Here's the 35pt game I got in about a week and a half ago.
I played:
Lord Arbiter Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Sentry (9) - Bonded to eHexeris
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
6 Venator Rievers (5)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
This is one of my favorite lists at 35pts. It fits together, it's fast to play, and it has a lot of options against both heavies and infantry. This is the first time I've played this list in a couple months (since October or something), and it's nice getting back in the groove with eHexy and some shooting. This list is pretty well balanced for 35pts, although something like an Arm 24 Gargossal would certainly test its limits, and it doesn't have many major blind spots.
My opponent, Jen played:
Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (+5)
*Scythean (9)
*Scythean (9)
*Angelius (9)
*Angelius (9)
*Harrier (2)
The Forsaken (2)
This list has two very hard hitters in the Scytheans, and two maneuverable assassins in the Angelii. The Harrier was a bit of an unknown quantity, but it would be fast. Rather than being geared to adapt to opponents' lists, this one has a plan, and makes opponents adapt to it. Saeryn will either use her Feat to launch the Angelii on an assassination run or make her army immune to melee attacks while she sets one up.
I ended up going first. I deployed in a loose brick in roughly the center of the table. Jen deployed on the left side where she could have Saeryn lurking around in a forest for safety while she plotted her assassination.
Turn 1: Skorne
I ran (or equivalently Rush-Trampled) forward with everything except Hexeris, who cast Ashen Veil on the Sentry. I positioned around so my Sentry would be my foremost beast for Locker protection in the coming turns.
Turn 1: Legion
Jen ran her beasts forward a little more cautiously, keeping out of my charge ranges. The Scytheans came at my center-left, and the Angelii circled around both flanks. Saeryn put Respawn on one of the Scytheans.
It seemed pretty likely that Jen was trying to set up for an Angelius assassination run on her turn 3 or 4. I'd have to make her use Saeryn's feat for attrition (not a super plan, given that it's very good at attrition, but better that than having Hexeris get tail stabbed to death).
Turn 2: Skorne
I ran a little more cautiously this time. I screened my Bronzeback and Gladiator a little with my Venators, who took a shot at a Scythean with their Extend Fire mini-feat. The Sentry advanced to the front of my line, likely in range of the non-Respawning Scythean, but not in range of the other one.
Not much more action this turn. I was pressuring Jen with the Sentry, which has the same threat range with Rush as a Scythean has. I didn't know if she'd try to kill it, but it seemed good to try to remove one of her heavies before it was optimal for her to feat.
Turn 2: Legion
Jen charged the Scythean into the Sentry, and flew the Harrier into the midst of the Venators. The Scythean did some heavy damage, but failed to kill the Sentry thanks to Ashen Veil. Saeryn cast Blight Bringer on the Harrier, which killed a couple of Venators. The Angelii flew up a little further, and took some potshots at the Venators, but didn't kill any.
Saeryn hadn't Feated, so I'd need to make this turn count. If I could kill off the Scytheans, I'd stand a better chance of winning a war of attrition. Angelii can do a lot of damage with Armor Piercing, but don't have many attacks.
Turn 3: Skorne
My Bronzeback charged the Scythean engaging the Sentry, and killed it. The Savage charged and killed the Harrier. The Venators shot at one of the Angelii. The Gladiator Rushed the Sentry, who charged the living Scythean, but failed to kill it.
There was an awful lot of Legion stuff still alive, and Saeryn was about to Feat. I'd protected myself from the assassination run, but my heavies were likely going to die over the next two turns.
Turn 3: Legion
Saeryn advanced (still in that forest though) and Feated. The Scythean killed the Sentry. One Angelius charged the Gladiator, doing a lot of damage. The other charged the Savage, but rolled triple 1's on its AP attack. The Forsaken advanced and took some Fury off the Scythean.
There wasn't a whole lot I could do at this point except shoot, cast offensive magic, and hope my beasts would survive Jen's next turn intact enough to retaliate.
Turn 4: Skorne
The Savage turned to face Hexeris, and used Prescience on him to let him boost attack and damage rolls after rolling. Hexeris advanced, and cast Ashes to Ashes on the Scythean, killed the Forsaken, and did a little damage to Saeryn. Then he used his Feat to steal a bunch of Fury from the Legion beasts, healed some of his battlegroup's damage, and camped a bunch. The Gladiator and Bronzeback circled up around Hexeris to prevent any Legion beasts from mulching him next turn. The unengaged Venators advanced a bit, shot the Scythean a bit, and Reformed to block its charge lane on the Gladiator and Bronzeback.
Last turn had been Jen's setup. This turn, she was poised to do a lot of damage to my beasts. We'd see just what the dice decided.
Turn 4: Legion
It looked like I'd successfully protected Hexeris. Saeryn cut herself a bit to build up her Fury again. One Angelius did a bunch of damage to my Bronzeback, while the other killed the Savage. The Scythean Trampled over some of the Venators to get to the Bronzeback, and finished it off.
I was down to Hexeris, 3 Venators, and a half-dead Gladiator. There was no way I'd be able to do enough damage to Saeryn's beasts to win on attrition, but there was a small window for assassination, and Saeryn's beasts were all full on Fury.
Turn 5: Skorne
The Gladiator tried to take out the Scythean, but didn't quite do it. One lucky Venator advanced into the forest to within 5" of Saeryn, and the rest got out of Hexeris' way. Hexeris advanced to within range of the Venator, and shot him in the back with Ashes to Ashes. The fire splashed onto Saeryn, and I boosted damage, barely doing enough to finish her off.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
Earlier that night, I'd had a game where I should have lost because I left no transfer slots available on my beasts. This game I eked out a victory thanks to the same mistake. I played a fairly solid game, but so did Jen, and Saeryn's feat turned out to be too much to handle for this list. Despite its decent shooting/magic abilities, my list does live and die in melee, especially against heavies. My biggest mistake this game was not focusing the firepower I had enough on one target. If I'd used Hellfire and my Venators consistently to take out, say, the Scythean with Respawn, I might not have lost my key beasts on Saeryn's double turn.
Jen only made one real mistake, which was not leaving a transfer slot available for Saeryn on the last turn. To some extent, that was hard to avoid. The Bronzeback absolutely needed to die, because it could have killed two of her heavies, while Hexeris and the Gladiator finished off the last one, and I don't remember how many attacks Jen needed to use to kill it. Otherwise, she played a strong, conservative game, using the potential of Saeryn's Feat to pressure me, and timed it well to do a lot of damage. This Saeryn list is also scary. It's a little weak against heavy shooting, but it's very fast, and the one turn of melee immunity means it can tear melee oriented lists apart. Finally, the Angelii are a huge threat. I was forced to play Hexeris pretty far back until after Saeryn had popped her Feat, because flying and immunity to free strikes would let them assassinate him pretty easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment