Post by steeltitan on Apr 20, 2019 8:21:31 GMT
What do you think about Malakov in HoD?
I've been mulling it over in my head and try to find synergies or combinations that Infernals benefit from and I'm keen to see what you've been thinking about.
Just some random thoughts I've been having:
* Malakov's defensive stats are pretty terrible. With a control range of 12" and 5" battle plans, he's not a very good backline caster. You can up his survivability by dropping Veil of Mists on himself and using Sneak to give him prowl/stealth but you're not supporting your army at that point, so I don't see that as a valid strategy. Malakov has Sucker so here we can use Cultists as a way to keep Malakov alive. Winter Guard Infantry, however, are cheaper (10 models for 10 points). If you're planning on using Regna, there might still be some use case to pay a few more points for Cultists. Or you park a Wretch next to Malakov to give him stealth.
* With a low focus stat of 6 and three upkeeps andno caster attachment to help with the upkeeps (edit: you can take the Adjunct in theme as well, which also gives you Guidance), you probably don't want to run a big BG with him. Because of this, I'm thinking that a colossal might be a good pick for him, especially because of Open Fire. A colossal that can shoot twice per turn is a much better investment. It also adds a high ARM and high POW model to the squishy Infernal units. +2 movement (Escort) on a colossal is also pretty sweet and a huge base is also a nice place to hide behind, for Malakov. I'm not sure of Victor vs Conquest...
* Malakov's feat works well with multi-wound models (single wound models don't benefit from the first part of this feat because they die before they get to make the move) and we've got Howlers. This means that Malakov can feat and once the Howlers suffer any damage in the enemy's turn (let's hope they survive but 8 boxes and potentially ARM 19 because of Regna's Deceleration), they get to make a full advance, followed by Vengeance during your following turn. That's an 8" out of activation movement on a unit with Beserk. Seems sweet! You can even give them repo 3" if you want to dig even deeper. Another nice thing is that once the Howlers made their Vengeance move and attack, already being deep in enemy lines, you can move up Malakov and cast Veil of Mists on them (12") so they can move through enemy models, setting up for an assassination (or so I hope because Malakov will likely be dead the next turn).
The big question is obviously if you can deliver them properly. Sneak and Veil of Mists to trigger Stealth is cute but Guidance and similar effects will ruin your day. I'm not very familiar with Infernal delivery tech but in Khador it generally comes from your caster and there's not much there. Target saturation might be the way to do it and in addition to taking two units of Howlers, you could run two units of Doom Reavers (I don't think one will do the job). They advance deploy and are faster than Howlers and have to be dealt with to not wreck enemy lines. Besides, they add to the whole Berserk theme I seem to have going on.
Running two units of DRs means however that you're out of Khador unit choices, so in goes a unit of cultists to Sucker to for Malakov.
* Regna seems to be a staple in Infernal lists and Deceleration makes Howlers a lot tougher. You know what's fun on already tough Khador models? An ARM buff! MoW Shocktroopers are ARM17, 19 with Decel and 23 in Shield Wall. Assuming a first turn run (10" with the Kovnik) and second turn Shield Wall and Repo 3" puts them at 26" or 29" line, depending if you went first or second. Scenario presence yo!
* While Umbral Guardians can help shield your forward troops from the worst of the shooting, Kapitan Sofya Skirova's most important abilities don't require the Iron Fang keyword so she can shield guard and inhuman resolve all day.
Anyway, these are some of the more spontaneous thoughts I had. I still have to read up on the lesser/light beasts Regna can bring to see if she's worth including beyond being a Decel bot and how all the Infernal solos synergize with Khador. Also, I'm probably missing what other Khador units/solos can add to the army.
I've been mulling it over in my head and try to find synergies or combinations that Infernals benefit from and I'm keen to see what you've been thinking about.
Just some random thoughts I've been having:
* Malakov's defensive stats are pretty terrible. With a control range of 12" and 5" battle plans, he's not a very good backline caster. You can up his survivability by dropping Veil of Mists on himself and using Sneak to give him prowl/stealth but you're not supporting your army at that point, so I don't see that as a valid strategy. Malakov has Sucker so here we can use Cultists as a way to keep Malakov alive. Winter Guard Infantry, however, are cheaper (10 models for 10 points). If you're planning on using Regna, there might still be some use case to pay a few more points for Cultists. Or you park a Wretch next to Malakov to give him stealth.
* With a low focus stat of 6 and three upkeeps and
* Malakov's feat works well with multi-wound models (single wound models don't benefit from the first part of this feat because they die before they get to make the move) and we've got Howlers. This means that Malakov can feat and once the Howlers suffer any damage in the enemy's turn (let's hope they survive but 8 boxes and potentially ARM 19 because of Regna's Deceleration), they get to make a full advance, followed by Vengeance during your following turn. That's an 8" out of activation movement on a unit with Beserk. Seems sweet! You can even give them repo 3" if you want to dig even deeper. Another nice thing is that once the Howlers made their Vengeance move and attack, already being deep in enemy lines, you can move up Malakov and cast Veil of Mists on them (12") so they can move through enemy models, setting up for an assassination (or so I hope because Malakov will likely be dead the next turn).
The big question is obviously if you can deliver them properly. Sneak and Veil of Mists to trigger Stealth is cute but Guidance and similar effects will ruin your day. I'm not very familiar with Infernal delivery tech but in Khador it generally comes from your caster and there's not much there. Target saturation might be the way to do it and in addition to taking two units of Howlers, you could run two units of Doom Reavers (I don't think one will do the job). They advance deploy and are faster than Howlers and have to be dealt with to not wreck enemy lines. Besides, they add to the whole Berserk theme I seem to have going on.
Running two units of DRs means however that you're out of Khador unit choices, so in goes a unit of cultists to Sucker to for Malakov.
* Regna seems to be a staple in Infernal lists and Deceleration makes Howlers a lot tougher. You know what's fun on already tough Khador models? An ARM buff! MoW Shocktroopers are ARM17, 19 with Decel and 23 in Shield Wall. Assuming a first turn run (10" with the Kovnik) and second turn Shield Wall and Repo 3" puts them at 26" or 29" line, depending if you went first or second. Scenario presence yo!
* While Umbral Guardians can help shield your forward troops from the worst of the shooting, Kapitan Sofya Skirova's most important abilities don't require the Iron Fang keyword so she can shield guard and inhuman resolve all day.
Anyway, these are some of the more spontaneous thoughts I had. I still have to read up on the lesser/light beasts Regna can bring to see if she's worth including beyond being a Decel bot and how all the Infernal solos synergize with Khador. Also, I'm probably missing what other Khador units/solos can add to the army.