Khador 2013 Part 17 - 2013-Wrap-up

'Cause a good wrap is half a song!

It's been some time since my last article, because inspiration has been lacking. So what gives? Well, we've had a little (6 guys) tournament on a recent weekend, which will be my last tournament for 2013. So I figured: What's stopping me from wrapping up the year, do some introspection and reflect on some stuff?

So that's what we'll do tonight. We'll review the following things: My paradox plunge (and the related 'Caster-writeups), the lists I've played with those 'Casters, an overall look at how competitive games went this year, and Greylord Outriders. Because, spoilers, they're legit. And yes, there'll also be a very brief look at my plans for 2014. Enjoy!

Khador 2013 Part 16 - Those last points

Surprisingly accurate.

Probably the only thing consistent about list building - and the only thing that equally applies to each and every faction in Warmachine, Hordes, and likely even other games - is that, sooner or later, you'll be faced with a very important question:

"What am I going to get myself for these last points I have left over?"

The actual difficulty in answering that question differs from faction to faction (I'm looking at Minions here), and this article will attempt to take the bull by the horns - we're going to list all 1-,2-,3- and 4-point options Khador has available, comment on their plausability or catches (list-building-wise), and try to arbitrarily rate them as objectively as possible. Enjoy!

Khador 2013, Part 15 - Mangled Metal

Good Morning, Folks, and welcome back for another issue of "Khador 2013". This time, we're talking in depth about Mangled Metal - metaphorical depth, to be precise, because metal is too hard to get into. ;-)

The results speak for themselves.

This is because I went to attend the Convergence of Cyriss Release Event that took place at my FLGS last Saturday, which just so happens to be a Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw event. We all know, like, and yet dread this scenario, which both one of the rulebook scenarios and the way the game is introduced to us via the battlebox.

At first, you'll likely be thinking: "Well yeah, it's simple." But I think there is actually a LOT to be said about it - not so much about the scenario, maybe, but about the things surrounding it. Thusly, we'll be talking about Khadorans list building considerations, favourable Khadoran Warcasters, some CoC release event details and considerations, and we're going to attempt an unbiased answer of whether Hordes or Warmachine is better off in this scenario - and by how much.

Enjoy!

Khador 2013 Part 14 - Support Andrej

So, today's issue of Khador 2013 will deal with the prime Khadoran douchebag. No, that is not Queen Vanar. No, it is neither the Greylords that make more fellblades in order for more Doom Reavers. Zerkova's pretty douchy in attitude, but she has been covered. No, the Butcher is not a douche, he's... he's sticking to his ideals even closer than to his enemies. Irusk? I admit he's got attitude, but that's still off.

We're talking Andrej Malakov today. God, how I loathe this character. I still wish PP would've killed him instead of giving him a model. I know that I do not hide my disdain for this guy (much like I didn't do it on Dice Rage Live #11), but sadly, I have to admit, he does give us options. And they're not that bad.

So today we'll take a very very brief look at Andrej's stat card - because the guy likes being looked at, and you should not reinforce bad habits - and we'll go right ahead and look for a few plausible choices for him, which Warjacks to run, which 'Caster to assign to, and Sucker! targets worth the mention.

Enjoy!

Khador 2013 - Part 13 "Feats"

I didn't expect this either.

I must admit, I was at a loss for topics to cover. Warcaster reviews, NSA-style, are only fun for a time. Then you'd want something different to spice things up - and to prove you're a good article writer.

After a long pondering, I thought - why don't we talk about Feats this time? You know, those game-state altering abilities that make you spit a thick stream of bile (Temporal Shift, mostly), make you go "Oh... I didn't expect that to work out so strongly" (Death Harvest or Menoth's Wrath), or just simply flip your battle strategy the freaking bird (Landslide or Web of Shadows).

I'll talk about how I classify/categorise feats, and then we'll take a look at Khador's feats accordingly. This article may end up rather short, because I'm not going to explain how to use each feat best. Also, I'm not attempting to "rank" feats according to the "strength" - this is only about grouping them together based on similarities.

And yes, I am going to make you scrounge through your books or cards again - because I'm not going to say who's feat it is, but actually use the name. ;-)

Khador 2013 - Part 12 "Oleg Strakhov"

Alrighty then... this time for Khador 2013, we'll be entering completely new areas. That may be kind of a shock for some of you, as we're going to talk about Strakhov, and he's been out... like forever? Ok, it's just FoW: Khador, but I must admit that I have never played him. I don't even own him.

