I was running my beast heavy pMorghoul list at 35pts.
Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Brute (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
This list has a lot of hitting power, and a tough chunk of beasts. It's pretty fast with Morghoul at the helm. I've been getting some good experience using mainly beasts with pMorghoul, and the list is a fast, hard hitting brick with a couple good rounds of denial. One difference from the list I've been running is the inclusion of the Brute instead of a Savage. Morghoul can make Cyclops Savages really powerful, but he also really wants the Brute around for Safeguard and Shield Guard to keep up standing up, and to prevent too much ranged sniping.
My opponent, Ben, ran the following list.
Drake MacBain (+6)
*Nomad (6)
*Buccaneer (3)
*Sylas Wyshnallyr, the Seeker (2)
10 Kayazy Assassins (8)
*Underboss (2)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2)
Saxon Orrik (2)
Gorman di Wulfe (2)
Alexia Ciannor, Mistress of the Witchfire (4)
Ogrun Bokur (3 - Client: Alexia)
Eyriss, Angel of the Retribution (3)
My main worry is the Kayazy Assassins. Rhupert can make them Def 15 (17 in melee) with Dirge of Mists, or just give them Tough. That much high def is a lot to chew through, and my list is not well suited to doing it. I'll just have to hope that boosts and slams will be enough, and to try to keep my beasts flanks and rear unengaged so I can Trample over them just to get by them.
Ben won the roll off, and decided to go first.
Deployment
Ben deployed across a pretty wide piece of the board, with his warjacks on my right flank, his Kayazi in the middle, and Alexia and the Bokur on my left. The other support types went behind the Kayazi, and Drake went in next to the warjacks.
I refused my left flank entirely, deploying in a brick directly opposite MacBain. My Titans went up front, followed by my support beasts and Morghoul. The paingivers and Extoller went behind them, while the Agonizer deployed on my far right to oppose Ben's warjacks.
Finally, Eyriss deployed on my right.
Turn 1 - Mercenaries
Everybody ran. The Kayazi went on the diagonal to get to my formation. MacBain snuck in behind them. Eiriss went in a line right down my right flank, while Alexia and the Bokur mirrored her on my left.
There's not much more to say at this point. Ben's strategy was obviously to jam my warbeasts with his Kayazy Assassins, and do as much damage as possible while they were engaged.
Turn 1 - Skorne
The Gladiator put Rush on the Cannoneer, and Trampled forward. The other beasts and Agonizer ran. Morghoul put 5 Fury on the Agonizer, and advanced. The Paingivers advanced, and Conditioned the Krea and Brute, and the Extoller ran to support the Cannoneer.
I have a standard opening with this list, and I used it, leading with the Cannoneer, and backing her up with my other beasts. The Kayazy would be on me next turn. At this point, I was debating trampling over them to try to get directly to Drake, or trying to slam my way through as many as possible to try to thin down their ranks.
Turn 2 - Mercenaries
Drake used his Feat, selecting all the Kayazi except the back 2, Alexia, and the Bokur as beneficiaries, then cast Fail Safe on the Nomad, and Countermeasure on the Kayazy, and advanced a little. The Kayazy ran to just in front of my warbeasts, and sat there being unkillable, and shutting down my cannon. Alexia and the Bokur continued their trek into my backfield on the left, and Eyriss echoed them on the right. Aianna and Holt advanced; Aiyanna used Stealth, and Holt put some surprisingly heavy damage on my Gladiator with a couple of pistol shots.
This was going to be... complicated. Kayazy are bad enough when they can be killed. Now they were going to hold me in place, and I had no way at all to kill them. I could knock a few of them down, but that would just mean they couldn't charge next turn.
Turn 2 - Skorne
Unable to do much of anything to the Kayazy, I trampled my titans into a very dense formation right in front of their second rank. The Cannoneer used Diminish to blunt whatever damage the Kayazy threw my way. The Krea and Brute also advanced. The Krea put up Paralytic Aura, and the Brute put Safeguard on Morghoul. Morghoul cast Admonition on himself, and advanced into the "box" I'd made with my warbeasts. My Extoller and Paingivers closed him in, barely leaving enough wiggle room to escape with Admonition if a Kayazy somehow got to him. The Paingivers also Conditioned the beasts down to a manageable level of Fury. Finally, the Agonizer advanced, and put Spiritual Affliction up, catching both of Ben's warjacks.
