Saturday, May 10, 2014

State of the Retribution April 2014

Here are the Retribution lists I'll mostly be working on until the next update.  Right now, in terms of 'casters, I have Kaelyssa, Ossyan, Rahn, Garryth and Issyria, and I'll be trying them all out.  I finally have enough models to run a 50pt list with all of them, but I'll probably play pared down versions of these lists at 35pts.

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (*7pts)
*Phoenix (10pts)
*Banshee (10pts)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
*Dawnguard Sentinels Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Strike Force Commander (2pts)
Mage Hunter Infiltrators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander (3pts)
*Soulless Escort (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)

This list is pretty standard for Kaelyssa.  I haven't yet played the Infiltrators, but my experience with Kaelyssa so far has been that she's an attrition/assassination Warcaster, and the Infiltrators help with that plan.  They're solid against infantry, and threaten almost all 'casters in the game.  Eiryss will help Kaelyssa create headaches for Hordes opponents by denying Fury.  Otherwise, the Sentinels are the armor cracking, the MHSF help out against infantry and support, and the two 'jacks bring control and a solid center for the list.  I ran a similar list with 2 MHA's, and I might decide to drop the Soulless, and either take Min Strike Force or Infiltrators, or drop Eiryss 3 to fit them back in.

Issyria, Sybil of Dawn (*6pts)
*Phoenix (10pts)
*Chimera (6pts)
Dawnguard Invictors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
*Dawnguard Invictors Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Houseguard Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (7pts)
*Houseguard Halberdiers Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
*Soulless Escort (1pt)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Strike Force Commander (2pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
Houseguard Thane (2pts)
Arcanist (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)

This is pretty much what I'll be running with Issyria until I can afford a Hyperion.  The plan is to use channeled Blinding Light for control, and a whole lot of bullets to keep the edge in attrition, and go for the kill if the opponent leaves their 'caster exposed.  The Halberdiers and MHA's have huge threat ranges too, and I can easily get the alpha strike on most opponents.  The list, like Issyria herself, is very fragile, but it can do a lot of damage, and with good positioning, all those bodies can go a long way.  I've heard some interesting things about MHI with Issyria, so I might give them a try, especially if I find myself outpacing the Invictors significantly.  That would definitely up the list's blitz factor, but MHI tend to die faster than Invictors.

Lord Arcanist Ossyan (*6pts)
*Banshee (10)
*Manticore (8)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Strike Force Commander (2pts)
Houseguard Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (7pts)
*Houseguard Halberdiers Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
*Soulless Escort (1pt)
Stormfall Archers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Stormfall Archers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4pts)
Houseguard Thane (2pts)
Arcanist (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)

This is my "no proxies" Ossyan list.  I'll likely be trying him out with Hypnos instead of the Manticore in his battlegroup, which looks pretty promising.  I have also run a Daemon marshalled by Sentinels, which worked pretty well, and would replace the Halbs and Manticore.  (The problem with both options is the lack of a second Vyre chassis 'jack that I could magnetize).  I've heard good things about the AFG with Ossyan, and I'll probably proxy it once or twice to see what I think.  Otherwise, this is pretty standard Ossyan.  It's an almost pure attrition list that wants to  operate mainly at range, and trade the Halberdiers for more time to shoot.

Adeptis Rahn (*6pts)
*Phoenix (10pts)
*Chimera (6pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
*Dawnguard Sentinels Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Stormfall Archers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber (3pts)
*Banshee (10pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
House Shyeel Magister (2pts)
Arcanist (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)

This list feels like it wants more infantry, but I'm really psyched for Elara, so I'm running her with a Banshee in it for the time being.  Rahn's Feat actually makes her a decent assassin, and the Banshee helps Rahn out keeping bricks under control with its slam gun.  The Stormfalls are good with Rahn, but they will likely become Battle Mages sooner or later.  The plan is basically to knock stuff down with Rahn and the Banshee, and finish it off with the hard hitters.  I have a lot of tricks in this list, but as I said, I'm low on models.  If I decide it's too much for the list to take, I'll probably swap Elara's Banshee for MHSF or Halberdiers.

Garryth, Blade of the Retribution (*5pts)


...Honestly I've got nothing for him yet.  I'm going to run him with a lot of different stuff to see what works.  Probably Elara, and maybe Battle Mages when I pick them up.  Any tips would be very helpful.

So that's the state of the Retribution so far.

2 comments:

  1. Definitely interested in trying out Elara with Rahn, it sounds like one of the ways to make her work.

    I've been having a lot of fun with the following list for Ossyan:

    Lord Arcanist Ossyan, First of His Name, of House Vyre
    -Banshee
    eEiryss
    Houseguard Thane
    Max Invictors + UA
    Max Halberdiers + UA
    Stormfalls
    Stormfalls
    Arcantrik Force Generator

    The AFG and Banshee help set up knocked down heavies/casters for the SFAs to finish off/clear firing lanes. The Banshee also randomly hampers Butch3r's ability to murder everything with wailing and breaks shield walled Cetrati like nobody's business. Halbs are just generally amazing and threatening 15" with Quicken + Desperate Pace is fun, especially when you get to reform afterwards.

    I'm still debating on Vics vs MHSF but Ossy's biggest problem is actually getting things to hit, which the Vics do in spades. They also add more to the anti-armor skew in the list (except against jacks, granted) and are very durable against blasts. They're a little more short ranged than MHSF when not mini-feating, but I find that the Halbs are either locked in or dead by turn 3 so I can move Quicken to them to get better shots.

    For Kae I'm thinking a similar list except replace the infiltrators with Halbs and Thane. Just can't get enough of those guys.

    Any thoughts on the new Force Wall tier?

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    Replies
    1. I like that Ossy list a lot. Once I pick up an AFG, I'll be running it with him regularly.

      Invictors do a lot of work with Ossyan, but I really like the utility of MHSF. They're so hard to hide from, and they get great mileage out of Quicken or Shatterstorm. They can also help the Halberdiers jam in a pinch.

      Halbs and Thane are magnificent, and it's really hard to argue against them. I wanted to run Eiryss 3 with Kaelyssa so I could put a lockdown on Fury generation vs. Hordes, and I haven't given the Infiltrators a real test run yet. I do think a fast melee unit does well with her to get the alpha strike and screen for the Sentinels, and Halbs are definitely strong at that.

      Force Wall seems fun. I'm very excited for free Arcanists, because I do think she'll be able to run a 'jack gunline well with them. That's something no one in Ret does currently, and it's usually a lot of fun. I have no idea what mix I'd run with her. Probably some Griffons for jamming, 2 Manticores, and at least one Hydra.

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