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I've always wanted to do a Skorne army, but with a ton of Cyclops instead of Infantry.

This is what I came up with for 500 pts...

Makeda

Rhinodon
Savage
Savage
Molik Karn

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Minimum Unit)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Minimum Unit)

495/500

Tell me what you think and if there is a way to improve it.

Looks imposing, it may be vulnerable to debuffs, particularity slams and other knock-down effects.

Well I can always substitute the Rhinodon for a Gladiator Titan, but then I'll lose some Anti-Infantry killing power.

What about the Cannoneer titan to give you a ranged punch.

No Krea? Blasphemy!

(I know, you're going for a theme)

Your army will certainly look imposing on the battlefield.

I've only just started lookin into Hordes (I Play WM tho) and I have a bit of trouble finding the synergy between the Skorne units.

So far I'm just going with what models I like.

I'm reading up on the rules of the units and have been looking at Battle College for help.

Skorne synergy is often dependent on the available spellcaster buffs and whether or
not you choose to use Ancestral Guardians.

Kreas are always helpful for their protective debuffs.

radiohazard wrote:
Makeda
Rhinodon
Savage
Savage
Molik Karn
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Minimum Unit)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Minimum Unit)
495/500

p.Makeda is an infantry caster. I'm not really sure why you would run p.Makeda over other casters @ 500. Skorne's has some of the best solos in Hordes, so seeing none in a list is rather shocking. I would also seriously recommend having some ranged threat as well. Otherwise, Cygnar with Haley's Temporal Barrier spam will decimate this army.

She isn't just an infantry caster, it's true infantry work well with her, but her spells do help with beasts.

Nobody in my area plays Haley's Temporal Turtle and for that matter doesn't play any of the competitive lists.

I was just looking for a beast heavy force.

Zhetsuken here made a list with many synergies, which I list at the bottom. You can see how skorne units interacts with each other in this list.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/249495.page#872204

At first I wanted to make a beast heavy army too, but like what Salisar said, Skorne's strongest points are the solos and army-warcaster-warbeast's animi interaction. pMakeda is definitely an infantry caster. You should use pMorghoul for better beast support. Even then, you'll still need troops that can sustain themselves (due to pMorg's lack of troop support). Either venators for long range support (complete with the soul extoller), the cataphract cetrati (tough, hard to die) or the feroxes (and the upcoming tyrant rhadeim model).

marvelnube wrote:Skorne's strongest points are the solos and army-warcaster-warbeast's animi interaction. pMakeda is definitely an infantry caster. You should use pMorghoul for better beast support. Even then, you'll still need troops that can sustain themselves (due to pMorg's lack of troop support). Either venators for long range support (complete with the soul extoller), the cataphract cetrati (tough, hard to die) or the feroxes (and the upcoming tyrant rhadeim model).

Yep, I agree with marvelnube... beast heavy is fine, but you need something to keep your Paingiver Beast Handlers alive! Circle, Cygnar, and Khador players with half a clue will use your beasts as a lightning rod (bombard magnet) to KO your Paingivers (need to be base-to-base to use their skills), then you will have a 6-fury caster trying to maintain 15-fury on the board...

If you want to play straight beat face list, I would recommend Khador. Skorne requires synergies to survive... Especially if you're running three glass cannons (Cyclops Savage x2, and Molik Karn)

Salisar is right on about using synergies with Skorne. Without them, Skorne is a very easy army to defeat. There is nothing wrong with running a thematic army like you're cyclops army, but I recommend a few changes. I highly recommend replacing a savage with a shaman. The spirit blade animus of the shaman is almost mandatory against some casters, plus with it's ability to use the animi of other skorne beasts is really nice as well. I would also recommend a brute because the offensive capability of the Rhinodon and Molik Karn is usually more than enough. Depending on if you know whether or not you are going against another horde army, an agonizer is another great recommendation because it makes opponent's beasts almost worthless, taking away the glass cannon feel of some Skorne beasts.

As a warlock, I would recommend either Hexeris or Xerxis. They tend to work best for me when I run a more beast intensive list. Hexeris is a great lock because he can dish out the damage in melee and can handle some punishment, but can still be killed if you're not careful. His feat alone is a very compelling reason to take him. It basically allows any living model you kill, to move and attack before getting removed from play. With infantry armies being so popular in WARMACHINE, it's not unreasonable to completely destroy the opposing army in a round, forcing the opponent to use a jack/beast or 2. Plus, since the models are removed from play, they cannot be brought back via High Reclaimer/testament or Morvhanna, which I know Reclaimer and Testament are very popular tourney casters, especially as a second caster in larger games. His spell Soul Slave allows beasts to roam free without control area issues and they never make threshold checks so they never frenzy (with a brute it can tie up a flank). Given his 7 fury, this spell and some paingivers, he can run several beasts without too many risks. His other trademark spell, Death March allows a model to move and make a boosted attack when destroyed. Cast this on the paingivers, and while it really won't dissuade opponents from attacking them, at least they'll get to do something when they die. Hexeris, on his own, will be able to do a fair amount of damage on his own, and can push enemies back. If he is closer to a beast that gets destroyed than it's controlling lock, he can reave the fury off them when they die, which is can be game-winning.

Xerxis, while only having 5 fury, does alright on his own with beasts. His feat makes for a potent first turn, assuming you get the charge, and the +2 ARM is nice but isn't overwhelming. His spell Armor of Karrak is best on high fury beasts, giving +1 arm per fury point making his beasts much more capable taking damage (especially Karn with a potential +5). Merciless Assault is best on models with multiple attacks giving an extra attack with each melee weapon (Rhinodon for example). A Rhinodon is really nice because of his Amuck animus can push Xerxis's melee damage higher than most would expect. His Heel ability also prevents him from being attack by friendly beasts that frenzy, but this is something that is usually an ability you don't want to need to remember. Again, a shaman is a necessary with Xerxis to dispel any harmful animi or spells. Another good model to use is Orin Midwinter, again, just to deal with spellcasters. His downfall is that his armies tend to be brickish because of his 10" control area.

Follow some of these tips and you'll have a fairly formidable army. Skorne is actually more infantry based then some of the Hordes armies, but they are still capable of bringing the pain. Just be aware that once models start to fall and you start losing some of the more potent synergies, you're army can fall pretty fast. However, with the synergies working a full throttle, Skorne can be incredibly powerful.