The Book of Marrden Hounds

[marro_master]

i love the marro doggys! i have never gotten a bad roll for movement, and subakna helps with that! well if dogs are mans best friends, then the hounds are marros best freinds

[Barbell Hero]

I had the pleasure of getting my face beaten into a snotty pulp Saturday night while trying to use these guys for the first time. Their uncanny ability to suck hard right when you need a nice big 8-move charge makes them next to worthless in my book. Out of the 6 turns I took with them, 3 of those turns were 8 moves, 1 was a 4 move, and the other 2 were a 2 move.

The first 2 move happened the very next activation after the AE dropped in their midst (on height) to try and take them out. They just wandered around like idiots while the USMC shot the bejesus out of them. 8 move would have put me up in their face, chewing, snarling, and squirting out some gross marro nasty.

I tried to use them as cavalry, maybe that's the problem. It's almost like they're intended to wander randomly and hope that your opponent is silly enough to engage them in melee...

[pinche_guey]

After moving the marden hounds, do you roll plague for all hounds you control, including those that have not moved this turn? This is akin to the shades soul devour, but the wording there is perhaps a bit more clear.

[that guy]

Originally Posted by pinche_guey

After moving the marden hounds, do you roll plague for all hounds you control, including those that have not moved this turn? This is akin to the shades soul devour, but the wording there is perhaps a bit more clear.

Yes you do, but you don't role more than once for each effected figure, unlike the shades.

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

I recently fielded three squads of Wulsinu with two squads of 'Stalkers, Dund and Isamu.

I was up against Guerillinator and a Viper army.
He did something that was bloody brilliant. Before I could get all my Hounds out of the starting zone, he rushed in and engaged his Venoc Warlord with three of my dogs. They were stuck there!
Plague could only get one wound on him if lucky and my attacks rolls were not the best. A perfect set up for a beefy Warlorld like mittens to hold the ground.

Anyway, I thought it worthwhile to mention a great strategy to keep the Wulsinu in check from making sick the rest of one's army. Soulborg figures apply within!

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by that guy

Yes you do, but you don't role more than once for each effected figure, unlike the shades.

Can this be added to the FAQ on the first page? I had this same question and waded through the whole book to find the answer. Thanks.

[mccombju]

I played a game today where one squad of Marrden Hounds single-handedly won the game by killing Raelin, Major Q10, Krav, and Izumi before his AE could drop.

The hounds rushed my opponents' start zone (approx 20 hex away) and almost reached it by the end of the first round, but were unable to attack in the first round. Strategic Q10 and Izumi placement made it difficult for the hounds to reach the Krav (I had counter-drafted them for taking out the Krav), so instead they focussed on the Izumi (neglecting attacks, just d20 rolls) and Raelin before they made their way to the Krav. My dice were very hot. The hounds were able to stave off attacks from the Izumi, Krav and Q10 without losing a single hound. I was amazed. However, having killed his entire army with one squad, I felt bad for my opponent...

Interestingly, in the same matchup a game prior, one squad using the same tactics on the same map was only able to kill 1 Krav before being eliminated.

[BurnyFlame]

Assuming you were not rolling (as the rules say) multiple times for Marro Plague on one figure per turn, and not rolling against Major Q10, that is very impressive. And you must have rolled well to get high movement each time too, which I have seen work less frequently than expected.

Welcome to the site!

[mccombju]

Originally Posted by BurnyFlame

Assuming you were not rolling (as the rules say) multiple times for Marro Plague on one figure per turn, and not rolling against Major Q10, that is very impressive. And you must have rolled well to get high movement each time too, which I have seen work less frequently than expected.

Welcome to the site!

Thanks for the welcome! I've been looking over the boards for a little while now, and I felt it was finally time to contribute something - great community/forums.

Oh, and both assumptions were correct.
(i.e. only rolled once per turn per enemy figure affected and didn't roll d20 vs Q10)

Now I'm going to go over what I feel are a few strategic considerations when playing with or against the hounds.

Playing with the Marrden Hounds:

*Afterthought*
As Shades Fan said (major props for the great unit strategy review btw), the Marrden Hounds qualify as a Bishop class unit, given that you intend to sacrifice them (in my case: at the beginning of a game) to yield a maximum payout in terms of:
- high priority low defense troublesome enemy units killed (e.g. Raelin)
- squad units killed (e.g. KMA, Nakitas, WoA, Counterstrikers)
- high priority heroes wounded (e.g. Sgt. Drake (SOTM) when the rest of your army is lacking ranged special attacks)

Marrden Hound Movement Planning:

The variability in the Marrden Hounds' movement makes planning movements leading up to an engagement an important consideration when fielding the hounds.

When it comes to the hounds' movement, I find that you should plan for at least one "dud". This is the reason that I am very careful to maneuvre the Marrden Hounds within 8 movement spaces of the my opponent's front line, but not overcommit by going any closer until the 8 move d20 roll hits. Otherwise, you can be stranded with your hounds taking ranged fire without the ability to close the gap.

