So I played another tournament, and had a super fun time. It was a 4 round 50pt SR 2013 with 2 lists and Specialists.
I ran Makeda and the Exalted Court, and Supreme Aptimus Zaal:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Specialists:
Paingiver Bloodrunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5pts) - Immortal Host Tier 3
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
*Kovass ( - )
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Specialists:
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Game 1 vs. Ken's Trollbloods
He had eDoomshaper with the Mountain King and eMadrak. The scenario was Chemical Reaction, which has 2 zones and 2 objectives, one each on each player's side of the table. Dominating your zone gets you one point, as does destroying your enemy's objective. Controlling your opponent's zone nets you 2 points, and dominating it nets you 3.
I went with Zaal to counter the Troll brick, and he went with Doomie:
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (+6pts)
*Mountain King (20pts)
*Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
*Troll Axer (6pts)
Kriel Stone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1pt)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pt)
Janessa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (5 Whelps) (2pts)
I'm not going to go into great detail about this game. Ken was just getting back into Hordes after a few months off, and he'd been kind of new even then. The short version is that he played a pretty strong game if the only condition had been caster kill, but he basically ignored the scenario. On the bottom of round 3, I was able to clear his zone, and win by controlling it and dominating my own for the 3rd straight turn.
Game 2 vs. Lust's Trollbloods
He had pGrissel with infantry and Long Riders and pDoomshaper's Runes of War Tier 4. The scenario was Supply and Demand: One control zone in the center,
and two destructible objectives on either player's side. Players score
one point for controlling the center, two for dominating it, and one for destroying the enemy's objective. Warlocks cannot dominate the zone while the enemy's objective is in their control are.
I picked Zaal again, because Runes of War would lock Makeda 3 down. He picked Grissel:
Grissel Bloodsong (+5pts)
*Pyre Troll (5pts)
*Storm Troll (5pts)
*Troll Impaler (5pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Kriel Warriors Musician and Standard Bearer (2pts)
*3 Caber Throwers (3pts)
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts)
Kriel Stone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1pt)
Horthol, Long Rider Champion (5pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Saxon Orrick (2pts)
Lust won the roll off, and decided to go first. He deployed the Kriel Warriors on the right, the Long Riders and Horthol on the left, and Grissel, her Warbeasts, and the Kriel Stone in the middle. Saxon deployed in front of the Long Riders, and the Fell Caller deployed behind the Kriel Warriors.
I deployed the Immortals against the Long Riders on the right, and the Swordsmen against the Kriel Warriors on the left. I was somewhat worried about his Warbeasts getting a ranged assassination on Zaal, so I went for the Krea and Brute over the Cannoneer. They all went in the middle, with Extollers behind them, and AG's Advance Deploying in front of the list.
Round 1
Lust put all of Grissel's Fury on the stone, and had everybody run, with Grissel ending up behind a wall. She used her Hoof It Fell Call to get the Kriel Warriors even further up.
I ran most of my list up. Zaal put Last Stand on my lead AG, passed out a Soul, and put Spiritual Awakening on the Raider. Marketh also walked, and put Inviolable Resolve on Hakaar for +2 Armor. The AG's ended up just behind the first line of infantry, except the lead AG, who was just ahead.
Round 2
Lust charged the Long Riders at the Immortals, and killed 4. Then Grissel walked up, and hit the lead AG with Calamity. The Kriel Stone put up its Aura again, and used it to deny Incorporeal within the bubble. The Troll Impaler damaged the lead AG. Then the Kriel Warriors charged the Swordsmen, killing 2 or 3, and the lead AG, finishing it off. Finally, the Pyre Troll shot down the Kovass with its AoE.
Lust had meant to use Hoof It on the Kriel Warriors to move them in front of Grissel, but he'd forgotten, and now the only thing between her and Hakaar was one Long Rider and a low wall. She was camping 2 Fury. I decided to go for the kill. I cleared out the Long Riders with no problem, put Last Stand on Hakaar, and Feated. Then he charged Grissel. Due to a few bum damage rolls, he came up 2 short. I had Marketh swap Last Stand to a nearby AG, who also tried to charge, but had a tricky angle due to the Immortals, and came up a quarter inch short. The Swordsmen used their Mini-Feat to do automatic damage, and killed off some Kriel Warriors.
Round 3
Grissel held onto 4 Fury, and Feated Lust wasn't about to leave her open again. The Stone shut down Incorporeal again. The Long Riders killed some more Immortals, and the Kriel Warriors killed some more Swordsmen and the Kovass (which had popped out of Hakaar). The Storm Troll killed the AG which had failed its charge on Grissel, and the Kovass (again) with melee attacks.
I managed to kill off the last of the Long Riders with a Last Standed Shaman, though there was still Horthol to contend with, and put some damage on the Troll beasts with my Extollers. The AG and surviving swordsmen killed a few more Kriel Warriors. The Brute ran to screen Zaal.
Round 4
Lust methodically picked off the Extollers, the last AG, and the Kovass which popped out of it. Grissel put Heroic Call on Horthol, and moved well out of all my threat ranges. Horthol slammed the Brute into my objective, and finished it off in melee with good damage rolls.
I looked at the meager handful of models I had left, measured Zaal's Control Area to see if he could have Marketh Last Stand him for an assassination run, but he was out of range. I decided to concede, and let Lust have the scenario win.
Thoughts
I almost had that assassination run - statistically it should have been mine. Ultimately though, it was a greedy move. I should have played for attrition and done as much damage as I could to the Long Riders and Kriel Warriors. If Hakaar and the other AG's had been in a better position, I probably could have ground the Trollbloods out.
Except for forgetting Hoof It that one time, Lust played a very solid game, and contested me on every point. I overextended to try to kill Grissel, and he ground me down for it. Well played.
Game 3 vs. Caleb's Trollbloods
It was nice to get a game in against my co-blogger and frequent tiny-metal-dude-sparring partner Caleb in the tournament, although I was less than thrilled to be going up against Trolls again. I went with Makeda, because Zaal's activation order and time constraints had gone from exciting and fun to draining and stressful by the end of the last game, and I was up for a change of pace.
The scenario was Process of Elimination, which has 2 rectangular zones 8" apart in the center of the table, each with a destructible objective. Players score one point for destroying an objective or controlling a zone, and two points for dominating a zone. A player could only damage one objective per turn.
Caleb had pGrimm with a Mountain King, and a Calandra brick with with Champs and Mulg. He went with Calandra:
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (+5pts)
*Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
*Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
*Troll Axer (6pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Kriel Stone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1pt)
Caleb won the roll off, and decided to go second. We both set up in bricks across a mostly open table from each other. There were a couple of walls in the middle, but otherwise only the objectives were separating us.
Round 1
I ran up in my standard formation with all the melee beasts at the front, and the ranged beasts slightly behind. Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction on herself, and put 4 Fury over on the Agonizer.
Caleb had his whole army run, even Calandra, who put all her Fury on the Kriel Stone. The Kriel Stone used Protective Aura before running.
Round 2
I decided to get the first hit-and-run in on the brick. Molik Charged Skaldi on the left, and the Archidon charged the Mauler on the right under Lightning Strike (which the Shaman had cast on it). The Archidon did some damage, but failed to kill its target, but Molik killed Skaldi, and Fate Walked away.
That turned out to be a mistake. Caleb moved Calandra up, popped her Feat, and cast Star Crossed. Then she cast Befuddle on Molik, and walked him back into the Champs' charge range. Three charged in, and with the Axer's help, they finished Molik off easily. The Mauler killed the Archidon without breaking a sweat, and the Earthborn destroyed the right objective, netting Caleb a point. Mulg charged up to support his Dire Troll Brethren, and used his Animus, Rune Breaker, to shut down Makeda 3's potent spellcasting on my coming turn.
