Reznik v Stryker, Thoughts

I got another training match in, this time dialing it back to 25pts for my cohort.

The lists were:
pStryker
-Ol' Rowdy
-Lancer
-Charger
10 Sword Knights
Rhupert the Piper
Arlan Strangeways
Squire

VERSUS!

Reznik
-Vanquisher
-Reckoner
6 Exemplar Errants
-Officer, Standard
4-man Choir
2 Vassals of Menoth
The Book

The scenario was Mosh Pit, with a hill in the middle and me going first.  There was a hell of a scrum, and at the end, there were a few Errants, a few choir boys, a vassal, and a dead Reznik.  I had Stryker, Rowdy, Arlan, and a depleted Squire on the board with Rowdy presiding over Reznik's spaghetti-sauce-like remains.

Thoughts On...
Stryker
On paper, I wasn't too impressed with him; he struck me as a buff-bot.  With the bloody Witch Hound and immunity to knockdown book in the back, Earthquake didn't feel like a hell of an option.  Still, Arcane Shield was an MVP on Rowdy, and Snipe on a Charger makes it a hell of an assassination threat.  Stryker's major contribution, other than a timely Earthquake when he switched over to the Continuous Fire passage during my feat turn, was repeatedly disrupting things with his sidearm.

Ol' Rowdy
Arcane Shield and Rowdy's natural ARM19+1 make him stupidly durable.  Past that, the focus efficiency and Grudge make him nice.  He basically did ALL the heavy lifting for jack-killing, and was able to go after both of them thanks to Stryker disrupting both of them.

Lancer
I'd grabbed him because of Earthquake, and because Sword Knights + Reach Jack = Happy Stabbing Action, in theory.  In fact, this guy almost knocked the cortex off of the Reckoner (...then a Vanquisher boosted a hit on him and ripped the shield off...).  He did boost one Earthquake onto a knocked-down sword knight, knocking both of the guy's jacks over.

Charger
This guy was ALMOST the star.  Add snipe, and hilarity ensues for potential assassination attempts.  He almost nailed Reznik TWICE; the first round he had a full focus load and knocked about 10 boxes off with the first shot, then...wiffed.  Then, wiffed again.  Then, took one more shot, missed, and Reznik went ARRGH ENGINE OF DESTRUCTION and I didn't have a Charger any more...

Sword Knights
Cheap bodies FTW.  I might've buffed them, but Blessed on the crossbows of the Errants (and that 'fire' thing from the Vanquisher) meant they ran up, killed some Errants, and then pretty much died.

Arlan Strangeways
All things considered, this guy was workable enough.  He's gold when, y'know, you have a caster without a ton of focus.

Squire
Um.  Why WOULDN'T you bring this?

The Piper
Fearless + Tough for the win.  I like the Pathfinder option, but fearless + tough is always useful and makes the Knights last a little longer.

Reznik
Engine of Destruction is painful.  Iron Aggression is stupidly efficient, and if your battle plan involved upkeeping spells or allocating focus, he can screw it over. Hell, casting spells on warjacks is a bad idea period with this guy.  I forgot how nasty Engine of Destruction could be, and if he'd had a way to give Reznik pathfinder, I might very well have lost this game as he would've gotten the jump on Rowdy and possible killed him.

Reckoner & Vanquisher
Honestly, disrupting one of these all game long and beating the other to death kinda neutralized them. Well, then Rowdy beat the CRAP out of them.

Errants
They spent the game killing Sword Knights.

Choir, Vassals, Book
It's solid Menoth support.  Shocked?  Shouldn't be.

Overall
I'm impressed with both Stryker and Reznik.  Are either of them top-tier?  Not necessarily.  Still, I'm impressed with Reznik's ability to seal the deal himself; if he's within a foot of you and has a charge lane, you're probably going to die.  Stryker's pistol was one of the bloody MVPs of the game, allowing me to get 'jack superiority in the mosh pit and let an ARM23 Ol' Rowdy go through a pair of heavies.  Past that, infantry died/was irrelevant.  All things considered, it was fun just because it was one of those epic slug-fests.

The Reznik's New Tier

The whole reason I own some Menoth figures is because I like Reznik. He's got a nice, simple, three-step approach to life:

1) Find a Heretic

2) Wrack or Burn Heretic

3) Profit! Return to step 1.

He's got a lovely new Tier list in NQ 35. I've given it a spin, and am reasonably impressed with it.

What's (new) in the box?!

Apparently, Reznik's on cleanup operations for the Protectorate as they wander through Llael and make sure they have a kind, loving, loyal populace that believes in the Creator of Man.

Or, the bogeyman (Reznik) comes along to pacify your village. And by 'pacify' I really mean BURN EVERYONE THAT DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE NICE MAN.

Tier components:

Much like his old tier, but you are allowed Steelheads, Kell Blailoch, Stannis Brocker, and Vessels of Judgement.

Tier 1: Deliverer Sunburst Crews gain advance deployment. Honestly, I like AD on my artillery for two reasons: 1) free move up, and 2) lets me react to where the enemy places their infantry.

