Tuesday, August 21, 2012

eHexeris vs. Calandra Truthsayer - A Rematch

My list was:

Lord Arbiter Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Sentry (9)  Bonded: Hexeris can channel spells through it while it's in his Cmd range.
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)

6 Venator Rievers (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)

This list contains a hard-hitting fist of Warbeasts given some nice flexibility by eHexeris' spells.  It's threatening to both infantry and heavies.  This is my 3rd game with eHexeris, and the similar list (Cannoneer instead of the Sentry) that I played was super fun.  While my list deals damage to all targets well, it doesn't have a strong jamming element.  There's no cheap expendable infantry to blunt an Alpha Strike, and the best things for tying down shooters are the Savage and Sentry, which have reach.  Caleb's ranged beasts present a bit of a problem for me in that they'll likely be able to draw a bead on Hexeris.  I'll have to close quickly to protect him.

Caleb (my co-blogger and frequent opponent) ran the following:

Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (+5)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Pyre Troll (5)
*Troll Impaler (5)

10 Trollkin Fennblades (8)
*Officer and Musician (2)
6 Pyg Bushwhackers (5)

Fell Caller Hero (3)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)

There's a strong ranged element to this list which complements Calandra's Feat and Force Blow spell (which knocks its target down) nicely.  Ranged attacks are a great way to capitalize on anything that grants massive accuracy and/or damage bonuses.  The Fennblades are there to hold me off while the Beasts and Bushwhackers inflict serious damage with their ranged attacks.  The list's big limitation is that serious heavy armor will give it trouble.  Only the Bomber can reliably dish out punishment to heavies in melee, and needs the Pyre Troll's animus to overcome tougher heavies.  My biggest concern in Caleb's position is that my beasts will just roll him up without taking serious damage.

As a note, my Sentry is not fully assembled.  It's the plastic Titan torso.  My Bronzeback's legs are standing in for the whole model until it's done.

Caleb won the roll off, and decided to go second.

Deployment:

I was planning to advance my Venators around the house, and start picking off Pygs and Fennblades.  Meanwhile, my Warbeasts would use the low wall as a shield to keep the Fennblades off them while they set up for charges into the Trollblood lines.












Caleb set up in a nice, versatile bunch, with the Pygmies set to oppose my Venators, and maybe get some damage in on my beasts.  He'd use the wheat field (square patch in the middle on his side) for concealment, and try to jam me with his Fennblades while hammering me with ranged attacks with his beasts and Bushwhackers.








Turn 1 - Skorne
Not much action on Turn 1.  I ran forward with pretty much all my models, letting the Sentry take the lead.  The Venators hid behind the building to keep from getting shot up by Bushwhackers, and Hexeris put Ashen Veil on the Sentry.











Turn 1 - Trollbloods
Caleb ran forward and spread out.  Calandra cast Bullet Dodger on herself, cast Star Crossed (which is rapidly becoming one of my least favorite spells to deal with), and charged up to support her army.  The Bushwhackers advanced and shot at my lead Venator, but missed.  The Stone Scribe Chronicler gave the Fennblades Concealment and Feign Death for a round.

Caleb was keeping flexible.  The Fennblades were certainly planning to jam my beasts up next turn, and the ranged beasts were keeping flexible.  The Pygmies seemed set on dueling with the Venators, and would likely win, given their Concealment from the woods.


Turn 2 - Skorne
Hexeris upkept Ashen Veil.  The Gladiator Rushed the Sentry, and advanced to a bit behind the wall to stay unjammed next turn.  The Sentry advanced right up to the wall, and cast Locker, though it was unlikely to be charged at by any beasts.  The Savage nipped around the building to keep its charge options open, while the Bronzeback advanced conservatively.  The Extoller gave Hexeris Guidance, letting him ignore the Fennblades' concealment, and Hexeris cast Black Spot on the Fennblades.  The Venators advanced, killed two Fennblades and knocked down a third, mostly due to being just out of range (great positioning on Caleb's part - I barely got the leading edge of Fennblades).  The Beast Handlers just kept up.

I'd been hoping for a little more damage with my Venators there, but I was still pretty confident.  Fennblades are good, but they're not really up to the task of killing a lot of heavies.  They'd probably kill the Venators, bur Black Spot meant my Savage and Sentry would tear them apart next turn.


Turn 2 - Trollbloods
Caleb and I both forgot about the Fennblades' Vengeance moves.  Calandra upkept Bullet Dodger.  The Fell Caller used War Cry on the Fennblades, giving them +2 to melee attack and damage rolls, and ran out of the way.  The Fennblades used No Quarter, giving them Fearless, Terror, Pathfinder, and +2" of movement on a charge, and charged in, killing the two Venators they could reach (who also failed their Terror check), and doing some damage to the Sentry despite its multifarious defense buffs.  The Stone Scribe Chronicler advanced, and put Hero's Tragedy on the Fennblades, which would knock down any of my Warrior models who destroyed a Fennblade with a melee attack.  The Pyre Troll ran around my right flank, while the Impaler cast Far Strike on the Bomber, giving it +4 range on its bombs.  The Bomber then advanced, and threw 2 bombs at the Gladiator, damaging it and killing the Extoller Soulward.  The Pygs shot two 3-man Combined Ranged Attacks at the Savage, but didn't do much harm.  Calandra advanced, Cast Star Crossed again, and cast Soothing Song to reduce the Fury on her battlegroup.

This hadn't been a bad turn for Caleb, but he also hadn't done a lot of damage to my heaviest hitters.  He'd have to hope that the Fennblades held me off while he could focus fire or set up an assassination run.

Turn 3 - Skorne
Hexeris upkept Ashen Veil and Black Spot.  The Venators went first, and got out of the way.  Two died to Fennblade free strikes, but such is the life of a Venator.  The Bronzeback advanced to just behind the wall, and put Train Wreck on the Cyclops Savage, giving it Beat Back.  The Savage advanced, and chopped its way through 3 Fennblades, making for Calandra.  Hexeris advanced to shelter behind the Bronzeback, and couldn't quite take Cover behind the wall, then cast Ashes to Ashes on a Fennblade, killing one, the Feated, stripping Fury from the Trolls, and cast Train Wreck on the Sentry, and another Ashes to Ashes, killing another Fennblade (darn Tough), and ended his activation camping two Fury.  The Gladiator charged the last standing Fennblade engaging the Sentry, and killed it.  The Gladiator then cast Rush on the Sentry, which replaced Train Wreck, but would let the Sentry charge over the wall.  The Sentry charged the Bomber, doing some damage, killed two more Fennblades with its non-reach attacks, then cast Locker on itself to keep the Bomber in place.

I'd done some serious damage this turn, removing all but two of the Fennblades.  Hexeris' Vampiric Harvest ability had also healed all the damage from all my warbeasts.  Caleb would be in a do-or-die position next turn.  He didn't have the muscle to kill off my beasts, so he needed to assassinate Hexeris, or I'd wipe him out next turn.

