Way of the Wilds: The Road to WAR Games Con
Looking over the schedule for Warmachine/Hordes events at the fast-approaching WAR Games Con has my brain twitching about what Circle Orboros force to bring. There are several event types at the convention, each with different list requirements, and I am consequently dredging my ever-growing collection of lists trying to find what should go where. Let us peruse the schedule.
Friday has a pair of events to choose from: a 15-point Blitzmachine Event, and a 50-point “Classic” Hardcore Tournament. The Blitzmachine Event is effectively a 15-point Mangled Metal/Claw and Fang affair with 3-minute turns and a single 1-minute extension. WAR Games Con ran this event last year as well, and while I did enjoy it, I think I’d prefer the second tournament option, the 50-point “Classic” Hardcore.
What separates the “Classic” format from the current is the use of 7-minute timed turns without an extension instead of chess clocks, exclusive use of the Kill Box artifice, and ties counting as a loss instead of timing-out counting as a player loss. It’s either go big with a caster assassination, or go home. For this event, I’m planning on running this list:
Kaya the Moonhunter (+3)
– Laris
– Feral Warpwolf – 9
– Ghetorix – 11
– Gorax – 4
– Warpwolf Stalker – 10
– Druid Wilder – 2
Blackclad Wayfarer – 2
Druids of Orboros – 7
– Druids of Orboros Overseer – 2
Gallows Groves – 1
Shifting Stones – 2
– Stone Keeper – 1
Shifting Stones – 2
I’ve run this list a few times, and I feel pretty comfortable with it. With only 23 models, the count is low enough that I feel that I can execute the list quickly. The big weakness of this list is the lack of trade pieces since my heavy warbeasts are so expensive, but my ability to hit from long range via Shifting Stones, Dog Pile/Hunter’s Mark, and Force Bolt and pull out with Kaya’s feat or the Stalker’s animus should help me to avoid unfavorable trades. I have plenty of hitting power with the three Warpwolves, Primal, and Forced Evolution.
Since swarms of high-DEF infantry aren’t as prevalent in the Hardcore format due to the constraints of having to activate your army in such a small amount of time, I’m not particularly concerned about them, None-the-less, I do have a few answers, namely the Druid Overseer’s Devouring and the Stone Keeper’s oft-forgotten Stone Fall.
Hard control elements can sometimes be troublesome, particularly those that deny movement, but the Shifting Stones have proven pretty effective here. Forcebolt and Muzzle will help to provide just a little bit of my own.
Saturday is host to a pair of qualifying 50-point tournaments for Sunday’s Masters event. The qualifier events are staggered throughout the day to accomodate players with different time constraints as well as to create more chances for more people to walk away with prize support. The top six players from each of the qualifier tournaments will advance to Masters on Sunday.
The 50-point qualifier is a straight SR2012 event, so I’m planning on running a Kromac list and a Krueger 2 list. My Kromac list contains:
Kromac the Ravenous (+4)
– Feral Warpwolf – 9
– Ghetorix – 11
– Gorax – 4
– Warpwolf Stalker – 10
– Druid Wilder – 2
Blackclad Wayfarer – 2
Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers – 5
Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers – 5
Shifting Stones – 2
– Stone Keeper – 1
Shifting Stones – 1
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew – 1
Reinforcements –
Tharn Wolf Riders (Leader +4) – 10
I’ve run this list several times, and I generally like the feel of it. In my play testing, I’ve swapped out the pair of Woldstalker units for the Celestial Fulcrum and a Gallows Grove, and I liked the reliability of the Fulcrum for triggering Warpath thanks to its ability to boost in addition to the protection it can provide Kromac in the form of that huge, 120 mm base, so I could end up changing to that. While I would have less attacks with the Fulcrum over ten Woldstalkers, I would have access to ranged attacks that can kill high-DEF or Stealth models thanks to its 4″, Fire-causing AOE and its 10″ spray.
Like the Kaya list above, this list is fast and has a lot of answers. Warpath and Sprint can provide my heavies with an impressive extraction method, effectively allowing them to move 9″ after killing a model. Woldstalkers or a Fulcrum would bring some fantastic anti-infantry support as would a trampling Feral or berserk-ing Stalker with Wild Aggression. Use of Inviolable Resolve on either a Feral warped for ARM or an engaging Ghetorix will provide a nice, solid tanking option.
