Shooty pMorghoul vs. GrimmAngus

Caleb and I got another game in this past Friday.  This time, he went with Grimm, and I decided to give my pMorghoul 2 Cannoneer list another try.  We'll both be writing this battle report, narrating our own turns.  Hopefully the perspective will stay pretty clear.

pGrexy's List:

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

6 Venator Rievers (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)

Extoller Soulward (2)

I went ahead and left out the Bronzeback I took in a previous game, and added in the Rievers and Raider.  Without the Bronzeback's melee power, this list will mainly try to take advantage of Morghoul's attrition game.  With his Feat and Admonition, I should be able to survive a charge, and deal with the chargers on my turn.  If I get the chance, I'll charge in first, although I'd probably rather be shooting most of the time.  This list will have some very long range for Skorne. The Cannoneers come in at 16" with Far Strike, and they threaten 22" with Abuse.

Caleb's List:

Grim Angus (*6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

The only models I need to proxy in this list are Mulg and the Whelps; I'm keeping the whelps off the board, since they tend to get in the way, and I'll have them when and where I need them (hopefully). I'm getting better with the Fennblades each time I take them, and the office and a Chronicler are just givens considering the boosts they give and Grim's lack of def/arm buffs. I'm looking forward to trying out a full unit of Bushwackers; previously I've only used min units, and while they've performed reasonably well, having a full unit will hopefully make me pay attention to them a bit more and use them more tactically. For some reason, the thought of nuking a light beast with a range 14, RAT 14, POW 20 shot (or 2 RAT 7 POW 15 shots) fills me with a strange expectation of joy.

I'm also running with 2 melee-oriented Heavies, and I'm looking forward to using the Mauler as a second string heavy - throwing his animus on the Impaler or Axer (or hell, Mulg) for a turn or two and then jumping into the fray himself to clean up what's left. Between him, the Axer, Mulg, and Grim's feat, I'm pretty sure I've got a good shot at taking out or crippling at least 2 of pGrexy's heavies before he gets any licks in if I play it right.

pGrexy's Deployment:

We finally get to use 40k ruins!  And avoid them all game.

I won the roll off, and went first.  I deployed in a pretty tight block to the left of some ruins.  I kept my Cannoneers pretty close together, and put the Gladiator on my left.  It was going to be a counterattack piece rather than a support piece this game.  The Venators went out front as a shooting infantry screen.  The light beasts all went right behind the Cannoneers, ready to spread some Paralytic Auras and hand out Far Strike.  The Swamp Gobbers went front and center next to the Venators.  I wanted to take full advantage of their Cloud Cover this game.  The Paingivers and Extoller went in the back.


Caleb's Deployment:

Just prior to Caleb's 1st turn.

That's a pretty big block of beasts; coupled with the absolutely horrendous amount of support animii (far strike, safeguard, diminish, paralytic aura, and spirit blade... son of a --), pGrexy's attrition game is downright insane. I plop the Fennblades on my right to sweep in along the side; the Chronicler, Runebearer, and Grim go in the nice safe (heh) spot in the middle, and the beasts go just to the left of them to angle in behind the Fenns. Since pGrexy has no advance deploy, I plop the pathfinding pygs smack behind a forest on my left to start taking pot shots at those lights and venators. 



pGrexy Turn 1:

A slow opening, but I need to stay in formation.

Most of the stuff in the list jogged at about 3/4 of its run speed rather than blitz upfield like I often do with pMorgs.  I had the Gobbers advance and use Cloud Cover.  The Venators did go full speed, running into the cloud and wheat field for Concealment.  The Titans all moved up about 6-8" getting into position to be protected by some Paralytic Auras.  The Cannoneer on the right got into the Gobber cloud for extra protection.  Morghoul put Admonition on the left Cannoneer, andmoved up.  The Krea and Shaman put up Paralytic Aura, and the Brute stayed around the middle, waiting to soak shots as  needed.  The Paingivers advanced, and wiped off most of the Fury, and the Extoller ran to be able to catch some Venator souls if any died.

I was in a pretty good position for now.  The Swamp Gobbers and Venators were right where I wanted them, and the beasts were in a decent position to do some shooting next turn.  

Caleb Turn 1:

My, what a convenient wall, forest, and field I have there...

The Fennblades ran forward, providing a useful screen but keeping more to the right for some possible flanking action later. The Pygs moved into the woods and managed to get 3-4 shots off (CRA'ing after the first one, as I quickly re-learned that RAT 4 can't hit crap), killing a Venator and missing a bunch (not unexpected). Like good little support solos, the Runebearer used Harmonius exaltation and the Chronicler tossed Tale of Mists (concealment/ feign death) on the Fennblades. Grim threw Rush on the heavies, Far Strike on himself, and moved up to peg another Venator -- my crafty opponent had placed everything else juuuuust out of range, even with far strike. He then plopped Return Fire on himself, proving once again that that Runebearer is pretty darn useful when I actually remember to use him.... The beasts all meandered up as far as possible (rush being completely useless this turn, as Fennblades blocked them from going far), and waited.

pGrexy Turn 2:

Now that is one big clump of smoke. Maybe I'll just hide here.

Time to get to shooting.  The surviving Venators moved up a little, but completely failed to do anything to the Fennblades.  The Swamp Gobbers advanced, and placed some most excellent Cloud Cover.  The Extoller used Guidance on the right Cannoneer so it could see through the Cloud.  The Cannoneers tried to deal some damage.  The one on my right threw an AoE at the Bushwhackers, but it missed and scattered wide.  The one on my left got Far Strike from Morghoul, and tried for a shot at the Stone Scribe Chronicler (which would have caught the Rune Bearer and the Fennblade officer in the blast), but also missed and scattered into nothing.

At this point, I admit to having some uncharitable thoughts about the whole shooting experiment.  A shooty list's second turn, and I'd done nothing to my opponent's army.  I was pretty well set up to take his charge, though.  Mulg might be able to get to one of my Cannoneers, but I might be able to Admonition away.  I'd misplaced the Brute somewhat, and the Cannoneer didn't have a lot of space to maneuver.  Otherwise, I was pretty safe behind the most excellent Cloud Cover.

Caleb Turn 2:

Picture taken after cloud marker removed. Darn Gobbers...

Having survived what I had originally anticipated would be a withering hail of fire completely unscathed (Not even a scratch? Come on Fennblade #7, you look kinda shaken up... No? Well, no Vengeance for you then), Grim was feeling kinda gutsy. I had a plan - I could get Mulg into the right side Cannoneer pretty easily with Rush, and the Mauler had a good (if tenuous) bead on the left Cannoneer that I could get him to with Rush and Bait the Line (Grim's gun's feature). Step 1 - knock out the Venator screen: the Bushwackers moved up 6" (I am never actually going to use bushwack, apparently), sniped off all but 1 of the little buggers with CRA, and even put a few points of hurt onto the Cyclops Raider.

The next big problem were all these annoying Fennblades in the way, so step 2 - pop No Quarter and charge them at everything in sight. Let me tell you, charging a dozen Fennblades 11" up the field -- literally over hill, field, wall, and dale -- is actually pretty damn fun. The Cannoneer tried to bounce out of the way with Admonition, but I made sure to place my first Fennblade in the most inconvenient place for it and ole Candice didn't get far. At this point the Fennblades apparently decided they'd made themselves useful enough this turn and proceeded to roll absolute horse-hooey on half their attacks and most of the damage, barely killing the last Venator and only roughing the Krea and Cannoneer up a little.

The Axer threw his animus on Mulg and moved up a little, preparing for a good charge next turn (see later: the big mistake). Mulg then rolled across the field like a ravenous spittle-dripping mountain-clad wrecking ball, his beady red-eyed glare fixed solely on the poor hapless Titan up ahead. He then proceeded to contract what I shall politely refer to as "Fennblade Syndrome" and roll more 1's and 2's on his attack and damage rolls for 6 freaking attacks than one might see during a 7-day Craps binge at a seedy Vegas casino. You... little... %&$#er....

Well, no use burning my dice about it or anything, I says to no one in particular (dice, if you're reading this... shape up). The Runebearer and Chronicler hop forward and do their thing (Harmonious Exaltation and Hero's Tragedy), and Grim sets his steely jaw and looks for a good spot to take a shot at that left-side Cannoneer. Turns out that (thanks to those wretched swamp gobbers and their smoke) the only good spot is where the freaking Axer is now standing. Ah crap. Well, Grim moves up anyway, pops his feat, takes a boosted shot at Miss Luckiest-dang-Titan-ever (he missed, but didn't kill a Fennblade... oh joy), puts Return Fire on himself and the Impaler, and promptly sits down and sulks on 4 fury in preparation for next turn's rendition of Flight of the Valkyries a la cannon fire. The Impaler moved up, used it's animus, and hit the right Cannoneer in a desperate attempt to remain relevant - some damage was done, but not enough to cripple an aspect. Expecting Morghoul's feat, the Mauler promptly runs backwards to keep himself open to transfers.

pGrexy Turn 3:

The Skorne ranged game ratchets up a couple of notches.

My beasts could get some shots in on Grimm, but he was looking pretty safe behind that 4 Fury.  If I hit him with Torment (sneakiest spell on Morghoul's card), I could probably finish him.  I was in a decent place to play an attrition game, though, so I decided to hedge my bets.  I'd try to hit Grimm with Torment.  If I got him, I'd shoot him for all I was worth.  If I didn't, I'd just focus on Caleb's army, and rely on Morghoul's Feat for defense.

First, the Krea used Paralytic Aura to drop the Def of some of the Fennblades jamming me, then she and the Cyclops Brute cleared a few of them out.  The Brute put Safeguard on Morghoul, just to be safe.  Morghoul advanced, checked range to Grimm for Torment (it's the same as his CTRL), and used his Feat before I got excited and forgot.  If this didn't work out, I'd need its protection.  Then Morghoul cast Torment.  He hit, and I proceeded to lob everything at Grimm.  My free beasts had pretty average luck hitting his good Def of 16 (the Raider and Shaman hit, but the Cannoneer missed), but bad luck on the damage rolls, and I had to take a free strike from my engaged Cannoneer, who miraculously survived with all her aspects intact.  She mananged to hit Grimm directly, and finished the job.

Victory to the Skorne!


pGrexy's Thoughts:

I played a pretty solid tactical game, but I still felt like I was reacting to Caleb a lot.  I definitely need to get used to Range 16 Cannoneers.  I could have hung back a little more on my second turn and, had more options.  I misplaced my Cyclops Brute a bit on Turn 2, and only luck saved my Cannoneer.  I'm still not used to thinking about Admonition with such a packed formation.  I'm actually thinking that the Brute might be a better front line defensive beast than a bodyguard against a lot of opponents with this list.  He's very durable with the Shield and Set Defence, especially against most infantry.  Reach could also threaten a wider area to prevent my opponent from getting to my ranged pieces.  Next game, I think I'll lead with him, and see how that works.  Morghoul didn't use Abuse a whole lot either this game or last game, and can usually just cast Safeguard on himself.

I corrected my mistakes of last game.  I played closer together, and timed Morghoul's Feat better.  I definitely made sure to keep all my beasts in a Paralytic Aura.  I also used the Swamp Gobbers very well.  They were a crucial element of my defense on Turn 2, and I really like them in this list.  Activation order with their cloud doesn't matter too much with the Extoller handing out Eyeless Sight.

The Venators were an OK screen.  I probably should be using 10-strong units or Bloodrunners if I need protection.  I'll try them out again though, and keep them in Concealment more.  They might see a little more action that way.  I really like the Raider in this list.  That extra range is a huge change in the list's shooting potential.  I did miss the Bronzeback though.  The list is definitely weaker at clearing infantry, and much less of a melee threat without him.  Last game, I relied on his power and his animus, and I was much more aggressive.  This game, I was more defensive, and played a more ranged/attrition game.  I'm considering replacing the Gladiator with the Bronzeback, since I don't feel I need Rush much with this incarnation of the list.  The Bronzeback would give me more anti-infantry options, and would provide a very hard-hitting melee threat.  I really missed the Agonizer's Gnawing Pain this game.  Diminish on its own is just not enough to feel secure.  There isn't much room for an Agonizer though.  Maybe I'll squeeze one in if I drop the Venators.

Caleb's Thoughts:

Ah crap, Torment. I hate that spell! All in all I think I played a very good game this time around, and would have been in a lot better shape if I hadn't moved that Axer forward into the only spot Grim had to see around that cloud. My opinion of Swamp Gobbers is going up significantly because of this game - in 2 out of the 3 turns, they were a significant problem for me. Despite a few minor placing errors, the full unit of Bushwackers is way more powerful than I'd originally thought, and could have really wrecked some of those light beasts if it weren't for those darn Gobbers. Combined with Grim and the Impaler, this list has a respectable ranged threat.

It was a bit different being more aggressive this time around - I tend to play Calandra very defensively, which is not something I think Grim or this list do well. Nothing wrong with that, as it kept pGrexy on his back foot for a good part of the game, and he came back to pull off that ranged assassination run really well. The utterly ridiculous amount of synergy and buff/debuff potential his list has is really quite amazing, and combined with the above-average ranged threat, that's something I'll have to look out for in the future.

Despite some crappy rolling, I think this list is nicely rounded and does a better job of dealing with Beasts than the Calandra list. The only real weakness I'll say it has is that it lacks good defensive options - by the end, there wasn't much I could do to prevent that assassination run other than load fury onto Grim and hope. I like having Mulg in this list, but I might drop him for an Earthborn after all - it's got the speed and abilities to be a better front-line beast, and it meshes really well with the Mauler and Grim's tricks. As to those last 2 points, I might drop the Runebearer and pick up a unit of Runeshapers: nothing says 'screw you, titans' better than earthquakes and POW 14 crit knockdown, plus they'd provide a good screening unit for Grim.

And Finally:

Pax thinks I should be working on my novel instead of writing battle reports.