All the Gatormans

Here's all my stuff painted as of today (actually 6 something months ago, since no Shamblers):

Click to enlarge

I think I took this picture as an example of the base markings I use to differentiate my 3 Posse units. Just thought I should put it up on here for future reference.

Highly Limited Jaga Jaga play experiences

It seems my playgroup has pretty much died in terms of Warmahordes, given the really slow pace of change in the game/meta and the many entertainment alternatives available in geekdom, but regardless here are some play experiences and thoughts I have managed to get together with Jaga-Jaga before doing my "proper" write-up:


Game 1 vs Helga
2 Slaughterhouser units, 1 War Hog, 1 Road Hog, few Razorboards, some support stuff and manly solos

• My Wrastler charged (could have walked - I was thinking SPD 6 rather than 7) a Death Shrouded Road Hog and only brought it to half health. Sad face. My damage rolls against beasts were pretty atrocious the whole game.
• Dash is a pretty hard counter to Jaga's feat, but nevertheless the jamming aspect of it caused some minor issues.
• SPD 6 turtles are nice but still suck horribly in melee. SPD 7 Wrastlers being able to walk and Death Roll however - serious business.
• I would have lost on scenario over turns 3/4/5 if he'd just jammed me out of my zone after I had a series of mediocre rolls and an underwhelming feat turn (thanks Dash). But we kept playing as if that wasn't an option. As a result, I tried to get a Deadweight on Helga by killing a nearby Bonegrinder and rolled snake eyes on the damage (boo) and then decided to use my last 2 fury for Grave Wind. Jaga was left alive on 2 boxes, cut to 1, managed to make her way to Helga using transfers and killed her on my last attack. Poison + reach snake = MVP. 
• DEATH SNAKE.

Lessons learned - Basically no reason I'd drop Jaga Jaga vs the current Pig meta. Jaga Jaga not as good as Rask against Pigs. Getting the alpha + hitting really hard wins... a lot.
I hope to be able to test her against Circle (especially Kromac), Cryx and likely also Khador/Legion, as those are matchups were Rask isn't the bee's knees.


Game 2 vs Scaverous
Full Bane Thralls + UA, Full Croes, Deathjack, Min Biles, Tartarus, arc node, Gorman, Withershadow

• New opponent for me, I unfortunately forgot his name (Peter?) but he agreed that DotA was a sweet game so he's cool in my book. The scenario was Supply and Demand.
• Feat did ok - held up the Bane countercharge for a turn so I traded evenly on that flank and got Dark Shroud on the Deathjack on the other flank, allowing me to finish him off with a charging Gatorman (he had been brought low previously by a charging Wrastler and almost killed due to Spiny Growth - good trade for me).
•  Really wish I had Witch Doctors vs Cryx. It would have helped significantly vs Deathjack's healing and Croe's poison weapons. Will probably always take at least 1 with her from now on, even though the benefits aren't as steep as with Maelok.
• Scenario win in the end, thanks largely to the forest in the dead middle of the zone I just hid behind the whole game and dominated twice over 3 rounds after killing his objective. Ghost Walk came in handy to get a charging Spitter through to the relevant models to clear the zone.

Lessons learned - take Witch Doctors whenever you have 3 Posse. The Undead is extremely useful vs Cryx, and having another ranged nuke is pretty useful in general to take out the support and crutch solos. Plus Tough is potentially neat.


Game 3 vs Constance Blaize (Highborn Covenant)
Gallant, Nomad, Gastone + Vanguard, Full Precursors + UA, Max Steelhead Cav, Min Halberdiers, Gun Mages + UA, Harlan Versh

This time I brought my "Cryx" list, with 3 Posse and 2 Witch Doctors. Also had the Spitter, Wrastler and Snapper, together with Pendrake.

• Scenario was Incursion - there was a house between my deployment and the right flag, and a forest roughly midway between the center and the left flag slightly on his side of the table. He deployed heavily to the left flag where I deployed more centrally with a Posse dedicated to each flag, a Wrastler to the left flag and the rest pretty central. Only the Gun Mages were within reach of the right flag.
• The left flag disappeared, which means I ended up in a highly favourable position, and won by rushing the right flag, just killing whatever gun mages I needed to score each turn. Basically, he deployed poorly and luck didn't reward him.
• Jaga-Jaga did two useful things in the game -
  1) Cast Ghost Walk on the central Posse unit so get 2 more into combat by ignoring freestrikes and walking through impassable terrain.
  2) Use her feat, which against an infantry swarm like the one I was facing was as sweet, as you'd expect. It was a very effective jamfest and the Dark Shroud helped Posse make short work of the Steelhead Cav with their second attacks. The one major downside is that it is annoying and takes a long time to administer.
  After the feat turn, she healed a beast and ran over to the right flag to win me the game.... so I guess that was useful too (SPD 6 = sweet).
• Witch Doctors did functionally nothing, but Pendrake did manage to KD Gallant so that my Wrastler with a missing Mind could walk 7" up to it and 2-hand throw it away from the flag to get a CP.

Lessons learned - Jaga-Jaga is a super passive caster. It's almost like I'm playing Warmachine instead of the dynamic system that is Hordes. I guess Maelok plays the same if you're a sissy and never use Malediction (the optimal but definitely most boring way to play).
Also SPD 6 Spitters are really neat, but we knew that with Barnabas/Warpath anyway. I keep considering bring a Swamp Horror instead of a Wrastler, but the SPD 7 Wrastler with Grave Wind/Spiny Growth keeps doing so much work that I never follow through on it.

Ides of March 2014 - How 42pt makes life difficult

I have a relatively huge 42pt tournament coming up in a couple of weeks. I say relatively huge because this is probably the biggest Warmachine tournament in the NZ calendar, and it happens to be local. Yay!

This tournament is run by Soulless Dave, who enjoys the following things:

1 - Running sweet tournaments, which he can't play in otherwise he'd probably win those too.
2 - Giving me beer mugs.
3 - Shamelessly relishing how OP Cryx is.

Quite the gentleman.

Anyway, I have been told that Gator list building is faceroll and requires no decision making at all, and that playing Gators for so long has erased my ability to write "good" or "sound" lists for other factions. In light of these comments, I thought I would write a post about my list writing process for this 42pt nightmare.

First, I must admit that writing lists are the part of the hobby/game I enjoy the least. This could do with the fact that Gators have way less options than everyone else, or it could be related to how writing lists for my previous factions (Khador, PoM, Skorne) used to remind me that I would have a much better chance of winning games if I just bought X unit or Y solo for this specific list, or it could be related to how I would rather the game be as well balanced as people claim and lists had very little impact on the outcome of a game rather than a sizable one. But then I accept that a lot of people really enjoy the meta-game, and I too see the appeal in it, I just don't really experience the enjoyment of it too often.

Secondly, 42pts is a kick in the nuts, especially when you play Minions. Unlike most of the fleshed out big boy factions, it is very, very difficult to build 2 lists that answer enough matchups sufficiently. 3 lists might be alright, but two is very tight. In Minions, this is primarily a result of our casters being so dominant and being the primary "solutions" to problems we face. Factions like Legion, PoM or Cryx don't really have trouble making 2 lists that can more or less deal with more or less everything, simply through having a wide range of beasts, units, support and niche-filling mercs. That's not a luxury Minions have.
The higher the points, the more balanced the game is. That's been my experience in the past year anyway. I really think the meta would benefit on the whole from a push up to 60/65 pts, but that's another post altogether.

The Proto-Lists

These are the lists I started with, and I would have to choose 2 of these:

List 1: Rask

Spitter 

Snapper

5 Gatormans
5 Gatormans  
5 Gatormans
Min. Trogs
Gobbers  

4pts for "support"

3 Posse version. I take a Spitter in this list because the entirety of the damage potential of the list comes from cycling Fury on Gatormans and shooting off defensive upkeeps. High skill plays right there, woo! Anyway, having a Spitter is nice to clear jams and soften up targets at range. I guess he can also do stuff in melee with Paralysis and Fury and Boundless Charge and all that. Maybe.

