Faction Primer: Savage Swarm [SHE3PDOG]
Whether you’re playing a faction pure list or just looking for a little advice on certain Savage Swarm models, this article is for you. Monsterpocalypse is a game that can be played as casually or competitively as you would like. While the game is designed and balanced around mixing factions together within each agenda, many players enjoy the cohesive appearance of a single faction on the table. We will cover some of the strategies, synergies, and list building ideas for each model in the Savage Swarm arsenal. While not wholly necessary, reading through the MonPoc 101 articles might help you understand some of the terms and ideas put forth here as these faction primers are a little too long to have a rules refresher before each one. Some mentions will be made to models outside of the Savage Swarm faction, so you might also like to have the Smashville University Wiki up if you want a quick reference.
The Savage Swarm is a diverse faction with heavy-hitting monsters and a healthy mix of unit types that are well-suited to their tasks. The units from the faction are happy being taken as specialists or working together in a faction-heavy or faction-pure environment. All of the monsters in the faction have access to super damage in some capacity or another, and they tend to be pretty accurate, especially if they have a couple of their faction buddies around. However, they do have wildly different playstyles from each other ranging from tricky movement plays to unit general. As with the Elemental Champions, the Savage Swarm does not yet have a faction base, so if you want a discount on spawning their faction units, you will need a Skyscraper.
The Savage Swarm is also one of the current starter set factions alongside the Elemental Champions. These boxes replaced the previous G.U.A.R.D. and Planet Eaters starter sets, but the content of any of the four is sufficient to get you started playing the game! The Savage Swarm starter set allows you to begin your Monsterpocalypse collection with the Destroyers agenda, and it includes the monster, Dynastavus, along with 4 Dire Ants and a Spy Fly for your first units.
Monsters
Dynastavus
Dynastavus (Dyna) has all of the traits you’d expect from a wasp in a faction appropriately named Savage Swarm. She is fast, accurate, and way more durable than her 10 health points imply thanks to her Hard to Kill special rule which basically forces your opponent to make an extra attack when she has 2 or more health in order to ensure she stays down. She also gets really mad when she starts to die off, sporting one of the best hyper forms in the game that can deal a massive amount of damage with Swift Strike and a Weapon Master brawl attack. To top it all off, Dyna has the Dominant Species special rule in her alpha form which cranks up the accuracy of brawl attacks for your units. Taken together, she has particularly good synergy with Cliff Hoppers which provide her with increased accuracy from Sidekick, more power dice from Power Gorged, and potentially even screening with their Hop action while she returns a more accurate attack with Penetrator. The biggest thing to try to ensure when you’re playing Dyna is that you get at least 1 monster activation with her in hyper. If she is the first monster your opponent targeted, she can often even the odds from her hyper form and provide her partner with the opening they need to win the game. If she ends up being the monster you enter the late game with, she is among the scariest solo artists out there. This queen bee doesn’t need anything from her partner monster, but anyone that can provide her with resources to crank up the aggression when you need it will help.
Mucustos
Mucustos (Muc) is the unit general of the Savage Swarm. His unit interactions are entirely based on movement and positioning while he himself tries to get in a little extra damage over time with Crunch and Precision Strike. In his alpha form, he speeds up nearby friendly models with Motivator, pops out new bugs with Infestation, and zips units around during his monster activation with Blitz. The combination of these abilities, really helps Mucustos stay screened at all times, especially if you bring a couple of Cliff Hoppers with you. His hyper makes some pretty drastic tradeoffs that will probably incentivize you to try to stay in alpha for as long as possible. Motivator is replaced by Stampede which drops the proximity constraints of Motivator, but it is faction-locked to Savage Swarm units. Additionally, he loses out on Infestation, a free ability, to gain the Summon action which costs an action die and can be interacted with by enemy models with action-hating special rules like Jam. The only slight edge Summon has on Infestation is that Mucustos can select the timing for when the new Savage Swarm unit comes into play. On the plus side, Mucustos does pick up the incredible Parasite special ability which causes your opponent to lose a power die when they hit him with an attack while you gain a power die. He also gets the typical accuracy bumps through increased boost dice alongside Precision Strike on his power attack which makes it slightly more likely for Crunch to trigger. As a pedestrian with no ability to clear out enemy screens and only an unreliable way to chip in more damage, Mucustos has a terrible 1v1, so he suffers in the late game. You’ll want to pair him with a monster that has a high damage potential and a good late game plan. Fortunately, his in-faction queen, Dynastavus, is pretty much his ideal partner.
