Okay so why do people play Hordes? I imagine that if they really wanted to play with lots of infantry then Warmachine probably suits that better than Hordes. No, if you want to play Hordes, you're likely interesting in the big tools of war known as warbeasts! Domination brought us some unique and exciting warbeasts! Unlike Warmachine, new warbeasts have to be considered not only for their battlefield performance, but for their animi, as they are effectively a new spell that our warlocks have access to. Which warbeasts are my favorite from Domination? Let's find out!
Honorable Mention: Naga Nightlurker
The Naga is a pretty neat warbeast but one that I think
requires some thought as to how best use him.
As a light he is your standard price and comes with a RNG 10 POW 12 and
a P+S 12 bite, so he might seem a little “meh” since his other abilities are
pretty standard for Legion (pathfinder,
eyeless sight, serpentine). He does
have some nice effects on his weapons (crit poison
on the ranged and shadow bind on the
bite), but they’re both critical effects and thus unreliable. Since he’s a beast, boosting is easy, but
that still doesn’t guarantee that critical when you really want it. Legion has so many beasts anyway that this
guy will find there’s some tough competition even for his cost. This guy gets the honorable mention for some
great abilities (albeit unreliable) but the competition is so tight for Legion
that I doubt we’ll see him often unless he can get an additional attack die somehow
(pLylith and eThagarosh).
#3 - Cyclops Raider
It’s really interesting to see Skorne get a ranged
beast. It seems like Privateer Press
wants to start giving Skorne some more ranged capability, as they received 3 ranged units in Domination (this guy,
the Battle Engine, and the Venator Slingers).
Skorne is typically known for being a heavy melee army, with ranged
options being incredibly rare or ineffective comparatively. Would you rather spend points on an
unsupported ranged unit or buy another solo which supports the rest of your army since they’re all melee. Throw into the mix that the Skorne warlocks
don’t really offer much in the way of supporting ranged units, and you’ll see
why you rarely see Skorne with guns.
 |
| Zaal might appreciate more range on his evil eye of doom |
So why do I like the Raider?
He’s pretty self-sufficient and he can hunt down annoying solos before
they get to you. The first unfortunate
thing to note about the Raider is his unimpressive RAT 5. Not surprising I guess when you lack depth
perception. However, if he’s able to
aim, he’s effectively RAT 7 and he
ignores stealth to punk obnoxious solos or the occasional light under the
effect of Occultation or Shadow Pack. Thanks to his animus Far Strike, he can have almost the same range as a Mariner or
Destroyer, and with Burst Fire on his
gun, he’ll be hitting heavies just as
hard. Not bad for a 5 point
light! I could see these guys being
spammed with some beast handlers to remove the fury after a fusillade of
boosted POW 14s at the opposing heavies at long
range.
Also, Zaal and Soulwards will appreciate the animus since
their ranged attacks are short-ranged.
Skorne just got some serious ranged threat for the cost!
#2 - Scarsfell Griffon
When I first heard that Circle was getting a griffon in
Domination I was so excited! I had originally hoped that it would be a new
heavy warbeast, but I’m equally pleased that it’s a 5-point light, as there
aren’t many options for Circle to fill that point slot right now. As is normal for Circle warbeasts, the
Scarsfell Griffon has pretty unimpressive stats (although he has a better MAT
than an Argus!), he’s not supposed to be wrecking models by punching them, but
by throwing them!
 |
| I think eKaya will love the Scarsfell Griffon the most |
One thing that stands out with the Griffon is access to a Long Leash – something relatively rare
in Hordes – and this is huge for Circle, as we love to out-maneuver our
opponents. The first warlock(s) I
thought of with this guy is Kaya. With
pKaya she offers Spirit Door to
allow this guy to run pretty far along the flanks and she can pull him back
once his job is done. Also, pKaya grants
a +2 to melee attack rolls in her control, so this guy can be at a MAT 8 on the
flanks, allowing him to do what he does best.
