I managed to get a few games in with Retribution the other day. I just finished putting my Halberdiers together, so I have some 50pt lists I'm moderately happy with. Here's the first game.
I ran:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (+7)
*Phoenix (10)
*Banshee (10)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
10 Houseguard Halberdiers (7)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
*Soulless Escort (1)
10 Dawnguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
10 Mage Hunter Strike Force (8)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
Arcanist (1)
This list can play both a ranged and melee game. With the two Reach Myrmidons, my Invictors have enough potential Flank buddies to threaten heavies, and they and the Strike Force put down some pretty respectable firepower. The Halberdiers are my main melee unit, and can jam well, and hit pretty hard when they have to with their mini-Feat.
The basic game plan with this list is to use Kaelyssa's spells and Feat, along with my shooting, to grind the enemy down until the Banshee and Kaelyssa can get a good angle on the enemy 'caster. I think it's pretty well balanced overall.
My opponent, Brandon, ran eStryker with the following list:
Lord Commander Coleman Stryker (+6)
*Ol' Rowdy (9)
*Lancer (6)
*Squire (2)
10 Sword Knights (6)
6 Stormblade Infantry (5)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (3)
Greygore Boomhowler and 5 Company (6)
*Cpt. Jonas Murdoch (2)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4)
Lt. Allyson Jakes (3)
*Minuteman (5)
Journeyman Warcaster (3)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
This list looks pretty well balanced, and similar to mine in terms of its main strategy. It has the tools to break through a variety of enemy models while Stryker sets up his personal assassination run. He has a very scary presence, and can hit an enemy 'caster from up to 17" away.
Deployment
We set the table up with a small forest in the center, a building on either side of the table, and a few other forests and low hills surrounding the middle. We played Incursion - 3 flags are set up in the middle of the table, and one disappears at the end of the 1st round. Brandon won the roll-off, and went second.
I deployed in a bunch with Halberdiers in front of the Invictors, the Phoenix on the left with some clear lines of sight for arcing spells, and the Banshee in the center-right (to the right of my infantry) where the forest would mostly screen it from enemy attacks. I was planning to put Phantom Hunter on it, so it would be able to shoot through such trifles as forests without any trouble. The two Arcanists went with the 'jacks, and Kaelyssa and Sylas went behind the infantry clump.
Brandon the Boomhowlers in the center, with the Stormblades to their right, and Rowdy, the Lancer and the Black 13th to their left. The Sword Knights went on the fat left behind the building, along with Jakes and her Minuteman. Stryker, Arlan, the Journeyman, and the Squire deployed behind Rowdy and the Lancer.
I deployed the Mage Hunters opposite the Minuteman and Sword Knights for Advance Deploy. We were both angling to the left in our deployments, without much presence on the right side of the table.
Turn 1: Retribution
I ran the Halberdiers and Invictors up to within striking distance of the woods at the center of the table. The Halberdiers spread out, while the Invictors stayed behind them in Defensive Line. The Mage Hunters swept around to the left of the left flag. The Arcanists used Power Booster and advanced. The Phoenix ran up to support the Mage Hunters, and the Banshee ran to just behind the Halberdiers. Kaelyssa advanced, cast Phantom Hunter on the Banshee, and channeled Banishing Ward onto the Mage Hunters. Sylas moved up behind her.
This is my basic first turn setup for Kaelyssa. I didn't cast Arcane Reckoning, even though I had the Focus for it, since it didn't seem like Striker would do much channeling.
Turn 1: Cygnar
Brandon allocated one Focus to the Minuteman with Jakes, and one to the Lancer with Stryker. The Boomhowlers Fell Called for 4+ Tough, and ran up to behind the woods on Brandon's side. The Black 13th advanced, and scattered a Mage Storm at my Mage Hunters, but didn't kill any. They also targeted the Mage Hunters with a Fire Beacon, but that also scattered wide. The Sword Knights ran up to just ahead of them in Defensive Line. The Journeyman advanced, and cast Arcane Shield on Ol' Rowdy. Gorman ran forward. Rowdy ran forward too. Stryker advanced, and cast Lightning Storm twice at the Invictors, dropping the templates among the Halberdiers up front and killing two. The Stormblades ran up the right side of the table. The Minuteman and Jakes ran forward conservatively behind the building, as Brandon didn't want Jakes to be sniped out by the Mage Hunters.
That was a pretty decent first turn from Cygnar. Stryker managed to hem in my Invictors a bit with those Lightning Storm templates, and a lucky Mage Storm scatter could have mulched several Mage Hunters despite them being spread out. I'd need to try to take away his options to hit me next turn, and start whittling him down. The left flag disappeared. We'd both been angling left, so the fight would now revolve around the center flag, with outliers sent to control the right one.
