Masters

I’ve booked in a couple of tournaments for the not too distant future, the National Masters being held at the North West Gaming Centre, near Manchester being the main event.  This is a 128 player ‘Masters’ event taking seven rounds to find a champion.  It will probably be the biggest event of the year and all of the ‘who’s who’ of the community will be there.  I’m under no illusion that this will be one of the toughest events I have ever attended for Warmachine, all the top players, a two day gruelling challenge and most likely a stifling hot atmosphere!

I have also just attended the ‘Brothers in Armour’ doubles tournament on 09/06/2013, partnering Paul North – I’ll do another blog entry on this in the near future. [spoiler we won]!!

National Masters 2013:

Regarding the Masters, I am pretty much decided on lists now; I’m going with Kreoss1, Feora2 and Harbinger.  The latter caster has seen a lot of table time recently and the list has evolved to something that I am both comfortable with and somewhat competitive too (more so than the Feora1 and Kreoss3 lists I've been tinkering with lately).  I’ve tweaked the Feora2 list a little and switched the second Reckoner for a Vanquisher, then due to this change, dropped the Zealots unit down to a minimum size and squeezed in a second Vassal.  Reason; having two 4” AoE flaming templates of doom is too good an opportunity to pass up and will get more work done than four zealots.  The other Vassal has a similar function giving the Judicator a third twin missile of flaming goodness, but I also now have more Enliven options.  I am still considering switching the whole Zealot bundle out for the Temple Flameguard bundle in the Kreoss1 list – I just feel the TFG do more work and are more survivable; though the Zealot mini-feat and the KD feat of Kreoss1 is a very strong synergy.  Below are the three lists I’m likely to take:

The Lists:

Harbinger	+5	Feora, Protector of the Flame	+6	High Exemplar Kreoss	+5
*Reckoner	8	*Reckoner	8	*Reckoner	8
*Heirophant	2	*Vanquisher	8	*Reckoner	8
Avatar of Menoth	11	*Judicator (bonded)	18	(4) Choir of Menoth	2
(4) Choir of Menoth	2	(4) Choir of Menoth	2	(10) Exemplar Errants	8
(6) Exemplar Errants	5	(6) Holy Zealots	4	Exemplar Errants UA	2
Exemplar Errants UA	2	Holy Zealots Monolith Bearer	2	(10) Holy Zealots	6
(5) Exemplar Vengers	11	(10) Temple Flameguard	6	Holy Zealots Monolith Bearer	2
(10) Temple Flameguard	6	Temple Flameguard UA	2	Vessel of Judgement	9
Temple Flameguard UA	2	Vassal of Menoth	2	Vassal of Menoth	2
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist	2	Vassal of Menoth	2	Vassal of Menoth	2
Kell Bailoch	2	Vassal Mechanik	1	The Covenant of Menoth	2
Vassal of Menoth	2	(3) The Wracks	1	Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord	2
				Vassal Mechanik	1
				(3) The Wracks	1

Rational behind the lists:

Harbinger

The Harby list is very strong in scenario, her feat is best employed on turn one or two preventing the opposing infantry from advancing and contesting scenario elements.  This isn’t always going to be the case as multi-wound and high ARM units will survive it, certain builds will have no problems such as beast heavy Legion lists for example; but for the most part it will be effective.  This generally boils down to only heavies being able to run forwards and contest, so the Harby player can plan on this and set-up a counter charge to alpha strike said heavies – or go way ahead on control points.  I think that in my practice games so far I’ve won mainly on scenario, though Harby is one of those casters who possesses the trinity of threats: scenario, assassination and attrition in plentiful supply.

The Harbinger list

One of my play-testing changes was to drop the Errants in this list down to a minimum squad, this really felt bad, but they’ve done OK with four less bods and I’m relatively happy with this.  Dropping Gravus was kind of a shame, he synergised really well but in the end he was a big magnet and didn’t really get his points worth – essentially a canny player would target him at range and dismount him reducing his effectiveness greatly.  The list change granted the full TFG unit and I feel they are a real workhorse, they get good use in any list to be fair and they’ve got some great synergy with Harby and her spell list too – so they’re definitely staying!  The Vengers are expensive, but can hit hard from afar, flank if necessary and out-threat/tie up other units when needed.  They block LOS to Harby and saved her bacon from shooting assassinations several times by continually Martyring, for example on a Kara Sloan feat turn, where the battlegroup killed two intervening Vengers about four times over, her Martyring ability keeping them standing and continuing to block LOS!

