Hordes/Warmachine: Morvahna the Dawnshadow Analysis & Video Battle Report
Morvahna the Dawnshadow is released, and let me say that Circle Orboros players have a reason to rejoice. More below the break!
I managed to get my first game with Morvahna the Dawnshadow in today. Sometimes you play a new warlock and discover that their learning curve is high, or that some of their abilities or combinations with them didn’t quite have the impact that you would have hoped for. Well, today was one of those happy occasions when these weren’t the case.
Morvahna the Dawnshadow’s premier ability is Scales of Fate, which allows models in her control area to reroll attack or damage rolls at the cost of Morvahna suffering d3 damage. This may sound horrifying and like a huge risk to your warlock, but Morvahna has two abilities that mitigate the damage she suffers: Imperishable Conviction and Carnivore. The former allows her to heal one damage point whenever an enemy model destroys a friendly living model. The latter grants target model/unit a +2 bonus to attack rolls against living models, and when they box an enemy living model, it is removed from play and Morvahna heals d3 damage. This had me looking for models that struck me as tailor-made for those abilities.
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| Wolves of Orboros: finally a set at the table |
Imperishable Conviction is easy; you want models that are threatening enough to pay attention to, yet numerable and somewhat easy to destroy. Wolves of Orboros fit the bill nicely since they’re pretty cheap at 4/6, are a large unit, and have further synergy with Scales of Fate due to their Power Swell ability from their unit attachment, which is a once-per-game bonus that provides an extra die on melee damage rolls. Since rolling 4d6 for damage presents the opportunity to reap high rolling spikes, the ability to reroll damage helps to increase these odds while also reducing the potential for low spikes. In my first game, I converted a low damage roll of 8 into a damage roll of an obscene 20, just for suffering a few damage points that were soon healed when some of those models died during the next turn, triggering Imperishable Conviction. Plus, I’ve always liked the Wolves of Orboros, but have struggled to make them work on the table. This felt like a great opportunity for them.
Since I was running Wolves of Orboros, Wolf Lord Morraig seemed an appropriate addition. Even though he can’t be brought back with her feat, Morraig is a great hit-and-run specialist, and the ability to re-roll his crazy, 5d6 damage rolls under Flank was just too juicy to pass up. The Dawnshadow also has Fog of War, which grants models in her control area concealment, which triggers Prowl on Morraig, granting him Stealth.
I agonized over Carnivore for some time, but eventually settled on Warpborn Skinwalkers with the Warpborn Alpha Unit Attachment. With two attacks a piece and somewhat mediocre MAT, they actually get pretty fantastic mileage out of Carnivore. The only negative is that they are unable to benefit from their self-healing ability, Blood Drinker, since Carnivore removes the model from play before it reaches the destroyed stage. However, in my games with the Alpha, I found that Rapid Strike was really the biggest benefit that the Alpha provided, and that Blood Drinker was just gravy, so losing its effect was palatable. Skinwalkers also come back with full health if I use Morvahna’s feat, making them the gift that keeps on giving.
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| Warpwolf Stalkers love Concealment |
I recently did an interview with Will Pagani about his eVyros/Griffin spam list, and I quickly noticed that his eMorvahna list that he took to Mayhem Cup had a similar core to the one that I was working on, so I decided to look at the rest of his list, and I liked what I saw. You can actually see the unedited video of his championship game over at endgamegaming.net. He ran a pair of Warpwolf Stalkers, which benefit nicely from Morvahna’s Fog of War spell since they can warp for Prowl and are beautiful hit-and-run specialists with their animus, which grants Sprint. Their animus can also be handed to other models, potentially giving Morvahna or Morraig an unparalleled ability to kill a target, make a 5″ light cavalry move, then move their full SPD. He rounded the list out with a Gorax, a pair of Shifting Stones units, a Stone Keeper, and a pair of Gallows Groves, all very standard choices for a Circle Orboros list.
This all struck me as a very academic exercise of what would pair well with Morvahna the Dawnshadow, so I scooped up his list and ran with it.
Morvahna the Dawnshadow (*5pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
* Stone keeper (1pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
Warpborn Skinwalkers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warpborn Alpha (3pts)
Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard (2pts)
Gallows Grove (1pts)
Gallows Grove (1pts)
Wolflord Morraig (5pts)
Some months ago, Muse on Minis, an Iowa-based Warmachine/Hordes podcast, had a discussion on list-building theory and how one should examine their list in terms of how it deals with what they saw as the three paths to victory: attrition, scenario, and assassination, and that any good list should be able to present a strong game for at least two of those paths. That was a really eye-opening moment for me. I’ve been playing Warmachine since 2005 and Hordes since its release, but I had never really considered my lists in that light. Looking specifically at Morvahna’s strengths, she obviously presents a strong attrition threat, but what I completely did not expect was for her to be able to assassinate so damned well thanks to her high SPD, Carnivore, Ram on her Mount, and Life Trader. Had I played a little more aggressively with my Skinwalkers, I would probably have jammed a bit better as well, helping to also increase the list’s ability to win the scenario game. Hell, in the above game, I didn’t use her feat until the last attack of the game, merely to deny Macbain from using Tough. Had I stuck it out for a scenario victory, I could have simply returned my Skinwalkers back into melee with his front line while I continued to dominate my flag for another turn or three. With two of his three heavies gone, the survivor on the left flank, and only Steelhead Halberdiers and Risen to contest, I probably could have taken the game just by dominating my own flag.
Like I said earlier, Morvahna the Dawnshadow is a joy to play with. Okay, I didn’t say it, but I should have said it. Hell, I should be shouting it. She reminds me a bit of Zaal, in that she can pretty much turn anything in her army “on” with Scales of Fate. I have some experiments that I’d like to do with Morvahna, specifically running a pair of Reeve Hunter solos and a trio of War Wolves, hoping to take advantage of her feat, Scales of Fate, and Sick ’em to pull off some bizarre assassinations from crazy angles of attack.
Morvahna the Dawnshadow: great warlock or the greatest warlock? Sound off!
