Tactica: Hour of Reckoning (E. Baldur)

[mundar]

The E.Baldur tierd list can be a bear of an army to fight against. It stands firmly in place, never giving up ground while steadily grinding away at the enemy. Baldur is strange that he shifts gears depending on what role you need. I find in early turns he takes on the role of a support caster, while in later turns he functions as a beat stick or assassin.

First I'll review E.Baldur

Statistics:
Baldur's stats aren't bad but aren't amazing. He has a good MAT and ARM, but his def leaves quite a bit to be desired. A low SPD for circle, but with reach on Tritus or with shifting stones you still have a respectable threat range. You will feel fury starved in early turns, and in later turns you'll likely want to keep all of your fury for yourself.

Abilities and weapons:
Elemental mastery: There isn't much I can say about this that hasn't already been said before with P.Baldur.. You are going to be using this rule quite a bit in the tiered list since you can only field constructs as warbeasts.

Devourer's Debt: Every turn you will get a token which both help and hurt you. You will take damage for each token at the end of each of your activations, but this is easily healed off. In return, you hit harder and harder over the course of the game.

Rite of Renewal: as a action, you can clear all of your wurm tokens. I haven't yet needed to do this in a game, but if your game is running on or you've run out of healing resources you may want to wipe the tokens so you don't die.

Tritus: The sword is amazing. It has a solid P+S that is only going to get better as the game goes on. Weight of stone makes Baldur an effective MAT 10 after he lands his first hit, in addition to gimping your target's movement.

Spells:
Crevasse: A useful spell I usually only cast with a geomancer if a good target presents itself. Generally Baldur won't cast this spell too often as his fury stat will likely want to boost the initial hit roll, leaving him starving for fury for his other spells.

Ground Zero: A great spell in scenario play. Everything near Baldur is going to be hit for a POW13 then get pushed away a random distance. This is your way of dealing with a group of infantry, it's more fury efficient than Crevasse (because there is no hit roll) however it does require you to be extremely close. This is an excellent way of dealing with infantry that have a def of 17+. The spell can also be used to shove anything under the template away from an objective, allowing you to score control points

Rock Wall: This spell is a utility toolbox spell, there are tons of great applications. It really comes down to knowing what your facing off against and placing the wall accordingly. You can use it to provide instant cover to anything in your army or even Baldur himself, which helps to offset your generally low DEF. If you are facing non-reach troops or beasts you can also use the wall to block charges since they won't be allowed to attack over the wall.. If facing an army without pathfinder the wall can also be used to block charges completely. Another use is to place the wall behind a target you want to slam for bonus damage (a great synergy with the Woldwarden's chain attack).

Roots of the Earth: This will likely be the spell you cast most often. Target ff model will gain +3 ARM and isn't going anywhere. . This is how you claim objectives or win the attrition war. You can all but ignore irritating spells that move you models such as telekenesis or gallows.. Anything that can knock you down is also ignored. In early turns Baldur will likely be casting this spell 2 or 3 times a turn. Bear in mind once you cast this spell on something, that model cannot move.. So be sure to do all of your moving before handing this out.

Feat:
The feat is simple really, it applies Roots of the Earth to everything in Baldur's control area. An excellent feat that will usually leave your opponent with some difficult choices. You should probably activate Baldur last on turns you intend to use your feat.. As stated above, you won't be able to move with anything affected by Roots of the Earth.

Tier Restrictions:
I don't think there is much in the tiered restrictions that I wouldn't want to use anyway. It is a solid and versatile list of units. I would suggest putting more emphasis on your battlegroup and supporting it accordingly. That really is the strength of E.Baldur's tiered army.
I will give a brief review of each unit and what it offers Baldur

Megalith: We may as well get him out of the way first. He is a requirement to meet tier 3. He should ALWAYS be taken with E.Baldur due to the nature of wurm tokens. The bond will heal Baldur each turn which helps to mitigate the damage you will be taking. Megaliths Animus is always useful, and there is no difference in this list. He shouldn't be a front line beast, have him function as support to your other beasts and act as a reserve. It's very likely Megalith will be assisting Baldur with casting roots of the earth, or a random crevasse if you have a target that is too good to pass up.

Wold Guardian: This is an excellent beast in the tiered army. The more I use them, the more I like them. They have the highest base pow of any of the constructs and auto-knockdown on a hit. The animus is helpful against high POW shooting since it's pretty likely people won't usually miss you when shooting at you, so the reduction of damage helps. The Guardian is able to hit extremely high levels of ARM with roots of the earth, and should probably be a front line workhorse. The only real downside is a miserable threat range of 7.5".. So you may find shifting stone support is necessary to teleport them into melee.

Wold Warden: I like the warden, but he isn't my first pick with E.Baldur.. Prime Baldur loves his Warden's, but with epic all you'll really be doing is looking at more geomancy. I would consider one in higher point games (50+) but lower than that you should stick with the Guardians and Megalith. The Warden's chain attack can synergise with clever rock wall placements to give you extra damage. He also becomes extremely durable with Roots of the Earth, comparable to a Khador heavy. The real downside is there isn't a way of buffing his STR in this list, so he won't be hitting very hard.

Wold Watcher: A toolbox beast. Two lights are required to meet tier 4 and as a result all of your lights will recieve a discount. The Watcher can hit the highest ARM in the list by using Stone form+Roots of the Earth (ARM 24!). This can make him an absolute pain to remove from an objective. Shield guard is always welcomed in a army full of models with a miserable DEF stat. Canny players will be able to position their models so they can't see your watcher. If you have multiple watchers, you can make this trick very difficult for them to pull off. The animus is normally very useful, but not so much in Baldur's army due to Roots of the Earth.. If you don't need the ARM from roots, but still want to avoid knockdowns you can place this on your watchers or even baldur. Two low pow fists are nice for punching infantry and can create forests with fertilizer. The ranged attack is also welcomed in a primarily melee army. You have just enough fury to fully boost the shot which can either create a forest if you kill a living or undead model, or possibly put some damage on a caster. As the old adage says "boosted pow 12's kill casters". The creation of forests is always useful to gum up line of sight or to slow down non-pathfinders.. Look at fertilizer as a perk and not the main function. The main function in your tiered list will be to hold objectives and never shift. Lastly, you have two open fists which will allow you to do weapon locks or throws. The more annoying and unappealing you can make your Watchers to kill, the better. If I've made my opponent waste a few of his heavy jacks/beasts to kill them, I'm generally pretty happy at that point. If he ignores them, make him regret it by using the versatility this beast brings to the table.

Woldwyrd: The Wyrd has an odd place in the tier. The point reduction makes it possible to field several of them, but at the same time they will be the softest target amongst your beasts. If you opponent can't do much to your heavies its likely he/she will shift their attention to your Wyrds. Adding one to your army will give you some versatility. Adding several will give you some formidable firepower. It is the fastest of your constructs with a SPD of 7, and a total threat range of 17". The animus is great if you can get the Wyrd in position to cover their caster, anything that can manipulate someone's resource use is always useful. Arcane suppression also synergises nicely with Witch Hunter, so you are not only making them pay double to cast a spell but also punishing them with a shot if they do. Other prime targets are any units or solos that cast spells (battle mages, druids, Orin Midwinter, etc). Purgation means anything with an upkeep is also going to be a excellent target since every shot you make will gain an additional die to hit and damage, if you also factor in boosting this could give you 4 dice to hit or 4 dice to damage. Very nasty

[mundar]

Druids of Orboros:This unit is required to meet tier 2. A toolbox unit, and quite a bit has already been said about them elsewhere on the forum look
here for some general tips and information http://privateerpressforums.com/show...ids-of-Orboros
What they add to Baldur's tiered army is blocking line of sight to your beasts, or making them a bit harder to hit in melee with clouds. Force bolts are also always handy in any objective based scenario, by pushing models off the objective. Force bolt can also help your Guardian's pathetic threat range by dragging targets to it. And lastly also help you deal with incorporeal units. There are a ton of applications for this unit, and it is pretty likely their role will change game to game depending on what you are facing.

