As I said last week, I'm going to focus my tactical posts on the Retribution of Scyrah until January. I'll still post some Skorne battle reports, but this week, I was getting back in touch with my inner mage hunter.
I've been very intrigued by the MkIII version of Kaelyssa, who has some amazing new tools to play with as well as a much-improved lineup of 'jacks, and still-totally-good infantry. Here's the list I played.
Kaelyssa, the Night's Whisper (*29pts)
*Banshee (18pts)
*Phoenix (18pts)
*Manticore (18pts)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (6pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (4pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (4pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)
*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)
House Shyeel Battle Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (10pts)
There isn't a very coherent philosophy behind this list - it just has a bunch of things I own that I think work well with Kaelyssa. I have a pretty strong assassination game with the various tools I have available. Kaelyss, Eiryss, and the Battle Mages add a good amount of control and scenario presence. The Sentinels and the 'jacks can crack armor. And Kaelyssa's Feat gives me some sweet defense. Let's see how it works out.
My opponent, Ethan, was running Ragnor with the following list:
Ragnar Skysplitter, the Runemaster (30pts)
*Mountain King (36pts)
*Troll Axer (10pts)
*Troll Bouncer (9pts)
*Troll Bouncer (9pts)
*Trollkin Rune Bearer (4pts)
Janissa Stonetide (4pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (9pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (9pts)
Kriel Stone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 3 Grunts) (6pts)
Dhunian Knot (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
This list seems to be all about delivering the Mountain King. Runeshapers are a good front line, and bring a lot of utility to the list. The Bouncers are fantastic little road blocks, and their Animus is great defensive tech for both them and their Warlock. Lanyssa and the Axer give the list a good threat range, and the Dhunian Knot gives more control. Ragnar brings durability. It's really, really hard to kill a stone-backed Mountain King on Ragnar's Feat turn, meaning it'll have at least 2 turns to eat through anything capable of cracking its armor.
On to the game.
Scenario and Deployment
We played Outlast: two big circular zones you can control for 1 or dominate for 2. No kill box.
I won the roll-off, and decided to go first. Ethan chose the table side with a hill and better direct access to the zones. That was fine by me, since I would be pretty happy hiding Kaelyssa and her 'jacks behind the house.
I deployed everything more-or-less in the middle, with the 'jacks somewhat spread out, the Sentinels leaning to my right, and the Battle Mages leaning to my left. My vague plan at this point was to see which zone the Mountain King went for, and go hard for the other one.
Ethan put the Mountain King in front of the right zone, a unit of Runeshapers in front of each zone, the Axer more toward the right, and the Bouncers in the middle-ish with the Krielstone, Ragnor, and Janissa.
I put my Assassins on the left to help my Battle Mages, and put Eiryss on the right to help contest that zone.
Retribution Turn 1
I ran forward to claim some space, but stayed out of Rock Hammer range with my AD stuff. Kaelyssa put Refuge up on herself, and Banishing Ward on the Sentinels to protect them from spells.
I wasn't super committed yet, but I was in a decent position in the middle. I would probably spend the next turn shooting, and use my Feat to buy me a little more time.
Trollbloods Turn 1
The Trollbloods also mostly ran up. Janissa advanced, and put up a hill for defense. The left Runeshapers ran to just outside the range of my assassins, while the right Runeshapers ran behind a wall on the far right of the field. The Mountain King and two Bouncers took the front for the Trollbloods, and Ragnar put most of his Fury on the stone.
Ethan was also advancing pretty conservatively. Still, his trolls were within range for me to shoot, and I intended to start putting the pressure on by doing that. The Mountain King did look to be gunning for the right zone, and that meant I'd need to focus my efforts on the left or hope for an opening on Ragnor.
Retribution Turn 2
Kaelyssa dropped Refuge, but upkept Banishing Ward for free thanks to Sylys. She didn't allocate any Focus this turn.
Eiryss advanced to the far right, and shot at a Runeshaper, but missed. One Arcanist Empowered the Manticore, which shot the Bouncer on Janissa's hill for decent damage. Kaelyssa advanced, and cast Refuge on the Banshee, which advanced, and slammed that same Bouncer into Janissa. It did a lot of damage to the Bouncer, and killed Janissa with collateral damage, then Refuged back behind the wall.