The min. Trog unit and Gobbers more or less make Rask invincible, which either will result in my opponent wasting attacks on Rask, or ignoring Rask and his fish friends entirely so they are free to wreck havoc as they please. Either way, points usually well spent.

So the two questions with this list are '2 Posse, or 3 Posse?' and 'What to do with those 4pts?'

List 2: Barnabas

Wraster 

Spitter
Snapper

5 Gatormans
5 Gatormans  
5 Gatormans

Feralgeist

I would really, really like to throw in some solos like Croak Hunters, a Thrullg or Totem Hunter in there to give the list some flexibility, but 42pts! I think the beast composition is pretty fixed - without any Croaks, you really need a Spitter for some ranged presence, and Bull Snappers are too good to pass up between their sweet man-eating abilities and Spiny Growth on Barnabas.

The Wrastler could be changed for a Horror, however. More on that later.

List 3: Maelok

Bull Snapper
Bull Snapper
5 Gatormans
5 Gatormans  
5 Gatormans

Witch Doctor

Witch Doctor
 +9pts

Max Posse, the two Croctors I own, and 2 Bull Snappers to use up those beast points. This is pretty much the Maelok list I used at Battlecry this month (minus Pendrake), and does what you want Maelok lists to do - get a big unpredictable feat turn, then tank up and grind your way to victory.

The only real question is what to do about those last 9pts?

THEORYMACHINE TIME!

Some things are a given:

1. I have to play Rask to break ARM, and doubly so post-Colossals. Also he's like one of the best warlocks in the entire game, so there's that going for him too.
2. I have to bring at least 2 units of Gatormans per list, because 2 Posse is better than every other alternative in almost every situation. 3 Posse, in my opinion, is not a certainty however. 
3. The tournament is mid-March and has a fully-painted requirement, so I am unlikely to have Shamblers ready by then.

Because the field is so big, every faction is likely to be represented in some capacity. Except Pigs, since the only guy I know who plays Pigs told me he'd be playing Gators because his Gators are fully-painted (but really, he's just sick of Pigs).

Factions I don't really have to worry about in general:

• Skorne - any Rask list does great to decent here. There are of course builds that will hurt like Xerxis Cetrati brick or Zaal attrition, but in general it is not something I can really list tech against heavily.
• Retribution - Similar to Skorne. I think Rahn and eVyros Griffon spam can be a real worry, but not something I really have to tech for. As long as it's Rask, and perhaps Barnabas, we're alright. Gators shred infantry, and Fury kills heavies.
• Protectorate - similar to Skorne but more annoying. The Errant/Piper/Book combo is also cryx-level, jigglypuff-in-a-vaccuum-cleaner type of retarded, but since I have no anti-tough, I cannot do a single thing about it or the Gorman hiding behind them chaining Black Oils onto my stuff. They also usually have lots of magic weapons to skrew Maelok's feat.
• Circle - Most Circle stuff is squishy and dies to Gators. Gator casters are also real tough to assassinate so they lose that gameplan.
• Legion - a fair matchup for Gatormans, so it mostly comes down to how I play. Usually Legion has trouble dealing with so much ARM and anti-shooting. Note the comment on Vayl below however.
• Cygnar - Cygnar does Cygnar things. I have pretty good anti-shooting tech (which Siege ignores), but otherwise there's not much to specifically worry about. Rask is pretty good most of the time here.
• Trolls - For the most part, Trolls are like Gators except with crappier troops but way better lists, if you catch my drift. They can bring some problematic lists like Runes of War and eDoomshaper heavy spam. But I think it more or less comes down to two things: good play, and the troll player rolling 5s when he needs them.
• Mercs - Infantry dies, bad jacks are bad. The Merc Colossal skew can be a problem though, but overall the faction isn't really problematic.

Factions I have to worry about in general:

• Cryx - my arch nemesis. Infantry that destroys mine for half the cost + all undead and all that. Stupid. Does it with pretty much any caster.
• Khador - these guys are tough in a multi-list environment because they will always hit really hard in any list, but the possibility of IF Kayazy is quite a list-chicken problem for Gators (to Barnabas or not?). I don't think I have problems with specific casters as much as their general options and the many, many mercs they are sure to bring. It's like Cygnar, except it actually hurts.

Casters/builds I have to worry about specifically:

• eMorvahna - Maelok does so much better than Barnabas here on account of his feat and assassination potential. Barnabas does ok, but he does better than Maelok vs most other Circle stuff.
• Harbinger - Awe is public enemy number 1. MAT 5 is terrible. Of course I can make the Gators undead, but then I have to use 3pts down on a Croctor or two in the Rask list, and at 42pts that's a big support investment for only one caster. The alternative is to drop Maelok and hope like hell the second list isn't some jack spam list (which is a tall order).
  The feat is nasty as well but usually I can get in the zone after that and stay there till the end. She also brings the Errant tarpit up to mega-powered Ben Stiller fully retarded.
• Vayl - Incite, her feat, Dark Sentinel and Rampager can be really problematic for my lists. She is also a pretty popular caster around here. I do not like her, Sam I am. And there's not too much I can do about it. Barnabas is probably the best bet due to Pits + Iron Flesh + feat.
• Terminus - if I don't have a Thrullg, I probably lose. Sweet. People like Terminus as well so he's very likely to be pretty well represented in the field. Because hard skewing is fun for everyone.... said the guy playing 3 Posses.
• Bart/Galleon - this is a tough cookie. Theoretically, if I can shoot off Spiny Growth and cycle Fury, I can probably 1-round the Galleon. However every single other thing in the Galleon list is made to stop that happening and I get grinded out as Galleon gets repaired up every turn. So I probably drop Maelok or Barnabas, ignore Galleon and go for everything else, and hope it's a 2 zone scenario?
  I guess Rhulic casters with the Pooper Scooper also fits in here, but again, there is a near total lack of quality experience against quality lists on my part.
• Haley/Denny/hard control casters - The great thing about this is I can worry all I want, but can't really do jack about it. So I suck it up, hope the feat turn goes ok for my opponent while he timewalks over my play time, and we move on if I have anything left.

Decision 1 – Barnabas or Maelok?

The Barnabas list is a pretty good all around list. It does "ok vs Cryx" due to many Posse, his feat + Spitter. It does pretty well against Circle and Legion, even without Pendrake. I am also quite a bit better at playing him than I am at playing Maelok, which counts for something.

Maelok is much better vs Cryx, ok vs Circle (great against eMorvahna), ok vs Legion (mostly because I am not so good at playing him) and also has some game vs jammy infantry Zaal Skorne and most Trolls (even with the anti-incorp aura - if the Troll player is using it, then he's not using +1 STR and you live longer to grind).

Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Both feel a little gimped by 42pts rather than 50pts, Barnabas probably a little less. There is no real alternative (Calaban is a bad dream and Pigs are Pigs) outside these two for a second list. So I guess it just comes down to how I feel on decision day.

Decision 2 – Rask with 2 Posse, or 3 Posse?

The 2 Posse alternative involves dropping one Posse for WE+ Snapjaw (since he is probably the best combat heavy we have and does bad ass things with ALL THE BUFFS), and the Spitter for a Swamp Horror, since the Horror brings Elasticity for the two big Crocs and does some really good damage with Rask.

For the way I play, 3 Posse is better against Trolls while 2 Posse is better vs PoM and Skorne. This is from 50pt experience, where I will usually have Horror+Wrastler+Snapjaw in the Rask list and can blow stuff up with only a tiny charge lane by spreading the triple-heavy threat and then stacking buffs on the chosen heavy when the opportunity presents itself.

