Ynnari/PoF 2k

I love Beast packs. I always have. That's what I knew I wanted to run when the 5th ed booked dropped. I spent way too much money on them, but I'm so glad I got the first run pewter models before they switched to finecast. My friend was starting his (now quite successful, pandemic aside) gaming store, so I didn't mind overspending to get those beautiful models. And I played them constantly in 5th, but they just haven't really worked since, other than silliness like index razorwings at the dawn of 8th.

So with the new points drop, I knew I was putting beasts back in. The points drop on 4 clawed fiends buys you the beastmaster tax. Scourges also got quite a bit cheaper and I've always loved them too.

That got me thinking...since beasts don't benefit from Obsessions, and neither do Scourges, is there a better way to use them?

So:

Obsession: Ynnari

+ HQ +

Archon [4 PL, 70pts]: Huskblade, Splinter pistol

Yvraine [6 PL, 120pts]

+ Troops +

Kabalite Warriors [3 PL, 50pts]
. 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle
. Kabalite Warrior with special weapon: Blaster
. Sybarite: Splinter Rifle

+ Elites +

Incubi [8 PL, 112pts]
. 6x Incubi: 6x Klaive
. Klaivex: Klaive

Beastmaster [3 PL, 40pts]: Agonist

+ No Force Org Slot +

Beast Unit [2 PL, 36pts]
. Razorwing Flocks
. . 3x Razorwing flock: 3x Razor feathers

Beast Unit [2 PL, 36pts]
. Razorwing Flocks
. . 3x Razorwing flock: 3x Razor feathers

Beast Unit [10 PL, 100pts]
. Clawed Fiends
. . 4x Clawed Fiend: 4x Clawed fists

+ Fast Attack +

Scourges [7 PL, 100pts]
. 4x Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Blaster
. Solarite: Shardcarbine

Scourges [7 PL, 100pts]
. 4x Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Blaster
. Solarite: Shardcarbine

+ Heavy Support +

Ravager [8 PL, 155pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

Ravager [8 PL, 155pts]: Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon, Disintegrator cannon

-----------

Obsession: Prophets of Flesh

+ HQ +

Drazhar [6 PL, 135pts]

Haemonculus [5 PL, 80pts]: Diabolical Soothsayer, Electrocorrosive whip, Liquifier Gun, The Helm of Spite, Warlord

+ Troops +

Wracks [6 PL, 95pts]
. Acothyst: Electrocorrosive whip
. 2x Wrack with special weapon (up to 1 for 5 models): Ossefactor
. 7x Wracks: 7x Haemonculus Tools

Wracks [6 PL, 90pts]
. Acothyst: Haemonculus tools
. 2x Wrack with special weapon (up to 1 for 5 models): Ossefactor
. 7x Wracks: 7x Haemonculus Tools

+ Elites +

Grotesques [10 PL, 200pts]
. 5x Grotesque with Monstrous Cleaver

Mandrakes [4 PL, 75pts]
. 4x Mandrake: 4x Baleblast, 4x Glimmersteel blade
. Nightfiend

+ Fast Attack +

Scourges [7 PL, 80pts]
. 4x Scourge with Special / Heavy weapon: Shredder
. Solarite: Shardcarbine

+ Dedicated Transport +

Raider [5 PL, 85pts]: Dark Lance

Raider [5 PL, 85pts]: Dark Lance

++ Total: [122 PL, 10CP, 1,999pts] ++



For the purposes of the above list, imagine those 2 squads of 10 wracks are one squad of 20.

I got to play a game with this today against my friend's White Scars. I was just so happy to be out of my apartment! He had:

Master of the Forge (Warlord)
Chaplain on Bike
Captain
Apothecary
2x 5 Intercessors
2x 5 Assault Intercessors
2x 3 Outriders
3x Redemptor Dreads
5 Bladeguard Vets

It worked pretty much as intended and I just MSU'd him to death. He went first and pushed hard to try to kill my 20 wracks on the first turn but only killed 17 (after the morale). His gambit left him exposed and I was able to bring back the squad and also kill his bladeguard, apothecary, and both bike squads on turn 1.

From there, his only ability to assert board presence was to move all his troops forward. Which allowed ravagers and Incubi to do what they do to primaris marines. Then all my scourges and mandrakes filled the board and wrecked his back lines.

I had taken Engage on All Fronts, Assassinate, and Mental Interrogation. I was able to kill all 4 characters, interrogate 2, and consistently get EoAF but not always for max points.

He took Engage on All Fronts, Assassinate, and While We Stand, We Fight (Redemptors). He killed 4 of my 5 characters, kept 2 redemptors alive (my goal was to hopefully kill 1, and did), but wasn't able to score engage on all fronts more than on the first turn.

Likewise, I kept him off objectives with counter attacks,  blocking, and board presence that he never scored more than 5 in a turn.