The Mage Hunter Assassins hopped forward into more threatening positions, and the Battle Mages moved up to support them. The Sentinels ran to threaten the zone, but didn't contest it.
I was in an ok place here. I'd forgotten to contest the right zone, but I was putting pressure on the left zone pretty hard, and my counterattack would be decent if Ethan committed this turn.
Trollbloods Turn 2
Ragnor leached Fury, but didn't have any upkeeps in play.
The Axer ran into the right zone to control it, and the Mountain King moved up behind it. The right Runeshapers walked into the right zone and dug in. The left Runeshapers walked into the left Zone and also dug in.
The Dhunian Knot used Puppet Strings on Lanyssa, and healed the damaged Bouncer. Lanyssa cast Hunter's Mark on the Manticore, and hit. The Rune Bearer used Harmonious Exaltation on Ragnor. Ragnor advanced, and cast Rage and Pulverizer on the undamaged Bouncer to give it a total of +5 Str (cripes!), and the damaged Bouncer sacrificed its Action to stand, advanced toward Ragnor, and forced to Regenerate.
The undamaged Bouncer charged and wrecked the Manticore. The Stone advanced, and popped its aura.
Ethan was still playing it cautious, but taking out the Manticore had been a good move for him, getting him solidly up in the trading game, and removing one of my key pieces that could actually hurt the Mountain King. On my turn, I'd have to take out the Bouncer, and start doing something about the scenario. Ethan had scored this turn, making the game 0-1 in favor of Trollbloods.
Retribution Turn 3
Kaelyssa upkept Refuge and Banishing Ward, and allocated 1 to the Phoenix.
On the left, one Mage Hunter Assassin charged the central Runeshaper, engaging them all with her 4" Chain Strike melee range, and removing Dig In. Then she killed her charge target. The other Mage Hunter charged and killed the furthest left of the Runeshapers.
One Arcanist gave a focus to the Banshee with Empower, and the other used Concentrated Power on the Phoenix. The Banshee advanced, killed Lanyssa, and retreated with Refuge. Kaelyssa cast Refuge on herself, advanced closer to the zone, shot 3 Fury off the Bouncer that had just killed the Manticore with her Energy Siphon shots, and then used Refuge to get into the left zone.
The Phoenix advanced, and damaged the Bouncer, then the Sentinels charged in and finished it off. The Officer used Iron Zeal to improve the odds that the Sentinels would live through a stray Mountain King spray or two. I made sure to contest the zone with the Phoenix and 4 Sentinels. Eiryss charged the nearest Runeshaper, but did a grand total of 1pt of damage. Sylys ran to stay near Kaelyssa, and the Battle Mages killed the last Runeshaper on the Left with Force Bolts.
I was in a good place on the left. I had a ton of control options over there, and Ethan didn't have many resources nearby to contest the left zone. The right was a lot shakier, and I'd have to fight pretty hard to keep Ethan from pulling ahead on that flank. The attrition game was likely to swing his way, but if I could keep the left clear and the right contested, I'd win. The score was now 2-1 in favor of Retribution.
Trollbloods Turn 3
Ragnor leached Fury, and dealt himself 2 damage to get back to full.
The Dhunian Knot used Puppet Strings on the Mountain King, remaining Bouncer, and Rune Bearer. The Rune Bearer advanced, and cast Shockwave at the Phoenix. It hit, and knocked down both the Phoenix and the nearest Sentinel. The Mountain King charged the Phoenix, and killed it and a couple of Dawnguard with its assault and Kill Shot sprays. The Kill Shot spray also did a bunch of damage to the Banshee.
Ragnor advanced, used his Feat (all damage rolls against his models would roll one less die), and put both Rush and Pulverizer on the Axer. The Axer charged the Sentinels contesting the zone and used Thresher, killing all 4 of them. The Runebearers advanced. One used Tremor to knock down Eiryss, and another used Rock Hammer to kill her. The last one dug in. The stone advanced, and used its aura.
The Bouncer used Earth's Blessing to avoid being pushed, and charged and killed the nearer Mage Hunter Assassin to contest the left zone.
The pressure was definitely on. I didn't have a lot to do attrition-wise, but I did have scenario options. My goals for the turn were to get that Bouncer out of the left zone, contest the right zone, and prevent the Mountain King from getting into the left zone. The score was now 2-2.
