Where Are the Blighted Swordsmen?

For some reason, I've been looking at Legion a lot lately. I don't know if it's faction envy or just a desire to play them in general. Something about the famed “Legion of Everbroke” has caught my eye. Lots of jokes run rampant in one of my groups about everyone being “closet Menites,” since each of us is occasionally subject to thoughts of minor pyromania. (“Fire good.”) I guess that would make me a closet Blighted? (...You get what I'm saying. I'll work on the wording, but it does work since I occasionally give Cryx a look too.)

Either way, I was looking through Legion models in Primal Mk. II the other day, and I stumbled across a unit that, honestly, I'm surprised I don't see on the other side of the table that often. Which unit is this? The Blighted Nyss Swordsmen. And I constantly wonder why. On their own they look solid: fearless, high MAT troopers with weapon master. They hit as hard as Bane Knights, and while they are fairly squishy, they also have relatively high DEF for a melee unit, which is tough for most to hit (barring your boosted Chain Lightning/Ashes to Ashes/other similar spell).

Let's look at the Swordsmen compared to some other Legion melee units. They arguably compare best to Warmongers, even more so because they share the same point cost. You get two Swordsmen per Warmonger, but the Warmongers have enough ARM to survive hits as they get in. Damage output is roughly equal between the two, but in my mind the Swordsmen are slightly better, since a) you have twice as many guaranteed attacks, and b) they won't attempt to kill each other if they have nothing else to kill, since Swordsmen don't have Berserk. You sacrifice Reach, but you can get a similar effect with the Abbot and Champion, since they grant Overtake and Cleave, which can give the benefits of berserk and reach without the nasty side-effects. I also happen to see Legionnaires a fair deal, and while they are fairly cheap as a 4/6 unit, they don't hit nearly as hard, or as often. They do have reach and CMA, but their ARM is still fairly low without Defensive Line, and their DEF is anything but great. Once again, I think the Swordsmen win. Did I mention that the Swordsmen are faster than both?

You can say what you want about Legion being a beast army. Even Legion lists I've seen recently have been more balanced, and I think the Swordsmen are a fine addition to any list. After all, most warlocks have something in their arsenal that the Swordsmen can benefit from.

• Prime Lylyth doesn't get as much use out of them due to her small control area and her tendency to stay in the backfield, but if things get sour her feat can make them even more deadly. Plus Swordsmen love finding a target that has been Parasited...

• Prime Thagrosh can throw Draconic Blessing on them, giving them attack power rivaling Khadoran Doom Reavers. Add in Thagrosh's own abilities in Fog of War and Death Shroud, and you have a solid, hard-hitting melee squad that will get into combat and wreck face.

• Vayl doesn't offer too much for them, but remember that Chiller CAN be cast on a unit. Throwing it on them early can help clear the way for Vayl and her beasts to get in and wreck face with Incite up.

• Rhyas brings her own tools to the table, granting Occultation to let them cross the field safely, Dash to do it even faster, and a feat that, with the Abbot and Champion, can give them 3 attacks if they manage to kill something, including a teleport and an Overtake move or two.

• Absylonia and Bethayne both bring Carnivore to the table, increasing their already high MAT and giving a nice RFP ability. Bethayne also comes armed with Ashen Veil to help them cross the field. Who said that spell had to go on Hex Hunters?

So really, only eLylyth and eThagrosh don't have anything that directly benefits them, but that's because they're either extremely ranged-focused (Lylyth) or beast-focused (Thagrosh). But still, the majority of Everblight's chosen can get fairly solid use out of them, and the point cost isn't exactly through the roof. Legion's only a beast army? Let's see what they say when these weapon masters start tearing them to shreds.

In Which I Ramble on Color Schemes

When I first started playing Warmachine and Hordes 4 years ago, one of the things I thought most daunting about the hobby (besides managing everything going on, which I can do in my sleep now) was painting the miniatures. I am NOT an artist. I never was, nor do I really intend to be a hardcore artist. Regardless, though, everything in this game looks better when it's painted. I got tired of being the guy who was known for the armies with that “raw pewter look,” so I finally decided to take the plunge. And when I started? I was bad.

(Circa 2008)

So I looked to a few friends in my group for tips. It took a couple years, but I finally began to get the hang of some of the other techniques besides just coloring in the lines. Drybrushing and washing took a while to learn, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. Some details (particularly faces) are still rough on me, but my painting skill has come a long way since then.

(Finished 4/13/11)

But I'm not here to talk about the evolution of my skills. Today I wanted to talk about something I've been musing over with my Retribution army, which is just now getting its first major dose of paint besides the “battle box.” It got me thinking about how each army has its own divisions and themes. And while it is possible to paint everything in the same scheme, it does have one negative side effect: everything DOES look the same. While it's true that you want a nice, uniform look to your army, not every model uses the same themes.