Round 3
Apparently, this was an excellent time to outdo myself in the mistake-making department. After the Gladiator cleared out two intervening Champs, I had Makeda activate, pop her Feat, and walk into combat with the 3 Dire Trolls. Her Exalted Guardian failed to scratch the paint on one of the Champs, and Makeda herself just about took out Mulg, but failed.
Ugh. I didn't concede, because Makeda is made of pretty stern stuff, but I didn't hold out much hope either. The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain to give Makeda's armor an effective boostie, then I had the Warbeasts wipe out the three remaining champs and the right objective to leave me on 4 Fury. At the end of the turn, I controlled the right zone, so I had 2 Control points.
Caleb did not miss the opportunity. The Mauler frenzied into Makeda, doing 1 damage. Then the Kriel Stone handed out its Arm and Strength bonus. Calandra tried to knock her down with Force Blow, but came up short on the damage roll. The Earthborn swung in, dealing some damage with multiple boosted P+S 21 (yikes!) attacks. Makeda and the Gladiator both took a beating. Then Mulg head-butted Makeda, knocking her down, and made 3 more attacks against her. When the dust had settled, the Gladiator was dead, but Makeda was alive at 3 boxes...
Round 4
I leached Fury and upkept Vortex of Destruction, and started off with Makeda.
As I started making attacks, Caleb remembered the Kriel Stone's Strength bonus, and said he'd forgotten to apply it to Mulg's last 3 attacks (he'd remembered for the Earthborn and Mauler though). Makeda was at 3 boxes, and the Gladiator had been her only transfer target, so I offered him the game. He didn't want to win by remembering his rules a turn too late, though, so he let me finish my turn, which just goes to show that Caleb is an awesome guy. Looking back on it, I actually think Caleb was rolling correctly at dice -1 on Makeda's effective Arm of 21. Mulg would have been at P+S 20: 19 base, +1 thanks to the Kriel Stone. I'm not super reliable at remembering things that happen while I'm stressed out and sleep deprived, though, so I could easily be wrong here.
Makeda killed Mulg, and cast a free Ground Zero with Blood Boon, because she could. Then the Bronzeback attacked the Axer, Beat Back its way to Calandra, and killed her.
Thoughts
Well I didn't deserve that win by any stretch of the imagination. I made a bad mistake on turn 2, when I got Molik and the Archidon killed, then decided to more or less hand Caleb my Warlock on turn 3. Admittedly, if Makeda had rolled a little better on damage, she'd have killed Mulg, and wouldn't have been in such a pickle. Still, I've learned a valuable lesson about not doing the exact opposite of what you should do in Warmachine.
Caleb probably should have Head-Butted Makeda with the Earthborn, which would have settle her right then and there, but forgot about it until Mulg's activation. Other than that, though, he played a tight, conservative game, and took advantage of my stupendous mistakes. Only Makeda's extreme toughness (and probably not even that, since Caleb was forgetting about the Strength buff for Mulg)
Game 4 vs. Todd's Cygnar
I wanted to actually do Makeda 3 justice here (and not luck out), so I went with her again. Todd was playing an eCaine infantry swarm, and a balanced eHaley list with a Stormwall and some Cavalry. He went with Haley, on the grounds that Caine probably couldn't handle Makeda's wall of beasts.
I decided I'd want some infantry cushion for my brick, since I'd probably get hit first, so I swapped out the Archidon for the Bloodrunners and Willbreaker.
Major Victoria Haley (+5pts)
*Stormwall (19pts)
*Lancer (6pts)
*Squire (2pts)
Storm Lances (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
*Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4pts)
Journeyman Warcaster (3pts)
Ragman (2pts)
The Scenario was Rally Point. There are two zones, one on each player's half of the table, and two objectives. You can teleport the objectives 5" by dominating them, and they count as your Warlock/Warcaster for the purpose of dominating zones. Players scored one point for destroying their opponents' objectives, one point for dominating their zone or controlling their opponents,' and 2 points for dominating their opponents' zone.
I won the roll off, and decided to go first. I deployed in my standard brick, right behind my objective. I would be ready to play any kind of game, but I would probably try for assassination or attrition rather than try to contest a spread out scenario against a caster with eHaley's level of control.
He deployed Haley, the Stormwall, Junior, and the Squire near my zone on
the left, the Gun Mages and Aiyanna and Holt in the middle with Ragman,
and the Storm Lances and Lancer on the right.
Round 1
I ran and charged up with Vortex or Destruction on Makeda, 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and Paralytic Auras up on the Shaman and Krea.
Todd ran the Lances and Lancer, and tried to blast me with the Stormwall's big guns, but was just out of range. The Stormwall did put some Covering Fire in front of Haley to stop the Bloodrunners from running up and pinning her in place. Then, the Gun Mages advanced and killed 2 Bloodrunners, and Aiyanna and Holt and the Ragman ran. Todd also moved his objective up near his zone, something I'd forgotten to do.
Round 2
I continued to sprint for the Stormwall and Haley, throwing most of my army into my Zone (which was contested by at Storm Pod, annoyingly). Sadly, I forgot to move one of Makeda's Exalted Guardians with her unit, and she was crushed underfoot when the Gladiator was forced to trample over her. Whoops. I used the Bloodrunners to block off access to my army as much as possible, and tried to get the Agonizer in range to keep Focus off the Stormwall (though I came up short). All my models ended up on the right side of the table in front of the Storm Wall, and out of range of the Storm Lances. Haley's Feat was coming up, and I didn't want to eat two Cavalry charges in a row.
Predictably, Haley Feated. The Cygnaran shooting killed the Tyrant Commander's Standard Bearer, all but one Bloodrunner, the Agonizer and the Mortitheurge Willbreaker. The Storm Lances and Lancer ran again, sweeping in to cut my army off from Todd's zone next turn. Todd also teleported his objective into his zone to start scoring.
Round 3
My army mostly fuffled around, and set up in a more defensive position, putting the Exalted Guardian, and last Bloodrunner between my power pieces and the Stormwall. Makeda managed to pull a hit-and-run with Eliminator on the Gun Mages, killing 2 and moving back to safety. I also managed to score a point this turn, but Todd now had two.
The Stormwall killed off the Exalted Guardian with shooting, and popped a Pod out to contest my zone. The Storm Lances and Lancer ran to keep my Army out of his zone. If he could stop me from contesting it, he'd win on his next turn. The Gun Mages and Aiyanna and Holt also advanced, and did some damage to the Gladiator and Krea with their shooting.
Round 4
If I didn't get something into Todd's zone, he'd win. The Tyrant Commander used Press Forward on Makeda to counteract Time Bomb, and moved out of the way. Makeda Feated, advanced into melee, and cut a swathe of death through the Cygnaran lines. She wiped out the Gun Mages, Aiyanna, Holt, the Journeyman, and 2 Storm Lances, and ended her activation camping one Fury. The Gladiator killed off 2 other Storm Lances, and the last one failed its Cmd check. The Shaman turned and Rushed Molik Karn. Molik charged and killed the Ragman about 12" away, then Side Stepped into the Lancer, hit it, then Side Stepped past it. I remembered to cast Fate Walker (so Molik could actually contest Todd's zone) before I started wrecking the Lancer. The Lancer went down to Molik's next attacks.
The next second, I said "That's it, I'm done." And the second after that, I said "Waitwaitwait! Fate Walker!"
