Neonchameleon posted the following Makeda 3 list to the Skorne Forum in this thread, and I was really interested to try it out.
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts) - neonchameleon was undecided on the last 2pts, but I always like Agonizers.
The draw of this list is that it has heavy shooting it can use to good effect while it closes with the enemy. It's very difficult to take down Aradi at range, while most other gunlines in the game will take a beating from 2-4 poison AoE's a turn. Once the lines close, I should have an attrition advantage already. If there's a huge melee threat I need to watch out for, I can stand off and shoot it, and use the Aradi as sacrificial pieces to set up my counterattack. It's a really neat list, and I'm really excited about playing around with it.
One thing I'm not 100% confident about is the double Willbreaker Extoller module for ranged support. The Raider seems pretty necessary for playing a long ranged game, and forcing the enemy to come to me, but I'm not totally convinced that Puppet Master and Ancillary Attack add more than having, say, another light beast. One of Makeda 3's big strengths is her ability to let a few models (herself included) do a lot of work though, and that means her support can be more specialized than warlocks who need more of their models to be working full time.
My opponent was Ryan, a Tower veteran and former FnF podcaster, and he was getting back into the game after a long hiatus with the following Vlad 2 tier list.
Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion (*5pts) - Blood of Heroes Tier 4
*Drago (8pts)
Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Black Dragon Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Black Dragon Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
The Great Bears of the Gallowswood (5pts)
Widowmakers (4pts)
Kovnik Dorik Markov (4pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
This list is super fast, and the Uhlans are particularly nasty with Vlad's Feat backing them up. The tier benefits are: Uhlans become FA:2, the Great Bears gain AD, models in the army can begin the game with Vlad's upkeep spells on them, and +2" to deployment. The list I've written is 2pts over, but that's everything I remember being there. It's possible that Uhlans are only 10pts per unit, but whatever.
We played Incoming: an objective 16" in front of our back table edge, and two horizontal zones, one friendly and one enemy. Dominate the friendly zone or control the enemy zone for 1, dominate the enemy zone for 2. Destroy the enemy objective for 1.
Ryan went first, and deployed the Uhlans on either end, and Vlad and Drago in the middle. The Ironfangs went on the right along with both Kovniks. I deployed the Raider more or less centrally with Makeda, with a heavy on either side and other support a little behind it. Ryan put the Great Bears on the left side of the table, and his Widowmakers in the center. I put the two Aradi in the center, flanking my objective. Vlad started with Transference on himself and Hand of Fate on the right Uhlans.
Turn 1
Vlad's forces blitzed up the field. The left Uhlans made it past the halfway mark. The right Uhlans got a little stuck behind IFP due to an activation order mistake. Everything else ran. Vlad hid behind a wood.
Everything was already in range, so I advanced off my regular deployment line, put Far Strike on both Aradi, and between regular shots and Ancillary Attack, killed 4 of the left Uhlans unit. I held the rest of my stuff back (hopefully far enough) that Ryan wouldn't be able to get to it in force on his turn.
Turn 2
Vlad moved further into the forest and Feated, selecting the remaining Uhlan from the unit I'd shot, and 4 of the Uhlans from the other unit to get +3 to basically every stat for a round. They charged in, but only one was able to get to Molik (the main target) and one got to an Aradus. All my models survived the Uhlans. The IFP Shield Walled up in my zone, and the Kovniks ran near them. The Great Bears did some damage to the Cyclops Raider.
I upkept Vortex of Destruction. I had the right Sentinel walk to an Uhlan, and Double Handed Throw it into 2 others, knocking them all down. ***They shouldn't have been knocked down because there was a Kovnik nearby, but we both forgot about No Sleeping on the Job, so they ended up Knocked Down***
Makeda advanced and Feated. Her Exalted Guardians killed a Great Bear, and she killed an Uhlan, and cast Fate Walker on herself. The Paingivers Enraged Molik and the Bronzeback, and Medicated the Raider. I belatedly realized I'd need to Trample the Bronzeback to get Train Wreck on Molik, so I did that. Molik charged in, and killed the rest of the right Uhlans, got to the IFP, and killed all of them, and then killed one of the nearby Kovniks as well. The other Kovnik was still on a hill nearby.
