I've been really getting back into Skorne, so I played the following lists:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*24pts) - Imperial Warhost
*Molik Karn (19pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Cyclops Raider (9pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)
*Basilisk Drake (8pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Basilisk Krea (0pts)
*Agonizer (0pts)
Siege Animantrax (17pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)
The theme benefits (besides free stuff) are: Warbeasts gain Hyper Aggressive, and a 2" extended deployment zone.
I like Makeda 3, and I think I might have found a list that I actually feel works well for her. It's a lot less bricky than I'm used to playing, and it relies on the light beasts for a lot of early-game work. Late game, Makeda, Molik, and the Gladiator can clean up. My big problem with it is Fury management - it's really running hot starting on turn 1, and that makes it really stressful to play.
Archdomina Makeda (*29pts) - Masters of War
*Molik Karn (19pts)
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)
*Scarab Pack (10pts)
Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (18pts)
*Tyrant Vorkesh (0pts)
Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)
The Legends of Halaak (8pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
The theme benefits are: Warrior models ignore Tough and may chose to RFP models they box with melee attacks, and +1 to the roll to go first.
I played this list against Caleb a few weeks before the tournament, and it works really well. It has solid hitting power and great staying power. The Ferox and Cetrati backed up by Molik and Makeda's toolkit make this list solid at attrition, assassination, and scenario. I loved it the first time I put it on the table, and I was looking forward to throwing it down against a bunch of different opponents.
Caleb was playing Mercenaries with General Ossrum and Constance Blaze, and Ben was playing Circle with Krueger 2 and Tanith.
Round 1
We were paired against team Muse on Minis, with Keith (Cryx), John (Menoth), and Jake (Cygnar). I decided to try to match Ben against Cygnar since Krueger seemed like a decent drop into shooting. Team Muse won the roll-off, and put a sheet down on one table. I put Ben's sheet down on another, and then we switched lists. Turns out, Muse had put John's sheet down to dodge me (Testament doesn't really want to be up against a whole list of RFP it turns out). So I put Jake on Ben's table, and John put Caleb on his table. That left me and Keith to duke it out in the middle.
I've played Keith once before, and it was a total rout, so we'd see if I could do any better this time. I dropped Makeda 1, and Keith dropped a Scourge of the Broken Coast list led by Deneghra 1:
Warwitch Deneghra (*28pts) - Scourge of the Broken Coast
*Nightmare (18pts)
*Deathripper (6pts)
*Deathripper (6pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (0pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (0pts)
Rag Man (4pts)
Cylena Raefyll and the Nyss Hunters (Leader and 9 Grunts) (19pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)
*Sea Witch (3pts)
Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)
*Sea Witch (3pts)
Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)
*Blood Hag (4pts)
The theme benefits are: Satyxis gain Pathfinder, and one Blood Witch unit in the army gains Ambush.
The scenario was Breakdown. I won the roll-off, and chose to go first.
I ran forward to put myself just out of range to be Crippling Grasped right off the bat with my Ferox, which put me in a good position to occupy the zones next turn. I did have Makeda put Quicken on the Ferox to start with
Keith ran up, and spread out his Satyxis and Nyss pretty wide, getting some Satyxis into the left zone, but holding back on the right so I'd have to really commit my Ferox if I wanted to get work done.
And I did want to get work done! I ran the Cetrati up to contest the left zone, put Push to the Limit on the Ferox, and jumped them into the Cryx infantry. I killed several Satyxis and Nyss, and repositioned into places where I'd still be able to keep the Satyxis off my heavies while staying live in the scenario. Makeda Feated to keep her troops alive.
Keith started out by moving Deneghra up cautiously and popping her Feat, catching most of my list, but not the Gladiator or Makeda. Here, I'd forgotten about the Blood Hag and her awful Entropic Force, but Keith had not. He moved her in range of all the Ferox plus Rhadiem, and wiped them out with the Satyxis. This would let him start to score the right zone as soon as he got something in it that could score it. The Satyxis on the left beat up on the Cetrati, but I used Makeda's Feat to keep them alive. Keith had been able to clear the center and right zones, and scored both.
