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GenCon 2025 (425 pt, 14 figure, Contemporary) Armies

Nukatha

Nukatha

Most Effort : Least Points
Site Supporter
Eligible Units are those released by Renegade through August 2025, including Raelin 4.0, Crabs, Tanukis, Grave Grim, and Revnan Acolytes.
Map Pool:

Gen Con Maps 2025 05.29.25.1.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com

Give away your strategies now! After all, no one wil care about this format after August 3rd!
 
I'll start with an obvious one, pure Eisenek:
150 Iron Lich Viscerot
90 Necrotech Wraithriders
185 Scavorith, Lord of Ruin
425 Points, 5 Figures, 7 Hexes

Simple order markers, on Lich with X on Scav. Just remember that a Vile Injection on Scavorith's first turn won't buff its follow-up Battle Surge turn too.
 
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I'm unable to go to GenCon, but I have a few army ideas for this format.

120 Frostclaw Paladins
150 Knight Primus Adelburn
115 Ewashia
30 Kita
415 Points, 7 Figures, 7 Hexes.

If the opponent has lots of squads send in Polar Bears first, if opponent has plenty of range send in Ewashia and Kita first.

Second army:

160 Queen Maladrix
60 Festering Honor guard
120 Halushia
30 Kita
50 Onshu
420 points, 9 Figures, 11 Hexes.

Send in Halushia with Onshu to deal with first few figures, while keeping Kita as backup in case Onshu goes down before Halushia. Send in Maladrix and FHG as clean up.
 
HEROES OF THE SWAMP
160 - Major Q11
170 - Sonlen
90 - Molten Crustaceans x2
420 points, 8 figures, 8 hexes.

FUN OVER FUNCTION
110 - Shiori
180 - Tanuki Tricksters x4
130 - Imperator Kayne
420 points, 8 figures, 8 hexes.

GLORY TO REVNA
185 - Scavorith, Lord of Ruin
130 - Hellforge Mandukor
40 - Grave Grim
45 - Revnan Acolytes
400 points, 6 figures, 7 hexes.

Will any of these three be effective? I doubt it, but they'd be a lot of fun! :thumbsup:
 
There's no way Pirates will be viable in this format with commons and the 2-life Bears/Necrotechs, and 425 is VERY awkward for the pirates.
For 435 you could do both squads, EJ-1M, and Bok-Bur-Na to give the Knaves a Captain (and they REALLY need that pseudo-Raelin aura to have any reasonable chance of taking even a 1-skull hit), or you could use Fia Bonny+Kita for 420 but then you're not all-in on Pirates.
But you don't want TWO 'Captain' heroes, as Knaves can only bond with one (basically, you can't run both Bok-Bur-Na and Fia Bonny in one army effectively):
So, I came up with a few options:

The Point Filler
125 Bok-Bur-Na
80 Cornelius Breech, The Derelict Prince
75 Exiles of the Sundered Sea
80 Killian Vane III
65 Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
425 Points, 11 Figures, 11 Hexes (410 Delta)

First, keep in mind that Knaves can bond with Breech even before you proc Mutiny. I wouldn't expect to get Breech healed by Mutiny, but at least you can retain the defense aura after Bok-Bur-Na dies. Intimidate and Swashbuckler do help him lead, but this entire army has a maximum defense of 3, you're made of paper. Keep in mind that Exiles can shoot foes debuffed by Intimidate. Maybe you'll score an all skulls Blunderbuss that takes out five bugs in one shot, probably not. I wish Fia fit here instead of Killian, but since she's a Captain, nope.

Trust the D20
80 Cornelius Breech, The Derelict Prince (OR Killian Vane)
100 Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler
75 Exiles of the Sundered Sea
80 Fia Bonny the Void Siren
65 Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
400 Points, 11 Figures, 11 Hexes (420 Delta)

Too bad Kita is 30 points lol. Actually, this army offers no synergy to the Exiles whatsoever. But if you can roll a D20, maybe Exiles and Fia just won't die. With that in mind you could drop Exiles for AoA Raelin for an even 425, her anti-defense aura can help, or even Wraithriders to give you a squad that can actually tank hit.

Figures? Who needs Figures?
170 Admiral EJ-1M
100 Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler
80 Fia Bonny the Void Siren
65 Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
415 Points, 7 Figures, 7 Hexes (385 Delta)

Probably the worst of these three sets, but it does give the Knaves two bonding options (including a Captain) and keep in mind that EJ-1M does allow you to move 5 figures and attack four times in a single order marker. At peak efficiency, Boarding Party's 4x3 is more dice than Q9.

