Again apologies for the delay, but if you have read my last blog I'm sure you will forgive me.
So the guys at the club are looking at running a Journeyman league. Great! what a chance to start some of the models I have sitting around! That leads me to many choices, I currently have the Skorne, Circle, Khador and Convergence starter sets (I know have FADD Faction Attention Deficit Disorder).
So I'm going to list what I have, what stage its at and what I like and dislike about them and hopefully at the end of this make a choice...
Khador:
I have the 2 player starter set (My main Warmachine faction is Menoth, always has been, always will be), so that gives me the Warcaster Sorscha and 2 heavy warjacks, the Juggernaut and the Destroyer.
I like Sorscha, nice all round states with a Focus of 6, great spell list which can be used to produce a great assassination run from a lot further away than most unaware opponents would think. Her Feat can be quite scary, nobody likes being stationary! But is limited to her line of sight, so a bit of careful planning needed. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of a young pale skinned beauty with a bloody great hammer?
The Juggernaut is slow and almost impossible to miss! But with solid armour, one hell of a right hook holding a bloody great axe that could (if your lucky) freeze your target and coming in at 7 points its a winner to me.
The Destroyer having the same stats as the Juggernaut suffers all the same problems, costs 9 points and does not hit as hard. But what does have is big gun, an appalling RAT, but it is a big gun! To get the most out of it you will need to feed it Focus, which will decrease Sorscha's effectiveness. It's an okay Jack, but at 9 points I think there are better.
These guys are stuck together... that is all!
The Convergence of Cyriss (COC):
I got the starter box as I won the Prime Axiom from Beasts of War and thought it was a shame to leave it sitting on the shelf.
The box has Forge Master Syntherion as its Warcaster and 2 Light Vectors (they are not Warjacks) the Galvanizer and the Mitigator. The set is finished off with the Cipher Heavy Vector. Forge Master Syntherion has pretty average stats across the board apart his armour which is the same as some Heavy Warjacks! he has a nice ranged attack and 2 good melee attacks. He is Focus 6 and is a construct, that's right he can be repaired! His abilities are awesome, what with auto repair for his battlegroup and resourceful to hold onto that Focus, so far so good. His spell list makes him a Vector caster, all his spells buff his Vectors or de-buff the enemy Jacks. His Feat is as you would expect Vector orientated, a bit underwhelming but could come in handy. I do like this guy, but he does look like a Swiss Army Knife!
Vectors are a little different from Jacks in the fact they do not have a cortex and have no set MAT or RAT, they use the Warcasters. They can also share Focus!
The Galvanizer is pretty weak looking at his card, medium armour and small damage grid does not bode well. But he is a repair Vector at heart so should come in useful.
The Mitigator is the same as the Galvanizer, weak, but he has the bonus of having a really weak melee attack and a really short range weapon! His saving grace is that his really short ranged attack has a few little trick attached to it. An auto point of damage and then knocking everything down under the template is not to taken lightly.
The Cipher Heavy Vector, now this is what you call a nice piece of kit. A bit slow but solid all round, with a healthy damage grid. it's Steady, has 2 high powered melee attacks and a range attack with 3 options for the ammo. All in all, yes please.
These guys are in a box somewhere...
Skorne:
Now I'm not sure if I can use this list as I don't have the official starter set. I have Master Tormentor Morghoul, the Titan Gladiator, 1 Cyclops Savage and 1 Cyclops Brute. The starter set comes with 2 Savages and no Brute. Anyone that has a problem with this shall be labeled a coward for not wanting to face the might that is Skorne!
Morghoul stats are great, his defense jumps out as amazing, but his armour jumps out as appalling! lets face it, if anything can hit him, his dead. He is only Fury 5 which is a bummer but livable, he has a long list of really good abilities. His spells don't really focus on any one factor like Syntherion's above, but any spell list that Admonition is great for that alone! His Feat mainly affects Hordes forces, but does also limits Warmachine forces as well. With a little help (defensive animi) I can see this guy working.
The Savage has an average Light Warbeasts stats, attack and damage spiral. His ability to choose to boost after rolling is really handy and his animus give this ability to others, which can be really really handy.
The Brute has pretty much the same average stats as the Savage but higher armour and does not hit as hard. He has some really good defensive abilities and his Animus stops things being knocked down, which is always handy.
The Gladiator is a beast! a bit slow but his Animus helps there, the rest of his stats are solid. His abilities are great for aggressive play with an almighty slam attack and 3 melee attacks before you have to start forcing him he really needs to be stuck in.
These guys were my original pick for the League so are all finished except the Brute. I got to play them for the first time the other day (I used Naaresh not Morghoul though), and you can see the result
here.
Circle of Orboros:
I also have the Hordes 2 player starter set, but Lano from the club has the Legion bits.
As I have this set I will use the alternate starter set of Kaya the Wildborne, the Feral Warpwolf, 1 Argus Hound and 1 Winter Argus Hound.
Kaya has good stats apart from her armour which is bad, she has 6 focus and great ability that makes living Warbeasts better. Her spell list is a mixed bag covering defense, Fury management, movement and offense. Her Feat only affects her, but is quite powerful if played at the right time.
The Argus is another average Light Warbeast that has a spray attack that does no damage but does de-buff the target and it's Animus is handy for a faction that lives in the forest but doesn't have Heavies with pathfinder as standard!
The Winter Argus is the same as the Argus but has 2 much better ranged attacks and an Animus that increases armour, but it ranged self so only it and the Warlock can have it. It is one of my favorite Light Warbeasts.
The Feral is pretty fast for a Heavy Warbeast with good defense, but slightly low armour. Its 3 attacks are not that powerful, but will dent most things. Its special ability Controlled Warping can increase its speed, strength and armour, but only 1 at a time, which is a shame. Its Animus is very limited but when facing someone like Morghoul who has Fury issues anyway, it could be good.
All of these except Kaya are painted and can be found in my last blog.
So there we have it, decisions, decisions, decisions...
I think I'm leaning towards COC or Skorne at this point, but all still sound good to me.
I'll back soon to let you know what I went for and how they get on..
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon.
