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View Full Version : Help rounding out a gladiatron/blastatron army


kenjib
March 20th, 2007, 04:40 AM
I have 2 sets of blastatrons and 3 gladiatrons. I was wondering what to use for the remaining 140 points of a 500 point army to shore up their soft spots. I haven't used the blasts/glads very much though so I don't really know what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Here are my thoughts:

Krug (120): A great Q9 counter (every competitive army should have one) and clean up figure in general.
Kaemon Awa (120): A well rounded figure that adds a solid alternate source of attack should the blastatrons die.
Laglor and Guilty (110 + 30): Laglor boosts the range of the blastatrons to keep them out of harm's way and in the end game still has the potential to take out a few enemies. Guilty fills the last 30 points and might be lucky enough to eke out a victory at the very end.
4th Mass or Aubrien Archers x 2 (140): Like Kaemon Awa, these are nice, well-rounded units to have on the board when the blastatrons die off - or to weaken/kill key targets before the glads/blasts move in for the final assault.
Raelin/Marro Warriors (80 + 50): Raelin is always useful and the Marro warriors are a great value to fill the remaining points.
KMA/Deathreavers (100 + 40): The reavers take glyphs so that the gladiatrons are free to engage enemies. The KMA are there to clean up if needed after the glads/blasts take out the units that threaten them most. It's possible that some reavers might still be around to support the KMA at the end too.

What do you think? What are they good at and what aren't they good at? What does a glad/blast army most need to round it out? Is 2 blast/3 glad a good number to start with?

Stealth Dodge
March 20th, 2007, 06:49 AM
I'd take Kaemon. I always try to include atleast 1 unit with a special attack to bypass defensive abilities my opponent might have

Tiberius
March 20th, 2007, 07:16 AM
The best combo I have seen is 2xblast, 2xglad, laglor and Krav. The weakness of this combo is anti-range guys like drake, EOV and other Krav. Laglor can handle drake with the special attack, The gladiatrons can handle the others.

Though your options of Krug or Keamon Awa would work well as well. Either one will fill the void of anti-range handlers.

TyrionXavier
March 20th, 2007, 11:41 AM
See signature ;)

Dredd Stev
March 20th, 2007, 02:17 PM
Hey Tyrion, how long has my chicken been in yer sig? I'm glad somebody is reading my posts!

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

How about dw9K? He fills out your soulborg army and boosts the Blasta's range. Brings a long range special and AoE attack to the table too. I know NOBODY like the DW round here though... so I'll just sit back a wait for the next three posts to tell me that no compettivie army can have a DW. Period.

Well I'll show ALL Y'ALL! I'ma win St. John's first big tourney with team DEATH. Bahahhahahahahahahahah.... now if I could just get a tourney going...

Tiberius
March 20th, 2007, 02:42 PM
Deathwalkers are not competitive...period. Just kidding, actually I like DW9000 and DW8000, I just never have much luck with them. They are powerful and versatile, they are just subject to the rules of bad luck. They do enhance range (can be done cheaper with laglor though and they dont have to be adjacent to him) but the special attacks are nice, you just have to be careful where you target the explosive special or you blow up your own gladiatrons.

TyrionXavier
March 20th, 2007, 03:19 PM
Hey Tyrion, how long has my chicken been in yer sig? I'm glad somebody is reading my posts!



Long time.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/954/chickenseinarcardbw3.jpg

spider_poison
March 20th, 2007, 04:09 PM
I like either Kaemon Awa, 2X Aubrien Archers, or another set of Blastatrons and Raelin. If you try the last configuration, though, you'll have to be extra clever with how you play them....like sending a B-Tron adjacent an enemy fig, shooting the enemy fig off with a different B-Tron, and then firing with the once-engaged B-Tron. You can even try it with more than one B-Tron, but if things don't go right, you'll have 2 pitiful attacks. In general, you'd have to make it more convenient and appealing for your opponent to fire at B-Trons instead of G-Trons.....I hope that all made sense. :?

Also, you'd need the B-Trons to be glyph holders

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about diversity too much with a Tron army. Their attacks can vary so greatly that you'll have an answer for most anything...except Krav mostly, in which case you might need to put turn markers on your G-Trons.

Marduk
March 20th, 2007, 04:10 PM
I haven't used the blasts/glads very much though so I don't really know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Strengths: gladiatrons generally work better than rats for pinning the enemy down; the bonding means that you can concentrate your order markers and will not have to plan so far ahead; and blastatrons can get to be more dangerous than swogged-up arrow gruts. Weaknesses: the gladiatrons can not hold a Large or larger figure in place, though unless it has disengage they still work as well as any other unit for this; the blastatrons are terribly fragile, so anyone that can keep clear of the glads will butcher you; and you often have to choose between maximizing your firepower by concentrating your glads and pinning down/blocking more of the enemy by spreading them out instead.

Krug (120): A great Q9 counter (every competitive army should have one) and clean up figure in general.
If nothing else, he is a great distraction and can be used to block LoS in a lot of places. If he survives long enough he makes a good cleanup crew. Also, depending on what your enemy has, he may be your best bet for taking out a particularly tough or dangerous figure - in particular anything that can kill off your glads fast enough to stay clear of them.

Kaemon Awa (120): A well rounded figure that adds a solid alternate source of attack should the blastatrons die.
He is a good figure on his own, but I do not think he is a good fit for a blast/glad army. Where you may actually need a good melee attack and so have a use for Krug, you are not likely to need another ranged attack. If your blastatrons die, you have most likely lost despite having Kaemon.

Laglor and Guilty (110 + 30): Laglor boosts the range of the blastatrons to keep them out of harm's way and in the end game still has the potential to take out a few enemies. Guilty fills the last 30 points and might be lucky enough to eke out a victory at the very end.
This is a good choice, as it covers one of the potential (if unlikely) weaknesses of your blastatrons - being outranged. Certainly it is good to keep the fragile blastatrons too far from the enemy to be caught by a single-turn charge.

4th Mass or Aubrien Archers x 2 (140): Like Kaemon Awa, these are nice, well-rounded units to have on the board when the blastatrons die off - or to weaken/kill key targets before the glads/blasts move in for the final assault.
This would be better than Kaemon Awa, but I still do not think I would go this way. On the other hand, keeping a set of 4th Mass off to one or both sides will help keep your gladiatrons from being out-manuevered. And if you had two sets of Aubriens you would not be too bad off starting with them... a lucky frenzy could let you do a lot of damage. Particularly against another blast/glad army.

Raelin/Marro Warriors (80 + 50): Raelin is always useful and the Marro warriors are a great value to fill the remaining points.
Raelin would be my first choice, regardless of what you use to fill out the other 60 points. If your foe has good ranged units that are likely to be able to target your blastatrons, keep her with the blasts so you do not lose them too quickly. Otherwise, once the gladiatrons have engaged the enemy troops send her after them to help them last longer.

If you go with Raelin, I would recommend deathreavers to go with her. They will be handy for assisting the glads, and have the advantage of not requiring a lot of order markers to do their job. (Neither does Raelin, for that matter - one of her strong points.)

KMA/Deathreavers (100 + 40): The reavers take glyphs so that the gladiatrons are free to engage enemies. The KMA are there to clean up if needed after the glads/blasts take out the units that threaten them most. It's possible that some reavers might still be around to support the KMA at the end too.
I am not sure how I feel about this. They are a good option for standing in front of your blastatrons as bait, but I do not like having to put an order marker on them to get any other use out of them. Then again, they would be good at picking off targets the gladiatrons could not reach. I guess it really depends on what kind of opposition you expect to see. If there will be swogs or anything similar, this is probably a very good choice. If you are facing an orc champion bonding army, not so good.

What does a glad/blast army most need to round it out?
Something to keep the glads alive longer, though numbers are generally good enough for this. Part of the problem with most things that help keep glads alive is the requirement for order markers to go to that instead; and since you need to get the glads next to the enemy for them to do any good, that is counterproductive.

Anything that makes the blastatrons more durable or gives them greater range is good; hence Raelin and Laglor are both very good choices. They do not require many order markers to provide their support to the blasts, just enough to keep in range.

Is 2 blast/3 glad a good number to start with?
Yes, ideally your gladiatrons will be the only ones taking losses so you need more of them; and having two sets of blastatrons gives you a decent cushion against losses in the event something does get past your gladiatrons.

Beware the Airborne Elite my son, with their parachutes that drop and their grenades that blast; beware the Theracus/DW7k combo and the fruminous Braxis.

MattserTruckRally
March 21st, 2007, 07:10 PM
Deathwalker 9k obv.

Guerillinator
March 22nd, 2007, 01:11 AM
For 120 points the Kozuke Samurai are a great unit. With their charge they can close on the enemy quick and use their 5-attack dice. After that you can go with them for a couple of more turns or just keep advancing the gladitrons meanwhile hoping for a couple counter strikes (harder to get though with only 3 defense dice). And even when you're down to last Kozuke, you can still use him to tie up any hero that you can't reach with the rest of your army.

Otherwise, I would stick with Kaemon b/c you could simply hold him back till the end of the game, allowing you to focus all your markers on the gladitron/blastitron combo for the time being. And it always helps to have a ranged figure if the game comes down to the last couple figures. With his double special attack and counter-strike, Kaemon is also a menance for melee figures that attempt to close in on him.

Dredd Stev
March 22nd, 2007, 07:39 AM
um the Kozuke only cost 100 there big fella...

Guerillinator
March 22nd, 2007, 11:26 PM
My bad, thinking about Tagawa I guess. :oops: In that case, the Kozuke plus one set of Reavers would round out the 140 points pretty well. :D Reavers are one of the few commons that I will sometimes justs take one set of because they are so cheap and yet disruptive at the same time.