NFL League Game 1: She Is the Brute Squad (Skorne vs Retribution - 35pts)

Pre-Game Thoughts

The first game of the NFL-style Warmachine/Hordes league has arrived, and I'm pitted against the Retribution of Scyrah.  We're encouraged to build our lists to foil the factions we're up against, and I might do that a little, but I'm mostly hoping to see how the four 'casters I talked about in my State of the Lists post fare against the worst the Tower Games meta can throw at them.

This week, I'm up against Retribution.  I'm pretty well versed in the faction, since I also dabble in angry elves a bit.  Ret can have some trouble with attrition, since they're relatively fragile, but they definitely have a decent selection of lists capable of dealing with a battlegroup heavy, armor oriented force like Skorne.  The lists I'm most likely to see are the eVyros Murder of Griffons (tm), an Ossyan gunline with some KD and a jamming unit to screen for the rest of the list, and a Rahn list geared toward slamming my warbeasts around, and finishing them off with Weapon Masters.

Out of the four 'casters I'm focusing on, I decided to pick two I knew would mostly be able to handle those three lists while getting a lead in attrition against the more fragile elves: Makeda 1 and Makeda 3.  Since the first 4 weeks of the league are 35pts, I'll use pared-down versions of the lists I talked about earlier.

Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)

*Mammoth (20pts)

*Cyclops Raider (5pts)

Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pt)

Extoller Soulward (2pts)

Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

Even without the additional support it gets at 50pts, I think this list is pretty well balanced.  The Mammoth will be doing a lot of the work, but it's a strong center for the list, and the rest of the models support it well.  The Mammoth is a major threat to both low-arm infantry and heavies, although I'll definitely need to protect it well.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)

*Molik Karn (11pts)

*Titan Gladiator (8pts)

*Cyclops Brute (5pts)

*Cyclops Brute (5pts)

*Basilisk Krea (4pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Agonizer (2pts)

The list this is based on is solid, flexible, and fun, and I'm a Makeda 3 fanboy in general, so I'm definitely going to play this at least once before we move up to 50pts.  The Brutes are for jamming and screening, Makeda and Molik are there to kill stuff, and the Gladiator and Krea are there for various support (and in the Gladiator's case, being a second line heavy).

I arrived a few minutes before my opponent, Isaac, and got out all my models while wondering what he would bring.  I ended up being pleasantly surprised by his lists:

Lord Arcanist Ossyan (*6pts)

*Banshee (10pts)

Dawnguard Invictors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)

*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)

Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)

*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)

Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4pts)

Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)

Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)

Okay, I'm not that surprised to see Ossyan, but I usually see him as much more of a gunline 'caster.  The Sentinels and MHA's are powerful melee pieces, and pretty good for cracking Skorne armor.  The melee heavy approach does mean that Ossyan's ranged element will suffer a bit, but he's only crushing at range on the Feat turn, and Quicken is a fantastic spell for Sentinels in particular.

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (*7pts) - Force Wall Tier 4

*Phoenix (10pts)

*Phoenix (10pts)

*Griffon (4pts)

*Griffon (4pts)

House Shyeel Battle Mages (5pts)

House Shyeel Battle Mages (5pts)

House Shyeel Artificer (3pts)

Arcanist (1pt)

4 Arcanists (T4 Benefit - Free!)

Kaelyssa's new theme force!  I've seen it around, and it looks very interesting.  The model selection is very limited, but the benefits are pretty amazing too.  At Tier 4, your opponent can't run or charge the first turn of the game, Arcanists replace Power Booster with an ability that lets them allocate to a Myrmidon that already has Focus, and you get a free Arcanist for every 'jack in the list (ignoring FA).  Overall, it's very control-oriented.  With the right models, you can slow your opponent down enough to completely lock them out of scenario.  It might start to crumple when the grind game starts, though the extra Arcanists might let Kaelyssa's 'jacks stick it out through the mid-late game better than they would in the standard list.

Scenario, List Selection, and Deployment

We decided to play it like a tournament, and pick our 'casters after the scenario had been determined. We rolled up Destruction, which I feel has gotten a lot more winnable by scenario in 2014.

There's just one rectangular zone in the middle of the table.  Opposite corners are taken up by an objective for each player.  Controlling the zone is worth a point, dominating is worth 2, and destroying your opponent's objective is worth 1.  Since the objectives contest the zone, you sort of have to destroy your opponent's to score at all though.

