Moonlighting with Minions: Circle Orboros

I know it's been a bit, and I apologize (hey, everyone's got to start long absences with a detailed apology and explanation of why they were out before they get to the juicy content, right? RIGHT?!).  Real life had other things to say, and I kinda moved.  I'm actually using coffee house wi-fi to post this, as my dear cable company doesn't feel like having a paying customer for another two weeks.

Anyway, none of you are here for that.  You're here for the part where I finally finish up my 'moonlighting with minions' series, and that's with Circle Orboros.  Because I somehow lost steam a few months back.  Whoops.

Units of Note - Shifting Stones
These guys do two things for you as a minion-heavy player: they provide some fury management via Serenity, and can teleport beasts.  Healing Field is a neat potential extra as it’s healing that’s not happening during the warlock’s activation, and it can fix constructs if you’re running them and not named Baldur.  The Stone Keeper UA is worth a look for another point, as it gives the stones Stealth, which is nice.

Solo of Note – Druid Wilder

This is your fury-management solo.  She brings you three spiffy tools: Herding, Conditioning, and Spirit Tap.  She’s kind of like a mini warlock; herding lets her force beasts in her CMD 7 range, Conditioning lets her pull the fury off them, and Spirit Tap lets her use their animus.  Note that the latter two require her action.  Fittingly, she’s the faction Warlock Attachment.  It’s probably not a bad idea to have her.

Solo of Note – Gallows Grove

It’s a teleporting arc node.  Some casters could really dig this, and they’re reasonably cheap at 1pt per head.  Consider a couple blisters IF you’re going to play casters that would like them.

Minion unit of note - Cylena and the Nyss Hunters
You know those pathfinding weaponmasters with bows that were obscenely hard to assemble?  They'll work for Circle.  If you're a merc/Warmachine player with them, then you already have an infantry core to use for Minions.  Given their point cost, you'll probably want to hit larger games and make them your only unit, but they're bloody good at what they do.

The Warlocks

Baldur the Stonecleaver
                This is the construct-lover of the faction, as he can heal them.  He’s got all of four spells to go with that FURY6, and only one is faction-specific: Stone Skin is good for +2STR/ARM, at the cost of  -1DEF/SPD.  This isn’t a bad buff, but you’re using it mostly on beasts that you aren’t charging with, or you’re using it on Baldur (ARM18 makes him harder to papercut to death; denying the enemy that strategy isn’t a bad move) in lieu of Solid Ground and immunity to blasts/knockdown.
                His feat grants his army cover, and ISN’T faction-specific.  Cover for a turn, along with immunity to blast damage, allows him to deliver light infantry to the fight.  The only other note is you might want to consider Pathfinder on your infantry, as Rapid Growth lets him place a forest.  Alternatively, you can move your infantry up and then plop a forest on them for instant concealment.  Gatormen love this because they can get up to DEF15 versus ranged between the Dirge of Mists and concealment; the bog-standard pigs can get cover, and Slaughterhousers can enjoy blocked LOS or additional DEF as well as immunity to knockdown.
                All things considered, Baldur1 is pretty minion-friendly.

Baldur the Stonesoul

                This guy’s somewhat minion-friendly, but only in the way his feat is written – his feat gives Roots of the Earth to all friendly models in his control area, whereas the spell requires you to be a Faction model to get the +3ARM and immunity to knockdown/placing.  Written as-is, this guy probably wouldn’t mind Gatormen; wander up and make those Gatormen ARM19 (21 in melee) and use them as a buffer to deliver his otherwise-slow beasties.  For extra BS factor, add in Witch Doctors to make Gators tough and turn the mostly-dead ones into Sacrifical Strike fodder.
                I like the Stonesoul on paper, but he really wants to run a ton of constructs between his ability to buff armor (feat and Roots of the Earth), deny charges (rock wall is great with slower guys) and Elemental Mastery (allows thos constructs to charge/power-attack for free).

Cassius the Oathkeeper

                This guy’s spells have zero interaction with infantry of any sort; he’s got two damage spells (Stranglehold for control joy and Hellmouth for infantry removal), an ARM debuff in Curse of Shadows, and Unseen Path to move that big tree.  The feat is great for scenario, but you may wish to consider pathfinder-capable models if you want to move after popping feat.  Also, bring Gallows Groves, because this is a model that LOVES it some spells and souls.
                He’s honestly kinda ambivalent about his infantry company.  Just don’t bring any removed-from-play stuff and he’s fine.

Kaya the Wildborne

                Occultation can go on anything, but if she’s running beast-heavy then she’s running it on herself if there are guns around.  Honestly, she’s kitted out to run beasts between Soothing Song, Spirit Door, and her feat; at best you might rock a unit of infantry with her.
                It’s worth noting that since the two-player battle box for Hordes is announced, you can get her with a Winter Argus, Argus, and Feral Warpwolf, but you ALSO get a unit of Skinwalkers in there.  I would say this battlegroup is preferable to double-argus, and owning Skinwalkers is…um, owning skinwalkers and nice for those times where you might actually want a faction unit.

Kaya the Moon Hunter (and Bark Node)

                She’s 100% beast focused.  Any points spent on infantry are points she’s not spending on beasts that she makes sick.  Honestly, you can probably skip her; she’s just ambivalent about infantry and wants to get the charge off with beasts.

Kromac the Ravenous

                Skip this guy for our particular exercise.  His armor buff (Inviolable Resolve) and battlegroup movement buff (Warpath) are both faction-specific.  You’re losing out on some seriously useful tech if you go minions for infantry here. 
                Admittedly, you can always drop Resolve on a beast or Kromac, but +2ARM over a unit is a bigger benefit.  You also make triggering Warpath more difficult, and honestly, you may lose out on fun stuff like grabbing new threat vectors and the like.

Krueger the Stormwrath

                You lose out on Deflection, which is a fun buff for faction warrior models with +2ARM vs incoming spells/shots.  However, lightning tendrils still work on minions, and the rest of his spell list/feat is offense-oriented.  Krueger’s got plenty of oomph for killing infantry with his own spells/attacks and Lightning Tendrils on infantry, so bring heavy-hitting beasts and you’ll be looking at something workable.

Krueger the Stormlord

                This guy’s infantry will enjoy Storm Wall’s ability to shut down ranged attacks (within reason; they have to start in his control area and suffer -5RNG).  Beyond that, he doesn’t really offer a lot of support to infantry, but he’s likely to be using Telekinesis and animi instead.
                He’s passable with minion infantry, and certainly doesn’t lose anything with them.

Mohsar the Desertwalker
                The major loss with Mohsar is Mirage; this could be fun on a unit but may be better-served in allowing a beast two more inches of threat range.  You do lose out on Sands of Fate, but that should be more of a ‘get out of jail for a Faction Trooper’ card than a regular thing you use; DEF14/ARM14 has no business being close to the front. 
                He’s largely workable with minions, but doesn’t have anything that outright screams USE ME! USE MEEEE! With minions over, say, faction troopers.

Morvahna the Autumnblade

                Skip.  You lose out on Regrowth, Restoration, and her feat.  This is to say you’re losing out on the ability to regenerate grunts, an ARM buff that can heal Morvanna, and a feat that gives you wide access to Removed From Play and terrain generation.
                Morvahna loses a chunk with minion units.

Grayle the Farstrider

                Grayle’s main loss with bringing Minion infantry is the feat, which is army-wide stealth and potentially army-wide movement buffs (it’s basically Warpath for Faction models versus the battlegroup).  He can dispel clouds and screw over shooting with Wind Blast.  Storm Rager isn’t that huge of a loss, as it impacts one model only; this lends it towards buffing Grayle (+2STR/MAT/ARM is nice on someone with Sprint and two initials) and/or someone like The Lord of the Feast (…because his 360 thresher needed to be MAT10, PS15…).
                Honestly, this guy’s not terrible with minions, but you are losing out on the feat, which is sad because it’s a nice setup.  At the least, bring infantry that can deal with being the only shooting targets on the field (either via durability like the Posse, or the Brigands’ ability to Dig In could save them here).

OVERALL

                Honestly, Circle has a fair amount of ambivalence/non-synergy with mercs.  I would suggest Baldur1 is among the best for working with minions, between Rock Wall, Solid Ground (things like Nyss Hunters LOVE immunity to blast damage) and the feat.  Baldur2 is subject to making sure his feat works on minions.
                Cassius and Krueger2 are mostly ambivalent about minions; they just don’t interact with them and they’d love to maybe have some Gallows Groves around for more angles to do fun things like sling spells.
                Grayle is kind of on the fence; losing out on the feat is a potentially hefty blow, but otherwise his playstyle doesn’t look like it would change much.  Mohsar doesn’t lose a terrible amount, but he DOES lose out on the ability to bounce away from danger in exchange for a friendly faction model.
                The rest of the cast either loses out on active buffs (Kromac being the worst offender) or would rather have more beasts (Kaya1&2).
                I would probably start with Cassius and/or Krueger.  Cassius is ambivalent, and Krueger2 can lean on the minions to screen him/clean out enemy infantry while his beasties do the work.