The army has tools to deal with both armour and infantry, something that a lot of Protectorate units possess both qualities, e.g. Errants charging weapon masters for armour, but also high accuracy stats.  TFG can combine their melee attacks to suit and Protectorate ‘jacks are perhaps the most accurate in the game.  There isn’t a massive amount of assassination threat in the list though everything has the potential, increased speed and an accuracy buff really help here. An Avatar to the face will spell the end for a lot of casters and Harby herself can lay down some hurt, focus 10 with an auto hitting P&S 12 melee weapon or an up to two fully boosted POW20 auto hitting spells is scary.

Feora2

As noted above I made a couple of small changes, I lost some melee threat range on a second Reckoner charging, but gained a really scary AoE and a more surgical method of dealing with infantry, the Zealot mini-feat and set them all on fire for Feora’s feat trick is a lot easier with this and the big AoE synergises well with Feora’s Caustic Presence.

The Feora2 list

The list packs a real punch with the ranged game; Flare from the Reckoner aiding the Judicator’s accuracy when shooting enemy heavies, the ancillary attacks for further damage and the Escort spell giving the ‘jacks 2” more movement to get range.  Clearly the list can deal with infantry; that many continuous fire templates will scare most infantry and Feora2 can surgically target certain models under her feat to almost guarantee this.  With Ignite and the Hymn of Battle the ‘jacks can deal with most armour in the game and the extra movement will help get an alpha strike off.   Perhaps this list can deal with excessive armour more easily than the others, though light infantry will make good hunting too!

In terms of scenario, Feora2 probably has nothing particularly strong to offer, but her army has a good potential to clear zones and scenario elements, she is also very survivable with good native stats and protection buffs, so I’m hopeful she can take charge in scenario by being able to weather an enemy assassination attempt and dominate zones.  Her attrition game is strong and the army can inflict huge damage, assassination wise, she has some tricks and no enemy caster likes being on fire.

Kreoss1

This list has remained the same for quite some time, but synergises well, I’ve mused over swapping the Zealot unit out for the TFG – exactly the same points, possibly because the TFG get more actual work done, though Kreoss’ feat does allow the Zealots two turns of getting out of melee with the enemy and easy pickings for direct hits off their usually low accuracy high POW bombs.  I think the Zealots are staying, but it is always good to muse over these things!

The Kreoss1 list

This list has clearly got a strong assassination threat with the ‘pop and drop’, it can deliver three fully-boosted POW 15’s and two un-boosted to a knocked down target.  If the caster can’t be targeted, or is too tough to kill then the feat can be used in a strong attrition game by killing the enemy army – Errants doing a ‘live the dream’ turn with their Quickwork ability and double tapping enemy infantry.  Regarding scenario, Kreoss1 doesn’t do anything especially effective, though his army is very resilient and can contest zones and scenario elements well, the feat can buy a turn to clear a zone and score points if necessary.

List Match-ups:

This is a real problem for me, I'm just not sure what will do well against certain factions, all of the lists are pretty well balanced so I'd probably do reasonable with whatever I drop against Cygnar for example.  There is a lot of talk about creating and 'anti-X' list, which is perhaps the way to go, but then people build and anti-anti-X list and so on.  To be fair I'm not going to be fighting it out at the top so I'll try and not get too hung up on this, just play what I fancy, or maybe not drop a certain list if they've got a lot of anti-tech, say anti-knockdown in each list would mean Kreoss would be a poor choice.

I've thought about asking various friends who are also honing their Masters lists about which of mine they would least like to face and why, that way I'll see the strengths of my lists rather than focussing on their weaknesses against others.

