Miniatures Games,  The Necrotechs Workshop,  Tour de Cryx,  Warmachine,  Warmachine MK 3

Necrotechs Workshop – A Better Scaverous

Tour de Cryx Caster #1 – Scaverous Mid Set Thoughts

I’m very likely to make it a pattern, because I like patterns, of writing about the caster after I hit the three game mark, as it gives me time to think on the list that I settled on and see how it has panned out over a few games before trying to tweak it majorly. So, What do I think After Three games of Scaverous? 

The Hype is Real

I’d heard at the start of the edition that Scaverous was going to be a monster, and I believed it to a point, but seeing it in action was just the sweetest. While I did loose two of the three games, I really felt that I was in a solid position if it wasn’t for my bonehead moves in the two I lost. The List I’d come up with held together really well, even through the losses, and was excellent at feeding souls to Scaverous, even when there were few on the board to consume. With four distinct ways to gather souls, I’ve got most bases covered most of the time. 

What I really enjoyed about him was his capacity as an assassin. While I cannot kill a lock sitting on a pile of focus, I am ready and able to blow a lot of models out of the water, if needed, especially models with only a few focus on them. On the feat turn, he can sink damage in all on his own. TK the caster backwards for the rest of the army followed up by a Feast of Worms with boosted damage and then an excarnate. Against a focusless ARM 18 caster, you’re sinking in 15 damage. Against a caster with focus, its only 5, but it is still a significant punch. Add in the Croes, and you don’t need many to take down a caster. Croes are doing some astronomical levels of damage. Against an ARM 18 caster, you’r doing 5 damage a model. After the two Focus from Scaverous being spent, they likely only have 3 or so on them. Having suffered 5 damage, you only need about 6 to get around 20 damage, with one less model per reduced ARM stat. Mid Arm casters, who often camp a few to feel safe, are particularly vulnerable. Dice -1 on three dice isn’t a good place to be no matter how much focus you have on you. I can wax for a long time on how awesome he is, really, but I also have a few problems with him. 

The Bad

Its all about that base. I am really, really bad at making sure that his stupid medium base is hidden from all angles. This means that I always feel that I am going to end up killed, and one occasion, It was exactly that. Now, my opponents dice rolled hot, Killing me on a boosted dice -2 and a straight dice -5, but he still had a POW 20 lined up anyway, just in case. 

While he seems to have an answer for everything, It seems that he is simply unable to capitalize on all of it on a given turn. Honestly, its what is expected. you don’t want your casters on Auto-pilot making their way to victory simply by hitting all the right buttons. The case I am talking about specifically is dropping feast of worms and Icy Grip in the same turn. Maybe I just got greedy (Hint, I did), but I also felt pretty safe. I had positioned myself to gather just a vast amount of souls on that turn, and part of the plan was launching a Feast into a group of 5 models and swallowing their souls. I was worried about many in that DEF 13 unit surviving the onslaught, so I then tossed an Icy Grip on them for good measure. Those two focus probably could have saved me. Unfortunately, I was not safe, got Galleon-ed and lost the game. 

Finally, I don’t think that I have enough armor cracking because it is a list designed to feed Scaverous souls, and thereby shred infantry. Snapjaw and Erebus can do some work, but I’m not really confident that they can handle a concentrated assault. I kinda want something more in the list to help me even the score. I don’t know that I want something that assists Erebus or Snapjaw, but more of something that will remove an other heavy on their own. 

The Rundown

Lets take a look at how each of the parts are fairing according to their expectations. 

First, a Scale

A+ – Performs well above its grade, carrying the game and working even greater than expected
A – Performing above grade and working greater than expected
A- – Performing above grade and working significantly better than expected
B+ – Working significantly better than expected, but still within bounds of the model
B – Working better than expected, but still within bounds of the model
B – Working well, and within bounds of the model. 
C+ – Working as expected with small, unexpected upside
C – Working as Expected
C – Working as expected with small, unexpected downside
D – not working as expected
F- Bringing the whole list down simply by its presence. 

  • The Withershadow Combine
    • In almost every game, they have been able to assist in the execution of the plan. From Puppet Strings, to additional TK’s to Blackfire Bolts, this unit has seen extensive and continuous work, affecting each game. B+. 
  • Erebus
    • Erebus hasn’t really had a chance to shine. In the game I had him involved, he did good things, but ended up 1/32″ out of the zone and participated in losing me the game. In the other two he simply stood by and watched as first Fiona and then Scaverous was on the bad side of the assassination train. He felt like a heavy, and he felt good being there at 14/20. C. 
  • Deathripper x2
    • Nothing special, and definitely feel like they could have been any arcnode. C. 
  • Soul Trapper
    • While he is nothing particularly special, I do like everything he has brought. The ability to hand souls over to Scaverous has proved valuable, netting a massive 11 souls on my best turn. He’s working better than I expected. B. 
  • Wrong Eye and Snap Jaw
    • Oh boy! These guys have just been slick as oil. Their problem, however, is the great expectation that comes with great cost. I need to keep Scaverous in the Star Crossed bubble, which means I need to keep him more centrally located as I have had Wrongeye covering the Satyxis on the way in. working within their very high expectations. C
  • Warwitch Siren
    • This model simply hasn’t been performing. The drop to Magic Ability 6 has really hurt her, and even with the boosted to hit with Scaverous feat, I don’t find her worth it. I was stoked to try and use her to top off Erebus, but with the rest of the Focus redundancy and the Focus efficiency the list has, she seems to be superfluous. D. 
  • Satyxis Raiders + Satyxis Sea Witch
    • As the best infantry in the faction, these guys have a lot of work cut out for them. Fortunately for the list, they are providing it in spades. Working with the Soul Harvester spell and Wrong Eye to keep them alive, they have weathered many storms and sent a great many souls to Scaverous. While they have high expectations, they are performing admirably even for those. B
  • Croe’s Cutthroats
    • I came in with high hopes, but low expectations. The prior version of this list in MK II had Croes as well, but it was much more limited. Poison was a much less effective rule. Now, with reposition and aiming, they have been able get some solid work done. Positioning them so they outside of engagement range but within next turns Crossbow range has been a pain, but has proven worth it. I have yet to have them take out anything significant, but both troops and casters have fallen to them. B+
  • Cephalyx Overlords
    • I had hopes, but the overlords let me down. Not for lack of trying, though! It might also have something to do with the nerf to Una 2’s Feat, but I haven’t really felt them pull their weight in any significant way. Their sprays seem counterproductive and redundant with the Satyxis, even thought they are sprays, some of the most accurate ranged attacks around. I will likely cut them. D. 

 

I really think I am going to drop the Siren and Overlords, with some options to take out the Soultrapper if I need the space. There are some really interesting anti-armor options at 12/13 points, including machine wraiths for extra movement shenanigans. I think Bane Thralls might be my best bet, but they are going to be the easiest targets to shoot on the whole board, and will likely be dropped pretty fast. Anyway, I think the list is coming along well, and when I get to play casters voluntarily, I am going to be pretty happy with playing Scaverous some more.