know something about everything in the game (note I didn't say everything about everything).  I feel I have a reasonable grip on the rules, though I need a ton of refining, but knowing all of the faction specific rules and styles, the various warcaster/warlock effects on units and armies, and just the special rules for every model is incredibly daunting.  In my game last night, I basically played according to what I thought were solid choices for my army and the situation at hand. Past that, I hoped and prayed my opponent did smash the crap out of me with impunity. 

Luckily, he didn't.  Aside from the extraordinarily lucky turn of events that lead to an easy road to the caster kill and dominance of the game, I really didn't have a solid knowledge foundation to stand on and that reminded me that I am once again a small fish playing in an extremely large pond. 

So, my thoughts on this:

1) Read, read, read.  I hope to get my hands on as many copies of rules as possible to read up on the various factions and their models.  I also will make some stops to Battle College for information. Information gathering is going to be a key to success.  A large part of playing Warmahordes is knowing what your opponents can throw at you.  Thus, I need more information.

2) Play more games.  I love that Warmahordes on average takes far less time than 40k or WFB.  That means that in a given night at a 35pt. level, I can get in around 2-3 games, especially since I am a noob and will get my butt kicked fairly easily. 

3) Watch games.  I am loving youtube right now.  There are tons of games online that I can watch and learn from.  I have watched quite a few Menoth battle reports, but I need to start watching battle reports from other factions to see what various players do.  This is definitely next on my list. 

So, the road has started.  I am pumped.  This game rocks!  Now I need to do some homework.

What other things should I consider when prepping for upcoming battles?  What are those key pieces of information that will give me the edge?  I'm interested to hear from some readers out there. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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That. Was. Awesome.

So, it happened.

I finally got in my first game with a full painted Menoth Army.  Not only that, but I got to experience a really interesting scenario. 

I came into my LGS to try for a pickup game tonight and found out that they were wrapping up an escalation league.  There were perhaps 12-15 Warmahordes players present.  So, I watched for a bit until the store owner noticed I was there.  I do a lot of commission work for him and he knew I wanted to get in a game tonight, so he asked a player if he could spare some time.  We were about to start a game when I was instead invited to be a part of a special scenario game meant to cap off the league and man was it a scenario.

The league organizer developed a scenario where a giant monolith dominated the center of the board.  It was on a very large base, perhaps a an inch of radius or so bigger than a battle engine base.  It had quote a few super nasty stats include 120 damage boxes. Three players deployed in corners of the table and had the task of destroying the monolith and acted as friendly faction models for the task.  The monolith had some punishing special attacks that used energy, not focus or fury, so it couldn't be stopped in any way.  The only issue is that it didn't have enough energy to do enough damage to all of the forces arrayed against it and it's seemingly large quantity of damage boxes went pretty quickly when a fully charged Mulg got swinging on it.  The other interesting aspect of the game revolved around the list.  Each player had two warcasters or warlocks and they shared a 15 point list + their jack/warbeast points. 

I took: pSeverius and pKreoss with the Avatar, a Crusader, a Revenger, a min Choir, and 3 Wracks. 

So, the three allied players, a Trollbloods player, a Skorne player, and my Menoth managed to easily take down the monolith in two turns.  However, the twist came when the league organizer revealed that once the monolith was destroyed, the three allies cut all ties and sought to destroy each other's casters with only one army left standing.

This is when the series of events swung severely into my favor. 

1) The monolith had a power where if it made its attack rolls, it could take over the movement and action of the model hit in its next activation, even if destroyed.  It managed to take over both a bronzeback and Molik Karn from the Skorne player.  In his second turn, the Skorne player suicided his Naaresh and then his other caster, both out of spite and to prevent the monolith player from using his own warbeasts on him.  This effectively took him out of the game immediately. 

2) We took turns in a clockwise fashion and the monolith was destroyed on the Skorne player's turn, which meant that he eliminated that threat and himself right before handing the game over to me. 

3) The Trollblood player moved forward aggressively to help with the monolith exposing his two warcasters to my army.

4) My army was delayed due to an attack from the monolith that created impassable terrain features.  This caused me to have a fairly good line of sight and distance to the Trollblood player's army.

