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Privateer Press @ TempleCon 2013: Convergence of Cyriss and other news

Grab a seat, take a breath...

  Only minutes ago, Privateer Press did their keynote presentation at TempleCon 2013. And boy, did they have a few surprises for us! New Warmachine faction is coming out, a new combat deck-building card game, new stuff for Level 7, and news for Organised Play.

  Excited? Well you should be! Information are not plentiful at the moment, but nonetheless let's take a look at each piece of news

 High Command: Warmachine & Horde

  The impression I got from the presentation is that High Command is something of a combination of a CCG with Warmachine/Hordes on an epic, army level, rather than the, relatively, small battle group level we get in typical Warmachine/Hordes games. If you know of Games Workshop's Warmaster and Epic Armageddon, imagine something of that scope as a deck building game. 

  You get in your deck three (yes three!) warcasters/warlocks, each coming some specific and flavourful options, preferences, etc. Using those are your basis, you build your deck and go to battle! High Command takes the scope of the typical Warmachine/Hordes game and turns in up to eleven! Now, you are no longer of control of a single caster with a small force fighting skirmish battles. Oh no! You are now a High Commander, hence the title, controlling multiple casters and their forces, fighting other area and/or objectives of strategic significance for your faction (presumably).

  For some people used to having miniatures representing their armies, moving to, effectively, a card game, might be a serious let down. However, on the bright side you can enjoy Warmachine and Hordes on a completely different (see epic) scale, without spending bucket loads of money to collect new miniatures and also time, to assemble and paint them.

Convergence of Cyriss: New Warmachine Faction

  Yup, that's right a (yet another) new Warmachine faction. Their name, Convergence of Cyriss. Those of you that have followed Privateer Press since their first years, the name will sound familiar. The Temple of Cyriss was a major part of the D20 RPG adventures in  The Witchfire Trilogy (I think in Part II: Shadow of the Exile ). Cyriss is known as the Clockwork Goddess, the Maiden of Gears, the Mistress of Numbers.

  The presentation mentions they are humans inhabiting machines. They view machines, not just as tools. Rather, for them, they are a piece of art, a form of being of a higher order, combining the physical strength, that such constructs have, with a mathematical perfection transcending the pitiful human intellect.... or something of that sort. However, they are not purely mechanical, somehow they retain, at least a portion, of their consciousness. 

  From a gameplay perspective, they described literally as a clockwork army, in the sense that the individual elements of an army work like individual gears in a machine. So expect lots of synergy within the faction. Each warcaster, comes with his own field marshal ability, giving models in your group a specific ability, like making them arc nodes, or giving them Shield Guard.

   Warjacks, are known as Vectors. One ability that distinguishes them is something called an Induction Node. What that does is each time a vector spends a focus, once per turn, that focus can be passed on to a nearby vector. From the presentation video, it seems that this particular focus can be passed on to multiple vectors. For example, vector A has one focus and spends it to run. This focus is then passed on to nearby vector B, that uses it to, say, run as well. Again the focus is passed on to Vector C, that uses it to charge. Unfortunately no more details (eg how close the vectors have to be, whether they can used additional allocated focus apart from the one passed on to them and so on) are available at the moment.

   The Vectors stats, and quite possible true for the units and the faction at large, seem to be low/mid SP, low to very low DEF, high Arm. Another unique feature is that vectors do NOT have a set MAT and RAT. Instead, they have the same MAT and RAT as their warcaster. So in essence, the same vector under different warcasters becomes a completely different beast...  I mean warjack!

  Level 7: Omega Protocol: Space Hulk ala Privateer Press?

   In Level 7 [Escape] you were a frightened human trying to escape from a research lab facility, hunted by aliens and other baddies. Now in Omega Protocol, a squad of special ops troops are send in to destroy everything that remains in the facility... sounds a bit familiar doesn't it? So now you are some elite special ops commando badass, going in to blast stuff to bits. Presumably their will some sort of objectives, like shutting down part of the facility, retrieve stuff, set explosives and whatnot.

Organised Play 2013!

  Warmachine/Hordes was always open on its nature as a strong competitive game and of course their organised tournaments are some of the best around, probably are the best actually. And now, we will be getting lot more new formats!

  As their upcoming novel are released, their going to be special one-day scenarios, presumably connected to the story of the novel being released. Details are sketchy, but seems like you can go to participating stores and join in somehow.

  Iron Arena will make a come back, bigger and better as they claim.

   We also get a new league called Machinations. To be honest that sounds totally awesome. This going to be something like a long campaign with a overall storyline, in which players can participate (maybe contribute?). As it progresses, the story progresses. It is possible that it will be connected to book releases, but at this stage who knows?

  Of course we get Steamroller 2013, but that is no surprise really. Expect some minor changes, but not anything major.

   'Hardcore' is yet another competitive format. It is 1 caster, 1 list, fast paced format. In addition, there a Masters format, something like Steamroller turned up to eleven!

  Last but not least, we have Iron Gauntlet Warmachine & Hordes World Championship!!! This goes way beyond anything else we have seen so far from PP Organised Play. Let me outline some of the features:

• It will start with Lock & Load 2013 (first qualifiers) and end with Lock & Load 2014, when the final will be held
• You get points through a number of global qualifiers. Earn enough and you qualify for the final
• Fully painted armies. They want players to prove their mastery of the game as a whole, including the hobby elements ladies and gents!
• Specialist and character restrictions are baseline... and.... are you ready for it? ......
• Your lists don't have to be from the same faction!

Let me repeat that last one... Your lists do not have to be from the same faction. This is no joke! If you wish, you can bring your Khador and Cygnar lists, your Circle and Trolls.

  I think that about wraps it  up. For more details check out the videos on Privateer Press's site. Hopefully they are going to release some video or doc about the Q&As from the event soon.

  

Some MMOs to watch out for.

Some? How many?

  Truth be told, initially it was '3 MMOs to look out for'. However, I could not get myself to stick to just 3 and therefore I dispensed of any specificity for that reason. So without further ado, here is my favourite to-watch-out list:

• Elder Scrolls Online (ESO): It is Elder Scrolls and it is online, what more do you need! With an estimated release sometime in 2013 (I am guessing Q4 2013), it is one of the most highly anticipated MMOs, and with the highest Hype rating on MMORPG for games in development. One only hopes that the Online version is going to do justice to the heritage of the franchise. Oh, and it is cross-platform!                                                  

• ArcheAge (AA): Fantasy MMO from South Korea! Yes, the feel of the Avatars is slightly Manga-esque but it is to be expected. In any case, it looks very impressive and beautifully crafted, with more very exciting and sought after feature, but sadly, rarely seen. Features include housing (yay!!), naval combat and adventuring, massive PvP and siege combat and a wide selection of option for designing your favourite character/class. It is about to go in its 4th Closed Beta Testing (unfortunately only for Korean players), so I expect a release in a couple of years.

• Neverwinter (NW): Who hasn't played DnD, who hasn't played Neverwinter Nights? NW is hopefully going to be an online flagship for the Dungeons and Dragons franchise, worthy of the Neverwinter name. Big selling point for me is the Foundry editing tools, which will allow players to build their own adventures, campaigns and zones within the game. Big minus, in my book, is that, unlike he Neverwinter Nights series this will windows only... makes me a sad panda. You can register now for the Beta, which means a probably release date of Q3 2013 if all goes well.

• Pathfinder Online (PFO): Possibly not a title well known outside of the pen and paper RPG circles. It is posing as a sandbox game, and we certainly need more of those. In my opinion, a big advantage of PFO is that it was funded mainly through Kickstarter. Why is that a good thing, you may ask. It means it was funded by the community itself. No restrictions and overwhelming control by big publishers and CEOs. The community at large decided it wanted the game out, and invested their $$ on it... that can only be a good thing I guess. We don't have any reliable information on a possible release date, but I would hazard a guess it would be for Q4 2015. ... and I also forgot, windows and Mac version!

• Shadowrun Online (SRO): As with PFO above, SRO will be most familiar to the traditional pen and paper RPG crowd. And as with PFO, it is also funded mainly through Kickstarter. As someting of a RPG veteran, and since Shadowrun was one of the first RPGs I played, I am eagerly looking forward to it. You can check some of the released videos of it, but really with Shadowrun it was always the setting that was the major selling point. And I expect the online version will be no different. Also it is truly cross platform game, accessible through Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Android, iOS and on Ouya.

 Another game might have made it to my list would have been World of Darkness, a game based on the White Wolf's World of Darkness setting (Vampire: The Masquarade, Werewolve: The Forsaken, etc.) and created by CCP (Eve Online). Unfortunately the information on its progress is little to no existent. On a positive note, someone posted on MMORPG.com that CCP is currently doing internal testing and hoping for something to show at Showfest 2013.

Want your dream game, why not build it yourself? Enter Kickstarter!

Kick...what?

Kickstarter logo, with their
'Fund & Follow Creativity' motto

    Just to clear things. Kickstarter is what has been described as, crowd-funding website, which has been around since April 2009. So it is not really a new thing, therefore, why the hell did I chose to write about it, you may rightly ask. Well firstly, because, although Kickstarter had an impressive start, it was really during 2012 that it took off in a big way. And it was in 2012 it saw several landmark goal reached. 

   Most notable landmark, the 1st project to gather more than $1M pledged. And ten the flood gates opened. Just over a month passed and the adventure game Double Fine Adventure set a new record, a staggering $3.3M ! Till the time of writing this, the record holder is the Pebble: E-Paper Watch, with over $10M pledged.

How does it work?

 Although you can get all details you need at the Kickstarter website, the basics are pretty straightforward. First you need a project in mind ... obviously. This can be, almost anything. Abook, a record with your garage band, a revolutionary eco-friendly farm, some shiny hi-tech gadget, game or art project. Really, there are very few things you cannot do. So, you post your project, set a goal for $$ needed and hope you manage to gather it before a pre-set due date. 

  Obviously, there are much more than that going on, especially if you want to succeed. Just having your firends and family chip in is simply not enough. So, firstly, you need to put a fair amount of time to build an exciting and informative page on Kickstarter. But even that, on its own is not enough. You need to build awereness, reach out to as wide an audience as possible, through social media, relevant forums, blogs and so on.

   To lure prospective backers, Kickstarter has a system of rewards in place. To put it simply, depending on the amount of money pledged, a backer is elligible to specific rewards, provided of course the project funding is successful. 

So what does this has to do with gaming?

 If anyone, hasn't participated in, or followed, discussions in groups, forums,etc., about homebrew rules, game setting, campaigns and so on, is simply lying. Back in the days when I was still playing World of Warcraft, I can't remember the times I heard comments of the type "If only I could have the money, I would have made an awesome MMO!" Guess what. That is not the problem it used to be. If you got an awesome idea and/or you are a talented designers/developer, got a like minded group of people and build your Kickstarter project.

 And by the looks of it, there is a real trend going on. As you can see from the table below, out of the successful projects with the most funds pledged, a great deal are game related. Most of them easily exceeding their initials goals by quite a margin.



 So, are an avid game, looking out for new, exciting game that break from the current mould? Visit the Kickstarter  games section !
  Are a game designers, developer, artist with an interesting idea looking for ways to fund your project? Kickstarter might actually be the solution for you.

