Cryx Month 3 - Units

So this month i decided to add a couple of units to my warjack heavy force, namely a unit of Satyxis Raiders and some Mechanithralls.

I have found the Mechanithralls to be very hit and miss, they are very cheap, but do not stand up to much punishment so i have mostly been using them to annoy/distract my opponent rather than as a direct fighting unit. I am not sure if they will be a regular addition to my army but are useful to fill out those last few points.

When i first used the Raiders i imagined them assaulting warjacks and using their feedback to damage a warcaster directly but after the first game i realised that they make excellent infantry killers, with an average Mat and low P+S they should only be attacking lightly armoured warjacks. their strength lies in the fact they have 2 attacks of similar P+S, therefore giving you 2 chances to kill an infantryman, or if facing a unit with tough a 2nd chance to make them fail the tough roll should they succeed.

Next month i will be adding a tougher unit of Bane Thralls

Born survivaaaaaaaaaah!!! - Circle on a Budget (Month 3)

Last time on this blog,I said it was either a Stalker or the Druids and, as Trainee ranted yesterday, this month's purchases were...

Druids of Orboros Box (£20)
Druids of Orboros Overseer (£8)

Oh yes.  The paragon unit of denial, the Druids make the Choir of Menoth look like pathetic man-children.  Delivering army-wide (more or less) immunity to spells, a wall of LOS blockage AND Force Bolt, which on it's own made me pick up a unit of Battle Mages for my Ret.  The Overseer's extra abilities on top of that are just amazing.

I've only just remembered they have Medicate too.  Holy shit these dudes are awesome.

Now that I've got the gushing torrents of praise out of the way, onto the lessons I've learnt in the last...  7-8 weeks?

1 - Kaya the Moonhunter is a scenario 'caster trapped in an assassination 'caster's body.  With combat stats that rival the Butcher when she's with Laris and in the thick of things, she LOOKS like she should be able to teleport in and trash face, but I've had very limited success with that.  What I HAVE had success with is using the frankly disgusting speed she can grant her battlegroup at near enough no cost - Warpwolves, warping for speed and on the Advance Deployment line can get 32" (that's running, which is free with Alpha!) across the board on turn one.  This means they can grab objectives to fortify before other forces can get near them, which is nice.  Don't get me started on her Feat, which is a counter attack/refortification in a bag.

2 - Fury is more adaptable than Focus, but it'll bite you in the arse if you fuck up.  It's commonly said that Fury is better than Focus, but all it takes is one turn of slightly misjudging the attacks you'll need, an extra transfer you didn't account for...  You're stuck with either too much Fury on a beast, or you're cutting like a little emo for Fury.  I've left the self harm wagon behind - no more cutting for Fury.  I'll either learn to manage Fury better or Kaya will die, out of transfers and with a pile of dead 'beasts.

3 - Druids are awesome.  Yeah, I said this up above, but it bears repeating!

I'm loving the Circle right now, the speed they can reach and the obscene damage they can throw out are great fun (current record is one Warpwolf totalling two undamaged Cryx Heavies in a single round...).  We also get to use phrases to "so these werewolves are fighting the giant robots..." when explaining the game to interested passers by.  Which is a bonus.

NOMINATIONS!

The Faceman Award - Trainee.  Just after we switched to scenarios, we set up for a Mosh Pit.  After slaughtering the stuff in the middle and trying to work out why he'd left a bunch of stuff on the outside, he revealed his plan...  He'd set the goddamn terrain up an inch smaller than the Mosh Pit.  I'd overextended and he mangled me.  (Un)fair play to him, it worked!

The Alex Murphy Award - Chris.  Once again, a Mosh Pit.  Once again, it involved slightly misjudging the distance.  I think Chris may have still been a full foot out of the Mosh Pit by turn three.  Pain was received.

Next month...  S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : Call of Orboros.

EDIT - Also, a quick plug for Trainee's band (really), this month's blog title is from their song, Born Survivor, which I will inflic...  Grace you with now!

Skiing When You're Skint: If You Can Hit It, It Will Die (Khador Month 3)

After the successful debuting of Zerkova, the oddly much hated caster of Khador I moved forward with my greylord army. This month's additions to the war effort were a max unit of battle mechaniks (more on them later) and a unit of Doom Reavers with their greylord escort.

The Doom Reavers are a nasty little unit, with reach weapons AND weapon master, coupled with a high MAT and P+S if you charge something with these guys you will either end up missing spectacularly or whatever you charged will be mush. The escort mitigates a lot of the weaknesses of the unit, for example without him they tend to get a little bit too choppy...with the heads of their own friends... and their low DEF and ARM makes them pretty squishy targets, which the escort also fixes by granting them tough.

The battle mechaniks have become the new thorn in my side this month due only to the fact that privateer press seems to have forgot to make the chief... This means I find myself without the stat card (for one wound models this isn't a drastic issue) but it also means I have to proxy in some models which always looks crap. I have also fallen into the same trap I did when I played my previous factions, forgetting to activate the mechanik unit. As was pointed out to me yesterday though my 'Jacks tend to either be in a state of perfect health or totalled.

