Slow-Grow Plans

Studio Butcher1 (2009 Sculpt)

Anyway, since I can’t work on my Paint it Pink army yet (League starts Saturday!), I figured instead I would go over my plans for the league with regards to list construction and model selection.

Studio Juggernaut (Plastic Kit)

At the 9-11pt level, I’m running:

Studio Man-O-War Shocktrooper

At the next level, I’m adding a minimum unit of Man-O-War Shocktroopers, at 5pts.  Yep, Butcher1’s theme force drops them by a point!  Sweet!  This will give me a nice line of medium bases to hide Butcher behind, leaving his ‘jacks free to flank and force my opponent to defend from more angles of attack.  The army looks like this at 15pts:

The next jump is a full ten points, and offers a great spot to insert a third ‘jack if so inclined.  As tempting as that is, Butcher’s theme list requires two Man-O-War units.  So, a unit of offensive Demolition Corps will do nicely to complement the defensive Shocktroopers.  And, at only 6 points for the minimum unit, I have room to slot in two solos; just that much closer to the four required for the theme list.  At 25pts, Butcher’s starting to work with a more well rounded army:

My Man-O-War Demolition Corp Grunt

Butcher1  +6

 * Juggernaut  7

 * Destroyer    9
 * War Dog    1

Man-O-War Shocktroopers (min)  5

Man-O-War Demolition Corps (min) 6
Yuri the Axe    3


The addition of the War Dog gives The Butcher some added defenses, as well as allowing him to function further from the Man-O-Wars.  Now, the Shocktroopers and Demolition Corps are free to do their thing without having to guard The Butcher as closely.  Yuri the Axe is an incredible cruise missile, and adds some special sauce to other Manhunter solos in the army.  While that’s not terribly useful just yet, I’ll bet you can guess what the other two solos will be!

The final point level for the slow grow is 35 pts, and with that last 10pt jump, I have to fit a warjack and two more solos!  I also can’t use the Destroyer anymore, since it has a ranged weapon.  It’s still allowed in his theme list, but it won’t count as one of the three melee only warjacks required for one of the tiers.

Studio Manhunter (Variant Sculpt)

Here’s where magnetization is key.  I’ll just swap out the arms and head, and turn it into a second Juggernaut!  That buys me two spare points, so now I have 12 to work with.  That fits a Kodiak and two Manhunters perfectly!

Man-O-War Demolition Corps (min) 6
Manhunter        2

Manhunter        2

The Kodiak can run for free with it’s boiler, and has a great ability with Chain Attack: Smash & Grab.  The Manhunters offer additional cruise missiles, and are disgusting under Butcher and when led by Yuri.  Also, this qualifies as a T4 force, so the Warjacks get Advanced Deploy, and the Man-O-War units get +2 SPD on the first turn.  Lastly, all the solos get to re-deploy before the game starts, so those awesome cruise missiles will not be where my opponent thought they were going to be.

Now, that’s all fine and dandy, but it’s very few models on the table, and it’s rather short on the ranged part of the game, wouldn’t you say?  Well, after the Slow-Grow, I plan on fleshing out the army to a full 50 points.

First, both Man-O-War units get maxed out, at an additional 3 pts each, for a total of 6.  Four of the remaining nine points will go to a unit of Widowmakers, shoring up that weakness.  The last five points will be used on a Man-O-War Drakhun.  While it may not be the wisest choice, it’s a killer model and fits with the Man-O-War theme so well!  Plus, I want to paint one, and this is a great excuse.

The 50 pt army looks like…

Man-O-War Demolition Corps (max) 9
Widowmakers Unit   4
Manhunter        2

Manhunter        2