 My hope, is that through Kickstarter, in the foreseeable future, we will see games coming out that are truly innovative, without the restrictions imposed by publishing groups and CEOs, who usually want to stick the old and tried solutions
 Lastly, I wanted to share with you my favourite out of the game project in Kickstarter. A cooperative RPG, board card set in a nightmare-horror setting, called Kindgom Death: Monster. The quality of them minis is just staggering!

Ten largest successfully completed Kickstarter projects by total funds pledged 

(only closed fundings, up to Nov. 2012 are listed). Source: wikipedia

Rank	Total USD	Project name	Creator	Category	% funded	Backers	Closing date	Link
1	10,266,845	Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android	Pebble Technology	Design	10,266	68,928	2012-05-18	[1]
2	8,596,475	Ouya: A New Kind of Video Game Console	Ouya	Video Games	905	63,416	2012-08-09	[2]
3	3,986,929	Project Eternity	Obsidian Entertainment	Video Games	362	73,986	2012-10-16	[3]
4	3,429,236	Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures	Reaper Miniatures	Games	11,430	17,744	2012-08-25	[4]
5	3,336,371	Double Fine Adventure	Double Fine and 2 Player Productions	Video Games	834	87,142	2012-03-13	[5]
6	2,945,885	FORM 1: An affordable, professional 3D printer	Formlabs	Technology	2,945	2,068	2012-10-26	[6]
7	2,933,252	Wasteland 2	InXile Entertainment	Video Games	325	61,290	2012-04-17	[7]
8	$2,542,390 (£1,578,316)	Elite: Dangerous	Frontier Developments	Video Games	126	25,681	2013-01-04	[8]
9	2,485,506	Homestuck Adventure Game	MS Paint Adventures	Video Games	355	24,346	2012-10-04	[9]
10	2,437,430	Oculus Rift: Step Into the Game	Palmer Luckey	Technology	974	9,522	2012-09-01	[10]

Dark Angels, Dark Secrets, Part 1: Introduction

The Unforgiven are here!

Your robed, secretive, plasma tooting
space marines have finally arrived!

     As anyone who is even mildly interested in Warhammer 40K must have noticed, the much expected Codex: Dark Angles (6th edition) has hit the shelves, as of a couple of weeks ago. Of course, almost 6 years, and 2 editions of Warhammer 40K, have passed since the previous Codex. But things like that tend to be forgotten when the newest flashy Codex hit the shelves.

  

 It is only the second Codex to be released after the arrival of the 6th edition rulebook (after Codex: Chaos Space Marines). It was a higly anticipated  release, and until its release forums and blog were on fire with rumours about its contents. A lot of the buzz generated, was also due to the Dark Vengeance boxed set, featuring Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels.

6 years we waited for a Belial
 model and we got one  with
Urinary incontinence

  In hindsight, Dark Vengeance, was  a very big clue of what was to come. For those who know anything about the Dark Angels, would know that there 2 things which set them apart from the other chapters (not counting the 'dark secret' thingie, which we will touch upon in depth later). And these are their first two companies, the famous Deathwing and Ravenwing Companies. Ok ok ok... maybe 3 things, add plasma weaponry in the list! Indeed the focal points in this release are the new Deathwing and Ravenwing units. Apart from those,  the Codex did not harbour any big surprises. I mean, we did get Asmodai back, and praise the Emperor for that, but what was not a surprise. I don't think they could gotten away with such an omission again! Of course we got some new shiny stuff in the wargear section and some slightly reworked special characters, but really all to be expected.

   So if you like terminators, bikers, land speeders (I know I do!) and some plasma guns.... come on who doesn't like some Str 7 Ap 2 goodness!

    

But the purpose of this post is not to talk about the new models and units, or the fact the much anticipated model for Belial is in a pose, with his knees bending inwards as if he is dying to take a piss. No. The purpose is to talk about what, fluffwise, sets Dark Angels apart. Namely, the terrible dark secret they  are harbouring. I expect, that now with the release of the new Codex, we will see a lot of talks and speculations all over the internet, concerning the nature of this secret. And of course that is what this post is all about. 

Crash Course on Dark Angel History

  Let's do, first, an as brief as possible, recap of the events that lead up to the Dark Angels' "fall from grace". I will skip most of the details, as they will be the subject of next articles.

Caliban and the Young Jonson

  The Emperor (aka Empy, the Big E, Emprah) decides to create the Primarchs to be the generals and leaders in his planned Crusade to unite all humanity. Chaos, being chaos, decide to mess with him  and scatter the till infant Primarchs all over the galaxy, and they are forced to fend for themselves until finally their dad Emperor located them and reunitd with them. One of them, is Lion El'Jonson, Primarch of the 1st Legion, which came to be known as the Dark Angels. Mr. Lion, landed on the planet Caliban, incidently a planet pretty close to the Eye of Terror (never a good thing). Caliban is an extrenely dangerous place to be in. The planet, densely forested, is home to some badass, deamonic beasts. The only safe heavens are the strongholds of the various Knightly orders that exist on Caliban. So the infant Jonson lands and survives on a planet on which he has no right to do so (survive that is). A band of Knights lead by Luther, from a group known simply as The Order (REALLY!! The Order? You guys in GW could be asked to find a decent name? Just 'The Order'?) find young Jonson, who is about 10 years old at the time, and instead of killing the boy for a beast, Luther takes him in. 

  Of course being a Primarch comes with certain perks, superhuman strengh and intellect and all around awesomeness being some of them. Jonsongrows into becoming a Knight of the Order, starts a crusade to rid Caliban on the beasts that roam the land and being the special snowflake he is, he eventually becomes the Grand Master of the Order. Luther being an important knight and hero of Caliban on his own right, is completely overshadowed by Jonson... like who wouldn't be overshadowed by a 6 ft tall superhuman, with an intellect to match, starts to feel the first pangs of jealousy towards his brother knight. Just after the completion of his crusade, The Emperor finds and there was much rejoicing. Jonson reunites his Legion, which he renames Dark Angels. Of his fellow knights, those young enough and able are undergone the process to become Space Marines. The rest of the knights just get some genetic enhancments, as they cannot possibly survive the process. 