Turn 3 - Trollbloods
Calandra dropped Bullet Dodger - she'd need all her resources for the assassination run.  The Fennblades got out of Calandra's way.  Next, Calandra advanced to within 10" of Hexeris, and Feated, letting her whole army reroll 1's and 2's on attack and damage rolls.  Then she cast Befuddle on my Titan Sentry, boosting to hit.  Despite the penalties, she hit it, and moved it out of melee with the Bomber.  Then she sent a fully boosted Force Blow into Hexeris, damaging him and knocking him down!

Everything with a gun shot Hexy, and it took every shot to put him down.  The last shot in was a 4-Pyg CRA from the Bushwhackers, and it finished him off.

Victory to the Trollbloods!

                                                                        Whacked!


Thoughts
I played a very solid game right up until Turn 3, where I badly underestimated the ranged threat of Caleb's list.  Calandra's Feat is just the boost a lot of ranged troops need to become truly dangerous, and Caleb had a lot of attacks out there.  If I'd seen it coming, I'd definitely have left off that second Ashes to Ashes.  It's a fun spell, but I would have been much better served not casting it, and sitting on 5+ transfers.  Nothing Caleb had could have gotten through that, and the extra damage to the Fennblades certainly wasn't worth the game.

eHexeris definitely doesn't need help dealing with infantry.  Even against Tough Fennblades benefiting from Star Crossed, my mostly beast army barely even slowed down.  Vampiric Harvest was also a huge boon.  Except for the unlamented Venators and somewhat lamented Extoller, I erased all the damage my army had taken on my turn, which really put Caleb in a tough situation.

I like this list a lot.  The Sentry was great, and did a much better job as a front-liner than my Cannoneer usually does.  I'll probably test them both out some more, since I also like having the gun available.  Time will tell whether I prefer a blocker or a shooter with this list.  I'm also considering swapping the Venators for Nihilators or Bloodrunners.  Nihilators are a bit more versatile, and have Reach and Tough.  Bloodrunners are a bit faster, and have Def 14, Stealth, and Shadow Play.  The Place effect from Shadow Play combines deliciously with Black Spot for some real shenanigans, and I'd consider them as a good target for Ashen Veil too.

I also like Caleb's list.  Calandra is a strong warlock to take a ranged game with due to her accuracy and damage boosting Feat, as well as the ability to give her army rerolls with Fate-Blessed.  All those ranged attacks certainly served Caleb well this time around, since I hadn't left Hexeris vulnerable to melee attackers this time around.  My list was a tough matchup for Caleb's, and I'm not sure what his plan should have been to avoid being so badly mauled after his first wave hit.  I don't see what I would have done differently in his position except maybe try to flank my Sentry and come around my right side.  I'd been leaning left, so he might have been able to nip around, and take my beasts out one by one.  It would have been a long shot though, especially since I had Rush to play around with.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery are, as always, very much appreciated.


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Picture Post

Apparently posting pictures to the PP forums requires them to be online or something.  This is where I'll post all my pictures I intend to put up there.  That's it.  No story here, but stay tuned for a Calandra vs. eHexy grudge match report with more pictures.






This is a weird one, but I'm posting it on the PP forums.  Be prepared for further weirdness ye who read the 4+ Tough Archives.


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Random Thoughts

I got a game in against a new player yesterday, and it was lots of fun, as usual.  I won't get into the details here - it was a fun game, but it was a teaching game, so there weren't a lot of tricks flying around - but I do have a few comments on my eHexeris list I noticed during this game.

The list I played was my eHexy list from this post, using the Cannoneer, because it's fully assembled and painted, which I consider extra important against newer players.  It's much easier to tell what a model is if it's an accurate representation etc. etc.

While the Cannoneer definitely pulled its weight, it also has a slight conflict of interest with eHexeris.  Both of them want the Extoller's Guidance every turn.  Eyeless Sight is just too good on eHexy, who wants it for Black Spot, as well as Hellfire and Ashes to Ashes, and he's getting it every turn, while Candice has to do her best and hope for good deviation rolls.  I wasn't expecting it to be quite so one sided - pHexeris often doesn't get Guidance, but despite having a similar beast loadout, he plays very differently.

I also got to see the full power of Black Spot + Train Wreck + Reach with my Cyclops Savage, which was pretty awesome.  It's hard to stop with just positioning.  I can see this tactic destroying a lot of units with medium-to-low Defense.

Both of these factors lead me to conclude that the Sentry will do really well.  It doesn't want Guidance except for the corner case where I want to charge it through a forest or cloud, and it has Reach.  Plus it's a very tough Bond beast with some good tricks to protect the Gladiator and Bronzeback.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

MOAR BEASTS

Since I'm giving the Titan Sentry a try in place of my Cannoneer in my eHexy lists, I'm considering what I could do with my other lists.  If I do it with pMorghoul, I don't need the Extoller Soulward in my list any more (Hexeris still wants it for Eyeless Sight on his spells), which frees up 2 points.  There are a couple cool things I could take for 2 points.  Or I could run the following:

Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7) - 35pts
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Sentry (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Brute (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
*Basilisk Drake (4)

4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)


So what do you think?  Too many Beasts?

Monday, August 13, 2012

Short Battle Report: Master Tormentor Morghoul vs. Borka Kegslayer

I also got a game in against Borka on Friday.  I'm usually pretty good with names, but I completely spaced out on my opponent's name this time (sorry).

I ran pMorghoul beast heavy, because warbeasts are a lot of fun, and I was planning on running infantry heavy later on.

Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

My opponent ran a Borka brick list.

Borka Kegslayer (+5) - Family Reunion Tier 4
*Pyg Keg Carrier (-)
*Rok (11)

3 Trollkin Champions (5)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3)
3 Trollkin Champions (5)
3 Trollkin Sluggers (4)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1)

Trollkin Champion Hero (3)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)

My opponent won the roll off, and chose to go first.  We played the Process of Elimination scenario.  There were two big scoring zones in the center of the table, and we could only score in one zone at a time, and we could only score in each zone once.  Pictures of the terrain we used can be found in the report of another battle I played right after this one (Caleb and I were too lazy to change it up after this game was over).

My opponent won the roll off, and went first.  He deployed one unit of Champions in front of each zone (the one with Skaldi went on the left), supported by a Champion Hero.  The Sluggers went on my right flank to take advantage of the cover provided by the low walls.  Borka, the Kriel Stone, Chronicler, and Rok went in the middle.

I deployed the three Titans in the middle, with the Cannoneer leading the formation from the center, and the Bronzeback and Gladiator flanking it.  The Krea, Paingivers, Extoller and Morghoul deployed just behind them, and the Savage and Agonizer deployed on my left flank.

The Sluggers and the right Champions unit took advance moves.  The Sluggers advanced toward the first low wall, and the Champions advanced directly toward me.

Turn 1 - Trollbloods
Everybody ran, except one of the Champion Heroes, who charged to move through one of the forests.  Borka put all his Fury on the Krielstone, which used handed out its defensive aura before running.  Rok also riled to maximum Fury, so Borka would be full next turn.

Turn 1 - Skorne
I Rushed and Abused my Cannoneer, Candice, giving her +4" of movement, Trampled up with the Gladiator, and advanced with Morghoul, who also put some Fury on the Agonizer.  The Extoller gave Candice Guidance (Eyeless Sight and Magic Weapon), and she put a shot on Borka, but missed despite fully boosting.  The rest of my army advanced to just little behind Candice.

Turn 2 - Trollbloods
Both Champions units ran again, one getting close to my end of the right zone, the other backing them up from the swamp.  The Sluggers advanced to the closer of the low walls, and shot up my Gladiator to little effect.  Borka advanced, and put Iron Flesh on the closer unit of Champs.  The Krielstone used its Aura and ran again.

Turn 2 - Skorne
The Krea Aimed, and boosted a Spiritual Paralysis into the lead Champ, reducing it to Def 7, which Iron Flesh boosted to 10.  Morghoul put Admonition and Abuse on my Gladiator, Maltreated the Krea, and advanced a bit.  The Cannoneer advanced, used Diminish, and shot at a Champion for very minor damage.  The Paingivers Enraged the Gladiator, and did some Fury management.  The Savage and Bronzeback advanced to support the Cannoneer, and the Bronzeback put Train Wreck on the Gladiator.  The Gladiator Slammed the lead Champ, knocking them all down, but leaving the leader alive.  She then bought 4 more attacks, Beating her way Back through the whole unit, and wiping them out.  She also took a nasty Counter Charge from Skaldi, which I didn't see coming.  She made an attack on Skaldi, but he was Tough.

Turn 3 - Trollbloods
The Sluggers and the second unit of Champs combined forces with one of the Champion Heroes to kill off my Gladiator, despite Admonition.  The Pyg Keg Carrier used the Top Off action on Borka to give him extra Fury and Stumbling Druk, then Borka Feated, and charged Morghoul.  Morghoul survived, though Borka did cause Morhgoul to lose spellcasting for a round.  Since my Gladiator was dead, my opponent scored in the right zone.

Turn 3 - Skorne
I went for the assassination on Borka.  Three Paingivers clustered around Borka, then the Krea used Paralytic Aura, reducing Borka to def 12, and moved what I thought would be far enough out of the way for my Bronzeback to Trample up to Borka and kill him, but I was a fraction of an inch off, and the Bronzeback wasn't in range.  Morghoul tried to finish the job, but failed.

Borka and Skaldi killed him on the next turn.

Overall, a really fun game.  I had a fantastic time, and my Morghoul list only gets more fun the more I play it.  Thanks for the game, Guy Whose Name I Don't Remember!      


Picked Up Lord Arbiter Hexeris Yesterday

And looking forward to some Arbitration, and Hexation.

I'll probably also start using eHexy as a launching point for a more in-depth look at what is one of my current fave Warbeasts, the Titan Cannoneer.  I started using the Cannoneer and Extoller Soulward to combat pDeneghra and the various things she'd bring that I'd want to get rid of early on: Bonejacks, Admonia, Pistol Wraiths, Admonia, Bane Lord Tartarus, and Admonia.

Since then, I started fielding and enjoying the Cannoneer regularly, using it as a frontline attrition warbeast who shot cannon balls at solos on its way into melee, and it's served me quite well in that role (a more detailed description of how I use my Cannoneer can be found here).

However, I've also recently picked up the plastic Titan kit, and that gives me access to the Titan Sentry.  The Sentry is a lot better than the Cannoneer as a frontline attrition beast due to its Shield, higher armor and hit boxes, and Locker + Reach.  Both have good synergy with eHexy, so I'll be switching out between the two in a lot of games.  My current eHexeris lists are:

25pts
Lord Arbitor Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9 - Bonded)
*Titan Gladiator (8)

4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)

35pts
Lord Arbiter Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9 - Bonded)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)

6 Venator Rievers (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)

50pts
Lord Arbiter Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Sentry (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

6 Venator Rievers (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

The 50pt list is not what I've been posting I'd run, but looks like loads of fun.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Battle Report: Void Seer Mordikaar vs. Calandra Truthsayer

Caleb and I got a game in this past Friday.  He went with Calandra, and I decided to give Mordikaar another shot.

Trollbloods (35pts)

Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (+5)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9)
*Troll Axer (6)
*Troll Impaler (5)

10 Trollkin Fennblades (8)
*Officer and Musician (2)
6 Pyg Bushwhackers (5)

Janissa Stonetide (3)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)

This seems like a well balanced attrition list.  The Mauler and Axer can both hit very hard, the Fennblades are a good tar pit, and the Bushwhackers add some decent long ranged attacks to pick off support models and infantry.  Janissa and the Chronicler can add in some more attrition with Rock Wall and Storytelling.  The main Assassination threats are the Warbeasts, though the troops could certainly get the job done if my warlock is knocked down (due to Calandra's Force Blast spell, for example).
 
Skorne (35pts)

Void Seer Mordikaar (+5)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)

10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
6 Cataphract Cetrati (11)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Void Spirit (2)
Void Spirit (2)

I've decided to juggle my Mordikaar list around and give the Archidon a try.  He doesn't seem to need the Sentry very much because Tough, Undead Swordsmen (due to his Hollow spell) are such a fantastic tar pit, and because the Archidon has a scary Assassination threat with Flight letting it charge past enemy models and Mordikaar's spell Ghost Walk letting it ignore free strikes.  Mordikaar's other Assassination threats are all spell powered.  He can use his troops for Essence Blasts on the enemy caster, or Revive them (especially the elite Cetrati) into good charge positions.  Otherwise, this list has a very heavy attrition element.  It'll be hard to kill off, and every death can make Mordikaar more powerful.
  
Since there are pictures, I should say that we both used a few proxies this game.  I was using Master Tormentor Morghoul as Mordikaar, my Bronzeback's legs as the Archidon, and my Agonizer and Extoller Soulward as my Void Spirits.  Caleb had borrowed some models, and used 40mm wood circles to proxy the ones he was missing.  He was also using an incomplete Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain as Calandra.  Hopefully, the report will make it clear who is doing what.  If there are any unclear bits, just mention them, and I'll try to edit the post to make them clearer.

Deployement
 
We ended up playing Process of Elimination, largely because the zones were still on the table from my previous game (pMorghoul vs Borka, Battle Report to come).  In this scenario, you score points by controlling one of the two long zones.  You can only score in one zone at a time, and you can only ever score in each zone once.  The first player to 2 would win by Scenario, though I had a hunch we'd start ignoring the Zones and focus on caster kill in pretty short order.


I won the roll off, and chose to go first.  I deployed the Swordsmen in a broad line opposite both Zones.  The Cetrati and Mordikaar went behind them.  The warbeasts and attendant Paingivers deployed on my far left flank where the Archidon could play around with the building there.  Both Void Spirits deployed on my right flank, hoping to pick off support models or nip around to attack Calandra herself.







Caleb deployed his Warbeasts opposite mine, with the Mauler on my far Left, and the Axer and Impaler toward the middle.  The Fennblades deployed in front of both zones just like my Swordsmen.  The Stone Scribe Chronicler and Janissa deployed just behind them.  The Bushwhackers advance deployed on my right side, intending to move up my flank and use the low walls there for cover while they picked off my infantry.








