Arc-Nodes ~ Part 2

So the poll results have been in for a while.  According to the 24 that voted, the best arcnode in the game is Thorn with nine votes.  Second place belongs to the Revenger and Deathripper and third is owned by the Phoenix.

Being a numbers guy, using the MKII pdf all the Warmachine arc-nodes stats were put on a spreadsheet so I could rank them.  My criteria was simple, offense was unimportant to me as I wanted to analyze only their effectiveness as an arcnode.  So I ran the numbers under three different base attack numbers and ranked them according to their ability to take a hit and still be able to function as a node.  Again I did not take into account any offensive abilities only defensive, and I did not take into account that the node can't be used in melee.  After I did that I compared to point cost to arc-node survivability to see which one was the best for its points. Here is what I found.

1 ~ Pheonix ~ Rebribution
2 ~ Lancer ~ Cygnar
2 ~ Revenger ~Protectorate
4 ~ Chimera ~ Retribution
5 ~ Deathripper ~ Cryx
5 ~ Nightwretch ~ Cryx
7 ~ Thorn ~ Cygnar
8 ~ Renegade ~ Magnus Mercs
9 ~ Blessing of Vengeance ~ Protectorate
10 ~ Defiler ~ Cryx
11 ~ Guardian ~ Protectorate

What it boiled down to was whether or not the arc-node could stand to take much of hit and/or stay out of harms way.

Take a good hard look at the Phoenix folks, its a monster, due to its force field you can't take out the node with one well placed hit... just not gonna happen so you'd better have a couple attacks ready to finish the job or it will finish you and then get channeled through again.

In the percentages the Phoenix only barely, and I mean barely beat the Lancer.  While Thorn is essentially the same, when you factor in point cost, if your just looking for a node there is no comparison.  Cheap and maneuverable the Lancer plays its role as a node quite well, along with Set defense and quite good armor with its shield.

Other nodes of note, and Many Cryxians would agree their nodes are not the best.  They are far from the worst however.  Unless of course you look at the Defailer!  Seriously though, out of all the factions Cryx is still most likely to bring them just for the node over anyone else which makes their middle of the road place in the line make them Cry.  Out of all of the nodes they are among the hardest to hit and the cheapest to field but if you do hit one, its lights out.  The only reason the Defiler is so low on the list is becuase of the cost.  I ran one sheet putting the Ripper at 3 instead of four and I can see why Privateer Press didn't do it.  But that is a flaw in thier new point system more than anything else.

Bottom of the Barrel as far as nodes are concerned, yup Protectorate's own Guardian.  The Blessing of Vengeance was quite low too, but lets face it, the BOV has some serious offense to offer any Menoth player.  The Guardian on the other hand with its high cost isn't really a good choice if your bringing him for the node.  Protectorate players would probably be better off bringing the Revenger for a taste of a good arcnode.  But if you like the Guardian, like the BOV, the node is more of a perk and not the reason you bring them.

For a numbers guy this one was fun do to, someday I will figure out a way to factor in offense of the jack along with the usefulness of the node but its a bigger fish than I have time to fry.

PP forums discussion can be found HERE.  For a lengthy spreadsheet pm me on the forums.

Sevwall's Fieldtest Thoughts: Warbeasts

My thoughts on each model as it is now in MKII, with potential Feedback possibilities if the model fails to live up to my expectations. I will try to evaluate all models as if it were the only rules they ever had, unless I am suggesting feedback, in which case I reserve the right to draw on old rules. I will revisit this later on.

Models I have not played with are left blank

Models rated 1 to 5.
1 = Total Junk
2 = Underpowered
3 = Balanced
4 = Overpowered
5 = Broken

Mauler – 3
Perfect. Expensive, but with a killer animus and capable of trashing most heavies in a turn, especially if he gets his own animus thrown on him. Great stats. Good chain attack. Pretty close to perfect, ina balanced way

Possible Feedback: None

Blizter – 3
Another model that I feel is fine. I will say that I think its high time they standardized all of our heavies at 5 fury, but I would really hate it if his points increased, so I’m fine with 4. The ability to charge and boost is extremely good, especially since instead of riling he can just boost shots at people and hope for a hit. And if he hits, a boosted 13 can really put some hurting on, well, anything. Two handed throwing a model (maybe your own) followed up by a boosted 13’s and 0-2 additional unboosted 13’s is a pretty cool and efficient way to end a game. Again, he suffers for his cool ranged junk with reduced, but still effective, melee potential.

