Only You Can Create Forest Fires!
Sonnia Criid -7 cache
-Reincarnation (1)
-Cherufe's Imprint (1)
The Judge (9)
-Unrelenting Leader (2)
Ryle (10)
Witchling Handler (8)
Hunter (7)
Watcher (4)
Watcher (4)
Total: 46 SS
This is a lower model count crew than the usual 8 models at 50 SS, but as the game goes on that really becomes less of an issue. What I love about this crew is it's ability to hand out Burning like sparklers on the Fourth of July, it's damage output, it's surprising mobility, and how tanky it can be.
Thanks to the Witchling Handler's (0) action Burn Them, Burn Them All! Ryle & The Judge become living flame throwers. On a 6 of any suit Burn Them, Burn Them All! makes the Attack Actions of friendly models within a 4 inch aura (including herself) apply the Burning +1 condition to the target after damaging, so long as the target of the action is within 10 inches and LOS. So as long as the Witchling Handler is within 4 inches your models' ranged and melee attacks now provide Burning, which opens up all kinds of options for Sonnia herself. Combine this with Ryle's Raking Fire trigger & basically the entire back of The Judge's card and suddenly you can light whole swathes of the opposing crew on fire. Ryle's Raking Fire trigger allows him to target another model that hasn't already been targeted by his Modified Steam Gatling attack, so as long as you keep flipping/cheating/stoning Rams on the attack he can pretty much target the entire opposing crew. His (0) action Field Repairs gives him a surprising amount of self healing, which when combined with his ability to use Soulstones & Grind to a Halt defensive trigger makes him a very difficult model to get rid off. Ryle also has the highest Melee damage in the crew (3/5/7 at Ml 6 with the option to trigger Critical Strike), so make sure to apply him liberally to the face of any enemy model you want dead.
The Judge combos brilliantly with the Witchling Handler's Burning Aura for one big reason: the entire back of his card is Attack Actions. The Long Arm Blade & Long Arm Pistol are fairly straightforward, and by using the Bullets & Blades/ Blades & Bullets triggers you can pump out an impressive number of attacks. What will catch your opponent off-guard are Bound by Law and Stand for Judgement. The Witchling Handler's Burning aura specifically states Attack Actions of friendly models, and a lot of players will forget that Bound by Law & Stand for Judgement are in fact Attack Actions. You'll surprise a lot of people when your Stand for Judgement (0) action not only pushes their model 5 inches towards you, but gives them Burning +1 as well. Bound by Law becomes particularly entertaining in this regard because it will deal them 2 damage automatically (unless the target is Undead in which case it takes a 2/4/8 flip instead) regardless of modifiers, gives them the Arrest condition (so they have to discard a card to Walk or Charge), AND gives them Burning +1. That's a hell of a lot of utility for 1 AP, but make sure that you keep your target within 10 inches so he can hand out Burning. If you target a model at Bound by Law's max range of 12 inches they won't gain the condition, so think before you use it.
The Witchling Handler acts as a lynchpin for the crew in the first few turns as you'll need her Burning Aura to pass out the condition, but with her Defense and Willpower of 6 & 8 wounds you shouldn't lose her too quickly. And since her Burning Aura includes her as well, you can use her Collier Pistol to help light the enemy on fire. Be careful to play defensively with her so she stays alive, once she goes down it becomes a lot harder to hand out Burning. With her high Walk of 6 you'll easily be able to keep Ryle, The Judge, and Sonnia within range of her Aura, and also allow her to help run Schemes later on in the game if necessary. The 2 Watchers are your main scheme runners thanks to their high Walk and Flight, but can also help the rest of your crew deal with enemy models in cover. Their Always Watching ability prevents enemy models within a 3 inch aura from benefitting from cover (you also don't flip a card for the Watcher when firing into an engagement, so don't be afraid to get close), and the Sky-Eye Attack Action hands out the Exposed condition. Attacks targeting models with the Exposed condition ignore cover completely, and the Watcher can hand this condition out from 14 inches away. If the target's within 10 inches and the Watcher's in the Handler's Burning Aura it can also pass out the Burning condition with Sky-Eye, so that's a nice sneaky way to light things on fire as well. You can also use their (2) Action View From Up High to give Sonnia some options on drawing Line of Sight, but chances are you won't use this as your Watchers' AP are better spent running schemes.