Todd called me on my words, and again I found myself offering my opponent the game after a stupid, avoidable mistake. However, he said it was pretty clear what I'd intended to do, so we could have a roll-off about it. I won the roll, and Molik moved 6" into Todd's zone. Basically, Todd is also an awesome guy.
Todd basically had one chance to kill Makeda. He had Haley use Temporal Acceleration on the Stormwall, and Telekinesis on Makeda, turning her to face away from it. Then it charged in full of Focus, but Makeda was camping 4 Fury, and it failed to kill her.
After that, Todd conceded. The Wall would likely go down to the Bronzeback, and Haley would likely die to Molik once the Possibility of Free Strikes from it was removed.
Thoughts
I actually played a very solid game this time, and I have no major complaints about the way I handled eHaley or the scenario in general. Refusing one flank was the right choice, and the Lances didn't get to run amok through my list. I was still able to defend my zone, and force Haley to win on scenario the long way by dominating hers. I definitely had a couple embarrassing brain farts, like forgetting to move my objective, and forgetting my Exalted Guardian on turn two and having to crush her under my Gladiator. And of course, declaring the end of my turn a second before I intended to move Molik Karn.
Todd also played solidly, focusing on the long game, and keeping me cordoned off away from his zone. He might actually have succeeded in pulling off that win if he'd spread his forces a little thinner while blocking me off. His placement was good for preventing a model from running or trampling over to contest the zone, but dense enough for an army with a lot of movement tricks like Molik and Makeda under her Feat to actually gain ground from every kill.
Overall Thoughts
Another incredibly fun tournament! I went 3-1, which was good enough to get me 3rd overall. Lust, my opponent from game 2, took 1st, and Zackstack, who'd come in from Mankato with Zaal, eMakeda, and a great attitude, took 2nd. Although I'm happy to have done well, I'm a little annoyed to have done so with possible rules irregularities in 2 of my games, especially the one against Caleb. I beat him most of the time, and it would have been cool for him to finally get me this time in an official match.
I had a lot of fun overall, and got some good experience in with Makeda 3 and Zaal, who are very fun and rewarding to play, as well as very strong.
I'm a little burned out on them for the moment though, so I'll probably be focusing on Retribution for a while (and maybe pMakeda and pMorghoul, who I haven't picked up in a few months).
Thanks to all my opponents, who were all courteous, classy, and fun to play against, and to Jamie, who orchestrated the event. I'll try to be at the official Convergence of Cyriss release event this July, but my schedule is very fluid right now, and it might not happen.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Practice Battle Reports with Makeda 3 and Zaal
I got to play 3 games this past Friday, so these reports will be pretty quick.
Game 1
I ran the Makeda 3 list I'm considering for the tournament:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
My opponent, Eric, had just assembled some shiny new Convergence models Ted had brought him from Lock n' Load last weekend, so he played Forge Father Syntherion, the Convergence's 'jack 'caster, and a mess load of Vectors:
Forge Father Syntherion
*Prime Axiom
*Inverter
*Cipher
*Galvanizer
*Galvanizer
*Mitigator
*Mitigator
*Corollary
3 Accretion Servitors
I may be missing some models, but the basic gist is a lot of Warjacks, and a little support to keep them up. Syntherion has Synergy too, which means this list is going to be get pretty scary pretty fast in melee.
We played Incursion, which is the scenario with 3 flags at mid-table where one of them disappears at the end of round 1.
Eric won the roll-off, and went first.
Deployment
Eric deployed in a big brick in the middle surrounding the Prime Axiom. I deployed in a smaller brick just left of center, playing for the left and center objectives, but close enough to the right one that I could get to it if I needed to.
Round 1
Most of the Convergence army ran. Syntherion cast Hot Shot on the Prime Axiom, Reconstruct on the Inverter, and Synergy on himself.
I put up Vortex of Destruction, put 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and did a lot of running. I mingled the Exalted Guardians in to keep Shield Guard up on my whole army, and had the Krea and Shaman put up Paralytic Aura to blunt my opponent's shooting on his turn.
The right flag disappeared.
Round 2
Eric advanced with most of his army, and started shooting. He forgot to face the Prime Axiom directly at Molik, so it only shot one of its tow cables at him. It shot the other cable at the Bronzeback. Both models were saved by the Exalted Guardians, who were destroyed. It also popped out a self-destruct Servitor with Counter-Charge. Some other shots came in, but thanks to Paralytic Aura, I was basically ok.
Makeda Feated, and charged the Prime Axiom. She hit it twice, then cast Fate Walker. The Shaman cast Rush on the Bronzeback, and moved up. The Bronzeback charged the Prime Axiom, and put Train Wreck on itself. Then it mulched the colossal, and beat back into an Accretion Servitor and one of the light 'jacks, which it failed to kill due to some bad luck. Molik charged in, and dropped the Inverter, but I'd forgotten it was the one with Reconstruct, so it popped up again behind him. I tried to finish it off by Rushing the Gladiator, and charging it, but I was just out of range. I ended up by engaging another light with the Archidon, controlling the left flag with the Krea, and running the Agonizer up to deny allocation. Finally, Makeda Fate Walked back to about 7" behind the Bronzeback.
Round 3
Eric started off by charging the Bronzeback with Syntherion, and Feating. Then proceeded to munch through Molik, the Gladiator, and the Bronzeback with Synergized 'jacks while taking pot shots at my unengaged models. At the end of the turn, I only had the Archidon and support models left.
And Makeda, who was pretty clearly within her charge range of Syntherion. She charged in and killed him.
Victory to the Skorne!
Game 2
I went with Zaal this time:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Cyclops Raider (5)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
*Kovass ( - )
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard (2)
10 Immortals (8)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
This is a Tier 3 Immortal Host, so the AG's and Hakaar had Advance Deploy, and the Extollers and Marketh started with 3 Souls each.
My opponent, Ben, played:
Durgen Madhammer (+6)
*Wroughthammer Rockram (8)
*Ghordson Driller (6)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
Cylena Raefyll and 9 Nyss Hunters (10)
6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (6)
*Gun Mage Officer (2)
*Mule (8)
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (4)
Eiryss, Angel of the Retribution (3)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper or Ord (2)
Thor Steinhammer (2)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1)
This is a Highborn Covenant list, which allows it to take Gun Mages and Longgunners, and gives a lot of the solos Advance Deploy.
Ben won the roll-off, and chose to go first. We played Incursion again, because it was all set up.
Deployment
Ben Deployed Durgen near a hill, and put the Nyss on his left (from my perspective). His two 'jacks went to his right, and the Gun Mages and their 'jack went on the far right.
I deployed in a big line, with Immortals on the left, and Swordsmen on the right. The Beasts went in between clumps of Immortals and Swordsmen, and Zaal, Marketh and the Extollers went behind the center side of the Immortals unit where they were near a handy hill and wall.
Ben deployed most of his solos in his deployment zone, but let Alexia Advance Deploy on the left, while Eiryss did so on the right.
I deployed my AG's in a line in front of my infantry, with Hakaar more or less in front of Zaal.
Round 1
Ben did a lot of running. Prime went on the Nyss Hunters. Alexia ran right around a wall to threaten me quickly on the next turn.
I advanced more cautiously. The infantry ran as far up as it could. Zaal put Spiritual Awakening on the Raider to let it cast Far Strike for Free, Last Stand on one of the Ancestral Guardians, and Far Strike on the Cannoneer. He was well out of Ben's threat ranges, so I also had him hand out Souls. The Raider advanced, and tried to kill Alexia, but failed spectacularly. The Cannoneer advanced, and shot a Nyss Hunter, who exploded. The AG's maneuvered around inside the infantry clump except the Last Stand one, who dashed out in front to screen the Immortals' advance.
