Hey, I got some games in. How cool is that? But, unlike my cohorts, I don’t really like writing out long battle reports. So, consider these the vignettes to their novels.
Here’s what I brought:
Coven
* Nightmare
* Harrower
* Nightwretch x2
Satyxis Raiders (full)
* Sea Witch
Warwitch Siren
This is my favored Coven list so far. It’s main win condition is an Infernal Machined heavy charging the enemy’s caster. The Nightmare is the primary kill piece, with reach and Prey. The Harrower cleans up infantry with Infernal Machine and also assassinate in a pinch. Nightwretches are my favorite node, even with a caster with IM. That aoe is just so handy. Satyxis are obviously great and the Coven’s feat makes them even harder to hit, and the Siren just makes everything better. She beats out a Skarlock because the Coven can already cycle upkeeps extremely well and most of the list already has pathfinder, making Ghost Walk less important.
This list’s strengths are its jacks and its threat ranges. Even the Harrower can charge something 12” away through rough terrain, or through enemy models if necessary. It’s weaknesses are lots of infantry, high def infantry, attrition, and the Coven themselves. The Coven are awkward to move, fragile, and pretty much incapable of killing anything besides a solo. Luckily they have a humungous control range, so normally they just squat in the back and pray nothing comes close.
My first opponent brought the following Skorne shooty list:
eMorghoul
* Titan Gladiator
* Archidon
* Basilisk Krea
Venators (full) w/ UA
Slingers (full)
Tyrant Commander
Beast Handlers, full I think
The mission was, um, the one with the three flags on the center line and then one disappears. It’s been close to a month since I’ve last played and even longer since I’ve played the Coven, but hopefully I won’t make any huge mistakes (spoiler: I make some huge mistakes).
First turn we both moved up. On the second turn I saw that his army was at the very edge of my threat range, so I rushed to charge him. I was able to take out his Gladiator and a fair about of his army, and I feated to lessen his retaliation. In return he feated and sort of just walked around my army to claim a point. I tried to respond by killing a very exposed eMorghoul, but my forces were too spread out to really concentrate enough force on him (and I screwed up with focus allocation) so he survived. And then my opponent pointed out that in my attempt to kill eMorghoul, I had neglected to contest either of the flags, so at the end of my turn he got another point, and then at the end of his turn he would get a third point and win the game. So, victory to the Skorne!
Right, that was... kind of a mess. My fight of the night was against this:
Rhyas
* Carnivean
* Scythean
* Shredders x2
* Succubus
Striders
Warspears (full)
Shepherd
No scenario, just caster kill.
Again, first turn we move up. Second turn I advance and feat to stop him from attacking me, he responds by moving his Warspears forward to screen his army. On my third turn I cast Curse of Shadows on the Warspears and charge my Satyxis into their first line, their second line, and the Scythean they were “screening”, killing most of the ogrun and wounding the beast. I also place my Nightmare what I think is 10 inches from the Carnivean but what will actually turn out to be like eight, which was especially stupid because with the Coven’s huge control I could have basically measured it.
Side note: having an 18" control range is just bonkers. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, he feats on his turn, which lets the Carnivean tear the arms off the Nightmare and helps the Scythean and Rhyas kill many of the Satyxis. Rhyas also relocates closer to the Carnivean, as my forces on that side are collapsing while the other is still strong. On my turn, the Harrower kills the Scythean and the remaining Warspears, filling up on souls (not from the Scythean, obviously). The Nightmare despite having no arms, is still MAT 10 P+S 18 against the Carnivean, but it fails to do any damage. On his turn Rhyas kills a Nightwretch and his Carnivean finishes off the Nightmare. Then I allocate three focus to the Harrower, arc Infernal Machine onto it, and charge it laterally across the table into Rhyas’s back arc. Even ninjas don’t like MAT 8 warjacks with effective 6 focus stabbing them repeatedly in the back.
I guess my conclusion is that I like the Coven and I also like it when I’m competent.
Laters.
The Skorne list is very interesting. I've played around a little with Venators as my main infantry. I suppose what eMorghoul does for them is turn off Free Strikes whenever he wants so they can't be tied down. The Tyrant Commander would give them plenty of options to get out of the way too.
ReplyDeleteThey seem like an ok fit for him too. They have a ranged threat which can force people to engage them. Any caster who comes too close risks being assassinated by Morghoul/ the Archidon. I have no idea how it would work out for me, but I'm intrigued.
It seems like his kill condition is just eMorghoul and/or the Archidon on Feat turn. Or CRA's. I'm a bit scandalized by the lack of a Brute, but eMorghoul doesn't need it as badly as pMorghoul due to Stealth.
The beast handlers would have been Min, I think.