Using Makeda 3: My First Impressions

Sorry for the lack of battle report this week.  I didn't play on Tuesday, and I didn't really feel like dredging my phone for ancient pictures.  Life is busy, but I'm scheduled to play tonight, and I hope to have a report written up by next Wednesday.

Now on to the main topic.  As I've said before, Makeda 3 was my favorite Warlock in MkII, and I've been spending a fair amount of time seeing what I think of her in MkIII.  There have been some major changes in the way Mak3da plays, and the way Skorne needs to play to keep up with a meta which - you guessed it - has charged a lot.  So I'm going to try to look at Makeda 3 with fresh eyes, and talk about her in terms of what works with her now.





In terms of raw stats, she's a front-liner offensively (Mat 8, P+S 15, Rng 2), but not defensively (15/16 and 16 hit boxes).  Fury 6 is pretty average for Skorne, and pretty serviceable for a either frontline or support, but not high enough for accurate spell slinging.  Makeda gets some significant help in both offense and defense from Battle Driven, which gives her +2 STR and ARM for a round when a member of her unit is damaged.  It also gives her Pathfinder when it triggers, which can be very nice to have.  She also has Blood Boon, which lets her cast a spell for free once during her activation if she kills something with her sword.  Blood Boon is a great ability, and picking the right spell or Animus to cast is a big part of getting Makeda to work for your army list.

Makeda's Warbeast Points are on the low side, but she does bring 2 Exalted Guardians.  The Exalted have bad Def, but high Arm at 18, and are pretty good on offense with two P+S 12 Mat 8 swords each.  They also have Battle Driven, making them a little tankier and hit a little harder when one of them (or Makeda) takes damage.  Finally, they have Shield Guard, which is some very important in-built defensive tech in the new meta full of powerful guns.

Like her earlier incarnations, Makeda 3 has 4 spells.

• Vortex of Destruction boosts all damage rolls against enemy models in Makeda's melee range.  This, along with Battle Driven, is what makes Makeda 3 a terror in melee.  Makeda herself can get a lot of work done with this spell against hard targets.  She also helps other models hit way above their weight class, allowing light beasts to take out heavies, and heavies to take out colossals.  This makes Vortex a strong melee support spell, but be careful with it.  Being stuck on the front lines because Makeda helped her army kill something big can make her very vulnerable to assassination.  Vortex of Destruction, is a key spell, and Makeda will usually cast it turn one, and upkeep it most of the game.
• Eliminator is a Pow 13, AoE 3 spell with a short range that gives Makeda a 2" advance for every model it killed.  Two inches is a pretty long distance in Warmachine, but Makeda can easily get 4-6" against clumped infantry.  Makeda can move several times a turn due to this spell if you cast it several times, and the most distance I've ever moved in a turn with her was 20 inches.  Because it's expensive, it's best to cast this spell using Blood Boon, and let Makeda move into more enemies she can kill in melee, or retreat a bit.  I typically try to cast this spell at models Makeda is already in melee with for 2 reasons.  First, the template won't scatter off the target even if Makeda misses due to being Fury 6.  Second, with Vortex of Destruction up, the damage rolls will be boosted, making Makeda a lot more likely to get more out of the advance.
• Ground Zero is an expensive spell that centers a 5" AoE on Makeda, and does a PoW 13 to each other model in the AoE, then pushes each enemy model 1d6 inches.  This is a more niche spell than Eliminator, but it certainly has its uses.  Makeda wants to be close to the front lines, and sometimes the best thing for her to do is kill everyone near her with a single spell.  The push can be pretty good for scenario play, but the random distance makes it unreliable.  Again, this spell benefits from Vortex of Destruction, which boosts the damage rolls, and ensures that most 1-wound infantry will die.  It's important to note that Ground Zero is not an attack, and does not deal blast damage.
• Hand of Death gives target Overtake and gives the target's weapons Grievous Wounds.  There are a lot of models, both ranged and melee, who can benefit from this spell.  Grievous Wounds is great to have on a ranged weapon, especially if you can take a system of life spiral out with shooting.  Overtake gives the target movement when it kills an enemy model, which is nice overall, and synergizes well with Makeda's Feat.

Makeda's Feat, Dance of Death, allows her to gain a point of Fury or remove one from a model in her battlegroup whenever a model in her battlegroup destroys an enemy model in her CTRL.  It's not one of the strongest Feats in the game, but it's solid, and gives Makeda a bunch of options.  The best use of the Feat is clearing infantry.  Makeda can get a lot of Fury between just herself and her unit, and can potentially do a lot of work on her Feat turn.  She can also safely drop to 0 Fury as long as other models in her battlegroup will be killing enemy models, since they can fill her up after her activation.  The best use of the Feat is probably to have a melee beast with Hand of Death clear out a whole infantry unit, possibly more, by removing Fury from itself each time it kills a model.  Finally, you can use the Feat to manage a little more Fury on critical beasts who've already activated.  It's a pretty complicated Feat, but it amounts to an extra strong turn of offense, especially if you can reach infantry with a melee beast.

