Skorne Festivus

Errata Analysis!

Preamble

So, you may have noticed I stopped posting around the time PP announced a faction rewrite in progress. I know I posted a lot of trashy feedback, which was pretty shitty of me, but I'm glad those of you who stayed constructive actually got things looked at! Good jerb.

I figured today I'd take a look at what's changed, what I'm excited about, and what I'm looking at playing in the near future. I don't have much time to prep for CaptainCon, but I'm not really anticipating doing well there anyway. I'll be helping run the Midnight Madness events, though, which is always a blast. If you're around, drunk, and uninterested in sleep, come on by. 

For those who've missed things, I'd suggest starting here:
http://privateerpress.com/january-skorne-errata-developers-notes

Casters

Hexy1 -

Gained Great Power (1 free upkeep), lost blood boon

Traded Influence for Sunder Spirit (thank the void)

Traded Spirit Leech for Parasite!

Can now get backstrike bonuses on his feat!

Okay, so Great Power really helps him out, and Influence was one of the worst spells in the game, so good riddance. Sunder Spirit is, in general, a bland as hell nuke. But coupling that with Parasite, you now have a caster who can threaten odd angles, land Parasite early (bring an Archidon or Razor worm), and keep it up for free. This takes him from a meh infantry removal caster to a brilliant all game assassination threat. 

His feat is still not so great, but with the addition of backstrikes it isn't AS dependent on your opponent bringing the right loadout of infantry. He can feat further up now, though, thanks to the armor bonus from Parasite, which is huge.

Makeda1-

I liked Mak1 with Subjugation of Will. Giving her Field Marshall [Shield Guard] is just that much better. Giving her a threat extending with The Lash is likewise amazing, and adding in Jackhammer makes her into a seriously versatile caster.

But, wow, her feat. Friendly living models gain Retaliatory strike, and if a friendly model living warrior is disabled in her control, she can take 1 damage to heal them. Meaning, even if you kill her infantry, she can keep them standing and let them hit you back afterwards. I think the Molik Bullet might be back with her, just running him to a target or sidestepping his way there after a quickened charge, then jackhammering an opponent into the ground.

Makeda2-

+3 wb points.

Can stay death characters.

She was considered our most powerful caster, and she got a little better. Not being able to stay death Rhadeim made having him around for Storm Rager was a little bland.

I think with the changes to Swordsmen, though, she'll be bringing more of them and actually throwing out her other spells. My plan is bringing 2 units + UA, a krea, Shaman, and keeping them at 17/16, using stay death to keep the UA alive until they can be delivered with Power Swell. That also leaves quite a bit of wiggle room in the list for solos, Rhadeim, and some heavier hitters.

Morghoul2-

Fury 6

Gained a pow on Mercy, to P+S 13 weapon master with it.

Grants Parry to Bloodrunners (he still doesn't have it himself, d'oh)

He lost ghost walk. In return, he gained Shadow Play - During control phase and at the time of casting target model becomes incorporeal. I'm not even really sure how to think through this... it just seems so absurdly powerful. I'm guessing he'll want it on himself most of the time, and actually have a huge assassination threat.

He also grabbed Mortality. I doubt he'll use it too frequently, but it is a damned good spell. I'm guessing most turns he'll be creeping around in the shadows, trying to land a mortality, and using incorporeal and stealth to stay safe.

Naaresh-

Field Marshall [Pain Response] - This is incredibly thematic for him, and is something incredibly useful to give the guy. It makes him far less unfocused, and I'm excited to try him out.

Also his feat doesn't work on constructs anymore. So, he doesn't run our construct warbeasts as well now.

Rasheth-

Rasheth can now arc an unlimited number of times. I don't know why, I don't know how he got this, but wow. Void Spirits, Ferox, and bloodrunners out the ass. Just fling stuff down the board and go for the assassination, I guess. They've really upped our assassination game with this errata.

Xerxis1-

Big Lurch! Errr, X1 gained the spell Lurch in place of Rift. Spend n fury (max 3), move one warbeast n inches. Range of 6. Kind of interesting. I've never cast Rift with him, and I can see how this makes him likewise better rounded. Not great, but not awful. Could be clutch on feat turn to reposition a warbeast for charges.