That's seriously tops the last articles craziness! So why am I doing this? Well, in the team tournament end of June, Chronos, our third member, will be featuring both Irusk and Strakhov. And I want something for him that he can read, so I don't have talk all the time. With Irusk, I could bring in my own play experience - with Strakhov, I have none. So I am also doing this to broaden my understanding of the caster, and then extrapolate (or theorymachine) from there. I already have an idea about Eliminators...

So we're going to look at Strakhov's card, closely. Closely enough to discover strengths and weaknesses. And then, we'll once again look at the Khadoran line-up and see whom he jives well with, and who should stay at home. And then we'll try to build an 50 pt list or two. Enjoy!

Khador 2013 - Part 11 "Gurvaldt Irusk"

A serious businessman!

Well, it's been some time since the last article in this series. I should mention that, at least from my current viewpoint, it doesn't look like I'll be going to a lot of tournaments this year, but we'll see. The next one coming up are Bonn's 3rd Cantina Games, where I'll be participating as part of a Team - but I won't be playing Khador.

"What?" You may ask, and wonder why I'm now starting to look at Khador again anyway. See, Arides is playing Cygnar. Chronos - who replaces Fiona - plays Khador and Trolls, but his selection of Trolls is not big enough for two 50 point lists. So I switched from Khador to Mercenaries.

In this - and the next - article for Khador 2013, I want to provide you with an in-depth look at the two Casters that Chronos chose for his line-up. First up is the man, the name, the legend - Kommandant Gurvaldt Irusk. Some may think the guy's been done to death, but who knows? We could run into sth.!

Being widely regarded as Khador's strongest 'Caster, I want to look at the why that was the case, also why it still is the case after the advent of colossals. We'll also keep an eye out on things he strongly dislikes. Even though it's probably worth a lifetime-achievement, I also want to indulge into which selections are good with him, and which aren't - or which are surprising, yet not obvious. Lastly, we'll also go into list construction options. Enjoy!

Khador 2013 - Part 10 "Zerkova revisited!"

In this article for Khador 2013, I'll revisit the khadoran battlefield reporter, Koldun Kommander Alexandra Zerkova. I know we've dealt with her early on in part 02 of this series, but that was from a wholesale theoretical point of view. Now that I've taken her to ClogCon, which turned out to be my best tournament performance yet, I've got some real experience to add to what I wrote before.

I'll first revisit a few statements I've made, then I'll give you a look at the lists that I took to ClogCon, how the Games went during the Con, and some post-Convention observations/considerations.

Enjoy!

Khador 2013 - Part 09 "Jamming & Stuff"

It is brutal, but this /is/ how it feels.

This article of Khador 2013 - which is probably going to be my most tactical/strategic one to date -  I'll dedicate to the topic of Tarpitting, Jamming, Pinning, and what I call Declogging - and how to best do it and counteract it in Khador.

   With the new Steamroller 2013 scenarios, a lot of action happens in the middle of the board. To score from objectives, flags or zones, you either have to clear them out, or try to keep the enemy too far away from them in the first place. The middle-of-the-board-factor gives a renewed strength to the first two strategies, since you now do not necessarily have to be ultra-fast to do it properly. Other than that, these strategies have existed before, too.

    Being a linguist, however, I cannot help but point out that there are subtle differences (to me, at least), which mainly manifest in the ability (and necessity) for the unit to not die. In that regard: Tarpitting > Jamming > Pinning.

Khador 2013 - Part 08 "Kayazy"

I did not choose Kayazy Life - Kayazy Life chose me!

In this article for Khador 2013, I'll look into one of the more annoying units - or rather, model class - from Khador. The Kayazy merchants kings. Or, to be more precise, their gut-stabbin', throat-slittin' thugs. Because that is what they are! They come for you in their Italian/Venecian looking clothing, dancing around, being expert fighters, but remember: They're only the thugs that go kill people on orders, not the actual merchant kings.

So I'll dedicate this article to my ugly looking assassins, their great-looking female coworkers, and my love-hate relationship with them. Because, as much as I want to get away from using them, they keep going coming back to me to usher me back into playing them. Because that is what thugs do, so let's get to it.

I'll look at what Kayazy Khador has access to, what they offer, how we can apply them, how we can do a twist on their numbers, what Four Star options they have, what I'd like to see in the future - and my top 5 Kayazy Songs.