Moonlighting with Minions: Legion of Everblight

It occurs that I'd started a 'moonlighting with minions' segment a couple months ago, and kinda petered out after Skorne and Trolls.  So, why not finish it?

If the shiny logo and title didn't give it away, we'll hit up Legion this time around.  Note that Legion tends to be a very beast-friendly and beast-loving army, so at first glance you may not be thinking in terms of minions.

Solos of Note: Shepherd and Forsaken
These are two of the reasons that Legion loves it some beast-heavy action.  These are wonderful and inexpensive fury management options, both in terms of points and money.

Shepherds bring healing and can add/remove any amount of Fury, plus things in their CMD range can get forced.  The downside is that they have to be within 3" of the beasts to use their special actions.

Forsaken are Abominations and thus you have to worry a bit about fearless troops.  Additionally, they can only hold up to 5 fury before they're done helping you manage fury.  On the other hand, these girls can then use that fury to pop Blight Shroud, which does three things well: 1) kill low-ARM [often high-DEF] infantry, 2) punish beasts running hot, 3) punish camping casters.

Unit of Note: Spawning Vessel
I put this up as a note if you're going to play Farrow.  This thing collects corpses and turns three corpse tokens into a lesser warbeast.  At 3 points for a full unit (the min unit at 2pts loses out on collection range and speed; not worth it in my book) this isn't a bad idea behind Brigands; Brigands will probably be hunting infantry anyway and there'll be a lotta tokens.

The Warlocks
Absylonia, Terror of Everblight
Abby is primarily a beast caster, between two beast buffs, free upkeeps on her battlegroup, and and her feat that involves healing her beasts up to full.  She's an abomination, so bear that in mind for troops.  Her feat involves playing for attrition, so I'd consider maybe Bog Trogs (For a flank surprise/herding your enemy into your beasts) or Gators (to fit in with the attrition theme, and Carnivore makes them stupid-accurate against living targets, which helps since beasts are pretty much MAT6).

She doesn't DO a lot for minions, but she doesn't lose out on a lot, either.

Bethayne 'n' Belphagor
This is honestly a pretty solid choice for minion play.  She has three unit buffs, all of which work on minions.  Ashen Veil is free concealment AND -2 to melee attack rolls against the living.  Methinks Gators or even Slaughterhousers could like this for closing in.  Blood Thorn hands out continuous corrosion to your weapons, so low-POW infantry (IE: non-charging Brigands and their mighty POW10 guns) can ding up anything they can hit.  And of course Carnivore is great for melee against living models.

The feat is only for magic attacks made in-faction, but that's Bethayne, and possibly, um.  Black Frost Shard?  BFS wouldn't be bad for minions, and does at least work with the feat.

B'n'B is overall very compatible with minions.

Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
Parasite works with anyone, Bad Blood is HILARIOUS against hordes, and Eruption of Spines is theoretically good infantry clearing.  On the flip side, Lylyth's feat is faction-specific, and most of the rest of her abilities center around getting her beasts to hit.  That being said, even WITH fury-management tools, Lylyth wouldn't mind infantry to do some work for her.

Losing out on the feat isn't necessarily game-breaking, but your minion choices should be self-sufficient.

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight
As your minions can't Stealth, they're sitting ducks in this army.  eLylyth is more about range and attrition, and anything you bring needs to either be out of range or be able to avoid getting hit.  Honestly, bringing minions here is anti-synergistic.  The best-case scenario involves digging in with Farrow Brigands, but I'd rather run a Legion-pure list and bring either stealth infantry or none at all.

eLylyth isn't a great choice on the basis of list-building issues, as your non-stealth minions are gonna get hung out to dry.  MAYBE a unit of Brigands.  Maybe.

Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight.
Skip.  Her infantry speed buff and feat are faction-specific.  You lose out on a couple of big deals here, and I don't think it's worth it.

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight
Ah, the toolbox.  Her only warning about non-faction stuff comes in Blight Bringer, but that's really going on a harrier or shredder to kill infantry, or to defend a beast from charges (as non-Reach guys ARE gonna die to this).  She also comes with a DEF debuff, and Banishing Ward works on infantry as well.

The only warning note is that her feat renders only her battlegroup immune to melee; this is a great time for the enemy to focus on your minions and beat 'em up.  Otherwise, there's nothing stopping you from running minions with Saeryn.

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
This guy is honestly pretty minion-friendly; at least he can run a Posse well.  Death Shroud is a passive STR debuff with RNG:CMD, and with that and unyielding Gators end up with an effective ARM20 in melee.  Fog of War also works for everyone in his control area (everyone, so shooting without Eyeless Sight has to worry about it...).

Draconic Blessing would be nice on an infantry unit, but harder-hitting beasts is seldom a bad thing.  Otherwise, his feat is attrition-oriented, and this guy hiding behidn a posse is pretty nasty.  He even has the fury to hand out some Tenacity. Yay!

Thagrosh1 is a prime choice for minions.

Thagrosh the Messiah
Oddly enough, this one's not quite as minion-friendly.  You lose out on Death Shroud, and a Posse no longer blocks LOS to this guy's large base.  The moneymaker, Manifest Destiny, is battlegroup-specific and the ARM buff is faction-specific.  The feat is also battlegroup-specific.  Honestly, I'd skip this guy with minions.

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight
She's all about a hard-hitting up-front battlegroup.  Chiller is a lovely debuff, either on a beast OR on a faction unit to hand it out widely.  Pretty much everything else is beast-related on her card.

Frankly, I'd rather pay for a cheap screen, but MAYBE in a large game you could justify a Posse as a screen.

Vayrl, Consul of Everblight
This one's a lot more minion-friendly than her predecessor.  You have two movement-shenanigan spells that are faction-specific in Refuge and Admonition, but you also have a DEF debuff and free Stealth, AND purification which is a HUGE HELP.

Your feat lets you purify and re-establish upkeeps, which is nice.  Honestly, if you want to make a go of running her with minions you can, but I would consider Spell Martyrs (and the Posse, because it'll survive an Oraculi to the back of the head and being used as an arc node).

Kallus*
Dark Guidance and Unconquerable are faction-specific.  You won't cast Dark Guidance that often given the cost (especially if you're upkeeping Ignite, which you should be, and at least that's minion-friendly) even if you have a Succubus to help with that.  However, Dark Guidance is kind of your knockout punch spell.

I think you lose out with minions; Gatormen already have unyielding and can use the 'I Eat Living Things' prayer for re-rolls against living models.  While Kallus can make gators less pillowfisted (15 vs 13) he'd still probably rather have bodies for that whole feat thing.  Farrow completely miss out unless you're using them as feat fodder. 

I honestly don't see much point in going with minions with Kallus, as you lose out on Dark Guidance and Unconquerable.  Gatormen are a possibility, I suppose, but only because they sort of duplicate what Kallus can already offer. 

I'd grab a unit of Swamp Gobbers to give Kallus better than DEF14 and call it.

Overall
Legion has a few solid choices with minions, but you're still probably committing to a couple of heavies and solos.  I'd suggest a battlebox and a plastic heavy kit; magnetize both the heavies and order a couple wings and Harrier card and you're in good shape to add warlocks.

Bethayne/Belphagor are solidly compatible and do good things for minions, and pThags can use Gators in a nasty, nasty way.  pLylyth, Absylonia, Saeryn, and eVayl can make use of them, but have some issues (well, eVayl is probably the least problematic of these).  The others...not so much.

*credit to John Spencer for noticing Kallus' feat isn't faction-specific

Playing Against Gatormen, Part 2: Solos and Warlocks

This is a continuation of the whole 'how do I deal with Gatormen?' line of thinking I'd started a post ago.

That one got slashed midway due to a mixture of time of night, and the fact it was getting huge and I'd rather not crit-braindead someone with a wall of text.

I'm going to start out with the few solos available to the Gators, and then move along to the warlocks, which won't take long.

Feralgeist
What Does It Do?
Fill That Last Point If They Don't Already Have Swamp Gobbers, Make Beasts Annoying
No attack, no real ability to hold territory...why do you bring this guy?  He basically keeps beasts alive a little longer.  'Spiritbind' is a huge wall of text that boils down to 'kill that beast again' and lets you use it without being able to force the thing.

It's kind of a novelty.  Unless, of course, you can make use of the spiritbind thingy to keep something in a scenario zone.  Then again, they need to do a whopping 3 more damage to the beast, so unless they burned their last attack killing the beast, it's not THAT impressive.

What Can't It Do?
Generally, it can't take up space.  Or attack.  Spiritbind is the ONE trick.

Overall
I don't see these very often.  Some armies have issues mustering up magical attacks outside of their lock/caster, but this guy alone isn't worth several fury/focus to kill, most of the time.  It can be highly annoying in a corner case, especially if 'borrows' an enemy's beast instead of reviving one of your own.  Then they'll make a point of trying to kill their own beast again, which diverts assets. AND THE FERALGEIST GETS TO DO IT AGAIN.

Thrullg
What Does It Do?
Upkeep Removal (Sometimes), Disruption, Annoy Spellcasting Models, Beat Up Infantry
The Thrullg is a utility solo for gators.  One smack from it drops upkeeps, animi, and causes Disruption.  While you can struggle knocking off DEF buffs, you can get up to three swings from a Thrullg, assuming you can get into non-Reach melee range.  Additionally, those three swings on a MAT7 let it regularly tag infantry, and disrupting warjacks is not hard at all with that MAT.

As an added bonus, Arcane Consumption can screw with enemy infantry that like to cast spells.  However, it's RNG:CMD and you have CMD7, so you might just force an order-of-activiation issue on them.  At least they can't offensively spell this guy to death, right?

What Doesn't It Do?
Drop High-DEF buffs, Mesh Well With The Army (sometimes), Take Buffs
MAT7 is reasonable, but since it doesn't ignore DEF buffs to begin with, it won't always be able to drop those buffs.  It's something to keep in mind, but with Gators I'm more concerned about this thing dropping my ARM buffs, if any. 

As for 'meshing', it's an 'it depends' scenario.  This thing isn't amphibious and doesn't have Pathfinder, so it's got to take the long way around and can't benefit from things like Swamp Pit.  DEF13/ARM16 and 8 wounds isn't BAD for defensive stats, but it might not keep him alive; this guy is DEFINITELTY a second-line model and wants a Posse to hide behind.

Finally, while Spell Ward keeps offensive spells off, it also keeps buffs off and 'lock-cast animi off.

Overall
When I see this guy, I go through a list:

1) Do I have melee warjacks?
If yes, I'll see about killing him before he can disrupt my jacks.  I need armor-cracking power, melee heavies have it, this guy annoys melee heavies.

2) Do I have ARM buffs?
If yes, I should probably kill this guy, because gators hate high ARM and he can help mitigate that.

3) Do I have spellcasting infantry?
If yes, I want to make sure I stay out of this thing's command range.

The downside of the 'avoid' strategy with respect to the Thrullg is that it has Advance Deployment, and thus gets to react to my initial deployment and try to ensure favorable matchups.

The Totem Hunter
I have an exhaustive breakdown on this guy available here.

What Does the Totem Hunter Do?
Move Fast, Kill Support Solos, Thin Units
The biggest thing the Totem Hunter brings to Blindwater is speed on the flanks.  He has a solid SPD, solid MAT, reasonable attacks, an annoying ability to jump, and thanks to Sprint and Stealth + high ARM/8 wounds, he's hard to gun down at range.

Frankly, he's one of Blindwater's best ways to go after support models in the back.  Late game, he can transition Prey over to beasts/the warlock/caster and bring some hideously accurate attacks to bear. 

What Doesn't He Do?
Take Down Durable Targets/Multi-Wound Infantry
The Totem Hunter is pretty reliant on Sprint to survive; if he can't kill something he can't get away.  Bad dice are a major bane for him, but moreso is the lack of anything to kill to trigger sprint.  Without Sprint, you're looking at a one-way trip, or he's relegated to making an end-run and gunning for the caster.  Not bad, but if he needs a charge to kill something, you're actually losing threat range and placement because you're forgoing Leap.

Overall
This guy's presence annoys me, as his natural speed + leap + sprint can make him a slippery thing to pin down.  Unless you've got stealth-ignoring shooting, he's probably going to get into your lines and try to disrupt your plan.  I ENJOYED running this guy in virtually every game for several months back in a league.

Croak Hunters
What Do They Do?
Hit Living Targets Hard, Provide a Flanker, Bring a Little Bit of Ranged To The Army
Who doesn't like advance deploy stealth models with pathfinder and hunter?  Your opponent, that's who.  This guy's reasonably swift with SPD6, and while RNG8 is on the short side you still have a threat range of 14" on a RAT6 shot that's 10+3d6 versus living targets. 

In melee, you can get up to MAT8/PS12 with Gang Fighter.  They can dump a nasty, accurate charge onto a living target with Reach and Gang Fighter and Poison from a good 11" away, too.  Warbeasts that are alive have to respect these little boggarts.

What Don't They Do?
Crack High DEF at range, Deal With High ARM on Non-Living Targets, Last Long In a Fistfight
RAT6 doesn't hit high DEF at range.  Aside from that, if you take Poison away from this guy he's not that damaging.  Finally, DEF13/ARM14 and five boxes make blasts unlikely to kill him, but he's not really going to last long in a fight unless he's tying up low-POW infantry that would rather be shooting him.

Overall
These guys bring a much-needed ranged element to the Blindwater Congregation.  If I see these guys, I have to worry about devastating charges against living targets, and something on the flanks harassing me with pointy throwin' sticks unless I have the DEF to shrug it off.  Unless I can ignore stealth in shooting, I'm probably going to take a lump or two from these guys.

Gatorman Witch Doctor
What Can This Guy Do?
Annoy The Undead, Hand Out Tough, Bypass High DEF For a Price, And It's A Beast Master
Annoy the undead comes from dominate undead.  No one likes a Bane getting an attitude and beating something, or moving out of the way.  This gets funnier when you realize it can hit undead warbeasts, but there aren't a lot of those.

Handing out tough via zombify also counts as annoying the undead, as I'm pretty sure that being Undead is more of an advantage as it denies 'living model' caveats (IE: most gator special rules...) and souls.  Also, 'tough' is obnoxious, and this basically MAKES Maelok's feat.

Bypassing high DEF comes at a price: sacrificial strike!  Free POW15-16, depending on whether you threw a Bog Trog or mostly-dead Gator at a target.  IT's a good way to polish off the wounded.

Beast Master is probably more incidental than useful, as it lets you force anything in its CMD8 that's outside of your warlock's control range.  This is a neat extra, but probably won't come into play that often.

What Can't This Model Do?
Fight In Melee
MAT6, a PS11, and PS12?  This guy belongs behind a posse.  If he's out in the open, he's going to draw fire because his support abilities are annoying.

Overall
...because Gatormen really needed 'tough', no?  I worry about this guy all game: Tough is an annoying extra, but a late-game Sacrificial Strike can be a game-winner by putting the last few points on a warcaster that relies on its DEF.  For that reason, this guy's a priority.

Bloody Barnabas
What Does He Do?
Screw Your Shooting Game, Screw Your Non-Pathfinder Game, Knock You Down, Make a Posse Stupid-Hard To Hit, and Bring Movement Shenanigans For Beasts, And Absorb Abuse
So these first two things are due to Swamp Pits.  He's got the FURY to realistically drop a pair in a turn, as he's got 1-2 upkeeps out.  These deny non-magical shooting, and are rough terrain against melee forces.  The only thing in my favor is that they make order-of-activation and formation a bit less forgiving for gator players, but practice gets around this.

The 'knock you down' comes from his feat, unless you're amphibous.  This has applications for assassination (moreso if you brought guns like a Spitter and some Croaks, yay pop 'n' drop!), screwing up the enemy's next turn, or just knocking a chunk out of the opposing army.

The 'make a posse stupid hard to hit' comes with Iron Flesh.  It's another order-of-activation thing (And has to be dropped on turns to charge, but he can get a free casting of it with Bone Cleaver), but with this and Dirge a Posse can hit DEF16, which is...obnoxious...on top of their innate durability.

'Movement Shenanigans For Beasts' comes from Warpath.  Kill something in his control zone, one-time 3" move for a beast in your control area.  This lets your melee beasts get another 3" of threat range and/or grab a better angle, or lets your Snapper move into range while keeping his aiming bonus.  That SPD5 snapper/wrastler is not as slow as he first appeared...also, with Counter Charge, Barney himself has some movement tricks, but once per turn and only without Iron Flesh up.

Finally, Barnabus himself can be fairly obnoxious to kill.  Shooting him down?  Swamp Pit, nice try. His DEF13 is so-so, but he can Iron Flesh himself (and for free if you beat something down with Bone Cleaver).   ARM17 is pretty solid for a 'lock, and it goes up to 19 if he's engaged due to Unyielding, AND can hit 21 with Spiny Growth.  Add that on top of 16 boxes, and this guy can get pretty obnoxious to punch out in melee.  That being said, he's not immortal, and is probably camping ~2 fury tops.

What Can't Barney Do?
Crack Armor, Support A Lot Of Beasts, Hide Everyone In Large Games
You have no damage buffs with Barnabus.  You top out at PS17 on the 1-2 Wrastlers you have.  With FURY6 and no fury support at this point in time, you're not going to carry a lot of beasts.  (Thankfully, Wrongeye/Snapjaw don't draw from the pool AND can cover themselves via Submerge). 

