17 March 2012

VASH1318'S EPIC MADRAK GUIDE TO MADRAKING!!!!


This post can also be found on Privateer Press Forums at http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?95452-Epic-Madrak-Your-guide-to-Madraking!!

VASH1318'S EPIC MADRAK GUIDE TO MADRAKING!!!!

So Epic Madrak, what's he good at? lets take a look at the old

Stat Line

One of our more solid stated casters he comes in with the fastest speed trolls have on foot, as well as the highest mat in our faction. His Rat is also nothing to joke about being the same as our fell callers, and we will make use of this rat but that's for latter conversation . He has the Defense of most heavy armor casters, same as borka. Finally his fury is the same as his old self and though low, I have found that I never need more fury on him.

So what do we actually get from this line of numbers, well, to start he is a finely tuned killing machine, a bolstered mat and solid speed means he can move in and kill if he needs to, he has a solid chance of hitting and getting caster kills, though I find most of the time I end up simply killing infantry with him that the rest of my army might have trouble with.


Feat: Desperate Hour- Yo, its a thresher, except not a thresher, every homie in his control area (this means in faction for those who don't speak jive), counting the Madraker himself, makes an attack against every non bro in their melee range. Its a non simultaneous smart thresher, and all the models who participate still get a full activation, further more, it doesn't leave your ranged buddies out, they get to make a single shot ignoring ROF.This feat is simply amazing, there are countless ways you can use it and rather get really lengthy with it in descriptions im gonna make a list right down here so you can get the gist

  • Feat before any of your models activate: get charged last turn, still engaged from a previous turn, burrowers pop up in a unit (YES THAT IS A GOOD IDEA WITH THIS GUY) pop the feat, and watch enemies drop. This is great for clearing out jammers opponents assumed would keep you tied up, let me phrase that more obviously, Feat that uses the art of Madraking > Stupid Jammers
  • EVERYBODY, SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS. Bombers, Impalers, Pyers, slags, burrowers, scouts, scattergunners, MADRAK HIMSELF!! can all shoot again... or shoot for the first time, HOW COOL!!!!
  • I wish that charge did more; well it can good consumer, for the price of one simple feat, those units that your army charged this turn can be finished off in one last hoorah and your units begin to make giant swings through anything they were still engaged with
  • AHHH JUST ONE MORE ATTACK, that caster kill fail, Madrak or your anything have them dead to rights but they have one health left or made that last tough roll.... FEAT!! oh and Madrak can still boost his stuff during his feat as it is in his activation.
  • Ever run into a unit, you just had no choice, they needed to be engaged, scenario had to be contested, I bet you wish you could attack too... if only there was a way....
  • Acrobatic guys run into combat with Maddy, trying to lock you down so the rest of the army can position better on you with your jammed caster.... clear those cartwheeling sissys out... btw, enjoy all that fury you now have
  • Combined with tide of death and Rathrok's awakening you can charge some group of shmoes near their caster and daisy chain your way their with all the fury you made from that first swath.
  • Yes, double tap ranged assassinations are viable with mah boy, two shots, that can be a mighty hurtful with the mauler animus (his ax is thrown, read on buddy) you can miss one and hope for a second, hit both, try for that crit grevious, this doesn't work on the big boys, but many squishies have died to this.


And there are much more, in fact, how bout for fun, post em up here, this thread amply should be how to play this guy the way I think he was meant to be played, questions you ask on how to do that, and finally, a giant list of wonderful uses for this fantastic feat XD. 

Abilities/ Weapons

Tough: Well... there isn't much to say here, our trolls have it, if you are making use of it on this guy it might already be over, but I can't say I'm unhappy for it to be on him.

Grim Salvation: A serious ability, in short when E maddy takes damage, any troll with in an inch MUST bite the bullet. This is big my trolls, why does it matter if a caster has more fury if he can cast all his spells, transfers, grim salvation essentially is a transfer to some poor unlucky troll. This means that Madrak can be in the thick of it, and very close to the rear line of his army if he isn't inside the rear line, he is hard to kill because they will either waste attacks killing the infantry around him, which is hard with tough after all, or they will just go at him and watch good damage rolls be thrown away as your drop some cheap trooper. On the flip side we are a faction full of rear line support solo's, keep them away from this guy, he does not discriminate, a trollkin is a trollkin and if they are within an inch they will be killed.

Tide of Death: Mini goad, kill a foe, drop a fury, move an inch. Pretty solid

Thrown Rathrok:
 Yea, he throws it, its got a solid range of our bomber, it can hit ghosts, include a sweet crit to ignore tough and transfers, and the ability...
--Rathrok's Awakening:
 This is pretty solid, like soul collecting but better, models killed by the axe are turned into delicious fury for Maddy to use. This isn't something you will use every turn, and sometimes it may not occur in a game, but there are some wonderful times when it comes in handy or can be made use of.

Im not gonna beat around the bush, this thing is sweet, its thrown so it has the same P+S as when used in Melee... which means you can rage it, if need be. It can only be used once per turn, normally, I mentioned a second throw by use of feat. It is great for killing solo's and UA's while remaining in safty, and in a desprate, or oportune time, it is fully capable of a caster kill, and I have done it.

