So I said I had a couple of games on the docket. Here's one of them, which I played about a week or two ago. My opponent was Sean, who I dodged in the NFL League, when he was playing Gators. He also plays Khador, and brought a cool-looking list he called "Karchevolution:"
Karchev the Terrible (*5pts)
*Behemoth (13pts)
*Black Ivan (10pts)
Kovnik Andrei Malakov (3pts)
*Beast 09 (11pts)
Raluk Moorclaw, the Ironmonger (2pts)
*Mule (8pts)
*Vanguard (5pts)
Thor Steinhammer (2pts)
Gobber Tinker (1pt)
See? Cool. There's a pretty impressive amount of firepower in the list between the Mule, Black Ivan, and Behemoth, and of course the list tears through armor like nobody's business. Karchev can focus on his two 'jacks while Malakov and Raluk focus on theirs. The list does suffer from a low model count, which can hurt it in scenarios, and against lists that can trade low-cost models for heavies easily. However, it can perform a grade-A Karchev power slide, and sling 3 heavies 23" or so to get an alpha strike.
My list is the Makeda 3 list I'm practicing with:
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)
The list is mainly an attrition and scenario list. The plan is to screen the heavies and/or jam the opponent with the Brutes. They're tough enough to require serious commitment to wreck, and the rest of the army capitalizes by killing whatever does them in. Meanwhile, Makeda and Molik can start clearing zones and forcing the game to close range over the scenario.
Deployment
We didn't play a scenario, because Sean didn't have much time before he had to leave. He won the roll-off, and picked a table side with a low wall to stash Karchev behind on turn 1.
I deployed in a line more or less in the middle of the table, with Karn on my right, and the Gladiator and Bronzeback duo on my left. Makeda and the lights went toward the middle, and the Agonizer, Paingivers, and Exalted Guardians brought up the rear.
Sean countered by putting Karchev and his tow formation of Behemoth, Black Ivan, and the Mule on my right flank, and put Malakov and Beast opposite my middle. Raluk, Thor, and the Tinker went with Malakov behind Beast, and the Vanguard held down Sean's left flank.
Turn 1, Skorne
This was a pretty standard turn 1 for me. The Krea got her Paralytic Aura up, and charged forward. The Brutes ran to just within the Aura, in front of the Krea, and on a hill. The Savage joined them on the hill. The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, and Trampled up. The Bronzeback ran up on the left. Molik walked forward on the right, and used Fate Walker.
The Paingivers moved up to manage Fury, but I forgot to move the unit leader before I started throwing Condition around (whoops!). Thankfully, the other three were all still in Cmd, and wiped Fury off of the Gladiator, the Krea, and Molik.
Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction on herself, and dumped 3 Fury onto the Agonizer. There was enough boostable shooting in that list to make me want to camp a point turn 1, even with all my defensive tech. She charged up, and the Guardians ran into formation around the Krea.
The Agonizer finished up by running.
Sigh. One of these days, I'll get everything about my opening turn right. Still, the situation was salvageable, and at least I wouldn't be taking any threshold checks.
Turn 1, Khador
Nobody Allocated any Focus.
Karchev cast Tow, used his turbine for Speed, and Trampled forward to just behind that low wall, his 3 'jacks behind him. Thor ran, the better to Tune up next turn. Malakov cast Redline on Beast 09, and advanced. Beast ran. TheVanguard and Raluk ran.
The 3 ranged 'jacks behind Karchev aimed, and dropped Bombard shots on my Beasts, but didn't do any damage.
A quick turn. Karchev had put himself in a good position to take the fight to me. The threat range on his 'jacks is no joke. I just had to decide whether I wanted to set up to take a charge, or try to hold him in place.
Turn 2, Skorne
I decided to try to stall Karchev.
Makeda leached her Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The Brutes both ran, engaging the Khadoran front line of Karchev and Behemoth. The Agonizer ran up, trying to catch the Khadorans in its Spiritual Affliction Aura, but some bad positioning meant it wouldn't reach them this turn.
The Krea used Paralytic Aura again, and advanced, and the Savage advanced beside her.
The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback again, and advanced. The Bronzeback ran up the left flank, putting itself in charge range of anything which engaged the left Brute this turn. Molik and Makeda both ran to screen themselves just behind the Bronzeback, with most of my army between them and Karchev. Makeda also topped off the Agonizer with 3 more Fury, leaving herself with 3.
The Paingivers ran to make up for my earlier mistake. Fortunately, I'd worked out Fury management well enough that I wouldn't need them this turn.
Turn 2, Khador
Malakov upkept Redline, and allocated 3 to Beast 09. Karchev allocated 3 to Behemoth's subcortex, and allocated 2 to Ivan.
Beast went first, advanced, and Threshered, hitting both my Cyclops Brutes. Sean really wanted to clear the right one off Karchev, so Karchev would be free to scamper around the board, and have his 'jacks shoot while being towed. However, thanks to Intuition forcing Beast to reroll one Crit Freeze into a regular hit, and another into a miss, the right Brute lived.
Karchev tried to finish the job, but he had crappy luck. After his initial and one bought attack, the Brute was still up at 3 boxes. He used his turbine for extra Focus, and ended up camping one.
The Vanguard tried to slam the left Brute into the right Brute, but missed its slam attack. Thor tuned up the Mule to boost damage rolls. The Mule aimed, and took a shot at the Cyclops Savage, and scored a Critical Devastation, which threw the Savage 1 inch toward the Krea, and took out its Spirit. Behemoth and Black Ivan blasted the Agonizer, killed it, and did some damage to the Krea.
Well, the dust had settled, and the Brutes had proved quite resilient. Karchev was still stuck behind his wall, and camping at Arm 20. Molik could get to him, without question. It was just a matter of whether he could finish the job.
Turn 3, Skorne
I tried for the assassination. Makeda leached her Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction. The right Brute passed its Threshold check, and the left Brute Frenzied on the Vanguard, but didn't do much damage.
The Brute in front of Karchev walked out of the way, and died to a free strike. The Savage forfeited its action to stand, and also walked out of the way.
The Krea used Paralytic Aura, and charged Karchev. She couldn't reach him across the wall, but she did catch him in the Aura's -2 Def to enemy models within 2" of her. The Gladiator Rushed Molik, then the Paingivers, Conditioned its Fury away, and Enraged Molik and the Bronzeback.
The Bronzeback charged out of Makeda's Way, and scrapped the Vanguard, and Makeda ran straight at Karchev, catching him in her Vortex of Destruction. The Exalted Guardians stayed put. All the bodyguarding in the world wouldn't save Makeda if this went sour.
Now time for Molik to do his thing. He easily made the distance, and between needing 5's to hit, and having all his damage rolls boosted, he finished the job.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
I played a pretty decent game, apart from that major mistake on turn 1. I definitely judged Karchev's threat range well, and kept my hard hitters out of harm's way by screening them with my Brutes. The list was fun and fast as always, and the Brutes are really earning their keep. They were an amazing screen, and definitely set up the winning move for me.
The matchup was a really interesting one. Both Karchev and Makeda 3 have potential turns of massive damage, and there was a bit of chicken going on to see who would commit first.
Sean played a mostly solid game, although as he said afterward, he should have moved Karchev's tow jacks out of the way, and eaten a free strike from the Brute to get Karchev to safety. He easily could have evaded Molik, and taken his three 'jacks with him given good positioning. I'm not sure what would have happened if Beast had killed that Brute. Karchev probably would have backed off, and let the 'jacks shoot. Maybe he would have sent them in for melee attacks, even though Behemoth's Focus was all in its subcortex.
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