Pre-Game Thoughts
In terms of Warcasters, there are three I'm worried about. Father Lucant has a Feat that bumps armor to worrisome levels even for Skorne, as well as Purification, which isn't much fun to deal with. Axis has a very solid spell list, and a great offensive/defensive Feat that can be devastating if well timed. Finally, there's Syntherion, who can punch through armor easily with Synergy, and has serious attrition game between auto-repair, and Reconstruct. Luckily, Lucant was injured from my opponent's last game, so I wouldn't have to deal with him.
Out of the four Warlocks I'm trying to stick to this summer, I like my chances with most of them. The two I took to this game were Makeda 3 and Zaal. I have the most experience with Makeda 3 so far, and she smashes high armor easily. Zaal can deal with anything, and will be bringing mostly infantry and solos, which gives him a little for freedom to spread out in scenarios.
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)
I played this list in my last game, and I really liked it. It's a durable armor skew list with a lot of hitting power, and a decent amount of speed. I like Makeda 3 a lot in general, and this list is no exception. It's biggest weaknesses are that it doesn't spread out all that well, and that once it starts to lose models, its offensive output can drop very fast.
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Tiberion (11pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
*Kovass ( - )
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
This is the Zaal list I'm experimenting with right now. Tiberion is pretty new to me, but so far he's been very powerful. Zaal in general is tremendously versatile, and can throw opponents for a loop if they expected a beast brick. And every model is a potential assassination threat with Last Stand and Zaal's Feat.
My opponent, Erik, brought 2 lists, and I wasn't surprised to see Axis and Syntherion as my potential matches.
Axis, the Harmonic Enforcer (*6pts)
*Cipher (9pts)
*Inverter (8pts)
*Diffuser (3pts)
*Corollary (3pts)
Reciprocators (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Perforators (Leader and 2 Grunts) (5pts)
Enigma Foundry (4pts)
Looks like heavy infantry and heavy Vectors. This list doesn't have a lot of attacks, but it does have a lot of sticking power. Reciprocators are hard enough to deal with without an Enigma Foundry returning one to play every turn. Otherwise, it looks like a strong attrition and scenario list.
Forge Master Syntherion (*6pts)
*Cipher (9pts)
*Inverter (8pts)
*Diffuser (3pts)
*Galvanizer (3pts)
*Corollary (3pts)
Wow, I do not Syntherion well enough to recreate his list. I'll try to get the exact list from Erik at some point, and update the post then. This list looked like a good mix of heavy and light 'jacks, with enough in there to take full advantage of Synergy. That's all I remember though.
Scenario, List Selection, and Deployment
We rolled up a scenario before choosing our lists, and got Scenario 8: Rally Point.
There are two large circular zones, one friendly and one enemy, and two objectives, one friendly and one enemy. Dominating the friendly zone or controlling the enemy zone is worth 1point. Dominating the enemy zone is worth 2 points. Destroying the enemy objective is also worth a point. Friendly Faction solos also gain Inspiration [Faction] if they're within 4" of an uncontested friendly objective, which sometimes matters.
We set up the scenario and terrain, and hid our Warlock cards and phone screen (Erik was using Warroom) from sight.
I chose Makeda 3, and Erik chose Axis.
I went with Makeda, since I thought she'd have a strong trading game against both Axis and Syntherion. I was a lot more worried about Axis, but I have a lot of experience with Makeda 3, and I know she can crush bricks given half a chance.
Erik went with Axis, probably for the denial element of his Feat. Skorne loses a lot from not being able to charge, and the -2 Strength hurts as well. Axis is also a bit less squishy than Syntherion, which is a pretty big deal against both Zaal and Makeda 3, who both have some unpredictable assassination angles.
I won the roll-off, and chose to go first. Erik responded by choosing the side with a nice hill in front of the deployment zone rather than a forest, but I suppose that's the nice thing about having a Gladiator in the list...
I deployed the Brutes on the flanks as usual, ready to get into the zones. Molik deployed on the right side of the forest, while the Krea deployed on the left. The Gladiator went in the forest, ready to extract itself next turn. The Paingivers and Agonizer went behind the beasts. Makeda deployed next to the Krea on the left, and had enough Cmd range to put one of her Guardians on either side of the wood easily.
Erik deployed Axis on the central hill with the Cipher and Galvanizer beside him and the Corollary just behind. The Inverter deployed to oppose Molik Karn on the right, and the Reciprocators deployed in a brick on the left. The Perforators and Enigma Foundry deployed just behind Axis and Co. on the hill.
