Warmachine: Best of the Best – Buffs
Ranking the top three Buff Spells in Warmachine and Hordes.
Chalkboard here from Chalkboard War, continuing my series of articles on Warmachine and Hordes that examines the “Best of the Best” attributes across all models and factions. We’ll examine the top Feats, Spells, Abilities, Weapons, Stat Lines, Damage Grids, and anything else that appears on model entries in the game. All to give you a sense for which models are among the best on those categories.
This Week, Buff spells. This is the first of three types of spells (stay tuned for the next two weeks for Nukes and Debuffs), and this week focuses on spells that make your forces better. Whether they increase stats, give additional abilities, or enhance certain units from good to great, Buffs are a critical part of some Warcasters’ and Warlocks’ game.
So let’s get right to it! The following are my list of the top three Buff spells in Warmachine and Hordes. At the end is a bonus “Dishonorable Mention” for the spell that’s more bust than buff.
Number Three: Defender’s Ward (Tyrant Xerxis)
I had to include a stat boosting buff in the list, as so many Buffs add to a model or unit’s abilities. There are a number of great ones that leverage some good abilities, but the classic is Defender’s Ward. +2 DEF and +2 ARM can be a strong swing for many units. In particular, it makes already defensive units reach absurd heights. In a world where +2 to one of these stats can be powerful, getting two for the price of one is top notch.
While a few Warcasters and Warlocks have the spell, I think Xerxis1 is best equipped to make the most of it. Cataphract Ceterati can really flourish with their strong defensive start, and the assorted defensive layers that Skorne can gain through Warbeast support. Putting Defender’s Ward on them gets them from hard to kill to extremely hard to kill. Under ideal circumstances, a Ceterati can be DEF 15 and effective ARM 24 with hit boxes and Tough under Defender’s Ward.
Number Two: Unstoppable Force (General Ossrum)
Ossrum isn’t the only Unstoppable Force caster, as Axis in Convergence can do many of the same tricks. What makes Unstoppable Force a powerful Buff is simple: it gives a huge amount of board control to a warjack-heavy list. Every Battlegroup model gains Bulldoze with this spell.That means Battlegroups with plentiful warjacks can shift opponents in serious fashion. In many scenarios, this single spell can lead to a rough situation for opponents, as their contesting models get pushed out of zones and away from flags. Where Ossrum really shines is that this spell can free up his warjacks to shoot in deadly fashion if they’re engaged, in addition to enabling the scenario play. It’s a powerful buff thanks to the coverage and variability that it can give to your list.
Number One: Signs & Portents (Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince)
Like Defender’s Ward above, it’s the rare spell that affects two stats at once. Signs & Portents affects three, and it affects the entire army. This spell is a MAT fixer, a RAT fixer, and a Damage fixer all in one. It’s simple: it adds an additional dice to attack and damage rolls, and then discards the lowest. Note that it’s additional dice. Boosting can bring it beyond that, making charging models and Warjacks particularly devastating. Vlad1 is a dominant caster on the virtue of this spell alone. Never mind that he has a nasty Feat and the ability to close games himself as needed. For comparison, this Spell is the main part of Xerxis2’s Feat (minus the “control range” boost). With ample options to make a variety of lists leveraging this spell, it’s definitely a powerhouse Buff.
Dishonorable Mention
There are a bunch of buffs that are lackluster, making it rather tough to pick the most lacking of lusters for this one. Many are buffs that are highly situational. They might give only a single sub-par unit an advantage, or might be particular to only certain kinds of match ups.
I went for Blood Thorn, one of Bethayne’s upkeep spells. Blood Thorn gives a friendly faction model/unit’s melee and ranged weapons the Corrosion quality. Corrosion has always been underwhelming to me, and this case strikes me as particularly narrow. For this to be useful, you’ve got to take models that cannot break the ARM stat of enemy models reliably. And with this spell, that unit gains some play against single wound infantry. But of course, 1/3 of the time it fails at that.
That said, there are some specific match-ups where it can be more powerful. The spell has good leverage against massed Tough troops with high ARM and a single wound that can be knocked down. There are lists that run that way to be sure, but it’s still corner case and under-reliable.
~ Does this ranking fit your thoughts? Did we miss a critical attribute? Was a great model overlooked, or a powerful interaction missed? Is Number One really that good? Do you think the “Dishonorable Mention” is not so dishonorable after all? Let us know in the comments below!
To watch the worst of the worst hit the tabletop, check out Chalkboard’s Warmachine and Hordes blog at:
www.chalkboardwar.com
