Army List: pMadrak 50pts, Winter Kin Tier 4

There doesn't seem to be a lot of hype about the new Madrak tier, which is odd to me - it seems pretty good. I figured I'd run through it quick, just for the heck of it.

Bear in mind, I'm not exactly a competitive strategic powerhouse when it comes to list building, so comments would be very helpful.

Battle Report: Doomy3 vs. Makeda3 (50pts) - Battle of the Bricks

pGrexy and I got a game in on Tuesday, and decided to pit my newest Doomy3 list up against the tried-and-true Makeda3 brick that has been my nemesis for so many months now.

Also, HEY I'M WRITING A BATTLE REPORT! It's been a while since I wrote one of these, I am sooo far behind Maxtermynd and pGrexy...

State of the Lists: Adepticon Planning w/ Gunnbjorn and Doomy3

Well, I've pretty much decided I'm going to Adepticon, so it's time to get those lists going.

WMW I Will Be There

Two battle reports are on the docket, so expect those by the middle of the week or so.  I just signed up for Warmachine Weekend, so I'll be there this year.  I'm very excited to attend, and hopefully I'll be able to get plenty of practice in and bring my A-game.

I'm signed up for the LCQ, but I don't expect great results.  I'm debating signing up for Iron Gauntlet too, although idunno how many events I really want to be in.  Other than that, I'm just planning to play games - as many as possible to hone my lists.

I'm planning to bring Makeda 3 naturally, Mordikaar, Zaal 1, and probably Morghoul 1, Makeda 1 and Hexeris 1.  I might also bring some Ret - probably Rahn and Thyron, although my opponents would have to deal with my metal and plastic color scheme.

Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Stryker 2 (50pts)

I'm continuing to experiment with Makeda 3 and double Aradus Sentinels.  This time, I was up against Andy and his Cygnar.  I ran my version of the list with the Krea and Orin Midwinter:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts) - Proxied by a Cannoneer
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

Objective: Bunker

The idea behind this list is that the Aradi can attrition the enemy down from range, and force them into my lines on my terms, where my counterattack can be most productive.  I'm running them with Makeda rather than a Warlock with more traditional ranged support because her Feat gives her one of the most explosive counterattacks in Skorne.  She can completely reverse the tempo on a lot of armies that are able to get through the Aradus shooting quickly, and charge them.  She also buffs the normally pillow-clawed Sentinels' damage output with Vortex of Destruction.


Andy played the following list:

Lord Commander Coleman Stryker (*6pts)
*Lancer (6pts)
*Squire (2pts)
Storm Lances (Leader and 4 Grunts) (11pts) - Proxied by Nyss Raptors
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Captain Jonas Murdoch (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)
*Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
Lieutenant Allison Jakes (3pts) - Proxied by a Beast Mistress
Journeywoman Warcaster (3pts)
Archduke Alain Runewood (3pts)
Captain Maxwell Finn (3pts)
Stormblade Captain (3pts) - Proxied by a Hex Hunter
Stormblade Captain (3pts) - Proxied by a Hex Hunter
Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pt)

Objective: I forget.  Effigy of Valor, maybe?  Seems good for this list?  It didn't come up...

I've only played Stryker 2 a couple of times before, but this looks like a fairly straightforward list for him.  The Forge Guard and Storm Lances are a lot of tough, hard-hitting models who can easily take advantage of the extra move and attack from Stryker's Feat, and the Storm Lances have a good gun on turns where they don't want to charge.  The Gun mages add extra ranged support, and a bit of flexibility with Thunderbolt shots and the ability to ignore Stealth.  There are also a lot of solos here adding extra support and extra hitting power (probably also with Stryker's Feat in mind).  The list as I've posted it is 3pts over, but I'm probably misremembering point costs.  I used to use Forward Kommander to reconstruct my opponents' lists for reports, and I make more mistakes than I used to now that it's down.

The Continued Adventures of Makeda 3 with Bugs: Gunbjorn and the Glacier King (50pts)

As I mentioned in my last battle report, I'm very excited about Aradi and the potential to use them with Makeda and the Exalted Court.  In particular, neonchameleon posted a list with double Sentinels that I think has a lot of potential with her.  Last game, I played the list as it was posted.  This time, I tweaked it a little.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts) - proxied by a Titan Cannoneer
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

Battle Report: Captain Gunnbjorn vs Fiona the Black, 50pts... with a Glacier King!!

So, this glorious frozen bugger was pre-released at GenCon the other week:



... and I proxied him in a game within 2 days of the rules coming out (gotta get some use out of the Mountain King...).

Tentative Conclusion: GOOD. Not great, but well and truly Good.

Battle Report after the jump.

Quick Report: Makeda 3 Combined Arms vs. Vlad 2 Tier

Neonchameleon posted the following Makeda 3 list to the Skorne Forum in this thread, and I was really interested to try it out.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Aradus Sentinel (8pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts) - neonchameleon was undecided on the last 2pts, but I always like Agonizers.

Zaal, Ancestral Advocate vs. Vayl, Disciple of Everblight, 50pts

I managed to give eZaal a try two Tuesdays ago, and here's how it went.  I ran the following list:

Zaal, Ancestral Advocate (*6pts)
*Tiberion (11pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
*Basilisk Drake (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
*Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)

This is my starting point with Zaal 2.  I'm mainly thinking of leveraging the infantry and Transference for damage, but I still wanted a heavy hitter, and Tiberion is self-sufficient, hard to kill, and has Reach and Shield Guard, and can't be pushed off scenario.  There was also some talk on the Forum about combining Zaal's spell Vision (cancel the first hit the model suffers, then Vision expires) with Tiberion's animus Bump (the first time the target suffers damage from a melee attack, the attacker is pushed 3" away).  The Basilisk Krea is there for a little more defense against shooting, while the Drake is there for the great spray, and to make the Krea hit like a heavy with Flank.

The Cetrati are another really durable unit.  Their job is to ferry Zaal around until the late game, when he'll need to take a more active role than providing Transference boosts for the infantry.  Speaking of Transference boosts, Cetrati themselves are a great unit to benefit, since they can hit with 4 dice and still be in Shield Wall.  The Slingers and Nihilators are mostly there to provide Souls, but both units can get work done.  Slings are surprisingly effective, especially against low-def infantry and Warjacks, and will do wonders against infantry spam type lists.  Nihilators will be a lot more dangerous than normal with access to Transference to boost their attack rolls.  Boosted Mat 7's will be a huge improvement against some of the targets that give Nihilators trouble.

Finally, Hakaar's in the list because he's a powerful model that can use Souls, benefits from Transference, and takes advantage of Zaal's Feat.  Boosted Mat 9's is great, but Arm 26 when loaded up with Souls is the real selling point.  He'll be very hard to take down on the Feat turn, and be ready to do even more damage on the next turn.

That's the theory anyway.  Here's how it went down on the table.

4+ Tournament 07/25 Games 3 & 4

Continued from my Games 1&2 post.

Game 3 vs. Skorne

I was up against Doug, who I've seen at Tower a lot, but only managed to get half a game in against.  He was running pXerxis with Fist of Halaak and eHexeris with Croak Raiders.  I was super confident about Makeda 3 into Hexy, and I'd had a few practice games with her into Fist, which is a slog, but not as terrible a matchup as you'd think.  I was pretty happy about Zaal into Fist, but not so much into Hexy.  So I dropped Makeda 3.  Doug didn't want to be list-locked going into round 4 (and was a little burned out on Fist), so he dropped Hexy.

4+ Tournament 07/25 Brute Squad and Zaamblers! Games 1 & 2

I went to another tournament this month, and this time, I made sure the pictures work.  I meant to have this report up sooner, but I unfortunately got sucked into epic Zaal epic drama on Wednesday and Thursday, so here it is at the end of the week.  There's another tournament coming up August 22nd, and I'm totes planning to run epic Zaal, hopefully with epic results!

I ran Makeda 3 and Zaal with Despoiler again.  The lists are as follows:

Another Month, Another Tournament

It seems I've finally posted about the tournament in late June, only to have another one coming up this Saturday.

