Journeyman League Musings: Damned factions part 1!

So here in our little corner of VA the snowstorm has hit and we ended up with about 6" so far with more to come.  What better way to spend the snowed in days than doing war game stuff!  Today I wanted to expand on my faction thought processes for the Journeyman League coming up.

Since most of the group are prior vets to the game we have the added caveat of starting with any combination of caster and jacks/beasts we want.  No character units at this point, so this opens up a wide range of options for me for sure.  From our last post on the matter at hand (right here) I talked about 6 factions I was interested in.  Let's get started with the Iron side of the factions for today!

Cygnar: The Swan Kingdom of Lightning Pew Pew

 
Cygnar has been a faction of interest since I've started the game.  I am a fan of their clean cut models, their techno-arcany feel, and the ability to do some shenanigans with their casters.  When I look at this faction I think of the strong casters at their disposal (any of them Haleys will do) and some strong, albeit niche, infantry choice (ATGM ftw).  If I went with this crew I would definitely have some hard choices to make to start off and would also end up getting some new Mercenary troops as well to help cover the weaknesses inherent in Cygnar infantry (e.g. no super strong beef wall imo).  

Casters of choice:

1. pHaley: I especially enjoy her all-around capabilities and offensive potential she brings to the army.  Her ability to deny enemy spells in a 3" bubble around her for only a focus point also has potential.  Downside is that one of her infamous spells in this incarnation costs 4 focus, so there will have to be some focus mitigation.
2. eCaine: While I have some minor experience with pCaine, I feel like eCaine has that potential for surprise assassination runs with his Gate Crasher spell.  Given he has an insane RAT it is likely he will be able to assassinate most casters.  Might have some issues with the current swing of Horde players incoming being able to transfer damage, but we will cross that bridge later.
3. eStryker: This was a tough call between him and one of the Nemo incarnations, but I feel for the JL Stryker might be the better choice.  Once again he brings a nice toolbox of useful spells for all around and his Feat is a solid choice too.  I also enjoy his very risky Overload ability, with lady luck on my side I might get that +18 to STR and not take much damage haha.

 Cryx: The Undead Debuffers of Doom

Cryx was the other faction I had thought about when I first started the game a few years ago.  I love the undead as I've stated in this blog and so it would seem that I would have started them.  Now that I have the chance to I have been toying around with these undead blokes in my head.  I like the under-handed tactics they can bring to the field and some of the tricks I've read up on are just simply unfair (not technically but it's so mean).  While some of their infantry choices may seem weak on paper, when you start the debuffs rolling in they become disgusting.  

Casters of choice:

1. eAsphyxious: My friend Danny will say I am cloning from him (partially true) but eGaspy is a solid caster.  With a excellent feat and the ability to put down a zone to suck up those souls, eGaspy has the potential to toss out a lot of spells.  Plus his lists can be down right nasty in the right hands as Danny showed me.
2. Scaverous: Something about this caster makes me want to see about playing him and seeing if I could do well.  From my research he's a solid all arounder caster that can do things well, but you have to decide what that is each turn.  In a way he reminds me of a mix between pSeverius and eKreoss in an undead body.
3. p/eGoreshade: I put the two together because I'm still not sure which is better for me but I know that in either case it is my third caster of choice.  Goreshade I feel is a strong melee beatstick with some aggressive spells to back up.  His affinity for the bane type infantry is also a key appeal factor as well.

Khador: The Motherland's Toughest Bastards 

Khador is a faction that I see often in the local meta and it's not surprising why.  They are tough, strong, and Russian themed.  They have some great sculpts as far as models go and if you dig past the Butcher you will see they are not just a simple "hurr durr smash" faction.  There are a couple units and casters that draw me to the Motherland.  Knowing my approach to gaming to go for the esoteric/unused I have my eye set out on some unusual-for-the-meta units and casters.

Casters of choice:

1. The Old Witch: Oh how I love this ole' granny.  She is my top choice for Khador casters due to her ability to control the board like no other in the faction.  Plus she has access to the faction's only Khador arc node in the whole faction.  Her feat is a great area of denial and against infantry builds it will prevent most movement for a turn.
2. eZerkova: pZerkova had a reputation of being the worst caster for Khador, and then she got an epic version.  It seems to run counter-intuitive with the rest of the faction wanting to rush in a go to melee town, but I like it.  It might take some time to get a build going on in my head but I think that if I went this route it would be hard but fun.
3. Strakhov: In our meta we had one guy who did the last JL with Strakhov and it caught me off guard in a few games.  Since then it's been stuck in my head that he is not the weak caster I thought he was, and since he moved we do not have a Strakhov player.  So I would choose this elite commando as my third caster of choice.

So that about sums it up for my thought processes regarding the Warmachine side of my Journeyman League choices.  Next time I will look over my Hordes options and then maybe by then I will have made a decision for the league.  Stay warm and safe and happy gaming!