Saturday 7 October 2017

Terrore Primi

Buongiorno !

I have to admit, the Theme Force sounds way better in Italian than English.

Just did a small tournament today, the first in a long time (which is easy enough to tell since I actually only did half a journeyman since my last blog post) and I wanted to try new stuff. Ya know, try to renew meself a bit after all those sweet Lylyth 3 assassinations. I brought an infantry swarm with Rhyas 1 in Children of the Dragon, but that list didn't do very well. My other list was Thagrosh 1 in Terrore Primi (yep, gonna keep that name) and I did quite alright with it. I did ended up 1-2, but the last one my opponent admitted I had it if we both didn't play so relaxed (read: we were both slow).

My list was simple, just like my Classic Ogruns List, but in theme.

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Typhon
- Carnivean
- Nephilim Protector
Max Warspears
- Warspears Chieftain
Max Warspears
- Warspears Chieftain
Max Warmongers
Warmonger Warchief

So pretty straightforward. My first game was against Harkevich and 7 'jacks (2 juggies, 2 destroyers, Black Ivan, 1 Marauder & a Clam) with a couple of solo in The Pit II, where I went second. I successfully killed the Marauder during his feat and he did put enough pressure on the right flank. This gave me an early scenario advantage and half my army just jammed him up while I kept scoring on the right for 5-0.

The second game I lost on the clock by like 2-3 minutes. It was against Vindictus with a Battle Engine, 2 Exemplar Errants and 2 Exemplar Knights units. I went first and the game went to turn 7 and was a slow grind fest. I manage to kill an Errants unit top of 2 because my opponent didn't feat, thus giving me an advantage that I slowly pressed. When the clock ran out, I still had a unit of 3 Warspears with Chieftain, Typhon and a feated Carnivean (both about half-life, but functional) against a Mechanik and the Battle Engine at also half-life. We were 8 to 6 for him on the scenario but was starting to come around and he didn't have anything left to stop my beast. So even if I lost, I knew what the list could do.

Now to the interesting part: is Terrore Primi worth it right now, and how should it scale in the future (aka CID).

First, the +2" of deployment is great. Both games I had a good board and scenario presence (although going second really help for that). I was afraid that wouldn't be enough but nope, quite good. I do expect this to become even more powerful with the Cavalry unit incoming, as with might be able to lock the opponent out the scenario.

Second, the Free Stuff. In my list, I have 11 free points. Realistically, you could go to 3 free cards by cutting back the beast (but I love this trio for Thagrosh). The craziness of 5 free cards with Wasps is just that to me: craziness. Sure you have 29 free points, but you lost all you're beast points on useless stuff, so... not worth it in my opinion, in this list (Wasps can be worth it somewhere else, I guess). I will also say that even if I could have had a free Hellmouth, people are used to them now (still good, just not that gotcha-esque) and they are pretty static, so I strongly believe a Chieftain to be more useful. Now we will have to see how much Amök is going to cost and if the Warmongers get a UA, but so far what we already have is pretty good for free.

Third, the Warmongers buff. ... ... In my opinion, it does not cut it sadly. In both games, they didn't come close to make their point, because they just don't have enough power to threaten. I would totally consider putting them out to replace with a 3rd unit of Warspears instead if I had the models. The truth is, they are going to get 1 Vengeance move, some of them will be in charge range of a couple of models, they will charge and probably kill their charge target (infantry of course), but then after that MAT 6 is just not enough to Berserk well enough. That also but them only at 13" threat-range, while the Warspears do 16" (and against the Prey, hit easier and harder then Warmongers even with their buff). After that one turn of fun, they die, simple as that. Also, when the Ogruns Cavalry hits the shelves, I expect there won't even be a reason to talk about Warmongers anymore.

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Now, now, hush kids. Everything is not doom and gloom for Warmongers. There is a solution ! The CID process is coming, and there is still hope for them. First off, bring back MAT 7, and if need be get rid of that Powerful charge rule. With Berserk, they need to hit steadily, not being some weird ogrun-of-all-trade that want to go straight into pile of dudes but also have a bonus against high DEF target that they can't hit after the first swing. (You might argue that Anamag's Carnage should fix that issue, but I would point out that this will still benefit the Warspears better.) Now about Vengeance in itself: their MAT 6 is still too low to make it reliable and don't improve their big problem, survivability. (Plus outside of Theme, they are very sub-part to anything else.) I believe a rule such has Battle-Driven could be great on the Warmongers. This fit well into their backstory of being crazy lunatic bloodthirsty warriors, as hurting them would only enrage them more. It would also get their survivability up a notch since ARM 18 is not negligible. Maybe then Vengeance would be too powerful has a Theme bonus, but that would make them a true consideration when list building and give a hard choice to the opponent: do I want them to come at me full but sweet, or only half of them but completely enraged. And this is just one option ! Bloodthirsty (+2" when charging living), Take Down (no tough and RFP [which Legion doesn't have a lot]), *Thresher instead of Berserk, Rust, Mischief, AP ! (Ok, the last few might be out of place.)

Overall, you get my vibe. The Warmongers need something else (as in different / in addition to) then Vengeance to make them good, and if a full Theme Force benefit is dedicated to them, it would be sad to leave them at home because they are outperformed by everything else in their own Theme.