Winter Guard Kommand under Supreme Kommandant Irusk's orders (Irusk2)

Irusk2 is a winter guard's best friend. I like to run him in a Stalingrad-style list. This post sumes up my thoughts and experiences with Irusk2 in the Winter Guard Kommand theme. Any short comings in the performance of Irusk and his winter guards are solely the fault of the player.

There are quite a few potentially good casters for running a Winter Guard Kommand list, as well as combinations of winter guard units. Currently, I prefer Irusk 2 running as many winter guards as I own. The idea of as many winter guards as possible is colloquial knows as a "Stalingrad" list. This post goes through all the models in my list. If you can be bortherd to read this long winded "thinking out loud", you can just scroll down to the bottom for the list.

Irusk2

Irusk2

Irusk2 is in many ways a winter guard's best friend. His many years of experience gives Tactician in a 10" bubble, which allows troops to ignore each other for LOS and movement. Due to his long and successful service to the Empress, his troops have Total Obedience, which is a 10" tough bubble. Irusk can top this off with his spell Solid Ground (this should always be upkept), which gives a 14" bubble of no knock down and immunity to blast damage. Finally, the winter guards pay tribute to Irusk by self sacrificing from within 3" if Irusk is being shot.

All of these bubbles are actually enormous. They allow Irusk to easily fit in three full units of winter guard including attachments, and two weapons crew (see figure, below); giving them: no knock down, immunity to blast, tough, and sacrificial pawn.

Not to mention, he has a really, really big flag! Big flags always make winter guards happy.

Irusk2's bubbles of good stuff

Irusk's spell list can also assist the lowly winter guard (in addition to Solid Ground). The two main spells are: Battle Lust and Fire for Effect.

Battle Lust

Battle Lust gives the standard winter guard the opportunity to become rather dangerous in melee. All winter guards are equipped with the trusted Axe, a P+S 8 weapon, which in it self is underwhelming. However, applying Battle Lust, and even Jozef's Battle Plan Bear's Strength makes them rather dangerous, in particular when charging:

Base: P+S 8

Bear's Strength: P+S 12

Battle Lust: additional die

Charge: boosted

This allows a single winter guard to charge for 4d6+12 damage, dishing out 26 points of damage (on average) pr. hit. This means that six winter guards will wreck an average Khador warjack (on average). A full unit (10) will wreck a Judicator colossal (on average) - and, yes ten winter guards do fit around a colossal. Even single wound heavy infantry in shield wall will die (e.g. Black Dragons or Dawnguard Sentinels).

Battle lust and Jozef's battle plan combined with Irusk's feat, Desperate Ground is know for taking opponents by surprise. A unit of winter guards charging through a forrest and then wrecking a colossal is a sight to behold.

Fire for Effect

This spell seriously helps our artillery actually hitting something. It boosts the first ranged attack's to-hit and damage. Our two weapons crews can't really hit a barn if they were in it. The Field Guns should be able hit DEF 12 (which, arguable is better than a barn), whereas the Mortar will only hit DEF 8. The following table details what DEF our artillery should be able to hit using: Aim (+2 RAT), Fire for Effect (Boosted), Jozef's For the Motherland (+2 RAT), the Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan's Artillerist (+2 RAT), and the whole shebang.

Unit / DEF hit	Base	Aim	Fire for Effect	For the Motherland	Artillerist	The lot
Field Gun	12	14	15	14	N/A	19
Mortar	8	10	11	10	10	17

In addition, Fire for Effect also boosts the damage roll. This will give the Field Gun 3d6+15 (average of 25), and the Mortar 3d6+18 (average of 28). It is also worth noticing that the blast from the Mortar will be boosted. Thus, due to high explosive, it will be 3d6+10 (average of 20).

Artifice of Deviation

This spell also deserves to be mentioned. At first glance it doesn't seem to do anything for our winter guard. However, it does potentially provide cover for a whole unit. It actually turns our winter guards' DEF up to 16, requiring a RAT og 9 to hit. No to mention brining Irusk up to DEF 19 agains ranged attacks. 

Winter Guards

Winter guards basically comes in two flavours: Infantry and Rifle Corps. They are basically identical, except for ranged threat range, attachment options, and cost. Both can take three Rocketeers pr. units. Take them!

Winter Guard Infantry

The proud winter guard infantry

The infantry are the bread and butter of the Khadoran army. We get a full unit of ten and three Rocketeers for a mere 16 points. Add an officer and standard for another three points. All in all, clocking in at 20 points - a bargain.