Neither of us had any Advance Deploy troops this time, so we just got down to it.
*A note on the pictures: There were a lot of butt-charges this game to prevent models from getting tangled up in various tusks, flails, and polearms. Any time a model seems to be facing the wrong way for no reason, it's because we turned it around to fit it into combat. Nearly all the models were facing forward the whole time.
Turn 1, Skorne
The Gladiator Rushed itself, and Trampled through the forest. The other beasts all ran upfield, hooking around the forest into a more coherent battle line.
Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction (damage rolls against enemy models in her melee range are boosted) on herself, put 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and gave her unit a Run/Charge order. She charged Axis, and her Guardians ran up to provide helpful Shield Guards for the beasts.
Finally, the Paingivers advanced, and dropped my Fury down to manageable levels.
I was starting to set up here, but I'd have another turn to position before Erik's forces charged in.
Turn 1, Convergence
Axis Allocated a Focus to the Inverter, then put Iron Aggression (target Warjack charges for free and gains boosted melee attack rolls) on the Inverter, and Onslaught (friendly models beginning a charge in his CTRL gain Pathfinder) on himself, and walked up.
The Inverter ran, and passed its Focus to the Corollary. The Corollary advanced, and spent its point of Focus to allocate a Focus to the Cipher, which had the side effect of allocating one to the Galvanizer too. The Diffuser advanced, and tried to shoot the left Brute, but was out of range. The Cipher advanced, and shot a couple 4" templates of Rough Terrain in the Gladiator's direction with its Servipod Mortar.
The Reciprocators, reasoning that they were probably pretty safe, ran forward, but gave themselves Set Defense for the round just in case. The Perforators Sniped themselves to Snipe me, and tried to shoot up the left Brute, but they missed.
Erik had put himself in a good position overall. I'd really want to contest the zones, since scoring started on his next turn, but if I did, I'd be in plenty of range for his Feat to affect most of my models and all of his, giving him a turn of excellent damage while limiting my ability to counterattack.
Turn 2, Skorne
I decided to reposition and brace for the charge. That's what this list is built for at least. Tank with the Brutes, and counter with the heavies and Makeda.
Makeda leached back to full, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.
The Krea advanced, and used Paralytic Aura to give me soome extra Def against ranged attacks. The Gladiator Rushed the left Brute, and moved up a bit.
The left Brute moved in to create a barrier between its halberd and the wall. The Cyrissists might have Pathfinder, but they would still have to deal with positioning their bases across the wall. The right Brute walked a little wide, claiming the Convergence zone (though it was too early to score).
Makeda declared a Run/Charge with her unit, put a Fury on the Agonizer, and got her Exalted Guardians into position.
Molik and the Agonizer advanced cautiously, waiting until next turn to put their powers to use. The Paingivers walked up, and managed Fury for me, and that was that.
This turn could well make or break my army. I had set up mostly outside Erik's threat ranges. The exceptions were the left Brute and Krea, who were within charge range (but not, I hoped, walking threat range) of the Reciprocators, and the right Brute, who was probably within charge range of the Inverter. However, I was looking at Axis' Feat turn, and he could really blunt my counterattack.
Turn 2, Convergence
Axis recharged his Focus, and upkept his spells, then Erik measured his Control range a couple of times.
"I think I can kill Molik Karn this turn," he said.
"Huh?" I said.
He measured again. "Yeah. I think so. It depends."
First, Axis allocated 3 Focus to the Inverter. Then he activated first, walked up, and used his Feat to give Convergence models in his CTRL +2 Spd and Str, and enemy models currently in his CTRL -2 Spd and Str. He affected all the Convergence models except the very leftmost Reciprocator, and all the Skorne models except Makeda and the Paingivers.
The Perforators tried to soften up Molik Karn with some spikes, but two missed, and one was Shield Guarded by the left Exalted Guardian. The Corollary received a Focus for starting its activation near Axis, advanced, and gave that Focus to the Cipher while giving a whole new Focus to the Galvanizer.
The Diffuser shot Molik with a Beacon. It hit, but I had the right Exalted Guardian Shield Guard it. The Cipher also shot some Rough Terrain Molik's way, and mucked up the ground in front of him.
The Reciprocators gave themselves +2 Str, and charged in, 2 at the Krea and 3 at the Brute. The two charging the Krea reduced her to 1 hit box (luckily in the Spirit). One of the three charging the Brute hit thanks to Set Defense, but managed to take its Body.