Turn 1 - Skorne

I'm not used to Void Spirits yet, and my first mistake of the game was deploying them next to my Swordsmen.  Luckily, I passed the Abomination check, and ran both the Spirits and the Swordsmen forward to the edges of the Zones.  The Cetrat ran behind the Swordsmen.   The Gladiator Rushed itself, then Trampled forward to get 9" of distance.  The Archidon ran to just behind the building.  Mordikaar advanced, put Hollow on the Swordsmen, making them Undead and Tough (and letting Mordikaar collect their Soul Tokens if any of them should be destroyed), then put Banishing Ward on the Gladiator, since I knew Calandra would try to lure it out and kill it with Befuddle.  The Paingivers ran to just behind the Warbeasts.

There isn't usually much to say on the strategic picture at the top of turn 1.  My basic plan was to jam the zones with the Swordsmen while setting up an assassination run on Calandra with my Archidon and Essence Blasts.  The building is a good place for the Archidon to hide out and harass Caleb's flank from for now, and the Void Spirits are going to be a threat on the other side of the battle.

Turn 1 - Trollbloods

The Fennblades started out by running into the control zones on their end, and staggering their formation so I couldn't get to their second rank.  The Bushwhackers advanced to the first low wall, and took some shots at my leading Swordsmen, killing one of them, and giving Mordikaar a Soul Token due to Hollow.  The Stone Scribe Chronicler used Hero's Tragedy on the Fennblades.  If my Swordsmen were in range to charge and kill any of them, the Swordsmen would be knocked down at the end of their activations.  Janissa advanced, and placed a Rock Wall in front of the Fennblades Officer to protect him from any early game pot shots.  The Troll Warbeasts all ran forward, keeping in line with my own beasts.  Calandra cast Star Crossed, which forced me to roll an additional die on attack rolls and drop the highest die, and then put Bullet Dodger on herself (giving her +2 Def against ranged attacks, and the ability to move out of the way if I miss her with an attack), then charged at one of my Swordsmen.  She didn't reach him, but managed to get further upfield than if she'd just advanced.

Let the Attrition begin.  Caleb's advance let him contest both zones, and he had the numbers, combined with Tough and Star Crossed, to make the game a real slog for me.  I had to keep in mind that his biggest threat came from his Warbeasts, but I still had my Cetrati between them and Mordikaar for now.

Turn 2 - Skorne

Mordikaar leached fury, and upkept Hollow and Banishing Ward, and the dead Swordsman's Soul Token became another point of fury for Mordikaar due to Cull Soul.  The Bushwhackers would be a problem if I didn't deal with them.  I had two Swordsmen who might be in range of the Fennblades, and it would be nice to put some damage on them this turn.  Finally, anything I could do to the Troll Warbeasts this turn would be a bonus.  I didn't want to sacrifice my Archidon to them, but maybe I could throw one, and Sprint away after killing a Fennblade.

One Void Spirit charged the Bushwhackers, who failed their Abomination check, and would flee next turn.  The Void Spirit killed its initial target, generating an Eruption of Ash (a 3" AoE of Pow 12 Fire centered on the boxed Pygmy) which killed one more, and caused two others to fall down due to Tough.  Two of the Swordsmen charged the Fennblades I thought I could reach, but were just out of range, the rest of the Swordsmen ran to jam Caleb's Fennblades and beasts.  The Cetrati went into Shield Wall gaining +4 Arm while base-to-base with each other, and advanced.  The second Void Spirit ran to just behind the Swordsmen.  The Gladiator cast Rush on the Archidon, then advanced, to behind the Swordsmen.

Mordikaar cast Revive to bring back the dead Swordsman, then used his Feat, Void Wind, granting everything in his CTRL +3 Def and Poltergeist (letting me push enemy models who miss my own models d3").  He then charged one of the Fennblades to move further up.  The Archidon flew over the building, cast Lightning Strike on itself (granting it Sprint - the ability to make a full advance after killing one or more models with melee attacks during its activation), then killed a Fennblade and Sprinted back behind the Swordsmen.  The Fennblades were affected by Hero's Tragedy, but because the Archidon is Serpentine, it wasn't knocked down.  It took some damage from a Fennblade's Free Strike.  The Paingivers used Medicate on the Archidon, healing it for 1, and then Conditioned the Gladiator so that neither beast would take a Threshold check next turn.

My plan for a spell and Archidon assassination was shaping up pretty well.  Calandra would have to be careful to make sure there were no landing zones near her for my next turn.  Depending on how many Swordsmen died on the coming Trollblood turn, I could use Essence Blast either to clear out enemies or to (maybe) finish Calandra.

Turn 2 - Trollbloods

In the Maintenance Phase, the Fennblades took their Vengeance moves and attacks, killing a Swordsman.  Calandra leached fury, and upkept Bullet Dodger on herself.  Caleb's army would have a hard time hitting my models, but he might be able to get through to my more valuable, and lower Def, Warbeasts.  If he could take them out, I'd be at a serious disadvantage in the coming turns.

Calandra cast Star Crossed again, then advanced.  The Pygmies retreated to a forest, and rallied.  The Fennblades Officer used his mini-Feat, No Quarter, giving the Fennblades Pathfinder, Terror, and Fearless for one Round.  The Fennblades charged at my Swordsmen, but due to Mordikaar's Feat and a couple successful Tough rolls, didn't manage to kill any of them.  The Troll Impaler advanced to help screen Calandra, used its Animus, Far Strike, to gain +4" of range, and shot my Gladiator for moderate damage.  The Mauler used its Animus, Rage, on the Axer to give it +3 Strength, and also moved to Screen Calandra.  The Axer charged at my Archidon (it could barely see the edge of the Archidon's base, and made a Thresher special attack against the Archidon and four Praetorian Swordsmen.  It killed one of the Swordsmen, and reduced the Archidon to just 1 hit box with a single swipe.  It had missed a Swordsman, however, and was Poltergeisted away before it could buy any more attacks against the Archidon.  Calandra had used one of her Fury points to reroll the attack on the Archidon, leaving her with 2 Fury for transfers.  Janissa advanced, and cast Rock Hammer at the Incorporeal Void Spirit, killing it.  Finally, the Stone Scribe Chronicler used Hero's Tragedy on the Fennblades again, and ran to screen Calandra some more.

Caleb was jamming me well, and I wouldn't be able to get many attacks in on his Warbeasts next turn.  No matter what I did to his Fennblades, the beasts would be around to wreak havoc on my forces, and they were a very versatile selection.  He'd screened Calandra as best he could from Archidon attacks, but would it be enough?

Turn 3 - Skorne

Mordikaar upkept Hollow, but let Banishing Ward drop, and got 2 points of Fury from Cull Soul.  I was fairly sure I could get to Calandra this turn, but much less sure that I could finish her.  Between Tough, Star Crossed and Bullet Dodger, Calandra had a lot of defensive tricks, and she had 2 points of Fury to transfer damage with.  Luckily, I wouldn't have to choose between assassination and attrition this turn.  The Archidon was on its last legs, and had nothing better to do than give it a try.

