Post by subversive on Mar 22, 2017 19:59:44 GMT
Ported from the old PP Circle Forum:
With the errata changing some things (some for the better and others for the worse), the Woldwyrd really stood out to me as something that needed some table time. Since I was utilizing eKrueger quite heavily at the time I figured I would add a pair in and see how they fared. I wasn’t disappointed with the results. A brief analysis of some key features:
SPD 7, RAT 6, DEF 13, ARM 16, 22 boxes
Rng 10, POW 12, RoF3 *Magical*
Steady
Construct
Pathfinder
Gunfighter
Witch Hunter
Purgation
Animus: Arcane Suppression
On first glance they look reasonably solid. A bit squishy perhaps (and they are) but their gun is decent and they are pretty fast. A POW 12 gun at RoF 3 is decent into most infantry but they also have some cool abilities to punish spellcasting (please note this includes animi) with their animus and Purgation. And let's not forget that it's a magical gun which adds some additional utility in certain match-ups.
*Before I get to the meat of this summary be aware that if you are running a pair you probably want a Pureblood also. Ignoring the DEF/ARM bonus of an upkeep while maintaining the Purgation bonus is phenomenal.
I’ll start with Purgation as it really is a defining feature. In short it’s amazing! Wonder what happens to a Stormwall when it has Arcane Shield up and a pair of these start shooting when Wraithbane is up? It loses over half of it’s boxes. Anecdotal evidence is not always reliable but I feel it’s worth mentioning to help prove a point. I have had a pair take a Khador heavy to 5 boxes (though the follow up shooting from a Woldwrath and 2 Purebloods was atrocious and he lived another turn). I have assassinated many a Warcaster/Warlock who put a defensive upkeep on themselves. I have had a single Wyrd remove 3 Cavalry in a single turn and in another instance a Wyrd took out a CoC heavy single handedly! While the dice obviously play a part, the actual threat of what they can do forces an opponent to play differently (usually meaning without their upkeeps or animi in play). So while they have the potential to hit WAY above their weight class, that's not actually the most important part, it's the threat of what they can achieve which makes them so devastating to your opponent's well laid plan (though their damage output is pretty insane).
Now with the above said there are some things to remember. While their defensive stats are ok, they are still light Warbeasts with relatively few boxes and since they are constructs it’s a little harder to heal them than with conventional living Warbeasts. Any concerted effort will bring them down (or simply remove an aspect which is just as bad) and a savvy opponent can probably play a turn or 2 without their upkeeps and only apply them on a turn where they expect to remove the Woldwyrds from the table. I’ve run them with pBaldur, eKrueger and Tanith thus far and found eKrueger to be the most suitable home. He can protect them from retaliation with TK, Windstorm and the Feat while also helping deliver them to where they need to be. Other Warlocks have different things to offer, but I feel eKrueger offers them a hell of a lot.
Pathfinder is pretty standard for our constructs, but Steady is a nice bonus. He’s going to be DEF 13 most of the time and that *might* save him from some attacks, but if anyone is serious about removing him it won’t be difficult without some support from other models.
Gunfighter is another little piece of tech if an opponent tries to simply jam them up. Since they have no melee weapons it’s nice to be able to fight back with something! Of course this probably means they aren’t shooting at their intended target, but overall Circle has a lot of access to sprays which can help clear out light infantry, and if the jam is with cavalry I wouldn’t consider those gunfighter shots wasted.
Witch Hunter and Arcane Suppression both look really handy on the card, but in all honesty I haven’t had them come up yet. With regards to Arcane Suppression I suppose if they survive to the late game and are able to get into a threatening position on a Warlock/Warcaster without being in retaliation range themselves it could be useful, though my experience shows they die before that happens. I’d much rather use their Fury for boosting rolls and baiting in a heavy to come and deal with them so my own heavies start trading upwards (and again, with someone like eKreuger you just keep forcing uneven trades). And with Witch Hunter I have never had an opponent cast a spell in such a position that I could shoot them while doing so – Arc nodes, LoS denial and distance make it very hard to pull off. I would be very interested if someone was able to get some use out of it and prove me wrong!
Since most of my experience with them is with eKreuger I’m sure my view of their abilities is colored somewhat. I wasn’t actually impressed by them with Tanith (though 1 had a decent role as a great solo hunter) but with Baldur they were solid. Next week I’ll be testing a pair with Wurmwood and see how they fare there. Feat, CoS, Stranglehold and Forest Growth *should* help them keep shooting while punching a little harder than usual. I'll do my best to report back next week!
