Alrighty, so just as I wrap up my Helga2 mono-list, we get another new Warlock for pigs for me to try out. Like Helga, the initial rules on Azazello leave a little to be desired. His Feat really makes me want to just run a lot of Archons and Valkyries, since the Primal Archon has the best Riposte in Minions and the Arm buff aspect of his Feat favours multi-wound infantry and there just aren't any in Thornfall Alliance. After a bit of tweaking, I ended up with this:
Azazello (for the battle report below, I used Helga as a proxy)
-Road Hog
-Battle Boar
-Razor Boars
Valkyries (the purple unit will be Azazello's Henchmen)
Valkyries
Valkyries
Void Archon
Void Archon
Primal Archon
Primal Archon
Dhunian Archon
Dhunian Archon
J.A.I.M.s
Hermit of Henge Hold
Boomhowler Solo Artist
Croak Hunter
Croak Hunter
Croak Hunter
I initially had a Bone Shrine and Soul Slave in there, but ultimately decided that Azazello's spell list just... doesn't have very much that he wants to cast or do turn to turn, so there seemed little need for Fury support. That could be partly a self-fulfilling prophecy, but by and large Distraction only seems particularly relevant in a relatively small subset of match-ups, and while Azazello isn't bad at mixing it up in melee he only really has a big impact in particularly optimal situations (if he can get into two heavies side by side on his Feat turn with at least one other damage buff in play, ideally). I went with a third unit of Valkyries instead just for a bit more presence on the table.
My opponent was playing Skorne, and decided to plump for Makeda3. That was some good news and some bad news. Azazello has no hit fixing (sort of, his Henchmen Valkyries can reroll attack rolls and Storm Rager allows precisely one model to get +2 to hit), so even though my list was basically all Mat 8 or better under the right circumstances I did feel that I would struggle against the brick. Incite also meant that my Feat couldn't be relied upon to give me too much additional staying power. On the plus side though, Primal Archons did kind of give me a way to lock Makeda down and prevent her from overtaking through too much of the list, and the fact that her list mostly capped out at 11" linear threat ranges meant that Azazello's total lack of threat range increases wasn't going to give my opponent total control of the board. His list was the following:
Makeda and the Exalted Court
-Archidon
-Blackhide Wrastler
-Basilisk Drake
-Basilisk Krea
-Bone Swarm
-Bone Swarm
-Cyclops Brute
-Cyclops Brute
-Cyclops Brute
-Agoniser
-Terroriser
Min Paingiver Beasthandlers
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew
Boil Master and Spirit Cauldron
Hermit of Henge Hold
Void Archon
Paingiver Taskmaster
Deployment
I won the starting roll and took first, which was probably a mistake. We were both playing slow threat range lists, going second would give me the first and last chance at scoring and kinda force my opponent to come to me. I deployed Azazello and his Road Hog centre-right, with a Razor Boar on the left for the zone there. My Henchmen Valkyries went in the centre. I deployed a unit of Valkyires with a Void and Primal Archon on each flank and kept the Dhunians in the centre.
My opponent had his Basilisks and the Wrastler on the left, the Void Archon, two Brutes, and Archidon on the right, with Makeda and a Brute taking the centre and a Bone Swarm on either flank.
I forgot to take a picture of deployment. This was my first game on War Table, so between learning a new system and a new Warlock I struggled to remember to take pictures.
My objective was a Fuel Cache, his was an Observatory. J.A.I.M.s picked the Wrastler as her Prey target.
Pigs Turn 1
Azazello placed Storm Rager on the right-flank Primal Archon, then used Wind Rush and walked as far forward as he could get and still keep his Warbeasts in control. Everything else ran, the Croak Hunter on the right not going too far forward in a concession to the presence of the Void Archon.
Picture taken just after my opponent started his turn.
Skorne Turn 1
The Basilisk Drake activated and walked up to spray the central Croak Hunter. I blocked the damage roll with a Dhunian Archon. Makeda cast Bulwark and advanced. Most of the Warbeasts then charged forward to avoid generating Fury. A few ran, the Krea used Force Aura, and the Beast Handlers removed some Fury.
I forgot to take a picture.