However at 42pts, you have a bit more space on the table and the 3 Posse skew can be really problematic for your opponent (a.k.a. skewy as balls). On the flipside, taking 3 Posse is also a hell of a lot less interesting for me tactically since it basically removes Boundless Charge from Rask's spell list and power attacks from mine. I do love me some power attacks... damn you Colossals. Damn your stupidity.

Thus it comes down to what I can expect to play against, and whether I will hate myself for only taking 2 Posse when I get dropped against Trolls 3 rounds in a row.

For Barnabas and Maelok, I play 3 full Posses by default. If Gator beasts hit harder/more accurately than a full unit of Gators, this probably wouldn't be the case, since both can do pretty good things for Gator beasts - not as much as Rask of course, but a lot nevertheless. But as things stand, I have found that playing three Posse with these two is much preferable to taking two (I played two Posse with them for almost a year before getting a third).

Decision 3 – Rask solos

In any case, I have 4pts left over in the Rask list (5pts if you discount the Gobbers). These are going to be used for solos.... a sort of "support" allocation, one might say.

I've given myself 3 options here:

1. Two Croak Hunters - these guys are mediocre as hell, but when they are one of your only ranged attacks, you learn to value their input. They can hold zones about as well as the other two options, they can unblock Gators, they are two independent activations and are really sweet at countercharging.
2. Totem Hunter + Feralgeist - the Totem Hunter is a lot like a Croak Hunter on steroids but without a gun. His stats and mobility are almost better than a Croak in every way, but he relies entirely on proccing Sprint to unblock Gators. This has led to bad things in my life. But he can also sometimes break games open if used patiently, and does work at all stages of the game. Finally, he is also a character so putting him in this list means he isn't in my other lists, and I do love him vs Circle to snipe out Shifting Stones.
   Feralgeists are 1pt zone holders/contesters 99% of the time, and sometimes take over beasts to annoy people (primarily me).
3. Croctor + Feralgeist - This would almost be purely for the Harbinger matchup alone, because the stuff I drop Rask against doesn't usually care about Undead and Tough on Gators is mostly a non-issue.

 

Decision 4 - Barnabas asks "Wrastler or Horror"?

Another tricky question revolving entirely around one beast selection:

• On one side, the Wrastler is SPD 5, reasonably tanky (especially with Spiny Growth), and is P+S 17. He can do respectable, although not great damage. He also keeps the 'Rise Missile' threat alive, which is the one thing people seem to know about Gators. Being able to independently knock heavy targets down following a charge is also pretty neat. His weaknesses are lack of reach and an extra point cost relative to the Horror.
• On the other, the Swamp Horror has really good protection vs shooting, can do work against infantry, has built-in reach, can give reach to other things (mainly Barnabas or some random Gatorman), benefits a LOT from Warpath since it is slow, and also costs 1 less point than a Wrastler, allowing me to level the Feralgeist up to a Croak Hunter for that extra ranged attack. Its weaknesses are being squishy as balls in melee, and being 1 less POW and 2 less STR than a Wrastler.

Decision 5 - Maelok's last 9 pts.

Unfortunately Posse are (only) FA:3 in Blindwater. Sad face. That means I have to take other things.

• WE + Snapjaw - Usually in a Maelok list, you want to have Wrong Eye around to put up another 2 Spiny Growths a turn. And you also get a sweet heavy to go with it. However, at 42pts, that's not really a luxury we have. But you still get a pretty good heavy and solo with solid animi.
• Support solo staff: TH + Thrullg + Pendrake + Feralgeist - This gives a little more flexibility to the list. Thrullgs are good against Cryx, the Totem Hunter can also be super scary with incorporeal charges followed by a Sprint away and 15 Gators in your grill, Pendrake makes Gators much better vs beasts (so they can Dirge or Pathfinder on the charge if needed), and the Feralgeist gives you specific zone control potential. But, you don't have a heavy hitter outside Malediction (which you really don't want to be using as a core ARM crack strategy).

So there you have it - how faceroll easy it is to chose Gator lists, why I don't have to worry about list chicken because all my lists are the same and why I am so bad at making lists for other factions.

What did lists did I go for in the end? Stay tuned for exciting revelations in March (after lists have been submitted to TO)!!

The Cryx Matchup

This is my modest contribution to this thread on the PP boards regarding the Minion matchups for Cryx. Arlaharen and the rest of the Gator folk have already written a good deal of useful tips and tactics in dealing with Cryx (with more hopefully coming), and I thought I should add my own since I like to think about stuff and readers might benefit from my perspective.

In general, I think a well-played Cryx list is still one of the worst matchups for Gators due to mass undead, increasing amounts of tough BS, cheap infantry that hit like sledgehammers and lots of movement debuffs and control.

Importance of melee positioning and "staggering"

Cryx is the best melee faction in the game, all things considered. There is a reason people ALWAYS have Cryx in mind when preparing tournament lists, because if they don't, they will probably lose to Cryx and their "infantry-that-kills-anything spam" skew.
Cryx generally sucks balls at the ranged game (with exceptions like pDenny pirate gunline lists that prove both the rule and that pDenny is the ultimate turd polisher), and their spell assassination is nowhere as good as it used to be in Mk1 (despite being decent, it's not really a core game plan amongst most of their casters anymore). To make up for this, in a straight out melee scrap, Cryx will generally have the upper hand. They will hit more often, harder and for cheaper than other factions for less points and keep doing it until you are dead. How fluffy.

This is why they get hosed by Cygnar, Retribution and PoM, who can play a very good ranged game and can blow them up before Cryx makes it across the field to fight on their terms. It's also why Gators, as a largely melee subfaction, don't do great vs Cryx in principle since you have to beat the masters at their own game, so to speak. Therefore, it is very important if you want to come out victorious against Cryx to at least have good positioning when it comes to melee engagement, whether you are getting the alpha strike or receiving it. Good staggered positioning leads to good piece-trades, which is one of the fundamental concepts of Warmachine.

Let me elaborate on this slightly: Have you ever had a single Doom Reaver run up in front of your bunched-up, flanking Gatorman unit, at max CMD range from his unit leader, and not have any solos or ranged attacks nearby to deal with it? As a result, that Gator unit's entire activation is spent dealing with this one Reaver. They can't really run past him to kill his comrades as they will take free strikes, they can't move away as they will take free strikes. You can probably block some free strikes using 2 Gators to block LoS, but even then you are not in a good spot. That unit will probably in turn get charged by 5 other Doom Reavers, and the Khador player has now traded 1 Doom Reaver for 5 Gatormans. Good trade, wouldn't you say?

Often a good player will put a couple of models a few inches in front of the rest of his unit just to add as an ablative wall to absorb charges, trading those few models for what you charge in there. You can't really get to the back models either, because as a largely melee faction, you might not have the ranged attacks to deal with the 3 guys in front to clear a charge, or reach the guys in the back at all. Whatever is put up front will be traded for whatever you wish to kill it with. This is what I mean by the "staggering" of melee positions. It's like the "waves" of an army, where you have the anvil (tough or expendable units) go in front, followed by the hammer to clean up (hard-hitters who are usually squishier). Except it's all one unit, and all placement skill.

Well, good Cryx players will be really good at the staggering game since that is one of their core tactics. Oh, and Cryx have Ghostly, Curse of Shadows and Ghost Walk, so can cheat the stagger game better than most, making them even better than you in a melee scrap. They can also do stuff like turn your living dudes into their dead dudes and go through your dudes to get at the backfield stuff. Ain't life grand? Fortunately Gators have some such cheating of their own.

It's difficult to write a descriptive tactica about staggering and piece-trading. They are skills and perceptive abilities you will develop as you play the game and a pattern you will see repeated over many games.  The best way to actively develop this is whenever you move a model, try to think one or two turns ahead - if I move this Gator forward, what will threaten him, and what do I have to threaten things who threaten/kill him? And so on, and so on. It's like a dance... OF DEATH.