I like the Wolf Riders as reinforcements for the speed they provide. Since Prey targets must be decided before the first turn, choosing a Prey target for them can be a little tricky since they deploy mid-game, so I often simply choose the enemy warcaster or warlock to put them on their heels from the start, else go with either a forward tar pit or something slow and ponderous on the right flank.
This list is obviously meant to be aggressive with its long threat range and significant hitting power and is direct complement to my next list, which concentrates on winning through battlefield and tempo control.
Krueger the Stormlord (+5)
– Gorax – 4
– Megalith – 11
– Warpwolf Stalker – 10
Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers – 5
Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers – 5
Druids of Orboros – 7
– Druids of Orboros Overseer – 2
2x Gallows Groves – 2
Lord of the Feast – 4
Shifting Stones – 2
Shifting Stones – 2
– Stone Keeper – 1
Reinforcements –
Tharn Wolf Riders (Leader +4) – 10
This list has loads of anti-infantry power including Krueger’s Lightning Storm, the Woldstalkers, the berserk-ing Warpwolf Stalker, and AOEs from the Overseer and Stonekeeper. Krueger is also great at avoiding ranged assassination thanks to Storm Wall, which reduces enemy RNG by 5 as well as allowing me to dictate enemy AOE deviation directions.
His real strength, however, comes from his control elements, namely Gallows, Telekinesis, and his feat. These let Krueger do things like turn a heavy around to deny it a charge on the following turn, remove models from scoring zones, or pull models into the loving embrace of the Warpwolf Stalker or Woldstalkers. This is further compounded by the Druids, which provide additional control via Force Bolt. Any scenario that involves holding a scoring zone, flag, or objective near the center of the board has proven to be a playground for this list.
The one thing that this list is a bit weak on, however, is hitting power, so I’ll need to be wary of enemy lists that are loaded to the gills with high-ARM, multi-wound targets.
The Woldstalkers have proven to be real champs here with Krueger’s ability to turn enemy targets around with Telekinesis so that they get a back strike bonus. In one of my test games, a single unit softened up Molik Karn so that a Stalker could charge in and kill him with a single swing of its sword before Sprinting to safety.
If I manage to qualify for Sunday’s big Masters Tournament, I’ll need three different lists obeying the rules for character restrictions. For familiarity’s sake, I’ll be running the two above lists with the following as my third:
Kaya the Moonhunter (+3)
– Laris
– Feral Warpwolf – 9
– Argus – 4
– Gorax – 4
– Warpwolf Stalker – 10
– Warpwolf Stalker – 10
– Druid Wilder – 2
Druids of Orboros – 7
– Druids of Orboros Overseer – 2
Shifting Stones – 2
– Stone Keeper – 1
Shifting Stones – 2
Reinforcements –
Pureblood Warpwolf – 9
War Wolf – 1
I was originally planning on bringing Cassius as my third list, but I found that making him work well on a consistent basis proved difficult. He has some great tools at his disposal, but it can take a lot of effort and extremely careful planning to make them work. Additionally, he has a lot of weaknesses that will limit just how effective he can be on the table.
Instead, I’m going to be a taking Epic Kaya’s Theme List at first tier, which allows me to Advance Deploy all of my heavy warbeasts. It’s not much unlike my Hardcore list, so it should be fairly familiar to me in execution. I really like the paired Stalkers so I have a redundant source of Sprint if one of them dies. I’ve also taken a liking to taking a single Argus as a cheap, throw-away guided missile if I slap Forced Evolution and Primal on, boosting it up to an effective MAT 7, P+S 16 with a pair of attacks, free charges (via Kaya’s Alpha rule), a solid SPD value, and its ability to stop a heavy from closing on one my expensive Warpwolves with its Doppler Bark attack. It’s arguably not the best buy, but the nature of the limits my choices.
For Reinforcements, I’ve added in a Pureblood Warpwolf and a War Wolf for filler. A Pureblood rolling off a flank could seriously catch someone off-guard with its long threat range on its spray attack. With the ability to boost outside of Kaya’s control area when it comes on the board, I can advance it on, unleash its spray, then pull it back to Kaya with her feat.
If things on Saturday don’t go well, I’m planning on running whatever strikes my fancy on Sunday for the 35-point, “Flanks for Everything” Tournament, which exclusively uses scenarios with the Reinforcement artifice, most likely looking at Morvahna with Bloodtrackers and Wold Guardians as well as a solo-heavy Grayle army for giggles.
Who else is bringing the pain to WGC for Warmachine and Hordes next month?
