Armored Corps under Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff's orders (Sorscha3)

Sorscha3 should be the natural choice for an Armored Corps list - she is in Man-O-War armour! This post sums up my thought and rationale for putting together this particular Armored Corps list. Any short comings in the performance of Sorscha3 and her Man-O-Wars are solely the fault of the player.

What is not to love about an Armored Corps list. Plenty of heavily armoured Man-O-Wars slowly advancing until axe is close to the enemy's face? It was actually Man-O-Wars that originally attracted me to this faction. I had to wait so many years before they finally became any good. There are several good warcaster that can run this theme. However, Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff seems the natural choice - she is in a Man-O-War armour, after all.

The whole Armored Corps list

In the text below, I'll go through the different models and some rationale to the composition of this list.

Sorscha3

Sorscha in her Man-O-War armour

Sorscha3 is the obvious choice for leading an Armored Corps list. She is interesting in the sense that her passive abilities actually doesn't really do a lot for Mar-O-Wars as such. She offers a 9" bubble of Concealment to her army. This if of course always nice, but for Man-O-Wars in general, a DEF increase from 10 to 12 doesn't really do a lot. Herself goes from 12 to 14, which is more interesting. The other passive ability, Field Marshall [Flank Man-O-War] doesn't do anything for Man-O-Wars either, but man does it crank up the 'jacks (+2 to attack rolls and an additional dice on damage).

It is her feat and spells that really helps and Armored Corps list. Her feat, Dead of Winter, helps Man-O-Wars getting forward without being shot to death. It gives her from four to six AOE 3" clouds to hide behind. Any model not having immunity to cold also suffers one point of damage. Note that none of the models in this list has immunity to cold, save for Beast '09 and Sorscha herself.

She brings four spells to the party: Iron Flesh, which is just marvellous on the Shocktroopers; Stoke the Fires, which accelerate the 'jacks and gives them Counter Charge; Wind Rush, which allows her a full advance and +2 DEF (brining her all the way to DEF 16 against shooting); and Winter's Wrath, an AOE 4" Stationary (something the Demolition Corps love), which also does a bit of damage. Unfortunately, she is only a focus 6 caster. She really wants to upkeep Iron Flesh every round, and most likely cast Stoke the Fires twice, this leaves her with exactly 3 focus to cast Winter's Wrath and then naked - if we can speak about being naked in a Man-O-War armour?

On her own, she is surprisingly brittle (she can be repaired, though). One would think she is a front-line 'caster. However, she is very easy to hit, and only has 17 boxes. ARM 18 in her armour is seldom enough to keep her alive. This presents some issues, as she would like to cast Winter's Wrath on something, and whack something with her hammer, which is Stationary on a stick (and critical Slam). However, Whacking and Winter's Wrath are often mutually exclusive, as Whacking more often than not requires her to also cast Wind Rush to get away again. She also possesses a little cannon, which is POW 13, range 12" and AOE 3, it also has Arcing Fire. It is always good for taking potshots at infantry in particular.

Iron Flesh

Iron flesh is the bread and butter ARM spell for Khador. It offers +2 ARM and immunity to blast damage. The latter is not too important in a list consisting primarily of heavily armoured Man-O-Wars. In my view, there are two prime targets for Iron Flesh: the Shocktroopers or the Demolition Corps. Using it on the former give an impressive ARM 23 (if also in Shield Wall), which generally is difficult for opponents to overcome. Using it on them subscribes to the idea that it is better to take something good and make really good, rather than taking something average and make it good. Taking something average is using Iron Flesh on the Demolition Corps. This will take them to ARM 18, which is ok, but nothing more. Where Iron Flesh on the Shocktroopers results in an anvil unit that is very difficult to remove, using it on the Demo Corps makes it easier from them to actually arrive somewhere with their hammers, rather than being shot to death (which happens far too often).