Tier 2: field 1+ small-based steelheads; get free Attendant Priests. I think this goes a way towards shoring up Reznik's relative lack of support for infantry (outside of Ignite, I suppose). Hey, giving your guys Pathfinder, Magic Weapons, or Immunity To Spells. Get your guys where they need to be faster.

Tier 3: 2+ vassal solos; you get your upkeeps (Ignite and Iron Aggression) out on the first turn. There are a couple of perks for this: if Reznik has more than two warjacks, one's not running on turn one if you want Ignite out. You can get all your jacks upfield with a run, and get Reznik to run and camp some focus.

Tier 4: 3+ heavy warjacks in your battlegroup; you get +2" to your DZ. Hey, get all your happy stuff upfield faster, and AD your incendiary ballistae up further.

What To Do With The New Toys

The cheapest you'll get a tier four list at is 18 points, assuming a minimum Halberdier unit, two Vassal Mechaniks, and three Crusaders.

The biggest decision you'll want to make is how many Steelheads to bring. Your screening unit choice is a happy little Steelhead Halberider unit. From there, you can go with the 'steelhead module', a full Halberider unit, a full Rifleman unit, and Stannis Brocker. That means your Riflemen can fire through your Halberdiers like they aren't there.

Alternatively, you can crack out Flameguard Cleansers (still in the tier) and their sprays ignore the melee bonus. Even if you're engaged, the burnin' boys can take care of the problem. The difference: you're relying on your halberdiers to KO high-DEF targets with directed attacks and let the Cleansers BBQ heavy infantry; the Rifleman can reliably hit solid defense (with CRA and Combined Arms) but become pretty incapable against stuff the Halberdiers have engaged.

It's 19pts for the aforementedion Steelhead 'module' but you DO have a mobile support unit with Pathfinder capabilities. Alternatively, I'd look at Halberdiers + min cleansers + 2 Sunbursts for 18 points. Or, you can just go for the minimum and drop six points on some Halberdiers.

Frankly, I'd suggest a pair of Vassals, just because I dig these guys, and Reznik loves him some jacks.

Jack-wise, I'd probably open with a Reckoner (because it's just plain fun). I'd consider a Vanquisher for the ranged element, or maybe another Reckoner, just because of its combination of reach and SPD5. If you really want an Arc Node, I'd probably go with the Guardian just to keep another heavy in the mix. It's not TERRIBLE, but I admit that we have some solid choices.

Overall

While this list requires infantry just as his last one does, I believe it does a much better job of supporting your infantry and giving you options. Previously, you were going to dump at least ten points into a couple of flameguard cleansers, and your only real option for melee infantry is Cinerators, which are slow and expensive, but do screen reznik.

At 35, I've had fun with the list, but only went up to tier 3. It included:

Reznik

-Vanquisher

-Reckoner

Full Halberdiers + UA

Full Rifleman + UA

Min Choir

Stannis Brocker

2 Vassals of Menoth

Not bad, I think, but I think some of thei nfantry would have to give in order to fit everyone, but I like having some accurate ranged support.

First Impressions: High Executioner Reznik

Ok, so there's been a slight vacation from blogging. I am not dead; just got busy with the whole 'holiday' thing followed by a dose of 'work travelling' think.

I've got some makeup posting to do from some of the games I've played, so this'll be the first of a couple rapid-fire posts.

I'm not gonna lie; I'm a fan of Reznik's fluff (what there is of it, anyway). He's pretty much a machine of heretic-punishment; go forth and wrack the unbelievers. A lot. Oh, and kill it with warjacks, if you're not going to do it yourself.

Reznik's Stats and Gear

Reznik is reasonably straightforward. SPD 5 is a bit slow, but he can fix it. MAT 7 isn't too shabby, either. His DEF of 14 is so-so at best, and ARM 17 is at least solid. Between the defensive stats and a medium base, he's not that easy to hide and not too hard to hit. He's also got a whopping command of 7; I guess when you kill and burn people (especially your own) you're not that inspiring of a figure. Focus 6 is average, and Terror is a neat flavorful extra.

The only piece of kit Reznik's carrying is a PS14 reach sword with the requisite magical weapon. If someone's silly enough to have an upkeep on the target, you get an extra dice of damage on them via Purgation. Also, if you kill a warrior model, you can get a free Wrack once a turn. Hey, that wrack on the back isn't just for show, y'know.

Reznik's melee prowess is better than it looks on paper, though, as he has Engine of Destruction. For 2 focus, he goes up to SPD 7, MAT 11, and PS18. This means he's got a base threat range of 12", so you can conveniently measure your charge range with your control area.

I find that Engine of Destruction is somewhat counterbalanced by the whole 'medium base + DEF 14 + ARM 17" thing, though, so you should probably be careful when using it.

Spells and Abilities

I've already mentioned engine of destruction, and it's a lovely little smashing tool.

Hex Blast

Every caster apparently needs an AoE. Hex Blast drops upkeep and animi while being an AoE 3, POW 13 shot with a range of 10. Considering it's 3 focus, you won't be using it a whole lot, but you at least have the option.

Ignite

You'll probably throw this out in the first turn or two. It's a flat +2 damage buff with a side of critical fire.

Iron Aggression

Here's your bread-and-butter spell. Target warjack becomes your primary wrecking ball. Boosted attack rolls, free runs/charges/slams? Yes, please. This comes out on turn one, and stays on your primary wrecking ball. This warjack will only need to spend focus on extra attacks, and that just gets horrifying in a hurry.

Perdition

This one's iffy, and Reznik wishes he could use it better. If you damage an enemy model, a warjack of yours gets to advance (limit: once per turn) for free immediately. The downside? You're FOCUS 6, and it's RNG 10 POW 10. I'd like it more with a Hierophant backing it up, since you'll probably want to boost either the hit or the damage roll, and suddenly it's half your focus right there.

Witch Hound

Did someone tag your battle group with a spell? Someone gets to advance. Yeah, this is a nice extra, since it lets you sing the no-shooty hymn. It also makes spell assassination much more difficult (barring Scourge, which won't let you get out of the way if it hits) since you'll probably back out of range. Additionally, it keeps the enemy from readily pulling your slow warjacks out of position with Force Bolt.

Feat: Judgment Day

Everyone in the control area loses all their focus and fury. No one can upkeep spells in his control area. If you think you want to cast a spell, you catch fire. It's either a setup for assassination (lose your overboosted field; lose your ability to transfer) or forces a warlock to cut for fury the next turn. It's also not something that magic-heavy armies like, as things like the Battle Mages and Druids don't like being on fire very much.

An Army with Reznik

Reznik likes himself some warjacks, though there's probably room for an infantry unit or two.

Warjacks with Reznik

I'd look for quality over quantity with warjacks. Get yourself a nice beat-stick, ideally at least one with reach. The Reckoner is a prime candidate, with SPD 5 and reach. The Templar has reach and beatback, so while it's only SPD4 it can at least get smoe movement out of the deal. With a shield, it also hits ARM21, so it can potentially survive a beating. The Vanquisher gives you the lovely Flame Belcher, in case you need help with infantry.

The Avatar, of course, would love itself some Iron Aggression as well, since it's got the SPD5 and reach.

You probably don't need an Arc Node with him, since the only spell you'd be arcing is Perdition. For those 6 points, you could take a Crusader as a melee backup jack.

Units with Reznik

Bring a Choir. Full stop, end of story. Reznik can make warjacks sick with Iron Aggression, and will have a couple of solid heavies with him.

Reznik's only support for a unit is Ignite. Given his medium base, I'd think about taking a unit of medium-based Exemplars. Cut off the enemy's trample avenue, and hamper LOS as well. Is it perfect? No, but you can at least get some PS14 Weaponmasters out of the deal.

The only other thing that comes to mind with him? Keep an eye towards infantry-clearing if you aren't bringing a Vanquisher.

Solos with Reznik

Vassals are a good first step with Reznik, since he's a jack buddy. Wracks are also a decent idea, just to get him a little more focus. Reclaimers are a thought, IF you're bringing plenty of infantry. However, you'd be spending more points on infantry and less on jacks.

Paladins make fine objective-holders, especially if you bring the Vilmon(ster).

If you want to make use of Perdition, I'd consider a Hierophant. He'll grant you a +2 RNG bonus, but more importantly he'll give you the 1 focus discount on the spell, so you can spend 2 focus and get that boosted shot off. If you're feeling ballsy, you might also be able to cycle Iron Aggression between a pair of warjacks for a total of 3 focus (1 to upkeep, 2 to cast after the discount). It's something to think about against higher-DEF opponents.

If you want to assassinate with Reznik, look for the movement-shenanigans solos. Madelyn Corbeau can give you a nice 2" of non-linear movement.

Gorman di Wulf is worthy of notice, if for no reason other than the smoke cloud as a means of screening the caster.

Impressions on how Reznik Plays

First turn? Cast Iron Aggression, run warjacks. Contemplate pulling focus from a Wrack if you need it to get Ignite out. Then, hand out focus to fuel your psychotic coal-powered crushing machines until

Use the no-shooty hymn for the first turn or two, then switch to 'battle' once you can start hitting things. Think twice if your enemy has some kind of uber-nasty debuff.

If you have a Hierophant, keep an eye out for Perdition targets.

Screen Reznik with infantry unless you find an opportunity to assassinate with him.

Find the best way to put a warjack into the enemy warcaster with Iron Aggression and a full focus load.

Keep an eye on the scenario; more to make sure you don't lose as opposed to a quick scenario win.

Overall

Reznik's fun to play if you like to see your heavy warjacks make things dead. If you can get into melee with the enemy, then you can turn them into paste. Reznik's not really fine-tuned into scenario wins, but would LOVE to put either himself or a fully-loaded warjack into the enemy leadership. If that's how you want to roll, that's what Reznik will do for you.