Post by tontonkal on Mar 19, 2017 23:20:26 GMT
This v0.1 of a living document. I will integrate your feedback on an ongoing basis.
English is not my mother tongue so feel free to point obvious language mistakes :-)
Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard aka Vyros2
Overview : Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard, is a cavalry caster who can play well with a spam of jacks or with a balance of jacks and units. He delivers his army through protection against ranged and magic attacks, by providing pathfinder and enabling his battlegroup to ignore clouds, forest and intervening models when determining LOS as well as extra movement generated by his feat. At this point, he provides a sweet boost to his battlegroup to smash his enemies. Vyros2 is a caster strong on attrition and scenario. He has a strong match-up against gun lines and heavy opponents but is relatively weak against control casters.
Stats : As a cavalry caster, Vyros2 is quite fast : SPD 8 + Reposition 3 will bring you where you need on the battlefield. He also has a sweet MAT8 - combined with the cavalry charge bonus - for extra accuracy. His RAT 6 is average though. In defense, he his a very solid caster with a DEF 15 and ARM 18 - much needed as he is on a large base. He is only a FOCUS 6 caster, meaning his resources will be scarce and he will have to stay close to his battlegroup.
He has a strong magic melee weapon range 2 POW 14, as well as a 10ps POW 12 range cannon with reload1.
His special abilities provide game-changing advantages:
Bird's Eye: His battlegroup can ignore clouds, forest terrain (I can see you Wumwood!) and intervening models when determining LOS. This means your opponent is not safe behind cloud and forest walls, and you can use yourself terrain to your advantage
Quick work: You can shoot after destroying an enemy model with a melee attack. Always nice at the end of a game when Vyros2 has to get his hands dirty
Veteran leader [Dawnguard]: +1 to attack rolls (melee and range) for other friendly dawnguard models in his command range (10). Hello MAT8 sentinels, and RAT7 invictors!
Reposition 3": Standard for a cavalry caster, but always nice!
Spell list: Vyros2 has a very strong toolkit to deliver his army and then kick ass in melee
Deceleration: Cost 3, +2 ARM against range and magic damage rolls for friendly faction models in his control range.
The spell is not cheap (half his focus, not an upkeep) but provides a strong protection in the 1 or 2 first turns when your army is closing the gap with the enemy. Combined with other boosts (Discordia, Sentinels mini feat ..) damage should be minimum.
Easy Rider: Cost 3, gives Pathfinder to all friendly faction models beginning their activations in his control range.
Again, not cheap, but priceless to provide pathfinder the one turn when your army needs it, especially if you used forest terrain to block enemy's LOS.
Lock the target: Cost 2, rng10, pow10 attack that prevents the damaged model to run, charge, slam, trample or be placed.
This one is tricky to use, you will need an arcane assist from Sylys Wyshnalyrr to maximize your chances, and probably an arc node to let Vyros2 be in a safe position. Preventing an enemy model to charge is always nice but not often worth the cost of your precious focus.
Synergy: Cost2, upkeep, provides a cumulative +1 bonus on attack and damage to the battlegroup for each other battlegroup model that hit an enemy in melee during the turn while in the control range. Max bonus is +3.
You will likely upkeep this spell every turn given the huge bonus it provides. Creating the synergy chain is key to Vyros2's battle plan. Usually you start it with a Griffon (+ 2Mat in charge) or Vyros2 himself (but keep him safe!). Combined with the bonus provided by Arcanist Mechaniks, this spell transforms your jacks into terrifying armor crackers.
Twister: Cost2, rng10, pow10, aoe3. Aoe is a cloud effect that remains in play for one round.
I rarely use this spell. It can help in few corner cases (aoe + if you want to block LOS with a cloud). But maybe I am lacking creativity :-)
Feat: Tide of war
When one or more friendly faction models are destroyed or removed from play by an enemy attack while in Vyros2' control range at any time except while advancing, immediately after the attack is resolved a friendly faction model in Vyros' control range can advance up to 3". Tide of war lasts for one round.
Note : the same model can advance more than once with the feat.
The feat is not easy to use but can be very strong. Applied at the right time, your jacks can close the gap and be in charge range of the enemy. It will be very hard for your opponent to anticipate all the possibilities provided by the feat, and will limit his willingness to kill your models during feat turn. This provides additional protection to your units. The drawback of the feat is that you need models to die to make it work, which limits your opportunites if you built your army with a spam of jacks.
General strategy:
On paper, the plan is easy : keep your stuff alive with deceleration, use forests to your benefit, then charge, start the synergy chain and kill stuff... rinse and repeat next turn :-) Given the bonus provided by synergy, even light jacks should be able to crack armors, providing a huge attrition benefit.
On the table, it will be a little bit more complex as you will need to manage the enemy's threat ranges, trade some pieces (Griffon or few Sentinels) and manage the scenario. Given Vyros' army usual resilience, bullying your opponent in the scenario is a very solid strategy.
Keeping Vyros2 alive the whole time will be a challenge : you need to have him has forward as possible to launch your jacks into enemy's positions and put pressure on scenario, but also need to find safe spots to avoid a KTC attempt. Vyros is robust, but will still die to a jack/beast in his face or to several units shooting at him while knocked down.
Control casters can severely limit your threat ranges and destroy your army piece by piece. Also, avoid casters with backlash and units with feedback at all cost!
Synergies:
Caster attachments: Sylys is a strong choice here. He provides an additional focus to Vyros2 by paying the synergy upkeep every turn. Also he boosts Vyros2 spell ranges for Lock the Target and Twister, as well as providing an additional die/discard the lowest for attacking and damaging with those spells. If you do not plan to use those spells, paying 4 points for 1 additional focus can be discussed.
Myrmidons:
* Griffon: Vyros2 loves those guys. Pathfinder, Arm18, +2 Mat in charge to start the synergy, a very solid rng2 pow13 weapon and the option to add +2 movement ... for 8 points that's a good deal. Consider taking a lot of those guys in Vyros2' battlegroup.
* Aspis : At 6 points, not a bad choice for a cheap shield guard that can still help to build the synergy
* Manticore: Its gun can help control infantry and its melee damage is very potent for a 14pt heavy jack
* Sphinx: Another cheap heavy jack (13pts) with a powerful melee weapon. A spam of sphinx can be scary!
* Imperatus: Besides colossal, the most resilient jack we have. It is also very mobile thanks to side step and very potent in melee with 2 MAT7 POW17 attacks. His bond with Vyros saves you one focus when charging, very sweet.
* Hydra: Not bad for long range support, it can play nicely in the Forges of War theme list with the focus battery / kinetic capacitor / shield guard combo.
* Phoenix: An arc node, an anti-infantry ability and some nice melee attacks. A good jack of all trades :-) ... but for a high cost.
* Discordia: Discordia is never a bad choice! The +2 ARM it provides stacks with deceleration for a strong gun line protection. Its spray controls infantry as well as casters.
* Helios: Our cheap support colossal plays well with Vyros. On paper, the broadcast power ability works well with a Griffon spam, but don't expect too much out of it as this limits your deployment and first turns placement. Still, Helios is very resilient against gun lines and his ranged attacks can help you win the piece trade.
Units: Sentinels and Invictors are two very strong choices here. Sentinels hit very hard and vengeance makes them deadly. Invictors provide 5 RAT9 re-rollable POW14 shots per turn and can survive in melee. If you decide to go the combined arms route, you can't go wrong with those units. If you have the points to spare, the souless attachment provides needed protection against spells. Another unit option is to add electromancers for anti infantry power but they don't benefit from Vyros2's veteran leader ability.
Solos: Arcanist Mechaniks are a must have here. Take 3 before anything else! Lanyssa Ryssyl can provide better threat ranges and focus utilization with hunter's mark. The artificer brings an additional protection against guns and can drive effectively Hydras. The magister is useful to get better threat ranges if you cannot take Lanyssa. The Soulless Voidtracer helps against control casters, often useful.
Theme Force : Forges of War
The theme force offers shield guard to the battlegroup, free solos and synergy up at the start of the game. However, it severely limits options : goodbye sentinels, invictors, Discordia, Sphinx, Lanyssa... If you don't take units, the feat is also less useful. I am undecided at the moment if the theme force is the best choice or not. Let's say that both options have merits!
Sample lists (75pts):
Combined arms with sentinels
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 6 (6*8=48)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
Dawnguard Sentinels (18)
+ Attachment (4)
This list provides a strong spam of Griffons, supported by Imperatus and sentinels for additional punch. Lanyssa and the feat enable to get the alpha.
****
Combined arms with invictors
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 6 (6*8=48)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
Dawnguard Invictors (16)
+ Attachment (4)
Soulless Voidtracer (2)
Sentinels swaped for Invictors + Voidtracer. Invictors have less punch but offer more long range options and flexibility. 5 POW 14 shots per turn mean they will be taken seriously.
****
Jack spam with Discordia
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 5 (5*8=40)
Aspis *2 (2*6=12)
Imperatus (22)
Discordia (18)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
With 2 Aspis and Discordia, you should be safe from most of the gun lines. Less punch than the previous lists, but Discordia is also a nice threat to the enemy's caster
****
Theme force with Helios
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Helios (34)
Griffon * 5 (5*8 = 40)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Magister (0)
1 Colossus + Imperatus + 5 Griffons all with shield guard will not make your opponent laugh. The artificer provides additional range protection and the magister helps with threat ranges. Having Helios means you need to dedicate resources to protect it. With only 14 models on the table, it can be sometimes scary!
****
Theme force with Manticores
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Griffon * 6 (6*8 = 48)
Imperatus (22)
Manticore * 2 (2*14=28)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Manticores have a nice gun to control infantry, something a jack spam is struggling with due to low volume of attacks. 6 lights and 3 heavies put a lot of boxes on the table
****
Theme force with Griffon spam and Phoenix
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Griffon * 7 (7 *8 = 56)
Imperatus (22)
Phoenix (18)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Magister (0)
The Phoenix helps to control infantry and clear charge lanes for the griffons. The arc node gives the opportunity to cast "lock the target" without putting Vyros2 in danger.
Other sources on the web:
Ghost dice in depth dojo
Tin elves dojo
Battle college
English is not my mother tongue so feel free to point obvious language mistakes :-)
Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard aka Vyros2
Overview : Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard, is a cavalry caster who can play well with a spam of jacks or with a balance of jacks and units. He delivers his army through protection against ranged and magic attacks, by providing pathfinder and enabling his battlegroup to ignore clouds, forest and intervening models when determining LOS as well as extra movement generated by his feat. At this point, he provides a sweet boost to his battlegroup to smash his enemies. Vyros2 is a caster strong on attrition and scenario. He has a strong match-up against gun lines and heavy opponents but is relatively weak against control casters.
Stats : As a cavalry caster, Vyros2 is quite fast : SPD 8 + Reposition 3 will bring you where you need on the battlefield. He also has a sweet MAT8 - combined with the cavalry charge bonus - for extra accuracy. His RAT 6 is average though. In defense, he his a very solid caster with a DEF 15 and ARM 18 - much needed as he is on a large base. He is only a FOCUS 6 caster, meaning his resources will be scarce and he will have to stay close to his battlegroup.
He has a strong magic melee weapon range 2 POW 14, as well as a 10ps POW 12 range cannon with reload1.
His special abilities provide game-changing advantages:
Bird's Eye: His battlegroup can ignore clouds, forest terrain (I can see you Wumwood!) and intervening models when determining LOS. This means your opponent is not safe behind cloud and forest walls, and you can use yourself terrain to your advantage
Quick work: You can shoot after destroying an enemy model with a melee attack. Always nice at the end of a game when Vyros2 has to get his hands dirty
Veteran leader [Dawnguard]: +1 to attack rolls (melee and range) for other friendly dawnguard models in his command range (10). Hello MAT8 sentinels, and RAT7 invictors!
Reposition 3": Standard for a cavalry caster, but always nice!
Spell list: Vyros2 has a very strong toolkit to deliver his army and then kick ass in melee
Deceleration: Cost 3, +2 ARM against range and magic damage rolls for friendly faction models in his control range.
The spell is not cheap (half his focus, not an upkeep) but provides a strong protection in the 1 or 2 first turns when your army is closing the gap with the enemy. Combined with other boosts (Discordia, Sentinels mini feat ..) damage should be minimum.