Importance of attrition + Dealing with Cryx feat turns (armor)

Cryx is also really good at attrition. They can bring their guys back to "life" with things like Necrosurgeons, Death Toll, Goreshade2's Elite Cadre for Banes, etc. They are mostly fearless (except Satyxis!) and have quite a bit of tough. Their crappy 1/2 point models can destroy your 2 pt models on expected dice values with the standard Cryx buffs/debuffs. If you let the fight go on long enough, they will eventually outlast you simply by virtue of having more attacks than you, turn after turn.

They also tend to have OP feats that destroy your will to live along with your army. This can range from really powerful debuffs and denial (ie. Deneghras, Coven, Skarre2) to big burst damage/activity potential (ie. Skarre1, Lich1+2, Scaverous, Mortenebra). Either way, you're going to have a pretty shitty turn. A lot of the time this is no different than the average Warmahordes game and you just grind through and move on. But when it comes to a feat like Denny2's or Lich2's that are really strong against the melee oriented, elite infantry style of Gatormans, then you better have a plan for it or you're going to lose the game right then.

The average 50pt Cryx list. Notice the small number of warjacks
and many small-based models. Source.

Which warlock should I use?

Why Rask isn't great

Rask is a baller. If his testicles weren't internal, he could use them as a seat. He is a little OP, but still has his non-favourable matchups. The typical Cryx list is one of these.

• He has little attrition potential. He can protect himself pretty damn well, and has Admonition for a warbeast, but outside his feat he doesn't do all that much to make his guys harder to kill or stand their ground. Gators are naturally good at attrition, but Cryx are better and Rask doesn't give us the attrition edge we need to hang in the fight.
• Fury is usually not needed to kill Cryx ARM. POW 13 charges are enough to handle even Mortenebra ARM lists - only Deathjack and Krakens might prove to be an issue (and not a crippling one).
• Inhospitable Ground is not as ballbusting against the pathfinder/ghostly stuff you see in Cryx lists as it is against a lot of other hard-hitting melee units.
• Shooting upkeeps off your own stuff is kinda cool though.

Why Calaban looks good, but is bad

Calaban is practically a Cryx caster, except way shittier.

• He can potentially shred infantry with his feat BUT that relies on him using Bone Shakers on Cryx models. As you may know, Cryx models generally have crappy stats and aren't so sweet at killing each other without any of their mental buffs. You would probably get more out of the feat putting Spiny Growths on everything.
• His spells don't really do anything. Carnivore works only against living so does blah (and living DEF in Cryx is not really high enough to worry about for a Gatorman). Parasite does blah since ARM is not a problem. Occultation does blah since they don't have guns, although it could theoretically protect you from an offensive debuff (if only Cryx didn't have cheap SPD 7 arc nodes). The meat node ability on his gun is not only crap, it doesn't even trigger on Undead stuff (thus is very blah).
• His attrition potential is possibly even worse than Rask's, outside his ability to put Spiny Growth on all the things as a result of his feat.
• Generally sucks horse dick.

Why Barnabas is decent

Barnabas is a respectable Cryx matchup. He can attrition reasonably well with Iron Flesh and his feat, Warpath allows you to get beasts into good positions, and he himself is a tough croc able to put some work in. Swamp Pits can also make ye olde Deathjack crap itself.

• His feat helps in slowing down infantry as well as knocking down those Satyxis and DEF 13 warjacks. It's also nice to make all Gator melee attacks pretty much auto-kill since you can't reroll to hit vs Undead and 5s are not as certain as they appear.
• Iron Flesh Posse can be problematic for many Cryx lists to deal with, at 16/18. Just pray the Withershadow and their lol-tastic dispel bot isn't around.
• Swamp Pits as noted helps take care of Deathjacks, and sometimes block up a certain part of the board to force Cryx players to spend the Skarlock's activation casting Ghost Walk (woe unto the Cryx player).
• However, he lacks the recursion powers or the ability to gain the upper hand in the melee staggering piece-trade game that Maelok does (unless you take a lots of Spitters and Croak Hunters, which is not advisable for almost any other matchup for Barnabas since it lacks any kind of punch).

Why Maelok is best

Maelok is a mighty warlock made of rotting flesh and other evil things. He is so evil, he kills baby crocodiles just because some dude said he couldn't do it. Sure showed him. Maelok is the best matchup we have against Cryx and is as close to a fair one as we get if one builds the list correctly.

• His list usually comprises of almost all Undead models, thanks to Death Pact and Witch Doctors (which you take for the strong synergy with his feat and his grindy playstyle). This shuts down a lot of Cryx's abilities and makes Cryx players bitch about Undead being OP.
• He has great recursion potential with Revive. Each Revive is an almost guaranteed 2 dead Cryx models, and an ARM 18 reach model in their face. Bringing 1-2 back a turn adds up FAST as the model count on the table gets lower and lower.
• He has 3 magical melee attacks! That's kinda cool. I guess. And a spray... at Focus 6. It's not that sweet but it can be cute for taking out incorporeal things that hide behind walls and contest zones.
• His feat allows you to cheat the staggering stage hard. So hard that it makes Cryx players jealous. It means that for 1 turn, all the Gatormans get all their attacks and you get in their backfield and cause problems. Not only that, but all Undead models get +2 ARM for that round, making them even harder to dislodge. Throw in a few Spiny Growths and Death Pact, and you've got one of the few lists in the game that can absorb a Cryx feat turn without falling on its knees and cursing the gods and heavens for forsaking it.

Bow before his rotting majesty!

Other cool stuff

• Thrullgs are reasonably sweet because without guns on the other side, they have a good chance of living long enough to do something cool. They have 3xMAT 7 magical melee attacks (only one with Reach despite having 2 long ass arms), cannot be targeted by spells and cause damage to spell casters in their CMD (sweeter vs Circle Druids or Hex Hunters than against Cryx usually, but you never know). He can also hit upkeeps off your dudes, in the rare event that your Gator unit with Curse of Shadows or Crippling Grasp lives longer than a turn. As such, he is best kept back and protected and used as required rather than charging wherever he can.
  Most importantly, he is your ace in the hole vs Terminus because he can strip off Terminus' focus and make him mortal. Well, killable. Again. A smart Terminus player will know this and may be willing to overextend a bit in order to kill the Thrullg, giving you a bit more table positioning. A foolish Terminus player will run in front of him camping focus, proclaim his status as an immortal god and then probably die.
• Croak Hunters are one of the few ranged attacks you have available. They are great for sniping out lone models blocking charge lanes or contesting zones and such. Remember they also have gang fighter, so even without poison can do good damage on the charge.
• Ironback Spitters tend to do pretty well vs Cryx in my opinion. Having a good, reliable boostable gun with auto-Corrosion can do some sweet stuff. They suck in melee and will get shredded by charging infantry but that gun will allow it to make its point back in opening doors for the rest of your list.
• I also quite like the Totem Hunter vs Cryx. He can get hosed by tough, but his very high mobility makes him like a quasi-ranged attack and he can scare a lot of Cryx casters in the mid to late game. He also makes a pretty good trade for Tartarus, or at least force the Cryx player to keep him back.
• Witch Doctors - they make your stuff Undead. Undead is sweet against Gators, but super sweet against Cryx. They also give you the opportunity to fail tough rolls, which you should absolutely not rely on. Tough on a 5man unit is nowhere near as nutstomping as it is on 3x10man units. They also have Dominate Undead which in a blue moon can do cool stuff like turn models around or have Banes kill Tartarus or whatever, but it is generally not as good as making things Undead since it requires a succession of dice rolls to do anything cool. Sacrificial Strike, on the other hand, can do some serious work late game when you want to put the last few points on an enemy caster, clear a charge lane, or snipe out that annoying Machine Wraith that's been contesting a zone all game.

In conclusion:   Maelok > Barnabas > Rask  > Calaban @ 50pts and above. I think at 35pts Barnabas is probably just as good as Maelok since he doesn't need quite the same 'critical mass' to do his thing well.

