Prime Time Preliminary: Skarre

In the match series I'm going to dub "Prime Time," I'm going to make a bunch of army lists revolving around models from WARMACHINE: Prime. As much as I want to use every 'caster, it'd be difficult, but I'm going to probably play with the top 2. How I determine that is still up for grabs, though. (I'm also considering adding HORDES: Primal, but that doesn't help the division situation.)

Anywho, we're going to start this preliminary with the army list. I'll explain the model choices afterward.

Prime Time: Skarre
Pirate Queen Skarre (66)
-Slayer (110)
-Deathripper (38)
-Deathripper (38)
-Skarlock Thrall (16)
Bane Thralls (8) (108)
Mechanithralls (6) (39
Satyxis Raiders (8) (84)

Army total: 499/500.

We're going to start with her battlegroup here. I want each force to be at least somewhat balanced, so none of the lists will be outright "infantrymachine." Skarre gets a small complement of 'jacks. The bone chickens aren't as useful here as they would be with Denehgra and Asphyxious considering Skarre doesn't have any debuff spells, but being able to arc Hellfire on an unsuspecting solo could always make or break the game (particularly an enemy Journeyman Warcaster). Arcing Backlash can be useful for the secondary assassination tactic as well. I'll get to that in a minute.

The Slayer was the only heavy that could fit, and is certainly a fine choice. It's the most effective weapon against the inevitable Khadoran heavy, since even a Khadoran 'jack takes straight dice on a combo strike. On the charge, that could knock out a system if it hits the right column. (Knocking either axe or denying the Marauder's combo slam might be enough.) Don't quite get it? If you got a crit, you might still nab it. He's also the only 'jack in the format who can two-handed throw.

Anyone who's played Skarre knows that a Skarlock is an auto-include with her for one reason and one reason only: free focus. The Skarlock and the McThralls provide six rounds of an additional d6 focus each. The extra focus, of course, has many uses. The most obvious is additional attacks on Skarre's assassination run once she gets into melee. Of course, the focus can easily go into the Slayer as well so it can do some smashing. It can also go into spells, of course (unless you really want the chickens in melee), most notably Dark Guidance.

The Bane Thralls are the main battery of the army and the only debuff in this list. It's quite a notable one, considering that on the feat turn if they charge they are dealing 16+4d6 damage at the opponent's ARM-2. In many cases, that's straight dice or better on most important targets. There will be only 7 at most on the feat turn charge though, because nobody can deny the power of the feat turn POW 20 Skarre Bomb, but 2-3 Banes should be enough to scrap any 'jack or 'caster they come against.

The last bit is the Satyxis Raiders. They're mostly there for flavor, but they do serve the "plan B" purpose. Any 'jacks that don't meet the unfortunate axes of the Bane Thralls can instead get charged by the girls. These, in turn, result in 8 free points on a 'caster if you can work it right. (16, enough for a kill in many cases, if you can get Backlash on that 'jack, since Backlash and Feedback are different effects.) Dark Guidance will ensure the hit, and while the damage might need help on some 'jacks, the charge should be reliable enough to get some points in.

Join me next time when I make a list around my favorite non-Khadoran warcaster, Lieutenant Allister Caine.