HORDES!!! - Skorne Project Update

Here we go again! Time for a project update, my life has been a bit on the hectic side for the last month or so (as  it always is at the end of Con season since I end up going to two or three of them) and I'm still commuting to work ever Monday and home on Friday so my hobby time has to compete with my Honey Do and family time as well as my gaming...Gears of War3 hit and wooooo is it solid!

OK so I'll start by saying I've got the 'problem' with blog updates nailed down to the fact that I can't stand taking pictures, transferring them to my PC, uploading them to photobucket and then pasting them here.  It's just SO tedious.

So I guess I'll start with the list, I'll be starting off with Supreme Archdomina Makeda or the almight eMak.  Starting at 25 points and moving on to 35 and later 50, I'll start with the list and then why.  I'm building a simple Tier 2 list (Tier lists give us fluff players a much better chance at being competitive on the tourney scene in my opinion...not that I had much trouble before...but now I'm rewarded for building lists that fit into the fluff)!  So here's the list:

Supreme Archdomina Makeda +5
Cyclops Brute - 5
Cyclops Savage - 5
Cyclops Savage - 5
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) - 3
Praetorian Swordsman (Leader and 5 Grunts) - 4
Praetorian Swordsman Officer and Standard - FREE
Praetorian Swordsman (Leader and 5 Grunts) - 4
Praetorian Swordsman Officer and Standard - 2
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor - 2

25 points on the nose!!! I love it when a plan comes together - dun da dun daaaa dun dun dun

So the choices are derived obviously from the rules of the Tier list - I can only have Cyclops warbeast and Molik Karn...well at 11 points, MK is too much of a point sink in 25 points...and a bit cheezy to me to put on the table at that low of spread.  So the decision was pretty simple...load up on Cyclops!! :D 

I took a Brute as my +5 since it's a great defensive beast and it will hang with eMak as she rolls into the fray, keeping her safe from the ranged shots with Shield Guard along with a set of solid defensive buffs in Intuition and Safeguard.  Being able to force a re-roll and not having to worry about knockdown when slammed is a set of great abilities to have around a warlock.  With a DEF of 15 against charge, slam or impact attacks, it's over average rolls to hit for most and the ARM of 19 with that big ass shield means he can soak up a bit as well.  This guy is fairly important in the overall scheme of things as eMak is definitely a lead the army into the mess kind of warlock, she just needs to get into the thick of it to make the most of her spells and abilities, so having another tool to keep her alive is paramount.

My second and third beast choices consist of a pair of Cyclops Savages.  A solid mainstay medium based warbeast, they have decent hitting power, decent DEF and ARM and being able to boost after the fact with Future Sight.  With Prescience as an animus I can also give eMak (or any other faction model) the same benefit when needed.

With no heavy's (high damage output models) a max unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers is truly needed here to make sure my Savages are taking care of business as needed on the heavy's I'm sure they'll be facing.

To hit Tier 2, I have to have 2 units of Praetorian Swordsman in the force, but I get a free UA for unit 2 out of the deal, which is pretty solid as the UA make a pretty solid melee unit and make them a bit better.  I've had units wreck heavy warjacks in the past, but not having any way to buff their STR or damage rolls yet I don't see this happening all that often as on a charge averaging 10 on the dice with a Combo Strike, that's still on 2 damage per model on a Khador 'jack.  :P  But with Vengeance from eMaks Elite Cadre, boosted attack rolss from her feat, Side Step from the UA and Perfect Strike once a game for BOTH units, I can pretty much guarantee that when they get into contact with units, those units will fold like fresh set of linens!  

I'll have to rely on the SPD of the army to make it into contact with the enemy forces as soon as I can, but with Road to War, Leash and the solid high base SPD of the models in the army, that should not be too much of an issue. Stay Death will help keep a model or three alive in the early game as I cross the table and the fact that models don't flee and immediately rally in her CMD range make worrying about CMD checks a very low priority.

Now rounding out the pack is Orin Midwinter, a solid solo who can bounce some lighting around like a couple of well know Cygnar casters and stop an enemy caster from casting spells during those all important last couple of turns when little trix are what are needed to turn the tide of the game or solidify that victory.

I won't dig into eMak as I can't give away all my secrets.  :P  More like it's late and I need to crash.

So there it is, my base list, feel free to let me know what you think...it won't change anything as this is what I want to play and it's a solid start to a Tier list that should bring me some good wins, but I'm always happy to see what other people have to say about my lists and thoughts on lists.

Til next time keep your paint thinned and your brushes clean!!!