Some mercs/cygnar

Here are some mercs and cygnar models I finished up painting for a commission. Unfortunately, I don't have the final product, but these are close to done!

Andy

Warmachine and Hordes: Expectations vs Reality

Warmachine and Hordes:

Expectations Vs Reality

           

            When I first got into Warmachine and Hordes (Warmachine, specifically), the big draw for me was how awesome the ‘jacks were. The concept of leaders with magical powers that could command these huge, badass robots was the primary reason why I went with Warmachine right off the bat. Yeah, the big beasts of Hordes are cool too, but I mean, these are robots! Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit dissatisfied lately with how things have been playing out.

            To begin, I started with Retribution. I picked up the Battle Box during a local Journeyman league because 1) Warjacks seemed super cool and 2) Retribution’s aesthetics were my cup ‘o tea. I’ve since learned that Ret is not exactly a beginner faction, and even though I have pulled a win out once or twice, the majority of my games so far (biggest was 25 points) have been sloppy and disappointing, especially in the realm of my Myrmidons. The Manticore is expensive and seems to get one good hit in then gets wrecked. The Griffon, though fast and potentially deadly, is difficult to get in the right spot without the perfect combinations. Don’t even get me started about the Chimera…If it wasn’t so expensive I’d consider it. Long story short, I wanted to play an army that relied on their big bots to do the bashing, but Ret is definitely not what I was looking for. I still love how they look, but they don’t play how I wish they did, so lately I’ve been reconsidering my choice.

            I want an army that relies on its big bases to do the dirty work, not an army that relies on infantry. I switched from 40k to WM/H for a reason: I wanted to build and paint less models and use the big stuff. Warmachine was basically turning into a Kill Team sized army in 40k. After chatting with Andy for a bit about how I was standing with Warmachine and Hordes, I realized that Warmachine wasn’t going to deliver the game that I wanted. My play style was better suited for a warlock.

            Circle of Orboros is my new pet project. I’ve always loved wolves and they seem, in theory, to fit the style that I want to play. I have planned out a 25 point list with eKaya, since she’s all about the big beasts, along with some different Warpwolves and a few other fun toys. I’m still in the planning stage but I’m really excited to begin learning and playing them.

           

The main reason I wanted to write this article was to articulate that, coming from a beginner, Warmachine and Hordes is a bit misleading. When I was first learning about the game, it seemed like each Warmachine faction relied on their huge bots (I mean, they’re all over the artwork AND they’re in the name!). In reality, however, it seems that Warmachine is definitely more reliant on infantry and uses their ‘jacks as supplemental pieces to a much larger game. Hordes, on the other hand, relies on their beasts to generate power, meaning that they have to be more flexible than ‘jacks. Yes, if your beasts die, your power starts to slip. You’re only as powerful as your beasts. But that dependency on the beasts is why I’m now leaning towards Hordes. In the end, I have to play an army that I both like aesthetically and how it performs on the table to enjoy the game. I want my big models to be able to run up and obliterate whatever I hit on the first go, not scratch away at it, run out of focus then get overrun while it waits for infantry to come in to save the day. Warmachine can’t deliver both aesthetics and play style to me personally.

What I say should be taken with a grain of salt. I’m still a beginner, and I know that Warmachine factions are just as powerful as Hordes can be. It’s just that Warmachine seemed like it would be about the ‘jacks, but for the most part, it’s not. Hordes is all about the beasts, especially with eKaya (as well as many other Warlocks), and so that’s why I’m making the switch.

- Aaron

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight

Hello all, Andy here with my first Legion of Everblight warlock article! Today I am going to talk about my early experiences with Hordes and my boy Thagrosh1. Although I technically started with the Legion battlebox and pLylyth, I consider pThagrosh as my true first warlock. I used him throughout my first month-long Journeyman League with the alternate battlebox, followed by a local 35-point steamroller tournament. I have had a lot of success with Legion’s main man at a variety of point levels. Here are a few of the lists I’ve used.

pThagrosh +5

Ravagore – 10

Nephilim Soldier – 5

Harrier – 2

Shepherd – 1

Forsaken – 2

This was my 15-point list I used for the early portion of the Journeyman League and experience with Hordes as a whole. There was very little creativity to this list, as the alternate battle box required a Ravagore, Harrier, and Soldier. I knew little of the benefits of many solos in Legion, but was advised to add some fury management. Enter the Forsaken and Shepherd. Looking back now, there was no reason to include both a Forsaken and Shepherd as pThags can easily handle 3 little beasties on his own. However, these two models are great and should be some of the first purchases for any Legion player.

As for how the list plays, it did well in most match-ups as pThags feat is crazy at low point levels. A potential 10-point swing is huge when playing with only 15 points. The Ravagore won many games just by its assassination threat with its Dragon Fire animus. With few models, most opponents struggled to hide their casters. The list struggled when facing armies with high ARM. pStryker and pSorcha battle boxes were tough matchups. The list lacks greatly for armor cracking ability. But that is the nature of battlebox games.

pThagrosh +5

Carnivean – 11

Ravagore – 10

Nephilim Soldier – 5

Harrier – 2

Shepherd – 1

Feralgiest – 1

Next up is the 25 point list I used. I needed to add some armor cracking ability to my list so I added a Carnivean. It is a versatile beast that can trash a heavy in one round with little effort. I also enjoy having spiny growth the throw around on key models. With Death Shroud from pThags and spiny growth, legion heavies can reach a respectable armor 22 in melee. It made my army going from having difficulty cracking high armor, to being that high armor force that others had difficulty cracking. I also added a Feralgiest, because it has a neat ability that I have not once remembered to use. But mostly I added it because it was the only other 1 point model I owned at the time.

The list dealt with most foes quite well and I never came across an opponent I really struggled with at this point in the league.

pThagrosh +5

Carnivean – 11

Ravagore – 10

Scythean – 9

Max Hex Hunters – 8

Shepherd – 1

Feralgiest – 1

So here we are at 35 points (I was unable to play the second to last week, so I now have no model restrictions). I can finally drop some of the models I didn’t care for (Nephilim Soldier) and include more of the awesome heavies Legion has to offer. I chose to include one of each of the “normal” heavies for Legion. They each have something different to offer from their brothers, so I like having one of each. The Carnivean for its animus and a 10” spray, the Scythean for reach and no tough, and the Ravagore for long ranged firepower. I also added my first unit I owned and played, the Hex Hunters. These guys just looked awesome to me and at the time their rules seemed sweet so I picked up a box. Although pThags doesn’t really bring much to them in the way of buffs, they are a nice little jamming unit that can be quite irritating to deal with. With stealth, spd 7, and pathfinder, they can easily find their way across the board and into the enemies units. From there they try to get a kill and hex bolt a nearby heavy, preventing tramples or special attacks. Even if they didn’t kill anything, they often took opponents several turns just to remove.

While playing this list, I only ever struggled with some scenarios, as my army mostly moved in a tight clump around pThags. The Feralgiest is actually very helpful for this as a flag capturer or contester as an incorporeal model. A lot of armies don’t have any way of dealing with that.

Well there you have it, my relatively noobie opinions of Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight. Keep your eyes out for a write up of my first Warmahordes tournament and further warlock articles!

-Andy