So, I'm thinking over the Attrition list I made, and I'm pretty pleased with its first run. Here, I'm going to run down my battle plan and teamwork scheme with the list, and then think about how I'd alter it for the 3 Warlocks I'm running it under.
In terms of teams, I roughly have:
Team 1: Titan Gladiator, Titan Cannoneer, Extoller Soulward, Paingiver Beast Handlers
Team 2: Praetorian Swordsmen, both Ancestral Guardians
Team 3: Cataphract Cetrati, Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer
Team 4: Basilisk Krea, Agonizer
Team 5: Warlock
Team 1 is a formation I'm familiar with. I'll lead with the Cannoneer, backed up by the Gladiator, Extoller and Paingivers. This gives me a good way to remove solos and support units at range, and decent removal of enemy heavies. After my experiences with the list last Tuesday, I'll want to protect this formation a little more than I have been against armies with several heavies. It'll go in my second wave, right behind the Swordsmen. This keeps its counterattack threat pretty high. Xerxis and pMakeda can both toughen the formation up considerably with Defender's Ward on either heavy. Xerxis makes either heavy capable of destroying the heaviest targets, and Makeda makes them both a lot more accurate with Carnage. PHexeris usually keeps Soul Slave on the Cannoneer, which boosts Team 1's firepower considerably.
Team 2 is a jamming team which can also remove enemy infantry pretty well. Usually, the Swordsmen will run just ahead of the Ancestral Guardians, controlling their zone, and filling the AG's up with souls. The AG's themselves will run close together, both because I can focus their attention that way, and because doubling up the Defensive Strikes makes them an actual defense rather than a gimmick. The Swordsmen will usually be the ones benefiting from Defender's Ward under Xerxis and Makeda, and will have Death March on them under Hexeris. Makeda makes Team 2 very tough and efficient with Defender's Ward and her feat. Def 15 respawning Swordsmen are teh graet, and the Ancestral Guardians can get two turns of soul taking, since the Swordsmen will effectively respawn with 2 souls. Xerxis makes Team 2 a powerhouse between Fury and his feat. AG's approach MkI levels of damage, and Swordsmen under Fury and Total Annihilation hit as hard as Great Bears (though less accurately).
Team 3 is a counterattack team with Xerxis and Hexeris. The Cetrati are quite solid, but a little slower than the Swordsmen as they want to be in Shield Wall. The Tyrant Commander gives them some extra speed, and can pass Pathfinder out to them or the Swordsmen from the second line. Cetrati have good Mat and the damage potential to take out heavies if they forgo Shield Wall to charge. Xerxis gives Team 3 incredible hitting power between Fury and his feat. In my last battle with this list, 4 Cetrati took out a Colossal on a Pow 14 + 5d6 charge. PMakeda boosts their speed and durability enough with Savagery, her feat, and the potential for Defender's Ward, that the Cetrati can be extra heavy front-liners to complement the Swordsmen. Teams 2 and 3 working together, combining their offensive and attrition potential with Savagery, and Press Forward or Overcome thrown into the mix. Having an excellent jamming unit like the Swordsmen and a tough Weapon Master unit like the Cetrati able to advance and attack regardless of terrain or LoS (though they'll still take Free Strikes) is very nice, and I've used the combination to great effect before. Hexeris will swap Death March onto the Cetrati after most of the Swordsmen die, and just let the enemy deal with double Mat 9 Pow 11 Weapon Master attacks and free 3" advances if they feel like killing any.
Team 4 is miscellaneous support. Most of the time, the Krea and Agonizer will be near my Warbeasts or Cetrati, whichever is more in harm's way. Most of the time, the Krea will use Paralytic Aura on the Warbeasts, and the Warlock will do it on the Cetrati. The Agonizer will help whichever team is forward take initial Warbeast charges with Gnawing Pain. Against Warmachine, it'll lurk behind the Swordsmen, and pop out to deny focus allocation for a solid turn of denial after the Swordsmen blunt the charge.
Team 5 is the Warlock, and like Team 4, it will find its place depending on need. Xerxis, pMakeda, and to a lesser degree, pHexeris, are all mid to front line warlocks, though Hexy can play further back, especially against Warmachine, where there's no Vampiric Reaving to be done. Most of the time, Team 5 will malinger around the Cetrati, providing army support, and staying as safe as possible.
So what's the Attrition scheme for this army?
The Swordsmen are going to be the first wave. I'll make them as hard to remove as possible with Defender's Ward and pMakeda's feat, or at least make damaging them a bit riskier with Death March. My opponent will have to do a lot of slogging to fully remove them, and a charge from Swordsmen can both eliminate a lot of infantry and deny an advance by mucking up the enemy's movement options. So the Swordsmen can both make the opponent worry, and make them work.
The backup against any surviving infantry will be the Ancestral Guardians. They're high Mat, and have a lot of Reach attacks if enough Swordsmen died. Against heavier stuff, the Cetrati and warbeasts will take over. Full Cetrati can take out a heavy when charging, and both the Titans can do it with Enrage.
I'm eager to give this list another test run now that I have its battle plan down a little better, and I'll at least run the list as-is a few more times.
If I had to make some changes, I'd do the following:
Xerxis: The list stays the same. Xerxis had a good mix of attrition, and unlike pMakeda or pHexeris, had no trouble at all dealing with heavy armor.
pMakeda: I might try to fit Aptimus Marketh in. I felt the list was pretty well balanced with her - the extra attrition of Defender's Ward and her Feat make the list especially good at grinding it out with an opposing army. Carnage makes the Cannoneer about as good as the Gladiator at removing heavies; the bump up to Mat 7 is just good enough that she'll hit Def 12 heavies very reliably, so I'm not especially concerned about removing heavies with her (yet - I'll have to see how this holds up in practice). Makeda did feel Fury-starved. On Turn 1, she really wants to get both upkeeps out, and put some Fury on the Agonizer. On turns 2 and up, she really wants to cast Carnage, and camp around 2 Fury for transfers. I don't want her to spend much Fury casting a second upkeep or topping off the Aggie.
pHexeris: He might want another heavy, and the Bronzeback is a very good one for him. The game I played against eDoomshaper, I lost both my heavies at the top of Turn 2, and had no way to recover from the blow. Against beast heavy lists, I might need another heavy. I'm also not sure that the AG's are doing much for Hexeris. They don't have the crushing power of Xerxis' spells and Feat, nor the second round of souls and extra accuracy from pMakeda. The Hexeris list is probably the one I'd be most likely to rearrange completely, but we'll see.
I'm hoping to get some more games in either this Friday or next Tuesday.
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