New to Cryx/WM - Expanding Battle box

[NapalmDeath]

Ahoy!

I started playing Warmachine a few weeks ago. I've played a few 'battle-box' games (Won against Mercs, Scyrah, Khador. Lost to Menoth) and I'm beginning to think about what to buy next and where to expand from there onwards.

I have given myself a rule of "paint before buying new stuff" and my battle box is almost complete.

After reading through many articles and putting together a few sample lists and come up with this for 20 points:

Warwitch Deneghra (*)
* Nightwretch
* Nightwretch
* Reaper
* Skarlock Thrall
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith
Warwitch Siren
20/20+5

As you can see I will need to proxy the 'Wretches (Deathrippers) and Reaper (Slayer), but this is common practice at my LGC.

I have gone for the 'ranged' approach as I have found that Denny can become vulnerable when Deathrippers & Slayers get tied up in combat. Also I took a lot of advice from ->this thread<- concerning how best to use Deneghra (whom I intend to stick with for now).
I feel like, combining Crip Grasp (twice) with Denny's Feat and the Wraiths' Deathchill, I can keep things at range whilst wearing them down or out-manoeuvring to go in for assassination.

My budget is pretty limited, so I'd like to get myself set on a list before buying stuff. With this in mind, any tips & advice would be much appreciated.

Oh and my main opponents will be the 4 forces I mentioned earlier (Khador, Menoth, Scyrah & Mercs)

Cheers!
ND

[Drzombieface]

As a general rule of thumb for new Cryx players, you can never go wrong with buying either Bane unit + Tartarus, or Mechanithralls + Necrosurgeon. Both are great options.

Denny can become vulnerable, but if you kill your opponent before that happens, there's nothing to worry about

On a limited budget, I would head straight for the Mechanithralls. They're cheap IRL and in- game (cheapest 10- man unit in the game). But if you want to spend a little extra, Banes are your answer. Losing to Menoth is to be expected for a new Cryx player, so no need to worry about that.

The only thing I see that's wrong is that you're going for the ranged option in a faction who's extremely melee focused, and whose Ranged options are a tad lacking. I wouldn't use Ranged as a primary goal, it's better off used like the Reaper, supporting a beatstick like a Slayer/Seether.



tl;dr: Get a tarpit unit ASAP. McThralls/Banes, you can't go wrong.

[NapalmDeath]

Thanks for the advice!

I have been playing a very aggressive, melee-orientated style so far. Changing to ranged (esp. with Cryx) might be a shot in the foot for myself. Something like when I started playing Eldar (40k) after years of Khorne (40k & WHFB); doesn't compute very well!

Anyways, I do love the look of McThralls. They fit perfectly into my 'sulphurous scrapyard' theme and they aren't too expensive to buy either. Would you recommend Brute Thrall UA right away? If so, how many?

I'd like to keep the Pistol Wraiths. They seem pretty formidable.

I could run something like this:

Warwitch Deneghra
* Nightwretch [or Deathripper]
* Nightwretch [or Deathripper]
* Seether [or Slayer & another Pistol Wraith]
* Skarlock Thrall
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* 1 Brute Thrall
Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls
Pistol Wraith
25/25+5 [Points increase, but model-wise not much different]

Banes frustrate me. Everyone runs them which, for some reason (I guess I tend to be wary of over-hyped things), makes me not want to run them, and they are expensive to buy. I would like to avoid them, but if needs must then I suppose they can be a future investment.

ND

[NapalmDeath]

Played against Khador tonight using:

pDenny
Deathripper x2
Reaper
Skarlock
Mechthralls x10
- Brute Thrall
Nec Surgeon

Against

pScorsha
Juggernaut
Destroyer
Man-o-war x5

I won with a 'classic' Cryx assassination; Crip Grasp (upkept), Feat, Scourge, Charge. Skarlock is awesome, Ghost Walking the Reaper through cover etc. and landing Crip Grasp on the Man-o-wars.
Lots of McThralls died early on, but by the end of the game they were all alive and beating Juggernaut face; I love the Necrosurgeon combo with these!
Reaper did ok, but I couldn't quite get the combo-charge with the McThalls that I wanted; too much cover!

As for expanding; I've got a Warwitch Siren on order with my local shop and I think I'll buy a Pistol Wraith soon.
I'm considering another infantry unit to go with what I have. But what? I'm considering:

Bane Knights (+BLT)
Bane Thralls (+BLT)
Bloodgorgers (+General)
A Merc unit (Nyss or Croe's)

I'm looking to about 35 points now (painting is going well!)

Cheers
ND

[Gamingdevil]

I'm considering another infantry unit to go with what I have. But what? I'm considering:

Bane Knights (+BLT)
Bane Thralls (+BLT)
Bloodgorgers (+General)
A Merc unit (Nyss or Croe's)

Banes work well with anyone, Bloodgorgers work well with certain casters, though the General is a good solo on his own as well. Croe's or Nyss I would only take with specific casters (the Denny's or Scaverous)

So, from that list, I would go with the flavor of banes you like best.

[Scottl1]

Bane thralls can do nasty things with denny and skarre especially if tartarus is also in the squad because their mat and damage go through the roof! Mix denny's feat, debuff and the innate thrall debuff that will make your opponent's arm -7 and def -2 plus tarts +2 mat. So Mat 10 pow 18 weapon masters charging! lol That my friend is where the hype comes in. Though with banes of any flavor you hafta watch out for aoe scattering since all stealth does is make them scatter. McThralls and brute thralls are awesome with denny since she lets them hit better and they're cheaper so losses don't hurt as much. lol

[PG_Mikey_cl9]

My list that i tend to do very well with goes like this:

Denny
Leviathan
2x Nightwretch
Skarlock Thrall

Tartarus
Max Bane Thalls + UA
Gorman Di Wulfe
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile
Max Nyss Hunters
Pistol Wraith
2x Warwitch Siren

This list is ridiculous against just about any army.

The Leviathan has a base power 13 shot, which goes to 15 against a large base, add 2 for the the feat, 3 for a parasite and another 2 for a rust bomb. Your Leviathan is now making pow 22 shots at ROF 3. Or if you want to be really mean, use Crippling grasp and a bane thrall. Your target is now back to base def but making pow 23 shots.

The wretches simply serve as arc nodes with some nice shots on feat turn, but don't really on these for much more than solos.

Skarlock is there mainly for ghost walked bane thralls but sometimes he can land one of denny's debuff spells.

Tartarus and the banes serves as tarpit of doom with mat 8 P&S 13WM godlyness.

Gorman sneaks around the field blinding jacks and causing general mayhem along side his friendly Pistol wraith buddy.

Dougal and the Nyss serve as a flanking utility with 14 possible shots from them a turn, they leave dead bodies wherever they go. Has a nice little mini-feat to.

The sirens accompany a wretch each, either spraying at an opportunistic moment or giving the chicken a focus when needed.


This is 50 points but you can take out quite abit to make smaller forces. leviathan, nyss, dougal and gorman aren't normally used in smaller games for me.