In larger games, you may struggle to fit all your army into two Swamp Pits.  This probably means those Iron Fleshed gators are up front and the only thing for the enemy to focus on; hopefully Dirge of Mists or concealment (because you used the Pathfinder prayer to move through terrain) will keep you alive.  It's a scaling issue; not everyone scales as well.

Overall
This guy can do attrition pretty well, mostly by denying my ability to hit him and his army.  If I have high-ARM models I'll be a bit happy, because high ARM is what Barnabus struggles with.  I'm going to have to deal with a stupidly nasty Posse, and assassinating Barney in melee all but requires a heavy beast/jack.  If I can survive a feat turn and/or have plenty of armor, I'm pretty comfortable.

I'm also swearing up a storm if I didn't bring pathfinder and I thought I had guns to take care of the problem.

Calaban The Grave Walker
What Can This Guy Do?
Crack Armor, Crack High DEF, Drop Upkeeps, Dish Out A Surprising Amount of Pain In Melee, Arc Spells (very occasionally), Confuse You With His Feat
The first thing you probably homed in on is the magical phrase 'crack armor' when there's not a 'can't' in front of it.  Parasite goes a ways towards helping you deal with high ARM; gatormen at an effective PS16 and a Wrastler that hits harder than a Carnivean tip the scales back in your favor.  If the enemy isn't high-ARM, then, well, you got a bit more help in not relying on dice.

Cracking high DEF comes from Carnivore, which is good for +2MAT against the living.  Since most of the undead top out at ARM12 outside of casters, this is nice.  MAT9 gatormen, MAT8 vs beasts Wrastler...yeah, it's a nice thing, especially as MAT9 + rerolls = I think I hit versus most enemy infantry.

Hex Blast, provided you can hit with it (and FURY7 makes that a reasonable assumption) gives you a way to drop upkeeps, even high DEF ones.

Now, if you look at Calaban's melee stats, then at Barney's, you might wonder what I'm talking about.  MAT5, two PS11 attacks versus Barney's paired PS14s and a 12?  Well, both of Calaban's melee attacks are a bit special.  The bite has Sustained Attack, so if you NEED to gun down a high DEF target, you can do it IF you can hit it once.  Carcass is your Reach Stick and token magic melee weapon, but with Life Trader and boosting you can be throwing 11+4d6 in one swing.  Expensive?  Sure, but it's a hell of a hit if you can land it.

The arc node thing is pretty situational; a RAT6 RNG10 POW10 shot can turn a living model into an arc node.  Thing is, you'd be arcing Parasite or Hex Blast, possibly Bone Shaker.  You're reliant on being in a position to tag an enemy model that you want to arc through without leaving yourself high and dry in the process.

The feat is...interesting.  First, Calaban's going to be the first or second thing to activate, to maximize it.  It relies in killing enemy models, and generating fury and casting at any time.  I've found the nastiest use for this is cycling Parasite and firing off the odd extra Hex Blast or Bone Shaker, depending on how much fury I have and need.

What Can't This Guy Do?
Deal With Upkeep Hate, Take Much Abuse
While you can crack high DEF and ARM, you need upkeeps to do it.  If someone can deny you those or drop them, you'll be burning a fair amount of Fury to put your spells back up.

Occultation ties into my 'take much abuse' part of the story.  If you have only one posse, this is probably NOT where it goes, as that posse is Calaban's screen.  DEF14/ARM16 isn't that hard to gun down when it's on top of 15 boxes, and your only defensive measure is Occultation.  The downside?  Calaban has to personally cast Parasite, and it's got RNG8.  That's his biggest drawback.  You pretty much HAVE to kill whatever you hit with Parasite, or gum up the works and re-screen calaban.

This is another reason you often see Calaban in a tier; as it allows Bone Grinders (who can extend a spell's RNG by 2 inches, which gives you RNG10 parasite and RNG12 Hex Blast) and who doesn't like Wrong Eye/Snapjaw with advance deploy?

Finally, the feat can often leave Calaban with an odd amount of fury.  He's got no way of dropping single points of fury with it up after his activation; he can dump 2, 3, and 4 (or more, with boosted damage rolls on the blast) at a time depending on which spell and how much boosting he does.

Overall
Calaban's the problem-solver to Barnabus' brute force/denial.  He's much more toolboxy, and frankly, I have to respect him for that when I see him across the table.  If the enemy doesn't screen him adequately, I'm going to try to put damage on him with a gun, as DEF14/ARM16 and 15 boxes on a medium base is not exactly the high end of defensive stats, and getting up to ARM20 requires both Parasite and Spiny Growth, which is a good 3 fury.

Maelok The Dreadbound
What Can This Guy Do?
Make a Posse Stupidly Durable, Act Like a Walking Debuff, Absorb a Fair Amount of Abuse, Do Reasonable Damage in Melee, Walk His Army Through Your Lines
Death Pact is good for +2ARM, Undead, and making a Posse one of the most obnoxiously durable units in the game.  Base ARM16 goes up to base 18, 20 in melee, and on the feat turn, 22.  Oh, and you can have access to Spiny Growth, too.  Lovely.  Oh, and you can Revive the dead gators, and possibly grab stupidly obnoxious threat angles? Lovely.

The 'walking debuff' comes from Malediction, previously found on Terminus.  This puts his own melee stats up to a reasonable MAT8 with 3x PS14s, but you need to get within 2" of a target to hand out that -2DEF/-2ARM.  On the bright side, a Wrastler can probably trash the target at this point.  On the downside, you just put your warlock in base-to-base with something that can probably threaten it.  This is a risky spell to fully utilize, but it IS part of the arsenal.

DEF14, ARM17, 17 boxes?  You have access to Spiny Growth and another +2ARM from Death Pact if need be.  Downside is that Death Pact and Malediction aren't compatible (which is sad because you would want that extra +2ARM).  You're at the edge of needing boosts to hit him, and he needs heavy hitters to put damage on him.

With Malediction up, you're at MAT8 with a trio of non-reach PS14s.  This is cool if you can kill a loaded enemy Heavy with the bite because of Spirit Eater, as you get to Reave from it and deny the enemy the chance to Reave.  This is mostly corner-case, as you have GOT to ice that heavy with the bite to make it worthwhile.

His feat is...hilariously obnoxious for killing the enemy caster.  Unless you've got a lot of magical weapons, the gators are walking/charging through your lines and surrounding your caster.  If you DO have magical weapons, you're still dealing with ARM20+ gators against free strikes.  Note that the Witch Doctors MAKE this feat, as the only other way of making your own dudes undead is via Grave Pact.

What Can't This Guy Do?
Crack Armor (without Great Risk), Manage Fury, Do His Feat To Full Effectiveness Without A Solo Or Two, Effectively Handle Incorporeal Threats
We're back to that 'cracking armor' thing.  Malediction is a hell of a debuff, but it's also a high risk/high reward debuff.  The reward comes from the fact you're probably in the 'just buy attacks' phase instead of needing to boost them.  The downside is, like I said, Maelok has to put himself within 2" of the target to use it.  With SPD5, this maxes you out at 10" if you want to do anything else, or 12" if you're willing to just run and hope to god you're alright with that as your only action.

He's also got the FURY6 + no fury support solos issue of all Gatormen.  It is what it is.  With 1-2 upkeeps, you get an animus or two a turn and that's it.  Not bad, but not great.

His feat deserves special mention because you really, REALLY need Witch Doctors to maximize the effectiveness.  Otherwise, you get the Grave Pact unit, himself, and maybe a Boneswarm that benefits from the ARM bonus.  On the flip side, you're hoping to jog through the enemy lines and either assassinate or deal a crippling blow, so there you go.  Just be advised any living model on feat turn are kinda asking for the hits.

This guy has two types of magical attacks: melee, and SP8.  Venom isn't BAD, but again requires getting up close and personal to use it.

Overall
I worry about this guy laughing off my initial attempts to thin down his army, then ramming it through my lines thanks to his feat, and eating my caster.  I have to counter it by leaving him no landing zone for his models, which isn't necessarily as easy as it sounds.

Conclusion
Honestly, I'm a bit worried this hit the 'OMG TOO MUCH TEXT!' level, and if so would someone kindly tell me.

That aside, this is meant more as a 'oh, crap, what am I facing again?' type of guide, and it's not an in-depth tactica on each and every last model in here (...other than the link to the Totem Hunter salute.  That IS a tactica).  Hopefully after slogging through these two articles, you have some idea of what you're up against when you see these models across from you.

Blindwater isn't the most diverse army, but they have some solid models that will absorb abuse, and can do a hell of a number when it comes to weathering your attacks and then either beating you down, or pulling out some crazy shenanigans.

I'm also gonna wish I had more undead-hating tech, and that I'm not reliant on souls, because they're in short supply thanks to Grave Pact and the army's natural resilience.

