I've been playing for nigh on 7 years now and in the majority of that time I have had a soft spot for Theme lists. I had a little softspot for Iron Fang Pikemen with Irusk, partly because it was so effective and because it was so fun. I have a Unit of Ironfang Pikemen with the Unit Attachments, and I also got the Great Bears of Gallowswood who are a ridiculously good character unit.
When the Sorscha Winter Guard list came around I collected as many Winter Guard models as I could. I still have about 20 Winter Guard Infantry sitting about in a cardboard box or blisters, with the Unit Attachment and 4 Weapon Attachments (I got a fourth one as a prize), 2 Mortar Crews, Kovnik Joe, Beast-09 (though he goes with everyone). Eventually I'll pick up a box of Winter Guard Riflemen. And my Epic Sorscha (Cos I didn't like Normal Sorscha because she was too good) is still floating about, broken and mostly unpainted.
Jeez that was a ridiculously good list. Epic Sorscha was a monster, and giving Winter Guard Tough as part of her Elite Cadre... Phwoar!
But as time becomes more and more popular, things change to keep with the running Trend. Whether it's Parachute Pants and the confidence of not being touchable, or adjusting everything to make everyone a little happier, it's going to happen. And it did. Mark II arrived and with it came Themed lists for each Warcaster according to a particular Theme based on Stories features in the previous expansion books.
So I've been playing around with these lists, seeing how cheaply a tiered list can be made, and discovered a few things. One of which is that certain casters can field cheap heavy Warjacks and at fairly good effect. Vlad is an example of this, fielding 8 Berserkers at 35 points. And Epic Severius fielding 8 Crusaders at 35 points. I find it a tad ridiculous, but interesting. If I could see myself investing in so many figures, I would totally give the list a chance.
The Themed lists aren't exceptional. They give players small bonuses to be used for the beginning of the game, such as a +1 bonus to the starting roll, or placing clouds across the table, or even giving an advance move or deploy to particular models. Or they can give bonuses that can change the way you form your list, such as giving models at no cost, or adjusting the points of a particular model (like in the examples above with Vlad and Epic Severius). These bonuses are not exceptional though. They won't change a game dramatically.
To get the bonuses, though, one has to complete a Prerequisite. The first prerequisite is to follow a list of Models and Units you're allowed to have. Once you have that, You have Tier 1. Then with Tiers 2 through 4, you must add certain models to your army to get the bonus of each Tier.
There are two Tier 4 Themed lists that I find easy to attain and are also varied enough to give plenty of options, or are just plain ol' fun.
Name: 101st Iron Rain
Points: 35
Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff
Beast-09
Destroyer
Juggernaut
Winter Guard Infantry (Min)
^Rocketeer (1)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew
Winter Guard Riflemen (Min)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorivich
This list is the Winter Guard list Tiered list, decked out to Tier 4, and is easy to expand upon from the Khador Battlebox, which contains Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff, a Destroyer, and a Juggernaut. The utility of the list is good for a 35 point list as well, offering two long range AOE attacks against units and heavy targets, two dangerously offensive melee warjacks, and two ranged units that can not only deal plenty of damage, but can act as a wonderful road block as well. Combined with the spells and effects of Sorscha, they become rather lethal, especially when she casts freezing grip on a unit for them all to fire at.
On top of that are the Themed list benefits. The first tier gives a free move to a Warjack for each unit of Battle Mechaniks. I don't have any Battle Mechaniks in the list, but players should feel free to mix and match this list to cater.
The Second Tier required three Winter Guard units to get a Free Kovnik Joe. The choices for units are well varied, and I chose three different units that I find appeal in. The Winter Guard Infantry are a staple frontline infantry that offer a ranged attack and utility for expansions, including an Officer and Standard that increase their frontline ability, and Rocketeers that offer a longer ranged attack to possibly disrupt any danger that the opponent may have. The Winter Guard Riflemen are a unit that places areas of danger across the field, while offering pot shots at whoever might be in range.
The Weapon Crews of the Winter Guard are very straight forward units. The Winter Guard Mortar, choice of this list in particular, is a unit that has the longest base range in the game offering a very high POW at the cost of high Innaccuracy. Weapon Crews do not gain the benefit of having the Standing Still bonus but have the benefit of a RAT bonus from figures who aren't using the actual Mortar. The Mortar itself has the rule innaccurate, which lowers their RAT to something so poor that unless a target has very low DEF, or box cars appear on the table, the unit are throwing low POW, medium size AOE's across the table.
The alternative Weapon Crew is the Field Gun that stand heavily as a long range, high POW attack with a bonus effect of, by chance, knocking someone flat on their arse. On top of that the unit has a good RAT which assures that they'll hit whatever they're aiming at.
Now considering the combination of Sorscha, who on feat turn freezes people into stationary figures for a turn, I chose the Mortar crew based on that and the fact that the Mortar can choose targets by ignoring intervening models. So in the situation that the opposing Warcaster is caught under Sorscha's feat, more damage can be thrown on top of the poor sod.
The Fourth tier is easily attained with the addition of the prerequisites of the third Tier, which is to add Beast-09, and the inclusion of the original Battlebox in the list. The benefits of the two are to give a bonus to the Initiative Roll and increase your deployment zone. The benefits of both are awesome for Khador. First initiative can be important for Khador as the opponent has to hesitate slightly while Khador advances across the board. With the increased deployment, the entire army can advance into range of the enemy army and attain first blood.
