Skip to main content

New Year, New Lists!

I am back and hoping to start posting a little more consistently.  I will be aiming for a post every other week and see if I can make time to keep up with that pace.

In January, we started a new scrum (29 players, the local meta is strong).  I had decided I wanted to play Venethrax in Black Industries.  I wasn't really sure what to pair with it.  When I mentioned this to the local group, Brad Park asked if he could build my second list.  He ended up creating a Coven list in Scourge.  When I first saw that list, I really wasn't sure what to think or how it would play out, but I ended up playing it in 3 of my 5 games and went 2-1 with it.  Considering I was still learning what the list is meant to do, I am pretty happy with this result.  I will also say, my appreciation for this list has deepened with every game I played with it.

[Coven 1] The Witch Coven of Garlghast [+26] - Scourge of the Broken Coast
 - Barathrum [15]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Scavenger [7]
 - Scavenger [7]
 - Scavenger [7]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)]
Void Archon [8]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]
Blighted Trollkin Marauders (max) [15]
 - Jussika Bloodtongue [5]
Satyxis Blood Witches (min) [8]
 - Satyxis Blood Hag [4]
Scharde Dirge Seers [0(6)]


The list wants to play a very hit and run style and makes efficient use of cycling infernal machine.  Ideally, 2 or 3 jacks go in and then trigger either sprint or drag below to get back out of threat range.  The units are largely there to screen for the jacks, proc gang fighter and provide souls to the void archon.  Between gang fighter, dark shroud and curse of shadows there is a decent ability to deal with armor.  I have also become a fan of tossing ghost walk on a scavenger and running it to contest something.  A def 15 jack is not trivial to remove and will often either require a heavier points investment than your opponent wants to devote to a light jack or they will under commit and the scavenger contests for multiple turns.

To this point, the feat is the most underwhelming part of the list.  That said, I have only used it in the most direct fashion.  The way I have been using it is as a bottom of 1 or top of 2 feat, so I can either setup an alpha or force my opponent to back up a bit.  After talking it over with a couple people, there are some next level plays with the feat that I want to try and exploit.  Specifically, sending scavengers and Barathrum in, having them sprint or drag below to get away and then pop feat to protect them from getting charged in retaliation.  There are a bunch of conditions that need to be met for this to work, but it's something I am trying to keep in mind.  I also have yet to cast veil of mists.  I would like to say it's because the ease of distributing eyeless sight makes it a less than amazing investment, but the reality is that cycling infernal machine and casting curse of shadows or ghost walk tends to take priority.  I cannot believe I am saying this, but even at Focus 9 I frequently have to make difficult choices about what spells I am going to cast on a given turn.

With the January scrum over, I found that I enjoyed the list so much I want to make it one that I focus on trying to master.  I next needed to figure out what my second list should be.  While I love Venethrax, he still has some short comings.  Mortality and terminal velocity are absolutely amazing spells, but it is very difficult to leverage both in a single turn while fueling even a single jack unless mortality is coming from a spell slave.  I ended up discussing things with Brad again he suggested I could go one of two ways.  First, if I just wanted to have some fun and pick up wins I could pair with Skarre1.  However, I could also look at pairing with Deneghra2.  Playing Denny2 would help me improve my game much more than playing Skarre1.  I decided that I would start playing Deneghra2 again.  Last time I played Denny2 it was almost two years ago and I was playing her in Dark Host.  In order to properly complement the Coven list, I wanted to bring her in Black Industries.  Here is my first run at the Denny2 list.

[Deneghra 2] Wraith Witch Deneghra [+28] - Black Industries
 - Barathrum [15]
 - Deathjack [23]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Slayer [10]
 - Slayer [10]
 - Slayer [10]
Hellslinger Phantom [0(7)]
Necrotech [0(2)]
Necrotech [0(2)]
Necrotech [0(2)]
Soul Trapper [1]
Void Archon [8]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
 - Brute Thrall (3) [0(6)]

I think this is a fairly standard issue Denny2 BI list.  I am very used to playing with lots of infantry on the table and the low model count here is something I need to learn how to deal with.  I need to get used to sending my heavies in at the appropriate times and using breath stealer to protect them as much as possible.   My piece trading will need to become very efficient if I am going to have success with this list.  I think Denny2 is a very skill intensive caster and the hope is that playing this list will force me to learn how to position better and anticipate where models need to be not just that turn, but the next turn as well.

Last night, I got my first game in with the Denny2 list.  I played a friendly game against Crucible Guard running Mackay.  My next post will be a battle report on how that game went down.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

Hey all and welcome!  I have no idea who might actually be reading this, but let me tell you a little about me.  I like to consider myself a gamer.  For a long time, I thought that meant I was specifically into video games.  Then, I discovered table top RPGs.  Later came board games (real board games, not Monopoly and Clue, but things like Catan and Pandemic).  It was really only a matter of time before I found my way to tabletop war gaming.  My game of choice is Warmachine.  It's still the one and only table top war game I have played, though if I had the money and time I am sure I would find others enjoyable as well.  My first faction was Cryx.  Before I knew anything about rules, I read up on the fluff and decided that nothing could be better than a faction of undead necromancer pirate robots.  By happy coincidence, Cryx seems to be pretty good.  I started playing early in MK2 and promptly lost.  A lot.  I know t...

September Scrum Round 1

Round 1:  vs Christopher Michael Scenario:  Spread the Net The next Scrum begins with me paired up against Chris, who brings Grymkin to the party.  I spent a large portion of my work day studying up on Grymkin, and specifically his pairing.  Here are the lists we brought: Me: [Deneghra 2] Wraith Witch Deneghra [+28] -Dark Host  - Deathripper [6]  - Deathripper [6]  - Stalker [8]  - Stalker [8]  - Skarlock Thrall [0(4)] Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)] Darragh Wrathe [9] Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5] Soul Trapper [1] Bane Knights (max) [15] Bane Riders (max) [20] Bane Warriors (min) [10]  - Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [0(5)] Wraith Engine [15] [Skarre 3] Skarre, Admiral of the Black Fleet [+27] - Slaughter Fleet Raiders  - Kraken [36]  - Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)] Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)] General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)] Ragman [4] Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6] Blighted Trollkin Marauders ...

March 2018 Scrum - Lists Submitted

After my success in the previous scrum (4-1 record), I immediately wanted to start planning for the next one.  My first thought was that my Skarre1 Dark Host list performed so well that I would repeat that as my primary list.  I wanted to really master that list before I moved on.  When thinking about my second list, I knew I needed to move on from Venethrax.  As much as I love Venethrax, he did not seem to be a great compliment for the Skarre1 list.  Therefore, I was going to try and work on a different off list.  Without really considering how she would compliment my Skarre1 list, I decided that I wanted to put together a Deneghra2 list. I started trying to come up with some initial ideas, but kept coming back to the idea that Denny2 just wanted to be in Dark Host.  I was mulling this over with Mark Howard, who runs the Scrum, and he suggested I reach out to Brad Park, who has been rolling Denny2 with some solid success.  Naturally, at the end...