Skorne Faction Review Part 2: Warlocks

Buckle in folks, this'll be a long one.

The CID process, despite its faults, has given us a fairly good stable of Warlocks.  They're nearly all usable, and while most of theme have some weaknesses, they also have solid game plans and tools to make the opponent think.  I'm not going to try to sort them into tiers, because honestly, I'm not good enough to make that kind of call.  If you're new to the game, I have some recommendations, but try what seems cool, and figure out what works for you.  If you've got more experience, maybe something I mention here will get you to consider one of our warlocks in a new light.  Or maybe you'll think I'm totally wrong, in which case let me know.

Without further ado, Skorne Warlocks:

Skorne Faction Review Part 1: Themes

Hello, everyone who still follows this blog.  It's been close to a year, during which a lot has happened in my life, which unfortunately did not include playing a lot of WarmaHordes.  We're now in the midst of a global pandemic, so it seems like that situation will continue for some time.

However!

I'm more or less settled from the other, non-wargame stuff I've been doing, and now have a lot of free time at home to think about games, build armies on Warroom, and aimlessly wish I could get back to playing.  But since theorymachine is the responsible thing to do right now, I'm may as well post my musings so other people can correct me if I'm too far astray.  I might try playing on Vassal soon, but Vassal games take a long time, and aren't as fun as in-person games.

Since I've been out of the game so long, I'm going to start with a review of my main faction and host of horrible torture-babies: Skorne.

Battle Report: Morghoul 2 vs. Kallus 1 (75pts)

In my last battle report, I said I was taking a little break.  Well, now I'm back, and here's the game I played before I left, the third game in the pod tournament we're playing in my local meta.

My opponent was Dave, the Legion player whose Anamag list crushed me a couple months ago, so I knew I needed to have an answer.  I thought about using Zaadesh, since I'd been able to block drags with Inviolable Resolve before, but then I looked at Anamag's cards, and she has Hex Blast, so that was a no-go.  Instead, I came up with a new list that I was pretty sure would be able to tangle with Primal Terrors and still be decent into some other matchups depending on what Dave brought.

Lord Assassin Morghoul (*29pts) - Winds of Death
*Mammoth (38pts)
*Archidon (10pts)
*Agonizer (6pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (0pts)

Siege Animantrax (17pts)

Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts)
Venator Dakar (4pts)
Extoller Soulward (3pts)

Venator Rievers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)
*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)
Venator Slingers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)

Morghoul 2 has some excellent tools against Primal Terrors: Mortality to help take care of those pesky Chosen, and a Feat which can take most infantry Morghoul can see out of the game for a turn, not to mention dropping Def to levels where the Mammoth and Turtle will have no trouble hitting.  Overall, I was pretty optimistic about this list into Anamag, and willing to play it into an Oracles list if he brought one.  This would be my first time ever playing Morghoul 2, so we'll see what he's capable of.

Battle Report: Zaadesh 2 vs. Tanith (75pts)

On to game two of the pod mini-tournament we're playing.  I brought the same Zaadesh list I played last week, as well as the same Mordikaar list I brought to the tournament a month or so ago.  This time, I was up against Jeff's Circle.  He brought Tanith and Wurmwood.  It felt like either list would have trouble cracking Zaadesh's armor, and while Mordikaar definitely had game into either matchup, I just felt more comfortable with the brick:

Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts) - Imperial Warhost
*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)
*Aradus Soldier (16pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)

Siege Animantrax (17pts)

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

There's a huge amount of armor here, and it was startlingly effective the last time I played it.  I kind of can't score circles or flags, but I have so much gristle that I'm hoping I can just attrition my way through, and contest until my opponent has nothing left.

Short Battle Report: Thagrosh 2 vs. Zaadesh 2 (75pts)

We're doing a pod tournament in the Twin Cities meta, which is nice because it means that I can schedule games with each opponent at a sedate pace of once per week.  I often can't play tournaments because I usually work on Saturdays.