Pigs Turn 2
I basically just shuffled models around. It dawned on me that Primal Archons were probably better if they were close enough to support one another, so I belatedly ran my left flank one over to the right flank. Other than that Azazello just upkept Storm Rager and vibrated on the spot while I made sure I had my flag ready to score and both zones contested. I took some pot shots with the Croak Hunters but they all missed.
Again, picture taken after my opponent had started to move his models up on the left.
Skorne Turn 2
Makeda upkept Bulwark. Her unit did a Press Forward order to let a Guardian run up to contest my flag. Makeda herself just charged into the wall. My opponent formed up into a brick in the zone on the left, and set up the Archidon and a Brute behind the wall on the right.
I forgot to take a picture.
My opponent scored his flag, making the score 0-1 in his favour.
Pigs Turn 3
I shuffled my models around, not confident that I could walk into Makeda's threat ranges and have enough models alive afterwards to counter-punch. I ran a Razor Boar on the left forward to contest my opponent's flag. My Road Hog killed the Guardian on the right, getting an assault spray that tagged the Hermit and knocked a health off of him, and then sprinted back to stand next to the objective. Azazello upkept Storm Rager and cast Wind Rush to ditch some Fury.
I scored my flag, bringing the score up to 1-1.
Skorne Turn 3
My opponent decided to make things a bit more interesting. A Cyclops Brute charged my Razor Boar and nearly killed it. Makeda charged in and finished it off. Everything else on the left swung forward to brick up behind her. The Krea used Force Aura. The Hermit ran forward to contest my flag. The Wrastler and Archidon hung back a bit to avoid the threat ranges of my Road Hog. His decision to Enrage his Brute meant that he wasn't able to take Fury off with his Handlers this turn, and with Makeda camping three he would certainly have issues next turn. By this point both Bone Swarms were fully loaded on corpses thanks to the Cauldron.
My opponent scored his flag, putting the score at 1-2 in his favour.
Pigs Turn 4
I had a bit of an assination run, basically involving a Storm Rager'd Primal Archon using Beat Back to get Makeda out of base to base with the Bone Swarm and then trampling a Road Hog up to her, plus maybe a Void Archon and some other bits and pieces. I wanted to play it out, however, and decided to do what I could on attrition. Azazello activated and Feated and moved Storm Rager onto the Primal Archon on the left. The Hermit received Repo from Boomhowler, allowing him to move up and Repo to contest the flag with his armour debuff in play. I ran a Void Archon from the right flank behind everything, engaging the Bone Swarm and Makeda. J.A.I.M.s, the Valkyries on the left, and a Croak Hunter teamed up and killed the Bone Swarm. Makeda was now no longer in Bulwark, with the Primal Archon in range and the Road Hog yet to activate, so she chose to reave the Fury to spare herself from a knockdown assassination run. I was tempted to try and attack her just to force out transfers and do some damage to the rest of her list, but ultimately decided not to give her the damage buff from Battle Driven. Instead I mostly positioned as many models as I could beyond the Hermit's 5" aura where they could still be relevant. The Road Hog took a pot shot at the Agoniser and left it on one health and on fire, and chipped some health off the objective too. I used the Razor Boar on the right and some Valkyries to knock health off the Hermit and get through his Mad Visions. That allowed the Croak Hunter on the right to kill the Hermit in melee and use the Kill Shot to fire at the Archidon. He hit and was Shield Guarded to the Brute. I think it ended up taking off about a third of the Brute's health.
I scored my flag, drawing level again at 2-2.
