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...but you need to focus on fewer styles.

Lately I've been torn about what to bring to the game store. I love so many of the army
concepts in the game and it's relatively cheap to build them alongside whatever else I'm
working on. However, because I can only play one army at a time and (at most) three games
in a week (I average 0-2) it means that I need to refocus my efforts.

I'm going to have to decide on a few "styles" of play.

War caster/locks I have painted.

Protectorate of Menoth
Amon Ad-Raza 64%
Feora 76%
Harbinger 72%
High Reclaimer 72%
Kreoss
Servath
Severius
eFeora
eKreoss
eSeverius
Testament

Cygnar
Stryker 68%

Khador
Vlad 68%

Mercenaries
Bart

Circle Orboros
Baldur
Kaya 60%
Kromac

Legion of Everblight
Thagrosh

Cryx
Asphyxious
Deneghra 64%
Goreshade
Skarre 76-80%
eSkarre

Skorne
Morghul 64%
Zaal 80%

War caster/locks I'm interested in painting or building an army around.

Cygnar
Caine
Kraye
Siege
eCaine

Khador
eButcher
eIrusk

Trollbloods
eMadrak

Circle Orboros
eKaya

Legion of Everblight
eLylyth

Cryx
Mortenebra
eGoreshade


Skorne
Xerxis
eMakeda
eMorghul

Guess I'll have to start going through the pros and cons of each model as I try to figure out
what to boil down my "main" war caster/locks are going to be.

Amon Ad-Raza

I tried him for a period of time back when I was learning the game. I insisted on trying him
in 750 pt. games because it gave me room to include the one Protectorate warjack that didn't
benefit from his abilities- The Avatar. It was neat to have focus on an important turn that
built up stacked bonuses from warjack melee attacks, but in the end his abilities require more
finesse than his advantages allowed. His low FOC stat is only really supplemented by his Feat
and the spell synergy, and any enemy that can deny a melee advantage can really hurt him.

Also, standing up for free is not the same as not being knocked down.

Troop Commander: 3/5 (Only if you like choir boys)
Warjack Commander: 3/5 (Melee lights, too easily shut down, emphasis on melee)
Combat: 3/5 (Low ARM. All advantages stymied by lack of FOC)
Spells and whistles: 2/5 (Boosted Sandblasts are nice if you can get the positioning right, Feat is
kind of neat and characterful)
Background and theme: 5 Monk!

Grand total: 16/25 = 64% Ouch.

I think a competitive player would have rated Amon a 1 or 2 in more categories, but I find
his disadvantages rather characterful. I just can't find a way to make them win.

Priestess of the Flame
Feora

Her attitude and temper match her legendary prowess with fire and blade. Imagine a
warcaster guarded by soldiers. Suddenly she breaks from the pack, lights every
nearby enemy on fire and then beats up an opposing warjack. That's Feora.

Scorched Earth is handy against swarms and Engines of Destruction is handy against
tough targets, however relying on either to carry Feora through seems to stretch
her resources thin. I suppose my main complaint would be the unreliable nature of
her Feat. Scorched Earth has a 1 in 3 chance of failing on any given model. Sometimes
those odds run in your favor, but that'll only happen when you're already winning. The
fires will wait to go out when you really need them to finish off that key unit leader
or solo.

My other main complaint with her is that at 750 points she's competing with her epic
version whom I'd rather field. Yeah, guess I'm spoiled for choice.

Troop Commander: 5/5 Ignite and Flameguard. With the UA, Ignite is a little superfluous,
but the extra POW is welcome. Even your regular TFG become Fearless nearby.
Warjack Commander: 2/5 Bring a Devout or a heavy warjack. Blazing Effigy is nice, but
should only work once against an opponent the first time. An arc node may add
flexibility to your spellcasting, but takes away points you could be spending on more troops.
Combat: 5/5 What makes her fun in combat is Engines of Destruction. If someone takes
away her ability to cast spells, she becomes much less effective.
Spells and whistles: 4/5 Wall of Fire on top of her other spells can really be a hassle for
opponents to deal with.
Background and theme: 3/5 Angry Priestess with a cult following. I kind of like the background,
but I prefer her epic version for the whole Devout fall on head thing.