I'll probably be playing Zaal and Makeda 3 again, although I've been thinking more and more about Morghoul 1 and Makeda 1 as a pairing.  Morghoul I'd probably run with the Mammoth, since I like the idea of a combined arms list that can benefit from his feat.  I'm not sure what I'd do with Makeda 1, but I have a few ideas.  I'll probably give Despoiler a try with her, even though she can't make it hit hard.  She definitely likes the free upkeep, and Savagery cycling seems like it can be very cute combined between Despoiler and a Void Spirit.  Then again, she'd likely be my Cryx drop, so I'd need to include anti-Cryx stuff.

4+ Tournament 06/27

I went to a tournament on June 27th, and here's how it went.

First Post in a While and Tournament on the 27th

There's a tournament at Tower this Saturday, and I'm going to participate this time around.  

I haven't been playing nearly enough WarmaHordes lately, and I really dropped off posting.  However, I'll do reports for this tournament, and probably get around to posting my thoughts from Adepticon later on.

On to this tournament!  Part of me really wants to play with eMorghoul's new theme force, which certainly seems strong enough to make him playable, but a much more reasonable part of me knows I need more practice with my main Warlocks.  So I'll be taking Makeda 3, along with a secondary drop to take on the matchups she has trouble with.  Very likely, that drop will be Mordikaar, who I still need practice with, but I also really like Zaal, pMakeda, and pHexeris, so there's a chance I'll sub in one of them.

I'll post my results early next week.

Hi Again!

Between class and work, I haven't had a whole lot of energy for blogging in the last couple of weeks, but I'm still here.  The inter-store tournament is done, and I'll have the reports up in the next couple of days (by Tuesday probably).

In the meantime, I played a really fun game of Warmachine against Butcher 1 this week.  My opponent was Tom, who I've played a few times over the past couple of months.  No full report of this one, but it was hilariously fun.  It was my Makeda 3 Brute Squad list against the Butcher 1 list he's been tailoring as a Bradigus drop.  We used a clock, but honestly we spent most of the time making awful jokes.

At the end of turn 2, Tom retreated Butcher to a corner of the killbox after heavily damaging my Brutes and jamming me with a few IFP and Eliminators, and before declaring that he'd probably die to an assassination vector that he didn't notice.

I did notice one, since Makeda 3 is queen of weird angles, and walked her 8" to a group of 2 IFP and one Eliminator.  She Feated, got a Fury from an Exalted Guardian who killed the Iron Fang Kovnik, killed one of the IFP with her sword, and used Blood Boon to kill the other IFP and the Kayazy Eliminator with the spell Eliminator.  Then she walked 4" into a cluster of 4 Nyss, dropped another Eliminator on the one she was base to base with, and killed them all, then walked 8" into the Butcher and his War Dog.  She killed the Dog in one swing, and bought 5 more against the Butcher, missed with 3, and left him on 7 boxes.  Molik was barely in range to finish the job.

Highlights of the game included lots of bad puns about Warmachine rules, Tom using his Spriggan to screen his infantry, and Makeda's epic power walk.  All in all a great game.

Anyway, more reports and such to follow, along with some final thoughts on Makeda's Brute Squad list before I pack her up and take her to Adepticon on the 19th.

Tom's list, for Khador players interested in running a really strong Bradigus drop that's solid against a wide range of opponents was:

The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
*Spriggan (10pts)
*War Dog (1pt)
Cylena Raefyll and the Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
*Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Iron Fang Pikemen Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Greylord Outriders (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (3pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (3pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)

Battle Report: Guardians vs Fist

Got in another game against my perennial opponent Russell in preparation for the Blood, Sweat and Tiers tournament that I signed up for at Adepticon. During our last bout my Vyros2 list got very close to beating Fist on scenario, and I wanted to see if I could get it the rest of the way.

Kriels on the Move: TC Interstore Tournament

Several stores in the Twin Cities are combining together to do a month long inter-store tournament, and I'm signed up! (For more information on the tournament, see pGrexy's wonderful post).