Battlegroup

Makeda 3 is a battlegroup 'caster.  She wants a lot of beasts, and she has synergy with a lot of beasts.  The vast bulk of my points are spent on the battlegroup when I play her.  Even if I weren't so fond of all beast bricks, I would probably just play a single jamming unit and maybe a support solo or two with her.  Her Feat only affects her battlegroup, and Warbeasts tend to be the best models to take advantage of Hand of Death.

• Cyclops Brute:  I can't get enough of these critters with Makeda 3.  This was certainly true in MkII, and it's still true now.  They have a great all-round defensive toolbox to make them hard to remove with anything short of a heavy, and their Safeguard animus is fantastic for a 'caster who needs to be on or near the front lines.
• Titan Gladiator:  You're running a beast heavy list, and the Gladiator is our best beast overall.  The Rush Animus is key to getting your beasts through rough terrain and extending your threat range, and the Gladiator itself is a very respectable melee thereat.
• Molik Karn:  Molik is a mere shadow of his former self, but Makeda 3 brings enough synergy that it's often worth forking out 20pts for him anyway.  He's the best melee Hand of Death target in faction right now, since Side Step (with Makeda) and Overtake let him get anywhere in a unit he wants.  Fate Walker is also a good Animus for Makeda to have access to.
• Razor Worm:  Spiny Growth is a good Animus for a frontline Warlock, and the Razor Worm itself is an interesting toolbox.  Long Leash lets it contest distant objectives pretty well, and Drag Below is nice for order of activation.
• Titan Sentry and Tiberion:  Both are solid.  Tiberion is better, but pricier.  The Sentry is cheaper.  They both have 2" melee reach, which makes them decent Hand of Death targets. They're also both high-Arm Shield Guard models, which Makeda can appreciate.
• Agonzier:  Makeda 3 wants to be in melee.  That means she wants the added protection of Gnawing Pain (and sometimes Spiritual Affliction), and can make good use of Repulsion.  I nearly always pack an Agonizer along with Makeda 3.
• Ranged Beasts:  Makeda 3 has a strong melee game, but she can struggle against a lot of shooting or control.  I like to mitigate this with a little shooting of my own, which can come from anywhere.  As of tonight, I've played her with a Mammoth, which didn't click for me, and two Aradus Sentinels, which clicked a lot better.  Cannoneers are also great beasts, and worth considering.
• Despoiler:  Makeda likes a free upkeep, and Despoiler can do a respectable amount of damage in melee, and add a little control with Arcane Suppression.

Other Troops

Makeda 3 doesn't do as much for her infantry as she does for her beasts, but there are definitely a couple of standouts.

• Nihilators:  Put Hand of Death on the leader, and charge it into enemy infantry.  With Berserk and Overtake, one Nihilator can do a lot of damage while the rest of the unit stays back in a screening postion.
• Ranged Units:  Any model with a gun can use Hand of Death to inflict Grievous Wounds at range.  Some of our best are the Flayer Cannon, the Catapult, and the Siege Animantrax, although a single Venator Riever leading a CRA is a good option too.
• Ancestral Guardians:  You need a little extra infantry to run these, but they have some decent Synergy with Vortex of Destruction.  If they stand near Makeda, they can make Defensive Strikes with boosted damage rolls.  Two of those can sometimes break a system or aspect.
• Legends of Halaak:  J'Deth's Combo Smite is a good assassination setup.  If J'Deth can knock down the enemy 'caster, Makeda can often reach them through Overtake and/or Eliminator.
• Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor:  He brings a good level of magic protection that Makeda can really benefit from.

I'll be honest and admit that the only infantry I use is the obligatory Paingivers.  Makeda 3 can use infantry well, but I really like the beasts.

So far, the Makeda 3 list I've felt the best with has been:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (20pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (16pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (16pts)
*Titan Gladiator (14ps)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Agonizer (7pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)

The basic idea is to put the Brutes and Aradi up front.  The Brutes are the real front liners, doing jamming and screening duty.  The Aradi lay down some shooting that's mediocre against 'jacks, but scary to beasts, and act as a bunker for important models like the Agonizer and Makeda.  They're also fair enough in melee with a little help from Vortex of Destruction.  Makeda, Molik, and the Gladiator handle the bulk of the counterattack, with the Agonizer boosting Arm from the rear.

I've only had one game with this list so far, and I need to try it out more, but it's felt the best out of any of the Makeda 3 lists I've put on the table.  I'll have that report up this Wednesday.