35 pts Xerxis sooty army

[HannibalTheGreat]

Hi all,

I´ve run the following list several times:

Tyrant Xerxis -5
Titan Cannoneer 9
Titan Cannoneer 9
Venator Reivers (10/10) 9
Extoller Soulward 2
Tyrant Rhadeim 5
Paingiver Beast Handlers (6/6) 3
Totem Hunter 3

Things I didn´t like regarding this list / problems I faced:
- the full unit Venator Reavers is rather hard to position or move if you spread them out to avoid to much damage by blasts or in melee; in addition if spead out, often some members aren´t in range, therefore you loose some shots
- Xerxis small ctrl area and his spell Inhospital Ground seek for rather tightly packed troops, but with the Reavers you´ll then face the above named problems
- the Totem Hunter is a nice peace of Solo, but I miss the possibility to boost the attack roll

Well, in this thread (http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?28772-Tactica-Venator-Reivers) Pink Foam gives me an insight in the possibility of fielding a "mixed unit" of Venators / Karax. Basically it´s composed of one rank of shieldwalling Karax and a second rank of Venators. I like that idea, because it allows for a tightly packed, rather resilent "unit", which loose some shots, but gains better melee capabilities, at least under Xerxis feat. A min unit of each Karax and Venatos cost as much as a full unit of Venators => easy to change.

I own that new toy called Razorworm which might be suitable replacement for the Totem Hunter, at least one that should be tested.
Sure, the Razorworm has to be within Xerxis ctrl area and isn´t as mobile as the Totem Hunter, but its attacks (of which it can get additional ones) are boostable and the Razorworm is subject to Xerxis feat, too. With feat, Fury and Enrage, the Razorworm has P+S 17+3d6 without boosting, which is nice to have. Unfortunately it is 1 pt higher than the Totem Hunter, meaning I have to drop 2 Beasthandlers.

with these changes the list looks like

Tyrant Xerxis -5
Titan Cannoneer 9
Titan Cannoneer 9
Razorworm 4
Venator Reivers (6/10) 5
Praetorian Karax (6/10) 4
Extoller Soulward 2
Tyrant Rhadeim 5
Paingiver Beast Handlers (4/6) 2

What do you think?

HTG

[LiamPiver]

Hannibal, I have a couple of questions for you. You've got the Razor Wurm and Rhadiem in the army build. Now they both do about the same thing. Are you planning on running them up on opposite flanks? Is the Soulward in there just to give Guidance to a Cannoneer? I am just a little confused by the build. You have beasts that work well against groups of clumped infantry in the Cannoneers, and the Razor Wurm is a solo hunter who's animus is not useful in this build. Rhadiem has a lot of damage potential with AP and Fury on him but it looks like you'll be depending on him and a CRA shot from the Venators (PS 18 against heavies) to take out jacks/beasts. The soulward is also a power house against beast (looking at you MULG) but much less useful vs Warmachine (my normal meta so she doesn't see much play). The karax are just going to be your tarpit and to let the venators fire through them with Martial Discipline. With Xerxis they can march 7 inches in Shield wall and with ARM 20 thanks to Defenders Ward. I guess my big question is what is your meta? That should give me a better insight to this army build because as of now, I just don't see it working well.

Oh and what issues are you having with the Totem Hunter? Against his prey, he's MAT 10, PS 16 and 13. that's hiting more accurately than the Wurm on average and almost as hard. They both have sprint and essentially eyeless sight but the TH is faster and can get to places quicker with Jump and has stealth.

[HannibalTheGreat]

You've got the Razor Wurm and Rhadiem in the army build. Now they both do about the same thing. Are you planning on running them up on opposite flanks? Razorworm I´ve not played yet, therefore I can´t comment on it. Rhadeim was used as kind of counterattack piece or as a flanker, if needs arise.


Is the Soulward in there just to give Guidance to a Cannoneer? Yes, that´s pretty much is it.


Rhadiem has a lot of damage potential with AP and Fury on him but it looks like you'll be depending on him and a CRA shot from the Venators (PS 18 against heavies) to take out jacks/beasts. Well, my experience tells me that Cannoneers are pretty sweet against jacks/beasts, especially with enrage and under Xerxis feat. Their POW 15 shot is nothing to sneeze at, too. In fact, this list is better against jacks than against troops!


