Winter Guard Kommand under Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince's orders (Vlad1)

Vlad is a Winter Guard's second best friend after Irusk2. Where Irusk2 keeps them alive to fight another day, Vlad1 makes them fight today. This post details my approach to Winter Guard Kommand under Vlad1. As a special treat, this list contains two of the Empress' finest Gun Carriages. A marvellous addition to a WGK list under Vlad1.

Winter Guard Kommand has quite a few good 'caster. I have traditionally been running Irusk2 in a Stalingrad style list (see here for a description). Where Irusk2 keeps Winter Guards alive, Vlad helps them actually kill stuff. Further, Irusk2 is missing opportunities to speedup our 'jacks, which ofte resulted in them not really doing anything. Vlad can really propel a Khador 'jack almost unreasonable distances.

The whole Winter Guard Kommand list

In the text below, I'll go through the different models, and the rationale behind the army composition.

Vlad1

Vlad 1

Vlad1 is, in my view a good runner up to Irusk2 as being a Winter Guards best friend. However, where Irusk2 is there to keep Winter Guards alive in an I'll outlast you style of game play, Vlad1, on the other hand is there to make Winter Guards actually hit stuff and hit above their weight.

In exchange for the Winter Guards' willingness to sacrifice themselves (thanks to the theme benefit) if their leader is being shot, Vlad offers them primarily a bubble with the ability to hit and damage stuff, and a smal bubble with a little bit of protection from ranged attacks.

The bubbles are pretty large, and can easily encompass his entire army. Vlad can fit in two units of Winter Guards, three pieces of artillery, three 'jacks, two carriages, and a few solos; whilst being protected by an ample number of Winter Guards.

Vlad's spell list can help both Winter Guards and 'jacks in performing at an optimal. The main spell in Vlad's arsenal is Signs & Portents. Also, Boundless Charge and Wind Wall works wonders. Finally, his feat really fires up under the Warjacks.

Vlad2's bubbles of good stuff (The Empress' standard deployment pattern 2)

Signs & Portents

This spell is the reason we bring Vlad1 to the table. It adds one additional dice to attack and damage rolls, and the lowest dice is discarded. As a rule of thumb, this little trick add roughly 1.5 to the result (more on this later). This is within his Control Area, that is a 14" bubble. Unfortunately, and fortunately this is not an upkeep spell. It is unfortunate because Vlad will have to cast it most turns, and at a cost of four, it leaves only three focus to play around with. It is fortunate because most, if not all spell removal tricks only works on upkeeps. So nasty things like: Purification, Dissolution, Unbinding, and Hexblast just doesn't do anything!

Boundless Charge

Straight forward charge extender by +2". Also charge for free and gain Pathfinder. This is always golden for our slow 'jacks. Note that is does absolutely nothing for Trampling. 

Wind Wall

This spell is what can help deliver both the 'jacks and Vlad himself. Non-magical ranged attacks automatically miss completely within 3" of Vlad. 

Blood of Kings

This is Vlad's emergency break. Sometimes he has to step up and do some killing on his own. Casting this spell makes Vlad SPD 9, STR 9, MAT 10, DEF 18, and ARM 19 for one round. That gives him a charge threat range of 11" (10.5" for the small weapon) with 4 (5) attacks hitting DEF 20 on the average.

Razor Wind

A POW 12 range 10" spell. It might come in handy at some point. I have never heard about it being used.

Forced March - Feat

This is the second huge reason to take Vlad1. Warjacks in his battlegroup that begin their activation in his Control Range double their SPD, and can Run, Charge and make Power Attacks for free (including Trampling). This is huge! It allows a standard Khador Heavy Warjack to charge 11". Under Boundless Charge it is even better. A lowly Marauder can threat stuff 14" away!

Winter Guards

Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan

Artillery Kapitan

This is our artillery's best friend. The Artillery Kapitan really helps our artillery hitting things. His most used ability is probably Artillerist, which give +2 RAT for the first AOE attack, and the ability to re-roll deviation dice. This is most often used on the Mortar (see below). But can also be applied to Gun Carriages. Clear makes Weapon Crews automatically miss friendly models, which can be helpful for clearing out stuff too close to the Winter Guards. Finally, Fire & Displace gives Reposition 2" to a Weapon Crew.

I would actually like to have two in a list. But points are scare.

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

Joe in all his might

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 a Sacrificial Pawn for him if somebody shoots him. Contrary to the Sacrificial Pawn ability from the Winter Guard Kommand theme, Joe can actually use a Gun Carriage as a Sacrificial Pawn!

Joe fixes many of the issues with winter guards. His battle plan Bear's Strength gives the lowly Winter Guard a +4 to their STR. Combined with Signs & Portents, this actually make them somewhat dangerous (more on this later). He can also help the Winter Guards actually hitting stuff through his inspirational speech For the Motherland, giving them a +2 to hit. Finally, he can make them Tough be remembering the Courage of the Forefathers. He is natively Tough on his own. 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.