In general they do tend to have a hard time hitting things. MAT 5 and RAT 5 only gives DEF 12 on the average, P+S 8 for the axe gives an average of 15. The gun is slightly better at POW 12, giving an average of 19. They need help. As described above Irusk and Jozef can help them in melee. Jozef can also bring them up to MAT 7 and RAT 7 (battle plan For the Motherland).

The officer and standard do add a few nice abilities. CRA helps them to hit at range (see Winter Guard Rifle Corps below for an overview). However, the one I think is most useful and also tends to forget is the 3" reposition.

I tend to use them for Sacrificial Pawn for Irusk (and Jozef), blocking lanes and LOS, scoring zones, and the surprising charge on steroids described under Battle Lust. I like a full unit clustered around Irusk.

Winter Guard Rifle Corps

First unit of winter guard rifle corps

The rifle corps is basically the same as the infantry. They have exchanged the blunderbuss for a rifle, which has an impressive 14" range (same as the rockets from the Rocketeers), and an equally unimpressive POW of 10. Thank the Empress for CRA. The table below details the effect of using CRA (note that the Rocketeers can't contribute to a CRA, since they haven't got a rifle).

CRA	RAT	Avg. DEF	POW	Avg. dam.
1	5	12	10	17
2	7	14	12	19
3	8	15	13	20
4	9	16	14	21
5	10	17	15	22
6	11	18	16	23
7	12	19	17	24
8	13	20	18	25
9	14	21	19	26
10	15	22	20	27

As with the infantry, Jozef can also bring them up to MAT 7 and RAT 7 (battle plan For the Motherland). Jozef can also chose to use his battle plan Courage of the Forefathers to give them tough. Something that in some sense can extend Irusk's Total Obedience bubble all the way to his 14" Solid Ground bubble (and beyond) in one direction; offering slightly more flexibility.

Personally, I like to take two full units with all the rockets. I know the wisdom of the internet often dictates min units - but I like max units.

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew

Field gun

The Field Gun is our "knockdown on a stick" tool. It offers automatical knockdown on a hit up to 14" away (a whooping 18" if it advances). This is huge as our winter guard normally only have RAT 5. DEF 5 from being knocked down is easy to hit, even for a winter guard.

As with all other winter guard, Jozef can help its low RAT of five by using his battle plan For the Motherland. This should allow a field gun to hit DEF 14. If we really need to hit stuff we can combine it with Fire for Effect (see above) to hit DEF 17, and DEF 19 if aiming in addition! The Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan can also employ Fire & Displace, allowing it to aim, shoot and still advance by repositioning 2".

I prefer two of these fine pieces of artillery, giving me two potential knockdowns pr. turn. Shoot something to knock it down, hit it with everything you got.

Winter Guard Mortar Crew

Mortar

The Mortar Crew is really good when it hits. It offers a POW of 16 all the way to 18" (all the way to 21" if it advances, which it might as well. The difference between RAT 1, when moving; and RAT 3, when aiming is negligible). It also offers a decent AOE 4" blast of POW 10 (due to High-Explosive). Unfortunately, it only has an effective RAT of one (1)! Meaning, anything with a DEF of eight or more will most likely dodge the shell. So the mortar typically needs all the help it can get. Either a knockdown from the field gun, or the whole lot of Fire for Effect, For the Motherland (note that this also boosts the blast damage), Artillerist, aiming. This should allow it to hit something as nimble as DEF 17! However, this is rather expensive in support.

Normally, I would put Fire for Effect on it and use the artillery kapitan's Artillerist, and aiming if possible. This gives it an effective boosted RAT 3, hitting DEF 13; boosted damage for 3d6+18 (average of 28), and boosted blast for 3d6+10 (average of 20).  

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan

Artillery Kapitan

This is our artillery's best friend. The Artillery Kapitan really helps our artillery (and warjacks) hitting things. Most of his benefits are already described above. There are two other properties that are worth noticing: he can score flags, and he is tough all on his own - something I tend to forget.

I would, in a perfect world like to have two on my team.

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

Joe

Jozef Grigorovich, or Joe to his friends is the epitome of winter guards. His many years of impeccable service to the Motherland has made him revered among his troops. So much, in fact that normal winter guards happily will be Sacrificial Pawns for him if somebody shoots him. He is obviously tough all on his own.

