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Let's Chat: Chosen Axes


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1 hour ago, Hannibal said:

That´s the card decks I currently own:

Chosen Axes

Nightvault Starter

Mollogs Mob

Zarbags Gitz

Thundriks Profiteers

Grymwatch

Wurmspat

Rippa´s Snarlfangs

 

What would be your first draft for a deck out of this pool of cards?

With the sets you own, you can build good decks for sure.

In the link below, you won't find a real deck list, but all the cards are solid :

https://www.underworldsdb.com/shared.php?deck=0,117,119,124,125,n299,n303,n368,b295,b306,b308,127,129,132,133,n444,n445,n446,b341,b359,b363,136,143,n499,n504,n505,n506,n529,b411,b427,b431#

 

In this draft, there are 10 cards of each type. As always, Objectives is the most difficult part... 

Another important question : in the sets you own, there's no inspiration tool (see Regal Vision or Blazing Soul for instance). If you can add Power Unbound Set, you'll find many useful things for all your warbands... including Blazing Soul!

 

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51 minutes ago, WathLab said:

With the sets you own, you can build good decks for sure.

In the link below, you won't find a real deck list, but all the cards are solid :

https://www.underworldsdb.com/shared.php?deck=0,117,119,124,125,n299,n303,n368,b295,b306,b308,127,129,132,133,n444,n445,n446,b341,b359,b363,136,143,n499,n504,n505,n506,n529,b411,b427,b431#

Thanks for sharing. I guess I will try this set and develop from there.

51 minutes ago, WathLab said:

Another important question : in the sets you own, there's no inspiration tool (see Regal Vision or Blazing Soul for instance). If you can add Power Unbound Set, you'll find many useful things for all your warbands... including Blazing Soul!

You´re right. First, I couldn´t find a power unbind set right now. Second, Regal Vision is less of a problem, because I can just grab the set.

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Yeah, I can‘t stress how valuable regal vision and blazing soul have become/still are! 

Its insane value on our otherwise very lackluster inspire mechanic and effectively acts as „great fortitude“ update when a fighter is exactly in killing range otherwise. 

A perfectly timed regal vision/blazing soul made so many strong plays possible, once it enabled a charge with Tefk for me (3 hexes away), oneshotting a 3 wounds fighter with a crit (cleave) scoring me „ferocious charge“ and „what armour?“. 

If we get lucky and can inspire our whole Warband turn 1 its pretty scary for any other Warband out there out of sudden.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

@WathLab,

This deck looks really fun! I really liked the detailed explanations of your choices and how the deck is supposed to run. I'm still working on painting my "Slayers" (not Fyreslayers), but your article makes me want to get to finishing them! I wanted to ask if you have added any of the new cards from Wurmspat or Mantrappers? For example you could replace great speed with Victor's speed as it's the same upgrade, just with the possibility of equipping it for free if you kill a fighter. I was also wondering, did you ever consider replacing "A Claim Retaken" with "Conquest"? ACR you can only score 2nd and 3rd round, while conquest can only be scored 3rd round, but is much easier to score.

Hopefully the new Daughters and Orruks have some nice universals for the Slayers!

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On 3/29/2020 at 10:13 PM, Anthony225 said:

@WathLab,

This deck looks really fun! I really liked the detailed explanations of your choices and how the deck is supposed to run. I'm still working on painting my "Slayers" (not Fyreslayers), but your article makes me want to get to finishing them! I wanted to ask if you have added any of the new cards from Wurmspat or Mantrappers? For example you could replace great speed with Victor's speed as it's the same upgrade, just with the possibility of equipping it for free if you kill a fighter. I was also wondering, did you ever consider replacing "A Claim Retaken" with "Conquest"? ACR you can only score 2nd and 3rd round, while conquest can only be scored 3rd round, but is much easier to score.

@Anthony225

Ahah thanks !

Your warband looks great, as expected ! Fjul and Tefk are magic, and giving Maegrim hammers is a very nice idea. Well done!

I'm glad if you enjoyed this short Deck Guide I wrote and I really hope that you will play your Chosen Axes soon.

To answer your questions : yeah I often play some of the newer cards from Wurmspat & Mantrappers. Mainly Team Effort (great end phase easy scoring glory) and Nightmare in the Shadows (having 3 disctractions is great in the current meta). Many people play Cryptic Companion of course, but I don't like myself - I find it too passive for my own playstyle. Incontested can be great against aggro warbands or Cursebreakers.

I don't like Victor's Speed so much, because you have to apply it on the fighter who made the kill...

And your Conquest / A Claimn Retaken suggestion sounds really fun to me (but that's a very good remark!) - because A Claim Retaken replaced Conquest in my deck !

