I've liked Ossrum pretty much since I started playing Mercs, mainly because he reminded me strongly of a more condensed version of Khador's Irusk (1 and 2). He gives a lot of support to the army, whether it's in his spells, his feat, or just outright buffs like tactician.
Mk III didn't change him much, and the ways it did I actually really like. His feat is virtually the same, but now allows him to benefit from the speed portion of it, Martial Discipline is now just plain old Tactician (Rhulic) which isn't very different, and his spell Energizer changed from a variable cost battlegroup movement to a solid cost 2, move 2. Mostly, these changes are just tweaks to make him run more consistently, and he still does what he used to do - but is now LOADS better at it, considering he can take all the Warjacks he always wanted to take.
That seems like a bit of a theme in Mk III, doesn't it? Lets dive in.
Showing posts with label MkIII. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MkIII. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Monday Mercenary Mutterings: All This and Magnus2
So in the great headlong stampede of undomesticated equines that is Mark III, it looks like Magnus2 (or Magnus the Warlord, technically) is coming out at the head of the pack for Mercenaries. As is turning out to be the norm with this edition, that's putting a lot of preconceptions from the previous edition a bit on their heads.
Magnus2 hasn't changed a lot from his mkII incarnation, yet the changes he does have are significant - he dropped his warjack bond in favor of Field Marshal: Unyielding (as well as gaining Unyielding himself), and swapped Mobility for Escort, which doesn't grant pathfinder, but DOES give him additional ARM and is an upkeep rather than an expensive drain on focus each turn.
His feat is unchanged and still arguably one of the most powerful in the game, and can flat out deny an entire half or more of the board to an enemy, which I think lets you be more cavalier with choosing models you like and that work with your play style over the generic "best in show".
The important result of the changes, taken with rules like Power Up, is that Magnus 2 can now do what it seemed he always really wanted to do - run a block of warjacks very, very well.
Magnus2 hasn't changed a lot from his mkII incarnation, yet the changes he does have are significant - he dropped his warjack bond in favor of Field Marshal: Unyielding (as well as gaining Unyielding himself), and swapped Mobility for Escort, which doesn't grant pathfinder, but DOES give him additional ARM and is an upkeep rather than an expensive drain on focus each turn.
His feat is unchanged and still arguably one of the most powerful in the game, and can flat out deny an entire half or more of the board to an enemy, which I think lets you be more cavalier with choosing models you like and that work with your play style over the generic "best in show".
The important result of the changes, taken with rules like Power Up, is that Magnus 2 can now do what it seemed he always really wanted to do - run a block of warjacks very, very well.
Monday, August 22, 2016
What I'm Excited About in Skorne MkIII: Skorne
Hi Everyone!
I've been busy the last couple of months with various things, including a move. Since we just reconnected our internet this past weekend, I've decided to get settled in by firing up 4+ Tough again. It's been a long time since I posted, and even longer since I've updated regularly. However, I'm in a pretty good position to post regularly, and even more importantly, play regularly. My planned update schedule is currently:
On to the excitement!
There are certainly a lot of legitimate gripes about Skorne right now, and I'll talk about them a bit at some point in the near future. Right now, though, I want to discuss what has me rubbing my hands together with anticipation about our humble faction.
1) A little more control. Skorne has never been the most control-oriented faction, but we ended up getting some fun new tools this edition. For example, Castigate on Dominar Rasheth got a massive power boost - eliminating all channeling and casting of Animi in Rasheth's CTRL. Naaresh's Lamentation and Despoiler's Arcane Suppression were both upgraded by the fact that Animi are now spells when a Warbeast uses them. Some models, like pMorghoul, have much stronger control games now that the meta has more lists anchored by heavy 'jacks. Of our two standby control pieces, Orin Midwinter is a bit more versatile than he was in MkII, although less of a blanket shutdown, and the Agonizer has 4 really interesting control-oriented abilities (although using Repulsion well is hard on the little critter and risky on a Warlock).
2) Interesting ranged defense options. We have two excellent Shield Guard beasts in the faction. The Brute is an all star utility/defensive light, and the Sentry is nice and tough with the ability to punch back reasonably hard if it survives the alpha. We have several unit options I feel bring good questions to the table for a ranged game, most importantly Karax, Ferox, and Bloodrunners, as well as the Carapace beasts, which I'm looking forward to trying out in significant numbers. I'm even starting to come around on the Krea a little bit. I hated her at first, especially after liking her so much in MkII, but if she keeps performing the way she has I'll have to grudgingly admit that she has a place.
