The 4th Mass Effect
or
Too Many Puppies!
Anubian Wolves. Most of us have them, some of us have alot of them because the 4th are pretty good, and they happen to be one of my favorite units. The recent activity in the Book of the Anubian Wolves has gotten me thinking about whether or not we can make a tournament ready AW army. I feel like they're one of those units that's really pretty good, but the community's just . . . apprehensive about playing them. (Similar to the Ninjas of the North Wind, and a couple other I can't think of at the moment.)
People tend to get to fixated on their "reliance" on the d20. Personally, I think their six move and four defense is where thier real value lies. They're normally going to have either three or four attack, which is pretty darned good with the rest of thier stats. Sure sometimes you'll get that one and lose a turn, other times you'll get the big roll and go nuts (though I've found they happen more often when you don't need the big attack). One in ten OMs you'll get one of those and over the course of twenty OMs (seven rounds) you might get both. To me, that's infrequent enough to be negliable. And maybe it should be to you too.
This is an army I've played in a 2v2 game, 200 points/player (along with the other players' armies):
150 Anubian Wolves x2
200 Marro Warriors
my temate:
120 Venoc Vipersx3
200 Kumiko
Other guys:
150 Cyprien
200 Me-Burq-Sa
100 Krav Maga Agents
150 Marro Warriors
200 Tarn Viking Warriors
This game was a while back, so I can't recall exactly how it went, but my wolves took out Cyprien and banged their heads against the agents and vikings allowing the venocs to take most of them out. Kumiko and the MW cleaned up. I only really got one (maybe two) big Unleashed Fury rolls in this game, and I failed one (that I can recall). One of the furies was extremely timely, allowing me to finish of Cyprien before he could heal.
Now that I have all that written out, I suppose this game was actually one of the exceptional games. The big roll came right when i needed it to take out the big hero. Still, as far as 200 point armies go, I think that might be right up there at the top. (I know 200 point armies aren't played all that often, but I think really small games are fun.)
At 300 points a few more options open up. You can go with something like:
225 Anubian Wolves x3
300 Khosumet
This wouldn't be my top choice at this value mostly because rat podges become more viable and Rats are a really strong counter to AWs.
150 Anubian Wolves x2
270 Kaemon Awa
300 Guilty McCreech
I like this army much better. Up until you get to higher point values kaemon awa is almost a neccesity, he fixes your auto-lose problem with Deathreavers. Those would still be tough match ups but that four dice special attack goes a long way to making them winable. Guilty's filler, and depending on the metagame Isamu + Marcu might be better, however G McC is solid and like Isamu he has is break out games.
At four hundred points you can start running three swuads of wolves, which of course, is a good thing, and your options open up for some stronger ranged support if you're good with two squads of Wolves.
225 Anubian Wolves x3
355 Kaemon Awa
400 Sonya or the filler of your coice
225 Anubian Wolves x3
375 Q10
(filler - note I don't like the Dumuteff Gaurd in this army. That one attack die boost and single attack don't often make up for his OM investment, Unless there's a glyphs somewhere that he can hold from road . . . maybe)
150 Anubian Wolves x2
270 Kaemon Awa
390 Singers x2
400 Isamu
This one here is really my kind of army. You can play it a number of different ways depending on what you're up against, but it's fairly generic and obvious.
At 450:
Dingos Ate My Baby:
225 Anubian Wolves x3
405 Q9
450 Sonya (or other filler)
Quigley Gun for rats and to draw other melee armies to you and lots of wolves Dingos. 'Nuff said. On an unrelated note, I think sonya is underappriciated as a filler fig. She's the only unit in the game at her point cost. She's a 3/3 flier with a good move value and she can self-heal. Can you say, "clean-up, aisle nine?"
225 Wolves x3
300 Khosumet
450 Q10
This one doesn't feel as strong as the previous army, this is really the first price point where Khosumet becomes viable. I don't really like Q10 without a good screen (or failing that RaeRae), but I think he's the better option for rat erasing / ranged support than KA in this army.
Lets Get Ridiculous:
375 Wolves x5
450 Khosumet
500 points:
225 - Anubians x3
405 - Q9
480 - Khosumet
(filler)
Now you could switch Q9 for say, Niflheim, however Nilf just doesn't have the right characteristics for an Anubians-based army.
225 Anubians x3
375 Q10
495 Nakita Agents
I like this one in theory. Nakitas help against ratless range and are good cleanup against melee, Q10 exterminates, and the wolves do work.
