Mulling on Mohsar: 6

I've come to the conclusion that I like Shadowhorns. I don't know what it is about them, but a giant jumping goat just makes sense to me. They've also been vital to almost every win I've had with Circle so far, so I've bought another one. Attrition isn't working for me, and every time I try it I fail miserably.

Ninja!

I've also come to the conclusion that ranged attacks are lovely. I should probably change my caster but Mohsar just talks to me (no, not the straight jacket, away, AWAY I TELL YA!).

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Shadowhorn Satyr

Druids of Orboros (Leader and 5 Grunts)

- Druid of Orboros Overseer

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Tharn Bloodtrackers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Nuala the Huntress

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Reeve Hunter

Reeve Hunter

Attrition, I don't think so... should I buy some shrimps... probably.

Mulling on Mohsar: 5

I've received my models, and tonight will feature just a single proxy model (Megalith). The Bloodtrackers will take a break while I try running beast heavy, but the Wolves of Orboros will stay to swell the ranks for the time being.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Warpwolf Stalker

- Warpwolf Stalker

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard

Blackclad Wayfarer

Blackclad Wayfarer

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Professor Victor Pendrake

It's tiny at just below thirty models but still larger than a lot of Circle armies out there. I'm unsure about Pendrake, but I find myself unable to respond to the high defense Circle/Legion heavies without Primal, and Beast Lore on the WoO will sort them out (hitting defense 18 on average dice). Beast Lore can be applied to a lot of different models when I really need that boost, from the Stone Keeper to the Blackclad, or even Mohsar himself if he can't spare the Focus to boost that Curse of Shadows.

Finally Pendrake brings a possible knockdown to the table, which can be a game winner. If there's a defense thirteen Warjack I'll have to use Primal to guarantee a kill, but with one 7+ roll he'll be flat on his behind and I can kill it with a Stalker and sprint away.


/Lamoron

Mohsar Vs. Karchev

I got a game against Bitmatic from the Privateer Press forums, which was nice because I so rarely get to face him. He decided to try out Karchev for the first time

Karchev the Terrible

- Berserker

- Kodiak

- Spriggan

Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Kayazy Assassin Underboss

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Gorman di Wulfe

Koldun Lord

Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount)

Not the most optimized list but Karchev on full camp is still a hard nut to crack, and then I noticed I didn't have my Megalith proxy. In order to avoid filling the table with really crazy proxies (I really really need my models soon) I switched in a Feral and bumped Lanyssa to a LoTF.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Feral Warpwolf

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Shadowhorn Satyr

Tharn Bloodtrackers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

. Nuala the Huntress

Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard

Blackclad Wayfarer

Blackclad Wayfarer

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Lord of the Feast

I really missed my hordes of infantry, and lining up the full unit of Wolves felt really satisfying. I won the roll and terrain made it beneficial to go second since Karchev would have to split up his forces to avoid the giant tower placed right in front of his deployment zone.

I still had three heavies, and this time I brought two Shadowhorn Satyrs. I've had so much fun with them when running Mohsar that I decided to try out two of them (The Gnarlhorn is standing in for the Second Satyr... I need those models). Trackers decided that Doom Reavers would be prey-of-the-day, and he began the running.

Ye old pile of jacks

The Assassins ran around the tower, and one of them ran within Abomination range which probably cost him the game when the dice failed him, but I was not immune to dumbass mistakes either, though mine came later.

He pulled away his Doom Reavers and ran them out on the flank with some plan in mind I couldn't quite grasp, but with them out of my hair I was free to focus on keeping the pile-o-jacks away, and Mohsar just happens to have the perfect tool: Pillars. Since I had no Megalith I was unable to put up a complete wall and had to settle for three while putting up Mirage on the Wolves, and I realized that my feat did exactly nothing in this match-up.

I wasn't going to get much out of the LoTF anyway so I decided to throw a wrench in his repair facility instead, and using the Spriggan as a raven target he whirled through half the mechanics but sadly they passed their terror test. Still, I had built a castle and I had trouble seeing how he was going to get out of receiving a charge. Turns out he wasn't, and he just lined up to take it. The Doom Reavers came running back in but the Trackers passed their check. I lost a couple of models and the LoTF got stomped but nothing of importance. I think he underestimated the Wolves so after I popped CoS on the Spriggan I activated them and charged, leaving Mohsar on four Fury and looking pretty stupid.