SPD 7, RAT 6, DEF 13, ARM 16, 22 boxes
Rng 10, POW 12, RoF3 *Magical*
Steady
Construct
Pathfinder
Gunfighter
Witch Hunter
Purgation
Animus: Arcane Suppression
On first glance they look reasonably solid. A bit squishy perhaps (and they are) but their gun is decent and they are pretty fast. A POW 12 gun at RoF 3 is decent into most infantry but they also have some cool abilities to punish spellcasting (please note this includes animi) with their animus and Purgation. And let's not forget that it's a magical gun which adds some additional utility in certain match-ups.
*Before I get to the meat of this summary be aware that if you are running a pair you probably want a Pureblood also. Ignoring the DEF/ARM bonus of an upkeep while maintaining the Purgation bonus is phenomenal.
I’ll start with Purgation as it really is a defining feature. In short it’s amazing! Wonder what happens to a Stormwall when it has Arcane Shield up and a pair of these start shooting when Wraithbane is up? It loses over half of it’s boxes. Anecdotal evidence is not always reliable but I feel it’s worth mentioning to help prove a point. I have had a pair take a Khador heavy to 5 boxes (though the follow up shooting from a Woldwrath and 2 Purebloods was atrocious and he lived another turn). I have assassinated many a Warcaster/Warlock who put a defensive upkeep on themselves. I have had a single Wyrd remove 3 Cavalry in a single turn and in another instance a Wyrd took out a CoC heavy single handedly! While the dice obviously play a part, the actual threat of what they can do forces an opponent to play differently (usually meaning without their upkeeps or animi in play). So while they have the potential to hit WAY above their weight class, that's not actually the most important part, it's the threat of what they can achieve which makes them so devastating to your opponent's well laid plan (though their damage output is pretty insane).
Now with the above said there are some things to remember. While their defensive stats are ok, they are still light Warbeasts with relatively few boxes and since they are constructs it’s a little harder to heal them than with conventional living Warbeasts. Any concerted effort will bring them down (or simply remove an aspect which is just as bad) and a savvy opponent can probably play a turn or 2 without their upkeeps and only apply them on a turn where they expect to remove the Woldwyrds from the table. I’ve run them with pBaldur, eKrueger and Tanith thus far and found eKrueger to be the most suitable home. He can protect them from retaliation with TK, Windstorm and the Feat while also helping deliver them to where they need to be. Other Warlocks have different things to offer, but I feel eKrueger offers them a hell of a lot.
Pathfinder is pretty standard for our constructs, but Steady is a nice bonus. He’s going to be DEF 13 most of the time and that *might* save him from some attacks, but if anyone is serious about removing him it won’t be difficult without some support from other models.
Gunfighter is another little piece of tech if an opponent tries to simply jam them up. Since they have no melee weapons it’s nice to be able to fight back with something! Of course this probably means they aren’t shooting at their intended target, but overall Circle has a lot of access to sprays which can help clear out light infantry, and if the jam is with cavalry I wouldn’t consider those gunfighter shots wasted.
Witch Hunter and Arcane Suppression both look really handy on the card, but in all honesty I haven’t had them come up yet. With regards to Arcane Suppression I suppose if they survive to the late game and are able to get into a threatening position on a Warlock/Warcaster without being in retaliation range themselves it could be useful, though my experience shows they die before that happens. I’d much rather use their Fury for boosting rolls and baiting in a heavy to come and deal with them so my own heavies start trading upwards (and again, with someone like eKreuger you just keep forcing uneven trades). And with Witch Hunter I have never had an opponent cast a spell in such a position that I could shoot them while doing so – Arc nodes, LoS denial and distance make it very hard to pull off. I would be very interested if someone was able to get some use out of it and prove me wrong!
Since most of my experience with them is with eKreuger I’m sure my view of their abilities is colored somewhat. I wasn’t actually impressed by them with Tanith (though 1 had a decent role as a great solo hunter) but with Baldur they were solid. Next week I’ll be testing a pair with Wurmwood and see how they fare there. Feat, CoS, Stranglehold and Forest Growth *should* help them keep shooting while punching a little harder than usual. I'll do my best to report back next week!