Hi everyone ! Every 6 months it's the same story... This week, let's go back to our general strategic post.
Because of their reputation for being a kind of hard-mode warband, Chosen Axes 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 Season 4 has begun and Direchasm has 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 of a Challenging Warband
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 general, the Chosen Axes dean will appear to be the less interesting one late game. 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 early hitter, or as a bait – but of course, depending on which warband you face, you might also use Maegrim or even Fjul for this. 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 or Supremacy, 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 classic 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.
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 nonetheless, which means a more Passive approach... but again, they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it.
After a Season 3 where Hold-Objective approach was made a bit easier (Hold 2 Objectives help a lot), Direchasm brought two mains things that put a renewed emphasis on the Aggressive side : the Primacy rules, that definitely help our favourite warband as it excells at one-shoting enemies, and (very) good new cards.
So again, 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, carefully playing around objectives, move forward and be as agressive as you think you can. This way, you'll score Glory passively and for one-shot kills, while strongly disrupting your opponent's plans. But at the same time, don't rush too early at the enemy 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.
Indeed, after a few games, you'll quickly discover that the fyreslayers simply don't play the same game as the other warbands... and this will strongly affect the way you'll build your decks & strategies.
As you'll never outscore any opponent by simply doing your thing on your side, you'll always need to deny him glory... ... and as said above the best way to do it is to cleverly one-shoot his fighters one by one with your inspired fighters. Yet if you can't attack, you simply can't score, and cannot disrupt your opponent's plans.
Said differently : after more than 500 Chosen Axes games, I think that the best way to find success with them is to fix their downsides in the right order which is 1/ Inspiration 2/ Speed... in order to reveal their one-shoting machines potential.
Then accuracy and damage boosts being only ways :
to do it more reliably,
to adapt to any match-up,
to make sure that every fighter in your warband can take part in it.
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 Aggro warbands, or others like 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, Abandoned Lair and the Hive of Sacrifice 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, everything will depend on the number of Objectives you'll have. With 2 objectives on your side, go straight forward and deliver your uppercuts as quickly as you can. With 3 objectives on your side, most of the time your opponent will have to come to you to score his hold-objective cards, so take your time. In any case, try to read and to disrupt their nasty scoring-passive-glory-plans. Here, remember that you can use 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 warbands, magical ****** such as Cursebreakers or Eyes of the Nine, trouble masters such as Spiteclaw's Swarm or the Dread Pageant, 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 bit more defensive in your set-up and let your enemy come to you.
EARLY GAME - Get in motion and find Inspiration
Round 1, try to inspire your best 2 fighters (which means Fjul and Tefk, no more, no less... unless you absolutely need one of them for another purpose), 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 or unless you have Frenzied Search in hand and want to draw early, use mid-late Round 1 move actions to reach the nearest Objectives tokens 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", "Objective Scorer" or "Primacy Taker". 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).
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 since the return of Hold-Objective playstyle in Season 3, 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 ! Oathsworn and Indomitable are probably the best this early Season...
°°°° 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. If you need help to make the right choice, remember that in this game, speed is really important...
°°°°° 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. Only if you own few sets.
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 3 & 4 (Beastgrave & Direchasm) Universal Cards and not Season 1 & 2 ones (Shadespire & Nightvault)
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 ESSENTIAL PACK mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Great Speed / Path to Victory / Branching Fate / Strong Start / Quickening Greaves / Mirror Move / Victorious Duel / Guardian Glaive / Duellist's Speed / Commanding Stride / Centre of Attention / Countercharge / Inspired Attack / Duel of Wits / Gloryseeker / Daylight Robbery ° / No time
#2 DIRECHASM CORE SET mainly for Dominant Position / Awesome Predator / Surge of Agression / Savage Strenght / Savage Speed / Slickrock / Soultooth Spear / Intimidating Display
#3 BEASTGRAVE CORE SET mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / 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 - use it only if you don't have better choices!)
#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 / Bold Conquest / Steadfast Defender / Victorious Duel
#6 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose ° / Quick Search ° / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace° / Ahead of the Hunt / Absolute Stillness / Victimize
Good picks / Sets including several very good cards :
#7 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion° / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct° / Blindside / Amberbone Spear / Uncontested
#8 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror° / Amberbone Sword / Over my Dead Body
#9 ARENA MORTIS mainly for Vision of Glory ° / Gauntlet of Command / Crown of the Dead / Gauntlet of Dominance ° / Deserved Confidence
#10 KHAGRA'S RAVAGERS mainly for Underdog / Dominant Defender / Scavanged Armour / Unafraid / Ferral Symbiote
#11 STARBLOOD'S STALKERS mainly for Living Land / Savage Visage / Outrun Death / Clean Kills
#12 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.)
Honorable Mentions / Sets including one or two good cards at best :
#13 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows° / Frantic Exchange
Note 1 : Now Season 1&2 Universal Cards are gone, the Essential Pack and the Direchasm core set becomes very, very interesting... So I'd say that if you take #1&2 and any other between #3 and #6, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure.