I had something of a long-shot assassination run here. There was a direct line from the Gladiator to Nightmare to Deneghra. All I had to do was clear that line, and I'd potentially be able to slam Nightmare over Denny, and kill her with bought attacks after a followup. So that's what I tried. Makeda, Molik, and the Legends cleared the way, and the Gladiator slammed Nightmare, but came up short of hitting Deneghra. I believe I forgot to contest the right zone, giving Keith a point on my turn. I did contest the center, but that brain fart would seal my fate. I'd pulled Molik back to keep his presence on the table and maybe pull something out next turn, but as a result I only left a single Scarab and the back edge of the Gladiator to contest the center zone.
Keith finished off the Scarab and the Gladiator and scored 2 more points for the right and center zones, winning 5-0.
Victory to Cryx!
I made two key mistakes this time out. First, I forgot about Entropic Force on the Blood Hag, which completely negated Makeda's Feat, and lost me the whole right flank. If I'd remembered, I would have held my Ferox and Feat back for another turn, and tried to take her out. My second big mistake was not contesting on the right on my last turn. I could have gotten something over there if I'd just been thinking about it, but I was focused on freeing up that Gladiator, and by the time I noticed, I'd activated everything that could get over there. Still, I had a shot at victory that I don't think Keith saw coming, even though I'd have needed a very good slam distance to pull it off. Keith is also a much better player than I am, so I'm pretty happy with how I handled myself.
Caleb and Ben both lost their games to Testament in the Exemplar theme and Haley 3 in Gravediggers respectively, so we were officially in the fun bracket.
Round 2
We went up against Team (I don't remember this is 5 months later I'll try to find out). This time I decided to drop Caleb into... I don't remember, but I gave him the good drop. The other team dropped Ben into Khador? I think? And I also played into Khador. I don't remember what my opponent's other list was, but he played this:
The Butcher Unleashed (*22pts) - Jaws of the Wolf
*Behemoth (25pts)
*Ruin (17pts)
*Devastator (14pts)
*Devastator (14pts)
*War Dog (3pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (5pts)
Greylord Forge Seer (0pts)
Greylord Forge Seer (0pts)
Widowmaker Scouts (8pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (5pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (5pts)
The theme benefits are: Battle Mechaniks gain Reposition [3"], and enemy models lose Ambush.
Since we were still in the middle, the scenario was the same. I won the roll-off, and decided to go first.
I ran most of my stuff, but put up a few Force Auras to protect me on the way in. Makeda put up Vortex of Destruction on herself, and Hand of Death on the Siege Animantrax. I also immediately ran afoul of my list's poor Fury management by miscounting... I'd have to take a Frenzy check top of turn 2. Oops.
My opponent ran most of his list forward. I think the Butcher put Silence of Death on the left unit of Eliminators, and cast Energizer. The left unit of Eliminators stayed just out of Animantrax charge range, while the right unit moved into the zone aggressively. The Widowmakers advanced, and did some shooting, but didn't accomplish much.
I decided to take the Frenzy check on my right Krea, which would disrupt my plan the least if it failed. It passed, luckily. I had the Drake advance into the right zone, and vaporize both Eliminators with its lazer stare. The Brutes advanced to screen my force, and put up Safeguard. The rest of the list advanced to contest the zones, and did some shooting. The Agonizer hid behind Makeda and used Spiritual Affliction to stop the Butcher from ending the game right there with Impending Doom.
My opponent committed his 'jacks to the center zone. He killed the right Brute, and badly damaged the left one. The Butcher backed off a little, still threatening the center. The Widowmakers and Behemoth killed 4 of my Paingivers. If the game wore on, Fury management was going to be a big problem. The Butcher had spend most of his Fury on allocation, Energizer, and putting Silence of Death on himself, which meant that if I could get to him, I could probably kill him.
