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.

I have two themes that I like but I want other people opinions on them because I am unable to decide.

Theme 1 30 Points

Gorshade the Bastard
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls UA
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Cylena Rafael and Nyess Hunters
4 Stalker Bonejacks
Bane Lord Tartarus

Theme 2 29 Points

Skarre the Pirate Queen
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Satyxis Raider Captain
2 Deathripper Bonejacks
Defiler Bonejack
Deathjack

All opinions appreciated Thanks

I would add 5 points to the first list and 6 to the other so you have 35 points per (which is seen as the standard game).

PSkarre really likes her Infantry so drop the Death Jack and pick up another unit or 2 (as well as a Scarlock Trall with some scrap thralls to sacrifice).

Gorshades list needs some diversity. Instead of the min Thralls you'll want to max one unit and then get a unit of Bane Knights.

First I would suggest working on a 35 point list because that is what most people accept as the default game size. Personally I like the looks of list 1 because Bane thralls are just that good, but I would suggest swapping a stalker for an arc node, and 2 others for a nice heavy jack. Also try picking up the skarlock, as it is a really good model.

Goreshade doesn't use a Skarlock well. His spells are Self or Control.

Also, he doesn't use arcnodes too efficiently. But you couldnt go wrong with DJ instead of some of the stalkers.

Remember that you need a 6man unit of Bane Thralls available for his feat.

Skarre could use a unit of McThralls and Necrosurgeon. Take a Skarlock as well.
Use the Stitch Thralls to power Ritual Sacrifice, cast with the Skarlock.
Take a Sea Witch to make the Raiders immune to blasts.

Yeah I was just pointing out that a skarlock is a very good model and should probably be one of the fist solos a new cryx player picks up.

As you're a new player, of the two casters you have picked I would go for Skarre. Skarre has options to help you hit high DEF and penetrate high ARM. She'll work well with most options and very well with some (satyxis, banes).

If Cryxian infantry is your draw to the faction, I would go with pSkarre every time. Dark Guidance is fantastic and will be cast nearly every turn. I see you have three bonejacks in your list along with the Deathjack. pSkarre is typically in the thick of things with her army so doesn't really get much use out of arc nodes. At most I would take one for that early game Blood Rain to toss on heavily armored or grouped up infantry or a surprise Hellfire. I also would not take the Deathjack since her spell list doesn't have much to offer him, but if you already own the model you can work around that. He is still a beast, especially under her feat turn, but being limited to those two offensive spells he loses some flexibility he would get from other casters such as eSkarre. Without Reach I typically would rather spend his points elsewhere.

Thanks to Dark Guidance and her feat, you can really take units that sometimes have a hard time hitting due to low MAT. Mechanithralls turn from annoying to scary to deadly under Dark Guidance and then Feat. A full unit, three Brutes, and a Necrosurgeon is only 10 points. Yes, that's a fair bit invested in Mechanithralls, but the Surgeon's Stitch Thralls can be used for Ritual Sacrifice, the Brutes are 1pt monsters, and even the lowly McThrall turns from a tarpit unit to a significant threat with PS15 combo strikes swinging with boosted attack rolls. Hitting DEF15/16 on average rolls with this unit is pretty fun.

Another handy unit for her is an Ogrun Bokur. He has as much armor as our heavy warjacks, can Slam, and can take ranged hits for Skarre. Just to make the deal a little sweeter, he gets combat bonuses just for being near her.

I am also new to WM and have chosen cryx. I have played the battle box and am looking at purchasing my first army.

I already picked up eGaspy. This is my 35 pt idea.

Lich Lord Asphyxious -6
Cankerworm 5
Defiler 5
Malice 9
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) 8
Bane Thrall Officer & Standard 3
The Withershadow Combine 5
Bane Lord Tartarus 4
Warwitch Siren 2

I really like the WC, I know its a gamble but I would risk it with for the fun of it/ . Cankerworm has some nice perks for the price, especially with gaspy. Bane unit for feat. Siren to allocate focus so that Gaspy can cast away. Defiler to arc and get in a spray if he can.