And finally, what might have been (not legal in this format):
Spoiler Alert!


Wow, Bok-Bur-Na costs too much.
 
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It's because he isn't good at anything and his abilities are lesser versions of good ones.
His defense debuff is shorter range than AoA Raelin, doesn't affect large/huge, and only helps Pirates/Captains.
His not-Double Attack forces the second swing to be melee, so you can't clear out your engagement and then shoot something farther away.
And his not-Life Drain is D20-contingent.
Sigh.
 
Nukatha said:
It's because he isn't good at anything and his abilities are lesser versions of good ones.
His defense debuff is shorter range than AoA Raelin, doesn't affect large/huge, and only helps Pirates/Captains.
His not-Double Attack forces the second swing to be melee, so you can't clear out your engagement and then shoot something farther away.
And his not-Life Drain is D20-contingent.
Sigh.
Click to expand...
Yyyep. Exactly. And it's a darn shame because I love his sculpt and I love the idea of a Marro Pirate. Heck, with Haluchott we have a clear image of what Swashbuckler could have looked like. Combine not-Double Attack and not-Life Drain into one strong special:

UTGAR'S CUTLASS SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 1. Attack 4.
You may use Utgar's Cutlass Special Attack before or after using Bok Bur Na's normal attack. If Bok Bur Na destroys a figure with Utgar's Cutlass Special Attack, you may remove a wound marker from this army card.

At that point you could leave Intimidate as is and he'd still be much more playable.

BUT I'm off topic at this point. :)
 
Here's another cute one: All the Dryans/Familiars released by GenCon together make a 415 pt team:
Dryans
115 Ewashia, Master of Tides
120 Halushia, Scion of the Wild
30 Kita the Springrunner
50 Onshu the Welkineye
100 Raakchott, Steward of Death
415 Points, 5 Figures, 6 Hexes (360 delta)

Probably not viable, although all three of the Dryans' special attacks can hit multiple opponents (but all three are very positioning-dependent).

You could also try this variant:
Cultists Killed Kita
115 Ewashia, Master of Tides
120 Halushia, Scion of the Wild
40 Revnan Acolytes
50 Onshu the Welkineye
100 Raakchott, Steward of Death
425 Points, 7 Figures, 8 Hexes (375 delta)

Burn an early turn to kill your own Acolytes and charge Raakchott's Consume markers, and hope he can do cleanup a few rounds later with his resurrected cultists buffing him.
 
Spitballing a few more, these focused on particular Generals with the limited pool.
First, Utgar:
Loviatäk's Leadership
125 Bok-Bur-Na
75 Exiles of the Sundered Sea
80 Loviatäk the Kyrie Warrior
100 Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (AoA)
45 Tanuki Tricksters x1
425 Points, 9 Figures, 10 Hexes (415 delta)
This might actually be one of two semi-viable 'pirate' sets. Bok-Bur-Na, Exiles, and both Kyrie benefit from Dynastic Leadership. Exiles and Tanuki don't benefit from Brutality Aura unless attacking into melee, but Exiles at least can get Intimidate at range. Tricksters are just filler, of course.

Second, Revna:
Pirates?
80 Killian Vane III
150 Iron Lich Viscerot
65 Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
90 Necrotech Wraithriders
40 Revnan Acolytes x1
425 Points, 12 Figures, 13 Hexes (410 Delta)

Fia could be swapped for Killian, as she's actually a Captain and would provide a defense aura for the Knaces, but Killian acts as an Acolyte spawn point.
So, turn 1 you go Knaves and have Killian blunderbuss all your Acolytes at once. From there, they spawn next to either Lich or Killian based on whichever makes more sense, and you go from there.
This might actually be viable as an alternative to the pure Eisenek build.

Third, Volarak (mostly):
Ninjanimals
65 Decker the Burrowbreaker
110 Shiori (AoA)
180 Tanuki Tricksters x4
60 Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan
415 Points, 11 Figures, 11 Hexes (380 Delta)

Lead with your Tanuki, use their Aruki to develop Shiori and/or Decker into good position as needed. Tuck offers a few neat combos. You can Glide In next to a Glyph, and Aruki onto it in the same order marker.
By shifting OMs around, Tuck could also help proc Shiori's damage buff (once). Will it work? Idk, but it seems coherent at least. I won't be spending $160 to pick up 4 squads at GenCon lol.