Woo boy I like Wolves of Orboros. I completely messed up placement and attempted to take on three heavies at once, which predictably didn't go well, but the Spriggan was down to a single functional system and the Berserker was so banged up that a primal Shadowhorn could finish the job. The Doom Reavers were wiped by the Trackers, and the Feral moved up to prepare for Karchev.

He used his feat and Unearthly Rage, mauled my Shadowhorn with the Kodiak, locked the other Shadowhorn down with Black Oil, and his Assassins took down some Trackers, but do you see the line going from Feral to Karchev, because he didn't. Finally after seven games I used Hunters Mark, and with speed warp the Feral got in. Curse of Shadows + Primal + Hunters Mark was enough to take Karchev down, and I really felt comfortable this time... Infantry rocks.

• I don't need two Shadowhorn Satyrs.
• I didn't miss the Shifting Stones much.
• I missed Megalith a lot.
• Wolves of Orboros are my new best friends.
• Reach models are great with Mohsar.
• Trackers are great, but I think I'll go with a minimum unit next time.

Mohsar is a real bastard for Cryx to face, and I think it's about time for a "know your enemy" article on him.

/Lamoron

Mulling on Mohsar: 4

Right then, infantry Mohsar it is. I know Circle is known for it's great beasts, but I see some great potential in the infantry, and I've always been an infantry man. I figure running three heavies is a step up from 0-1, but the multiple activations and presence on the field I get from infantry is hard to ignore.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Shadowhorn Satyr

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Tharn Bloodtrackers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Nuala the Huntress

Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard

Blackclad Wayfarer

Blackclad Wayfarer

The idea is to become familiar with the rules for throwing, since that's one of the things I find very confusing. The fact that there's two different systems is just mind boggling, but this list should prove interesting.

Mulling on Mohsar: 2

I had a very uneventful game against eStryker last night with my Mohsar list, trying out the Bloodtrackers. The game ended when the Shadowhorn threw Old Rowdy at the Squire to get him away from eStryker. Megalith managed to put CoS and his Animus effect on eStryker, and a primal Stalker made a Shish Kabob out of him with what amounts to MAT 10 and PS 22.

I must that I feel better with some infantry around, and Mohsar is much like a Cryx caster with added mobility and less debuffs. I'm getting the hang of using Pillars though, and my next list will look something like this.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Warpwolf Stalker

- Warpwolf Stalker

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Wolf of Orboros Officer & Standard

Blackclad Wayfarer

Blackclad Wayfarer

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Lanyssa Ryssyll

I didn't much like the Bloodtrackers though I can see why other people do, but I'll give the Wolves a game and see if I like them better (they seem more like my style). I also wanted to try having both Blackclads and Lanyssa in my list at once, so I can rely on getting a Hunter's Mark where I need it, and those sprays are pretty good.

Megalith saved my bacon with his Animus as well, locking down the center of the field and preventing Old Rowdy from doing anything at all, and eStryker had no shot at ever getting to Mohsar. I tried out a Woldwyrd just for the hell of it, which was not a great success since he had 0 upkeep spells in his list (even junior stayed at home).

/Lamoron

Wolves of Orboros

I just ordered Nuala so I can field the unit of Bloodtrackers I got in an army deal, and then I noticed Wolves of Orboros. Eight points buys eleven attacks that with Mirage can threaten 13" with Powerful charge and Power swell (15" with Hunter's Mark). If I add in Curse of Shadows that's eleven accurate attacks doing 25 points of damage on average, which is like having Satyxis Raiders hit something with The Withering activate.

We like buffs!

To the theory-machine!!! If just our new apartment would magically furbish itself so I had the time to write and play something instead of just ordering things online... oh well *wanders off to buy some more Wolves of Orboros".

Bone-weary: Mohsar Vs. Old Witch

My wife is a spirited woman, which is code for stubborn of course, and in order to avoid living in a house of girlish colored horrors I have to take every single discussion to the next level, which takes a lot of energy. These last few days I've been to tired to even think about updating, but Monday is game night come hell or high water.