Stoke the Fires

This is spell is potentially much better than it looks at first sight, and it looks pretty tasty already. It basically gives the target 'jack +2 SPD and Countercharge, which in itself is nothing to frown upon. Yet, it becomes really good when thinking about one of the forces of Sorscha, namely her Field Marshall ability. Having effectively Weapon Master 'jacks is pretty good, if they can get there. The additional speed really helps here. Also, in particular on Beast '09 (see below), Countercharging something with a 2" reach allows for surprising hits from behind e.g. Shocktrooper Shield Walls. I always make sure to cast it on both 'jacks every turn. 

Wind Rush

This is kind of Sorscha's signature spell. It allows her to make a full advance and gain +2 DEF for one round. This will bring her to an impressive DEF 16 against shooting and DEF 14 against melee. Not too shabby for a Man-O-War armour. Besides giving her better defence, it also allows a comparable slow 'caster to more easily get into position to use her Stationary on a stick (or get out again). When Atanas is around, she can also use his Tactician and ignore Man-O-War units. Thus, she can actually step out from behind a Shocktrooper Shield Wall, hit something to make it stationary and then Wind Rush back into safety again.  

Winter's Wrath

This is in many ways the bread and butter spell. Causes Stationary in an 4" AOE, which then can be the perfect target for the Demolition Corps (see below). It some sense, it is a bit expensive, between upkeeping Iron Flesh and casting Stoke the Fires. It often leaves Sorscha with no focus, which is always a dangerous avenue to travel.

Man-O-Wars

Man-O-Wars must be the coolest infantry around. I mean, what's not to like about people in huge steam-powered lumbering red armour, with huge axes, hammers, or chainsaws? Man-o-war units comes in three flavours: Shocktroopers, Demolition Corps, and Bombardiers. There is also a growing number of solos, here I'll only concentrate on the Kovnik and the Suppression Tanker. Finally, there is the two man unit of Atanas and flag (I'm on purpose ignoring the chariots here).

Man-O-War Demolition Corps

The crazy Demolition Corps

The Demolition Corps is easily my favourite Man-O-Ware unit. They are already Man-O-Wars, and in addition equipped with huge hammers used for only charging ahead a smashing enemies with. What's not to like? They are, however more brittle than one would expect from huge steam-drive heavy armour. This can be mitigated by casting Iron Flesh on them, making them (most likely) DEF 12 and ARM 18, which is kind of survivable.

This unit is basically five guys with P+S 16, 2" reach hammers who really wants to charge stuff and get into the frey. They do have Critical Freeze, but perhaps more importantly they have Shatter. This gives an additional dice on damage if the target is Stationary. This is lovely in combination with Sorscha's Winters Wrath, which gives a 4" AOE of stationary. Charging something that Sorscha have tagged with Winter Wrath is an auto hit with a P+S of 16 + 4d6, an average of 30 points of damage. They are also fun with Atanas Unstoppable Fury Battle Plan, giving them Retaliation Strike, and perhaps even in combination with Dragos mini-feat (see below). Is whatever hitting a Demo Corps sure it can kill one model, or the whole unit, and willing to risk a Retaliation Strike, with a potential Stationary?

Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich

Dragos Dragadovich

Dragos is the Command Attachment to a Demolition Corps. He is twice as cool as a normale Demolition dude - he has two hammers. They do appear smaller, but they are not. So, that is twice the chance of a Critical Freeze. He is native tough and has quite a few nice abilities that benefit the Demo Corps he is attached to. For a bit of lore background, check out the short story "The better part of valor".

He grants 3" Vengeance (works whilst he is in formation), and has Tactics Defensive line (unit gains this even if he dies), which gives the unit DEF 12 against melee attacks and immunity to knockdown, whilst base-to-base with another model in this unit. DEF 12 is still not remarkable, but every little bit helps. This is golden in combination with Heroic Call from Atanas (see below), as it makes them tough and immune to knockdown. Throw in Dragos' mini feat, Band of Brotherhood, and a Demo Corp unit becomes pretty robust. Band of Brotherhood allows the unit to distributed damage amongst all members instead of just the one model getting hit (it's the same as Sanguine Bond, if you have ever faced Trollkin Champions or Exemplar Bastions). This is super good for keeping a unit alive and weather the storm so as many as possible can hit back.

