Hordes - Circle Orboros Tactica: Grayle the Farstrider

Original article by Asbrubael of Privateer Press' forums, the title of the original thread: Grayle - Tactica

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Grayle the Farstrider

CONTENTS:

• Introduction
• Stats and Abilities
• Spells and Feat
• List Building
• Warbeasts
• Units
• Solos

The Gist

Inspired by a post on the Privateer Press forums, I've decided to compose a tactica on one of our newest warlocks, Grayle. It seems that he has received a very lukewarm reception from the forums since the release of Domination. His game is different from any other warlock in our arsenal, but he doesn't look that impressive on paper. Since purchasing his model, I've put him to use a number of times with great success, and I think he's one of our better warlocks. Thus far undefeated with him in roughly eight-ten games, I think I've come to understand Grayle quite well.

The Stats and Abilities
On paper, Grayle appears very straightforward. He has the stats of a melee assassin, weapon master, side-step, and sprint. Stealth adds an invaluable layer of protection, and his DEF and ARM combine to make him a bit hardier than the average warlock. His MAT is a touch lower than you'd like for a devoted melee combatant, but that is likely a direct result of having Storm Rager as a spell.

In my mind, the biggest ability is stealth. Built in protection of this nature is a huge value. Second is sprint. Sidestep is a nice ability, but, and I'll expound later, Grayle is not quite the melee assassin he seems at first blush. He's far more efficient as a solo-killer and light-target hunter. His sprint ability is great for letting him bound into combat, tear something up, and then relocate to a totally new area. This ability alone makes him a sneaky good scenario caster, as he can relocate on the fly while taking his sphere of control with him, thus allowing his warbeasts to really expand where they threaten. Sidestep is another nice relocation ability, and it can provide him a very respectable threat range of 14.5' without any additional buffs. My issue with this, however, is that if you'd hunting a warlock/warcaster, you're burning both initials, and you're likely upkeeping or casting Storm Rager on Grayle. This means that, upon arrival, you've got four or five attacks at MAT 9, POW 12 and weaponmaster. Against Nemo' Yes, virtually a guaranteed kill. Against the Butcher' or really any warlock with two fury' Eh, I don't love those odds. It's a great tool to have, don't get me wrong, but as a primary win condition, it's hard to rely on. Where I've found the most traction is using his side-step and sprint combo to actually clear the battlefield up for another heavy hitter to get in there, to trigger his feat, or to position him nicely for casting Gallows before disappearing back into my lines. Like I said, he's very good at snaking around and plucking critical models away while staying out of the way of the rest of your army' a very valuable skillset.


The Spells and the Feat
Storm Rager: Awesome spell. Truly awesome. I use it primarily on the Lord of the Feast. I've used it on Morraig enough to confirm what others on the forums have already said ' it's overkill. The +2 STR doesn't do much for the Wolf Lord. On the Lord of the Feast, however, it's a great spell. Unlike Morraig, the bonus ARM and MAT have a much greater impact for the LotF. I've tried it on the Whitemane, and the idea is amazing conceptually, but the execution suffers. +2 ARM for the Whitemane is still not enough to save the Tharn from much anything your opponent has. Also, the LotF's threat rage is too impressive to ignore vs. the Whitemane's relatively concrete 11'. After you've deployed your super solo squarely into the enemy's battle lines, you have to do damage potential assessments every turn. If they can't kill off your Lord of the Feast, and he'll need the buffs, you have to upkeep it, but more often than not, you're going to want to hot swap back to Grayle. By the end of turn 3, typically, Grayle should be benefitting from this spell, and it should stay that way until the bitter end.

Awareness : I've seen theory on how to make this spell useful. In practice, it is crap. I have yet to run into a scenario where casting it made any sense. The magical 'my Stalker can't see the target but Awareness changes that' scenario has never occurred. Fact of the matter is, Grayle's feat typically circumvents these issues more effectively while netting you extra ground. Overall, a wasted entry on his card in my opinion.

Wind Blast : It's not as bad as Awareness, but it isn't better by much. I've yet to play against a caster that relies on cloud AOEs, but I can see where its niche lies. Once, against Ravyn, I used it to get rid of an important Veil of Mists, and it essentially won me the game. Other than that, I've never cast it. It's highly situational, but it is a sweet asset when that situation presents itself. The ' RAT effect seems to easily circumvented to garner use of the spell.