I started off by charging my surviving Void Spirit into Janissa, killing her, but catching nothing else in the Eruption of Ash.  My Swordsmen advanced, and the Officer used his mini-Feat Perfect Strike, letting the Swordsmen do a single point of damage to warrior models instead of rolling damage.  The Swordsmen on my left did well, killing most of the Fennblades opposing them, and used Side Step to close with Caleb's second rank.  Because of Hero's Tragedy, however, they were knocked down after that.  The Swordsmen on my right side cound not kill a single Fennblade, try though they might.  Oh well.  The Cetrati advanced again, and used Shield Wall.  One of them managed to kill a single Fennblade.  Mordikaar advanced to behind the left clump of Cetrati, and cast Ghost Walk on the Archidon, allowing it to ignore free strikes, then healed its two broken aspects.  It had only 3 hit points left, but it would get its shot at glory.  The Gladiator cast Rush on the Archidon, and advanced, screening Mordikaar.  The Paingiver Beast Handlers used Enrage on the Archidon, granting it +2 Strength and letting it charge for free, and Medicate on the Gladiator, healing one of its hit boxes.

Finally, the Archidon screeched and launched itself at Calandra.  With a 12" charge range, it found a landing zone just behind the Dire Troll Mauler.  It boosted its first attack roll, and barely hit despite Star Crossed.  What's more, it rolled doubles, meaning it could use Critical Pitch to throw Calandra.  I threw her into the Stone Scribe Chronicler right next to her since she'd stop when she hit it, and still be in my melee range.  Calandra transferred the damage, but was knocked down, and sitting on just one more point of Fury.  The Archidon bought 3 more attacks, but Calandra was left alive at 3 hit points.

                                  This would be a lot more dramatic if I owned an actual Archidon.


So close!  But Calandra was in serious trouble if she didn't deal with the Archidon somehow.  It and the Swordsmen were the most pressing threats to Caleb.  Besides attacking Calandra, they could all be used to target Essence Blasts, even one of which could take her out if Caleb failed her Tough check.

Turn 3 - Trollbloods

The Fennblades made their Vengeance moves and attacks, killing a few Swordsmen.  Calandra upkept Bullet Dodger because defensive advance would be critical.  The Archidon would have to go, but it was almost dead anyway.  If Caleb cleared out enough Swordsmen, he'd be able to charge the Mauler into the Gladiator, taking both my warbeasts out along with Mordikaar's ability to support himself.

Calandra activated first, cast Star Crossed, used her Feat, Good Omens, and finished the Archidon in melee, camping 3 Fury.  The Fennblades killed off all the remaining Swordsmen they could get to, as well as the Void Spirit.  The Axer advanced next to the Mauler, and made a Thresher attack, killing off the four Swordsmen it needed to to clear a lane for the Mauler to charge my Gladiator.  Crucially, it had to use one of Calandra's Fury to reroll an attack, even with her Feat up.  The Mauler then charged the Gladiator and killed it, but had to use another of Calandra's Fury to ensure that it hit with its Chain Attack: Grab and Smash, which it used to knock the Gladiator down with a headbutt.  The Impaler, able to draw line of sight to Mordikaar, threw a spear at him, scoring a Critical Smite that knocked Mordikaar back an inch and knocked him down.  The Pyg Bushwhackers activated next, but weren't able to draw line of sight to Mordikaar past the Cetrati, so they killed off all but one of the Swordsmen.

Caleb had done grievous damage to my army, but Mordikaar would be sitting on an immense pile of Fury next turn - he had 9 Soul Tokens from the Hollowed Swordsmen Caleb had destroyed.  With no Warbeasts left, I was in a do-or die position.  Fortunately, Calandra was vulnerable.  She had a lot of defenses, but she was only camping one point of Fury, and I had enough warm bodies left to Essence Blast her into oblivion if fate was with me. 

Turn 4 - Skorne

As there was only one Swordsman left alive, Mordikaar dropped Hollow.  It had served him well.  Calandra had to go, and the resources at Mordikaar's disposal were 6 Cataphract Cetrati and 16 points of Fury.  My plan was simple enough.  The Cetrati would run through the swamp to within 6" of Calandra, then Mordikaar would use Essence Blast to barf their souls at her until she died.

The last Swordsman activated first, and got out of the way.  The Cetrati went next, and ran to within 6" of Calandra.  Mordikaar went last, forfeiting his action to stand, and started casting Essence Blast.  It took him 4 to finish Calandra, but he finally got her.

                                              The final Essence Blast:  BLUURRRGHFF!!

Victory to the Skorne, and a very fun game on top of it.

Thoughts

An incredibly fun game, with two big attrition armies going head to head.  I think I've finally found the right balance for my Mordikaar list at 35pts for now.  I really enjoyed the fast and flexible offensive threat of the Archidon.  When I used the Sentry, it felt a little redundant, since all the infantry in the army is already geared toward attrition.  The Archidon gave me some potent new options, and since it's only 7 points, I was able to include a second Void Spirit in the list as well.

Caleb played pretty aggressively with Calandra, and misjudged my Archidon's threat range badly on his second turn.  Other than that, he played a very solid game.  He used his Fennblades well to screen his warbeasts and grind down my Swordsmen.  He made sure to finish off the beasts themselves quickly, so I'd have no chance to retaliate against his own.

After the game, Caleb considered dropping Janissa for a Fell Caller Hero to support his Fennblades, which I think is probably a good move.  Although Janissa is excellent, she seemed to lag behind a little this game, and she might be more useful in a list which didn't jam so aggressively early on.

Finally, I know at least one person who only looks at this blog for the cat pictures, so here's another one.

                             Unlike Calandra and Mordikaar, Pax and Apollo are good at sharing

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

They Fight Crime 2: Admonition and Obliteration

Another tag team I'm thinking about running one of these days.  I've settled on a pMorghoul list that feels right - it just fits together.  I've also worked on the pHexeris list a little.  I might swap the Cetrati for some Arcuarii and a Void Spirit once I get them, but I'm happy for now.

Master Tormentor Morghoul (+7)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Brute (5)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)


Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6) - Kingdom of Shadow Tier 1
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

6 Cataphract Cetrati (11)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

Blowing Down a House of Bricks

I've been thinking a bit about bricks lately.  My Cetrati are on the road to being fully painted and assembled, meaning that I'll be running a lot more Cetrati bricks in the near future.  Therefore, I've been thinking about how to use Bricks well.  I've also been thinking about how I'd take out my own Cetrati bricks and similar blocks of really high-quality troops.  In this post, I'll be talking about the latter.

Here are some tactics which work against bricks.  They're not always effective answers on their own, but they can be used in conjunction with support from the rest of the army to take bricking lists apart.

1)  Jamming.  A lot of bricks are vulnerable to delay tactics, but this is especially true of Cetrati, who have medium bases and only one attack each.  To jam a brick well, throw in a unit it will have some trouble removing, and keep advancing bases into B2B with the bricked up unit so that it can't advance.  Don't mash all your soldiers into the brick in the hope of taking the Cetrati out unless your troops are high P+S weapon masters with a lot of attacks and/or high Mat, e.g. Bane Knights/Thralls and Great Bears.  Regular troops simply cannot do significant damage to Arm: 20, 8 hit-box models.  The more troops you commit to the brick, the more can be taken out by the brick player's clearance tactics.