Other stuff to watch out for

• Bane Knights have Vengeance AND ignore rough terrain and free strikes. Vengeance weapon masters will do some serious, serious damage to Posse units. This means that you must absolutely kill as many as possible in one turn as you can. Try to line this slaughter up with your feat turn.
• Bane Thralls hit ridiculously hard, and pretty accurately when you factor in Tartarus and all that other Cryx stuff. They don't ignore free strikes, nor do they have reach however. You can kind of tie them up with buffed Gators, and often you will have no choice in doing so because they will roll tough 6 times in a row. Try to avoid getting charged as much as you can - knowing your fundamental movement rules and melee ranges pays off here. They are also prone to just running into melee with your Gators, reducing their ARM by 2 so they can die to whatever else Cryx has on the board.
  They also will totally bend you over the table with Goreshade2 if you didn't stock up on Witch Doctors.
• Tartarus must die. So must Gorman. If you can trade pretty much any single non-warlock model for these (including a Wrastler), it is probably a good trade. This makes me very sad but it is the reality of things.
• Satyxis are living. YAY. This means you can hit them pretty reliably. Raiders will usually get the charge on you though, so focus on positioning for an effective countercharge AND avoid getting jammed up by them. Cryx can be pretty good at scenario play, I hear.
• Blood Witches aren't usually something to worry about too much (besides the UA), though they DO have magic weapons... P+S 12 free strikes will probably kill ghost Gatormans.
• Cryx has some of the best upkeep removal in the Blood Hag and the Withershadow Combine. This can suck for Iron Flesh and Death Pact. It is very satisfying to revive a Gatorman and then charge them with Maelok's feat though (if you hit those straight 7s... 14/16 with Stealth and Undead is totally fair game for support models with long-range nukes).
• Mechanithralls hit at P+S 15 and each cost 25% of a Gatorman. They are "only" MAT 5 though, so without a buff/debuff they might miss you. But if they hit, you're probably dead. They also have Necrosurgeons. These are a high priority target who just happened to have Sac Pawn so are hard to shoot (you guessed it, Maelok's feat + needing straight 7s to hit support models).
• Blackbane's Ghost Raiders are pretty terrifying due to our lack of magical weapons. Their DEF of 13 is just high enough to be annoying to FURY/MAT 6 warlocks. Essentially, these more or less go whereever they want and will always get their attacks before you can deal with them. Sucks to be a Minion.
• Deathjack - Swamp Pits / ignore him / throw him around / cup your nuts and charge him with everything you have left. Or if you're playing Rask, a Posse with Fury should do it.

Basically, heaps of infantry that doesn't have too hard a time at killing your infantry/casters/anything at lower cost.

Terminus

Terminus is stupid to the point where I feel I should make a special section for him. He is basically the epitome of rock/paper/scissors in Warmahordes. Do you have enough damage to kill my DEF 14/ARM 24+ caster? If not, you are not going to have a fun time. There are basically three aspects to him that make him suck for Gators:

1) Gigantic "FU" Tough aura

We have nothing to deal with Tough outside Crit Consume on Barnabas. So if the Cryx player keeps rolling 5s, you're not killing anything no matter what you do or how many lambs you sacrifice. Much fun. Such games design. Wow.

2) ARM camp + Sac Pawn

As you may know, Gators of the past had problems with ARM greater than 19. This is because the highest P+S in the faction is 17 on the Wrastler. As a result, Gators would have almost insta-lost any 1 zone scenario against lists with Gargossals.

In response to this, Gators got Rask. Rask has Fury and the ability to remove upkeeps and camped focus at ranged. Rask is pretty amazing. But even Rask cannot shoot Terminus' focus off because he has a neat ability called Sac Pawn [pretty much anything in my list, bitches!]. This ability more or less means Terminus can camp at ARM 22+ or so and tell your Posse and heavies to suck his dust pipe, even if you play Rask (which you probably shouldn't, for reasons described below).

Thankfully we have Croctors who make things Undead and more or less deny him a feat. This is sweet because it makes Cryx players complain about Undead.

I assure you that the limp-wrist is just for show. This dude
will bitchslap the scales right off your back. Source.

3) Flight + hits like a truck

Not only does he camp ARM like a boss, but he will bitchslap you to death from a long ways away since he is effectively MAT 9, POW 18/16 with Malediction up. Oh, he also a POW14 SP10. You know, for lolz.


I don't have any tips other than "take Thrullgs, keep scenarios in mind and play much better than your opponent".

5 systemic changes I'd like to see

MkIII has been a recurring topic of discussion amongst the community for a good half year now. Like many people, I don't think a brand new edition is really required as the core rules of the game are still in a relatively good state, unlike the late- MKI rule which were bloated with errata, clunky in wording and kinda ridiculous in interpretation at times. However, like many, I also believe the meta has become a bit stale and the top pieces are staying where they are and the bottom pieces are too. A few careful nerfs are in order if we are to keep things vibrant, along many buffs/redesigns to highly maligned models.

Being a game that is best played from a competitive mindset, I can understand why people take the best stuff they can, but at the same time a stagnating meta leads to stagnating challenge. On the other hand, I think the number of OP models and the number of total garbage models is really small. There is a lot of stuff around the "pretty damn crap" bracket which could use a little sheen though.

I've made posts about things I would change in Gators (very little, without an edition change), and also a post about how I would approach changing warjacks within factions. All theoretical, naturally.

Here are 5 things, outside individual model power balance changes, I feel should be addressed going forward.

1.Tough spam

So anyone who has read any other article on this blog knows I think tough spam is a major issue in the game. In fact they are probably tired of me whining about it (1).I think it's one of the few things in this game that I dislike more than Gargossals, but where I feel Gargossals simply reduce the potential for excellent playing experiences, tough spam can and usually does create negative play experiences for both the spammer and the guy on the bottom.

The main culprits here are the Piper and the Witch Doctor. These can grant tough to ANY UNIT IN THE LIST. If that doesn't cockblock design space, I don't know what does. I think neither of them should grant tough at all. The Witch Doctor can just make something Undead (which is a REALLY good buff in itself) and the Piper can just make something fearless (being able to give Dirge and Pathfinder is already quite legit). Straight "nerfs" to both, still good models.

Secondary culprits are Terminus and Irusk2 with their giant FU auras of tough. These types of auras should be removed because they are just stupid. They're on all the time and you don't have to sacrifice anything to get them. If they were tied into a feat or similar it wouldn't be so bad, but they aren't. Remove those entirely, still good models.

Tertiary culprits are 4+ tough things like Irusk1's feat, Doc Killingsworth, Boomhowlers and so on. These aren't so bad because they exist in a vacuum - you know from now until the next edition what exactly can be affected by these things and when. Irusk1's feat lasts for one turn, Doc can only be taken in a specific list and can be sniped out with a little luck (and isn't 4+ tough himself). Boomhowlers are a bit OP but it's not just because of the 4+ tough (which, again, is a competing alternative with 2 other really good effects after initial engagement). These don't bother me as much as the primary and secondary culprits which are the equivalent to rolling your face on a keyboard in terms of game skill and strategic brilliance.

I don't mind tough granting models in the style of Kovnik Joe because he only does it for a specific unit and it is at the sacrifice of making that specific unit have "normal" damage output that turn rather than calling down half-naked, steel-clad valkyries to skewer your opponent on spikes (metaphorically speaking).
I don't mind Trolls either. They are still a bit frustrating but usually more frustrating to the Troll player than not, and their limitations as a faction (bricky and not too sneaky) don't allow them to take advantage of tough spam like other factions can. It almost feels... you know, balanced.