19/25 = 76%


Hrm. Maybe I need to readjust my rubric.

good frigging lord.

Harbinger of Menoth

The Harbinger's abilities and limitations really fit her theme. As a fourteen year old
girl who embodies the will of Menoth, she has a sword that always hits in combat wielded
by a body that won't stand up to very much combat at all. The only way she can
really weather a storm of attacks is to camp focus, but since she's probably guaranteed
to have more than a few points of damage on her from rescuing key infantry models
through Martyrdom she won't last very long.

Her biggest form of defense are her Feat (which won't protect her from a war beast/machine/
lock/caster) and flotation which prevents her from being knocked down.

In my experience, the lack of upkeep spells means she doesn't really get to use many
of her spells unless her infantry screens have been wiped out. Moving her up at any point
exposes her to danger due to her base size.

Troop Commander:
Martyrdom, Crusader's Call and Blessed Arms gives her lots of help for infantry, but she
only really gets to cast one spell a turn. Early on, it's Martyrdom to keep her threats
alive.
5/5


Warjack Commander:
She has a lot of focus, but no warjack buffs and she needs her focus to power her spells.
2/5


Combat:
Auto-hit only matters if the enemy gets close enough to give you an assassination run. If
you're moving her up, you're going to have to play very carefully to keep her alive. Kudos
to you if you can pull off a kill in this manner.
2/5

Spells and whistles:
Powerful spells and defensive abilities, but the lack of upkeep spells means you're only
using a few abilities per round.
4/5


Background and theme:
Floating teenage prophet? Yes, please.
5/5

18/25 = 72%

No surprise there, as I do prefer to play Feora over Harbinger.

Commander Stryker

I really only have Stryker because I got him with the boxed set, and I really only keep
him because it's nice to have the boxed set for starter battles.

It's not that I hate his abilities. An ARM buff is nice, and a aoe knockdown spell is really
really nice, but it's also nothing to write home about since Skarre can get an +5 ARM
buff on her feat turn together with a +5 STR buff at the cost of 5 life. The difference
is Cygnar isn't necessarily as fragile.

He does it all. He snipes, he knocksdown with magic, he increases defense. So at
what point do you wonder if it's really all too generic?

Troop Commander:
Arcane Shield, Snipe AND Blur. The man does it all.
5/5


Warjack Commander:
Arcane Shield on a Centurion. Yes, please. Arc Node an Earthquake.
4/5


Combat:
Not sure. I imagine he's reasonably good at it.
3/5

Spells and whistles:
Good defensive abilities, but at what point does he stretch himself too thin?
4/5


Background and theme:
I now realize this is where I weight more scores in this. I'm just not interested in his
theme.
1/5

17/25 = 68%

malfred wrote:Maybe I need to readjust my rubric.

That's what Ahriman said!

I think you need Reznik... and Pirates!!!

beefHeart wrote:I think you need Reznik... and Pirates!!!

I'll get to there.

Problem is I haven't played much Reznik.

The High Reclaimer
aka Silent Bob

Fun caster to run with lots and lots of infantry because of his Ashes to Ashes spell, but
he's somewhat constrained by his tiny control area. I'm starting to realize that they hobble
casters with cool abilities with either fragile bodies or limited control areas.

His ash clouds are less useful now, though. More things can see through them and target
the reclaimer.

Now I'm afraid to run him at 750 points because of his epic version. In a battle for souls,
The Testament's Omegus win out. I've had some fun 750 pt games with the High
Reclaimer. 750 pts. gives him a lot of souls to clear out the infantry swarms.

