tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23171043820119474832024-02-19T07:20:59.017-08:004+ ToughA Warmachine/Hordes Blog, focusing on army lists, tactics, and battle reports.Flintgemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13159221573967968534noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-90199368602952405522020-03-30T18:06:00.002-07:002020-03-31T09:46:48.863-07:00Skorne Faction Review Part 2: WarlocksBuckle in folks, this'll be a long one.<br />
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The CID process, despite its faults, has given us a fairly good stable of Warlocks. They're nearly all usable, and while most of theme have some weaknesses, they also have solid game plans and tools to make the opponent think. I'm not going to try to sort them into tiers, because honestly, I'm not good enough to make that kind of call. If you're new to the game, I have some recommendations, but try what seems cool, and figure out what works for you. If you've got more experience, maybe something I mention here will get you to consider one of our warlocks in a new light. Or maybe you'll think I'm totally wrong, in which case let me know.<br />
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Without further ado, Skorne Warlocks:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Archdomina Makeda (Makeda 1)</span><br />
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Makeda 1 is a versatile, all-comers Warlock. She has good tools for a variety of situations, and gives your army two of the things that everyone wants: more accuracy and more speed. Because of all these factors, she's quite forgiving, and I would recommend her to newer players. She runs the vast majority of our models quite well. The biggest exception is non-living models, which don't benefit from her Feat. This just means that I'd still consider a single Supreme Guardian or 1-2 AG's viable with Makeda 1, but I probably wouldn't run her in The Exalted.<br />
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One thing Makeda 1 lacks is a damage buff, so take a few models that can really hit hard, or maybe a Void Archon for Dark Shroud. The need for a heavy hitter combined with Jackhammer means that gargantuans a quite good with Mak 1. Marketh or a way to channel The Lash and Jackhammer will also give you more options with movement and damage, which will make you less predictable, so something like an Immortal Vessel or Blind Walker might be a good idea.<br />
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You shouldn't build too much around Makeda 1's feat, especially the healing effect. Grievous Wounds and Entropic Force from the Void Archon etc. make it unreliable. If your opponent can't stop you from keeping your troops alive, so much the better, but anti-healing tech is on the rise, and you should make sure that your troops are mostly surviving on their own merits, not Makeda's Feat. Otherwise, she's a solid warlock with few serious weaknesses and some nifty tricks in her kit if you can make them work.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Beast Master Xekaar (Xekaar 1)</span><br />
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Xekaar is one of our least forgiving warlocks, which is unfortunate, because he's also our battlebox caster. His tools are all good individually, but getting them to gel on the tabletop is difficult to say the least. Xekaar's biggest problem is survivability. His defensive stats are bad for a caster, and he generally wants to be close to the action, so it's easy to set up assassinations against him. His Feat, though very strong against melee, offers little protection against shooting. He also has a low Fury score for a Warlock whose spell list is nearly all offensive. That said, those offensive spells are very strong, and we now have a number of tools to help him land them.<br />
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Helping Xekaar cast offensively requires both Marketh and a way to channel. Marketh will be an important source of Mortality and Deadweight as long as he remains alive. You should also take either two Immortal Vessels (in any theme other than Disciples), and probably just one Blind Walker (in Disciples). The ability to channel spells is a major boon for Xekaar, and is going to be the difference between life and death in a lot of situations. Immortal Vessels get a special mention for Telemetry, though getting them within 5" of an enemy puts them in a lot of danger.<br />
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Xekaar also wants a fair amount of protection, and that means both shield guards and a durable screen. I nearly always take a Brute with Xekaar for both the Shield Guard and the animus, and I also like taking Aradus Soldiers and Agonizers to stack Swarm and Gnawing Pain with his Feat. A larger battlegroup also has the benefit of sticking around longer, especially if Xekaar is liberal with Psycho-Surgery. That said, playing Xekaar is definitely hard mode, and I have yet to hear of someone unlocking him enough to make him a contender.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dominar Morghoul and Escorts (Morghoul 3)</span><br />