The Lion leads the assault on Caliban

   Treachery on the Horizon

   Luther, his second in command, his closets friend, mentor, etc., is of the latter group. Envy seems to take root in Luther's soul. The 1st Legion, now renamed Dark Angels Legion joins the Emperor's crusade.
  Skipping most of the event that take place between the time of the Dark Angels joining the crusade and the eventual destruction of Caliban. The campainging Angels, at the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, reach Caliban (all the intervining years Jonson and his Angels have little to no contact with Caliban). They get a surprising greeting by their fellow marines, when Caliban's defense forces fire upon them. Jonson order an orbital bombardement and eventual leads an assault on the surface. Leader of the renegade force on Caliban is his former bestets friend, mentor, brother-in-arms, Luther, who has fallen to Chaos (pressumably?).

   Eventually the Lion confonts Luther, who, being empowered by the Chaos gods give the Lion a run for his money. At the climax of their duel, Luther inflicts a grievious wound on the Lion. Realising at that moment the magnitude of his treachery by seeing his former comrade wounded, Luther denounces Chaos' hold on him. Naturally the Chaos gods get really pissed off, since they can't handl rejection and lash out with a tremendous phychic attack on Caliban Luther his renegade Angels. Luther is left mad and broken. Caliban under the strain of the phychic attack and the ongoing bombardment,  is torn apart, the only intact part is the Dark Angels' Fortress Monastery complex, known as The Rock. Moreover, all Luther accomplices, henceforth known as The Fallen, are sucked into the Warp, presumably scattered around the galaxy. The Lion, however, was nowhere to be found.

  The Aftermath

Remember that all this happened right after the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, when half the Astartes Legions fought the other half under circumstances and for reasons which at the point might not have been 100% clear to all. Now Caliban is destroyed, the Lion is nowhere to be found and the remaining Dark Angels are on a Rock floating in space. Not a very promising prospect for them, especially considering the general context of the Horus Heresy. So, supposedly, Jonson's Inner Circle, who we can only guess that they at the only people privy to the truth behind all the events, decide to keep all this a secret.  So they cover the whole incident as best as they can and begin their secret crusade to find all the Fallen Angels, in the hope that it will bring the Legion's redemption in the eyes of the Emperor.

  

  From that point on, and following the instruction of the Codex Astartes, the Dark Angels chapter and their successor chapter, collectively referring to themselves as The Unforgiven, undertake their secret crusade. Sometimes they put such extreme importance to their own agendas that they are known to abandon battlefields and their allies, and extreme cases attack or threaten hostilities towards Imperial forces. The true nature of this terrible secret is something that only the most high ranking officers know and they are prepared to keep it that way at all costs

To be continued.....

Stay tuned for the next Parts, where we will be dealing in more detail with the Fallen Angels and, possibly the most mysterious character of 40K, Cypher.

  In the meanwhile, if you wish to look up at some resources so as to form your own opinions here is a list for you!

• Codex: Dark Angels : Really any version could do. Although it will only give you the basics
• Angels of Darkness : Novel by Gavin Thorpe. Interesting read, casts some doubts on Jonson's loyalties
• Descent of Angels : Horus Heresy novel. Terrible book, but interesting information as it details the early history of the Dark Angels. 
• Fallen Angels : Horus Heresy novel. It picks up where Descent is left. The quality of writing is slightly better. It details events right before the campainging Dark Angels arrive in Caliban. Personal comment: The very last paragraph put forward another possible dark secret.

Whether you choose to do some homework before the next part, I am always keen to discuss any part of the history of the Dark Angels, so do not be afraid to add your comments below!  ;)

Hordes - Circle Orboros Tactica: Grayle the Farstrider

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

Personal comments appear in different text style

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.

Hordes - Circle Orboros Tactica: Kromac the Ravenous

 The original guide about Kromac the Ravenous was written by skillt from PP's forums. The title of the original thread is Kromac the Ravenous: An In-depth Guide. Skillt is a veteran player with well over 200 games under his belt with Kromac and owner of www.asgardgames.net.

Kromac in Beast form and Human form

Table of Contents:

• Stats
• Spells
• Feat
• Warbeasts
• Units
• Solos

STATS:
Kromac is a very unique caster. In human form he is almost a pure support caster at MAT 6 POW 11 on Dusk and Dawn, rocking a DEF 15 and ARM14 he is very squishy and needs to play back. In beast form this changes a little. He becomes MAT 8 and POW 14 and gains 3 armor while retaining his fairly high defense of 15. In beast form he is now a rather formidable offensive force, but honestly is still not hard to kill. Do not be tricked into thinking he is a front line caster while in beast form. He will die, and you will lose.

SPELLS:
Kromac may have the best spell list in Circle. Every spell Kromac has is excellent, especially now that Gallows Groves are out. Lets jump right in.

Bestial: This spell is one of the main reasons Kromac is playable against so many different armies. Against Cryx it can prevent you from getting into situations where your beasts will be debuffed to laughable defensive stats and killed without having to include druids in your army at the heft point cost of 9. It shuts down a multitude of support pieces such as Arcanists, War Witch Sirens, Magisters and many other pesky solo spell casters. It is an excellent control piece and will be discussed later in great detail in my matchups section.

Inviolable Resolve: I think the part of this spell that reads Model/Unit is a trap. This belongs on Warbeasts in Kromac’s army. A Feral Warpwolf with this spell is almost as durable armor and box wise as a Khador heavy jack after warping ARM. A Woldguardian with this spell is even harder to kill. It gives your beasts staying power and should not be underestimated when combine with a defense of 14 on the Warp Wolves. This spell will be discussed more in the unit selection portion of this write up.

