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So I'm getting some Warmachine model which basically amount to the Cryx Battle Box with pGaspy instead of Denny. I looked at the rules for the original Asphyxious and I love them. He's right up my alley.

I'd love to assassinate someone with parasite, scything touch, charge and then sustained attack for all his focus, popping feat for more focus and more attacks.

I somewhat like the Defiler that comes with the box due to being an arc node and having that spray attack. In a pinch I can boost it and cast Breath/Hellfire through the node to remove bunched up infantry.

The Deathrippers and Slayer are great for being cheap I suppose.

I love the Iron Lich look and the Dark Industries ability so i want to take the Withershadow Combine

I love Cankerworms Adapt ability and even though he doesn't work well with the Withershadow Combine he has an affinity for Asphyxious which makes up for it right?

With these two units I have some good tools against warmachine armies but what should I bring against Hordes armies?

I like the Drag ability but I much prefer the special abilities and the look of Malice and Aiakos so I'd like to take them both. Aiakos is good with a Seether for sure, but can he run a Slayer okay?

I like the Bane units and Mechanithralls/Stitch thralls and a lot of the other solos and units from Cryx and mercenaries but I guess I'm just wondering what else I should include to take this in a more viable direction?

What I have in mind currently is

Gaspy
Defiler
Cankerworm
Malice

Withershadow Combine

Aiakos
Slayer

Which is 27 points. what else should I take and which points levels should I aim for?

Would adding a minimum unit of Bane Thralls with the UA (total 35) be enough to be scary or do I need to aim for a higher points level and add more threats?

Tbf it looks like you've got a fairly good grip on how things work.

The Withershadow are a good unit, and when you get them to finish off a 'jack it provides a great deal of smug satisfaction! Not to mention their free upkeep and puppet master on Gaspy or some harpoon slinger to make sure that important hit hits!

As for taking on Hordes, apart from Venethrax I can't think of any thing that targets beasts specifically. However as most Horde armies will be living there will be plenty of souls to go around. (Be aware that if you play against Legion then they are mostly Soulless so this won't apply to them).

So anything that will run riot with a soul or two is always nice. I've sent a Harrower into plenty of units and mauled them with it's Thresher attack and then buying additional attacks with the souls it gathers. Cryx also have units that will replenish their own ranks by killing the enemy living.

Bane Lord Tartarus is an auto include if you want to run Banes (and you do! ), he'll also benefit from killing the living (Legion included) by adding Banes to units in his conmand range.

The Bane Thrall UA is also a great addition. It's probably an auto include by I've got loads of mileage out of my Banes even without the UA. (Its on my list )

The most common games are 35 and 50pts. Its best to start out at 15-25 at first just to get used to things.

Hope my ramblings aren't too ramblely!

So adding max Bane Thralls with UA and Bane Lord Tartarus (i do love the models and hitting like a truck in melee) brings the list to 42. I'm not sure what else this list needs. It seems to have a lot of hitting power without a lot of tricks or synergy which is okay.

Should I spend the remaining 8 points on solos or another unit?

For Solos I could bring something like Gorman Di Wulfe, Warwitch Siren, Madelyn Corbeau, a Necrotech and an Ogrun Bokur. Or swap any 2 point solo for Saxon Orrick if I really have trouble with hordes armies.

For units, I could add more bodies/meatshields to the table with Mechanithralls. I like the idea of recursive meatshields with the necrosurgeon. Also being able to heal my warcaster and maybe my two important solos (Aiakos and Tartarus), the question is: do I take full McThralls and one Surgeon, min thralls and two surgeons or two min units of thralls and one surgeon?

I don't play usually play 50pts so it's kind of uncharted ground for me but I would definitely want a another unit or two at that level.

A couple of thoughts;

The Mcthralls are always useful and like you said the Necrosurgeon. Don't rely on the Surgeon running around the field healing stuff as she can only do that or create Mcthralls in a single turn. Don't get me wrong it's nice to have a medic but in practise it doesn't really come up much (not for me anyway). The only time I've used her heal was with Skarre who uses her own life source for boosting and stuff. So I took the surgeon specifically for that.

Solo wise I rarely leave a Pistol Wraith or two out of my lists. They add great ranged support.

Warwitch sirens are good. I usually take one if I'm running a Stalker. Which I do a lot cause I love the little guy. A handy trick with the Siren is to whack a non-reach heavy with her sword, as long as she hits (don't expect her to damage) then the heavy won't be able to move next turn effectively making it useless for that turn. Another tactic not to rely on but it's nice when it comes off.

Gormans just good and you'll see him in a lot of lists. I tend not to run him as I just prefer to stick in faction. I'm probably handicapping myself but heh ho!

Aiakos is a decent solo. Have you considered running him without a jack? He makes a great super solo and keeping his Focus to himself means lots of boosting. He can play the assassination game himself if he's in the right place!

A solo you havent mentioned is the Skarlock Thrall. Very useful for saving focus and a bit spell slinging synergy.

Unit wise there's plenty of decent options, Bane Knights are brutal and can benefit from Tartarus, Bile Thralls are another favourite of mine and their purge attack is all kinds of funny!

Best thing to do it try a few options and see what works best for you. From my experiences I do find that Cryx have less auto-include options than other Factions as we have so many good options to choose from, which is nice!

Well, pGaspy is not bad but it's epic counterpart is better.