That's what I decided to try. I took a Frenzy check on my Drake, which charged and killed a Widowmaker. The first thing I did was aim with my right Krea and try to paralyze the Butcher, who was just within range. She hit, making the rest of my job a lot easier. My shooters cleared out the two War Argi, and Makeda ran to engage the Butcher. Molik charged the Devastator, and side-stepped into the Butcher. A few attacks later, and the Butcher was dead.
Victory to the Skorne!
Keeping Fury under control is difficult and stressful in this list. I love how much it can do at range, but I'm going to really need to get used to choosing to do less than I can in order to keep my options open next turn. I played a very solid game. Spiritual Affliction on the Agonizer really threw my opponent off, I think, and he ended up placing Butcher poorly as a result, and I was able to capitalize.
Caleb and Ben both lost their games again, against Khador and Skorne respectively.
Round 3
This time, we were paired against a team that I think was all Retribution. My memory of match choosing is vague for game. I think I decided to dodge Rahn, and the other team gave their least experienced player the favorable matchup.
I was up against an Elara 2/Ossyan pair. I dropped Makeda 3 because I thought she'd handle Elara better. My opponent dropped:
Elara, Death's Shadow (*28pts) - Legions of Dawn
*Manticore (14pts)
*Manticore (14pts)
Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir (0pts)
*Griffon (8pts)
Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir (0pts)
*Griffon (8pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)
*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)
*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)
*Weapon Attachment (Soulless Escort) (1pt)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (8pts)
The theme benefits are: marshalled warjacks gain Flank [Dawnguard], and a 2" extended deployment zone.
I won the roll-off, and went first again. I was a little drained for this game, so my picture-taking is a little less consistent than the other games.
I ran my stuff up, and Makeda put Vortex of Destruction on herself and Hand of Death on the Animantrax. Crucially, I did my counting right this time, and wouldn't have to take any needless frenzy checks next turn.
My opponent ran his stuff up as well, setting his threat ranges deep. The Griffons would threaten 17" if I gave them their Righteous Vengeance moves.
Being out-threated, I moved up, and screened Molik, the Gladiator, and Makeda with my lights. I did a little shooting on the lead Sentinels, but I mostly held out and braced for the charge.
My opponent ran the left Sentinels, and charged in with the Manticores and right Sentinels. All told, they did a lot of damage, slaughtering most of my screen of lights, and killing Molik, which meant my best counter to the Sentinel swarm was out of the game. My opponent also scored 3pts - two for controlling the round zones, and one for controlling his own rectangle with Elara.
I answered as best I could, with Makeda killing a Griffon and a Manticore, and the Gladiator killing the other Manticore. The SA charged into the Sentinels on the right, but didn't do enough damage. My opponent had a very real opportunity to win on scenario this coming turn. All he had to do was clear the right zone (the left had too much of my stuff in it).
In the end, he made a big mistake. Elara stayed put to score my opponent's rectangle, and the Sentinels finished the Animantrax, clearing the right zone. However, one of the Sentinels remained out of the zone to attack one of the Exalted Guardians. So the whole unit of Sentinels was not in the zone, and was thus unable to score. My opponent definitely has the moral victory here, but we kept playing.
Makeda charged an Arcanist, used Blood Boon to kill another Arcanist with Eliminator, and used the Eliminator move to advance into Elara. Elara died to 2 attacks.
Victory to the Skorne!
My opponent really deserved the win on this one. I got sloppy with Molik, and let him get killed off. Elara's massive threat ranges were really getting into my head. This matchup might have been played out better by Mak1 in retrospect. Mak3 had plenty of power to kill off those Sentinels, but it was hard for me to set up the alpha strike, and my opponent was too good to let me counter the way I needed to.
Ben also won his match, giving Team 4+ Tough our first and only victory of the night!
That was a lot of fun and a whole new format for me. I'll definitely try to wrangle a couple players for a team next year, and maybe if I have the free time, I'll try out for one of the Twin Cities meta's ATC teams too.
Next up, the singles tournament. I'll probably have it up by some times next week. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up some semi-regular posting this time around. Thanks for reading!
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