This week, I was matched up against Brandon's Legion.  I played:

Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts) - Imperial Warhost
*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)
*Aradus Soldier (16pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)

Siege Animantrax (17pts)

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

Scenario schmenario?  This list will have trouble scoring round zones, and can only score flags with Zaadesh, but it has a very strong attrition game, and a lot of extremely fun warbeasts plus the Siege Turtle.  Hopefully, between all the beef and Zaadesh's defensive tech, I'll be able to contest what I need to and push through on attrition.

I played against:

Thagrosh, the Messiah (*25pts) - Primal Terrors
*Typhon (20pts)
*Carnivean (18pts)
*Scythean (16pts)
*Ravagore (16pts)

3 Spell Martyrs (3pts)
Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts)

Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (8pts)
*Gorag Rotteneye (6pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warspears (9pts)
Hellmouth (0pts)

This is much different than the last Primal Terrors list I played against.  Thagrosh 2 is a very cool warlock.  I thought last time that Zaadesh might have the tools to tangle with Primal Terrors.  I guess we'll find out.

Starting Skorne in the Age of Themes: Winds of Death

In my previous Starting Skorne post, I gave a general impression of what's changed in the faction since my first advice posts two years ago.  My next couple of posts are going to be some list building advice for playing the league with each theme.  This time, I'm going to talk about one of the better themes to start building at week 3 of a league: Winds of Death.

 

Battle Report: Mordikaar 1 vs. Anamag 1, 75pts

Hello!

Sorry for the unannounced 2-week-long hiatus.  I had the GRE last Saturday (the 25th), and I was deep in the Study Zone.  I spent most of this past week regenerating my mental powers.

I went to a tournament on the 18th, as I said I might.  However, I was sick that morning, and ended up bowing out after the first round, so I'll just give the report from that battle.

Starting Skorne in the Age of Themes, Overview

Hello again.

Way, way back in 2016, I made 3 posts about starting Skorne from the battlegroup box and building up to a 75pt list over the course of a Journeyman League (JML).  That information has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years - we had a faction overhaul and a bunch of themes released.  On top of that, the rules for the JML have been updated.  So this seems like a good time to update my recommendations a little.

Another Upcoming Tournament and More Blogging

There's another local tournament coming up, which I'd really like to attend.  I'll know by Friday whether I can, but in the meantime, I'm thinking about lists.

I want to keep playing Mordikaar, since he's been very solid as well as a lot of fun.  I may try to squeeze in another proper heavy, although I'm not sure where I'll find the points.  I'm also not completely sure which heavy I'd run.  I might be able to find the space for Tiberion.  I love his model, and he's quite solid on the table, but Jeezy Creezy he's a lot of points.  We'll see, I suppose.

For Mordi's partner, I'm very interested in running either the Makeda 1 or the Jalaam 1 lists I was musing about in this post.  If I can't get a little practice in with either of them, I can fall back on my Zaadesh 2 list.  I've already said it's probably the strongest of the bunch, but it would be cool to try something new.

In more certain news, I think I'll be able to keep the blog up regularly going forward.  I'm aiming for 2 posts per week, one Wednesday or Thursday, and another one over the weekend or Monday.  I have a couple of posts planned, and if I'm able to play games over the week, I'll be doing reports as well.

Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions.  I know I have a couple regular readers; what do you want to read about?

State of the Lists - What I'm Thinking and Doing With Skorne

Hello Again!

I can't make any promises that I'll actually start blogging consistently, as I really don't play all that often.  I've played about 6 games this year, including the 3 I played at the tournament in my last post.  That said, I've been thinking about list building a lot lately, and this seems like as good a place as any to try to organize my thoughts.

I'm thinking about lists mainly in terms of themes.  I can play 3 of our themes, because I only own one unit of Immortals and very few minions.  That may change, but until it does, I'll just focus on the themes I can play: Imperial Warhost, Masters of War, and Winds of Death.

Belated June Tournament Report!

Hey everyone!

Almost 2 months ago now, I went to a local tournament.  As usual, I had a great time, and even won a couple games.  Here are the lists I took:

Renegade Open Non-Team Tournament Reports

Hello again everyone!

I also played in the non-team event the next day.  We had enough to play 5 rounds, although only the top 8 would play the last 3 rounds to make room for another event.  I decided to keep the same Makeda 1 list from the day before, but after significant fury management woes, I decided to switch the Mak3da list out for a more conventional Zaadesh 2 list:

Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts) - Imperial Warhost
*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Titan Sentry (15pts)
*Archidon (10pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)

Siege Animantrax (17pts)

Mortitheurge Willbreaker (4pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts)

I like Zaadesh 2 a lot.  He feels like one of the most "Skorne" 'casters we have, especially with a big beast brick like this one.  The main work comes from the Titans, while the turtle and Archidon give me some flexibility a brick doesn't usually have.  The plan is: clouds up front, murder stuff with elephants.  :)  I would run a second free Agonizer instead of one of the Kreas, but I only own the one.

On to the games!

Renegade Open Team Tournament Reports

As I said sometime last year (sorry folks, I had to let the blog drop to take care of myself), I went to the Renegade Open, and played in a couple of Warmachine tournaments there.  The first one was the team tournament on Friday night, a 3-person event.  I was the captain of Team 4+ Tough, which also included my co-blogger Caleb, and friend of the blog and frequent opponent Ben.

Battle Report: Makeda 1 vs. Kaelyssa (75pts)

Hey everyone!

I've played a bunch of Cryx lately, but I haven't neglected Skorne.  I'm super excited about all our new themes, and I thought I'd give one of them a try last weekend.  Here's what I took:

Archdomina Makeda (*29pts) - Masters of War
*Molik Karn (19pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Scarab Pack (10pts)

Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)

Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (18pts)
*Command Attachment (Tyrant Vorkesh) (0pts - Theme Benefit)
Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)
Legends of Halaak (8pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts - Theme Benefit)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)

Theme Benefits
*+1 to the starting roll
*Free Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer or Command Attachment for every 20pts of Praetorian or Cataphract models/units.
*Melee attacks by warrior models ignore Tough, and a model boxed by those attacks is removed from play.

Skorne vs. Ghost Fleet: Initial Thoughts

Ghost Fleet is a Cryx theme list that debuted last year, was unlocked sometime over the winter, and has been tearing up the meta at a very high level this spring and summer.  It's strong into a lot of matchups, and plays a pretty different game from many lists, which means you have to have a specific plan for dealing with it.  That means both having a list that can handle Ghost Fleet, and a strategy for winning against Ghost Fleet with that list.

I realise that this post is a little behind the times, since Ghost Fleet has been a powerhouse for a while, but these kinds of thought experiments are fun for me, and maybe Skorne doesn't have a lot of information out there yet (I don't follow the FB group or LormaHordes very much).  Anyway, here's my take:

CID Battle Report: Primus Jalaam vs. Ashlynn D'Elise (75pts)

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my first battle report since I crawled back into the blogosphere.  This is a CID battle report, so probable spoilers for the upcoming Skorne Warlock, Primus Jalaam, and for proposed changes to Ashlynn 1 after the break.

Primus Jalaam: Thoughts

Primus Jalaam is the new Warlock for Skorne coming out as part of PP's 12 factions of Christmas promotion.  He's still in development, but what I've seen looks pretty interesting, so I'm going to sketch out my thoughts, and try to make a list or two.  This is a CID model, so probable spoilers for Jalaam after the cut.  I'm talking about the 08/31 Update version (things may change).

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:

And Dominar Morghoul Too I Suppose

Eh, he's fine.

Pod Tournament Report Game 3: Master Ascetic Naaresh vs. Grissel Bloodsong, Marshall of the Kriels (75pts)

Hey everyone!  This is the third and final game in the weekly portion of the pod tournament.  I still had my Mordikaar combined arms, Naaresh beast brick, and Xekaar ranged brick for lists.  My opponent this week was Josh, who had brought Trollbloods.  He was bringing Ragnor with a beast brick, Horgle 2 with a Mountain King, and Grissel 2 with a Mountain King and 2 bombers.  My strongest drop into all of them was Naaresh, who had good armor cracking and an Arm buff.  Josh was on the fence between Grissel and Horgle, but went with Grissel.