Training game...

We had an player turn up today, that had his last game in MK1, and I volunteered to run a training game for him. He was more or less up to speed on the rules for MK2, and a veteran player of old, so we had a semi-competitive game, but I pointed out mistakes he was about to make, and gave him the odd suggestion for rules he was obviously unaware of.

He did very well, but in all the confusion he forgot about objectives, and put himself in a bad position where he had to come to me, in order to avoid loosing outright. He was playing Hexeris, which I'd never faced before, and dear god that's an amusing feat. I had half my unit of Croe's trying to assassinate my Warwitch at one flag, and my Bloodgorgers punching each other on the other. In the end Malice got him, and while it wasn't a "real" game, I did learn a few things.

• One unit of Bloodgorgers is not enough to bear the brunt
• General Slaughterborn either dies or does nothing in the game
• I need to play Croe's more defensively.
• Ragman still rocks, and allowed Malice to kill a Titan Cannoneer
• I don't think I need Saxon Orrik, with the Skarlock available
• I don't think I need two Warwitch Sirens. Then again, why not

So... either I find something I like for four points, or I figure out a way to find two extra points, and include a couple of Pistol Wraiths. I also found the idea of running a couple of machine wraiths funny, as Telekinesis can increase possession range to 12", and kicking out two machine wraiths could wreck his focus economy. Then again.. Warjacks go in the belly and become Seethers, so maybe it's not worth it.
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Ragman... Initial thoughts

It's a bit pretentious to write an article about him after one game, so I'll stick to my initial thoughts. The Ragman struck me as rather pathetic when I saw him first, though this could have something to do with Dark Shroud being available from other sources. I preordered him, so he's been hiding on the shelf for a while now.

Sacrificial Pawn [Living]: He increases the power of Bloodgorgers, and they take the hits for him. Since he's small based he can also hide behind them. This presents a couple of unique problems, but Telekinesis solves most of them, as I can either move a Bloodgorger out of the way, or give the Ragman a little needed boost if a path is already opened.

Bone Shaker: Range 8 means this better count, because Ragman is joining his minions if it doesn't. Ragman isn't even a faction model, so Dark Gate from Scaverous won't help him either.

Death Field: He gains Dark Shroud, and so does friendly models within (not completely within) 3". The thing about Bloodgorgers is, that they're just a tad on the low side when it comes to damage output against heavy armor. A Bane Thrall on the charge averages out at 27 damage, while a Bloodgorger will do 23/20 on his attacks. If I apply Dark Shroud to the Bloodgorger, he will have the same charge damage against ARM 20, and every additional debuff will increase the damage on each attack.

Applying Death Field...

This is what has made Ragman a rare sight on the battlefield. If he activates first to grant them Dark Shroud, he'll be stuck behind the lines, or dead if he tried to spend a round on the front lines. With Bloodgorgers I can keep him on the side, and perhaps team him up with Gorman (they need to be in the same area anyway). This will allow him to be Def 16 against shooting, and with a couple of Bloodgorgers within range, I just need to worry about blast damage.

Usually this would be a problem, as Bloodgorgers are ARM 15 and thus become targets for blasts. With Scaverous though, they become ARM 17, and pull out of blast damage deaths on average dice. Since they're also tough, it needs to be some heavy duty artillery to take them out. Incidentally I need three Bloodgorgers to take down most heavies with all the debuffs up, and getting more than three in range of Death Field is very hard. So I hereby present "Team Ragman"...

• Ragman
• Gorman di Wulfe
• Three Bloodgorgers.

The team also becomes an asset with the Withershadow Combine, as rolling 4d6+17 damage each, will make pulling of Dark Industries a lot easier. If I apply a feast to the jack first, the WSC will have a good chance of scrapping it from new, in a single charge.

With Telekinesis there's also an addition trick, because I can actually move the Death Field around a bit. I don't see it happening often, but if the center of the field clogs up, I might be able to apply Dark Shroud to one kill, and then move him 2" and assist on another afterward. Ragman is on the team, and he also fits Scaverous perfectly as a theme.
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A little bit of Scaverous on my mind...

I took the Exhumator to a tournament today.

I made him a model last night, and though the picture is crappy phone quality, I think you get the idea. It's a work in progress of course, and the scythe arm looks clunky on the picture but rather elegant in real life. His arms are magnetized so they/he can be posed and transported, and most of the flight stand will be covered in terrain of some sort when I'm done.

Ftaghn?

Now equipped with a model, I noticed that it was two in the morning, and I needed to get up at eight. That left me with little time to crunch the numbers on a list, so I mostly just threw together what I'd been considering for the last couple of weeks, and hoped for the best. Though I seem to be suffering from a strange disorder that makes me ill at tournaments, I did manage a third place and got a shiny new coin.

