Imperial Warhost

This is old news at this point, but the Skorne command book was pre-released at GenCon, and a new theme was revealed (and added to Warroom): the Imperial Warhost.  So today, I'm going to talk about that, and make a list I think will be a lot of fun.

For this theme, you can take any Warlock and the following:



1) Non-Character Warbeasts
2) Battle Engines
3) Paingiver Beats Handlers, Mortitheurge Willbreakers, and solos with Battlegroup Controller (currently just Zaadesh 1).

In exchange, you get a 2" extended deployment zone (good), Warbeasts in the list gain Hyper-Aggressive (also good), and for every 30pts of Warbeasts or Battle Engines in the list, you can add 1 Basilisk Krea or Agonizer to the list for free (spit-take).

If you decide to take all Basilisk Kreas with those free points, you can have up to 21 extra points in the list, which is very high compared to what most themes let you get away with.  Taken on their own, free Kreas and Agonizers are pretty good, but they're essentially support that doesn't do much work on its own.  Agonizers have next to no offensive ability, and Kreas are pretty bad at combat too, although they do have that paralysis gun.  That all changes when you add a couple of Basilisk Drakes.  Suddenly the Krea is a much more threatening Mat 6 P+S 12 (or 14 with Enrage) weapon master beast.  And that can do a lot of damage.

I've seen people talk about running a Basilisk spam with Imperial Warhost.  In MkII it was popular with Xerxis 2, and he looks like a really good choice for it now.  You get a lot of sprays from the Drakes, and 3-4 (if you want to pay for another) Basilisk Kreas to help out with melee.  They're all Spd 8, and they all benefit from Xerxis' Feat.

There are other really neat synergies with other Warlocks.  Makeda 1 giving her battlegroup Shield Guard lets her use Hyper Aggressive where she wants it.  Zaadesh 2 gives you a whole army with Hyper Aggressive and Counter Charge.  And, generally speaking, a lot of Warlocks don't mind 20 or so free points in their lists.

There are a couple fairly significant downsides.  The first is a lack of access to some in-Faction support, specifically Extoller Soulwards.  The second is that a list so heavily focused on beasts is going to have some issues with SR 2017 scenarios.  Like, for example, that Paingiver Beast Handlers are the only thing in the list that can score circular zones.  We do a little better with flags, since Zaadesh is solid overall, and Willbreakers will do if they're a low priority target.  Still, there aren't a lot of ways to score non-rectangular scenario elements here.

That said, our attrition game is going to be excellent, since we start 20-odd points up, and we have a lot of what we need to make our Warbeasts shine.  Add a Warlock with good tools to play that sort of game, or one who adds some good assassination potential or is tough enough to claim some points, and I feel you can build a list that's reasonably competitive even with scenario discouraging all-beast lists these days.

Here's the Imperial Warhost I'm planning to play around with at first.  It's a Makeda 3 list because Makeda 3 is my problematic fave.  (I still think she's a piece that doesn't really fit quite right, but I played the heck out of her in MkII, and had a lot of fun and success - maybe she's just looking for a good theme?). Anyway, here's the list:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*24pts) - Imperial Warhost
*Molik Karn (19pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Cyclops Raider (9pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Basilisk Drake (8pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts - Theme Benefit)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts - Theme Benefit)
*Agonizer (0pts - Theme Benefit)

Siege Animantrax (17pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)

75/75pts

So what does this list have going for it?  It's relatively tough, with a lot of beasts, good defensive tech against shooting, and 2 durable little Brutes as a screening and jamming force.  It hits hard.  Molik, the Gladiator, and the SA are all heavy hitters, and the Kreas with Flank and boosted damage from Vortex of Destruction will crack armor surprisingly well.  It has a lot of infantry clearing potential, especially on Makeda's Feat turn.  Finally, for a melee focused list, it has a pretty decent shooting game.  The SA guns are very reasonable, and the Shaman and Raider are a good sniping team.  The Drake spray is also very powerful, and a source of Magic Weapons besides Makeda herself.

One big problem is that the list doesn't have as good or aggressive a scenario game as I like to play with Makeda 3.  Being unable to realistically control round zones or flags with anything other than my Warlock is a pain.  On the other hand, Makeda is one of our better Warlocks to be controlling zones with, due to being pretty tough.  Another major concern is Fury management.  I have a lot of beasts in this list, and they all ant to do stuff every turn.  I'll have to be very careful with their Fury, or I'm going to have a lot of frenzies on my hands.

I'm considering changing up the beast loadout a little.  It would be nice to have a third Brute, or a second Drake, for example.  It would also be good for Makeda to have an Archidon for Long Leash an access to Lightning Strike, and/or a Razor Worm for Long Leash and access to Spiny Growth.  The trouble with that is I'd probably have to break up the Shaman/Raider duo, and they add a lot of flexibility to the list.  We'll see how I feel after a couple of games.

I've been quite busy lately, but I have some free time coming up, and I fully intend to play around with this list, and let you all know how it goes.

Until next time...