The Skorne Minion Task Master "UA" on the other hand is kinda dumb in that it will apply to ANY MINION UNIT EVER MADE, which is just another thing new Minion units will have to be balanced around. Unless the unit doesn't work for Skorne, but the fluffers on the PP staff will probably never let that happen. At present it's not a big deal because there are only 4 combat minion units - Gators, Slaughterhousers, Brigands and Bog Trogs. These all have low DEF stats so no drama with No Sleeping on the Job. Slaughterhousers are already tough, Brigands are overcosted, Bog Trogs should be ambushing so will be too far out and Tough on Gators isn't a big deal because they are only a 5man unit (at 2pts each). Whether Shamblers + Task Master becomes annoying/OP or not remains to be seen. In the end, the Task Master probably means Minions will never get a high DEF unit.


Basically, any ability than can grant tough without restriction and on a large scale is stupid and should be eradicated from the face of the earth.

 2. Efficiency of focus when spent on warjacks relative to when spent or camped by caster

Basically, the problem with warjacks is that each point of focus is usually spent more effectively on either camping or casting spells, and therefore warjacks are less resource efficient than a competing choice after warjack points have been spent. There are two exceptions to this: CoC and PoM.
CoC gets around this problem via the focus induction mechanic. Basically, this means that the first focus spent on each warjack each turn is worth TWICE as much as a focus point spent elsewhere, because that focus point will replicate itself on another warjack. This allows you to do amazing things like running your entire battlegroup for one focus on turn 1, and is 100% based on your ability to plan ahead and activate things in the right order. This rule makes me want to high-five DC and buy him a beer or eight.
PoM gets around this problem by making warjacks mostly independent from the warcaster's focus pool. They do this by having a large range of support models that buff warjacks offensively and defensively such as Choir, Vassal and Reclaimers, as well as warjacks that pretty much run themselves like Sanctifiers and the Avatar. If a warcaster chooses to give a warjack a focus, they are getting a really high quality, high polish attack out of it. Ultimately, PoM uses Army Points as a warjack resource.

Khador, Cryx, Cygnar, Ret and Mercs don't have anything like that.
Each has a few casters with amazing battlegroup buffs , but still have a limited focus pool which is more efficiently spent camping for ARM or buffing infantry units. There are of course exceptions to this observation, like Mortenebra's all-in Rube Goldberg assassination machine or eVyros Synergy griffon spam. Or Stormwall being a god amongst titans.

Even PoM or CoC do not run all warjack lists. The lists are pretty balanced on average looking at every caster. These two factions usually run lists a bit more like Hordes lists. There is still only so many resources to go out, even in PoM and CoC, just like there are only so many beasts you can run before they all go crazy.  For the most part, you're looking at 0 - 20% of non-WJ points spent on jacks in competitive lists. I would say Hordes is closer to 50% on average, with a much larger deviation depending on faction and warlock. Someone like Madrak might just take a single Dire Troll Mauler, whereas someone like Vayl puts up to 80% of her army points into beasts (the other 20% being beast support pieces).

Quick suggestions to get an idea of what I am suggesting, paraphrasing what I wrote previously:

• Khador: All jacks have innate Powerful Attack (boost attack and damage rolls for 1 focus per attack) and Mechanics grant free Pathfinder charges or free power attacks to warjacks as a special action (thus Mechanics become like a Khador Choir).
• Cryx: Warcasters can "heal" helljacks (not bonejacks, because healing arc nodes is stupid) during their activations like warlocks heal warbeasts, and all helljacks/bonejacks have Cull Souls which counts towards their focus allocation.
• Cygnar: All warjacks have a Grenadier/Stormclad-like ability that grants them a buff if they positioned a certain way from a unit type, ie. Cyclone gets boosted attack rolls when shooting at model/unit previously hit by Long Gunner models that turn.
• Retribution: Something to do with power fields, like every focus spent by the jack heals d6 from the field irrelevant of the generator system. Unspent focus on jacks could also add to ARM while the generator is online. This gives them something tanky they otherwise don't have to tarpit and hold zones.
• Mercs: Maybe just way better jack marshall options, or the equivalent of Minion Lesser Warlocks (where you get a lesser warcaster/super jack marshall and character jack combo).

In order for warjacks to become a more competitive choice in list building, each focus point spent on warjacks has to be at least as efficient as a focus point spent elsewhere, all things considered. The release of the new journeyman warcasters will probably lead to slightly more warjacks being put on the table by increasing the supply of focus on the table. That's nice I guess, but it doesn't really solve the core problem.

3. Exaggerated Khador arcnode / Morvahnna douchisms / rubberbanding

Everyone knows it's stupid but hey, it's completely legal. Why not do it? I would if I played an asshat faction with asshat models.

The main problem with this is primarily with full unit recursion, because any mechanic this powerful that is uncounterable is not really interesting games design. You reduce Morvahna's feat and Regrowth by fully wiping out a unit, the same way you deal with Maelok's Revive, or the Revenant Crew of the Atramentous (who are vastly underrated). But that is almost impossible when one model from that unit is sitting 5" behind the enemy caster, feigning distress. So I suggest this asshattery be dealt with by adding the following rules to Units:

1) Models out of formation when the current unit leader model is destroyed cannot be field promoted.
2) If no model can be field promoted while no Officer models are part of the unit, the unit is removed from play. If an Officer model leaves play and the unit does not have a Leader model, remove the unit from play.

Something like that anyway. This can represent the unit collapsing from lack of leadership and scattering to the winds or whatever, makes it that if you kill an entire unit and one guy is rubberbanding, then the unit goes pop.

The second issue is the exagerated Khador arc node. The Khador arc node is basically leaving a single model in the unit as far away from the leader model as possible while maintaining formation, so that he can be within range of those RNG 6 buff spells. This is perfectly fine in my opinion.
The exaggerated version of this is to leave a model from the unit standing next to your warcaster, way out of formation and running 0" toward its leader every turn. Any unit buff spells targetting him will affect the whole unit. This is stupid, and Privateer Press also seems to think it is stupid since they errata-ed the Bane Thrall standard bearer to not grant his buff while not in formation. Which brings up the question of why it hasn't been errata-ed yet. One would think it's not as simple as these 3 rules I made up in 10 seconds seem to indicate. Or that they in fact are totally cool with Pendrake/Bloodtracker/Croctor parties in the backfield so they can sell all the Morvahnas. Then again, it did take them a long ass time to errata the Shield Guard/Cover/LoS thing.

3) Any spells targeting friendly models not currently in formation automatically miss / Friendly models cannot be targeted by friendly spells while outside formation / something to that effect.

And now people can have a chance at killing your entire unit of Bloodtrackers before you feat them back. It's not easy, but not easy is better than impossible.

4. Spells are spells, animi are animi.

The 'spell vs animi' thing can be annoying to keep track of. It means for example that I always have to cast Spiny Growth on my warlock with my Snapper if I want MHSF to not ignore it. Is that really a decision I have to make (ie. skill), or just something annoying? At least in my lists, it is the latter.

Have animi be animi, and spells be spells plox. If a warlock casts an animi, it can be cast just like a spell as it currently is, but is still an animi in effect.

There are probably some unintended consequences here that will break open the game, like Wrongeye's dual faction allegiance having some supposedly unintended consequences with Galleon.

5. Water re-examined as a terrain piece

I play Blindwater so one would think I shouldn't care, but shallow water is very negative towards warjacks to the point where I never see it on the table except for Swamp Pits and the almost entirely inconsequential Blindwater Pact templates. Therefore it is not only bad for terrain diversity, it is bad for me.

Shallow water could be considered rough terrain (as present) and non-amphibious models who are knocked down or made stationary in shallow water cannot shake. That basically makes throwing beasts, warcasters and warjacks into water reasonably sweet while not completely hosing warjacks (the few that I see these days, anyway). It smooths out the effects across the board, makes water not the worst thing of all time for Warmachine, and makes amphibious more than just shitty pathfinder.

Deep water can remain as is and will continue to never see table time as it completely screws anyone and anything that is not amphibious.

