Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Borka 2 (50pts) - Sunhammer, Control, ADR, and MORE!

I was working this past Tuesday, and didn't get to play that night, but Caleb and I decided to schedule a game for Friday, so here it is!

I'm still experimenting with Makeda's control game and Sunhammer, and I really enjoyed the list I used in my outing with her against Cassius.  However, there's a little twist here.  Caleb and I are both prepping for Adepticon, and since the Masters qualifier will use ADR, Caleb decided to let me use Specialists for this game.  Caleb's not going to run ADR, so he didn't use Specialists.


Here's my core Makeda 3 list:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Sentry (9pts) - proxied by Tiberion because who has time to glue models in this day and age?
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
*Basilisk Drake (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

Objective: Arcane Wonder

And here are my specialists:

*Despoiler (10pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
Void Spirit (2pts)
Void Spirit (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1pt)

The core list is an all purpose brick that can tackle opposing bricks, infantry, and mixed lists pretty confidently.  It's biggest weakness is hardcore control 'casters who can pull it apart (like Krueger 2) or shut it down (like Denny 1).  The second biggest weakness is against massive hard-hitting infantry spam, like the typical Skarre 1 list.  The Brute is around to add a little more durability to my core list if I'm either going up against extreme shooting or next to no shooting.  I'll usually drop one of the Basilisks for it, and then trade either Orin or the Agonizer for the gobbers to make up the points.  Despoiler and the Void Spirits are to give me some area denial (and another decently offensive Reach beast for the Feat) against huge infantry swarms that I wouldn't normally be able to deal with.

Caleb was running Borka 2 with the following list:

Borka, Vengeance of the Rimeshaws (*6pts) a.k.a. Bearka
*Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
*Troll Axer (6pts)
*Slag Troll (6pts)
*Trollkin Rune Bearer (2pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Longriders (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 3 Grunts) (3pts)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1pt)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)
Trollkin Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Trollkin Sorcerer (1pt) - Adjunct to: the Champions
5 Welps (2pts)

Objective: Fuel Cache

This also seems like an all-comers brick.  There's a solid contingent of heavy infantry in the Champions, backed up by the Krielstone and Borka's Feat for extra defense, and the Krielstone plus offensive Animi from the Mauler and Slag Troll for extra offense.  On top of these are the Long Riders, who hit hard and move fast, and the beasts, which are a good selection for cracking armor and all-purpose support.

Looking at this list, I didn't see a lot of shooting, meaning that I wouldn't need the Krea.  There also aren't a lot of spells that are going to come up a lot, so I wouldn't need Orin either.  However, Borka's Feat is some serious denial, and I'd need a durable screening element to withstand 2 potential turns of punishment.  I decided to Drop Orin and the Krea for the Brute and Swamp Gobbers.  A super tough light and the cloud slinging gobbers would be great on the front lines helping me live through Borka's Feat and the following turn.


Scenario and Deployment.

We rolled up Fire Support.  There are two flags very slightly offset around the center of the table, and each of us has an objective close enough to contest our friendly flag.  Dominate the friendly flag, control the enemy flag, or destroy the enemy objective for one point.  Dominate the enemy flag for two.  This is a Killbox scenario, but neither of our 'casters is especially bothered by killbox.

Caleb won the roll-off, and decided to pick the table side with a wall well inside the killbox, and screening vulnerable models on the approach.  I was happy enough to go first, since it's always nice to have a little extra time to set up the brick.

I deployed in a rough line with Molik and the Brute out on my left, the Bronzeback, Sentry, Swamp Gobbers, and Makeda in the middle, and the Gladiator and Drake on my right.  The Paingivers and Agonizer deployed behind the front line along with the Exalted Guardians.

Caleb deployed the Long Riders on my right, with the Fell Caller to give them Pathfinder early on.  Bearka, the Mauler, the Axer, and the Champs all deployed pretty much in the middle.  The Champ Hero and Sorcerer deployed center-left to support the Champions.  The Slag troll deployed further out on the left, opposite my objective.  The Krielstone and two of the five Welps deployed in the second rank.  The other welps started out of play.

And with that, we were ready to begin.

