11. What are Updates Even?

Hello everyone. World's worst blogger reporting in.  My life's been fairly busy and my painting spree is still kicking in full force. To top things off, my parsnips have been growing beautifully on my farm in Stardew Valley.  All of this combines into massive neglect into my little project here.

Let's pick up with a State of the Faction Address based on my experience at the WTC.

The lists I ran were Vyros2 with Helios and Imperatus paired with Elara2 triple halbs.

People often look towards tiers, or power rankings, or quantifiable lists to compare factions to one another and to see where stand within the meta as a whole.  While I’m not the biggest fan of this method, I do feel like Retribution held a solid position somewhere right in the middle of the pack.  We can look at a few core concepts of competitive WMH and how they relate to us as Retribution players.

The Pairing.  I liked my pair for the WTC, but I didn’t love it.  Vyros2 continues to bring valuable tools to the table and a monster skew list that is difficult to handle, but he was incredibly prepared for and practiced against.  This can definitely knock the power lists down a few pegs and I wondered once or twice if my pair would have been more intimidating with a less common option.  Our infantry spam lists are as powerful and varied as they ever have been.  The triple Halberdiers with Elara2 was a blast to play and has been performing exceptionally well.  The AFG provides just enough ranged support and your battlegroup can follow up in a second wave after the Halberdiers have crashed in.  I find this style of pairing to be my prefered system of armor vs infantry to rattle your opponent and pressure them into a specific list choice to avoid a one-sided matchup.

The Cryx Answer.  The elephant in the room that exactly no one is trying to ignore.  Cryx is one of the few glaring and toxic problems left in the tournament scene.  PP saw it fit to shower them with the strongest themes in the game and SR2017 really favors their playstyle.  “How can I deal with Cryx” is a very real question that players need to ask themselves.  Ret isn’t perfect, but we have a lot of tools across several different casters that let us play into them.  That with the recent changes to allow Merc (Aiyana and Holt) to our theme forces, we have lots of very real options.  Don’t believe what you read on the internet, because there’s more to our Cryx answer than Issyria in Shadows theme.  Ossyan is still a great contender with Shatter Storm to RFP Ghost Fleet and a preference for the combined arms approach that can pick Cryx apart.  Elara2 has premium range and the ability to solve for incorporeal with Marked for Death.  I’ve had some success with a hybrid armor/infantry list with Vyros1 in Shadows, and David Ricketts has been tearing up the European meta with Thyron in Defenders.  Garryth, Kaelyssa, Rahn all have honorable mentions as well.  They’re less tested at the moment, but all bring tools to the table that are going to win you games.

Speaking of SR2017, it’s been amazing for us as well!  The majority of my games are won through scenario by capturing points aggressively and using a balanced list to spread across the entire table.  Lists that aren’t able to score on all three elements simultaneously are at a strong disadvantage in SR17 and it should be a well thought out decision to bring lists that can’t.  Ret lists typically don’t mind spreading out.  My flanks have been stretching farther and farther out as I get more comfortable with my scenario play and not all warcasters and warlocks are able to counter this kind of table position effectively.  Forcing your opponent to contest with models they don’t want to lose can allow you to dictate the pacing of the match.  Combined with strong solos like Soulless Voidtracers and Aelyth Vyr to camp your friendly flags, you can comfortably score 2-3 points per turn for the majority of the game.

Theme Machine.  This area is our weakest front, but it’s not the end of the world.  Our theme forces are incredibly bland and frustrating to build for, but the free points they offer allow us to stay competitive.  What gives us the most trouble is the core concepts behind which Retribution was originally designed: A collaborative effort/coalition between disciplines that work together to kill all the round ears.  House Shyeel was never meant to fight as it’s own separate force and the Mage Hunters function best when they’re supporting the hardier models and units within our faction.  This is a problem that will only get better over time, but it sure is difficult to watch so many other factions have the freedom to build cohesive lists without making the concessions we have to.

Overall, I’m feeling confident going into Warmachine Weekend, and have a bit of a surprise in my pairing I’m excited about.  Thankfully, my murderous bracket has been reshuffled to give me a less “Cryxy” path to the finals.  Those that knew me last year will already know that my bar for improvement is set pretty low for this year.  I got clubbed out in the very first round after getting myself all worked up and excited for my Mad Dogs of Karchev counter.  Round 1 has me paired up against my old teammate Brent Simon.  He’s a very strong player and I’m looking forward to what’s going to be a difficult match.  Brent, if you’re reading this, we’ll stay friends after WMW but I sincerely hope your dice are shit and you make lots of mistakes for me on Saturday.

All my love,

Mike