Welcome back dear sadomasochistic samurai ninja vampire lovers!

As promised last week, in my introductory article, I will present my lists over the coming weeks and their favourite matchups.

Let’s start big and I mean notoriously BIG! I’ll try to not succumb to the temptation to think up a new obesity-related name for everyone’s favourite famine resistant Dominar each time I am going to mention him. Actually, I like him so much that I will dignify him with his own name! So, let’s take a look under the folds of flesh and see if we can find gems of wisdom instead of rotting bits of food.



In order to better navigate this and future articles I will adopt a universal structure, first briefly introducing the caster himself, then the army and the reasoning behind it’s composition with the favourite matchups to wrap things up.

Shut up baby, I know!

Dominar Rasheth

Stats & Abilities

Yes, his stats are the worst in the game, yes everybody knows that. They are also irrelevant of course. The only important stat is FURY 8 and that is fantastic.

His abilities are also quite well known, he doesn’t mind as much getting shot, so that with enough transfers and the Krea’s Aura he can tank even eCaine. I’ll highlight his other ability Dark Rituals, since I read a complaint recently that Rasheth sucks because he can channel only once per turn. But what a channel that is! Unless all your warrior models are dead or hopelessly engaged down to your last Beasthandler it’s practically unavoidable (unlike jacks with Arc Nodes or specific channeling models like Gallows Groves or Spell Martyrs) also while the board is still well populated the spell can practically come from anywhere so it’s very difficult to defend against. The one channel per turn is usually enough to place a strategic Breath of Corruption or apply Blood Mark. It is obvious PP didn’t want him to simply pull off turn 2 spellspam assassinations and I think that is not something to complain about.

Spell List

Formidable! MAT buff + RFP, Armour Reduction (with a nifty situational side effect), cheap nuke, again with a good side effect (I like to turn off the Gorax’ animus to make Titans unkillable by Stalkers), we have an autodamaging cloud effect that stays on the table and protects your Titans from non-reach melee infantry, and finally Castigate which you cast only rarely, but it can be a hefty kick in the plums for the opposing caster (unless it’s a she, then it’s a punch to the melons [if she happens to have any that is, if not then it’s probably just a pinch in her cherries]).

Paradoxically, he doesn’t usually need any of his spells that much since Gatormen and Bronzebacks tend to hit even without Carnivore and destroy stuff without Blood Mark. This is why he doesn’t care much about Purification and can simply camp a lot when needed because after being filled up in turn 1. The Agonizers don’t need many more fury after the armies clash and distances shorten.

Feat

A solid feat, very powerfull against the living obviously, only lacking against the undead, since jacks are hosed enough with all the agonizers you are bringing. The feat is also pretty straightforward, it helps you tear through any beasts or heavy living infantry, but quite often you will use it to take the enemy’s alpha strike on one of your fat chins like the champ you are.

Miscellaneous

This is where all the praise for Chain Gang goes. Undeniably among the strongest theme forces in the entire game, it gives you bonuses for bringing all you wanted to bring in the first place. Cheaper titans, MOAR than one Agonizer, and a useful speed bonus for a minion unit along with 2” more of deployment room. There is not much to add here, just that ALWAYS GO TIER 4!

LOVE ME!

The Army

Tiers: 4

Dominar Rasheth (*5pts)

* Basilisk Drake (4pts)

* Basilisk Krea (4pts)

* Bronzeback Titan (9pts)

* Titan Gladiator (7pts)

* Titan Sentry (8pts)

Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Venators Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)

Agonizer (2pts)

Agonizer (2pts)

Paingiver Task Master (2pts)

This is my go-to army mostly. It has destroyed all other Hordes armies I faced so far apart from the odd case here and there where I got killed for being careless (like the last game of the recent UK Masters) or forgetfull (died to Saeryn earlier this year since I forgot about her Grievous Wounds after not having faced her for very long)

The only (Hordes) ones able to power through the feat debuff that come to mind are Xerxis and Zaal, maybe also Naaresh. Probably some souped up Mulg combo as well. If someone has other tips, I’ll be gratefull to know what to look out for. (Of course we’re talking about some meaningfull piece trade, not a throw-your-entire-army-away-to-kill-one-sentry trade).

