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)!!

Battlecry 2014 - 35 pts + Moar Cryx hate

aka. How to Write Stupid Lists at 35pts

Step 1 - Choose casters

I went with Rask and Maelok. Calaban can only "really" be played with his tier (note that unlike Runes of War, this does not make him really baller, just makes him less bad) and the tier is not great at 35pts. He himself is not really that sweet at 35pts, or ever.

Rask is good because he does Rask things. Combine this with 35pt foolishness and you have a pretty strong skew. I usually play Barnabas as my second list and wanted a change, therefore going for Maelok (the only other alternative).

Step 2 - Choose to skew or not skew.

I decided to skew one, and then skew both:

Rask
Snapper
Snapper
3x Gatorman Posse
Min Troggs

Feralgeist
Croak

This list is pretty stupid. I called it "GOING FULL RETARD", which it was. 3 Posse at 35pts is the kind of skew that makes games uninteresting, but hey, why not do it if they're not going to fix it. 
If you ask me, I think we should move to 60 or 65 pts as the new tournament standard as it'd make factions like Cryx, Circle and Legion a little weaker, Trolls a little stronger, and everyone else more or less the same. And include 15 pt Specialists on top of that. Boom.

The Maelok list was the same as the Rask one, except switching Feralgeist and Trogs for 2 Witch Doctors, and the Croak for Pendrake. Pendrake did nothing good in any game - he is the king of the sideboard.

 

Behold, this zoological majesty!

A very short summary of my games

1- Luke H w/ eDoomshaper, Mountain King, Earthborn, Krielstone and Scouts. 
Incursion.

His second list was eGrim with 2 shooty heavies and the Krielstones UA. Despite this (the Incorporeal destroying Stone UA), I had a nagging feeling I should have picked Maelok, but I pushed this out of my head and picked Rask. This was a bad choice as eDoomshaper's feat is "+3 SPD, full stop, bitches!", not "+3 SPD if charging or slamming" as I had first thought, meaning his entire pathfinder list responds to my feat by jamming me with tramples and killing my stuff.
As expected, Luke's response to me popping Rask's feat was jamming me with everything in his list, including the Scouts to block charges to the MK. I wasn't able to get enough damage on the King because of some fortunate tough rolls on his part (ie. 4 in a row on the same damn Scout), so he healed to full and kept swinging.
Luckily Rask is basically immune to assassination with Trogs around, so I ran him over to the right flag over 2 turns, where the Croak Hunter had been parked since turn 2 and won on 5 CPs. A stolen game I should have lost on account of getting outplayed and outlisted, but managed to take advantage of his skew list's small footprint.


2. -  Paul H w/ Hexeris2, Bronzeback, Gladiator, Krea, Nihilators, Incindiarii, Nihilators, Paingivers. Process of Elimination

I was forced to pop my feat turn 1 as I had ambushed my Bog Trogs and only had Rask on 2 transfers - had I not used it, Hexeris would likely have spelled me to death using his feat. This was a planning mistake on my part as it otherwise only blocked 2-3 Nihilator charges from happening (which likely would have been stopped by Inhospitable Ground alone). So, I more or less played without a feat.
Otherwise it was mostly a matter of charging Furied Gatormen into things and trying to keep Rask alive with Admonition and transfers alone, which worked pretty well. I ended up assassinating Hexeris in the end after he decided to YOLO charge some Gators, then got hit by 2 Furied Gators (from different units), a charging Croak and died to a Bog Trog hook in the back.

Rask is pretty good against Skorne.

3. - Dave S w/Skarre1, 30 McThralls (that's 15 pts, btw), 10 Bloodwitches with UA, 2 Necrosurgeons, 2 Helldivers, Min Blackbanes. Destruction.

Dave said he took this list just to play against me. Thanks Dave. You are too kind. His list writing took my 35pt motto "GOING FULL RETARD" to heart, and managed to out-retard my list - proving that only Cryx is capable of giving 110% retardation by simply Cryxing harder.

