Playing at 35pts

Coming up for the next two weeks is our local clubs extremely belated Exigence release event, that our local PG has just never quite got around to fitting into his busy tournament schedule. We're mixing it up a little though, to make it more encouraging for new players, and trying to keep the format friendly to veterans. Far too often, release events have some godawful scenarios that just leave players cringing.

The result is that the format will be standard games using steamroller, and all at 35pts. A mini tourney of sorts, run over two weeks of club meetings. I'm looking forward to it immensely. For me, the most fun and the best demonstration of why Warmachine is one of the best games systems out there is playing casual games against new people and friends alike.

But it does get me thinking though. 35? Although in my part of the world when I first started playing, the game has naturally evolved now, and I've been playing at 50pts exclusively for around six months at least, with only a couple of sporadic games before that. It takes me back to that rose tinted montage of learning to play, like Rocky running through the snow. 

If I played Khador, this would probably be more apt.

 

But the more I've dwelt on building lists for the event, the more I've realised some things about the points level that time forgot. So let's talk 35pts today, because playing at that level really does force you to make some interesting choices.

Firstly, you can't waste points anywhere. In 50, where points redundancy is a little more forgiving, having that solo or at worst Light Warbeast or min Unit that don't quite do anything in most games isn't the end of the world. Hell, your opponent probably has something similar in his or her list. At 35 though, forget about it - we're trying to squeeze every single point out of this mother, and there's zero room for a model that doesn't pull its own weight. This is where some of the Tiers with points reductions come in as extremely valuable too; if I play the previously discussed Morghoul2 Theme Hit Squad with points reductions on my Heavy Warbeasts at 50, then I can manage to effectively play 59pts at a 50pt game. That's good, but the same at 35, giving me 44pts is much more valuable. My opponent is playing 35, and I'm on my way to a 50pt list, especially if I take more of the big lads. It sounds silly, but those extra points are much more precious suddenly.

Even so, 35pts forces something else that is almost entirely mitigated at 50pts... namely, weakness. At 50pts, with players using the same standard builds that sap all inventiveness and individualism out of the game, it's easily possible to build forces which tick all of the boxes, and 'answer' everyone's 'questions' - or even build your own all comers list. Your army can splash down on the table, knowing that unless you play the most skewy of all skew lists, you're probably on an even footing. So why is this bad? It's not. But 35 is interesting, because it typically denies this, due to lack of available points. You're going to have some elements where your force can't quite cover effectively, leaving you more than ever before in the hands of fate.

Instead, players are forced to build lists which play the way that they want the list to play, aggressively designed around their strengths. It's a more fragile place yes, but at the same time exhilarating. Games at 35pts have the same feel that the early battlebox games you had did - set up small forces against each other, start playing and then bam! Assassination straight out of downtown, or that vital Unit / Heavy / Solo gone to a clever trick. Wipe the table, set up against another player start again. Total game time? Probably around half of what a 50pt game has. Net result, lots of fun, quick games against different players, which no one takes too seriously.

35pts to me seems to embody the spirit of Warmachine more than any other points level. You can include whatever you want, and play using the full rules, but don't have to worry about the game being bogged down into a grinding attrition that takes an age to play out, or losing interest as your opponent moves hordes of models around. It's quick, fast and dirty, the gaming worlds premier skirmish game doing what it does best, and thriving. There is after all a reason that we all stopped off here after we learned the ropes, and before we stepped up to contemporary tournament play.

Is 35pts balanced? Yes.. sort of. There are some Warnouns that just don't work at the level, some models that are just too prohibitively priced. In comparison to 50pts? Probably not. 50pts should absolutely be the standard for tournament play. Is 35pts fun though?

Absolutely. I can't wait to play some games again!

..this news just in folks - Hit Squad is a thing.