Skorne Turn 1

My first turn is getting very routine for this list.  The Gladiator Rushed the Sentry and Trampled forward.  The Sentry, Brute, and Bronzeback ran (with the Sentry and Brute coming to the front).  The Drake ran up my right flank near a handy forest.  Molik advanced and used Fate Walker.  The Gobbers ran to the front rank next to the Sentry

Makeda cast Sunhammer, put 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and gave her unit a run/charge order.  She ended up close to the front, while the Exalted Guardians got in front of the Bronzeback and Gladiator.  The Agonizer ran up to a pretty far forward position, and the Paingivers walked forward to manage Fury.  Molik walked again to end up close to my Objective.

This is a really normal turn 1 for this list, and it sets my line in pretty much the order I want it: tough shieldy beasts up front, heavy hitters at the back.  I wouldn't be taking any charges this turn, but I'd want this basic setup for the next turn.


Trollbloods Turn 1

Caleb responded to my opening setup with his own.  The Champions ran forward.  The Axer put Rush on the Mauler, and charged up to Caleb's wall, while the Mauler ran to keep up with the Champs.  The Fell Caller put Overcome of the Long Riders to give them Pathfinder, then ran up next to the wall.  The Long Riders ran up the right side of the table to oppose my Drake and possibly flank my brick.

The Rune Bearer advanced, and used Harmonious Exaltation on Bearka to reduce the Cost of one of his spells by one.  Borka cast Battle Charged to give his battlegroup Counter Charge, put 4 Fury on the Stone, and charged the Sentry.  The Slag Troll and two supporting Welps ran forward.

This looks like a pretty standard unpacking for this particular Bearka list.  It's pretty clear this will come down to a battle of the bricks.  I'm pretty convinced my brick is brickier, but we'll just have to see.  Borka's Feat gives him a potentially huge advantage over me if Caleb can get into my list's hard-hitters on the Feat turn.  I'd need to try to get him to pop his Feat while I still had a strong jamming force, so that was my goal for turn 2.

Skorne Turn 2

Makeda leached in Fury, and upkept Sunhammer.

The Drake advanced, and killed one Long Rider with its spray.  The Gobbers went next, since I wanted them setting my line of engagement, and blew a cloud of smoke centered about 7" forward of my line.  The Sentry and Brute advanced, the Sentry carefully behind the smoke with Locker up, and the Brute with Safeguard up about 9" away from the Champs - out of their charge range.  The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain in case Caleb decided to send in the Mauler, and ran up behind the Sentry.

Makeda and the Court advanced, with Makeda just behind the Sentry, and the Court taking up positions to screen my other heavies - one on the right side of the Gobber cloud, and the other next to the Brute.  Makeda also cast Safeguard on herself, and filled the Agonizer up with 2 Fury.   The Bronzeback, Gladiator, and Molik moved up behind the screening force.  The Paingivers moved up, and managed Fury.

I was in a pretty good position.  I'd gotten far enough forward that my leading elements could do some serious damage if they wanted to.  Molik and the Sentry were easily within range to the Champions and Mauler, so Caleb needed to react to that.  He might back off to mitigate whatever damage I'd do next turn, or he might try to Feat and jam me.  I was hoping he'd Feat.  I was very confident I wouldn't take serious damage this turn due to low range and LoS.  If he Feated, he'd be safe for a turn, but he'd likely spend his next turn grinding up against my tough forward elements.  Barring some really unholy luck, that would put me in a position to crush his front lines with my second line.  If he didn't Feat, I'd have to find some way to force him forward, which probably meant going for my flag.  A dicey proposition, but Makeda is pretty tough.


Trollbloods Turn 2

Borka leached his Fury, and upkept Battle Charged.

The Rune Bearer advanced, and put Snow Shroud (Concealment and Immunity: Cold) on the Champions.  The two surviving Long Riders charged the Drake, and between Impact attacks and charges, brought it down to 4 boxes in the body.  The Slag Troll advanced (3 damage from Sunhammer!), and shot my Exalted Guardian on the left.  Despite my Brute Shield Guarding one of the shots, it killed her.  The Brute suffered Corrosion for its efforts.

The Fell Caller moved up, and sprayed at Gobbers, but couldn't hit either of them.  The Champions ran, jamming my lines very thoroughly.  Skaldi lurked in the rear of the unit, waiting to counter charge me for whatever I did this turn.  Sorcerer moved up to support the Champions, and shot at the Bronzeback with an Ice Bolt, but did no damage. The Axer moved up as well (2 damage from Sunhammer!).

