NFL League Semi Finals: Skorne vs. Cryx, 50pts

So, I finally scheduled my League Semi-finals game with Jamie and his Cryx.  The winner would go on to the finals, and possibly the stupendous glory of a league victory.

I already played Jamie in my 7th game, and I was eager to face him again, since I kind of felt like I didn't deserve that win.




Pre-Game Thoughts

For the playoffs, we bring 3 lists, Masters style, and pick one of them.  I brought Makeda 1, Makeda 3, and Mordikaar.

Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)
*Mammoth (20pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt)

I've run this list once before during the league, and it's solid.  The Mammoth is the main threat, and does a massive amount of damage over the course of the game.  The rest of the list is mainly there to support it or screen it, but Nihilators and Cetrati can dish out some damage, especially with Carnage potentially adding to their Mat.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Savage (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

My Makeda 3 beast brick.  I've played this list in about half my League Games so far, and it's been great.  This list is an attrition/scenario list, where the Brutes take an enemy alpha strike, and the rest of the list counterattacks.  It's capable of seriously massive damage on the Feat turn, and can consistently trade up the rest of the game.

Void Seer Mordikaar (*5pts)
*Despoiler (10pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
*Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Cataphract Incendiarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (6pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt)

And a Mordikaar list I whipped up in the last week or so.  I don't have a whole lot of experience with Mordikaar yet, and haven't played him for the league yet, but this list seems very solid.  The Nihilators and Cetrati are both durable units, and both do a lot of damage.  The Incendiarii keep infantry under control and spread the Fire around.  Seems good, especially against a swarm army like Cryx.


My opponent, Jamie, brought along Asphyxious 2, Asphyxious 3, and Mortenebra.

Lich Lord Asphyxious (*6pts)
*Defiler (5pts)
*Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Bane Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Blood Hag (2pts)
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
The Withershadow Combine (5pts)
Bane Lord Tartarus (4pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)

This is classic eAsphyxious, and very similar to the list I played against in game 7.  eGaspy is a very strong 'caster with a great Feat, and some really efficient tricks to get rid of both infantry and heavy armor.

Asphyxious the Hellbringer (*4pts)
*Deathripper (4pts)
*Vociferon (-)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Bane Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Sea Witch (2pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)
Necrosurgeon and 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Necrosurgeon and 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)

Holy infantry spam!  A list like that will take a lot to chew through.  It will have a very strong attrition and scenario game thanks to numbers alone, but Gaspy 3 has some very strong support for this amount of infantry.  Carnage will make them all a lot more accurate, Scything Touch will boost damage output, and Ashen Veil will boost defense.  The infantry themselves can handle just about anything with that support.

Master Necrotech Mortenebra (*4pts)
*The Deathjack (12pts)
*Nightmare (10pts)
*Leviathan (9pts)
*Stalker (4pts)
*Helldiver (3pts)
*Deryliss (-)
Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
*Blood Hag (2pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)

Morty has some very cool tricks she can pull, and she runs 'jacks like none other in Cryx.  This list isn't in Tier for her, probably to accomodate the very powerful Nightmare and some flexibility in the infantry and solos.


List Selection, Scenario, and Deployment

We rolled up Two Fronts, a scenario with one 6" by 12" zone for each player, and one objective for each player.  Dominating the friendly zone is worth one point, as is controlling the enemy zone, and destroying the enemy objective.  Dominating the enemy zone is worth 2 points.

We both hemmed and hawed a little, but in the end, Jamie ended up choosing Asphyxious 3, and I went with Mordikaar.

I picked Mordikaar for a couple of reasons.  I was leaning toward Makeda 3, but I've only ever played her against Jamie, and I thought a different pick would keep him on his toes, and make the game a little more interesting for both of us.  I thought this Mordikaar list would have a good chance against any of Jamie's three lists, and I've also been itching to use Incendiarii.

Jamie also wanted to switch things up from what we've played before: Asphyxious 2 vs Makeda 3.  Asphyxious 3 is a good all-comers 'caster, and definitely has game against any of my three Warlocks, although that list would need to be careful against Makeda 3's Feat turn or Mammoth blasts.

We set up terrain, and started deployment.  I won the roll off, and chose to go second, picking a side with a nice wall for me to defend.  I know that Mordikaar can be run as a jamming/scenario 'caster, but I didn't have the list for it, and it's really hard to try to outjam Satyxis Raiders.

Jamie deployed in a ginormous glop of Cryxy badness four lanes deep.  Mechanithralls went up front to soak damage (interspersed with Necrosurgeons to catch their Corpse Tokens), while Banes crowded in behind to follow up with heavy damage.  The Bane Knights deployed in front of a forest they could conveniently ignore, while the Thralls deployed on the other side, in front of Jamie's zone.  Asphyxious went in the middle with the Pistol Wraith* while Vociferon went across from my zone with the Bane Knights and the Deathripper went on the right with the Thralls.