..and lo, did our heroes from the Imperishable Dominion blog travel, across the highest snow wreathed mountains, overcome the sandy and barren deserts, through verdant green fields, over the endless sapphire seas, and go to a local tourney hosted by our resident Press Ganger, which included the 'Theme Forces: Tier1 Required' variant. And it was pretty cool.

So initially, I should probably explain, for those uninitiated that are unfamiliar with the variant. The Theme Forces: Tier1 requirement states that all lists for the event must be theme forces taken from either No Quarter or Forces of books, and must be at least Tier1. All non theme lists are illegal. Otherwise, the Steamroller pack is the same, although interestingly, the variant also lifts the usual FA C restriction - something which most people don't realise, myself included.

Although nervous of seeing a lists filled with hordes of Banes led by Bane Lord Tartarus, I've been looking forward to this one as a first tournament testing ground for the Morghoul2 Hit Squad list I've been working on. To pair with it, after much deliberation I chose another experimental list - a Makeda1 Army of the Western Reaches list at Tier3, filled with Scarab Beast Packs. More on the latter later.

At this stage, it would probably be best to discuss list construction and the build a little.

Hit Squad, Tier4

Lord Assassin Morghoul

-Cyclops Brute

-Titan Gladiator

-Titan Gladiator

-Titan Gladiator

Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor

Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor

Agoniser

Paingiver Task Master

Paingiver Task Master

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and three grunts)

Gatorman Posse (Leader and four grunts)

Gatorman Posse (Leader and four grunts)

So.. I know. There's no Archidon. No Basilisk Krea either, although that's probably less mandatory than having Sprint on a stick. Finally, there are no Paingiver Bloodrunner units. Morghoul2 doesn't do anything much for the Titans either. So what does it do? 

It plays on two fronts for the most part. Early experimentation with maximising the amount of Heavy Warbeasts that I could get out of the Tier3 bonus was a lot of fun, but ultimately a real strain on a Fury 5 Warlock. Most Warbeasts would start the turn with Fury and risk frenzy, especially once the game was into turn three and beyond where careful placement of Beast Handlers or a Bronzeback couldn't keep the rest reigned in. Additionally, due to the small Control Area I could never quite get the most out of some of the higher SPD Warbeasts. An Archidon with Rush, a Shadow Whip move and either Ghost Walk or the Feat for immunity to Free Strikes has a tremendous threat of 15.5" inches which is difficult to defend from, but typically flies straight out of control and cannot then boost or buy any additional attacks. The alternative forces you to push Morghoul too far forward to a vulnerable position, and whilst on occasion it was possible to get a long shot  assassination (the Archidon at MAT6 with one attack base isn't the best for this..) more often this would be for a piece trade, and certainly not worth the risk.

The answer I found was to instead focus on the slower Warbeasts, which were easier for Morghoul to keep control of, and with less of them, to reduce the strain. I overlapped multiple Titan Gladiators to reduce my opponents chances of sniping out Rush from my force, too often the obvious tactic to experienced opponents, and to allow for the beasts to buff each other if needed - removing the need for Morghoul to cast the animus each turn. Plus, three Titan Gladiators is an imposing sight heading down the battle field, and very tanky. With Morghoul and the Paingivers either Stealthed or immune to CRA attacks, the Warbeasts needed to be able to take a hit at reasonable power and keep going.

The second learning curve of this list was that the same small Control Area meant that the list couldn't effectively play into scenarios where the focus wasn't a central zone. Whilst it was easy for Morghoul and his zoo to clear one side of the battlefield, on the other, I'd lose to scenario. Using Bog Trog Ambushers and a unit Gatormen to contest was one approach which worked in some games but often didn't maximise the potential of either, the Bog Trogs suddenly too predictable in where they would ambush and the isolated Gatormen easy to pick off before they could close. Losing the Big Trogs and using the points from the extra Warbeasts allowed to add in a second unit, and back them both up with a Paingiver Task Master to further increase their versatility and survivabilty.