Joe fixes many of the issues with winter guards. As described above, his battle plan Bear's Strength is instrumental in making a run of the mill winter guard into: a colossal slaying monster (see Battle Lust, above); a winter guard that can actually hit stuff, through his battle plan For the Motherland (see Fire for Effect above), or make a unit of winter guard tough by using Courage of the Forefathers. Joe is an auto-include.

He can also score flags, and actually have a Hand Cannon (quite obvious on the model). For some reason I tend to forget the latter.

My Winter Guard Kommand List

So. all of the above can finally be summed up in my Winter Guard Kommand list. Obviously, Irusk2 is in charge. 

I think more boots on the ground is always preferred. I have chosen to go for one max unit of winter guard infantry with all the trimmings, and two units of winter guard rifle corps with all the rocketeers. I like max units for several reasons: 

1. They are going to take heavy casualties (despite all of Irusk's tricks), more bodies means longer survival time for the unit;
2. It is easier to always have enough to score a zone, or contest one;
3. I can postpones the time when one of them have to run and hide to limit the points my opponent will score;
4. There are plenty of targets for sacrificial pawn; and
5. 13 or 15 bodies allows for the (situational): "surprise! this unit can take out a heavy when charging under Bear's Strength and Battle Lust" later in the game.

With respect to the artillery, I like two field guns, simply for redundancy and board coverage (I usually deploy one on each side). I also go for one Mortar (this is the primary target for Fire for Effect). These three units are free under the theme.

Joe is an auto-include, and one artillery kapitan is also an absolut minimum. 

Marauder

This leaves the warjacks. I have opted for a combination of cheap hitting power through a Marauder, and a bag of tricks using a Spriggan. 

The Marauder is basically there from some hitting power (and being cheap). An argument could be made for a Juggernaut, but I like the extra threat a Marauder poses to huge base enemies (Siege Weapon) and the option for more knockdown (Combo Smite) for our ranged troops to hit. It is of course as slow as any Khador warjack, but the Advanced Move from the theme benefit mitigates this a bit. Also, Irusk's spell Energizer helps out a bit. 

Spriggan

The Spriggan has a range of good tools in it's little clam... 

1. It is a decent hitter, and threatens an impressive 11" with it's War Lance (a good 13" if Energizer has been cast);
2. It can even Bulldoze it's way to a target; 
3. It is steady, which fits Irusk's whole "you can't bring me down" theme;
4. Perhaps most importantly, it offers an efficient way of removing Stealth and allows our shooters to ignore clouds. This is potentially huge for a winter guard list. Also, it does not require any to hit or anything, you just place the AOE 3 completely within 10" of it.

I always forget it has Dual Attack. It can punch stuff and shoot in the same activation. I also forget Powerfull Charge, which gives it an effective MAT 8 on the charge (on the War Lance only).

All of this leaves nine points remaining from the list. Currently, I have opted for Lady Aiyana & Master Holt. They are basically only there to hand out Magical Damage to any model or unit. This should be handy if there are any incorporeal units or models out there. I have to admit that they haven't really paid off yet.

I have been seriously thinking about remove these two. They haven't really performed. Then, again I haven't played into too many list where magical weapons are required.

Some of my thinking revolves around the Greylord Adjunct, who is a no brainer once he is released. He offers one free upkeep, which is perfect for Irusk as he is going to want to upkeep both Solid Ground and Fire for Effect every round, and one more focus is one more focus. He also offers Irusk two more inches when casting Battle Lust and Fire for Effect. To compensate for the magical weapon from Lady Aiyana, the adjunct can even give a single model magical weapon.

One option is: Greylord Adjunct, and an extra Mortar; I could also be the Greylord Adjunct, an extra artillery kapitan, and a Gobber Thinker (I always miss a repair option); finally, there is the option of the Greylord Adjunct and the tested and tried triple Marauder. 

Anyway, without further ado, here is my: "Winter Guard Kommand under Supreme Kommandant Irusk's orders":

Khador Army - 74 / 75 points
[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Irusk 2] Supreme Kommandant Irusk [+27]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Spriggan [17]

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [4]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [3]

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(4)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(4)]
Winter Guard Mortar Crew [0(5)]

Winter Guard Infantry (max) [10]
 - Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (max) [13]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (max) [13]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]

Also at conflict chamber.

There is a least one important trick: ignore the temptation to take every pot shot. It is quite easy to clock yourself if every potential shots is to be rolled.  

Assuming you, me dear reader has arrived all they way down here, I hope you have enjoyed these wild speculations. With a bit of luck, battle reports will appear in the foreseeable future.

For the Motherland!