Xixorax
Xixorax (Xix), the Juggergnat, doesn't care much about the affairs of the rest of the Savage Swarm; he's just here for a good time rampaging through the city. This buff bug is all about efficiently generating a ton of power dice, and he's really good at his job. He does this through several abilities that revolve around his Juggernaut special rule which allows Xixorax's rampage power attacks to do damage to enemy monsters! He is further incentivized to rampage with his Rampager special rule which generates an extra power die for each model destroyed in a rampage. On top of that, he passively generates power when he is hit through Riled. The cherry on top for his alpha form is that he also has the Sprint action which can help him get into position for a devastating rampage, get to safety, or generate some action dice efficiency as he goes in for the kill without needing to step as much. In his hyper form, he trades Sprint for Rampant Destruction which allows him to advance 3 spaces before making a rampage power attack. His power attack also picks up the Weapon Master attribute allowing him to deal super damage! His big drawback for going hyper is that he loses high-mobility, and when that is coupled with the loss of Sprint, he really is a lot less agile unless he is specifically rampaging in his hyper form. Xix has a decent plan for the endgame by just generating so much power that he can chain back-to-back monster turns while chasing his opponent around the map and destroying their power base. However, he still likes a partner that can provide a more traditional 1v1, especially if they have some movement tricks of their own like Mecha-Maxim or Xaxor. Many players love Xixorax for his unique playstyle as he zips around and rampages across the map leaving a path of destruction behind him and a terrified enemy in front of him.
Units
Dire Ant
Dire Ants are a pretty straightforward unit; they’re on the map to destroy stuff by working together. They do this through the Team Tactics special rule which gives them more boost dice when they participate in combined attacks with their Savage Swarm brethren. If a Dire Ant leads a combined attack, the Ripple ability on their brawl attack allows all participants to move one space. This can be incredibly useful for moving units around to screen monsters, hold points, or secure buildings. Dire Ants aren’t the flashiest unit around, but they get the job done, especially if they’re in a list with a monster like Dynastavus that gives them an extra bit of support.
Razor Beetle
At DEF 4, Razor Beetles are the quintessential point holders of the Savage Swarm. They also punish your opponent for brawling them or rampaging over them with Spike Shield, so they can be incredibly difficult to remove. However, these tanky beetles are a little slow at SPD 4, but they can get to a decent number of places with All-Terrain still. Their brawl attack is pretty standard for a grunt/elite pair, but, like most units in the Savage Swarm, they benefit greatly from being in a list with Dynastavus or Mucustos.
Vice Pincher
Vice Pinchers are a little more agile than the last two units we covered because of their high-mobility rule. However, this comes at the cost of a lower DEF. With their ability to make multiple attacks in a turn via Follow Through on their brawl attack, these guys can get a lot of work done on enemy units if they’re granted a buff or two. They also have the Barbed special rule which can be useful for controlling your opponent’s power dice if you have a way to reliably move the Vice Pinchers around during your monster activations. To make the most out of these guys, monsters that can buff their blast and/or brawl attacks are going to be very useful, and any monster that can help move them around the map to trigger Barbed can also make use of these guys which makes Dynastavus and Mucustos, again, great leaders for these pinchy little bugs.
Cliff Hopper
Cliff Hoppers are a very versatile unit due to their ability to move around the map quickly, earn additional power dice with the Power Gorge attribute on their brawl attacks, hold points with their relatively high DEF 3, and support monsters with the Hop action and Sidekick special rule. In many lists, the Cliff Hopper will be used as a point holder that can later be deployed to assist your monsters by screening and/or making their power attacks more accurate. While their brawl attack has the fantastic Power Gorge attribute, it isn’t particularly accurate on its own. If you want to make use of Cliff Hoppers as attacking pieces, they’ll need a little support. Dynastavus is an obvious choice for this because of her Dominant Species special rule which gives these guys Penetrator on their brawl attacks, but monsters like Ultra Cyber Khan, Zor-Necros, or God of Vemana can also boost their accuracy enough to ensure you get those sweet, sweet power dice.
