Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

When I eventually get around to playing Hordes I will be building a Skorne army. I don't want Molik Karn in the list.

I was thinking something like

Warcaster - which one?
Praetorian Karax
Immortals
Ansestral Guardian
Cyclopes - how many?

And some sort of Heavy.

Any suggestions would be great. I'll be trying to buy most of this in one go (or at least 25 points worth), eventually i want to get it to 35 points.

Zaal seem like he'd work the best for what infantry you want with immortals and AG's. I'd probably start with a Bronzeback and a Gladiator go from there since you want to be MK-less. The pain givers to help with fury management would probably be a given as well.

I agree that Zaal is a Skorne caster that can run infantry very well and gets along fine without MK. You might want to consider Praetorian Swordsmen instead of Karax, though. Two attacks, and side-step if you take the unit attachment, take advantage of last stand much better than the karax.

Plus, Zaal likes it when his praetorians die, makes his feat stronger and gives souls to the AG's...

I was thinking Karax because of their, whats it called ranked attack or something? Meaning I can attack through them with units like Immortals and AG's.

Is it Leap?

Ranked attack only ignores the unit itself for targeting. It doesn't let you swing through other units.

Nope, lets all friendlies ignore them for LoS:

Skorne Book pg 75 wrote:Ranked Attacks - Friendly Faction models can ignore this model when determining LOS.

So swing away with your Reach infantry and Venators.

Even if you don't like Mr. K (who lives in the Own Zone btw), regular Cyclops Savages are pretty nice. Being able to choose to boost after you roll is something I wish my Cygnars could do.

If you want to run immortals and AGs Zaal is the caster for you. You might want to look into Zaal theme list, as it is one the better lists competitively and would fit with your thoughts to collect the Skorne.

Skorne have it good with the heavies, all of them are good. You will need to have a Gladiator for the animus, Bronzeback is excellent beat stick, Cannoneer can give decent ranged support (which is something that is limited on skorne), Sentry has its uses as a defensive rock and Rhino is good at moving down infantry. There are plenty of ways to build good Skorne list without putting the chieftain of cyclops into it.

Skorne is downright nasty without Molik Kharn...he's really just a big crutch for playstyle.

Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic choice for the army, but Skorne does just fine without him.

Devilsquid wrote:Skorne is downright nasty without Molik Kharn...he's really just a big crutch for playstyle.

Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic choice for the army, but Skorne does just fine without him.

Nonononono... Molik Karn isn't a crutch for Skorne - he's an entirely different faction that's required to take Skorne models as allies.

Skorne can do just fine without Molik. Zaal is quite good sans Mr. Karn; pMorghoul can do well as can Xerxis.

Player-A wrote:I agree that Zaal is a Skorne caster that can run infantry very well and gets along fine without MK. You might want to consider Praetorian Swordsmen instead of Karax, though. Two attacks, and side-step if you take the unit attachment, take advantage of last stand much better than the karax.

Something important to note: when Karax (or anything with CMAs/CRAs) do CMAs under the effect of last stand, only models actually making attacks die. So, let's say you make 2 CMAs with 5 guys in each (not hard with ranked attacks/reach). They're effectively MAT 10+3D6, hitting for effective POW 15+3D6 (more if you get the charge! You lose shield wall though, then they'll get exploded by your opponent). Since only 2 made attacks, only those two die from last stand. Trading 2 dirt-cheap single-wound infantry for about 12 damage on the heaviest jacks in the game, or hitting basically any DEF imaginable really really hard is a trade I'd take any day.

Having said that, there is still huge value to the swordsmen; 2 attacks each that'll hit DEF 16 for 19 or 20 damage on average is horrifying, even if you have to give up your 4/6 unit to do it. Charging combo strikes for 26 each is pretty ridiculous too.

The Xerxis Brick is a truly fearsome infantry block.

Xerxis
Cataphract Cetrati
More Cataphract Cetrati
Gladiator

Add whatever else you want, you've got a big scary wall of weapon masters with sickening defensive stats quickly blocking up the field.

And Xerxis' 10" control radius works horribly with Molik Karn, so you don't even want to take him.