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Morghoul 3 is an interesting warlock, focusing on speed, stealth, and strategic debuffs to deliver models, including himself, to their targets. In particular, his game plan requires him to make good use of Blind on both Night's Reflection and his escorts' fans to operate at peak potential. When he works, he's extremely powerful. There are a lot of battle engines seeing use right now, and their inability to shake Blind lets Morghoul shut them down virtually all game. Against an army with wider immunity to blind, like beast heavy Legion, or even just a beast/jack heavy list that can shake Blind, Morghoul 3 suffers a lot, because the rest of his toolkit is less pretty unamazing. All that means is, take a second list, and enjoy when you can drop Morghoul 3 into his better matchups.<br />
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Morghoul's Feat means you're going to want to take at least a few warrior models with multiple attacks. Ferox are self-sufficient, very fast, and love the added mobility from Acrobatics and Overtake. Nihilators absolutely shred infantry when they combine their 2" melee reach and Berserk with Overtake, and Acrobatics and Parry let them get past the first line of the enemy unit and right into the juicy part. Occultation is great on either of these units, since Ferox can be shot down by serious firepower, and Nihilators get swept off the table without some kind of protection. Mirage is a good threat extender on any unit, but when you can combine that with Pathfinder, you can leave your unit out of LoS in terrain, then have them Apparate into LoS before they charge. The ability to channel spells and put out more Night's Reflection really puts Morghoul 3 on the next level, so you should consider Marketh or a channeler a high priority in any list.<br />
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If you find yourself up against one of Morghoul 3's bad matchups, you shouldn't despair; he always has the potential to assassinate. He has acrobatics and parry all the time, and can hits both hard and accurately enough to kill most 'casters. If you're able to get Blind on the enemy, he'll be swinging with an extra damage die, and virtually always hit. Decapitation is sweet when it happens, but you usually shouldn't boost attack rolls to try to make it happen. Just remember that in that case, the army is there to deliver Morghoul, and you shouldn't worry too much about keeping them alive.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dominar Rasheth (Rasheth 1)</span><br />
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I said I wasn't going to split our warlocks up into tiers, but I will make a note of it when one of them is extremely powerful, and Rasheth is one of our best. He's a strong, debuff-oriented Warlock with a large control range and the ability to channel through any Skorne warrior model. He fixes both accuracy and damage with his spells, and doubles down on both with his Feat (which also helps protect your models). He also has a solid control game with Breath of Corruption clouds and the ability to shut down channeling and animi with Castigate (and to a lesser extent, Sunder Spirit).<br />
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Like Makeda 1, Rasheth works well with just about anything in the faction. It was very popular earlier in MkIII to run him in Winds of Death because shooting loves a debuff 'caster. Since Oblivion, he also likes Disciples of Agony, since he's just as effective with Minions as he is with Skorne, and both Croak Hunters and Farrow Brigands are incredible with a -2 Def, -4 Arm swing like Rasheth can provide. Do take a few Skorne Warriors too, for channeling purposes. Agonizers can double down on that Feat defense with Gnawing Pain and make your list truly miserable to attack.<br />
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Rasheth's only real drawback is his statline. He's Def 10 Arm 14 on a large base, something neither Impervious Flesh nor the ability to heal himself through his Feat and Carnivore completely counteracts. Fortunately, he can generally stay far away from the action, and you can take a Krea or some Shield Guards to help him out. He also has no weapons, meaning that you want to avoid an endgame situation where he would have to do work himself. Otherwise, play Rasheth with anything. He's both very strong and super fun.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lord Arbiter Hexeris (Hexeris 2)</span><br />
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Hexeris 2 is a fairly versatile 'caster who specializes in offensive spellcasting. He has a few defensive buffs for his army, but the reason you're taking him is to apply his offensive magic to enemy units, with the emphasis on units. His strongest spells get the best mileage against single-wound models. He brings a lot of his own support for this, since he can channel through any of his warbeasts, and his Feat lets him recharge his fury for a turn.<br />