Winter Guard Field Gun Crew

Knockdown of a stick aka Field Guns (the right one on loan from the 5^th Border Legion)

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, and DEF 16 when aiming. With all the bells, including Signs & Portens a Field Gun will actually hit DEF 17 with auto-knockdown. As Joe most often is occupied otherwise it will most likely "only" be DEF 16. The Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan can 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 per turn. Shoot something to knock it down, hit it with everything you got.

Winter Guard Mortar Crew

The mighty Mortar

The Mortar Crew is really good when it hits. It offers a POW 16 up to 18" away (all the way to 21" if it advances). 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.

In general, I think this can be used for two things: 1) shooting somewhere and hoping to drift into something. It does an average of 18 points of damage inside the 4" AOE. In that case it might as well just move and shoot, as RAT 3 and RAT 1 is basically the same; and 2) actually trying to hit something. The combination of aiming, For the Motherland from Jozef, Artillerist from the Kapitan, and Sign & Portents actually makes it hit DEF 15 on the average.

Winter Guard Rifle Corps

Two min units and of the trusted Winter Guard Rifle Corps and their Rocketeers

The rifle corps is the shooting version of the Winter Guards troopers. Where the Infantry has a blunderbuss, the Rifle Corps has the more modern rifle. The rifle has an impressive range of 14", and a somewhat unimpressive POW 10. Fortunately, they can do CRA and is also helped by Vlad's Signs & Portents; and are also subject to Joe's range of inspiring speeches. All of these different buffs allows the standard Winter Guard to actually hit impressive DEF. The table below summarises the DEF that can be hit on an average roll, given the different options; as well as expected average damage output.

CRA	None	S&P	Aim	FtM	Aim+S&P	FtM+S&P	Aim+FtM+S&P	Dam	Dam S&P
1	12	13	14	14	15	15	17	17	18
2	14	15	16	16	17	17	19	19	20
3	15	16	17	17	18	18	20	20	21
4	16	17	18	18	19	19	21	21	22
5	17	18	19	19	20	20	22	22	23
6	18	19	20	20	21	21	23	23	24

In addition to the standard grunts, a Rifle Corps can also include three Rocketeers (which they always should). They do not carry a rifle, so no CRA on their part. They do, however have the impressive Rocket. It has the same range but is POW 12 and Brutal Damage (additional dice on a direct hit). This is an average of 22.5 points damage (24 points under S&P) on a direct hit, and 14.5 points of damage under its 3" AOE, under S&P. Unfortunately, they suffer from the standard RAT of five. So, they should either Aim, be under Joe's For the Motherland; or even better wait until one of the Field Guns have applied the Knockdown on a Stick.

Finally, the Rifle Corps has Practise Maneuvers, which allows models to ignore other models when determining LOS, and they can advance through each other. I tend to forget this. Probably because I have been playing Irusk2 too much, where his Tactician basically does the same.

Winter Guard Gun Carriage

Two of the Empress' finest Gun Carriages

The Gun Carriage is a marvellous piece of machinery. It it a real infantry killer from its Impact Hits and two main guns. which drops two AOE 4" of infantry killing blast damage - and Rough Terrain, which is very nice if the opponent can't do Pathfinder. It can also be another knockdown tool (in addition to the Field Guns). However, with all the rules associated with this model, it can be a clock killer. The table below summerises the activation sequence os a Gun Carriage. It describes the actions including a short description (where dice rolls in brackets are assuming S&P), the specific rule applied, and the average dice roll with and without S&P.   

#	Action	Description	Rule	Avg.	S&P
1	Charge	Threat distance 11.5" (+2" BC)	Charge
2	Impact	Can move less than 3" and still impact	Crushing Weight
		Can make any number of impact attacks	Crushing Weight
		To hit: 3d6+6 (4d6+6, drop lowest)	Line Breaker	16	18
		Models hit are knocked down	Mount
		Damage: 2d6+14 (3d6+14, drop lowest)	Cavalry	21	22
		Impact charge target	Cavalry
3	Attack	To hit: 3d6+6 (4d6+6, drop lowest)	Trampling Hooves	16	18
4	Damage	Model hit is knocked down	Mount	1	1
		Target is slammed d3" (*)	Ton of Bricks	2
		Damage: 3d6+14 (4d6+14, drop lowest)	Charge	24	26
		Collateral: 2d6+14 (3d6+14, drop lowest)	Slam	21	22
5	Shoot	2 times Heavy Cannon - range 10"	Dual Attack
		To hit: 2d6+5 (3d6+5, drop lowest)	Heavy Cannon	12	13
		Damage: 2d6+16 (3d16+16, drop lowest)	Heavy Cannon	23	24
		Blast 4": 2d6+8 (3d6+8, drop lowest)	Heavy Cannon	15	16
		AOE 4" is rough terrain for one round	Heavy Cannon
6	Shoot	Military Rifle - range 10" (360 degrees)	Dual Attack
		To hit: 2d6+5 (3d6+5, drop lowest)	Military Rifle	12	13
		Damage: 2d6+11 (3d6+11, drop lowest)	Military Rifle	18	19
7	Reposition	Advance up to 3"	Reposition

