Tuesday, July 21, 2015

4+ Tournament 06/27

I went to a tournament on June 27th, and here's how it went.



I did take some pictures in the first two games, but my phone has since been giving me some trouble.  If I get them to work, I'll add them later.  As a result of the fruitless trying (along with some other stuff) the reports are late.

I ran my latest tweak of the Brute Squad:

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

I swapped the Tyrant Commander and Orin Midwinter, which I'd been running, for a Basilisk Drake and a couple more Paingivers in the unit.  I'd run the list just once before the tournament, but my philosophy on tournaments is still that they're a great way to throw a new list into gauntlet and try it out against several opponents.  I really like the Drake's potential with Makeda 3.  It can spray into Makeda's combat to benefit from Vortex of Destruction, and it can team up with Makeda and the Krea to turn the Krea into a stealth heavy capable of wrecking most of the stuff out there.  All in all, I was very excited to try it out.

My second list was a new Zaal list, since Clay convinced me to play Zaal.

Supreme Aptimus Zaal and Kovass (*5pts)
*Despoiler (10pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

The idea behind this list is: Surprise! Ghosts!  Zaal already has the Kovass popping out of Ancestral Guardians and causing mayhem.  It seems great to also have Void Spirits popping out of the Despoiler to do the same thing.  Last Standed Void Spirits are a huge threat to most 'casters, and can do a serious number on a lot of living Warbeasts as well.  Sure it's only one attack, but it's 5 damage dice against living targets, with 3-4 dice on the attack.  Besides which, Despoiler is a fast-ish beast with Reach to do damage itself, and can give Zaal a little more Fury efficiency with Black Arts.  The Cyclops pair, Extoller, and Willbreaker are there for some control at range, and the rest of the list is pretty standard Zaal attrition for me: Immortals and Nihilators for defense, and multiple AG's to help chew through the attrition game and spawn the Kovass.

Round 1 vs Menoth

I was up against Lust, who comes to tournaments here pretty regularly, and he was playing Menoth, with Severius 2 and Kreoss 3.  I went with Makeda 3 to see how she played into Menoth.  Lust dropped Kreoss for the better hitting power against my brick.  I've played a game against Lust once before, when he was playing Trollbloods.

Lust's List:

Intercessor Kreoss (*5pts)
*The Avatar of Menoth (12pts)
*Reckoner (8pts)
*Reckoner (8pts)
Knight Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Knight Exemplar Vengers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
3 Wracks (1pt)

Turn 1

Lust mostly ran forward with everything.  Kreoss blew up a Wrack for Focus, and cast Sacred Ward on the Vengers and Ignite on the Errants.  The 'jacks and cavalry stuck to the near edge of his zone, while the Errants ran forward aggressively behind the cover of the big rock in the middle.

I responded by swinging my Brutes out to the sides, one toed into either zone, and massing the bulk of my list in the middle under the Krea's aura, and spreading the Exalted Guardians out to Shield Guard for Makeda and the Heavies.  Makeda also put 3 Fury on the Agonizer, and camped 1.

My plan was to soak a charge up with my Brutes, and then Feat to wipe out the Errants on my next turn before turning my attention to trading heavies.


Turn 2

Kreoss upkept both his spells, and allocated 2 Focus to each Reckoner.  The Avatar got some amount of Focus, but was too far from the action to use most of it.

The Choir put Battle on the Menite 'jacks.  The Reckoners advanced, and shot the Brutes, which did a bit of damage, and more importantly debuffed them with Flare.  Five Errants charged the Brute on the right zone, and killed it, while the rest of them ran around the rock to commit to the right side of the table.  Three of the Vengers charged the left Brute, and killed it too, while the other two Vengers looked on from the far side of the left zone.

The Avatar ran.  Kreoss fidgeted about behind the zones because "Molik is in my head," which was probably the right call.


Losing my Brutes wasn't good, but that is what they're there for.  Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction.  I knew I'd probably Feat this turn to clear out Matt's first wave.  The Drake went first, moved a bit, and sprayed down 3 Errants (but missed a 4th).

Makeda's unit went next.  She and one Exalted Guardian effortlessly killed the 3 Venger's who'd done in the left Brute, while the other Exalted Guardian killed 2 more Errants, then she cast Fate Walker.  The Bronzeback killed another couple of Errants, and the Gladiator Rushed Molik, and Trampled into the left zone to help hold it.

Molik walked toward the remaining Errants, but couldn't reach them, so he cast Fate Walker.  The Krea advanced, and used Paralytic Aura again.  The Agonizer used Spiritual Affliction, and blocked allocation to the right Reckoner.  The Molik and Makeda tood their fate Walks to get back out of harm's way.


Turn 3

Kreoss upkept Ignite, but dropped Sacred Ward, and allocated 3 Focus to the left Reckoner.  The Avatar got 3 Focus.  The Choir sang Battle, and we were off.  The Reckoner on the right shot the Bronzeback for moderate damage, then the Errants charged in, killed the Agonzier, and did some more damage to the Bronzeback, and the Avatar finished the job.

Kreoss blew up another Wrack, ran as far away from Molik as possible.  The book advanced, and said "no spells" again, which was really rough on Makeda.

The 2 remaining Vengers and the left Reckoner charged and killed the Gladiator.  Lust was up on attrition, and now had 2 scenario points, which was very bad news for me, but I was still in the fight, if only by a bit.

Makeda continued to upkeep Vortex.  The Drake continued to stare down the Errants, and killed 3 more.  She gave her unit a charge order, and ran to put the Reckoner in VoD range.  Her right Exalted Guardian charged and killed 2 more Errants.  The Krea moved in to debuff the Reckoner with Paralytic Aura while protecting Makeda a bit.  The Paingivers whipped away most of my Fury, and Enraged Molik.

Molik Pasted the left Reckoner and both Vengers with ease, but used most of his Fury to do so.  I scored 2 points for dominating the left zone.


Turn 4

Kreoss finally dropped Ignite, since there were only 3 Errants left, and allocated 1 Focus to the remaining Reckoner.  The Reckoner killed 2 Pingivers with a combination of Ancillary Attack and its regular attack.   The Errants charged the Paingivers, and with a combination of melee attacks and Quick Work, finished off the unit.  The Avatar cleared out the Drake and Exalted Guardian contesting the zone no problem.

The book ran into the left zone, and a single Chorist joined it at the very edge.

Kreoss himself did a Rideby, and boosted a Force Hammer at Molik, but missed.  He ended up dominating the right zone for 2 more points to Menoth.

Only epic luck could save me, but I was more than game to hope for it.  Makeda and her remaining Exalted Guardian killed the Book and lone contesting Chorist.  Did I hit the Testament of Menoth with 5 boosted Pow 17 swings?  Yes.  I did.  The Krea ran to the right zone, and Molik advanced, finished off the Errants, and Fate Walked into the right zone.

I scored 2 more points.  If Lust's luck was beyond terrible, and he failed to kill Molik and the Krea, I'd win.  If he killed them both and cleared the right zone, I'd lose.


Turn 5

He killed them both, ran some model or other to contest the left zone, and won.


Thoughts

I lost this game when I exposed both my Titans on turn 3.  That was just sloppy play, and I shouldn't have done it.  Contesting the zones with the Basilisks would have been the smarter play, then I could have used the Titans and Molik to keep the trading alive against the Menite heavies.  I also made some positioning and activation order mistakes, but those weren't as significant.  Otherwise, I had the potential to play a good game against this list, although I might have been better off throwing Zaal into the match.


Round 2 vs Legion

I went in against Sam, who I've also played just once before.  He was bringing Vayl 2 Machinations of Shadow and Saeryn.  I built the Zaal list to potentially handle Saeryn, so I dropped Zaal.  Sure enough, Sam dropped Saeryn.

Sam's list

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (*5pts)
*Scythean (9pts)
*Scythean (9pts)
*Angelius (9pts)
*Angelius (9pts)
*Raek (5pts)
*Shredder (2pts)
*Harrier (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt)
The Forsaken (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
2 Spell Martyrs (1pt)

Turn 1

The Immortals and Nihilators ran forward in a cloud to screen the AG's and beasts behind them.  Zaal put a Soul on each AG, Last Stand on one AG, Inviolable Resolve on Hakaar, and Awakened Spirit on the Raider.

Sam ran the Legion forward, except the Deathstalkers, who picked off 4 Immortals.

I was not wild about the Deathstalkers, who would likely kill off the Immortals before I got the chance to use them much.  Otherwise, things were looking alright.

Turn 2

I advnaced a little more, and got into a defensive position.  I was trying to force Saeryn to Feat now for defense, where I could hopefully weather her two turns of beating on me.  The Shaman and Raider did a bit of shooting, but didn't accomplish much.  Zaal passed Soul Tokens around again.

Sam had the Raek advance, Bound up next to the Soulward, and kill her.  The left Scythean killed a couple of Nihilators, and the right Scythean killed an Immortal.

The left Angelius barely failed a charge across my objective to one of my AG's, and had to sit on the other side of the objective.  The right Angelius killed an Immortal, and Overtook into Hakaar, but barely scratched his Arm 23.  The Deathstalkers finished off the Immortals, and started in on the Paingivers.  Yikes.

Turn 3

I couldn't make melee attacks, so I was limited to ranged attacks, magic, and spells.  The Shaman and Raider both shot the Harrier (though the Shaman had to take a Free Strike from the Raek to do so), but failed to kill it.

Zaal and Marketh did a little damage to the left Scythean with Sunder Spirit, and took away Slaughterhouse, which would save the Nihilators from RFP.  Hakaar managed to get far enough to kill one of the Deathstalkers, but in my singlemindedness, I'd put him way out on a flank where his contributions to the battle would be limited.

On Sam's turn, the Harrier advanced and knocked a Nihilator down, then Saeryn killed a couple more with Blight Shroud, and put Breath Stealer on them.  The Forsaken on the left killed one more with Blight Bomb.

The Right Scythean killed the Raider, and took Despoiler down to 1 box.  The right Angelius killed the Shaman.  The left Angelius tried to reach Despoiler to finish it off by Overtaking through some Nihilators, but was just out of reach.  It killed the non-Last Standed AG.

The Shredder went Rabid, and attacked my Last Standed AG.  I dutifully took my Defensive Strike, did a bunch of damage to the Shredder, and triggered Last Stand.  The Swamp Gobbers positioned themselves right between Saeryn and the Last Standed AG, and made a 5" cloud to completely block LoS to the Legion 'caster.

At the end of the turn, the situation was looking pretty bleak from an attrition standpoint.  However, I had a plan to kill Saeryn, and the Kovass was on the table to do it.  Saeryn was camping 3, but all her beasts were full on Fury except the Shredder, Harrier, and Raek.  If I could take those out, I'd probably be able to kill her.

Turn 4

Hakaar mooched around the far side of the table.  Zaal advanced, Feated, put Last Stand on the Kovass, healed the Despoiler for 2, and camped 3 in the vain hope that if everything went wrong he had a chance to live.

The Despoiler killed the Raek and the right Scythean with a generous application of Zaal's Ancestral Rage tokens.  The three surviving Nihilators received a run/charge order.  Two attacked the left Angelius and Harrier, and damaged the Harrier a bit.  The last one did an end run around the left Scythean, putting itself behind the Gobber cloud, and hopefully close enough to Saeryn for the Kovass to reach her after charging it.

Marketh advanced, and finished off the Shredder.

The Kovass charged the Nihilator near Saeryn, and managed to get to melee with her.  Two attacks later, Saeryn was dead.


Thoughts

That game ended up being uncomfortably close.  Sam ran a good game with Saeryn.  He went after my shooters, tied them up, and capitalized on his Feat to wipe out nearly all my infantry.  Saeryn was just a little too close to the action at the end, and if she'd been further away, I probably wouldn't have been able to come back.  I made a bunch of mistakes, which figures given this is the first time I've played this list.  I really should have been focusing my shots on the Scytheans and/or Angelii, and screened the ranged beasts better with infantry to prevent the Raek from tying them up and killing the Extoller like that.  I need more practice in general with shooty Zaal.


Round 3 vs. Khador

My opponent was playing Butcher 3 and Zerkova's new Tier list.  I decided to drop Zaal in case of Butcher.  My opponent went with Zerkova.

