Armies for the 28th, and Battle Plans

So the deciding factor in which Warlocks I ended up wanting for the tournament was actually a desire to do my Cataphract Cetrati justice, paint-wise.  I really like the unit, and I'm going to use it a lot, so I'd like it to look nice.  If I'm going to use it in the tournament, I'll have to rush the painting and assembly, and it won't look nice.  I'm going with my beast brick under pMorghoul, and a version of the pHexeris list which replaces the Cetrati with a couple more beasts.  Fortunately, Skorne beasts are great, and I'll have the Paingivers to fall back on if I want a second Death March target.  :)

Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Sentry (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Brute (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
*Basilisk Drake (4)

4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Agonizer (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)

It's a brick, so it has a definite formation, and sort of wants to stick to it until it engages the enemy.  My teamwork scheme is:

Team 1: Titan Cannoneer, Titan Gladiator, Basilisk Krea, Extoller Soulward
Team 2: Titan Sentry, Bronzeback Titan, Cyclops Brute, Morghoul
Team 3: Paingiver Beast Handlers, Paingiver Beast Handlers
The Drake and Agonizer will be deployed as needed.

Teams 1 and 2 are essentially interchangeable blocks holding the sides of my brick.  The Sentry and Cannoneer will be my formation leaders, backed up by the Gladiator and Bronzeback.  The Cannoneer will pick off solos and flankers while running Diminish to improve her odds against melee attackers.  The Sentry will spearhead the formation with Locker.  The basic idea is to have Admonition on either of the formation leaders or the Bronzeback, and run movment shenanigans for the first wave of charges.  The brick will try to run tightly enough to catch all the Titans in the Bronzeback's Leadership aura, but it's alright if the Gladiator is sometimes out.

The Krea and, when necessary, Morghoul himself, will cast Paralytic Aura as necessary to boost up my resistance to ranged attacks.  The Krea is also decent at Def-debuffing warbeasts with her Spiritual Paralysis gun.  This application is pretty unspectacular, but I'm running enough Mat 5 beasts that I'll probably use it.  The Brute, who will nearly always be within 2" of the Krea, will take a ranged hit for one of the Titans once per turn if necessary, but will mostly be taking hits for - and casting Safeguard on - Morghoul.  Morghoul will probably be rocking Admonition after around turn 2.

The paingivers will probably spread out a little so that both units overlap with teams 1 and 2.  That way, I can spread my activation order around a little better, using whichever Beast Manipulations I need on both teams in the order I want.  This might complicate my backfield's activation order a little, but it's easier to move 2 units of 4 beast handlers than juggle the activations of 7 warbeasts to get what I want.

The Agonizer and Drake are unassigned.  The Agonizer, as usual, will hang back against Hordes, protecting my formation against warbeasts with Gnawing Pain (except against Angelii, where I'll usually forfeit the damage debuff to use Spiritual Affliction and take away Repulsion).  Against Warmachine, he'll have one turn of racing ahead of the formation, using Spiritual Affliction, then dying, but it will give Morghoul the chance to Feat offensively as well as defensively.

The Drake's main job will be to help with solo hunting and infantry clearing, although I'll keep Lurker in mind for a shoot-and-retreat with the Drake itself, the Cannoneer, or the Krea.  I could also use it on Morghoul if he's engaged by infantry.  That way, he can kill a few models, then advance 14" thanks to Bushwhack and Sprint.  If I'm feeling confident or desperate, I can do this in tandem with his feat, and walk right up next to an enemy Warcaster.

The list will essentially roll forward in a tight formation at first, then spread out as much as I need to to address my enemy's threats.  When it comes to infantry, my plan is to go through them.  With the Drake and Cannoneer clearing out the necessary spaces, I'll probably be able to find room to trample into.  High-Def infantry probably won't have the damage output to seriously threaten my beasts (probably... I had a recent run-in with some Kayazy who seemed determined to prove me wrong on that point), and I have plenty of models able to slam.  Against weapon masters, I'll probably be able to manage with Morghoul, the Drake, the Cannoneer, and Train Wreck, which I can use on multiple models.

I like the list, although I still have to assemble the Sentry, and I want to magnetize it.  I may resort to sticky tack to hold it together for the tournament, then clean it off, and magnetize it later.  I may have to do the same with my Bronzeback, who isn't fully assembled, and on whom I want to do a good job with painting.


My second list, under pHexeris, is:

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6) - Kingdom of Shadow Tier 1
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
*Basilisk Drake (4)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)

10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
6 Paingiver Beast Handlers (3)

Ancestral Guardian (3)
Agonizer (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)

This is more of a toolbox list.  Hexeris has a  large Control Area to spread out in, and between Marketh and the Tier 1 Kingdom of Shadow bonus, I'll have a lot of Fury to play with.  I also tried to build some solid answers into this list - especially answers my Morghoul list would struggle to come up with.  For example, I have the option to double up on AoE's with Obliteration and the Cannoneer, providing some crucial support against high-def infantry (I can actually triple up if I want to A: Expose Marketh by having him use Soul Slave on a living model he's likely to kill with it, and B: Expose Hexeris by casting Obliteration twice and leaving him with no Fury).  Hexeris' Dark Dominion feat gives me an answer to weapon master swarms, and Psychic Vampire really pulls the teeth (Eh?  Eh?  Ehhh...) from powerful spellcasting units like Druids, Battle Mages, and Hex Hunters.  Mostly, however, I'll rely on Hexeris' offensive versatility, and my strong lineup of beasts.

Here's the teamwork scheme:

Team 1: Titan Cannoneer, Titan Gladiator, Bronzeback Titan, Paingiver Beast Handlers
Team 2: Basilisk Krea, Basilisk Drake
Team 3: Praetorian Swordsmen, Ancestral Guardian
Team 4: Extoller Soulward, Aptimus Marketh, Hexeris
The Agonizer will be deployed as needed

Team 3 will be out front, screening and jamming for my warbeasts.  The Swordsmen will be the first wave, deceptively fast with Vengeance from Death March, and the Ancestral Guardian will naturally follow in the second line.  The AG will hunt down any solos who get into the Swordsmen, and can play bodyguard for a few of the other models with Defensive Strike.

Team 1 will follow, with the Cannoneer at point just in line with or ahead of the Ancestral Guardian, and backed by the Gladiator and Bronzeback.  The Cannoneer will start with Soul Slave, and will provide fire support for the list early on.  The Cannoneer with Soul Slave is also an assassination vector.  Its Rat is on the shabby side, but I've hit plenty of warcasters with it in the past, and Hexeris will add damage with Soulfire or Obliteration, depending on the situation.

Team 2 will usually deploy near Team 1, since I want the Krea to be able to fill the gap, and use Paralytic Aura to protect my Titans against ranged lists.  The Drake will guard the flank of my beast formation by hunting down solos, and clearing off jamming infantry.  The Krea will use the occasional Spiritual Paralysis, and take advantage of Flank where necessary.  The Krea is also an optional Soul Slave target for when both Stealth and terrain are being used against me.  If I need to sling spells at a Stealthed target through a forest or cloud, both the arc node and Hexeris need Eyeless Sight.  The Krea already has it, and Hexeris can get it from the Extoller.

Team 4 will linger just behind Team 1, depending on what I need.  Marketh is around to gather some souls from the Swordsmen to upkeep Hexeris' spells with, to cast the occasional Soulfire, and (mostly) to recast Soul Slave and Death March.  Recasting Soul Slave gives Hexeris a very broad potential arcing zone for his spells, and recasting Death March will save me 2 Fury if nothing else.  If I were running another infantry unit (like Cetrati) with this list, recasting Death March for free on them would be a crucial part of turn 3 or 4.

The Agonizer, as usual, will hang around and do its thing, either protecting the beasts, or denying focus allocation to the jacks.

The basic plan for this list is to jam early with the Swordsmen, then angle for a ranged/spell assassination with the Cannoneer/Krea, Drake and Hexeris.  I can do that while going for a scenario win.  I can run the formation several different ways in order to respond to the things my enemy is throwing at me.  My main threats are the titans, and Hexeris' offensive spells.


My reinforcements will be:

6 Venator Rievers (5)
Cyclops Savage (5)

I'm normally a little leery of warbeasts as reinforcements, but the Savage is pretty fast, and can force to run into my control area, if I time things well.  I see Venators as being pretty good for Reinforcements.  My reinforcements don't meet Hexy's Tier requirements as of now, so I might change them up.  My normal 10pt reinforcement slot would be Min Venator Rievers, their UA, and a Tyrant Commander.  Sadly, the TC is in the same boat as the Cetrati: a million fiddly little pieces, and no good way to paint them once they're attached.

I'm also a little sad that my pMakeda list isn't ready because of the Cetrati and Tyrant Commander.  She's probably my favorite Warlock, and I was looking forward to running her.  Maybe next time.

UPDATE:  It looks like I can have 2 different sets of Reinforcements, in which case, Hexy will get a Savage and a Brute.  Double beasts, and kind of sloppy, but hey, maybe there won't be any reinforcement scenarios.