Now 35 points is a regular play range for my area, especially for the new players wanting to expand into something with a bit of scale. The older players have plenty of gear they have collected over the months/years and thusly have the option of building to the next scale up of 50 points. The Winter Guard list is easily expanded up to 50 points, and also adds more utility to the players options.
The next 15 points include
^Increasing Winter Guard Infantry and Riflemen Crew to Maximum
^Increasing Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers to 3
^Adding a Winter Guard Infantry Officer and Standard
^Adding Widowmakers and Widowmaker Marksman
Widowmakers are an indespensible Sniping unit. They have a simple job: Pick a warrior model and remove it from the table. With four figures in the unit, they can put an impressive dent into a unit. Given the chance, they can take on a low armoured Light Warjack and deal plenty of good dents into it.
The Widowmaker Marksman Solo makes the unit better by a subtle way of allowing them to slink back into their cover after they destroy a figure with their Rifles. The same applies to him as well. To boot, if the unit are taking on the Low ARM light Warjack, he can put a bigger dent into it with his higher POW Rifle.
I like this build because it adds room for improvement.
Next we have is the fun list. The only real design I have put into this theme is for each model/unit to be different.
Name: Iron Curtain
Points: 35
Karchev the Terrible
Berserker
Juggernaut
Kodiak
Marauder
Greylord Ternion
Man O' War Demolition Corps (Min)
Man O' War Shock Troopers (Min)
Now looking at this list, players would instantly think: That's more than 35 points. In fact it would be were it not for the Themed list benefit.
First tier isn't very beneficial. You can field an unlimited number of Greylord Ternions and you get additional Koldun Lords. Not something I've taken advantage of at 35 points, but expanding out to 35 will definitely become an option.
The Second Tier adds a couple of units to your list, but in an appropriate fashion. Of all units to add to a list with the Man in the Machine Himself, why not add in Man O' War units. Statistically, they're the Light Warjacks of Khador. The downside to them is that they're a fast as the Warjacks that they're accompanied by. Which isn't really that quick off the mark. Conveniently enough, though, they don't need focus to do things such as Run or charge.
The two units in the list were chosen for being different, and relatively cheap. For a unit of 3 figures, it's still expensive to see them at 6 points. But they both play different roles. The unit of Shocktroopers play ARM 21 figures quite well, and can defend against a unit for a turn or two. Then there's Demolition corps who play guys who swing big hammers quite well, demolishing their target immensely well. As a bonus, the Man O' War units gain a free move before the game starts.
Third Tier follows a bit of History with Alexander Karchev. Before he became the Terrible Man in the Machine, he was a Greylord. So you have to field a unit of Greylord Ternion. And one of the Greylord Ternions notable features is making a Cloud Effect centred on a model. So players can place a Cloud Effect on the table for the first turn. A little bit of LOS blocking never hurt anyone.
Then comes the best part. Tier Four. It's nice. It's simple. And it matches what is well believed to be the essence of Karchev, the Terrible. If you have a trio or more Warjacks, you get a discount on all Warjacks. This is immense and is very appropriate for Karchev, a man who has had a deep connection with Warjacks for hundreds of years.
Any expansions on after this are almost purely Warjacks, except for the one addition of the Koldun Lord.
50 Points
^Add Koldun Lord or increase the size of a Man-o-war Unit
^Add Behemoth
75 Points
^Add Spriggan
^Add Two of either Destroyer, Decimator or Devastator.
But players note that you can build your armies any way you like, so if you want an army full of Berserkers, then Game On. This is just a list I want to build one day. (Once I get my Karchev put back together – Need some new legs and to find his head. I have to get a second bombard piece for the Behemoth too)
The Behemoth is the epitome of the word Unstoppable. He has the highest base ARM and health of any figure in the Warmachine AND Hordes; he has two open fists that deal high damage to large and medium based models; he has a pair of bombards that he fires off in whatever direction. There is only one Behemoth and he is Unstoppable.
A Koldun Lord is a nifty addition with his own Magical Scattergun to flaunt, and Ice Cage to support, and he offers Greylord Ternions something they didn't have before: Battle Wizard. If they destroy something, they fire off a spell. If they're in the middle of a unit they can fire off a their Magical Scattergun and catch a good chunk of the unit. That's not too shabby.
So you get an additional Koldun Lord per unit in the Karchev list and I'll tell you why. Koldun Lords are Jack Marshalls, with their own Drive command that improves the attack of Warjacks under their control, an ability that increases their ARM while in Base to Base with Warjacks they control, but thats not the reason. Koldun Lords are great for focus efficiency through their third Spell. It removes Disruption and places a Focus point on a Warjack so long as it doesn't have any on it before the spell is cast.
This is a good addition to Karchev as he only has a low FOC count, and between casting and upkeeping spells, he has trouble having his Warjacks move quickly outside of his feat turn. So while Karchev is making the advance up, his Warjacks can keep up to him with the help of the Koldun Lord pushing the others along.
With an ever increasing list of 'jacks that Karchev takes at higher points, it brings into better light his abilities that spread among the Battlegroup, and how dangerous he can be on a good turn. With Warjacks being as they are, tough and hard hitting, they can withstand some of the most brutal beatdowns that some opponents have to offer.
But Warjacks and Karchev in Details are subjects for another post.