When playing multiple squads of unengaged hounds, at least three of which are within the 8 move range, a poor roll is a great time to move a squad that is still in your home base up (assuming you aren't taking fire from a figure with range greater than the hounds can move in one turn... e.g. greater than 9 on flat terrain).

Likewise, you can capitalize on an 8 move roll by neglecting to move (and, therefore, attack) with your front line engaged hounds. You still have the benefit of Marro Plague d20 rolls, though, both for the hounds that are stationary on the front line and, hopefully, for the second grouping of hounds that you are bringing to the front line to attack. This is only possible when you have had the opportunity to move a trailing set of three or more hounds up within 8 move range before officially launching the 8 move assault. Obviously, luck with d20 has a large role (no pun intended) to play in planning out movements. Once engaged, however, poor rolls can be used to activate engaged units whereas 8 move rolls can be used to bring new hounds to the battle and hence benefit from the maximum number of possible Marro Plague activations (i.e. more opportunity for more figures to be adjacent to any of your hounds).

It should also be noted that with large size and 5 defense, the hounds can be very difficult to take down (with a little luck, of course). Similarly, 3 attacks of 3 per turn on high priority targets is nothing to scoff at.

My Favourite Strategy (so far):

My favourite strategy is to commit all of my order markers to the Marrden hounds from the outset of the game until I take substantially compromising Marrden Hound losses or an Airborne Elite drop d20 roll hits.

The AE drop strategy, once again dependent on luck, has a potentially enormous payoff in that the opponent's troops are hopefully tied up/engaged by the high defense hounds while the AE use height to focus on high priority, high defense/life targets. I really love the synergy here, but I can't take credit for thinking of the idea. I have adapted my armies from the one posted by Pilgrim. Props, dude.

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I won the Beantown Beatdown 4 this year with the following:

Kaeman Awa
Marden Hounds x3
Airborne elite

Countering the Marrden Hounds:

Mitigating Start Zone Rushes from Opposing Marrden Hounds:

Strategies (some obvious and some not) that hinder the hounds include racing to height and/or forming a barrier of spaced out (if need be) path blockers, preferably soulborgs. By spacing out figures between your start zone and the hounds, you limit their ability to be used to maximum effect, lest they are willing to take disengagement strikes...

I suppose the roborats would make perfect counters to the Marrden Hounds, but I haven't had the pleasure, as I don't own any. Given that the roborats sound like a popular tournament draft pick, the Marrden Hounds may not be the most dependable/competitive squad choice. Nonetheless, against an unwary opponent without sufficient traffic clogging abilities, the hounds can be fearsome.

I also anticipate that Marrden Hounds would have an exceptionally difficult time earning their points against Gladiatrons/Blastatrons armies, which benefit from soulborg status, clogging, and multiple potentially high damage attacks per turn.

If you have any noteworthy experiences playing with or against the hounds, then I would be happy to hear them. Likewise, any suggestions you might have for flushing out the following army core would be greatly appreciated (assume 500 points):

Kaeman Awa - 120
Marden Hounds x2 - 180
Airborne elite - 110

That leaves 90 point left. I have considered the following options:

Crixus - 90 additional hero killer
Ne-Gok-Sa - 90 additional hero clogger to protect Kaemon by engaging
Tarn Vikings+Guilty+Isamu - 90 tarns can melee ftw; Guilty run & gun
MW+Eldgrim+Isamu - 90 MW add range and post-K.Awa cleanup

Of the options I listed/considered, I like the Marrow Warriors option best, as it adds some range, great end game durability, and potentially makes either the AE or K.Awa move faster. I welcome your input.

[Bahde]

As I learned in Kelso - they can be as much a burden as a bonus. For a whole day I managed a mere 4-5 moves of 8 with the two squads I packed in my army and in one game managed to get more than a 2 move only once - and for that I paid dearly dying in my starting zone as his Kozuke did thing to my army that would make a colon exam seem pleasant!

*IF* you get a least 50% of your movement rolls...they are monsters that can tear up the field, but if you get anything like 50% of your moves to be only a two......its all over. That said, I am tempted to bring them this time around again (Nilf, KA, Isamu & Hounds x2) just to see what we can do!

[GTigers55]

I have a question. If I'm using the marro plague against isamu, and i get a 16+, does Isamu still get to roll for vanish 9? I don't think he does but i just want to be sure.

[ollie]

Originally Posted by GTigers55

I have a question. If I'm using the marro plague against isamu, and i get a 16+, does Isamu still get to roll for vanish 9? I don't think he does but i just want to be sure.

You are correct. Isamu's power triggers "if Isamu is attacked" and Marro Plague is not an attack (all attacks are either normal ones or special ones, and special attacks say "Special Attack" in their name).

(Secondarily, there is the clause "at least one skull is rolled" that the Marro Plague could not trigger in any case.)