Retribtution Turn 4
The Sentinels made some Vengeance moves and attacks. Kaelyssa upkept Refuge, but dropped Banishing Ward, and didn't allocate at all.
Kaelyssa went first. I finally remembered to use her Feat (which would sure have been useful last turn). She aimed, used Dispel to get Earth's Blessing off the Bouncer, then took 2 Fury off of it with Energy Siphon shots. She used Refuge to scoot back to the left corner of the zone.
The Battle Mages took advantage of the now-pushable Bouncer by driving it back into forest on Ethan's table half and out of the zone. They also knocked it down. The Mage Hunter Assassin charged the Bouncer, reduced it to 1 box, and blocked it from wandering back into the zone. Sylys and the left Arcanist ran to block off the zone a little more. The Sentinels took some attacks, but didn't do much beyond kill a single Runeshaper.
The right Arcanist ran to contest the right zone. The Banshee ran to stop the Mountain King from trampling into the left zone.
The game would hinge on whether Ethan could get the Mountain King into the left zone. Anything else, I could kill or push out, but I had no way to deal with the Mountain King. I'd done what I could, but we'd see whether that would be enough. The score was now 4-2 in favor of the Retribution.
Trollbloods Turn 4
Ethan did have a plan to get the Mountain King into the left zone. The plan was to use Ragnor to kill the Banshee and the Sentinels, allowing the Mountain King to run around, bulldoze a battle mage out of the way, and contest.
The Rune Bearer cast Shockwave at the Banshee, but missed (I actually think it might have been too close to cast spells, but I completely forgot about Wailing so whatever). Ragnor advanced, and started attacking the Banshee, but didn't accomplish much. Three misses, and no crits. The Banshee was still there, as were all the Sentinels. The Mountain King could not get into the left zone.
Ethan conceded.
Victory to the Retribution!
Thoughts
I played a decent game with most of my models, but it sure would have been nice to remember that I have a Feat. Kaelyssa's Feat would have saved my Manticore if I'd popped it turn 2, and would have been a massive help if I'd remembered it on turn 3. But I forgot both turns, and lost a lot of models as a result. Maybe next time. Otherwise, like I said, I played a pretty solid game. Once the Mountain King committed, I used my available resources to clear and dominate the other zone turn after turn, and everything else to keep the Mountain King away.
This list is fun. I'm probably going to try something a little more 'jack heavy with Kaelyssa in the future, and I can definitely see switching the 'jacks up a little. I don't know that I need the Phoenix, since the only spell she'd want to arc is Backlash. It's a good spell against Warmachine, but I don't know if it justifies an arc node on its own. As a replacement, a lot of the Ret 'jacks work really well. A second Manticore or a Daemon would add some cool options at a slightly cheaper price, and a Banshee Imperatus, or Discordia would add a heavier 'jack at a higher price. I really liked the Battle Mages this game. Force Bolt is a fantastic spell, and they and Kaelyssa really kept their side of the table open. If I do swap the Phoenix for a cheaper 'jack, I'll probably switch Eiryss 2 for Eiryss 1, who opens up a little more Fury control and some nasty assassination options, and a third Arcanist (which I still need to pick up). They're only 2pts, and my only excuse for not running 3 this list was that I didn't own 3 Arcanist models.
Ethan played a really good game on the right flank, and trading a Bouncer for the Manticore before I could properly retaliate was a really good move. However, he didn't really defend the left side of the battlefield, and that wound up costing him. He mentioned after the game that he probably should have deployed both Runeshaper units to the left, and that definitely could have swung things his way. I didn't have a whole lot of hitting power over there, just a lot of control, and that second unit didn't contribute all that much on the right side of the table.
I like Ethan's list a lot. The double Bouncer setup is a little like the double Brute setup I like so much, and Bouncers are certainly hard to shift, especially with Earth's Blessing, the Kriel Stone aura, and Ragnor's Feat. The combination of Battle Mages and Kaelyssa's Dispel shot were an effective counter, but most lists would be very hard-pressed against a durable light beast like that. The fact that one can get up to P+S 17 and take out a heavy with this list is another mark in their favor. The list might be spending too much on support, but I don't know Trollbloods well enough to know for sure. The stone, Janissa, Lanyssa, and the Dhunian Knot were 19pts, and in this game, more working models on the front lines might have held that left zone.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment