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I started out with Cygnar and have chosen Skorne as my next faction because I love how the models look. I wanted to do a phalanx theme and Xerxis seems to fit right in so this is what I came up with.

Xerxis
-Rhinodon
-Titan Gladiator
-Cyclops Brute

Praetorian Karax (10)
Cataphract Cetrati (6)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (6)

I've read that he's more of an infantry caster and he certainly seems it, are 3 war beasts too much for him? I figured I would be okay with 3 with the beast handlers in case there's too much fury for him to leech (and with the ability to heal them or add to their strength they seem like a great unit to always take).

Other than that I think I have a pretty solid core. I was planning to run the Karax up front with Shield Wall and Defender's Ward for DEF 14 ARM 20 goodness, with as much stuff in base contact as possible to avoid blast damage. I was also planning on upkeeping Fury on the Cetrati for PS 14 with weapon master. Using Martial Discipline I hope to consistently advance the Cetrati through the Karax, clear the frontline, then move the Karax up through the Cetratri to maintain a solid wall, with the beasts on the flanks for support. All comments welcome.

EDIT: Whoops, can someone move this to the army lists board?

I would probably go for omething more like this:

System: Hordes
Faction: Skorne
Casters: 1/1
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)

Having 2 shield wall units hurts your offense and you aren't using Xerxis' ability for infantry to see through each other and move through each other to it's greatest effect. Using swordsmen or nihilators behind a shield wall increases their survivability a lot.

 Surtur wrote:
I would probably go for omething more like this:

System: Hordes
Faction: Skorne
Casters: 1/1
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)

Having 2 shield wall units hurts your offense and you aren't using Xerxis' ability for infantry to see through each other and move through each other to it's greatest effect. Using swordsmen or nihilators behind a shield wall increases their survivability a lot.

That looks pretty good actually. My only concern with Nihilators is that it sounds like their special ability can make them hit friendly units, do people use them in spite of this?

Careful positioning really mitigates the danger of Berserk. I typically field a Butcher2 list that fields 36 Doom Reavers, all of which who have Berserk, and rarely have any fratricide happen. And no, I'm not using their UA.

 creeping-deth87 wrote:

 Surtur wrote:
I would probably go for omething more like this:

System: Hordes
Faction: Skorne
Casters: 1/1
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)

Having 2 shield wall units hurts your offense and you aren't using Xerxis' ability for infantry to see through each other and move through each other to it's greatest effect. Using swordsmen or nihilators behind a shield wall increases their survivability a lot.

That looks pretty good actually. My only concern with Nihilators is that it sounds like their special ability can make them hit friendly units, do people use them in spite of this?

Its fairly easy. You simply have them charge at angles where they never have a friendly model in their melee range. They do have reach so it is a little easier to spread out.

And its not the end of the world if you lose a couple to friendly attacks, they are there to die.

 creeping-deth87 wrote:

 Surtur wrote:
I would probably go for omething more like this:

System: Hordes
Faction: Skorne
Casters: 1/1
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)

Having 2 shield wall units hurts your offense and you aren't using Xerxis' ability for infantry to see through each other and move through each other to it's greatest effect. Using swordsmen or nihilators behind a shield wall increases their survivability a lot.

That looks pretty good actually. My only concern with Nihilators is that it sounds like their special ability can make them hit friendly units, do people use them in spite of this?

YOUR CARE FOR TROOPS IS NOT THE SKORNE WAY!

But if you are afraid of losing some, praetorian swordsmen+UA work well as a substitute. They always deal at least 1 damage to warbeasts/jacks with two attacks meaning they can theoretically put 20 damage on a jack. Their UA can pop a mini feat so they always do at least 1 damage to infantry which translates into potentially 20 dead single wound infantry. The UA also give side-step to allow for repositioning during their dance of death.

Nihilators swing at PS 15 with Fury from Xerxis. Swordsmen are PS 15 as well when they use combo strike, but have no second attack, no tough, no fearless and one less point in MAT.

They're two very different tools, but from behind a Skorne shield wall, they're deadly and hard to get at.

Further, if you want a cheaper yet still effective shield wall, you can also put in Karax instead of Cataphracts, but you trade hitting power and overall survivability.

I play Xerxis fairly exclusively for my Skorne and I've found that with Paingiver Beast Handlers, you don't have to worry a whole lot about "too many beasts"; I used to run a 50 point Xerxis list with 51 points of beasts and 4 points of Paingivers.

