- Carl_Dillon wrote:
- - 6 pts Kommander Strakhov
11 pts Beast-09
7 pts Marauder
1 pt War dog
5 pts Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 5 Grunts)
2 pts Kayazy Assassin Underboss
4 pts Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
4 pts Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 6 Grunts)
2 pts Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
2 pts Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers x2
3 pts Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
How about this then. It of course isn’t a tier list but has some decent units. I worry that I don’t have enough core units there though.
I could also take out the Marauder and Mortar crew and put in a Spriggan 
First off - Tier lists are nice and fluffy, but very few of them are going to be competitive at a medium-high level of play. If you're cool with that, I think that's great - but you should be aware of it.
Okay, now, on to Strakhov.
The Winterguard are wasted here. Strakhov wants to ram hard-hitting melee down your throat as fast as possible. He will almost always first-strike, so taking units that want to hang back and shoot are totally wasted with him. I love-love-
love WG Infantry, and they're a mainstay in almost all of my lists, but Strakhov just can't use them well.
The Mortar Crew is cool to leverage Sentry, although I personally think they're an overall bad choice (you get one real decent turn of shooting with them before everyone's engaged, and for 3 points, a single 4" POW16 AOE is not cost-effective IMO). However, a lot of other people swear by them, so I'm definitely in the minority here.
The Kayazy are awesome, though you want to max them out. Although with Stealth and DEF16 in melee they're world-beaters once they hit the front-lines, they'll usually be the target of all of your opponent's AOE attacks, and ARM11 means they drop like flies to them. Max the unit to ensure that enough get there intact to do their job.
Now, for your additional infantry choices, here are a few I'd recommend -
Iron Fang Pikemen are a solid staple in any Khador force that likes melee. Strakhov can give them Stealth with his Occultation spell, and under his Feat they have a threat range of 15" (!). With Combined Melee Attack and POW13s they're going to be able to reap through infantry or put a serious hurting on a single hard target.
Great Bears - even better. They hit harder (OMG 4d6 on the charge, MAT8, 2 attacks each, Tough, reach... I could go on and on). However, they're pricey dollar-wise. Toss Occultation on them, though, and your opponent will have no idea what to do if they don't have sprays.
Demo Corps - if you own them, Strakhov has everything that supports them, but I wouldn't be able to justify spending the money on a full unit of them unless you know exactly what you want, and what you want are Demo Corps. Strakhov makes them amazing... but every other caster, not so much.
If you want crazy-insane threat ranges, there's always Cavalry (Uhlans, Fenris, Drakhun, Markov). Going to run you an arm and a leg, but ... 17" threat ranges. Yummy. Expensive dollar-wise, too, but the thought of a unit of Uhlans under Occultation makes me laugh.
Summation, infantry-wise - take Kayazy (stealth) and another infantry melee unit (that can be granted stealth via Occultation).
Now, I know I said Strakhov only wants melee, but the Widowmakers are the exception here, as they can pick off single-wound models from far away to open up charge lanes for your melee. So definitely keep the Widowmakers.
For jacks, Beast-09 and the Spriggan are really the only choices here. Beast because he can go Murderous and gain an additional die (not a boost, an additional, so you can roll 4d6 to hit those pesky high-def casters like Caine) on the attack roll - and of course, he has Thresher; Spriggan because Bulldoze parts enemy models like the Red Sea as he charges, inexorably, into the enemy caster's teeth. Spriggan is also harder to kill (ARM21) and has ranged options. Beast hits harder and is more FOC-efficient due to Heavy Boiler. Its a toss-up. Taking the pair of them together, though, is going to run you a whomping 21 points.
Strakhov only wants one jack. He doesn't have the FOC to run two. You'll be using Strakhov himself to trigger Overrun for your jack when you go on the assassination run.
Solos:
The War Dog - yes. Don't leave home without him.
Strakhov also likes Manhunters for the same reason he likes the Kayazy - natural Stealth, fast, hits like a truck.
Don't discount the value of merc utility solos. Gorman diWulfe can lay down smoke clouds to block LOS to Strakhov (and Black Oil, not cleanliness, is next to Godliness); Orin Midwinter can throw up a 12" null magic zone where your opponent can't cast spells, Eiryss is, well, Eiryss.
....
Also, a note on the Overrun assassination with Beast-09:
Beast-09 has Superiority upkept from the previous round. Strakhov gives him 2 FOC. (3 remaining on Strakhov).
Strakhov pops Feat, casts Overrun, charges something and kills it (boost to hit, because if you don't hit and kill, you just lost the game).
Beast advances 6".
Beast charges for free under Strakhov's Feat, a 15" threat range (Base 4" + 2" (superiority) +3" (charge) +4" (feat bonus) +2" (reach)).
So you're delivering a P+S19 charge attack at MAT9 from 21" away. If it doesn't kill the caster, hit them again. And again. That's what the additional FOC is for, because everyone gets a bad roll every once in a while.
Also, as Matt said, Assault Kommandos suck. not only with Strakhov. They just suck.
Forwarned is forearmed!
