Khador 2014, Part 10 - WTC '14 Khadoran Army Lists

... an outsider's totally unbiased and professional omniscient judgement. As if.

   So, Lamoron, great Danish Cryx player posted his review of the WTC's Cryx lists over at The Overseer, and I thought that would be sth that should be done with the Khadoran lists as well - especially since both Jamie P. and Trent D., perceived Paragons of the Khador faction, have abandoned it for the WTC, and you hear the argument that Khador, even after Butcher 3, isn't being feared.

   Keeping that in mind - I think there are too many people playing Khador for that to be a valid statement (thirty, to be precise). I'll judge the list by the following colour chart - and a number of KMIs (key model indicators) that'll reveal itself throughout the essay), and give my reasoning later.

Really Boring
Very Boring
Boring
Kinda Interesting
Interesting
Very Interesting

   That professional, objective research right there! But since I'm the scientist, I set the parameters by which the data is analysed - so let's bring it on!

For safety reasons: I'm not judging the lists to be "done well" or "done badly", I'm merely going by how much reading the lists makes me want to see it played.

Our first spell draft - the Arides Redux

Our first spell draft - the Arides Redux

Another weekend, another tournament Marth looked forward to, but had to drop out. And another tournament failure on my record score... ;)

Khador 2014 - Part 09/3: The beard, son! The beard!

It has dawned on me that, while trying to figure out the best ways to win in the Spell Draft format with Khador, I lost track of one thing I set for myself: It's the year of the beard!

Probably won't get out of that one!

Now let's recall that I mostly discarded Harkevich as a good Spell Draft 'Caster since his performance apparently was tied to his spell list (basically, Escort).

After the break, I'll try and figure out a solution!

Khador 2014 Part 09/2 Spell Drafter Armies

As promised in the last article, here are my current list ideas for the three 'Caster I singled out (Strakhov, Vlad2, Zerkova). Full disclosure of lists, thoughts, and other circumstances influencing my choice will follow after the break.

Khador 2014 Part 09 - Spell Draft

There will be a Spell Draft tournament (eight participants) happening in my town at the 13th of Septembre. In this blog post, I'll talk about my initial thoughts on the matter, and probable Khador choices both army-wise and 'Caster-wise - and which one I can manage with my assortment of models.

Join me after the break, and let's find out if this end like some other "initial posts" I've made:

That's what you get for googling "Spell Draft".

Khador 2014 - Part 08: Three Dark Riders

PG_ The Captain did it.

At the very least, he made me do it.

Seriously, you can't just go and drop a phrase like "I'll play Harkevich, Zerkova and Strakhov as my three masters 'Casters" in front of a Hark'/Lady Z fanboi (i.e.: me), and not expect anything to happen. So I got in touch with him to inquire about details, which he shared with me (kindly enough, thanks a lot!), and in this post I'll jabber at length elaborate on my take on that particular line-up. I'll talk about the preliminary lists, their roles/opponents I'd use them against.

But we'll do that after the break.

Compromised by an imperial spy - The Arides redux

As most of you have read by now, Marth was forced to drop out from the Cantina Games V which left me as the only "Ubernoob" in the Rookie Tournament. And as a spoiler I still won't consider myself an experienced player...

Khador 2014 - Part 07: A 'Jack with a Napoleon Complex

Ever since I mentioned this article on Bleeped Up Productions "Khador Tactics" recently - I guess I had best write it then, right? So today, we'll be talking about "Big B", the Behemoth. (Actually, the Khador Warjack. Not the mythological thing, and not the Polish metal band either.)

Even though "Big B" ain't as big anymore now that Conquest is around, who certainly takes the lead in both size of model and points cost regarding single models in Khador. So I presume the Behemoth, who has not one, but two arcano-mechanikal proto-brains, also has up to two chances at being pretty miffed about no longer being the star of the show. Thankfully, he's got two rocket powered turbofists to reinstate his preferred status quo - but we'll get to that after the break. We'll talk about what he does for a khadoran army, which 'Casters he jives particularly well with (and why), and then sum it up.