Having two Agonizers is insanely good, since with two of them you can take opposing jacks out for the entire game, though more often than not just one curcial turn is enough.

The titans are selfexplanatory in my opinion, maybe just a note on the Cannonneer. I tried him, he failed me. Besides I felt the need to have at least one cheap small based unit for jamming and distracting the opponent with. The Cannonneer’s unreliable RAT 4 and therefore questionable ranged game is substituted by a fast and agile (when Rushed) RAT 5 Magical (!) spray and Slingers, who have surprisingly decent results against a lot of stuff. My favourite targets are: the 2nd unit of Shifting Stones everyone brings these days, althought the stealthed ones can be reached eventually as well, DEF 12 troops, preferrably in Shield Wall or Defensive Line formation, Errants (you need to aim if they sport Defender’s Ward) Bastions – no shenanigans against continuous effects, minifeated Zealots (death still finds them), and lastly most jacks with Blood Mark on them.

Finally, the Posse and Krea need no explanation either, I think. Pimped up Posse can theoretically go up to P+S 19 so that two of them can casually tear apart an Angelius/Warpwolf (whom they match for speed even).

To sum it up, I’d say the army has 10 points to spend acording to your liking (Drake + Slingers in my case) since the backbone can hardly be improved upon in my opinion. Someone might argument with a 2 Posse build, but this will force you to change your Titan setup and I simply feel that the Sentry and Bronzeback offer more versatility to the list than the 2nd unit.

I R FOR SMUSHIN’, WHAT IS VERSEE-TIL

Specialists

There are several other things I’d like to play with Rasheth but they are probably more matchup dependant, hence ideal for Specialists. Maybe someone might find inspiration here for units that suit their playstyle better. Although, I have never tried them yet, I very much like Slaughterhousers on paper. In faction, you can never go wrong with Nihilators but I am a big fan of Arcuarii too. If you need to plug just 2 points I have seen the Reiver Cannon do well on a Paralyzed, Blood Marked heavy. 🙂

Matchups

Ok, I lied to you, there will be no matchup discussion! Yes I am that bad a person, now sue me! Due to space constraints I was told by my harsh and heartless Overload Overlord Benevolent BESTY! to cut it off like an unwanted appendage on an Agonizer. However, to be fair, more in-depth faction and matchup analyses might be a good topic for future stand alone articles. To evaluate lists side by side against particular opponents and to offer answers immediatly when one list is found to stare dumbfounded at a question.

However, in order to not let you completely down, I’ll do at least a brief summary of things you want to face and things I’d rather dodge if I have someone better to take them on. By dodge I mean avoid matchups where you could actually be in some danger as opposed to your usual, lazy point & click roflstomp as there don’t seem to be many outright unwinnable matchups for Rasheth imo.

Rasheth has a great game against some of the game’s strongest ladies. Haley2, Harby, the Deneghras, Feora2, Lylyth2, Saeryn, and Morvahna2. In short, fat slobs are unpopular with the opposite sex, and this holds true in Hordmachine as well. Castigate ruins the Dennys’ day, Agonizers take care of Colossals and your army is impossible to shoot away from the table. And as I mentioned earlier, channeled nukes of your own keep almost all of the above honest, especially the Focus using variety.

Even though I haven’t played all of the possible matchups obviously, I think I’d rather reach for another list when facing for example eSorscha, maybe also some other Khador builds where Battlelusted Kayazy could penetrate through the layers of your army and consequently through the layers of Rasheth’s bodyfat. eAsphyxius would still have a pretty dangerous assassination potential as well as Titan stomping potential. Finally, a good Rahn player might have game against this list too. There are certainly some more obscure casters and armies that could prove to be counters (ranged grievous wounds – Thyra!?) just that I haven’t seen them across the table yet because they might be precisely that – obscure and not versatile enough to be included in a competitive setting. Again, I will be grateful for any and all enlightenment.

See you next week!

-Martin