... and I proxied him in a game within 2 days of the rules coming out (gotta get some use out of the Mountain King...).
Tentative Conclusion: GOOD. Not great, but well and truly Good.
Battle Report after the jump.
Ben's List: Fiona the Black, Highborn Covenant, 50pts
Fiona the Black (+6)
- Rocinante (9pts)
Savio Montero Acosta (3pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Ragman (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Anastasia di Bray (2pts)
Alesia Ciannor & the Risen (5pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts, 10pts)
Steelhead Heavy Cavalry (Leader and 4 Grunts, 10pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts, 6pts)
Tactical Arcanist Corps (Leader and 2 Grunts, 4pts)
Ben wanted to try out Acosta and Anastasia, and is still refining his Fiona list.
My List: Captain Gunnbjorn, Trollbloods, 50pts
Captain Gunnbjorn (+5)
- Glacier King (18pts)
- Troll Impaler (5pts)
- Runebearer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Whelps (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (Leader and 3 Grunts, 3pts)
- Stone Scribe Elder (1pt)
Trollkin Highwaymen (Leader and 9 Grunts, 8pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts, 8pts)
With 2 possible sources of Concealment, 5 fully boosted movement-shenanigan/board control shots (four at POW 14/RNG 16 and the Impaler's POW 13/RNG 12, only 2 of which rely on critical hits while we're at it), 20 POW 10 RNG 12 (with Snipe) CRA-able shots, with 2 wall templates, a Cover-granting feat, and a unit of warders to hide behind, this list looks to pack some serious punch.
Deployment:
Ben won the roll (darn Anastasia...) and after I pre-deployed the Glacier King, deployed in a tight line: from left to right, Steelhead Cavalry (he used my Longriders, Horthol, and a spare base, since his are still on the painting/assembly table), Steelhead Halbardiers, Alexia and the Risen, TACs, Fiona (cleverly disguised/proxied as Captain Damiano), and the Nyss Hunters. For Advance Deployment, we've got eEiryss, Acosta (proxied by Gastone Crosse), Rhupert, Ragman, and Anastasia (proxied by a Kayazy Eliminator). That is a pretty intimidating wall of battle right there...
With the Glacier King in the dead middle, I deployed (from left to right): the Highwaymen with Stone Scribe Chronicler, Runebearer, Gunny, Glacier King, Impaler with Janissa and a Fell Caller behind him, and Warders, with the KSB unit and Whelps bringing up the rear. I put the Highwaymen to counter the Nyss, needing the Warders on the other flank to deal with the Cavalry and infantry blocks on the other flank.
Turn 1: Mercenaries
Ben wasted no time, giving the Steelhead Cavalry pathfinder from Rhupert and getting them up into a threatening position. The Halbardiers ran up beside them, Alexia and the risen behind, and the Nyss on the other flank. Eiryss moved into the forest to wait for enemy shooters to thin out, and the rest of the army advanced up the middle. Anastasia went straight into the woods, hopefully (for Ben) just out of sight, and positioned very well for possible Espionage next turn....
I'm slightly unclear of where Fiona's upkeeps went at this stage, but I'm fairly certain Nonokrian Brand went on the Nyss, and Roth's Mercy somehow ended up on the Steelheads (or at least it was later). It didn't come into play too much, but Telgesh Mark is on Anastasia.
Turn 1: Trollbloods
When in doubt, advance! Gunny started things off, moving up and casting a rock wall in front of himself. He then took a wild shot at Anastasia (missing, thanks to stealth) which scattered wide, and dumped his remaining fury on the stone. Looking back, this was a potentially game-ending decision, but in my defense, I had only a vague idea of what Anastasia could do...
The Runebearer moved next, walking up beside Gunny and using Power Glyphs to put Snipe on the Highwaymen. They advanced up, taking CRA shots at the Nyss - and killing 2! Not a bad showing for their first time out with Gunny, though most were out of range. The Stone Scribe Chronicler put Tale of Mists on the Highwaymen, giving them concealment and triggering Camouflage. The Warders ran forward as far as they were able, the Fell Caller running to keep up, while Janissa moved up and was juuuuust out of range to put a rock wall in front of them, instead positioning it to give cover to herself and the Fell Caller. The Impaler moved up and put Far Strike on the Glacier King.
The Glacier King advanced, sidling up next to Gunny, and threw some wind at the Steelhead Cavalry - wounding 1 and outright killing another while maxing out his fury. The Krielstone advanced and put up Protective Aura and Spirit Chaser, while the whelps scattered a little and 2 of their number went to be buddy-buddy with the over-burdened beasts.
Turn 2: Mercenaries
Ben came out swinging, moving up the Nyss and taking out 3 Highwaymen (oh yea, Nyss have Hunter... whoopsie.) Casualties would have been significantly higher, but one brave or just plain stubborn Highwayman make 3 Tough rolls in a row! - and then died heroically. Let us all toast the bravery of Highwayman Model #4. Truly, he was... identical to everyone else, just a little luckier.
