FQDII Khador List Review

I’ll be honest, I’ve got the blues a bit at the moment.  Not as regards actual gaming, still doing a fair bit of Blood Bowl and WoW, although the Goblins! game has stalled owing to the near-impossibility of getting seven people into a room at the same time.  Strange that it’s only RPGs that seem so afflicted; the local wargames club pulls in more people than that to play wargames and boardgames every week and most of us manage to turn up regularly.

I do have the blogging blues, though.  It might be that I’ve been talking about one company’s games more than I like to, it might just be one of those fallow periods that we all go through from time to time.  However, I did say I’d have a quick look over the Khador lists that I took to FQDII, just to see what I’ve managed to assimilate from the day, so here goes.

Fun, Quick & Dirty II – Event Report

Rather than take up the blog with game reports for a week, I’ll just direct you here for the blow-by-blow report, and I’ll do the list build review here, when I have time.

Bloody good event, though.

Been Painting: KHADORS

All done and ready for FQD2 tomorrow! Granted, most of them were done when I bought them, but I did have to mark all the bases, as well as painting the Kovnik, Valachev, and most of the Kossites…

In Imperial Khador, ‘Jack Marshals You!

The Circle stuff still hasn’t turned up, so I’m going with the backup plan – playtesting Khador lists for Fun, Quick and Dirty II.  It was going to be Cryx, it arguably should be Cryx, but every time I try to write a Cryx list I just sort of sigh and decide I’d rather not.  After five years I might need a good long break from them.  I’m not selling them, they’re my favourites and I do love them really, but I need another go-to Warmachine faction for a bit.  Hence Khador practice last night.

Fun, Quick and Dirty II – The Great Von Hunt

So, it’s that time of year again – the 20 point, three lists (dump one at lunchtime), no tiers, one Field Allowance to split event, with food by Mrs Flash and the prospect of some serious shenanigans.  I am, at this point, in Doubt.  Not about going – I know I want to go.  About what I’m going to take with me.

Option One: Bog Druids.

If – and at this stage it’s still if, but wish me luck for Friday’s interview – I have sufficient disposable income to inflate my Circle collection during August then I could take the faction I’m currently most interested in playing.  I’m starting to get a handle on epic Kaya (I almost won a game with her last night!) and think that a Gorax handing out its animus could come in rather handy here to provide yet more STR buffs (slapping it on the Feral so he can use Warp Speed with less of an opportunity cost, for instance).  Or I could always slot in the Shifting Stones and Stonekeeper, which I will be buying this week (guess who has a painting commission!); I suspect their teleporty shenanigans and beast-healing will come in very handy to help with some of the activation order issues I’m having.

Kaya the Moonhunter & Laris (*3pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Feral Warpwolf (9pts)
* Pureblood Warpwolf (9pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)

Krueger interests me largely because I’ve seen him do very well for himself at this scale, scooping up infantry like you wouldn’t believe.  The two realistic options for him are the Wolf Riders (I theorise that Lightning Tendrils addresses a major weakness by giving them Reach like real cavalry, and horrible potential on a turn when they Assault a unit and trigger Electro Leap with two melee attacks) or the Nyss Hunters (Weapon Masters!  Reach!  Lightning!  CRA!).  The Nyss wouldn’t benefit from Deflection but that’s about all they wouldn’t benefit from.

Krueger the Stormwrath (*5pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Woldwarden (9pts)
Tharn Wolfriders (Leader and 4 Grunts) OR Nyss Hunters (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)

However, I’m stuck for a third list, since I can’t double up on Kruegers in this event.  I’m tempted by a Kromac list using Wolf Rider attacks to trigger Warpath, but Kromac himself has that odd ‘Hulk out’ thing going on and I suspect that’ll take some learnin’.  Morvahna tempts me too, but again, she looks fiddly and there’s only a month ’til the event.

 

Option Two: Armour is Red, Targets are Blue; in Imperial Khador, ‘JACK MARSHALS YOU!

The wild card.  I have no idea how to play Khador but I have three warcasters and a broad enough spread of stuff to do some potentially interesting lists with them.  The first involves making Nyss Hunters into Faction models so they can benefit from Vlad’s buffs, and using his feat to slingshot a Devastator either into the enemy lines or into a scenario control area.

Vladimir, The Dark Prince (*5pts)
* Devastator (9pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
* Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)

The next one uses the Butcher’s spell list to make Widowmakers stupidly hard to hit and Iron Fangs stupidly hard hitting.  It also uses his feat to make Kossites scary for a turn, Widowmakers unnervingly good, and the Marauder because I like Marauders to slam things so I can knock them down and hit them with everything I can bally well muster.  Tempted to swap the Iron Fangs for a Juggernaut so I have the option of using the Butcher’s battlegroup spell for something worthwhile; not sure.

The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
* Marauder (7pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Kossite Woodsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)

The last one is the “use once and dump” list – having run out of Field Allowance on Widowmakers and Iron Fang Standard Bearers it uses the other models I have to cobble together something I’m sort of interested in.  If I tossed the Kovnik and Devastator I could fit the Iron Fangs in here, but I’m buggered if I know what I’d spend the other five points on.

Kommander Sorscha (*5pts)
* Destroyer (9pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Man-o-war Kovnik (3pts)
* Devastator (9pts)

 

Option Three: Epic Cryx

Reluctant as I am to indulge this side of my nature (half the Darklords play Cryx these days, it’s beginning to bore me), I could just take the ruddy Cryx again.  Having run them at last year’s FQD I have an idea of how the restrictions affect them – I’m also aware that I haven’t yet fielded an Epic Skarre Shooty Solos list at an event and, given that it’s the variant I’ve done the most damage with in casual play, I should probably at least give it a go.  Tempting as it is to mash the Deathjack in, I think I’m going to be wanting that brute with another caster, so the Reaper and Ripjaw tag-team will make their appearance again.  The Captain’s in to protect Skarre from knockdown and provide another gun.

Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast (*6pts)
* Ripjaw (5pts)
* Reaper (7pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bloat Thrall (2pts)
Bloat Thrall (2pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (2pts)

I’ll be giving the Iron Lich a rest this time.  We’re spending some time apart following recent incidents.  Let’s get the Lich Lord out instead – the Deathjack to project force on his behalf (because he likes to throw his weapon away) and two units of feat fodder; one to knock things down, one to hit things hard.  Even the Siren could potentially stage a comeback and provide a crucial DEF debuff on feat turn.

Lich Lord Asphyxious (*6pts)
* Deathjack (12pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Satyxis Raider Sea Witch (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)

And finally, just to complete the hat-trick, Epic Deneghra again.  Haven’t used her in a while.  Or the Nyss Hunters.  Lots of Weapon Masters here.

Wraith Witch Deneghra (*6pts)
* Nightwretch (4pts)
* Nightwretch (4pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Bane Thrall Officer & Standard (3pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)

I just don’t know what to do with myself.