You're right, Conquest is almost an auto-score every game and doubles Unstoppable Advance well. But recently I've found that early glory is more important, and because everyone plays around objectives (even Magore players sometimes !) it's really easy to score if you have the right cards & strategy. And no one never expects it, so you're almost certain that your moves won't be countered... But I suppose that the 2 options work equally well.

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@WathLab

all good suggestions! However, with Victors Speed, can’t you just play it like a generic upgrade? Re-reading it, it doesn’t seem like you “have” to play it on the fighter that made a kill, just looks like an optional reaction. The +1 speed all by itself before the “reaction” option made me think you could either play it similar to a regular Great Speed “OR” use the reaction to play it for free.

so it’d basically be an upgraded Great Speed.

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@WathLab

Maegrim is my secret "favorite". I felt like i had to give him some appropriate weapons for a crazy guy. He doesn't want to accidentally clip himself with an axe while swinging away, but at the same time he wants to pummel his enemies into the ground. Short handled sledge hammers seemed appropriate. Looking a them hammers almost makes an axe inviting...

I like his stats also. He can be the MPV of the game if you go up against a horde band. Poor Vol is the fighter that is "ok" compared to the rest. He still looks cool though and 3 damage is not bad by a mile. 

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Maegrim is great indeed. What I've found is that many opponents underestimate him as they consider that he's your worst dangle-bro... without looking at his inspired stats ! Don't tell anyone !

I remember one game where he snowballed alone on his side of the board right from the bat and almost killed an entire Gitz warband on his own by the end of round 3 !

Poor Vol, but sure, all Chosen Axes fighter can be dreadful with 1 or 2 upgrades.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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One year of Chosen Axes 2.jpg

 

Hi everyone !

This week, a simple update - the abstract of everything that's been writen this year :

 

This gold is mine ! One year of a Chosen Axes journey in Warhammer Underworlds

The most recent posts have been mainly dealing with Board Choice, Fighter use priority and Deck-building, including a Deck Guide on Well of Power and an analysis of a great ploy called Mischievous Spirits... Not forgetting, of course, my new custom warband project, the Brewmasters !

 

By Grimnir, have a nice week in Beastgrave !

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I have a conversion question. I know you can use whatever you want within casual games, but regarding competitive play, whether its a GW venue or otherwise, can you use completely different (GW) models as a replacement/conversion? For example I have my "Slayers" that I would love to use, but with the assumption that Nightvault rotates out when 4th comes in, Chosen Axes will lost a lot of essential cards. I know that newer warbands have a better time coming up with efficient deck builds. So my main question is could the below models be used as a replacement/conversion for Morgok's Krushas? Their playstyle I assume would be very similar, just wanting to fight and being really good at it, and tough to kill.  

 

IMG_7459.JPG.85796b7daa7c8fe1721ddeeed6d0afd8.jpg

IMG_7455.JPG.5a6f7056fc594c81bea1439c01aba4a7.jpg

IMG_7461.JPG.42f3a52abd1c6062e2106731e20753f3.jpg

8k8c3bi9phi41.png

Edited by Anthony225
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On 4/26/2020 at 7:55 PM, Anthony225 said:

Chosen Axes will lost a lot of essential cards.

I made a few Season 3 only tests myself, and indeed the resulting Chosen Axes decks are quite frightening... Unless the last 2 warbands give us good new tools I fear it might be game over for us... (That's why I'm trying to do a little something about it right now... I'll share it here soon!)

(And to answer your question - GW is quite strict in general, but for FLGS tourneys, I suppose that you could use the kind of coloured plates we can see in that Grand Clash video. It helps with making sure your opponent recognizes your fighters! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/537959410)

 

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Indeed, speaking from my own experience, I'd say that Flex is the only reasonnable path with Chosen Axes...

 

Their stats want to fight, which means Aggro playstyle...

But they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it.

 

Their inspiration condition lead you towards holding Objectives, which means a different approach...

But again, they aren't fast or numerous enough to fully rely on it.

 

So in the minds of many Chosen Axes players, Flex is the way.

And that's exactly how the Hammer deck is built!

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On 7/9/2020 at 12:03 PM, WathLab said:

Hi everyone ! This week, let's go back to strategy!

 

Warhammer Underworlds Tactical Puzzle #2 - Will you manage to kill 2 Cursebreakers by the end of your 2nd activation this round ?

 

The Runefather Underworlds Problem 2 v2.jpg

 

By Grimnir, have a nice week in Beastgrave !

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy these puzzles and write ups, WathLab. I haven't solved a darn one, but I do like thinking about them. It's made me want to dig my Chosen Axes back out and try some new deck combinations. 

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On 7/14/2020 at 2:07 PM, JReynolds said:

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy these puzzles and write ups, WathLab. I haven't solved a darn one, but I do like thinking about them. It's made me want to dig my Chosen Axes back out and try some new deck combinations. 