Shifting Stones: I could write 10 pages on how useful the stones are. In the tiered army you will be using them to help you get into position in early turns, once you are engaged they will assist with fury management and healing as necessary. The double teleport assassination isn't something that is done often, but threat of it is always there. I often find the threat of teleporting a beast or even Baldur into the guts of the other guys army is usually enough to keep the other guy honest and stay well away from anything loitering inside the triangle of stones. One unit can be dedicated to Baldur if your game is dragging on, he will probably need some extra healing. If a unit loses a stone early on (and thus the ability to teleport models) you should have it shift into a healing and fury management role.

Blackclad Wayfarer: another toolbox model in a army full of toolboxes. The wayfarer brings a useful spray and hunter's mark to the table. He can assist your warbeasts by marking a target and thus increasing their threat ranges. This will generally be his primary role in Baldur's tiered army. The stone spray is good for clearing chaff, but I woulnd't be counting on it to slay a ton of stuff.

Gallows Grove: Your evil vampire trees are point filler. The ability to channel around roots of the earth is nice if models are somehow leaving your control area often. Shutting off tough and healing will usually be their primary purpose with this army. Take them if you have the extra point or two or you like them, but they aren't necessary or required. They may have a difficult time getting into range to turn off tough and healing by the time the fighting happens.

Lord of the Feast: You will have to decide if you would rather have another light beast (4 points) or this guy (also 4 points). The LOTF does give you a model that can cover ground reasonably quickly and lay a hurting on some infantry. Once he's fat and happy on corpse tokens he can look for some solos or maybe even a caster to start putting some damage on. Root's of the Earth can make him very durable with a solid ARM of 20, this puts him in the realm of where most non weapon master infantry wont be able to do much to him. Baldur's army usually wants to brick up, but the LOTF can go and do his own thing harassing the enemy.

Celestial Fulcrim: The fulcrim gives Baldur some boostable shooting and a huge base to block line of sight with. Most of it's shots have an average to short range, but this is offset with the advance move thanks to the tier bonus. This model can get shot to pieces, so you should probably always have Roots of the Earth going. The first shot every turn should be the spray if possible, if you can get the crit stationary the rest of your shots probably won't miss. Flame blast is great, it hits like a dump truck and lights stuff on fire. As an added bonus Flame blast leaves a 4" cloud in place. The lightning bolt is the longest ranged shot the Fulcrim can make, and it hits reasonably hard. The added bonus of Electro leap can be useful for sniping out high def/low arm solos or UAs.

Tier Bonuses:
Tier One: Shifting stones and Gallows Groves can begin the game 20" from your table edge. This is a great bonus, having your stones pretty far up the table is great as it allows you not have to worry about moving them quite so early in the game.

Tier Two: You can advance move one Fulcrim for each unit of druids you have.. You probably only have one of each. Getting the short range fulcrum up the table a little faster is a nice bonus. You can take a fulcrim to enjoy the tier benefit, or skip it and take another heavy warbeast. This is up to your personal play style and local meta.

Tier Three: Heavy warbeasts gain +2 SPD during your first turn. This will allow you to run your guardians 12" into your shifting stones, then teleport another 8" if you feel so inclined. This bonus will allow your battle group to cover a lot of board very quickly, getting into position to begin holding objectives or by moving aggressively and feating. This could rob your opponent of the initiave if he doesn't have a way of coping with your high ARM. After all, what good is an alpha strike if they cant hurt you?
I would suggest at least 1 Woldguardian. If you don't use a celestial fulcrim at 50 points, take 2 guardians instead.