After spending half an hour just soaking in the atmosphere I got a game against an Old Witch list, and since my Cryx is still in a box somewhere I had to bring my Circle, even though I had the mental capacity of a retarded monkey.

Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch of Khador

- Behemoth

- Scrapjack

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts)

- Koldun Kapitan Valachev

Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Great Bears of Gallowswood

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)

Winter Guard Rifle Corps (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Gorman di Wulfe

Kovnik Jozef

It's almost embarrassing how poorly I played, and it's pointless trying to remember what I actually did, but I do remember some highlights. (Plenty of Proxy models as always with this Circle project).

I wish my Gallows would arrive soon.

I forgot to feat or pop Anti-Magic with my Druids, which got my Shadowhorn killed. I was half an inch out of range with the Warpwolf which meant that Behemoth and most of the Great Bears survived, and in turn killed the wolf. The Gorax came to close to Scrapjack and was taken down. The Bloodweavers were molested by the Nyss Hunters, and both my Gallows Groves were lost to stupid mistakes, though one of them made for a funny picture.

Raaagh SMASH PUNY TREE!!!

My turn three began with the following status on the table. I had killed 4 Doomreavers, Aiyana, and one Great Bear. I had Shifting Stones + UA, 4 Druids, Lanyssa, Megalith on 1 box, and Mohsar left. I can't move because of her feat, but in a fit of "this game is in the bag" he forgot to put up a cloud on the Old Witch, which meant I had a theoretical shot, and just then my brain decided to join the party.

• Megalith heals 2 boxes.
• Megalith throws the Behemoth at OW, and a good scatter sees them KD.
• Megalith Geomancies Crevasse on OW (7.999" away) and does good damage.
• Shifting Stones teleport up, but the Stone Keeper is more than 8" away from OW.
• Mohsar casts Sands of Fate and telefrags the Stone Keeper.
• Mohsar Maltreats Megalith, hoping to kill him and open up LoS to a Nyss Hunter but fails.
• Mohsar kills Megalith from behind with melee.
• Mohsar casts Crevasse on a Nyss Hunter.
• Crevasse spray on OW and she dies.

Didn't even need the Druids, which is good because they were out of range. I had a unit of Shifting Stones, Lanyssa, and 4 Druids left, but a win is a win. I really need some non-magical shooting, because magic immune models are impossible to shift with my current list. The Bloodweavers really fail, and the Shadowhorn keeps dying to my stupid mistakes and will have to come back later when I've got the experience to run it, so I might have to try something like this next time. 

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Warpwolf Stalker

- Warpwolf Stalker

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Stoneward and 5 Woldstalkers

Stoneward and 5 Woldstalkers

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Lord of the Feast

In other news my Terminus list has received a challenge from a Kraye player that should prove interesting, and the first qualifiers for the Danish Masters 2012 will be next month, so there should be more Cryx updates soon.

Mulling on Mohsar

Hemingway had a few suggestions in the comments to my Mohsar list, and I feel they're worth commenting on.

There's one rule of thumb that dramatically improved my game with Mohsar (to the point that it's warping my local metagame): don't cast Sands of Fate unless it's an assassination run.

I figured that one out on my own. There are several casters in the game with "trap" spells, that supply abilities that look incredible on paper but actually reduce the amount of options you have in a turn, and Sands of Fate is one of them. This shouldn't be much of a problem with the release of Gallows Groves anyway.

Your third heavy really needs to be Megalith. The animus is an amazing force multiplier and a great denial tool to stack on top of pillars, while Geomancy lets you put Curse of Shadows onto an important target

That's very interesting actually. I discounted Megalith with pKrueger because PS 16 on his fists is ridiculously low for an eleven point heavy, but with Mohsar he can Geomancy Curse of Shadows on his target before he goes to town (or have Mohsar put it up if he needs all his Fury to buy attacks). He's also the perfect target for Maltreatment in the first round, and will allow Mohsar to put up all his spells and still have Fury left to put down some Pillars in the first turn.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Megalith

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Warpwolf Stalker

Druids of Orboros (Leader and 5 Grunts)

- Druid of Orboros Overseer

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Tharn Bloodweavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Blackclad Wayfarer

Blackclad Wayfarer

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Mohsar is fun!