Just for example, my Xerxis brick was once jammed by Primed Nyss Hunters, who are Weapon Masters with Def 15 (in this battle it was 16 thanks to Rhupert's Dirge of Mists).  My opponent didn't charge them all in at once.  Instead, they came at the brick in wave of approximately 3, each wave charging in.  They could reliably do 3-5 damage per hit on the charge, and taking them out meant risking more damage.  By the end of the game, they had ended up accounting for two or three Cetrati, and the survivors had gotten the last hit in on Xerxis after Durgan and some other stuff had softened him up.  Their main accomplishment, however, was to keep my 11-point brick from advancing significantly after turn 3.

Few troops will be as good at jamming bricks as the Nyss Hunters (Kayazy Assassins and Satyxis Raiders are the ones which spring to my mind), but any unit with 6-10 bodies can at least hold them up while other parts of the army get into position or eliminate the brick's support.

In Skorne, I'd use either Nihilators or Swordsmen with some sort of defensive buff if I could manage it.  I don't know Trollbloods as well, but it Kriel Warriors, Fennblades and Pyg Burrowers are the units I think of first for jamming Cetrati, though if you could get 2-3 Troll Whelps into them, that would work too.  For the Dygmies, there would also be the threat of popping up behind the Cetrati on the next turn to take out their warlock or support.

2)  Forced Movement.  There is nothing that annoys me more when I'm playing a Brick than dealing with an army that can shove me around and break up my Shield Wall.  Spellcasting units with Force Bolt are always bad.  Druids of Orboros are the main offenders I'm familiar with, but Battle Mages also have Force Bolt.  Spellcasting solos like Janissa Stonetide can pull similar tricks, though often at a much shorter range.

Most armies with access to forced movement get it through their Warlocks/Warcasters.  Forced movement spells include Telekinesis, Gallows, the ever-wretched Hellmouth, and the like.  Usually, the army needs some way to arc spells to take full advantage of shenanigans like these.  There are also a few Feats out there like eKruger's and Gorten's which push a whole CTRL worth of enemy models around.  Both Feats can be used to break up Shield Walls and Defensive Lines.

In terms of Skorne models, I'd use anything capable of Throws, because that's what we have.  There is Train Wreck, the Bronzeback's animus, but as a push effect, Beat Back is less useful for actually pushing models out of Shield Wall than it is for giving the target beast an extra advance while beating them to death, Shield Wall be damned.  Slams suffer a similar drawback.  They can knock a bunch of models down, but whether they're really better than taking all of a beast's initial attacks largely depends on whether the opponent positioned them so they could be slammed out of Shield Wall.

EDIT:  So I completely forgot about Cataphract Arcuarii, which are a really excellent unit for busting up Shield Wall and Defensive Line because they have Drag on their Harpoons.  They can make a CRA likely to damage their target, then follow up with a Weapon Master melee attack to finish it off.  There are a lot of warlocks I'd use them with, and because they can do all this at range, it's a very easy tactic to combine with jamming units to block the Arcuarii from retaliation.

3)  If you must take out a big Brick unit like Cetrati, don't try to take them all out at once if you can focus on one at a time.  It will take several attacks (usually) to take one out, but then it's done.  That model's offensive potential is gone from the unit.  Throwing moderate damage onto several models isn't going to reduce the unit's offensive power, and many casters have ways to move wounded heavy infantry to the back of a unit to reduce damage to them.

This works best if you can combine it with some way of preventing retaliation by the rest of the unit.  Ranged attacks work well if you can focus your fire on a model who's been pulled out of formation.  Any model with an ability to hit and run. even a little, can be followed up by a jamming unit running into the gap it left to protect the model that did your killing.

4)  Slow them down and go around.  If you can slow a big brick unit down enough, you can sometimes pick apart the rest of the army.  This is especially true in scenario games where the army will have to try to control or contest whether the brick can keep up or not.  A lot of effects can slow units down, and units which depend on a Full Advance to keep their Shield Wall bonus are nearly crippled by spells and feats which reduce their speed.  If opponents can slow down to keep pace with the brick, they'll be vulnerable to ranged and magic attacks.

Those are my thoughts on the matter for now.  I'll be running a little more Xerxis, pMakeda and Mordikaar than usual in the coming weeks, and I'll post again with additional thoughts.

Battle Report: Grimm Angus vs. Tyrant Xerxis


I got a game in this Saturday against Caleb.  To celebrate the completion of my first Cetrati model, I picked between two Cetrati-loving warlocks: Tyrant Xerxis and Archdomina Makeda.  I went with:

Tyrant Xerxis (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)

6 Cataphract Cetrati (11)
6 Venator Rievers (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)

This is my current 35pt Xerxis list.  I've gotten a few games in with this incarnation.  It's lots of fun, but may get some refinement as I continue to play.  The list is a pretty tight brick with the Titans on one side and the Cetrati and AG on the other.  My basic strategy is to walk forward in formation, and force my opponent to come to me with my shooting element and general toughness.  If I can, I'll make them come in piecemeal with Inhospitable Ground (which turns Xerxis' CTRL into rough terrain for enemy models), then I'll just roll over them with my brick (which is apparently a rolling brick or something).

Caleb gave Grimm Angus a whirl to see how their respective playstyles meshed:

Grimm Angus (+6)
*Earthborn Dire Troll (10)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Troll Impaler (5)
*Rune Bearer (2)

10 Fennblades (8)
*Officer and Musician (2)

Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
5 Whelps (2)

An interesting list with a strong ranged element, some good jamming, and a melee powerhouse in the Earthborn.  It's got great ability with terrain thanks to Grimm's spells, the Earthborn's natural Pathfinder, and No Quarter.  I'm not too familiar with Grimm's shenanigans, so I'll just have to see what happens.

I meant to take pictures for this battle, but then I forgot.  I won the roll off, and chose to go first.

Deployment
I deployed in a brick on my right, between a forest and a hill.  The Gladiator would have to go through the forest, while the Cannoneer, deployed next to it, would go around.  The Cetrati deployed next to the Cannoneer, with the Ancestral Guardian (AG) next to them, and the Venators behind the AG, slightly to the right of the bulk of the Cetrati brick.  The Paingivers and Extoller deployed behind the warbeasts.

Caleb deployed the Fennblades opposite my Venators and AG.  The Bomber and Grimm deployed opposite the core of my Cetrati, in a good position to run behind a wall toward the middle of the battlefield.  The Earthborn and Impaler set up next to them.  The Earthborn could go around or over the wall, and the Impaler could also advance up behind it.  The Chronicler and Rune Bearer went behind Grimm.  The Whelps Started in the trolls.

Turn 1: Skorne
The Cetrati ran, half of them ending up on the hill to my right.  Xerxis used Press Forward on himself, put Fury on the AG, and put Defender's Ward on the Cannoneer.  The Gladiator Rushed itself, and Trampled through the forest.  The Cannoneer ran forward to just behind the Cetrati's left edge.  The AG and Venators ran to just behind the Cetrati.  The Paingivers went behind the beasts, as did the Extoller.

This is a pretty standard turn one for this list.  Next turn, I'll start hunkering down, and trying to draw the Trolls into mt brick with my firepower.

Turn 1: Trollbloods
The Fennblades ran straight at my right flank.  The Rune Bearer used Harmonius Exaltation on Grimm, and advanced.  The Chronicler also ran.  The Earthborn hooked around to my left to threaten my warbeasts.  The Bomber ran straight ahead, keeping in line with the Cetrati.  The Impaler put Far Strike on Grimm, then advanced.  Grimm advanced to a bit behind the low wall, put Return Fire on Bomber, the Impaler and himself, then shot and killed a Cetratus.  The AG picked up his poor unfortunate Soul Token.