-----------------------------------------

Aside from individual models and the above rules, the only thing I really dislike about the game at present are Gargossals and the way they flatten the tactical depth of the game. I don't think there is really a way around it. The main issue I have with them is their general invulnerability to the majority of game effects, with a handful of exceptions like attack damage, Black Oil and a small handful of special rules and effects (ie. Backlash, Voltaic Snare, etc.) But they are pretty balanced for what they are, just not really tactically interesting in the greater scheme of the game.


I have a 35 pt event coming up in about 2 weeks, but SR 35pts is kinda stupid after you've played a lot of 50pts so I'll probably just bring stupid lists and hope to outstupid my opponent's list. Using skill, of course. Look for the write-up of me losing my first round then.


(1) This is the best reason for it to be #1 on the list.

The Mk2.5 Balancing drama

There have been a lot of threads recently (last couple of months) about the desire for Mk 3 or Mk 2.5 or some kind of balancing errata so that the meta game can get shaken up a bit and we can maybe play without the absolute certainty that your Cryx opponent will be packing a list with Tartarus and a shitload of Banes, and your Cygnar opponent won't have a Haley list with Stormwall or whatever for a couple of months before the new superpowers settle on their thrones high above and the cycle beings anew. All we know is that Minions will remain the worst faction in the game.

So I decided to think out loud (in written form) and put together a little article about what changes I would put forward for Blindwater under such an update patch. Hopefully this at worst will give people a perspective of how I play Gators and what the meta around here is like. Here are the fruits of my mental labour.

A little theory to kick things off....

There are a few ways to balance things in games.

• Numbers change - you can make something relatively better or worse in some specific regard by increasing or decreasing a particular stat.

This is the most common type of change in a game 'patch'. Numbers (or stats) represent relative things in an absolute way so that we can compare to other similar things in the system. The more stats you have, the more there is to tweak (and also more complicated and detailed gameplay).
For example, there is a sizable degree of difference between MAT 5 (Titan Sentry), MAT 6 (Assault Kommando), MAT 7 (Doom Reaver) and MAT 9 (Vilmon). In relative/descriptive terms, we can say the Sentry is 'competent' in melee combat, the AK is 'trained', the Doom Reaver is 'highly skilled' and Vilmon is 'one of the best in the entire world'. We can encapsulate these differences by assigning those numbers to their MAT, and this will play out in the game via the exciting realm of dice and probability. Thus changing a number makes something better or worse in that regard.

Points Cost is probably the single most important stat because it determines the relative total value of any given model to another potential option. Points are one of the most important resources in Warmachine, and changing the PC of a model (especially in the lower 1-5pt bracket) can make a huge difference to the power of a model.

• Mechanics change - changing one mechanic on a model can change its effectiveness.

Take for example the change to Side Step so that the 2" move no longer triggered upon hitting a friendly model. This reduced the effectiveness of the eMakeda Molik Karn Bullet list slightly so that it became easier for the opponent to not get killed bottom of two.
Another example of this would be the multiple changes to Lich2's feat, from changing the returned models from 'Incorporeal' to 'Ghostly', or changing valid feat targets from 'warrior models' to 'grunts'. The feat does essentially the same thing as it did before - bringing back a bunch of ethereal banes to kill half your army - but certain mechanics of the ability were changed to reduce its power.

• Redesign - some models do not work on the table as intended, or have a role or purpose already fulfilled by a competitive option.

For example, nobody plays Drudges in a competitive setting because Mechanithralls do a very similar thing (potentially hard hitting tarpit) at a much lower cost, greater efficiency and without the weakness of being tied to its Officer to function. Therefore Drudges would need more than just a mechanics change (they don't have many to begin with) or a simple stats change (McThralls are still better at 3/5 PC) but something a bit more involved.
I'd also put Calaban as a candidate for redesign, as anyone who has read pretty much any article on here knows how I feel about playing him, as well as his validity in a competitive setting post-Rask.


Finally, a disclaimer - balance is in the eye of the beholder, much like power. Everything takes place within a complicated interconnected system where changing one small thing can have trigger a chain of events further down the line. Some people have a good sense for this type of thing, while the average player in a game does not. This is why balance decisions are best when they occur as the result of careful statistical analysis and systemic thinking combined with consensus-based discussions of subjective perspectives and values.

In my opinion, Privateer Press has a mixed record on game balancing in Mk2. I like how they have approached Lich2 nerfs with gradual tweaking rather than huge sweeping nerfs (as game companies like Blizzard are wont to do) and have done a pretty good job of quickly fixing core mechanic issues that have popped up like the Shield Guard, headlocks from behind, Cover LoS, Sloan's feat, Backswing, etc. but have been almost entirely non-committal on rebalancing the game in terms of power levels or fixing units that are just plain unattractive (with occasional exceptions like Asphyxious, the Blood Hag or more recently Taryn).

I think there is a lot to gain if a large balance errata were released. It would stimulate the metagame for the better part of 6 months to a year (far more than a handful of new releases), thus getting current players more excited about the game and buying new stuff. There is always the issue that your netdecked list won't be playable anymore exactly as is, or that your beloved OP models won't be as broken anymore, but as long as they don't nerf anything into the ground or make really dramatic changes to models that people currently use regularly, then everyone wins.


On the Gatormans!

---------------------------------------------

Warlocks

Our warlocks are pretty strong on the whole. Rask is probably a little on the powerful side, and Calaban is a little on the never-gets-played-because-he-is-annoying-to-use-and-pretty-much-inferior-to-Rask-in-every-way side.

Bloody Barnabas

+ 1 POW on Bone Cleaver
This just adds a little more warjack/warbeast killing power to Barnabas himself. Too often I charge an average heavy like an Ironclad, Harrower, Banshee, Scythean etc. and fall short of killing it by a few boxes despite charging and spending all my fury. It's a bit of a downer for a Gatorman tank, and I think this change will make a noticeable difference in smoothing out his crippling difficulty with ARM 20+.
I think Blood-Quenched would be an amazing rule on eBarnabas :)
 

Maelok, the Dreadbound

No change. 
I would perhaps make Malediction 'target model in this model's battlegroup' rather than 'RNG: Self', but that would probably make him a bit too strong since it's like giving Gators +2 MAT and POW vs any given large target, thereby almost removing the need to take heavy warbeasts and giving a lot more power to the Maelok + 3 Snappers list (it'd be like Dark Shroud on crack).

I love this artwork.

Rask

-1 WB point.  
He is obviously better than the other Gator warlocks. 1 less WB points usually means you don't get those Swamp Gobbers to give him concealment or a Feralgeist to annoyingly contest zones. I considered also removing his Energy Siphon attack since it's just icing on the cake that can potentially win games for no real reason, but it's not really a huge deal. As long as Gators remain super weak in ranged combat, Rask will refrain from being broken as balls and just remain really strong.
 

Calaban, the Grave Walker

Heavy redesign. 
Rask has taken this guy's previous niche of ARM cracking and just does it way more efficiently and safely. I would like a redesign to emphasize his manipulative voodoo asshole persona, focusing on denial, spell assassination and debuffs. Think of spells like Bad Blood, Breath Stealer and Shadowmancer, or douchy abilities like Harrow (pMorv) and Talion (pVayl). I like the idea of Shadowmancer a lot more than Parasite + Occultation since it gives you an incentive to NOT take 3 full Posse at 50pts, as they will get shot up. Gameplay wise, he could also be designed to do well vs hard-hitting infantry swarms so that Gators can have a 50/50 against it.

Either way he goes, his arc node mechanic (if kept) needs to be less clunky, like straight-up making Spell Martyr equivalent models that can activate that turn (which will only be really strong on his feat turn), or anything I've written on at length previously.

Warbeasts

Blindwater warbeasts are very average. They don't have great stats, are a little pricey, but do come with some neato abilities make all the difference in using them.