Basically the game was a huge grind where I popped my feat on my second turn and killed like 22 guys but none of the Necrosurgeons, then he popped his feat and got boosted-to-hit POW 20s everything (cause Cryx). In the end I mistakenly assumed Skarre was SPD 6, when she is in fact SPD 7, so she just walked over to Maelok and easily killed him with her 11 focus (all in the name of balance). Thus began my downfall.

I think overall we both played quite well with some minor mistakes here and there to even things out. The only huge mistake in the game by far, on both our parts, was when I cast a boosted Venom at a Necrosurgeon hiding behind a wall, and Dave called Sac Pawn to a Stitch Thrall. We got into a short debate regarding Sac Pawning sprays and agreed that you could, when in fact we should have been focusing on the fact that Venom is a spell, not a ranged attack! If that Necrosurgeon had died (very good chance - need 7s on 3 dice + Corrosion), the game would have played out very differently I think, with that flank collapsing much faster and Maelok being entirely unthreatened and able to pull back and stay much safer while simultaneously pushing me forward in attrition. Basically a massive boost for me. Alas, you live, you learn, you continue to hate Cryx.

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

MINI RANT OF THE WEEK:
Skarre1 and McThralls are straight up OP, and where probably designed in the midst of a really dark LSD trip, overflowing with hatred of the world. Here is how you fix them:
Skarre - Remove Ritual Sacrifice entirely. Dark Guidance is not a choice when you have 10+ focus at next to zero cost (like losing one of your 45 small-based models matters), and non-choices are the antithesis of games design and competitive play. And who the hell thought it was a good idea to make it a d6 roll? Going from 1 more focus to 100% more focus seems legit, right?
I'd say make her focus 7 to compensate but her feat is also simply stupid (it is literally pStryker's feat + a 100% denial of eStryker's feat - all for 5 life points) so I wouldn't want more stuff affected by it, but it's probably the simplest way to do it. That or +1 ARM.
McThralls - MAT 4 -or- no combo strike. You shouldn't be able to hit an average heavy on expected dice if you cost 0.5 points and hit at P+S 15 completely independent of buffs/debuffs (of which there are PLENTY in Cryx). HALF. A. POINT.

Easy. Too bad it's not going to happen since PP are scared shitless of balancing anything post-release :) 

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

4. - Nikola w/Vayl1, Typhon, Seraph, Scythean, Raek, Shredder, Shepard, 2 Deathstalkers. Some scenario (Incoming?)

Nikola played actually really well and I played really bad. Like, really really bad. I think Rask was a way better matchup here, but I dropped Maelok again for practice since I realized that the prize pool didn't include mugs, and mugs are the only thing I care about in NZ tournaments (I have 4).
Basically I ran stuff up way too far, Typhon and Scythean one-shot like 9 Gators under Incite, then I tried to assassinate Vayl with feat + Revive BS, got cock-blocked by Dark Sentinel and forgot to move my unit leader so the Revived guys couldn't even make attacks. What a muppet. Got steamrolled and outplayed and basically put up the worst match one can imagine. Much like the last time we played. I am guessing his total nice guy approach disarms my asshole WAAC ethos, making me play like a complete ballsack.

Usually I consider myself 50/50 against Legion and it is one of my fairer matchups, but this time I really wasn't in the right mindset. I need to practice more with Maelok, as I play him far too aggressively, which gets him killed. He's tough but he's not Barnabas sitting in Swamp Pit with transfers and Spiny Growth tough.

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

Dave came 1st, Paul placed 2nd and Nikola placed 3rd, giving me officially the most ball-busting schedule in the tournament.  I'm guessing I placed something like 8th or 9th out of 17. Overall nice tournament, thanks to Darryl Painter for organizing and running it!

