[Zealot]

I just got to try out some of the Varkaanans for the first time in my last couple games.
The first was with my wife in a 600 point match.

She was using:
190 – Quahon
080 – Fyorlag Spiders x2
210 – Charos
120 – Greenscales x2

My army was:
095 – Arktos
110 – Varkaanan Greyspears
120 – Varkaanan Darkclaws
105 – Van Nessing
050 – Marro Warriors
120 – something else, can’t remember

Bottom line, the dice gods were against me and it was a massacre from my wife’s side. Quahon and the spiders obliterated most of the Varkaanan’s all on their own. I had a mental image of the werewolves trying to kill giant spiders that just kept running around between their legs before biting a wolf once to kill it. Quahon killing two out of three Darkclaws in her first lightning bolt attack didn’t help either. Once Quahon finally went down, my wife moved out Charos and the Greenscales and steamrolled through what I had left, despite my Marro Warriors cloning incessantly (even while being out of the water).

The second game was much more balanced and a lot more suspenseful.
I played a 625 point match against my friend Rennix.

His army was Deathwalker themed with:
130 – Deathcommander Mk3
140 – Deathwalker 9000
090 – Warden 816
195 – Zettian Infantry x3
070 – Zettian Guards

My army was Werewolf themed:
095 – Arktos
110 – Varkaanan Greyspears
120 – Varkaanan Darkclaws
075 – Khosumet the Darklord
225 – Anubian Wolves x3

This game was intense, I had very little range with only Arktos and the Greyspears not being melee vs an entirely ranged army (with multiple special attacks). That said I learned some things from my first match against my wife and I kept the Greyspears in reserve for cleanup. I moved out with the Anubians and the Darkclaws (bonding with either Arktos or Khosumet). The Darkclaws and Anubians were a potent front line with their 4 defense and high attacks. Despite this, it was tough to break the Deathwalker army’s momentum.

Rennix started out dominating the game by taking out wolves like crazy and using his infantry to keep my wolves from getting within striking distance of his Deathwalkers and their special attacks. Only when he started to run out of Zettian Infantry did he have a problem (though he did manage to take out two of my unactivated Greyspears with a single explosion attack from DW 9000). The game ended with Warden 816 and 1 Zettian Guard up against Khosumet, 1 Greyspear, and 1 Anubian. The greyspear (bonding with Khosumet) managed to take out the Warden and my 1 remaining Anubian rolled a 19 for unleashed fury before moving adjacent to Khosumet to attack the last Zettian with 10 attack dice! (I only got 3 skulls, but the dice roll was still epic). The Zettian fell after only rolling 2 shields, ending the game. Rennix and I both conceded that the game could have gone either way based on how well we’d both played it, a VERY close and FUN match.

I think the Varkaanans are a really fun core to have in your army and I’ve already ordered the other two hero figures and the Quickblades to add to my army for additional synergies. I was also pleasantly surprised how well their Wolf Pack power worked with Khosumet in a pinch. Unfortunately he doesn’t offer them any bonuses since none of them are Relentless but being able to use him as a cheap blocking figure to protect my last Greyspear was critical at the end of my game with Rennix. I can’t wait to play these guys again with a few more options.

Sincerely,
~Zealot