I'm also likely to try to snipe out any Witch Doctors.  Not only are they there to help maximize his feat turn, but a couple of them can throw out Sacrificial Strikes that might finish whatever job the rest of the army started.

On Playing Against Gatormen, Pt1: Units and Beasts

On a request, this article's going to focus on what it's like to play against the Blindwater Congregation.  I'm going to start with common sights (IE: units/solos/beasts) and then wax poetic about the warlocks and what they'll add to the mix.

The Gatorman Posse
There'll be minimum one of these on the field 99.9% of the time when you face off against Blindwater.  As such, it pays to know what they can and can't do.

What Can They Do?
 Mulch Infantry, Take Up Space for a While
The 'mulch infantry' part refers more to killing living single-wound infantry: MAT7 with a prayer for a re-roll on a pair of PS13 attacks is pretty nasty for thinning out infantry.  They rarely need a to-hit buff, and most undead targets are DEF12ish unless it's a caster.

Also, they get a nice speed boost when charging living targets.  Never hurts.  12" threat range, potential pathfinder (if you don't need it, then re-rolls to hit?!)  Yeah, living things don't like these things.

The 'taking up space' thing refers to their durability.  DEF12 is so-so, but they can buff it to 13 with a prayer.  They're ARM16 on top of 8 wounds, though, and they go up to ARM18 when in melee due to 'Unyielding.'  Given that Blindwater can buff ARM and DEF, these guys can stick around for a while.  As-is, you need charging weaponmasters or heavy jacks/beasts to crunch them up.  Also, that medium base is impossible to trample through, so there you go.

Bottom line?  You pretty much have to deal with these guys.

What Do The Posse Not Do?
Crack Armor
They top out at PS13.  This can ding up armor with a boost.  This is great when they charge, but you'll be doing well to get more than a couple guys to throw charge attacks into one target.  And then, well, they're engaged.

On the downside, this makes engagements with enemy heavies an attrition issue.  If they have solid hitting power, you're in trouble.  If not, you're ok; you can still do a few damage each time you swing. 

On the other downside, these are your main infantry, and you're probably looking at a couple of squads of these.  If the enemy gets their armor-cracking from weaponmaster infantry, you might be able to get the charge off on 'em.  If they get the charge on you, 1-2 guys will carve through a gatorman.

Posse Wrapup
If I'm dealing with posse, then I'm going to try to either work around them and assassinate, or hit them with heavy hitters.  I don't want to match them up against living targets that rely on their DEF to survive, and ideally I don't match them up against single-wounders unless I can buff ARM through the roof.

Bog Trog Ambushers
What Do They Do?
Screw With The Other Guy's Movement
Ambush is the reason you take them.  3" + base + SPD5 + reach =  ~13.5 threat from the side of the board, place at your will.  The enemy knows this, and between the charge bonus, MAT6, and Powerful Charge alongside CMA these guys can adapt to whatever target they need to.

What Don't They Do?
 ...deal with stuff after the surprise attack
They're not bad combatants, but once they're in, they're a bunch of dudes with reach sticks and PS11 on MAT6 with CMA.  They're kind of pillow-fisted, but you can always team up to scrag some big target or other, maybe.

Overall?
You don't see these guys a ton for a couple of reasons:
1) they're not a posse
2) Once they're in, they've got the armor-cracking problems of a posse without the re-rolls to hit or durability
3) It's hard to quantify the joys of ambush, as most people will try to work around it via movement/deployment.

By the time you've filled out your battlegroup and grabbed a posse, you're probably about 25 points.  Most folks will grab another heavy or posse at that point.  Maybe at 50?  Who knows.

If I see these guys across the table, I'm going to think twice about where I put my stuff on the flanks.  I'll also have to remember them in terms of scenario.  Basically, they give the gators something other than a slow-moving chunk of bodies and armor.

Blackhide Wrastler
What Can it Do?
Crack Armor, Power-Attack Shenanigans, RFP/Heal off of Infantry
PS17 is (currently) as good as it gets for gators without buffs/debuffs.  This is where they get it.  There are a couple of PS14 open hands, which are were we get the 'power-attack shenanigans' part of this deal, AND the 'Rise' animus is annoying if I have a lotta knockdown.

In a pinch, if it's stuck troop-clearing it CAN start healing off of the bodies it eats, thanks to snacking.  This is also a nice source of RFP.

What Can't it do?
Hit First, Run Very Hot
SPD5, no reach?  This guy doesn't have what we call a 'threat range' in business.  This means the other guy has to be careful about deploying it, and making sure I can't get the drop on it.  Since it's likely to be their main source of armor-cracking, this guy is a priority if I have armor on the table.

Additionally, at this time Gators don't have any neat little fury-management units/solos.  As such, running this guy hot to finish off a crucial hard target might be dicey for the other guy and force threshold checks.

Also, it's got a whopping five health in 'mind', meaning it's not too hard to get lucky and force the other guy to have to heal this thing.

Wrastler Overall
This thing is the hardest hitter in the gator armor, but it going to be stuck on the counter-charge duty due to its speed.  What it can't beat down, it can two-handed throw with that nice STR12.

If I see it across the table (and it's more like a 'when', given Blindwater's current model selection and this thing's particular niche as armor-cracker) and I have heavy armor, it's a priority.  Otherwise, well, it's a melee heavy, and those tend to be worth worrying about as a matter of principal.

Ironback Spitter
What Can it Do?
Shoot, Power Attack Shenanigans, Shield Stuff From Blast Damage, and Hack Off Single-Wound Infantry
First off, this thing has a pretty solid gun.  POW14, RNG12, and an AoE with continuous corrosion are about as good as it gets; the only way to improve it would be a larger AoE or more RNG.  You can plink hard targets and soften them up, or throw this at infantry. Single-wounders that rely on DEF probably die to the blast damage, and those that rely on ARM don't like the corrosion.

Past that, you have a pair of open fists for the full suite of power-attack damage, and Girded in case you have something that doesn't like blast damage.

What Can't it Do?
Mix it up in melee, Get Anywhere Fast, Survive Much Of A Beating
MAT5, a pair of PS13s, and a PS15 are all kinda sad when it comes to actually killing hard targets in hand-to-hand.  If it's wounded and late in the game?  You might make it happen.  SPD4 means you go nowhere fast, and DEF10/ARM18 are sad DEF stats if the enemy gets into melee with you with anything that WANTS to be in melee with you.

Overall
This thing's a gun, pure and simple.  Most Gator armies benefit from including one, as it gives them some much-needed ranged power, and the ability to start putting damage on the other guy's hard targets/soften up the infantry.

If I see one across the table, I'll make sure to spread out my infantry, and just get ready to see my heavies eat a couple of fully-boosted POW14s before they engage.  Oftentimes, this guy will last to the end-game, as I'll be busy killing the posse and/or that Wrastler that engages.  This means Grandpa The Angry Turtle is probably going to be in good shape to take some transfers.

The Bull Snapper
What Can it Do?
Provide an ANNOYING Animus, Solo-hunt efficiently, mess up High-DEF targets
Spiny Growth is hilariously effective against jacks/beasts, and the +2ARM alone is fun vs infantry.  Early on, this guy's probably going to be handing out Spiny Growth to someone, and letting his 'lock do the same.

If need be, it can charge and boost against a solo or something, as it can hit out to 11.5 inches on the charge, and boost if it has to.

Also, don't overlook the joy of sustained attack in the late-game, higher-DEF casters might not like eating the POW12 charge and a couple of auto-hitting attacks.  It probably won't solo a caster, but it CAN put some damage on one.

What Can't It Do?
Crack Armor, Take A Beating, Take Out A Lot Of Models
Ok, give this guy a break because he's 3 points, and most of that for the animus.  That being said, PS12 is comical against armor.  ARM14 on top of 15 boxes makes him somewhat comparable to a Posse member in terms of the amount of abuse he can absorb.  Finally, he's MAT5 and has a whoppin' 3 fury.  He's not gonna kill a lot.

Overall on the Snapper
Expect this guy in most gator lists solely for his ability to provide Spiny Growth.  That animus accentuates gatorman durability, and the d3 to opposing jacks/beasts that don't one-shot a target helps with the attrition game, AND putting damage on high-ARM heavies.

If I see this guy, I'll try to kill him just because I hate dealing with Spiny Growth.  That being said, he's probably behind the posse, or he's out on the side solo-hunting.

Boneswarm
What Can it Do?
Buff DEF, Be Obnoxious To Hit, Provide An Obnoxious Animus
This thing can pop SWARM on itself for +2DEF, and if it's close to enemy living models it can drop their attack rolls by 2.  The base DEF13 means this thing is suddenly going to get missed unless you boost.  On the flip side, the animus is 'self', and anyone that brought a Swamp Gobber Bellow Crew can get Concealment without spending fury and with a wide coverage area via cloud effect.

It also takes some work to get the full use out of the "-2 to living model attack rolls" ability, since it's within 2" of the swarm.  Reach models just kinda point and laugh unless trying to gank this thing personally, and the undead just kind of shrug and keep swinging.

If the enemy manages to KO some infantry, though, this thing can get up to PS15 with ARM18, which isn't bad for a piddly 4pt model.

What Can't It Do?
Crack Armor, Hit High DEF Without Boosting
Outside of an animus, you aren't necessarily looking at a lot of offensive potential.  'Swarm' is a decent defense, but you're dealing with a PS12 non-reach model with MAT6.  You already have infantry clearing in the army, and this thing really wants to deal with low-DEF non-reach infantry.  That kind of infantry can probably mess this thing up, unless it's popping 'Swarm'.

Overall
This thing's a defense toolbox.  I haven't really seen it much on the table, as it's much easier to get mileage out of 'Spiny Growth.'  That being said, ignoring this thing too long is a great way to find it dumping a couple of boosted POW15s into something I actually liked.

Swamp Horror
What Can It Do?
Crack Armor (Sort Of), Enhance Threat Range, Power Attack Shenanigans, Laugh At Ranged Attacks (kind Of), Crank Out A Volume Of Attacks, Block LOS Well
PS16 isn't shabby for armor-cracking, though it really kidna wants that critical to go off to complete the insult.  The animus hands out 'reach', which is something the gatormen don't mind: their beasts don't tend to have it.  You have a whopping THREE open fists, so I suppose technically you could weapon-lock something one turn, then two-handed throw something the next turn. 

While DEF10/ARM17 is piddly for defensive stats, Impervious Flesh drops a dice from ranged attacks.  If you don't have a way of avoiding being shot at, this makes shooting at the Swamp Horror less appealing.

While you have a PS16, you also have THREE Friggin' PS12s.  They just need to hit, and those reach attacks pull the other guy into your PS16 crit-devastating beak o' doom.  This can also help get something in range.  I mean, you're SPD4, but with reach your charge threat is 9", which beats the Wrastler by a whole half-inch.

Also, a large base with 'steady' is a solid way to laugh off guys that like knockdown, since it can keep your medium-based 'locks from being overly exposed.

What Can't It Do?
Take Much Of a Beating In Melee, Get Anywhere Fast
DEF10/ARM17 is pretty sad for defensive stats for a heavy, not gonna lie.  You'll hit it and hurt it.  SPD4 isn't helping, and that means this thing really DOES have to KO whatever heavies it rolls up on, or throw them away.

Overall on the Swamp Horror
I see this guy competing for the Wrastler's spot in lower point games, OR if the other guy brings shooty/swift solos, I could see it replacing the Spitter's role.  You lose the gun, but gain a nasty animus that the Wrastler would love (And you can always throw Spiny Growth on after the activation...).

Bottom line, this is something that can potentially thin out infantry or do a number on a heavy, especially if it lucks out with a crit on the beak.  Also, it can foil a pop 'n' drop strategy, thanks to Steady.  I'm certainly not going to try to kill it with shooting, though, and it's still one more relatively durable target to KO.

Overall On Part 1
You should see a theme of 'Doesn't Like Heavy Armor' with the gatormen, followed by 'Annoying To Kill' and 'I Love Power Attacks'.  These guys can take a beating, and love to munch up some living infantry.

In part two, I'll discuss solos, and then hit the warlocks a bit and discuss how they accentuate the strengths or shore up some of the problems (IE: Calaban and that whole 'hates heavy armor' thing).

Moonlighting with Minions: Trollbloods

After a slight hiatus from my 'moonlighting' articles, and at the prodding of one my local buddies (well, now local 'press ganger' I suppose) I'm back to it, and going to hit up our favorite irate hard-to-put-down medium-based army.

Solos of note: Trollkin Whelps
This is pretty much what you've got for fury management/out-of-activation healing for your battlegroup.  Two points give you five guys, and you can either start 'em on the table OR have them come into being when your big guys get hit.  They can be sacrificed in your control phase to drop Fury off a beast.  On the downside, this requires your opponent to cooperate.

Honestly, this is about it for non-faction-specific support in terms of units and solos.  You are passing up on some wicked stuff like Fell Callers and Kriel Stone bearers, for example.

The Warlocks
Grim Angus
Who likes hunters?  (No, not the Cygnar light jack...)  You've got two faction-specific spells.  Cross-Country is a PAthfinder buff along with Hunter, so if you've got a ranged beast in your battlegroup without native pathfinder, you can get mileage out of it.  Return Fire lets you, you guessed it, return fire, but it's faction specific (and since you have to SURVIVE the hit, it kinda goes with ranged beasts...).  Otherwise, your feat and movement debuffs are kinda useful.

This guy would be very picky about a battlegroup (and want ranged stuff) but if you could bring a heavy hitter and still get some ranged, or use Cross Country on something other than an Earthborn...there's some potential, but it's picky with this guy at best.

Grissel 1 & 2
All about faction infantry, more or less.
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls
This guy's got a little potential.  You've got a feat that impacts enemies only, and only Fortune is faction-specific.  Banishing Ward, at least, is good for anyone.  He's compatible with minions, at least, but doesn't necessarily do anything spectacular for infantry.

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia
Refuge is faction-specific, but you have to survive the hit, so it likes a beast again.  therwise, this guy is all about beasts.  I guess if you want to bring a minion unit  with him he'll work, but he really kinda wants a hefty battlegroup.

Gunnbjorn
Your feat guarantees that any minion infantry you bring (outside of dug-in Brigands) is gonna get iced on feat turn, because they're the ones that will be easiest to hit.  I suppose Snipe is a nice bonus, and if you really want to bring Brigands and shooty troll beasts, you can make him work.

Honestly, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Madrak 1 & 2
These guys are both all about friendly faction infantry.

Borka Kegslayer
Other than his feat, this guy can work with minions.  His spell list is notably lacking in the word 'faction', and if you bring a heavy or two, this guy'll get mileage out of his feat.  Honestly, he's got potential.

And, dude.  He's DRUNK AND BELLIGERANT.  Come on.  That's gotta count for something, right?

Calandra Truthsayer
Minion-friendly DEF buff?  Enemy-only attack debuff?  Minion-friendly feat?  Yeah, we have a winner here.  She is 100% compatible with minions.

Jarl Skuld
Tactical supremacy, quicken, and weald secrets are all compatible with minions.  The only thing you lose out with Minions is that your feat turns into an LOS-blocker instead of a feat-turn Veil of Mists spam-fest.

Honestly, this guy's not bad.  You lose out on a little, but not nearly as much as the average troll caster.

Overall
Calandra's about as good as it gets for minion-friendly warlocks.  I believe it was Lamoron that said it; 'grab Calandra, an Earthborn Dire Troll, an Axer, and call it.'  That's not bad advice at all.  I'd say you could make Jarl work, though you lose a bit on the feat.  The Doomshapers are more beast-centered, but could learn to love some minion infantry.  Borka's semi-workable, but you lose out on the feat's burst of speed for your minions, which hurts.

Honestly, though, you lose so much in-faction support via fell callers, krielstones, and whatnot that I feel like Trolls are probably last on the list of minion buddies.

Moonlighting with Minions: Skorne

I'm going to start this 'moonlighting with minions' theme off with Skorne, who can do it reasonably well.  As previously mentioned, the biggest thing you're looking for in terms of "do I want to run it with minions?" is whether the warlock in question has a preference for friendly models, or friendly faction models.

Unit of note: Paingiver Beast Handlers
These guys are basically the choir for Menoth (or, the Choir is Menoth's beast handlers? You decide).  For a mere 2 points, you get four guys that carry three wonderful beast-helping actions: heal for d3, remove/place any amount of fury on it, or +2STR and must charge/slam/trample for free.  Franlky, if you're going to play Skorne, you should own these guys even IF you're going to run a minion-heavy emphasis.

Solo of Note: Paingiver Task Master
If you're looking for a sign that Skorne likes minions, here it is.  You get No Sleeping On The Job for Minions, which means anyone within 9" of this gal who's a minion doesn't suffer knockdown.  You also get two spiffy special actions; one is good for +2STR and the other is good for Fearless/Tough.  That +2STR is handy for ANY minion unit, but gators suddenly get a respectable bite in melee.  Alternatively, Farrow Brigands enjoy fearless/tough/no-knockdown AND their prayers, and Slaughterhousers love them some PS13 pseudo-weaponmaster no-knockdown hits.  Go ahead and grab a pair of these gals.

The Warlocks
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
This guy's a wonderful all-rounder, with a MAT buff, some anti-magic, his own arc node, and a nice antipersonnel spell.  "That's nice," you say, "but what about his compatibility with minions?"  His MAT buff is any friendly unit (and Vengeance is a nice side boost).  His feat impacts only enemy models.  As it is, this guy wants at least one melee unit, and he has a solid amount of antipersonnel between Soulfire and his feat.

This guy's a solid candidate for a minion-heavy army.

Lord Arbiter Hexeris
Ah, he got a promotion! On the down side, he's no longer so minion-friendly.  Ashen Veil works on minions, but his big to-hit buff, Black Spot, does not.  Honestly, running minions with him gives up on Black Spot, and while Arcane Reckoning is situational, it still wants faction models.  All in all, it's kind of sad, but you're better off leaving this guy behind when it comes to a minion-based army.

Archdomina Makeda
Seeing as how she's the head honcho (or at least 2nd in command in this incarnation) of the Skorne, it's no real shock she's pretty faction-specific.  All her buffs, and her feat, are faction-specific.  She offers precisely NOTHING to minion troopers.

Supreme Archdomina Makeda
See above.  Don't bother with her for a minion-centric army.

Void Seer Mordikaar
I really have to respect someone that decided "No, I'm not dead, thanks," and badassed his way back to life.  However, if you go minion-heavy you're missing out on two buffs AND his feat.  He kind of likes to blow up warriors for sprays, but Essence Blast is faction-specific.  Similarly, he loves Hollow for fuel, but Hollow really wants a large faction unit, and so does revive.  Finally, the feat is what really does him in: +3DEF for faction models, which means that's the turn your minions EAT it.

Master Tormentor Morghoul
This guy is a beast caster; he's got three spells and two of them are beast-specific while the last is the token 'I have a ranged magical attack!' thing just about all warlocks have.  If you're gutsy, this guy can do infantry removal as well.  Additionally, his feat is a giant 'screw you' to the enemy battlegroup.

He doesn't support infantry, but this guy would love him some self-sufficient Minion troopers.

Lord Assassin Morghoul
Alas, this guy's not so minion-friendly.  His two unit-centric spells are not faction-specific, but the problem comes more from his feat: it IS faction-specific.  You're passing up on +2DEF and immunity to free strikes, which kind of hurts.

You can make the Lord Assassin work with minions, but you're giving up the feat.  It's not ideal, but it's probably still workable, and Ghost Walk + anti-tough on Silence of Death is pretty sweet.

Dominar Rasheth
Lest you despair about using Skorne with your minions, I give you Dominar Rasheth.  He is 100% compatible with minions.  Carnivore isn't picky about who you give it to.  Dark Rituals isn't faction-specific.  The feat is a control-area debuff.  Give this guy some minions and go to town.

Tyrant Xerxis
Let's see...Defender's Ward is faction specific.  His feat and all his neat extra rules like Battle Plan and Martial Discipline are faction-specific.  Do yourself a favor and don't even consider this guy with minions; he wants a Skorne infantry brick.  He does that well.  Just don't look too long or you might find yourself owning a bunch of heavy infantry...

Supreme Aptimus Zaal
I like this guy's fluff: he's dark even by Skorne standards.  However, there are a couple of big reasons to not rock this guy with minions: Inviolable Resolve is a nice armor buff, but it's Zaal's love of dead faction models that kills him for minions.  He can direct soul tokens to their recipients, and his feat is fuelled off the number of faction models you've lost.  Considering his feat is wonderful, you're better off just not considering this guy for minions.

Master Ascetic Naaresh
Hey, it's a dude with a penchant for masochism and punching daggers!  Oh, and he's minion friendly!  His only troop buff is Iron Flesh.  Lamentation is a wonderful 'screw you' to enemy casters.  Also, his feat is battlegroup-specific; it's good for healing Naaresh and giving your battlegroup +3STR/+3ARM.  Give him a unit (maaaybe two) of troops and you're good.

Overall
Skorne is pretty minion-friendly, when you get down to it.  pHexeris, pMorghoul, Rasheth and Naaresh can all appreciate and/or support minion models.  You also have the wonderful Task Master, which can shore up hitting power or durability for minions.

As far as minions go, it's largely up to you in terms of whether you go Farrow or Gator or even Bog Trog, as Skorne's support is compatible with either.  In practice, you're probably looking at one unit of minions, some support solos a la the Task Master, a Beast Handler unit, and then battlegroup.

I would say that if you wanted to start out with Skorne and Minions, the cost-effective way would be to pick up a Battle Box (order Cyclops Brute arms to convert one of the Savages; Morghoul will thank you), a Beast Handler unit, and a Task Master.  You end up with a solid battlegroup, support for your warlock (Morghoul's DEF17 loves a no-knockdown animus) and solid minion support.

Moonlighting with Minions: Minion Options

A while ago, I decided to do a series about how collecting Mercs can give you options to dabble in other factions, provided you were willing to pick up a battlegroup and the odd support solo/unit.  Well, I think it's about time to do the same for Minions, now that Minions are getting nice and fleshed out.

An Interesting Notion
Note that when you're doing a minion army, you're picking either Farrow OR Blindwater, and there's all of one model so far that will work for both (IE: Pendrake).  Some Blindwater folks probably own Farrow Bone Grinders, as Calaban likes them in his tier list.  Note that with a faction warlock, you get access to whatever minions work for the faction, so you can indeed mix and match gator and pig.

That being said, there are three basic categories for minions: units, solos, and lesser warlocks.  In addition to the Minions listed in the Forces of Hordes: Minions book, there are also some Mercenaries that will work for the Hordes factions, and I'll mention them here as well.

The Magic Words
As with mercs, the crucial word you'll be worrying about is 'friendly models' versus 'friendly faction models'.  Anyone's a friendly model, but 'faction' is where it gets sticky, and what will ultimately determine which warlocks work well with minions.  We'll worry more about that in later posts when I break down the Hordes factions.

Minion Units
Gatorman Posse
Frankly, I suspect a lot of folks that own Hordes armies own a posse.  They're solid and self-sufficient, and provided you have a means of cracking heavy armor in your list, you're good.  You have reasonable speed (SPD5), volume of attacks (a pair of PS13s each, one with reach), durability (ARM16 over 8 hit boxes) and self-sufficiency via prayers (Pathfinder, re-rolls vs living targets, or +1DEF/Terror).  If you can buff their hitting power, they'll probably kill anything they can get into melee with.  If you can buff their DEF or ARM, you've got a stupidly durable front line that will require heavyweight hitting power to get through.

Bog Trog Ambushers
Blindwater's front-liners are the posse; these are the tricky ones.  The major perk these guys bring to the table is Ambush: come in on turn two or later and hit the enemy from the flank.  They have a 10" threat range, so they can do wonders for funnelling the enemy towards the middle.  With Powerful Charge and Combined Melee Attack, they can gang up to hit harder targets, or split up and try to drag down as much as you can.  If nothing else, the enemy has to turn and deal with them.  On the down side, as they operate out on their own, they're unlikely to benefit from buffs on the basis of range.  You can do it, but it's something you'll have to work for.

Farrow Brigands
These are the pig-men basic troopers.  On the one hand, they're cheaper than the Posse and offer more bodies.  You do lose the whole hit-boxes thing, though.  If you were just going to judge them on the stat-line, you would probably find them lackluster, as you've got so-so MAT/RAT/DEF/ARM, and weapons suitable for anti-infantry duty.

However, they are like the posse in that they're reasonably self-sufficient and self-buffing.  You can get Pathfinder, which will get you there.  You can go fearless/tough for when you get stuck in.  However, their money-maker prayer is Hog Wild.  You get to shoot, then take a normal turn, basically.  If you're moving up to engage, you can crank out a lot of attacks.  You can give ground by shooting, then ducking back and digging in.  Honestly, it's this prayer that makes them feel like the raiders they are in the fluff.

Farrow Bone Grinders
You get the same statline as the Brigands, but you get a warlock buff for 2-3 points.  These guys bring three main abilities: Craft Talisman, a magic attack, and the ability to use a dead thing's animus.  The magic attack is incidental but a nice exta; it's like the .38 special you keep in an ankle holster.  Craft Talisman is good for +2" range on a spell-slinging lock, which can be crucial for staying out of harm's way.  The use-dead-thing's-animus ability is situational at best; it's not what I'd take them for but it's certainly an option.

Farrow Slaughterhousers
You were looking for Minion infantry that could bring the melee hitting power?  These guys have it, provided you have wounded the target.  You have decent speed and Reach on them, along with Powerful Charge for an effective MAT8 charge.  PS11 is deceptive, as with Finisher, you get an extra dice of damage on wounded targets.  You do trade for the hitting power, though, in that these guys don't self-buff at all, and only have Tough.  As such, I think they're best suited to follow-up; wing your initial targets and watch these guys crank out hideously accurate weaponmaster charges through your lines, as you can finagle it a bit with reach.

