Staple Instability

Although I usually struggle with dedication to a certain deck or army list, I usually have a few staples that I almost always include. In Magic this always depends on the deck. Rift Bolt in a burn deck, Blanchwood Armor in green, some kind of discard in black, etc. In Warmachine, however, my selection is a bit narrower.

In my Khador lists I always take Widowmakers, no questions asked. I've been using them since my first 15 point list 1 1/2 years ago, and I've rarely had a list without them. They have one of the longest ranges in the game at 14", they rarely miss their target, and don't need to roll to kill infantry. They're my greatest harassers, and people hate them.

This mentality, of course, has its disadvantages. While lists shouldn't be so lopsided that they are helpless to high defense or lots of warjacks, they should still have a stated purpose. As I've been trying to improve my list building, I've been trying to focus my lists rather than bringing what looks fun with no regard to synergy. It's a greater challenge, but one that has been paying off recently. However, those Widowmakers always see the field and I never even considered a list without them.

This flawed logic became very apparent when I had my buddy Fritz helping me tweak a list. It basically had the Butcher, an absolute terror in melee combat, marching up the center of the field protected by some Man-O-Wars and Conquest. I planned to have Kayazy Assassins taking one side, with Doom Reavers and Great Bears taking up the other. For those not in the know, that basically means that I had a line of death that was only effective in melee combat.

However, I could tell the list was missing something key. As Fritz looked at it, he made one suggestions: "What if you took out the Widowmakers and brought some Battle Mechanics and their attachment to fix your Conquest and Man-O-Wars?" At that moment, a light went off. Wait, I can choose to leave my Widowmakers in my bag? The idea had never really occurred to me. I mean of course I'm not required to take them, but it had become such a habit that I had genuinely overlooked them when trying to figure out how to tighten up my list.

The list hasn't been truly tested yet, but looking at it makes me feel like it will perform better. Before then I'd just mentally coasted with my list building. Widowmakers always, Great Bears and Doom Reavers usually, Winter Guard if my caster had Iron Flesh to make them ridiculous... I had a formula with no purpose. With this warcaster, I always take these models and then fill out the rest of my points to taste. It was bad strategy that led to a lot of losses simply because everything was trying to perform on its own with no regard to what other models could do on the field.

I'm hoping I can remedy that poor strategy. We've been talking about making three lists for 35 and 50 point levels, and really working on learning our armies and how to build good lists for them. I'm excited at the prospect because I might actually learn how to build effective lists! Or at the very least learn to recognize why a list is getting decimated on the field.

Once I get Khador done right, I'll start working on my Circle Orboros lists. I haven't played them enough to have something on the level of Widowmakers, but there are certainly a few models that I don't like being without. Stones are an obvious one, followed by a large Wold with geomancy, and a Warpwolf Stalker to let me eat the highest armor target on the field. But Circle is so amazing with their variety that I feel like I'm really hindering myself. Through this exercise in learning one army, I'm hoping that it will become so ingrained that I will take that skill forward for the rest of my gaming career.

What about you guys? Any models, cards, equipment, whatever that you just have to take with you? Don't just think in terms of face-to-face games either. I'm equally guilty of this in games like Call of Duty (love that C4!).

And of course the big question - are you so stuck on those decisions that you will pick them even if it makes your strategy worse for it?


See you tomorrow!

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