Pure House Bolton Army (not including NCUs and attachments) v1.5

[sacrilege83]

So before v1.5 I use to run 2 Flayed Men with Girls and Cutthroats, Roose Commander, Littlefinger, Ramsey, Dreadfort Captain as my 40 pts army and had moderate success. Most of my losses came by Night's Watch and Starks. Back then I found the Flayed Men as the work horse of the army with the other two units as support. They were still playable under v1.5, but after v1.5.1 I don't even consider them without their sustain combat abilities.

Now with v1.5 I run 2 Blackguards, 2 Girls, 1 Cutthroats, Ramsey Commander, NCUs and Attachments are flexible. So far I'm 1 & 1.

Bastard Girls are my new favourite unit now that they have Vicious. I use to make the mistake of placing them behind Stakes like they're regular bowmen but they're not and do not have the fire power as other archer units as they only throw 4 dice at full strength. For myself I keep them to the flank of my leading Blackguard but never far behind. That way if the Blackguard get charged and engaged in the front, hopefully I can counter by shifting the Girls just making it into the flank arc, send in a volley, don't expend the vulnerable token if any (best saved for the melee charge) plus the first panic test, then order the charge into the flank. Then melee attack with Vicious panic. The unit does a good amount of damage, it's just hard to find its positioning on the table because of no armour. Bronn as everyone knows is good in that unit, but then I think of the 9 points comparison to Flayed Men and you're heavily dependent on that Wealth zone which thankfully the Neutral deck likes.

I'm still having difficulties with my Cutthroats. They're amazing when you get the first strike on an inactivated unit but that is it. They explode like a balloon when pricked. I keep them hanging back in support, but my opponents always recognize the danger and send a cruise missile unit into them. I need to figure out a better use of terrain in order to protect them and bog down enemy charges. I am considering swapping this unit out for Flayed Men and raise my base unit cost from 31 to 35 and use Roose as an NCU Commander, leaving 5 points for whatever.

I'll keep trying out new combinations for the 2 Flayed, 2 Girls, 2 Blackguard, and 1 Cutthroats that I have. See what works best in what game modes against which opponents and with what terrain and cards.

[Oakwolf]

It depends what commander you've got too. If you take Roose as commander, then Flayed Men still make some sense...don't get me started on this but anyway, i would never get more than 1 unit of these now at 9pts.

Cutthroats can actually hit harder than Flayed Men if they hit an unactivated unit. Situational, but something to keep in mind. I wouldn't bring less than 2, as i feel we need all the vicious troops we can get.

Bastard Girls are finally vicious so i'll use them with roose now (back then i only used them with Ramsay)

For NCUs, i really like Tycho Nestoris. Those 5 wounds healed, combined with the Mercenary tactic deck (which can protect and heal quite a bit, given it focuses on the wealth zone) can really exhaust your opponent's efforts to bring your units down.

Here's my take with Roose:

NCU Roose Bolton (C)
NCU Tycho Nestoris
Black Guards with Ramsay (attachment)
Bolton Bastard Girls with Bolton Flayers
Bolton Cutthroats
Bolton Cutthroats
Bolton Flayed Men

For Ramsay, i never liked Flayed Men, even before 1.5.

Bolton Blackguards with Ramsay (C)
Bolton Bastard Girls with Bronn
Bolton Bastard Girls
Bolton Cutthroats
Bolton Cutthroats

NCU Tycho Nestoris
NCU Varys (or Littlefinger, both can be good).

Blackguards have yet to impress me in game, in fact i only include them because they're all we have to hold costly attachments like Ramsay and can be used to hold center points.

[sacrilege83]

Blackguards I find as a useful vanguard/speed bump unit, that's their natural role in an army of weak defense. I can't make use of two Cutthroats like you do, but I see the newly released Mummers as something close to Cutthroats. Mummers may not be House Bolton, but they were allies at one point so themed lore wise they fit where Stormcrows don't.

[Oakwolf]

If you want to include mummers, i'd go for Zorse Riders rather than the skirmishers. Their flank charge is pretty good and can protect cutthroats with the weakened token they provide(or the zorse themselves if you prefer). I think that the mummer skirmishers are more specialized troops and require an army theme that spreads weakened to help them play their role at 6pt a piece.

Looking at all the units and the games i played this winter, i feel all neutral troops are overpriced atm by a point, so we play with an handicap right off the bat.

[Maelstrom74]

one thing you should try is using vargo hoat as your commander and attach him to your cutthroats, then just wait to get one of the cards (cant remember which and dont have war council at hand) which basically gives them a second big swing. ive used it a lot and its quite devastating when used right.

So before v1.5 I use to run 2 Flayed Men with Girls and Cutthroats, Roose Commander, Littlefinger, Ramsey, Dreadfort Captain as my 40 pts army and had moderate success. Most of my losses came by Night's Watch and Starks. Back then I found the Flayed Men as the work horse of the army with the other two units as support. They were still playable under v1.5, but after v1.5.1 I don't even consider them without their sustain combat abilities.

Now with v1.5 I run 2 Blackguards, 2 Girls, 1 Cutthroats, Ramsey Commander, NCUs and Attachments are flexible. So far I'm 1 & 1.

Bastard Girls are my new favourite unit now that they have Vicious. I use to make the mistake of placing them behind Stakes like they're regular bowmen but they're not and do not have the fire power as other archer units as they only throw 4 dice at full strength. For myself I keep them to the flank of my leading Blackguard but never far behind. That way if the Blackguard get charged and engaged in the front, hopefully I can counter by shifting the Girls just making it into the flank arc, send in a volley, don't expend the vulnerable token if any (best saved for the melee charge) plus the first panic test, then order the charge into the flank. Then melee attack with Vicious panic. The unit does a good amount of damage, it's just hard to find its positioning on the table because of no armour. Bronn as everyone knows is good in that unit, but then I think of the 9 points comparison to Flayed Men and you're heavily dependent on that Wealth zone which thankfully the Neutral deck likes.

I'm still having difficulties with my Cutthroats. They're amazing when you get the first strike on an inactivated unit but that is it. They explode like a balloon when pricked. I keep them hanging back in support, but my opponents always recognize the danger and send a cruise missile unit into them. I need to figure out a better use of terrain in order to protect them and bog down enemy charges. I am considering swapping this unit out for Flayed Men and raise my base unit cost from 31 to 35 and use Roose as an NCU Commander, leaving 5 points for whatever.

I'll keep trying out new combinations for the 2 Flayed, 2 Girls, 2 Blackguard, and 1 Cutthroats that I have. See what works best in what game modes against which opponents and with what terrain and cards.