The center flag disappeared.
Round 2
Ben advanced a bit, but didn't close to melee with me. His shooting killed the Last Stand AG, which became a Kovass. Then Alexia killed the Kovass with Hellfire. Other shooting accounted for a few Swordsmen, which loaded me up with some souls. Durgen also cast Inhospitable Ground, making his 12" control area rough terrain for me, and keeping me at arm's length.
The Raider shot at Alexia again, but failed to kill her. Zaal put Far Strike on the Cannoneer, and Last Stand on the Immortals, and camped 3. The Immortals charged what Nyss they could reach, killed one, and claimed the left flag. The Swordsmen and rightmost AG charged the Gun Mages, and killed a few. The Swordsmen also claimed the right flag. The other stuff in my list advanced, and Marketh put Inviolable Resolve back on the Immortals in case a lot of blasts came their way.
I scored 2 points, and called it a turn.
Round 3
Ben charged the Nyss at the Immortals, killing 4 more, and directed some heavy shooting at Hakaar, though he lived. The unengaged Gun Mages killed a bunch more Swordsmen, leaving them at 5 models, and filling me up on souls. Durgen also cast Inhospitable Ground again, turtling up behind his 'jacks. Eiryss ran to contest the right flag.
After some Vengeance, both Righteous and ordinary, Zaal activated. He Feated, letting models in his control area use the models I'd lost to boost melee attack and damage rolls, cast Last Stand on the Immortals, and charged a Kayazy. He stopped when he contacted an Immortal, and ended up base to base with the left flag. The surviving Immortals cleared out the Nyss contesting the left flag, ensuring that I'd dominate it. Then the Ancestral Guardian near the right flag moved base-to-base with it, survived a free strike from Eiryss, and killed her to control the flag.
I scored 3 points for controlling the right flag, and dominating the left flag, and won on scenario.
Victory to the Skorne!
Game 3
This was a 35pt game with Makeda 3, because I had to leave pretty quickly.
I played:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
I was up against Ben again, and he played:
Drake MacBain (+6)
*Nomad (6)
*Buccaneer (3)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
10 Kayazy Assassins (8)
*Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4)
Wrong Eye (9)
*Snapjaw ( - )
Eiryss, Angel of the Retribution (3)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
I won the roll-off, and decided to go first.
We played Incursion again, because the flags were still on the table :P
I deployed in my standard tight brick, while Ben deployed in a more spread out formation with his Kayazy opposing my Warbeasts to slow them down.
Round 1
I put up Vortex of Destruction, and ran/charged/trampled my army forward.
Ben ran most of his models as well, and Eiryss shot down one of the Gobbers. MacBain put Failsafe on the Nomad. Rhupert gave the Kayazy +1 Def and Terror.
But Ben had made a terrible mistake. He left a single Kayazy in Molik's threat range.
And the middle flag disappeared again, because of course it did.
Round 2
Makeda advanced, cast Fate Walker on herself, and Feated. The Bronzeback put Train Wreck on Molik, and Trampled forward to just in front of Makeda.
Molik charged the Kayazy he could reach, boosted the hit, removed the Fury as it died, and bounced 3" into another Kayazy. He boosted that to hit as well, removed the Fury as it died, and bounced to a Kayazy about 3" in front of Drake. He hit and killed that Kayazy and one other to reach Drake with 4 open Fury slots. I rubbed my hands with glee. The first hit took off about 2/3 of Drake's health. The second hit disabled him.
He made his Tough check. Molik bought his last attack, which would automatically hit and damage Drake.
He made his Tough check.
Uh oh.
The Gladiator rushed itself and advanced. The Savage charged, but didn't quite reach Holt.
Ben started out by having Gorman blind the Bronzeback. The Buccaneer charged Molik, and knocked him down with the Assault net. Aiyanna used Kiss of Lyliss on Molik to give him -2 Arm. The Nomad advanced, and dealt Molik a lot of damage. Wrong Eye charged Molik and finished him off. Drake got up, Feated to make a bunch of models auto-Tough for a round, and advanced. Snapjaw charged the Bronzeback, and nearly killed it. Some Kayazy charged the Bronzeback and the Savage, but didn't do much damage.
We had completely stopped caring about scenario at this point.
Round 3
The Bronzeback flailed around a bit. Makeda tried to pull off a Blood Booned Eliminator on Rhupert and Aiyanna, but missed, which left her dangerously exposed.
Ben capitalized. He knocked her down with the Buccaneer's net, debuffed her Arm with Kiss of Lylyss, and charged her with 3 Kayazy and Drake, who finished her off with Grievous Wounds.
Victory to the Mercenaries!
Thoughts on the Makeda and Zaal lists
The Zaal list is strong and very intuitive for me. I've basically got it right where I want it. Its firepower is a nice support that keeps the pressure on the enemy to engage, while its infantry component is highly effective in melee. Ben was afraid to engage completely because anything he sent in would be wrecked, and I won on scenario while he tried to whittle me down. Zaal is frail, so I think keeping the specialists a Krea and Brute to foil ranged assassinations is a good idea.
The Makeda 3 list is a little more complicated. She'll remove heavies and colossals with ease, but I'm scared of an alpha strike, which can hurt her a lot. I'm going to stick a small unit of Bloodrunners in as specialists to slow the enemy down enough that I can get my critical beasts into combat. Otherwise, the list has been performing well, and everything has been earning its keep.
I'll get some more practice games in this week, but this is my last report before the tournament. Thanks Ben and Eric for some awesome games!
Game 1
I ran the Makeda 3 list I'm considering for the tournament:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
My opponent, Eric, had just assembled some shiny new Convergence models Ted had brought him from Lock n' Load last weekend, so he played Forge Father Syntherion, the Convergence's 'jack 'caster, and a mess load of Vectors:
Forge Father Syntherion
*Prime Axiom
*Inverter
*Cipher
*Galvanizer
*Galvanizer
*Mitigator
*Mitigator
*Corollary
3 Accretion Servitors
I may be missing some models, but the basic gist is a lot of Warjacks, and a little support to keep them up. Syntherion has Synergy too, which means this list is going to be get pretty scary pretty fast in melee.
We played Incursion, which is the scenario with 3 flags at mid-table where one of them disappears at the end of round 1.
Eric won the roll-off, and went first.
Deployment
Eric deployed in a big brick in the middle surrounding the Prime Axiom. I deployed in a smaller brick just left of center, playing for the left and center objectives, but close enough to the right one that I could get to it if I needed to.
Round 1
Most of the Convergence army ran. Syntherion cast Hot Shot on the Prime Axiom, Reconstruct on the Inverter, and Synergy on himself.
I put up Vortex of Destruction, put 4 Fury on the Agonizer, and did a lot of running. I mingled the Exalted Guardians in to keep Shield Guard up on my whole army, and had the Krea and Shaman put up Paralytic Aura to blunt my opponent's shooting on his turn.
The right flag disappeared.
Round 2
Eric advanced with most of his army, and started shooting. He forgot to face the Prime Axiom directly at Molik, so it only shot one of its tow cables at him. It shot the other cable at the Bronzeback. Both models were saved by the Exalted Guardians, who were destroyed. It also popped out a self-destruct Servitor with Counter-Charge. Some other shots came in, but thanks to Paralytic Aura, I was basically ok.
