Strategy of the Orcs
Strategy of the Orcs |
|
To begin an Orc strategy without first of all
considering their strengths and weaknesses would be to step off on the wrong
foot.
The greatest strength of the sons of the Jackal? Without hesitation it's their
characteristics. The Orcs have the good sense to have high enough standards.
Their Attack is generally good and their Defense not far behind,
it's the same for their STR/RES. Their Courage is good if not
excellent, their Discipline remains rather acceptable.
In short at first sight you'd think that the Orcs would win their
combats easily.
Nothing could be more wrong.
The problem of the Orcs is that they are good in the attack and
defense, without excelling in either one.
They do not have the numbers in attack of Kelts, or the
Resistance of the Dwarves. Admittedly they are on the same level as
those Alahans or Griffins for their number of dice, but in contrast to
the former they do not have a mass of cheap figurines
(Lancers, Swordplayers or Valkyries), and in contrast to the Griffins they
do not have their Discipline and their Resistance
Admittedly the Orcs do not blush at their average characteristics overall,
but it is worth noting that they excel nowhere.
As their INI is average, even weak, they often place their dice
first in hand to hand. Their RES does not allow them to
suffer too many hits, so they must make at least a minimal defence, thus placing at best
one attack. However, they are not specialized in defense either,
so they can suffer hits and must often strike back while being wounded.
So the Orcs are very passive in hand to hand and, as
they cannot field a horde, it is sometimes difficult to take
the upper hand in an indisputable manner in certain critical frays.
The Orcs have as their base ability Brutish Lout,
which enables them to rethrow a 5 on their Attack Rolls and to
ignore a 1 after a reroll, giving in general the famous blow
of a 5+ on the die being equal to 7+, and so force an
opponent, even one with a better defense, to defend on a difficulty level of 6+: so
that's a 1/3 chance to land the hit.
However, this ability is one to take carefully, because it's
an ability which can make you either miss your dice throws or set unparriable difficulty levels:
in short it's all or nothing. The Brutish Lout ability is a bit of a gamble.
In general the high Attack of the Orcs means it's not
that appealing to rely on Brutish Lout to land blows: you'll miss
2 times out of 3 your single attack of the turn. On the other
hand, my Orc characters tend to use it and abuse it.
Indeed, counter-attacks against them are then impossible, and
even simple defense is a challenge.
An ability to be used according to circumstance.
Another great asset of the Orcs is their magic.
Admittedly Instinctive magic is not the most powerful magic
in the game, but it has a great advantage: it is uncounterable.
And combined with the fact that the Mystical Warriors make the
most general-purpose group of Warrior-Mages in the game, Orc magic
must be considered when building an army.
A Mystical Warrior with Vortex of Quartz will be a real pain for
your adversary, from a combat point of view. But spells
like Rejection and Kiss of the Earth are also very interesting for
their tactical potential.
Törk on the other hand requires a rather more delicate use, and
personally I done badly trying to make him cost-effective.
The arrival of the Instinctive Grimoire and the Adept
could change all that.
Considering there is only Shaka-Umruk
available, Orc divination is still a little limited.
Its basic miracles are rather average, it is rather
appropriate to play a Convocation or an Occult Dubbing, which will be
rather interesting.
Occult Dubbing will be interesting to avoid the
crippling doubles on hits against Jackals, Amoks or Brontops,
even the killing outright of the target.
The sacred armour will be also useful on your Amoks and your
Brontops because they have already high a RES, making them difficult
to kill.
Convocation will enable you to find the card you need when necessary:
a Brontops or an Amok so that it charges, Vorak second incarnation to throw himself
in a fray and make use of his Authority, a Mystical
Warrior to block a narrow passage and then cast his Vortex of Quartz.
With the majority of your troops adopting a rather
passive stance in combat, namely to take blows first and then
try a response, it will be necessary to position your Orcs under
ideal conditions before combat.
For these purposes I will consider three elements of the Orc army:
- The Threat
- The Charge
- The Support
Your Threat troops are the Mystics, able to
scare a mob of Kelts with Vortex of Quartz, or an enemy
general with Rejection. (It's in your interest not to communicate which
spell you have to your adversary, making your Mystic potentially very
dangerous). However they must be supported. When
placing your Mystics ahead you risk that they are shot at from the
beginning by gunners but on the other hand they can be too far back to
intervene quickly. It is very important to position
the troops used to scare the enemy well, leaving
you a bit of elbow room to batter them with your other Orcs.
If the enemy does not have gunners, they should be at the front of
your army.
If he has some, then it is necessary for you to place them
behind supporting troops; Warriors are the best choice.
Always include Mystics to dissuade the adversary from
charging and to come to you.
The support is composed in particular of the
Orc Crossbowmen and other warriors and Jackals. They
are the Orcs slightly withdrawn compared to the Threat, ready
with the responsability to help your troops when they're charged.
They generally form the group of cards to be held in reserve.
If your support has already been played, above all do not advance too
far with your other troops. If you would play Convocation, or
the Trick of the Jackal or others, these are the types of card to be taken
and held in reserve.
