Victor Analysis and Theorycraft

Some of the biggest new releases for each faction in Warmachine: Reckoning are the new colossals being introduced. Everyone was surprised when they were announced during the TempleCon 2015 Privateer Press keynote presentation; I don't think anyone expected a second set of colossals so relatively soon after the first set (or, possibly, ever). This second set of colossals was made all the more interesting by being seemingly designed to be slightly more support oriented than the original colossals (some more so than others, though none were advertised as flat out weapons platforms like the Stormwall).

Now that the community has had the final rules for all these new colossals in hand (and have so for a couple of weeks now), everyone is trying to decide what lists these new colossals fit into (if any). Moreover, since the new colossals often bring with them different point totals (all but the Revelator are cheaper than their counterparts, with the Revelator being more expensive) and the likelihood that more players will own two colossals (collectors will end up with one of each, while some new colossals may lend themselves to some "double" builds), this new wave of colossals may usher in a time of more aggressive double, possibly even triple, colossal list use.

Regardless of how they'll be used, now is a great time for each faction that received a new colossal to get back into the lab and see what these new models may have done for their list options. I've been pondering the various benefits, drawbacks, and uses for Victor (the new Khador colossal) since its rules were spoiled during Lock & Load, and I have plenty of thoughts to share. Join me in the dojo, after the break.


Victor's Role:
I won't get into the nitty gritty of Victor's stats; Reckoning is readily available in print and digital form, the cards from that release are in War Room, and if you still don't have any point of reference for what Victor's stats are, someone may have posted them somewhere.

What I want to instead look at is what Victor is potentially useful for in general, which involves taking a step back and looking at its abilities in abstract.

Starting with the Siege Mortar: it has a fantastically long RNG (if you've never messed around with Mortar Crews before, know that RNG 20 roughly equals "table" after you run once) and Arcing Fire, which allows it to put shots into places that most other models would have great difficulty reaching.

The Siege Mortar also boasts a 5" AOE, which gives it great coverage on scatters (or clipping nearby models if you somehow hit with it). Speaking of that inaccuracy, the Siege Mortar is clearly meant to be a bombardment weapon, as it is saddled with Inaccurate (making it very difficult to directly hit models, especially when combined with RAT 4) and Minimum Range [6] (removing the ability to use the weapon against nearby targets).

All of that combines to paint a pretty straightforward picture of how the Siege Mortar should generally be used: find the largest concentration of enemy models that your opponent doesn't want blasted to smithereens, and lob a shell at it. The RNG of the Siege Mortar and Arcing Fire make it very difficult for your opponent to deny you targets entirely, and Victor's Huge base gives it additional leeway in drawing LOS lines, giving it extra ways to get sneaky shots off.

That bombardment is enhanced by the Ammo Types available to the Siege Mortar. The most obvious, and what you'll probably be using for 90% of its shots, is the Incindiary type: causing fire on hit makes the Siege Mortar's AOE that much more likely to kill any infantry it hits, and it allows the Siege Mortar to be a threat against models that would otherwise not care about POW 8 blast damage (models with Force Barrier, Shield Wall, multiple wounds, etc.)

Warcasters and, to a lesser extent, warlocks often greatly dislike being on fire. Victor is unlikely to hit directly with its Siege Mortar barring amazing dice rolls, but even a missed shot has a fair chance of still clipping a small based model thanks to the size of the AOE (based on this handy reference, it looks like a 5" AOE always has roughly a 50% chance to hit its target, even on a deviation). Moreover, warcasters, warlocks, and other important models sometimes have the misfortune to end up near models that are much more feasible for Victor to hit - low DEF heavies, knocked down models, objectives - so there is also an element of control that may come up during the game as your opponent tries to avoid giving you an easy chance at boosted blast damage + fire on their 'caster/'lock.

Victor's harassment elements aren't limited to just threatening to set stuff on fire - the Crater ammo type can have a powerful effect on the game if you can get it in the proper spots. A 5" area of rough terrain is a big chunk of the table, and it can also be a massive hindrance to models that don't have a way around it. Even for lists that have an answer for difficult terrain, placing Craters can force your opponent to do things they may not have wanted to otherwise in order to mitigate it (especially if you end up forcing activation order complications).

Finally, to round out its shooting package, Victor has a bit of an enabler with its Flare ammo type. In my opinion, this is likely to be the shell that is fired the least often, but conversely it will probably have the greatest effect on the game when it is. Having a random source of DEF debuffing - that doesn't rely on hitting directly - is a powerful tool to have on tap, and it can do wonders for your attack odds when going after high DEF targets. Landing a Flare on an opposing 'caster/'lock takes even the dodgiest ones down to DEF 15, and most will be reduced to DEF 13/14; well within the range where just about anything in the rest of your list has a fair chance of hitting.

To review: the Siege Mortar is a flexible gun that is primarily oriented towards bombarding your opponent's precious models off the table. It is a weapon specifically well suited for killing infantry (especially since they tend to provide the best clouds of models to drift templates into), but the various ammo types give it enough versatility to be a generally useful gun. It is also a very random gun (since you'll rarely be directly hitting with it), which works in your favor and against you at the same time: bad drifts can greatly diminish what Victor accomplishes each turn, but at the same time your opponent can't really plan for where the templates will go. At best, they can anticipate the general area of impact, but random scatters will pick up models they thought were otherwise safe just as often as they will kill nothing of note.

Supplementing the Siege Mortar are Victors other weapons: its two Autocannons (one in each firing arc) and its mighty fists (also one in each arc).

The Autocannons are interesting weapons due to how they cover for the range of the Siege Mortar. Where the Siege Mortar is primarily going to be used to throw shells down the table (indeed, it can't even fire at nearby targets), the Autocannons can only be used against models that are in relatively close proximity to Victor. Combine that with their potentially high volume of fire - 2 shots minimum, 6 shots maximum - and the Autocannons serve the role of general anti-infantry gun. Victor can plant itself and fire Siege Mortar shots well into enemy lines while also churning out a hail of gunfire (RAT 6 if aiming) at any infantry that is rolling up on it. Not too bad to start with, and it only gets better if you add in accuracy buffs (Signs & Portents, Hand of Fate, Fortune).

It is also worth noting that there is a magical band between 6.01" and 10" where Victor can potentially aim, throw at Flare shot at a target, and then open up on it with its Autocannons. Given that this is within even an unbuffed Victor's charge range, I don't imagine it will come up often, but its worth bearing in mind. 2d3 RAT 8, POW 12 shots can clean up against certain targets, and its not always possible to find a place to fit a colossal in melee range (point of fact, sometimes its maddeningly impossible).

Speaking of melee, Victor's fists are the final piece of its offensive puzzle. Khador is, thankfully, fairly well blessed with warjack movement buffs, so in many lists Victor will have an 11" threat range (or greater, in some cases). Conquest has proven to be a fantastic melee beater - P+S 22 plus any available buffs handles almost anything - and Victor hits just as hard, so it can easily make the transition from gun platform to melee monster when the time comes.

(No, I didn't forget Flak Fire on the Autocannons. It is a cute rule, and better to have than not, but in practice it probably isn't going to come up all that often due to the distribution of models that actually have Flight and are likely to be targets of Victor's Autocannons. Legion is probably your best bet to make use of it, so try to remember it there).

Victor vs Conquest:
Humans love to compare and contrast. It is a very valuable tool in learning about something very quickly, and it also helps tremendously when trying to make a quick value judgment.

It should come as no surprise that one of the biggest discussions raging around some of the new colossals is: which is better, this new one, or the old one? Please note: Stormwall does not partake in this discussion; it can't hear us from its throne on high.

Sometimes in Warmachine (as in all wargames) there are models that fulfill similar roles, but one model is notably advantaged over the other. In those situations, choosing the model you want to put into a list is usually straightforward. However, it is much more often the case that comparing two similar models is more about the subtle differences, which can in turn make it tricky to identify which model is the better choice for a given list.

At first, I was wowed by Victor's rules. As my initial reaction has cooled, I was still very impressed by the initial experience I had using Victor; two Victors, point of fact. Now that I've used Victor in what feels like a more normal style of list, I think my feelings about its capabilities have settled on where they will probably be for awhile.

Equipped with that knowledge, I feel very confident in giving the definitive answer as to which is better: Victor or Conquest.

Ready?

Short Version: It depends. Both colossals have enough merits in specific situations that I can see taking one over the other (either way) depending on the list you have in mind. Victor is the better generalist, but when Conquest is what you need, its what you need.

Long Version:

The biggest issue that Victor has, and what has caused many Khador players no end of consternation, is that it's Siege Mortar is more of a suggestion than it is something you can plan for. Harkevich does a lot to mitigate that by giving you two chances at it with Broadsides (and four templates total with a second Victor), but when you're only firing one shot with Victor each turn it definitely hurts when that template scatters off into nothing (or blast damage doesn't break ARM, or fire goes out, or...) Inaccuracy is also not something easily compensated for; even aiming, you're still looking at needing 8's or 10's to hit most enemy heavies.