By now I think I've made my point as well as I can (despite all my rambling on and on) and my instructor's finally going to give us today's assingment, so I'll leave you with one final army.
Too Many Puppies!:
600 Anubians x8
675 Khosumet
(sit a puppy)
Too Many Puppies!
Anubian Wolves. Most of us have them, some of us have alot of them because the 4th are pretty good, and they happen to be one of my favorite units. The recent activity in the Book of the Anubian Wolves has gotten me thinking about whether or not we can make a tournament ready AW army. I feel like they're one of those units that's really pretty good, but the community's just . . . apprehensive about playing them. (Similar to the Ninjas of the North Wind, and a couple other I can't think of at the moment.)
People tend to get to fixated on their "reliance" on the d20. Personally, I think their six move and four defense is where thier real value lies. They're normally going to have either three or four attack, which is pretty darned good with the rest of thier stats. Sure sometimes you'll get that one and lose a turn, other times you'll get the big roll and go nuts (though I've found they happen more often when you don't need the big attack). One in ten OMs you'll get one of those and over the course of twenty OMs (seven rounds) you might get both. To me, that's infrequent enough to be negliable. And maybe it should be to you too.
This is an army I've played in a 2v2 game, 200 points/player (along with the other players' armies):
150 Anubian Wolves x2
200 Marro Warriors
my temate:
120 Venoc Vipersx3
200 Kumiko
Other guys:
150 Cyprien
200 Me-Burq-Sa
100 Krav Maga Agents
150 Marro Warriors
200 Tarn Viking Warriors
This game was a while back, so I can't recall exactly how it went, but my wolves took out Cyprien and banged their heads against the agents and vikings allowing the venocs to take most of them out. Kumiko and the MW cleaned up. I only really got one (maybe two) big Unleashed Fury rolls in this game, and I failed one (that I can recall). One of the furies was extremely timely, allowing me to finish of Cyprien before he could heal.
Now that I have all that written out, I suppose this game was actually one of the exceptional games. The big roll came right when i needed it to take out the big hero. Still, as far as 200 point armies go, I think that might be right up there at the top. (I know 200 point armies aren't played all that often, but I think really small games are fun.)
At 300 points a few more options open up. You can go with something like:
225 Anubian Wolves x3
300 Khosumet
This wouldn't be my top choice at this value mostly because rat podges become more viable and Rats are a really strong counter to AWs.
150 Anubian Wolves x2
270 Kaemon Awa
300 Guilty McCreech
I like this army much better. Up until you get to higher point values kaemon awa is almost a neccesity, he fixes your auto-lose problem with Deathreavers. Those would still be tough match ups but that four dice special attack goes a long way to making them winable. Guilty's filler, and depending on the metagame Isamu + Marcu might be better, however G McC is solid and like Isamu he has is break out games.
At four hundred points you can start running three swuads of wolves, which of course, is a good thing, and your options open up for some stronger ranged support if you're good with two squads of Wolves.
225 Anubian Wolves x3
355 Kaemon Awa
400 Sonya or the filler of your coice
225 Anubian Wolves x3
375 Q10
(filler - note I don't like the Dumuteff Gaurd in this army. That one attack die boost and single attack don't often make up for his OM investment, Unless there's a glyphs somewhere that he can hold from road . . . maybe)
150 Anubian Wolves x2
270 Kaemon Awa
390 Singers x2
400 Isamu
This one here is really my kind of army. You can play it a number of different ways depending on what you're up against, but it's fairly generic and obvious.
At 450:
Dingos Ate My Baby:
225 Anubian Wolves x3
405 Q9
450 Sonya (or other filler)
Quigley Gun for rats and to draw other melee armies to you and lots of wolves Dingos. 'Nuff said. On an unrelated note, I think sonya is underappriciated as a filler fig. She's the only unit in the game at her point cost. She's a 3/3 flier with a good move value and she can self-heal. Can you say, "clean-up, aisle nine?"
225 Wolves x3
300 Khosumet
450 Q10
This one doesn't feel as strong as the previous army, this is really the first price point where Khosumet becomes viable. I don't really like Q10 without a good screen (or failing that RaeRae), but I think he's the better option for rat erasing / ranged support than KA in this army.
Lets Get Ridiculous:
375 Wolves x5
450 Khosumet
500 points:
225 - Anubians x3
405 - Q9
480 - Khosumet
(filler)
Now you could switch Q9 for say, Niflheim, however Nilf just doesn't have the right characteristics for an Anubians-based army.