So, in my turn, I had a full army, unmolested, ready to beat face.  The Avatar and Crusader both had defender's ward up, one from Kreoss and one from Severius.  I also had Eye of Menoth up on my battlegroup. 

My first move included bestowing hymn of battle on my battlegroup and the Avatar.  Then, Kreoss moved forward and feated, knocking down everything in the Trollblood army, but his warlocks.  His army included: eDoomy and Borka, Mulg, a Mauler, and an Impaler.  Kreoss' feat knocked down the keg bearer, Mulg, the Mauler, and the Impaler.

I was then able to charge the impaler with the Avatar, knocking off quite a few boxes and using his reach to smack Borka pretty hard.  I then moved my Revenger in to poke at Borka and after passing a tough roll, ended him.  I then arc noded off the Revenger to do some damage to eDoomy and set him fire.  The Crusader then charged in to Impaler and wiped him out. 

In his turn, my opponent had some hard decisions.  First, the fire on eDoomy went out, much to my Chagrin.  Both Mulg and the Mauler were knocked down.  They both had also maxed out on fury to help destroy the monolith.  Due to this and because eDoomy was camping fury, they both had to take frenzy checks.  Mulg passed, but the Mauler didn't which ultimately meant he could get up from being knocked down.  Mulg then got up and moved to get into range for primal shock against my warcasters.  He took a free strike from the avatar and was knocked down to three boxes. It was then that my opponent remembered that Severius can't be affected by spells.  He instead went after Kreoss and killed him with some impressive rolling and two primal shocks.  With that done, my opponent had to hand it back to me. 

This was it.  I had both the Avatar and the Revenger in range to smack eDoomy while the Crusader could handle Mulg for his last three boxes and the Mauler was still knocked down.  I walked the Avatar forward and took a mighty swing with his sword and boxed him.  He was unable to make his tough roll and I walked away victorious. 

Wow!  What a fun game.  Not to mention, I got to play against some really cool guys with amazingly painted armies.  Events transpired perfectly for me to win this game.  Had the Skorne player not lost control of his two warbeasts, things would have been different.  The Trollblood player would have been easily crushed from both sides and then I would have had an uphill climb against a very canny opponent in the Skorne player who would be relatively unscathed as well.  Luckily though, that didn't happen.  Likewise, the turn sequence and positioning of armies allowed me to be in position to feat with Kreoss and cut out his warcasters with ease.

I definitely learned a thing or two from the players and found that I had a fairly decent handle on things despite being relatively new to the gaming system.  Having wargaming experience really helped me out here.  I was glad for that. 

Warmahordes is fast and brutal and loads of fun.  I can't wait to add a few more units to my army and get into some more battles!

If you are an experienced Warmahorde-er, leave a comment a share your first experience with the game.  I would love to hear how things have gone to others. 






Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Finally, pKreoss is Ready to Fight

That's it!  I finished the last bit of work on a Vassal Mechanik tonight and I now have a playable 35pt. pKreoss list.  I'm really excited to have the whole thing painted, based, and ready for action.  I have a ton more to paint, but I also have everything assembled that I own assembled, with the exception of the Fire of Salvation conversion I'm working on. 

I chose pKreoss because he is a fairly straightforward warcaster to play with.  His spells cover a wide variety of situations, both providing potent offensive spells and some excellent upkeeps as well.  Defender's Ward has to be one of the nastiest spells out there right now in terms of making already scary warjacks (Avatar) even scarier. 

That said, his feat is also very straightforward.  On his feat turn, he knocks down all enemy models in his control area (unless they are immune to knockdown, that is).  Simple. 

So, here is the list I have concocted using the models I have completed.

pKreoss +5
-Crusader -6
-Reckoner -8

Avatar of Menoth -11
Max Choir of Menoth -3
Max Temple Flameguard + UA -8
Vassal Mechanik -1
Vassal of Menoth -2
3 Wracks -1

Honestly, I think this list is a bit too reliant on the warjacks, but this is what I have painted. Honestly, I think an improvement would be to drop the avatar for a unit of Knights Exemplar as second wave counter-attackers and possibly a cheap light warjack like a revenger to give pKreoss some added threat range.  That said though, I think it has enough threats and support to make it quite nasty and it accomplishes this in a fairly focus efficient manner.  The Avatar and Wracks go a long way in helping stretch pKreoss' focus pool. 