Finally, although initially I didn't include the Agoniser, I felt that the new build with its heavy armour skew could benefit from the inclusion of one to maximise the strengths of the list further - additionally, with no Fury 1 spells or animus, Morghoul often could find the Fury to drop into the solo, keeping it topped up during the game.

 

All the subtlety of the average house brick? Must be one of Sherwin's lists then.

So.. how did it do? I fielded the list in Games One, Two and Four - and won all of them. 

Game One was against the Protectorate of Menoth, and Feora2. I was helped in this game by a central forest on the table, allowing me to run my Titans forward under the cover of the trees and out of line of sight but at the same time able to draw LOS to the inevitable Judicator, which my opponent was forced to either hold away from my battlegroup, or risk the Titans wrath. On the other side of the table, the two Gatorman units were more than enough to initially wipe out the Temple Flameguard and then contest the zone, whilst Morghoul cleared out the friendly zone from enemy models to start scoring. Even so, clever placement from my opponent mean that this one came down to an assassination in the end; with my time on the Deathclock running out, a Task Master was able to use her Mancatcher attack to hold Feora in place so that a Titan could beat her into red paste.

Game Two played into a Sorcha1 Khador list, and was Recon. Going second and having seen my opponents deployment, from the first turn, I gambled that Morghoul could capture the flag on the far left, whilst the rest of my army denied my opponent the same in the middle and on the far right flank. My opponent suffered from trying to advance in a more linear manner, unable to capture the other two zones, I managed to walk away with a scenario victory from this often awkward scenario.

Game Four pitted my list against Siege Brisbane in Destruction, and this was a far more conventional Morghoul2 game, pushing aggressively up the table on the first turn, and then finding a janky assassination in the second turn after extending my threat via Apparition and Shadow Whip. 

..I came second in the event, my only loss to Dan and his Trollbloods in Game Three, Dan being the guy that won the event. This was my only non-Morghoul game, and where sadly my second experimental list failed utterly, in a very rough Runes of War Matchup. I'll keep pushing with that one, especially once the Aradius Soldier arrives, which I think is exactly what it needs to give it more punch. More on that in weeks to come.

Overall, I'm delighted with the list. It plays very well into scenario play, which is both unusual for an assassination Warlock, and not necessarily something which Skorne armies are best suited to. It can both take attrition from the opponents forces, as well as deal out significant damage, but at the same time is interestingly mobile. I might keep playing around with it and fine tuning, but in truth will probably keep it this way for some time, until I come up against a wall. 

Until next time fellow Tyrants. 

Ramblings of the Reformed

..so, after bursting out of the gate with a mission statement regarding our man Morghoul2 and his delightful new tier, I've been silent for a few days. More than a few indeed. "Aha," you say, "clearly the man has been playtesting!"

Well.. about that.

Not so much. Sadly, real life has conspired to steal my opponents, and left me without games, or time to play them. That, and painting. But like any decent Warmachine player, I've been making lists, and checking them at least twice. The few games I've managed with Morghoul have taught me some interesting lessons - and now, we're onto a new approach, which is to try him as the worlds most unlikely Brick Warlock. More on that once I've manged a handful of games with him. To be honest, I might not stick with it, but something calls me in a list with three Gladiators, and two max Gatormans, especially with Grevious Wounds on tap.

Which leads me, in a mildly convoluted way, to a confession and the real focus of my ramblings today.

Yes, despite my previous mission statement, I played the Fist at an event. I played the Fist, and remembered all the reasons why I liked it, and the compelling reasoning as to why I came to loathe it.

For me, the Fist was a great way to begin my faction. I've never been able to get along with Morghoul1, and the artwork for Xerxis1 is cool. So cool in fact, that I took one look at him and stopped searching for another Warlock. For about three years.

