Reven

[Qwyksilver]

Once again the Taltain have sought to drive us further from our native land. Never happy with what they have, the Taltain continue to drive deeper into the Monglash Steppes, slaughtering our people as they march. Sound the drums! The Khakahn has called for the boghul to march. We shall make a Grand Reven indeed! The tribes and clans have begun to gather. The Akhpakh Khoolahylan! We shall take back the honor the Taltain have stolen from us.

 

For historical reference, feel free to view past Faction discussion threads:

Reven 2008

Reven 2007

Monglash Steppe 1.2

It's not easy being green

[Spike]

FIRST!

 

And the Taltain real-estate grab continues. I played my first two non-demo WL games last night and came in second-place on both occasions. The Red-Ribbon-Reven rides again!

 

Early observations tell me that it is wise to take the Skull Throne totem of battle (which I am happy to see was restored to WL2 after public beta). If you run a Reven with lots of less-costly melee troops, spending that 10% to gain an extra +1 MA for every model which counts on offense AND defense is a bargain.

 

Secondly, if you run mixed troops of archers and melee models, and you've already engaged the melee models in combat, try to make your ranged attacks after you resolve melee. This way you can possibly use your archers to finish off any surviving enemy models providing the friendly models they were in contact with are slain.

 

Third, if you use the Tomukh doctine (and why wouldn't you?), combining Frenzy and Enraged maked Narg Bloodtusk one bad stud. :D Basically you lower your DV but double your #MA..which made for one heck of an exciting last-stand last night.

[Stubbdog]

When I first started with Reven, I couldnt not play the Bull Orc Berzerkers with their awesome ability to reroll a missed Tough Roll and their growing MAV as they get hurt. Had a blast with that combination.

 

But, I admit, lately, for me, its all about having fun with the goblin hordes. Taking GF to get his WA that hands out Rush attack, Make sure to include a few Gondas spread out between some of the troops for her bless and burst of speed spells, and as Spike mentioned, toss in a battle totem. Sure, they die in droves, but when you can take the first wave across the table on the first turn (between ranger moves, burst of speed and rush attack) which is enough to keep them busy while the rest of the horde come in quickly behind.

 

Give GF a familiar and have him cast his chain lightning spells from one side of the table while he is thumping away at a target somewhere else.

 

Oh, and dont forget the goblin beastriders. I have a really hard time keeping those varmits off the table now.

 

Toss on a few skeeters here and there to concentrate their fire and pick off wounded, or even try to get that first lucky hit or two onto a big guy right before the horde swarms in.

 

And just for grins, you can always swap in either the trampling rhino or the tree trunk thumping hill giant for one of your troops to dish out more love to your enemies.

[jdripley]

Not that I'm a Reven player. Any red-blooded Dwarf would frown upon the idea of actually playing Reven. But I thought I'd try my hand at a Reven fighting company. So here we go:

 

Troop 1

Kagunk, Ogre

Yagun Oog, Ogre Mage

Ogre Warrior x 3

Goblin Warrior x 5

 

Troop 2

Gronk Spliteye, Bugbear

Korgug, Bugbear Bully

Bugbear Warrior x 4

 

Troop 3

Nor'Okk, Ettin

Magic Weapon

Gurm, Ogre

Gnoll Archer x 3

Beastman Woodcutter x 5

 

1,000 points, 26 models, 3 troops/3 cards, 0 spy.

 

I imagine the leaders/elites pushing the massed goblins/beasts ahead of them, using their smaller and weaker "comrades" as fodder while they reached over their heads to strike at the enemy from a position of relative safety. For a 4 troop/4 card variation, pull the Gnoll Archers out of Nor'Okk's troop and use the Band SA to have them form up their own troop. Personally though, I like having the archers in the same troop for dealing with things like Damage Reduction.

 

So how's my Reven horde??

[Lawgiver]

There have been a number of posts expressing "disappointing" results with the Hill Giant in combat. I admit I've had very "mixed" results myself. How about some suggestions to maximize the nastiness of the beast?

 

I'll start:

• Make sure that you use all of your abilities. It is very easy to forget Fearsome and Demoralize. Both of which can result in the lost of enemy models without having to squish them.
  
