Q&A with Mr Walrus (for the benefit of a warmahordes newb)

Heya

Mr Walrus:howdy

So, as a newbie I think it’d be handy to know what I should look out for, what I should avoid, and how I should approach the different factions in the game. Ive barely read the fluff, and I have one fluke win. Lets save the best of last and you can give up the anti-khador secrets at the end, but what’s your advice? How should I think when I sit down and see ‘x’ across from me?

Mr Walrus do you mean like, how to approach each faction? or do you mean how to approach different types of armies in general?

Well Mr walrus, thats an even better place to start. I’m well aware that there are different factions and two schools of combat in warmahordes. But I’ve only briefly heard mention of the different ‘types’ or armies. How would I tell one apart from another? and why should I?

Mr Walrus Well, when it comes to army lists, and the different types, I’ve only experience 3 types, the assassination list, the attrition list, and the control list.

Fantastic, wanna briefly go over them?

Mr Walrus Sure! So the assassination list ofte is centered around a fast army that can deliver a devastating blow to an enemy warcaster in a single turn. When it comes down to it, every type of scenario, no matter the special rules of objectives, all have the same ‘alternative’ win condition. kill the enemy caster, and you win.

Is that true of every scenario? Is there ever a time when you can go on with a dead caster?

Mr Walrus All of them, league,  tournament, event, everything. if you have no casters, you lose. I guess in a multi-caster game you’d be able to until they’re all dead, but that’s it

So an assassination list uses that. They often use their feat offensively for one turn of wonder. and that turn they hit hard and fast. Often using upkeep spells or multiple attacks or movement shenanigans

As a newbie, if I sat down, how could I get a hint that the other player is using this time of list in the first few turns, and what should my reaction be?

Mr Walrus As you get more experienced, certain casters do lean towards the assassination run, but past that, it’s a good idea to see how they move. Who are they rushing forwards? Who’s being kept in reserve? Are they tarpitting your units or opening up charge lanes with pushing and throwing? Do they have one heavy damage dealer making a beeline for you? Are they screening their caster (if he’s the assassin) as they approach? Assassination lists rely on getting their assassin to you alive and intact enough to wail on you. If they popped their feat, it’s because they are about to start the run and then it’s likely too late to try avoiding it. A good reaction to assassination runs are screening units (models with bases equal to or bigger than the model behind them), control areas (especially cloud effects, which block LOS; if model a is on one side and model b is on the opposite, model a cannot charge, shoot or target model b, and vice versa)

Right on, in your faction, what would this look like, and how would you pull it off?

Mr Walrus For me, an assassination list is one where I have a chance to boost my speed and attack rolls. Khador has a low base SPD score, and middling MAT, but they hit like trucks. Fortunately, many of our casters have one ability or another to improve their accuracy or charge distance. Things like Sorscha’s feat, which makes foes in her control area and in los stationary for a round (auto-hits for melee and DEF 5 for ranged), or Butcher’s Full Throttle spell (auto-boost attack rolls) are fantastic for this. Our warjacks are often durable enough to get to the enemy, but our weakness is getting there in a single activation.

I do my best to remove the enemy screening units, either by throwing them with a kodiak, or locking them in melee, then when I’ve got a clear charge lane, in goes the assassin. Pathfinder is a must for this, the last thing you need is a  wall in your way halving your charge range.

If I’m going an assassination list, I go with a warcaster that can either hit hard or get his guys to hit hard. I bring a heavy-hitter warjack as the assassin (focusing on mobility and multiple attacks), and supporters to clear the path. I get as close as I can, thin out the enemy ranks or knock their screening units aside, and charge right for the heart, usually after fully-loading the warjack with 3 focus and popping my feat. Warcasters never have more than 18 armor, and the average is 16. A heavy warjack with 4 attacks of an P+S 18 weapon makes short work of that, especially on a good feat turn. I hope that answers your question.

So if I expect that a run is about to be made, its a good idea to bank my focus?

Mr Walrus Definitely, raise your ARM, put as much between myself and your caster as possible, be it screening units, cloud effects, or area-denial spells. Make it so the focus I spend getting there is too much to adequately knock you out. Hell, even running a ‘jack up to me and throwing my assassin in the opposite direction of your ‘caster is a huge deal. That’s potentially an additional 6” I’d have to charge, tough going for an army where our ‘jacks are SPD 4.

You mentioned earlier, that you were playing against a cryx army. Was that an assassination style list as well?

Mr Walrus Well, at that time, I was basically playing every unit (beyond 2) in my list for the first time, getting a feel for them. His army was more of an attrition list, withstand my attacks and wear me down, robbing me of my momentum. When I saw the way it was flowing, I realized I had some good units to control where and when he was advancing, and cleared myself a path of attack. It wasn’t planned, but when I saw his caster behind a wall, I rushed to clear the 3 remaining Bane Thralls around Torch, popped Butcher1’s feat (granting an additional die of damage for each attack that turn), and charged. Torch get’s Pathfinder on the charge, and my opponent had not realized how close he was to me. It wasn’t my most thought-out plan, but it’s an example of an assassination run. Any turn that revolves around a do-or-die plan, popping your feat and sending a wrecking ball at their caster is an assassination run, it just depends on whether or not your list is built around it.

If I had swapped your table sides the turn before that run, how would you have acted differently?