Turn 2: Retribution
Kaelyssa held on to all her Focus, and Sylas upkept Phantom Seeker for free. One Arcanist Power Boosted the Phoenix, while the other did the same for the Banshee. The Halberdiers used their mini-Feat to gain Gang for a turn, and charged the Stormblades, killing 3, then Reformed backward to where I hoped the unit wouldn't be able to reach them with an advance. The Banshee advanced, and slammed one of the remaining Stormblades into another, killing both. The Stormblades passed their break check for 50% casualties. The Phoenix advanced, and boosted a shot at the Sword Knights, but missed and scattered wide.
Then Sylas moved up, and used Arcane Secrets on Kaelyssa. Kaelyssa advanced to just behind a wall, and used her Feat to give my army Stealth, and make it untargetable by charges. Then she boosted Backlash into the Lancer, and cast Rift at one of the lead Boomhowlers. She hit and dropped him. He passed his Tough check, but she'd extended the rough terrain by about 4" to the left of the Forest, and ensured that the Boomhowlers couldn't run to engage me. The Mage Hunters advanced or aimed, and destroyed the Lancer, doing 7 damage to Stryker in the process. The Invictors moved up around the Lightning templates, but couldn't see anyone to shoot now that the Lancer was dead.
I was in a good position now. There would be no more Lightning Storms, my whole army had Stealth against non-AoE's, and Brandon wouldn't be able to charge or assault me with either the Stormblades or the Boomhowlers. Stryker was also hurt, which meant Brandon would be hesitant to use Overload to boost his Strength for an assassination. I was a little concerned about the Minuteman, but destroying the Lancer was the better move, since I'd need more freedom of movement soon.
Turn 2: Cygnar
Stryker upkept no spells and allocated no Focus. Jakes allocated 3 to the Minuteman. Jakes advanced to just behind the building. The Black 13th advanced, and targeted the Halberdiers with their Mage Storm this time, taking out a few. The Stormblades advanced, and shot some more Halberdiers point-blank. The Minuteman advanced, and used Bounding Leap to get near two of the Mage Hunters, killing both in a Flack Field, then shot and killed 2 more with its slug guns. The Sword Knights ran up next to the rest of the Mage Hunters. The Journeyman advanced, and put Arcane Shield on the Boomhowlers, who ran into the woods and through the Rift to nearly reach my lines. Stryker yanked a Focus off the Squire, advanced, cast Deflection, and spent 5 Focus to heal. He also used his Feat to give friendly models an extra 3" move and melee attack at the end of the turn. Gorman advanced, and hid Stryker and the Squire in a cloud.
With the Feat move, the Sword Kights killed another 2 Mage Hunters, and the Boomhowlers and Stormblades reduced the Halberdiers to 2, but they held firm. The Boomhowlers also controlled the middle flag, giving Brandon a point.
I'd lost a lot of my screen that turn, and the Boomhowlers were in full-on jamming mode. I still had plenty of resources to recover, though. I was looking to grind the game out until Stryker got into my threat range. All I needed to do was take away the center and right flags, and he'd come to me along with the rest of his army.
Turn 3: Retribution
Kaelyssa allocated 2 Focus to the Banshee, and kept the rest. Sylas upkept Phantom Hunter. The Halberdiers charged in to finish off the Stormblades, but left one alive. The Arcanist on the left charged a Sword Knight, and proudly added a notch to his coffee cup. The one on the right ran to contest the right flag. The Phoenix advanced, and used Combustion, catching 2 Boomhowlers and 2 of the Sword Knights engaging my Mage Hunters. The Sword Knights and one of the Boomhowlers died. The Mage Hunters attacked and killed two more Sword Knights, and put some damage on the Minuteman. The Banshee advanced, and blasted the Journeyman away with its Force Cannon. Sylas put Arcane Secrets on Kaelyssa. She stayed put, and channeled Rift at the Black 13th, wiping them out. The Invictors advanced to contest the middle flag. They finished the last Stormblade, killed one Boomhowler with a melee attack, and shot down Greygore himself with a big CRA, denying the unit its annoying Fell Calls next turn.
That wasn't too bad. I'd killed off some major enemy pieces, and I was definitely holding my own. Things weren't looking particularly good either though. the Phoenix was easily within Rowdy's charge range, the Mage Hunters would largely be fodder for the Minuteman, and the Invictors were being jammed pretty well.
Turn 3: Cygnar
Stryker allocated 4 Focus to Ol' Rowdy, and kept the rest. Jakes allocated 3 to the Minuteman. The remaining Sword Knights started things off by hacking apart another Mage Hunter. The Minuteman advanced, blew away all but one of the remaining Mage Hunters with Flak Field, then used Bounding Leap to contact it, and Double Handed threw it into the Phoenix, knocking the Myrmidon down. Rowdy charged the Phoenix, and beat it into scrap. Stryker pulled Focus off the Squire, advanced, healed back up to full health, and shot the Banshee, Disrupting it. The Boomhowlers Assaulted the Invictors, and killed 3. Gorman advanced, and dropped a cloud right in front of Stryker, blocking line of sight to him completely.