How I weathered the next turn would determine my prospects for the next turn. Skorne Titans are pretty tough, but I'd be facing a lot of charges from Kayazy. With some luck, my Titans wouldn't be too damaged, and I could clear off a few of the Kayazy lingering in my sides and rear, and trample across the ones in front of me. That should deliver my beasts and Morghoul right into MacBain's grill to eat all his burgers and squeeze ketchup across his broken remains... I mean, leave him no angle of escape.
Turn 3 - Mercenaries
MacBain upkept Fail Safe and Countermeasure. Eyriss advanced, and shot the Cannoneer, removing Diminish. Aiyanna and Holt advanced. Aiyanna put Kiss of Lylyss on the Gladiator, and Holt shot her for another really outstanding amount of damage. Rhupert gave the Kayazy Tough and Fearless. The Kayazy charged in, and continued the above average rolls, killing off my Cannoneer, and knocking the Gladiator down to 2 hit boxes. They also killed two Paingivers, but the other two passed their Cmd check, and put a little damage on my Bronzeback. Gorman advanced, and Blinded my Bronzeback (and incidentally one kayazy) with black oil, then advanced the Nomad into combat with him, and finished off my Gladiator with the sword. Drake cast Jackhammer a few times, letting it put a little damage on the Bronzeback. Saxon and the Mariner both attacked the Agonizer, but failed to kill it. Alexia and her Bokur charged the Krea, taking off about half her hit boxes.
Ouch. Losing two of my heavies was tough, but there you go. I'd be significantly reduced in power, but I could get two of my surviving beasts, and Morghoul through the Kayazy, and make a bee line for Drake. I'd be counting on my feat and whatever Fury I had left to keep me safe. I'm normally pretty leery of the pMorghoul "Hail Mary," but here goes...
Turn 3 - Skorne
I didn't upkeep Admonition, thinking I'd need all my Fury for the turn ahead. The Extoller zapped the one Kayazy in melee with her, but that was all. The Paingivers Medicated the Krea and Bronzeback. The Krea attacked Alexia, do some damage. Morghoul used his feat, Pain and Suffering, Maltreated the Krea, cast Paralytic Aura, and advanced into some Kayazy. I'd been hoping to kill off enough to keep the Bronzeback safe from major retaliation, then cast Safeguard on Morghoul, but it wasn't to be. Morghoul missed with half of his attacks, and while he did manage to kill the 4 Kayazy I'd been hoping for, he only had 1 Fury left at the end of it. Well, it would have to do. Morghoul wrapped up by Sprinting right at Drake, and engaging Aiyanna. The Bronzeback didn't let a little thing like being Blind slow it down. It put Train Wreck on itself, and knocked the Nomad back a few times before hurling it (via Chain Attack: Grab and Smash) into Sylas, clipping MacBain in the process. Sylas didn't survive, and MacBain was knocked down, so all in all a really good turn for one of the most brutal Warbeasts around. The Brute charged Gorman, killing him, and engaged Saxon. He also managed to put himself into Shield Guard range of the Bronzeback to block any nets the Mariner might throw next turn. The Agonizer, surprised to be alive, used Spiritual Affliction again, because the Mariner might advance out of Morghoul's CTRL.
I was reasonably pleased with how Turn 3 had gone. It would be hard for me to finish Drake off, but between the Bronzeback, the Brute, and Morghoul, I thought I could do it. That is, if I survived the coming turn. Ben did have an assassination angle. If he could get Morghoul knocked down, Mourghoul would be easy pickings, and the Bokur could slam. We'd see how this played out.
Turn 4 - Mercenaries
Drake couldn't upkeep any spells, and spent his activation standing up, and looking annoyed. Alexia and the Kayazy activated, killed the Extoller, a Paingiver, and the Krea, who was currently engaging the Bokur. The Kayazy also managed to put some damage onto the Bronzeback, but not much. Saxon continued to fail to kill the Agonizer, who looked like it might actually survive the battle. The Mariner left combat with the Agonizer to throw a net at the Bronzeback, but missed. Rhupert resolutely advanced to just in front of Morghoul, and turned his back to the Bokur. The Bokur slammed Rhupert into Morghoul, killing Rhupert, and knocking down Morghoul. Aiyanna and Holt finished Morghoul off with Kiss of Lylyss and a flurry of Hand Cannon and Gun Blade attacks.
Victory for the Mercenaries.