I'm really liking Ynnari for the general utility. Beasts, scourges, and incubi all work better under Ynnari. Between Torturers Craft, Inevitable Fate, and the Unbind Souls psychic power, I could have re-rolls to wound on up to 3 different units in melee.

Thoughts?

The Archon seems like a Tax unit that you may consider dropping for something more spicy. Generally they are used to unlock Kabal patrols or to bring in Court models (great for screening or performing Actions).

Did you get anything out of the 5 warriors? For 50 points you could take 5 vanilla Wyches, which may synergize better with Ynnari abilities and/or keep something tied up for the Grots to charge next turn.

Full disclosure, I dont play Ynnari so I may not know what I am talking about

The Archon is definitely a bit of a tax, but I use him primarily for ravager support/defense. He's certainly not mandatory, and if I feel like I need to scrounge points for something (possibly a 2nd mandrake squad), he'll be the first to go.

The warriors died before they did anything, so didn't get much use out of them. But I figure neither warriors nor wyches are likely to accomplish much, but having an extra lance on the field never hurts. Wyches theoretically synergize with Ynnari a little better, but are so low impact that striking first is unlikely to mean anything.

Going Ynnari is basically a trade. Instead of taking kabal obsessions (FS is the only one I like), Ynnari benefits the Scourges, Incubi, and Beasts. Incubi re-rolling 1s to hit, all wounds, and getting +1 to wound makes them just so efficient. Same with clawed fiends re-rolling wounds and scourges re-rolling 1s to hit.

Ynnari is worth a look now, IMO.

I like Ynnari, and you are correct that it is the best way to take beasts.  Razorwing flocks and clawed fiends have so many wounds that once you put the 5++ psychic power aura on them they can take a lot more punishment than their Drukhari codex versions.  I'm assuming you would be doing that with Yvraine- I go with the Yncarne for the additional 6+++ save it also gives beasts but have found that to be a real pain in decision making when it comes to teleporting around or staying with the beasts.

I don't find the archon to be a tax, it's very solid equipped with a huskblade and blast pistol, and can be given the Ynnari warlord trait that refunds you CPs.  It costs 2 CPs to buy a relic and a warlord trait but you should make those back, and the extra D3 CPs from the PoF warlord mean you should be fine.  Your archon does have to be on the battlefield to refund CPs, so can't be in a vehicle.  The beastmaster, strangely enough, is another candidate for the warlord trait as it's always on the battlefield.  The archon also opens you up to Ynnari court models, which make getting Strength from Death easier as they are single model units and easily killed, as well as functioning as excellent objective holders, action takers, and reserves deniers.  An Ynnari archon also synergizes well with wyches, as the kabal and wych cult keywords become the same reborn drukhari keyword so the archon aura works on them.

For your list, you may consider putting the two raiders in the Ynnari detachment, as they don't gain the PoF obsession but can utilize strength from death on occasion.  Your only loss is the enhanced aethersails stratagem, but they then gain the Ynnari keyword.  It doesn't do much, but may have some uses, again with the Yncarne it gives my transports a 6+++ save if they are within range.

Thanks for pointing me towards using ancestor's grace on Ynnari scourges, I will definitely keep an eye on that combination when the new scourge datasheet comes out. I think there is a possibility that the scourges weapon options will be rewritten like the death guard units were to give you the options that come in the box, so a unit of ten scourges may be able to take 9 special weapons, and rerolling 1's to hit would be quite handy.

Thanks for the reply!

In my first game, I decided to forego the 5++ psychic power in favor of re-rolls 1s to hit and re-roll wounds. Oh how I wish she knew 3 psychic powers! The 5++ is tempting for beasts, or in case Incubi get stuck in combat with some high AP attacks. But the re-roll 1s to hit for 7 Incubi or for Scourges was too tempting. I'll probably swap that out in play testing (as rare as it is these days). As it was, it didn't matter much, I took Mental Interrogation for one of my secondaries and spend most of the game probing, then killing, characters. She only cast psychic powers one time and it was Smite on a Redemptor then Unbind Souls on the Redemptor to make sure I could drag it down with her and Drazhar. Which, BTW, they did but it exploded, doing 3 wounds to both characters and leaving them very vulnerable to further Redemptor shots. Haha! Oh well...

In an effort to save CP, I decided not to give the Archon any warlord trait or the relic sword, though I was tempted by both! Shrine of the Whispering God for the Incubi and having a 2nd patrol brings be down to 9+D3. Though, to be honest, I was thinking of one of the more combat oriented traits and didn't think I'd need it (I was right). But next game I'll take that warlord trait, though probably not the relic sword.

The Raiders, I've gone back and forth with. They do get the +1T from the haemonculus and that sometimes matters depending on how much S5 or S6 attacks they have. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that my raiders are converted 3rd edition ones with corpse cart and talos bits to make them look like haemonculus meat wagons.

I've played around a lot with the Yncarne in the past and I think it's just too expensive. It's pretty fun, but I really like the MSU style of the army. Nothing is more than 200 points and there are only 2 units in that range.