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.

Upcoming Pod Tournament

The Twin Cities meta is having another Pod tournament.  This time, they split up the pods by skill level, and I decided to play in the "black diamond" category.

I'll be running Skorne, with Makeda 3 and some other Warlock - either Morghoul 2 or Mordikaar 1.

So expect a couple of battle reports in the near future.

Hi Again

I don't know if this means I'm back to blogging, but I just tried post-Exalted Mak3da for the first time, and I'm still mad with power.

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.