The second Michigan Cup is happening tomorrow. The first one was a resounding success and this second one sold out very quickly. We have 12 teams of three players ready to go in a big six-round brawl.
My team is made up of Tau4Eva, Jason, and myself. Tau4Eva is bringing his Circle Orboros and Jason is bringing Trollbloods, so we're all Hordes since I'm bringing Skorne. Last time I believe there were more Cygnar players than Hordes players :P
I have continued my quest to learn new warlocks by playing prime Morghoul as much as I can. I really like his play style (speed, strength, and ballbuster feat) but I think I'm leaving him at home this time. Instead I believe I'll be bringing eHexeris and Xerxis.
I chose eHexeris because he's got some awesome anti-Cryx tech. Black Spot will lower DEF so you can hit reliably and then you can kill another model afterward. He also has ranged multi-target nukes which neither Xerxis nor Morghoul have. That'll help against any ghost dudes.
Lord Arbiter Hexeris - WB: +6- Aptimus Marketh
- Basilisk Krea - PC: 4
- Titan Gladiator - PC: 8
- Bronzeback Titan - PC: 10
Extoller Soulward - PC: 2
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2
Venator Reivers - Leader & 9 Grunts: 9
- Venator Reiver Officer & Standard - PC: 2
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Venator Slingers - Leader & 9 Grunts: 6
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 1
Hexeris' main spell for me is Black Spot as mentioned above. Black Spot is an offensive upkeep that makes it so the enemy unit / model is -2 DEF and when you kill a model from that unit with melee or ranged attacks you can make an extra attack. This has a lot of synergy with four units especially:
Extoller Soulward: a super-awesome ranged attack that adds 6 to the target's STR and that is the POW+S of the attack. So if I'm targeting a STR12 beast it is a Pow18 hit. This doesn't require LOS and has Eyeless Sight. He can also give one dude eyeless sight and magical weapons which helps snipe out support solos hidden by forests etc.
Venator Reivers: these dudes are there to clear infantry and take down multi-wound medium base elite units. With CRA and +1 Pow vs medium bases you can usually get things done with Black Spot. The UA makes it so they can move and shoot 22" in one turn which is amazing.
Cataphract Incindiarii: these dudes have cataphract armor with 3" AOE blast at RNG10 and POW12. If you CRA them in groups of two you'll have a POW14 and a POW8 on infantry, clearing most single wound dudes. Add to that the automatic fire that they put on each dude... so awesome. Models may be immune to blast but they aren't immune to fire effects :D Black Spot means you're throwing around more of them...
Venator Slingers: These dudes are RNG10 POW10 at RAT5 but they add an additional die of damage against non-living models and on direct hits they cause corrosion. More infantry clearing, more Cryx hate - they can even take chunks of out warjacks if you roll fire. They have victim defense stats but their souls will power the Soulward and Marketh.
The Gladiator and Bronzeback are there to be heavy and so big. They hit hard and might even get more attacks in close combat (with no reach, though) with Black Spot. The Gladiator will likely be bonded to Hexy so he can sling spells. This list is light on heavies but every time I kill an enemy living model a beast can heal a box.
Tyrant Xerxis - WB: +5
- Basilisk Krea - PC: 4
- Mammoth - PC: 20
- Cyclops Brute - PC: 5
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader; 3 Grunts: 2
Cataphract Cetrati - Leader & 5 Grunts: 11
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 1
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer - Tyrant and Standard: 3
My second list is likely more of a slow scenario threat. I can move into place and it is really hard to move me off of the objectives. The mammoth is probably not as competitive as two heavies in its place but I want to use him. I've used a variation of this list in the past with cataphracts tanking and the mammoth beating dudes up.
I changed this list to add in incendiarii for ranged threat. The bellows crew, krea, and brute will help me shrug off ranged attacks. The mammoth will bulldoze through and likely have Defenders Ward for a while so it is impossible to kill.
This list is slow but Xerxis and the TyCom will help move them forward faster when I need to hit the objectives. I'll likely put this list up against higher armor stuff and beast / jack heavy lists. I'm afraid I won't have enough power but Fury from Xerxis should help. His feat turn helps put down some strength as well.
Check back next week for a Michigan Cup wrap-up!
Good luck, I plan on coming up to watch!
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