Many thanks, sir! That's much appreciated. (English is not my native tongue, so I hope that you're not too upset by the inevitable mistakes I make all the time...)

There are still a lot of subjects that I'd like to adress here, but right now, I'm not sure at all that I'll find the time to continue my short write ups. We'll see.

Anyway - and above all : good luck with your Chosen Axes !! Grimnir's blessing upon you ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

0 - Dwarven Trilogy final.jpg

 

 

Hi everyone! This week, just a short reminder...

 

If you've seen my previous posts here and there, you know that I've been quite busy with custom warbands recently. So far, I've made 3 new dwarven warbands and have also been thinking about a refreshed version of our favourite fyreslayer warband...

It's been a real blast to meditate about them all.

If I post them here, it's because they're all some kind of variations around The Chosen Axes. However, I tried to give each of them a pretty unique flavour and to balance their cards as much as I could.

 

So in case you missed them, here they are.

 

By Grimnir, have a nice summer in Beastgrave !

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Hi everyone ! Every 6 months it's the same story... This week, let's update our general strategic post.
 
Because of their reputation for being a kind of hard-mode warband, our favourite warband can deter many newcomers from playing them. Which is a bit sad, as they can be really fun and very rewarding to play...
 
Because I am a sort of all-time / die-hard Chosen Axes player, some time ago, I wanted to wrote this short guide for new players.
Now the new FAR is there & the last 2 Beastgrave warbands have been released, here it is again in an updated version : some very simple advice for this nice finesse warband !
 
 
1/ SEAZING THE SUBSTANCE : Strenghts and Weaknesses
 
Here's the most obvious part, and many people have said it before.
 
So let's try to put it in one single sentence : with Chosen Axes, your warband will be strong but slow, and can be a bit fragile until your dwarves are Inspired – which takes time and can be quite difficult to achieve ; however, with a good deck and some very simple strategic guidelines in mind, it's also quite easy to make them work and to turn them into a very solid warband, that excels at one-shoting enemies.
 
 
2/ KNOWING YOUR NEW FRIENDS : Basic Knowledge About your Fighters
Note : here ° / °°/ °°°/ °°°° mean relative strenght
 
°°°° FJUL GRIMNIR : Your Leader is a very impressive fighter, mainly because of his Wound total and of his Damage output, before and (of course even more) after Inspiration. From the very first Round, Fjul Grimnir is very hard to one-shoot and can be very dangerous. However, most of the time, this won't be enough to ensure you victory. Firstly and obviously, as he can't be everywhere at the same time (and clever opponents will always play around it)... Secondly, as he lacks accuracy : his 2 Hammers 4 Damage with Cleave Attack when Inspired is good but not great, especially with of all these 2 Dodge Defense fighters that wander throught the Mirrored City by now. However, playing around your opponent's fear of him becoming a beast can be very useful...
 
°°°° TEFK FLAMEBEARER : In the minds of many dwarf players, he is the best warrior, or at least, on average, is he considered as good as Fjul Grimnir. When he's Inspired, his 3 Hammers 3 Damage with Cleave on Crits Attack is tremendous. Because he's only 3 Wounds right from the bat and 4 Wounds when inspired, he is the one you want to protect the most.
 
°° VOL ORRUKBANE : In most of your games, Vol will appear to be the less interesting one. When it comes to Chosen Axes sidekicks, damage output is often less useful than accuracy (which is the very thing he lacks, contrary to Maegrim). So most of the time, you will use him as a bait – but of course, depending on which warband you face, you might also use Maegrim or even Fjul for this - or as a early hitter. When he's inspired, note that he can drive back ennemy fighters on distant lethal hexes, but is that enough to make him shine ?
 
°°° MAD MAEGRIM : For a long time, no one seemed to know his name except we die-hard dwarf players, but now the card pool has grown bigger, his qualities seem more obvious. When Inspired, his 3 Swords 1 Reroll 2 Damage Attack make him the Chosen Axes hidden gem... Especially with the right Upgrade or versus low Wounds warbands...
 
 
3/ NOT MISUNDERSTANDING YOURSELF : A Matter of Playstyles and Stategies
 
INTRODUCTION - All of us begun this way...
 
As almost everyone I suppose, I begun my Chosen Axes career playing with Objectives like Hold Objective 1-5, Supremacy or A Claim Retaken, trying to make my warband work from this starting point. Because Objective n°3 will often be on the bad side of the board, because with Supremacy in hand, you'll frequently have only 2 dwarves left, or more simply because it's always harder to go after objectives and to have a good fight at the same time... You will very quickly find that the problem with the Hold-Objective approach is that most of the time you will have dead cards in your hands... Not good at all. Dwarves are slow and can't afford this.
 
