You asshats picked Beast Master Xekaar.
I played the hell out of him pre-errata, because the only real strategy I could come up with for awhile as playing for clock. Xekaar with 8 or so brutes is pretty good at a clock game... Apart from playing an aggravating brick, though, I don't really know how to make him work. I have a few lists I've been dojo'ing, and spent more time than I'd like to admit on it yesterday. Below I'll go over my initial thoughts on Xekaar, Pro and Cons, and then a few list builds and strategies I think might be viable.
Xekaar, June 1st Thoughts
Front of the Card
Okay, so we have some serious old man stats, coming in at a 15/14 for defensive stats. He's also rocking a MAT 6, which comes off a bit weird considering he is a weapon master. Speed 7 is pretty great, though. Let's go look at those weapons he has mastered...
Two of them, seems good, range 2 is also pretty fantastic. But... P+S 9. On average you can expect him to put 0 damage into armor 20. This is a guy who despite threatening 12" on the charge and having access to 7 fury a turn really doesn't want to melee anything.
Okay, so we have some serious old man stats, coming in at a 15/14 for defensive stats. He's also rocking a MAT 6, which comes off a bit weird considering he is a weapon master. Speed 7 is pretty great, though. Let's go look at those weapons he has mastered...
Two of them, seems good, range 2 is also pretty fantastic. But... P+S 9. On average you can expect him to put 0 damage into armor 20. This is a guy who despite threatening 12" on the charge and having access to 7 fury a turn really doesn't want to melee anything.
Back of the Card
Enrage? Like... he can enrage 1 warbeast a turn? This caster has a star action that comes on the most ubiquitous support model in faction, a model that costs 1.25pts per and we can bring 12 of them. I have no idea what this is about. It isn't Skornergy, it might have uses and is honestly better than him trying to use melee (can also be good if you need to run a handler for prod), but it isn't particularly exciting.
Maltreatment is a poor-mans Fury 7. I guess it makes him a more thematic Fury 7 as well, but honestly his control area being 12" really limits both his feat and his ability to run warbeasts.
And back to those weapons! Witch Mark! If this comes up, cool. If you do anything to make this come up intentionally, you're probably going to die. So... good luck? 2" range and Witch Mark with those defensive stats is a pretty huge trap.
Spell List
Dead Weight - Great spell, useless in some situations but as far as cheap nukes go this one is fantastic.
Mortality - Another amazing spell. -2 def, -2 armor, loss of tough and can't have damage removed, Model/Unit. Almost worth using him by itself, to be honest.
Psycho Surgery - Healing for himself and his battle group, pretty great. Has a tendency to get you focused down, but playing warbeasts does that anyway.
Pursuit - Great spell, again, but only range 8 and he has no access to an arc node. If we can start with it in play, a la Denny2 in MK2, he'd jump in stock a ton.
Feat
Enemy models in his control suffer -3 mat, str, rat, and thr. Pretty great defensive feat, and with Chiron coming out toting Inflict Pain on his gun it might be possible to build him as anti-Hordes. Issue: Doesn't do enough against shooting. Unless Xekaar is front and center, the RAT penalty won't matter (Hydra could be worth taking), and it doesn't affect damage from guns. Maybe build anti-shooting into your battlegroup intrinsically (sentry, Krea, Aradus, brutes), and use the feat specifically for anti-melee when you can run and jam.
Overall
Okay, so we have a squishy melee caster who actually just wants to cast offensive spells, but needs to be up close to do so. He can't really melee, and can't really survive if he throws out a few spells, and is only Fury 6 so has trouble landing spells anyway. Additionally, while he has a lot of offensive spells, his feat is entirely defensive and dependent on your opponent having short ranges or melee focused armies.
Marketh should probably be in any list, just to throw out mortality a little more frequently and a little more safely. I'd also probably add in bone grinders or a shaman, depending on point allotments. While his feat helps against shooting some, I think being shot to death is a huge issue for Xekaar, so probably bring a few shield guards and a Krea. Orin might be a necessity as well...
I feel like he, personally, has too little defensive tech, and is really just there to cast Mortality and feat. He did work well with tons of Brutes and Orin, so that option is still on the table, and Chiron is really unique in Skorne as well, making me want to take him.
Current List Ideas:
Et tu, Brute?
