The Skorne Chronicles, Vol 11

All Quiet

This past week was a relativly quiet one in relation ot both my gaming and Skorne in general. There were some extremely vague Cryx spoilers, and the release of two more Riven Bonds League Spoilers:

Other than that, I’ve got nothing.

However, that means I’ve had time to think and paint, though neither are particularly productive. I did Finish my Mordikaar and show him off everywhere. Here will be no different. 

I honestly thought that he’d be a lot less enjoyable to paint, but he was a blast. It could be that he’s not really intricate, and that almost everything is gold. The purple glow was a last minute addition that I think came across pretty well.

I was pretty staunchly avoiding Mordikaar here because he is a fairly common caster and not someone I am sure I wanted to use. However, Getting him all painted up makes me want to toss him on the table and see what he can do. This should come as no surprise to many, as he is one of the best casters in the Skorne stable at the time. Just yesterday, Martin Hornacek won the Irish Masters tournament’s final table with him.

The lists, of course, need to start somewhere, and for that I go to the Forums and Facebook Pages. The collective knowledge of the internet can be put to use here for our greater benefit

One of the First lists I come across is this one:

Mordikaar
-Tiberion
-Drake
-Krea
Pain Giver Beast Handlers(4)
Nihilators (10)
Cataphract Cetrati (6)
-Vorkesh
Willbreaker
Bloodrunners (6)
Tyrant Commander
Agonizer

Its considered the list to take with Mordikaar, and I can see why Tiberion is a monster from hell, The Drake can get tons of work done in this, an infantry blender build. The Krea works perectly with the Cetratii and Vorkesh. Nihlators under the feat are freaking def 16 with tough. Bloodrunners are easy early Hollow targets and are great to feat on, bringing them up to a massive def 17. Tyrant Commander, Agnoizer and willbreaker support the army. Its a simple grind out and mow down all the infantry in the game sort of plan, that also has a lot of oomph behind it thanks to Tiberion and Cetratii. One Big upside is this pulls out Tiberion from the fist, allowing me to swap in Molik Karn. For sure, though, Molik Karn could work wonders here.

The next list I found added Despoiler, which is one of my favorite models. With Mordikaar, hes a Gladiator with a ton of upside, with other, maybe not so much.

Mordikaar
– Tiberion
– Despoiler
Cetrati (6)
– Vorkesh
Bloodrunners
Nihilators (10)
Beast Handlers (4)
Agonizer
Tyrant Commander

This takes the same concept above and simply swaps the two Basilisks and the Willbreaker for Despoiler. Free upkeep, access to Arcane Suppression, free void spirits and a speed 5 eyeless sight melee beast with reach all seem pretty good.

I can’t find it now, but I saw a list that had some more range presence, swapping the Despoiler for a Raider and a Shaman, adding both guns and utility dispel.

So, Its time to push my list around for a bit, and I’ve got some extremely stupid concepts I have bouncing around in my skull.

First, I want to take Despoiler for a spin, so he will likely be going in. Tiberion, at least for this time out, is going to be in the Fist, so I’m leaving him out. I really like the concept of the range contingent, especially given that Mordikaar has access to a range 10 aoe 3 pow 13 gun, and that at range 14 could be pretty scary. So, I went into a garbage heap and pulled this mess out.

Mordikaar
-Basilisk Krea
-Cyclops Raider
-Cyclops Shaman
-Despoiler
Cataphract Cetratii (6)
-Vorkesh
Pain Giver Beast Handlers (6)
Tyrant Commander
Venetor Rievers (10)
-Standard and Officer

 

I like it, but not against the armies its supposed to tank. It doesn’t have high enough volume of shots to take care on any massed infantry on the way in, and its damage isn’t high enough to take the bulky stuff down. The Shaman is being pulled three different ways, wanting to shoot, Krea Animus and hand out snipe. additionally, there don’t seem to be enough bodies to fill out the soul train to Mordikaarville, so I want to both add more bodies and a little more focus. The next thought I had is something like this:

Mordikaar
-Basilisk Krea
-Despoiler
-Cyclops Shaman
Cataphract Cetratii (6)
-Vorkesh
Pain Giver Beast Handlers (6)
Tyrant Commander
Nihliators (10)
Slingers (10)
Agonizer

I think this is the list I am going to try. Either bottom turn 1 or top of 2 leave enough space between my Slingers that I can rocket the Nihlitors through. Hollow on the Slingers and force my opponent to make a terrible choice: Kill the 12/12 Slingers to get to the juicy innards of my army, or let them be and have them Aim at his army. Behind them are the Nihilators, and behind them the Cetratii, Waiting to get into the guts. Mordikaar, the Shaman and the Krea are all popping the Kreas Animus and protecting, as long as they can, the rest of the army from the impending arrows of misfortune.

Cetratii eat up so many points into a durable, impossible to crack nut, but there is also the issue I see with revive that it only gives one HP, with no way to bump it up. Hollow is great, especially if you can get it off on a number of targets over the course of the game, and Banishing Ward + Feat and Krea mean that many times the only way to kill you is in direct melee. I might sub out the Nihilators for Keltarii, but I can’t truly justify it at this time.

The other method I have heard batted around, as well, is just replace all the beasts with a Mammoth and a Krea.

Something like this:

Mordikaar
-Krea
-Mammoth
Bloodrunners (6)
Cataphract Cetratii (6)
-Vorkesh
Nihilators (10)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (4)
Willbreaker.

I’m fairly sure that I’ll be bringing a Makeda 2 list and Fist to the tournament I intend to go to on the 18th, but I’m not positive. If Mordikaar is good enough and fun enough, I could see subbing him in.

I could just beat lists against the wall all day, so what to you suggest? I can just go with the tried and true, but I so love some of the more neglected pieces. Let me know!