Troop Commander:
I wouldn't really call him a commander. He needs to have support if/when the enemy
snipes his unit leaders.
4/5

Warjack Commander:
Ritual Sacrifice CAN power lots of warjacks for the cheap cost of a single Choirboy, but
if you're fielding many warjacks then you're fielding fewer troops that you can afford to
sacrifice.
3/5

Combat:
Only really good when he's loaded with focus, Soulstorm is up, and there's a lot of stuff
to kill.
3/5

Spells and whistles:
Ashes to Ashes! Feat ends up being random
4/5

Background and theme:
Silent bob is great.
4/5

18/25 = 72%

Kaya the Wildborne

The Battlebox Warlock. My model has seen better days than this picture suggests. Currently
Kaya is dismembered and used as a proxy Morvahna for my buddy learning to play Hordes.

And I don't miss her.

There are a lot of things to like. She's fast, she can teleport herself or a warbeast, she
can knock things down and she can regain spent fury on her Feat turn. However, her
warbeasts aren't necessarily as fast as her since they mostly don't have Pathfinder. Also,
she gave me headaches trying to remember how much Fury to pull and when in case I
wanted to use her Feat (which allows Kaya to add or remove Fury on her beasts).

Her free power attack upkeep spell for warbeasts is really good. It's absolutely
destructive on a Warpwolf that headbutts an appropriate model and then auto hits on everything
up to and including the chain attack, Throat ripper (I think it's called).

Troops:
She can grant a unit Stealth as an upkeep spell and that's really all she has to offer them. Useful
for a screener unit.
1/5

Warbeasts:
Rager with a Warpwolf. Pack Hunters with a bunch of light beasts. Spirit Door with anything
heavy (Kaya yo-yo).
5/5

Combat:
With her Feat, she can put out a lot of attacks. Her Knockdown, however, triggers off
a critical, which makes it less useful in assassination runs. She's probably better off
charging in to cast Spirit Door for a Warpwolf to kill the enemy commander.
2/5

Spells and whistles:
Her abilities mostly help warbeasts except for her puny Fury stat. 12" means that even
though they can move fast with Kaya (especially with Spirit Door), it's always tricky to
remember how far to place models. She gets high marks on the strength of Spirit Door,
Rager and her feat.
4/5

Background and theme:
I'm rather disappointed that model isn't quite as good as the artwork. (These things
are important!)
3/5

15/25 = 60%

Really nice and thoughtful write-ups. What do you think of eSeverius?

I have yet to get a game in with him. He's really a sweet model. I'd probably give him a
5 on Background and Spells and Whistles alone. The question then becomes how he
plays.

malfred wrote:She can grant a unit Stealth as an upkeep spell and that's really all she has to offer them. Useful for a screener unit.

I just want to point out that Stealthed models do not block LOS. However, putting Cloak of Mists on Druids and having the Druids make their cloud effects is an effective screeing unit. Unless you're playing against Legion, of course.

For screener, I think I meant speedbump. I shouldn't use the two terms interchangeably.

Annoying brick?

Twins are a neat theme. Being Cpt. Victoria Haley's twin sister, Deneghra mirrors her
Cygnaran sister's casting ability with a powerful FOC stat. Too bad I don't really like
Haley, because though I've painted up Deneghra I'm not sure if I'll ever make much use
out of Deneghra.

Troops:
Her spells seem to be a great benefit to Cryxian troops. She makes it easier for them to
hit the enemy, kill the enemy, and get around the enemy. The only thing is that she doesn't
really have special rules to benefit them directly.
4/5

Warjacks:
She has a lot of focus for warjacks, and some of her spells and abilities will benefit them.
Her real boon is access to the Deathjack, who can cast her spells, and Nightmare, which
gains stealth from her.
4/5

Combat:
Her weapon can hold up a model without reach, she can use her focus to buy many attacks,
but if something drops a blast template on her she's toast.
2/5

Spells and whistles:
Feat + spells = scary.
5/5

Background and theme:
I don't know what it is. I just don't like her. Guess I'm not too big on the spidery back spike things.
1/5

16/25 = 64%

Master Tormentor Morghoul

A tormentor is a torturer, and Morghoul is torments in his capabilities and limitations.

His paint job doesn't hurt, either.

With warbeasts, Morghoul can stack some impressive numbers. In conjunction with loyal
units of Paingivers, his warbeasts hit fast and they hit hard. Even though he has a lower
Fury stats than you might expect, he can mitigate some of the Fury management through
his own rippers or through the auto-include Paingivers.