 The Chuck Norris of Warmachine

Back then, our meta was kinda small. No one had really explored the idea of spamming models via tiers into their armies. We were all so jaded from being burnt by 40K, that Warmachine was our escape back into the wilds, where we could find our love for wargaming again. Playing the Fist in this environment was crazy fun, as I'm sure you can imagine. Before long, I was the guy to beat, with the silly list, where everything had weapon master or crazy strength, pretty much everything had reach, and everything had both more armour and more boxes than god.

The trouble is, once you start being that guy, you don't stop being that guy. The pressure gets to you, and you become both a negative play experience for other people, and a douchebag that desperately needs the win to keep the reputation. You don't in reality of course - but that's exactly how it feels, no matter how small or inconsequential your meta is.

Before long, I stopped even considering taking other lists to events, or building pairs that were not around the Fist, and its few shortcomings. It's an extremely potent list, which requires careful planning on the best way to beat it, and which some armies simply don't have. Any time I considered the possibility of playing without it, I just got stuck in the mindset that to not take the Fist was the height of lunacy.

This is where, in my opinion, Warmachine players can go wrong some times, and what lists like the Fist, along with the other potent net decks represent. I'm not against powerful lists, and players choosing lists that are similar to other peoples, and nor am I scornful of people that want to do well at events. We all do, obviously. No one enjoys playing games they don't win. But often in my experience, those same lists come with expectations, and (unintentionally) bad intentions and experiences.

Now for me, the mission statement of playing games is simple. Fun. Waramchine is my social outlet, an evening hanging out with my opponent, my weekend away with the guys, or my chance to meet new, likeminded people. I've made a lot of friends that way, and kept in touch with more, and have stories to remember and tell of the events I've been to for later years. By no means am I most the best player in the world, and never will be. And I'm not about to start playing a WTC winning list just to try and reach a few steps further up the ladder.

So that means that netdecks are out. Being a negative play experience becomes something I don't want to touch at all. I played Convergence for a year exclusively, spending seven months of the year eagerly waiting for Father Lucant - only to drop him after a handful of games because I saw how much he worked up my opponents. If there is a trap in this game, it is that we find something strong that works, and then get too scared to step away from it, because we might start losing again.

That's all wrong.

And that's exactly what I felt playing the Fist at a Journeyman In a Day event I went to last weekend. I played tight, cagey games, which were mostly very one-sided. And whilst wiping 50pts of Menoth off of the table in one turn during the last game was fun of sorts, I really didn't like the unease at remembering what it was to be that guy.

And there you have it. My confession. And the reason that I rarely, if ever, play with Molik Karn in my army.

Hit Squad - Tyrant Mantooth's Musings

..so, lets talk Morghoul2's new tier list, Hit Squad. 

Hit Squad was spoiled this weekend just been at Lock and Load, the day that the internets exploded with talk about an invincible Menite, a Retribution guy that didn't get the memo about wearing white, and a time traveling version of everyones favourite negative play experience.

But for me, the real news was Privateer's latest attempt to fix an old, much maligned veteran.

Poor Morghoul2 took a real bump all things considered, coming over from Mk.I to Mk.II. Probably the most galling is the feat, or more precisely what the feat was before it went away. All enemy models suffer Blind? I have no idea what crack someone was smoking when they came up with that one, but pass from the left hand side please.

But I digress.

Sadly, the new Theme Force does that same thing (that I can't quite get behind) which we saw in Conquest and Victor. Its the old list, but better, because the old one wasn't working. Sure, Imperial Assassins is fun, but it doesn't exactly do much to help out Morghoul2's plight really.

I guess we should just be happy its not another attempt to fix the Siege Animantarax, which has been the bane of the last three Theme Forces.

You know that using the Tier System to fix models is flawed, Privateer Press

So what does Hit Squad have to offer? Well, to start with you can take the same suspects as usual (Paingiver units, Paingiver Solos), with a little more freedom on Warbeast selection (all non-character Skorne Warbeasts), and a nice little bonus or two - namely, the Agoniser, and Minion units that can be subjugated by the Skorne.

