Steamrolling with Makeda 3 and the Brute Squad, Part 1: Options

As people who read my posts regularly know by now, I've been playing Makeda 3 a lot, and lately, I've been playing her in the same Brute Squad list a lot.  I've talked a little about branching out and trying more options with this list, and here are a few modules I'm thinking about trying out.  They're all variations on the Brute Squad, and I'm really only switching out a couple of models.  There's also been a lot of good discussion about the various modules in various places, and I'd like to use this post as a setting to talk about the ones I've heard or thought of, and some other ones people have seen and used.

I've posted about my current list a lot, but here it is again:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Savage (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)


The Brutes are the jamming and screening element.  It's their job to block charge lanes to the heavies and Makeda, and tie up enemy troops.  They can either function as a team, pairing up to jam a 12" or so line of the battlefield, or move up the sides of the army, and stall the enemy while the heavies behind them set up counterattacks.

Makeda (and her unit) and Molik clear jams, and do the bulk of the work against infantry heavy lists.  Both can do a tremendous amount of damage to any kind of model, and both are good at finishing Warcasters.  Their mobility (from various spells and abilities) lets them go all over the table, and Fate Walker lets them retreat a bit after at turn of doing damage.  Makeda's Guardians make good lane blockers too.  Just hard enough to kill to require a little effort, and when they take damage, they make Makeda stronger and tougher.

The Bronzeback and Gladiator are second line heavies who provide Molik with a lot of support, but also charge in and get their Gauntlets dirty when the list is up against heavy armor.  They're both very powerful, hard-hitting models, and are good at taking out heavies.  The Bronzeback also grants huge board control through the Train Wreck Animus.  These two tend to stay close together, and give the list trading options against heavy armor, and big, beefy pieces to dominate the endgame.

The Beast Handlers and Agonizer are support for the Beasts.  The Handlers focus on the Heavies and Krea - the Brutes don't need much attention in their role as screening models.  If they're overloaded, they can Frenzy, and they rarely get Enrage unless they're in a unique position to do something useful.  At Mat 5, they're not melee elites.  The Agonizer is great support for all the Beasts.  Against Hordes, it's essentially +2Arm against the opponent's hardest hitters.  Against Warmachine, it gives the list a turn of breathing room against Warjacks.  The Agonizer and Handlers usually hang out behind or with the heavies, giving support.

Finally, there are the Savage and the Krea, which I'd consider the least essential elements of my list.  The Krea is basically a big "NO" to gun lines.  Combined with Shield Guard on the Exalted Guardians and the Cyclops Brutes, it makes putting significant damage on the army at range very difficult.  Being able to sit relatively safely in the Krea's aura is great against shooty armies, since it takes a lot of pressure off me to engage them ASAP, which usually means on the opponent's terms.  Against non-shooty armies, the Krea still debuffs enemy Def within 2" of her, which is very useful most games, and shoots her Paralysis beam, which is sometimes amazingly helpful, but mostly a perk.

The Savage is a working utility piece.  It can cut through infantry like Molik or Makeda, but not as well.  It can stand in front of the list and jam/screen like the Brutes, but it's way more fragile.  It can put a serious dent in heavies (especially if Makeda is around with Vortex of Destruction), but it rarely wrecks one on its own.  In other words, it's a useful piece, but one whose job is often redundant because another model is in the position to do it better.  That's not to discount the Savage, but it might be better off as a dedicated piece, either support to help the rest of the list, or heavy hitter to make slugging against my second line a very tough prospect.

I'm mainly looking at alternatives for the Savage, but I'll also be thinking about the Krea's slot.

DrillbossD's Ideas:

1) Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts) and Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts) in place of the Savage.

2) Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts), Extoller Soulward (2pts), and Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt) in place of the Savage.

I've chatted with DrillbossD a bunch on the Skorne forum and in the comments here about Makeda 3 and the Brute list.  He's been running option 1, while he's currently experimenting with option 2.

The first option gives Makeda's unit a lot more flexibility with the Tyrant Commander.  Pathfinder when Battle Driven isn't active is good to have on hand, and the +2 Spd from Press Forward applies to both Makeda's normal move and her Fate Walker advance.  Orin adds some flexibility with Lightning, and gives Makeda 3 an important boost against Butcher 3.  With multiple Shield Guards, it's easy to keep Orin safe and shutting down spells, which makes the Butcher a much less threatening assassin.

The second option keeps Orin in the list, but adds the Extoller Soulward, who helps against a pretty broad set of matchups.  Anyone who blocks LoS with walls of forests or clouds won't be able to affect whichever model has Guidance, and handing out Magic weapons is good too.  The Gobbers are pretty great with Makeda 3 as well.  Their cloud can really double down on the resistance to shooting, and gives Makeda a place to Fate Walk behind where she'll be safe from most charges as well.

A third option would be to keep the Savage, but drop the Krea for an Extoller Soulward and Orin Midwinter.  The Krea is excellent support for the list, but against armies with few or no guns, it feels difficult to get the most out of her.  Meanwhile, the Savage nearly always contributes kills or screening.  I'm not as sure about this revision, since Paralytic Aura allows Makeda to march up at a walking speed against the Haley's, and not be softened up too much by the time she can get to grips with them.

Other Ideas:

Alternately, I've considered adding a little more heavy hitting power to the list:

1) Titan Sentry (9pts) in place of the Krea and Savage.

2) Aradus Soldier (9pts) in place of the Krea and Savage.

3) Aradus Sentinel (8pts) and Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt) in place of the Krea and Savage.

The Sentry is the tankiest option, and can join the Brutes on the front lines.  Locker would add a lot to this list's overall durability against Warbeasts and 'jacks, since it's very hard on those without Reach.  The Sentry is much more durable than the Brutes, and has a much higher damage output, which would let it join them on the front lines, and potentially hit back hard.  It has Reach, so it can also benefit from the Beat Back/Dance of Death combo, but it will probably need to spend a lot of its Fury buying attacks if it does.

The Soldier is a more offensive option than the Sentry.  It starts in AD, has a pretty respectable threat range with Reach, and is super resistant to shooting and free strikes with its Carapace.  Since it has Reach, it can also smash its way through infantry with Dance of Death and Beat Back, and at Mat 6, it's a lot better at it than the Sentry.  It bring additional tricksiness with Pull.  The combination of Beat Back and Pull allows for some potentially awesome positioning tricks, including sucking a heavy into the rest of the army while allowing the Soldier to retreat back behind the Brutes.

The Aradus Sentinel brings a heck of a good gun, and can keep certain 'casters honest with it.  It also starts Advance Deployed, and is very resistant to shooting itself.  Swarm is also a fantastic Animus option for Makeda 3.  Getting to Def 17 against living models makes her that much harder to kill, and she's already one of the tankier 'casters in the game.  The downside is that it's pretty lackluster in melee, and that Swarm is a little redundant with Concealment from the Swamp Gobbers.

Those are my main ideas for now.  There are other options I've considered, but these are the standouts for me.  I'd love to hear any thoughts anyone might have, as well as experience with this and similar lists.

Stay tune for Steamrolling with Makeda 3 Part 2: Partners