Then again, eKaya offers him some similar safety with her feat plus Dog Pile to increase his threat range
if you can tag the caster. What I really love about him, though, is that his fluff matches his playstyle.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this game for
matching fluff and playstyle. The
Scarsfell Griffon, in the fluff, kills its prey by picking it up and dropping
over cliffs with its talons. Just like
real birds of prey, this allows it to kill large prey without having to
actually bite or claw at it, and this is
what the Scarsfell Griffon will do best.
Thanks to his animus, he can avoid
free strikes and dive straight into the caster, ignoring enemy models and
even forests, only to double-hand throw
the opposing caster towards the rest of your army to pounce on. While he’s not for everyone, I think he was
made for both Kayas, and if eKaya throws Forced
Evolution and Primal from a
Gorax, he can even be a pretty effective missile with 3 initial attacks at
MAT8, DEF 16, and P+S 16, 15, 15! Not
too shabby for a light!
#1 - Storm Troll
Like I said yesterday, I’m not a Troll player, but I
sincerely think that Trolls got a really awesome set of models in
Domination. My absolute favorite non-character warbeast is the Storm
Troll. When I first heard of a
lightning-slinging Troll, I first rolled my eyes (I guess it was only natural
since they already have a Pyre, Winter,
and Slag troll), but having seen his
rules… yikes! I predict that we will see
this guy in a lot of Troll lists.
Just like every other Troll, this guy has the standard DEF
12, ARM 16, and Regen. Where he really
stands out, however are his abilities.
As we might expect, he’s immune to
electricity and has a ranged lightning attack. It’s pretty short-ranged, but in a faction
where Impalers are prevalent for Far
Strike, it’s less of an issue. His
RAT is admittedly poorer than you might expect, but with Far Strike he can aim a little more often, and even then he will
likely want to tag lower DEF models anyway.
Why? Lightning generator! This
means he’s a mini-chain lightning himself!
This is the same rule as the Cygnar Storm Tower and it means that he can
potentially clear out a couple obnoxious models himself – even those with stealth if you’re clever with it. Hell, the POW is low enough on the main blast
that you could run a Dire Troll up front and shoot it in the back just to have
the d3 bounces to punish eEiryss for getting too close. Oh, and unless it’s errata’d, you can boost the electrical damage rolls from
the bounces!
 |
| Although the model has yet to be released, it looks pretty awesome! I think he should have been a heavy |
Next on the list of awesome abilities is critical disruption on his fists. While I did criticize the Naga Nightlurker
for having critical effects, disruption
is incredibly rare in Hordes, even if it’s a critical effect. While I wouldn’t send this guy specifically
after heavy warjacks to disrupt them, he does have two initial attacks, and
boosting on both gives a reasonable chance of landing disruption if you can’t shoot.
This alone is a good reason for Troll players to convince him, as the
rest of Hordes has to get the Thrullg to have disruption as a tool, and the
Storm Troll is way more survivable. Even
if the critical doesn’t happen, it’s electrostatic
rule means that even if a warjack hits him, if it doesn’t insta-gib, then the
warjack suffers disruption! This is great to deter a fully-loaded warjack
from charging in and trying to kill the Storm Troll, because it’d lose all of
its focus after the first hit! Pretty
ace!
 |
| Troll Axer + Storm Troll BFF |
Lastly, the Storm Troll’s animus grants a model immunity to
electricity (situationally useful), and its melee weapons gain electro-leap! Two words: Troll Axer. A Troll Axer is already a pretty awesome
choice for Trolls, as it has the great animus Rush, a decent-POW axe with
reach, plus thresher. The downside is that he’s expensive for a
light. Now with the Storm Troll, you can
have all kinds of hilarious fun with the Axer!
Have him thresher with electro-leap and watch him clear out an
entire unit of infantry with ease! Go
ahead, knock down some infantry (maybe with eGrissel’s song with Quake), charge
in that Axer, and thresher all of them to not only kill them, but electro-leap off of each one! Wheee!
Lightning!
Next up is Part 5, where I will talk about the character
warbeasts and what I think of them!
