520 Point Hexes in Texas NHSD Armies

[DrLivingston]

(Warning! Long detailed post for only the truly sad or obsessive! Continue at your own risk!)

Because these things aren't done in a vacuum, here are the maps:

Maps:
Trailblazer

Split start zones. Very easy access to glyphs for flyers. Plays pretty quick.

Treeline

This map is simply insane to play. Awesome for flyers. Range has tons of LOS blockers to work around. Forget about Nilf finding a spot on this thing. Maybe he'll fit in the start zone...

Recessed Atrium

Lots of little one hex one up height everywhere. Action tends towards the middle because of the set wound glyph.

Cursed Fountains
** Marvel concrete plays like roads **

All the white Marvel Concrete hexes count as road for this tournament (as was the map author's intent). Shooting gallery in the middle.

Cross Trails v3.0

Fun map with lots of quick back and forth along the roads. Haven't played rats on it yet, but have heard they are especially brutal on this one.

Quasatch Playground

I've played on this map a ton and it has really grown on me.The action is all on the bridge (with maybe a quick sneak to the side for a good glyph and melee run to the other guy's start zone).

Suno Land - Swamp
* light snow, normal ice *

This one is all about dealing with the two choke points that lead to each side's start zones. Flyers are great on this map.

Lateral

Here's another one that likes the flyers with the water dividing the start zone and height. Roads and jungle help melee a lot.

Notes on Glyphs:

• Lots of Hero bait glyphs in the pool (all the treasure glyphs + Healer and Lodin power glyphs).
• Wound glyph is included (Hellooo Marcu).
• No Defense +1 or Rune of Defense +1 glyphs in the mix! Yay! for quicker games and 5 defense rats!

Meta:

• Assume Rats, Raelin, and Q-9 will be out there somewhere. But because Velenne keeps yelling at folks who consistently finish in the top ten at local tourneys to stop bringing that ****, it's not as much as you might think.
• My BroInLaw always brings Heavy Gruts with some combination of Grimnak/Ornac/Nerak/Tornak/Marcu.
• Someone's bringing Vipers.
• Phantom Knights will be flying.
• There's always at least two Minion armies.
• My sister-in-law, Fenix, is seriously considering Massx5 & New Drake (shudder)
• I just know there will be a few Dragon bonding armies and warforged armies.
• Not a lot of Glads/Blasts. We had none last year. Dignan brought them once (and won the whole thing that year) and Imax used to bring them a lot, but he's not coming.
• Seems to be a trend to max out "lifepoints" and really fill the start zone up with bodies.

Here's the armies I'm toying with:

Warforged
320 Warforged x 4
100 Krav
80 RotV Raelin
20 Marcu
TOTAL = 520/17

I've been pretty successful with this thing. I've beaten Stingers x5/Braxas and Mass x 5/New Drake with it (admittedly barely on both). Getting to roll 4-5 defense dice with an auto shield gets really frustrating for opponents...

With this army I fear Q-9 (dunno if 3 attack Warforged will dent him and the Krav get shredded by Q-9), Braxas, Glads/Blasts, and anything that drastically out numbers me.

Glads/Blasts
240 Gladiatrons x3
120 Blastatrons x2
80 Raelin

and either

60 Blastatrons x1 more
20 Marcu
Total = 520/26(kill 2 Blasts)

or

80 Concan(?) or somebody else bad*** at 80 points
Total = 520/22

I've played glads/blasts three times in my life and only once recently with the first set up (kill 2 blasts). I beat a minion army. But spending 60 points for 2 Blasts seems ridiculous.

But then I know next to nothing about the dang army.

I do know it's fun to play and seems to punish mistakes made pretty severely.

I fear my inexperience with this army. Course there's still two more weeks before NHSD...

I thought about Vipers (just like I do every year), but as rym said, "DrLivingston, you'll never have the guts to bring an all Viper army." After getting shellacked by Rÿchean in a practice bout, I fear rym is right.

So, if you like the intellectual exercise, pretend you're coming to Hexes in Texas and want to win it all without hacking off Velenne too much. (No one wants to hear the "Stop bringing Q-9/Raelin" lecture again).

But you play with a bunch of guys weekly that always finish in the top ten, so you've got to bring the best units you can.

But probably not all of them together in the same army.

You've looked at the maps, the glyph selection, and studied the meta.

What is the 520 point army to bring to Hexes in Texas 2010?

(And don't say Vipers!)

[stubobj]

What about:

4x Knights of Weston
Sir Gilbert
4x Red Wyrmlings
Isamu

This is similar to a Knight army Im thinking about for TTO. Red Wyrmlings really help against the dreaded rats.

I personally enjoy Trons alot. Why isnt 4 sets of Glads an option? You only have to drop 1 Glad.

I think Dwarves are a decent choice. I prefer them without a hero but Darrak is a steal at 60 points.

4x Dwarves
Krav
Realin
Darrak

I also like:

4x Dwarves
Realin
Q10
Isamu

[vertigosmooth]

Boy, you are a Raelin using fool eh! hehe. Both your armies look cool to me. I personally have never played against a Glad/Blast army, so if I play any it will be a learning experience for sure. I have a bunch of armies I'm deciding from(I'm having issues picking) so I probably won't know what I'm playing till last minute. I've noticed that there really isnt a bunch of cookie cutter armies in the Dallas scene, with all of the really good players you guys have I would have expected to play against rats/Q9 a lot more(only faced the major once, and never rats). I think it's cool that you guys mix it up more, but it also makes it hard to know what I may be facing, hehe.

I cant wait, it will be a great time.


Dustin

[DrLivingston]

Originally Posted by vertigosmooth

I've noticed that there really isnt a bunch of cookie cutter armies in the Dallas scene, with all of the really good players you guys have I would have expected to play against rats/Q9 a lot more(only faced the major once, and never rats).

Many fear the Velenne lecture...

And there's a sort of unspoken rule that we don't bring the same thing twice--especially if we've already won/done really well with it. No one wants to play Dignan's Glads/Blasts every year!

(Of course BroInLaw chomps all over that rule...)

@stubobj 4 Glads seems like a really good idea.

The reason I wanted Concan is because I am terrified of Raelin dying, all my glads falling, and then my blasts just wilting away.

I figured if the Blasts killed enough of the other army, Concan could swoop in and save the day.

But with 3 more Glads I could keep folks away from Raelin and the Blasts alive longer.

It's crazy how quickly I seem to run out of Glads...

[dok]

Based on the map pool, I do like single-spacers, but double spacers can do OK. With the treasure glyphs in play, I like bonding armies a lot.

Originally Posted by DrLivingston

Warforged
320 Warforged x 4
100 Krav
80 RotV Raelin
20 Marcu
TOTAL = 520/17

I've been pretty successful with this thing. I've beaten Stingers x5/Braxas and Mass x 5/New Drake with it (admittedly barely on both). Getting to roll 4-5 defense dice with an auto shield gets really frustrating for opponents...

With this army I fear Q-9 (dunno if 3 attack Warforged will dent him and the Krav get shredded by Q-9), Braxas, Glads/Blasts, and anything that drastically out numbers me.

I really like this one. If you beat Braxas with it, you must be doing something right, because that looks like the flashing neon nightmare matchup for that army. If you're worried about ranged commons, you could always drop one squad of warforged, and either turn the Krav into you-know-who (who also helps against Braxas), or add two squads of yes-those-guys.

Originally Posted by DrLivingston

Glads/Blasts
240 Gladiatrons x3
120 Blastatrons x2
80 Raelin

and either

60 Blastatrons x1 more
20 Marcu
Total = 520/26(kill 2 Blasts)

I get wanting to add Marcu, but spending 60 points for two blasties seems sort of off. I think you'd be better off adding Glads for the 2008 Spider_Poison version. I hear it worked out OK for him.

Originally Posted by DrLivingston

80 Concan(?) or somebody else bad*** at 80 points
Total = 520/22

I've played glads/blasts three times in my life and only once recently with the first set up (kill 2 blasts). I beat a minion army. But spending 60 points for 2 Blasts seems ridiculous.

I wouldn't go Concan. I sort of want to suggest adding Marcu and 2 black wyrmlings (good against toughies backed with Raelin, not bad against Raelin herself if she's in a tough spot, great Krav counter) but with only 2, it's awfully tough to use them.

