January 13, 2017
Scenario: Incursion
Opponent: Carolyn W
Initiative: Carolyn
Butcher3
Ruin
Marauder
Marauder
Min rifles w/3 Rockets
Min rifles w/3 Rockets
Min rifles w/3 Rockets
Min rifles w/3 Rockets
Joe
Mortar (Free)
Mortar (Free)
Field Gun (Free)
THEME: Winter Guard Kommand
Fiona1
Galleon
Buccaneer
Max Sea dogs w/3 rifles
Max Press gangers
Devils Shadow
Rockbottom
Killingsworth
Grogspar
Hawk
Carolyn was very inexperienced, and unfortunately I only brought the Butcher list to try out and I was the only one to play her, so she got the rocket spam. It was a very one-sided even tho I tried to help her out, gave her some jacks to kill so she had some fun, but I still tabled her. Instead of writing about the specific game, I figured I'd write my thoughts about the new theme and this list in particular.
So I've been trying to find a pair for my 7 jack Harkevich (which may also go in theme) and I think rocket spam might be the way to go (I had been working on a vlad1 list with 12 rockets before the theme dropped). Vlad1 is the obvious choice for the rocket spam, SnP every turn is of course amazing, and having the threat of the 12-14" threat jacks is also a powerful question to ask. I may very well end up with Vlad in the end.
So why Butcher3? It's true he does nothing for the rockets and Joe can only be in one place at a time. The plan is to use the combo-smite from the mauraders and the field gun to knock down hard targets for the rockets to unload on. The rifles use CRA's to take care of infantry or softer targets and the mortars lob shots of opportunity.
So again, why Butcher3? My theory is with Sac Pawn Butcher can pretty aggressive. He doesn't have to worry about Eiryss stripping his focus or being shot to death by lots of boostable guns. With the 4" move at the beginning and energizer for extra distance, I can use the marauders to be upfront, forcing the enemy to deal with them. The enemy will need to close with my army, else the rifle corp will slowly whittle them away. But they have to respect the 12-15" area of death around Butcher. The list also brings magical weapons which if I went with Vlad, both my lists would have almost none. So the list asks 3 questions. Can you deal with all the rifles and rockets? Can you deal with 3 Khador heavies that threaten 10"-13? And finally, can you deal with Butcher himself? Butcher also gives an answer to vyros2 in theme with imperatus and 10 griffons. With that many shield guards, Vyros can spread the damage around too much for vlad to deal with, and even with my marauders getting the alpha, I think they just get wrecked in response. And then theirs haley3 or any mass incorporeal, without Butcher, I can't deal with the incorp. Maybe I worry to much about the corner case tho.
Anyways, going second and maneuvering this many ranged models around is difficult. It will take a lot of practice to get proficient at it. In certain matchups, such as one with lots of AOE's, correct spacing will be key and knowing when to hold models back so that I don't lose them trivially the following turn, even if that means they don't get to shoot. The range threat is strong however. The list shot the galleon off the table from full (although it took nearly every gun in my army to do it), and having Butcher as an anchor seems like a great base for the list. However, trying to hit def 12+ is pretty sketchy with rockets if you don't knock the target down, this is where SnP really comes in (not to mention the damage). But I also worry that even with SnP, its going to be difficult to keep all the rockets in control, with butcher they are completely caster independent, which does have some flexibilty.
I'll have to continue to test, I'd like to get 15 games in with the rocket spam list (B3 or vlad) before the LVO. Enough of this rant, I'm tired. Goodnight.
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