Easy Rider: Cost 3, gives Pathfinder to all friendly faction models beginning their activations in his control range.
Again, not cheap, but priceless to provide pathfinder the one turn when your army needs it, especially if you used forest terrain to block enemy's LOS.
Lock the target: Cost 2, rng10, pow10 attack that prevents the damaged model to run, charge, slam, trample or be placed.
This one is tricky to use, you will need an arcane assist from Sylys Wyshnalyrr to maximize your chances, and probably an arc node to let Vyros2 be in a safe position. Preventing an enemy model to charge is always nice but not often worth the cost of your precious focus.
Synergy: Cost2, upkeep, provides a cumulative +1 bonus on attack and damage to the battlegroup for each other battlegroup model that hit an enemy in melee during the turn while in the control range. Max bonus is +3.
You will likely upkeep this spell every turn given the huge bonus it provides. Creating the synergy chain is key to Vyros2's battle plan. Usually you start it with a Griffon (+ 2Mat in charge) or Vyros2 himself (but keep him safe!). Combined with the bonus provided by Arcanist Mechaniks, this spell transforms your jacks into terrifying armor crackers.
Twister: Cost2, rng10, pow10, aoe3. Aoe is a cloud effect that remains in play for one round.
I rarely use this spell. It can help in few corner cases (aoe + if you want to block LOS with a cloud). But maybe I am lacking creativity :-)
Feat: Tide of war
When one or more friendly faction models are destroyed or removed from play by an enemy attack while in Vyros2' control range at any time except while advancing, immediately after the attack is resolved a friendly faction model in Vyros' control range can advance up to 3". Tide of war lasts for one round.
Note : the same model can advance more than once with the feat.
The feat is not easy to use but can be very strong. Applied at the right time, your jacks can close the gap and be in charge range of the enemy. It will be very hard for your opponent to anticipate all the possibilities provided by the feat, and will limit his willingness to kill your models during feat turn. This provides additional protection to your units. The drawback of the feat is that you need models to die to make it work, which limits your opportunites if you built your army with a spam of jacks.
General strategy:
On paper, the plan is easy : keep your stuff alive with deceleration, use forests to your benefit, then charge, start the synergy chain and kill stuff... rinse and repeat next turn :-) Given the bonus provided by synergy, even light jacks should be able to crack armors, providing a huge attrition benefit.
On the table, it will be a little bit more complex as you will need to manage the enemy's threat ranges, trade some pieces (Griffon or few Sentinels) and manage the scenario. Given Vyros' army usual resilience, bullying your opponent in the scenario is a very solid strategy.
Keeping Vyros2 alive the whole time will be a challenge : you need to have him has forward as possible to launch your jacks into enemy's positions and put pressure on scenario, but also need to find safe spots to avoid a KTC attempt. Vyros is robust, but will still die to a jack/beast in his face or to several units shooting at him while knocked down.
Control casters can severely limit your threat ranges and destroy your army piece by piece. Also, avoid casters with backlash and units with feedback at all cost!
Synergies:
Caster attachments: Sylys is a strong choice here. He provides an additional focus to Vyros2 by paying the synergy upkeep every turn. Also he boosts Vyros2 spell ranges for Lock the Target and Twister, as well as providing an additional die/discard the lowest for attacking and damaging with those spells. If you do not plan to use those spells, paying 4 points for 1 additional focus can be discussed.
Myrmidons:
* Griffon: Vyros2 loves those guys. Pathfinder, Arm18, +2 Mat in charge to start the synergy, a very solid rng2 pow13 weapon and the option to add +2 movement ... for 8 points that's a good deal. Consider taking a lot of those guys in Vyros2' battlegroup.
* Aspis : At 6 points, not a bad choice for a cheap shield guard that can still help to build the synergy
* Manticore: Its gun can help control infantry and its melee damage is very potent for a 14pt heavy jack
* Sphinx: Another cheap heavy jack (13pts) with a powerful melee weapon. A spam of sphinx can be scary!
