Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Absylonia 2, at 50pts

I went to Tower again last week, and got a game in, so here's the report.  No pictures this time, since my phone was running low on power.  I decided to play one of the modifications on my Makeda 3 list I talked about in this post.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

I've been interested in trying this out ever since DrillbossD mentioned that it was his standard list.  I replaced the Cyclops Savage that I normally run with Orin Midwinter and a Tyrant Commander.  And since I'm trying out variations on my usual Makeda 3 list, I thought I'd start with this one.  The Savage is a jack of all trades utility piece, and it always has something to do.  The Tyrant Commander and Orin are more specialized support pieces, but they give Makeda a little more offensive and defensive flexiblity, and Orin also helps tremendously against Butcher 3, who is usually very strong against Skorne, and Makeda 3 in particular.


My opponent, Sam, played a flexible list under Absylonia 2.

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight (*5pts)
*Carnivean (11pts)
*Ravagore (10pts)
*Angelius (9pts)
*Seraph (8pts)
*Nephilim Protector (5pts)
*Shredder (2pts)
Succubus (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)

I've never played against Absylonia 2 before, but the lists I've seen online are usually heavy melee specialists, while this is a more flexible combined-arms list.  The shooting here is nothing to sneeze at.  There isn't the Lylyth 2 level of firepower to take out a heavy in one round, but this list can definitely thin out its opposition at range.  The melee power is mostly provided by Absylonia through her Feat and Conferred Rage, which makes the combined arms beasts impressive in melee.  She also helps fix Legion's glass cannon problem a little with Fortify.  Overall, the list seems strong and cagey, and the ranged presence gives it some depth in assassination and scenario that pure melee lists wouldn't have.



Scenario and Deployment

We decided to play an SR2015 scenario, and rolled up Two Fronts.  There are two vertical rectangular 12x6 inch zones placed 8" apart from each other, 16" into the table from each player's table edge, and 14" into the table from the side edges.  Each zone belongs to the player closer to it, and each has an objective in the middle.  Dominating the friendly zone, controlling the enemy zone, or destroying the enemy objective (which contests the enemy zone) is worth 1 point, while dominating the enemy zone is worth two.

Additionally, we both got to choose SR 2015 objectives.  I went for the stockpile so I'd have to worry about Knockdown even less than usual, while Sam went for the Arcane Wonder.  Usually, your objective is part of your list, and you don't get to pick it for every scenario, but we forgot about that until the scenario was rolled up.

Sam won the roll-off, and decided to go first.

He deployed in a line, with the Carnivean on the left, opposite my zone, Absylonia, the Protector, and the flying beasts in the middle, and the Ravagore on the right flank outside his zone.  The Shredder deployed in the center-left, near Absylonia, and the Forsaken deployed behind the Ravagore and Carnivean on either flank.

I deployed in a standard line, with the Brutes on the flanks, and Makeda, the Krea, and the Titans in the middle.  Molik went on the right, opposite Sam's zone to do some hit and run attacks into it.  The Agonizer, Paingivers, Tyrant Commander, and Orin went behind the beasts, as did the Exalted Guardians.

Sam then Advance Deployed his Deathstalkers in front of each zone, and we were ready to go.


Turn 1, Legion

The Ravagore ran out on the right flank with plenty of range to start shooting into the middle of the table next turn.  The Angelius and Seraph flew forward significantly less than their full run distance, putting them just inside Sam's zone.  The Protector ran up behind them.  Absylonia flew to a little behind the flyers, and put Tenacity on both of them, and Fortify on the Carnivean.

The Carnivean Riled up, and ran toward my zone.  The Forsaken both advanced, and took the Fury off the Carnivean and Angelius.  The Shredder advanced, and put Tenacity on itself, while the Succubus advanced, and put Tenacity on Absylonia without getting too close and having a freakout.  The Deathstalkers advanced cautiously.

That was it for Legion turn 1.  Not a lot of action, but Sam had worked out his positioning well.  He was easily out of my threat range, and I'd have to walk into his to approach his line or start occupying zones for the scenario.


Turn 1, Skorne

The Krea used Paralytic Aura, and charged forward, then I ran the two Brutes into a central bunker formation in front of her.  There was just enough shooting on the Legion side of the table that I wanted a good spread of Paralytic Aura and Shield Guard to keep the damage to a minimum.

The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, and Trampled forward to the left of the Brutes.  The Bronzeback ran forward to just behind them.  Molik advanced, and used Fate Walker.  The Tyrant Commander used Press Forward on Makeda's unit, and ran along with the Standard Bearer.

Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction, then put 3 Fury on the Agonizer, and walked forward.  The Exalted Guardians got into Shield Guard range of the Krea to complete the bunker.  The Paingivers advanced, and managed Fury.  The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain, just in case Sam charged his heavies in this turn, and ran up near the Krea.  Orin ran cautiously up.

I was positioned pretty well, and very centrally.  Molik was ready to attack the enemy zone, and both Titans and a Brute were ready to defend my zone if necessary.  My plan was to use Molik's speed to force a confrontation in Sam's zone, then wade in with Makeda and the heavies if he committed.  I was fairly confident that I'd be able to kill the beasts Sam sent into the right zone, and start dominating it with Makeda to force an attrition fight that favored me.


Turn 2, Legion

Absylonia leached her Fury, and upkept Fortify.

Sam decided to play a cautious game.  The Carnivean wandered over to the edge of my zone, used Spiny Growth, and sprayed at the left Brute, but missed.  The Angelius and Seraph put the tips of their tails into Sam's zone, and shot at the right Brute and right Exalted Guardian, but did no damage.

The Ravagore advanced, and boosted a shot at the right Brute, but missed.  The template still hit the Brute, and set it on fire, but didn't do any damage.  It also left a Scather AoE a bit in front of Orin.

The Protector crowded in behind the Seraph and Angelius.  Absylonia flew onto the hill behind them, and gave all three of them Tenacity.  The Succubus advanced, and gave Absylonia Tenacity.  The Shredder advanced, and gave itself Tenacity.

The two Deathstalkers fired at the right Exalted Guardian, and did 2 damage thanks to Sniper.  The Forsaken both advanced, and Consumed Fury on the Seraph and the Carnivean.

Sam had decided to force me to commit first.  His shooting hadn't done a lot, but he still had a significant advantage in threat range on me, and I wouldn't be able to significantly damage any of his beasts this turn.


Turn 2, Skorne

I decided to oblige Sam by committing.  Fire stayed on the Brute, but did no damage.  Makeda leached Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.

The Krea advanced to near the center of the table, used Paralytic Aura, and shot a Spiritual Parlalysis at the Carnivean, preventing it from charging next turn, and reducing its base def to 7.  The Brutes both charged.  The left one charged the Carnivean and defended my zone, while the right one charged the Angelius, and ended up engaging it, the Seraph, and the Protector (which was on the hill).  Neither did any damage.

The Bronzeback and Gladiator both advanced to good charge positions.  The Gladiator was poised to charge the Carnivean, while the Bronzeback moved toward the middle to charge in either direction, depending on what Sam did with his heavies.

The Paingivers managed Fury on the Krea and Titans, and Enraged Molik.  Molik charged, destroyed Sam's objective, used Fate Walker, and retreated with Side Step.  The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain again, and ran to just behind the Titans and Krea.  Makeda and her unit advanced.  One Exalted Guardian moved into Sam's zone, while the other blocked charge lanes to the Bronzeback.  Makeda ended up near Sam's zone, a little to the left of the Krea, and put 3 more Fury on the Agonizer.

Orin advanced, and used Null Magic to stop Absylonia from casting Teleport.  She's very dangerous in melee, and if she can teleport out, she can help her army score kills a little like Makeda can.

Finally, Molik took his Fate Walker move to get just behind Sam's zone again.

I was in a decent position, and depending on what Sam did, I'd be ready to start scoring next turn.  Makeda, Molik and the Bronzeback all had potential charges on the Angelius in its current position, and if I could kill off both the flyers and Dominate Sam's zone, I'd be in a very good position for next turn.


Turn 3, Legion

Absylonia leached her Fury, and upkept Fortify.

She activated first, and popped her Feat to give all models in her battlegroup Reach, Flight, and +2 Str.  The she charged the right Brute.  She managed to kill it although it took almost her Fury plus the 2 Fury she grabbed off the Brute with her Stinger's Energy Siphon ability.  She spent her last 2 Fury to cast Teleport (she had been very careful about staying out of Orin's Null Magic area, and with Reach, she had room to do it), and ended the turn about where she had started it.  Since she'd killed the Brute, her beasts would get the full benefit of Conferred Rage, +2 Spd and Mat.

The Ravagore advanced, and boosted a shot at Molik, but it scattered away into nowhere.

The Seraph charged Molik Karn, who I'd thought was safe 13.5" away, and killed him.  The Nephilim Protector charged the Krea, but failed to kill her.  The Carnivean put Spiny Growth on itself, and killed the left Brute, although it needed all its attacks to do so.

The Shredder went Rabid, and killed the left Exalted Guardian in 2 attacks.  The Forsaken on the left advanced, and used Blight Bomb, but didn't catch the Agonizer, and didn't do much damage to the Beasts.  The Deathstalker on the left advanced, and did a point of damage to the Gladiator.

The Forsaken and Deathstalker on the right charged the damaged Exalted Guardian, but failed to kill her.  The Angelius charged Makeda, but had to pass over the right Exalted Guardian, and lost its Body to the free strike.  Needless to say, it didn't do much to Makeda.  It did use Repulse to push my models away from Sam's zone.

The Succubus advanced, and put Tenacity on Absylonia.

Well, losing Molik was no fun, but I'm getting used to people trying to get him early.  He really does add a lot to the list, and Fate Walker is critical for Makeda to be everywhere she needs to be.  However, I was in a good position to counterattack, and get myself well up in the attrition game.


Turn 3, Skorne

Makeda leached her Fury, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.

The Paingivers Medicated the Krea, to get her Spirit back online, and Enraged the Gladiator and Bronzeback.  The Krea went next, used Paralytic Aura, and shuffled over to be within 2" of the Angelius to debuff its Def.

Makeda went next, and advanced to within melee range of both flying heavies, and popped her Feat to either give herself a Fury or remove one from a warbeast in her battlegroup whenever a model in her battlegroup destroyed an enemy.  I made a mistake, and didn't toe her into Sam's zone like I'd wanted to, but such is life.  The Exalted Guardian killed the Forsaken, but missed the Deathstalker with her second attack.  Makeda killed both Legion heavies, no sweat, put 2 Fury on the Agonizer, and camped 3.

The Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer charged the Shredder and Forsaken respectively, and killed both.

The Bronzeback charged the Carnivean, and got it most of the way down.  Since I didn't want the Bronzeback taking any more damage from Spiny Growth, I had it stop after its initials, its Grab and Smash, and 2 bought attacks, and had the Gladiator charge the Carnivean as well to finish it off.

Orin walked up a little further, and used Null Magic again.

No points were scored, since Sam's zone was still contested by the Deathstalker.  Sam was in a really bad place though.  He had one defensive light, a ranged heavy, and Absylonia up against 2 mostly full Titans, and Makeda.  After looking at the table for a minute, he decided to concede.


Victory to the Skorne!


Thoughts

I played a good game.  I made some positioning errors that I'll try not to make in the future, but overall, I did well.  I should have figured out the full threat range on the Seraph and Angelius on Absylonia's Feat turn, and I definitely shouldn't have been so cavalier about Molik's ability to survive even one of them.  If he'd been just an inch or two further back, he would have been safe, and still been able to threaten nearly anything in Sam's zone with Rush.  I also should have toed Makeda into Sam's zone on my third turn.  If the Exalted Guardian had killed the Deathstalker (which was more likely than not even though it didn't happen), I would have scored 2 points at the end of my turn.  I was still in a pretty strong position, but that would have all but sealed it for me.  My biggest mistake was that I should have held the right Brute back just a little bit on my second turn.  If I had, Absylonia would have had to go into Orin's Null Magic aura to kill it, which Sam might not have risked.  If Absylonia hadn't killed that Brute to get Conferred Rage to its maximum potential, I would have suffered a lot less damage overall on his turn.  Otherwise, I did well.  My lane blocking with the Brutes and Exalted Guardians was good, and I used Makeda's counterattack potential to destroy everything that damaged me on Sam's 3rd turn.

I really like DrillbossD's version of the list.  Orin kept Absylonia on her toes the whole game, since she couldn't get into his Null Magic zone and then get out again.  I also forgot how powerful Press Forward is on Makeda's unit.  Molik got killed before 8" Fate Walkers became a problem for Sam, but I really liked having the flexibility of not needing to charge on turn 1, and having Pathfinder or extra threat range handy for Makeda herself.  These two may end up replacing the Savage in my standard version of the list.

Sam was on the back foot a little this game, and I think his list probably isn't what he wants to take against Makeda 3 or Skorne in general.  I ended up having a very strong defense against his ranged element, and his more fragile list wasn't suited to get into a trading match with mine.  That said, he certainly planned his approach well, and didn't rush himself on the way in.  Against a list more vulnerable to shooting, that approach would have paid off, and I would have been forced to rush the Legion beasts a little more haphazardly than I did.

I don't have enough experience playing Legion to comment much on Sam's list.  I liked the balance of shooting and melee power, and even the ordinarily meek Seraph was able to paste Molik Karn when all the buffs were lined up.  The list also has a very toolboxy selection of Animi, and a seriously huge threat range on a lot of the heavies.  It doesn't have much in the way of sticking power, but that's a problem for Legion as a faction, I think, and not a drawback of this particular list.

As always, thanks for reading!