1st ever tourney lists searforge/highborne

[ekim]

Hi there

ive been playing this maddeningly complicated game of awesomenes for a month or 2 and have played a woping dozen of games and have yet to win one.
we have a rather big tournament coming up and will most likley enter for the lols

so its a 33pt its day then 42pt 2nd day with 7pt reinforcment

i have come up with 1 list using the models i have

searfore 33pt

Madhammer +6
-driller -6
-gunner -6
thor -2pt
-rockram -8
brun & lug -9
hernne and jonne -3
max forge guard -8
reserves
- min highsheilds -5
then for the 42pt add a gunner , blaster and a bokur

I do ve some more models but they are all highborn stuff so am thinking of my 2nd list being a gorten highborn one

gorten +7
-driller -6
-gunner -3
sylys -2
min highsheilds -5
max forge guard -8
lanyssa -2
rutger -2
-nomad -6
taryn -2

but dont know what to do with it for reserves and 42pts , tho it is fun having a bunch of solos acing as a gorten delivery system

the other models i have at my disposal are , Mcbain , 1 merc magnetised heavy jack , freebooter , buccaneer, and my freind might lend me some of his cygnar depending on his list

so what do you guys think i should do to optimise these lists , or comeup with something better even if i just use one list for the tourney


cheers

[pattison]

I'd defo swap the 2 around.
Gorten is just fine in Searforge, but Durgen needs some stuff that is not accessible within.
If you play Rhulic casters you seriously need a blister of Blasters boy! Not to mention Bashers. Two things that make Rhulics sweet.
Also you don't earlly earn too much by assigning a Nomad to a jack marshal, and Rutger is not the greatest one either.
Actually some of the stuff from the Gorten list would be usable with Durgen, like Taryn or Lanyssa.
If you want to play High Shields play a max unit.

So let's see what we can do by using the stuff you have plus the obligatory models. The ones that I include but you don't have are really close to "a must". Trust me.

Gorten Grundback (*7pts)
* Grundback Blaster (3pts)
* Grundback Gunner (3pts)
* Ghordson Driller (6pts)
Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corps (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Brun Cragback & Lug (9pts)
Thor Steinhammer (2pts)
* Grundback Blaster (3pts)
* Ghordson Basher (7pts)

You won't regret buying a Basher... it functions so well with Thor. Much better than a Rockram who screams for focus.
And probably that Gunner could be traded into a High Shield UA, but I'm not a fan of High Shields in general. I'd just add a 2nd unit of Forge Guard instead.

Now with Durgen. He has a great ranged potential, so Taryn might come useful there. Probably it's boring but the Gobber Speculator and Dougal is the super potion for Durgen... Also I'd surely pop the Rockram into his battlegroup.
Something like...

Durgen Madhammer (*6pts)
* Grundback Blaster (3pts)
* Grundback Gunner (3pts)
* Grundback Gunner (3pts)
* Wroughthammer Rockram (8pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Herne & Jonne (3pts)
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Rutger Shaw (2pts)
* Buccaneer (3pts)
Taryn di la Rovissi (2pts)

Now this is nowhere near to optimum, but I tried to keep your expenses in mind.
If you play Durgen, Reinholdt & Dougal are a must. Lanyssa is hard to use well, but she synergizes with Inhospitable Ground and more importantly she can help to get your Rockram or Forge Guard to reach their targets.
Gunners are more for Durgen than for Gorten. They're possible Explosivo targets and with Dougal's minifeat they join the assassination run from 14". If the caster's hiding behind a jack, shoot it with Taryn first and there you go.
Some casters can be killed solely by blast damage on feat turn though.
I like Forge Guard with Durgen, as they provide some heavy hitting outside of the battlegroup, but you seriously need a fast unit as a front line.
I prefer Steelhead Halberdiers with him due to their decent speed and Reach. With Primed they can hurt heavies too.
Some like to run pAlexia & Risen with him, which is also a good option.
But you can only play Durgen in the proper, aggro way if you have a good front line. pAlexia, Nyss, Halberdiers, pirates, even Boomhowlers. They're all good with him, not to mention any kind of Kayazies if you leave Highborn.
I don't really run Sylys with him as his spells tend to wander around or being cast mid-game rather than early, but he might help.
I've included a Buccaneer with Rutger due to the fact that he might help your ranged assassination. With this many shots you're very likely to finish off a caster especially if he/she is knocked down by the Bucc (under Dougal's minifeat!).
Don't forget that you can also put Explosivo on the Buccaneer. It won't hurt anyone but it gets an additional attack die on feat turn.