Since my Jarl list is still in the testing phase (though I haven't had time to test it, hence the lack of a battle report), I'm switching over to a Grim list with a similar set of models to deal with infantry and scenarios and an Epic Doomshaper list for heavy armor cracking.

Since this is a month long tournament, I'm going to be doing a battle report for each phase and giving my general feelings on the lists. Both of these are exact not lists I've played before, primarily because I haven't been playing a lot of Trollbloods for a while, but I have confidence in them since they build on a lot of my previous lists, but with better models than I've used or had access to before.

Grim Angus (*6pts) - 50pts Steamroller
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Highwaymen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

Grim1 is a bit more well rounded as a warlock than Jarl is, and he's a more proven quality - plus, he's pretty good at scenario play. Highwaymen are a natural for Grim, since he can de-buff enemy defense and they're a great target for Cross Country (who doesn't like hunter?).

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (*6pts) - 50pts Steamroller
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Rok (11pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Warders (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Trollkin Sorcerer (1pts)

This list is pretty self explanatory - block of dangerous beasts with Doomy2's buffs and feat, plus warders and support to back them up and make them tougher. The Warders are a new inclusion - typically, I try to use a ranged element to back up the beasts, but since I've already got a stone running I figured I'd go a little Meat Mountain -- or in this case, Meat Molehill.

So, there we have it. My first game is tomorrow vs Wes' Menoth (since our lists are already distributed, he'll be running Severius2 and Harbinger... oi), and I'll hopefully have a battle report up sometime this weekend.

TC Interstore Tournament and Adepticon

Now Edited because it was unfinished when I clicked "post."

Hey again everyone!

Tower is participating in the first ever Twin Cities Interstore Tournament, along with fellow FLGS's The Source and Fantasy Flight Game Center.  Since the schedule will work like the NFL League I played over the summer, where you get in touch with your opponent before a game, and hash out a time that works for both of you, I'll actually be able to compete!

Since lists are already handed in, I don't feel bad posting mine on here.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

This is currently my favorite list in Skorne, so of course I'm going to play it in the tournament.  This is a solid attrition and scenario list that skews armor pretty hard.  The Brutes are my frontliners.  They either take the enemy alpha strike, or jam them up, and they're very annoying to kill off.  Molik and Makeda herself are the main offense of the list.  They do most of the work in the midgame, clearing zones and enemy jams to put me in a good position in the attrition and scenario game.  The titans are second line heavies for cracking armor, and support Molik and each other with their animi.  The Krea is support against shooting, as well as a portable Def Debuff that I've really come to appreciate.  Over the last year, I've often run this list with a Cyclops Savage, but for now I'm sticking in Orin and the TyComm at the suggestion of DrillbossD (on the forums) who comments here as Dustin.  Overall, they add a lot to Makeda's game, and shore up some shaky matchups, and I've liked them in my few trial runs so far.

Void Seer Mordikaar (*5pts)
*Tiberion (11pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
*Basilisk Drake (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
*Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

This is a shameless netlist first run by Jason Watt, and taken to dizzying heights of tournament success by Martin Hornacek as one of his main lists.  I recently heard an interview with him on the Removed From Play podcast, and hearing him talk about Mordikaar definitely influenced me.  I have a tendency to get sympathetically excited about whatever 'caster people are gushing about, but when it's someone who's had as much success as Hornacek, I can really get carried away.  Anyway, this is first and foremost an attrition list.  It can certainly jam slower lists out of some scenarios, and it can capitalize on an assassination if there is one, but its main job is to keep the pressure up with constantly reviving soldiers.

The TC Interstore Tournament has a standard tournament format, except that each store will run a pod of 8 people for the first 3 rounds (Tower has enough players that it might run 2 pods).  After that, all the undefeated players will meet in a short 1-day event that will either be a 2-round elimination tournament, or a 3-round round robin tournament (I forget which).

Either way, it starts this week, and I've already got my first game lined up.