Rift: Ahh, Rift. One of the worst spells in the game. Kromac uses it to great effect when he has Gallows Groves. It is an excellent control piece, and answers some tough matchups. It deals with Kayazy amazingly well, it bogs down brick armies and forces activation orders that are not ideal in your Trollblood and Skorne match ups. It also utilizes your feat quite well, which I will get into later in the match up section.

Warpath: Warpath is Kromac’s most powerful spell. Warpath allows you to gain threat range, it allows you to distance yourself from your opponent, and it allows you to give all of your beasts a 3” mid activation move. It allows non pathfinder beasts to hide behind linear obstacles and still be able to charge (By advancing over them, then on their activation charging). The synergy with this skill and the Lightning Strike animus of the Warpwolf Stalker is astounding. Being able to retreat 6” away from your opponent is amazing, going 9” is even better.

Wild Aggression: This spell combined with Warpwolf Stalkers and Warpath is what really pushes Kromac over the top. It not only allows free charges but also takes the to-hit roll out of the equation against a lot of targets. With this spell you no longer have to factor in your attack roll failing your average damage per activation skyrockets. It makes the less efficient beasts of Circle into efficiency machines and gives you a lot of flexibility in what your beasts can do when combined with warpath.

FEAT:

Blood Rage: Kromac’s feat is something of a mystery to me. It’s the kind of feat that makes casters like Asphyxious1 good, yet it is so lack-luster on Kromac. That is probably because of his lack of a powerful offensive spell. Rift is good in the right situations, and every once in awhile you may be able to get an assassination off with it but I do not see that as the strength of this feat. It gives the ability to go into beast form, which is nice in a very small amount of situations. The 13” threat bubble of beast form Kromac is more a of deterrent than a real threat as it doesn’t really kill the heavy casters such as The Butcher or Terminus, and the support casters play so far back that it’s really a non-issue. Kromac is also quite squishy and if he is that far forward he is in quite a bit of danger. I think the power of this feat comes from two different lines of play. The first line of play is when you are going second against very spell heavy lists and want to put out all of your buffs and cast Bestial. Using your feat on your turn one in this way throws a lot of people off guard and can start your opponent on the back foot giving you an advantage. This is especially good against Cryx which has little to no shooting to kill Kromac allowing you to play very far forward and get very good use out of bestial. The second use is to control your opponents movement by arcing rift through gallows groves at their front line. It allows you to make a rather large section of rough terrain that they now have to deal with. POW7 blast is also not terrible against a lot of the light infantry in the game. Every once in awhile a Wilder has to Lightning Strike Kromac and he does kill quite a bit on his feat turn in melee… If only he could Warpath… *sigh*


BEATS WRITE UPs:

Argus: The Argus brings some interesting flexibilities into this list. The animus giving pathfinder at first look seems useful for Feral Warpwolves and Ghetorix, both of which lack it innately. Doppler bark gives your HORDES match ups a little boost, but at RAT4 is unreliable at best when looking towards the higher defense targets, and at SP6 you are probably losing your Argus to whatever it just barked at, charge or no unless you use Warpath to gain a little distance. I think the largest application of the Argus' Doppler Bark is dropping defense of Legion heavies under Saeryn's feat to allow your infantry to shoot them effectively while they are in melee. The problem I have with the inclusion of an Argus for its animus is that you cannot benefit from both Lightning Strike and Tracker. You must choose between the two, and Lightning Strike will win that choice every time. All in all, I think the list synergy is stronger with other choices but the Argus is absolutely not a terrible option.

Gorax: The Gorax is a staple of all Circle armies and nothing changes for this one. It's animus, Primal, allows your beasts to crush even the toughest of heavy 'jacks/beasts as well as allowing them to reliably hit high defenses. It is an excellent late game piece by its self and has the potential when buffed by Kromac to kill Warcasters and Warlocks alike. Its Fury 4 is incredible and all for a very low point cost of 4. The Gorax is a must for this army, no matter the goal of attrition or assassination.

Woldwatcher: The Woldwatcher aids heavily in mitigating Kromac's medium base and low defesive stats from range -- he also gives an animus that prevents knockdown, one of the starting moves to most ranged assassinations. At a point cost of 5 he is simply too expensive to put into an already very tight list consdiering he brings nothing else to Kromac's army.

Woldwyrd: The Woldwyrd has negative synergy with Kromac. It gets to shoot things that cast spells, and Kromac stops spell casting. Its animus effects too small of an area to be considered usefull for Kromac as Bestial probably covers much of the same area. I would put this into an unsable catagory for Kromac.

Shadowhorn Satyr: The Shadowhorn Satyr is even weaker on its base stats than a Gnarlhorn, but it gains a very large amount of mobility with bounding leap. Its animus is quite sub-par when compared to the Gnarlhorn's and is almost never worth it in a Kromac army that wants Lightning Strike anyways. He does have an extremely long and versatile threat range thanks to warpath and leap, and with his animus can be forced to Two-Handed-Throw from outside of your control area pitching their caster (hopefully) to its death. Inclusion may be considered for Assassination lists, but other options are probably better.

Gnarlhorn Satyr: The Gnarlhorn can make this list into a very fast assassination style list simply by his inclusion. Bounding is an incredibly powerful animus as it not only increases threat range, but also makes tramples into a very viable way to clear infantry, or an excellent way to get past a large amount of small bases. The animus its self is excellent, but the beast is unfortunately lacking in many ways. Its relatively low base power with no way to increase it except Primal leaves the beast rather useless in the heavy killing department, its lack of reach leaves it lacking in the infantry killing department. Warpath helps it kill infantry, but that applies to all Warbeasts, not just this guy. It is mediocre at both, but excels at neither. At 8 points he is rather cheap and can be included in Kromac armies that are aiming to abuse Bounding (though this does mean you do not get Lightning Strike, a huge negative in my book.).