Mr Walrus Do you mean if I were playing cryx?

Indeed, and you knew what was coming given your experience with khador

Mr Walrus Honestly, by that point, he had very very few units left. I think a solid option would have been to rush in my warjack, which he still had in reserve, or place it between my caster and his warjack. he can’t charge my with a warjack in the way, and even if it is a sacrificial pawn (not the rule :P) I would have had the chance to pop my feat, grab some soul tokens, and grab my own run. His infantry had largely been wiped out by then though, so his options were limited.

So you out-attritioned the attrition list, is that a common thing?

Mr Walrus That’s the thing with attrition lists. They rely on outlasting you, usually by boosting their defences somehow. However, direct, concentrated, and heavy firepower can break through those lists. and they need to be able to hit back, and not rely on one or two units surviving. I wouldn’t say I out-attritioned him, I hadn’t exactly made my list with a role in mind, but I hit hard, I hit fast, and took out one unit at a time, as opposed to spreading myself out. You cannot spread your firepower on an attrition list, they’re too durable for that.

Alright, that's informative. How about that last style you mentioned, the control list? I imagine thats allot of the janky smoke effects you were talking about earlier? Or does things like dominate usually come into consideration?

Mr Walrus Control lists generally consist of ‘you go where i choose for you to go’. Whether it be cloud effect, creating rough terrain (which halves speed), making a threat radius (usually with a powerful ranged unit or warjack) that would be too dangerous to enter… things like that. They’re susceptible to units that ignore terrain, los-blocking effects, or are durable enough to survive the threat radius.

Are these types of lists combined, or does competitiveness depend on focusing on a particular goal?

Mr Walrus I haven’t partaken in much competitive play to say, really, but I’ve always been big on combining attrition with assassination. I like being able to take the hits and then take them out in one blow.

From what I’ve seen though, many tournament players focus their lists on very specific goals, knowing exactly how each unit fits in the plan and understanding their synergy. Synergy between units is massive in this game. Knowing your plan is halfway to winning, even if you don’t have one of the lists above, if you know how you plan to advance, where you want to hit and with what

Do any particular factions favor one style or another? If I sit across from a menoth player for example, can I safely assume I should play as if I were going to be targeted by ‘x’ style of attack?

Mr Walrus See, that’s one of the best parts of this game. Factions don’t define your tactics as much as your warcaster does. Each warcaster has vastly different synergies and playstyles, and so facing, say, the Old Witch of Khador is more likely to mean you face a control list, than a Butcher list. The factions do have an effect, khador has good attrition, menoth and cryx have great control lists (via buffs, debuffs or area-denial), and I’ve seen great cygnar lists from all types. I would still say the caster has a bigger role than the faction though.

So I’m bound to lose games till I can get a feel for the casters I encounter....

Mr Walrus It is a learning curve. It’s also why you should always ask to see the opponent’s stat and spell cards during the game. Warmahordes is a ‘free-info’ game, no secrets. You can often tell what a warcaster is capable of from his spells, his feat, and his stats. Of what he’s capable of taking on

I absolutely know what you mean. In three consecutive games I feated and forgot to use half of the benefits granted by it. I’ve half a mind to make a ‘checklist’ of things to do on my turns.... Any mistakes you made when you were learning you think I’d benefit from watching out for?

Mr Walrus Keep an eye of the focus allocation phase. It will set the stage for your entire turn, and it’s very important to know what you plan to do. Warcasters can’t move their focus around during the turn (usually), so knowing what you plan to charge and what you want to cast is ideal.

Also be aware of control area, it’s the one thing you are allowed to pre-measure and a good way to guesstimate ranges.

That's been plenty helpful Mr walrus, thanks :) Now, Since we haven’t played yet, how do I crush you?

Mr Walrus Ha! It honestly depends on what I field, I’m still getting a feel for my current list, but I like where it’s going.  Honestly, I’d say concentrated fire and divide and conquer is a good move. Anything to move my guys out of the way our stop them from screening me. A khador turtle-shell is (almost) impenetrable. You want to open that shell up. You’ll also likely outnumber me. Khador has no light warjacks, and lots of elite units, we are a small and elite army

Last game I played was against khador and I had dudes in my face mad fast Jacks in the middle, heavy infantry to the sides (with scurry lookin’ hammers) and casters behind; I had half a mind to move backwards to force him to chase around some of his own units, but I remembered reading that the game rewards aggression so I didn’t, was that the right call, or is ‘grow a pair’ just a marketing ploy for the game?

Mr Walrus Khador does have the ability to move far more than their SPD 4 would suggest, which can be really shocking.

But in this game? Aggression is honestly how to play. You can kite me all you want, but a swift advance is never a one-off move, and he would have gotten to you the next turn. In moments like that, slowing them down (with control), or whittling them down a bit is a good move. Even the ranged armies only use their ranged weapons to weaken the foes before charging into them.

He definitely had a strong offensive from what you tell me, but turtling up is a dangerous tactics. Hitting him hard first, stealing the charge (and the auto-boosting damage rolls) is a very solid, and recommended tactic, but it depends on the list.

Now I feel less bad, and slightly confused. Much love :D

Mr Walrus Hope I helped, and I look forward to seeing you across the table! Maybe then I can clarify what I mean a bit better. But until then, I gotta go, got things to do, and places to sleep.

Tata walrus!