Thoughts
Admonition, Admonition, Admonition. I need to remember to always keep Admonition up on Morghoul if he's going to be in a risky position. It's a lesson I should have learned from the winning side in several games against eSkarre. It certainly would have saved me from that assassination. Ah well, lesson internalized. Morghoul would also probably have lived if he'd had the Fury to cast Safeguard on himself after killing those Kayazy. Terrible rolls do happen, though, and there's little to be done about them. Admonition was something I could control. Eyriss could have shot both of them off, of course, but she'd have needed 8's to hit if she could get line of sight through the scrimmage between her and Morghoul.
It's not easy running Morghoul without screen of infantry for his warbeasts. If I'd had Nihilators (for example), I could have protected the heavies a little better. I'm gradually learning the tricks, though any infantry with high defense and/or high damage output still scare me. I think I made a fairly good decision trying to Trample my way across the Kayazy, but they just did too much damage to my beasts.
I probably should have advanced more conservatively on my first turn. That way, my slam angles would have been a little more open on my second. I would have been able to slam across a lot of the Kayazy, knocking them down, and taking them out of the fight for a critical turn. I went full out, sticking to my opening inspite of the fact that it wasn't to my best advantage. There isn't all that much pressure for this list to close with the enemy as fast as possible, and I can really advance at close to my own pace. If I'd bricked up more, kept the Krea in the middle, and protected my critical models from Eyriss with my Brute (I planned on this in the beginning, but the Kayazy kept getting in the way) I might have done a lot better against the Kayazy tarpit.
Ben played a strong game over all, especially considering that his hardest hitters spent most of it without any Focus. He combined the Kayazy's good damage potential with Kiss of Lylyss to wear down my beasts, and stripped off Diminish, which would certainly have helped my Cannoneer and Gladiator survive. He also did well to see the self-slam assassination run. If he'd missed it, Drake would likely have been killed by the Bronzeback next turn.
The Bronzeback, by the way, is an incredible beast. I don't know of much else that could have done as much damage while Blinded.
Great game all around. A few thoughts from the Mercs side of the table, by turn:
ReplyDeleteTurn 1:
My first mistake was putting out Fortune on the Kayazy, only to swap it for Countermeasures the next turn. I wasn’t sure if Countermeasures would be relevant (with only two guns on the Skorne side), so I waited to see how the game would unfold. In games like that, I should start with Fortune on one of my flanking models, say eAlexia or eEiryss. That’s the only chance to put it on them before they run off into the distance, whereas the Kayazy will usually have at least one member within 8” of Drake later in the game - especially since I want to be close enough to get most of them under my feat - so I can just swap it on as needed.
Turn 2:
Holt was on fire this game, and not in the Menoth burning way. I think he did something like 13 damage to the Titan Canonneer over the course of two turns, then double-tapped the knocked down Morghoul to finish him. This was the right turn to feat, as well. It only saved three Kayazy from death, but it made the Skorne play cautiously, which is often more important.
Turn 3:
Kayazy rolled great, for sure. The big mistake here was to camp three focus on Drake just to be safe rather than Jackhammering the Bronzeback three more times. Hitting on 3s and rolling dice -2 on the Bronzeback, I would have likely done another 15 or so points of damage, making it much less of a threat when un-blinded.
I was concerned that the Skorne had some trick up their overly ornate sleeves that could get someone to Drake, but threat range is very deterministic. You don’t roll dice for it; either you’re in or you’re not. Once I knew he was out of range, I should have fully committed my focus, especially knowing that I would probably lose the chance to spend it next turn thanks to Morghoul’s feat. Can’t be tentative in Warmachine.
Another mistake on this turn was target priority. I took a few desultory whacks at the Agonizer on this turn. The little elephant is surprisingly tough, and didn’t go down. That wasted Saxon and the Buccaneer’s turns on something I really didn’t care about. With Morghoul’s feat likely coming up next turn or never, who cares about not being able to allocate focus when I can’t spend it? Saxon especially might have been able to help out with the Bronzeback or something else useful.
Special notes:
-OMG Bronzeback. That thing is amazing, even when blinded. I see why Skorne don’t have much to worry about from Colossals.
-My second jack was the Buccaneer, which is 3 points. After all, it’s really nothing more than a net on legs.
UPDATE: Ben's list has been edited for Accuracy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was worried you'd actually kill the BB that turn with Jackhammer. There was no way to get Morghoul into Drake, much less the Bronzeback, so you were safe on that turn. Both Morghouls are capable of the dreaded Fastball Special, although pMorghoul actually has to hit his target (or land within half an inch). Sadly, a Blinded Bronzeback couldn't do it.