Feral Warpwolf: The Feral Warpwolf was something I massively underestimated when I started playing Kromac. I saw the lack of Pathfinder and lack of reach as a complete let down and dismissed it immediately for a Woldguardian. I was wrong. The Feral adds a huge amount of flexibility to this list because of its warps. The ability to warp SPD is an excellent synergy with Lightning Strike. The ability to warp for ARM is an excellent synergy with Inviolable Resolve giving him 20 armor. His STR warp is obviously useful for killing hard targets, and can save you the use of Primal. He is also a living beast, so he may be effected by Primal. His base MAT7 means he will not benefit much from Wild Aggression when attacking heavy targets allowing you to keep Inviolable Resolve on him and Wild Aggression on a Stalker. His large amount of HP (28) also allow him to survive quite a bit more than a Stalker, especially when at ARM 20. He is an excellent choice in all Kromac lists.

Pureblood Warpwolf: The Pureblood is an interesting choice as well. He brings some flexibility because of his Ghostly warp (and the ability to give it to other Warp Wolves), and his spray. My problems with the Pureblood is his offensive potential. He is worse than both the Feral and the Stalker in combat, required primal to kill almost every heavy in the game, and his spray is rather inaccurate. You may boost it but that is not efficient use of Fury, and is a rather expensive way to trigger warpath with so many other excellent, cheap options. With a wilder at his side he can spray, boost 4 times and then have the Fury Conditioned off of him, but now your paying 11 points for this package, and losing your wilder to cast other Animi. His animus is extreamly powerful, but also extremely corner-case. In most cases our models do not care about spell buffs. Defendersward on infantry? Who cares, we have Wild Aggression and high base POW. Arcane shield is the same argument. The only real application I see this animus applying to is Iron Flesh. Wild Aggression is nice against this, but when it is on Kayazy you really need a little more. Primal is simply not efficient enough because you give up your next turn which is a HUGE waste on Kayazy. The Pureblood's animus lets you kill the Kayazy reliably and still retain your next turn. If Khador turns into a huge portion of the national meta, Inclusion of the Pureblood will be very important. Until then, I suggest more efficient options.

Warpwolf Stalker: This is the lynchpin of this army. He is what makes it work. Inclusion is mandatory. The Stalker's animus, Lightning Strike, is what ties the entire army together. The fact he also has high POW on his weapons, Reach, Pathfidner, excellent choices for Controlled Warping give him huge variety, and excellent synergy with Kromac makes him an auto-include for this list. When he is effected by Wild Aggression he becomes an effeciency monster. If he warps for STR, he can kill heavy jacks in one round and sprint back to safety. He can warp for Berserk and get into a unit of infantry killing 3-4 of them, Warpathing up to more and continuing his murder spree only to Sprint back to safety. You can combine his Sprint and Lightning Strike moves to get a 9" retreat if the situation calls for it, making him very difficult to get to in subsequent turns. Stalkers use the spell Wild Aggression better than any other warbeast and should always be your priority target for it, unless you have a beast going in for an assassination.

Woldwarden: Kromac would make excellent use of a Woldwarden as a rotating buff machine, but for 9 points I would like it to be able to kill things in a Kromac list. I think you could get away with a Woldwarden at very high points levels (75+) to cycle around Wild Aggression, but at MAT 6 POW 15 he is rather useless to this army. None of Kromac's buffs work on him, and neither does Primal so he becomes much less effecient combined with his high price tag would make his inclusion less than ideal.

Woldguardian: The Woldguardian fills a very unique role in this army, and I played with one in my list for a good 6-8 months including masters at WARMACHINE Weekend. Its high natural armor and high amount of HP make it an excellent attrition piece, especially when buffed with Inviolable Resolve. It is a very slow model which is aided by Warpath and the inclusion of Blackclad Wayfarer's in the army. His animus gives Kromac a reasonable chance of surviving most assassinations that are based on ranged attacks, and basically makes himself immune to shooting. The problems with this beast come in when you take into account his base SPD 4, his inability to utilize Lightning Strike properly and the impossibility of using fury to heal him. In an army who's goal is to never let your opponents make attacks giving them a juicy 9 point pinata that is SPD4 for the entire army to converge on is not really in-line with the goal. His low box count on Mind and Spirit is rough because once they are blown out the beast becomes mostly useless giving him artificially high hit points (Much akin to destroying Warjacks weapon systems). I think he can have a place in a Kromac army as an objective holder/clearer because of Ram, but I do not think he makes the cut at 50 points. He is now also in contention for receiving Inviolable Resolve with Ghetorix. Both cannot have it, and both want it so badly. I will get into this point more in the list construction portion of this thread.

Megalith: Many of the same things apply to Megalith that apply to the Woldwarden in this case, and even more so because you are using arguably the best character beast we have in a sub-optimal way now that character restrcitions are in effect. Megalith's animus is amazing in this army -- it helps Stalkers hit infantry and helps mitigate the counter-punch of most armies. I would much rather have Megalith in a Baldur or Mohsar army.

Scarsfel Griffin: I really like this little guy. When buffed with Primal and Wild Aggression he is a rather nasty assassination from a decent threat range with a decent chance of sealing the deal. He is excellent for creating warpath triggers reliably and benefits greatly from Lightning Strike. Long Leash basically lets him go anywhere he wants and still be able to boost as well as benefit from Warpath. At 5 points he is in no way a cheap option and unfortunately does not hit hard enough, or have reach to kill infantry so he cannot really be included in the main list. I feel the Scarsfel Griffin is somewhere I have a lot of learning to do, and may have many applications inside of a reinforcements build. The access to 2 handed throws/slams from this guy are pretty high, and I think that's really what I like about him.