He himself can dish out plenty of attacks as his claws are buy 2 attacks for 1.

Troops:
Paingivers and maybe something to keep and them safe. At 500 points you really can't
fit too many troops with a warbeast-centric warlock, and at 750 points you can field
eMorghoul instead.
2/5

Warbeasts:
His low Fury stat is probably the worst part about him, but he and Paingivers can manage
Fury reasonable well. Titan Gladiators are among the most intimidating heavies in the
game (except for mine, since it's pink), and hopped up on Paingiver abilities and Morghoul's
additional movement spell, they are even scarier.
4/5

Combat:
His immunity to free strikes and free Ripper attacks are offset by low ARM, P+S, and
Fury. Relentless cast on himself can give him an additional movement into and away
from combat, but a canny opponent will know to avoid triggering the effect.
4/5

Spells and whistles:
Pain and Agony will handle enemy warbeasts and leave him fighting at a disadvantage
against Warmachine factions. I think the only way to judge Morghoul is to see if you
can make his limited spell list (not to mention any available warbeast animus) strengthen
his warbeasts' attack potential or even his own. A low Fury stat means that it's difficult
to rely on any animus he has to cast himself. I've had a little success with Abuse, so
I'm going to bump it up to a 3.
3/5

Background and theme:
I think I'd play Morghoul more if I liked how I painted him. Once I redo it, I'll have to
recalculate the score upwards.
3/5

16/25 = 64%

Nice thoughts/write ups. Denegra has become an almost win button caster for me because of how often I have played her. EMorgul is quickly becoming the same especially when Extollers get released.

I'll probably turn this into an article, too. Someday...

Skarre, the Pirate Queen

The much hated Pirate Queen. Her sacrificial strike ability are one of the reasons why people
think Cryx will never gain a faction trooper model with shield wall or other uber-high ARM
mechanic. Her spells can be further powered with the aid of a skarlock, and her abilities only
encourage the usage of the ubiquitous Bane Knights (which I haven't painted yet).

Since I didn't paint any Bane Knights yet, most of my experience with Skarre has been to
play her with Black Ogrun, Scrap Thralls to power her focus factory, and variations on
What Else Should Be In a Cryx List that Isn't Bane Knights. Sacrificial Lamb gives you an
idea of how and when to set up for her feat turn, and Dark Guidance turns the smallest
nuisance into a viable threat for hitting a high DEF warcaster or lock.

There is definitely a stigma to winning games with her, though.

Troops:
Lots of trash. Skarre needs trash to sacrifice and medium strength threats to take things
down. Some are sacrificed for Focus and anything else is used for a strike. Yes, I know, I
should try to use more Bane Knights for their dangerous mobility and decent ARM. The
only issue she has is dealing with protracted games (4+ turns in length) or armies that
can effectively eliminate her fodder.
4/5

Warjacks:
Yeah, I know. Don't Take a Helljack if it's not Deathjack. It's a mantra written
somewhere. I haven't looked too much into Legends to see if it has anything of use to
warjacks (other than Mortenebra), so I think Skarre is kind of like Protectorate in her
reliance on lights. An arc node or two gives her useful placement of Hellfires after a
good Sacrificial Pawn roll for extra focus, and Stalkers powered by Dark Guidance will shred
or disrupt the plans of most warcasters. Still, with Bonejack armor being what it is, and
Skarre sacrificing her own soldiers, you're relying on speed and positioning to keep this
army alive.
3/5

Combat:
On any turn other than her feat turn, you probably don't want to bring her too close unless
it's to set up a knockdown with her great rack (the one on her head). She's fast, and her
feat means she can probably avoid the worst that a single freestrike can do to her
(especially with extra focus). On her feat turn and with full health (minus the feat), she can
survive a single freestrike for up to 35 pts of damage (16 Health + 15 ARM + 5 ARM for feat
+ 5 FOC -5 Health for feat). If she has a particularly good extra focus roll and does not have
to assign focus to warjacks, then she can probably survive a single hit from a POW 20
warjack.