Lord Exhumator

- Nightwretch

- Nightwretch

- Skarlock Thrall

Bane Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts)

Bloodgorgers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

Croe's Cutthroats (Croe and 9 Grunts)

The Withershadow Combine

Bane Lord Tartarus

General Gerlak Slaughterborn

Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall

Ragman

Warwitch Siren

Round 1: Exhumator Vs. pIrusk
I was very unsure about the army, so I mostly just trundled ahead and tried my best not to be destroyed by shooting. The game turned, when a Telekinesis got Admonia within range of his Winterguard Deathstar, and managed to unbind Iron Flesh. Scaverous put Icy Grip on them, and Tartarus cursed them and Threshered up two new Bane Knights, and then the Knights charged. With most of his unit destroyed by Bane Knights, I turned my attention to his jacks. Scaverous had applied a Feast on his Juggernaut, and the Ragman had made it close enough to the lines, that charging with my Bloodgorgers became a possibility.

Feast, Dark Shroud, and Gang had the Gorgers rolling at PS 17, and three of them took down the slightly damaged Juggernaut (I had two more ready to hit, though outside Ragman range), while the rest were munching on random Manhunters or the remains of the WG. That round totally broke his back, and after the following round he gave up. I didn't feel the fight was completely lost for him, but it was his choice and I respect that. I also didn't feel like I was using the list to it's full potential, but I did learn a lot of things.

Round 2: Mortenebra Vs. eVlad
I should have gone with Scaverous, but I couldn't resist a shot at the top five list of bad match-ups. I decided I'd go for it, and prove my non-tier list could rock eVlad, but alas I was sadly mistaken. The game itself was incredibly uneventful, and I was squashed like a bug. I had one shot at Vlad, with a reasonable chance of success, but it didn't pan out and Mortenebra got hit by Fenris.

Round 3: Exhumator Vs. Karchev
I had to take a seat for a couple of minutes, because the room began behaving in strange ways. You know that feeling just before you pass out, or if you're really really drunk and the world just doesn't want to stay were it's supposed to... well I had a solid five minutes of that. Then it passed, and we got down to it.

I never faced Karchev before, and I get him with just the caster I needed to mess him up beyond belief. I learned a lot from my first game of the day, and the poor guy never stood a chance. Bloodgorgers messed up his jacks with the help of Ragman & Feast, while Bane Knights tore through his support on the right flank, and Croe's were making sure he couldn't just swing around to face them.

I got a Nightwretch through, and Karchev was hit in the back by the two Croe's Cutthroats that were in charge range after he was turned around. Watching two grunts carve about half of Karchevs hitpoints was fun, and charging him with my shiny new WSC brand Seether (Again with Feast & Ragman) took out some more vital systems. He pondered his options for a while, and the gave up, as he couldn't escape Croe's, and had no chance at taking down the Exhumator behind the wall of angry Bloodgorgers.


Post-game Thoughts: I'll go through this more thoroughly in the coming days, but these are my initial thoughts on the army composition, and Lord Exhumator Scaverous.

I had way to much infantry. I know it's awesome, but moving 45 models around is tough when you're under a time limit. That means something must go, and I think it's going to be my Bane Knights. I ordered the Exhumator to use the models and units I otherwise wouldn't, and one of my melee units has to go. The Exhumator also needs protection, and a wall of steady trolls is just what the doctor ordered. With the points left over by the Knights and Tartarus, I can put in Gorman di Wulfe, which should allow the Gorgers to munch some jacks. I also think I might bring a Ogrun Bokur, as I was hit by pEiryss in my first game, and had it happened a round earlier I would have been in big trouble. I'll try a few more games without one, as I might be able to keep him safe and save those points.

The Ragman is awesome in this list. It's just crazy how hard Bloodgorgers can swing, when they've got backup. I'm using some of the points from the Bane Knights to put in Gorman, and then I can have three Bloodgorgers take down a Khador heavy. Feast + Dark Shroud + Rust + Gang + Charge, equals 15.5 damage per Bloodgorger, and if the feast took just a couple of points of it, then two of them could take down a Juggernaut on average dice.

The Withershadow Combine also likes that combination. Getting at a jack, and rolling 13 average damage each, will make some fine Seethers. I don't think I can avoid bringing Malice, as that combination is simply to good. With a few points left over, I'm thinking I could use another Warwitch Siren.

Finally I think I might bring in Saxon Orrik. Having Pathfinder available to the Bloodgorgers, Withershadow Combine, or Slaughterborn, could prove valuable. I know I've got Ghost Walk available, but that's a lot of Focus I could use elsewhere, and there are plenty of units that will work just as well with just Pathfinder. Saxon can also help out with the odd warbeast, or shoot some key models if needed.

Lord Exhumator

- Nightwretch*

- Nightwretch*

- Malice

- Skarlock Thrall*

Bloodgorgers (Leader and 9 Grunts)

Croe's Cutthroats (Croe and 9 Grunts)*

The Withershadow Combine*

General Gerlak Slaughterborn*

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist*

Ragman

Saxon Orrik*

Warwitch Siren*

Warwitch Siren*

* means painted, which is actually a selling point for me. With the whole marriage, honeymoon, apartment, and countless other things to do, I'm not going to have much time for painting. The Bloodgorgers are actually 6/10 done as well, and Malice just needs a touch up, so that means 4 Bloodgorgers, Exhumator, and Ragman to paint. That's a huge amount of time saved.