The Inverter charged the Beaconed Exalted Guardian for free, moving roughly a billion inches (ok, it was 11, but that's pretty far), and smashed it to bits with its charge attack. Then it measured melee range to Molik Karn, and was in by at least an 8th of an inch. It proceeded to smash him three times with its Meteor Hammer, and kill him with its 3rd bought attack.
*Much Internal Swearing Here*
Oh, and the Enigma Foundry ran up behind the Reciprocators.
It looks like I forgot to get pictures of this turn. Probably because I was wondering what on earth I would do.
Losing Molik Karn had put me in a tough position, but hopefully I'd be able to fight my way out of it. This turn, however, I'd be hampered by Axis' Feat, so my counterattack wouldn't be nearly as crushing as it should be.
Turn 3, Skorne
Makeda leached back to full, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.
The Krea advanced as far as she could without taking a free strike, which wasn't far at all, and used Paralytic Aura to debuff the Reciprocators' Def by 2.
Then Makeda activated her unit. She was hitting at full P+S 17 due to not being caught in Axis' Feat. She moved into melee range of a Reciprocator, while her remaining Exalted Guardian did the same, and used her Feat (which allows her to gain a point of Fury or remove a point of Fury from a model in her battlegroup whenever a model in her battlegroup destroys an enemy model). The Exalted Guardian did a lot of nothing with her attacks, but Makeda killed the two Reciprocators she could reach, then killed a Perforator with a fully boosted Eliminator. The 2" move that gave her was enough to walk into melee of two more Reciprocators, who died messily beneath her blade.
The Gladiator Rushed itself, but a 4" walk didn't take it into melee range of the Inverter. The right Brute took a couple swings at the Inverter, but didn't accomplish much. The Agonizer walked a little closer to the Inverter, and used Spiritual Affliction to stop it from gaining any Focus next turn.
The Paingivers advanced, and healed the left Brute and the Krea a bit with Medicate. The left Brute then walked up, and killed the last Reciprocator with some boosted damage rolls from its Halberd.
The game was still in the balance. Wiping out the Reciprocators was a major coup for me, since now the Enigma Foundry would be stuck churning out the much less impressive Perforators. The Agonizer was stabilizing my right flank, and hopefully, Makeda and the Gladiator would have the hitting power to prevail against the remaining threats - the CoC heavies and of course, Axis himself.
Turn 3, Convergence
Axis upkept his spells, and gave the Diffuser a Focus.
The Diffuser walked up, and tried to hit the Gladiator with a Beacon, but missed due to the target in melee penalty. It gave its Focus to the Corollary. The Corollary, meanwhile, activated near enough to Axis to get a free Focus, then shlepped over and gave both its Focus to the Cipher, plus an extra 3 point of Focus from the Cipher's Induction Node.
The Enigma Foundry backed up, and popped out a new Perforator to replace the one Makeda had killed. The Perforators tried to put some damage on Makeda, but she was in a Paralytic Aura, and they all missed.
The Inverter walked up to the Agonizer, and killed it with its Macropummeler. It took its Meteor Hammer attack against the Gladiator, and did a little damage.
Axis advanced into the right zone, and cast Battering Ram at the Brute in it, but missed due to the Target in Melee penalty, and ended his turn camping 1 Focus.
The Cipher charged the left Brute, and beat it to death with its Pistons.
At the end of Erik's turn, the right Brute was controlling Erik's zone (since Warcasters can't contest), and I scored my first scenario point.
Erik's momentum had stalled a bit, and his heavies were in danger. If I could manage to take both of them out, the only real threat to Makeda left would be Axis.
Turn 4, Skorne
Makeda Leached her Fury and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The Krea had to take a Frenzy check, but passed.
She and the Exalted Guardian charged the Cipher. I'd fully expected them to kill it, but the Guardian did no damage, and Makeda rolled badly, leaving it on 6 or so health (she had another Fury but I preferred to camp, even with surprises), with its Induction Node and one of its Pistons intact.
The Paingivers Enraged the Gladiator and right Brute, and Medicated the Krea again to bring all her aspects back to operational.
The Gladiator scrapped the Inverter, and the Brute charged Axis for six or seven damage.
The Krea walked up to the Cipher, and took three attacks, but missed with all of them despite needing 6's. (I realized later that I probably should have hit with all the Krea's attacks since the Cipher's Movement was out, but such is life).
I stared in wordless disgust at my dice for a few seconds, before realizing that my clock was still going. I ended my turn still in control of the Convergence zone, bringing me up to 2 Control Points.
