AoS - 3rd Mortis Praetorians 1k

[Grave Tacticus]

Trample the Defiant basically makes one unit of Kavalos Deathriders mandatory in every list, I'm not upset about that or anything, OBR should probably run one unit anyway. After the Deathriders have taken some punishment, you can retreat them and set up a scenario where they and one of the other units initiates Unfeeling Recursion. The Mortek Guard should be able to hold the line with all the hero support, and the Liege-Kavalos and Mir Kainan will make fine blenders once everyone gets stuck in. There's always a case for running Petrifex Elite instead, but I think the list viable as-is.

LEGION
Mortis Preatorians

GRAND STRATEGY
Hold the Line

LEADERS
Liege-Kavalos (185) [Command Entourage]
-Katakros' Chosen
-Artificer's Blade
Mortisan Boneshaper (135) [Command Entourage]
-Artisan's Key
-Empower Nadirite Weapons
Mir Kainan (190) [Command Entourage]
-Drain Vitality

UNITS
20 x Mortek Guard (280) [Hunters of the Heartlands]
- Nadirite Blade and Shield
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190) [Hunters of the Heartlands]
- Nadirite Blade and Shield
5 x Kainan's Reapers (0) [Hunters of the Heartlands]

CORE BATTALIONS
Command Entourage - Magnificent
Hunters of the Heartlands

TRIUMPS
Bloodthirsty

ENHANCEMENTS
Artifact - Artisan's Key

TOTAL: 980/1000 WOUNDS: 58

 

[Grave Tacticus]

Consensus on Reddit was that Reinforce Battle-shields should be replaced with Drain Vitality, so I gave that to Mir Kainan and swapped Empower Nadirite Weapons to the Boneshaker, since the spells better suited their respective combat roles.

 

[The Sun King]

I really have to read up on OBR - they are a total blindspot for me ruleswise.

 

[Grave Tacticus]

I think the only other (semi)active OBR player on the forum is Sception. So I wasn't expecting high level feedback, but it may be helpful for other OBR players that come along in the future. As I field the list, I intend to check back and do some tactical analysis too.

 

[The Sun King]

Can the unit champion of the Mortek Guard be equipped with the great blade?

 

[Grave Tacticus]

Can the unit champion of the Mortek Guard be equipped with the great blade?

It looks like you can, but according to people who have already Mathhammered it, the sword is still the superior option.

 

[The Sun King]

Aha yes because of the exploding 6s that makes sense.

 

[Sception]

Yeah p much.

For a 1k list, this looks solid. I like kainan's reapers. At this points value the list would probably be better as petrifex, even with kainan, but I imagine there's either narrative reasons behind that choice, or else a plan to eventually include katakros at higher points.

Anyway, at 1k points you're not gonna fit much beyond basic core & hq & one extra thing, and mir kainan's a good choice for that one thing. A crawler or harvester would also be good, & if you have them around it might be worth swapping them out from game to game to see how that affects the list.

 

[Grave Tacticus]

I wish Petrifex Elite wasn't utterly superior, you want to run it even if Katakros is in your list. Their narrative is great, I can imagine great caravans of many-legged, bone laden barges crossing ancient desolations, Ossiarch giants marching dutifully aside in unceasing vigil, but it's not my style. I actually want to try out a Mortis Preatorian fear bomb list down the line.

Yeah, I'd like to sub in the Crawler or Harvester to try them out, that's a great idea. I even know a few people that won't mind me going over five points.

 

[Sception]

Bah, those would be 5 over, wouldnt they? Still though, yeah, if you have opponents willing to run with it, it would be useful to help you decide how to expand.

Alternatively, you might try swapping the shaper for a mason. Free healing is great, but triple cast + a more durable platform for only like 5 points more feels like a bargain.

 

[Grave Tacticus]

Bah, those would be 5 over, wouldnt they? Still though, yeah, if you have opponents willing to run with it, it would be useful to help you decide how to expand.

Alternatively, you might try swapping the shaper for a mason. Free healing is great, but triple cast + a more durable platform for only like 5 points more feels like a bargain.

Agreed on both counts. My playstyle when it comes to undead factions in any game is "Heal, Heal, Heal" but the Soulmason is a great support piece. Mir Kainan rerolling 1s to hit would make me very happy.

 

[Grave Tacticus]

So now I have first hand experience that Mortis Praetorian is garbage outside of Katakros. Vs Idoneth, conceded end of first round.

 

[The Sun King]

That sounds rough my dude. What happened?

 

[Grave Tacticus]

Now that I've had a night to sleep on it, I'll elucidate.

We rolled Tectonic Interference, which has three central objectives that change priority each round. During terrain placement, my opponent insisted on using a raised ruin in the center of the board, I objected but as it was our first game together I relented on the caveat that I could scold him later about it if it proved over advantageous (because it was). He tried to finagle the first turn, but thankfully I was read up on the rules and we rolled off, which got me the 1st turn. My first mistake (beyond letting my opponent favorably place terrain) was not setting my units up in two fronts, instead, I led a heavy right flank with my Mortek Guard, Boneshaper and Liege, set Kainan and his Reapers in the center with the intent of taking the ruin, and had my Kavalos on the left flank. I greedily took the battle tactic that requires gaining two objectives and moved my units forward. The Reapers under-preformed and found themselves at the base of the ruin, but the Kavalos and Mortek Guard arrived at their objectives, which netted me 5 vp. I should have ignored the ruin and set the Reapers up as a screen for the Kavalos and dominated the flanks. With my Kavalos exposed, he brought most of his force down on them and would have proceeded to sweep Kainan and his Reapers on the next round. With the mobility of his forces, the Idoneth player would then easily dominated the rest of the game.

If I wasn't dealing with some personal stress at the time, I would have let the farce continue, but instead I laid out the rest of the game to my opponent and gracefully conceded, save for the aforementioned scolding over the centrally placed terrain. I've played his type before, hustlers that take advantage of people's inexperience and goodwill while feigning their own, but that being said I've learned some valuable lessons about AoS 3 and OBR, so I'm at the very least grateful for that.

 

[The Sun King]

Sad that you faced and opponent like that. But all in all it sounds like a learning experience.