I didn't get the chance to play any games yesterday, so here's one of my battles from earlier this summer. This past Friday's tactics post was about Ferox, so here's the game that literally sold me on them (right after this game I picked up Tower's min box of Ferox that had been hanging around since MkI, and ordered two blisters). I was very interested to try them out with Makeda 2, and here's the list I played. Be warned, the Ferox are proxied by whatever spare large based models I could find: Molik Karn, my Archidon, my Aradus Sentinels, and my Tiberion. In fact, since this was in late June, we were both playing a bunch of new things we didn't own. I'll try to keep all the proxies straight.
Supreme Archdomina Makeda (*24pts) (Proxied by Archdomina Makeda)
*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)
*Titan Gladiator (14pts)
*Basilisk Krea (7pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (7pts)
Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (21pts) (Proxied by 5 heavy beasts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)
*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts) (Marketh is proxying the standard)
The Legends of Halaak (8pts)
Paingvier Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)
This was my first ever Makeda 2 list with Ferox, and I've changed it a bit since then, but the underpinnings remain the same. The main threat in the list are the Ferox backed by Stay Death, Dash, and occasionally Deflection. The Swordsmen are a screen with a chance to benefit from Stay Death, and get places with Vengeance. The heavies, the Legends, and Hakaar (the main Storm Rager target) are my second line heavy hitters. The list does not have the armor cracking to take on a true 'jack line, but it does have the flexibility to win when Stay Death can keep a whole army out of zones, or when Ferox with Parry and boosted attack rolls can reach the only model in a list that really needs to be cracked.
My opponent, Ben, has been having a lot of fun with Magnus 2, who definitely looks to have picked up some great tricks. Here's the list he was running.
Magnus the Warlord (Proxied by Drake MacBaine)
*Nomad
*Mangler (Proxied by a Driller)
*Renegade (Proxied by a Blaster)
*Vanguard (Proxied by a Buccaneer)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
Dahlia Hallyr and Skarrath (Proxied by Lady Aiyanna and Snapjaw)
Rag Man
Rhupert Caravolo, Piper of Ord
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor
Gobber Tinker? (Proxid by my Kovass)
Idrian Skirmishers (Proxied by Nyss Hunters)
*Command Attachment (Chieftain and Guide) (Proxied by Master Holt and Taeryn di la Rovissi)
Magnus 2 is really good. He has a bunch of fun tools to back up a truly amazing control Feat. He's been a big headache for me in a couple of early games I played against him with Makeda 3. This list seems like a pretty flexible approach. It has a couple hard hitting 'jacks in the Nomad and Mangler, both of whom will be hard to take down with Magnus' Field Marshall (Unyielding). The Idrians make for a flexible ranged element that can get work done in melee. Dahlia and Skarrath are also decent at both ranged and melee, and Skarrath is a great target for Bullet Dodger.
Scenario and Deployment
We played The Pit. There's a big circular zone dead center with two flags off at the corners. Dominate your flag, or control the zone or the enemy flag for 1 CP. Dominate the zone or the enemy flag for 2 CP. This is a Kill Box scenario.
Ben won the roll-off, and decided to go first. He deployed Dahlia and Skarath off on the center-left with Rhupert. Magnus and his 'jacks went in the middle, with the Renegade more to the center-right. Sylys went near the renegade, and Orin, the Tinker, and Rag Man went behind the 'jacks.
I put my Swordsmen in the middle with Hakaar and the Krea. The two heavies went off to the center-left to oppose the Nomad and Skarrath. The Ferox went out on the right because native Pathfinder is great for getting through forests.
Ben placed the Idrians opposite my Ferox, and declared that the Ferox would be their Prey. Then we got started.
Mercenaries Turn 1
Most of Ben's list ran forward. Magnus cast Bullet Dodger on Skarath, and Escort on himself. The 'jacks got a very respectable distance into the table, with Idrians close by on the right flank.
Ben had some very commanding threat on the zone. I'd need to move my things into his threat range to even get into the game. The Idrians had stopped well short of the Ferox melee threat, so I'd need to do something else about them.
Skorne Turn 1
The Krea used Force Aura, and charged, and the Swordsmen ran to swarm around her. Hakaar moved up to grab the Swordsmens' souls, and the Legends ran up near him. Makeda moved up, cast Deflection, and camped 3 Fury for Stay Death.
The two heavies ran up past past my flag. The Ferox decided they wanted nothing to do with the Idrians, and sprinted behind the Swordsmen over the the center-left of my lines.
I had some super shooting-resistant Swordsmen gumming up the middle of the zone, and Ben would need to use melee to deal them significant damage, and my pieces were well positioned to counterattack. My basic plan with the Ferox was to deny the Idrians Prey until the endgame, since they're so fast.
Mercenaries Turn 2
Magnus upkept his two spells with a little help from Sylys, and allocated 2 Focus to the Mangler.
Magnus activated first, got within 8" of the lead Swordsman, and boosted Calamity onto the unit. The Renegade advanced to Ben's flag, and used its Obliterator shot on the Swordsmen, but missed. The Idrians pumped a couple CRA's into the Swordsmen, and Skarrath advanced, and sprayed a couple more, but most of the unit was still very much intact.