Man-O-War Shocktroopers

The robust Shocktroopers

Shocktroopers are the backbone of an Armored Corps list. They often play the role of anvil, typically holding the middle of the field; where they slowly but steadily advance in Shield Wall, whilst other troops "hide" behind them. Typically, they will be in Shield Wall as often as possible, and Sorscha will also upkeep Iron Flesh on them. This gives then an effective ARM of 23, which is pretty OK. When accompanied with the Officer, they are also immune to Knockdown and Push. All in all, pretty solid. I do, however recommend having a unit of Mechaniks nearby, as ARM-cracking is currently abundant.

Also having the Kovnik (see below) nearby (within 9") allows him to give them Desperate Pace, for another 2" in movement, allowing them to move an impressive 6" in Shield Wall. Finally, using one of the Advance Moves (4") on them, put them 10" up the board (at the 20" line, if going second) in the first round - in Shield Wall. They also threat 11" when charging and with a potential assault shot up to 15" (thanks to the officer).

The Officer in all his frozen might

Having this wall of steel advancing makes for all sorts of interesting combinations. When Atanas (see below) is present, Man-O-Wars can ignore each other for LOS and can move through each other: This is fun having the Demolition Corps hanging back behind the Shocktroops, to charge through them; Also, Beast ´09 has a 2" reach, which is just over 1/2" more that a Man-O-War's base; thus, under Stoke the Fires he can charge up behind a Shield Wall and still hit something in front of it (which is at MAT 10 and four dice for an average of 33 points of damage); The Bombardiers can also, in reactively safety lob grenades over the; Finally, Sorscha is also a Man-O-War, so she can charge through them (she does have Stationary on a stick), and Wind Rush back into safety.

Shocktrooper Officer

The officer adds quite a lot of nice features. Some of them has already been detailed above. Not only does he give the troopers Steady and Sturdy, which remains even if he dies (Tactics); he also give them Assault, which the unit looses if he dies (Granted). He does have a slightly better axe, with an extra P+S and critical Stationary; and one better MAT and RAT. He is also an extra body in a small unit. I never leave home without him.

Man-O-War Bombardiers

The grenade lobbing Bombardiers

The Bombardiers are the last of the standard Man-O-War units. Steam powered armour carrying grenade launching chainsaws - what is not to like? The impressive chainsaw-cannons is a 1" P+S 13 melee weapon that also has Critical Shred, which allows an addition attack agains the model hit. The grenade launcher is range 12" and POW 14 with a 3" AOE. Being elite troops they have RAT 6 and not the normal 5, which is nice. Luckily, they can do CRA. This allows for actually hitting stuff. The table below summarises the expected DEF that Bombardiers can hit and the expected damage (Dam) they can output on a direct hit, and blast damage.

CRA	None	None+Officer	Aim	Aim+Officer	Dam	Blast
1	13	14	15	16	21	14
2	15	16	17	18	23	16
3	16	17	18	19	24	17
4	17	18	19	20	25	18
5	18	19	20	21	26	19
6	19	20	21	22	27	20

As a normal unit the Bombardiers are kind of OK. They can hide behind the wall of Shocktroopers and lop grenades over them. However, adding the Officer really helps them a lot.

The officer giving directions

Bombardier Officer 

The Bombardier Officer adds quite a few useful abilities to the unit. He adds another attack (melee and ranged), but also a RAT of 7, which is helpful if he is the point of origin of a CRA (see table above). Quite importantly he Grants Pathfinder to the unit when they make a Full Advance (remember that Granted goes away if he is killed). This is a very nice ability in an army with very little Pathfinder (except the Kodiak). He also gives Quick Work (this is Tactics, so it does not go away if he is killed), which allows for a ranged attack if a model kills an enemy model with a melee attack. Personally, I can't remember this ever coming to effect.