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201bg24v4xhG4y4y4y4y5G6N7yfs5V
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Basilisk Drake [8]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
- Aptimus Marketh [5]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Legends of Halaak [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max) [7]
Okay, so I'm only using 4 brutes now. The hope here is that between them, Orin, and the krea I'll be able to deliver the rest of the army. That said, the rest of the army is... a gladiator, Drake, Chiron, and Legends. Basically need to weather the storm until I can jam and feat, either by running or charging in. The assault spray might get me some extra kills on the way in, as well. Lots of survival tech, not much in the way of armor cracking. Krea can be effectively a P+S 16 mat 8 weapon master, though, so that's pretty good.
Who shot first?
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201b_-0kg24v4xhG4y4y4y6Ncvgggg5V6J6J6p6F
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Winds of Death
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Basilisk Drake [8]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Aptimus Marketh [0(5)]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [4]
Venator Dakar [4]
Venator Dakar [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max) [7]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]
Venator Reivers (max) [15]
- Venator Reiver Officer & Standard [4]
Okay, so there are a lot of guns in this one. No Gladiator, but the list is all speed 6 natively. Even fewer armor crackers, unless you count the Reiver CRA's. I think this might actually be a great way to build Winds of Death, though, leveraging a melee battlegroup to keep your enemy from handling all of the guns on the back line. Bonus: Guns and Mortality is a great combo, and the feat will actually protect your back from being shot up.
I dunno, Huge Bases?
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201bg2hGglcu6v6v5U
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Chiron [19]
- Desert Hydra [38]
- Mammoth [38]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
This list is pretty terrible. Don't play this list.
Sprays for Days
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201bg24v4xhG4Cgl5G6x5V
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Basilisk Drake [8]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Desert Hydra [38]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
Void Spirit [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max) [7]
Well, this list has a lot of sprays and a decent amount of anti-shooting tech built in... almost. Rather, it pays a lot for anti-shooting support, without taking much that is natively resistant to shooting. Shouldn't have much trouble cracking armor, but there isn't a Marketh in here. Would need to play far up to really get work done, but the Hydra animus keeps Xekaar alive during his feat turn a little better. I might try this, but it looks like something done better in many other places.
What are you gonna do, shoot me?
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201b_-0kg2eFeF4xhG5G6Ngggg5U6q6q6J6J
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Winds of Death
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Aradus Soldier [16]
- Aradus Soldier [16]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
- Aptimus Marketh [0(5)]
Venator Dakar [4]
Venator Dakar [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Catapult Crew [5]
Venator Catapult Crew [5]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]
This list is slow, but it is meant to be delivered... eventually. I really can't see much cracking the front line at ranged, and while Soldier's are slow, they can still run/charge/trample 8" down field to engage if necessary, and then get covered by the feat. Artillery can rain down on the opponent, forcing them to over extend to handle that, or shoot needlessly into the battlegroup.
What are you gonna do, shoot him?
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201b_-0kg26r4xhG5G6A6A6A6Ncv5U
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Winds of Death
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Agonizer [6]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
- Titan Sentry [15]
- Titan Sentry [15]
- Titan Sentry [15]
- Aptimus Marketh [5]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Sentry brick~. Should be easy to delivery, should survive under his feat in melee handily, and with mortality and enrage they can actually do decent damage in melee (P+S 20 is decent, I've been told). Bonus in having 3 shield guards to keep him alive.
This list will have some issues with infantry, relying on reach on the sentries and Chiron spraying to handle them. Most importantly, though, is that theme wall. Mmm, walls.
My: Xekaar Sucks list.
I made this list when I realized I didn't really like any of the above. The point to it is accepting the caster is bad, and building away from him rather than building to him. Only 8 points are used up once you have handlers and the battlegroup in, leaving 67 points of things that are good options, in my experience, irrespective of caster.
Xekaar, in the below list, exists so Marketh can cast mortality and the rest of the army can benefit from a Krea.
https://conflictchamber.com/#c9201bg24xhG4C6N6wfs5U5S67eI6h
Skorne Army - 75 / 75 points
(Xekaar 1) Beast Master Xekaar [+31]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Chiron [19]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Aptimus Marketh [5]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Legends of Halaak [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Paingiver Bloodrunners [9]
Praetorian Ferox (max) [20]
Praetorian Keltarii (max) [15]
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer [6]
That's all, folks
Thanks for your input, if you have any suggestions on running this turd caster, feel free to comment here or on facebook. I have a friendly meetup with people who live across the Upstate area on Saturday, and we're planning on doing a mini-tourney between us. I'll be running one of the above lists in it, and I plan to document and report on my games.
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