• Intentionally move so you limit the enemy to two sides of your base. You can do this by putting 1 one more edges against terrain or against other friendly models like cheap cannon-fodder goblins (note you run the risk of AoE attacks). This forces the enemy into a situation where your Swing-Through is more effective.
  
• The Giant typically works best against mobs of low level grunts rather than single models. Send him in the middle of a fray and clean them out.
  
• Don't be afraid to put both swings on the same side of your base. I encountered a player in one of my last games that thought the sides had to be separate/different.
  
• Deploy the Giant closer to last. He tends to be an arrow/magic magnet. Place him a position where he can minimize those effects by range or terrain if possible.
  
• Deploy the Giant closer to the beginning. Because he tends to be an arrow/magic magnet, deploying him early will lend to your opponent clustering/focusing minis on him and potentially leaving other areas exposed for flanking attacks or unable to grab key terrain on the board.
  
• Keep Ombur and/or Kiakara in range. Nothing says loving like a Cure 2 spell.
  
• Give him some help. When the enemy engages him, have your other units pick them off, don't wait for the Giant to do it alone.
  
• Scare the snot out of the puny Dwarves and cast Wings on him. Death from above as the giant leaps their battle lines and hits them from behind while the grunts hit them from the front. It's good got comedy effect if nothing else.
  

[Stubbdog]

Only wrong one was your last one. Reach is awesome to use with him cause he can use his swing thru with it. But, It does not help your other models against DR models since DR resets each activation.

 

You pretty much covered most of the things. Here are a couple more:

 

1. Try to be the instigator for 2 reasons:

a. His bludgeon only works on offense and makes models swinging back at him have a much tougher time.

b. The more you can kill on offense, is less models for him to try and surround you with on his turn.

2. Having said that, you dont have to rush straight at him, unless he is all jumbled up and just looking for you to swing thru his line (remember if he presents one model up front but has a second full line right behind you can use swing thru on that second line), you can always rush his flank. Assuming in this case that he is spread out on purpose to keep you from using swing thru, then it also means some models have to move more than others to get to you. Hit his outskirts and force some of his models to have to do two actions just to get in btb with you. Less to attack you with.

 

3. As mentioned, use the terrain.

4. Dont be afraid to get creative... I have cast a fireball against my own giant before just to bake all of the models swarming him. Or Gronkelfibbets and a nice chain lightning around him.

5. One that people overlook all the time: Gonda or Kiakara and a quick Divine Vigor

 

I think you have already mentioned most of the things tho.

 

The big thing is just to look at who and what it is across the table from you and adapt accordingly. And rushing across blindly usually never works.

[wildbill]

One thing you can do is to take multiple Hill Giants at once. That should usually put your opponent into a fit of panic.

 

Wild Bill

[Stubbdog]

I have been loving the combination of the goblin beastriders and bull orc berzerkers as a 1-2 punch.

 

Also, been having a lot of fun having Ogre warriors cleaving over the backs of goblin or woodcutter fodder forcing the enemy to take defensive strikes on the fodder, almost like having a provoke built in.

 

Gonda is awesome in her roll. But, dont discount using Ombur or Yagun simply cause they are expensive. They have easily earned their keep every time I have taken them. So much so that I can say that the only models that I really have not played a lot with are the melee based elites. Been having too much fun with the casters in the fold.

[Qwyksilver]

I've used the Zerkers as a shock troop, expecting them to die followed by the rest of their force of Hunters and Warriors to be effective as well.

 

For melee Elites, Gaaguk is a beast, but I can't say how valuable Ombur has been.

 

I was going to play with the Ogres, but can't find the box with my Reven post-move, which sucks, because it's a big flat rate box, crammed full of blisters.

[Bearfoot_Adam]

Alright for better or worse I have joined the horde. I purchased my first miniatures (of my life) today and am looking forward to getting started in the wonderful world of war gaming. However since cost is a factor I am buying these over time. My plan is to get a 500 point army together and then add another 500 points to it. So I wanted to toss some ideas out there to see what all you fine folks think about them.