In other news, I'm signed up for Adepticon this year.  I'm signed up in the start-of-the-weekend Masters event (which I think is a qualifier for Masters Finals, although I could be wrong), and the "Warmachine casual day track" which includes fun formats like Who's the Boss and Spell Draft.  I'll probably spend most of the weekend hanging out in the Iron Arena cadging for games though.  I'm still undecided on what I'll be bringing, although the hope is to take Makeda 3 and one other Warlock to Masters, and have at least a fully assembled Retribution list to have fun with as well in the casual games.

Thanks for reading, and wish me luck!

4+ Tough Get Together Battle Report: Incissar Vyros Goes to Shyrr

Scene: Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard and scion of House Nyarr hobbles to the table and sits down. He is on crutches and has one of his arms in a sling. Before him are a group of reporters from the various noble Iosan houses.

Steam(T)roller List Building, Part 1: Jarl Skuld

With the release of Highwaymen, a few of my favorite Trollblood support Warlocks have gotten more interesting - specifically, Calandra, Gunnbjorn, and Jarl. Gunny has already gotten a trial run, and while Calandra is in the running for my 2nd Steamroller Tournament Warlock, I like the possibilities that Highwaymen bring to a Jarl list.

 The List:
Jarl Skuld, Devil Of Thornwood (*6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* 3 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (3pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Trollkin Highwaymen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)

Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Gudrun the Wanderer (3pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)
Trollkin Sorcerer (1pts)


The Breakdown:

I'm approaching making this list in a different way than I normally do - typically, I pick a warlock, add in a unit or two that work well with him/her, and just add in support and solos I think would work well until I run out of points, without a lot of regard for balance of list structure. Does it make for fun games? Most of the time, yup. Is it easy? Oh hell yes Does that normally work and win me games?

Kinda.

This time, I'm trying it the pGrexy way, or at least my slapdash version of it.

Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Absylonia 2, at 50pts

I went to Tower again last week, and got a game in, so here's the report.  No pictures this time, since my phone was running low on power.  I decided to play one of the modifications on my Makeda 3 list I talked about in this post.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

I've been interested in trying this out ever since DrillbossD mentioned that it was his standard list.  I replaced the Cyclops Savage that I normally run with Orin Midwinter and a Tyrant Commander.  And since I'm trying out variations on my usual Makeda 3 list, I thought I'd start with this one.  The Savage is a jack of all trades utility piece, and it always has something to do.  The Tyrant Commander and Orin are more specialized support pieces, but they give Makeda a little more offensive and defensive flexiblity, and Orin also helps tremendously against Butcher 3, who is usually very strong against Skorne, and Makeda 3 in particular.


My opponent, Sam, played a flexible list under Absylonia 2.

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight (*5pts)
*Carnivean (11pts)
*Ravagore (10pts)
*Angelius (9pts)
*Seraph (8pts)
*Nephilim Protector (5pts)
*Shredder (2pts)
Succubus (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)

I've never played against Absylonia 2 before, but the lists I've seen online are usually heavy melee specialists, while this is a more flexible combined-arms list.  The shooting here is nothing to sneeze at.  There isn't the Lylyth 2 level of firepower to take out a heavy in one round, but this list can definitely thin out its opposition at range.  The melee power is mostly provided by Absylonia through her Feat and Conferred Rage, which makes the combined arms beasts impressive in melee.  She also helps fix Legion's glass cannon problem a little with Fortify.  Overall, the list seems strong and cagey, and the ranged presence gives it some depth in assassination and scenario that pure melee lists wouldn't have.

4+ Tough Get Together Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Vyros 2, 50pts

About 2 weeks ago, Maxtermynd made the long, arduous trip from Madison to the Twin Cities, and we played a game.  This is my first game of Warmachine against Max.  We'd played a couple of games of 40k a couple of years ago, but then I switched over to almost exclusively WarmaHordes, and Max moved out of town.   Since I'd been posting so much about my Brute Squad list, I knew I'd want to play it here.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Savage (5pts)
*Cylcops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

I've had a lot of fun with this list so far, and a lot of success as well.  I have a bunch of battles under my belt with it already, most of which are documented here.  It's mainly an attrition list that relies on the heavy armor and high damage output of a few models to grind the opponent out.  It also has strong scenario game, especially in split scenarios, where Makeda can clear zones and dominate in relative safety.