Some thoughts

• I don't like 35pts much as I dislike skews and list-design having that much impact on the outcome of the game, but I really like one-day events so that worked out alright in the end. Came home to a nice dinner of salad + fish. Good stuff. Cryx is OP.
• I should probably practice with Maelok more, but our local Ret player is about to get his new caster Tinkerbell in the mail, and I think she will totally steamroll Maelok. He will probably still refuse to play Rask :(
  I don't think Maelok is as good as Circle/Legion matchup as Barnabas, but he's the better Cryx matchup. It's the eternal question in a 2-list format.
• I think my all-star picks in the Rask games was the Croak Hunter. Despite their mediocrity, as I have gotten better as using them they seem like a worthwhile addition to most lists given then ability to clear jams and charge lanes, or countercharge like mad, or just go for scenario points. He pretty much single-handedly won me my first game by just being a solo with Stealth, and did a crapton of damage on Hexeris in the second game.
• Yeah, I am totally mad about Cryx. Deal with it, because I can't (at least until my Battle Engine loaded with anti-incorporeal, anti-tough and anti-undead tech is released).

Choptober 2013 - The Lists

As mentioned in my previous post, the next tournament I will be attending is a one-day event held on the first Saturday of October named 'Choptober'. The name really makes no sense, and should instead have been called something cool like 'Alpha Strike' or 'BattleLust X'. But alas. If you want to hear about it from the viewpoint of a man struggling to contain his excitement, see here.

Basically it is a 1-day, 50pt, 2 list, 4-round Steamroller event that has been split into two completely unrelated pools - the upper pool (where I have been placed) and the loser pool (where Ian Hart, arguably the best WM/H player in NZ, has been placed). The placings were determined by the NZ Rankings HQ, which are more a measure of tournament attendance than they are actual game aptitude, but it is the best data available (I think I am 30th or something, good enough for the winner's bracket).

The lists:

Having recently acquired Pendrake and a third Posse, I wanted to try these out. I also wanted to try using Croak Hunters for once, because it's not really fair to hate on them as much as I do without giving them a fair shot. So I don't feel either list is really optimal but it's a nice opportunity to try them out.

Bloody Barnabas (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
* Ironback Spitter (8pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Croak Hunter (2pts)
Croak Hunter (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Totem Hunter (3pts)

The standard Barnabas 35pt list with an extra Posse, Pendrake and two Croaks. This is almost a legit pop 'n' drop assassination against living enemy warcasters! Almost. I also think if I am matched up against Circle 3 times in a row by scheming TOs, this list will have some game against anything but eBaldur stone-spam.

I used to take a full unit of Trog Ambushers (8pts) with Barnabas, until it dawned on me that for 1 more point, I could have another unit of Gators. This is the mind of the Gator player - take all the Gators.
I think 3 Posse is the best way to run Barnabas and Maelok since they suck at cracking ARM anyway so you might as well just max out your Posse advantage. Following on that train of though, I feel I'd be better off with a Swamp Horror instead of a Spitter (so many reach initials) and a Witch Doctor + Feralgeist instead of the Croaks to give me a fighting chance against (Cryx) infantry swarm.

Maelok was a close contender for this second list, but ultimately I have given up on winning the Cryx matchup in a two-list format and feel Barnabas is a better rounded option to deal with Mercs/Legion/Circle and the like.

Rask (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
* Swamp Horror (8pts)
Bog Trog Ambushers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (3pts)

This is basically my standard Rask list except with an extra Posse replacing WE + Snapjaw. I think it is probably worse in the matchups it is intended since you lose hitting power and a really long-range POW 20 Snapjaw missile, along with some utility from Wrong Eye's spells (esp against Skorne and Trolls). We will see how it goes.
I've considered not taking Bog Trogs with Rask to free up points for another heavy but for 5 pts they basically take assassination off the table (great support) and have done really good work for me late game with fury (MAT 8 POW 14s + reach + CMA = business).