Glamour shots:

List theory

A couple of entries ago I mused over a couple of new lists, using different Protectorate Casters to complement the tried and tested Kreoss1 and Feora2.  I wanted to try Harbinger and Intercessor Kreoss.  Well, I’ve had a few opportunities to try these two out and the following lists are the current versions:

Harbinger	+5	Intercessor Kreoss	+5
*Reckoner	8	*Vanquisher	8
*Heirophant	2	*Fire of Salvation	8
Avatar	11	*Crusader	5
Choir of Menoth (min)	2	Choir of Menoth (min)	2
Exemplar Errants (max)	8	Exemplar Errants (max)	8
Exemplar Errants UA	2	Exemplar Errants UA	2
Exemplar Vengers (max)	11	Exemplar Vengers (max)	11
High Exemplar Gravus	5	Exemplar Vengers (max)	11
Vassal of Menoth	2
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist	2
Kell Bailoch	2

Harbinger

Harbinger: Source

The Harbinger list is very similar to my good friend Paul North’s, we discussed the merits of the list and the basic idea is to use the Errants and Vengers to jam the opponent and use Harbinger to win via scenario victory, her feat being the key here.  The Vengers can form an anti-shooting screen with their large bases and Gravus stops them being knocked down (dis-allowing LOS to Harby), she can Martyr them like crazy when required.  I’ve mused over Aiana & Holt as well as Rhoven & Co. in exchange for Gorman and Kell.  I’ve also contemplated the switching of Avatar in favour of a second Reckoner and three points, possibly funding a min TFG & UA unit; I am quite keen on the latter and am currently contemplating dropping Gravus to make some room for these.  There are always lots of options, and quite often you wish you had the option you just dismissed!

The Harby list above has had quite a bit of success in the few games I’ve played, primarily winning on scenario as per the list design, I’ve actually enjoyed playing Harby, as in the past I’ve found her a bit boring to play, perhaps playing her up front in the SR2013 has helped here.  I quite like Gravus and he synergises with this list quite nicely, though for five points I do wonder if he is worth it; I suspect I’ll drop him for five points of more effective models, possibly a TFG unit along with the other loose points.  Gorman is always a good solo and I feel his cloud to either try and hide Harby or give her +2 DEF from ranged attacks is important.  He also has some solid use mid-late game throwing Blind grenades.  Kell is also a workhorse and most people agree that he gets his points back every game.  I’ve used him to try and snipe out enemy support pieces, or just to help out in the attrition battle.

Intercessor Kreoss

Intercessor Kreoss: Source

I’ve not played this list as much as the Harby one, but have enjoyed playing it.  I think I gave a brief synopsis of the list a few entries ago, but here it is again, as we’re on the subject!  The list is tier four and qualifies for cheaper melee only ‘jacks, +1 to first turn roll, advance move on a ‘jack and increased FA for cavalry units.  The Signs and Portents on the Vengers/Kreoss is amazing, it increases their accuracy and hitting power quite a bit.  The extra dice and discard the lowest roughly adds +2 to a roll as far as statistics are concerned, so that is effectively MAT11 P&S16 charge attack.  Kreoss3 has Ignite and the Vengers Battle Driven which increases this to a theoretical P&S20 charge attack!  Clearly all of these things have to be in effect and the board state optimal, but still you can see the potential damage output being way above the same Vengers in the Harby list.  Two charging Vengers killed Snap Jaw, the Gatormen Lesser Warlock heavy warbeast, that was one impact attack and two lance hits; they had Ignite and Battle Driven as well as good dice, but still – ouch!

I feel that the list desperately needs a Vassal for the Ancillary Attack for the Vanquisher, but points are just too tight.  I considered dropping the Crusader, but a heavy warjack for 5 points is a bargain and I’d end up with three points spare which wouldn’t really compare to the damage output or survivability of the Crusader.  I’ll just have to accept the Vanquisher can put just one 4” AoE down per turn!!

Painting

Below is the finished Intercessor Kreoss as well as the finished Kell Bailoch – enjoy!

 Kell Bailoch: Awaiting photoshoot! [edit - done]