New warcaster onboard - Goreshade the Bastard

I just bought the Witch Coven and Goreshade the Bastard, expanding my number of caster from 4 to 6. Today I will tryout Goreshade and he looks to be quite different from my Skarres in playstyle. For the game today I will be playing 35 points and perhaps a quick 25 points.

Gorehade adds to his battle groups damage output (Shadowmancer = Darkshroud) and therefore I will need some melee jacks to benefit from this. A seether will be my first choice, as goreshade lacks upkeep spells and need to cast spells every turn to impact the game (lacking a ranged weapon and the survivability to use his melee weapon on a regular basis/special actions) the focus efficient nature of this jack will be ideal. As I see him as a mid/back caster due to his def/arm (deathwalker helps a bit)I will need an arch node to use hex blast, which is an okay blast spell with the awesome addition of dispelling upkeep spells/animi. Finally I would like a ranged jack. Two reasons for this, first being to take out screening models that might rob my infantry/seether a good charge, and secondly I will attend a 35 points tournament where we have to spend 20 points on Jacks/beasts and maximum of 5 points on solos so I might as well get some games with less infantry. My best ranged jack is the Leviathan and on most turns Goreshade will have a few focus to throw its way, making it fit the requirement. For the tournament I hope to replace this with malus (I have yet to own the model) and include the wither shadow combine. In my local meta there is a load of steam powered players so they will have plenty of options to use their dark industries (especially with 20 points of jacks). In combination with malice drag and possession, they can hide back and still get a clear charge lane to the back arch (good against those set defense models they miss more often than not).

Having spent 22 points on jacks I will take a unit that is able to hold its own without buffs (because Goreshade offers none), a unit that will not be the ideal target for ranged weapons (because the battle group gets stealth most turns), and finally a unit that is good at taking out infantry. This unit will be a full unit of Satyxis Raiders with Sea witch attachment. Another choice might have been bane Thralls, but I will need them for Goreshades feat, and I find them to be less effective in taking out infantry than all satyxis due to Mat 6 and one attack (the Bane Lord might give then more Mat but that still does not give them reach or 2 attacks).

For soloes I want a war witch siren, to give focus to my arch node leaving mode for the leviathan, a satyxis captain to gain an insane treat range on the satyxis raiders. In place of the withershadow combine that I will use with malice, I will take Tarterous and a necrotech+scrap thrall. The thrall can be used with soul gate to return a jack from a dangerous position, the necrotech can repair any damage it gained during that time. Tarterous will bolster the numbers of the bane thralls gained by Goreshades feat.

So the list looks as follows

Goreshade the Bastard (+6)

Seether (9)

Leviathan (9)

Deathripper (4)

Satyxis Raider Captain (2)

Warwitch Siren (2)

Bane Lord Tarterous (4)

Necrotech and scrap thrall (1)

Full Satyxis Raider unit with Sea witch (10)

Total 35 point (41/41)

If you have some different ideas on how to use Goreshade, please leave a comment, otherwise I will return with some more on him once I get some experience with his playstyle on different point levels and with different army lists.