Conquest's Main Guns are much more reliable if you are looking to shoot something specific, and want a chance of hitting it. RAT 4 requires boosting to hit much of anything, but that boosting also increases your critical chances (as seen in this other handy reference table) and Critical Devastation is half the fun of playing a Conquest, so it works out. The shorter range (though still great by general ranged attack standards), lack of Arcing Fire, and smaller template make it worse at taking out infantry and support models. Which is, as one might expect, where the Siege Mortar excels: the tremendous RNG, Arcing Fire, and size of template makes the Siege Mortar very well equipped to target choice pockets of infantry.

In terms of secondary effects of their main guns, both models bring something to the table. Victor is much more consistent, as all it needs to do is choose an ammo type and throw out a template. A 5" Incindiary template can do a lot of damage if it lands in the right spot. The alternative ammo types give the Siege Mortar utility in other applications, which helps increase its general value. Conversely, Conquest's Main Guns rely on a critical effect for their secondary effect, but it can be absolutely explosive and game changing when it comes up. That randomness is a notable downside, however; for every game that it comes up, there will be plenty of games with zero crits, and you can't bank on getting that critical to inform your target selection when shooting with the Main Guns.

The secondary guns on both models are roughly equivalent, with (again) situational caveats. The more I've used Conquest, the more I've come to appreciate Creeping Barrage - it pathetically weak, but it covers a remarkable area of the table so it can at least force a number of damage rolls (which is often hard to do with straight shots from the guns). If it wasn't blast damage, I would probably actually sort of love it. That is counter-acted by how janky I've found the straight shots on the Secondary Batterys to be over the years: anything you're likely to get the bonus shot against, you're not likely to kill, and anything you can probably kill with it, makes it so you only get one shot each out of the secondary guns (they're effectively a re-roll most of the time).

Victor's secondary guns, on the other hand, are much more likely to generate 2 shots each a turn and can even spread those shots around multiple targets (albeit still constrained by the Auto Fire rule). The shorter RNG is a bit of a kick in the head, but I still like the Autocannons more as a general secondary gun; I can see them picking off a handful of infantry at close range, whereas I've rarely seen the Secondary Batterys kill more than one model apiece using direct fire.

Conquest's secondary guns are more valuable in situations where they are good - denying board space to low ARM infantry, shooting at a low DEF target that they can also damage - but Victor's secondary guns are more likely to be generally useful (without any real peak moments).

The culmination of all this jabbering is that Conquest appears to be most useful when you have choice targets to leverage his Main Guns against (enemy heavies, another colossal, possibly 'caster, rarely troops), when the Creeping Barrage will be a legitimate hindrance to your opponent (aggressive, low ARM infantry), and when you want to be able to put 5 shots into a target at RNG 12 (stationary/KD 'casters or heavies, objectives).

Victor is not necessarily better in all other cases, but it has enough flexibility with its Siege Mortar to have a useful option most of the time. Furthermore, the AOE 5 and Incindiary ammo type it brings to the table makes it a much more consistent anti-infantry gun than Conquest's Main Guns (even accounting for Inaccurate on the Siege Mortar). Victor's lower cost also makes it the more palatable "general" warjack - you're still getting lots of damage boxes, Pathfinder, high P+S Reach melee, and some useful guns, all for a lower cost than Conquest. Victor is also much more "hands off" than Conquest; where Conquest will often want 1 or 2 focus for boosts into a specific target, Victor can usually get by without any allocation.

If you already own a Conquest, you don't necessarily need to rush to sell it before everyone catches on about Victor. Conquest is likely to still have a home in some places - Vlad1 for sure - and can be very useful depending on your build. However, if someone were just starting out and looking at which Khador colossal to purchase, I'd probably steer them towards Victor. It may not have some of the peaks that Conquest can have, but it is likely to be more consistent, and more consistently useful across multiple lists.

Run Victor Run:
Here is something to bear in mind when using Victor. Some of this also applies to colossals in general, but I feel it is especially germane to using Victor effectively:

Even when going second, seriously consider running Victor forward on your first turn. This is, I've found, good general colossal advice: it can be easy to be seduced into taking early game shots if you go second (when "advance + shoot" ranges can reach aggressive enemy models).