His most important addition is the mini-feat Support Fire. This gives two ranged shots per model, if they aim. This is potential 12 shots hitting DEF 14 and giving an expected damage of 21 per shot; or some combination of CRAs. Unfortunately, this volley of grenades are less frequent that one could hope for.

Man-O-War Suppression Tanker

The two Suppression Tankers

They are even bigger and even more heavily armoured Man-O-Wars. So, they are slow, but these actually have Bulldoze. In this incarnation with two heavy machine guns incorporated into their shields. They are base ARM 17 and with two shields they'll be ARM 21, with 10 boxes. This is pretty good. However, they are deceptively brittle, in particular against heavy fire.

Suppression Tankers can actually hit stuff in close combat (2 times P+S 12 shields at MAT 7 per tanker). But their main purpose is to remove light infantry, which they excel in. Their two Volley Guns are POW 10 with between one and three shots per activation. They shoot at RAT 6 with three dice when they attack warrior models (hits DEF 16 on the average). So, on a perfect day one tanker can dish out six shots hitting DEF 16 for 17 points of damage; enough for light infantry, not for heavy. For heavy infantry, a tanker can put out one RNG 8 spray instead at POW 14, bringing it to 21 points of damage on the average. Finally, they can opt for putting down Covering Fire.   

Man-O-War Kovnik

The Kovnik

The Man-O-War Kovnik is slightly meaner than the average Shocktrooper. He has one better MAT; a slightly shorter axe, but at P+S 15; a shield cannon that can shoot 2" longer, he can even hit people with this shield; build-in Assault; and finally, he clocks in at ARM 18 (including the shield).

A Kovnik does three things for an Armored Corps list. First and foremost, he brings Desperate Pace to the Man-O-Wars. These extra 2" of movement to a unit means a lot to slow Man-O-Wars; in particular to Shocktroopers who really like to stay in Shield Wall. Secondly, he can actually Slam models! Finally, he is not a helpless solo in melee, he actually brings three attacks to a charge: one assault shot (hitting DEF 14, bringing 21 points of damage of the average), one charge axe attack (hitting DEF 15, bringing 25 points of damage on the average), and one shield attack (hitting DEF 15, bringing 18 points of damage on the average).

Kommandant Atanas Arconovich & Standard

The Kommandant and his banner

Atanas and his banner consists of two models and counts as a unit. This in itself is nice as it add another Advance Move from the theme bonus. The latter model is the easiest as it basically just add 2" to Atanas command (when he is with in 5", so keep him within). He can also function as screening of Atanas, charge blocker, and hinder landing zones.

The Kommandant, on the other hand is where the money is. First of all, he offers Tactician in a 12" bubble (assuming the banner is alive and well). This is almost essential for an Armored Coprs list. First of all, it allows for easy unpacking and manoeuvring; but perhaps even more important, it allows for all the cool shooting and charging tricks described elsewhere. If this wasn't enough, he also does Battle Plans.

There a three Battle Plans available: Heroic Call, Relentless Charge, and Unstoppable Fury (all of them with a range of 5"). Heroic Call gives Tough to a Man-O-War model or unit. This works really well with either the Shocktroopers or Demolition Corps, who both can be immune to knockdown.  Relentless Charge basically gives a Man-O-War model or unit Pathfinder when charging. Finally, Unstoppable Fury allows a Man-O-War model or unit to make a basic melee attack as a response to a melee attack against it. This is good on an anvil unit. Combined with the Demolition Corps' mini feat this can be a powerfull tool. It ask a question to the opponent: "are you willing to accept a P+S 16 and potential a Stationary when hitting a unit?".

Battle Mechaniks

The two units of Mechaniks keeping the show on the road

Battle Mechaniks is, in my opinion an absolut must in this list. Not only can they repair everything in this list (except themselves), the even do it at d3+1 due to theme. Having two units allows one on each flank, and they also contribute with two Advance Moves to Man-O-War models or units due to theme. They are also excellent for scoring zones and contesting.