3) More shooting. The Cannoneer, all the Venator units, the Venator solo when it comes out, and especially the Mammoth and Siege Animantrax, all have me very interested in our ranged game. Our options are strong enough that we can run a solid ranged element with any 'caster, and a very punishing one with certain 'casters. It's something I played around with a bit in MkII, and I'm looking forward to trying to puzzle out the perfect balance of shooting, melee and control now that we have a little more shooting to work with.
4) Murderkitties. Look you guys. I'm a crazy cat person. I really am. And the overall speed, flexibility, and control that Ferox can bring to the table with the right support has me super excited to put them on the table every time.
That's enough excitement for today. As always, comments are welcome! And so are further suggestions for material, since I now have a schedule to be keeping up with.
Thanks for reading!
I've been busy the last couple of months with various things, including a move. Since we just reconnected our internet this past weekend, I've decided to get settled in by firing up 4+ Tough again. It's been a long time since I posted, and even longer since I've updated regularly. However, I'm in a pretty good position to post regularly, and even more importantly, play regularly. My planned update schedule is currently:
- Monday: Random BS
- Wednesday: Battle Report
- Friday: Tactics
- More Unscheduled Random BS as I see fit
On to the excitement!
There are certainly a lot of legitimate gripes about Skorne right now, and I'll talk about them a bit at some point in the near future. Right now, though, I want to discuss what has me rubbing my hands together with anticipation about our humble faction.
1) A little more control. Skorne has never been the most control-oriented faction, but we ended up getting some fun new tools this edition. For example, Castigate on Dominar Rasheth got a massive power boost - eliminating all channeling and casting of Animi in Rasheth's CTRL. Naaresh's Lamentation and Despoiler's Arcane Suppression were both upgraded by the fact that Animi are now spells when a Warbeast uses them. Some models, like pMorghoul, have much stronger control games now that the meta has more lists anchored by heavy 'jacks. Of our two standby control pieces, Orin Midwinter is a bit more versatile than he was in MkII, although less of a blanket shutdown, and the Agonizer has 4 really interesting control-oriented abilities (although using Repulsion well is hard on the little critter and risky on a Warlock).
2) Interesting ranged defense options. We have two excellent Shield Guard beasts in the faction. The Brute is an all star utility/defensive light, and the Sentry is nice and tough with the ability to punch back reasonably hard if it survives the alpha. We have several unit options I feel bring good questions to the table for a ranged game, most importantly Karax, Ferox, and Bloodrunners, as well as the Carapace beasts, which I'm looking forward to trying out in significant numbers. I'm even starting to come around on the Krea a little bit. I hated her at first, especially after liking her so much in MkII, but if she keeps performing the way she has I'll have to grudgingly admit that she has a place.
3) More shooting. The Cannoneer, all the Venator units, the Venator solo when it comes out, and especially the Mammoth and Siege Animantrax, all have me very interested in our ranged game. Our options are strong enough that we can run a solid ranged element with any 'caster, and a very punishing one with certain 'casters. It's something I played around with a bit in MkII, and I'm looking forward to trying to puzzle out the perfect balance of shooting, melee and control now that we have a little more shooting to work with.
 |
| The Mammoth on the painting table |
4) Murderkitties. Look you guys. I'm a crazy cat person. I really am. And the overall speed, flexibility, and control that Ferox can bring to the table with the right support has me super excited to put them on the table every time.
 |
| The savage Ferox in their natural habitat |
That's enough excitement for today. As always, comments are welcome! And so are further suggestions for material, since I now have a schedule to be keeping up with.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, July 2, 2016
What I'm Excited About in Skorne MkIII: Mordikaar
I know Void Seer Mordikaar is supposed to be dead, but despite that, he picked up a bunch of fun new tools. I'm excited for him because he brings a really interesting and strong set of tools to the table, many of which are based on his interactions with other models.
Here's what stayed the same. His stats and weapons are the same, as are most of his abilities. Void Lord was replaced with Elite Cadre: Void Spirits, which gives them Killing Spree, which basically turns them into top-of-the-line infantry mulching machines, especially when combined with their Void Walk ability to pop up 8" from their last location when they kill a model. Mordi's Feat is also the same - a solid buff to Def and Poltergeist, which is very helpful when it's helpful.