Assuming they even hit her at DEF 16.
4/5


Spells and whistles:
Sacrificial Strike, Sacrificial Lamb, Dark Guidance and Hellfire.
5/5

Background and theme:
I just don't like the mannish model. That, and the social stigma of winning a game using
Skarre brings her potential down a bit. Though I think you can alleviate some of that
stigma by, oh I don't know, not using Bane Knights.
3/5

19/25 = 76% Minus theme and you're looking at 80%

This is all very awesome stuff Malfred. My FLGS just started selling Warmachine stuff and this is getting me very interested in it. I didn't even really think about the models either. I like to take a week to slowly paint a nice looking individual piece too. Little by little after work I tinker away at it then on Friday night I have a very good looking model. These seem to be the kind of things I should be painting instead of individual GW minis I think that look cool, when I'd need like 9 others for the unit to matter. Keep it up, I'm going to buy some Warmachine this weekend.

And as a quick side note, would you happen to be black? I mean that in a totally non-racist manner mind you. I just don't ever see people paint their miniatures with black skin. It's really refreshing, I think I'd like to give it a try. Any tips?

Dark Filipino-American (or American-Filipino), thanks. I was the second born to my
parents, but when my dad saw the complexion of my skin he said, "That's it. He's
Junior."



My parents.



Me.

I use Reaper Dark Skin paint. The triad they have is pretty subtle, so I get uneven results
trying to paint a simple paint scheme.

Have you tried using any of the washes on the darker complexions? I think I've gimped myself using so much devlan mud and dwarf flesh over tallarn flesh. It's just too easy to do. I really haven't ever looked into Reaper's paints either. Does Reaper have a wider range than GW colors?

Also, awesome hair.

I basically paint dark flesh, highlight some mix of dark flesh and tan, then try a wash with
vallejo sepia.

Reaper definitely has a wider range. I've heard mixed things about the quality.

malfred wrote:I basically paint dark flesh, highlight some mix of dark flesh and tan, then try a wash with
vallejo sepia.

I might give that a shot on my next single project. Think gryphon Sepia will show similar results to vallejo speia?

And a request if I may, can you do Vlad from Khador next. I think that model looks really ace and I hope he doesn't suck. The assassins and widowmakers from Khador look so cool. I'd love to put them all on a table together ready to rock some socks.

I'm probably not the best player to talk about Vlad since I don't have an ideal setup for
him (too jack heavy), but I love how he painted up so I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

oomiestompa is probably better for a more comprehensive look. I'll probably just continue
on the way I've been going, writing from my own idiosyncratic perspective of the model.

Typeline: I haven't bought any GW paints in a long time.

Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince

Not one of my favorite warcasters, Vlad has never really seemed to click for me. Oh, I've won plenty of games with him. It's just that whenever I use him, the game usually boils down to just the two warcasters, and Vlad wins that fight more often than not. One on one, there are few warcasters who can challenge him, mostly due to his spell Blood of Kings.

But that martial prowess comes at the cost of army support. He really only has one (really good) trick: Signs and Portents. It's just as good as it ever was, and it still causes army building confusion due to its relationship with Vlad's feat (S&P rewards taking infantry, Forced March rewards taking warjacks). Wind Wall is NOT as good as it ever was, since people like Aiyana and Strangeways have been released. Still, it's a decent spell that Doom Reavers can benefit from, thus creating the Vlad/DR Turtle. It's his only defensive buff and doesn't affect a whole lot of people, and that's my biggest gripe about him.

At FOC 7, he has a decent amount of focus to throw around, but he needs it. Vlad doesn't know the meaning of efficiency. He hasn't got a single focus saving trick or upkeep spell. And that's my second biggest gripe about him.

Troops:
CMD 9 is always good. S&P benefits units that put out a lot of attack and damage rolls the most. Greylords, Winterguard, Doom Reavers, etc. Wind Wall is such a small area, but you can fit a unit of Doom Reavers and Fenris in there.

3/5

Warjacks:
Forced March only affects jacks. Combined with Boundless Charge, you can load a jack with focus and send it screaming 13" across the table. Wind Wall is helpful if you're facing Hunters or Reckoners or something.