Khador 2013 - Part 07 "T.A.C. Previews"

A different three dwarves.

In this "breaking news" article for Khador 2013, I'm going to highlight something non-Khadoran: the Tactical Arcanist Corps. A mercenary Rhulic unit of three magic users that works for Khador (and Cygnar, bleh), constituted of extremely drilled battle mages from the Brand of Odom. Aside from the fact that they seemingly outshine other options (like the Greylord Ternion, in part), and are a uber addition to Searforge, I'll look into how they'd benefit us, what we can give them (esp. with Valachev), and which caster I think can benefit the most.

Khador 2013 - Part 06 "Which Attachment?"

In this article of Khador 2013, I'll try and answer a quite fundamental question:

Should you rather take the War Dog for your Khadoran Warcaster, or choose the help of the other elvish oddparent, Sylys Wyshnallyr?

Before Warmachine: Wrath, the War Dog was the only Warcaster attachment for Khador there was. But when they released the elf, a slew of options opened up. I will strife to answer the proposed question via the following: A) breaking down the benefits provided by each and B) evaluating them on a 'Caster-by-'Caster basis, stating my observations and recommendations for each 'Caster of the Khadoran Warcaster Corps. Hopefully, afterwards, you'll be having less issues with the question.

Khador 2013 - Part 05 "Outrider Spoilers"

GLO Concept Art

So, the Greylord Outriders have been spoiled. With... mixed responses on the web. Which can be easy to understand - but I think it's highly likely that we as Khador players got a skewed look on the game, what we need, and Privateer Press's plan.

Not to put the blame on someone - in all possible objectivity: the GLO are odd. I consider it a given that we will receive other releases which will click nicely with them.

In this article of Khador 2013, let's look at what we got - and what we can get out of them. I'll look at the stats, feasible modes operandi, which 'Casters stand out supporting them, and what lists they fit in well (with a focus on tier lists).

Khador 2013 - Part 04 "Izak Harkevich"

In this third article for Khador 2013 I'll cover the second caster I choose the Paradox Plunge 2013, Kommander Harkevich, who in all likelihood has the coolest nickname in the Iron Kingdoms: "the Iron Wolf". I love writing his full name onto my army lists, just in case it had the chance to be intimidating. But, in the minds of Khador players, he's considered to be bad - bottom tier, as far as that goes within the ranks of Khador's warcaster line-up. However, he does have things that speak for him: He boosts Khador's Warjacks in a way hitherto unprecedented in Khador and he's got a strong Tier list. (What sets him apart from Zerkova is the lack of a fanclub)

As opposed to last time, I'm going to focus on why I choose him for the plunge, what his strong points are, the things he works well with, the stuff he needs to avoid - and, again, different lists. Shaking the order of questions up to prevent the boreout!

Khador 2013 - Part 03 "Steamroller 2013"

This article will - as the first of a few - deal with the new Steamroller 2013 paket. As I currently have no playing experience with it, my statements are based on the old 2012 "worldview" - so you'll have to bear with me. That aside, I'm glad it is finally here. So these are my preliminary observations and conclusions:

Khador 2013 - Part 02 "Alexandra Zerkova"

In this second article in the Khador 2013 series, I'll want to elaborate on one of the casters I have chosen for the Paradox Pledge 2013 - the "icecream cone warrior", "the new hatness", "Lady Z": Koldun Kommander Alexandra Zerkova. She's, on one hand, argued to be Khador's weakest caster - on the other hand, she's got a huge fanclub that brags about winning with her, appears to be getting better with every new release, and received one of the strongest alternative Tiers to date.

In this article, similar to the last one, I want to try and explain why she is perceived as weak, what her actual playstyle strengths are, the interactions with specific army choices, different lists (and list ideas), and why I chose her for the Plunge, and what my expectations are.

Khador 2013 - Part 01 "Vladimir Tzepesci"

Katrina Relief variant shown.

In this first article for Khador 2013, I want to start looking at the faction's warcasters, and I'll begin with one that I have only recently bought for myself - and who does not get a lot of mention on the forums. Mostly because the consensus is "he makes anything good". That is not as true as it is made to sound. And even if it were - could you really replace any list's caster with Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince, and end up with a better result?

In this first article, I want to explore where that consensus stems from, whether the anticipated answer to above question - No - is correct, and why / where that is the case. I also want to show different yet viable ways of playing him, and what things to watch out for.