His spells are a mix of same and different. Essence Blast is the same. Hollow is the same, except that it doesn't grant Tough. Fair enough when Nihilators have it innately, and Willbreakers can hand it out as needed. Revive is weaker - no attacking the turn you come back, which brings it into line with most other recursion, but makes 3-9 Fury per turn on that spell less of a no-brainer. He got two new spells: Manifest Void and Host of Shadows. Host of Shadows gives Mordikaar's whole battlegroup Ghostly for a turn, which is amazing, especially at 2 Fury. It opens up a lot of options for Despoiler, who is really good with Mordikaar, and even makes me want to consider the new, lousy Archidons. Manifest Void increases the cost of enemy spells within Mordi's CTRL by 1, and stacks with Despoiler's Animus, Arcane Suppression. All the more reason to take Despoiler.
All in all, it's not just a cool suite of abilities. Void Spirits are terrors. They get an additional attack and damage die against living models, and all you have to do is kill that one leading trooper with one before it pops 8" deeper into enemy lines, and starts berserking through their infantry. Despoiler's bond with Mordikaar lets it create Void Spirits when a living enemy model is killed within 5" now too, so the threat of Void Spirits is really something else. Also, while Revive may have gotten worse, Skorne actually gained a high-threat Revivable unit in the Praetorian Ferox, which are a great complement to those Void Spirits harassing the enemy early on.
Here's what stayed the same. His stats and weapons are the same, as are most of his abilities. Void Lord was replaced with Elite Cadre: Void Spirits, which gives them Killing Spree, which basically turns them into top-of-the-line infantry mulching machines, especially when combined with their Void Walk ability to pop up 8" from their last location when they kill a model. Mordi's Feat is also the same - a solid buff to Def and Poltergeist, which is very helpful when it's helpful.
His spells are a mix of same and different. Essence Blast is the same. Hollow is the same, except that it doesn't grant Tough. Fair enough when Nihilators have it innately, and Willbreakers can hand it out as needed. Revive is weaker - no attacking the turn you come back, which brings it into line with most other recursion, but makes 3-9 Fury per turn on that spell less of a no-brainer. He got two new spells: Manifest Void and Host of Shadows. Host of Shadows gives Mordikaar's whole battlegroup Ghostly for a turn, which is amazing, especially at 2 Fury. It opens up a lot of options for Despoiler, who is really good with Mordikaar, and even makes me want to consider the new, lousy Archidons. Manifest Void increases the cost of enemy spells within Mordi's CTRL by 1, and stacks with Despoiler's Animus, Arcane Suppression. All the more reason to take Despoiler.
All in all, it's not just a cool suite of abilities. Void Spirits are terrors. They get an additional attack and damage die against living models, and all you have to do is kill that one leading trooper with one before it pops 8" deeper into enemy lines, and starts berserking through their infantry. Despoiler's bond with Mordikaar lets it create Void Spirits when a living enemy model is killed within 5" now too, so the threat of Void Spirits is really something else. Also, while Revive may have gotten worse, Skorne actually gained a high-threat Revivable unit in the Praetorian Ferox, which are a great complement to those Void Spirits harassing the enemy early on.
Friday, July 1, 2016
All New War, All New Trollbloods: pt 1, Warlocks
I am quite happy with the new edition - the Trollblood meta changed dramatically, while keeping a lot of the same feel and flavor that I enjoyed in MkII. In my usual fashion, I'm going to ramble in a disjointed and semi-coherent manner while attempting to be amusing and give my two cents.
Warlocks
Warlocks
Even before the end of MkII, Trollblood tournament warlock rankings were in some pretty wacky flux on account of tier lists and erratas - Warder Meat Mountain, Evolutionary Elementalism, and Runes of War were all the Rage and then all the Amuck overnight, but a few staples remained strong and were pretty consistently played - Madrak 1 and Grissel 1 infantry swarms, Doomshaper 1 with or without Runes of War, Grim 1 still did what he did pretty universally, Bearka (yea, no...), and Calandra was seeing play even after the EE nerf.
On the other hand, I hadn't seen Madrak 2 or Gunnbjorn in a tournament in a heck of a long time.
Now, however... Let's take a look.
