Khador 5th Division - Caster changes

Nothing much. :slightly_smiling_face: I just wanted to say that I like the changes to all three casters. Strakhov is VERY different and I find his new form interesting!

That’s all!

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I’m a little surprised to see another Sorscha, but I suppose it fits with Winter Guard. For some reason I had it in my head that Iron Fangs were coming, but maybe that was me getting confused with speculation of the next Mk4 Khador army? I dunno.

Either way, definitely some interesting changes in both of these new Legacy armies.

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Indeed! The changes seem very refreshing as it changes their playstyle abit. Feels as if legacy khador got totally new warcasters!

Strakhov was one of my favourite caster through Mk2 and Mk3. I loved his movement tricks. This new version? I dunno what to make of him. I feel he’s been buffed on a personal level (Volume Fire and Repo rather than Sprint means he can do more shooting, Take Down, Prowl rather than needing to upkeep a spell on himself, Pistol on the Riot Gun for more melee prowess), but I don’t understand his gameplan yet.

I also really liked Malakov 2 in Mk3. He was non-traditional; tricksy. He had good tools, but they took work to use (at least before the balance patch that gave him the massive buff). The new version is quite different, but not to the extent of Strakhov. He might be better overall? I dunno. I miss the Knockdown battleplan, and the fact that Open Fire could give his battlegroup extra melee attacks. Also it’s a shame he can’t use Open Fire on himself now.

I actually had more success with Sorscha2 in Mk2 than I did with most other casters. Then in Mk3 she felt completely pointless. She doesn’t feel that different here than Mk3; she runs jacks more efficiently but lost the ability to give them free charges and the ability to buff infantry speed. She lost a bit of her own threat range but gained a bit of efficiency. I dunno, without a Butcher her damage-buff feat is more valuable than in Mk3, but she still doesn’t look like she does a hell of a lot outside of just feat and Escort, and perhaps threatening with assassination late-game? Maybe the fact that Ternion can put out Stationary again means she can put in personal work and Cyclone to safety afterwards?

Very brief reply, because I’m trying to prep for GenCon. :slightly_smiling_face: For what it’s worth: Sorscha2 was probably one of Khador’s strongest MK II casters, and all she really did then was Desperate Pace, feat, and apply Freezing Grip.

The new Sorscha2 has some interesting potential! Consider some lucky Rocketeer rolls under her feat, plus all the stackable buffs! :slight_smile:

Strakhov1’s feat was really good for maybe the first six months of MK II, and then the shininess wore off. The surprise janky Spriggan charge was still solid! But people learned how to avoid that, and his game plan was truly “charge or bust.” I like that he offers something different now!

Anyway!

Her feat is worse now than in Mk2, so if rockets are better under her feat that’s not thanks to changes to her. And she used to have Iron Flesh, which was very powerful in Mk2 and still useful in Mk3. Her “stackable buffs” now are Escort and Field Marshal: Relentless Charge (which together duplicate part of the functionality of Boundless Charge cast on her jacks and Iron Flesh cast on herself, minus free charges but for much less focus), and Snow Shroud (which could be considered a replacement for Iron Flesh in that it serves the similar purpose of defensively buffing her army).

So she basically does the same things as before, minus free charges and speed buffs (Boundless Charge was sometimes worth casting on herself or on solos etc), but does things much more efficiently and army-wide rather than targeting a few models. Overall a buff I suppose, especially in larger games, but Freezing Grip was a massive part of her Mk2 kit and a hugely iconic and characterful spell, so the fact that it’s a rack spell available to all Mk4 casters but not to EITHER Prime Legacy Sorscha is a bit of a sore point. Still, “better than Mk3” is a good thing, so that’s nice.

Most descriptions I read of how to use Strakhov successfully involved the use of his feat to deliver infantry. Personally I tended to hold it as a threat: having the ability to send a jack REALLY FAR was a powerful card to have up my sleeve, saving it until attrition had created space to maneuver won me some games. Battering Ram helped create those charge lanes. I personally really liked Sentry and much prefer it to Return Fire. And Overrun was a defining spell that made his playstyle very dynamic and interactive, as you needed to plan your activations so your pieces could trigger Overrun for each other, allowing you to outmaneuver your opponent.

What does he offer now? Everybody gets Stealth and Repo for one turn. OK, that’s cool, I don’t know how it will pan out, it might be very strong. But it’s only one turn. What’s he doing for his army the rest of the game? Other than a (more restrictive) speed buff for his jacks and Pathfinder (so kind of basic stuff that a lot of casters hand out one way or the other, like Sorscha2 and Hark), Hand of Destruction is his only real spell. I dunno, it just doesn’t feel as exciting and interactive as the tricks he could pull before with Battering Ram and Overrun.

Also Andy might just be all around better than Strakhov now? I dunno, I so rarely get to actually play the game now that I no longer have an actual sense for what’s good and how things really work on the table.

I do really like the buffs Torch got. Spd 5 is great (and helps make up for the fact that Strakhov traded Superiority for Assail, which is only on the charge and doesn’t buff the Sprint move the way Superiority did), Pow 18 makes him much easier to include and makes his Sprint more useful, and Pistol on the flamethrower is a nice touch.

Anyway, I liked all three casters in Mk3 so I’m glad they made it to Prime, I just wish Karchev was here too. I would trade Hark and/or one Sorscha for a Karchev and maybe a Butcher. I almost feel like Prime Legacy Khador has lost it’s identity? So many iconic elements are missing, for no obvious reason. Vlad, Butcher, Karchev, Behemoth, various casters’ iconic spells; even Kovnik Joe lost his attack buffs. We have the mostly-forgotten AKs and Kossites, but no Doomreavers or Iron Fangs? We have a Speed 5 jack? Lol, even the Berserker lost Unstable (and with it the last of his Mk2 rules), which I’m sure put a smile on your face…

Someone mentioned that Malakov’s feat is easier to counter now because it lost the knockdown immunity. The army also does not get the knockdown-immune Clamjacks, and Strakhov lost Superiority. Kinda interesting.