We set up the scenario, plunked some terrain on the table, and hid our 'casters behind our backs.

I picked Makeda 3, and Isaac picked Ossyan.

The scenario ended up making my decision for me.  Makeda 3's high armor and significant defense against shooting were already giving her the edge, but a spread out scenario might prevent her army from being able to support itself effectively, especially with Battle Mages pushing and my models around.  In Destruction, I could brick up, and grind my way through the zone until I won on scenario, or my opponent ran out of soldiers.

Isaac went with Ossyan because he didn't like Kaelyssa's toolset against Makeda 1's list.  The Mammoth, where most of my power was coming from, would be hard to remove and impossible to push, and Savagery would let me selectively ignore Kaelyssa's Feat as well as her slowdown Tier benefit (though only on one model/unit).

Isaac won the roll-off, and decided to go first.  We each set our clock to 42 minutes, then we started off with deployment.

Isaac deployed his Sentinels front and center, ready to fight it out for the zone.  The Banshee deployed next to them on the right to hold down their flank, and support them with slam-bolts.  Ossyan and Aiyanna and Holt deployed just to the left side of center, and the Invictors deployed to the left - probably to run around and shoot my list while the Sentinels jammed me.

Apologies for the blurriness - a photographer I am not.

I responded with a tight brick right in front of the zone.  The Brutes were on its flanks, and the Krea went in the middle, with Molik on one side, and Makeda on the other.  The Gladiator went next to Makeda.  The Exalted Guardians went roughly behind the Brutes to help out with Shield Guarding duties, and the Paingivers spread out behind the Beasts.  The Agonizer deployed on the right side of my formation to go after the Banshee.

In the AD phase, Isaac deployed his Mage Hunter Assassins on either side of the zone, threatening whatever I might put in their path.  And with that, we were off.

Turn 1, Retribution

Ossyan allocated one Focus to the Banshee.

The Mage Hunter Assassins ran, one blitzing to the hill just to the right of the zone, and the other jogging more conservatively up to a wall just to the zone's left.  Aiyanna and Holt moved up and used Stealth.

Ossyan cast Quicken (+2 Spd and Def against ranged and magic attacks) on the Sentinels and Chronomancy (members of his battlegroup can boost after rolling) on himslef.  Then he advanced to near Aiyanna and Holt.

The Sentinels ran a full 14" to a dual line just in front of the zone, and the Invictors ran 10" upfield on the zone's left flank.  Finally, the Banshee ran around the forest (our meta is in the terrible habit of leaving the trees off the table, since they always get removed when we go through them - but rest assured, they are there) to behind the Sentinels.

Isaac had put himself in a pretty commanding position.  He was threatening well past the zone, and put me in the position of having to get into nearly all his threat ranges or risk being jammed out of the zone by Sentinels.  I'd have to take his alpha strike on the chin, and do what I could to limit the damage.

Turn 1, Skorne

The Krea used Paralytic Aura (friendly models within 2" gain +2 Def and Arm against ranged attacks, and enemy models suffer -2 Def) on itself, and charged a Sentinel to set my ranged defense line as far forward as possible.

The Brutes both ran their full distance, the one on the right moving to engage the Assassin on the right, and the one on the left creating a wide barrier between its own melee range and my objective (safe from attack until my next turn).  The Gladiator Trampled up behind the left Brute.

Makeda walked forward, and cast Vortex of Destruction (damage rolls against enemy models in her melee range are boosted) on herself, and the Brute's animus, Safeguard (target model cannot be knowcked down, and is slammed 3" less), on the left Brute.  I debated casting another spell, but decided to camp 2 in case of an assassination attempt.  The Exalted Guardians walked around to be as close as necessary to my other models for Shield Guard.

The Agonizer ran up next to my Krea, though it had no Fury on it to use an Agony.  Last, the Paingivers advanced, and conditioned some Fury from my beasts, though bad placement meant I would still take a Threshold check on a Brute.

I was braced for a charge, with the left Brute as my main defensive blocker.  It wouldn't be easy to remove at range, and even charging Sentinels and Mage Hunter Assassins would need to be a little lucky to take it out with charge attacks thanks to Set Defense.  That said, I was more hoping to force Isaac to commit a lot of resources to removing it than actually expecting it to live.  Clustered infantry is one thing Makeda 3 deals with well, and the sooner I could get rid of those Sentinels, the safer I would feel.