His list was:

Koldun Kommander Zerkova (*6pts)
*Decimator (8pts)
*Vanguard (4pts)
*Vanguard (4pts)
Greylord Outriders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Greylord Outriders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Underboss (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Underboss (Free - Tier Benefit)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Saxon Orrick (2pts)

Turn 1

Zerkova allocated one Focus to each 'jack.  The Outriders ran way up the flanks, and the Kayazy mirrored them, but closer to the center.  The two Vanguards ran up on either side of the zone, and the Decimator ran into the zone.  Zerkova walked up, and cast Banishing Ward on the right unit of Kayazy, and Watcher on the Decimator.

I ran the Nihilators and Immortals forward.  Zaal put Awakened Spirit on the Raider, gave all AG's a Soul Token, and put Inviolable Resolve on the Immortals.  The Raider Sniped itself, and killed an Outrider from the left unit, then the Shaman did the same.  The other three were engaged by Nihilators.  Despoiler, Hakaar, and the other AG's shuffled up, then Marketh advanced, and put Last Stand on one of them.


Turn 2

Zerkova upkept Banishing Ward, but dropped Watcher, because she was going to be far from the action.  She allocated one to each Vanguard.  The right Outriders sprayed the Immortals something good, and killed 5.  They also killed Hakaar with some great damage spikes.  The Vanguard on the right also killed an Immortal, and set the battle line just in front of the center zone.  If I wanted to contest, I'd need to kill it somehow.

The surviving Outriders on the left sprayed the Nihilators with distinctly less success, killing a few.  Both units of Kayazy continued to catch up to the Outriders.  The left unit got a few charges on Nihilators, and triggered a Defensive Strike from the Last Standed AG, which killed one.  The left Vanguard charged that AG, but just scratched it up a bit.  Gorman walked forward, and put a Cloud out in front of Zerkova.

Zaal upkept all his spells except Last Stand.  He Feated, and gave all the AG's another Soul.  The Shaman and Raider doubled down by picking off an Outrider a piece from the right unit.  The Immortals charged in, and accounted for two more.  The Nihilators wiped out the left Outriders.  Despoiler chewed on the Vanguard a bit, but he really is lackluster without buffs.

The Kovass charged the center-right Kayazy, and killed 4 with a Thresher, then beat on the Decimator for significant damage, but didn't kill it or take out any systems.  The remaining AG attack the Vanguard on the right, and did significant damage, taking out the movement and shield.


Turn 3

Zerkova dropped Banishing Ward, and allocated 3 Focus to the Decimator.  The left Kayazy charged into the Nihilators, and killed a bunch of them.  The right Kayazy charged the surviving Immortals and the Kovass.  They killed the Kovass, and killed all but the one Immortal that needed to die - the one engaging the last Outrider.  Gorman walked over, and threw an Acid bomb at that Immortal, killing the 2 Kayazy engaging it, but just giving it corrosion.

The Decimator charged my objective and wrecked it with ease.  Zerkova advanced, popped her Feat to make my models lose initial ranged attacks (though models able to buy attacks could still do so), be unable to charge, and be unable to make special actions.  She also boosted a Razor Wind at the last Immortal, but missed. The Outrider tried to disengage to get a spray on the Paingivers, but died to a free strike.

The right Vanguard duffed up Despoiler a bit, while the left one duffed up the last AG.  Zerkova scored 3 points for killing my objective and dominating the zone.


I knew it was pretty much do or die, as the attrition game was not looking good.  The last of the Immortals died to corrosion.  Despoiler upkept Awakened Spirit for free.  The Shaman tried to do some melee damage to the Decimator, without much success.  The Raider moved, Sniped itself, and put a little damage on Zerkova.

The Paingivers healed the Despoiler, who advanced around the Vanguard, and killed a Kayazy in front of Zerkova, spawning a Void Spirit.

Zaal advanced, put Last Stand on the Void Spirit, put Far Strike on himself, bought an Annihilating Gaze attack, and boosted the attack and damage rolls, leaving Zerkova on 6 or so boxes.  The Void Spirit walked up and finished the job.


Thoughts

That was a very close game, but the ability to spawn Incorporeal models, and have them go straight for the 'caster saved me yet again.  If I hadn't killed Zerkova when I did, she'd have been able to walk up and clear the zone with Force Blast for the win.  One of Zaal's strengths is the ability to have any model be a potential assassin, and the threat range on Void Spirits with Despoiler definitely plays to that strength.