Rathrok: Everything in the above, minus the range, but with reach, yea, he has reach, thats an 11 inch threat with no buffs and not including uses or tide of death.



So, we know what he does for free, we've got fury, how are we gonna use it 

Spells


Warpath: Upkeep, When something in your army kills an enemy in your control area, a beast in your battle group may move 3 inches (THIS CAN ONLY TRIGGER ON EACH BEAST 1 TIME EACH TURN). I'm not gonna lie to you, this is a hard spell to use on this guy, his low fury mean a very low beat count, you will have very few targets for it, I only ever have two, but I make use of it, and so will you. The list I run is very fast, and the beasts can have trouble keeping up, at the very least this allows them to move with the army, but late game, when you let the dogs out, its great for positioning charges and moving into lanes you need to be in. 

Blood Fury: 
Alright, I will try to keep calm here, I sometimes get a little too excited when I realize that this spell is one of Epic Madrak's spells that are only found on him... very simply, warrior model/unit gets an extra damage die, and their def drops by 2.... so I mean, its cool right... whatever... but... OH MY GOD EVERYTHING IN THIS GUYS ARMY CAN BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ANYTHING, HIGH ARMOR BE DAMNED, TROLLS BE ANGRY UP IN HERE, 4 DIE ON THE CHARGE FOR NON WEAPON MASTERS, ARE YOU KIDDING, ILL WRECK; SHIELD WALLED INFANTRY, JACKS, CAMPING CASTERS, THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE TRANSFERED WILL BE SILLY, ITSUPKEEPABLE, ARE YOU KIDDING ME, THIS THING CAN BE USED DURING HIS FEAT, USED DURING VENGENCE AND THEN DROPPED AFTER USAGE IN MAINTENANCE. KILL EVERYTHING, I'M SERIOUS, DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN'T, KILL EVERYTHING.... sorry, that was a little embarrassing... but this is the bread and butter of Epic Madrak, learn how to juggle this spell on units, know what unit needs it each turn, by smartly upkeeping and recasting this spell you will never fail to damage what ever you want, there is nothing you can't kill if you can hit it. 

Killing Ground:
 cost is the same as all the other spells but not an upkeep, all chargers in his control get pathfinder. This isn't hard to figure out, something needs pathfinder, it gets it. Its a great spell that is beautiful in it's simplicity, wield it well.

Lets talks model synergy, what can this guy do for our faction

Beasts:

Impaler: Not a bad choice, just like with any other troll caster her offers board control by slams, and give your the farstrike animus, among being a light beast attachment for the bomber this beast can also be used to increase the range of Madrak's ax. Not a bad choice, I have toyed with it, and you should too.


Axer: It can hand out pathfinder to beats, which isn't totally needed since Maddy has a great spell for it, but the movement buff is pretty cool. It's a beast with Reach and I dig that for Epic Madraks feat. He is also high armored and I'm a fan of that too.

Environment Light Trolls: I'm sorry everyone, but I don't like them, in this case you will find that he really doesn't have room in the list the way I want to run him, and they aren't bringing anything to the list the way I run it since you would rather have the Mauler animus and I take the Mauler

Mauler: Great heavy, cheap, an invaluable animus that works on Madrak, the axer, or himself, his uses are great in this list, 10/10 I take him every time.

Earthborn: In this case the Mauler is just better, you don't need the earthborn animus, you have so many ways to give out pathfinder that it isn't anything of significant note, and the extra point isn't worth paying. He is a great beast, he just doesn't belong here.

Mulg: I used to run Mulg with Madrak, between Grim Salvation and Protective fit Madrak is near unkillable, but his animus brings little to the table and he is very pricey, the mauler is used in every way and is cheaper, I recommend people just getting into Epic Madrak to run him, as he is very forgiving, is fantastic in the late game, and will keep you alive if you make mistakes, but as you get better, and deal with character restrictions, you will find that you want those extra points and you want that Mauler.

Units:

Im gonna be very brief in this section, reach. You want reach to maximize his feat potential. The more the better. Are kriel warriors a good unit, yes, but fennblades have reach and will kill more on the feat turn, on just this small point fennblades are better in this case. Longriders are best in my opinion because with tall in the saddle they simply kill everything under his feat, every enemy in two inches of your toughalo will be getting smacked, sight be damned, tall in the saddle rocks. There is only one unit I play with Madrak that doesn't have reach and that is burrowers. With blood fury these guys wreck anything on the charge. I will go as far to say that there is no caster in the troll blood faction that make burrowers hit harder. The above mentioned units have the best feat synergy, are the best targets for blood fury and in turn are the best and in my mind, only choices.

Solos:
Runebearer: We honestly don't have many casters that don't want him, Madrak is low fury and he will help out with that. But on one lucky turn you get to juggle blood fury on 2, possibly 3 units, and that is tasty, spread that goodness around, the abuse of his feat, and blood fury are what make madrak great, the help that the Runebearer provides with blood fury usage makes him a must have.

