Tournament Prep: The Lists

So, there's a 35pt tournament this Saturday at Tower Games (yea, they need to update the online events page, but trust me, it's happening), and pGrexy, Caleb, and MacBen here at 4+Tough are turning out for it. The tournament is using the standard Steamroller 2013 rules without any variants (i.e. 1 or 2 lists, no specialists, no divide and conquer, etc.) Here are the lists and plans.

Caleb's Lists:

A 35pt tourny seems perfect for the first foray of my trolls into the tournament scene. This coincides nicely with the trollblood models I traded my old Tau for lately, so I've got a few more options. As it stands, here are the two lists I'm thinking about bringing:

35pt Trollbloods
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (*5pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)

My bread and butter Calandra list, it's served me well in the past and I expect it to keep doing so. My one worry is that it is a bit pillow fisted against heavy armor, but since it's more of a tarpit/brick for those pesky objective missions, I'm less worried about that. Plus, if I really need to crack heavy armor, I can always use the 2nd list.

35pt Trollbloods
Grim Angus (*6pts)
* Slag Troll (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

I've never used this list before - since getting the Scattergunners, Slag troll, and Mulg, I haven't had much chance to play them beyond a game or two. However, this list looks so good on paper that I just can't seem to help it. The Scattergunners' general inability to hit is heavily mitigated by Grim's feat/spells, the Fell Caller, and their UA, and with the best armor breaking Heavy and Light Beasts in the trollblood range, I'll have little problem with high ARM.

pGrexy's Lists:

Woo!  Tournament!  Here are the lists I'm going with.  I picked pHexeris and pMorghoul as my warlocks for this tournament, because they're good complements for each other.  Morghoul is hard-hitting, fast and maneuverable.  He has one round of excellent defense against warbeasts and warjacks with his Feat.  Hexeris is cagier and more flexible, and his magic threat is a lot harder to avoid than Morghoul's melee threat.  His Feat gives him one turn of crushing offense against most infantry.

I tried to make both lists more or less all-comers, but there are definitely matchups each list does better than the other.  Morghoul is better against beast-heavy and 'jack heavy lists, and is definitely better against Colossals/Gargantuans.  He's also better at center scenarios because his army is fast but dense, and can dish out a lot of damage.  Hexeris is better against infantry with his Feat, and Obliteration for dealing with high-Def infantry.  He can also spread his army out more with his larger control area, making him a little more flexible for spread out scenarios.

Master Tormentor Morghoul (*7pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pt)
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

So I've got no experience with this particular list, although I've played a similar one (Arcuarii instead of the Archidon and BRMT).  It seems strong though.  My basic plan is to jam infantry up quickly with the Bloodrunner contingent, and use my heavies' high speed and hitting power get the first strike in on enemy heavies.  Then I've got 1-2 rounds of denial against 'jacks and 'beasts with the Agonizer and Morghoul's Feat.  Few armies will be able to take an alpha strike, and then go toe to toe with enemy beasts while unable to force/spend focus.  If I make any changes, I'll probably swap the Archidon and BRMT for a Cyclops Savage or Shaman, and a Basilisk Krea.  All of them are good, and my Savage and Krea are fully painted.

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (*6pts)
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

Kingdom of Shadows Tier 1 - Hexeris can start with his upkeep spells in play.

This is the list I'm currently running that I'm most familiar with.  It fits together very well, and can adapt to a lot of different challenges for Skorne.  The basic plan is to hit the enemy's jamming and support on turn 1-2 with Hexeris' magic, then grind down the weakened army on turns 2 and up.  The plan requires good target selection and a little luck, but is fairly reliable, and I have a lot of experience with it.  This is also my go-to list against infantry spam and high-Def lists.  It's weaker against 'beast and 'jack heavy lists where Hexeris' magic and Feat will have less impact, although it does still have good tools to deal with those lists.  If I make any changes before the tournament, I'll probably swap the Cannoneer and Agonizer for a Bronzeback and 2 more Beast Handlers.  This list's biggest potential blind spot is against heavy armor, and the Bronzeback

really fills that hole.


Ben's List

I'm a slow painter and modeler, so I've just got the one list that’s been mentioned before on this site. Five models left to paint, though, and then it's Durgen's turn in the limelight! Anyway, I'm featuring Drake MacBain and the Annoying Solo Brigade.

Mercenaries – Four Star Syndicate
Drake MacBain! (*6pts)
* Buccaneer (3pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (4pts)
Ogrun Bokur (3pts) (client: eAlexia)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)

It’s never a good sign when you start listing the things your army struggles against, and the first two that come to mind are “High ARM” and “High DEF.” Oh, there are solutions to both – Aiyana helps with the ARM issue, and Gorman pitches in as well when he isn’t otherwise occupied locking down Colossals for long periods of time. The Kayazy can get Fortune and start swinging away at rerollable MAT 9, which is…fine. Still, the list has both limited killing power and extreme brittleness – by which I mean that once a few of the key pieces (Kayazy, Nomad) are dead or disabled, there’s not much left.

Pretty bleak, no? There’s at least a little more to it. Drake’s feat means that for one key turn, all the solos are guaranteed to stick around and provide full value to the rest of the army. Kayazy are pretty solid as a tarpit that, if ignored, can proceed to run through enemy models to kill the caster or other squishy bits – and they can be hell on gunlines when pushed forwards to jam with Countermeasures up. eAlexia and the Bokur are a great little independent module that runs up the flanks to pick off infantry, draw fire and threaten odd slams or Thrall Warrior charges. And of course, eEiryss and Gorman can win games all by themselves through disabling key enemy models. It’s a list that disables, distracts and attritions where it can until hopefully it can get a shot in at the caster.

Frankly, I’m not sure if that “little more to it” will be enough, given that this is my first tournament and the list bears a little too much resemblance to a Rube Goldberg machine (of death). We’ll see how it performs, though!




Look forward to battle reports and a tournament recap after Saturday! (...probably) -- Caleb, pGrexy, and Ben