Xerxis2-

*Sad trombone* no Escort. I know, I know, armor 25 was too much. Sadly, we'll have to accept getting Rapport and Field Marshall [+2 SPD]. This does slow X down 2 speed, sadly, but he'll have more fury for animi etc. Instead of Mobility he now has Rapport, a pretty solid upkeep spell that fits incredibly well thematically with his feat (essentially long leash, and you can use Xerxis' MAT when attacking). 

My first thought was using it to jam a hydra down the board at mat 8 P+S 20 with S+P on feat turn. Seems... real good. Why not 2?

Oh, he also lost petrify. I've used this spell, weirdly, and liked it. Marketh wasn't worth bringing for it, though. In it's place he has stranglehold. Which is also meh.

Zaal1-

Inviolable resolve instead of Death Pact. Situationally better, will be meta dependent. I run into a lot of Menoth, making the undead part of Death Pact super useful. :(

Warbeasts!

There are a lot of small changes in here, some massive ones, and some small ones that will have a massive impact on our faction.

Agonizer -

Dropped to 6 points. Very small change, but good.

Aradus Soldier-

Dropped to 16 points. Very small change, potential impact is huge, though (my 3 soldier list now gets an agonizer added).

Archidon-

Woo buddy, lots of stuff here...

Gained a str to go to P+S 15, so with enrage or other buffs he can actually get some work done, but you aren't taking him for that anymore....

Immunity Electricity. Screw you Cygnar. Not huge, but thematic and situationally good.

Dropped to 10 points. Sheesh, this guy got a lot of small changes....

LONG LEASH. Yep. We have a long leash speed 7 flyer. Between Hexy 1 + 2, Morghoul 2, and Mordikaar, we now have a lot of uses for this guy. When it was first teased that he was getting long leash, I debated a lot between him and a razor worm for Hexy 2, I have since firmly landed on the side of both, because of course both. I'll probably bring one as a flanker / early arc node for Hexy 1 as well, just to land that early game parasite. Mordikaar making him immune to free strikes is solid, and having a ghost dinosaur is always worth it.

Drake-

Lurker is now cost 1, range self, gives Bushwack and Pathfinder. This is... pretty good. Yep. Weird.

Krea-

Her aura is 3" of +2def/+2arm. No longer does she grant blast immune, but she is now super solid for both infantry and warbeasts. This was definitely needed, but I'm not sure if, after the other changes, I wouldn't prefer her to go back to def and blast immunity.

Bronzeback-

+1 Fury, so he's back to what he was. Woo.

Lost some threshold, though, which is nice and themey. I assume if you load up a bronzeback and fling it out though the next turn will be mopup anyway.

Cyclops

Savage-

Down to 7 points. Pretty good for a light missile with an okay animus.

Shaman-

Gained and arm. Not too huge, but coupled with the Krea animus this could be really big.

Brute-
He's the same, because he is awesome.

HYDRA

Hydra animus now reduces ranged attacks targeting models in it's command by 3". So you want to shoot him with your 10" gun? You have to be within 7" of him. This is exactly what I wanted out of that animus, a really solid anti-ranged delivery mechanic. Even some of the longest shooting models will need to get close enough to suffer the next turn.

Also he got rat 6, making him an actually viable infantry clearing method.

I want 2...

Despoiler-

One of my most used beasts in MK3 so far, he just got 2" reach on his tail. Went up 1 point in cost, but this added threat and extended application of dark shroud still leaves him at an incredible value. Bronzebacks improving also, in my opinion, further up his stock. The two of them should be able to tag team just about anything in the game.

Molik Karn-

He gained a strength and went down a point. I still don't see him as being useful, but we did regain some threat extenders (Lash, Lurch), so ymmv.

Reptile Hounds-

Lost some threshold, are now 4pts a pop. So they got worse in a meh way, and went up in cost. I still don't think I'm going to buy any.

Rhinodon-

+1 arm (18)

+1 Str (P+S 15 and 14)
Crit Knockdown on the tail, which now has 2" reach.