Note 2 : 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, 3 and 4. 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 ESSENTIAL PACK mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Great Speed / Path to Victory / Branching Fate / Strong Start / Quickening Greaves / Mirror Move / Victorious Duel / Guardian Glaive / Duellist's Speed / Commanding Stride / Centre of Attention / Countercharge / Inspired Attack / Duel of Wits / Gloryseeker / Daylight Robbery ° / No time
#3 DIRECHASM CORE SET mainly for Dominant Position / Awesome Predator / Surge of Agression / Intimidating Display / Savage Strenght / Savage Speed / Slickrock / Soultooth Spear
#4 STEELHEART'S CHAMPIONS mainly for Strong Start / Regal Vision / Haymaker / Potion of Grace / Tome of Glories / Combination Strike
#5 POWER UNBOUND mainly for Blazing Soul / Quickening Greaves / Prized Vendetta / Two Steps Forward / Spiritbond / Inspired Attack / Shortcut
#6 SPITECLAW'S SWARM mainly for Escalation / Master of War / Rebound / Awakened Weapon / Alone in the Darkness / Sprinter / Spoils of Battle
#7 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)
#8 GIFT PACK mainly for Distraction / Spectral Wings / Mischievous Spirits / Jealous Defence / Daylight Robbery / Guardian Glaive
#9 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose / Quick Search / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace
#10 THE GRYMWATCH mainly for Restless Prize / Path to Victory / Swift Capture / Larval Lance / Survival Instincts
Good picks / Sets including only one great card and several very good cards :
#11 ARENA MORTIS mainly for Vision of Glory / Gauntlet of Command / Crown of the Dead / Gauntlet of Dominance / Deserved Confidence
#12 MAGORE'S FIENDS mainly for Hidden Path / My Turn / Second Wind / Dark Darts / Mischievous Spirits / Tethered Spirit / Deathly Fortitude
#13 IRONSKULL'S BOYZ mainly for Superior Tactician / Distraction / Duel of Wits / Ploymaster / Victorious Duel
#14 EYES OF THE NINE mainly for What Armour ? / Fired Up / Irresistible Prize / Sudden Growth / Countercharge
#15 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror / Amberbone Sword
#16 KHAGRA'S RAVAGERS mainly for Underdog / Dominant Defender / Scavanged Armour / Unafraid / Ferral Symbiote
#17 STARBLOOD'S STALKERS mainly for Living Land / Savage Visage / Outrun Death / Clean Kills
#18 ZARBAG'S GITZ mainly for Potion of Rage / Faneway Crystal / Fighter's Ferocity
#19 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct / Blindside / Amberbone Spear
#20 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.)
#21 THUNDRIK'S PROFITEERS mainly for Branching Fate / Blessing of Hydragos / Shifting Reflection / Crown of Avarice
#22 GARREK'S REAVERS mainly for Gloryseeker / Opening Gambit / Potion of Constitution / Centre of Attention
Honorable mentions / Sets including several very good cards :
#23 LEADER PACK mainly for Quick Advance / Shining Example / Rising to the Challenge / Hero's Mantle
#24 MOLLOG'S MOB mainly for Commanding Stride / Transfixing Stare / Tome of Vitality / Shadowed Step / Bag of Tricks
#25 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 :
#26 YLTHARI'S GUARDIANS mainly for Duellist Speed
#27 GODSWORN'S HUNT mainly for Tome of Offerings
#28 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows
Conclusion : 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 #8, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure.
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, 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 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, The Dread Pageant, Myari's Purifiers, Starblood's Stalkers and of course The Chosen Axes themselves do. Don't forget that Thundrik's Profiteers and Myari's Purifiers also have a similar way to move one of your fighters from your beloved objectives with Toxic Gases.
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... A double-edged sword though so always try to take advantage of 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.
LIVING LAND : to make one of the objectives disappear - don't rush on Objective 1 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...
HIDDEN PATH / BEAST TRAIL : to reach an Objective you put on an edge hex...
Your opponent using SPELLS, such as :
ABASOTH'S UNMAKING : to remove one of the objectives your dwarves are sitting on.
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 if you're not on Guard.... Always expect ranged warbands to try to shoot at you when you're on an objective... 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...
Your opponent using SPECIAL ABILITIES, such as :
STALAGSQUIG PLACEMENT : again, in order to make you lose time.
KORSH TELEPORT : to take one of your objectives - don't place them on the edge if you can avoid it !
Your opponent using SET-UP TRICKS, such as :
LETHAL HEXES PLACEMENT : always 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...
April 2021 Straight Outta Shadespire tournament games by Wigglefish
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
The Chosen Axes are arguably the slowest warband of the game and also have one of the trickiest inspiration conditions, but once inspired, they also become one of the deadliest, with accurate attacks and some insane damage output.
With two strong fighters, two very decent sidekicks, a few good objectives, and some excellent gambits, their natural play-style is a fairly unique mix of aggro, hold objectives and control.
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 Direchasm !
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Forget about it everyone ! Problem fixed ! The weird inspiration step rule has been errated ! Now we also have the 2 missing steps : "INSPIRE STEPS In addition to the Inspire steps listed in the Harrowdeep rulebook, there is one Inspire step at the start of the action phase (Elathain’s Soulraid and Morgwaeth’s Blade Coven use this Inspire step) and one Inspire step at the end of the action phase (the Chosen Axes, the Farstriders, Skaeth’s Wild Hunt, the Grymwatch and the Crimson Court use this Inspire step)." That's really cool and was much needed imho. See link below : https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/#warhammer-underworlds 🔥
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