Blackhide Wrastler

Change Snacking so that the RFP effect is not conditional upon the heal effect.
I just think it's really annoying and janky to try and get a point of damage on your beast so that you can RFP if you want to. Just have it RFP all the time as the thing gets eaten or ripped up good. This would be a 'buff' to Dire Trolls too... and Shredders (although Shredders should probably lose Snacking altogether).
+1 POW on the claws would be nice but not necessary. The Wrastler isn't great in the scheme of things but does his job well enough if you know how to use him.

Ironback Spitter

New animus.
The Spitter sucks pretty bad in melee, is slow and not particularly hard to kill for something covered almost entirely in a hard shell. Fine, because it has a sweet AoE gun and RAT 5 with 4 fury. That alone is almost worth the admission. However, in well over 100 games with Blindwater, I have never cast the Ornery animus. It is, for all intents and purposes, a total waste of card space for the Spitter.
I assume Ornery is supposed to symbolize the tendency of snapper turtles to ferociously bite down on things in self-defense (since they are too big to fully retreat into their shell), but in gameplay it fails.

I think Locker (from the Titan Sentry) would be an adequate replacement.  Counterblast is the next most logical option since it is Ornery but better, however that animus is also pretty crap.
Or allow it to Stoneform as an animus. That would be sweet and probably not too strong on any caster all things considered (since it doesn't stack with Spiny Growth). Maelok could be ARM 23 for a turn at worse.

Swamp Horror

No change.
They are neat because they have lots of attack and don't die to shooting (but die to everything else). I wish this had been the Gargantuan though, basically the same thing with bigger numbers and an automatic crit.

Bull Snapper

No change. 
They are squishy support beasts that can missile out and kill a thing sometimes. Basically the same deal as a Shredder or Gorax, just more Gatory.

Boneswarm

Redesign.
This thing sucks. I have seen it be decent in Midas' tier list when it starts with 3 bone tokens because it is then quite tanky at DEF 13 ARM 18 (just like a dirged Gator! For twice the cost!), so you park it on a flag somewhere and it kills 1-2 models a turn, healing itself and such. Or it does some decent damage to an enemy heavy at POW 15 and then lives long enough to be annoying. Decent - not great. Basically it needs a sense of purpose which it does not currently have.

Units

We have three units, one of which won't be released until 2017. Gatormans are one of the best units in the Hordes (almost said 'the game'... then remembered Warmachine units) and are the backbone of Blindwater and will probably remain so for as long as the Pact exists.

Gatorman Posse

No change.
Prior to the release of the Warspear and Skinwalker UAs, I'd have said that they needed something to make them less attractive to other factions, but now I don't see Legion or Circle players use Gatormans all that much... or at all. They are still super good but still die rather handily if you know how to do it and have the tools (weapon masters, smart use of heavies, control, etc.).

Bog Trog Ambushers

No change. 
They are kind of costly for their poor base stats really but are a finesse unit with quite a few special rules.

Gatorman Bokor and Swamp Shamblers

Change their status to 'released'. 
Amazing game-changing buff. I still think they will relatively be much better outside Blindwater than within it, unlike the two above units.

Swamp Gobbers

No change. 
1pt for a cloud seems ok, especially considering they do nothing else and die to incidental blast damage.

Solos

We have two distinct Gatorman solos, the Croaks and Croctor, and then have a couple of more general Minion solos to go with the legendary Wrong Eye.

Gatorman Witch Doctor

No change.
I am a little bummed that these guys cost 3pts in general but only 2pts in Maelok's tier list, where they are precisely at their most powerful for Gators, which signifies a Minion tax. However I can suck it up since they are pretty good anyways.

Totem Hunter

No change. 
No surprise.

Croak Hunter

Gain + 1 DEF, lose Vitriol
Ah Croaks.... I have never even seen them played outside Blindwater since they are so mediocre. I have barely seen them played within Blindwater since they are so mediocre. They have done ok for me purely because they allow me to clear single-models here and there without activating a whole unit of Gators or a beast.
My first thought was that Jump will allow them to do this even better. Plus it is incredily froggy. The only issue is that they basically become crappy Totem Hunters for 1pt less, and we don't really want that... or do we.....?
Secondary thought was to make them blow up when they die like Bloat Thralls, because that'd be hilarious. But then they would just run/jam and kill heaps of infantry for nothing and then I realized this would be way too faceroll / Cryxian.
Tertiary thought was to just buff their DEF by 1 so they are less prone to death after they fail to hit something with their spears, and just went with that.
I just took Vitriol off the card because it does nothing and it's just some fluffy ability for fluffers.

Viktor Pendrake

Bow becomes Magical.
This is the most minor change ever and is only a real deal for Blindwater since we are starved for magic attacks. Makes sense though, no? That bow has to be lucky for a reason (and that reason is MAGIC).

Wrong Eye + Snapjaw

No change. 
These guys are great and don't really bust anything in the game outside putting Spiny Growth on Galleon. You could make them 2-3pts more and that wouldn't change though - a hard skew is a hard skew and I am 99% sure this is just something that wasn't picked up in playtesting. Would need a subtype change perhaps, or a change with how lesser warlocks work.

Total changes:

• Barnabas - Increase POW of melee weapon 'Bone Cleaver' from '5' to '6'. (or just give him Dark Shroud, that's probably better :P )
• Rask - Reduce WB points from '+6' to '+5'.
• Calaban - redesign.
• Wrastler - replace the text of Snacking with: 'When this model boxes a living model with a melee attack, the boxed model is removed from play and this model can heal d3 damage points'.
• Spitter - replace 'Ornery' animus with something I will cast at least once in 100 games. Or not.
• Boneswarm - redesign.
• Pendrake - add weapon quality: 'magical weapon' to ranged weapon 'Lucky Bow'.
• Croak Hunter - Increase DEF stat from '13' to '14'. Remove rule 'Vitriol'.

All in all, very small balance changes since I feel Blindwater is in a good place other than the lack of options leading to really bad matchups vs things like weapon master swarms (need some guns/scathers/A2A-type infantry clear) and incorporeal spam (magical weapons).
I would have like to have more nerfs to give the impression that I can have a balanced mindset about things, but to be honest I only view Rask and Gatormans on the really high part of the curve.... this is still Minions we're talking about!

The redesign are for two models I never use because other models within the same faction do similar things in much more effective and well-designed ways. For a thought exercise, Boneswarms at 3pts are still much less appealing than Snappers, and Calaban at +7WB points is still as irritating as groin chaffing and worse than Rask at everything except throwing out POW 12 nukes (mostly because Rask has no offensive spells). This indicates to me that the models just don't really work so need some deeper changes. Some may disagree of course.


In the greater scheme of the game, I think that several models could use small-tweaks in cost or ability use in order to level out power inequalities or obstacles to player engagement. Little changes like:

• Making eMorvahna's rerolls in her CMD rather than CTRL to force her to play a bit more forward, or at least consider order of activations a bit more.
• Smoothing out uber-crippling feats that literally stop you playing the game, like pDenny (ie. remove the -2 FOC and 'no running') or eHaley's.
• Making Assault Kommandos cheaper so they might have a place as meat shields with Strakhov and Vlads.
• Reducing the amount of tough rolls in an average game, or changing the mechanic if they want to keep it at that scale so it doesn't feel like I'm playing 40k.
• Changing Excarnate to basically be Revive attached to a POW 13 nuke - place the model within 3" of its unit rather than the caster and in this model's CTRL (nerf Lich, buff Scaverous = everyone wins).

Others, like Drudges, need some serious redesign. I think they have the data and expertise to do such a 'patch' justice (much more than I ever could anyway), and besides it'd probably only impact 5-10% of the models currently out.

Alas, we will wait and see what happens. I know it's way cheaper for me to play Minions when I know Pigs are really bad and don't bring anything better to the table so there's no reason to buy a Pig list other than lolz :) I will keep playing the same lists for another year or three if need be.