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| Dankeblarg |
Vindictus also has Defender's Ward, a defensive buff upkeep. Infantry units can take serious advantage of this but Warjacks aren't going to say no either. Regardless, that's four focus (one upkeep, three for True Path) Vindictus is using every turn which leaves him only two for other spells/Jacks - another reason why Vindictus is generally run as an infantry caster. The other spells have some applications but are generally not going to see as much use I feel. Rift is very expensive but can slow down armies/charges quite effectively. Immolation is your bog standard caster damage spell in a pinch and sacrifical lamb can take the burden off running multiple Warjacks at the cost of an infantry model. Not useless but not going to see significant and continuous use.
With this in mind we want to run infantry with him and probably some sort of focus management solos to increase what Vindictus can do - we want at least one extra focus so he can fully load at least one Warjack every turn or cast Rift. Sacrifical Lamb could allow us to potentially run several lighter Jacks.
Vindictus (+6)
- Reckoner (8)
Min Choir (2)
Full TFG + UA (8)
Full Bastions (8)
Daughters of the Flame (5)
Wracks (1)
So this is the outline of the army I was looking at for 35 points with 9 points left over - so quite a bit we can do. We've currently got three units which take excellent advantage of True Path. Daughters gain a very impressive threat range of 12.5" with further scope to move past more models with Acorbatics. Pathfinder is particularly important as they can make use of terrain features to improve their already impressive defense. TFG as above get a jam move of 18" and a normal threat range of 13" - very handy for engaging enemy units quickly and from afar. Bastions overcome their slow speed limitations and whilst 11" threat ranges aren't huge, it's a large step up from what they are normally capable of and with Sanguine Bond they make excellent lane blockers themselves.
Pathfinder is obviously useful for everyone here as linear obstacles and terrain are much less an issue in terms of movement and charges and those infantry threat ranges are always going to remain high. The Wrack provides that extra focus to ensure Vindictus has essentially 7 (one for Defender's Ward, three for True Path, three for focus dumping into Warjack) and the main Warjack taken has been the Reckoner for his toolbox abilities and ability to whack down other heavies. With lots of infantry out there to deal with other infantry (through attack numbers), taking a Warjack which can put out the hurt on other Heavies is important I think. Templar or Sanctifier might have been better options (or even the dirt cheap Crusader) but that would leave my army really lacking in ranged potential and I think having some options here is important. The choir is a minimum investment to make the Reckoner better but also assumes taking a couple light 'Jacks - if I don't this could be replaced with a Vassal or simply dropped completely.
So a couple of options here. One is more infantry - Zealots or Errants jump to mind here. Errants are another unit which is going to benefit from True Path with increased threat ranges on both shooting and melee and are always a nice toolbox, particularly with Defender's Ward on them. A min unit + UA would leave me some extra points to play with but only enough to get a solo or the like. Zealots obviously work well with Vindictus and his special rules (ranged hits can be fobbed off onto them and every time Vindictus kills something in melee, he can make new ones). The former is obviously quite powerful in keeping Vindictus alive from ranged assasination/damage but I'm not a huge fan of Zealots despite some of their awesome applications with their UA (i.e. nearly invincible for a turn).
The next would be solos. Vilmon + two Paladins could work as a great flanking, objective or bodyguard force and are obviously going to enjoy the benefits of True Path & Pathfinder (13" threat range). They might be competiting with Bastions here in terms of bodyguard support so if they are taken swapping out the Bastions for full Errants + UA might not be a bad idea, but I do like the Bastions... The usual array of Merc solos are options here as well though Rhupert (and Convenant) is already tied up in my Kreoss lists though with Vindictus' feat he might be more useful here... Thoughts?
And finally, more Warjacks! We want focus efficient Warjacks here so things like Repenters and Vanquishers are our best bets. The Vanquisher really wants a Vassal which we don't have the points for but we could take two Repenters which gives us two sprays and two more units benefitting from the Choir. The sprays can help clear infantry logjams and really require no focus unless they want to whack things in combat. The extra point can go into upgrading the Wracks to a Heirophant. Running one Repenter and five points of solos or another small infantry squad is an option here, too. With the Sanctifier getting a model as well and not needing caster support (particularly with so many infantry to fuel itself), this could be a potential plug in and get me two heavies which can go toe-to-toe with other heavies without compromising on the infantry nature of Vindictus.
I'm leaning towards a Repenter + solos here - I think the addition of some extra ranged firepower isn't could to be a bad thing (spray) and solos can plug some holes though perhaps running all the extra points into solos would be best... which would also encourage dropping the Choir so there's some more points to play with and potentially get another unit (Errants I would imagine) + solos. I then worry if one Warjack is enough in terms of raw heavy hitting power though I know weaponmaster infanty, TFG CMA and Paladins/Vilmon are all more than capable of smacking Heavies around, too.
Anyway, thoughts on expanding the list? Good basis so far? Talk it up :).