Tier Four: Your light constructs get a point reduction. This will allow you to field several pretty easily.. I would suggest picking one, and spamming it. So several wyrds or several watchers.. It really boils down to play style and your local meta. If you need more attrition and lasting power, take a couple of watchers to frustrate your opponent. If you need more ranged punch or raw damage potential, take several wyrds and blast them to bits.

So why should you use the tier?
The advantages to the tier are that you can cover quite a bit of the board in early turns very quickly. The sooner Baldur's army gets into position and dug in, the more likely your opponent will have a difficult time shifting you. This allows you to use your shooting from your light beasts and fulcrim to pick off vital models or start damaging heavier ones so that once the fighting starts you will have the advantage with your high armor. Also if you have a like for the circle lights the tier can be rewarding as it allows you to use several in a army, and they become quite effective in numbers.

E. Baldur's tiered army offers a distinct playstyle in Circle. Rather than the usual hit and run glass cannon tactics common with our other casters, Baldy lets us play an attrition game. We get to see charging models bounce off of our constructs and never give an inch of ground. Baldur also gives us the chance to use a mean beat-stick of a caster from turn 3 onward, easily able to scrap most heavies he comes across.


If anyone would like to add to this, please feel free. I'm by no means an expert on E.Baldur, but hopefully this guide comes in handy for someone.
　
　
　

[smcwatt]

Just a note for the Celestial Fulcrum, Flesh of Clay is a "Self" animus, like all of the constructs, which are Self.

Great summary.

SMc.

[mercury]

No mention of the Hail Mary Lord Of The Feast?

[mundar]

Just a note for the Celestial Fulcrum, Flesh of Clay is a "Self" animus, like all of the constructs, which are Self.

Great summary.

SMc.

Oops! Serves me right for writing this at 3am, thanks for catching it

[zlygobbo]

You can all but ignore irritating spells that move you models such as telekenesis or gallows. Slams, throws, pushes and pulls won't be a way to shift you from objectives.

Mundar: I dont thin you are right... Because Roots of the Earth have wording you cannot move... and its not writen that you cannot be moved... So it mean You cannot move so somebody who wants to slam you or move you he can... Maybe my english is poor bud i think it works like these...

[zlygobbo]

You can all but ignore irritating spells that move you models such as telekenesis or gallows. Slams, throws, pushes and pulls won't be a way to shift you from objectives.

Mundar: I dont thin you are right... Because Roots of the Earth have wording you cannot move... and its not writen that you cannot be moved... So it mean You cannot move so somebody who wants to slam you or move you he can... Maybe my english is poor bud i think it works like these...

[Keiichiro]

You can all but ignore irritating spells that move you models such as telekenesis or gallows. Slams, throws, pushes and pulls won't be a way to shift you from objectives.

Mundar: I dont thin you are right... Because Roots of the Earth have wording you cannot move... and its not writen that you cannot be moved... So it mean You cannot move so somebody who wants to slam you or move you he can... Maybe my english is poor bud i think it works like these...

No, if you're under the effect if Roots, you're stuck in one place. No moving, slamming, pushing, placing, no nothing. You're the Immovable Object, waiting for an unstoppable juggernaut to ... er... stop.

[Ghost Rider]

Great writeup. Another tactic is the Lord of the Feast Hail Mary, which is Tier friendly. During set up put one set of stones up to the 20" mark. I suggest using the ones that have their Stoneward so they have Stealth and a larger CMD area. Put the LotF as far forward as your Advance Deploy will allow (usually 16"). Put the 2nd set of stones around LotF. Personally I find it work best on your first turn when you go 2nd in a game. Using the set of stones that are farther back, teleport the LotF forward just enough so that the smallest sliver of the back of his base is between the 2nd set of stones that were deployed 20" forward. Now the front part of his base is almost 21" up the field. Next the further deployed stones teleport him about 9" forward (8" + base) towards a lower Defense target that LotF can see and has some nice soft infantry nearby and hopefully 1+ solos too. Now the front of his base is approx. 28 & 3/4" up the field. Now he can throw his bird up to 10" towards a target (preferably DEF 12 or less) that he can be in B2B with and still have some nice soft and juicy infantry and solos within his 2" reach. Now use thresher and corpse tokens until you are out of tokens and / or targets. Usually he can hit a target that is approx. 38 & 3/4" up the field.