The karax are just going to be your tarpit and to let the venators fire through them with Martial Discipline. With Xerxis they can march 7 inches in Shield wall and with ARM 20 thanks to Defenders Ward. [...]
Oh and what issues are you having with the Totem Hunter? Against his prey, he's MAT 10, PS 16 and 13. that's hiting more accurately than the Wurm on average and almost as hard. They both have sprint and essentially eyeless sight but the TH is faster and can get to places quicker with Jump and has stealth. After writing the initial post I had a second look at the final test pdf and noticed that Immortals can be a good replacement for the Karax. Martial Discipline lets the Karax shoot through the Immortals just as well. But I think that the best buy here is a min unit of Cetrati, though I don´t like the models.
Mmhh, regarding the Totem Hunter: maybe I didn´t use him to full effect. He often dies before doing something important.


I guess my big question is what is your meta? That should give me a better insight to this army build because as of now, I just don't see it working well.
My meta is mixed WM/Hordes. We don´t play many scenarios, just beat´em and often we play 2 on 2.
Well, one thing this army doesn´t do well is focussing on a certain part of the game. Sure, it shoots, but that alone doesn´t win games. It doesn´t offer dirty tricks nor does it offer any kind of reliable assasination potential.
More or less it was a try to fit my shooty stuff into one list for some fun games here and there and this job is well done by that list. It brings fun to the table.
I´ve more solid and more competetive list with eMakeda and pMorghoul, therefore I don´t need that super competetive list build with Xerxis.

HTG

[LiamPiver]

HTG,

Now that I read how you guys play, I think I have a better understanding of what you're going for. You want to play the range game. That's cool. I think Sexy Hexy is better at it than Xerxis but hey, your call. Of course I also think after both Makeda's Sexy Hexy is our top caster because of all the different crap he brings to the table whereas Xerxis is very nasty but more in a low point straight to the kill kind of way.

Razor Wurm......hey enrage and send him on his way. You can go out of Xerxis' control as long as you are hitting DEf 13 or less models and then sprint back into his control zone and dig in.

Rhadiem is awesome......no two ways about it. I would CRA a light with the venators then have Rhadiem finish it off. At ARM 17 they hit for straight dice and he's going in at dice + 3 with the charge and fury on him so that's another 16 damage. 23 boxes will kill most light beasts and severely cripple most jacks.

The Extoller rocks against Hordes and can do decently against Warmachine solos as long as she has a soul token to boost her attack. Keep her back till mid game.

The Cannoneers.......man I gotta admit that's just not my style for Xerxis. I play him like a pMadrak Brick with Cetrati in place of Champs. But my suggestion would be to drop one for the Titan Glad. It'll free up a point. You still have some cover fire on the way in. Rush can be used to make the Cannoneer hit at +2 inches with can at times make it for you. On top of it all, the Titan is arguable our best beast next to Molik. He's got utility and enough power to crush anything he bases. Plus Grand Slam!

Karax are solid, I wouldn't replace them. They aren't used a lot because well the swordsmen are so much better but hey they can keep your Venators safe from AOEs. With Defenders Ward they are Defense 14, Armor 20. Making them hard for average infantry to hit and kill even on the charge with a lot of base units having a PS 10 weapon.

If you do go with the Gladiator, that last point can be used to either put in the gobbers to get the karax up to a 16D from range or to up the Beast Handlers to a max unit. They are solid pieces for killing single wound units. Their Mat is low but eh and on feat turn they are hiting for PS 22. Not bad.

Good luck man. I haven't played 2 vs 2 before. Seems like it could be over quickly if one team synchs up well and the other doesn't. Oh and the scenario play is actually really fun at times. I have basically lost before by getting my butt handed to me by the opponents army list but managed to win the game due to scenario victory conditions. Screw you long gunners! Ha

And the Totem Hunter is hands down the best 3 points Skorne can use. All of our solos pail in comparison to him. I've had him kill a caster before with a little help on turn 2.