My plan is to charge the banes up the center and bog down any units or shooty jack. eGaspy will play aggressive and screen the banes with mist while the defiler flanks deep to arc death knell aoe and spray (and miss). If defiler lives he can support engaged banes with another spray. Malice and siren advance down other flank with WC trailing a little (between Malice and Gasp upkeeping Hellbobund or Parasite) and cankerworm sneaks farther out from Malice.

Malice will be a big target but no one heavy will want to charge him with WC and worm in counter charge distance. Anyone taking shots at him will hopefully be in range of my bane center. If he nabs someone, great, if they avoid him he can get close enough to drag a lane blocking jack or break a shield wall for feat turn. Cankerworm will try to take out or cripple more expensive jack. If WC can't get a jack then they can take the offensive with spells to clear the lane for feat. Siren will fuel dark industried jack or, if that fails, engage and seduce/shadow bind/venom. She can also defend Malice flank from infantry with venom and seduction.

The plan is that even if half of my models fail individual goals, they can contribute to the feat assassination/attrition. Dead WC will charge remaining jack. Dead Tartarus and banes will attack caster or troops (if everyone can get in range of caster but dont kill it, dead models should contribute to death knell). eGaspy will try to stay close enough to finish the job if needed.

To expand towards fifty I would probably add Black Ogrun to further muck up plans and add meatshielding with those medium bases. I reeeaally like DW and soulhunters despite their lack of e Gaspy support. I expect a infantry heavy army that I can swap in pirates and terminus or satyxis and skarre later.

For expansion I would also look at Bane Knights as they have a higher threat range than thralls (reach). Personally I wouldn't trust to bane thralls to serve as a tarpit unit. Even with the tough rolls they are not strong enough to hold up much and without reach they will only stop the front line of shooty troops from being able to use their guns. Banes are generally there for their high damage output.

Other than that I think it looks good, a little high on jacks for me but that's a personal choice.

Things to try out with your army:
reeling in a jack with malice, possessing and then walking it towards the withershadow and ensuring that they are all in its back arc to make it easy to hit.
Engaging units with your banes then putting down caustic mists over the enemy. If they stay then they die from the single point of damage, if they go they they should die from the free strikes.
Remember to gather souls with eGaspy's weapon, something which I'm always forgetting about.

Yeah, I was torn between knights and thralls. It seemed to be reach=threat range or stealth/tough=survivability. My buddy that I am learning against plays Cygnar so I thought I would go for survivability. I've done a lot of reading but only time and exp will tell.

hmm, you'll be practicing against Cygnar? Be careful then as Cygnar can field a load of stuff that ignores stealth. Gun mages, black 13th and a few casters have the spell 'mage sight' for example.

One other thing to watch out for is abilities that 'remove from play' this will stop you bringing that model back with eAsphixious's feat.

At the expense of continuing this thread-jack, I second the suggestion to use Bane Knights with eGaspy over Thralls. Yes you lose Tough and Stealth, but you gain Reach, a bit higher armor, and Vengeance. With eGaspy you don't really need Stealth since you should be laying down clouds to block LoS to your troops as they get into position. Some things that ignore stealth do not ignore cloud effects, but I can't think of anything that ignores cloud effects and does not ignore stealth. Reach gives your Knights more threat range on the feat turn which is absolutely vital. You'll be charging with Tartarus first (after applying Curse) so it's not like you need Thralls for the armor debuff.

Yes, Bane Knights for eGaspy, kill over extended casters turn 1 with suicide antics.

Thanks, that is certainly food for thought. The redundancy of stealth and clouds escaped me. Sorry for the jack. In prior forums it was considered better to continue a thread over starting a new one. This forum has very different mechanics, I can tell. I am all for proper etiquette.

After further deliberation I will make sure to post a new one. Now, how to make use of the 1 point from swapping BT+UA for BK's...