This said, with Beastgrave's new rules and cards, the Hold-Objective approach has become a bit more viable and relevant. I don't believe that it means that Chosen Axes will suddently become better than anyone else at it but it will definitively help you to build more polyvalent decks...
And indeed, when you have a closer look at the Chosen Axes fighter cards, this idea of polyvalence, or of finesse aggressiveness if you prefer, becomes quite logical :
  • with accurate attacks and some pretty insane damage output, their stats want to fight, which means Aggro playstyle... even if it's obvious that they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it,
  • their inspiration condition leads them towards holding Objectives, which means a more Passive approach... but again, they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it.
By now, with your Chosen Axes, the best way to go is to play a mix of both approaches - which could be called Aggro / Flex. So in general, move forward while carefully playing around objectives and be as agressive as you think you can. This way, you'll score Glory for one-shot kills and passively, while strongly disrupting your opponent's plans. But at the same time, don't rush too early at the enemy because...
 
Because when playing with Chosen Axes, one thing is of utmost importance : Inspiration. If you want to win, you must ensure that your dwarves get inspired as fast (or as efficiently) as possible.
So let's begin with setting-up :
 
SETTING-UP - The right distance for the right strategy
  • First of all, and this could be my most important advice, don't systematically chose to go 1st on boards. Imho, this is another trap. Indeed, very often, you won't really need 3 Objectives on your side in order to inspire your key fighters, and, as you're slow, you will benefit more from chosing the boards orientation. In particular when you face things like Aggro warbands, The Grymwatch, Cursebreakers, Profiteers, Mantrappers or Lady Harrow's Mournflight.
  • Be very careful about distances when you chose the Board itself : in order to set up multiple inspirations, use one that allow you to group your dwarves as much as possible. It's very helpful if you can reach at least 2 objectives with each fighter, and it's even better if it can be achieved by a single push... For instance, the Mirror Well, the Kathophrane Reliquary, the Cursed Oubliette and Abandoned Lair are nice Boards to achieve this.
  • Then, don't lose too much time : put your Objectives next to you / just in front of you near the middle of the board and play as aggressivley as you think you can - the precise degree of middleness / aggressiveness you'll show depending on your match-up.
  • If you face Hold-Objective horde warbands such as Thorns of the Briar Queen, The Grymwatch, The Sepulchral Guard or Grashrak's Despoilers, go straight forward and deliver your uppercuts as quickly as you can. And always try to read and to disrupt their nasty scoring-passive-glory-plans. Here, remember that you can use your some of your fabulous ploys to achieve this, and that killing a fighter sitting on a Objective is worth twice the Glory... Against Zarbag's Gitz, the same advice apply, but everything will depend on Snirk's position : don't feed him - kill him while he's uninspired if you can or ignore him all game.
  • If you face Control / Flex warbands, magical ****** such as Cursebreakers or Eyes of the Nine, trouble masters such as Spiteclaw's Swarm, or ranged traitors such as Thundrik's Profiteers – most of the time, agress them as fast you can... and don't let them dictate your path. But at the same time, don't give them too early / too many free targets for their ranged attacks if they have some... A fairly complex equation.
  • Don't be affraid when you face Aggro warbands, as you will have some great advantage over your enemies : unlike them, your Inspiration condition will not rely on fights, which means that you will have a chance to be inspired before them. In that case, you can be (a little bit) more defensive and let your enemy come to you.
 
EARLY GAME - Get in motion and find Inspiration
  • Round 1, try to inspire as many dwarves as you can, using every single tool available to you : moves, your various push-ploys, Regal Vision, Blazing Soul... For that reason, mulligan your first power cards hand if you don't have at least : Regal Vision, Blazing Soul, good drawing-ploys or several good push-ploys. Even if your first hand is good, consider drawing one card if your opponent does'nt threat you too much Round 1, in order to get momentum as early as possible.
  • In general, unless you believe that your opponent will rush on the Obectives that are on your side, use mid-late Round 1 move actions to reach the nearest Objectives tokens with 2 or 3 of your dwarves and save your own push-ploys in order to counter his tricks. If your opponent doesn't do anything to ruin your plans, you can use these Ploys to inspire additional fighters in last power phase of the round, or/and save the remaining ones to help you in the coming fights. When you play Chosen Axes, because inspiring your fighters is so important, it's very easy to feel upset when your opponent counters some of your Round 1 moves. Here, the key is to never be surprised or destabilized by anything (see section 6 for a more detailed approach about this issue). Don't be afraid : good things are coming.
  • Of course, from time to time and depending on your match-up, it can be relevant to make Round 1 attacks, to get the first kill, charge on an objective, score early glory and lure your opponent while you inspire your fighters.
  • In general, you'll end your 1st Round with 1 or 2 Inspired fighters and a total between 1 and 5 Glory points, which should be enough to launch your dwarven landslide successfully.
 