Your assassination run would look like this with this list:
- Dougal walks up, minifeats and gives Artillerist to Durgen.
- Reinholdt gives +1 shot to Durgen.
- Taryn shoots screening model.
- Buccaneer gets reroll from Rutger and Assaults the caster preferably within Dougal's command range to gain +2 range. Or just walks and boosts the attack roll from JP point.
- Durgen walks up (feats) and lays a couple of shots into the caster.
- 2 Gunners and Herne & Jonne finish him off if needed from 14", the Rockram can join in with an Assault shot from high distance (SPD4+3"charge+8"RNG+2"Redline+2"Lanyssa+2"Dougal= 21"!).

Good luck!

[Mr. Uncanny]

Pattison, awesome write-up on the assassination run with Durgen. won't the buccaneer need the jp point for assaulting, though?

[pattison]

You're right, my bad, corrected the step now.
I'm too much used to Thor and Basher - no need for JM point to slam.
A possible solution is to position the Buccaneer up front and simply walk up to the edge of Dougal's command range, and shoot boosted + rerolled to 10". Most likely Taryn & Rutger will move up together anyways, a safe place with cover or concealment should do it for them. The Buccaneer has good speed so I don't think that +3" from the Assault is always necessary. I mean it's still a 16" threat range if it just walks and shoots under Dougal's minifeat, and against an average caster you'll indeed need that boost besides the reroll.

Another scenario if Taryn is no longer available: Buccaneer knocks down screening model, then the rest loads out on the caster.
A way to improve the accuracy of the Buccaneer would be Explosivo and either Feat or Artillerist but due to the order of activation the it's not possible in the assassination turn.
In other turns though if you badly need something to get knocked down you can still use the JM-boost + reroll + explosivo + artillerist combo.
With that all stacked up you hit DEF18 on average rolls, and you have one retry. This might come handy against high-DEF Hordes heavies that you need to hit with all your Forge Guards for example, but you need Primed on your other unit.

[Tahoth]

You counted Lanyssa into the Rockrams range, so maybe you were counting that into the bucc both assaulting and boosting since it give him the free charge, and bumps his possible assault range up to 21"

[pattison]

No I didn't, but it's a valid point.

[ekim]

ahh yeah i do have 2 blasters left them off the list some how

as for the basher its on my list of models to buy also the steel heads , i have a blister of 2 i picked up at a closing down sale where i got most of my rhulic from but havent picked up the other 8 i need yet

im also concidering getting either a squad of OAC , nyss hunters or boomhowlers , the boomies and OAC for some frontline troops to stop all my stuff from asploding before they get in range and ive played a game with the nyss its real nice having some actual speed

cheers tho i was thinking of swapping madhammer and gorten round i think i will try out the highborn list tonoight

[ekim]

yeah good point about the buccaneer it sounds like way more utility than a nomad, knocking down suff is hella fun and also lash too will help keep the unit going ( also frees up 3 pts for more bunnies !)

the games ive played with him have all been totally one sided so havent had a chance to use his drive it almsot seems better to give him a jack with a gun and sit back all shooty like behind a screen of highsheilds something like a vanguard or buccaneer would be good for this and tarryn can shoot as well so the only thing not being used is flank but meh you can always counter charge with him to help out the screen

[ekim]

so ive caved and picked up some more stuff after much deliberating i picked up 10 halberdeers , bashser , gorman , epic eryiss , master dougal , and reinhalt ,

ive been playing with rutger and a buccaneer and im loving it its probably the best combo due to the assault on the net it means you can make shure you get the knockdown , then charge in tarryn followed by rutger for smashy smash its so sweet , last game i mnaged to knock down a jack that was stopping my forgeguard from getting in range of his storm strider they simply ran past it after the bucie netted it then the rear rank who coulnt get hits on the strider mushed it . in short ive decided rutger is more of a ranged jack marshal and the flank is a counter charge skill

so the list ive decided to go with for the tourney is :

gorten +6
- driller -6
-blaster -3
-rockram -8

brun and lug -9

high sheilds -5
forgeguard -8

thor -2
-basher -7

mostly because the only thing not painted in that is the basher cuz he hasnt arrived yet

for a seccond list ill probably go with madhammer and crew seen as now i have support for him but am worried abut running out of time in games with him so may build something with mcbain dont know yet


thanks for the input tho real helpfull guys !