Bane Witch Agathia (*29pts)
*Reaper (13pts)
*Slayer (10pts)
*Canker Worm (9pts)
*Deathripper (6pts)
Pistol Wraith (5pts)
Warwitch Siren (4pts)
Carrion Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Total: 28/30pts
This week, I played against Caleb and his Retribution. He had
Magister Hylenna (*30pts) - Defenders of Ios
*Hydra (15pts)
*Manticore (14pts)
*Sphinx (13pts)
*Chimera (8pts)
*Griffon (8pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Total: 30/30pts
My list was a balanced list with a melee focus. I want to jam my opponent up with the Carrion Thralls, disrupt them with Drag from the Reaper and Death Chill from the Pistol Wraith, and hit them with the Warjacks in the second wave. I want to use Agathia's Feat to outmaneuver my opponent, and deliver my army mostly intact. Caleb's army is heavy armor all the way. Those 3 heavies are incredibly solid, and backed up by Hylenna's Feat and the Arcanist, they'll be very hard for a well-balanced list to grind through. They'll take a little while to get through infantry, but most infantry will be very hard-pressed to do anything to them in exchange.
The scenario was Trial by Fire, the JML scenario for weeks 3 and 4. There's a big circular zone in the middle of the table, you can control it with anything, and you win when you have 5 more points than your opponent. Caleb won the roll-off, and chose the side of the table with the wall he wanted to hide Hylenna behind.
I deployed my Pistol Wraith and Agathia in the middle, where they could lend their support anywhere, and the Carrion Thralls in the center-right. The two heavies and Siren went on the left in front of my wall, and the Deathripper went on the right - it's fast enough to reposition if it needs to.
Caleb deployed his battlegroup in the center-right where they could use that wall to block my ability to drag them in. The exception was the Chimera, which went on the center-left to arc that sweet sweet Hand of Destruction at my heavies.
Cryx Turn 1
Agathia put Hellwrought on the Reaper, advanced, and Vanished further forward. Everything else ran. The heavies went up the center-left to circle around the Ret battlegroup and try to take them apart piecemeal, while the Carrion Thralls went up the center-right to jam them up. The Deathripper went around to the right, and the Pistol Wraith ran up back up the Carrion Thralls. Canker Worm moved up aggressively to take the lead.
I was pretty well positioned. We'd see how Caleb responded.
Retribution Turn 1
Caleb's Battlegroup turtled up behind his wall, with all the 'jacks in front of Agathia. Agathia cast Rhythm of War to give them a little extra flexibility, and loaded up the Hydra for future turns. The Manticore laid down some Covering Fire to block charges from the Carrion Thralls. Otherwise, not much action. The only model even remotely in range was Canker Worm, and it had Stealth.
Caleb's in a strong defensive position here, but I'm planning to take the zone and force him out of it.
Cryx Turn 2
I allocated 1 Focus each to the Slayer and Reaper, and upkeep Hellwrought.
The Deathripper ran to within 8" of the Chimera. Agathia advanced, Feated, and cast Parasite on the Chimera. The Warwitch Siren advanced, and put a Focus on the Reaper. The Reaper advanced, and shot at the Chimera, but missed. The Pistol Wraith advanced, and shot the Chimera, successfully making it Stationary. I did a drastic reposition around to the left with Canker Worm, and jammed up the Ret brick with the Carrion Thralls.
No picture this turn. I was pretty bummed not to have dragged in the Chimera. Taking away Hylenna's Arc Node would have made casting Hand of Destruction a much riskier proposition, and given my army some protection. Otherwise, I was doing alright. My Feat would ensure I didn't get too chewed up by shooting.
Retribution Turn 2
Hylenna upkept Rhythm of War, and Allocated a Focus to the Griffon.
Hylenna popped her Feat, and cast Hand of Destruction on the Carrion Thralls. She also Feated. The Chimera killed a bird jamming the Sphinx. The Hydra trampled forward, and tried to kill the Deathripper, but came up way short. The Sphinx advanced and killed some more birds, and the Griffon charged in from the right flank and killed another.
A decent turn for Caleb, but I'd survived mostly intact except for a couple ablative crows. Time to see if I could take a heavy off the table through Hylenna's Feat.
Cryx Turn 3
Agathia upkept both spells, and allocated one each to the Reaper and Slayer.
Canker Worm charged the Chimera, but left it on 1 hit box. The Pistol Wraith moved into melee with the Hydra, and made it Stationary. Agathia then charged the Hydra, and cast Parasite on it. The Reaper finished off the Hydra, while the Slayer tried to Double Handed Throw the Sphinx, but failed the Strength Check. The Siren tried to put Corrosion on the Chimera with Venom, but missed. The Carrion Thralls hovered around the Myrmidons and pecked them ineffectually.
I'd taken off the Hydra, but opened myself up to some nasty retaliation. Caleb could probably take out both my heavies, and most of my remaining Carrion Thralls.
Retribution Turn 3
Hylenna dropped Rhythm of War, and put a bunch of Focus on the Manticore and Sphinx
Hylenna activated first, advanced to the wall, and put Hand of Destruction on the Reaper. The Griffon moved up, and killed the Pistol Wraith. The Arcanist gave the Manticore Concentrated Power, and it advanced, and tore up the Reaper, which had a couple boxes in its Movement left, but nothing else.
The Sphinx similarly tore up the Slayer, which had Cortex boxes left, but nothing else. The Chimera did nothing of note, since it had too many systems out to hit.
I was in a bit of a pickle. My heavies were basically useless, while the Manticore and Sphinx were at full health. My only way out was to kill Hylenna, who was camping 0 and in range of Canker Worm, but Canker Worm's charge lane was blocked by the Chimera and Arcanist. I might be able to get to Hylenna with Agathia, but I'd either spend most of my stack making sure I got there in one piece or eat some very nasty free strikes on the way.
Cryx Turn 4
Agathia dropped her upkeeps, and allocated 2 to the Canker Worm.
The Warwitch Siren advanced, and cast Venom on both the Chimera and the Arcanist, but missed them both. The Slayer boosted an attack into the Chimera, and took it out.
Agathia advanced, cast Vanish to get out of melee, and killed the Arcanist with Hellfire.
Then Canker Worm charged Hylenna and killed her with one armor piercing bite.
Victory to Cryx!
Thoughts
These little games are fun! I was definitely on the back foot, but I was able to pull through in the end. Next time, I'll be adding the Soul Hunters, which have been delightfully gruesome to paint. I might also add a Necrosurgion and Stitch Thralls to give my Carrion Thralls some extra staying power. I'm also debating switching Agathia for Goreshade 3, who loses out on Ghostly, but adds durability with recursion, and has a much stronger assassination game with his Feat. We'll see.
I played a pretty good game, although I was possibly a little too aggressive with my warjacks during Caleb's Feat turn. If I'd held the Slayer back instead of trying for that Throw, I wouldn't have been in that assassinate-or-die position on turn 4. I also definitely should have tried to Stationary the Chimera first on my second turn, but I was pretty sure of hitting that boosted 7 with the Reaper.
Caleb also played a pretty solid game. He was cagey with his Warjacks, and inflicted critical damage to my ability to play attrition against him. Hylenna was a little too far forward to get Hand of Destruction off without the Arc Node, and that ended up costing him. He might have inflicted a good amount of damage without it, and kept Hylenna safe, but he might also have failed to do enough damage to the Reaper, and lost the attrition war as a result.
There's a Skorne battle report in the works, since I managed to play a full-sized game recently. It should be up by the end of the week.
Looking forward to next time!
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