Round 4 vs. Cygnar

I was up against Brandon, a regular at Tower.  He was packing eCaine and Nemo 3.  Makeda was capable of living through an eCaine assassination run.  Zaal... less so, so I went with Makeda.  Brandon went with Nemo.

Artificer General Nemo (*4pts)
*Storm Chaser Adept Caitlin Finch
*Stormwall (19pts)
*Dynamo (10pts)
Sword Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Officer and Standard (2pts)
Stormblades (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (3pts)
The Black 13th (4pts)
Arlan Strangeways (2pts)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1pt)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1pt)
Reinholt, Gobber Speculator (1pt)


Turn 1

Nemo allocated 1, which is to say 2, Focus to both the Stormwall and Dynamo.  Everything pretty much ran.  Nemo put up Failsafe on Dynamo, and the Junior Warcaster put Arcane Shield on the Stormwall.

I ran forward in bunker formation, with the Brutes and Exalted Guardians clustered around the Krea for defense, and everyone else clustered around them for Shield Guards.  The Krea did use Paralytic Aura and charge, and Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction and put 3 Fury on the Agonizer (who immediately drew Brandon's wrathful gaze).

Turn 2

Nemo and the Junior upkept their defensive buffs, and Nemo allocated 2 Focus to the Stormwall, and 3 to Dynamo.  The Cygnar infantry continued to run forward to screen the 'jacks.  The Black 13th ran around the side of a house on the left of the battlefield.  Nemo, the Stormwall, and Dynamo rained electricity and cannon balls on my formation, but didn't inflict much damage thanks to the amount I was able to spread it around.  The Stormwall also dropped a pod and two Covering Fire templates right in front of me.

My turn, Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction.  The Drake activated first, and sprayed a Stormblade and Dynamo, doing minor damage to Dynamo and killing the Stormblade.  The Bronzeback put Train Wreck on Molik, and ambled into my zone to hold it down.  The Paingivers Conditioned the Bronzeback and the Drake, and Enraged the right Brute and Molik.

The right Brute destroyed Brandon's objective.  Makeda charged in, Feated, cleared out a little infantry, and cast Fate Walker.  Molik killed a bunch of infantry, and took a few swings at Dynamo, but didn't take the 'jack down.  The left Brute advanced, and killed another Sword Knight.  The Krea advanced, and used Paralytic Aura for defense.  The Gladiator ran into position to charge the Stormwall if it stayed in Brandon's zone next turn, and between Vortex of Destruction and Enrage, I was pretty sure I could kill it off.  The Agonizer used Spiritual Affliction, and ran to block allocation to the Stormwall next turn.

Turn 3

Brandon informed me that he has no choice but to try to kill Makeda.  Nemo allocated 2 (which became 3) to Dynamo.  Nemo advanced, and boosted a Force Hammer at the Krea, which flew across Makeda, knocking them both down, and Feated.  He, the Stormwall, the Stormcallers, and Dynamo all blasted Makeda with lightning, and she finally died.

Thoughts

Kabam!  That's what I get for not remembering N3mo's spell list, and treating Makeda like she's immune to guns.  The lightning assassination is a very real threat.  Dynamo is also really powerful.  I even had an opportunity to get Molik into Nemo on turn 2, but I completely checked out mentally when I was going through Molik's activation.


Overall Thoughts

As always, I had a lot of fun with this tournament.  I think I need more practice with Brute Squad + Drake.  I made some foolish mistakes in my first game with her, and really let her down in my second game.  I think Despoiler with Zaal turned out pretty well, although I think I'd like the list more with some more grinding power.  I think it would be a good place for Swamp Shamblers to join the fun, so I'll be trying that out soon.  Now I just need to fuss the support options into place, and I'll be good.  Here's the list with Zaamblers:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Despoiler (10pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Gatorman Bokor and Swamp Shamblers (6pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Paingiver Task Master (2pts)

I don't love losing Marketh, but I'll see how the list plays without him, since otherwise this configuration has everything I think I want.

Makeda 3 worked out pretty well, but I didn't play her very well.  I'm very excited for the prospect of the Aradi, and I'll give them a working over with her when they come out next month.

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