Choose your weapon

It’s common knowledge that many people do not enjoy playing against Legion. The nickname Legion of Evercheat refers to the consistent way the Legion ignores half the tenets of the game, and the inability to counter Eyeless Sight and Flight really does generate a lot of seething animosity for Thagrosh’s posse.

Me, I don’t mind. I’ve had just as many wins as I’ve had losses against the Legion, so it’s just another game to me, albeit one with half of the models on the field ignoring half the rules.

So when TheUltimate (Paul) asked for a tabletop tussle for CTA, I had no objections…
… but I did have some serious pondering to do to decide just what to field.

I’ve been trying to get a feel for Reznik lately, but to face off against Paul I knew I’d need to figure out a way around the high DEF values, Legion being glass cannons and all that jazz.

Three possible solutions came to mind: AoE the snot out of ‘em, Set ‘em all on fire, or to sling Ashes to Ashes repeatedly.

From that, three possible warcasters came to mind: Kreoss, Feora, and Severius.

Kreoss: I’ve played a grand total of one game with Kreoss. Not for lack of love of the character, but when you’re running three armies, and you only really get to play once (maybe twice) a week, some things get left by the wayside. However, when it comes to AoE’s, Kreoss is the go-to guy for the Protectorate, thanks to the incredible functionality of his feat. Blessed with some of the longest ranged attacks in the game, Deliverers are the bane of low-armour troops everywhere – they’re just inaccurate as all heck. Kreoss circumvents that by dropping the targets on his feat turn, clearing lines of fire and making the targets nice and easy to hit. In the interim he screws with opposing spellcasting, immolates, and packs his own 4″ AoE for good measure.

Feora: Yes, there’s a 33% chance the fires will do nothing… but being able to simultaneously set fire to every enemy model within 12″, combined with two sprays and Engine of Destruction, Feora’s an awesome offensive model. Packing one of the highest armour values among the Menit warcasters doesn’t hurt either. I’d need a Heirophant and a Wrack to pull it off, but being able to fire Blazing Effigy twice in a single turn could also cause a lot of grief, since once again it gets around the high defense values of the Legion. Run up two warjacks into the opposing line, have an arc node following for extended range, and there’s a whole lot of POW14’s melting Nyss armour.

Severius: I’ve had more experience playing the grumpy old man than any other Menite warcaster. Ashes to Ashes, especially when slung through Blessing of Vengeance, wreaks all sorts of havoc, and I giggled like a fiend while contemplating an Allegiant buffed by Holy Vigil. Def19 (21 with Shifting Sands), and the Nyss archers wouldn’t be able to CRA it at all… all I’d need is an arc node within range of Severius to pump the Holy Vigil through after the Allegiant had moved. Stealthy Daughters with Def18 could also potentially cause a lot of grief, leaping through the ranks to Assassinate all and sundry. Ashes to Ashes has generally served me well, unpredictable as it may be. Also, Eye of Menoth makes everything better.

Each of the three has fun options, it’s a tough choice… but in the end I think I’m going to go with some popcorn action, if only because I can pack in a heck of a lot of AoE’s

So…

Kreoss
- Fire of Salvation
- Redeemer
- Heirophant
Deliverers (9)
Holy Zealots (8) + UA
Choir of Menoth (4)
Sunburst
Vassal of Menoth
Saxon Orrick

498/500

The idea is to have a forward squad of the Zealots, supported by Fire of Salvation and Saxon, while a rearguard acts as a firebase, with the Deliverers and Redeemer unleashing a steady stream of AoE’s. The Sunburst is specifically there to provide a little armour punching if needed, since it’s a higher POW than the Skyhammers.

The Choir and Vassal stay back to increase the Redeemer’s effectiveness, while the Fire of Salvation takes advantage of its affinity with Kreoss to roam forward, happily shielded by otherwise out-of-range upkeep spells.

So… which Legion archetype will Paul assemble? How will the Kreoss list fare?
Stay tuned to find out!

Or don’t… this was written on Monday, with the intention of playing Paul at CTA night at the FLGS, with a followup battle report to go up on Wednesday morning. Instead, I spend Monday night at the hospital with my daughter. Therefore,  no battle took place… but I thought my readership might enjoy my ramblings regardless.

Hopefully I’ll be able to coordinate a game with Paul in the near future when I can try this list out, but for now, I have important daddy things taking priority.

… Oh, and for the record: Only in New Zealand would an all-nude Rugby game be interrupted by a fully clothed streaker.