You can find out how badly I do next week! This is probably the most exciting thing to happen to Gators since January 2013, the date of Rask's release. Yep, it's been that long, and still no Shamblers (not that I would really play them any way other than a Rask meatshield).

Until then, here is a video of Croatia's greatest contemporary punk rock band doing their thing:

Pedigree Butchery - choosing the right caster for the right matchup

I have received/read a couple of queries regarding how to make lists to deal with certain factions. Given that we have a small pool of models and limited options, it seems like the choice is pretty straight forward a lot of the time, but then again I have seen people claim Barnabas is amazing against Menoth.

I usually prefer Rask with 2 Posse and the other casters with 3 Posse. I recommend bringing two to three units of Posse in every list at 50pts, and most lists at 35pts. Gatorman Posse are without a doubt the best bang for your buck in Blindwater.

Khador

Best casters - Rask (anti-ARM), Jaga-Jaga (anti-buffs)
Other picks: Wrastler, Totem Hunter

Khador has two strengths: high armor with their jacks and heavy infantry, and high defense with Iron Flesh. Therefore you're always playing a game of list-chicken if your opponent has two lists that each fit a separate box.

Rask is great against high armor because of Fury and the ability to almost always get the charge. Inhospitable Ground is also usually quite good against Khador armor since it is so slow. On the other hand, Rask has no real way to deal with Iron Flesh infantry spam. This is where Jaga-Jaga comes in, since she effectively makes such buffs null.

The Wrastler is a good beast with either caster because he brings a POW 17 and is excellent at throwing jacks into pits or out of commission. Totem Hunter is great at hunting out Khador's many crutch solos, and the stealth + high speed combo is really strong against Khador.

Cygnar

Best casters - Rask (2nd: Barnabas)
Other picks: Swamp Horror, WE + Snapjaw

Prior to the advent of the Stormwall (which you now see in 99% of Cygnar lists), Barnabas was a solid matchup against Cygnar - hard to assassinate, great situational shooting protection and Swamp Pits to throw heavies into. However, now that the Stormwall is everywhere, you need to kill it if only to win on scenario. And to do that, you need to charge it with Fury and a way to remove Arcane Shield. As well as a way to deliver your entire army to it in one piece. Rask can do all of this for you.

The Swamp Horror is a winner due to natural shooting protection and being a great multiplier for Fury. He can do a good deal of damage to that Stormwall. Same deal with Snapjaw.

Cryx

Best casters - Maelok, Jaga-Jaga
Other picks - Croctor, Thrullg, Sacral Vault

My thoughts on Cryx are well documented, and things haven't changed all that much. The one thing in the Cryx matchup that shouldn't bother you is ARM, so Fury is not a must. Shooting is also not really an issue. You will also have a lot of trouble at attritioning them in the melee game, since they hit insanely hard, often have tough, tend to recycle themselves.

Maelok with 2 Witch Doctors keeps most of your stuff undead so you can deny them Tartarus Death Knells and such. Tough can also help out a bit to get 2-3 Gators on the enemy caster under the feat, preferably while affected by Malediction (all in!). Maelok's feat also allows you to 'cheat' the melee staggering trade of Warmachine by charging their backline at the same time as their front line.

Jaga-Jaga is also really good because of her ability to deny buffs, deny incorporeal, has a lot of answers, and her feat is really strong against infantry swarms.
A Thrullg is also especially helpful in this matchup to deal with Crippling Grasp-like FU upkeeps - shame it can't be taken in tier.
Finally, the Sacral Vault is a custom designed middle finger to Cryx, with its anti-Stealth, anti-Incorporeal boostable gun and its almost total immunity to single wound melee infantry. Also it steals souls and RFPs.

Protectorate of Menoth

Best caster - Rask
Other picks - Ironback Spitter, Bog Trog Ambushers, Croctor

Easy choice - Rask shoots off upkeeps, disrupts jacks, has Inhospitable Ground to slow jacks that can't get pathfinder, has Fury to crack armor and gives you the charge without getting shot up. No really high DEF to worry about, no anti-living, only weapon masters which are a problem for all Gator lists.
Barnabas is a bad choice as he brings no damage buff, dispels (outside Thrullgs) and the Broken Book of Menoth is ever present, thereby negating Barnabas' feat and his most effective tool against warjacks. Maelok also has a bad time due to the prevalence of magic weapons and lack of hitting power.

The Ironback Spitter can do a decent amount of damage with Fury against DEF 10 warjacks if needed, and brings that almighty gun that you can use to take out a few support models. Bog Trog Ambushers are excellent at putting pressure on a flank or to their caster, as their backline is usually squishy. The Croctor is mostly there because of Awe on the Harbinger and the inbuild Ashen Veil on the Reckoner.

Retribution of Scyrah

Best caster - Rask, 

There are a few things that make Gators very strong against Ret: anti-shooting, hard to assassinate casters, Gatorman Posse.  Both Barnabas and Rask are excellent in this department. The one issue with Barnabas is that he can have a lot of trouble displacing a Hyperion or Griffon swarms, whereas Rask can kill them quite efficiently. Furthermore, Rask's feat is a lot more efficient as a delivery mechanism than Swamp Pits because it also shuts down magic attacks - and really, against an all living army, you only need one turn of protection because your Posse starting ripping elves apart with ease.

Rask can also shoot off pesky upkeeps like Polarity Shield or Inviolable Resolve - winner.

Mercs of Money

Best caster - Rask

Surprise! Rask can kill the Galleon, the others can't, and therefore he is the best. I guess you could take Calaban. Theoretically - his feat might be decent vs the usual high model count Mercs, and Parasite + Occultation can sort of keep you safe from Galleon at ARM 17, especially if you can someone get the damn arc node to work. But really, don't take Calaban.
Apart from that, if the Galleon/Earthbreaker isn't present or unkillable (ie. Bart + Spiny), then Barnabas can pretty much handle everything mercs can throw at you while also hiding in a Swamp Pit to make sure he doesn't die.

Writing this has made me realize that nobody plays non-Circle Hordes around here.

Trolls

Best caster - Rask
Other pics - Sacral Vault, Shamblers

Inhospitable Ground, Paralysis Bolt, Disruptor Bolt + Fury beats tanky trolls and big charging beasts. Unfortunately there is no anti-tough tech anywhere in Gators. A fully juiced up, well supported Wrastler is also one of the few things in the game that can take out Mulg on a favourable trade balance.Not much else to say - Trolls are full of medium-based tanky troops that aren't as good as Gatorman Posse with Fury. I'm not sure if ambushing Bog Trogs to kill the Krielstone would be a good investment, since those blue baboons will probably just tough everything and you will cry.

The Vault and Shamblers will usually be pretty decent as you can get a lot of work out of the souls/corpses over the course of your 2+ hour grindfest. Enjoy!

Skorne

Best caster - Rask
Other picks - Bog Trog Ambushers

While Inhospitable Ground is not as good in this matchup, Paralysis Bolt is a winner, along with Admonition and Fury. Skorne are a melee-heavy army they relies on their beasts - either shut them down or blow them up. If the Skorne list is especially beast heavy, you can slow them down drastically by killing the support pieces. This might be one situation (along with Protectorate) where ambushing with Rask' sacrificial Trogs is a good tactic.

I once played against an eMorg list with Ferox, Archidons, Savages and a whole manner of squishy things and incorrectly chose Barnabas since I thought armor wouldn't be a problem. Of course, none of that crap can be knocked down, so I cried some crocodile tears and tried to tank eMorg for glory and got diced to death.

The main thing you should be worrying about is that their Gatormans are straight-up better than your Gatormans. Just because, you know. Skorne. The main difference is your casters are awesome and deliver Gators, theirs not so much.