Makeda Feated, and charged the Prime Axiom. She hit it twice, then cast Fate Walker. The Shaman cast Rush on the Bronzeback, and moved up. The Bronzeback charged the Prime Axiom, and put Train Wreck on itself. Then it mulched the colossal, and beat back into an Accretion Servitor and one of the light 'jacks, which it failed to kill due to some bad luck. Molik charged in, and dropped the Inverter, but I'd forgotten it was the one with Reconstruct, so it popped up again behind him. I tried to finish it off by Rushing the Gladiator, and charging it, but I was just out of range. I ended up by engaging another light with the Archidon, controlling the left flag with the Krea, and running the Agonizer up to deny allocation. Finally, Makeda Fate Walked back to about 7" behind the Bronzeback.
Round 3
Eric started off by charging the Bronzeback with Syntherion, and Feating. Then proceeded to munch through Molik, the Gladiator, and the Bronzeback with Synergized 'jacks while taking pot shots at my unengaged models. At the end of the turn, I only had the Archidon and support models left.
And Makeda, who was pretty clearly within her charge range of Syntherion. She charged in and killed him.
Victory to the Skorne!
Game 2
I went with Zaal this time:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Cyclops Raider (5)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
*Kovass ( - )
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard (2)
10 Immortals (8)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
This is a Tier 3 Immortal Host, so the AG's and Hakaar had Advance Deploy, and the Extollers and Marketh started with 3 Souls each.
My opponent, Ben, played:
Durgen Madhammer (+6)
*Wroughthammer Rockram (8)
*Ghordson Driller (6)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
Cylena Raefyll and 9 Nyss Hunters (10)
6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (6)
*Gun Mage Officer (2)
*Mule (8)
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (4)
Eiryss, Angel of the Retribution (3)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper or Ord (2)
Thor Steinhammer (2)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1)
This is a Highborn Covenant list, which allows it to take Gun Mages and Longgunners, and gives a lot of the solos Advance Deploy.
Ben won the roll-off, and chose to go first. We played Incursion again, because it was all set up.
Deployment
Ben Deployed Durgen near a hill, and put the Nyss on his left (from my perspective). His two 'jacks went to his right, and the Gun Mages and their 'jack went on the far right.
I deployed in a big line, with Immortals on the left, and Swordsmen on the right. The Beasts went in between clumps of Immortals and Swordsmen, and Zaal, Marketh and the Extollers went behind the center side of the Immortals unit where they were near a handy hill and wall.
Ben deployed most of his solos in his deployment zone, but let Alexia Advance Deploy on the left, while Eiryss did so on the right.
I deployed my AG's in a line in front of my infantry, with Hakaar more or less in front of Zaal.
Round 1
Ben did a lot of running. Prime went on the Nyss Hunters. Alexia ran right around a wall to threaten me quickly on the next turn.
I advanced more cautiously. The infantry ran as far up as it could. Zaal put Spiritual Awakening on the Raider to let it cast Far Strike for Free, Last Stand on one of the Ancestral Guardians, and Far Strike on the Cannoneer. He was well out of Ben's threat ranges, so I also had him hand out Souls. The Raider advanced, and tried to kill Alexia, but failed spectacularly. The Cannoneer advanced, and shot a Nyss Hunter, who exploded. The AG's maneuvered around inside the infantry clump except the Last Stand one, who dashed out in front to screen the Immortals' advance.
The center flag disappeared.
Round 2
Ben advanced a bit, but didn't close to melee with me. His shooting killed the Last Stand AG, which became a Kovass. Then Alexia killed the Kovass with Hellfire. Other shooting accounted for a few Swordsmen, which loaded me up with some souls. Durgen also cast Inhospitable Ground, making his 12" control area rough terrain for me, and keeping me at arm's length.
The Raider shot at Alexia again, but failed to kill her. Zaal put Far Strike on the Cannoneer, and Last Stand on the Immortals, and camped 3. The Immortals charged what Nyss they could reach, killed one, and claimed the left flag. The Swordsmen and rightmost AG charged the Gun Mages, and killed a few. The Swordsmen also claimed the right flag. The other stuff in my list advanced, and Marketh put Inviolable Resolve back on the Immortals in case a lot of blasts came their way.
I scored 2 points, and called it a turn.
Round 3
Ben charged the Nyss at the Immortals, killing 4 more, and directed some heavy shooting at Hakaar, though he lived. The unengaged Gun Mages killed a bunch more Swordsmen, leaving them at 5 models, and filling me up on souls. Durgen also cast Inhospitable Ground again, turtling up behind his 'jacks. Eiryss ran to contest the right flag.
After some Vengeance, both Righteous and ordinary, Zaal activated. He Feated, letting models in his control area use the models I'd lost to boost melee attack and damage rolls, cast Last Stand on the Immortals, and charged a Kayazy. He stopped when he contacted an Immortal, and ended up base to base with the left flag. The surviving Immortals cleared out the Nyss contesting the left flag, ensuring that I'd dominate it. Then the Ancestral Guardian near the right flag moved base-to-base with it, survived a free strike from Eiryss, and killed her to control the flag.
I scored 3 points for controlling the right flag, and dominating the left flag, and won on scenario.
Victory to the Skorne!
Game 3
This was a 35pt game with Makeda 3, because I had to leave pretty quickly.
I played:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
I was up against Ben again, and he played:
Drake MacBain (+6)
*Nomad (6)
*Buccaneer (3)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
10 Kayazy Assassins (8)
*Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4)
Wrong Eye (9)
*Snapjaw ( - )
Eiryss, Angel of the Retribution (3)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
I won the roll-off, and decided to go first.
We played Incursion again, because the flags were still on the table :P
I deployed in my standard tight brick, while Ben deployed in a more spread out formation with his Kayazy opposing my Warbeasts to slow them down.
Round 1
I put up Vortex of Destruction, and ran/charged/trampled my army forward.
Ben ran most of his models as well, and Eiryss shot down one of the Gobbers. MacBain put Failsafe on the Nomad. Rhupert gave the Kayazy +1 Def and Terror.
But Ben had made a terrible mistake. He left a single Kayazy in Molik's threat range.
And the middle flag disappeared again, because of course it did.
Round 2
Makeda advanced, cast Fate Walker on herself, and Feated. The Bronzeback put Train Wreck on Molik, and Trampled forward to just in front of Makeda.
Molik charged the Kayazy he could reach, boosted the hit, removed the Fury as it died, and bounced 3" into another Kayazy. He boosted that to hit as well, removed the Fury as it died, and bounced to a Kayazy about 3" in front of Drake. He hit and killed that Kayazy and one other to reach Drake with 4 open Fury slots. I rubbed my hands with glee. The first hit took off about 2/3 of Drake's health. The second hit disabled him.
He made his Tough check. Molik bought his last attack, which would automatically hit and damage Drake.
He made his Tough check.
Uh oh.
The Gladiator rushed itself and advanced. The Savage charged, but didn't quite reach Holt.
Ben started out by having Gorman blind the Bronzeback. The Buccaneer charged Molik, and knocked him down with the Assault net. Aiyanna used Kiss of Lyliss on Molik to give him -2 Arm. The Nomad advanced, and dealt Molik a lot of damage. Wrong Eye charged Molik and finished him off. Drake got up, Feated to make a bunch of models auto-Tough for a round, and advanced. Snapjaw charged the Bronzeback, and nearly killed it. Some Kayazy charged the Bronzeback and the Savage, but didn't do much damage.
We had completely stopped caring about scenario at this point.
