This battle was pretty funny, but it's about three weeks old at this point. Caleb might be able to fill in any details I missed.
I played:
Archdomina Makeda (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard (2)
Tyrant Commander and Standard (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Extoller Soulward (2)
I decided to give Hakaar the Destroyer a try with pMakeda, both because I really like the fluff behind Ancestral Guardians and because the interaction of Savagery and Righteous Vengeance is a huge threat. I'd originally written the list with a Bronzeback and Agonizer instead of the Cannoneer, Extoller and Swamp Gobbers, but until my Bronzeback is done, I'll have to wait on seeing how that works out.
The list is pretty well rounded otherwise. High Def can give it a little trouble, but it has a lot of weapons against most targets, and can easily adapt to a lot of situations thanks to pMakeda's spell list.
My opponent was Caleb, and he played:
Grimm Angus (+6)
*Earthborn Dire Troll (10)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9)
*Troll Impaler (5)
*Rune Bearer (2)
10 Fennblades (8)
*Officer and Drummer (2)
6 Pyg Bushwhackers (5)
Caleb's list has a good balance of melee and ranged beasts and infantry. Grimm will make everything more dangerous with his ability to deny movement and debuff my Def. This list also looks well balanced. It's a solid attrition list with no glaring weaknesses.
Deployement:
Terrain was a hill on either side of the table, and a wide central area flanked by two forests.
I won the roll off, and went first. I deployed my Swordsmen in the front. My Gladiator and Cannoneer deployed behind them on my right side (opposite Caleb's forest), and Hakaar and the Tyrant Commander deployed behind them on my right side (opposite Caleb's hill). The Paingivers deployed just behind the warbeasts, the Gobbers deployed on the front line to the right of the Swordsmen, and Makeda and the Extoller deployed behind the Swordsmen in the center.
Caleb deployed in a very similar formation. His Fennblades went on the front rank opposite my Swordsmen. His heavies deployed behind them opposite my heavies, and his support staff (Grimm, the Rune Bearer and the Impaler) deployed roughly opposite Makeda. The Bushwhackers Advance Deployed in Caleb's forest.
Turn 1: Skorne
The Swordsmen ran forward their full 12," as did the gobbers. Both units ended up partly on the hill on my side of the table. The Tyrant Commander used Press Forward on Makeda. Makeda cast Savagery on Hakaar, advanced, and discarded a point of Fury. Hakaar himself walked up to about the middle of the Swordsmen. The Gladiator Rushed herself and trampled forward, and the Cannoneer ran up beside it. Then the Paingivers ran up behind and beside the Titans. Finally, Marketh advanced, and put Defender's Ward on a trailing Swordsman.
I had made one really dumb mistake. I'd forgotten to put a point of Fury next to my Cannoneer when she ran, so I ran with the Paingivers rather than make them advance and manage Fury on the Titans. As a result, one of the Titans would need to make a Frenzy check next turn.
Turn 1: Trollbloods
The Fennblades, Mauler and Earthborn ran. The Pygs advanced and took a couple of pot-shots at Swordsmen, but missed. The Impaler put Far Strike on Grimm, and advanced. Grimm advanced, and shot at a Gobber, but was just out of range. The Rune Bearer advanced, but didn't do much else.
No real action from the Trollbloods on Turn 1. Next turn, I'd try to kill some Fennblades, and brace myself for the retaliation.
Turn 2: Skorne
My Cannoneer predictably Frenzied (sigh), and killed a Paingiver, but no one else. Makeda dropped Defender's Ward, but upkept Savagery. Hakaar went first, advancing to about 5" short of the Fennblades. Makeda went next, advanced, and cast Savagery on the Swordsmen. Then she used her Feat, Walking Death, to bring back infantry who died next turn. The Tyrant Commander used Press Forward on the Swordsmen and ran up, with the Standard Bearer trailing behind a bit. The Swordsmen walked up to the Fennblades, used their mini-Feat, Perfect Strike, and killed four. The Gladiator Rushed itself and advanced. The Paingivers moved up to support the Gladiator. The Swamp Gobbers advanced to throw smoke in front of the Pyg Bushwhackers. Finally, Marketh advanced, and used Spell Slave to put Defender's Ward back on my Swordsmen.
I was pretty well placed for Caleb's counterattack here. My Swordsmen were well spread out, buffed, and would return under Makeda's feat so long as the whole unit wasn't wiped out. The Cannoneer was out of position now, but she'd be able to make it back to the fray next turn, hopefully still screened by most of the Swordsmen.
Turn 2: Trollbloods
Caleb had a plan to take out the Swordsmen, but it would require some luck. The Fennblades got off to a good start by killing two Swordsmen with their Vengeance attacks. Then Grimm activated, advanced as far as he could, used his Feat, Spread the Net, to give enemies in his CTRL (most of my Swordsmen plus my Gladiator and Hakaar) -3 to Speed and Def for a round, then cast Marked for Death on my Swordsmen, giving them a further -2 Def while letting allies ignore LoS to them, and put Return Fire on himself. Then he shot and killed a Swordsman. All attacks, in fact, were directed at the Swordsmen. The Fennblades, the Impaler, and the Pygs all chipped in. And they successfully managed to wipe out the unit despite needing at least one hard 8 on the ones who were out of Grimm's feat. The Mauler and Earthborn just advanced.
Booo. But only the Swordsmen were dead. I was ok trading a Feat for a Feat. I could probably use Savagery and Press Forward to mitigate the Speed penalty, and still be in a decent position overall. Although now my Cannoneer being too far back was really going to hurt.
Turn 3: Skorne
Hakaar made a 1" Righteous Vengeance advance, and killed a Fennblade. The Tyrant Commander advanced, killed a Fennblade, and used Press Forward on Hakaar, who advanced and killed 3 more Fennblades. Marketh advanced and cast Savagery on the Titan Gladiator. Then Makeda advanced and cast Rush on the Gladiator followed by Carnage. Then the Gladiator walked up to the Mauler and killed it. The Extoller shot the Earthborn for some serious damage, and the Cannoneer ran forward. The Paingivers ran up to hopefully keep the Earthborn away from the Gladiator, but it might have a way through if one or two of them were killed. The Swamp Gobbers advanced into melee with some Fennblades, to keep them from getting to the Paingivers.
I was holding on pretty well now. Caleb would have to deal with my Gladiator on his next turn, and a lot of his infantry were tied up. If he couldn't clear a path through the Paingivers for his Earthborn, he wouldn't be able to kill it, and I'd have the advantage again.
Turn 3: Trollbloods
Grimm backed up to the hill, and shot at the Gladiator. The Impaler also shot the Gladiator. The Pygs shot down the Extoller and Marketh. The Fennblades, despite taking two Free Strikes from angry Gobbers, managed to kill off two Paingivers, and the Earthborn managed to finish the Gladiator.
The Gladiator was gone, but now I had a golden opportunity to kill Grimm.
Turn 4: Skorne
In my Maintenance Phase, Hakaar advanced into a charge lane on Grimm. The Cannoneer advanced and shot the Earthborn. Then Makeda advanced, cast Defender's Ward on herself, and cast Carnage, catching all the Trolls, Grimm included. The Paingivers advanced, and hit the Earthborn twice. I added 2 Fury to it, but then realized that it was a Fury 5 beast, and I just didn't have enough Paingivers for my plan.
Whatever. I charged Grimm anyway. He was camping 3, but Hakaar can put out a lot of attacks. I hit with all of them, burned through all of Grimm's transfers, and would have forced a Tough check if I'd rolled anything but double 1's on the last damage roll. However, double 1's is exactly what I rolled, so that was that. The Earthborn was still alive and at 1 hit box, as was Grimm.
Turn 4: Trollbloods
The Impaler killed off Hakaar, and Grimm managed to knock Makeda down with his net thingy. She was killed by a few CRA's and the Earthborn.
Victory to the Trollbloods!
Thoughts
Well, I made a very serious mistake early on, and I paid for it all game. If the Cannoneer had been further forward, I would have been much more confident about taking out the Earthborn, and I wouldn't have had to expose Makeda like that at the end. It might also have managed to screen some Swordsmen from melee attacks, and would definitely have been able to contribute more on my third turn. Luck played a reasonably big role in letting Caleb kill all my Swordsmen, and the game would have been very different if I'd been able to return them to play. Overall, though, the game was a lot of fun, and Hakaar almost swung it for me despite everything that had gone wrong.
I like this list a lot, although I think I'd prefer having the Bronzeback and Agonizer overall. I'll have to give this beast lineup a fair shake without making any terrible mistakes. I do like the Cannoneer with pMakeda because Carnage puts its Mat up to point where it's a serious threat to other heavies, even if Enrage is its only damage buff. Hakaar was great. PMakeda really helps him get a lot out of his abilities, and he has a very solid damage output for one model. He definitely helped clear out the remaining Fennblades even after my Swordsmen had been killed.
Caleb played a solid game overall. His two big mistakes were leaving the Mauler within Gladys' walking range, and forgetting about Righteous Vengeance when positioning Grimm. He did get lucky polishing off all my Swordsmen on Makeda's feat turn, but he also used his own abilities well, getting their Defense as low as possible, and focusing attacks on them to wipe them out.
After the game, Caleb decided that he'd rather have a Stone Scribe Chronicler than the Rune Bearer, and I agree with him. Granting the Fennblades the various benefits the Chronicler can provide would have helped out a lot, whereas the Rune Shaper mostly stayed out of the way, and occasionally let Grimm get off a free Return Fire. Otherwise, the list is very well balanced. The combination of Impaler, Mauler and Earthborn is a great one for Grimm, and the Pygs give the list some very nice versatility with their ranged attacks.
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