Potential Feedback: Make his animus push people 3”, to standardize it with ‘bump’ and affect people with reach. That, or make it cost 1.

Eathrborn – 3
We have some pretty balanced heavies. At the cost of 1 point, he trades the reliability of the Mauler’s animus for the ability to steal the POW of opponents weapons. This will easily get him to P+S 17 or higher against most heavies, so unbuffed he exceeds the Mauler, minus the chain attack. He is also a pathfinder, and has a great animus, which he gets inbuilt. He is incredibly versatile, and well worth the extra point over the mauler while being a completely different type of model. A wonderful way to create diversity in a faction

Possible Feedback: None.

Mulg – 3 (Flawed)
Mulg is an interesting model. He has the distinction of being one of the few models almost guaranteed to kill [I]anything[/I] in his melee range, almost more so than a buffed Mauler. Reach is incredible, as is his MAT and the P+S on his weapons. The main problem comes with his SPD, which is very slow at 4, and AYGTET (Are You Going To Eat That) makes up for it in a way that is quite possibly broken. You see, AYGTET is a nifty cornercase thing, and its hard to trigger it yourself because tough will screw you up a decent amount of the time. In come the whelps. With poor DEF and no tough, they easily trigger AYGTET. So, Mulg moves 4”, and starts charging around corners 16”, which is a problem.

So remove it, and give him snacking, right? Well, no, because then he is lackluster. Sure, he kills things, but he costs a ton, isn’t too much more survivable than a Mauler, and has an animus that is possibly the worst in the game.

So he is a 3, because overall he is both underpowered and overpowered, like two huge weights on a balance beam, and as such sort of balances out. But he could be tweaked to be a balanced model

Possible Feedback: Remove AYGTET for snacking. Increase SPD by 1. Change Runebreaker animus to be a 3” ‘disenchant’ that causes Enemy Animi and Enemy Upkeeps within 3” of the caster of the animus to immediately expire. He gets a bit better overall, gets a real animus that is worth paying heavy points for, and loses the insane threat range while still retaining a threat advantage over normal trolls.

Axer – 4
Okay, reach thresher on a MAT 6 beast with POW 15 is a touch over the top. Just a tiny, tiny touch. The real problem is Befuddle, because in combination with an Axer, you can arrange units in semicircles and get an axer a backstrike thresher at MAT 8 ignoring shieldwall. Pop the feat and you cannot miss DEF 14 or less with this tactic. Add a Mauler animus and there is hardly a unit you will not completely remove from the table.

But enough about that. The axer by himself is almost fine. Its not the beast so much as the animus that really puts him into ‘always take’ territory. But that’s just because it’s an animus that fits us so well, its not really a broken animus. So he is fine. Mostly. Boy this one rambled.

Possible Feedback: Reduce POW of the axe by 1. He is less effective at killing heavies, but not much else.

Bouncer – 3
Its funny. He hasn’t done much in my games, but his reassuring presence makes me fear range much less. Personally, I’ve stopped taking him so much, because I’ve been facing more melee lists that ranged lists. But in a tournament I might take one to help guard my caster. Bump is a slightly underpowered animus because most opponents can position around it, but its acceptable. He hits well enough for a light. Another all around good beast.

Possible Feedback: Increase POW of shield by 1. Tiny tweak to make him a bit more palatable.

Pyre – 3
Well, I’m less happy giving this guy a 3, but his animus is okay, he automatically sets people on fire in melee and at range, and he hits well enough in melee, especially if you buff him. Solid. Just Solid.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. You will get used to this feedback.

Slag- 2
Possible Feedback: +1 RAT. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. He is also not quite as nice as an Axer. The extra STR does not do much for him over his cheaper bretheren. That said, his animus is the same as the Pyre, so if you are expecting heavier targets, take him, and if not, take the Pyre.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT, +1 ARM. If he is going to be a 6, lets make sure he earns it.

Winter – 2
Again, lackluster. Not bad, just meh. Really, for a ranged beast, this guy really has trouble hitting broads and barns and whatnot. The inbuilt stationary effect is quite good at preventing jacks, beasts and casters from targeting the Winter troll. Luckily for them, his bad DEF and ARM make it easy to whittle him down at range enough that a single charge attack will waste him. He just needs a little tweek to be okay.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT, -1 point. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. Why is this guy 6 when the winter is 5? Is auto-stationary really all that much better than auto-fire? One kills infantry, one stops models. Seems almost a wash for me, especially after playing him a few times. He drops just as fast as a Pyre. He should cost the same amount.