(*) Remember the slam rules

A word of warning though. There seems to be a little, either cock up or explicit style cramping of the Gun Carriage from Privateer Press. A carriage is a Cavalry model, so it is allowed to do initial attack with its Mounts (p. 75, Prime Rules MK3). However, a Cavalry model cannot make initial attacks when it charges (ibid.). Yet, Crushing Weight allows a carriage to make Impact Attacks when moving less than 3". Here is the caveat! Trampling Hooves tells us that a carriage can make Charge Attacks with its mount. However, a Charge Attack requires a move of at least 3" (p. 31, ibid.). So, if we charge a Gun Carriage to make any number of Impact Attacks and move less than 3", it looses its initial Mount Attack; if there is less that 3", and we want to make initial attacks only a move should be made, and alas no Impact Attacks.

I usually run one on each flak, just at the edge of Vlad's Signs & Portents bubble (see also standard deployment above). This allows a lot of mobility and impressive threat to the opponent's flanks. Gun Carriages normally have a large target painted on them, which normally attracts a lot of hostile forces. This is bad in the sense that they tend to die early, yet good as the middle of the field is spared all of this hostility.

Warjacks

The triple Marauder goodness

I have grown funned of Marauders from my many games with Irusk2 as commander of the Winter Guard Kommand (see here for list discussions). There are so many huge bases around, and Marauders are currently our best bet against them. They are also really good at knocking stuff down from their Combo Smite, which is really helpful for the shooting part of the army. In theory, two Marauders should be sufficient (see below). However, I'm a great advocate of backups. So, three it is (this is also only three more points that Vlad's Warjack points). Luckily, Marauders fit really well with Vlad1, as he helps them solve a lot of their issues.

Marauders' damage output under Vlad1

Marauders love Vlad1 when it comes to damage output. The table below details the damage output for a single Marauder under several conditions. The table's rows are: the attack type, damage against medium or large based models, damage agains huge bases, and damage against four different ARM values for huge based models:

Attack type	Dam. M and L	Dam. H	ARM 16	ARM 18	ARM 19	ARM 20
Charge, combo	76	86	38	32	29	26
Charge, no combo	95	108	44	36	32	28
No charge	115	130	50	40	35	30
No charge, S&P	120	140	60	50	45	40
Charge, S&P	96	116	52	44	40	36
Charge, S&P, feat	124	144	64	54	49	44

The table above describe the following situations (all rows are when a Marauder is fully loaded with focus): the two first are just a plain vanilla Marauder charging, either using the Combo Smite or not; the next two are if the Marauder just walks up to the enemy, either under Signs and Portens (S&P) or not; and the last two are if a Marauder charges under Signs and Portens, either under feat or not. The conclusion is that a single Marauder is tremendously dangerous when charging under Vlad's feat, and Signs and Portens. A average damage output of 124 points agains small and medium sized models, and an average damage output of 144 points against huge based models!

Out of the 53 huge based models in the game (I'm sure I missed some) a single Marauder, on average rolls, can one-round 30 of them (57%), under feat and Signs and Portens; and 27 (51%) when not feating. Two Marauders can take out all (also when Vlad can only allocate three focus). A Marauder should hit an average DEF of 15 under Signs and Portens, which hits everybody. Please note that this calculation is based on just the huge base without any buffs.

A word of warning: a Marauder is really good at killing huge bases. However, it is really bad at killing large bases. Taking out large-based 'jacks almost always requires two Marauders. If there are only medium and large bases around, bring Juggernauts to the party (on average they have a 32% higher damage output against ARM 20 non-huge bases). If you only have Marauders make sure they charge under Boundless Charge or feat, and ignore the Combo Smite unless you really want to slam stuff.

Getting Marauders into the fray

All of this wonderful damage a Marauder can wreck is all good and well if it can't get to the enemy. Luckily, Vlad is happy to assist with this as well. Boundless Charge gives one model +2" movement and Pathfinder; and his feat doubles the base SPD (both also allow for free charge). This means that a Marauder can put pistons to face 14" away (base speed 4" + feat 4" + charge/trample 3" + Boundless Charge 2" + Reach 1"). Suddenly a lowly Marauder out-threatens many of its favourite prey. Also note that Trample being a Power Attack makes screening and jamming with small based models difficult at best. Unfortunately, casting both Signs & Portens; and Boundless Charge leaves Vlad with only one focus to allocate, making it impossible to fully load a 'jack.

My Winter Guard Kommand list

All of the above basically sums up to my current Winter Guard Kommand list. This is the third iteration, when the first one was Irusk2 with a Spriggan and a Marauder; and the second one was Irusk2 with triple Marauder and an Adjunct. This latest iteration will hopefully fix some of the issues of actually killing stuff, and thereby winning more.

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

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Marauder [11]
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 Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

Also at conflict chamber.

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.

The whole Winter Guard Kommand list

For the Motherland!