If I have too hard a time of it, I do have a backup list with pSeverius.  It replaces the Crusader with a Revenger and Repenter, min choir and no wracks or Mechanik. 

So please, send me some feedback.  Do you think a beginner with this list stands a chance of putting up a fight?  Is it a good learning list?  I know there are glaring weaknesses, but I don't currently have the painted models to remedy it.  Thanks!

Other Warmachine articles:

Warmachine the Way I See It: The Intro

Crusader Heavy 'Jack Completed

pKreoss and pSeverius Done!

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Conversions and Warmachine

If you follow my blog, it's obvious by now that I am a commission painter. I also convert models, especially my own.  However, when I get into a new gaming system, I am tentative.  Being new to Warmachine, I am a bit edgy about performing in big-time conversions, but at the same time, I want to add a bit of character to my armies.

The crux of the matter is that I don't know how significant things like weapon swaps are in this game.  In my experience with GW games, conversions aren't too big a deal if they reasonably approximate what they are representing, i.e. a bolt pistol shouldn't be counted as a meltagun. 

So, here's the idea.  As part of my eKreoss Tier 4 army I need to add Fire of Salvation.  Well, I have a few issues: 1) The model is like $50 NiB!  I don't like that at all.  It is just a Crusader heavy variant, and I was able to purchase a Crusade for $12.  2) The mace that Fire of Salvation carries isn't all that flashy.  I have ordered Scourge of Heresy's sword as it looks more Exemplar themed and will use it and perhaps greenstuff some flames onto it.

Is this acceptable?  Even though Fire of Salvation carries a mace, there aren't any qualities given to maces specifically, so should modelling a sword matter?  Veteran Warmahorders, what say you?  Please leave me some feedback and let me know.  Thanks.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Menoth Bastions Model Review

My Exemplar horde is growing steadily each day. I have to get a few more models in the mail and everything will be ready for the great crusade to beat face and light stuff on fire!  That said, today, I received a unit of 5 Bastions and a second unit of 6 Knights Exemplar in the mail, both through an excellent deal I made at Bartertown.  I was so excited about the Bastions that I decided to go ahead and put them together.  After my experience, I thought it would be cool to do a little product review.

courtesy of CMON.com

A new box of Exemplar Bastions comes with a unit of 5 Bastions consisting of you leader and 4 grunts.  You can run them in a group of 3 (leader and two grunts) or the full squad of 5.  This particular box set is a plastic set, the only plastic minis I have collected from Privateer Press so far.  Unlike many, I really prefer metal models over plastic.  I think the detail is generally a bit better and I love the heavy feel they have.  It makes the army feel substantial.  Suffice it to say, I was slightly disappointed when I discovered Bastions only came in plastic as they are going to be the only plastic minis in my entire army as it now stands. 

Down to business.  Bastion models come in 7 pieces and a base.  The pieces are the body, two arms, two shoulder pads, a head, and their halberd.  All pieces have pre-cut holes and posts cut to insure that only one piece can fit any one joint.  This was meant to make the assembly process easier, I'm sure, as it is literally impossible to put these guys together incorrectly unless you cut mounting posts off of pieces. 

Right out of the bag, I noticed that the plastic used by Privateer Press is very hard.  It doesn't have nearly as much give as resin or softer plastics like those used by GW in their plastic kits.  Each manufacturer must have their own proprietary blend. This did two things, one good and one bad.  The detail on the minis was great.  Each model has quite a bit going on and all details including scrollwork on armor and the etching on their blades is definitely of high quality.  However, the hard plastic actually made it harder to get pieces into their correct position.  In many cases, I had to cut down or shave away portions of mounting posts so that the pieces fit easier.  This proved to be a slight annoyance and required some application of strength to get pieces all the way into their fitting (in one case I actually had to clamp my jaws down on an arm joint to get the arm to fully slide into place).  On the upside the design elements used for assembly to add some structural strength to the models.  I am not worried about dropping a mini and having pieces pop off.  These pieces will stay in place.