The Mauler moved up (1 damage from Sunhammer!), followed by the Kriel Stone, which used its Aura.  Borka moved up, and filled the Krielstone to its maximum of 5 Fury, then used his Feat, Ice Storm.  For one round, everything (friend and foe) in Borka's CTRL had Stealth.  Additionally, if any of my models hit a Trollblood model with Immunity: Cold with a melee attack, that model would be Stationary after the attack was resolved unless it too had Immunity: Cold.  The Whelps moved up to support their beasts.

Bearka's Feat meant I'd be stuck doing nothing for a turn.  Trollblood models with Immunity: Cold included Borka's whole battlegroup as well as the Champions.  I'd need to hope that my list could take Caleb's charge on the chin and hit back even harder.  I just needed to make sure I was set up to do it.

Skorne Turn 3

Corrosion went out on the Brute.  Makeda upkept Sunhammer, and leached in her Fury.

The Sentry stayed put, and used Locker.  The Brute stayed put.  The Agonizer stayed put and used Gnawing Pain.  Makeda put Safeguard on the Brute, and backed off a bit, while the surviving Exalted Guardian killed a Long Rider.  She also topped off the Agonizer.  Molik and the Bronzeback also backed off a bit.

The Paingivers Medicated the Drake to heal its broken aspects, and Enraged the Gladiator.  The Drake moved out of the Gladiator's way, and the Gladiator Rushed itself, and charged into the last Long Rider, killing it.

Ignore the Gobber cloud, it's not supposed to be there.

Alright, so there was a little action out on the right where I killed the Long Riders, but generally, I set my charge lanes, and prepared to counterattack.  I thought I was pretty well set up.  With the right combination of buffs and a little luck, Caleb could probably take out the Sentry and Brute, and he might be able to take out the Gladiator, but would need to commit to it pretty seriously.  I'd made a mistake this round, forgetting the Swamp Gobbers.  An extra cloud gumming up the works would probably be nice to have.

Trollbloods Turn 3

Time for Caleb to get to work.  Borka upkept Battle Charged, but there was no point upkeeping Snow Shroud.

The Rune Bearer Harmoniously Exalted Borka, who advanced, and threw a bomb at my Swamp Gobbers.  He hit the grunt by boosting, and easily killed both (boosted the blast damage on the leader to be sure).  He decided to camp 2 rather than cast any spells.

The Slag Troll advanced to my flag (2 damage from Sunhammer!), and shot my Objective, but with a little bad luck, left it alive on 2 boxes.  The Sorcerer tried to finish the job, but no luck.  The Mauler wiggled forward less than an inch (avoiding a Sunhammer damage roll), and put its Animus, Rage, on the Champion Hero.  The Krielstone unit put up their aura, using Stone Strength to buff the army's melee damage.

The Champion Hero charged through his fellow Champs, and Threshed into the Brute, Sentry and Exalted Guardian.  The Exalted Guardian evaporated, but the damage rolls against the 2 beasts were low, just dinging them up a bit.  The Fell Caller put War Cry on the Champs to give them +2 to attack rolls, and charged the Gladiator, doing a little damage.

The Champs charged in next, but generally flubbed their damage rolls.  They broke the Sentry's Mind, killed a Paingiver, and did a little more damage to the Gladiator and Brute.  One tried to charge the Bronzeback past the Brute, but I got super lucky on the free strike.  The Champ Toughed the Brute's free strike, but not the Bronzeback's counter charge.  Skaldi put his charge attack into the Sentry, and tried to take out the Agonizer with the second attack, but came up short.

The Axer charged the Gladiator (3 damage from Sunhammer!), and took it down to about 8 boxes in the body.

Caleb got some very bad damage rolls here.  I'd been pretty sure the Gladiator, Bronzeback, and Molik would be fine, but I'd expected at least either the Brute or Sentry to die, possibly both.  I needed to hit back hard, but I was in a very good position to do it.  The plan was to reduce Borka to a single Mauler plus a smattering of Krielstone bearers.  I might be able to kill him too, depending on how the Counter Charges worked out.


Skorne Turn 4

My objective took a point of damage from Corrosion, going down to 1 hit box.  Makeda let Sunhammer drop, and raked in her Fury.

The Drake moved out of the woods, and sprayed across 4 Champs plus the Axer.  It hit everything except the Axer, and did some damage to all of them, but didn't kill any.  The Paingivers advanced, healed the Gladiator's broken aspects, and Enraged Molik and the Bronzeback.