Another 'tron army that I love in theory, but to my knowledge has never been played by anyone ever, is Raelin + Marcu + Gladsx2 + Blastsx2 + Phantom Knights x2. The PKs take glyphs, deal with krav and other range, and generally prepare the battlefield for the 'tron roll. I'd be really happy to see someone give this one a try.

Originally Posted by DrLivingston

What is the 520 point army to bring to Hexes in Texas 2010?

(And don't say Vipers!)

Don't ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to.

Anyway, one thing that I bet could really do some damage would be a Braxas/Greenscale build. The glyph set seems ridiculously good for it - Braxas loves heal and d20 and the heal and invisibility treasures, too.

50 Marro Warriors
80 Raelin
180 Greenscale Warriors x3
210 Braxas
520, 16 hexes

You need some glyph help against 4th/stinger/10th hordes, but if you get it... man, it can get silly. I'd love to have the Krav in stead of the Marro Warriors but I'm not sure GSWx2 is enough.

[Armageddon]

I was thinking elemental army:

120 Kurrok
105 (3) Fire
30 (1) Air
70 (2) Earth
30 (1) Water
150 Q-10
10 Isamu
-----
515 11 spaces

[killercactus]

Braxas does seem like a great play with the glyphs that are available and the maps that are nice for fliers. The "Queenroller" sounds like a solid play, or even a Braxas/Rats x3 + whatever 190 Points you want. I feel like Hydra would be a nice counterbalance to what Braxas can do, but that leaves an icky 70 Points. AE/Raelin looks good on paper, but I start to get scared at having only those 2 somewhat fragile units as your attacking force, even with Raelin.

What about Brunak/Raelin? This way you get to move Raelin for free and you get another tough hero. Might work in a Queenroller build, too. And, this build pretty much poops on opposing Deathreavers.

So, I'm at either:

Braxas - 210
Raelin - 290
Brunak - 400
Rats x3 / Greenscales x2 - 520, 17/11 hexes

[dok]

If I'm willing to drop to GSWx2, I'd much rather have the Krav in that build than Brunak. You already have the best ratkiller in the game. Against melee you can just have Braxas stand her ground in Raelin's aura, and against ranged figures Brunak isn't going to be able to get multiple attacks very often (at least, not without leaving Raelin behind or putting her in harm's way). You're better off just activating Raelin if needed and spending those points on the Krav, who helps you against the build's biggest weakness - cheap ranged commons.

[Rÿchean]

My current fav:

5xHeavies
Grimnak
Nerak

It is a lot of figures plus disengage and chomp are incredibly powerful/useful in a variety of matchups.

Another consideration:

Braxas
6xDividers
Isamu

I think both armies match up well enough against Warforged and I am about 90% certain that the last two Hexes in Texas winners (dignan & DrL) will be playing Warforged.

[Killometer]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Braxas
6xDividers
Isamu

I think both armies match up well enough against Warforged and I am about 90% certain that the last two Hexes in Texas winners (dignan & DrL) will be playing Warforged.

I really like this army-it's basically what I've been planning on bringing to NorCal's NHSD tourney since August (less one squad of Dividers and Isamu). In playtesting I've found it extremely easy to use effectively against a lot of differnt match-ups, which is very important for our tourney (after each round everyone trades armies, and your army's record counts towards your final score).

Also, it hammers Warforged, thanks to it's combination of bypassing Defense and swarming number of Dividers.

[Matthias Maccabeus]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

My current fav:

5xHeavies
Grimnak
Nerak

TTO VI is 525 this year and this is currently number one on my list as well.

Number 2 is -

Knights x 6 / Gilbert

[Dignan]

Well, I've got a spreadsheet full of army ideas, but I haven't really narrowed it down any. I'm torn between some of my old favorites and trying out some new builds.

Warforged x4
Raelin

Is the core of many of the armies on my spreadsheet. In most of the test games I've played with these guys, I never activated the extra 120 points that are left off. There are tons of cool options, but I'm partial to the Iron Golem. There are a ton of better choices, but he's really cool and fits with the army.

The rest of my builds are fairly vanilla. I'm looking at several bonding options to take advantage of the treasure glyphs, but some of the maps could get ugly with rats and range. Orcs seem like an ideal choice for this event. I'd bet on Ry and BroInLaw to have them at a minimum. Hopefully someone will bring firestorm and smoke those orcs out.