Kodiak

Plastic Juggernaut and an old metal Kodiak

A Kodiak is a very versatile warjack, with many tricks up its sleeves (on in this case, big black none-bucklers). As a rare treat it has build-in Pathfinder, which is golden in a list where Sorscha really can't help out. It can also run 10" thanks to Heavy Boiler. Under Stoke the Fires, it can actually run for an impressive 14", not bad for a Khador warjack.

It has an interesting attack profile. It has two open fists, which are only POW 16, though. Sorscha really helps here due to her Field Marshall ability. If the Kodiak's target is in the melee range of a Man-O-War model, it has an effective MAT of 9 (hitting DEF 16 on average), and effectively becomes Weapon Master. This is POW16 + 4d6 on the charge, for an average of 30 points of damage. It also has its signatur Grab & Smash, which actually gives it three initial attacks (assuming it hits on the first two). A single charge will, on the average give 30 + 26 + 22 points of damage, and a knockdown; for just one focus (if it does Headbutt). That will take out half a Khador warjack (18 points of damage) on average rolls.

Beast '09

Beast ready to smash the world

Beast '09 is a beast. It is Sorscha's pet Juggernaut who is then bonded to her. The bond gives it Shield Guard within 3". This is pretty good for Sorscha, since she is not as robust as one would think. This in combination with its other build in ability: Hyper-aggressive presents an interesting question to the opponent. Should I shoot something near Beast and have him Shield Guard it, and have him advance up to 4" (or 6" under Stoke the Fires)? He is also the only one with Immunity Cold, so he can e.g. walk through the clouds from Sorscha's feat without any issues.

Beast is also equipped with an open fist (P+S 15), but more importantly it has a humongous axe, which is a larger Juggernaut axe (reach "2 instead of reach 1"). So, it has Critical Freeze and Beast can do a Thresher attack with it. Further more, it is also Murderous, so it will roll three dice to hit agains warrior models. If a Man-O-War is nearby, it will roll three dice at MAT 10, with at P+S of 19+3d6. This means hitting DEF 20 on average and doing 29 (33 on the charge) points of damage on the average. Getting it near Man-O-War Shocktroopers or Demolition Corps is often a good idea, as they also have reach 2", making Flank easier.

My Armored Corps List

Deployment of the Armored Corps under Sorscha3

This is it. My Armored Corps list under the control of Sorscha3. The picture above depicts the deployment that best facilitates all the cool trick when hiding behind a wall of Shocktroopers. I have to admit, I rarely deploy like that.

It is worth remembering the Advance Moves in this theme. As there are six units in this army, there are six Advance Moves. In the deployment above, I would move the Shocktroopers, the two Tankers, Sorscha, the Bombardiers, and Atanas.

With the arrival of Oblivion the Armored Corps theme benefits changed a bit. The old theme gave Advance Move as follows: "For each Khador unit in this army, one Man-O-War model/unit in this army can gain Advance Move" Now Advance Move is given as follows: "Man-O-War units and Tanker solos in this army gain Advance Move". This is perhaps a slight nerf. Now Sorscha and the Kovnik cannot get Advanced Move anymore. On the other hand, there is no longer any need to bring Mechaniks if they are primarily there to give Advance Move.

Khador Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Armored Corps

[Sorscha 3] Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff [+28]
 - Beast 09 [18]
 - Kodiak [13]
Man-O-War Kovnik [4]
Man-O-War Suppression Tanker [0(6)]
Man-O-War Suppression Tanker [0(6)]
Battle Mechaniks (min) [3]
Battle Mechaniks (min) [3]
Kommandant Atanas Arconovich & Standard [7]
Man-O-War Bombardiers (max) [16]
 - Man-O-War Bombardier Officer [5]
Man-O-War Demolition Corps (max) [14]
 - Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich [0(6)]
Man-O-War Shocktroopers (max) [16]
 - Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer [4]

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 Armored Corps list

For the Motherland!