I grabbed Mads at the club since he never has problems facing proxy models, and our games always feel like taking a well deserved nap. Mads is very verbal about his lack of skill, but I'm sure the answer to his many defeats are found in his list construction principles instead, and his "Trolls that point" list was my favorite.

Today he was working on his Fiona list, and I asked for a 35 point game. His list was mostly what he happened to have in the bag, and it turned out like this.

Fiona the Black

- Nomad

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)

- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer

- Mule

Herne & Jonne

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Sea Dog Deck Gun, aka "The Cultist Cannon"

Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

First Mate Hawk

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile

The Cultist Cannon has become something of a celebrity in his lists, and always performs better than expected. I will never understand why Fiona is considered a poor caster, because that feat hurts. I was fielding my Mohsar list, which will undergo some serious reconstruction but this was it.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Warpwolf Stalker

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Tharn Bloodweavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Druid Wilder

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Lanyssa Ryssyll

Lord of the Feast

In hindsight I should have had another Warbeast, but hindsight is always 20/20. I chose to go second again, and the standard turn one running began. The Feral is obviously a Stalker, the Stonekeeper is some old model I had that sort of looked like him, Mohsar is the Druid UA, and the Gallows Groves...

Circle deployment, can you spot the Gallows Groves?

Heavy thinking is not recommended, Mercs turn 1.

Circle turn 1

One five inch cloud isn't enough to activate prowl and grant concealment to an entire army, so I tried for some Pillars to block the Gun Mages and sent out the trees (because 5" place effects means move or be left behind). The Bloodweavers shifted to the left flank to take care of the Self Sacrificing Halberdiers (They're really really annoying). Mohsar spanked his beasts like crazy and used Maltreatment, but that Fury pool is impressive. I put Mirage on the Stalker and lined up Lanyssa to abuse Hunters Mark, but I forgot the Mule.

The Mule scored a critical hit on the first Pillar of Salt, and sent a Shifting Stone and my Shadowhorn sailing through my lines killing Lanyssa and the Swamp Gobbers as well as pushing the Shadowhorn out of range of everything: epic! Then he used his feat, killed half my Bloodweavers with Herne & Jonne, and I was facing a round of being useless.

Fionas feat is hardcore!

The Shadowhorn managed to take down Hawk despite being within feat range, but that feat is crazy and it took three Fury to kill a single two point solo. Mohsar popped CoS on the Mule since the Stalker was within range and with Primal, Warp Strength, and CoS the Mule should die anyway. I needed 2+ to hit on 1d6, and did 1d6+4 damage with every attack, which should have brought down the Mule but it didn't and the Stalker was stuck.

Gallows Groves are slowly getting there!

Lord of the Feast managed to teleport up and engage the Gun Mages but couldn't hit them since he was in feat range, and the Gallows moved forward again. Mohsar killed a couple of Gun Mages with Crevasse, but I need to find some other way of dealing with infantry. I also used my feat which did nothing at all, and ran the last three Bloodweavers to engage the Steelheads since they were out of charge range.

His turn sees the Nomad head-but the Stalker, and leaves him on 9 boxes but then Dougal MacNaile fires up his gun. He didn't even need the fourth shot to finish the Stalker, and who cares about dice -6 anyway! The Steelheads failed miserably and left two Bloodweavers alive, but Fiona managed to take down another. The Shadowhorn was down to five boxes, and my side of the board was empty as both Groves had unfortunate encounters with heavy objects, but the Shadowhorn was in range, or so I thought.

I decided to play smart for once, and Mohsar put CoS on the Nomad in case my jump would be unable to reach Fiona, and since the Nomad was parked exactly where I needed to be in order to make it, I had to settle for wrecking that instead (bugger). The Bloodweaver stripped the upkeep from the Steelheads which allowed me to clear a zone that nearly got me the win (and I was about half an inch away from winning), and the girls continue to excel. I had to tele-frag my own Wilder to get out of dodge, but I knew it was probably going to end there anyway.

Holt decided he would just go shoot Mohsar and did so. Sure Fiona took down the Shadowhorn and left the Gorax on 1 point, but Holt just walked down there and told Mohsar to go bugger himself with that stick of his, which left him on 1 box. Then Jonne shot him with a drifting AoE and it was game over. I loved the game, though it leaves me at with a negative win statistic again.