For your pains, you get four levels which are extremely easy to achieve, and offer some solid advantages, along with one big change. The big change is what comes first, and has only the requirement that you don't break Tier. Namely, this is the upgrade to your Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentors, whom gain Shadow Whip on their melee attacks.

Shadow Whip is  a new rule (I believe) which allows you to immediately advance a friendly faction model in their command 3" if the Master Tormentor hits one or enemy models with an attack. Its basically Warpath, but limited to the two models that just became mandatory in your list. Interesting? Certainly. By my estimation, any one thing in the army just extended its threat range; Morghoul himself now boasts a non-linear 15 and a half inch threat in any one turn, but don't stop there - your Archidon can now enjoy the same with Rush (now included past Tier Two, unlike Imperial Assassins), and your other heavies a staggered increased threat. The interesting part here will be keeping the Master Tormentors alive, to keep the ability in play. More on that later.

The second  level is really for the trolls out there (not to be mistaken for the Trollbloods) - the enemy army loses all trace of Advance Deployment (with added confirmation from Infernals that it cancels out any AD gained by any means). Fairly situational, some armies won't care at all, others will loathe this. The most immediate advantages will be the enemy having to clump up to begin with in most cases, and losing those valuable AD ranged units, with an added aside that you should have a greater control to see where the enemy is placing their models before you place your own AD models. This should help maximise the fun that your BloodRunners will have at least.

Tier 3 is pretty legit - all heavy warbeasts are one point cheaper. To get there, you have to include three in your Battlegroup, but if you're looking to reach this level, then you're clearly trying to push as many bonus points into your list as you can, so I doubt you'll struggle. Archidon's are an obvious choice, but the lift of Imperial Assassins SPD restriction really opens up the field to include Titans and pack a little punch to your force that might have been missing before. And don't forget my favourite, the noble Rhinodon. A six point enraged Rhino with Grevious Wounds, Reach, Amuck, and a threat of 15" on a thresher attack is the bane of Trollkin Warders and Bane Thralls alike.

Finally, the last Tier is Fury management for the Agoniser, with almost laughably easy to achieve goals. Include an Agoniser? Well, considering the tier benefit directly affects the model, that much is obvious. Include a unit of Beast Handlers with a Fury 5 Warlock? Go home PP, you're drunk. In all seriousness, this isn't quite the game changer that Tiers 1-3 offer, but it does give our Fury starved Lord Assassin a preloaded Agoniser, by starting the baby elephant with a token per Paingiver unit.

So, how to run it? Good question. I'm going to enjoy playtesting it, especially with a Tier Only tournament on my horizon next month. The most obvious requirements I can see will be two Master Tormentors, which interestingly will need a little tech to keep them in play. Stealth will help with most things for obvious reasons, as will Sprint, but actually might encourage the use of the little known Razor Worm, who can give out Girded as usual (immunity to blast damage).

I trust you guys can see how serious I am here about this list by now. Morghoul2, Rhinodons, Razor Worms? Bringing my A Game to a table near you..

Otherwise, a Cyclops Brute is typically a must have with Morghoul, as will be Beast Handlers, and an Archidon for Sprint. If you want to hit Tier 4 (I'm not sure that I do, we'll see), then that's another two points. Otherwise though, you're left with a huge selection. Personally, I'm tempted with two min units of Bog Trog Ambushers, to really pressure my opponent away from the edges and into the middle of the table, where Morghoul can have some fun. I don't buy the Gators I don't think, especially at the 11pt price tag with the Paingiver Task Master.

I'm pretty sure that at least one Titan Gladiator is the usual must, if nothing else for Rush, meaning that a Cyclops Shaman becomes even more viable for then casting either that, Safeguard or Lightning Strike as a utility beast. The other choices would be Aradius, but we'll have to wait for that one..

More another time, once I have some games under by belt. Until then, Sherwin signing off.

Forces of Distinction is available for general release next week.