Harrowdeep Rivals Review 2: Maze Breachers
We previously wrote up a Rivals review for all of the Beastgrave Warbands (blog here), the Direchasm Warbands & the Illusory Might deck (blog here), and the Harrowdeep Warbands (up to Blackpowder's Buccaneers) (blog here). In this blog, we continue the same pattern, reviewing the Maze Breachers deck from White Dwarf 475. You can see the decklist here (jumps to underworldsdb.com).
Podcast: https://podcast.battle-mallet.com/e/episode-37-hex-ed-breaching-the-nethermaze/
Maze Breachers
No fighter cards to review, but we dive into Warbands you might want to use further down.
Key Cards
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Objectives:
- Contest of Equals (Surge: Score this immediately after a failed attack action if the attack roll and defense roll had the same number of successes - you'll be rolling dice anyway, so this is almost inevitable)
- Fearless Seekers (Score this in an end phase if two or more friendly fighters are on feature tokens in enemy territory - fairly easy setup placing objective and gloom tokens)
- Make a Path (Score this in an end phase if your leader has one or more charge tokens and is in enemy territory AND One or more enemy fighters are out of action - simply need one fighter out and for your leader to charge into enemy territory)
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Gambits:
- Flitting Shadow (Choose one friendly fighter. Push the chosen fighter up to 1 hex towards the nearest enemy fighter - you know we couldn't leave out a push card!)
- Rising Water (-2 from each Fighter's Move characteristic, to a minimum of 0, in the next activation step - really gives you the opportunity to mess up your opponent's play)
- Live for the Fight/Unfair Fight/Whetted Blades (a variety of accuracy cards, crucial to make sure attacks go through, since there aren't a lot of damage upgrades in this deck)
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Upgrades:
- Blunt Force Master (This fighter's Range 1 and Range 2 Attack actions that target an adjacent fighter have Stagger + Reaction: After this fighter's successful Range 1 or Range 2 Attack action, push the target 1 hex away from this fighter - Stagger helps provide accuracy and who doesn't love pushes?)
- Master of Shadows (This fighter is a hunter. + You can re-roll one dice in this fighter's attack rolls while this fighter is in a cover hex - the hunter keyword makes Find a Path easier to score and gives more targets for Elite Advance; plus there's lots of cover, adding accuracy)
- Shadow Keeper (This fighter is on Guard + Reaction: After an enemy fighter's failed Attack action, if this fighter was the target, was adjacent, and there was one or more [Crit] in the defence roll, deal 1 damage to the attacker - One of the most popular cards in Championship format right now, it makes an excellent addition to any Rivals or Rivals+ decks)
Playstyle
Aggro, you want to live in your opponent's territory
What Warband(s) Should I Pick?
Steelheart's Champions, Blackpowder's Buccaneers, Morgok's Krushas, Ironsoul's Condemnors, Mollog the Mighty, the Wurmspat, Khagra's Ravagers
New Player Rating
Silver. This is a well-designed deck that clearly has a plan in mind, but the synergies and positioning required to run it well keep it from getting the Gold rating for New Players. Veterans should expect to be able to have some fun with this!.