My results this month in terms of victory have been a little more of a mixed bag than they were last month. I finally proved to Chris that Khadorans actually COULD stomp a mudhole where Cryx's heads used to be when I faced him one on one, however I did meet a sticky end facing the Skorne (for the whole 1 game Dan played this month). My experiences fighting the Circle have been...frustrating... Those damn druids have some mighty fine spell casting ability meaning I more or less HAD to go toe to toe with them but those damn cloud effects made it even harder for my guys to actually hit anything... They have booked themselves an appointment with the Doom Reavers I think.

Tactically I have found that Zerkova's weakness lies in scenario play, her strategies really depend on deciding on a course of action early on and building your turns carefully around that goal but scenarios require a more reflexive touch that is tricky to implement with our one eyed wonder.

Also (it was bound to happen) counters for 'The Watcher Problem' have begun appearing forcing me to rely on slightly altered game plans ( Watcher is still a SWEET spell).

So a mixed bag for me this month but a good one for the most part, join me next month as I blitz the field with...EVEN MORE DOOM REAVERS!

Month 2 Story - Beginnings.

Kaya awoke with a start to find a druid kneeling over her.

“My lady?  You were hurt in battle with Khadorans.”  Kaya cringed, both at the memory of her battle with Zerkova and at Overseer Alissa’s formal nature – she’d experienced the Wilding late.  Late enough for a Llaelese upbringing to start to take hold, with all the pomp and circumstance that held.

Kaya had done nothing but fight running battles against Cryxians and Khador since she had got here, and it was a losing battle – they had numbers on their side, and Kaya could only kill so many and, if she was honest with herself, she couldn’t fight their magics.  She hauled herself to her feet and greeted the Blackclads in front of her.  She didn’t like it, but she needed their help.

Baldur had always said her independence would be the death of her...

---

Aleksandra Zerkova stormed into the council room like a frigid wind that caused everyone except Sorscha to shudder.  The Kommander didn’t even  look up from her maps.

“Koldun Kommander, glad you could come.”

“It still amazes me that you think you can play war, Kratikoff.”  Zerkova glided past her with an air of contempt.  “Still, at least you know when you’re outmatched and when to call for backup.”  She slammed a scroll onto the table bearing the seal of the Empress.  The two Warcasters locked gaze for what seemed like an eternity before the Greylord smirked.  “I mustn’t keep you waiting, Irusk wants you back in Korsk.”

“KORSK!?  But that’s nearly a week away!”  Zerkova’s smirk grew wider.

“Then I suggest you start riding now.  And while you’re on your way, please ensure my mechaniks are en route.”

---

The arrangement had worked out, but as a mixed blessing.  Morghoul had needed an extoller more knowledgeable than him in the arcane, and Makeda had sent the best.  Still, as Supreme Aptimus Zaal marched into the tent, the paingiver had his doubts.

“I believe you need my assistance?”  The extoller looked both at Morghoul and, somehow, through him.  Even with everything he’d seen and done, this still unnerved him.

“Yes.  We have a prisoner and, while I can get the information, I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Where, naturally, I come in?”

“Of course.”  Morghoul turned to the Winter Guard crucified on a tree, and then to the beaten and bloodied soldier cowering at it’s base.  He sharpened his claws and spoke to the man in broken Khardic.

“Now...  You will tell me and my friend everything we need to know about these...  Orgoth...”

---

“So.  What do we do with them?”  Deneghra motioned to the Satyxis, the crew of the Widower that had been left after Skarre had gone off after Magnus.

“Use them?”  Asphixious glided up behind her.  “Until their captain returns, they will follow our orders.”

“Indeed.”  She turned to her Skarlock.  “Ready them and my Mechanithrall.  We still have a toy to find...”
---

Skarre had expended every augury in her pursuit of Magnus, and had ended up on the shores of a lake in Khador.  Finally, after weeks of running, he turned to make his stand.

“Do you know why I’ve chased you here?”  Magnus instinctively ducked under Takkaryx and parried Bloodworm, leaving himself open for a vicious headbutt, sending him sprawling to the floor.  He stopped moving and hoped she’d take the bluff.  “Get up, worm.  I won’t be denied a good fight before I finish you.”  The Cygnaran pulled himself to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose.

“Ah well, worth a try.  And yes, I know that you think I owe you coin.  Here.  Take it.”  He unclipped a pouch and threw it at her feet.  She didn’t even look at it.

“This is no longer about the coin.  You know too much.”

“That you’re looking for something?  Most people are?”  Skarre hurled a bolt of green fire at him and was at him before he’d recovered.  Magnus’ vision flashed red, then white, and then he became very aware he was looking at his own intestines.

“Yes.  I am.  And these will help me find it...”

---

A hooded figure formed from a tree into the grove Alissa had chosen to meditate in.

“You have found her?”  His voice was grating and deep, but not unkind.

“Yes, my lord.  What would you have us do?”

“Just keep her alive.  She doesn’t know what she’s getting into.”

“But my lord, she is headstrong, she runs into fights she knows she can’t win, and she has nearly died so many times already!”  A booming laughter filled the grove.

“Yes, that sounds like the child.  Still, you have your orders.  Do this, and do it well.”  The figure faded back into the trees.  Closing her eyes again, Alissa contemplated her situation.

Things would not be easy...