So, I really like fielding Ardus as a unit for his Host of Crows ability; archers with Wind Rune and Combat Ingenuity are fantastic , laying on tons of blight and staying out of combat really well. Host of Crows lets you take them at 2 trays for 30 points instead of 4 trays at 44 points, and if you're taking three of these units, the savings more than pays for Ardus himself.

Ardus is, in theory, more valuable than adding an extra rank to each of these archer units. My main issue now is how best to use him, and which upgrades suit these uses. He's obviously really strong in melee. As a single tray, he can get a flank charge pretty easily (if he hits a corner, he can always choose which side to square up against; see 77.2). In the builds I've been playing with, there's almost always archers around (like I said, I'm taking 3 units of them) so he can deal blight with his surges. If Combat Ingenuity allows him to take the one-surge version of the archers' ability (which is how we've been playing until an FAQ arrives) he can deal a crippling amount of blight fairly easily. If there's a Lancer nearby as well, he could also possibly assassinate unit upgrades and/or take down high armor units more easily.

So let's look at his upgrades:

Unique - These are both so good and so cheap that you should almost always take one:

Ancient Technique - Getting a both-dice full reroll for only 2 points seems like a no-brainer. This is what I've usually been taking.

Ardus' Fury - Giving this one more thought. Again, assuming the ruling is that he can steal the one-surge version of the archers' surge ability, this would allow him to guarantee one blight on almost every hit and two blight when he's willing to dial in Surge instead of the other appealing options on his modifier dial. With a Lancer nearby it becomes even better, piling on mortal strikes.

Artifact - Lots of options, but much more expensive to get anything good:

Fortuna's Dice - Less dependence on luck is always great, and with a white rally option on his modifier dial, you can use it every turn if you want.

Reaping Blade - There's only one blank face on the white dice, so you'll definitely play games where this doesn't do anything. Still, when it does happen, you'll usually be glad it did? This is also the cheapest option.

Shield of Margath - Seems really strong, especially since Ardus' melee happens on initiative 3 and has a white +1 Defense modifier.

The Duskblade - Feels overcosted on Ardus, both in points and in how many surges it takes to activate. Wouldn't you usually rather spend those surges on blight?

So what does everyone else think? It seems like he's got a lot of potential and good flexibility, but deciding which options to take ahead of time in a take-all-comers list is tricky.

I agree with everything you said. Call me simple-minded, but it never occurred to me to use his white modifiers to make Fortuna's Dice and Shield of Margath better. Oh sure, I've heard that the Daqan heroes love those tricks, but I didn't realize that Ardus can pull the same antics.

I reach for Shield of Margath, first. It at least, I would. I am still playing skirmish games, so I haven't tried it yet, but that's the one I choose in all my 200 point armies I'd like to try out.

Shield of Margath for me is turning into the "I don't NEED an artifact to make this unit work, but i HAVE a few extra poimts" upgrade. It's almost ALWAYS useful unless the hero never gets attacked. It's also a great "are ya sure you wanna do that?" upgrade

5 hours ago, oda204 said:

Shield of Margath for me is turning into the "I don't NEED an artifact to make this unit work, but i HAVE a few extra poimts" upgrade. It's almost ALWAYS useful unless the hero never gets attacked. It's also a great "are ya sure you wanna do that?" upgrade

Exactly! And who doesn't want a spiky shield made from dragon scales?

However, I did have a spectacularly awful roll with Ankaur Maro. I finally got all four unstable runes showing, and was so excited to roll 4 white dice. I rolled 1 hit and 3 blanks. Ugh! Reaping Blade would have been immensely helpful, except that he needed Heartseeker to be able to shoot his target anyway.

I think with Ardus I don't need Reaping Blade so much if I give him Ancient Technique. Although I'm really liking the idea of Ardus + Ardus' Fury + Fortuna's Dice fighting alongside Ankaur Maro to guarantee healing on every attack. Could be great, but could also be entirely useless, depending on what he's up against.

Maro for me has seen more usage with Violent Forces and Fortunas Dice as a reliable way to put damage into multiwound models for Executioner to finish off. I primarily bring Ardus for his Feast of Crows ability if at all.

On 7/4/2017 at 8:54 AM, Parakitor said:

Exactly! And who doesn't want a spiky shield made from dragon scales?

However, I did have a spectacularly awful roll with Ankaur Maro. I finally got all four unstable runes showing, and was so excited to roll 4 white dice. I rolled 1 hit and 3 blanks. Ugh! Reaping Blade would have been immensely helpful, except that he needed Heartseeker to be able to shoot his target anyway.

I think with Ardus I don't need Reaping Blade so much if I give him Ancient Technique. Although I'm really liking the idea of Ardus + Ardus' Fury + Fortuna's Dice fighting alongside Ankaur Maro to guarantee healing on every attack. Could be great, but could also be entirely useless, depending on what he's up against.

Reaping blade is Melee only, it would not have helped. Maro is kinda disappointing as a solo hero.

46 minutes ago, Polda said:

Reaping blade is Melee only, it would not have helped. Maro is kinda disappointing as a solo hero.

I agree totally. Maro is much better as a unit upgrade. In a 2x2 reanimates block he shines.

Sigh. So many more packs of Reanimates to buy just to run Ankaur in a support unit (I have only 6 trays of Reanimates so far).