I'd started to swing things back in my direction, but Makeda was in serious danger from the Cipher, especially if Axis could get close enough to cast Iron Aggression on it. Still, he and the Cipher were the last threats the Convergence had left, and if Makeda could live through this turn, I'd probably be able to finish off the Cipher and camp my way to victory somehow or another.
Turn 4, Convergence
Axis Allocated a single point of Focus to the Corollary, and kept the remaining 5 Focus for himself.
The Diffuser tried to debuff Makeda with its Beacon gun, but missed thanks to the Target in Melee penalty (and being Rat 2, of course). The Perferators advanced so they were contesting both zones, and shot at various targets, but missed with all their shots.
Axis walked around the Brute a bit, and pummeled it right out of the Convergence zone with Beat Back. He ended up moving it around 7" with Beat Back, and finally got within range to put Iron Agression on the Cipher. Then he took his last attack to Beat Back into the Convergence zone while staying within the Brute's melee range. In the end, the Brute had taken a 6 or 7 damage altogether, but hadn't lost any aspects.
The Corollary started its activation within range of him to get a free Focus, and gave two to the Cipher, which magically became three due to the Induction Node.
Then the Cipher tried to move into melee range of Makeda, but there was no way to do it without leaving the Exalted Guardian's melee range, since they don't have Reach. Erik decided to chance it, and the Cipher promptly died to the Free Strike.
The Enigma Foundry walked to contest the left zone, and that was it. Axis dominated the Convergence Zone for one point.
Well, Makeda had lived due to some accidentally great placement on my part. I'd been completely confident that the Cipher would die on my last turn, so I tried to get Makeda as close as possible to the Enigma Foundry and Perferator in the left zone. I did not anticipate that this would cause the Cipher to take a free strike, and therefore not kill Makeda on Eric's turn. Both our clocks were low. I had about 4 minutes left, and Erik had about 1:30. Thankfully, I saw a way I might be able to win on my next turn.
Turn 5, Skorne
Makeda leached in Fury from the Brute and Gladiator, and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The Krea needed to take a Frenzy check, and failed. She charged the Exalted Guardian, but true to form, missed completely.
The Paingivers moved up, Enraged the Brute and Gladiator, and Medicated the Krea.
The Brute activated first, since the rest of my plan sort of hinged on it. It charged Erik's objective, and destroyed it on the second bought attack.
Next, the Gladiator Rushed itself, and charged the Perforator contesting the right zone. It took a few swings, but the Perforator went down.
Then, Makeda advanced next to the Perforator contesting the left zone and the Enigma Foundry, and cast Ground Zero. Both were on the edge of the zone, and any distance would be sufficient to push them out.
That left me controlling Erik's Zone, and dominating my own Zone. Combined with destroying Erik's objective, that gave me 5 points. I ended my turn, and won on scenario.
Victory to the Skorne!
Post-Game Thoughts
That was a really tense match, and I wasn't out of danger until the very last round. I made a few critical mistakes this game, but the big one was forgetting that Beacon added to charge range against the affected model. If I had, I'd either have placed Molik a little further back, or used my Shield Guards differently to make sure the Inverter couldn't get range to Molik. Lesson learned, but Molik is injured, meaning I won't be able to use him in my next game. Afterward, though, I recovered pretty well, and ground out the Convergence to a scenario win.
I sort of failed my list this game by losing Molik, but the Brutes proved how great they are as blockers for the list. The left Brute took on the Reciprocators, and managed to escape without much trouble, while the right Brute ended up getting me 3 scenario points, and put a lot of pressure on Axis. Otherwise, I like this configuration a lot more than I thought I would at 35pts. Two Brutes seem to be just enough to keep me in the game, while Makeda is a melee monster, and can easily fill in for a third heavy (or second, if Molik gets killed). I'm still looking forward to 50pts, when an extra heavy and light will make the list a lot safer to play.
The MVP of this game is Makeda's unit. It feels a little cheat-y to pick my Warlock, but they turned a near disaster into a holding action, and then won me the game. Wiping out the Reciprocators on my 3rd turn was absolutely crucial. If even one had survived, the Enigma Foundry could have kept the unit up and swinging for a long time. Makeda killed 4 on her own, and helped the Brute get into a position where it could kill the last one. Plus Exalted Guardian A's free strike killed the Cipher, and saved Makeda from a very possible death at its pistons.
Erik played a pretty solid game overall. His ploy to kill Molik was very smart (Molik is a lynchpin of my list), and he pulled it off well. He did make a couple of mistakes, of which his main one was ignoring his own zone for scenario. If he'd kept an eye on it, particularly in his third turn, when he moved the Inverter out of it to kill the Agonizer, he would have had more time to fight me off. He also might have run one or two of his Reciprocators to keep them out of Makeda's Reach on his Feat turn.