Spy Fly
The Spy Fly is the premier blast supporting unit in the game. They are very fast with high-mobility and SPD 6, and they can also get to just about anywhere with their Flight special rule. They are the only unit in the game that provides both Pointer and Spotter which is probably why they’re relatively defenseless at DEF 2 with no attacks. However, if you have units that really want to blast, the Spy Fly is here to lower your enemies’ DEF and ignore cover which is really quite the boon for units like the Bramble Hunter or Abrogator that are pricey to get out onto the map but have great blast attacks that you would really like to ensure hit your target. These speedy little units are also really good at getting up the map to screen your monsters in ways that many non-flying units cannot. They are a pretty common sight in any list that has a good chunk of blasting models, and you should definitely include one if you bring Mucustos along just in case you need a screening unit on a hazard.
Steel Back Roach
Last, but certainly not least, is the Steel Back Roach. This unit is the glue holding the Savage Swarm units together as a cohesive faction core. It is a slow unit at only SPD 4, but it can still get to a lot of good spots as it also has high-mobility. It really shines when it is in a list with a lot of other Savage Swarm units because of Proliferate allowing it to bring out more faction models when it hits with either its brawl or blast attacks. It also has the Beachhead rule which allows it to be a spawning locus for faction units during your Spawn Phase if it is on an objective space such as a neutral spawn activator or power zone. While it is an ideal point holder, spawn nodes are also considered objective spaces, so these roaches are pretty good at securing buildings with relative ease as well. It can easily turn the tide of the unit battle with its accurate attacks and ability to bring more Savage Swarm units into the fray.
Faction Base
The Savage Swarm doesn’t currently have a faction base, but this section will remain here. When it is released, this section will be updated with the relevant information. If you still want to get a relevant discount for your Savage Swarm units, you can take a Skyscraper building. Dynastavus also happens to love that building for Outreach.
List Building
Dynastavus really wants at least couple Cliff Hoppers in her list for all of the synergy they have together, and Mucustos likes having a solid core of Savage Swarm units. Xixorax is completely indifferent to the rest of his faction, but he is a really fun monster that pairs well with a lot of other monsters. If you want to go heavy into the Savage Swarm units for a competitive list, a good place to start is a couple of Steel Back Roaches, a Vice Pincher, a Spy Fly, and a mixture of 3-4 Cliff Hoppers and Razor Beetles depending on what roles you need filled and what you have on hand. Unfortunately, Cliff Hoppers are sold in a unit pack that has a 1/4 split of a single Cliff Hopper to 4 Razor Beetles, so it can be a little costly to get more than one, but if you intend on playing Dynastavus a lot, they are well worth it. While Dynastavus and Mucustos are excellent unit generals, the Savage Swarm units also do well with other monsters that can buff them such as Zor-Necros, Ultra Cyber Khan, God of Vemana, Mogroth, and Voyaka. If you intend on playing the Savage Swarm as a faction-pure army, the Razor Beetle / Cliff Hopper pack is the best one to double up on to get your 20 units. The Cliff Hopper is the best unit in the faction, so getting more of them is worth it, and Razor Beetles will serve you well as point holders and even securers at times.
I hope this was an informative walk through the Savage Swarm, one of the starter factions for Monsterpocalypse. They are one of the more aggressive factions in the game, but they still maintain solid defensive stats to really ensure that they stick around to turn the tide of battle in your favor and swarm your opponent’s power base with accurate units and hard-hitting monsters. The Savage Swarm units have a lot of flexibility in their uses, and their monsters are quite powerful, so the faction performs admirably in mono-faction play, especially if Dynastavus and Mucustos are your primary monsters. These articles will continue to be released alongside other content, but there are 22(!) factions in the game, so it will take some time for the whole catalog to be covered. Look for the next articles soon though!