Skorne Chronicles, Vol 30
The Final Preparations
In just a few days, I’ll be going to only the third tournament I have made it to all year. I had much higher aspirations (6) at the start of the year, but life throws its vagaries at us as it chooses, not as we determine. neither tournament was a rousing success, though I managed to peel away with 2 wins in each outing. This weekend looks to be a big one as well, with 16 players signed up currently. We may once again hit the fabled 5th round! What am I taking this weekend? Well, lets take a look!
Recently I’ve been playing Morghoul 2, and I’m just not convinced that, even with the undefeated list I have, its not a good enough list for a tournament. Maybe it is, but with three games under me, I’m just not willing to toss it to the wolves just yet. My next most recent caster is also not very good, Zaal 2, but I think I have enough experience with him against a pile of different opponent and army builds. I’ve managed to scrape by, and the turns have been long, but I think I’ll hem and haw less under clock pressure. I’ve also made a few changes to the list that makes me pretty happy dropping him into a number of matchups I hadn’t before.
To pair with this infantry horde of 40+ models, some of which don’t really hit extra hard, I figured I would need to have something beefy and strong. Something that was able to put pressure on the opponent and cause issues if they had solid infantry solutions. That list exists, in my mind, with only one caster: Dominar Rasheth. If I am going to go to a tournament and get beat, I am at least going to do it with one of my favorite casters. Chain gang it is!
The lists.
Zaal, the Ancestral Advocate
-Basilisk Krea (4)
-Cyclops Shaman (5)
Agonizer (2)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
Ancestral Guardian x2 (6)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Nihliators x10 (8)
Keltarii x10 (8)
Venetor Slinger x10 (6)
Cataphract Cetratii x4 (8)
Dominar Rasheth – Chain Gang, Tier 1
-Bronzeback Titan (9)
-Bronzeback Titan (9)
-Titan Gladiator (7)
-Titan Gladiator (7)
-Titan Sentry (8)
-Titan Cannoneer (8)
Agonizer (2)
Paingiver Beast Handlers x6 (3)
Farrow Bone Grinders x4 (2)
Plan
as a vague plan, I’ve put these list together to both ask questions and solve problems.
Shooting: Both are pretty resilient to shooting, with the Sentry and both Bronzebacks having fairly strong countermeasures against ranged for Rasheth,and Zaal 2 having both a Krea and the ability to spell assassinate from some 23″ away.
Warbeast/warjack Heavy: Both lists can ear away at a Warjack or Warbeast heavy list thanks to the Agonizer. Denial of focus is outstanding with preventing certain double-alpha lists, and can make it extremely difficult to break the back of many titans. The -2 str to warbeasts creates a similar problem in a warbeast matchup, giving the Sentry up to an army 25 versus warbeasts on the feat turn.
Troop Heavy/Weaponmaster Spam – Depending on the setup, the Rasheth list can be extremely potent against weaponmaster Spam. Without reach, he can prevent many troops from getting to his beasts by simply dropping Breaths of Corruption on them, and that can spell bad news for the opponent. With Zaal 2, I have to hope to get some good positioning and try and out spam the enemy. With Immunity to free strikes on the Keltarii and berserk on the Nihlators, I may be able to dig deep when I need it.
High Defense: Zaal 2 shines here, though I don’t expect to see it. With Every model the opponent kills, I’ll get an attack that hits def 18 on average. Not bad, overall, especially if I can get the Krea or Shaman in there.
Multi-box: Again, both lists seem pretty set up to deal with multi-box spam. I can “charge” turn after turn, whittling his army down faster than mine. Additionally, I have the AG’s who can really get work done against some multi-box infantry.
Each faction presents its own challenges, too. I think the matchup covers them pretty well, though, with one glaring hole that I just have to make up with dodge or play more good.
Cygnar
likely a strong shooting presence. With the Stormwall, I reach for Rasheth, without, Zaal 2
Protectorate
Harbinger begs to get shot with the cannoneer, and either Feora can light my entire army on fire. In those instances I’ll reach for Rasheth. Pretty much the rest of ’em beg for Zaal 2
Khador
Doomreavers and Pulls and High Defense. Clogging them up with more than they can chew on and choking the streets with the dead is very likely my only option. I probably reach for Zaal 2, though can see an argument for Rasheth.
Cryx
A million ways to clear infantry and enough damage to lumberjack heavies whenever they want means that neither list feels good. I’m likely to reach for the pile of heavies and ask if they can take down 6. I hope the answer is no.
Mercs
Mixed bag of Melee and Ranged lists. I’ll have to look at their pairings and see what they can take down. Reach for the other one.
Convergence
with almost no living models, its likely that Rasheths feat is completely dead. They are also asking the same basic questions, and I think I can answer both of them, ironically, with the model who’s feat is completely dead.
Retribution
A strong Ranged presences with few Jacks, I think I’m going to run either list into these matchups. Vyros 2 is a different animal, and I’d love to break into his griffons with my Rasheth list.
Trollbloods
With a ton of heavy boxes and a few big hitters, I think I really want to reach for Zaal 2 here. Killing anything big will take concentrated effort, though, so putting as many bodies to jam them up is likely the best idea.
Legion
Likely will have a million fragile beasts and a pile of ranged shots. Zaal 2 seems like the safe bet to overwhelm them with targets and still be able to hit and damage thanks to transference.
Skorne
most of the time I am going to feel more comfortable with Rasheth. Being able to know your killing their heavies in retaliation of any of them get to you is good news. Just have to keep up transfers.
Circle.
whoo boy. This one is one I really don’t like. I think I reach for Rasheth because they are just generally pillowfisted. Bradigus brings a big problem, but if I can bring the Agonizer into the right spot and get my spacing right, in order to kill any useful amount of heavies, he’ll loose his major pieces. also, carnivore straight up hoses my soul collection. not dropping Zaal 2 into Morv 2
Minions:
See above. If there is a caliban, they are getting Rasheth. Nevermind, I’m probably just going to drown them in Titans. They are unlikely to kill all of them!
Well, thats the basic rundown! wish me luck!