Erik's list seemed strong. It's a heavy armor skew list with lot of synergy with Axis' Feat. I don't know Convergence well enough to know if I'd change anything about it. Skorne deals with Armor well, so I might have chosen a small based unit or something for the game against me, but it works very well against a lot of opponents who don't take quite as many heavy hitters as I like.
Thanks for a great game, Erik!
Next up: Skorne vs. Khador. Is Skorne even a faction without Molik Karn?
*Inverter (8pts)
*Diffuser (3pts)
*Galvanizer (3pts)
*Corollary (3pts)
Wow, I do not Syntherion well enough to recreate his list. I'll try to get the exact list from Erik at some point, and update the post then. This list looked like a good mix of heavy and light 'jacks, with enough in there to take full advantage of Synergy. That's all I remember though.
Scenario, List Selection, and Deployment
We rolled up a scenario before choosing our lists, and got Scenario 8: Rally Point.
There are two large circular zones, one friendly and one enemy, and two objectives, one friendly and one enemy. Dominating the friendly zone or controlling the enemy zone is worth 1point. Dominating the enemy zone is worth 2 points. Destroying the enemy objective is also worth a point. Friendly Faction solos also gain Inspiration [Faction] if they're within 4" of an uncontested friendly objective, which sometimes matters.
We set up the scenario and terrain, and hid our Warlock cards and phone screen (Erik was using Warroom) from sight.
I chose Makeda 3, and Erik chose Axis.
I went with Makeda, since I thought she'd have a strong trading game against both Axis and Syntherion. I was a lot more worried about Axis, but I have a lot of experience with Makeda 3, and I know she can crush bricks given half a chance.
Erik went with Axis, probably for the denial element of his Feat. Skorne loses a lot from not being able to charge, and the -2 Strength hurts as well. Axis is also a bit less squishy than Syntherion, which is a pretty big deal against both Zaal and Makeda 3, who both have some unpredictable assassination angles.
I won the roll-off, and chose to go first. Erik responded by choosing the side with a nice hill in front of the deployment zone rather than a forest, but I suppose that's the nice thing about having a Gladiator in the list...
I deployed the Brutes on the flanks as usual, ready to get into the zones. Molik deployed on the right side of the forest, while the Krea deployed on the left. The Gladiator went in the forest, ready to extract itself next turn. The Paingivers and Agonizer went behind the beasts. Makeda deployed next to the Krea on the left, and had enough Cmd range to put one of her Guardians on either side of the wood easily.
Erik deployed Axis on the central hill with the Cipher and Galvanizer beside him and the Corollary just behind. The Inverter deployed to oppose Molik Karn on the right, and the Reciprocators deployed in a brick on the left. The Perforators and Enigma Foundry deployed just behind Axis and Co. on the hill.
Neither of us had any Advance Deploy troops this time, so we just got down to it.
*A note on the pictures: There were a lot of butt-charges this game to prevent models from getting tangled up in various tusks, flails, and polearms. Any time a model seems to be facing the wrong way for no reason, it's because we turned it around to fit it into combat. Nearly all the models were facing forward the whole time.
Turn 1, Skorne
The Gladiator Rushed itself, and Trampled through the forest. The other beasts all ran upfield, hooking around the forest into a more coherent battle line.
Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction (damage rolls against enemy models in her melee range are boosted) on herself, put 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and gave her unit a Run/Charge order. She charged Axis, and her Guardians ran up to provide helpful Shield Guards for the beasts.
Finally, the Paingivers advanced, and dropped my Fury down to manageable levels.
I was starting to set up here, but I'd have another turn to position before Erik's forces charged in.
Turn 1, Convergence
Axis Allocated a Focus to the Inverter, then put Iron Aggression (target Warjack charges for free and gains boosted melee attack rolls) on the Inverter, and Onslaught (friendly models beginning a charge in his CTRL gain Pathfinder) on himself, and walked up.
The Inverter ran, and passed its Focus to the Corollary. The Corollary advanced, and spent its point of Focus to allocate a Focus to the Cipher, which had the side effect of allocating one to the Galvanizer too. The Diffuser advanced, and tried to shoot the left Brute, but was out of range. The Cipher advanced, and shot a couple 4" templates of Rough Terrain in the Gladiator's direction with its Servipod Mortar.