225 Anubians x3
375 Q10
495 Nakita Agents
I like this one in theory. Nakitas help against ratless range and are good cleanup against melee, Q10 exterminates, and the wolves do work.
By now I think I've made my point as well as I can (despite all my rambling on and on) and my instructor's finally going to give us today's assingment, so I'll leave you with one final army.
Too Many Puppies!:
600 Anubians x8
675 Khosumet
(sit a puppy)
Total Comments 7
Comments
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I love puppies! I don't love tournaments though since I am not near any one.
I love theme armies and too many puppies is one in spirit that I have been contemplating though my army involves some Dumatefs and Wolves of Badru as well. I am currently questing to make 100 point squads and costlier more popular with the blurring of the 500 point stain has been shouted out. I want to play with puppies but they are bad and must be punished. Galloping charge! |
Posted December 6th, 2009 at 04:17 PM by J4Jandar
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I think adding Wolves of Badru to any of those armies you listed without range would make them sooo much better. You get a tiny tiny amount of range if you really need it, or if you want to blow a hole in a screen, you have a better chance. Also, you can bond with Khosumet and move him up to get a Relentless attack bonus. My favorite puppy army would have to be:
75 Khosumet 225 Anubs x3 170 Badrus x2 30 point filler (or Dumutef if you're going for a theme) |
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Posted December 6th, 2009 at 09:56 PM by Pickledpie
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@Pickedpie
I really didn't think to add WoB until after I had left class that day. The only real issue I have with them is that I don't know how they handle rats (the calculation times out on the matchup calculator). Well, that and the fact that I don't think they're cost effective enough to really support the Anubians; they're better than they get credit for, but they're not that good. |
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Posted December 8th, 2009 at 03:32 PM by Xn F M
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It's pretty tough to ever justify using Khosumet, I'm afraid. You're paying 75 points for a fragile, weak, non-bonding figure whose only value is a +1 d20 bonus. It's just not worth it, unless you're running 6 or 7 squads of Anubians.
I like the idea of using Q9 with Anubians, because it's an answer to two problems for the Anubians: rats and ranged squads. Personally, I'd strongly consider throwing in Raelin as well. I know it's not your thing, but it certainly helps this sort of build. 225 Anubians x3 80 Raelin 180 Q9 485, 12 hexes And then just add filler or more wolves. If you're less worried about rats, you can sub out Q9 for Krav Maga, and add more wolves. Another idea that may be just crazy enough to work is rats and wolves. Throwing out a rat screen could help protect the wolves while they get into position and wait for a good unleashed fury roll. 225 Anubian Wolves x3 120 Deathreavers x3 150 Q10 495, 23 hexes |
Posted December 8th, 2009 at 06:23 PM by dok
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I am starting to come back around re: Khosumet. Over the last week or so I've been thinking that once you hit ~ three squads, his cost (assuming you do nothing with him) is a fair addition to the cost of the Anubians. But more guys are often better than slightly stronger guys.
I like the idea of rats+melee, it's something I really haven't toyed around with much (yet) but as long as you're not up against disengagers they should be pretty good. As a far as Realin goes, I have a hard time getting my mind around that build. It seems like Raelin would be a big anchor; unless maybe you lead with Q9, move up Raelin behind him, and advance your wolves through Raelin's aura after Q goes down. Actually, that doesn't seem like a bad idea now that I've got it all written out. It feels like it might be an inefficient use of Raelin, but as long as the dice don't hate you it could easily work. |
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Posted December 8th, 2009 at 10:43 PM by Xn F M
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I always want to try Zelrig with them. That 5 in his point cost, a ranged special and a strength against squads (where Anubians excel more against heroes) seems to point to him with Wolves. Zelrig + Wolves x3 = 410 - a solid base to build around.
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Posted December 11th, 2009 at 09:30 AM by killercactus
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Anubians, eh . . . let's see . . .
150 Anubians x 2 120 Kaemon 100 WoA x 2 80 Deathreavers x 2 40 Theracus 10 Otonashi 500 or 150 Anubians x 2 110 NotNW 120 Kaemon 80 Deathreavers x 2 40 Theracus 500 |
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Posted January 29th, 2010 at 07:58 PM by kolakoski
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Recent Blog Entries by Xn F M
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- The 4th Mass Effect (December 5th, 2009)