Thus your Mystics are doubly dangerous: one figurine can
spend its turn in flight or eat a Vortex of Quartz. Several
figurines and the Vortex and shots into a crowd make your
Mystic a sucker punch.
The Charge is all those that are rather attack oriented,
which strike hard, but which really need to charge to do that.
Most obvious are of course Chevaucheurs de Brontops and the
Amok Killers, but one can also classify here to a lesser extent the
Orc Bruisers for their War Cry (and the fact that in a charge a Bruiser
has a good chance to take the initiative from its adversary).
When the adversary does not bite on the hook
of your Mystics, it is necessary to advance with the charge, those
with a better movement than the Mystic will be a little
withdrawn, awaiting a favorable card draw to leap out into the fray
According to this way of thinking, Amok or Brontops must never be charged,
their potential being hugely reduced, they should absolutely be protected
from unfavourable charges, and this while positioning the Mystics nearby.
Thus the Mystics cause fear, and the Brontops and other Amoks are
placed ideally for a nearby charge.
And what if the enemy uses speed against you, and catches your Charge
by avoiding your Threat (flying troops, Leap, cavalry)?
Well that is where the Support intervenes once more.
The Warriors, Bruisers, Jackals find their utility at this time
in combat. The few figurines having crossed your first barrier
of Mystics will eat a chunk of Orcs in the face (hopefully you'll
have some support troops unactivated).
However, take care not to over-estimate the troop in question,
it could be acting as a suicide troop, which will defend as
much as possible to tie up the most Orcs it can.
It's all a question of an evaluation of the situation on your part.
Normally you should control the problem of the enemy,
and be able to reposition yourself with your movements of pursuit.
In the same way of thinking your characters will be
a driving force of your army. But all of your characters are not
the same thing, so one must place them in different categories.
However it should not be forgotten that Orc characters have
something which is really missing from the Orcs: the possibility to
take additional dice. It is for that reason that your characters are to some extent
the foundations of your army which do the killing while the other Orcs hold on and
tighten the teeth. Or conversely, they hold on when your army
takes the advantage.
Never forget either that an Orc character, even wounded, is always
very dangerous because of Brutish Lout: it can set very high
thresholds, that has often helped me ^ _ ^.
- Avangorok can play the role of general, bringing his Leadership to his troops, being positioned with your Supports (and do not forget that he is always in reserve: it helps), or he can do the opposite, he can play a solo role, if you deploy him as a Scout. Like the charge, it will be necessary to take care that he's not charged or engaged, and that he acts in concert with the remainder of your army. One should not ignore his Discipline of 7: absolutely marvellous.
- Vorak first or second will belong with your troops, in the Support element.
The second incarnation will be even more interesting in the fray to
make use of his Authority.
Afterwards he'll let his muscles do the talking and should give you the advantage.
- Shaka-Umruk will find his niche among the Support, history to gain points of faith and launching Convocations (on your other troops of support for example) and other Occult Dubbings.
- Kal-Shadar will be rather a Charge beast, it's very important for him. If he takes the INI, he is sufficiently impressive so that the adversary is content with defending (and with difficulty at that). The same rules are to be followed for him.
- Umran-Kal is him also an element of the Charge and, if possible with Umran, charge with him when you have the discipline and on a rank and file which already activated. He's a real steamroller once he's unleashed, but it's crucial that he doesn't get bogged down.
- Törk can cause a surprise: either you put the Charge of the Rhino on him, and in this case he's at the same time an element of the Charge, or you are vicious and you put a Vortex of Quartz on him and play him like the Mystics. His menhir contributes to making him an element of the Threat.
Alahan : Broadly not the most difficult adversaries to manage for the Orcs. While caracteristics are average for them, you have some of the best. While their magic allows them subtleties, you have one that's uncontrollable. Briefly, Alahan will not be your principal nemesis, but you should not underestimate the proud warriors of the Lion. More numerous than you, they will be able to bring you to a fatal outnumbering. Play at least one Brontops, and do not hesitate to pile everyone in. Mystics with Rejection will be able to spare you the torment of a Lion champion boosted with amphetamines by its mages. The discipline will be disputed, do not hesitate to play Vorak 2nd to take the advantage where want it to you.
Griffon : When you hit hard, they can take it. Pay attention to this, because they will be able to hit back blow for blow, with an advantage for them due to their troops optimized to cause brutal damage (charging Executioners, Inquisitors with Incandescent Punishment). Normally they will take the Discipline from you and beware their Executioners. Shooting will also be a major problem against them. The Bruisers can be a good troop against Griffins (you will even be able to make some flee nyuk nyuk nyuk), Amoks are effective too, able to inflict wounds on the charge, then to defend while waiting for the reinfOrcements. To win against them it really will be necessary to prevent the Executioners from moving too much; an Amok with Kiss of the Earth can thus surprise more than one of them. The fusiliers, unless you play Avangorok, will force you to hide a little bit everywhere. Vorak 2nd can still be a good investment against Griffons, so that they don't completely control the frays.
Kelts : Aie aie aie! If there is well an army which frightens me
as an Orc, it's the Kelts. The Kelts are the worst thing you can face,
because they have INI, Strength and an enormous number of dice and
figurines which is difficult to counter.
Rule n1 against them: Mystics and the Vortex of Quartz.
Rule n2: don't play with low numbers.
Rule n3: possibly take Brontops, but with
a Minor Awoken Weapon, to return the blows in spite of losing INI.
If not, play enormously on the ground to counter their large numbers.
But it's no secrect, to beat Keltois in Confront'
with the Orcs, you'll need a minimum of luck.
Dwarves : Ah... The DWARVES are an army of choice for the Orcs,
because they have even less INI than us and have only two dice. But
be careful all the same, they can take lots of Boors (OK,
this joke is stale now :P). Choose Jackals which strike, kill
the DWARVES well and are not too expensive. Your Amoks are
also good elements, being able to use their Warlike Fury.
Nevertheless, pay attention to their Fear which can be boosted with steam.
Normally they will have the discipline, but you should be
able to get the upper hand on them. It is against the DWARVES
whom I personally would play Kal-Shadar (perhaps because of the Thermo's head
he has in his hand ^ _ ^).
Wolfen : OK, and here along with the Kelts is another army to be controlled, Wolfen.
Difficult because they have a high INI, high Attack, high
Strength and... three dice. That is to say they'll always
take you full in the teeth, and it'll be
necessary to hang tough and strike back. Anything that causes direct damage is
to be preferred against them: the Vortex of Quartz and the
Crossbowmen, who will not have any scruples about shooting into frays.
If you wound them enough before they kill too many of your
figurines, your Bruisers should control them very well there
too, because in a charge they are not afraid and can win the INI.
You should win the discipline with Vorak 1st rather easily, and you'll
benefit from his Leadership.
The Goblins : Naturally lucky players, I've never had a Goblin opponent,
so these tactics are purely theoretical ^ _ ^.
The Gobbos are a little like the Kelts, numerous and fast.
They do not have the same advantage in
dice all the time but are even more numerous (and they have the Blowers).
Against them, always use the Vortex of Quartz, and the Bruiser who
goes, "Boo!" That can be funny and create a surprise. If not,
some Jackals, some Warriors and a Brontops to clean house (with a Minor Awoken Weapon).
Vorak will be the character of choice because he's not very
expensive and rather effective.
Devourers : Against them, the same tactics used against Wolfen are roughly right, except that they can take hits much better, and that is potentially dangerous. But considering the weak number of troops, I would say that some Jackals and Crossbowmen will be very good to help you to manage the kids of Vile-Tis.
Alchemists : Sworn enemies of the Orcs. To do well, it's
already necessary to play Avangorok, which will make the
alchemists quiver, because he can be transformed into a killing machine.
For the remainder pick basic troops and Jackals. The
Mystics will do very well too (but they always do
well). Your Brutish Lout will enable you to counter a classic
Dirz ploy, Mutagene in defense. Your high enough Defenses will
enable you to defend without too many problems. Beware however
of their troops which cause Fear: Avangorok and his Leadership
will be useful for you.
The strategy against Dirz is very variable
because their army can vary from one extreme to another, from a
horde of weenies to a fast army based on Fear. In this light,
plan a general-purpose army composition.
Living Dead : the living dead have the good taste not to have any
Initiative, which offers the sons of the Jackal the chance to
use their high characteristics. But beware, the numbers of
undead and especially their Fear will give you a hard time
if you do not take a character with Leadership. Amoks and
Brontops will be welcome, because they'll be able to deploy their
talents and have Bravery, avoiding a rout on a 1 on their
Courage Tests. Kal-Shadar with The Crown or Umran-Kal on a broader
format will be true killing machines as well because they have Bravery
which allows them not to fail.
Umran-Kal could even leave the Jackal ranks history to seek the head of the living dead
general who cannot raise his troops any more.
Season your compo with some basic troops to avoid an obvious outnumbering and
some Mystics (yes, them again) and you're good to go.
Mid-Nor : This army is played more or less in the same way as the living dead, apart from the fact that they have more INI. You must be wary of being outnumbered, and so plan some groups of Vortex of Quartzes. Be well aware of their Possessed ability which could mean you end up suffering much more in return than you inflict. Kal-Shadar with The Crown could be a good choice, if not then the classic choices of Avangorok or Vorak. Bruisers can also be quite tasty. You are quite likely to be quickly swamped by their numbers, so exploit the terrain and your better Movement to go where you wish, and manage their numbers.
Vorak 2nd incarnation 79
Chevaucheur de Brontops 54
Mystic Warrior #2 25
Vortex of Quartz 18
Mystic Warrior #2 25
Rejection 19
2 Orc Warriors 30
3 Orc Crossbowmen 54
- In this compo I would almost want to replace a crossbowman with a
Minor Awoken Weapon for the Brontops.
- One can also replace the Brontops by a pair of Jackals with axes.
- Incidentally one can replace Vorak and Brontops for Avangorok and 4 doses of Combat Drugs.
- Against numerous armies and Fear causing ones you could play Vorak 1st,
replace the Brontops with two Jackals, remove a Crossbowman and add the War-Staff.
In short it acts of a basic framework on which one can work.
Others compos will arrive soon.
Cruachan