Turn 2, Retribution

Ossyan upkept his spells, and allocated 2 more focus to the Banshee.

The Sentinels charged in first.  One could reach the Agonizer past the left Brute's halberd, and one could reach the Krea.  One failed a charge on the Krea, and 4 charged the left Brute.  Five (including the officer and standard) ran to a safer position just behind the zone.  The one charging the Agonizer hit, and did 6 damage with a mediocre roll.  The one attacking the Krea took out her mind with a low damage roll (just 5).  The 4 charging the left Brute just couldn't land those 8's to hit, and the one that did only inflicted 2 damage.

The left Assassin charged the Gladiator, but missed.  The right Assassin charged the Brute engaging her, but also missed.

The Invictors ran again to bring themselves into range.  Aiyanna and Holt walked up and went Stealth again.  Ossyan ran behind the Invictors to set up his Feat next turn.

The Banshee tried to shoot the Krea, but it was Def 18 between Paralytic Aura and the shooting into melee penalty.  The Banshee missed, but didn't hit the Sentinel engaging the Krea.

Isaac had some really bad luck with his charging weapon masters.  Most of them missed, and even the ones who hit failed to do much damage.  Rather than trading his front line for mine, he was set to lose most of his Sentinels in exchange for a couple of damage on two of my beasts.

Turn 2, Skorne

Makeda leached Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.  The left Brute had to take a Threshold check, but passed.

The Krea used Paralytic Aura, and moved out of the way toward the Sentinel who had attacked her.

Then Makeda and her unit advanced, and Makeda popped her Feat (which lets her put Fury on herself or remove it from a Warbeast in her battlegroup every time a model in her battlegroup destroys an enemy model).  The one Exalted Guardian who had reached the left Assassin missed it twice.  The other one failed to contact any enemies.  Makeda made up for that though.  She killed three Sentinels with melee attacks, and used Blood Boon to kill 2 more with Eliminator.  That gave her a short move, which she used to get into range of the clump of 3 Sentinels screening the officer, and killed them all with a heavily boosted Eliminator (which cost her 6 Fury total).  She then moved back around behind the left Brute, and took a swing at another Sentinel with her last Fury, but missed.

The Paingivers advanced, wiped the Fury off the Krea with Condition, and Enraged Molik and the right Brute.  The Agonizer got out of Molik's way.

Molik charged the Sentinel that had attacked the Agonizer, killed it, and Side Stepped toward the right Assassin.  He killed the Assassin with his second initial attack, Side Stepped up to Isaac's objective, and destroyed it with bought attacks, netting me a scenario point  He had two Fury slots left, and I didn't want him injured this game, so he used Fate Walker.  

The right Brute charged the Banshee, and did a little damage.  More importantly, it tied up that dreadful Slam-cannon.  The left Brute killed the left Assassin and the last remaining Sentinel in my front line, then cast Safeguard on Makeda just in case.

The Gladiator just walked forward.  After that, Molik took his Fate Walker move back toward the Agonizer.  If he Frenzied, I wanted the Agonizer to be the model he hit.  After that, I scored a point for controlling the zone, which brought me to 2.

I'd done a lot of damage this turn.  Isaac's melee game was no longer a factor.  If I could survive to the next turn, he'd have little to defend his army from my melee superiority.  He'd have to hope for a great turn of attrition, or try to take out Makeda, who was as well defended from ranged attacks as she could be.  She was easily in the Krea's Aura, and had 2 Shield Guards and 3 Transfers available.

Turn 3, Retribution

The Sentinel Officer took his Vengeance move.  Ossyan upkept his spells, but allocated no Focus.

The Banshee crept around the right Brute to stick its toes in the zone, and dealt some damage with its swords.

Ossyan advanced into Feat ranged of most of my army, then used his Feat to inflict an extra die of damage with ranged attacks against all my models in his Control Area.  Then he shot Makeda with his Def-reducing Chronophage Cannon.  He hit, but I had Makeda's Exalted Guardian Shield Guard the shot, hoping that would take Makeda out of range of the Def-reducing effect.  It killed the Exalted, however, meaning the aura disappeared.  Also, Battle Driven was triggered, bumping Makeda's Arm up to 19.

Aiyanna and Holt advanced.  Aiyanna tried to use Kiss of Lyliss to reduce Makeda's Arm, but couldn't draw Line of Sight past the blocking Brute.  Holt shot at Makeda twice, but missed both times.

