Take a look at the latest Grand Cathay army build to dominate the Warhammer: The Old World meta.
Grand Cathay is a pretty cool army, with a great look and fun lore. It’s also getting a nice expansion in the next few days. On the flip side Cathay has also created a few issues since its release. Large portions of the army are, simply put broken, while others are a bit overtuned. We’ve all been a little traumatized by Lanterns of course. Though these have been toned down a bit, they aren’t the end of the issues with Catahy. People have now started to shift over to some very powerful Jade Fleet lists, that play in a different way from the Old Cathay lists. Now Jade Fleet has been pretty strong since it came out, but now with the recent changes its become likely the most popular list among competitive players.
Why Is Jade Fleet Popular?
A couple things make the Jade Fleet a very attractive option right now. One of these is that unlike the updated Grand Army or the new Army of Infamy, they can still take Jade Lancers as core. This allows them to take 2-3 ambushing units of Lancers in core and keep them out of danger. It’s possible with this to make a list that is very hard to pin down. (Its possible that they will FAQ this.) On top of that it’s the list that lets you take the most monsters in Cathay. This is because not only can you take Shugengans in characters, but also some Empire ones in Mercenaries. This in particular makes the list quite good. So lets take a look at some lists.
Jade Fleet Monster Mash
There are a few versions of this list, but the most monster-y of them looks something like this:
205 – Shugengan General, Celestial Blade, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 1, Lore of Yang, Battle Magic, Maw Shard
190 – Shugengan General, Celestial Blade, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 1, Lore of Yang, Battle Magic, Guardian Feng Shi Bo
155 – Shugengan General, Celestial Blade, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 1, Lore of Yang, Battle Magic
369 – Shugengan Lord, Heavy Armour, General, Wizard Level 4, Lore of Yang, Illusion, The Monkey King’s Wisdom, Scrolls of Wei-jin
302 – 10 Jade Lancer, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Ring of Jet, Standard Bearer, The Jade Banner
204 – 6 Jade Lancer, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Standard Bearer, War Banner
135 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns
217 – Captain of the Empire, Shield, Griffon, Heavy Armour, Lance, Full Plate Armour, The White Cloak
217 – Captain of the Empire, Shield, Griffon, Heavy Armour, Lance, Full Plate Armour, Talisman Of Protection
You can also switch up the characters to be more like this:
205 – Shugengan General, Celestial Blade, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 1, Lore of Yang, Battle Magic, Maw Shard
369 – Shugengan Lord, Heavy Armour, General, Wizard Level 4, Lore of Yang, Illusion, The Monkey King’s Wisdom, Scrolls of Wei-jin
349 – Shugengan Lord, Light Armour, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 3, Lore of Yang, Illusion, The Sword of Reason, Lore Familiar
How This List Works
This list is a very aggressive monster list, that can also be quite evasive if you want it to be. You are running 5-6 powerful monsters. All of them fly and have a 3+/5++ save and a pile of wounds. The Shugengans are very durable, have magic/can dispel, and pack a big punch. The smaller ones get battle magic so they can use hammerhand to up their damage output. The bigger ones are trying to use doppleganger with their powerful magic weapons. These guys are really brutal.
The Griffons are also very useful as fast/quick flankers, and that durable and bring some terror to the table, which can come in quite handy. The rest of the list is support for the monsters. The Lantern can help clear out chaff and put some wounds on things with its long range fire power. The Jade Lancers can ambush and are strong for grabbed objectives and avoiding combat. They’ve each got a bound magic missel so they can contribute a bit to the fight. They also have some good static combat res if they combo charge with some of the monsters. This list brings a lot to the table.
Jade Fleet Variations
Now you’ll certianly see some variations on this list, though I’m not sure they are as good. Some lists will put a cannon or two into them to allow for more board control, though it gives the enemy something to go after. Another common take is the 2-2-2 take, 2 units of Jade Lancers, 2 Cannons and 2 Lanterns. This is supported by 3-4 monsters in various combinations. You might also see some lists with Jade Warriors, but again I don’t think this is better than the Lancers. Though there is some variation in all of these, they really are built around a force of powerful monsters to wreck shop. Some recent events have seen 3-4 of the top 5 lists that are just variations of this and it goes to show how powerful Grand Cathay still is.
Let us know what you think of this army, down in the comments.
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Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.
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