Max was bringing Retribution, as usual, and decided to (rudely) interrupt Makeda's conquest of Ios with eVyros at the head of a Tier 4 Guardians of the Gate list:

Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard (*5pts) - Guardians of the Gate Tier 4
*Imperatus (12pts)
*Griffon (4pts)
*Griffon (4pts)
*Griffon (4pts)
*Griffon (4pts)
*Griffon (4pts)
*Aspis (4pts)
*Aspis (4pts)
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Dawnguard Destor Thane (4pts)
Arcanist (1pt)
Arcanist (1pt)

The theme benefits for Guardians of the Gate are reduced point cost and FA:U on Dawnguard Destor units (Tier 1), Dawnguard Sentinels gain AD if you include at least one unit (Tier 2), Destor units and solos gain +2Spd on the first turn if you include at least one Destor Thane (Tier 3), and Warjacks in the list are all allocated a Focus on turn 1 if you include at least one heavy warjack in the list.

This will actually be my first time playing against eVyros Griffon spam, despite the fact that we have a few Ret players at Tower.  It's also an attrition list that works by building up Synergy until the last battlegroup model to activate can wreck a Colossal without breaking a sweat.  Because it has so many tough and independent models, its scenario game is good as well, and Vyros' Feat gives it interesting maneuvering options.

Here's how the game went down...

Steamrolling with Makeda 3 and the Brute Squad, Part 2: Partners

Searching for the perfect match (image from the PP Galery)

Last week, I talked a bit about different modules I'm thinking of taking in my Makeda 3 list HERE.  A big part of working with those modules, though, is making sure my other list can make up for any blind spots I've left.  This time around, I'll talk about a few 'casters and lists I'm thinking of pairing with Makeda 3 at tournaments to cover her weaker points.

To start with, here are the matchups I'm most worried about with Makeda 3:

Tournament Report: Steamroller with Extra Bonds

I can seeeee yooooouuuu..

A couple of weekends ago Crippled System hosted a 50 pt Steamroller tournament in beautiful Madison, WI, with a bit of a twist. Every faction was allowed to have an extra bonded warjack or warbeast in each of their lists, selecting a bond from the back pages of Prime/Primal. If you already have a bond, you get two of them. If you didn't have any, you get one!

Battle Report: Captain Gunnbjorn vs Major 'Siege' Brisbane, 50pts

I'm Baaaaaack...

Wow, I haven't posted anything for a while, much less a battle report - but, since one of my arbitrary New Year's Resolutions is start pulling my weight (not an easy proposition, considering I'm going to try to keep up with pGrexy and Maxtermynd), here we go.

I got in a game with Mike D. down at Tower on Saturday, who pulled out all the stops and brought the Siege tournament list he's building. Since we deliberately didn't tell each other what we were playing before deployment started, I decided to give Dozer and Smigg a shot with Gunny, throwing in Highwaymen as well just for the heck of it.

Steamrolling with Makeda 3 and the Brute Squad, Part 1: Options

As people who read my posts regularly know by now, I've been playing Makeda 3 a lot, and lately, I've been playing her in the same Brute Squad list a lot.  I've talked a little about branching out and trying more options with this list, and here are a few modules I'm thinking about trying out.  They're all variations on the Brute Squad, and I'm really only switching out a couple of models.  There's also been a lot of good discussion about the various modules in various places, and I'd like to use this post as a setting to talk about the ones I've heard or thought of, and some other ones people have seen and used.

I've posted about my current list a lot, but here it is again:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Savage (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

Battle Report Double Header: Makeda 3 vs. Sorscha 1 (Ocean's 18), and Hexeris 1 vs. Ossrum, 50pts

I played another couple of games this past Tuesday.  Here's how they went down.

Game 1

I had a game scheduled with Caleb when he showed up, but I got to the store early, so I played a game against Tom, who's running a recent version Muse on Minis' Nigel's Ocean's 18 list.