I'm not going to buy one, but I'd field one now in some cases. This is a case of a lot of changes to one model that I don't think really changed anything. For those with the model I'd say he's useful now, I just don't think I can justify buying it.

Scarabs-

This change was just some wording issues. Ignore this.

Cannoneer-

Rat 5. This is actually really big, meaning she won't have to boost to hit Khador heavies reliably... No longer do I have to budget for her using 3 fury every turn. Great since I run 3 of them in a lot of places.

Gladiator-

Went up a point. Makes sense, solid utility piece with amazing damage output for the price. Will still use, especially with all the other places we had costs drop.

I forgot one? You really noticed?  Fineee...

Aradus Sentinel-

My favorite beast at the end of MK2... He got Swarm back, which is huge (Definitely going to run him with Morghoul again), and he gained Scather on his tail. He's a niche area denial piece now that can really screw with jamming infantry, and still has solid assassination potential. Depending on where the meta goes, I can actually see running multiples of him again.

Infantry

Okay, there are a lot of changes here, suffice it to say I can't really speak to all of it comprehensively... my general thoughts are positive, though I haven't used many infantry throughout my time playing Skorne. At first glance, gang on the Bloodrunners instead of CMA feels really good, and I love that the Keltarii are Speed 7 now - our small based infantry actually seem different in a meaningful way. Oh and Swordsmen got power swell and Mat 7. 

Yeah, we now have psuedo weapon masters on small bases.

Oh, well okay, so we also have actual weapon masters on small bases, too. Yep, everyones favorite Skorne Character Unit gained weapon master instead of Flank! They also went up a Mat, making them less of a unit and more like 3 supersolos. They also went up to def 14. Really these guys got a lot of buffs.

Oh, okay, fine. Master Tormentors are Weapon Masters, too. You happy? Why not bring 2, and use them as arc nodes for Rasheth, while you're at it?

Speaking of extra dice for damage, Slingers got AD. Finally feel like they make sense with flare, being able to get up the field quicker instead of just being in the way of the much further threatening Venator Reivers- Who can now reroll missed CRA's.

Oh, uhh, everything on a medium base gained tough. As someone who played Fist a few times in MK2, mostly to let people practice into it, I don't feel too well placed to comment on the Cataphract changes. Even with set defense and tough and the point drop I'm not sure I'd take Cetratii, with or without Vorkesh. Arcuarii seem really interesting, especially since my meta has quite a few people using medium based infantry. Incindiarii are still good, but meta dependent...

STONE MEN

Resonance is back. Immortal UA can no longer buff speed. Hakar has Veteran Leader [Exalted] - +1 to attack rolls. Pretty great that these models now work well together again. I've never been super into them, but I have 2 units + UA and 2 of the solos + Hakaar. 

Derp Turtle-

Gained speed, range, and now gets bonus to hit as well as damage against medium/large/huge bases. Also cheaper. I feel like he was playable in MK3, though really suboptimal in most cases... I don't own one, but it's finally made it into my list of Wants.

Finally - The Paingiver Task Master

I'm not sure how I feel about her changes... recently I've been eyeing her with Brigands + UA, but her 2 changes are pretty pointless there. She still gives them +2 strength and the no KD bubble, so that's solid. But granting 3" reposition, and having Tough back as a target model/unit ability aren't things I've thought through too heavily. Maybe I'll use Croaks again, maybe not. All I can say is, for the things she was good with she's just as good, and she may have picked up some stock elsewhere.

BULLSHIT THEORYCRAFTED LISTS!

WOO Theory crafting! One of the most pointless activities!

I first started trying to adapt two of my favorite lists in MK3. A Zaadesh2 list and a Makeda1 list. Zaadesh fit smoothly, and wound up feeling like a much better list. Makeda1 stalled me for a long time, though.