The Retribution actually serves as a good model for this. I divide the Retribution's troop selection into two distinct themes: on the one hand, you have the heavily-armored Dawnguard. On the other side, you have the Mage Hunters, who have little if any of the armor plating the Dawnguard sport, but a lot of leathers and cloaks. In between, you have the Battle Mages and Houseguard, who borrow some elements from both sides. The Houseguard share a lot of elements with their Dawnguard cousins, but they're not as pronounced as the Dawnguard's. The Battle Mages have a theme of armor plating in common with the Dawnguard, but they also sport cloaks not that different from those on most of the Mage Hunters. It's my plan, because of this, to sport two main themes when I get paint on them. Mage Hunters are going to have a lot of grays, with green cloaks. Instead of the traditional white, my Dawnguard models and myrmidons are going to have a lightish blue theme.

The key, in my opinion, is that while you can have some distinct themes, you still have to tie them together. My main Retribution theme is the light blue (armor), trimmed and complemented by the greens (power nodes, cloaks), and neutralized by the grays (leathers, etc.). Obviously I lean each subtheme of the army towards the respective colors, but to tie them together I bring elements of the others into it. For instance, my Narn is predominantly gray and green as a mage hunter, but his shoulder pads are being done in my blue base color. My Dawnguard Scyir receives similar treatment due to the cloth parts on his model, which are done in Iosan Green. Warcasters and warlocks are no exception, either; I'm currently repainting Kaelyssa in my new thoughts for my mage hunter scheme. That said, she's wearing warcaster armor; despite the presence of leathers and cloak, she's got a fairly good blue presence.

This isn't necessarily restricted to Retribution, either. Circle players can have a basic theme for models more related to the Wolves of Orboros, and a completely different one for their Tharn, using a few greens to tie things together. A Cygnaran army could go completely different routes between its Trenchers and Stormnouns. Cryx can vary between living and undead schemes. Be creative with your variances. You never know when inspiration might strike.

Broadsided: Trying Something Different

I mentioned in my very first post that I like trying new things. Every so often, changing the factions I play isn't enough. Previously I'd borrowed models from another faction once: since I'd painted up a Caine 2009 model, I wanted to run a list with him, so borrowed some 'jacks and gun mages from a friend and did. This past Saturday, I tried borrowing models again. This time, I had a different motive. Once May rolls around, my store's having a huge 150-point tourney. Thinking of combinations, I decided to go with pSorscha, Old Witch, and Bart. The problem? I don't own Bart. I have someone who's willing to loan him, so this isn't so much of a problem as having never used him before. So I borrowed a couple of 'jacks and played a quick 15-point game to get the hang of things.

I ran Bart, a Mule, a Nomad, a Buccaneer, and epic Eiryss against Ravyn, a Chimera, 10 Mage Hunters with the Commander, and Skeryth Issyen. First turn, Eiryss went to harass the Chimera, while the 'jacks ran into position. Hot Shot also went on the Mule. Then the shooting began. Sniped Mage Hunters quickly take out the Cortex on the Buccaneer, making it effectively worthless. Nomad takes a few points, but manages to stay functional. Issyen moves off to the side to flank.

Next turn, I start disrupting the Chimera, ensuring it does nothing for the rest of the game. I get a few good scatters on the Mule's normal shot and the resulting Broadside shot. Ravyn feats and manages to finish off the Buccaneer, do a point to Bart, and take out the Buckler on the Nomad. I get one more turn of shooting while the Nomad dismounts Skeryth, but gets wrecked the next turn. Bart charges a Mage Hunter after taking another Broadside shot, where the Mule's apparently gotten Not Shot upkept on him; the one good drift I get, I roll triple ones on the boosted damage roll, leaving a Mage Hunter alive! I feat after that to ensure I live one more turn, but my hopes were pretty thin from here. Ravyn has enough range to get Bart down to 7 pre-feat, then ran off to prevent the ever-present knockdown threat. I kill a couple of Mage Hunters who managed to flee afterward, and have to throw up Batten Down the Hatches, praying ARM 21 will survive the angry Fane Knight's charge. No such luck.

So I lost. But it was great to play with something new; I've never used a Merc army before, so that was an experience in itself. I'm pretty confident I can get something out of him in the tourney coming up, though. At the very least, I can hope to get a little more effectiveness out of the feat, especially with the larger model count. Typhoon isn't one of the most feared feats in the game for nothing... I'm also going to continue to occasionally try something new every once in a while. After all, I thrive on new experiences. What a better way than to try a completely different army?