The Reciprocators, reasoning that they were probably pretty safe, ran forward, but gave themselves Set Defense for the round just in case. The Perforators Sniped themselves to Snipe me, and tried to shoot up the left Brute, but they missed.
Erik had put himself in a good position overall. I'd really want to contest the zones, since scoring started on his next turn, but if I did, I'd be in plenty of range for his Feat to affect most of my models and all of his, giving him a turn of excellent damage while limiting my ability to counterattack.
Turn 2, Skorne
I decided to reposition and brace for the charge. That's what this list is built for at least. Tank with the Brutes, and counter with the heavies and Makeda.
Makeda leached back to full, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.
The Krea advanced, and used Paralytic Aura to give me soome extra Def against ranged attacks. The Gladiator Rushed the left Brute, and moved up a bit.
The left Brute moved in to create a barrier between its halberd and the wall. The Cyrissists might have Pathfinder, but they would still have to deal with positioning their bases across the wall. The right Brute walked a little wide, claiming the Convergence zone (though it was too early to score).
Makeda declared a Run/Charge with her unit, put a Fury on the Agonizer, and got her Exalted Guardians into position.
Molik and the Agonizer advanced cautiously, waiting until next turn to put their powers to use. The Paingivers walked up, and managed Fury for me, and that was that.
This turn could well make or break my army. I had set up mostly outside Erik's threat ranges. The exceptions were the left Brute and Krea, who were within charge range (but not, I hoped, walking threat range) of the Reciprocators, and the right Brute, who was probably within charge range of the Inverter. However, I was looking at Axis' Feat turn, and he could really blunt my counterattack.
Turn 2, Convergence
Axis recharged his Focus, and upkept his spells, then Erik measured his Control range a couple of times.
"I think I can kill Molik Karn this turn," he said.
"Huh?" I said.
He measured again. "Yeah. I think so. It depends."
First, Axis allocated 3 Focus to the Inverter. Then he activated first, walked up, and used his Feat to give Convergence models in his CTRL +2 Spd and Str, and enemy models currently in his CTRL -2 Spd and Str. He affected all the Convergence models except the very leftmost Reciprocator, and all the Skorne models except Makeda and the Paingivers.
The Perforators tried to soften up Molik Karn with some spikes, but two missed, and one was Shield Guarded by the left Exalted Guardian. The Corollary received a Focus for starting its activation near Axis, advanced, and gave that Focus to the Cipher while giving a whole new Focus to the Galvanizer.
The Diffuser shot Molik with a Beacon. It hit, but I had the right Exalted Guardian Shield Guard it. The Cipher also shot some Rough Terrain Molik's way, and mucked up the ground in front of him.
The Reciprocators gave themselves +2 Str, and charged in, 2 at the Krea and 3 at the Brute. The two charging the Krea reduced her to 1 hit box (luckily in the Spirit). One of the three charging the Brute hit thanks to Set Defense, but managed to take its Body.
The Inverter charged the Beaconed Exalted Guardian for free, moving roughly a billion inches (ok, it was 11, but that's pretty far), and smashed it to bits with its charge attack. Then it measured melee range to Molik Karn, and was in by at least an 8th of an inch. It proceeded to smash him three times with its Meteor Hammer, and kill him with its 3rd bought attack.
*Much Internal Swearing Here*
Oh, and the Enigma Foundry ran up behind the Reciprocators.
It looks like I forgot to get pictures of this turn. Probably because I was wondering what on earth I would do.
Losing Molik Karn had put me in a tough position, but hopefully I'd be able to fight my way out of it. This turn, however, I'd be hampered by Axis' Feat, so my counterattack wouldn't be nearly as crushing as it should be.
Turn 3, Skorne
Makeda leached back to full, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.
The Krea advanced as far as she could without taking a free strike, which wasn't far at all, and used Paralytic Aura to debuff the Reciprocators' Def by 2.
Then Makeda activated her unit. She was hitting at full P+S 17 due to not being caught in Axis' Feat. She moved into melee range of a Reciprocator, while her remaining Exalted Guardian did the same, and used her Feat (which allows her to gain a point of Fury or remove a point of Fury from a model in her battlegroup whenever a model in her battlegroup destroys an enemy model). The Exalted Guardian did a lot of nothing with her attacks, but Makeda killed the two Reciprocators she could reach, then killed a Perforator with a fully boosted Eliminator. The 2" move that gave her was enough to walk into melee of two more Reciprocators, who died messily beneath her blade.