The Animus Conundrum – 2
So, the Slag and the Pyre have the same damn animus. The difference between crit fire and crit corrosion is so unnoticeable and meaningless that is only bears mentioning so that I can summarily dismiss it.

I get two beasts with the same animus. Both the Brute and the Protector have Safeguard. But they are in different factions. In a game where animus are important and influence what beasts you take (See: Axer) having two similar beasts (all arounders) with the same animus is so very strange. Why exactly would you take the Pyre and the Slag in the same list? If you do, why should you be punished for it by being deprived of another animus? If the animus is so critical that you double up, you damn well double up, or take Bone Grinders so that you have a backup.

One of them needs to lose the animus. Ironically enough, I think Acidic Touch works better on the Slag than Flaming fists work on the Pyre. So I’m thinking the Pyre should lose his animus for something else,

What should it be? Well, I’m not lucky enough to be a designer (yet… hire me!) so its not really in my prevue to create an entire new animus. But if the Slag is anti-heavy, and so is his animus, then it makes sense to give the Pyre an anti-troop animus. I like the idea of giving “It Burns” out as an animus. But again, I am not a designer.

Tommorrow…. Maybe nothing! But maybe Units.

Sevwall's Fieldtest Thoughts - Warlocks

My thoughts on each model as it is now in MKII, with a list of potential Feedback possibilities if the model fails to live up to my expectations. I will try to evaluate all models as if it were the only rules they ever had, unless I am suggesting feedback, in which case I reserve the right to draw on old rules. I will revisit this later on.

Models I have not played with are left out.

Models rated 1 to 5.
1 = Total Junk
2 = Underpowered
3 = Balanced
4 = Overpowered
5 = Broken


Madrak - 3
Seems quite acceptable. Surefoot is a spectacular defensive spell, and as an upkeep it allows him to send people off under its effects without having to recast it every turn. Stonefall is a poor offensive spell, but really his axe is all he needs to affect things at range.

I am undecided if he needs any changes. I feel like he needs reach, but that may just be wishful thinking. I’m going to say he is probably fine as is.

pHoarluk - 2
Wow, he has really turned into a true denial caster. Purification is a nice ability, especially since it can remove animi now, and there are some nice defensive animi out there. Past that, he seems nice if a little underwhelming. He works well with beasts via Goad, but his offensive potential is very limited, and Death Sentence and Stranglehold are very short ranged for him. One major problem is that he needs to recast his upkeeps when he Purifys, and that he is often out of easy range to recast his spells. So range is a problem, and he is a tad underpowered…..

Possible feedback: Something as simple as a bond that turns a beast into a channeller seems reasonable. It lets him effect the battle without putting himself at too much personal risk. Since his repetoire of offensive spells is limited, this should not swing him over into the ‘too good’ range.

Borka – 2
Borka is a weird one. Obviously Mosh Pit is hugely powerful. He gets an extra fury each turn through the keg carrie. Yet he seems… lacking. Boring maybe. Bum Rush is very hard to pull off, since it is much, much more limited that Counter Charge in that you have to move in a straight line. Cooler may as well be blank for all you will cast it. Yet he isn’t really bad in any way. Just slightly lacking. He seems to be geared towards beasts, yet has such little capability to run them.

Possible Feedback. Forget the pseudo Fury 6 from Keggy, just make him a 6. It helps him run the beasts than his feat and his spell list want. Keggy would lose Top up, and gain nothing in return. This keeps it as a small buff. Keggy would then have a sigular, but important purpose.

eMadrak - 3
Played with him a few times. He seems alright, just fine really. He is one of the two casters who seem to make Mulg a bit over the top. But Warpath is otherwise cool, he threatens nicely in melee with his big axe and even a possible Vortex of Destruction. The feat still rocks.

Possible Feedback: He wouldn’t be broken with reach. If pMadrak gets it, eMadrak would too.

eHoarluk - 3
What can I say? He is fun now, he has a cool but not crazy spell list. Wild aggression is a huge buff, but Warmachine shows how balanced it is. Refuge is simply cool. The only real issue is the feat. If you do not have a turn where you can charge (as happens in games vs fast opponents or opponents with shutdown feats) you do not have a feat…..

Possible feedback: The feat should grant +3” of movement regardless of whether you charge or not. Aside from that it seems fine.

