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.