* Imperatus: Besides colossal, the most resilient jack we have. It is also very mobile thanks to side step and very potent in melee with 2 MAT7 POW17 attacks. His bond with Vyros saves you one focus when charging, very sweet.
* Hydra: Not bad for long range support, it can play nicely in the Forges of War theme list with the focus battery / kinetic capacitor / shield guard combo.
* Phoenix: An arc node, an anti-infantry ability and some nice melee attacks. A good jack of all trades :-) ... but for a high cost.
* Discordia: Discordia is never a bad choice! The +2 ARM it provides stacks with deceleration for a strong gun line protection. Its spray controls infantry as well as casters.
* Helios: Our cheap support colossal plays well with Vyros. On paper, the broadcast power ability works well with a Griffon spam, but don't expect too much out of it as this limits your deployment and first turns placement. Still, Helios is very resilient against gun lines and his ranged attacks can help you win the piece trade.
Units: Sentinels and Invictors are two very strong choices here. Sentinels hit very hard and vengeance makes them deadly. Invictors provide 5 RAT9 re-rollable POW14 shots per turn and can survive in melee. If you decide to go the combined arms route, you can't go wrong with those units. If you have the points to spare, the souless attachment provides needed protection against spells. Another unit option is to add electromancers for anti infantry power but they don't benefit from Vyros2's veteran leader ability.
Solos: Arcanist Mechaniks are a must have here. Take 3 before anything else! Lanyssa Ryssyl can provide better threat ranges and focus utilization with hunter's mark. The artificer brings an additional protection against guns and can drive effectively Hydras. The magister is useful to get better threat ranges if you cannot take Lanyssa. The Soulless Voidtracer helps against control casters, often useful.
Theme Force : Forges of War
The theme force offers shield guard to the battlegroup, free solos and synergy up at the start of the game. However, it severely limits options : goodbye sentinels, invictors, Discordia, Sphinx, Lanyssa... If you don't take units, the feat is also less useful. I am undecided at the moment if the theme force is the best choice or not. Let's say that both options have merits!
Sample lists (75pts):
Combined arms with sentinels
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 6 (6*8=48)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
Dawnguard Sentinels (18)
+ Attachment (4)
This list provides a strong spam of Griffons, supported by Imperatus and sentinels for additional punch. Lanyssa and the feat enable to get the alpha.
****
Combined arms with invictors
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 6 (6*8=48)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
Dawnguard Invictors (16)
+ Attachment (4)
Soulless Voidtracer (2)
Sentinels swaped for Invictors + Voidtracer. Invictors have less punch but offer more long range options and flexibility. 5 POW 14 shots per turn mean they will be taken seriously.
****
Jack spam with Discordia
Vyros2 +27
Griffon * 5 (5*8=40)
Aspis *2 (2*6=12)
Imperatus (22)
Discordia (18)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Lanyssa Ryssyl (4)
With 2 Aspis and Discordia, you should be safe from most of the gun lines. Less punch than the previous lists, but Discordia is also a nice threat to the enemy's caster
****
Theme force with Helios
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Helios (34)
Griffon * 5 (5*8 = 40)
Imperatus (22)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Magister (0)
1 Colossus + Imperatus + 5 Griffons all with shield guard will not make your opponent laugh. The artificer provides additional range protection and the magister helps with threat ranges. Having Helios means you need to dedicate resources to protect it. With only 14 models on the table, it can be sometimes scary!
****
Theme force with Manticores
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Griffon * 6 (6*8 = 48)
Imperatus (22)
Manticore * 2 (2*14=28)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Manticores have a nice gun to control infantry, something a jack spam is struggling with due to low volume of attacks. 6 lights and 3 heavies put a lot of boxes on the table
****
Theme force with Griffon spam and Phoenix
Vyros2 +27
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (0)
Griffon * 7 (7 *8 = 56)
Imperatus (22)
Phoenix (18)
Arcanist Mechaniks * 3 (3*2=6)
Artificer (0)
Magister (0)
The Phoenix helps to control infantry and clear charge lanes for the griffons. The arc node gives the opportunity to cast "lock the target" without putting Vyros2 in danger.
Other sources on the web:
Ghost dice in depth dojo
Tin elves dojo
Battle college