I put my Cetrati in front of my zone to defend it, and my Nihilators in front of Jamie's.  I was intending to have the Nihilators run toward the center, but if Jamie decided to start dominating for points, I'd need them to get into his zone ASAP.  The Incendiarii went in the middle to lend shooting support to either side.  The Krea packed in with the Cetrati, while the Archidon and Despoiler went behind the Nihilators to support their holding action, and help contest Jamie's zone if necessary.  They Tyrant Commander, and Paingivers went in the back for support, while the Swamp Gobbers took the far left (in front of my zone) to give some cloud cover to the Cetrati.

In the Advance Deploy step, Jamie put his Satyxis in the center to jam my whole line.  With that, we were ready to go.

Turn 1, Cryx

Asphyxious allocated one Focus to the Deathripper, then nearly everything ran.  The Satyxis ran.  The Mechanithralls on both sides ran (though the ones in front of the forest got Pathfinder from Saxon).  The Banes all ran.  The Nightwretch and Pistol Wraith ran, and the Necrosurgeon and Stitch Thrall units ran to get back in range to collect Mechanithrall corpses.  Asphyxious Walked, and cast Ashen Veil on the Satyxis, and Scything Touch on the left unit of McThralls.

Run run run.  That is a *lot* of troopers, and I know the McThralls will keep coming back until I wipe them out.


Turn 1, Skorne

Well, time to unpack this formation.  The Cetrati walked up in Shield Wall, and the Gobbers walked up to screen them a little with smoke, while the Krea stayed in formation, and used Paralytic Aura.  The Nihilators ran and spread out to at least partially screen the Cetrati from a Satyxis charge.  The Tyrant Commander put Press Forward on the Incendiarii (currently missing their guns until they're a little more painted), and advanced behind the Cetrati.

Mordikaar advanced, and smidge, and put Hollow on the Nihilators.  The Incendiarii walked up 7 inches, and set three Satyxis Raiders on fire with their Incindi.  The Beasts and Handlers just walked up behind the front lines.

I like how Jamie's shadow is literally darkening the ground the Cryxians tread upon.

I'd done a bit of damage, and my Nihilator line was well positioned.  The Satyxis charge was going to hurt, but if I could weather it more or less intact, I'd have a much better chance at stemming the tide of bodies coming my way.


Turn 2, Cryx

Jamie started off with fire checks, which resulted in 3/3 dead Satyxis.  Then Asphyxious upkept Ashen Veil.

The Nightwretch ambled forward, then Asphyxious cast a boosted Hex Blast through it at a lead Nihilator.  He hit, stripped Hollow from the unit, and killed the Nihilator.  The Pistol Wraith floated up, and shot a Nihilator, but it Toughed.  Then the Satyxis charged in, used Power Swell to gain an additional die on damage rolls, and killed another 5 Nihilators, leaving the unit at just 4 models.

Saxon handed Pathfinder to the Necrosurgeon on the left side of the table this time, and everyone else ran up to support the Satyxis.  That was it, and Jamie passed the turn.

The gooey mass advances, hoping to engulf my army.

Losing so many Nihilators was definitely not ok.  I'd need to protect the rest of the unit as well as possible, to keep them coming back as long as possible.  I'm going to need their ability to Berserk if I'm going to stand any chance against that Cryx infantry.


Turn 2, Skorne

Mordikaar leached in his Fury.

Time to push back against the tide.  The Archidon used Lightning Strike on itself, flew up to 2 Mechanithralls, killed both, and retreated.  This allowed the Incendiarii to adjust their position and send more flaming death into the Cryxian line, accounting for some more Mechanithralls, and lighting some Satyxis on fire.

The Tyrant Commander used Reveille to stand up the currently Knocked Down Nihilator, and advanced a bit.  The Cetrati advanced, and took some Combined Melee Attacks at the Satyxis, killing several.  The Krea advanced to keep them company, and used Paralytic Aura again.  The Gobbers advanced, and screened them with a Cloud again.

Mordikaar shuffled up the littlest of bits, Revived a Nihilator behind some Satyxis, and cast Hollow on the unit again.  He also popped his Feat (Void Wind: Friendly Faction models gain +3Def and when an enemy model misses one, that model can be pushed d3") to keep various units alive this coming turn.  The Nihilators advanced, and took a toll on the Satyxis and Mechanithralls with Berserk, though I kept their leader as safe as I could toward the back.