The Hunter can be used to run schemes or help pull enemy models out of the Turf War zone with his Chain Harpoon, and help run down enemy scheme runners. Thanks to their Chain Harpoon and Pounce on Chest attacks Hunters make great scheme hunters, and their Prowl ability lends them a great deal of mobility. And as with The Judge, because the entire back of the Hunter's card is filled with Attack Actions he can also be a Burning machine if you get him close to the Witchling Handler. There are few sneakier ways to pass out Burning than by using Pounce on Chest when you're in range of the Handler's Aura. You could also swap the Hunter out for an Austringer and 1ss upgrade on another model if you like (I'd suggest either Vengeance Bullet on Ryle or Counterspell Aura on Sonnia).
Now we move onto the star of the show, Sonnia herself. The entire reason this crew is built to pass out Burning the way it does is to benefit Sonnia's Visions of Flame ability and her Reincarnation upgrade. As long as Sonnia's targeting a model with the Burning condition she doesn't need Line of Sight to the target and ignores cover, so she can target pretty much whoever she jolly well pleases if you activate her later in the turn after you've lit the enemy crew on fire. She gets Plus flips to Cast Actions when targeting enemy models with Wp 6 or higher, and her (0) action Confiscated Lore can help her pump her cast or Willpower up to 9 (or her Defense to 6). All of this helps make her Flameburst attack action devastate anything she aims it at. What's particularly nifty is you can combine the Handler's Aura with her Consuming Flame trigger to make all of her Blasts hand out Burning +2, or Burning +3 if you crack the Soulstone for a Tome. Aside from make Sonnia more lethal, the big reason you want to pass out as much Burning as possible is because of the Reincarnation upgrade. When an enemy model with the Burning condition dies within 10 inches of Sonnia she can drop either 2 cards or a Soulstone to summon a Witchling Stalker into base contact with the target before it's removed, and its through this that the enemy crew really becomes your own (especially if you're playing against a Master that likes to summon a lot of models). Once you start turning the enemy models into Witchling Stalkers you start to gain activation control, and since they hand out Burning as well it becomes a repeating cycle. The Cherufe's Imprint upgrade increases your board control through the use of the Flame Wall action to block either Lines of Sight, Charge Lanes, or help hold key choke points. The Dampening ability also increases Sonnia's odds of survival against Melee Masters/Henchmen, which is one of her big weaknesses as her base defense isn't very high.
When playing a crew like this you'll want to have the Watchers and Hunter out running schemes while Sonnia, Ryle, The Judge, & the Handler hold the Turf War area. In order to get the most use out of Sonnia's blasts you'll want to stay on your edge of the Turf War zone for a turn or two while you light things on fire and start turning enemy models into Witchling Stalkers. You can use The Judge to move models around with Stand for Judgement, and you can use his Combat Effectiveness to help create even more attacks. This crew can comfortably accomplish schemes like Make Them Suffer, Breakthrough, Protect Territory, Bodyguard, Entourage (Ryle's great at this scheme), Plant Evidence, Take Prisoner, Murder Protege, A Line In the Sand, and Frame for Murder. Be vary wary of things like Killjoy/Bete Noir bombs and the Vik slingshot because once your models get tied down or killed it becomes very difficult to get things done, so if you're going to have to deal with something big and nasty make sure it's on your terms. Use intervening terrain to slow down enemy charges, and intercept big nasty things with The Judge and Ryle so Sonnia can focus on carpet bombing the enemy crew back to the other side of the Breach & the Witchling Handler can focus on staying alive and keeping that Aura up and running. The Handler should activate fairly early on in the turn so you can start throwing Burning around, and you'll want to save Sonnia's activation for later on so she can benefit from the rest of your crew's endeavors to light things on fire. Keep The Judge and Ryle in the Turf War area to score your strategy points (you can move Sonnia or the Handler in as needed) and make sure if your Watchers are running schemes to keep them as far away from the center of the board as possible. Use your Hunter defensively to pull enemy models out of position & hunt down enemy schemers to keep your Watchers safe. And remember; when in doubt, light it on fire.
I've read all the entries on your blog and I really like it. Lots of interesting insights into Guild nastiness. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDelete