Little_Lano Talks About: Warmachine Hordes List Building Part 2

Now, previously I talked about "hammers, anvils and supports"

Now let's into what they actually are.

So most games require some form of strategy. 

The most common of these is "Hammer and Anvil" and will explain how this works.

Your "Anvil" is typically a unit which will take the majority of the opponents damage, and will hold an opponent in place while other aspects of your army does what is needed. This can be due to high defence, high ARM or sheer volume of models. What ever you use, they have to have the ability to stay on the board! So how would they be used in game? Let's see...

Firstly we have a staggered approach. By only presenting your opponent a fraction of the unit at a time, you can potentially hold them there for much longer and only fully commit when you absolutely need them to be held in place.  As seen above, "Anvil" units can be very helpful in contesting zones, as there staying power should have to force your opponent to direct more resources in removing you. 

The other way to use them, is to use them as a "Jamming Anvil". Look at the placement below to get an idea.

By running you unit beyond the zone, it will allow other aspects of you army to capture zones or objectives, or even allow slower aspects of your army to advance. If doing there job well enough, they should help stem the flow of models into the zone you are trying to dominate/control and allow you to easily pick off the stragglers who do manage to break through to the circle. 

The same this able to be done with objectives by forming a perimeter around the objective. 

Hammers. Now these guys are your damage dealers. You want them To be fresh and ready to go at the slightest opportunity. Because of the savage nature of WarmaHordes, it's not easy to shield things and you might find you are being targeted early. 

Now above is an example of Hammer and Anvil. The first line is there to provide the buffer, now that they've taken the hit, the Hammer is free to either skate around the flank, or join in and take out priority targets.

An army can have any number or "Hammers" or "Anvil". But don't delegate the wrong role to the wrong unit. 

The second tactic is Refused Flanking.

This is where, during deployment, your create a flanking attack with the more powerful units. Hoping to punch through a flank first then "sweep" the rest of the army as they have the rear and can target supports every easily. 

Units can be any number of things here.

I'm our case we have 2 maximum units of Ogryns they can provide as both Hammer or Anvil, a term we refer to as "Tanking"

Supports you add to you list as you need to.  These are self explanatory since you'll end up always taking the same stuff. 

Now, game plan. 

I think of this in 3 Stages. Early Game, Mid Game, Late Game.

What I your plan for early game? You need to think about how you are going to approach the enemy, do you want to give away board control, do you want to dictate control, do you run forward, do you have an support which can help you? In Thagrosh case, everything will run forward with the help of Fog of War. Draconic Blessing support and death shroud in case lol.

Mid game, I think of the primary damage dealing. Ideally ive placed my Ogryns in a way that I'm just out of charge range and 

I will get the charge off first. 

Mid game is where the war of attrition Will start for my list.  At this point I'm looking to start clearing objectives and skill Back field support. So like artillery. 

So this is where people lose there games on , the end game. You've now dealt damage and taken loads in return, your caster may nearly be dead now after taking a hit or two. So what's the plan? 

There is either, push with scenario, keep clearing for points, or attempt assassination. In the end game, with both armies having lost majority of forces, there should be gaps showing in the line. The end game is quite stable because Thagrosh is a very good late gamer. His feat allows for a respawned warbeast which can really swing the game. 

Now you've come up with a plan. 

In our case,

We have 2 fully Tanked up units. 

1 support unit in the Spawning vessel.

Thagrosh with his battle group down middle. Two Ogryns either side advance either side while benefitting from Fog and Death Shroud!

Always remember point effectiveness. 

You are spending 10pts on a "hammer", that unit should then kill at least 10pts. Similarly,  you don't expect much killing in forms of "Anvils" but they should still be able to pull down a few models.

So that is pretty much my thinking for Warmachine and hordes.

Remember your strategy and don't stray from it. Always identify your "win condition" and you're priority target.