The Invictors were still contesting the flag. More importantly, Stryker was within range of the Banshee and Kaelyssa. It was time to see if I could finish this.
Turn 4: Retribution
Sylas upkept Phantom Hunter, and Kaelyssa kept all her Focus for herself. The Arcanist on the right turned to face the Banshee, and used Power Booster to give it a point of Focus and remove Disruption. The Banshee aimed and shot Stryker, hitting him for 8 damage and knocking him down. Sylas put Arcane Secrets on Kaelyssa in case she needed Arcantrik Bolt to finish the job. Kaelyssa advanced to make sure she was in range with both spells and gun, and cast Phantom Hunter on herself. Then she shot Stryker to death.
Victory to the Retribution!
Thoughts
I played a solid game here. There's an interesting discussion going on in the Retribution Faction Forum here about the role of attrition for Retribution, and I tried to keep that in mind while I played this game. I think I did a pretty good job of grinding Cygnar down and forcing Brandon to put Stryker into play. I was losing the attrition war overall, especially after Rowdy mulched the Phoenix like that and collapsed my left flank. However, I was close to being able to control and dominate the two remaining flags, and Brandon needed to stop me by committing Stryker to help the right side of the table hold out. Once he was in range, I had a good chance to kill him if the Banshee could hit.
I like this list a lot so far. There are definitely some things I want to try out with Kaelyssa, including Dawnguard Sentinels and Mage Hunter Assassins to bolster my melee game. The Halberdiers are a nasty little screen though, and the Invictors almost always impress me. This game they held up well, got some significant shots in, and would have had plenty left to do while I started scoring if the assassination run didn't work out at the end.
Brandon also played a solid game. He targeted my biggest threat (the Mage Hunters) early on, and destroyed them with some of the best tools he had for the job. He jammed me well with the Boomhowlers, and might have locked my out of the flags altogether if I hadn't slowed him down so effectively on Turn 2. His only real mistake was leaving Stryker within range of my assassination threat, but that threat is really hard to avoid, and he needed to start committing more power to his flagging right flank.
Brandon's list has a lot of strong pieces that fit together well. The Minuteman is a phenomenal little 'jack, and took out the Mage Hunters almost single handed. Having Jakes control it frees up a lot of Focus Stryker needs for himself, even if it can easily get out of her CTRL (which it did on Brandon's 3rd turn). The Boomhowlers held up the center well too, and must have passed 5 or 6 Tough checks over the course of the game. eStryker is a solid and versatile 'caster, and I was continually impressed by level of support he could give while remaining a credible melee threat.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. pVlad at 50pts
I got the chance to throw down against non-co-Blogger Caleb (for real though, you guys need to come up with a system or these reports are going to get confusing) and his pVlad list. I played Makeda and the Exalted Court because she's probably my favorite Warlock in Skorne right now. She has some cool tricks and a huge board presence if you play her well.
Here's the list I used:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Agonizer (2)
I decided to mix up the beast brick I took in the tournament last month by adding in some infantry as a cushion. Makeda 3 isn't fast enough to reliably get an alpha strike every game, so the Swordsmen are there to blunt the enemy's offense. Otherwise, the list is pretty standard for Makeda 3 except for the Ancestral Guardian. I'm looking forward to possibly making some boosted Defensive Strikes, and otherwise taking advantage of Vortex of Destruction to dish out some damage.
Play-wise, this list should be decent against all comers. It can handle both high armor and infantry spam, and high-Def won't give it too many problems. It has a decent scenario game, solid attrition, and Makeda's ability to dominate for scenario points against all but the meanest assassination runs.
Caleb played:
Vladimir, the Dark Prince (+5)
*Drago (8)
*War Dog (1)
Great Bears of the Gallowswood (5)
4 Widowmakers (4)
6 Battlefield Mekaniks (3)
Field Mortar Crew (3)
Field Mortar Crew (3)
Man-o-War Drakhun w/ Dismount (5)
Kovnik Andrei Malakov (3)
*Conquest (19)
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One (2)
Widowmaker Marksman (2)
This looks like a pretty well balanced Vlad list. It has a decent shooting game with the Widowmakers, Mortars, and Conquest backed by Signs and Portents, and can cross the table quickly with Vlad's Feat on Drago, and Redline on the Conquest, both of which hit very hard in melee.
It's also 3 points over (by my count), which didn't end up mattering too much. I'd probably just min the Mechaniks, and drop Harlan.
On to the game. We ended up playing a center scenario (I can't recall the name right now) with two opposing flags diagonally across the table center from each other. You could score by dominating your flag, or score 1 or 2 points by controlling or dominating your opponent's flag there were some scattered trees and hills mooching around the table center, and a few low walls for each side to take advantage of. I won the roll-off and chose to go first.
Deployment
Caleb pre-Deployed the Conquest on the center-Left of his side of the table, right in front of my objective.