Resist, and think it through! Colossals are big, expensive models that need to do a lot of things in order to contribute meaningfully to the game. Part of that is, of course, blowing up enemy models. But a much more important part (possibly *the* most important part, depending on the game being played) is to have a strong scenario presence. Your colossal needs to be able to step in and secure a zone if you need it to, or charge in and smash up other durable models your opponent has committed to stop you from scoring (or, use swag power attacks to clear the zone). Exerting that scenario presence becomes much more difficult if you don't run forward first turn, especially since Victor is the Khador gold standard of warjack SPD (4).

Another factor, which is admittedly much less of an issue with Victor, is that foregoing a first turn run often results in sub-optimal threat projection starting on turns 2+. Running first turn will probably put you in range to aim and shoot anything relevant to scenario; advancing and shooting first turn usually results in having to do so again the next turn, which lowers your accuracy and ability to really threaten certain models.

Victor is doubly equipped to seduce you into advancing and shooting for the first few turns of the game: the range and inaccuracy of the Siege Mortar makes it much less of an issue for you to take an aggressive board position early in the game. You'll be able to shoot 34" in on the table on your first activation with Victor if you go second - far enough to be able to start putting templates into your opponent's infantry if they ran forward full speed on their turn 1.

However, taking that first shot is also keeping Victor 4" further away from scenario zones, which could prove disastrous later in the game when you need to contest/control/threaten but come up short (possibly forcing a run then, which is often worse than running early in the game).

I'm not saying there is never a reason to have Victor simply advance and shoot; all colossals face this dilemma, and sometimes it ends up being the better play long term to be cautious early on. Maybe your opponent has lots of fast, jamming infantry that you need to thin out (and are thus better doing over the course of a few advance + shoot turns). Maybe they have heavies that can seriously damage or destroy your colossal that are already in a dangerous board position. Or heck, maybe you can just afford to take it more slowly with your colossal because you can cover early game scenario presence with other army elements.

The point is: seriously consider if advancing and shooting first turn with Victor is going to be better than running in the long term. Especially since you're relying on scatter, blast damage, and fire damage rolls to make that first shot worthwhile. Sometimes it will be (and I think those moments will stand out), but for the most part you'll be better off running first turn and starting bombardment on turn 2.

Victor In Lists:
One of the things I keep mentioning about Victor is that it is a good "generalist" colossal. The upside to that is that Victor can slot well into just about any list you want, provided that a colossal in general is a good fit. The downside is that, being sort of generally useful, Victor also isn't an "aw hell yeah" inclusion in most lists (though there is at least one).

A recent example of a good spot for Victor is in the Sorscha2 list I've been running:

Sorscha2 - Victor:
Forward Kommander Sorscha (*6pts)
   * Victor (18pts) [Bonded]
   * Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
   * Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
   * Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
   * 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers (2pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)

The primary virtue of Conquest in this list was that it makes for a fantastic bond target due to its high durability, large base size, and hitting power (especially combined with Sorscha2's feat). There is also some value in Creeping Barrage against random infantry units, particularly Mechanithralls since this is more meant to be my Cryx drop.

However, Sorscha2 doesn't often have the focus available to feed Conquest's Main Guns, which often results in turns where the big guy just stands around, throwing out templates relatively ineffectually. Sorscha2 also doesn't really need the direct shooting aspect of Conquest in general - her feat offsets the need for early attrition as much, and the combined efforts of WGI, Nyss, and Great Bears often makes up for as much (or more) damage than boosted shots from Conquest may have produced.

Victor can do a lot more with a lot less; even without any focus, it is still throwing around flaming templates, rough terrain, and DEF debuffs. Victor is also a point cheaper, while still having the same durability and hitting power as Conquest. The potential of the Incindiary shot from Victor is also very desirable in some match ups where the WGI and Nyss will have trouble performing ranged attrition adequately: "one round" defensive buffs, Shield Wall, Force Barrier, etc.

Or, a more extreme application of Victor:

Harkevich - Wolf Pack T4:
Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf (*5pts)
* Black Ivan (9pts)
* Victor (17pts)
* Victor (17pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew (Leader and 2 Grunts) (2pts)
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew (Leader and 2 Grunts) (2pts)
Man-o-war Drakhun (without dismount) (4pts)

Some version of "Harkevich + Victor (x2)" is probably the most output you're ever going to see out of this new colossal. Broadsides is significantly more effective when it is generating another two 5" AOEs that are firey/difficult terrain/a DEF debuff, Fortune helps to make the secondary guns on one Victor more accurate (and give you more of a hope of hitting heavies with the Siege Mortar), and the feat allows for a huge offensive turn backed up by a lot of durability.