It's a shame because Ankaur's modifier dial is so tantalizing!

Back to solo Ardus.

As with so much in the Waiqar army synergy is everything. So far Ancient Technique has appeared to be the default option for the reroll but have people been trying Ardus Fury and then dialing up a surge.

Near a unit with Front Line Carrion Lancer attacking a unit with a blight token that is a guaranteed 2 mortal wounds. With the white dice there's a good chance of 3 mortal wounds. Add either reaping blade for the blank results or Fortuna's Dice for a precise or extra mortal wounds and all of a suddenly Ardus takes out Hawthorn in 2 turns (without worrying about that defense 5 Hawthorn can dial up). He can remove any model upgrade in big blocks.

42-44pts.

Ardus's biggest benefit to me is simply this: Host of Crows. I will bring him JUST FOR THIS ABILITY.

On 7/14/2017 at 4:03 PM, Thornoo1 said:

Back to solo Ardus.

As with so much in the Waiqar army synergy is everything. So far Ancient Technique has appeared to be the default option for the reroll but have people been trying Ardus Fury and then dialing up a surge.

Near a unit with Front Line Carrion Lancer attacking a unit with a blight token that is a guaranteed 2 mortal wounds. With the white dice there's a good chance of 3 mortal wounds. Add either reaping blade for the blank results or Fortuna's Dice for a precise or extra mortal wounds and all of a suddenly Ardus takes out Hawthorn in 2 turns (without worrying about that defense 5 Hawthorn can dial up). He can remove any model upgrade in big blocks.

42-44pts.

Ardus is mostly using Ardus' Fury and dialing in a surge modifier from me. It works great, unless he gets sniped out in a single attack...

What units are good with host of crows? There is the blightcaller blocks, and the 2x1 archers with wind rune and CI. What else are people doing?

you can take reanimates with dispatch runner in a 4 tray unit and thats massive

With Host of Crows, a two tray unit of Carrion Lancers could pick up tempered steel or master crafted weapons, both good picks. I haven't tried out Wind Rune on a unit of two carrion lancers yet, but in theory it sounds good. There's also good synergy between Ardus and Lancers as he can pick up their ability to do mortal strikes, and perhaps just as wicked, their Master Crafted weapon damage, especially with combat ingenuity, can help out with low armor foes.

The biggest problem with Ardus is just that he feels like he should be a tank, but seems to act like a pinata. I've had him ripped from the field of battle with no real actions at all.

3 hours ago, Aetheriac said:

The biggest problem with Ardus is just that he feels like he should be a tank, but seems to act like a pinata. I've had him ripped from the field of battle with no real actions at all.

Same. There are games where he dominates, and games where he folds. My problem is that I can't find a common thread between the games where I lose him, so I don't know how to change my tactics. I suppose that means I have to play more games with him, but I'm loving Violent Maro too much at the moment.

5 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Same. There are games where he dominates, and games where he folds. My problem is that I can't find a common thread between the have where I lose him, so I don't know how to change my tactics. I suppose that means I have to play more games with him, but I'm loving Violent Maro too much at the moment.

I'm just experimenting all around now. With my winter league we are allowing for list changes. First list is sans heros.

Death Knights [42]
The Duskblade [8]
File Leader [6]
Moment of Inspiration [5]
Total Unit Cost: 61

Death Knights [42]
Obcasiums Gauntlet [5]
Dispatch Runner [7]
Moment of Inspiration [5]
Total Unit Cost: 59

Carrion Lancers [15]
Total Unit Cost: 15

Carrion Lancers [15]
Total Unit Cost: 15

Reanimate Archers [18]
Combat Ingenuity [6]
Total Unit Cost: 24

Reanimate Archers [18]
Combat Ingenuity [6]
Total Unit Cost: 24

On ‎14‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 2:03 PM, Thornoo1 said:

Back to solo Ardus.

As with so much in the Waiqar army synergy is everything. So far Ancient Technique has appeared to be the default option for the reroll but have people been trying Ardus Fury and then dialing up a surge.

Near a unit with Front Line Carrion Lancer attacking a unit with a blight token that is a guaranteed 2 mortal wounds. With the white dice there's a good chance of 3 mortal wounds. Add either reaping blade for the blank results or Fortuna's Dice for a precise or extra mortal wounds and all of a suddenly Ardus takes out Hawthorn in 2 turns (without worrying about that defense 5 Hawthorn can dial up). He can remove any model upgrade in big blocks.

42-44pts.

I don't ever dial in a surge with Ardus. His white armour or bonus hit are just better as his attack is imitative 3. This essentially makes both modifiers reduce damage taken either by killing more units or gaining one armour.

I do however like Ardus fury as I usually play Ardus as an interceptor who plays near the archers and lancers. Ardus has one hit a few Heroes when he rolls a few surges by applying blights and using the lancers abilities.

8 hours ago, Aetheriac said:

The biggest problem with Ardus is just that he feels like he should be a tank, but seems to act like a pinata. I've had him ripped from the field of battle with no real actions at all.

Ardus looks like he should be a tank with that massive armor, but he is an assassin. Play him as a flanker, or as someone to come in after a blocker has taken the brunt. His ability to come in late game and devastate is great, he is no tank though. Even with his +1 defense he's squishy. 3/3 is not a tank.