Looking at your list, I think a Tyrant commander would really help to get things moving up the field, and allows Xerxis to use his battle plan on a second unit or himself. If you're swapping the Karax for Nihilators or Preatorians, I would likely drop the Rhinodon as they fill much of the same role: anti-infantry. I also really think that a big heavy hitter like Tiberion or a Bronzeback would be good, beacause nothing beats overkill...

Just for reference, I would likely run this at 35 points:

Xerxis +5
-Bronzeback Titan 10
-Basilisk Krea 4
-Titan Gladiator 8
Cataphract Cetrati (Max) 11
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer 3
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Min) 2
Extoller Soulward or Mortithurge Willbreaker (haven't tried WIllbreaker yet, but he looks like a better fit) 2
Alternately, drop the Cetrati to a min unit, drop the 2 point solo, and grab a Cyclops Brute or Shaman.

It's a fairly "elite army," but you'll give ranged armies absolute fits (Def 16/Arm 24 Cataphracts vs shooting) and unless the enemy has lots of pathfinder, Inhospitable ground should allow you to get the first strike.

I dont see a need for Max Troops
Tyrant Xerxis -5
Bronzeback Titan 10
Titan Gladiator 8
Aptimus Marketh 3
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 3 Grunts) 8
Immortals (Leader and 5 Grunts) 5 <<<<<< Sorry, Meant Nihilators, not Immortals
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) 2

Leaves 4 points for your choice of
Krea
Hakaar
Slingers
Pick 2 - Willbreaker/Agonizer/Extoller/Tormentor/Orin

 Talamare wrote:
I dont see a need for Max Troops

Because that means more models are affected by an upkeep spell which Xerxis has 2 of.

Also, I'm not sure Aptimus is a really good choice for Xerxis. I want more troop/beast support, not spell casting. I'd rather spend those 3 points to make the gladiator into Tiberion.

Marketh is a great choice for Xerxis. Gives you ability to cycle Fury. Loosens up activation sequence. Gives Xerxis alot more freedom to swap Defender's Ward and cast Inhospitable Ground which is very valuable against armies with limited Pathfinder.

Xerxis does not simply have fury to do his spells and animii in the middle of the battle.

 Surtur wrote:

 Talamare wrote:
I dont see a need for Max Troops

Because that means more models are affected by an upkeep spell which Xerxis has 2 of.

Also, I'm not sure Aptimus is a really good choice for Xerxis. I want more troop/beast support, not spell casting. I'd rather spend those 3 points to make the gladiator into Tiberion.

Hah, You mention how strong the upkeeps are then suggest removing Marketh

Marketh lets you use Fury on a unit then switch back to Defenders Ward or Lets you Fury 3 different units

 Talamare wrote:

 Surtur wrote:

 Talamare wrote:
I dont see a need for Max Troops

Because that means more models are affected by an upkeep spell which Xerxis has 2 of.

Also, I'm not sure Aptimus is a really good choice for Xerxis. I want more troop/beast support, not spell casting. I'd rather spend those 3 points to make the gladiator into Tiberion.

Hah, You mention how strong the upkeeps are then suggest removing Marketh

Marketh lets you use Fury on a unit then switch back to Defenders Ward or Lets you Fury 3 different units

Fair enough. I wasn't thinking of that. But that doesn't address the minimum troop choice.

 Surtur wrote:


Fair enough. I wasn't thinking of that. But that doesn't address the minimum troop choice.

Each troop has a slightly different reason
Cetrati because its honestly pretty rare that they all go down, only seen it once even and that was against an army that had excessive amounts of Weapon Masters (I will let you guess who that was), In most games they survive until the end and do their job of absorbing the initial brunt well even with Min size

Nihililators work best when sent to the front lines in pairs, maybe groups of 3. While the rest of the squad hangs out behind the Cetrati. 2-3 "waves" of Nihilators are usually enough to clear out most infantry

Beast Handlers, because you get 4 and you only have 2 beasts <3

 Talamare wrote:
Cetrati because its honestly pretty rare that they all go down, only seen it once even and that was against an army that had excessive amounts of Weapon Masters (I will let you guess who that was)

Oh! Oh! Oh! I know this one! Cygnar!

I see the validity of your tactic, but I prefer big waves as Warmahordes is an offense oriented game. Something of a blitzkrieg if you will.