Another small problem I had with the minis is that many pieces, due to the packaging, were bent.  Several of the halberds were bent along the haft of the weapon.  I have found with resin and plastic alike, the only easy fix is to stick the model in near boiling water, heat the plastic, and then reshape it into its intended straight appearance.  Again a minor issue, but one that takes a bit of time to correct. 

That said, other pieces of the model fit very well with little to no trimming required.  In each model's case, the shoulder pads fit easily into play and on the squad leader, the shoulder pads (coming in two pieces) fit very easily. 

Another great aspect of these models is a noticeable absence of flash.  There were the odd pieces here and there, but for the most part, these models simply didn't have flash on them and in fact, there were few if any mold lines on the minis.  I really like this because I tend to be lazy with mold lines to begin with, so having so few made it really easy to get the models cleaned up quickly. I don't know if Privateer Press has better molds than other companies, but even GW has regularly occurring mold lines on most plastic models. This was definitely a breath of fresh air for me. 

Finally, I want to head back to appearance for a minute.  The models are sweet.  I love them. They are suitably bulky, coming on medium bases. They have the feeling of butt kicking awesomeness.  The models also have fairly decent poses.  Hulking models covered in armor generally don't look terribly agile, but the sculpts, as with many of PP's sculpts, look dynamic utilizing flowing banners and robes and more aggressive stances that make the models look like they are advancing towards you.  PP really knows it sculpting.  I love their stuff.  It simply looks dynamic and epic without looking overly hokey....despite massive shoulder pads. 

So, to run it down for you, the pros are:

- Great sculpt, very dynamic pose and good sense of movement achieved
- High level of detail, even for plastic, makes an interesting looking mini
- Lack of flash and mold lines
- Solid construction through the use of mounting posts at joints means that models won't be losing pieces often
- Easy construction as each pieces only fits in one place unless you cut off the mounting posts.
- Lighter weight than metal
The cons are:

- Very hard plastic.  This makes it hard to trim and shave, it also means those mounting posts sometimes fit too tightly to make pieces join snugly.
- Bent pieces require extra effort to correct
- Lighter than metal (I like metal models)

Overall, I really like the models and would give Privateer Press a solid A for them.  They possess everything you would think a model of their magnitude should have, are fairly easy to construct, and only provide a small handful of headaches to get around (but what wargaming mini doesn't!).  Privateer Press continues to amaze me with the quality of their products. 

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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The Avatar Cometh!!

That's right folks, despite going out of town, getting a stomach bug, and making up a lot of work due to aforementioned stomach bug, I was able to finish my Avatar of Menoth.  This guy is a stud.  He is the Menite beater jack.  With an impressive ARM 21 and a POW 19 stubby sword (yeah, not a big fan of the length of this thing), the jack can go to town on most anything.  If you back him up with a choir and can cast defender's ward on him, you are looking at a ARM 23/POW 21 monster!  Top it off with the fact that he generates his own focus and will always have at least 2 focus (D3+1) and you have quite the addition to any Menite army.  Suffice to say that I have been stoked to get to work on this model and get him tabletop ready.  So, without further ado, here is Menoth's chosen instrument of destruction.

A front view of "the Dude".  He has a suitably imposing bulk though I feel his torso is a bit narrow.  I like the hunkered down pose.  It makes me feel as if the jack is about to leap into action. 

I'm really pleased with the paint job on his sword, but I am just not happy with the sword itself.  It really needs some added length, but I am not good enough to add that length and make the sword look decent.  I have seen a whole bunch of conversions that make the sword look great....and they make me envious. 

Rear view.  Not much to be said here.  I do like a good contrast between the white plating on the model's armor/hull and the metallic steam engine pieces in the back.  It's a good contrast.

And the shield. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  Adding the glowing effects in the center of the menofix really makes it pop.  You might notice here and on that sword that I added blue gems.  I really think this helps balance out the red in the model. 

Well, I have to take a break from painting my models for a bit so that I can do a couple of commission jobs, but my next few projects for my Menoth army will include a few more support pieces like the Covenant of Menoth and the beginnings of my Exemplar horde.  I'm super stoked!

Other Models I have painted for my Menoth army:
Reckoner Finished and a Goal
Vassal of Menoth Complete
pKreoss and pSeverius Done!
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Flameguard, Wracks, and a Thought on Customer Relations

Well, folks.  This week has been a big hobby week for me in regards to Warmachine.  I have been able to fully paint 4 more Flameguard + UA, a full Choir, and 3 Wracks now.  On top of that, the wife got really sick during the night causing me to take a day off to help out with the boy.  That means that I have had a bit of extra time to paint one more model, the Avatar of Menoth.  So far, I have the metallics about 75% done.  Let me say that I am excited about this dude.  He is the big bad when you it comes to Menoth units, so suffice it to say that I am really excited to get him painted and on the board.  His inclusion will also mean that I can comfortably field a fully painted 35pt. army with either pKreoss or pSeverius. 

So, here are some picture updates. 

Side #1.  That is quite the porcupine of spears.

Side #2. 

Here is the unit leader, officer, and standard bearer.  I love these models.  Privateer Press really doesn't scrimp on these models.  The standard is large and well sculpted.  The officer and unit leader have quite a few unique details on them. I'm really pleased with this unit.  I think they will serve me well as a tarpit with shield wall and defender's ward. 

Here are the wracks.  Man, these were easy.  I had an extra hour to hour-and-a-half last night and decided to get these guys done,from bare metal to fully painted and based.  I was able to complete them easily.  I think the ease of painting these guys comes from the fact that the wrack itself is all metal and easy to paint with a couple shades of metal and some wash and from limited range of colors needed to paint the rest of the model.  Easy.

Here's a closeup.  My recipe for easily finishing the wrack is as follows, base coat the entire thing, chains, weights, and wrack with a dark metallic color.  I used Reaper Master Series Blackened Steel.  I then added a heavy drybrush of GW chainmail.  I wrapped up this porton of the model with a heavy wash of GW devlan mud.  Voila! Easy. From there, the victim on the wrack was simple as well.

Hopefully early next week, I will have some updates that show off a completed Avatar. 

Now, I wanted to mention something, more of a soapbx really.  I started out as a GW gamer and still play their games.  I've played WFB and 40k for around 8 years now. In that time, GW has had a lot of chances to disappoint its customers.  It seems that they take the logical, correct method and throw it out the window.  Now, this is just my opinion.  Many people still love GW.  I mentioned awhile back that I have been really impressed with Privateer Press for its customer relations.  I was again pleased to hear that they were exhibiting some professional courtesy when I read a blog about some updates coming out from PP this year. Among Colossals, a new Bodger game, and the return of Infernal Contraption, there was a note in one blog that PP is coming out with their very own army builder app and that consequently iBodger was going the way of the dodo.  At first, I was a bit angry as I thought, Another game company silencing good work from a private individual.  However, as I read, it was explained that iBodger was created and upkept with the full knowledge and permission of Privateer Press.  Furthermore, it was being given away for free. 

What!?

This totally blows my mind and I suppose it does because I started with GW.  GW defends its IP like an overzealous watchdog, threatenin private citizens with IP violation whenever they got a wiff of a possible violation.  GW rules by intimidation.  Privateer Press doesn't.  With the release of their new army builder, they simply ask the individual who originally had their permission to stop updating the software he had.  He obliged in what seems to be a very cooperative manner.  No threats, no fear.  Wow.  I like it.  It just shows you why people are dropping GW's stuff and running to other companies like Privateer Press. They've got my vote.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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Menoth Choir Ready for Action

I have been fortunate to really get quite a bit of work done on my Menoth stuff this week.  I started the week with working on my Choir and now have them complete.  My full unit of Temple Flameguard is receiving its finishing touches, and I was able to whip up my 3 Wracks (pun totally intended there).

When I finally get everything based and finished, I will have added 15 models to my completed models count.  I'm totally stoked about that. 