Round 3
The Bronzeback flailed around a bit. Makeda tried to pull off a Blood Booned Eliminator on Rhupert and Aiyanna, but missed, which left her dangerously exposed.
Ben capitalized. He knocked her down with the Buccaneer's net, debuffed her Arm with Kiss of Lylyss, and charged her with 3 Kayazy and Drake, who finished her off with Grievous Wounds.
Victory to the Mercenaries!
Thoughts on the Makeda and Zaal lists
The Zaal list is strong and very intuitive for me. I've basically got it right where I want it. Its firepower is a nice support that keeps the pressure on the enemy to engage, while its infantry component is highly effective in melee. Ben was afraid to engage completely because anything he sent in would be wrecked, and I won on scenario while he tried to whittle me down. Zaal is frail, so I think keeping the specialists a Krea and Brute to foil ranged assassinations is a good idea.
The Makeda 3 list is a little more complicated. She'll remove heavies and colossals with ease, but I'm scared of an alpha strike, which can hurt her a lot. I'm going to stick a small unit of Bloodrunners in as specialists to slow the enemy down enough that I can get my critical beasts into combat. Otherwise, the list has been performing well, and everything has been earning its keep.
I'll get some more practice games in this week, but this is my last report before the tournament. Thanks Ben and Eric for some awesome games!
Finalized lists for the 15th
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts) - Immortal Host Tier 3
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Praetorian Swordsmen - Leader and 9 Grunts (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Immortals - Leader and 9 Grunts (8pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Specialists
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Immortal Host
Tier 1: Increase the FA of Ancestral Guardians and Extoller Soulwards by 1 for each unit of Immortals in the list.
Tier 2: Ancestral Guardian models gain Advance Deploy.
Tier 3: Extoller models begin the game with 3 Soul Tokens each.
This list matches up pretty well against most things, but I'll want to play it mostly against beast-and-'jack heavy lists, most Trollkin lists, and some other types of lists. The main idea is to abuse Last Stand to trade an AG or a few infantry for higher value pieces. The list can compete against infantry swarms, but isn't at its strongest. The ranged element puts pressure on the enemy caster, and can remove 'beasts and solos fairly reliably. It can play attrition and assassination well, and scenario pretty well if I'm careful about putting solos in controlling positions (it clears zones well, at least). Its biggest weaknesses are Time, mass Infantry Removal, and mass RFP. The specialists help it deal with ranged lists, which might otherwise shoot me off the table.
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader and 3 Grunts (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Specialists
Paingiver Bloodrunners - Leader and 5 Grunts (5pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (2pts)
This list matches up pretty well against infantry swarms, since Makeda's Feat gives me a lot of power to clear out infantry. It also does well against bricks, since most of the beasts are very high damage, and gun-heavy lists thanks to the Krea and multiple Shield Guards. I'll play this list against most Infantry heavy Warmachine lists, especially those with a strong shooting element. It does attrition pretty well, but can play some alarming assassination angles, and has a strong domination game for scenarios, since Makeda is a front liner, and there's plenty of out-of-activation movement. The plan is to explode the enemy's infantry screen early, or set up to kill all their infantry a turn after the engagement, then trade pieces while I'm ahead. The list's biggest weaknesses are strong alpha strikes that out-threat it, and denial that shuts down its mobility and accuracy (its main strengths). The specialists will soak up an alpha strike for me, and either go on harassing the enemy from there, or support the army, depending on what I choose.
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Praetorian Swordsmen - Leader and 9 Grunts (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Immortals - Leader and 9 Grunts (8pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Specialists
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Immortal Host
Tier 1: Increase the FA of Ancestral Guardians and Extoller Soulwards by 1 for each unit of Immortals in the list.
Tier 2: Ancestral Guardian models gain Advance Deploy.
Tier 3: Extoller models begin the game with 3 Soul Tokens each.
This list matches up pretty well against most things, but I'll want to play it mostly against beast-and-'jack heavy lists, most Trollkin lists, and some other types of lists. The main idea is to abuse Last Stand to trade an AG or a few infantry for higher value pieces. The list can compete against infantry swarms, but isn't at its strongest. The ranged element puts pressure on the enemy caster, and can remove 'beasts and solos fairly reliably. It can play attrition and assassination well, and scenario pretty well if I'm careful about putting solos in controlling positions (it clears zones well, at least). Its biggest weaknesses are Time, mass Infantry Removal, and mass RFP. The specialists help it deal with ranged lists, which might otherwise shoot me off the table.
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader and 3 Grunts (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Specialists
Paingiver Bloodrunners - Leader and 5 Grunts (5pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (2pts)
This list matches up pretty well against infantry swarms, since Makeda's Feat gives me a lot of power to clear out infantry. It also does well against bricks, since most of the beasts are very high damage, and gun-heavy lists thanks to the Krea and multiple Shield Guards. I'll play this list against most Infantry heavy Warmachine lists, especially those with a strong shooting element. It does attrition pretty well, but can play some alarming assassination angles, and has a strong domination game for scenarios, since Makeda is a front liner, and there's plenty of out-of-activation movement. The plan is to explode the enemy's infantry screen early, or set up to kill all their infantry a turn after the engagement, then trade pieces while I'm ahead. The list's biggest weaknesses are strong alpha strikes that out-threat it, and denial that shuts down its mobility and accuracy (its main strengths). The specialists will soak up an alpha strike for me, and either go on harassing the enemy from there, or support the army, depending on what I choose.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. pDoomshaper at 50pts
I got to try out the Makeda 3 list I've cooked up for the upcoming SR 2013:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Agonizer (2)
My thoughts on the list can be found here.
My regular opponent and co-blogger, Caleb, ran the following list:
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (+7)
*Rok (11)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9)
*Troll Axer (6)
*Rune Bearer (2)
5 Trollkin Champions (10)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3)
10 Pyg Bushwhackers (8)
Kriel Stone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1)
Fell Caller Hero (3)
This is going to be a standard brick list. It hits hard, and is hard to hurt. Its biggest fear is going to be spammed Weapon Masters and high-Def infantry, but It'll love going up against 'Beast and 'Jack heavy lists.
Deployment & Scenario
We played Incursion, the scenario where 3 flags are placed in the middle of the table, and one disappears at the end of the 2nd player's 1st turn. I won the roll off, and chose to go first.
 |
| I'm leaning to the right with my faster beasts, and keeping the Titans in the middle. |
 |
| Caleb opposes me. His main block is right across the brick wall from mine. |
Turn 1 - Skorne
I ran my heavies, threw up Vortex of Destruction on Makeda, and Paralytic Aura on the Krea and the Shaman (who charged to get their distance), and dumped 4 Fury on the Agonizer.
 |
| The Skorne move up to gain ground. |
A pretty standard opening for lists like these. I was hoping to get my beasts behind the wall next turn, and use it to block off Caleb's nearly Reachless army next turn while I set up my attack. It would also be nice to have the Archidon around to score on the left flag if it stuck around.
Turn 1 - Trollbloods
Most of Caleb's army ran. Only the Pygs and Doomshaper advanced. Doomshaper cast Fortune on the Pygs, and piled Fury onto the Kriel Stone. The Pygs shot at the Gladiator, but did no damage.
 |
| Poised to take the objectives, and out of range of most of the Skorne. |
Turn 2 - Skorne
I decided to do a hit-and-run attack with Makeda, Karn, and the Archidon, before consolidating behind the wall. The Tyrant Commander used Press Forward on Makeda and the Exalted Court to give them some extra reach. Then the Bronzeback ran to just behind the wall, only to be Counter-Charged by Skaldi, who did 1 damage. Makeda and the Court advanced, and Makeda cast Eliminator at the Bushwhackers. She killed 3, then retreated 6".