 

So opt.1 500 pt. Reven army

 

1 Kharg B.O. sgt.

5 B.O. Beserk

2 B.O. Hunter

1 Gonda Goblin magic user

 

1 Neek Goblin sgt.

8 Goblin Skeeter

 

What I like:

- I think this is a nice blend of troop punch, and it's a good amount of metal on the table (hordes should be big)

- I have a blend of mellee, magic and ranged which will help me develop strategy.

 

What I don't like:

- my initial plan for a 1000 point army would be all Bull Orcs. I think it would be nice to have a little racial purity.

 

Option 2 500pt.

 

2 Kharg sgt.

6 B.O. Fighters

4 B.O. archers

1 Lunk Goblin magic user

1 Greka Shaman

Albatross amulet

 

What I like:

-Closer to my goal to all Bull orcs

-maybe A little cheaper money wise.

 

What I don't like:

- with only 14 models I worry about my horde being overwhelmed

- I'm not sure how effective 4 B.O. Archers will be which may limit my ability to develop good strategy.

 

Well thanks in advance for all the advice. Hope to get to know you all better as time goes by.

Cheers

Adam

[jdripley]

Welcome! You're in for a great time - Warlord is a fantastic game. Simple enough for a first game, but complex enough to play years and years later as well.

 

I like both of your lists. As far as model count - most players generally land at or around 20 models in a 1,000 point list (rough estimate, there are plenty of lists that differ and are still great). At 500 points of course the average would be more like 10. So neither of your lists are low model count. The first one is actually quite large!

 

If you're going for all Bull Orcs, check out Ombur as opposed to Lunk. He's a completely different model. Over twice the cost, many times hardier, and plays a supportive role as opposed to Lunk's offensive role. But he's a Bull Orc :) You'd have to play around with some of the other models to make him fit. Also keep in mind that Ombur shares a spell tome with Greka, so you've got to think about if you want more diversity in spell options. Just a thought, though. I honestly think there's no wrong way to build a Reven horde, since everything is a crazy blabbering orc or who knows what! It's a fun faction.

 

 

Anyways... Welcome!

[vejlin]

If you like Bull Orcs and want to save money, try locating the old Reven Starter Set online. Reaper doesn't produce it anymore but it's a great deal, contains a legal army of 571 points of models:

 

Troop 1 -

Varaug

Ombur

8 Bull Orc Warriors

 

Troop 2 -

Lurgh

 

A quick google search revealed that while MSRP is 39.99, it's not hard to find cheaper either (I found it for $32 from an online retailer quite easily). Compare this to the price of getting the same in other ways (prices are from the asylum online store):

Varaug - $9

Ombur - $9

Lurg - $5

6x Bull Orc Blister $40

2x Bull Orc (single blisters) $14

 

Total - $77

Edited December 12, 2009 by vejlin

[rgtriplec]

I play several armies (they are in my signature), but play more Reven than the others. I think both lists are good, I prefer the first because Reven is a horde. Also, since the Reven is the great confederacy you need not worry about racial purity. Bull orcs know all races are below them and that the lesser races live to serve them

 

If you want an all Bull Orc force, but prefer list 1 for now, but think list two will better serve you in the future. Then buy the models you want for your envisioned 1000 point list and just proxy the goblins with Bull Orcs until you get your full 1000 points of orcs.

 

Also remember before you buy, any Reaper figure from any line is a legal proxy. There is a whole new orc faction with a different look coming out... I would guess before the summer cons. The new DHL Black Orcs by Tre Manor are very cool, I also like all the old Garrity DHL orcs. Some people don't like the Bull Orc sculpts, because they look a little pig faced... porks.

[Bearfoot_Adam]

Thanks for the advice all. Omber is on my list for the second 500 pts. as is Varaug. It's nice to know that even 4 archers on a field can be effective.

[rgtriplec]

Thanks for the advice all. Omber is on my list for the second 500 pts. as is Varaug. It's nice to know that even 4 archers on a field can be effective.

 

If you get Varaug, don't forget to get him a Bugbear Bully as a bodyguard. You can enrage/frenzy with Varaug + Bonesplitter to like 9MAV and 6 MAs with the ability to give 2-3 wounds each hit... and if he has a BB or preferably 2 they can Provoke all the Defensive Strikes towards themselves, thus Varaug lives to enrage/frenzy again. It's a beautiful thing.