Ugh.  I guess against Trollbloods (and a lot of other armies, now that I think about it), I'll have to start bricking on turn one.  I wasn't too worried about the death of one Cetratus; the unit was still plenty dangerous, and they'd be much harder to get rid of next turn.  I was a lot more concerned about the Earthborn.  I knew how fast and dangerous those things could be.

Turn 2: Skorne
Xerxis let Defender's Ward drop from the Cannoneer, since it looked like it would end up in  line with the Cetrati instead of ahead of them, but upkept Fury.  The Cetrati advanced, and went into Shield Wall.  Xerxis cast Rush on the Cannoneer, and used Overcome on the nearby Paingivers, letting them advance through the rest of the forest.  He then advanced, and cast Defender's Ward on the Cetrati to help them weather the coming turn.  The Cannoneer advanced, cast Diminish, and shot at the lead Fennblade.  Despite boosting, it missed, and the shot scatted onto the Officer, Drummer, and another Fennblade.  I boosted damage against the Officer, and took it out along with the Drummer.  The Ancestral Guardian ran to the edge of the Cetrati to give them some Defensive Strike protection.  The Venator Rievers advanced, and killed 4 more Fennblades.  Not only did Caleb fail every Tough roll; he also failed the subsequent Cmd check for losing half the unit, a stroke of very bad luck for him.  The Gladiator stayed put, as the Cannoneer was within the Earthborn's charge range, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't at risk before charging in itself.  The Paingivers and Extoller continued to advance behind the beasts.

Caleb's luck with Tough and that Cmd check really hurt him this turn.  I hadn't been looking forward to grinding through the Fennblades with his beasts on the loose, and now I wouldn't have to.  My plan was to try to take out or wear down those heavies next turn, depending on what Caleb did, and try to keep myself as safe as possible in the meantime.

Turn 2: Trollbloods
Caleb started the turn with the Rune Bearer, who put Harmonious Exaltation on Grimm to reduce a spell cost.  Grimm then shot the Cannoneer for some decent damage, and more importantly gave the Earthborn a speed boost to get to grips with it with Bait the Line.  Grimm then put Return Fire on the Bomber, and cast Marked for Death on my Cetrati, reducing their formerly proud Def 14 down to 9.  The Fennblades fiddled around, one of them getting out of the Bomber's way, and rallied.  Then the Bomber advanced, and threw bombs at my Cetrati, killing 2 Venator Rievers in the blasts, but doing only minor damage to the Cetrati themselves.  The Earthborn charged my Cannoneer, taking it down to 1 hit point.  The Impaler finished it off with a thrown spear.  The Chronicler looked at the Fennblades in extreme disappointment, then put Feign Death and Concealment on them to protect them from further shooting.

My main problem was the Earthborn, which had to be dealt with immediately.  My Gladiator had been put out of commission by Grimm's feat, so I'd have to do the job with Cetrati and Xerxis.

Turn 3: Skorne
Xerxis dropped Fury from the AG, but upkept Defender's Ward on the Cetrati, then started things off by using his Feat, Total Annihilation, and advancing 2" into range of the Earthborn, and putting some damage on it with 3 attacks, then buying a fourth to kill one of the inevitable Whelps who spawned in to clog my Cetrati's avenues into the combat.  Then he took a 1" Overtake move to make space for a Cetratus where the Whelp had been, and used Press Forward on the Cetrat to let them advance 4" instead of 2.  The Cetrati advanced on the Earthborn, and entered Shield Wall.  I made sure to put one in contact with Xerxis to give him the +2 Arm bonus from his Feat.  The Cetrati killed off the Earthborn, and all but one of the Whelps, who would remain an aggravation to be dealt with next turn.  The Gladiator rushed herself, then advanced into B2B with Xerxis just in case the Cetrati got slammed away or something.  The Paingivers and Extoller advanced, but had little to do.  The AG spent a Soul Token to use Spirit Driven, letting it advance into B2B with the Cetrati.  The Venators kept up the pressure on the Fennblades, dropping one.  The Paingivers and Extoller continued to have nothing to do.

The Earthborn was a significant chunk of my opponent's army dealt with, and I was in a good position to handle his next turn mostly unscathed.  The most threatening piece left against my brick was the Dire Troll Bomber, but the Cetrati, who were still blocking its LoS to Xerxis, would be Arm 24 against its attacks for the upcoming turn.

Turn 3: Trollbloods
Grimm upkept Marked for Death on the Cetrati, then activated, and cast Lock the Target on the Gladiator to keep it from charging in next turn.  Gimm also shot the Gladiator for minor damge.  The Impaler cast Snipe on the Bomber, and shot at a Cetratus, hoping to slam it out of formation with Critical Smite, but didn't roll a double.  The Bomber unloaded on the Cetrati, but didn't manage to finish any of them off.  At this point, Caleb decided to concede the game.  He would have to run his Fennblades into my Brick just for Grimm to survive the coming Turn, and he didn't think he would be able to do enough damage after that.

I wasn't so sure he was out of the game, but it can be very discouraging to have a key unit rendered useless by a single bad roll, then throw your best shot at a tough formation, and not kill a single model.

Thoughts
I played a pretty solid game.  This is a list I've played a couple of times before, and I like it.  I did do a couple of things I feel I should have done differently, including Shield Walling on Turn 1.  I'm just not used to a 23" threat ranged gun.  Since my Cetrati would have been a little further back on turn 2, I could have kept Defender's Ward on the Cannoneer, which is pretty nasty in conjunction with Diminish.  Rather than being a necessary sacrifice, Candice would probably have lived through the Earthborn's attacks, and killed it with the retaliation.  I managed the Earthborn and his attendant Whelps well with the setup I had, though, making enough space for my Cetrati to get in there and finish the beast off.

Caleb made one mistake on Turn 1, when he didn't put Tale of Mists on the Fennblades.  It's great for weathering ranged attacks due to it granting Concealment (though Feign Death is nice too).  If he'd done so, I don't think I would have been able to kill enough Fennblades to force that Cmd check, and they would have been able to participate in the battle, making it a lot less one-sided.  His other, less major mistake, was focusing the Bomber's attacks on the Cataphract Cetrati, who are worn down slowly by the bombs rather than killed off.  If he'd focused on the Venators, he'd have crippled a good chunk of my ranged game.  The Cetrati can withstand a lot of punishment, but can also be kited to a degree.  Since he'd taken out my Cannoneer, the surviving Venators were the only thing keeping him from a run-and-gun strategy which might have worn me out eventually.

I'm thinking of juggling my list around a little.  For one thing, I really like Aptimus Marketh with Xerxis, especially if I have a lot of shooting.  Including Marketh gives Xerxis a lot more options with all his spells, especially Inhospitable Ground.  I'll probably try the list with Marketh in place of the AG, despite how much I like it in the list.  I'm also thinking of swapping out the Titan Gladiator for either a Basilisk Krea or a Basilisk Drake.  The Krea gives a kind of unnecessary level of defense against most lists, but when you need it, you really need it.  The Drake would be there to help clear infantry off of the brick, and do a little solo hunting.  The main reason for the switch would be to add in the Venator unit attachment, and another solo, likely an Agonizer.  The Venator UA add a lot to how they perform, and the Agonizer gives my whole brick some extra protection against Beasts, and some extra denial against Jacks.

