Rotation 4 -November 3rd to December 2nd

Its that time again! War rages on amongst the stars and my quest for greater tactical prowess and combat experience continues. It has been a rough several weeks and unfortunately my opportunities to both play games and write have suffered from a busy schedule. As a result I spent longer focusing on the warlords I had built for this rotation. In this War Journal I’m going to focus on Ku’gath, Plaguefather and Colonel Straken. I had 13 games between the two. I also played a few games with “Old One Eye” but I’m going to continue to experiment with that deck so I’ll leave that write up for my next journal.

Ku’gath

[table width=“250px”] Army (25)[attr colspan=“2”] 3x Chaos Fanatics 3x Gleeful Plague Beast 3x Heretek Inventor 3x Khorne Berzerker 4x Kugath’s Nurglings 1x Roghrax Bloodhand 2x Rogue Trader 3x Splintered Path Acolyte 3x Sslyth Mercenary [/table] [table width=“250px”] Support (1)[attr colspan=“2”] 1x Vile Laboratory [/table]

[table width=“250px”] Attachment (7)[attr colspan=“2”] 3x Promotion 3x Slaanesh’s Temptation 1x The Plaguefather’s Banner [/table] [table width=“250px”] Event (17)[attr colspan=“2”] 3x Archon’s Terror 2x Cacophonic Choir 1x Exstatic Seizures 2x Fetid Haze 3x Promise of Glory 3x Tzeentch’s Firestorm 3x Warpstorm [/table]

After training for and playing in American Nationals this past Gencon I was tired of Eldorath and ready to move on to something new. One of the players I play with regularly, Victor, gave me his Ku’gath deck and challenged me to give it a go. I had mixed reviews of the Plaguefather up until that point but the tournament helped improve my opinion of him as a viable option. Playing with him this rotation, I decided to go with a very similar build, using Dark Eldar as allies. Because of my experience with him previously I only ended up playing four games with him this time around. Generally I found my playtesting reinforced what I had discovered before. Ku’gath is a powerful warlord that requires a certain type of finesse. Using a variety of powerful events along with a strong selection of command units, bolstered on both accounts by the Dark Eldar allies, there is a great amount of control to be had. That said, some of the units and effects can create very complex game states and, if you don’t have the resources at hand when you need them.it can be hard to push through. I’m still kind of working on finding my comfort zone with Ku’gath but I think his play style doesn’t quite click with me. I’ll continue experimenting with him occasionally but I feel that overall, while my opinion of him has improved substantially, I don’t enjoy playing as the Plaguefather myself.

Straken

[table width=“250px”] Army (27)[attr colspan=“2”] 3x 10th Company Scout 3x Blood Angels Veterans 2x Firedrake Terminators 2x Iron Guard Recruits 3x Ratling Deadeye 2x Steel Legion Chimera 4x Straken’s Command Squad 3x Tactical Squad Cardinis 3x Tallarn Raiders 2x White Scars Bikers [/table]

[table width=“250px”] Support (5)[attr colspan=“2”] 2x Catachan Outpost 1x Omega Zero Command 2x Rockcrete Bunker [/table] [table width=“250px”] Attachment (5)[attr colspan=“2”] 2x Bodyguard 2x Promotion 1x Straken’s Cunning [/table] [table width=“250px”] Event (13)[attr colspan=“2”] 3x Crushing Blow 2x Glorious Intervention 3x Suppressive Fire 2x Indomitable 3x To Arms! [/table]

Straken has gotten a lot of flak from the Conquest community since the game launched at Gencon last year. As a warlord he has been criticized for his card text essentially being a less version of the ability on Zarathur, High Sorcerer. Until lately I have agreed with all of this, but lately I’ve been starting to think more about the strength that comes from his signature squad. Looking at his signature event, Glorious Intervention, and his signature unit, Straken’s Command Squad, you can see a strong basis for an attrition style of play that isn’t really present in any other signature squad. Combine this with Rockcrete Bunker, Steel Legion Chimera, and the many double shield cards available in Astra Militarum and you’re beginning to build a strong defensive archetype. I decided to follow this direction and see how far I could take it. I decided the best course of action was to go heavy into Space Marines cards. This ally choice gives access to Firedrake Terminators, Blood Angels Veterans, and Indomitable to really flesh out a defense focused game. Playing this deck I was impressed to find that the strategy I was taking a shot at was not only effective but actually powerful and very flexible. When accompanied by Marines, not only is the defensive strategy shored up,but several very powerful offensive options become available. The deck has some novelty at this point because many players don’t expect cards like Indomitable or Crushing Blow to be played out of faction. I do have confidence in how the deck will develop over time though, even once a player knows what tricks are coming it can still be difficult to play around what is in store. I am really pleased with how this deck is working.  So far it has gone 6 and 3. Going forward I will continue to develop and practice with this list. There is a lot of potential for this style of Straken deck to be competitive and with the Unstoppable keyword being introduced and expanded during the Planetfall cycle there should be a number strong Space Marine cards to add, as well as any new options Astra Militarum gain in faction.  From just the first pack, I’m already  excited to test Righteous Initiate in the next version of the deck. I will continue to play Old One Eye, but I will be changing out Straken and Ku’gath for Broderick Worr and Captain Cato Sicarius. I hope to post my next War Journal before the holidays, so keep an eye on this space. Until then, thanks for reading and May the Emperor Protect!

[table width=“208px”] Ku’gath[attr colspan=“2”] Loss v Nazdreg (Concession 1) Loss v Nazdreg (Assassination 6) Win v Eldorath (Planet 5) Loss v Zarathur (Planet 7) [/table]

[table width=“208px”] Straken[attr colspan=“2”] Win v Aun’shi (Planet 4) Win v Nazdreg (Planet 6) Loss v Shadowsun (Planet 5) Win v Baharroth (Planet 4) Loss v Old One Eye (Planet 7) Win v Coteaz (Planet 6) Loss v Old One Eye (Planet ?) Win v Urien (Planet 4) Win v Urien (Assassination 6) [/table]