Rhupert gave the Halbardiers Tough and Fearless, and they charged/ran, only 3 close enough to charge, the rest positioning themselves to give Flank to the Cavalry. They did enough damage to give the Warders Battle-Driven, but failed to seriously harm any of them. Ben realized then that he'd made a bit of a slip - without Pathfinder from Rhupert, most of the Steelhead cavalry were stuck behind the wall. With little choice in the matter, he Charged with the one that could reach, running with the others, but even with Impact Attacks and Backswing, none of the warders were killed.
Ben then moved Anastasia up and used Espionage, allowing a good portion of the Nyss and a few of the Halbardiers to attack. 2 more Highwaymen died amid a flurry of shots, and the Glacier King took some damage from a couple of Halbardiers that suddenly 'got all up in his grill'.
The rest of the army advanced up behind them, but got a little stopped up by numbers.
Then Fiona Feated. Uh-oh...
Turn 2: Trollbloods
I upkept both the rock wall and Snipe on the Highwaymen, who activated first - staying put, taking their aimed shots from just outside Fiona's Feat Range, and killing Anastasia and a pair of Nyss with CRAs and a few normal shots. The Fell Caller shot a spray up between the outermost Warders, (also just out of feat range), damaging both and killing the leftmost Halbardier - but, thanks to Telgesh Mark, Ben removed one closer to the Glacier King. The warders advanced a little, the one on the end taking out the front Steelhead Cavalryman. Gunny's shot took out a pair of Nyss despite the feat, while the Glacier King powered through it and killed Rhupert and a few risen grunts.
Since it seemed this was going to be a pretty nasty turn, Gunny feated (cover won't do much against the Nyss, but it will keep models standing up after tough checks, which the Warders were probably going to be needing shortly).
Turn 3: Mercenaries
The Nyss tried their hand at taking out more of the Highwaymen and the KSB, but between his luck leaving him and good tough rolls, they emerged unscathed. The Cavalry re-grouped in a good charge position, while Alexia and company (plus thrall) advanced into threatening positions for next turn. Sensing some dangerous assassination problems, Fiona backed up while the TACs covered her with clouds. Rocinante moved up and took a pot-shot at some Highwaymen, but it was long and went wide, doing no harm to either side.
Sensing an opening, Ben ran Savio up beside Gunnbjorn (damn, he's fast), shutting down his shots and giving me a truly dangerous model to deal with in melee in an area where I had mainly shooting models. Uh-oh. Ragman got up there and did as Ragman does, giving Dark Shroud to a few nearby Steelheads -- and then onto Gunny. Double-uh-oh; backing out of that combat will not end well.
Turn 3: Trollbloods
I had a cunning plan to deal with Savio's trap - the Glacier King walked over, boosted like mad, and barely managed to pound Savio and 2 steelheads into mush. I would hesitate to call it cunning...
Meanwhile, the warders moved up, dealing with the rest of the steelhead halbardiers and some of the risen, while Janissa put up a rock wall to protect the KSB. The highwaymen finally moved, taking out a few more Nyss and spreading out to avoid Rocinante's attention. The Fell Caller moved up and sprayed the Steelhead Cavalry, but to little effect.
Turn 4: Mercenaries
Ben charged up with the Steelhead Cavalry, taking out the Fell Caller and a warder, the other making his Tough check. He moved Fiona up, influencing one Warder to kill another, but beyond that there wasn't much he could do this round, with so much of his army gone. (no picture, for some reason)
Turn 5?
I might be missing a turn in there somewhere - this game happened 2 weeks ago, and it was pretty late by this point. However, I know Janissa got up there at some point and Tectonic Shifted some Nyss off of Gunny, and then moved up the next turn and Shifted Fiona into melee range. Meanwhile, Alexia killed most of her unit to avoid death, but died regardless.
Without further ado, the Glacier King advanced forward, boosted, and ate Fiona on his first hit.
Victory to the Trollbloods!
Outcome: Ben played a good game - the Nyss were downright devastating against my Highwaymen, since they ignored concealment and camouflage, and if he'd pressed them a little more I'm pretty sure he could have rolled right over my right flank. He managed to put some damage on the Glacier King during the battle, since it quickly became apparent that it was going to take out more than a few of his high value models, but couldn't get the Cavalry through the Warders to assist. There were a few dicey moments - Savio being next to Gunny was certainly dangerous, forcing me to take the Glacier King away from sniping duty to deal with it (and even then, just barely). Ben did get a little backed up with his own infantry on my left flank, and neither of us have played Fiona enough to know how she is supposed to work yet.
Overall, a good outing and a fun game!
Nice report!
ReplyDeleteAnastasia is definitely someone to watch out for, and Acosta seems very scary as well. Does Gunny have the spare Fury to be casting the Glacier King's Animus on himself? Because that would make being engaged by dodgy enemies a lot less of a problem. The Glacier King itself doesn't seem to have the spare Fury for it, since it wants to boost all its damage rolls most of the time.