Whelps -- Spawn or Start in Play?

[DogFog]

In which situations do you hold your whelps in reserve, and when do you start them in play? Do you balance with some of each? Please share your thoughts and experiences.

[Beckman]

I usually keep 2 in reserve in normal circumstances. I am mostly using them for fury management and I don't want my opponent not letting me manage my fury by not damaging my beasts. But 2 still lets me spawn a whelp if I need to block a charge lane.

With the Mountain King, I would definitely keep 3-4 in reserve. No one in their right mind will ignore the Mountain King...

[Alex C]

With the Mountain King, I would definitely keep 3-4 in reserve. No one in their right mind will ignore the Mountain King...

Doesn't the Mountain King spawn infinite Whelps of his own when damaged? No need to hold Whelps you bought in reserve for him.


I always keep all mine in reserve otherwise they usually just get in the way of my own stuff or die before I can use them.

[Crate123]

Its almost always a good idea to bring a mix for the reasons Beckman says. If you bring them all along from the start you cant do the shenanigan stuff with them and if you keep them all in reserve its up to your opponent when you can use them which ruins much of their use in controling fury.

[PG_Nicodemus]

Doesn't the Mountain King spawn infinite Whelps of his own when damaged? No need to hold Whelps you bought in reserve for him.

The idea is when he gets hit, TWO whelps pop out. One for the MtK rule and one for the normal group you bought. So yes...a couple in reserve is a good thing.

[Largi]

Wait...
So the 5 you get for 2 pts can be split individually for what comes into play and what starts in play?
Now that I didn't realise.

I usually start all 5 in play when I take 1 lot of Whelps. Or I take 2 Units and do 1 on, 1 off.

You learn something new everyday.

I also Own 4 Units of Whelps before th eMK was spoilt :s

[Lawso42]

If I have ranged beasts(slag/bomber/impaler) two whelps start in play and follow them. If I only have melee beasts, usually only one starts on the table...

Lawso

[Beckman]

The idea is when he gets hit, TWO whelps pop out. One for the MtK rule and one for the normal group you bought. So yes...a couple in reserve is a good thing.

Yes, this. Also, the whelps you spawn from the whelp's special rules can be further out, so you can block reach model's charge lanes easier. (Whelps from the Mountain King need to be in BTB)

[Goris]

For me this issue depends entirely on how I have planed my first two turns of the game. If I feel like, for example, my bomber has a good chance of catching some key targets in drifting AOE's early game and I want the fury to force if I hit something then a whelp or 2 will likely start out on the table. For low fury warlocks running a beast brick this can really help as well whne you want to run your 3-5 beasts turn 1 and don't want to leave yourself empty on the off chance you might get eLilythed or something. Generally though if I feel like neither of those factors are going to come into play then whelps almost always stay in reserve. As far as the MK is concerned your opponent would be silly to try and nickle and dime him so having whelps for him is only really important after he's been hurt, aside from the aforementioned spawning stuff in the way during attacks...

[Grim Wingus]

Wait...
So the 5 you get for 2 pts can be split individually for what comes into play and what starts in play?
Now that I didn't realise.

I usually start all 5 in play when I take 1 lot of Whelps. Or I take 2 Units and do 1 on, 1 off.

You learn something new everyday.

I also Own 4 Units of Whelps before th eMK was spoilt :s

On the subject of things not everyone knows about the Whelps, those 5 for 2 points are not a Unit. They're five Solos, each of which has his own activation. Makes a big difference sometimes.

[HellecticMojo]

I always put mine in reserve, it's just too damn easy to clip one with a rogue blast damage. especially with colossals coming out the woodworks now

[StinkyJim]

If I'm running two lots I tend to have 5 on the table to start with, and 5 to place. (they're painted differently so are easy to tell apart)

If I'm only using one choice of them then I tend to start with 2 and have 3 to place.

Top Tip:

Always put unused Whelps somewhere obvious so you don't forget about them. Put them away when used so they don't get mixed up with unused ones. Accidently using more whelps than you are meant to tends to annoy your opponents.

[Largi]

Yea shouldn't have used the Word Units there.
I always play and activate them as 5 Solos. Its just for Deployment purposes I thought they were a "Set"

As I said, learnt something new. And I'll be looking at putting that into play.

[bakaryu]

I usually deploy one and keep four in reserve.

This means I know I can safely run hot on one of my beasts knowing that he has a way to ditch all the excess fury that I can't remove.

[JArrow]

If I'm only using one choice of them then I tend to start with 2 and have 3 to place.

Top Tip:

Always put unused Whelps somewhere obvious so you don't forget about them. Put them away when used so they don't get mixed up with unused ones. Accidently using more whelps than you are meant to tends to annoy your opponents.

Same to me. But remembering to put them play is really hard. In tourney last weekend in two games I lost, I forget to put whelp to play, in situation it could have saved me. In one game, I forget to spawn whelp to snapjaws way prewenting it to get 0,5" to my mauler, and in another game as Scythean has got to reach of eGrissel, forget to spawn whelp as it damaged impaler whit chain-attack. After that opponent still rolled 3 7+ whit 2 dice.

[Largi]

I put them in my dice Tray Lid (alogn with Horthol when he is about) so they're always in my eyeline.

[wulfmojo]

I always have 10 whelps (eDoomy player) and start with 2 or 3 and the rest in reserve. The couple at the start are for Fury management emergencies, but generally I like to have the Whelps popping out later in the game, and they die to spray/blast damage too easily otherwise. Plus it's always amusing to have whelps popping out at opportune times in your opponent's activations to block charge lanes etc.

[PG_Mr. Mayhem]

I usually keep 2 in reserve in normal circumstances. I am mostly using them for fury management and I don't want my opponent not letting me manage my fury by not damaging my beasts. But 2 still lets me spawn a whelp if I need to block a charge lane.

Same here.