Gallows : Oh Gallows, you cruel, cruel mistress. My favorite Circle warlock is Epic Krueger, so Gallows is a familiar beast indeed. Personally, I'm a big fan of the spell. The randomness sucks, but I've lucked into rolling a 3+ every time I've ever cast it. Once again, it's a niche spell, but it's nice to have in a tight space. I've cast it 4-5 times with Grayle, and each time it has netted me a huge piece. I've tried Geomancers with him, but Gallows is so niche that I think it's a net loss overall. If we had a Sylys equivalent WA, this spell would be a godsend. Otherwise, it's a calculated risk. If it nets you a 9-11 point jack without costing you an equal value trade, the risk is obviously worth it.

Feat : All I can say about the feat is that it is' awesome. Grayle's feat seems so wonky on paper, but it's great in execution. My average feat turn starts with Grayle activating, popping his feat, charging some enemies and knocking off a few infantry, possibly casting a Gallows, then sprinting away. Those early moves set up important charges and chaos ensues. The Warpath for your whole army is so under-rated. Non-linear movement is a wicked weapon. Employed properly, you should have alpha-strike, aims, etc. ALWAYS remember to use at least one feat movement on Grayle. He doesn't benefit in his own activation, but that 3' is huge for him as well. Also, be wary of the fact that your model must be in your control zone. While his is only 12', his suite of abilities allows him to play close to the opponent. And, if you remember his 3' movement, he can stay close to the front all turn only to shift 3' into your backfield at the end of the turn. The second component, stealth for your whole army, makes the feat all the better. Essentially to alpha-strike them, and then their retaliation turns into a convoluted mess. This makes Grayle a great counter for Retribution and Cygnar armies especially. My one caveat for the feat is this ' don't pop it exclusively for the stealth benefit, regardless how tempting it is. The movement aspect is too good to sacrifice, in my opinion, for a turn of guaranteed ranged protection.


List-Building:

Like I said, through a mixture of good gaming and good luck, I've managed to go undefeated with Grayle thus far. That said, he's my 'fun' games warlock at the moment. This means he doesn't see action in tournament settings or super competitive gaming. I do, however, think that he will be phased into tournament play with me in the future. He's got very few hard counters out there, and his style of play is efficient and rewarding. After considerable play, this is what I've come up with as my 50-point Grayle list:
Grayle
Ghetorix
Warpwolf Stalker
Gorax
Druid Wilder
10x Bloodtrackers
Nuala
10x Wolves of Orboros
Wolves of Orboros UA
Wolf Lord Morraig
Tharn Whitemane
Shifting Stones
Stonekeeper

I am a bit partial about having both a full unit of WoO and Bloodtrackers. Especially if by ditching one, you can sneak in a Lord of the Feat instead of the Whitemane and one additional heavy warbeast. For another heavy, i would go for either a Feral Warpwolf or Gnarlhorn Satyr. The Satyr's animus and Counter Slam ability seems to me to offer decent synergies fo rthe way a Grayle list should play.

Rather than breaking down EVERY weapon in our arsenal and how it interacts with Grayle, I'm going to highlight a few choice units, models, and the like that I've tried with him and reflect on what I think their value is as a result of my experience in fielding them.

Warbeasts: Wolds vs. Fuzzies Debate:
Gallows and Storm Rager are both convenient geomancy-capable spells on Grayle's roster. Gallows, arguably, is WAY more effective when cast via a geomancer in the first place. That said' I've tried them, and I don't like it. Megalith will be good in damn near any list you field him in. And he initially held Ghetorix's spot in my list. After three games, I decided to give Ghetorix a shot, and he ran away with it. Megalith is awesome, and I love him. The fact is, Gallows is so niche, that even on a geomancer, it has limited application. I never once found myself thinking 'damn, wish I could cycle Storm Rager!' either. In the end, Ghetorix is such a monster in melee and benefits immensely from both phases of the feat that I struggle not to include him. The Stalker is an easy one ' his animus brings more shifty movement to an already very shifty warlock. He's also an awesome candidate for triggering TONS of feat moves if he can get into the heart of a unit with berserk up.

I've tried some other warbeasts with Grayle as well. In my 75 point list, I add in a Pureblood in the off chance that Awareness can see some use, and for a good animus and spray. I love the Pureblood in theory, but it seems to be a 'if you're playing 75+' in practice kind of model. He shines in that role, and I've gotten off some really brutal sprays using just the 3' feat move to position him very nicely for an aimed shot. RAT 7 is way nicer than RAT 5.

I can see both the Winter Argus and the Griffin having some traction with Grayle. The +2 ARM is a somewhat decent animus for Grayle, and Parry is also cool in theory. The griffin would be nice for triggering feat moves, or using the feat to position for a nice assassination run/solo sniping. I don't have either model, but I will be putting them to the test eventually. For BOTH models, I REALLY wish that the Wilder's star action was an ability that let the warlock cast one animus for free rather than the Wilder casting one free animus. Imagine how much more mileage she would get considering the fact that we're the faction of 234983048320848230 self animi and like 3 worthwhile 6' animi' but a man can only dream.