On the other hand, I hadn't seen Madrak 2 or Gunnbjorn in a tournament in a heck of a long time.
Now, however... Let's take a look.
Monday, June 27, 2016
What I'm Excited About in Skorne MkIII: eMakeda
MkIII is here for real, so I'll spend the next couple of weeks talking about what I'm excited for, and how I'm thinking of playing Skorne now that so much has changed.
I'll start with one of our 'casters who received a complete overhaul from her MkII incarnation: Supreme Archdomina Makeda, a.k.a Makeda 2 or eMakeda. In MkII, I wasn't thrilled about eMakeda. She was certainly powerful, and people did quite well with her, but she seemed pretty one dimensional, and never really sparked my imagination.
Now, she has a whole different playstyle, with a lot more defensive tools than she had before. First up, Stay Death became a lot more interesting, since it can now be used any number of times per turn, as long as Makeda can pay for it. Since her other spells are fairly situational, you can easily plan to have Makeda spend between 3 and 4 Fury keeping key models alive, and you can further improve on that with other defensive abilities. This ability, as far as I can tell, is the core of Makeda's new playstyle, and using it well is what will make or break games with her.
She lost all of her old spells, but gained Deflection, Dash, Storm Rager, and a new spell called Prostration. Deflection stacks with the new Krea, and is a good way to keep your infantry safe on the approach, and Dash gives her troops a little more speed and, more importantly, the ability to ignore free strikes. Storm Rager can make one warrior model super dangerous, and Prostration is a decent nuke spell - it will be cast, but not every game.
Her Feat is pretty much the same, and is both a good way to get a turn of extra accuracy, and a good way to keep Makeda on her feet if she needs to get close to the enemy. It no longer prevents free strikes - you'll need to cast Dash for that.
What I'm most excited about is Makeda's ability to play attrition. Stay Death combined with other defensive tools is going to let her keep infantry alive in critical places, or force the enemy to expend huge resources killing a couple of models, and she can do this every turn. Storm Rager is a good piece of tech for improving the damage and accuracy of a couple of infantry models, which is where a lot of our infantry needs help. I'm really excited to try it on Hakaar, Ancestral Guardians, and the Legends of Halaak.
I've played a couple of MkIII games so far, and I'll have reports up pretty soon. I'll also post things I'm excited about until I run out of things. So that's what's coming up in the next couple weeks.
I'll start with one of our 'casters who received a complete overhaul from her MkII incarnation: Supreme Archdomina Makeda, a.k.a Makeda 2 or eMakeda. In MkII, I wasn't thrilled about eMakeda. She was certainly powerful, and people did quite well with her, but she seemed pretty one dimensional, and never really sparked my imagination.
Now, she has a whole different playstyle, with a lot more defensive tools than she had before. First up, Stay Death became a lot more interesting, since it can now be used any number of times per turn, as long as Makeda can pay for it. Since her other spells are fairly situational, you can easily plan to have Makeda spend between 3 and 4 Fury keeping key models alive, and you can further improve on that with other defensive abilities. This ability, as far as I can tell, is the core of Makeda's new playstyle, and using it well is what will make or break games with her.
She lost all of her old spells, but gained Deflection, Dash, Storm Rager, and a new spell called Prostration. Deflection stacks with the new Krea, and is a good way to keep your infantry safe on the approach, and Dash gives her troops a little more speed and, more importantly, the ability to ignore free strikes. Storm Rager can make one warrior model super dangerous, and Prostration is a decent nuke spell - it will be cast, but not every game.
Her Feat is pretty much the same, and is both a good way to get a turn of extra accuracy, and a good way to keep Makeda on her feet if she needs to get close to the enemy. It no longer prevents free strikes - you'll need to cast Dash for that.
What I'm most excited about is Makeda's ability to play attrition. Stay Death combined with other defensive tools is going to let her keep infantry alive in critical places, or force the enemy to expend huge resources killing a couple of models, and she can do this every turn. Storm Rager is a good piece of tech for improving the damage and accuracy of a couple of infantry models, which is where a lot of our infantry needs help. I'm really excited to try it on Hakaar, Ancestral Guardians, and the Legends of Halaak.
I've played a couple of MkIII games so far, and I'll have reports up pretty soon. I'll also post things I'm excited about until I run out of things. So that's what's coming up in the next couple weeks.
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