Calandra – 4
We run into a problem here. Calandra is fine. She really is. Not overpowered. But Befuddle is. It is the answer to every problem you can face on the field. Unit? Turn them around to give you backstrikes and prevent them from charging. Or just clump them and send an axer or a scattergunner to wipe them out in a single attack. A possible 20” threat on the spell (Rush + Bonegrinders.. its even further if you charge) is just a little too much for this crazy spell.

The rest of it is fine. Her new feat was a stroke of genius,

Posssible Feedback: Befuddle at RNG 10 is too much. Make it RNG 8 again.



That was the easy part. Tommorrow….. Warbeasts!

Fury, Trolls, and the Hordes MK II Field Test

By Josh Gardner (PG_General Nemo)


As a Trollblood player and frequent reader of the Privateer Press Trollblood Discussion Forum, I am used to hearing complaints about my beloved faction. I hear anything from “We are too slow!” to “We don’t have fury management!” and I must say that I am disappointed not in my faction, but the doomsayers who yell outright fallacies and conjectural falsehoods about our brothers in blue, and I am here to dispel these illusions.

First, we address the “issue” of fury management. I will lay this out clearly for my readers, and they may not like what I have to say, but it is my view on the subject: There is no such problem with Trollbloods. A lack of a unit like Paingiver Beast Handlers or a solo like the Forsaken does not at all put at as at a disadvantage. The first argument I will hear after stating this is that we have too many low Fury warlocks for our high Fury warbeasts. My answer is “So what?” Just because your Dire Troll Mauler has 5 Fury, it does not mean you must force all of it, and if you do, it is because you really need to hurt something. Chances are, thanks to that high Fury warbeast, that its target is dead. If he is likely to frenzy, it is the responsibility of the player to compensate by either making sure that when it frenzies it attacks an enemy model, or that the warlock, low Fury or high, has as much room for that Fury as possible. If the warlock can’t hold it all despite its best efforts, he or she should prepare for the worst case scenario and do both. I have no sympathy for those who have a problem doing this, because it is in their power to prevent it. You made a simple math error? Fine. I do that too. You gave all your warbeasts way too much Fury for your chosen warlock to handle responsibly? Then you should expect them to frenzy.

Immediately, the next argument will follow: “Why should I have to try so hard to keep my beasts from frenzying when all other factions have a way to deal with this?” Well, Circle lacks the ability to manipulate Fury and Threshold outside of specific warlocks, so that leaves only Legion and Skorne who have a consistent way of dealing with high Fury loads. The answer to the aforementioned question, however, is that we pay for having the most five Fury heavy warbeasts of any faction in Hordes. We have The Dire Troll Mauler, The Earthborn Dire Troll and Mulg the Ancient, all of which are frequent fliers in Trollblood lists. Skorne has only one five Fury warbeast: The Titan Bronzeback (I exclude Molik Karn in this for sake of consistency), and it is arguably less common in Skorne lists, in MK I or II. Circle has no five Fury warbeasts, and neither does Legion. So, we have an even simpler answer to this question of ours: Because it is how we are built as a faction. We pay a frenzy tax on our warbeasts, and it is a fair one in my opinion.

More boosted attacks always equal more dead enemy models, especially with the speed (Rush, Barroom Blitz, Scroll of Grimmr, Goad, Warpath, etc.), power (Rage, Acidic Touch, Fists of Flame, Stone Strength, Charge of the Trolls, etc.), and accuracy (Carnage, Charge of the Trolls, Wild Aggression, Fate Blessed, Good Omens, Barroom Blitz, etc.) that our warbeasts can bring to the table, along with a litany of free slam, charge and knock down effects. Our heavies are deadly, very, very deadly, and potentially frenzying after going all out is definitely not a problem when all these are factored in.

Do not get me wrong, though, there are problems with Trollbloods, but Fury management is not one of them. What the Trollblood community as whole needs to do is throw aside what they wish they could have in their models, throw away what they miss about the models they have purchased, painted and played since the release of Hordes, and take a step back. Look at Hordes MK II, regardless of your faction, and judge it as though you were seeing it for the first time. Instead of complaining about how the Field Test is not living up to their expectations, play the damn game, fellow Trollkin. It will be difficult, it will be tough, but that is what defines our faction! Play games, give clear, reasoned feedback, and most of all have fun!

Sevwall, Reporting In!

Hello, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Sevwall over at the Privateer Forums. I tend to write big long articles about casters, and slightly shorter (but still long) articles about the rest of the models in the faction. I will be contributing Material here for the foreseeable future.

I'm not positive, but I may also post a big long compilation of the Feedback that I send in at some point, so that may be the next you hear from me. Talk to you later.