MKIII starter box battle!

Well I proxied the starter Circle Orboros box (just used Kaya for Tanith and a Wold for the Gorax) and faced off against the Cygnar starter box.

Needless to say it was a myriad of low points for me. Firstly I hit only thrice all game and that was with a boosted spray attack from my Pureblood Warpwolf and one hit from my Gorax that failed to penetrate the ARM of a ARM buffed Lancer. Even better is that boosted damage from the Warpwolf spray attack only did a total of 4 and 3 points of damage to the two warjacks it hit.


The rest of the game I never rolled better than a 12 to hit. That is 12 total after rolling 2 (or sometimes 3D6) and then adding it to the appropriate stat.

It was a disgusting dice night to say the least. At least it brought comedy to the game. Seriously no better higher than an 12 for every attack sans three of them.

I had a sweet assassination run on Major what’s her name girl Cygnar caster with my ghostly Warpwolf. I charged right through the terrain in front of her and promptly missed with all my attacks. I then popped feat to channel spells through the Warpwolf and missed those spell attacks as well.
 

I then gave up. My Gorax was crushed. I missed my assassination chance. I was facing down three warjacks that were basically undamaged. I was fine with that. I walked Tanith out in front of the Ironclad and layed down.


I had baited him to get the ghost walk assassination run and completely missed the rolls. Plus, I was just so tired of rolling poorly that I wanted the game to just end.

Three hit rolls all game over 12. Take that math/stat nerds!

After one game I can’t say much for Tanith and her set. I can see some synergy, but not a lot. Sure the Pureblood has assault now so he can shoot and fight or fight and shoot, but with MAT 6 and RAT 5 he is not super accurate with either.


The Gorax I have never like. Sorry, but I am no fan of the Primal animus. Having a turn of melee buffs is great, but the auto frenzy the following turn is drek. I like to keep my beasties under control.
I know I'm a Circle player that doesn't like Primal or the Gorax. How is that possible since that guy and Warpwolf Stalkers were the go to beasts prior to MKIII?


The Argus didn’t have a chance to do anything as I was running it up with the Warpwolf to try and get his animus off to help him. Sadly he was just out of range to use it to help my assassination run. I can see the synergy with the Argus and the Warpwolf.

Tanith’s spell list is…well I’m sure it is good. Her ranged combat spells (Bleed and Rift)are ok, but with only 6 fury she has to boost them to get them to hit. Her up keep Admonition can kind of help a bit with movement shenanigans. Scything Touch is nice, but if you roll like crap the ARM de-buff is not an issue. Affliction is good as well, but if you can’t hit then the DEF de-buff matters not. A descent list. I really think it is.

Her feat turn greatly helps with spell casting by reducing spell  cost and being able to channel through warbeasts. Descent.

Her ranged and melee combat is sort of meh! You don’t want her in melee combat. She has a critical shadow bind on her magical stick, but still keep here out of melee. Period. Her ranged attack has a fun area effect ability that ignores cover, concealment, elevation and causes shadow bind.  Shadow bind is good for a turn, but pretty useless after that. Since it is still removed with focus/fury. Sure a focus/fury burn the next turn but not really that scary. So the poor melee, but somewhat useful ranged make for an average of meh!.

I don’t dislike her and some of her abilities. The 6 fury is annoying. I don’t think her choice of warbeasts is stellar. Her feat isn’t terrible. Plus she isn’t Kaya. Still a potentially good warlock and maybe one I’ll look at in a few months.

Now the Cygnar box caster is pretty damn interesting!

Major Cygnar Storm (noun) caster has a descent spell list. Three upkeeps; one that is an Arm bonus, Snipe for range and Assail to get extra movement. She also has a ranged offensive spell, but I never saw that used.

The warjacks are a Lancer, Ironclad and Firefly. Sure they aren’t great, but they are descent with her. An ARM buff on the Lancer along with his shield makes for a light warjack with a Khador style heavy armor stat. Assail on the Ironclad is good and helps him get into position to hammer the crap out of people faster. Snipe on the Firefly or on her is a good choice as well. Her feat gives a strength/damage buff for one turn and that is always helpful!

It is a very interesting box and if I don’t hate Cygnar, all that blue and adding another army; then I just might have grabbed this box set. I was very impressed with the caster. The Lancer is a no-brainer choice and the Ironclad is always descent. I am not sold on the Firefly, and have always liked the look and ability of the humble Charger.

A solid starter indeed!