I deployed my Bronzeback directly opposite the Conquest to keep it honest, then spaced my Swordsmen out between the Bronzeback and Molik on the Left, and the Bronzeback and Gladiator on the Right. The Savage went on the far right. Everything else went right behind the Swordsmen and Beasts except the Ancestral Guardian, which is a little slow to be deployed in the second rank.
Caleb deployed the Great Bears on the left to help out against Karn and the Bronzeback, and put Malakov and the Mechaniks next to the Conquest they'd be babysitting. Vlad went to the right of the Conquest with the War Dog, to take advantage of a hill. Drago and the Drakhun went to Vlad's right, opposite his objective. The two Mortar Crews deployed near the hills where they'd move on turn 1, and Harlan deployed to support Caleb's right flank. Finally, the Widowmakers and Marksman deployed on the left in front of the Great Bears to take advantage of a wall.
Turn 1: Skorne
All kinds of running. Molik made it to the woods on my left for Concealment. Makeda dumped 5 Fury on the Agonizer, but didn't cast Vortex of Destruction, since that would make her a prime target for Harlan.
I was pretty well set up here. My overall strategy was to play attrition: Kill off the Great Bears and Conquest, then either work my way over to Vlad or Drago depending on whether I wanted to win by assassination or scenario.
Turn 1: Khador
Khador also did some running with Drago and the Drakhun. Vlad cast Signs and Portents to help out the shooting element. Malakov cast Redline on the Conquest. One of the Mortars fired at the Swordsmen, but missed, and the other ran up. The Widowmakers and Marksman did kill a few of Swordsmen though, and shimmied up behind a wall with Swift Hunter. The Conquest advanced and blew up another.
It seemed like my attrition screen was holding. More importantly, Vlad wasn't behind anything in particular, and I might be able to get Molik Karn into him.
Turn 2: Skorne
I decided to go for the assassination. Molik could reach easily enough. The Swordsmen ran out of the way. The Tyrant Commander gave Makeda Press Forward, and ran. Makeda advanced, and used her Feat, Dance of Death, and cast Fate Walker. I wasn't planning on killing many of Caleb's troopers, but I wanted Molik to reach Vlad on full Fury if possible. The Gladiator Rushed Molik, the Bronzeback ran, and the Paingivers Enraged both Molik and the Savage. Molik charged one of the Widowmakers lurking behind the wall, killed her, and Side-Stepped toward Vlad. Vlad wasn't quite in range, so Molik attacked the Conquest, but rolled snake-eyes, and I had to boost to hit, and Side Stepped into melee with Vlad. Vlad was Def 17 Arm 19 with that War Dog, so I'd actually need to get a little lucky to kill him with only 4 Fury slots left (not good). I didn't, and Molik was left hanging in front of Vlad and the Conquest. The Agonizer used Spiritual Affliction to try to stop the Conquest from receiving Focus next turn, but was just out of range. Finally, Makeda Fate Walked back a bit. The Savage charged the Drakhun, and dismounted it, but wasn't in range to kill it off.
I'd already made a slight mistake by not Fate Walking base to base with my flag. I would otherwise have been able to start scoring at the end of Caleb's turn. I'd also made a huge miscalculation with my assassination run, and Molik Karn out to dry. I could deal with the loss of Molik's mobility and damage output, but losing Fate Walker really hurts Makeda 3. We'd have to see how much it hurt on Caleb's turn.
Turn 2: Khador
Malakov allocated to the Conquest, and upkept Redline. Vlad started off by casting Signs and Portents, and creeping around the edge of the Kill Box, dog in tow. The Conquest charged and killed Molik. Sadface, but unsurprising. The survivng Widowmakers and Harlan started picking off a few more Swordsmen. The Mortars fired at the Bronzeback, but didn't hurt it much. The Dismounted Drakhun hit the Savage hard, and Drago charged in to finish it off. The Great Bears ran up to the low wall to charge out at me next turn.
That had hurt, but no more than I'd predicted. Happily, the Agonizer had lived, which meant I still had a way to close with and destroy the Conquest.
Turn 3: Skorne
This was the time to do some important setup. The Tyrant Commander put Press Forward on Makeda, and charged Drago, doing some damage. Makeda charged Yarovich (the Great Bear that gives them all Steady), killed him, and shot a Blood Booned Eliminator at a Mortar Crew, taking out the team. An Exalted Guardian killed off a Widowmaker. Then she retreated, camping 3 Fury. The Agonizer ran wailing into the Great Bears to hopefully slow them down as well as deny focus allocation to the Conquest. The Swordsmen charged and killed Harlan, though one of them was killed by that War Dog's counter-charge. The Bronzeback and Gladiator both advanced. The Ancestral Guardian ran up next to Makeda to threaten Defensive Strikes.
Ok. Makeda was a little exposed, but camping 3. The Gladiator and Bronzeback were both basically full, and I was threatening well into the center of the table, keeping Vlad on his toes. Drago would be occupied for another turn, and I had Conquest pretty well stymied by the Agonizer. In short, I was salvaging the game.