Despoiler walked up, and killed a Satyxis Raider, creating a Void Spirit where she'd been standing.  The Ghost then charged the Sea Witch, and killed her, though the unit passed both its Abomination and Massive Casualties checks.  The Paingivers finished the turn by walking up, and managing Fury on the beasts.

Not too shabby.  I'd dug a pretty big gouge into the right flank, and was definitely holding on.  But the second wave was on the way, and it would be hitting very hard.


Turn 3, Cryx

A Bane or two burned to death.  Asphyxious dropped Ashen Veil, and held on to all his Focus.

Asphyxious advanced a little, used his Feat to gain a Soul Token whenever I cast a spell, or forced a Warbeast in his CTRL, and cast Carnage to boost his troops' accuracy.  The left Necrosurgeon crafted a new Brown Mechanithrall or two, and the McThralls charged in at my Cetrati.  They did decent damage to one, but mostly missed a lot under Mordikaar's Feat.  They did manage to kill one of the Gobbers though.  The remaining Satyxis took out a Nihilator and the other Gobber.

The Bane Knights got in on the action, and picked off another couple of Nihilators.  The Pistol Wraith aimed, and shot my Objective for a little damage.

The right Necrosurgeon crafted three new Blue Mechanithralls, in front of Despoiler, and they charged in.  They cranked the attack and damge rolls, and left Despoiler on 5 hit boxes.

Luckily, the Bane Thralls weren't in range to do any more than run forward.  Saxon and the Deathripper both meebled around behind the front lines a bit.

So much death, and only one Nihilator left alive.  Fortunately, Hollow had stayed on the unit this turn, and Mordikaar could start playing the attrition game at Cryx's level.


Turn 3, Skorne

Mordikaar leached some Fury, then added some extra from the Nihilators who'd been killed.  Despoiler upkept Hollow with Black Arts.

The Cetrati Shield Walled, and killed most of the Mechanithralls who'd attacked them.  The Krea advanced, and used Paralytic Aura.

On the other side of the table, the Incendiarii took their shots, killing or lighting up a significant number of the tightly packed Cryxian infantry.  The Archidon swooped in, and killed two Bane Thralls to help them out.

The Paingivers walked in, managed Fury, and Medicated Despoiler, healing up its Mind and Spirit.

Then Mordikaar cast Revive 3 times, bringing the Nihilators back up to 4 in the unit.

The Nihilators mostly stayed where Mordikaar put them, but laid waste to the tightly packed low-Def, low-Arm infantry around them.  Most of both Mechanithrall units, as well as assorted Satyxis, Bane Thralls, Bane Knights, and Stitch Thralls were killed.  Not bad at all.

Despoiler finally went, trampled across 5 Cryxians (killing 2), and one Nihilator (oh yes, it died too), and bought a tail attack against one of the last Satyxis Raiders, killing it, and causing a Void Spirit to appear in its place.  The Void Spirit charged a Necrosurgeon, but missed even with boosted attack rolls.

Thanks to Berserk, I was finally starting to get the upper hand, and Cryx troops were getting pretty thin on the ground.  However, I wasn't as well in the battle against the clock.  I'd run myself down to about 8 minutes doing all that damage, and I'd have to be super fast about taking my next turns.


Turn 4, Cryx

A McThrall and a Bane burned up, but another Bane Toughed, and the Nightwretch's fire went out.  The Bane Knights took some Vengeance moves and attacks against the Nihilators, and killed one.

Asphyxious allocated one Focus to the Nightwretch, and kept the other 13 (thanks to all the Souls I'd given him on my turn) for himself.

Asphyxious activated early, cast Carnage, then cast Scything Touch on the Bane Knights, then charged the Void Spirit.  He killed the Void Spirit and Despoiler, then cast Bone Shaker at my objective, hurting it a little more.

The Pistol Wraith also shot up my Objective, taking it down to its last 3 boxes.

The Left Necrosurgeon brought back 3 Brown Mechanithralls, while the Right Necrosurgeon ran over to the left side of the table.  The Brown McThralls charged the Cetrati, and mostly bounced off.  The Bane Knights advanced to get more models into melee (some were blocked off by the McThralls), and killed just one Cetratus despite Scything Touch.

Two Bane Thralls charged into the Incendiarii, while 2 more charged the Archidon.  One hit an Incendiarius, but failed to kill by a point, and the ones charging the Archidon took out about half its health and its Spirit.  The Deathripper also charged an Incendiarius, and dealt some damage.

Saxon shot a Cetratus, but predictably did no damage.

I forgot to take pictures this round, but Jamie hadn't done as much damage as he needed to.  He'd tied down the Incendiarii, but I still had the Cetrati, and one remaining Nihilator holding the unit down.  I could wipe out most of the remaining Cryx on my next turn, but I'd have to be lightning quick about it.