Winter Argus: This little fella does almost nothing for Kromac. His animus costs too much, his ranged is too low and unreliable and he lacks in hitting power. He does not utilize Kromac's buffs well and brings little to the army. Inclusion is not suggested.

Ghetorix: Ghetorix is the icing on the cake. Kromac was already an incredibly powerful caster, and had all of the tools he needed to get the job done. Now that we also have Ghetorix his tool bag not only expanded, but upgraded. Ghetorix has many of the same strengths as the Stalker (reach, high pow attacks etc), but he loses Pathfinder. His increased durability alone is enough to take him in the list, but also his increased MAT (making him not as hungry for Wild Aggression) and increased POW (removing much of the need to Primal him) are both very strong improvements over the rest of our beast options. His warps are very unique. Snacking gives him tremendous staying power if your opponents run infantry and fail to kill him in one round. Hyper-Aggressive gives you some very interesting anti-shooting options. If they shoot you early, you may be able to advance into cover. If they shoot you late, you can step over an obsticle you're hiding behind and get off a charge. It makes your opponent have to make alot of choices -- and can get them killed if they mess up. The ability to move during your opponents turn should NEVER be underestimated. Ghetorix is another prime target for Inviolable Resolve. His base armor of 17 jumps to 19 vs shooting, and because of Unyeilding to 21 in melee. DEF 14 ARM 21 with 28 boxes is an incredibly durable beast that is very difficult kill, which is somthing this army has never had before.






INFANTRY WRITE UPs:

Druids of Orboros: Quite a pricey unit, but they do bring a bit to the table. With their UA they are 9 points, give you a high powered large template, allow you to pull enemy heavies into your ranks for easy slaughter. They give you some defensive perks as well the clouds they make can block LOS to Kromac, allowing him to play a little farther forward vs shooting armies. Countermagic is excellent, but does not stack well with Bestial. They both serve the same purpose, and they both do it well. I don't personally include druids in the list because I beleive a more aggressive will always do better than a passive list. Druids of oroboros create a manner of "sitting back and waiting" required, allowing skilled opponents to maneuver around you to avoid the force bolts, or get into better position for scenarios. Also, pulling their heavy into your lines is not a huge deal when you already get a 9" retreat should you need it. Do you need them to be 5" closer, and then retreat 9"? It seems like over kill.

Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers: Woldstalkers do everything. They kill infantry. They damage Warjacks/Beasts. They annihilate heavy infantry. They solo hunt. With their high base offensive stats (RNG10 and POW12) and their average RAT6, these guys look pretty good on paper. Once you add in their special rules you get a mind blowlingly good ranged support unit. Zephyr allows them to stand still and aim against infantry giving you RAT8 alot of the time. Concentrated Fire allows you to hit those pesky DEF10 heavies reliably, and still do damage (finishing up at pow 16, which is nothing to scoff at. They can play denial by advancing, shooting then Zephyr'ing backwards. Zephyr stops them from being tied up in melee and keeps your forces mobile. If you need it, Woldstalkers even have a 19" threat range (Walk 6" Zephyr 3" Shoot 10"). Because of their range 10, they can fight more to the sides of the battle, thus not clogging up the center. If they do get engaged the ability to zephyr out of melee to make room for a berserking Stalker is a rather important part as well. Their versatility and high offesive output is what makes their inclusion immenent.

Sentry Stone & Mannikins: The Sentry Stone is as interesting choice for Kromac. It does not really bring anything to Kromac's list and doesn't really give you any benefits. The sprays from the Mannikins at RAT4 with no way of increasing it is pretty much useless and their melee attacks are in the same vein. Your bonuses are in the creation of forests and magical weapons. You can hide stalkers in the forests and use them to block charge lanes, while useful, does not justify the 3 points. All in all, I do not think it is worthwhile for Kromac.

Shifting Stones: Another backbone peice of this list. Shifting stones promote extreame mobility, they allow you to run so many beasts so hot, they can heal systems that have been destroyed to save your order of activations, and in a pinch they are excellent at clogging charge lanes to your models. With their extreamly high ARM of 18 they are a very durable support peice. They placement effects they give to your beasts combine with Warpath allow you to get places that nobody ever expects. If they do expect it, it creates a huge mental drain on them trying to figure out all of the angles. Their weakness is shooting -- which is partially answered by the Stone Keeper giving one unit stealth. Some armies still answer the stones, but many cannot. We will talk about this more in the matchups section.

Reeves of Oroboros: Reeves of Oroboros are far too many points for consideration with Kromac. The 1 point per model price tag is far outshined by both Blood Trackers and Woldstalkers. They can trigger Warpath reliably, but so can the previously listed options for less points. I do not think the benefits of Reeves, namely hunter, outweigh their extreme point costs, low RAT and low POW.

Tharn Bloodtrackers: Another power house unit. These ladies pack a punch, are difficult to kill and trigger Warpath very, very well. Their only problem is that they usually have to play in a central location, and are quite dependant on prey. With Prey, the massacre infantry and put good damage onto a jack/beast. Without prety, they still do pretty well against most infantry, but their damage output to jacks/beasts drops rather drastically. With a Kromac army you need to be able to trigger Warpath consistently. Blood trackers are excellent at this, if they can get to an infantry unit that is their prey. If an opponent is keeping your Prey from you, or simply running to the other side of the board that is badnews for you. You may not have the turn it takes to reposition the trackers to their prey, and in doing say you may clog all of your charge lanes/retreat paths for your beasts. They are too dependant on prey for this list. I will disucss this more in the List Construction section.

Tharn Bloodweavers: Dispel. Its the strength of these models. Its why you put them in lists. The rest is just gravy. Kromac can use dispel, and he needs dispel. The problem is that they are Melee, unreliable to hit what Kromac needs dispelled (Which is Iron Flesh) and generally not very synergistic with the rest of the army. They are very fast, and make an excellent reinforcement. -- but they are not what you want in infantry units for Kromac.

Tharn Wolfriders: The Wolfriders do much the same thing as the blood trackers, but are much faster. They are, unfortunatly, also easier to kill due to their lack of stealth. They are slightly more consistant than Blood Trackers due to Lucky, but they get half as many shots so it is a slightly skewed perspective. They are too many points for too few activations, and triggers. They are also so fast they quickly out run Kromac's control area for the purposes of Warpath.

Tharn Ravagers: Tharn Ravagers simply cost too many points to be included in a Kromac army. This is a rather comical statement as they are almost the entirety of Kromac's theme force. They hit relatively hard at a high MAT, but their survivability is very low. Inviolable Resolve helps them out quite a bit but as discussed in the spells section seems to work out much better protecting your beasts. There simply is not enough room to include these and get everything else you want in your list.

Warpborn Skinwalkers: Skinwalkers are almost the complete opposite of what you want in an infantry unit for Kromac. They are slow, not ranged, and must be commited to fight. Their base SPD5 is slightly mitigated by their reach. MAT6 is horrendous with no way to buff it inside of the army, and CMA on a 5 man unit of medium based infantry is not really effective. Couple this with a moderate price point of 8 points for the full unit they bring almost nothing we want to the table. What they do being is the excellent ability to tie things up, especially once Inviolable Resolve is on them. DEF 12 ARM 20 in melee is excellent. Unfortunatly, that causes two problems. Primarily, it gives your opponent somthing to attack while giving you little benefit of their death. Sure, they tanked a heavy warjack for a turn (maybe two, depending on what else was or wasn't around), but now your out the points, and have lost another source of Warpath when a unit of shifting stones may have been able to do the same thing for 1/4th the cost. The second issue is they pretty much require Inviolable Resolve to stand up to any decent amount of punishment, which takes it away from your Feral or Ghetorix, both of which will use it far better.

Wolves of Orboros: This is a great well rounded infantry unit. It is an accurate unit (MAT8 on the charge) and hits reasonably hard once per game. Its fast, durable and reliable. The only problem with these guys in Kromac is that they are Melee. You really need ranged fighters for several reasons (Discussed in list construction), and these are no different. I do think at higher point games you can get away with running Wolves as a flanking force playing the side of the table that's weakest. This would probably also make me take Morraig as he is a very solid choice if you are already taking Wolves.

SOLOS WRITE UPs:

Blackclad Wayfarer: This guy is a trap. For the longest time I loved the Black Clad in my Kromac lists. It increases threat range, it clears clutter and it grabs points. All great benefits right? Right. It also doesn't trigger Warpath with its spray, artificially increases threat range with hunters mark and gives free charges to models that already get them with Wild Aggression.

Druid Wilder: Druid Wilder's are one of the best things we got out of Mk2. The ability to cast an animus per turn is incredibly good with the Warp Wolf Stalker and the Gorax, two of Circles best warbeasts. The fact she can also remove fury in a pinch, and extend your control area when you're going for an assassination is incredible. She should be in almost every army that is running the Gorax/Stalker package at 50 points. At 35 she becomes a luxury we cannot always afford. Her excellent defensive stats also make her great for clogging points or charge lanes.

Reeve Hunter: The Reeve Hunter has little to no synergy inside of this list. His ranged attack has potential to trigger Warpath, and the inclusion of War Wolves to increase his efficiency is out of the question due to point restrictions.

Tharn Ravager Whitemane: The Whitemane is another one of Circle's ways to clear large amounts of infantry. Were as this is a very useful tool to have, Kromac is not really its place. We actually want quite the opposite -- we do not want to kill a whole unit of infantry in one turn. We need those infantry to trigger Warpath. We need those infantry for our army to function. Your goal should be to kill all of the infantry that can threaten your pieces. He also adds little to the army, as melee units don't trigger Warpath effectively as we have seen above. He also has a few major flaws such as tough, undead, or construct infantry. Not a terrible choice, not the best choice.

War Wolf: Circle simply has better one point options in the Gallows Grove or Swamp Gobbers.

Lord of the Feast: The Lord of the Feast has a very unique and non-linear synergy inside of this list. When your list is based on never giving your opponents anything to attack, usually you end up getting pushed off of objectives. The Lord with Inviolable Resolve on him becomes a very durable piece that can get into places nobody else can. This is a benefit because it can slow, or reduce your opponents advance to objectives. He excels at disruption and is invaluable in that regard, well worth his 4 points. I do not know if he is worth the points at 50, but I have found ways to squeak him in at lower point levels where his buffed ARM19 is extremely difficult to deal with without allocating way more points than he worth.

Wolf Lord Morraig: This guy is a total beast. When run with wolves he hits about the hardest of anything we have, and more accurate than anything we have. The problem is the price tag. 5 points for him, 8 more for the wolves makes him a very expensive package. He is excellent, but unfortunately I do not think Kromac has the points, or the space on the table to run him. Wolves get in the way too much, and a tar pit unit is not really in Kromac's budget or strength. It doesn't bring enough to the board to justify the inclusion.

Gallows Grove: Gallows Groves slingshot this army from amazing to out of control. They give Kromac a feat that is offensive instead of defensive. They remove tough, which can be a problem for triggering Warpath as well as Lightning Strike. They block charge lanes, and allow Kromac to stand were he wants to, instead of where he needs to. Being able to channel Rift makes the spell significantly better, and really allows its use. In match ups were Bestial is not required, now Kromac has an excellent control spell in Rift. He can also spread animi over the battlefield allowing his army to spread out much more. This allows for better positioning for both attrition and objectives.