The Krea advanced, used Paralytic Aura, and moved up to zap Rok with a Spiritual Paralysis. The Shaman advanced, and used Rush on Molik to give him +2" movment. Molik charged a Champ I knew was in range, then bounced into the Mauler, taking it down to a few boxes before using Fate Walker. The Archidon used Lightning Strike to give itself Sprint, and charged Skaldi. It killed him, and retreated to the wall. The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain to debuff Caleb's Warbeast damage rolls, and ran up to a safe little pocket in my lines. Finally, Karn took his Fate Walker move to get behind the Archidon.
 |
| Right here, I think I'm pretty safe... |
I'd done some damage, but I'd made a serious mistake too. I should have gone all in with my fast beasts, and spent Karn's last two Fury to kill off the Mauler, and Sprinted right into Rok and the Champs with my Archidon. There was one thing I'd overlooked, which could easily turn my defended position into a trap.
Turn 2 - Trollbloods
That thing was Rampager. The Rune Bearer reminded Doomie that it was OK to covet his opponent's Warbeasts with Harmonious Exaltation. Then Doomshaper cast Rampager at the Bronzeback. D:
 |
| ...but Doomshaper sees only the Bronzeback. |
He hit, causing the beast to trundle over the wall and attack the Archidon while mooning Caleb's Dire Trolls and elite heavy infantry. Doomie also tried to Stranglehold Molik Karn, but didn't do enough damage. Then he popped his Feat, which would shut my list, especially Makeda, down hard on my next turn.
Then the Kriel Stone popped its aura, and passed out +1 Strength. Rok cast Primal on the Mauler, and walked up to the Bronzeback to take away a big chunk of its health. The Champs charged in, and managed to finish the Bronzeback and the Archidon (though the one attacking the Agonizer managed to miss twice). The Mauler charged Molik, taking him down to 2 hit boxes, and the Axer charged the Gladiator, but managed to miss twice. The Pygs wasted some shots trying to bring down Molik and the Agonizer, and also claimed the right flag for Caleb.
 |
| Some Warbeasts seem to be missing here, but Doomshaper is awfully close to the action. |
Another good turn for the Trollkin. Losing the Bronzeback was a major blow, and Doomshaper's Feat was shutting down both heavily wounded Molik Karn, and spell-happy Makeda. I was in a bad situation, but Caleb had also made a mistake. His only available transfer target was the Axer, and that was next to my Gladiator.
Turn 3 - Skorne
Time to see if I could pull off the assassination. Makeda took some damage from upkeeping Vortex of Destruction. The Tyrant Commander advanced, gave Makeda's unit Pathfinder in case they needed it, and finished off the Mauler, allowing Doomshaper to reeve the Fury. Molik advanced, and put some damage on the nearest Champs, and opened a lane for an Exalted Guardian. The Gladiator charged and killed the Axer, taking some damage from Doomshaper's Feat.
Now that Doomie had nowhere to shunt his damage, I started my assassination. First, the Cyclops Shaman advanced, and hit him with a fully boosted Evil Eye, doing a bunch of damage. Then, the Agonizer got out of Makeda's way (dying to a Free Strike in the process). Finally, Makeda Feated, and issued a charge order. The Exalted Court utterly flubbed their attacks, and the Champs they tried to kill were fine. But Makeda killed her target on the first swing, and used Blood Boon to cast Eliminator at Doomie without taking 3d6 damage in the process. She did end up taking 2d6 to boost the attack and damage rolls, and did enough damage to disable him.
 |
| Armless, not harmless. Makeda aims for Doomshaper. |
He failed his Tough check.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
1 - Rampager. Do not let it happen to me. I would have been fine if I'd jammed with the Archidon, and used Molik to take out the Mauler, but I tried to get fancy instead.
2 - One of Makeda 3's greatest strengths is how comfortable she is on and near the front lines. She can project her hitting power and spells at the enemy very easily, and being able to do that let her end the game for me. Even if Doomshaper had passed his Tough check, she would likely have survived his next turn.
3 - I'd be more comfortable with this list if it had an infantry screen. I'm considering Bloodrunners, Swordsmen, and Cetrati. If I owned actual Nihilator models, I'd prefer them over Swordsmen. They're not as offensive, but I don't need them for offense. Bloodrunners are nice, since they can stay ahead of the Battlegroup even at full speed. Cetrati are very solid, but very expensive. I'd have to drop the Shaman or the Krea, which I'm not wild about.
4 - Caleb is getting much better at handling pDoomshaper. His list was ready to grind it out, and he'd timed it well to give himself an advantage. He just overextended with his Axer at the end of Turn 2. This list has also served Caleb better than previous pDoomie lists, and seems to work pretty well. I'm usually pretty underwhelmed by the Bushwhackers, but they were an important unit this game. They were able to stay out on the side and control the flag, while still contributing (well, not that much against this list) to the battle with their shooting.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
50pt SR 2013 Tourney: Trollblood lists for June 15th
As pGrexy mentioned, our FLGS has a 50pt tournament coming up, and I think I'm going to try and make this one -- I have to get over my flagrant dislike of timed turns one way or another, and I'm hoping the longer limits on a 50pt game won't annoy me as much. Here are the lists:
Calandra 50pt:
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (*5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
A good old fashioned Trollblood Attrition list, this time with Champions! Just enough ranged to annoy and pick of enemy solos, plenty of support and buffing, and of course Star Crossed to truly piss off my opponent. I've had a lot of fun playing a similar list with pDoomy, and from what I've been able to tell it might work a lot better with Calandra. I made a few alterations (dropped Mulg and min-ed the Bushwackers for the EBDT, whelps and Janissa), which I think will work better with Calandra. I want to give the updated version a shot before the tournament, so hopefully I'll have a decent battle report up soon (I've hit a dry spell on battle reports - shame on me).
Specialists (10pts): ...?
I'm drawing a blank here. I'd be tempted to borrow some Nyss Hunters and drop the Bushwackers, Janissa, and the Whelps if I need to get a big ranged game in last minute, but the question then becomes "why am I not using Nyss to begin with?" and that's not a road I want to start down. Option 2 is max Scattergunners + UA and drop the aforementioned models (or EBDT) for the option of going whole-hog on the ranged game for a feat turn, but I don't know how effective that would be. I'll have to use the list a couple of times before I can figure out the specialists.
pGrim 50pt:
Grim Angus (*6pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Calandra 50pt:
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (*5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
A good old fashioned Trollblood Attrition list, this time with Champions! Just enough ranged to annoy and pick of enemy solos, plenty of support and buffing, and of course Star Crossed to truly piss off my opponent. I've had a lot of fun playing a similar list with pDoomy, and from what I've been able to tell it might work a lot better with Calandra. I made a few alterations (dropped Mulg and min-ed the Bushwackers for the EBDT, whelps and Janissa), which I think will work better with Calandra. I want to give the updated version a shot before the tournament, so hopefully I'll have a decent battle report up soon (I've hit a dry spell on battle reports - shame on me).
Specialists (10pts): ...?