The Raider Threw one Great Bear into another, and killed the original target, and the Extoller tried really hard to kill another Great Bear with Gunfighter, but did no damage.
Turn 3
Vlad ran into Ryan's zone. The Greatest Bear killed an Exalted Guardian. Markov charged the Aradus one Feated Uhlan had charged last turn, but didn't kill it. Drago got closer to the action. The Widowmakers knocked some hit points off of Molik, and the Kovnik charged him, but failed to kill.
Vlad scored, bringing Ryan to 1CP.
Molik frenzied, and killed the Kovnik. Various beasts took out the remaining Great Bears and Markov, Aradus shooting wiped out 3 of the Widowmakers.
Vlad Scored again, bringing Ryan to 2CP.
Turn 4
Vlad chilled in Ryan's zone, wary of Molik. Drago charged and killed my objective, and finished off the wounded Aradus.
Vlad scored again for Dominating his zone, going to 4 with the destroyed objective.
Time to contest or die. I moved Makeda into my zone, charged the remaining Widowmaker with Molik, killed it, and had him Fate Walker. The Bronzeback killed Drago. Then the Extoller, Raider, and one of Makeda's Exalted Guardians all went into Ryan's zone. Finally, Molik Fate Walked into Ryan's zone.
I scored 2 points for controlling Ryan's zone (since 'casters don't contest) and dominating my own zone.
Turn 5
Ryan went for the moral victory, and had Vlad kill Molik. Then he conceded. I'd be scoring 2 more at the end of his turn, and could just end my turn to score a 5th for a scenario win.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
This is a very different list than I'm used to playing with Makeda 3. I didn't really get the chance to show off its long range shooting this game, since the action got to me so quickly. The shooting I did get in was impressive, though. The Aradi killed 4 Uhlans on turn 1, held their own pretty well in melee with no support from Makeda (who was too busy helping Molik do his thing), then shot out most of the Widowmakers on turn 3. I feel like their low speed cost them in this matchup. If they'd been faster, I could potentially have gotten them into melee with the Uhlans they ended up shooting, and gotten further off my back line to go for scenario a little better.
That seems like a weakness of this list though. If something jams it super fast, those bugs will not be able to push the battle line up like the Brutes I've been using. The Bronzeback and Molik are both too valuable to use as early trade pieces, which means I need to shoot and fight my way out of those situations. Makeda 3 is a very good Warlock for that, since her Feat is such a damage multiplier for Molik and possibly another beast or two. I don't think another Warlock would have been able to come back just then. Even if Molik had been rolling to hit like he should have been, he would almost certainly have cleared out the Uhlans, and gotten to the IFP. Not clearing them out as well might have been a problem for him (although he wasn't full when he stopped attacking, so who knows).
Overall, I'm pleased with how the list did, and I'll continue to play it and fiddle around with it. I'm still not a huge fan of the Willbreakers and Extoller, but I'm struggling to think of something else to fit in for those points. My next writeup (out in a couple of days) has me trying the Krea and Orin Midwinter out in their place for a little bit more of a control game at the cost of Ancillary Attack and Puppet Master.
I feel like this game was mostly dictated by Ryan's rustiness with Warmachine, which as I mentioned, he's been away from for a few months. If he hadn't jammed his cavalry in with his own IFP on turn 1, several of them could have reached Molik on turn 2, and killed him. Without him, I would have lost on scenario in short order.
I'm certainly up for a rematch. Ryan isn't going to trap his cavalry like that again, but on the other hand, having seen the threat range of Feated Uhlans on the tabletop, I'm going to be a lot more careful about Molik's positioning in future games to make sure there's no chance of taking him out early like that. Vlad 2 Blood of Heroes is a very scary list. The Great Bears are bad enough without AD, and Feated Uhlans are murderous.
Thanks for reading!
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