Turn 3: Khador
Caleb decided to give Makeda something to think about. Malakov couldn't allocate to the Conquest, but that was fine. Vlad cast Signs and Portents again. The War Dog charged and killed another Swordsman. The Conquest advanced, and walked into Makeda and the Ancestral Guardian, smashing the construct. The Great Bears had just enough room to charge Makeda past the Agonizer, and did so, doing a bunch of damage to my Gladiator and some to the Bronzeback through transfers. The Widowmakers and Marksman picked off 3 of the paingivers, and the Mortar Crew did some more damage to the Gladiator. The Drakhun damaged the Tyrant Commander, and Drago finished both it and the Standard Bearer.
Still ok, but starting to lose the Attrition war. The Bronzeback's Mind was gone, and I needed it firing on all cylinders to take out the Conquest. On the other hand, the Great Bears and the Conquest were as good as dead. All I had to do was keep Makeda and at least one of my heavies alive through the retaliation, and I'd have my shot at Vlad.
Turn 4: Skorne
Makeda went first. She cast Vorex of Destruction, then she and an Exalted Guardian killed the Great Bears, and she Blood-Booned an Eliminator into the Mechaniks to slide out of the Bronzeback's way, and healed its mind. She was left camping 2. The surviving Paingiver Enraged the Bronzeback. The Bronzeback charged, and wrecked the Conquest, no sweat. The Gladiator, spirit broken, hobbled into a position where it might conceivably stop Drago from contacting Makeda next round if a stiff breeze didn't kill it first.
Dice to Caleb. Makeda wasn't in an ideal position, I probably should have moved her the other way with Eliminator, but I really wanted to make sure the Bronzeback made it in. If Caleb could get both Vlad and Drago on Makeda, he had a good chance of killing her. If not, I had a chance at Vlad.
Turn 4: Khador
Drum Roll. First, the bravest little Battle Mechaniks charged the Bronzeback so that it wouldn't be able to counter-charge. Then Vlad cast Blood of Kings and Boundless Charge on himself, and popped his Feat, Forced March to double Drago's base speed. Then he charged Makeda across the ruined Conquest. He did a bunch of damage, but left her with one transfer, and about half health on her and the Bronzeback. The Man-o-War Drakhun charged the Gladiator, and applied enough of a light breeze to kill it off. Then Drago walked into Makeda, and beat her to death with two hits, and a Chain-Attack: Bloodbath.
Victory to Khador!
Thoughts
Well I made a bunch of critical mistakes that game. One, I really need to stop giving in to the temptation to use Molik Karn for offense with Makeda 3. Fate Walker is simply much too critical for her to lose early in the game. I should definitely have started camping my objective on turn 2 as well, to put Caleb on the clock. Makeda's tough, and I had Vlad scared of her the whole game. I should have capitalized on that rather than play attrition without also going after scenario points. I should have waited to Feat when it could have netted me more than a single point of Fury too, and let Makeda and her beast run amok through the Widowmakers on turn 3. Finally, I zigged when I should have zagged on Turn 4. The Bronzeback could have made it into combat easily enough even if I'd moved Makeda away from Drago. Without those extra attacks, Vlad would likely have backed off, and I would have lived. Otherwise, I played a competent enough game, and recovered well from my early mistake of chucking Molik down the hole. I used Makeda well to anchor my advance (and she can really do some work), and clawed my way back into a threatening position. It just wasn't enough in the end.
I like my list well enough, although I'm not entirely sold on the AG and Savage. The Savage is meant to be an early speed bump and jamming threat, and to get a little more mileage out of Makeda's Feat than Molik could get alone. I think with the Swordsmen, my jamming potential is good enough. I may stick with the AG, because I like the potential of its defensive strike. I'll probably swap out the Savage at least for a Krea, and either the Swamp Gobbers or an extra pair of Paingivers. If I drop the AG as well, I'll have room for a Mortitheurge Willbreaker and whichever 1-pt option I want, which is very, very tempting.
Caleb played a tight, conservative game, opting to keep Vlad safe and play pure attrition rather than going for scenario. His only real mistake was allowing Drago and the Drakhun to get sidelined for most of the game. Drago is a nasty piece of work, and I was happy to feed it 8 points piecemeal if that meant keeping it off my heavies and Makeda. He did leave Vlad hanging at the bottom of turn 1, though I would have had to have pretty exceptional luck to actually pull my assassination off, so perhaps it was alright. Caleb did use the Great Bears well to tie Makeda down and put damage on my Warbeasts through her.
Caleb's list seems to fit together pretty well, but it's very vulnerable to good attrition, especially ranged sniping. It has a lot of high-value-low-durability targets like Malakov, the Great Bears, and the Mortar Crews, and very little to protect them from enemy shooting. They, in turn, aren't expendable or numerous enough to screen Drago and the Conquest from things that can crush heavies. Admittedly, the list puts out some respectable firepower with Signs and Portents making everything super accurate, and my list closed too quickly for shooting to take a serious toll.