Things to consider

I need a Guardian or Watcher in the list. Mohsar is very funny, but I need a way to protect him from ranged attacks and another heavy warbeast would be lovely as well, so I'm having a hard look at the Guardian. I don't really need the Wilder with Mohsar since his control area is enormous, and the Gorax never does anything so it might as well generate some fury doing something useful. 

The Stalker is just crazy swinging at PS 22, and the Shadowhorn at PS 18 is nothing short of fantastic, so while I actually feel pKrueger is a more powerful choice with Lightning Tendrils I think me and Mohsar will become very good friends indeed.


/Lamoron

Comparing Mohsar & pKrueger

I'm working on the next chapter of the "Beginning with Cryx" series, and the Amphibious Helljack Plastic Kit made for some interesting new ideas. I also ordered Mohsar on eBay as I'm not completely satisfied with pKrueger as my Warlock, and I find myself missing some shenanigans and armor debuffs. I think my current selection of models (including what I've ordered) will do well with Mohsar, and I've been comparing him with pKrueger.

Chain Lightning Vs. Crevasse

Chain Lightning has more potential, but Mohsar actually has the Fury to cast his spells as most of his power is in upkeep spells, and he has a potential nine Fury in a round. Crevasse is also less prone to "poor dice" syndrome, but more vulnerable to good placement. I don't think I'll ever use any of them much, so I'll call that even.

Deflection Vs. Curse of Shadows

Mohsar is the clear winner here, with pKruegers ability buffing models he really shouldn't be using. Curse of Shadows also puts the Shadowhorn at PS 18 with Primal, and the ninja goat become really bloody dangerous. The ability to charge straight through a unit is also amazing with a Stalker with Mirage and Hunter's Mark on the target, going 15" straight through as long as it can draw LoS.

Lightning Tendrils Vs. Mirage

Lightning Tendrils is the winner due to positioning and electro leap, but the increase in threat range is actually larger with Mirage (0.5" inches, but still). Mirage also has defensive applications, and can increase the threat range of models that already have reach. Lightning Tendrils are still better, but not by much.

Skyborne Vs. Sands of Fate

Skyborne is the winner since the added defense puts him way above Mohsar in survivability, but the unlimited range could make for some interesting plays with teleports. SoF also allows some seriously weird turns when combined with Shifting Stones, but I think it's mostly an "oh shit" button.

Tornado Vs. Sunhammer

Right now I'd rather have Sunhammer, but when the Gallows arrive I think Tornado might see some use. It's still the only spell beyond skyborne pKrueger will be casting in a round, and it means no upkeep spells if he does, unless he feels like hanging out without transfers. Sunhammer is an upkeep spell that passively damages big scary things, and it completely prevents the problematic "1 box Molik Karn healing two and taking down your caster" problem. I'll pick Sunhammer as the winner of this one.

Storm Ravager Vs. Pillar of Salt

Yes it's a feat compared to a spell, and the spell is winning. The last two games I've blocked my opponents advance with Storm Ravager, and while Pillars can be destroyed it's going to mess up his advance a lot, and I can reposition these babies. They can also mess up charge lanes, block LoS without needing the Druids, and that's what I really need. They don't do damage, and I won't always have the Fury to put up three (rarely actually), but they'll do.

The rest

Mohsars feat is devastating against Hordes, and useful against a few Warmachine lists, but pKrueger can assassinate personally while Mohsar cannot. Mohsar has no trouble with stealth models which i think is a huge bonus when it comes to stealth models/casters. Mohsar is much weaker defensively unless he uses his pillars to block LoS, which is possible but would reduce my offensive capacity a lot. I'm looking forward to trying it out on the field when everything arrives, but I think Mohsar will give me a slight boost in power, and suit my style better with access to debuffs.

Mohsar the Desertwalker

- Gorax

- Pureblood Warpwolf

- Shadowhorn Satyr

- Warpwolf Stalker

- Warpwolf Stalker

Shifting Stones

- Stone keeper

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)

Tharn Bloodweavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Druid Wilder

Gallows Grove

Gallows Grove

Lanyssa Ryssyll