For me, usually this tactic takes out 1 to 2 solos, 2 to 3 infantry and he has taken a nice chunk out of a warjack / warbeast or maybe even a warcaster/warlock. Also, when I remember , he also can cause a couple of CMD checks with terror. It usually takes alot more effort for your opponent to kill the LotF than he will want to spend on Turn 2, even without Roots of the Earth. Last time I did this, he killed a couple of Slaughterhousers, knocked down Targ (kept making his Tough checks), injured Sturm and Drang, and hurt a Gun Boar plus kept it from using its Watcher animus that turn. It took the Gun Boar (a 5pt model) 3 fury to kill the LotF and kept him out of position for a turn.

[langbenj]

No mention of the Hail Mary Lord Of The Feast?

I love doing that! It doesn't always work but the look of terror on your opponents face is wonderful!

[brokennecron]

I know you were focusing on tier and I love what you've written already, but would it be possible to hear your opinions on the furries and how they run with ebald, epecially G-rex

[Cyryst]

Talking about the Lord of the Feast Hail Mary could you Roots of the Earth him first so once hes there hes also a pain to kill? Or is there some skornergy going on and he cant be placed via raven/stones?

[PG_LEJKaya]

Talking about the Lord of the Feast Hail Mary could you Roots of the Earth him first so once hes there hes also a pain to kill? Or is there some skornergy going on and he cant be placed via raven/stones?

Exactly that, RotE means he can't be placed so stones and raved won't work.

[Mattho2k3]

I know you were focusing on tier and I love what you've written already, but would it be possible to hear your opinions on the furries and how they run with ebald, epecially G-rex

I actually enjoy playing him with Warpwolves. Rockwall puts their defense up to 18 to range and 16 if they have reach and attack over. If they don't have pathfinder and reach they can't even charge said Warpwolf. You still want to bring Megalith for healing. I haven't played him with Ghettorix but he seems really Tammy with RotE, unyealding, and natural WW defense of 14.

[Lighten]

I've played a fair bit of ebaldur with Ghetorix/Megalith together. I'm still working on the list; my initial versions went a bit overboard on the "take single large models since they're good RotE targets" theme (13 models @ 50 pts) and had issues with swarms. But Ghetorix gets absurdly hard to take down with RotE and the wall option. Even battled Avatars fail to kill him, which is a strange place to be in as a Circle player

When I lost, it was generally either due to swarms of stuff plinking me to death (too many large single models), or because I was so far ahead in attrition that I got sloppy and left Baldur where the opponent could try an assassination run.

Not that it's impossible to trade heavies with Baldur and come out ahead, but the combination of arm from RotE and def/denial from the wall and wolf defense seemed to make it so I had less bad matchups than if I'd gone straight ARM in constructs.

[AmonadRodrigues]

I've played a fair bit of ebaldur with Ghetorix/Megalith together. I'm still working on the list; my initial versions went a bit overboard on the "take single large models since they're good RotE targets" theme (13 models @ 50 pts) and had issues with swarms. But Ghetorix gets absurdly hard to take down with RotE and the wall option. Even battled Avatars fail to kill him, which is a strange place to be in as a Circle player

When I lost, it was generally either due to swarms of stuff plinking me to death (too many large single models), or because I was so far ahead in attrition that I got sloppy and left Baldur where the opponent could try an assassination run.

Not that it's impossible to trade heavies with Baldur and come out ahead, but the combination of arm from RotE and def/denial from the wall and wolf defense seemed to make it so I had less bad matchups than if I'd gone straight ARM in constructs.

I recommend Gatormen. They help against infantry, while still fit in the "high-armor-attrition-theme", especially since they are effected by the feat.