Makeda moved up between the Brute and Sentry, cast Vortex of Destruction, healed the Sentry's broken Mind, and popped her Feat.  She killed 4 Champs, and Blood Booned Fate Walker.  The Brute, now unengaged, walked around and killed a damaged Skaldi.  The Gladiator killed the Fell Caller and Champ engaging it.

The Sentry, now unengaged, ran up to Borka and engaged him.  The Mauler Counter-Charged, but missed (thanks Set Defense!).  That Counter Charge put the Mauler in the Bronzeback's charge range, so the Bronzeback put Train Wreck on Molik, and killed the Mauler.  Caleb spawned a couple of Whelps.  Both of Borka's remaining Beasts were now full on Fury, meaning Borka had no transfer targets.

Molik charged and killed the Sorcerer, and swished into melee with Bearka.  After killing a Whelp to be rid of its debuff, he started buying attacks against Borka, taking him down with the third bought attack.  Borka failed his Tough check.

That small base with the Fate Walker token is Makeda, who had to be removed for "fitting into melee with spears and tusks everywhere" reasons.

Victory to the Skorne!


Thoughts

First things first:

Did Sunhammer make a difference?  Sort of.  Putting damage on Caleb's Battlegroup made me a lot more confident about taking it out easily when I had the chance.  It didn't really impact Caleb's play at all, but the damage was starting to add up a little by turn 4.  The 1 damage I did to the Mauler didn't really make a difference in the Bronzeback's ability to kill it, and I wound up ignoring the lights, and going for the assassination instead.  If Caleb had left transfer slots open on the lights the extra damage from Sunhammer would have been pretty nice either for taking them down independently or for killing them with transfer damage.

Did I focus on control, and use the elements at my disposal to control the flow of the game?  Yes.  On my second turn, I used Locker and the Gobber cloud to make my list as inaccessible as possible.  I used the Agonizer to make me more durable as well.  On my third turn, I continued to protect my second line well with Locker, and was able to counterattack for the win after a very lackluster turn 3 for Caleb.

I played about as well as I could have hoped for in this matchup.  I needed to force Caleb's Feat while my blockers were still intact, and I did.  Caleb's bad luck helped my turn the late game from a grind in my advantage to a total blowout, but I felt pretty confident from the moment Borka popped his Feat, that I'd be alright.  Forgetting the Gobbers on turn 3 was a mistake I'll try not to make in the future.  I could have stripped Caleb's options on turn 3 quite a bit.

The list is great.  I'm loving what the Sentry brings to the table, and I really enjoyed pulling a Brute back into the lineup for this match.  I really need to try Despoiler with this list, but the Brute/Gobber package is pretty much locked in for me, Specialists-wise.  Having Specialists was a definite advantage for me.  Without the Brute and Gobber cloud holding it down on my front line, I would have been a lot more vulnerable to damage on Caleb's second and third turns.  I would have had to play more cautiously, and might not have been able to force Caleb to Feat on a turn where he wasn't damaging me much.  It would have been a very different game.

Caleb played a reasonably good game.  I'm not convinced Feating and jamming me was the right move, but I also don't know how viable not jamming me was either.  Perhaps with the right positioning, he could have forced me into a bad spot, but honestly, my counter-play to that was either: make him pay for not Feating by exploiting Makeda's feat and my threat ranges to kill as much as I could, or: advance in formation again, only going a little harder for scenario to force the issue.  Caleb was very cautious with his Mauler, instead of committing it on the Feat turn.  Given our board position, that was probably the right call, but it didn't end up doing much to me, when it's the hardest-hitting model in Caleb's list.

Caleb's list does seem pretty good for Bearka.  The Mauler is a beatstick, and the Axer and Slag add plenty of good options.  The Champs backed up by a Hero are a great and hard-hitting brick.  He said after the game that he probably should replace the Long Riders and Rune Bearer with Northkin Fire Eaters and... either a second Champ Hero to take advantage of Rage + Thresher or another unit of Fire Eaters.  Caleb doesn't own the Fire Eaters yet, but they would be great in his list.  Maybe Fire Eaters plus Croaks even?  Bearka's Feat definitely works well for Croaks.  It would require a little retooling of the list, but I think it'd be worth considering.