I got a couple more games in on Saturday afternoon. This one was against Absylonia and the newly spoiled Archangel.
I've been getting back into pHexeris recently. He has a lot of cool tricks and tools for various situations, and he was the second Warlock I really learned to like (after pMakeda). I went with:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
The list is a Tier 1 Kingdom of Shadow theme force, so Hexy gets to start with his upkeep spells in play. In general, the list looks pretty well rounded and quite fun. It has a cheap and effective infantry screen in the Death Marched Swordsmen, a highly mobile arc-node in the Archidon, and good support and denial from the Agonizer and Soulward. Marketh will help Hexeris make the most of his magical offense.
My main concern is cracking heavy armor, especially super-heavy armor. The Gladiator and Cannoneer both hit hard, but I normally like the extra power of a Bronzeback with pHexeris to combat beast and jack heavy lists, and to always threaten an assassination few casters can survive. I'm optimistic that the Archidon's flexibility will make up for the Bronzeback's brute force.
My opponent, Jen, went with:
Absylonia, Terror of Everblight (+5)
*Archangel (20)
*Angelius (9)
*Raek (4)
6 Blighted Nyss Swordsmen (5)
The Forsaken (2)
The newly revealed Legion Colossal under Absylonia. The list in general has a lot of powerful shooting, and nasty close combat ability powered by Absylonia's upkeep spells. The list seems flexible enough to deal with infantry or heavies, and it will be hard to predict where it will come down with the flying/shooting of the Angelius and Archangel.
The list's biggest weakness is attrition. With only a few infantry, the warbeasts won't have much of a screen. The beasts, while powerful offensively, can't take hits very well with their low Armor, and they'll be vulnerable to counterattacks if the Blighted Swordsmen get cleared away.
Deployment:
Terrain was pretty even. There were forests and low walls surrounding the center of the table, leaving a nice open space for the main battle, while giving vulnerable and important models somewhere to hide.
I won the roll off, and chose to go second, since this list wants to have bottom of turn 1 spell channeling to kill solos and infantry before it gets jammed. I started with Death March on the Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on the Archidon.
Jen predeployed the Archangel behind a forest, then deployed the Angelius and Absylonia next to it on the left side, and the The Forsaken and Raek next to it on the right. The Swordsmen deployed on her left flank, where they could run around the wall to access my support pieces.
I chose to refuse the left side, deploying most of my stuff on the right. If I didn't have to worry about the Swordsmen until Turn 3, so much the better. I deployed my Swordsmen and Archidon together on the right side of the table opposite the Raek, and the Titans and Paingivers opposite the Angelius. Hexeris deployed between the two groups where either Swordsmen or Titans could screen him if needed. The Agonizer and Extoller went near Hexeris, and Marketh went behind the Swordsmen.
Turn 1: Legion
The Legion Warbeasts advanced cautiously. The Angelius and Archangel ended up at the edge of the forest (though only the Angelius would get concealment). Absylonia ended up in cover behind a wall, and cast Forced Evolution on the Angelius bringing it up to Def 16, then cast Carnivore on the Archangel for extra Mat and healing. The Raek and The Forsaken advanced to support them. The Swordsmen ran straight down the left side, angle to cut into my flank on the next turn.
The Legion army was well placed to take advantage of its ranged game, but was playing pretty conservatively otherwise. It definitely had the firepower and speed to force me to engage on its terms if I wasn't careful, though.
Turn 1: Skorne
I ran with almost everything. The Swordsmen spread out pretty far to avoid being killed by strafing AoE's. The Archidon rad forward, flying to get around the wall at Absylonia on my next turn. The Titans ran forward to support it. Hexeris put 5 Fury onto the Agonizer, and ran a bit forward, the Paingivers, Extoller, and Marketh all ran as well. The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain, and ran up to try to catch my Warbeasts in its protective bubble to be on the safe side.
I was just hoping to set up some charges for my next turn. I'd get shot up, maybe even a lot, on Jen's coming turn (it's hard to predict with Strafe), but I thought I'd prevented charges fairly well. I'd angled my forces so that the Nyss Swordsmen would be out of charge range next turn.
Turn 2: Legion
Absylonia upkept her spells for free. The Blighted Swordsmen continued to run down my flank, positioning themselves around the low wall where my Cannoneer would be ineffective against them, but where they could still charge me unless I continued to pull back. The Archangel advanced, and tried to strafe down some swordsmen, but only killed the initial target. Absylonia did some quick CTRL measurements, and discovered that my Archidon was within charge range of the Angelius. Luckily for me, the Angeulius missed with its Armor Piercing charge attack, and the Archidon lived. Absylonia stayed behind her wall, and cast Blight Field, catching my Archidon. The Raek and The Forsaken moved up to support the Archangel.
The Angelius hadn't killed the Archidon, but it was still Def 16, which meant it was jamming me pretty effectively. The Blight Field was well placed too: any Titans I charged in would have to end their movement in the Field, and wouldn't be able to hit the Angelius without Forcing to boost attack rolls. Blight Field prevents Warbeasts from forcing at all. The first thing I'd have to do is take care of the Angelius, then I could worry about engaging the rest of the Legion.
Turn 2: Skorne
The Swordsmen took their Vengeance moves, advancing toward the Archangel. Hexeris upkept Death March, and Marketh upkept Soul Slave with a soul token. The Paingivers activated first, Enraging both the Archidon and the Gladiator. The Archidon needed Enrage so I could charge out of the Blight Field. I wanted the Gladiator to have it just in case I failed with everything else. The Archidon charged the Angelius, leaving the Blight Field. It missed with its charge attack, but got a Critical Pitch with its bought attack. I tried to throw the Angelius toward Hexeris, but it scattered right back to where it had started.
The Angelius absolutely had to go, so Hexeris charged it. He spent a lot of his Fury killing it, but managed to top himself off a little with Vampiric Reaving, and ended the turn camping 4. The Swordsmen received a Charge order. Two of them charged the Archangel, 1 charged the Raek, and the rest ran around Hexeris to prevent the Archangel from landing anywhere near him, except one who ran to engage Absylonia. They also did some damage to the beasts. The Gladiator Rushed herself, and Trampled into a decent flanking position with LoS to Absylonia. The Agonizer continued to use Gnawing Pain, and ran up to support my beasts. The Extoller and Marketh chilled out behind the Swordsmen and got ready to collect some souls. The Cannoneer moved sideways to get to the center of my army where it could shoot at multiple threats if I wanted.
I was in a pretty good position. Hexeris was far forward, but was well screened and sitting on a lot of Fury. I'd also taken care of the Angelius, and shifted to my right just enough that I was sure the Nyss Swordsmen were out of charge range. The Angelius was a pretty significant loss for the Legion. Without it harassing me, the only threat I'd really have to worry about was the Archangel.
Turn 3: Legion
Absylonia upkept Carnivore on the Archangel, and activated first. She gave herself Flight, used Shadow Shift, then moved into the forest behind the Archangel, and cast Playing God on the Raek. The Forsaken advanced and used its Blight Shroud(?) ability to do a Pow 8 hit to two Swordsmen, but only killed one. The Raek then used Shadow Shift on itself, advanced through the cloud of Swordsmen, and Bounding Leaped into melee with Hexeris. Then it tried to Power Attack: Throw him toward the Archangel. It was full on Fury, however, so it missed. The Archangel killed the Swordsmen in combat with it. The Nyss Swordsmen ran toward my lines, threatening my Gladiator and Paingivers next turn.
Things were not looking good for the Legion. If the Raek had thrown Hexeris, he would certainly have died. Now the Raek would probably die, and Jen's army wasn't threatening to do much damage to me in retaliation.