The Satyrs and Grayle make some sense, but I don't see them doing enough heavy lifting to make themselves more worthwhile than the warpwolves. I'm not a huge fan of the Satyrs at all to begin with, so I am biased. If I were to field one, it'd be the Gnarlhorn' but I still think the trio listed above is already plenty effective.

UNITS:
Bloodtrackers: The reason I include these chicks is simply that they can clog up the board a bit, reliably slaughter infantry, and they're already stealthed. Plus, they're fast as all hell. Reform lets them get out of the way after they've chucked their spears. Are they a tad counter-intuitive with the feat' Yes. In concept, you can use Quickwork to still benefit' but then you're mortgaging probably half your squad's ranged attacks so a handful of models can trigger a feat move and still throw. It seems like I never have encountered an 'optimal' quick work scenario.

Wolves of Orboros: Grayle gives them Hunter, which isn't that amazing, but has actually come into play a surprising number of times (despite Awareness never helping my warpwolves'). They're good with him for the simple fact that they're cheap as heck, they pack a surprising punch, and they are very good at triggering feat moves. They also synergize great with Morraig.

Tharn Ravagers: The idea here is that they could hug some trees and pounce on a unit, then rely on the stealth of the feat turn to further protect them. The protection of stealth is 100% needed in order to help these much-maligned monsters reach combat. In my experience' they're just too expensive and too soft. Protecting them with stealth isn't that great, but using his feat so that the unit gets really wedged in deep where they can chain through multiple models does worth. MAT 7 seems to let me down though, and they peter out very quickly against anything with DEF 14-15. I prefer the sheer number of MAT 9 attacks the Wolves bring vs. what the Ravagers offer.

Woldstalkers + Druid Stoneward : They're a ranged unit that has some wiggle to them. They fulfill a number of roles. The stealth component of the feat protects them' but their kills won't trigger moves. This unit is cheap, and I wouldn't hesitate to pack them on if you need filler. With Grayle, they're nothing to write home about. I tried them out and was underwhelmed as they simply didn't have a role in his force that wasn't more effective filled elsewhere.

Druids: I am a druid enthusiast. Love em to death. Simply put, Grayle doesn't need them. Between his own stealth, his feat's speed enhancements, and gallows, druids just aren't worth the investment. At first, they were fielded in place of the bloodtrackers for me. In the three games, they just didn't earn their keep. They have a much more obvious spot with other warlocks. If you take them, they'll still excel at what they always excel at, but I feel he needs their toolset less than Baldur or Krueger.

SOLOS
Lord of the Feast: Amazing model with him. Enough said. Cast Storm Rager on him and release. MAT 10, POW 15 is unfathomably awesome. Also, ARM 19 on a Stealthed model is stupid. If you can catch a soft caster near a low DEF target and some infantry, he can very well assassinate with 4 possible POW 15 attacks. I've had him come VERY close a couple of times, but in both cases, he snake eyes'd a key roll.

Whitemane: In my current build, I don't have the points for the Feaster. The Whitemane has completely disappointed. He should be equally devastating under Storm Rager, but his mechanic is far less effective, and wary opponents won't give you a chain of models that are easily culled. He's also extremely killable. I'm likely dropping the Stonekeeper to afford the Lord of the Feast over this pretender.

Blackclad Wayfarer : A very nice addition to the list, but he's hard to afford with what I already have there. I really like Hunter's Mark, and I find that having the swarm of infantry that I field already makes it less tempting to use his spray. Very solid solo with Grayle as he is entirely alpha-strike dependent.

Morraig: Morraig is a great asset in this list as he tends to fly all over the field, cutting down solos, finishing off heavies, and generally creating mayhem. He's not an ideal candidate for Storm Rager for reasons already described, but it isn't 'wasted' on him either. My first build with Grayle was predicated on cycling Storm Rager between him and the Lord of the Feast. In practice, it's too difficult to get it back and forth. Lightning Strike + Light Cavalry move means that, after a successful kill, Morraig can move 13' to relocate elsewhere on the battle field. That tactical versatility is great. His assassination potential is very frightening, especially if a WoO can get into btb with your enemy's caster.

Gallows Groves: I haven't tried these with Grayle yet, but I actually think 1-2 of them could be very useful depending on the point scale. This would give him a few more options in terms of throwing Storm Rager around, plus it makes Gallows more castable as he can stay safer. Worth a shot.