Nope, he isn't part of this article either.

Khador 2014 Part 06 - Weapons of Choice

(Still needs witty picture)

Following the personal gaming success that was ClogCon (first win with Harkevich, first scenario victories since 2012, to be precise), I spent a lot of time (for me, at least) a) playing the Harkevich list I took to the ClogCon Masters, b) reading a lot of Sticks and Dice and the relevant PP Forum Thread.

It basically boils down to this: How sensible is the armour skew in a list line-up? But that's not the point of today's article (WHOAA?). Instead, I feel more tempted to write about the list-chicken part of the game. When I was first confronted with it, it completely blew me out of the water, and I more or less picked lists at random.

Now, I'm looking at the list chicken situation as a puzzle to be solved, and I want this article to help others with solving the puzzle. I am certainly neither the first nor the best to write about this topic, but I gave it a lot of thought, and those thoughts I deem worth sharing. Ready?

Khador 2014 Part 05 - 9 point 'Jacks

(Yes, that's a - very bad - 9" Nails pun)

   I guess it was once again the Grolar that made me do it, since it's nine points. It, however, also has to do with my first ever Harkevich Victory, and the Destroyer featured in the list, which, mainly merely was there since I had no other 9pt warjack at home. I'm always considering to swap him, but what for? It's not like he has nothing to offer, and thinking about what he offers is exactly what brought me to write this article.

So today's topic are the nine point options Khador has, and what each of those bring to the table/a list, also preferred 'Casters for those choices (if any). Let's do this! We'll likely find out why some of them are very much maligned, and maybe some spark of hope, too.

Khador 2014 Part 04 - ClogCon lists review

Last weekend, ClogCon took place, and in this post, I'll write to you about my experiences there - which will include a very surprising twist. So enjoy!

Prelude:
   We left town at about 6.30 o'clock Friday morning and safely (and uneventfully) arrived in Rotterdam, at the Savoy Hotel, around 10.00 o'clock. "We" being Arides, Fiona, our little daughter pVicky, and me. Due to me having spoken to the hotel beforehand, Fiona, pVicky and me were able to check in right away (go Savoy!). Arides was staying with other Germans at a youth hostel.
   We arrived at the convention's location right in time to register for the opening tournaments, and I played in the 35 pt Steamroller. I won't bother you with my lists right here, because they... will be there again later on. Also, two important things happened while packing: I took Vlad2 with me because I anticipated casual gaming on Saturday, but left Orin at home even though I had him in my hand.

Friday:
35 point Steamroller:
Round 1 - Supply and Demand v. Georg B.
   It was Harkevich's theme force v. Vlad3's theme force, and a very grindy battle - and I punted my one chance at winning by spending the one focus left on Harkevich for the wrong thing (I boosted damage instead of casting Jump Start). ARGH! Very nice opponent, though!

Round 2 - Balance of Power v. Harm K.
   This one was Harkevich (again) against Bart/Galleon. Turns out: On three focus, with Escort, under feat, Harkevich CAN face-tank a Galleon. Also, Bart is one of the two WM Caster that still have though - he rolled it when Harkevich kept calm and cast razor wind. ;)

Round 3 - Incursion (I think) v. Jeroen
   He brought Cryx, so I opted for Zerkova and her anti-Cryx list (which actually had been built to beat Janus S.). He's still a learning player, which showed, and it ended with Deneghra skewered on a Spriggan Warlance (rolled 6, 6, 6, on the charge attack damage, and she had no focus... so 22 damage?)

That was a... pretty underwhelming start. Sure, the first two games were close, but I am still waiting to win with Harkevich the first time ever, while Zerkova remains my "comfort zone".