Fell Caller: Madrak gives out pathfinder to all chargers, but don't let that make you think that the fell caller is ruled out, Maddy has no mat buffs and that makes this guy a must. If you plan to hit anything above def 13, or you want to run burrowers effectively, you take the fell caller.

Stone scribe Chronicler: Madrak runs a lot of infantry and offers no survivability for them, he can help get your army their and then with hero's tragedy, punish the enemy for killing your boys.

Whelps: You simply don't run enough beasts, fury is not a problem.

Skinner:.... just kidding, you have better things to spend two points on

Janissa: what list isn't she good in, I don't take her because Character restrictions have me use her in other lists that make more use of her. Would a wall help Epic Madrak, sure, but he will find plenty of things to do with those points, you wont miss her, I promise.

Champ Hero: He helps your burrowers stick around, and you will be shocked how many times that command 7 fails, further more he is pretty solid as a killing solo, can hold scenarios, and has reach... Madrak loves reach.

Horthol: As stated above in units, longriders are my favorite with Epic Madrak, in turn Horthol is too, he makes your toughalo boss and that makes him an auto include in my opinion. On top of that, he is also just an amazing solo... oh and he has reach 


My 50 point list with Epic Madrak, I've been brewing and perfecting this for sometime, and templecon assured me that I have this running just as great as I want it. 

Epic Madrak +5 
Mauler-9 
Axer-6 
Runebearer-2 
10 Fennblades-8 
Fennblade UA-2 
5 Longriders-11 
10 Pyg Burrowers- 6 
Fell Caller-3
Champ hero-3 
Horthol-5 

So lets break this guy down. 

First, beast selection: I keep my big guys back for late game, honestly, with blood fury their isn't a heavy your infantry can't crack, these guys are here to guard Madrak and come out late game when you have disarmed the enemies weapons they had to kill heavies with. Furthermore, that rage animus is amazing on Madrak, have the mauler put in on him for assassinations be it ranged or melee. 

Units: It's all about the feat, the whole point of this list is to maximize his feat. Burrowers are great because most opponents assume that by putting jammers by the burrower marker that they contain the burrowers and prevent them from charging anything that matters. With a smart pop up, good facing, and a feat, the burrowers can kill all the jammers and then charge anything you want. They are the best blood fury target, on the charge those pick axes are low pow but 4 dice, and the slug guns roll 3 dice, its a damage frenzy when they charge, and that pick ax with 3 dice during the feat is more than enough to kill jamming infantry. After the Burrowers its all about the reach, you want to kill tons on your feat turn, and the only way you can do that is if you are engaged with tons, and the best way to do that is reach. These units are made to engage everything and are normally a great target for jammers to tangle themselves in and make you cry, Epic Madrak turns the tides and makes armies pay for trying to jam down your throat, and if you feat proactively, you get to charge a front line, and then use your feat to destroy the second line. 

Solos: The fell caller is there so you can hit. Maddy has no mat buffs for himself or his unit, this guy obviously make the burrowers work but further more, yoru toughalo will have high mat 3 die to hit impact attacks, and silly high mat charges. Fennblades see the mat buff just as well, and on Madrak's feat turn, fell caller gets a second spray, how awesome!!! The champ hero keeps your burrowers in the fight and has reach so he is a tasty feat target, he will normally be in the back and will make a great objective holder or late game power solo. Finally, you are taking a max longrider unit, so there is no way around it, you are taking horthol, linebreaker for your cav, follow up on the slams, and my god is he hard to kill. 

So lets look at what this list does.
  • Is anti Jammer in a meta full of it
  • Wrecks heavy armor and hits the enemy fast, all infantry are speed 6 and above
  • Most of the units you have are packed with staying power and are even jammers themselves, this list is a scenario monster, your feat is perfect for clearing ground and you have the solos and units to hold it
  • Assassinations come in all sizes, with blood fury everything from burrowers to longriders, to the fellcaller, to the mauler, to Madrak can get the kill, it all has tons of damage and with a good fell call, it all has a chance of hitting
  • Ranged assassinations are amazing if the opportunity is presented. Don't let that ax fool you, it does work
  • It has a high model count, this list will attrition out most other lists and the feat only helps take out all of the enemy infantry.
  • This list is a scenario monster, it rocks any objective holder with toughalo, and power solos, control that shapes are great for you because your feat clears so well. I built this list to rock scenarios, in the Templecon team tourney 2 of the 3 wins with this list were by scenario, it locks points down.


I can't stress how great this is. This is how to run Madrak, it is the World Ender in his Prime, the best offense is a great defense, push so hard they won't be able to take mid board, attrition their armies because you are outputting the amount of attacks of an army 3 times the size, One way or the other you will be engaged heavily turn 2, and that is just how you want it. Make them pay for thinking they can keep in combat with you. Make them pay for thinking they can stay on the board with you. 

You are now schooled in the art of Madraking, don't try and contain your blood fury, set out on your warpath, and create a killing ground.

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