MID/LATE GAME - Go get that gold
  • This leads us to one of the most important questions : timing. If you want to improve your odds of winning your Chosen Axes games, you need to use your fighters and their respective qualities (Fjul's damage output or Cleave ability for instance, or Tefk's accuracy) at the right time and in the best possible order. In order to achieve this myself, I use key concepts such as "Bait", "Early hitter", "Late hitter","Specific Counter" or "Objective Scorer". Very often, winning games will requiere a lot of patience. Unless you gain a decisive advantage, deny your opponent an important move or score tons of glory, never use your key fighters too early in a given round.
  • Because relying on Fjul only is risky (because he can die early, because he can't be everywhere at the same time, and because using him only is also a kind of telegraphed strategy), also use your other dwarves, especially Tefk (very strong and very reliable) and Maegrim (against low wounds warbands)... In general, as he lacks accuracy, Vol is very unlikely to become your MVP, but can be quite useful right from the bat (use him as a bait, or for early attacks against low wound / defense fighters if needed, if the odds are good enough). As said above, note that his Driving Back ability when he's inspired can be useful sometimes (in particular in a Season where there are Lethal Hexes everywhere !).
  • For your opponent, multiple threats are harder to counter - in your games, always try to use your 4 dwarves as a pack, hunting in concert within a 2-3 hexes range, and moving forward together to one-shoot enemy fighters on their way.
  • When you finally reach the enemy, do not be misled by your own agressiveness. In particular, learn when to stop, and when to make strong and calm moves : very often, those are the hardest to counter for your opponent.
  • Morale now. Of paramount importance in this game, as it is short and brutal. You have to be prepared for anything - and when this anything happens, you have to keep your fighting spirit... With Chosen Axes, that's not the hardest thing to do. Always remember that your warband is rock solid and that you have 4 good fighters : even if you lose two of them early, and even if Fjul or Tefk are one of them, don't panic, you still can win games.
  • One last advice : as always, be sure to know your decks by heart. Every single card and every effect...
 
4/ BUILDING FROM THE CORE : Your Best Faction Cards
Note : here °/ °°/ °°°/ °°°° refer to comments I make about specific cards. See below.
 
Chosen Axes have access to some very good faction cards – maybe above average if you compare them to what the other warbands have access to. Here are the most remarkable of them :
 
Objectives / Good cards or cards you should try first :
Score Immediately : Ferocious Charge, Scion of Grimnir
Passive : Unstoppable Advance °
Hold Objective : A Claim Retaken°°
 
Ploys / Good cards or cards you should try first :
Movement : The Earth Shakes, Treasure Lust, Living Wall °°°°°
Combat : Oathsworn °°°, Indomitable °°°, Piercing Stare °°°
 
Upgrades / Good cards or cards you should try first :
Movement : Grimnir's Speed °°°°
Combat : Activated Runes, Grimnir's Fortitude °°°°, Grimnir's Blessing °°°/°°°°
 
The remaining cards seem either too bad or too situational to find their way in most of the decks you'll build... but who knows...
 
° Only if it fits your playstyle – here I mean if you enjoy playing aggressive-invasive dwarves.
°° This one can be quite hard to score, but now in Season 3, with the return of Hold-Objective playstyle, it is much more easy to make it work...
°°° In a way or another, all these cards are situational. At least at the beginning, don't take too much of them, because they could slow your deck too much. To begin, 1 or 2 seems to be the ok spot. Choose well !
°°°° To begin, don't take too much of these, unless you really want to build some kind of heavily-Fjul -Grimnir-dependent deck... Which I think is very appealing but risky.
°°°°° A somehow underrated card that I learned to love, because it has a great Round 1 utility. Not good enough to make the cut in any of my recent decks though.
 
 
5/ GATHERING THE POWER : Universal Cards and Buying Order Choices
Note : this time ° means Restricted...
 
Here I need to make dictinction between two game modes :
 
Mode 1 / CHAMPIONSHIP
Where you only play Season 2 & 3 (Nightvault and Beastgrave) Universal Cards and not Season 1 ones (Shadespire)
 
From an Aggro/Flex Chosen Axes point of view, I would approximately rate the available sets this way :
 
Best picks / Sets including several great cards :
#1 POWER UNBOUND mainly for Blazing Soul° / Quickening Greaves / Prized Vendetta / Two Steps Forward / Spiritbond° / Inspired Attack / Shortcut
#2 STEELHEART'S CHAMPIONS mainly for Strong Start / Regal Vision / Haymaker / Potion of Grace / Tome of Glories / Combination Strike° / Singled Out
#3 BEASTGRAVE (OR NIGHTVAULT) CORE SET mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Denial / Great Speed / Supremacy (even I don't like or play Supremacy myself, I must admit there are games when it can give you a kind of nice early lift)
#4 THE GRYMWATCH mainly for Restless Prize° / Path to Victory / Swift Capture° / Larval Lance / Survival Instincts° / Fateful Strike
#5 GIFT PACK mainly for Distraction / Spectral Wings / Mischievous Spirits / Jealous Defence / Daylight Robbery / Guardian Glaive
#6 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose / Quick Search / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace
#7 ZARBAG'S GITZ mainly for Potion of Rage / Faneway Crystal / Fighter's Ferocity / Catching Up / Solid Gains / Encroaching Shadow / Pit Trap° / Mirror Move
 