So Ben sent in the Vanguard and the Mangler, who killed the Swordsmen left at the front of the bunch, leaving just the standard and the unit leader. That left Hakaar full on Souls, and gave the remaining two Swordsmen Vengeance.
Ben had wiped out the Swordsmen, yes, but he'd also exposed Skarrath and his Mangler to do so. I needed to take them out, and if I could, I'd be in a great place in attrition.
Skorne Turn 2
The Swordsmen and Hakaar made their Vengeance moves, and Makeda leached her Fury.
The Krea aimed, and paralyzed Skarrath. The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, and advanced. Makeda used her Feat, probably unnecessarily, but I didn't want to take any chances on Skarrath living, advanced, and put Storm Rager on Hakaar. The Paingivers advanced, and Enraged the Bronzeback.
The Bronzeback charged in, and killed both Skarrath and the Vanguard easily. The Legends charged the Mangler, and did some good damage, then Hakaar finished it off. The Ferox leaped into the fray, and killed Orin.
I was in a very good position now. Even if I lost the Bronzeback, I could likely take the Nomad (the only model left really capable of doing the job) in trade, and let my army finish the game. The Ferox were putting huge pressure on Ben's back lines as well.
Mercenaries Turn 3
Magnus upkept his spells, and allocated 2 to the Nomad.
Rag Man moved up and used Death Field. Magnus advanced, put Calamity on the Bronzeback, and dealt a lot of damage with an Armor Piercing *attack. Magnus also used his Feat, and decreed that I couldn't advance toward Ben's table edge or my own. The Nomad finished the Bronzeback easily. The Idrians put shots into the Ferox, but didn't do a lot of damage with Stay Death in the mix.
I couldn't find any pictures of this turn. I think I was too busy measuring for my next turn, and forgot.
Ben's counterattack had been good, and his Feat was keeping Magnus relatively safe. I still had an attrition advantage, but I'd be very limited in my options this coming turn. However, some careful measurement had revealed a chance to possibly kill Magnus, and I didn't have a lot to lose by trying it.
Skorne Turn 3
Hakaar took his Vengeance attack into the Praetorian Swordsman in front of him, and killed it. Makeda upkept Storm Rager.
The Krea aimed, and Paralyzed Magnus. Hakaar would be just within melee range of Magnus if he moved laterally to the right, so he charged in. He did a lot of damage, and if it weren't for Escort, Magnus would have been dead.
Makeda cast Dash to give the Ferox parry. The Ferox moved laterally to the left as far as they could get, then used Jump to land two around Magnus. Never tell a cat where it can't go.
They adorably bit Magnus to death.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
As I said, this was my first game with Ferox, and one of several where I've had great results with them. I played it pretty well. Whisking the Ferox away from the Idrians and using them as a second wave to the Swordsmen was a good move, meaning that Prey was out of the game for a while, and the Ferox got to hit second line models of Ben's list. Force Aura and Deflection was a good combo to get Ben to commit to melee against the Swordmen.
I liked the list a bunch, but there were a couple things I ended up changing. Despoiler is fantastic with Makeda 2, so I replaced the Bronzeback with it. I've also been trying to get a Tyrant Commander into the list as a threat extender, and so far what that means is no Legends. The Swordsmen didn't do a whole lot in this game, but they've been incredible in other games. They're great at holding ground while the Ferox hide behind terrain and use their threat range to control the table. I think Vengeance and Stay Death puts them over the top with Makeda 2, and if I were to drop them, it would probably be because I decided to run double Ferox. Hakaar has been great, but I'll probably give Rhadeim a try instead, because a Storm Rager'd Rhadeim is terrifying. As I said before, this is the game that sold me on Ferox, and they were amazing. Having the ability to be placed where you otherwise couldn't advance was gold in this game.
Ben's big mistake this game was putting so much effort into wiping out the Swordsmen on his second turn. He basically succeeded, but lost Skarrath, his Mangler, and his Vanguard in exchange. After that, he had an uphill battle against my heavier-armored heavies and Hakaar, as well as the Ferox. He made two other smaller mistakes. He picked the Ferox as the Idrians' Prey target, which allowed the cats to run across the battlefield and deny the Idrians in important damage buff. He also ended up putting Magnus in a dangerous position on turn 3 to take out the Bronzeback. I think he could have managed without it, but Magnus is pretty freakin' tough with Escort and Unyielding. That said, if the Ferox hadn't had Jump, Magnus would have been safe with his Feat up.
Everything in Ben's list seemed to work together well, although I'm not an expert in Mercs. He's also played Magnus with double Thorn Gun Mages that felt more threatening and versatile than the Idrians. I like the other models, except maybe the Vanguard, which is a lot of points, and Dahlia and Skarrath. Although Skarrath + Bullet Dodger is great, the things that Wrong Eye and Snapjaw or Rorsh and Brine can do seem better for this list. Otherwise, it's solid, and Unyielding on the cheap and sturdy Nomad is super punishing.
Thanks for reading!
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