In other news, I followed my own advice this past week and got rid of minis I wasn't going to finish over at Bartertown and used them to subsidize further expansion of my Menoth Crusade.  If you take a look at my sidebar you will note that I now only need a single Errant UA to complete the things I currently need to make my 50pt. Harby list, and now, my 50pt. eKreoss Tier 4 list.  I'm super stoked about those two lists and think they will bring two sides to my strategy in regards to handling infantry or large models. 

Anyway, I'm done talking about all of that for the time being.  Here are a couple shots of my choir.  I'm happy with how they turned out.  Let me know know what you think.

So here's the choir arrayed in its splendor.  I really like the interplay between the red and white.  It really makes my models pop.  The bluish grey tones of my bases help a lot too.

Here's a close up of the leader, Pavorati (sp?).  Again, I'm really happy with how it all turned out.  They are an auto include in most lists, so it was common sense to go ahead and get them done.

With these guys and my soon to be finished Flameguard, I will be able to field a 25pt. pKreoss list.  It looks like this:

pKreoss
- Crusader
- Reckoner
- Repenter

Min choir
Max Flameguard + UA
Vassal

Nothing special, and honestly, it will probably suck, but it will give me a fully painted army to play around with for a bit.  I'm super excited to kick some butt and light some fires!

Stay tuned for images and updates on my Flameguard and Wracks.

Other Warmachine related articles:
Crusader Heavy 'Jack Completed
Warmachine the Way I See It: Part 2...err kind of
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcasters
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eKreoss, Menoth's Beatstick Warcaster

Apparently, in the timeline of Warmachine, High Exemplar Kreoss got bigger shoulderpads and a promotion to Grand Exemplar, eKreoss.  With the promotion came a change from a utility caster to a beatstick. 

Now usually when you hear the term beatstick used, you think of a true animal, a model possessing especially destructive capacity.  eKreoss' def and arm aren't all that great though.  His MAT is average as well. What makes him a standout is his feat.  On the turn he feats, every friendly model in his control area gets an extra attack AND every enemy model in his control range is automatically hit.  This means that on the turn that eKreoss feats, his army turns into a hurricane of destruction and just about anything it hits will die.  Combined with some additional abilities that benefit them, eKreoss is made for an exemplar horde.  And I. Am. Excited.

I've been doing a lot of research on eKreoss and from all perspectives, he appears to be a fairly lackluster caster, but his feat and his pretty sweet weapon + piercing attack can make him an absolute terror in the right situations, able to pull off an assassination on his own, especially against models with medium or large bases. 

But what excites me is an army comprised almost exclusively of exemplar models who, on eKreoss' feat turn dish out bucket loads of P+S + 3D6 and 4D6 attacks.  Awesome.  Imagine your opponents' faces when those waves of exemplars crash into their lines with the ability to even destroy heavies with contemptuous ease. 

It's with this idea that I have begun my mission to build a Tier 4 eKreoss list.  Here's what I'm thinking:

eKreoss +6
- Fire of Salvation -9
- Reckoner -8
- Vanquisher -8

5 Bastions -8
Max Errants + UA -10
Knights Exemplar -5
Knights Exemplar -5
Knight Exemplar Seneschal -3
Knight Exemplar Seneschal -Free

Bearing no illusions that all of my models will make it across the board and into melee, but if they did, on eKreoss' feat, I would have 64 weapon master attacks that autohit.  The object would be to use the seneschals to smite models away from charge lanes and hopefully allow Kreoss to assassinate with a full complement of focus, sealing the deal.

This army also packs a lot of models and could possibly pack more should the Vanquisher not work out.  I have even thought about losing him for a Crusader to add more beating to the list. 

I do hope to do a Warcaster study on eKreoss soon.  I also have finished the painting, but not basing my choir, so I will post them up as well.  Be looking for those.

For those more experienced players out there, what do you think of eKreoss, especially from an opponent's perspective? I'm anxious to hear the opinions of others on the man with the shoulderpads.

Here are some other Warmachine articles:
Warmachine the Way I See It: Warcaster Study, pKreoss
The Harbinger of Menoth: Model Review
How Important is the Front Arc, Really?
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