Caleb's list seems pretty solid as well.  Not knowing Trollbloods much, I'm not sure what I would change.  I like Grimm's denial potential with his Feat, Lock the Target, and the Knockdown effect on the Net.  He can also launch stuff like the Earthborn really far with Bait the Line on his regular ranged attack.  I might swap out the Fennblades for a unit with CRA, another ranged beast, or another Earthborn (too many beasts, though?).  That way, Grimm could keep a Knockdown ranged assassination threat in play.  He could hit screening models with the net, and then throw a lot of ranged attacks into the caster with CRA, his own gun, and boosted shots from the Bomber and Impaler.  He could make the assassination even better with his Feat and/or Marked for Death.  He'd lose out on the Fennblades' jamming potential, but with a Spd-debuffing feat, Grimm doesn't necessarily need much jamming.

Any Grimm players have advice?

Friday, August 3, 2012

They Fight Crime

A pretty solid team I'm considering for the next tournament I might do.

Archdomina Makeda (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)

10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
6 Cataphract Cetrati (11)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)


Lord Arbiter Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9 - Bonded)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

10 Venator Rievers (9)
*Officer and Standard (2)
6 Paingiver Beast Handlers (3)

Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)
Void Spirit (2)

She has great durability, maneuverability, and speed.  He has a spell list that answers all my questions.

pMorghoul vs. Infantry

Lately, I've run into two problems with my pMorghoul beast heavy list at 35pts, and both are infantry related.

My first problem was Bane spamming, though any high quality, small based, Weapon Master infantry would be just as bad.  My second problem was Kayazy Assassins, some of the best high defense infantry in the game.

The list I'm running is:

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)

I still like the list.  It's a lot of fun to play.  So, rather than change it around, I'll try to use my experiences to come up with a coherent plan for dealing with both types of infantry.  High-def infantry is more problematic, so I'll start there.

1) Slams
One of the most common ways to deal with high def infantry (if you don't have a specific answer like splatter/chain spells or multiple AoE's) is to slam your own models over them.  This is pretty viable, but I need to plan ahead to set it up.

For the Morghoul list, the Krea is the best slammunition target thanks to Paralytic Aura.  She can charge or advance into the high-def unit I'm targeting, use Paralytic Aura, and wait.  I'll want to get her in as good a line as possible to take out multiple targets.  After she's been slammed, the Aura will continue to debuff defense to anyone alive within 2" of her.  The Brute is the next most viable target, by simple virtue of being faster and more maneuverable (as well as slightly more expendable) than a Titan.  It lacks a large base, but its medium base should catch a bunch of infantry anyway.  It will probably use Shield Guard on whichever model the Titan Gladiator is slamming, because KD immunity is very good for this tactic, and Grand Slam cancels out the -2" to Slam distances Safeguard also grants.

Of the Titans, both the BB and Cannoneer can be Slam targets, while the Gladiator will do the slamming along with whichever other Titan wasn't used.  The advantage to using the Cannoneer is that it's more expendable, and has a Str debuffing animus to help it live through a melee retaliation.  The advantage to using the Bronzeback is that even after being slammed, it has tremendous offensive potential.  If it has Safeguard, and the Gladiator Slams it, it can still move around (and make tons of attacks) with Train Wreck and its high Fury stat.  I'd usually expect to attack first, then slam, but slamming first is certainly an option.

Anything that was missed by the warbeasts I slammed with has to be mopped up.  The best candidates for this are Morghoul with his Rippers and Overtake and the Bronzeback with its high Mat and the ability to Train Wreck itself.  Against normal high-def infantry (in the 15-17 range), this should work ok.  Against crazy high def infantry, I'll have to do a lot of boosting.

2) The Setup
Setting this up will be tricky.  Most people know the trick of slamming your own models to beat high-def infantry, so I have to leave my options open for it to work.  I'll lead with the Cannoneer, who'll have the job of blasting an AoE or 2 into the infantry.  The Cannoneer will have Admonition up in order to retreat when they jam or charge it, and will be between 3" and 5" ahead of the rest of my beasts (except against eEyriss).  The rest of the pack will be more spread out, leaving the Lights room to run up around the Cannoneer to become slam targets.  Against eEyriss, the Cyclops Brute should stay within 2" of the Cannoneer, because Shield Guard can stop Admonition and Diminish from being stripped by her arrows.

3) Other Options
Another option is to make use of Abuse and Rush to get some excellent Trample distances, and just go right over the Kayazy.  Eleven inches is a very long distance, and if I can place a Titan base on the opposite side of a Kayazy unit, I'd do it.  If I do it, however, then I absolutely need to make sure Kayazy retaliation is minimal.  It's not as much of an issue with other high-Def options, who don't have Backstab.  If I go for a long Trample, I'll probably do it with my two biggest melee threats, the Bronzeback and the Gladiator.  I'll probably combine it with a Slam on my Krea and some attacks by Morghoul to kill off as many of the bypassed unit as possible.


Against Weapon Master swarms, I have some better options.  They have lower Def, so it's less resource intensive to kill them as long as I get the first strike in.

1)  First Strike
Against swarms who kill my beasts fairly easily, I'll need to get my beasts into the action first.  That's not too hard with pMorghoul.  He can give Titans a threat range of 11.5" with Rush and Abuse, and can do it enough to get both my melee heavies into battle as long as the Gladiator casts Rush on itself.  There are a couple more subtleties to this one, including using Admonition well.

2)  Use Morghoul and Spam Train Wreck
Morghoul is great against living weapon masters with Anatomical Precision, Overtake, and Double Strike.  He's not as excellent against Banes due to his low Power, but I've killed off a few in one activation before.  You just have to hope for above average rolling.

Train Wreck grants a warbeast Beat Back, which actually makes it better than Overtake.  Furthermore, since Weapon Masters tend to have Def in the 12-13 range, they're pretty easy for most of my beasts, even the Cannoneer and Brute, to hit most of the time.  The Bronzeback and Gladiator, of course, tear units apart with Beat Back.

The trick to setting up Beat Back rampages is to get the enemy to clump.  If I can, I'll funnel them through terrain.  It's actually not that hard to do against infantry swarms.  They have to clump together to fit through.  The other way to get infantry to clump is to throw a beast under the bus (sorry Candes).  If I give them a heavy of mine, they'll have to charge several (typically 3 to 5)) models into melee in order to kill the beast.  The Cannoneer can complicate things a little further with Admonition and Diminish.  The Brute is actually very good at surviving Weapon Master charges due to Set Defense.  Most elites will need 8's to hit it, and Banes will need 9's.  Only a few need to hit in order to kill the Brute, but the Brute is a relatively small investment to set up the Train Wreck.

I have a few other thoughts, but they're more experimental, and I need to give them some table time to see if they're viable.

For those of you who run high-Def infantry and Weapon Master swarms, how would you deal with your own shenanigans?