Zaadesh2

War Room Army

Skorne - New Army

Theme: No Theme Selected

75 / 75 Army

Armory - Steamroller Objective

Lord Tyrant Zaadesh - WB: +28

-    Aradus Soldier - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 16)

-    Aradus Soldier - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)

-    Aradus Soldier - PC: 16

-    Titan Gladiator - PC: 15

Ancestral Guardian - PC: 5

Hakaar the Destroyer - PC: 7

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 7

Immortals - Leader & 9 Grunts: 15

-    Extoller Advocate - PC: 4

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 2

---

GENERATED : 01/17/2017 13:54:07

BUILD ID : 2034.17-01-07

I'm not sure on Hakaar or an agonizer in here... The AG feels worthwhile, just to keep the immortals sped up, making them much faster the entire game. I think Hakaar is solid, but the Agonizer is more in theme with what I want the list to do...

Makeda1

War Room Army

Skorne - Based God

Theme: No Theme Selected

75 / 75 Army

Bunker - Steamroller Objective

Archdomina Makeda - WB: +29

-    Aptimus Marketh - PC: 5

-    Basilisk Krea - PC: 7 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)

-    Scarab Pack - PC: 10 (Battlegroup Points Used: 10)

-    Despoiler - PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)

-    Titan Gladiator - PC: 15

Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor - PC: 4

Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor - PC: 4

Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer - Tyrant & Bearer: 6

Paingiver Bloodrunners - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9

Praetorian Ferox - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5

---

GENERATED : 01/17/2017 17:49:46

BUILD ID : 2034.17-01-07

I'm really not sure what I want to do with her now... This list was so easy to build before, now there is so much more I want to toss in. The name refers to me starting with the thought that it would be mostly medium and large bases, but the cost and synergies just didn't seem to work out through the end. Def 17 Ferox threatening 19" is pretty nice still, so I couldn't just ignore that piece of tech... Shield guard scarabs are still great...

I think the biggest "meh" is Marketh? He's mostly there to help with upkeeps and throw out a jackhammer. 2 free upkeeps and a potential 7 jackhammers? Yeah, that seems like a thing I want in my list. But do I want it more than Orin Midwinter....

Edit- I've been told Marketh cannot Jackhammer. My bad :( Orin it is.

Makeda2

War Room Army

Skorne - Swarm

Theme: No Theme Selected

75 / 75 Army

Bunker - Steamroller Objective

Supreme Archdomina Makeda - WB: +27

-    Basilisk Krea - PC: 7 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)

-    Cyclops Shaman - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)

-    Aradus Sentinel - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)

Tyrant Rhadeim - PC: 9

Swamp Gobber Chef - PC: 1

Praetorian Karax - Leader & 9 Grunts: 11

Praetorian Swordsmen - Leader & 9 Grunts: 13

-    Praetorian Swordsman Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard: 4

Praetorian Swordsmen - Leader & 9 Grunts: 13

-    Praetorian Swordsman Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard: 4

Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer - Tyrant & Bearer: 6

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5

---

GENERATED : 01/17/2017 14:06:17

BUILD ID : 2034.17-01-07

I'm tired of playing her as a stay death bot. As such, the plan here is to maximize delivery of the swordsmen. Deflection will go up most turns, as will 2 Krea bubbles. Karax are there to keep the swordsmen safe from blasts, while Makeda holds back a few fury to stay death the UAs or Rhadeim. Double handlers + gobber chef, because sometimes you don't know how much fury Makeda will need... Sentinel will help with covering fire! WOO




Naaresh
War Room Army

Skorne - My armor is nailed to my scrotum with a railroad spike

Theme: No Theme Selected
75 / 75 Army


Master Ascetic Naaresh - WB: +32
-    Desert Hydra - PC: 38 (Battlegroup Points Used: 32)
-    Titan Gladiator - PC: 15
-    Agonizer - PC: 6
-    Archidon - PC: 10
-    Despoiler - PC: 19

Extoller Soulward - PC: 3

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 7
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 7
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 2


---

GENERATED : 01/17/2017 14:08:52
BUILD ID : 2034.17-01-07

Okay, I had to drop in a Hydra. Why not make it the Armor 22 P+S 23 hydra? This list just looked fun to me, and I'm really excited to try out Naaresh with Pain Response.

Conclusions:

I have no idea what I'm doing and am hopeless for CaptainCon. Good luck to the rest of you, I'm expecting to perform about as well as a gymnast with their balls nailed to the floor.