Star Belly Geek's Diskwars Pages

K'Ryth Strategies

The K'Ryth are an interesting army. On one hand, you have few options (only 24 different disks). On the other hand, there are only two Champion disks (Kortakayas and G'yllk the Primeval) and another disk (Doppleganger) that thrives when combined with disks from other factions. See the K'Ryth army analysis for details on the units. Note: I discuss the Doppleganger below, but it has been banned from League play, so check with your group before constructing armies that rely on the Doppleganger.

In general, the K'Ryth have an easy time outnumbering their opponents, since they have fast, cheap units that are easy to get. Use that to your advantage - each turn, don't bring out your power units first unless you need them to be somewhere quickly. Instead, move inconsequential disks until your opponent is almost out of Activations, then start your assault. One exception to this should occur when you are moving first and are in a position to attack effectively with multiple units - in that case, pin your opponent and swarm over opposing units.

Setting up an effective attack is the trick. The K'Ryth don't have a lot of units with good attack values. With the K'Zayas Master close by, the Spawn are very effective, but that confines attacks to a fairly small area. On the other hand, Monkeys and Wasps can pin things for a good long time, Noz Arack can stop opponents for a round or two, and the Charg'r Venom Spitter can freeze them for the rest of the game, so you have some flexibility. Let's look at the ways the K'Ryth can attack:

1. The K'Zayas Master has a range of 12 inches on that instant destruction ability, and Dopplegangers can duplicate it to give you a fairly large field of fire - great for taking out high-toughness multi-wound enemies.
2. The Worm of the Wastes is a Swashbuckling Burrower with a respectable Defense and good Toughness. You have to work to get the Worm in range (more on that later) but it can be very effective (especially with a Reflect spell!).
3. The Seeker offers the only decent attack flier in the faction, but is fairly durable and can quickly destroy enemy spellcasters.
4. K'Toraz can be as effective as Da'Roul Bonesplicer when berserking.
5. The Wastelands Charger can wipe several disks at once if moved into place carefully (much like the Worm...).
6. The Kayazok Bone Shooter offers the potential for a nice ranged attack to complement the K'zayas Master's instant blow.

The other units in the faction are interesting utility units, but not really appropriate for big assaults. The Cha'Taga Mother just doesn't pack enough punch, for example, and the Master is too useful to risk in combat. At first glance, the Kardaki Beast looks like a good attacker, but it's not very durable for its cost, and can only attack opponents that are already near another K'Ryth disk. Chak'al Star Beasts wouldn't be bad, but for their cost there are better options available.

Notice that the K'Ryth units don't have very good defenses (other than the Worm). This means that you really have to carry the battle to your opponent. Don't let enemy swashbucklers or, worse, instant kill units (Firbolg, Beastriders, Children of Pestilence, Magma Bombers) get into your backfield before your assault is launched, and always pin disks that can use instant blows to kill multiple Spawn (Helspanth's Brood, Soul Leech, Alchemist). The only way the K'Ryth are going to stop a Spiderbeast or Great Roc is by covering it in Spawn and using the Master's special ability.

The Doppleganger's special ability is currently the easiest ability to abuse in the game. K'Ryth players should exploit that mercilessly. Comb through all of the good and neutral disks finding special abilities to duplicate and seriously considering taking 40 or so points worth of those disks in every army. You could go "pure," with the Kortakayas and G'yllk for spell support. That army could be a lot of fun to play. If you are primarily interested in winning, however, sacrificing the Kortakayas for the chance to take Harbingers or Grotag Kynhyld is just too tempting.

Even with the Doppleganger disallowed in League play, the incentive to mix armies is great. Trading G'yllk for the Undead's Necromancer Farrenghast costs two more points and nets a much better disk. In fact, the K'Ryth are even more frightening when combined with lots of Undead disks. Mix in Uthuk berserkers or Dragon heavies to surprise your opponents. If creepy demons are effective, can't creepy demons Plus be even more effective?