Tactics: Kaya the Wildborne

Kaya the Wildborne

With the imminent release of the variant sculpts of the Hordes battle boxes, I have decided to do a tactics article for each of the battle box warlocks.

First up, pKaya!



Let's take a look at her statline.  Good SPD, average MAT, high DEF (second highest of any warlock/warcaster), low ARM (second lowest, beat only by Bethayne).  She has critical knockdown on her weapon, but at P+S 11, don't expect her to be a reliable assassin.  The last ability on her stat card is Pack Hunter, which gives living warbeasts +2 to hit with a melee attack.  This essentially makes it so many of your warbeasts who would normally need to boost to hit something don't need to anymore (which makes your warbeasts more efficient).

Spells

Occultation - Gives a unit Stealth.  Good for use on units you don't want to get shot.  Ravagers, wolves, reeves are all good targets.
Soothing Song - Lets your beasts go a little hotter than normal with less consequence.  Only usable once per turn, but it lets you have 9 fury out on 3 beasts, then bring the total down to 6.
Spirit Door - Now this is where pKaya shines.  It allows you to overextend a warbeast, have them go nuts on an enemy heavy/unit/etc., then be ported back to safety.  On Kaya's feat turn, this allows you to port 4 beasts back, or port 3 back with enough fury to Soothing Song and camp two for transfers.  The big difference between this spell and eKaya's feat is that you can Spirit Door every turn, allowing you several charges without reprisal.
Spirit Fang - The obligatory magic missile.  If you can knockdown your opponents caster, a spell assassination is not out of the question.  With pKaya's feat, she can cast Spirit Fang 6 times with no boosts, or 4 times boosting damage.  Don't forget that you can slam your own models to try and knockdown the caster!

Beasts


Feral Warpwolf - A man's man's beatstick.  A Khador heavy or two got you down?  Well this guy is your answer.  With Kaya's Pack Hunter, it puts him up to MAT 9, reliably hitting DEF 15+.  With three initial attacks and 4 fury, he can get 7 attacks.  Simply put, he eats everyone.

Pureblood Warpwolf - My favorite use for this guy is to throw sprays at warlocks/warcasters.  At SP10 POW 14, he can easily get some damage on the caster to soften them up for a later assassination.  He's more of a toolbox than a beatstick, but he can put the hurt out if needed.

Warpwolf Stalker - Here's the perfect hybrid of anti-infantry and anti-heavy armor.  He is as fast as the Feral is without needing to warp for SPD, has one more POW on his best melee weapon, and can warp for Berserk for infantry clearing.  He greatly appreciates the +2 to hit that Kaya gives to the battlegroup.

Gnarlhorn Satyr - The slam machine.  With access to Pack Hunters and Spirit Door, the Gnarlhorn can slam, follow up, lay a beat down, and be Spirit Door'd away for protection.  However, he has to get a damage buff in order to hurt high armor.

Shadowhorn Satyr - An assassin disguised as a heavy warbeast.  Again, the Pack Hunter ability helps him greatly, and he can get behind the back lines and wreck havoc with throws.

Argus - He's an awesome missile.  If you like him, go ahead and use him.

Gorax - Circle's punching bag.  Great animus, has 4 fury.  Most importantly, he's only 4 points.  He makes his way into a lot of lists because of his animus and his fury stat.  Most of the time doesn't fight, but could be good at solo hunting.

Units


The only help she gives units is through Occultation.  Because of that, I would suggest Ravagers, Wolves, and Reeves.


Example List


Kaya the Wildborne
-Gnarlhorn Satyr
-Gorax
-Pureblood Warpwolf
-Warpwolf Stalker
Blackclad Wayfarer
Lord of the Feast
Shifting Stones
-Stone Keeper
War Wolf

There's a good balance of anti-high ARM and anti-infantry.  There's also enough movement shenanigans to keep your opponent on their toes.

Well, I think that's about it.  Feel free to add comments and questions below!