Anyway, a fantastic game! I'm looking forward to a rematch, possibly with revised lists (especially considering that someone's mental math was 3 points over the limit this time around).
Here's the list I used:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Agonizer (2)
I decided to mix up the beast brick I took in the tournament last month by adding in some infantry as a cushion. Makeda 3 isn't fast enough to reliably get an alpha strike every game, so the Swordsmen are there to blunt the enemy's offense. Otherwise, the list is pretty standard for Makeda 3 except for the Ancestral Guardian. I'm looking forward to possibly making some boosted Defensive Strikes, and otherwise taking advantage of Vortex of Destruction to dish out some damage.
Play-wise, this list should be decent against all comers. It can handle both high armor and infantry spam, and high-Def won't give it too many problems. It has a decent scenario game, solid attrition, and Makeda's ability to dominate for scenario points against all but the meanest assassination runs.
Caleb played:
Vladimir, the Dark Prince (+5)
*Drago (8)
*War Dog (1)
Great Bears of the Gallowswood (5)
4 Widowmakers (4)
6 Battlefield Mekaniks (3)
Field Mortar Crew (3)
Field Mortar Crew (3)
Man-o-War Drakhun w/ Dismount (5)
Kovnik Andrei Malakov (3)
*Conquest (19)
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One (2)
Widowmaker Marksman (2)
This looks like a pretty well balanced Vlad list. It has a decent shooting game with the Widowmakers, Mortars, and Conquest backed by Signs and Portents, and can cross the table quickly with Vlad's Feat on Drago, and Redline on the Conquest, both of which hit very hard in melee.
It's also 3 points over (by my count), which didn't end up mattering too much. I'd probably just min the Mechaniks, and drop Harlan.
On to the game. We ended up playing a center scenario (I can't recall the name right now) with two opposing flags diagonally across the table center from each other. You could score by dominating your flag, or score 1 or 2 points by controlling or dominating your opponent's flag there were some scattered trees and hills mooching around the table center, and a few low walls for each side to take advantage of. I won the roll-off and chose to go first.
Deployment
Caleb pre-Deployed the Conquest on the center-Left of his side of the table, right in front of my objective.
I deployed my Bronzeback directly opposite the Conquest to keep it honest, then spaced my Swordsmen out between the Bronzeback and Molik on the Left, and the Bronzeback and Gladiator on the Right. The Savage went on the far right. Everything else went right behind the Swordsmen and Beasts except the Ancestral Guardian, which is a little slow to be deployed in the second rank.
Caleb deployed the Great Bears on the left to help out against Karn and the Bronzeback, and put Malakov and the Mechaniks next to the Conquest they'd be babysitting. Vlad went to the right of the Conquest with the War Dog, to take advantage of a hill. Drago and the Drakhun went to Vlad's right, opposite his objective. The two Mortar Crews deployed near the hills where they'd move on turn 1, and Harlan deployed to support Caleb's right flank. Finally, the Widowmakers and Marksman deployed on the left in front of the Great Bears to take advantage of a wall.
Turn 1: Skorne
All kinds of running. Molik made it to the woods on my left for Concealment. Makeda dumped 5 Fury on the Agonizer, but didn't cast Vortex of Destruction, since that would make her a prime target for Harlan.
I was pretty well set up here. My overall strategy was to play attrition: Kill off the Great Bears and Conquest, then either work my way over to Vlad or Drago depending on whether I wanted to win by assassination or scenario.
Turn 1: Khador
Khador also did some running with Drago and the Drakhun. Vlad cast Signs and Portents to help out the shooting element. Malakov cast Redline on the Conquest. One of the Mortars fired at the Swordsmen, but missed, and the other ran up. The Widowmakers and Marksman did kill a few of Swordsmen though, and shimmied up behind a wall with Swift Hunter. The Conquest advanced and blew up another.
It seemed like my attrition screen was holding. More importantly, Vlad wasn't behind anything in particular, and I might be able to get Molik Karn into him.
Turn 2: Skorne
I decided to go for the assassination. Molik could reach easily enough. The Swordsmen ran out of the way. The Tyrant Commander gave Makeda Press Forward, and ran. Makeda advanced, and used her Feat, Dance of Death, and cast Fate Walker. I wasn't planning on killing many of Caleb's troopers, but I wanted Molik to reach Vlad on full Fury if possible. The Gladiator Rushed Molik, the Bronzeback ran, and the Paingivers Enraged both Molik and the Savage. Molik charged one of the Widowmakers lurking behind the wall, killed her, and Side-Stepped toward Vlad. Vlad wasn't quite in range, so Molik attacked the Conquest, but rolled snake-eyes, and I had to boost to hit, and Side Stepped into melee with Vlad. Vlad was Def 17 Arm 19 with that War Dog, so I'd actually need to get a little lucky to kill him with only 4 Fury slots left (not good). I didn't, and Molik was left hanging in front of Vlad and the Conquest. The Agonizer used Spiritual Affliction to try to stop the Conquest from receiving Focus next turn, but was just out of range. Finally, Makeda Fate Walked back a bit. The Savage charged the Drakhun, and dismounted it, but wasn't in range to kill it off.