Farrow Razorback Crew
Like Brigands, these guys can dig in.  Like other weapon crew models, you're probably gonna spend turn one running into position, turn two digging in, and then firing from then on out.  Honestly, I think these guys suffer outside of a Thornfall Alliance army as you lose access to Advance Deploy, which lets them position turn one for a dig-in, then spend the rest of the game tossing explosives at people.  Then again, with ARM14, they can possibly weather some AoE love.  Still, I feel like you've got better things to do with your points in the context of minion moonlighting.

Swamp Gobbers
It's 1 point for a couple of guys who crank out a 5" cloud.  If you need to get yourself some concealment or block LOS, get these guys.  If not, don't.  It's really all they do.  I think they technically have melee attacks, but if you're using that then things have already gone tango uniform.

Solos
Gudrun the Wanderer
Did you ever want to fire a berserking missile into enemy lines?  Did you ever want to hold an objective from enemy shooting?  Do you like models that have a psychotic drunk theme?  Answer 'yes' to any/all of the above, and you like Gudrun.  He's got speed and advance deploy.  His ARM15 is reasonable on top of his 8 hit boxes.  He's got Pathfinder.  He's also got Feign Death, so being knocked down means you can't shoot/spell him.  He can voluntarily fall down (Binge Drinking).  Also, if you just kill him the first time, he falls over (see Feign Death) and heals all the way.  MAT7/PS15 is respectable as well; if you can buff his accuracy he WILL kill a heap of infantry that get close together.  Alternatively, if you need to hold space, this guy can do it for up to three turns against shooting: move up, fall down.  Stand up.  Get shot to death that turn, fall down.  Stand up a third time. (It's like that Chumbawumba song...)

Saxon Orrik
Technically this guy has some anti-beast tech in melee, and a solid MAT/RAT and a gun.  In practice, you like him for his ability to hand Pathfinder out to warrior models/units, so solos can get through rough terrain as well.  If you do feel like stabbing a beastie, he can screw with their fury, and technically he's got Remove From Play on his melee attacks.

Viktor Pendrake
His major tech is boosted attack rolls against beasts for a nearby unit, though technically he's got ranged knockdown on RAT6.  I suppose a re-roll on a RAT6 POW10 ranged attack is nice, and technically his melee attack is magical, but this guy's not what I would call an auto-include.

Lanyssa Ryssel
A lot of people will look at her and say "OOH ANTI-LEGION TECH!" because she can theoretically shut down pathfinder, flight, and eyeless sight if things are within 9" of her.  Too bad Legion has guns with more range than that.  On a general note, her major money-maker is Hunter's Mark on Magic Ability 7: hit a target, and your beast gets a free charge and 2" of extra range on that charge.  She also brings a moderate POW magical attack to the table, and a magical melee weapon.  All in all, I would rely on her mainly fo the Hunter's Mark access.

Totem Hunter
I'm not necessarily big on linking to other articles, but this guy deserves his own writeup, available here.  Short version: he's fast, killy, and ruins the other guy's plans more often than not.

Croak Hunter
You get Advance Deploy and Poison on a guy with reasonable accuracy.  This guy's job is to tag beasts or living solos for a hell of a hit, as a charge against a living model is good for 10+4d6, due to poison.  Alternatively, you can work around the flanks and worry the enemy that a living solo will eat a 10+3d6 ranged attack, which will probably be the end of said solo if the attack hits.  On the downside, MAT/RAT6 is so-so, but ARM14 over 5 boxes makes it reasonably durable against blast damage, which is the major threat against it at range.

Gatorman Witch Doctor
Oh, this guy.  He is fun.  He is worth it if you're bringing Minion units, but can help Faction units as well.  The all-helpful spell he packs is Zombify; you get Undead in exchange for Tough.  This matters mostly if the enemy has anti-undead tech.  If you're bringing Minion units, you can Sacrificial Strike with them; Farrow turn into auto-hitting PS14 missiles, and if you'e willing to chuck a gator at a target (IE: a mostly dead one) you can tag the enemy with a whopping PS16.  I suppose Dominate Undead is funny from time to time, but it's highly situational.  If you've got 3 spare points and a hankering for firing your own minions at folks, take this guy.

Thrullg
Don't like upkeeps?  This is the guy.  He's as close as Hordes get to Eiryss; his MAT7 melee attacks can pull upkeeps off of targets.  As he's on a medium base and has a so-so defense at best, he's kind of vulnerable to shooting, even with 8 boxes over reasonable ARM.  Note also that he can knock debuffs of of YOUR guys, and in a pinch disrupt jacks.  He's utility more than killy, but you might want the utility.

Alten Ashley
This guy is supposed to be some kind of badass big game hunter.  And, in fairness, he brings a reasonably nasty ranged attack period; RAT 8, RNG14 POW12 is solid for solo-hunting and dinging lighter-armored targets.  Hell, if this guy lasts long enough, an aimed RAT10 at a warcaster/lock is something the other guy might overlook.  Against beasts, though, he has the ability to instantly dump 1d6 damage to the spiral of your choice. (AKA: OW MY SPIRIT!)  Note that he's reliant on camouflage to get to more than DEF14.  Note also that some Hordes players might give him more credit than he's due, as disabling a spiral is more an order-of-activation issue for a warlock than it is crippling, like KO'ing a warjack's cortex.

On Lesser Warlocks
Currently, there are four lesser warlocks available.  They share some basic mechanics, but have different flavors.  They're analogous to jack marshals: they run one heavy, except there are two huge differences between the way a marshalled jack runs and a lesser's beast: 1) these aren't one pesudo-focus; these are FURY4 heavies, and 2) you lose the 'marshal', you lose the beast altogether.

However, the lessers tend to have built-in defensive measures on top of being able to transfer damage.  The major thing, though, is that the lesser warlocks allow you to put a heavy outside of your warlock's control range, and relieve your main spellcaster of some of the fury burden.  Some armies (IE: Legion) have wonderful fury-management as it is; some, not so much (IE: Minion pacts).

Brun and Lug
Like angry midgets and polar bears?  This duo has Pathfinder and some wonderful durability tricks, but they want to get into melee range and go back-to-back badass to get the damage done, as both have Flank: That Other Guy With Me.  Brun's Stonehold knocks 1d6 off of damage rolls diected at him, so this goes up on turn one and stays up.  Lug gets Bear Hands, which lets him choose to shove an enemy back 3" or knock them down whenever he tags them.  The bea also has Chain Attack: Smash and Grab, so you can have a lot of fun screwing up the other guy's model placement.

Dahlia and Skarath
Dahlia's survival schtick involves an 8" bubble of "You can't target me" and the ability to get stealth.  Skarath can also get Stealth, and he's working on DEF14 to keep him alive.  Skarath's major schtick is a 10" continuous corrosion spray with a side of PS16 reach, seasoned with some Critical Consume.  The crit is nice (and everyone fantasizes about tagging a Shredder or something with it...) but not something you can rely on.  Keep these two near a forest for Prowl and they'll do good things for you.

Wrongeye & Snapjaw
The major schtick for these two is Submerge: can't target them with ranged spells.  This is stupidly fun against people that want to shoot you.  Wrongeye can also screw over beasts with his Voodoo Doll spell, but they need to be knocked down so you can friggin hit them with FURY4, but THEN you KO their spirit and they're basically out for a turn.  Snapjaw delivers PS17 pain with extra charge range against living models.

Rorsh & Brine
Movement shenanigans is the name of the game for this pair.  The big pig can advance back into Rorsh's control range prior to leaching.  Then, Rorsh can chuck a bomb as a special action for Diversionary Tactics, and if Brine is within the 4" AoE centered over his lesser 'lock, Brine can advance as well.  Rorsh's one spell is making the area around him rough terrain for enemies (more fun with movement, right?), and he's also got a couple of shots with his gun OR a short-ranged AoE. 

Brine's perk other than the movement ones mentioned is that he can do charge/power attacks for free if he's damaged, and he can get one last attack if you kill him.  You can also pop the animus for an additional dice against living models, which is nice as this guy is somewhat pillowfisted, with a pair of PS14 open fists and a PS15 crit knockdown attack.

Closing Thoughts
On the one hand, this is kind of a critical hit wall-o'-text to the forehead.  On the other hand, there's a point: most of the time you are VERY compartmentalized in what you can take with minions/mercs, as the basic minion pacts are 99.9% mutually exclusive, and a fair number of the solos (as well as two of the lesser warlocks) don't work for either minion 'faction.'

However, with a non-Minion warlock, you have the freedom and oppportunity to mix/match minion options quite unlike what you're used to if you're a minion player.  Offhand, where else can you watch Gatormen hold the line, ding up big targets, and hold them in place for Slaughterhousers to KO?  Rorsh and Wrongeye can pal around and compare notes on the care and feeding of large, irate critters.    But, you can't get Saxon and Pendrake in the same army because they kinda hate each other explicitly.

Bottom line: you've got wonderful options if you want to moonlight with minions.  Next time around, we'll get faction-specific about what warlocks are good for minions and which ones don't have a use for hired help.