2/5

Combat:
Are you kidding me? Two attacks, immune to free strikes, and, oh yeah, Blood of Kings. Mimic is fun just for being able to use your opponents' abilities against them, but in 1000 point games, you get access to Critical Freeze, Stall, and Brutal Damage. Watch out for Goreshade, Harbinger, and anything else that prevents spell casting or removes its effects. The only thing Vlad can't do is shoot a gun.

5/5

Spells and Whistles:
Have I told you about S&P? Seriously, Vlad has three spells you will cast every game (S&P, Wind Wall, BoK), two you will cast every second or third game (Razor Wind, Boundless Charge), and two you will so rarely, he might as well not have them (Brittle Frost, Impaler). Brittle Frost's RNG is too short, and Impaler is too expensive for what it does. I've only ever cast Impaler once. Vlad died the next turn. True Story.

4/5

Background:
He's the last of his line and if he dies, Khador is doomed. He killed the Harbinger, but she came back to life. He built a huge army, but Irusk took it from him. He had an illicit relationship with Sorscha, but duty prevents them from being together. His weapons and armor were broken, but he reforged them. His first model screams "Look at my codpiece and the starch in my cloak!" while his epic one screams "These should pads are impairing my peripheral vision!" The Katrina resculpt is relatively normal. Clearly, he is a character of balance.

3/5

Overall: 17/25 = 68%

I think that's pretty close to what I would have given him.

Really, I'm not sure Khador has anything 500 pts that I'm mostly interested in, so I
used Vlad as filler until I could field a Fenris Doomreaver laden 750 list with eButcher (and
I'm still not sure if I'm sold on him. I just want to use Fenris and some of the other
Khador characters).

Supreme Aaptimus Zaal

Zaal links to the ancestor spirits and uses their guidance to lead his troops into battle. Lead is perhaps too strong of a word, as he has learned the forbidden art of empyting his soldiers of their souls.

SO cool.

Troops:
Zaal benefits his troop by making them temporarily undead through Hollow. Not only do they become Fearless, but they can also be leached for Fury when they die. Last Stand allows him to protect some kind of troops by letting it attack back in melee before it dies. (Last Stand with Immortals doing a Final Strike is just disgusting!) Because of his reliance on Ancestral Guardians and soul tokens, his army starts with Ancestral Guardian and some form of light troops.

His ability to issue any order makes his army less reliant on their unit leaders, though he's not as good as Hierarch Severius or Epic Irusk at commanding troops.

5/5

Warbeasts:

Though Zaal relies on infantry and constructs in his armies, the spell Spiritual Awakening means that any warbeast who likes to use a lot of Fury for its animus will go well with Zaal (the Krea comes to mind, ugly as it is). Fury 7 gives you some flexibility in making warbeast animi useful. You're never going to bring Zaal close to use his offensive spells, for example, so you might as well select warbeasts to support his infantry or his spellcasting.

4/5

Combat:
Yes he can crush a warbeasts spirit aspect, potentially making it possible for the rest of his army to finish it off. Do you ever want to get him close enough to try? If Zaal makes it into combat then it's been a long game (attrition based army), or something has broken through your lines.

1/5

Spells and Whistles:

His spells support infantry really well and his abilities with Ancestral Guardians and Kovaas make dealing with Ancestral Guardians a dilemma for opponents: Kill the high ARM models and risk a Kovaas or try to break past them and destroy Zaal?

His Rage of Ancients feat is fueled by attrition. Opponents could always choose not to kill his models, but that just leaves more models on the table with dangerous abilities such as Last Stand, Combo strikes, etc.

They'll have to kill something eventually.

5/5

Background:
Top Extoller. The Spirit Eye thing is really cool as is his ability to make his troops Hollow. The "Guided by Ancients" army idea is one of my favorite themes in Hordes, and the only reason I don't play Zaal more often is that he's tough on points at 500, and I don't quite have enough painted Skorne for an effective 750 list.

5/5

Overall: 20/25 = 80%