Saturday:
   I had a Bushido demo which made me really like the system (better than Anima:Tactics, at least). I also got a game in against Rob K., which pitted Harkevich's theme force against Calaban's theme force. And IMO, Calaban is way underrated. It gave me a chance to field a 50pt Harkevich list I both saw on the forums once AND had the models for for the first time. We didn't get to finish it, because I chose to enlist for the Thunderdome competition last minute.
   And that, lads and ladies, was where things started to go crazy.

Khador 2013 Part 03/3 - Almost right! Almost...

Just like the title implies, C.R.L. was almost right about the spoilers. So, since I assume everybody read the article on that frickin' BOLS page (Yes, my opinion of them is... ...biased), what we'll do here is Reflection and Reiteration - something that's rare on the internet these days, I feel.

You get that feeling when rumours are out, and people still start speculating like unjustifiably crazy.

Alright, so much for the intro. You guys ready to swallow the red pill?

Khador 2014 Part 03/2 - Everybody's Darling?

So, yesterday I gave you the leaks I got on the PP forums, and did the initial gushing. Because, hey, 8pt gun-'Jack.

But why exactly is that so gush-some to me? In this second part of the article, I'll walk you through my reasoning. We'll be looking at how the Grolar (I'd prefer Growler, but Grolar is a term for a mix between a Grizzly and a Polar Bear, go figure) might work with each 'Caster - making some upfront assumptions, but that's cool, it's how science is done anyways. We'll also look into intersting interactions with other models (as far as I discover some), and the Theme Forces he can be included in. I know of at least one I'm stoked about, but I presume there are more gems to be found here. I'll intertwine the 'Caster and Theme Force discussion, and I'll give Pro's, Con's, and a brief verdict (with my *-Ratings that I used in a Khador '13 article before).

So let's get it on!

Khador 2014 Part 03/1 - the new 'Jack in town.

A bit of history for this topic:
   Khador players were given intel at last year's Lock and Load that they'd be getting a new Warjack, and that it would have a machine gun. Another rumour said there'd be a 'Jack with Double Strike. Since that ability was hitherto only found on a melee weapon, I assumed we'd get something Blitzeresque. The math revealed that a Warjack with melee Double Strike would likely PWN Colossals by its lonesome.
   In the meantime, we figured out/were spoiled that said Warjack would be based on the 'Jacks of reknown models, presumably in the advent of another multi-kit box. From that, we deducted Heavy Boiler.
   At Templecon, we heard it'd have "the highest printed RoF to date" (excluding Caine2, of course) and that Double Strike was indeed on the gun. This led to a lot of dismay, ever since Khador does have RAT 4 base, and the fear of another 9pt hybrid (as in "Trash") was voiced.
   All that, however, changed now. We have better intel, it seems, gleamed right from the book. I'll attempt to fit as much into this article as I can while pumping it out as fast as I can, too. I'll split it into two parts, one for the "Breaking News/First thoughts" part, and the "In-depth ponderings" part.

Khador 2014 - Part 02 "Year of the Beard"

Bring it on! (courtesy of PG Somnicide)

Fellow comrades, it's time for me to speak about the "Year of the Beard", and my plans for it. Or, at least, my initial ideas. For this issue, I think we'll best stick with the intention behind the "campaign" and my initial lists for Harkevich. Meh, I'll throw in an outlook for ClogCon.

Khador 2014 - Part 01 "Life/Hobby Balance"

The life/hobby balance, and how to do back-pedaling when necessary

Let me - in true human sciences/linguist fashion - start this article off with a quote from Coldplay's "Viva la vida":

"I used to roll the dice / see the fear in my enemies' eyes"

 Does this article have you worried? I do not know, and if it does, sorry. But I think it makes an all the more valuable topic to talk about - what to do when you find yourself at the point of realisation your hobby has gotten the better part of your life, as if it turned into an angry deity that made you sacrifice your money, friends(, and possibly more!) for the pleasures it (used to) provide(s) you?