The theme facilitates running and casting Broadsides on turn 1 which, with a little luck, can start netting you kills before your opponent has even activated a model. I also really like having the wreck markers to give Harkevich some protection as he moves up the table, especially since this list already doesn't spread out very well. Alternatively, you can drop the theme list, which costs you the first turn running Broadsides and wreck markers, but allows you to pick up a host of solos and units that help to round out the list a bit more.

Regardless of how you use it, Victor is almost certainly most at home with Harkevich. Even just one Victor should give his battlegroup the long range, effective bombardment it has always wanted; two is just doubling down on a great pairing. Although the double Victor build with Harkevich immediately feels like a great way to go with him, I think there is merit in exploring single Victor builds, especially in the theme list. Victor looks to be just the shot in the arm (beard) that Harkevich needed to get into the competitive circuit (though time will tell how high his star will rise with his new BFF).

And finally, a somewhat more "left field" list that I've been kicking around:

Old Witch - Useful Augury:
Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch of Khador (*3pts)
   * Victor (18pts)
   * Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
   * Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Goblin Tinker (1pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Koldun Lord (2pts)

This is a very rough cut, but I think it illustrates the idea: Old Witch + Victor + infantry to taste.

The Old Witch and I haven't really been on good terms since the start of Mk. 2. She has some powerful tools that make her a strong scenario 'caster and give her a lot of ways to mitigate or kill enemy infantry. What has always thrown me with her is the combination of trying to balance having something useful in her battlegroup - in my experience, she really wants to spend her focus each turn, leaving her precious little to fuel warjacks - and having infantry that complements whatever you take there. 

And then there are my frustrations with Augury. Its a cool ability that is often very useful. In theory. In practice, I'd often find myself in situations where, even though I can draw LOS past forests and clouds, I can't really hit what I want to shoot at due to the low RAT on Khador warjacks. Combine that with the aforementioned lack of focus to go around, and I felt like I never got much use out of Augury even in the best situations.

Victor is probably the best warjack Khador can take in order to get some use out of Augury. Augury removes two more things that can block LOS (making it so that Victor ignores clouds, forests, and most models with its Siege Mortar), and the nature of the Siege Mortar makes the defensive bonuses provided by clouds and forests less of an issue (its not like Victor was likely to directly hit anyways). Victor brings a firing platform to Old Witch's list, and one that plays into her control/anti-infantry game, while also giving her access to the best melee model she can take in terms of native threat range and hitting power (all important, since Old Witch does zilch to help her army on those fronts).

The tricky part after that becomes filling out the rest of the list to complement that core. I clearly don't have the solution - the list I've posted feels very hodgepodge and "cover the basic bases" - but I think it is a very interesting idea to test out. This is the first time in years I've been interested in actually playing Old Witch, and its all thanks to Victor.

Closing Thoughts:

Victor, like pretty much all of the second wave of colossals, is a pretty impressive piece of design. Specifically in Victor's case: it is a colossal that offers some support to its army, without being passive, and it brings a new trick to a tried and true army tactic. Khador has a long history of scattering AOEs, but never before have those AOEs been on fire!

The net result is that Victor is a pretty excellent general purpose colossal - it may not slot perfectly into every list (the only time I think "yes, this is what was destined" is with Harkevich), but it brings enough to the table to be useful whenever you bring it. At the same time, Victor's suite of abilities is different enough from Conquest's that Victor doesn't overwrite it's predecessor (though I'd be surprised if most players in the future purchased a Conquest before buying a Victor). 

Victor has me excited to try a bunch of different lists. I've already had a lot of fun (and good results) using it with Harkevich and Sorscha2, and I'm looking forward to getting in more practice with both of those lists (especially Harkevich). The general utility of Victor has me interested in revisiting 'casters that I had used Conquest with, but didn't quite click (most of the time due to the specific nature of Conquest's abilities). Old Witch is the example I listed previously, but I'm also interested in revisiting both Irusks, at least one Vlad, both Zerkovas, and Strakov, to see how they can maybe make use of Victor.

Hopefully this post has inspired you to take a Victor or two for a spin in some of your favorite lists. If anyone has any insights or additional thoughts to share about their time with Victor, I'd love to hear about them.

As always, thanks very much for reading!