The Gladiator Rushed itself, but a 4" walk didn't take it into melee range of the Inverter. The right Brute took a couple swings at the Inverter, but didn't accomplish much. The Agonizer walked a little closer to the Inverter, and used Spiritual Affliction to stop it from gaining any Focus next turn.
The Paingivers advanced, and healed the left Brute and the Krea a bit with Medicate. The left Brute then walked up, and killed the last Reciprocator with some boosted damage rolls from its Halberd.
The game was still in the balance. Wiping out the Reciprocators was a major coup for me, since now the Enigma Foundry would be stuck churning out the much less impressive Perforators. The Agonizer was stabilizing my right flank, and hopefully, Makeda and the Gladiator would have the hitting power to prevail against the remaining threats - the CoC heavies and of course, Axis himself.
Turn 3, Convergence
Axis upkept his spells, and gave the Diffuser a Focus.
The Diffuser walked up, and tried to hit the Gladiator with a Beacon, but missed due to the target in melee penalty. It gave its Focus to the Corollary. The Corollary, meanwhile, activated near enough to Axis to get a free Focus, then shlepped over and gave both its Focus to the Cipher, plus an extra 3 point of Focus from the Cipher's Induction Node.
The Enigma Foundry backed up, and popped out a new Perforator to replace the one Makeda had killed. The Perforators tried to put some damage on Makeda, but she was in a Paralytic Aura, and they all missed.
The Inverter walked up to the Agonizer, and killed it with its Macropummeler. It took its Meteor Hammer attack against the Gladiator, and did a little damage.
Axis advanced into the right zone, and cast Battering Ram at the Brute in it, but missed due to the Target in Melee penalty, and ended his turn camping 1 Focus.
The Cipher charged the left Brute, and beat it to death with its Pistons.
At the end of Erik's turn, the right Brute was controlling Erik's zone (since Warcasters can't contest), and I scored my first scenario point.
Erik's momentum had stalled a bit, and his heavies were in danger. If I could manage to take both of them out, the only real threat to Makeda left would be Axis.
Turn 4, Skorne
Makeda Leached her Fury and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The Krea had to take a Frenzy check, but passed.
She and the Exalted Guardian charged the Cipher. I'd fully expected them to kill it, but the Guardian did no damage, and Makeda rolled badly, leaving it on 6 or so health (she had another Fury but I preferred to camp, even with surprises), with its Induction Node and one of its Pistons intact.
The Paingivers Enraged the Gladiator and right Brute, and Medicated the Krea again to bring all her aspects back to operational.
The Gladiator scrapped the Inverter, and the Brute charged Axis for six or seven damage.
The Krea walked up to the Cipher, and took three attacks, but missed with all of them despite needing 6's. (I realized later that I probably should have hit with all the Krea's attacks since the Cipher's Movement was out, but such is life).
I stared in wordless disgust at my dice for a few seconds, before realizing that my clock was still going. I ended my turn still in control of the Convergence zone, bringing me up to 2 Control Points.
I'd started to swing things back in my direction, but Makeda was in serious danger from the Cipher, especially if Axis could get close enough to cast Iron Aggression on it. Still, he and the Cipher were the last threats the Convergence had left, and if Makeda could live through this turn, I'd probably be able to finish off the Cipher and camp my way to victory somehow or another.
Turn 4, Convergence
Axis Allocated a single point of Focus to the Corollary, and kept the remaining 5 Focus for himself.
The Diffuser tried to debuff Makeda with its Beacon gun, but missed thanks to the Target in Melee penalty (and being Rat 2, of course). The Perferators advanced so they were contesting both zones, and shot at various targets, but missed with all their shots.
Axis walked around the Brute a bit, and pummeled it right out of the Convergence zone with Beat Back. He ended up moving it around 7" with Beat Back, and finally got within range to put Iron Agression on the Cipher. Then he took his last attack to Beat Back into the Convergence zone while staying within the Brute's melee range. In the end, the Brute had taken a 6 or 7 damage altogether, but hadn't lost any aspects.
The Corollary started its activation within range of him to get a free Focus, and gave two to the Cipher, which magically became three due to the Induction Node.
Then the Cipher tried to move into melee range of Makeda, but there was no way to do it without leaving the Exalted Guardian's melee range, since they don't have Reach. Erik decided to chance it, and the Cipher promptly died to the Free Strike.