Circle

Best caster - Barnabas, Maelok
Other picks - Totem Hunter, Bog Trog Ambushers,

While armor will be a problem in a minority of Circle lists, most times with Circle you should be worried about high DEF warbeasts and getting assassinated. I've had Barnabas tank primal + STR warp Stalkers without too much trouble thanks to Spiny Growth and Unyielding plus a transfer or two. Throw Iron Flesh on top of that and you're basically invulnerable as long as you stay on your feet. If you can attrition them out, you will usually end up in a good place.
The Totem Hunter is a must to kill those one of those annoying Sentry Stones early - just prey and walk away. Bog Trogs are great for killing almost anything in Circle due to pathfinder, CMA and MAT 8 on the charge.


Rask will probably make a resurgence against Circle with Bradigus/Baldur2 theme lists, but he suffers greatly against anti-magic effects (Druids/Kromac) and getting picked apart.
Maelok can also be really good against Circle as Revive missiles also him to reach out and touch Circle in unwanted places while also fielding a lot of tanky undead models.

Legion

Best caster - Barnabas, Rask

The name of the game is terrain creation to screw infantry, and shooting-denial to screw the beasts. Rask can still give a good game, but I believe Barnabas is the slightly better matchup due to Legion's generally lower ARM, and their squishier high DEF casters/troops. Barnabas' style of shooting denial via Swamp Pits is also more effective than Rask's one big turn of denial since Legion beasts will often engage in hit and run tactics with their shooting. Certain casters like Saeryn and Vayl will give you serious headaches if played well, but that is more a limitation of Blindwater than anything else.

Pigs

Best caster - Rask, Jaga-Jaga

The only real bad matchup for any caster is Carver due to Batten Down the Hatches, given the Blindwater problem with ARM - which means Rask is the best matchup overall (although Spellpiercer ignores it too!). Maelok would  suffer a bit due to prevalent Slaughterhouser RFP, and Midas can probably outtank him given his huge potential damage output and the aforementioned RFP effects. My only other bit of advice is to control Slaughterhousers with rough terrain if they don't have Saxon Orrik, because tough is annoying and they will blow your Gators up pretty easily if they get to charge.

Conclusion

RASK IS A MIGHTY WIZARD

Basically, my advice in a multi-list format would be to take Rask and Barnabas/Maelok/Jaga-Jaga (season to taste), with Rask tailored slightly more for heavy armour, and your second list tailored more for infantry-heavy / ARM-light lists and general tankability.

Looking at the whole "Minions" picture, I don't think the inclusion of Pigs as one of the lists would really shake things up since a meaty Rask list should be able to handle most heavy armor in the game. The only place where Pigs would do much better is situations where RFP is very much sought after (eLich, eMorvahna) or you face insane amounts of ARM. Otherwise I think Gators are just better off 95% of the time. Currently Pigs only have 2 good lists - Lord Carver and friends, and Arkadius tier.

If it is a three-list format, you might consider taking one of the two Pig lists. If you want to stick to all Gators (preferable), then you will likely want to tailor your Jaga/Maelok list slightly more towards Cryx and leave your third list to deal with everything else Rask has issues with (depending on your meta).


Updated - November 2014 (post Exigence)

Shambling Shamblers

I took the opportunity of my weekly game evening to proxy some Shamblers and see what they provide to your old Blindwater Posse spam.

The Lists:

Tier: 3
Maelok, the Dreadbound (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Blackhide Wrastler (9pts)
Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Shamblers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (2pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (2pts)

After acquiring a second Witch Doctor a few weeks backs, I find it difficult to play Maelok outside of tier. You basically sacrifice the Totem Hunter (a character) for 2pt Witch Doctors, Incorporeal first turn and advance move on Maelok and a Feralgeist (or a Boneswarm if you have one). Seems like a pretty good deal.

I'd probably never go Tier 4 because three Boneswarms is the biggest trap of all time, but the first 3 tiers are very easy to achieve.

Rask (*6pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)
* Swamp Horror (8pts)
Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Shamblers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Gatorman Witch Doctor (3pts)
Totem Hunter (3pts)

Nothing spectacular there. I put a Witch Doctor in because I wanted to try tough spamming with single-wound infantry, which by all accounts is a high-skill, high-risk strategy employed only at the highest levels of play.

As tends to be the usual these days, I played against Retribution, a faction against which you should always use either Barnabas or Rask - unkillable warlock + shooting immunity gives Ret fits.

The Games

First game was Maelok playing Outflank, a legitimate scenario. The list was Rahn with a Phoenix, some Halberdiers, Mittens, MHSF, Stormfall and annoying as hell solos (including Skyreth - Mk1 Vilmon on a horse).

This was a really good game I feel. Maelok is probably the only Gator caster you can play against Ret to have a really good game, as long as its not Ossyan (where you will get your entire army shot off the table turn two). I deployed with the Shamblers in the middle, flanked by Posse and Maelok heading for the left zone. I put Death Pact on the Wrastler, which combined with Spiny Growth is really pretty amazing (ARM 23). The Shamblers mostly got shot off the table early and did nothing.
I ended up with the upper hand on attrition and lost on scenario 4pts to 5pts. I had thrown everything I had into the right zone except Maelok and a single Gatorman, and he simply managed to toe a solo into the left zone and TK the Gatorman out to win. Tricky Rahn.

Second game was Rask playing Into the Breach, a mostly non-scenario. This time he chose to play Ravyn with ful MHSF and Mage Hunter Infiltrators, a Banshee, and other stuff I kill easily. 

As you may have gathered from my earlier posts, Mage Hunters are really really crap against Gators. I had a feeling he had a secret plan and this would be the day that he finally beats Rask, but instead I feated turn 2 and then killed almost everything (yay Fury cycling). Ravyn then proceeded to go all ninja and do some crap I didn't understand that resulted in 4 dead Posse and her halfway across the table. So I shot her with a Paralysis bolt, missed, charged in with a Swamp Horror and rolled fire for the tentacle damage, followed by Fury-ed Posse. The Shamblers did nothing all game but draw fire and make tough rolls.

The Observations 

Tough one-wound infantry indeed has the high skill-cap I foresaw. It has a lot of potential. 2pt Witch Doctors in Maelok's tier are really good... strange that they would be cheaper in the one place where they are most effective. Minion tax? Yep.

Shamblers die to nothing without good ranged protection. In both the games, they got sniped out pretty easy by MHSF, a unit which is usually terrible against Blindwater and for which I have little to no respect. With Stealth or Swamp Pits to get them up (or Rask's feat if you go second), they could reasonably be used as a front line jam unit with tough, and you can potentially keep the Bokur alive quite easily with Spiny Growth, terrain and said anti-range tech. 

With Rask, they add a little bit of a grind potential, but I am not sure they are strictly better than a min unit of Ambushers as Sacrifice fodder. Ambushers usually stay alive most of the game due to the Camouflage + Gobber cloud, and in the last game make pretty awesome Fury targets since they charge at MAT 8 and can CMA.  More playtesting to be had.

The main issue I was having, partially due to the match-up and partially due to my inexperience, was generating more Shamblers. I think over both games, I generated a total of 5 extra Shamblers. Maybe I just have to play more agressively with the Bokur, but from those two games it appears that the 8" CMD makes a huge difference relative to Alexia's CMD9. With CMD9 I would have easily picked up double the number of corpse tokens.

The Future  

 More games with Shamblers! They are by all accounts just a straight-up worse version of Alexia and the Risen for more points, but they seem to have potential. I feel that they will probably end up being more useful for other Hordes factions than they will for Blindwater, and I'd rather we had gotten a unit of trogs with blowguns or some ranged options, but I'll take it.