Turn 4, Skorne

Mordikaar leached in his Fury, and upkept Hollow.

Mordikaar went first, and Revived some Nihilators to finish off the left flank.  The Incendiarii on the right managed to kill one Bane Thrall, and put a little damage on the Nightwretch.  The Paingivers advanced, one healing the Archidon's Spirit and two others trying vainly to kill the other Bane Thrall engaging the Incendiarii.  The Archidon killed the two Bane Thralls engaging it, reducing them to the last two.

The Tyrant Commander gave the Cetrati Press Forward.

The Nihilators killed a bunch of Mechanithralls and Bane Knights.  What they couldn't finish off, the Cetrati mostly did, pairing up into Shieldwall teams to kill the last McThralls, a Necrosurgeon, Vociferon, and all but two of the remaining Bane Knights.  The Krea walked up, and popped her Aura again.

Well, I'd done  the work I needed to.  The Cryx army was reduced to a couple scraps, a mostly functioning Deathripper, and Asphyxious himself.  Unfortunately, despite the fastest patter I could keep up, doing all that had left me with just 40 seconds or so on the clock.


Turn 5, Cryx

Jamie didn't do much.

Asphyxious held onto his focus, then activated early, and killed my objective with Bone Shaker, and moved into Jamie's zone.

The Bane Thrall Standard charged my Archidon (but missed), while the other Bane missed my Incendiarius.  The Bane Knights ran to stop the Archidon from contesting Jamie's zone.

The Pistol Wraith shot the Nihilator leader, but it toughed.  Saxon moved into my zone.

That was it.

Jamie had taken his turn very fast, and had about 1:40 left to my 0:40.  He'd done the right thing going after the scenario too.  If we trading do-nothing turns, he'd keep scoring, and win.  I had very little time left, but I was determined to make it count.


Turn 5, Skorne

I got about 4 activations in before my clock ran out.  I didn't even have much of a plan, though I should have Ghost Walked the Archidon and tried to roll out an assassination run as fast as possible, but I just wasn't thinking fast enough.

The clock didn't photograph well apparently, but it says that I lost.

Victory to Cryx!


Post-Game Thoughts

Fun times!  Mordikaar is a very cool Warlock, and I feel I played him pretty well.  I knew I'd be defending from turn one because Satyxis can do that to people, but I set myself up pretty well for it, contesting my zone with the solid stuff, and keeping Jamie too occupied to go after his zone until late in the game.  I also did well keeping the Nihilator leader tucked away behind my objective where he could stay alive and keep Nihilators popping back into the unit until I chopped through Jamie's massive glop of infantry.  Revive is such a brutal spell, and having a unit of Berserkers like Nihilators really showed off its value against a Cryx Horde.  I do need to go faster, and there were definitely times in the early game where I was like "how does mordikaar what do???"  But I think with experience I'll be able to shave a lot off of that.

The list worked really well, but then, it's designed to potentially take on Cryx.  The Incendiarii did an amazing amount of work on the right side of the table, and the Archidon and Despoiler provided good support.  The Cetrati also killed a bunch of models, and Vorkesh's Cleave came into play several times, which was nice.  The Nihilators stole the show, but then, there were about 17 of them on the whole this game.

Jamie was also pretty new to his 3Gaspy list, but played a solid game regardless.  He hit me really hard turn 2, and kept me on my half of the table from then on.  He forced some very hard decisions that ate up a lot of my time.  I think if he'd pushed for the scenario earlier on, it would have forced me to move forward, and abandon objective (which was keeping my Nihilators in the game).  I probably would have had to throw the Archidon into the Banes to hold him off.  He said after the game that he should have focused on wiping out the Nihilators, and that is absolutely true.  Mordikaar's key spell is Revive, and anything you can do to stop a unit from Reviving is something you should do.

Jamie's list was a monster slog to fight.  It jams early with the Satyxis, and the models just keep coming.  It's an infantry skew that has a couple of really strong counters, but will absolutely swamp a lot of all comers lists too.

I am a little sad that I didn't pick Makeda 3 against this list, because it would have made for the most epic Feat turn imaginable, with Makeda and Molik both coasting around on a sea of corpses.  Of course, Gaspy would have had a berjillion Focus the next turn if he'd lived, but that would have been pretty freakin epic too.

I'm also sad that losing this game means I'm out of the league now, but it has been a blast.  I played against a lot of awesome opponents, and had tons of fun with some of my favorite Skorne Warlocks, and Mordikaar, who looks like he might be up there with them pretty soon.

There are more events coming up, and I'll try to make them if I can (and write reports if I do!)

As always, thanks for reading!