Good picks / Sets including several very good cards :
#8 EYES OF THE NINE mainly for What Armour ? / Fired Up / Irresistible Prize / Sudden Growth / Countercharge
#9 THUNDRIK'S PROFITEERS mainly for Branching Fate / Shifting Reflection / Blessing of Hydragos / Crown of Avarice (Note : you'll notice that I don't mention Calculated Risk here : that's because I think that Chosen Axes are too slow to use it well. But now with the new Beastgrave Rules, feel free to add it to your own list if you want...)
#10 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion° / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct / Blindside / Amberbone Spear
#11 RIPPA'S SNARLFANGS mainly for Gathered Momentum / Sting of the Ur-Grub / Temporary Victory (Note : you'll notice that I don't value Tempory Victory that much, mainly because it's too unreliable imho with Chosen Axes.)
# 12 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror / Amberbone Sword
#13 MOLLOG'S MOB mainly for Commanding Stride / Transfixing Stare / Tome of Vitality / Shadowed Step / Bag of Tricks
#14 GARREK'S REAVERS mainly for Opening Gambit° / Potion of Constitution / Centre of Attention / Slumbering Key / Gloryseeker
 
Honorable Mentions / Sets including one or two good cards at best :
#15 YLTHARI'S GUARDIANS mainly for Duellist Speed / Keep Moving
#16 GODSWORN'S HUNT mainly for Tome of Offerings° / Nullstone Spear
#17 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows° / Frantic Exchange
 
Conclusion 1 : Now Season 1 Universal Cards are gone, Power Unbound card set becomes very, very interesting... So I'd say that if you take any combination of #1 and any other between #2 and #6, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure.
Conclusion 2 : With Chosen Axes set (faction cards) and all sets from #1 to #7, you already have at least : 14 good objectives, 18 good ploys, 17 good upgrades - which means that you already have a lot of choices...
Conclusion 3 : Of course you have to adapt to your own playstyle and to your own meta - some sets favor Aggro builds a bit more, others are more Flex friendly... Always consider this !
 
Mode 2 / RELIC
Where you still play Season 1 (Shadespire) Universal Cards
 
Here you have the choice between ALL the cards from Seasons 1, 2 and 3. Which means a lot of cards.
In your Chosen Axes set, you already have very good universal cards, mainly Ready for Action / Trap / Fuelled by Fury / No Time / Earthquake / Light Armour / Precise Use of Force / No Remorse
For the rest, I would approximately rate the available sets this way :
 
Best picks / Sets including several great cards :
#1 THE FARSTRIDERS mainly for Change of Tactics / Advancing Strike / Inspiration Strikes / Defensive Strike / Spectral Wings / Concelead Weapon / Frozen In Time
#2 STEELHEART'S CHAMPIONS mainly for Strong Start / Regal Vision / Haymaker / Potion of Grace / Tome of Glories / Combination Strike
#3 POWER UNBOUND mainly for Blazing Soul / Quickening Greaves / Prized Vendetta / Two Steps Forward / Spiritbond / Inspired Attack / Shortcut
#4 SPITECLAW'S SWARM mainly for Escalation / Master of War / Rebound / Awakened Weapon / Alone in the Darkness / Sprinter / Spoils of Battle
#5 BEASTGRAVE-NIGHTVAULT-SHADESPIRE CORE SETS mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Denial / Great Speed / Supremacy (even I don't like or play Supremacy myself, I must admit there are games when it can give you a kind of nice early lift)
#6 GIFT PACK mainly for Distraction / Spectral Wings / Mischievous Spirits / Jealous Defence / Daylight Robbery / Guardian Glaive
#7 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose / Quick Search / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace
 