Turn 3: Skorne
The Praetorian Swordsmen took their Vengeance moves, and did some damage to the Raek. Hexeris upkept both his spells. The Swordsmen activated first, and charged. Four charged the Raek, 3 charged the Archangel, and one charged The Forsaken. They killed the Forsaken and the Raek, and did some more damage to the Archangel. Hexeris Vampirically Reaved the Raek's Fury, putting himself back up at 7. Then Hexeris moved back a bit, used his Feat, Dark Dominion, which lets him temporarily take control of living and undea models boxed in his CTRL. Then he cast Soulfire at the Archangel, and camped 4 Fury again, playing it safe. Marketh advanced, and used Spell Slave to cast Soulfire at the Archangel.
The Extoller used Guidance on the Cannoneer, who shot the Nyss Swordsmen through the forest. The cannon blast killed two, and the rest killed each other due to Hexeris' Feat. The Paingivers conditioned the Archidon and Cannoneer, and the Archidon charged the Archangel, which was now about two thirds of the way dead. The Gladiator advanced to set up a charge on the Archangel.
The Archangel was the Legion's last offensive piece. Absylonia would use her feat next turn to bring it back to full health, but its defensive stats are actually pretty bad. Before the game I'd had some irrational fears about it being as hard to hit as an Angelius and as hard to damage as a Devastator, but I now felt a lot more confident that I could deal with it. There wasn't much the Legion could do to me now. Hexeris was too far back for the Archangel to charge, and had too much Fury for it to kill him with shooting.
Turn 4: Legion
Absylonia upkept Carnivore, then used her Feat, Panacaea, to return the Archangel to full health. She camped the rest of her Fury. The Archangel killed the Archidon and one of the Swordsmen in contact with it.
Turn 4: Skorne
The Swordsmen took their Vengeance moves, and Hexeris upkept Death March. Hexeris Rushed the Gladiator and cast Soulfire at the Archangel. Marketh also cast Soulfire at the Archangel. The Paingivers Enraged the Gladiator, and the Gladiator charged the Archangel, killing it.
Since it was now Absylonia against most of my army, Jen conceded the game.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts:
I played a solid game throughout. I made one mistake early on, where I almost got my Archidon killed by leaving it in range of the Angelius, but otherwise, I was conservative with my troops and Warlock, and used my attrition game to grind down the Legion army. I was particularly good with the Praetorian Swordsmen this game; I struck a good balance of dealing damage and occupying space, and they performed very well.
I really, really like the list I went with, and it will probably replace my usual pHexeris list. I might end up replacing the Cannoneer with a Titan Sentry, which is tougher and has good denial with Locker, but I do get good use out of the gun every game. The Archidon was great, and while I didn't do much channeling through it, I definitely got some decent use out of its fighting ability, and forced Jen to think about engaging it and avoiding its LoS. PHexeris does have a decent spell assassination, and the Archidon has the mobility to let him set it up. I also really like Marketh with pHexeris. Spell Slave and Soul Tap are just the abilities Hexeris needs to manage his support spells so he can use his Fury to focus on killing enemies with his offensive spells (or in this game, melee attacks).
Jen made two major mistakes this game. The first was deploying her Nyss Swordsmen on the flank rather than in front of her beasts. Admittedly, 6 Swordsmen aren't much of a screen, but they might have denied my some of the moves I ended up making if they'd been protecting the heavier models. The second was forgetting to boost with the Angelius' charge attack. If it had hit, my Archidon would probably be dead, and it would have been a bit harder to take the Angelius out without the Archidon's attacks. Jen used the Angelius well otherwise - dealing with a Def 16 heavy on top of Blight Field's denial is pretty hard, and it forced me to put Hexeris further forward than I'd like him to be. She also managed to get the Raek into Hexeris. It was a long shot, but I've seen longer ones end games before.
I'm not sure I like the Archangel at 35pts. At Def 11 Arm 18, it's very fragile for something so big and expensive. It had no screen this game, and Jen had to keep it back, where it couldn't make the most of its offensive potential, to keep it alive. After the game, Jen decided Absylonia would probably be better off with a Carnivean and a Ravagore, to have more warbeasts and better attrition.
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