Skorne Turn 4
The Agoniser burned to death. The Basilisk Krea was left with a Fury on it thanks to Makeda only being able to leach one Fury. It frenzied into the Drake and did a bit of damage. Makeda activated and Feated. She turned to get the Void Archon in her front arc, which nearly cost her the game as my Primal Archon with Storm Rager Counter Charged her. Rolled a 4 to hit though, so she did not just get knocked flat on her back before getting to do anything. My opponent had meant to cast the Brute's animus on her before moving anyway, in retrospect, but it ended up not being necessary. The Guardian killed a Croak to give Makeda a Fury, its second attack was blocked by a Dhunian Archon. Makeda tried to start her turn by swinging on the Croak herself, but missed twice. I messed up and forgot that Riposte was limited to Command, not Control (I may have actually spent this game thinking it was part of the Feat too, it didn't really come up), and decided to swing back. The Croak hit the second Riposte, and with Hermit and Void Archon and Feat left Makeda on about 9 boxes. Did give her Battle Driven though, which ended up allowing her to kill the Croak, the Void Archon, and leave the Primal Archon on three health. The Primal Archon surviving meant she was incapable of sprinting away. The Brute charged in, became Shadowbound, and finished off the Archon while providing Bulwark to Makeda.
On the right flank, the Wrastler and the Warbeasts there piled in. The Wrastler killed the Road Hog with just its initials, but then tried to take a swing on a Henchmen Valkyrie and was (this time legitimately) struck by a Riposte that took about a quarter of its health off. A Brute did successfully kill one of the Henchmen however, giving Makeda a Fury to camp. The Archidon tried and failed to contribute, mostly missing the Primal Archon with its attacks. I couldn't afford to Riposte there however, since the AOE knockdown would have floored a Valkyrie and a Croak Hunter and given the Archidon a way to generate Fury for Makeda instead. The Basilisk Drake on the left sprayed J.A.I.M.s and two Valkyries. It missed one Valkyrie, the other was defended by my second Dhunian Archon, and the hit on J.A.I.M.s left her on two boxes.
Between the Wrastler killing the Road Hog, the Brute killing the Primal Archon, and the other Brute killing a Valkyrie, Makeda ended the turn on three camp.
Both flags were still contested, so the score remained at 2-2.
Pigs Turn 5
Valkyries took some Vengeance moves across the board, the most notable one being a Vengeance swing on Makeda that dropped her to six health. Boomhowler had range and line of sight to the Brute behind Makeda. Thanks to Shadow Bind it was only Def 12. Hermit activated and moved out of the way, taking two free strikes. He reduced everyone's armour by another two. Boomhowler then aimed and shot at the Brute, landing the two shots necessary to get through the Guardian's Shield Guard and push the Brute away from Makeda. He gave the blue Valkyries on the left flank Repo, so that after they went in on Makeda they would be able to clear out of the way and make landing zones for J.A.I.M.s and the Void Archon. Azazello used Wind Rush, charged Makeda, hit her Guardian with Distraction, and ate up two transfers with his attacks. The Valkyries then activated and charged, getting two complete charges and one Valkyrie in range for a Point Blank attack too. The Valkyries put Makeda down with a swing to spare.
The Riposte misplay was a weird one, since it would have left Makeda swinging on the Primal Archon without Battle Driven and that could legitimately create a situation where the Primal Archon survived the entire round. Or at least the Brute, which might have forced the Wrastler to seal the deal (although I imagine the Drake would have tried with its spray first). Either way, the board position could have looked quite different at the end.
Nevertheless, I was very surprised at how durable the list felt. It's a rare experience, as a pig player, I'm normally resigned to just dying whenever someone commits to trying to kill some models. That aspect felt great, Makeda is no slouch, but even with the Hermit's armour debuff in play those Archons slowed her down.
The downside is that I never felt in control of the game. As my opponent pointed out afterwards, he could have played the boring version of the game and never come forward and eventually won bottom of seven, so the onus was on me to sacrifice models. And with how resilient his list was and how important my Feat was offensively, I couldn't afford to try and jam and Feat defensively and I really couldn't afford to feed him many models just to get him to commit to melee. Azazello having no threat range pressure from his army, no way to buff shooting, and no big defensive swing without burning his one big offensive swing leaves him at the mercy of nearly every list in the game I feel, since most will out threat him without even trying. Makeda is notoriously linear in her threats, so this is arguably one of the better match-ups in that regard, and I was still obliged to go to my opponent. Taking second might have helped, but he is also a hair faster than I am.
Anyway, I have a few other Azazello lists to try out, so we'll see how my thoughts evolve. My first big thought, to be honest, is that the only way to actual put pressure on an opponent early game is to leverage Azazello's personal threat, so I might need to try playing him close to the front lines.