Good picks / Sets including only one great card and several very good cards :
#8 THE GRYMWATCH mainly for Restless Prize / Path to Victory / Swift Capture / Larval Lance / Survival Instincts
#9 MAGORE'S FIENDS mainly for Hidden Path / My Turn / Second Wind / Dark Darts / Mischievous Spirits / Tethered Spirit / Deathly Fortitude
#10 IRONSKULL'S BOYZ mainly for Superior Tactician / Distraction / Duel of Wits / Ploymaster / Victorious Duel
#11 EYES OF THE NINE mainly for What Armour ? / Fired Up / Irresistible Prize / Sudden Growth / Countercharge
#12 ZARBAG'S GITZ mainly for Potion of Rage / Faneway Crystal / Fighter's Ferocity
#13 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror / Amberbone Sword
#14 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct / Blindside / Amberbone Spear
#15 RIPPA'S SNARLFANGS mainly for Gathered Momentum / Sting of the Ur-Grub / Temporary Victory (Note : you'll notice that I don't value Tempory Victory that much, mainly because it's too unreliable imho with Chosen Axes.)
#16 THUNDRIK'S PROFITEERS mainly for Branching Fate / Blessing of Hydragos / Shifting Reflection / Crown of Avarice
#17 GARREK'S REAVERS mainly for Gloryseeker / Opening Gambit / Potion of Constitution / Centre of Attention
 
Honorable mentions / Sets including several very good cards :
#18 LEADER PACK mainly for Quick Advance / Shining Example / Rising to the Challenge / Hero's Mantle
#19 MOLLOG'S MOB mainly for Commanding Stride / Transfixing Stare / Tome of Vitality / Shadowed Step / Bag of Tricks
#20 SEPULCHRAL GUARD mainly for Mighty Swing / Helpful Whispers / Crushing Force / Soultrap
 
Only if you really plan to play these warbands / One or two very good cards at best :
#21 YLTHARI'S GUARDIANS mainly for Duellist Speed
#22 GODSWORN'S HUNT mainly for Tome of Offerings
#23 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows
 
Conclusion 1 : If you play casual Relic mode and can have access to it, The Farstriders' universal card pool is very, very interesting... So I'd say that if you take any combination of #1 and any other between #2 and #7, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure.
Conclusion 2 : With Chosen Axes set (both faction and universal cards) and all sets from #1 to #7, you already have : 11 very good objectives, 15 very good ploys, 16 very good upgrades - which means that you already have a lot of choices...
Conclusion 3 : Of course you have to adapt to your own playstyle and to your own meta - some sets favor Aggro builds a bit more, others are more Flex friendly... Always consider this !
 
 
6/ BEING PREPARED FOR ANYTHING : What to expect Round 1 while you try to inspire
 
When you play Chosen Axes, because inspiring your fighters is so important, it's very easy to feel upset and to lose all your morale when your opponent counters some of your Round 1 moves. Here, the key is to never be surprised or destabilized by anything, and to achieve this, you need to know exactly what can happen and when...
 
So in early game, mainly round 1, while trying to inspire your dwarves, whatever you do (move, push) or feel (safe or not, because of threat ranges), always remember the following things can happen :
 
Your opponent using PUSH PLOYS, such as :
DISTRACTION / NIGHMARE IN THE SHADOWS : to simply move your fighter from the objective at the very end of the last power phase. Simple but very powerful. Distraction is a common ploy that many Aggro and Control warbands use in their decks... So painful for Chosen Axes players ! That's the reason why taking at least 3 or 4 good push ploys in your deck is always a good idea.
OTHER DISTRACTION-LIKE PLOYS : … However also note that many warbands have their own faction specific version of it : Steelheart's Champions, Sepulchral Guard, Spiteclaw's Swarm, Magore's Fiends, Mollog's Mob, Ironsoul's Condemnors, Lady Harrow's Mournflight, The Grymwatch and of course Chosen Axes themselves do. Don't forget that Thundrik's Profiteers also have a similar way to move one of your fighters from your beloved objectives with Toxic Gases. So when you face these warbands in Championship mode, always be prepared for this kind of cruel moves.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION : to use one of your nearby dwarves to move another fighter who's already holding an objective. In this case, be also prepared for some very nasty scything attack - Mighty Swing or very Aggro Sepulchral Guard (I've seen some !) for instance.
MIRROR MOVE : to counter one of your previous push or move, pushing back one of your fighters who was already sitting on an objective.
SIDE STEP / SPECTRAL WINGS : to reach your fighters early, before they can inspire and get to 4-5 wounds. By the end of the game, you will lose some of your fighters anyway, so don't despair and try to protect your most important fighters, for instance using Vol as a screen.
EARTHQUAKE : to move all your fighters from the objectives at the same time. Even in Relic mode, very few people play Earthquake now but again, who knows ?
 
Your opponent using OTHER PLOYS, such as :
MISCHIEVOUS SPIRITS : to mess up with your plans if some of your dwarves are already on objectives. When you face Control warbands, always expect that kind of plays... Some Chosen Axes players use this ploy with a certain success, but if you want to play it yourself, always remember it also allows your opponent to move 2 objectives : so if you already have a fighter sitting on an objective, your will lose it.
RESTLESS PRIZE : to push one of the objectives your dwarves are sitting on - or more simply to mess with your plans early game by increasing distances between your fighters and the nearest objective. Note that because it's a 2-hex push, most of your own push-ploys won't be enough to counter it. Here, apart from using this ploy yourself, my main advice would is to avoid placing your objectives behind your dwarves, or even sometimes to avoid placing them on the same line they sit, because if your opponent drives them away from the center of the board, you will lose a lot of time... When you only have 2 objectives on your side, this can kill your Round 1.
CONFUSION : to simply steal your place.
NO TIME : to prevent you from using your own precious ploys in the last activation of the round. Also quite rare.
TRANSFIXING STARE : which can be a very nasty move Round 1 (see below). When you don't have any push-ploys in hand, Transfixing Stare on Fjul or Tefk can be particularly upseting...
SHIFTING REFLEXION : in order to teleport your still weak Tefk behind his own line, shutting him down quickly before he has a chance to become a killing machine at the end of the round. Most of the time, even if he loses a fighter, this kind of trade will be very good for your opponent.
LETHAL WARD : to deal 1 damage to your holding objective fighter.
ENCROACHING SHADOWS / COLLAPSE : to deal 1 damage to your fighter holding that fifth objective you put on an edge hex.
LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE / FROZEN EARTH / PILLAGE / LEECH POWER / DESECRATE... : to remove an Objective from the battefield or turn it into a lethal hex...
 
Your opponent using SPELLS, such as :
ABASOTH'S UNMAKING : to remove one of the objectives your dwarves are sitting on. Note that the (brave & gambler) caster must be within a 4 hexe range, so unless you have push-ploys, if your inspiration fails you won't be able to reach him...
SEGGUT'S SALVO / IRRESISTIBLE VISION / HOWLING VORTEX / HORRIBLE LEER : to push one or more of your fighters.
 
 
Your opponent using ACTIONS, such as :
CHARGES / ATTACKS : in order to drive your fighters back from the objectives they're holding (with the new Beastgrave rules, this is not possible if you're on Guard...). Always expect ranged warbands like Samson's Farstriders, Stormsire Cursebreakers, Thundrik's Profiteers or even Godsworn and Wild Hunts to try to shoot at you when you're on an objective... In particular, fear ranged attacks with knockback (Enrik Ironhail's for instance), as a single push ploy like the Earth Shakes would'nt be enough to help you move back. Using (quite) late activations to move on objectives will limit the number of attacks they can make...
MOVES : in order to sit on the objectives with their own fighters before you can reach them yourself, making you lose time with early less efficient attacks... Some of the meanest warbands (I look at you, Spiteclaw's Swarm player with Transfixing Stare and Martyred in hand...) were already doing this from time to time, but now with Beastgrave new Guard rules and Upgrades you'll see it very often... So be prepared.
 
Your opponent using SPECIAL ABILITIES, such as :
STALAGSQUIG PLACEMENT : again, in order to make you lose time. Maybe you'll never see this, as many Mollog players just don't want to give you easy glory, but who knows... like I said before, you need to be prepared for anything.
 
Your opponent using SET-UP TRICKS, such as :
LETHAL HEXES PLACEMENT : with the new Beastgrave rules, you must expect your opponent to do that kind of move, placing a lethal hex in the middle of your set-up formation, making access to the objectives harder. However, if your set up is good, you'll see that it will be quite hard for him to ruin your plans, as you'll always have a way to reach any objective with most of your dwarves without moving through the lethal hexe, whatever its position.
 
 
 
7. SO MANY WAYS TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE : Good Advices All Over the Mirrored City
To go beyond my mere analysis, here are some examples of very nice decks and advanced strategic considerations from very good players. From the newest to the oldest, see...
  • May 2020 PATH TO GLORY podcast with Zack Newcome
  • October 2019 Tome Deck Guide by Khel from the WELL OF POWER website
  • June 2019 Aggro Deck by Chad Lathrop from the BATTLECAST - see recent Reddit post & Youtube video
  • December 2018 Aggro Deck by Jamie Giblin from KATOPHRANE RELIC - see post called Chosen Axes Deck and Tech
  • December 2018 Aggro/Flex Deck by John Rees from CAN YOU ROLL A CRIT - see post called Weekend Tournament Round Up 17
 
 
8. ONE OTHER WAY TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE : How I play Chosen Axes myself
Finally, as a conclusion, here's a short deck guide I made some time ago on the Well Of Power website to explain how I play myself : The Chosen Axes Hammer
While a few cards have changed due to the most recent releases, the main strategies remain pretty valid and still wins many games, even in competitive contexts.
 
 
CONCLUSION
If you already play them, you can skip this conclusion.
Otherwise, if you like challenges, subtle moves and one-shot axe blows, you'll have some great chance to enjoy the Chosen Axes. So good luck with your new favourite warband !
 
And have a nice time playing Chosen Axes in Beastgrave !
 
 
Edited by WathLab
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