eVlad Assassination Force 25pts

[Cuagau]

So I'm fairly new to Warmachine/Hordes, so be soft on my noobishness.

eVlad (+5) (or even pVlad)
Drago (Because I like him, and he's Vlads affinity. I could be convinced by a Behemoth, but I hate the model. Beast 09 is also possible I guess. But I've found Drago's affinity + Signs and Portents/Hand of Fate to be absolute filth :D)
2x Manhunters
1x MoW Drakhun
1x Yuri the Axe
5x Kazazy Assassins
1x KA Underboss

3pts left over.

Basically the idea I'm having, and I honestly haven't a clue if its any good, is Manhunters take a flank each, everything else moves up, Yuri and KA move up the flanks from advance deploy. Drop a focus on Drago and run him, vlad and Drakhun up. Do some goading. Charge basically everything in, pop feat, win.
If only it was that Simple right?
Basically I've aimed to take everything that can well and truly make a caster/lock poo themselves to death. Drago to deal with enemy 'jacks.

I'm also tempted by Kovnik Josef, and a Mortar Team.
For the Motherland + Hand of Fate = 3+4d, dropping on lowest = dead infantry.

Any feedback appreciated.

[Jiub]

You need Widowmakers.

[Cuagau]

You need Widowmakers.

Care to explain why, and where their applications lie, what synergies they have with the casters/solos/characters etc?

As said, I'm fairly new to the game, so When i read "Widowmakers" I read "guys with bang sticks make things dead".

[Avecrien]

"guys with bang sticks make things dead" sounds good on its own merits :)
With eVlad you've got feat turn synergy and the element of surprise if there are beefy melee models distracting your opponent. They can be used to lure the enemy into a trap or to split their force when something is sent after them.
It also helps to cover the weakness of a melee-centric force and snipe down squishy models that will give you trouble or harassment forces trying to flank you.

[Cuagau]

The problem here is that Widowmakers are 4 points. I only have 3 remaining. Is it worth jigging around for the widowmakers? Or just getting a field gun or mortar? 3 rocketeers? A wardog?

Also, am I right in assuming you can have the Underboss pop KillStroke, surround and enemy caster, 2 KA in the back arc, 2 in the front (the underboss somewhere). Now the caster can only kill a unit in its front arc. So no matter what, there are two KA in the rear arc? (With the obvious exceptions of Karchev and Asphyxious and the like)

[Avecrien]

You could drop a Manhunter or the dismount option of the Drakhun. I'd say yes, it's worth it. If you drop a Manhunter, get the dog. Not against every army perhaps, but I'd want to be prepared to at least sub them in as needed.
You don't have the strongest front line with this list, so weeding out threats is a higher priority. That makes Widowmakers all the more important.

You could surround the caster but that's not that big of a deal unless he's the only enemy model left and you've won anyway. But if that's the case, why werent you able to kill the caster when you ringed him.
I wouldn't bank on that as a strategy. It might come up at some point and it'll be fun when it does, but if you're running up Kayazy to gum up the works I'd suggest doing it earlier on and tangling down enemy units so they can't charge/escape without a price.

[Hollywoodxxl]

Rocketeers are a weapon attachment so you need a WG unit in there

[Cuagau]

Rocketeers are a weapon attachment so you need a WG unit in there

I thought that might be the case, but from the cards, It does seem to read "may be attached to a winter guard unit" not "must be". I have very little knowledge of how infantry works, as I've never used any.