I'd already made a slight mistake by not Fate Walking base to base with my flag. I would otherwise have been able to start scoring at the end of Caleb's turn. I'd also made a huge miscalculation with my assassination run, and Molik Karn out to dry. I could deal with the loss of Molik's mobility and damage output, but losing Fate Walker really hurts Makeda 3. We'd have to see how much it hurt on Caleb's turn.
Turn 2: Khador
Malakov allocated to the Conquest, and upkept Redline. Vlad started off by casting Signs and Portents, and creeping around the edge of the Kill Box, dog in tow. The Conquest charged and killed Molik. Sadface, but unsurprising. The survivng Widowmakers and Harlan started picking off a few more Swordsmen. The Mortars fired at the Bronzeback, but didn't hurt it much. The Dismounted Drakhun hit the Savage hard, and Drago charged in to finish it off. The Great Bears ran up to the low wall to charge out at me next turn.
That had hurt, but no more than I'd predicted. Happily, the Agonizer had lived, which meant I still had a way to close with and destroy the Conquest.
Turn 3: Skorne
This was the time to do some important setup. The Tyrant Commander put Press Forward on Makeda, and charged Drago, doing some damage. Makeda charged Yarovich (the Great Bear that gives them all Steady), killed him, and shot a Blood Booned Eliminator at a Mortar Crew, taking out the team. An Exalted Guardian killed off a Widowmaker. Then she retreated, camping 3 Fury. The Agonizer ran wailing into the Great Bears to hopefully slow them down as well as deny focus allocation to the Conquest. The Swordsmen charged and killed Harlan, though one of them was killed by that War Dog's counter-charge. The Bronzeback and Gladiator both advanced. The Ancestral Guardian ran up next to Makeda to threaten Defensive Strikes.
Ok. Makeda was a little exposed, but camping 3. The Gladiator and Bronzeback were both basically full, and I was threatening well into the center of the table, keeping Vlad on his toes. Drago would be occupied for another turn, and I had Conquest pretty well stymied by the Agonizer. In short, I was salvaging the game.
Turn 3: Khador
Caleb decided to give Makeda something to think about. Malakov couldn't allocate to the Conquest, but that was fine. Vlad cast Signs and Portents again. The War Dog charged and killed another Swordsman. The Conquest advanced, and walked into Makeda and the Ancestral Guardian, smashing the construct. The Great Bears had just enough room to charge Makeda past the Agonizer, and did so, doing a bunch of damage to my Gladiator and some to the Bronzeback through transfers. The Widowmakers and Marksman picked off 3 of the paingivers, and the Mortar Crew did some more damage to the Gladiator. The Drakhun damaged the Tyrant Commander, and Drago finished both it and the Standard Bearer.
Still ok, but starting to lose the Attrition war. The Bronzeback's Mind was gone, and I needed it firing on all cylinders to take out the Conquest. On the other hand, the Great Bears and the Conquest were as good as dead. All I had to do was keep Makeda and at least one of my heavies alive through the retaliation, and I'd have my shot at Vlad.
Turn 4: Skorne
Makeda went first. She cast Vorex of Destruction, then she and an Exalted Guardian killed the Great Bears, and she Blood-Booned an Eliminator into the Mechaniks to slide out of the Bronzeback's way, and healed its mind. She was left camping 2. The surviving Paingiver Enraged the Bronzeback. The Bronzeback charged, and wrecked the Conquest, no sweat. The Gladiator, spirit broken, hobbled into a position where it might conceivably stop Drago from contacting Makeda next round if a stiff breeze didn't kill it first.
Dice to Caleb. Makeda wasn't in an ideal position, I probably should have moved her the other way with Eliminator, but I really wanted to make sure the Bronzeback made it in. If Caleb could get both Vlad and Drago on Makeda, he had a good chance of killing her. If not, I had a chance at Vlad.
Turn 4: Khador
Drum Roll. First, the bravest little Battle Mechaniks charged the Bronzeback so that it wouldn't be able to counter-charge. Then Vlad cast Blood of Kings and Boundless Charge on himself, and popped his Feat, Forced March to double Drago's base speed. Then he charged Makeda across the ruined Conquest. He did a bunch of damage, but left her with one transfer, and about half health on her and the Bronzeback. The Man-o-War Drakhun charged the Gladiator, and applied enough of a light breeze to kill it off. Then Drago walked into Makeda, and beat her to death with two hits, and a Chain-Attack: Bloodbath.
Victory to Khador!
Thoughts
Well I made a bunch of critical mistakes that game. One, I really need to stop giving in to the temptation to use Molik Karn for offense with Makeda 3. Fate Walker is simply much too critical for her to lose early in the game. I should definitely have started camping my objective on turn 2 as well, to put Caleb on the clock. Makeda's tough, and I had Vlad scared of her the whole game. I should have capitalized on that rather than play attrition without also going after scenario points. I should have waited to Feat when it could have netted me more than a single point of Fury too, and let Makeda and her beast run amok through the Widowmakers on turn 3. Finally, I zigged when I should have zagged on Turn 4. The Bronzeback could have made it into combat easily enough even if I'd moved Makeda away from Drago. Without those extra attacks, Vlad would likely have backed off, and I would have lived. Otherwise, I played a competent enough game, and recovered well from my early mistake of chucking Molik down the hole. I used Makeda well to anchor my advance (and she can really do some work), and clawed my way back into a threatening position. It just wasn't enough in the end.
I like my list well enough, although I'm not entirely sold on the AG and Savage. The Savage is meant to be an early speed bump and jamming threat, and to get a little more mileage out of Makeda's Feat than Molik could get alone. I think with the Swordsmen, my jamming potential is good enough. I may stick with the AG, because I like the potential of its defensive strike. I'll probably swap out the Savage at least for a Krea, and either the Swamp Gobbers or an extra pair of Paingivers. If I drop the AG as well, I'll have room for a Mortitheurge Willbreaker and whichever 1-pt option I want, which is very, very tempting.
Caleb played a tight, conservative game, opting to keep Vlad safe and play pure attrition rather than going for scenario. His only real mistake was allowing Drago and the Drakhun to get sidelined for most of the game. Drago is a nasty piece of work, and I was happy to feed it 8 points piecemeal if that meant keeping it off my heavies and Makeda. He did leave Vlad hanging at the bottom of turn 1, though I would have had to have pretty exceptional luck to actually pull my assassination off, so perhaps it was alright. Caleb did use the Great Bears well to tie Makeda down and put damage on my Warbeasts through her.
Caleb's list seems to fit together pretty well, but it's very vulnerable to good attrition, especially ranged sniping. It has a lot of high-value-low-durability targets like Malakov, the Great Bears, and the Mortar Crews, and very little to protect them from enemy shooting. They, in turn, aren't expendable or numerous enough to screen Drago and the Conquest from things that can crush heavies. Admittedly, the list puts out some respectable firepower with Signs and Portents making everything super accurate, and my list closed too quickly for shooting to take a serious toll.
Anyway, a fantastic game! I'm looking forward to a rematch, possibly with revised lists (especially considering that someone's mental math was 3 points over the limit this time around).
Monday, July 15, 2013
Playing Two Factions
Hi Everyone! It looks like I haven't posted in about a month, so here's a quick hit.
It turns out starting up a Retribution army was the best thing I could have done to keep my interest up in Skorne. After the tournament last month, I was kind of burned out on Skorne. I played around with my Retribution a little since then, and picked up some Halberdiers and Adeptis Rahn.
Now, in addition to being more psyched up about Retribution and Warmachine: Vengeance being around the corner, I'm really getting back into Skorne. I played a couple games last week with Tier 4 eHexeris, which is a fantastically fun list, and I'm getting back into all my old Skorne faves.
Retribution of Scyrah has a very different flavor and playstyle from Skorne. It's fun to use both factions and compare the tricks they can pull. It's especially fun to be playing one of them, and miss the other one's strengths. When I play Skorne, I always wish I had easy access to disruption tech like the Banshee, as well as great shooting and melee infantry Mage Hunter Strike Force, Dawnguard Invictors, and Houseguard Halberdiers. When I play Retribution, I wish for Titans (and Extoller Soulwards). :P
I'll probably post one of my games with Rahn and one with eHexeris later this week.
It turns out starting up a Retribution army was the best thing I could have done to keep my interest up in Skorne. After the tournament last month, I was kind of burned out on Skorne. I played around with my Retribution a little since then, and picked up some Halberdiers and Adeptis Rahn.
Now, in addition to being more psyched up about Retribution and Warmachine: Vengeance being around the corner, I'm really getting back into Skorne. I played a couple games last week with Tier 4 eHexeris, which is a fantastically fun list, and I'm getting back into all my old Skorne faves.
Retribution of Scyrah has a very different flavor and playstyle from Skorne. It's fun to use both factions and compare the tricks they can pull. It's especially fun to be playing one of them, and miss the other one's strengths. When I play Skorne, I always wish I had easy access to disruption tech like the Banshee, as well as great shooting and melee infantry Mage Hunter Strike Force, Dawnguard Invictors, and Houseguard Halberdiers. When I play Retribution, I wish for Titans (and Extoller Soulwards). :P
I'll probably post one of my games with Rahn and one with eHexeris later this week.
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