Fourth, Jandar, there's a few ways to do this. All-in on melee bears:
Forest Rage (with heat?):
120 Frostclaw Paladins
110 Knight Irene
150 Knight Primus Adelbern
45 Tanuki Tricksters x1 OR Molten Crustaceans
425 Points, 8 Figures, 8 Hexes (450 Delta)

With flying support from Promo Raelin:
Cover Me:
120 Frostclaw Paladins
150 Knight Primus Adelbern
105 Raelin the Kyrie Warrior (4.0)
45 Tanuki Tricksters x1 OR Onshu OR Misaerx OR Molten Crustaceans
420/425 Points, 8 Figures, 8 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points

And last, a truly silly one for Aquilla:
If I can't move anywhere, you can't either
115 Ewashia, Master of Tides
45 Molten Crustaceans x1
50 Onshu the Welkineye (or just 2x Molten Crustaceans)
200 Xenithrax the Vineweaver
410 Points, 6 Figures, 7 Hexes (360 Delta)

Full board teraforming between Vines, Water, and Lava.
You won't win, but the map will look completely different lol.
 
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ALL I HAVE ARE PROMOS
65 Decker the Burrowbreaker
160 Major Q11
195 Thyraxis Dragoon
420 Points, 3 Figures, 4 Hexes

Just 3 bulky heroes who can each (sometimes) hit multiple targets. Who needs more?
 
FIRE_LORD510 said:
120 Frostclaw Paladins
150 Knight Primus Adelburn
115 Ewashia
30 Kita
415 Points, 7 Figures, 7 Hexes.
Click to expand...
I wonder if it would be worth trading Adelbern for Irene and Onshu:

115 Ewashia, Master of Tides
120 Frostclaw Paladins
30 Kita the Springrunner
110 Knight Irene
50 Onshu the Welkineye
425 Points, 8 Figures, 8 Hexes
 
Depends, I assume Frostclaws, pirates, and Maladrix will be common at this event. Which means Adelburn's ability will only work some of the time, and be good against pirates and the new squads. Irene is definitely better against double Frostclaw matchup, and Onshu will be good against FHG and pirates. Based on expected army composition of opponents, you are correct Irene and Onshu would be better for this event. I think if there were more prominent squads Adelburn would be better. I don't see a lot of people bringing the August release squads since they won't have much time to practice with them.
 
@kolakoski
Greatbow Archers won't be available at GenCon yet.
The second one I'd consider acolytes instead of Tricksters to be portable buffs for the Skordyre. Blast 'em round 1 with Q11, and then they'll respawn by Maladrix.
 
Eiseneks: Lich,Scav, Balls 425/5

Bugs: Mal Guards, bugball combo, Exiles 425/15(sit a guy)
Queen and Centaur: Mal Guards, Halushia, Onshu, Kita 420/9
Bugs Pirates: Mal Guards, Knaves Fia, Tuck 425/12
Bugs & Tanukis: Mal Guards, Tanukisx4 405/15

Bears Pirates: Claws Bernie, Knaves Fia 415/10
Bears Centaur: Claws Bernie Halushia Kita 420/7
Max Bears: Claws Irene Ordo Exiles 415/10
Bear Centaur2: Claws Irene Halushia Onshu 400/7
Bear Tanukis: Claws Irene Tanukisx4 410/13

Centaur Pirates: Halushia Onshu, Knaves Fia, Gencon Raelin 415/8

Tanuki spam: Tanukisx7, Gencon Raelin 420/15 (sit a tanuki)
Tanuki centaur: Tanukisx5 Halushia Onshu Kita 425/13

Crabs: joking they megashit

Looking at this meta, my favorites are Eseineks, Bugs, Queen and Centaur and Bears Pirates I'd probably play one of those 4.
 
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We just wrapped up our GenCon practice tournament, here's some notes based on my experience:

Exiles of the Sundered Sea
Festering Honor Guard
Oathbound Legionnaires
Oathbound Phalanx
Queen Maladrix the Conqueror
425 Points, 15 Figures, 16 Hexes (445 delta points)
Settings: Classic, Standard Points

3 players brought this exact army, and it's not hard to see why (2 of them intentionally coordinated to bring identical armies lol). This army ended up winning the tournament, as well as taking 3rd place. I don't think I need to explain why this army is good, Mal has really good numbers and 7 attacks in one turn, doing anything to reduce that number opens you up to Infestation which gives her a chance of just cheesing your hero. The player I faced that had this army chose to sit an exile to get to the figure limit, and I think that's the best choice to maximize the number of attacks you have on Mal's OM.

---

Festering Honor Guard
Oathbound Legionnaires
Oathbound Phalanx
Queen Maladrix the Conqueror
Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan
410 Points, 12 Figures, 13 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points

One player brought this variant due to not having exiles; I think exiles are better in theory but Tuck has some potential thanks to his ability to pop up anywhere. I didn't face this player so I can't say how it compares in practice.

---

Decker the Burrowbreaker
Shiori (AoA)
Tanuki Tricksters x4
Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan
415 Points, 11 Figures, 11 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points (380 delta points)

My army. The basic idea behind this army was just that I wanted to use Decker as we were giving him out as a promo. I ended up taking 2nd place but came very close to going 2-2 or even 1-3 had the dice gone differently, only against a non-Scavorith Eisenek build did I have a win that wasn't primarily the result of luck. This army lost hard to Mal in the finals, and only won against a Bernie build in a very close game where Decker was rolling hot on defense. Shiori was able to 1v1 Scavorith thanks to rolling hot on the d20, but easily folded against Mal where I couldn't roll above a nat 9 to save my life. I would not recommend this army to anyone trying to win as the Maladrix and Bernie matchups are just horrendous, even if I did beat Bernie in the end.

---

Iron Lich Viscerot
Necrotech Wraithriders
Scavorith, Lord of Ruin
425 Points, 5 Figures, 7 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points (420 delta points)

The last of the 3-1 builds and really solid. Scavorith does his job of a big stat ball very well, and would have torn through my Tanuki army had I not been rolling hot with Kieru. Double Burst -> Battle Surge Vile Injection is a lot of dice rolls with one of them being stupid big to can-open anything that's tanking your 3 attack peashooters. You could even do VI normal -> Battle Surge VI if you really need a hero gone, though that blows through your VI really quickly. I think this army has a good shot of beating Mal builds thanks to Scav's big normal, but that's mostly theoretical as this army somehow didn't go against Mal despite her being on half of the armies.

---

Festering Honor Guard
Major Q11
Queen Maladrix the Conqueror
Revnan Acolytes x1
420 Points, 10 Figures, 11 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points

The last of the Maladrix builds, my suggestion to a last-minute entrant who didn't know what he wanted to run. Somehow this army went 0-4 even with the player adding Decker to the army during the first 2 rounds without me noticing, but the player plus all 4 of his opponents agreed this is a strong army and likely would have done better with a different pilot as he wasn't familiar with how the acolytes played. I think this is a good contender for a GC army despite its poor showing here.

---

Frostclaw Paladins
Kita the Springrunner
Knight Primus Adelbern
Ordo Borealis
410 Points, 9 Figures, 9 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points (440 delta points)

I faced this army in round 1. This army matched very well into my massed commons and only lost due to my opponent making a tactical error of developing the Ordo before anything else plus Adelbern rolling very cold into my Decker and the match was still really close (I had 2 tanuki and a 2 life Shiori left). I do think crabs x1 would have been a better filler than Kita. Whether you run Bernie or Irene really depends on how popular you think massed commons will be at GC, my opinion is that at this time Irene is slightly better but that the difference is very small.

---

Exiles of the Sundered Sea
Frostclaw Paladins
Knight Irene
Ordo Borealis
415 Points, 12 Figures, 12 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points (435 delta points)

Other variant of the bears army, this one and the one above tied at 5th place, I wasn't able to observe how it went in practice but it did beat another Irene army which was running Killian as the filler over exiles. I do think exiles are the better filler. Don't really have much to say here, bears be good.

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Cornelius Breech, The Derelict Prince
Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler
Exiles of the Sundered Sea
Fia Bonny the Void Siren
Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
400 Points, 11 Figures, 11 Hexes
Settings: Classic, Standard Points (420 delta points)

This was the weakest of the armies present, but it did beat Mal Q11 so there's possibly something here? The pirate army really needs the dreadnoughts lol
 
I wish I had the dreadnoughts. Honestly would of done better if my dice weren't cursed. The one issue for my first two rounds was being dumb and playing Bonnie first verses Cornealius and using his mutiny ability.
 
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