Just got a bucket load of skorne.

[Nubl0]

So I was really waiting on the plastic warpack until a friend of mine decided he didnt want his skorne (all still in boxes) while I found this an insane thing to do I didn't hesitate to buy it off him at £90 seeing as it was about £180 worth of stuff. Anyway here my haul.

archdomina makeda
Bronzeback
plastic titan kit
max unit of pratorian swordsmen+UA
tyrant commander and friend
max nihilators
max paingivers
token set
ring marker set

Now ignoring the gaming implements I found that a pretty hefty load of minis. My local club is starting up warma hordes soon and everyones ok with me using this in the slowgrow league as long as I make the points match the starter sets at the beginning. So to any of you veteran players out there, can I make an OK list with this stuff? If so what do you think I can add to it? I was thinking of maybe grabbing an archidon and cyclops brute? maybe even an agoniser for a decent solo. Any suggestions??

[Falkman]

That's definitely a great start, you got most of the basics right there.
If you're intent on running pMakeda I'd suggest getting either the cavalry, some Cetrati or Tyrant Rhadeim, since they can all make brutal use of her Savagery spell.
The Agonizer, Extoller soulward, Aptimus Marketh and Hakaar the destroyer are all great solos that work well in pretty much any Skorne setup you can think of, so if you want some solos I'd recommend one (or more) of those.
I would also recommend getting at least one more beast, I find that you almost always want to run at least three for Fury redundancy, though I guess pMakeda could get away with just two heavies since she's quite infantry focused. Both the Archidon and the Brute are great beasts to have, so those will be good purchases for your next beasts.

Really though, you have a great list of things already, if you're new to the game I'd recommend getting maybe another solo and another beast and then getting used to the game. Skorne are full of tricks that are not immediately apparent, which can be a bit deceiving since they look more like a classical "brute force" faction on the outside.

[Nubl0]

I see what you are getting at actually. I think my top priority right now is to get another beast, preferably a cyclops of some sort just for more fury generation. the extoller looks good, as does the agoniser. My club is now starting off at 15points so im trying to figure out a list for that. I feel the bronzeback, while a monster is far too many points for that level of play. I was think somthing like, makeda,brute, gladiator and min nihilators. That leaves me 2 points which is perfect for a solo, however I'm not sure what to go with, the agoniser imo looks like the best pick up for me.

That said I do intend to pick up another more beast heavy caster, and at the moment the only one that looks capable of that is pmorghuol... well there is rasheth but for aesthetic reasons I don't really want him.

[Falkman]

I was think somthing like, makeda,brute, gladiator and min nihilators. That leaves me 2 points which is perfect for a solo, however I'm not sure what to go with, the agoniser imo looks like the best pick up for me.

That said I do intend to pick up another more beast heavy caster, and at the moment the only one that looks capable of that is pmorghuol... well there is rasheth but for aesthetic reasons I don't really want him.

That sounds like a good starter list. The Agonizer is amazing against both Warmachine and Hordes so you can never go wrong with him.

As for beast heavy warlocks, to be honest I feel that every single Skorne warlock can handle pretty much as many beasts as you want. pMakeda and Mordikaar are probably the warlocks who wants the most infantry around, but other than that a single unit, some solos and a whole bucket of beasts is how pretty much all my lists look like. If you want someone whose specific focus is buffing beasts then yes, pMorghoul is the best fit. But Skorne don't really need beast-centric warlocks to run lots of beasts successfully, since the beasthandlers can handle both fury management and damage buffing, your beasts will be monstrous regardless of warlock choice.

My favourites for running beast heavy are eMakeda, pMorghoul, Xerxis (that feat ), Naaresh and both Hexerises.
Basically what it comes down to is: your titans are going to wreck pretty much any heavy in the game with just the enrage buff from beasthandlers, so you don't really NEED to give them additional damage buffs, therefor you can take warlocks which makes them faster, trickier, more accurate or more endurable. Or you can go with pMorghoul or Xerxis and watch them kill two heavies in one turn.

[Nubl0]

Nothing would bring me more joy than to watch the bronzeback do his thing! That said I'm fairly new to the game so expect to get smashed a few times. After reading through my faction book abit I was noticed the bronzeback has the nifty grab and smash but given his str is it not often better to buy more attaks with him? Or is it best to boost the first hits, then headbutt the heavy he is wailing on and get some sweet autohits with boosted damage? Infact im not sure he even needs the boost to hit against most heavies given his good mat.

[Falkman]

As you seem to conclude yourself, against most heavies you don't need to boost to hit to get the Grab & smash-attack off, so just consider it a free attack with the chance of a knockdown!
Also, keep in mind that since the Bronzeback has the Hard head special rule he can add the POW of its tusks to any Headbutts he performs, therefor a Headbutt from an enraged Bronzeback will still be at P+S 18 (P+S 16 from the tusks + an additional 2 STR from the Enrage effect)!

When it comes to boosting damage rolls, my general rule of thumb is; don't. Most Skorne beasts are so strong that you get more damage output if you buy more attacks instead of boosting the ones you have. The average of a single dice roll is 3.5, so unless you're at -4 or more to damage (that is, the enemy's ARM is at least 4 higher than your P+S) you'll always do more damage if you buy more attacks. The exception is if you're attacking something that is very hard to hit, in that case, boost the damage on any hits you manage to get in.

[Nubl0]

awesome, thanks alot. I hope to learn quite abit seeing as I'm on holiday soon so I'm gona do some extensive playing. I am already starting to see how it will all function in my head now, but thats just it, it's all in my head so in a real game it's all going to go out the window as I never really think what the opponent is going to do anyway. I assume they will just shoot the bronzeback/gladiator off the board if they can. Currently it looks like I'll be playing against legion,2 cryx,3 cygnar,3 menoth,4 khador and a circle player. So it looks like it's going to predominantly warmachine around here. Going to have to show them that hordes is where it's at. :P

[Rochr]

another beast? m m m m molik kaaaarn!

[Nubl0]

I have heard of the shenanigans that can be pulled with the makedas and molik. While it sounds cool and I'll probably give it a try sometime I don't wanna use it just yet, it seems like a 1 trick pony and kind of like a crutch. I would rather get better at the game right now than get used to relying on a gimmick like that.

[Falkman]

That's a very good and smart approach. I've got Molik Karn myself, but just as you I waited a while to buy him so I could get to grips with how the faction worked first. Having Molik right away will be, as you say, a crutch to lean on and might hamper your development of tactics since you'll always rely on him.

[Nubl0]

So I started putting together the bronzeback... sheesh everything is pretty simple to put together but getting the body to stay with his legs is a massive pain! Quite a few gaps to fill as well. happy to say everything else went together splendidly, thought I was in for a rough time as everyone usually say warmahordes stuff is kinda hard to put together.

[Falkman]

Yeah the titans have some very big gaps that need filling, sadly.

[Nubl0]

It's been worth it, the bronzeback is a stunning model, very beefy. Infact I shall name mine beefcake... yes beefcake on the front of his base!

[Falkman]

Yes, the Bronzeback model is absolutely amazing! It's a total beast in the game as well.