I'm drawing a blank here. I'd be tempted to borrow some Nyss Hunters and drop the Bushwackers, Janissa, and the Whelps if I need to get a big ranged game in last minute, but the question then becomes "why am I not using Nyss to begin with?" and that's not a road I want to start down. Option 2 is max Scattergunners + UA and drop the aforementioned models (or EBDT) for the option of going whole-hog on the ranged game for a feat turn, but I don't know how effective that would be. I'll have to use the list a couple of times before I can figure out the specialists.
pGrim 50pt:
Grim Angus (*6pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Mobility, a solid ranged game, speed, and a good feat for objectives. I like the ranged game this list brings, and it's a lot faster than the Calandra list. I'm still flip-flopping over which one needs Mulg more - one the one hand, he works well with Grim as he can be given a speed boost and pathfinder and won't require much support, while on the other he's almost better in a brick format to really threaten the enemy once they become engaged, and protect Calandra.
Specialists (10pts): EBDT.
On the off chance that I go up against a list with a hard counter to shooting (Ossyan, for example), I can drop either the Bomber or the Bushwackers and SSC or Lanyssa (depending) and plop in another melee beast with a speed boost.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
50pt SR 2013 on June 15th - Thoughts and Lists
Well, I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to make this one, but I'll prepare for it anyway.
It's a 2-List event with Specialists. After a little consideration, I'll be running Zaal and Makeda 3. There are a couple of reasons here. First, I think they're both strong Warlocks. Zaal is one of the top Warlocks in Skorne, and Makeda 3 is very mobile and tough, and can play attrition, assassination, or scenario well. Second, I feel that they cover each others' weaknesses pretty well. Zaal doesn't like mass infantry removal, since he runs a lot of infantry. Makeda 3 will be running mostly Warbeasts, so beast denial will hurt her a lot harder than it will Zaal, but she won't have to worry about stuff like Hellmouth nearly as much. The last reason is that I have very little real experience with either 'lock (half a dozen games with Makeda 3, and less than that in the last year with Zaal), and a tournament is the perfect environment to try them out against a lot of different lists and opponents to get a feel for what they're really capable of.
So here are the lists. Specialists are still a little fuzzy. I'll try to play the lists a few more times in the next two weeks to get a feel for what they really need help dealing with.
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
*Kovass (-)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
This is a combination attrition/assassination list. I'll try to win the attrition war by trading up in value with Last Standed Immortals, Swordsmen and AG's. I'll also be making the opponent work harder to clear me off by popping out the Kovass where it'll cause the most trouble. Apart from the fact that Last Stand lets any model in the list be a potential assassin, I've got a strong shooting game in the Extollers, Zaal, and the Warbeasts. A lot of those shots are going to have Eyeless Sight and/or Ghost Shot, and the Raider and Shaman can hand out Snipe with Far Strike, meaning it is going to be very hard to hide from this list. The list is a little weak to mass RFP effects which will blunt Zaal's Feat, and mass infantry clearing abilities in general will make it sad. Otherwise, I think it's pretty strong and versatile.
Specialists
I'll probably be swapping out the Cannoneer in this list, so I'll want at least one more Warbeast, probably a Krea for defense against gun-heavy lists. The other 5 points are up in the air, but I'm considering a Brute or another Extoller and another AG.
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
This list is going to focus on mobility. Makeda already likes to be in the thick of things, so I decided to try to make an army capable of keeping up with her. The idea is to pierce the enemy formation every turn starting with the initial clash. I want to be charging into the enemy army, then using Sprint and Fate Walker to either back off a little or press on to engage support models and tie down counterattack models. The Archidon and Molik give the list a lot of options to stay mobile, and Makeda is both very mobile and a brutal fighter. The list has two major weaknesses. The first is that it's vulnerable to a faster list which can reliably hit it first. Most of the pieces in this list are fairly essential to the way it runs. Losing any of the beasts is a fairly major blow. The second weakness is that Makeda 3 really doesn't like to fight against denial. Some of the top denial lists in the game will definitely give her fits unless I play very carefully. I'm also a little low on Paingivers for my beast count.
Specialists
The list isn't missing anything it really needs, but it could use a little extra support in a couple of areas. I'd probably swap out the Archidon, which gives me 7pts. I'll probably replace it with either a Cyclops Raider or a Cyclops Brute and two other points - either a Willbreaker or another unit of Paingivers.
EDIT - After one game with the list, I'd like to have the option to take some infantry. I'll probably go with Praetorian Swordsmen or Bloodrunners in the Specialists. Bloodrunners keep my options a little more open, and can stay ahead of the full-speed Beast Brick thanks to AD.
It's a 2-List event with Specialists. After a little consideration, I'll be running Zaal and Makeda 3. There are a couple of reasons here. First, I think they're both strong Warlocks. Zaal is one of the top Warlocks in Skorne, and Makeda 3 is very mobile and tough, and can play attrition, assassination, or scenario well. Second, I feel that they cover each others' weaknesses pretty well. Zaal doesn't like mass infantry removal, since he runs a lot of infantry. Makeda 3 will be running mostly Warbeasts, so beast denial will hurt her a lot harder than it will Zaal, but she won't have to worry about stuff like Hellmouth nearly as much. The last reason is that I have very little real experience with either 'lock (half a dozen games with Makeda 3, and less than that in the last year with Zaal), and a tournament is the perfect environment to try them out against a lot of different lists and opponents to get a feel for what they're really capable of.
So here are the lists. Specialists are still a little fuzzy. I'll try to play the lists a few more times in the next two weeks to get a feel for what they really need help dealing with.
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Titan Cannoneer (9pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
*Kovass (-)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Praetorian Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
This is a combination attrition/assassination list. I'll try to win the attrition war by trading up in value with Last Standed Immortals, Swordsmen and AG's. I'll also be making the opponent work harder to clear me off by popping out the Kovass where it'll cause the most trouble. Apart from the fact that Last Stand lets any model in the list be a potential assassin, I've got a strong shooting game in the Extollers, Zaal, and the Warbeasts. A lot of those shots are going to have Eyeless Sight and/or Ghost Shot, and the Raider and Shaman can hand out Snipe with Far Strike, meaning it is going to be very hard to hide from this list. The list is a little weak to mass RFP effects which will blunt Zaal's Feat, and mass infantry clearing abilities in general will make it sad. Otherwise, I think it's pretty strong and versatile.
Specialists
I'll probably be swapping out the Cannoneer in this list, so I'll want at least one more Warbeast, probably a Krea for defense against gun-heavy lists. The other 5 points are up in the air, but I'm considering a Brute or another Extoller and another AG.
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
This list is going to focus on mobility. Makeda already likes to be in the thick of things, so I decided to try to make an army capable of keeping up with her. The idea is to pierce the enemy formation every turn starting with the initial clash. I want to be charging into the enemy army, then using Sprint and Fate Walker to either back off a little or press on to engage support models and tie down counterattack models. The Archidon and Molik give the list a lot of options to stay mobile, and Makeda is both very mobile and a brutal fighter. The list has two major weaknesses. The first is that it's vulnerable to a faster list which can reliably hit it first. Most of the pieces in this list are fairly essential to the way it runs. Losing any of the beasts is a fairly major blow. The second weakness is that Makeda 3 really doesn't like to fight against denial. Some of the top denial lists in the game will definitely give her fits unless I play very carefully. I'm also a little low on Paingivers for my beast count.
Specialists
The list isn't missing anything it really needs, but it could use a little extra support in a couple of areas. I'd probably swap out the Archidon, which gives me 7pts. I'll probably replace it with either a Cyclops Raider or a Cyclops Brute and two other points - either a Willbreaker or another unit of Paingivers.
EDIT - After one game with the list, I'd like to have the option to take some infantry. I'll probably go with Praetorian Swordsmen or Bloodrunners in the Specialists. Bloodrunners keep my options a little more open, and can stay ahead of the full-speed Beast Brick thanks to AD.
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