The Sentinel Officer charged the Krea to try to remove Paralytic Aura, and took out her mind, but she stayed alive.

The Invictors unloaded at Makeda, but thanks to a combination of sub-par luck and Makeda rocking a Def 17/ Arm 21 statline against ranged attacks, they only did 5 damage.

The game was all but over now.  Isaac only had a tied-down Banshee and ranged models left, and was barely contesting the zone.  I had nearly my whole force, and plenty of breathing room to play it safe with Makeda if I chose to.  On the other hand, Ossyan looked pretty close to Makeda.  Maybe close enough to kill this turn.

Turn 3, Skorne

Makeda Leached her Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.  Both Molik and the right Brute Frienzied.  The right Brute missed the Banshee, and Molik killed the Sentinel officer.

The left Brute advanced, and tried to take out a few of the Invictors who might get free strikes on Makeda if she charged Ossyan.  It killed two, enough to ensure she'd stay far enough away during her charge.  The Krea advanced, and tried to hit Ossyan with Spiritual Paralysis to reduce him to base Def 7, but missed.

Then Makeda charged in.  She missed the first attack, and did pretty poor damage with the second, then missed the third.  But the fourth attack hit, and finished Ossyan.

Victory to the Skorne!

Post-Game Thoughts

Tactically, I played a pretty solid game.  My first turn advance got me into a solid defensive position which would have been difficult to crack even if Isaac had rolled better, and set me up for an effective counterattack on turn 2.  However, in the process, I let the clock scare a little too much, and got my line cluttered by rushing.  I had about 10 minutes left by the end, and this list plays very quickly except on the Feat turn, so I really should have take a little more time, and optimized my positioning.  Turn 2, I remembered the scenario well enough to pressure the Ret forces more into my lines, and even got Makeda into a pretty safe position to weather the Ossyan Feat turn.  I was scared of Molik being taken out (and therefore unusable in the next game), but I think a better Fate Walker move might have been to jam him forward, to threaten the Invictors and Ossyan.  It would certainly have put him more at risk though, and I'm much happier to have him for my upcoming game.

My list performed better than I hoped.  It's only 2 models down (a Bronzeback and a 3rd Brute/Savage) from the 50pt version, but those 2 models do cost me pretty significantly in terms of options.  A 3rd Brute gives me more redundancy in jamming/screening, and lets the list spread out a lot better in scenarios.  That wasn't necessary this game, since the scenario only required that I contest one zone.  The Bronzeback gives me a powerhouse second line beast as well as access to Train Wreck, which is great for giving my army the ability to push through a jam, or for giving Molik a lot more flexibility in movement when he's on offense.  In this game, I missed it quite a bit, since I could have used it to get Molik into the Banshee on turn 2.  In this particular game, it would have served me better than the Gladiator and Agonizer, but I would really have liked the Agonizer if Isaac had gone for Kaelyssa.

MVP for the match definitely has to be the left Brute.  It guarded most of my advance from an army which out-threated me significantly, tanked 4 charging sentinels like a champ, and even finished off an MHA who was pretty close to Makeda.  The Brutes in general were fantastic this game, and access to Safeguard made me feel a lot better about going up against slams from the Banshee's Force Cannon.

Isaac had an uphill battle this game, but handled it pretty well.  Bad luck on his second turn attack rolls with the MHA's and Sentinels changed his plan from trading the Sents for my front lines into a desperate assassination attempt on turn 3.  I do think he was a little too cautious with Aiyanna and Holt.  If he'd run them turn 1, they might have been able to contribute on turn 2, and my Brute might have died.  His flanking maneuver with the Invictors also ended up not paying off.  I kept my army mostly out of their range on my first turn, and they were too far away to do anything but run again on Isaac's second.

Isaac's list focused on combined arms more than most Ossyan lists I see.  In general, I like it, though the Dawnguard units are expensive.  It had a very rough matchup in this game, where I could defend against the shooting very effectively and work through the Sentinels quickly by forcing most of them to commit on the charge.  I might consider replacing the Sentinels, even though they're very strong, with Halberdiers + UA + Houseguard Thane.  They keep all the Sentinels' speed (a full 14" run on turn 1) without needing Quicken.  That would free up Quicken for the Invictors, who can use it to keep up with the melee elements while flanking as Isaac tried to do in this game.

Thanks for a great game, Isaac!

Stay tuned for my next League match against the Convergence of Cyriss.

Pax gazing down at her conquered foe.