The Enigma Foundry walked to contest the left zone, and that was it. Axis dominated the Convergence Zone for one point.
 |
| Looks like we forgot to put a Wreck Marker down for the Cipher. |
Well, Makeda had lived due to some accidentally great placement on my part. I'd been completely confident that the Cipher would die on my last turn, so I tried to get Makeda as close as possible to the Enigma Foundry and Perferator in the left zone. I did not anticipate that this would cause the Cipher to take a free strike, and therefore not kill Makeda on Eric's turn. Both our clocks were low. I had about 4 minutes left, and Erik had about 1:30. Thankfully, I saw a way I might be able to win on my next turn.
Turn 5, Skorne
Makeda leached in Fury from the Brute and Gladiator, and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The Krea needed to take a Frenzy check, and failed. She charged the Exalted Guardian, but true to form, missed completely.
The Paingivers moved up, Enraged the Brute and Gladiator, and Medicated the Krea.
The Brute activated first, since the rest of my plan sort of hinged on it. It charged Erik's objective, and destroyed it on the second bought attack.
Next, the Gladiator Rushed itself, and charged the Perforator contesting the right zone. It took a few swings, but the Perforator went down.
Then, Makeda advanced next to the Perforator contesting the left zone and the Enigma Foundry, and cast Ground Zero. Both were on the edge of the zone, and any distance would be sufficient to push them out.
That left me controlling Erik's Zone, and dominating my own Zone. Combined with destroying Erik's objective, that gave me 5 points. I ended my turn, and won on scenario.
 |
| My hands were shaking so much that this is the least blurry picture I got. |
Victory to the Skorne!
Post-Game Thoughts
That was a really tense match, and I wasn't out of danger until the very last round. I made a few critical mistakes this game, but the big one was forgetting that Beacon added to charge range against the affected model. If I had, I'd either have placed Molik a little further back, or used my Shield Guards differently to make sure the Inverter couldn't get range to Molik. Lesson learned, but Molik is injured, meaning I won't be able to use him in my next game. Afterward, though, I recovered pretty well, and ground out the Convergence to a scenario win.
I sort of failed my list this game by losing Molik, but the Brutes proved how great they are as blockers for the list. The left Brute took on the Reciprocators, and managed to escape without much trouble, while the right Brute ended up getting me 3 scenario points, and put a lot of pressure on Axis. Otherwise, I like this configuration a lot more than I thought I would at 35pts. Two Brutes seem to be just enough to keep me in the game, while Makeda is a melee monster, and can easily fill in for a third heavy (or second, if Molik gets killed). I'm still looking forward to 50pts, when an extra heavy and light will make the list a lot safer to play.
The MVP of this game is Makeda's unit. It feels a little cheat-y to pick my Warlock, but they turned a near disaster into a holding action, and then won me the game. Wiping out the Reciprocators on my 3rd turn was absolutely crucial. If even one had survived, the Enigma Foundry could have kept the unit up and swinging for a long time. Makeda killed 4 on her own, and helped the Brute get into a position where it could kill the last one. Plus Exalted Guardian A's free strike killed the Cipher, and saved Makeda from a very possible death at its pistons.
Erik played a pretty solid game overall. His ploy to kill Molik was very smart (Molik is a lynchpin of my list), and he pulled it off well. He did make a couple of mistakes, of which his main one was ignoring his own zone for scenario. If he'd kept an eye on it, particularly in his third turn, when he moved the Inverter out of it to kill the Agonizer, he would have had more time to fight me off. He also might have run one or two of his Reciprocators to keep them out of Makeda's Reach on his Feat turn.
Erik's list seemed strong. It's a heavy armor skew list with lot of synergy with Axis' Feat. I don't know Convergence well enough to know if I'd change anything about it. Skorne deals with Armor well, so I might have chosen a small based unit or something for the game against me, but it works very well against a lot of opponents who don't take quite as many heavy hitters as I like.
Thanks for a great game, Erik!
Next up: Skorne vs. Khador. Is Skorne even a faction without Molik Karn?
Nicely done sir. Mak3 continues to bring the beats.
ReplyDeleteMakeda 3 is bonkers fun. I'm tempted to play her in my next match even though Molik died.
DeleteI'm pretty used to Molik, but an Archidon is an acceptable substitute (for Sprint), plus it's 4pts cheaper. I can throw in my Drake, or a couple of solos...
Oh god, I'm talking myself into it. I'm supposed to be trying out 4 Warlocks here.
You know you want to do it, the Supreme Archdomina demands it!
ReplyDeleteOr, you know, you could bring a Bronzeback and actually allow Makeda to walk through infantry as well as heavies...
Sadly not. Train Wreck is target Warbeast only. :.-(
DeleteMakeda still walks through infantry pretty well with Eliminator, but if she could give herself Beat Back it would be unholy.