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Like Makeda 1, Hexeris 2 lacks a way to improve damage, so take models that hit hard on their own. Special mention again to our gargantuans, whose shooting can wipe out huge swathes of the table with Black Spot. Their high hit points and immunity to Grievous Wounds also makes gargs excellent for Vampiric Harvest, since it's harder to take them off the table all at once or shut down their ability to heal. The Siege Animantrax has extremely good synergy with Black Spot. Its ability to make both melee and ranged attacks in the same activation means that you can kill Black Spot targets in melee to make more ranged attacks against units you'd like to damage. Alternately, you can make ranged attacks against the black spot target, and turn them into extra tail attacks against something in melee. You should probably take an Archidon as an arcing beast with Hexeris 2, since it's very fast, flies, and has Long Leash. Hexeris likes a source of Guidance for landing his spells on stealth units.<br />
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Hexeris is probably at his best with a battlegroup-heavy force backed up by a unit or two and a battle engine. He can run in any theme, and doesn't mind running minions as long as he has some models to take extra attacks from Black Spot. Don't forget that his Feat can take Soul Tokens, something that might really help you out against certain opponents.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lord Assassin Morghoul (Morghoul 2)</span><br />
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Morghoul 2 is the lord assassin, so it makes sense that he's good at assassination. His main game plan from when I've played him though, has been attrition. His personal threat range is good enough to bully 'casters and keep the back, but usually by the time he's assassinated, it's after he's used his presence to help clear out the enemy army. His tools to that end are strong: a good debuff, a buff that makes one model hard to avoid, a couple situational tools, and an incredible debuff feat.<br />
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Morghoul 2 wants to be close enough to the action to either put some damage in himself or keep valuable models honest, so an Archidon is a must for the Lightning Strike animus. Mortality is a terrific spell to channel, so a channeller and/or Marketh is also high priority. Being able to channel means it's sometimes possible to get use out of Flesh Hooks, which is usually moot by the time Morghoul is in range otherwise. Otherwise, Morghoul 2 works extremely well with shooting, both because Mortality is great for shooters and because Blind shuts down anything unable to shake it unless it's engaged.<br />
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Like Morghoul 3, Morghoul 2 can suffer against armies with widespread immunity or ability to shake Blind, and like Morghoul 3, he can focus on assassination when up against those types of lists. He has a little more reliability against them, both because of Mortality, and because of his overall higher personal damage output. Ordinarily, though, I play him as an attrition 'caster who's able to win by pressuring the opponent with an assassination threat rather than an all-out assassin.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lord Tyrant Hexeris (Hexeris 1)</span><br />
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Hexeris 1, like Hexeris 2, does most of his dirty work through offensive magic. He has a melee accuracy boost in Death March, and the ability to channel a little with Soul Slave, and an excellent armor debuff in Parasite. Overall, he's pretty well rounded, but like a lot of spellslingers, can suffer against spell hate. His Feat is extremely hit or miss. It's only really good against armies with at least 1 unit of mid-low def infantry, the more powerful, the better. If your opponent isn't running the kinds of units the Feat can use, then you're not going to get much, if anything, out of it. Vampiric Reaving is a situational tool, but one which can be a huge nuisance for warlocks who like to be back from the front lines.<br />
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Hexeris 1 likes an Archidon for a Soul Slave target, and some shooting to help finish off Parasite targets. He also likes an in-faction melee unit for Death March, and an Extoller (or Mist Speaker) for Eyeless Sight. Otherwise, he's quite versatile, and can run in any theme.<br />
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His big problem, at least in my opinion, is that Rasheth does a lot of what he does, but has a bigger toolbox and a vastly more reliable Feat. I can certainly see Hexeris builds which leverage Parasite and Vampiric Reaving to good effect, playing Hexeris forward into his better matchups and playing a Fury denial game. But if you're looking for an all-comers debuff 'caster, Rasheth does it better.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (Zaadesh 2)</span><br />
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Zaadesh 2 brings a strong denial game with a couple of good defensive tools. He has two main kinds of denial: LoS denial with Burning Ash, and the ability to punish opponents hard for attacking even when they can with a combination of Battle Charged and his Feat. He has a very focused game plan that works well, and most of all, he's just a lot of fun to play. I wouldn't put him in the same class as Rasheth or Makeda 3 right now, but he's on the powerful side of what we have, and he's forgiving enough to be a good pick for new players.<br />
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Zaadesh is extremely versatile; he can play in any theme, and uses an attrition-oriented army well. He really likes to play battlegroup heavy to get a lot of denial out of Battle Charged, and I really enjoy Titan Sentries with him. They can make Retaliatory Strikes as well as Defensive Strikes, and they're very tough, especially backed by an Agonizer. He also really likes a Siege Animantrax or two if you're playing in Disciples or Winds. They're good most turns, but spectacular on the Feat turn, when they can knock enemies down with defensive strikes. The last thing I always take with Zaadesh is the Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew. They're a key piece for extending his cloud wall to cover most of your army.<br />
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Zaadesh's big weakness is that he only fixes Mat and Def on his Feat turn, so good Feat timing is often necessary to cope with some of the things the enemy will be bringing. You really want to be inflicting damage on your turn as well as setting yourself up to deal damage on your opponent's turn. In Disciples, Zaadesh can bring minion beasts to help fix damage output, and that's my favorite theme for him right now.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Makeda and the Exalted Court (Makeda 3)</span><br />
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Makeda 3 plays very differently from the other two Makeda's. She plays an aggressive, high-risk, high-reward game, but has tools to mitigate the risk and capitalize hard on any hesitation or mistakes on the opponent's part. Makeda herself will be doing a lot of damage, which is what puts her at risk. She can wipe out one or more units on her own on Feat turn, and can put a serious hurt on heavies. She also has a solid toolbox including a Feat that lets her manipulate Fury very well and Incite, and incredible (but costly) support spell. Naturally, she's a great assassin as well, with some very good tricks to come at 'casters from unpredictable angles. Just the threat of her coming in at a 'caster can help you control the flow of the game. Like Rasheth, she's considered very strong.<br />
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She has good synergy with Molik Karn, who's ability to Side-Step with Makeda makes him deadly under Incite, especially with her Feat. She also really likes models that help her survive on the front lines where she likes to hang out. Cyclops Brutes bring Safeguard, a must-have Animus for Makeda 3, as well as Shield Guard and a fantastic front line piece that get tons of mileage out of Bulwark. The Basilisk Krea is another key defensive piece for her. Otherwise, she works well with most of our models, since Incite gives a bonus to everything Skorne.<br />
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Though quite powerful, Makeda 3 is very unforgiving. You need to be able to assess the risk to her at all times, and be extremely cagey, something that's not always easy for newer players. That said, once you get the hang of her tricks, and learn how to keep her alive, she will be able to do great and terrible things to your enemies.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Master Ascetic Naaresh (Naaresh 1)</span><br />
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Naaresh is a fairly unconventional 'caster in that he wants to take damage. In fact, taking damage makes him stronger, and beasts in his battlegroup will be able to charge and make power attacks without being forced if they have damage on them. When fully whipped up, Naaresh is a dangerous melee 'caster and assassin, especially with the unpredictable movement granted by Cyclone. Lamentation also gives him a decent denial game. He wants to be in the thick of things, using his personal presence to threaten the opponent and support his own army, waiting for the chance to dive in for the finishing blow. Because of this, I often put Blur on him rather than using it to support a unit. The less he needs to worry about shooting, the more pressure he can exert.<br />
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Naaresh has a lot of fun synergies with our other models, but the most notable in my mind are Cyclops Brutes and Paingiver Beast Handlers. Naaresh, like Makeda 3, must have access to Safeguard to stay alive, though from turn to turn he might prefer another animus. You also want at least 2 min units of paingivers with Naaresh, because their ability to whip him is what makes him threatening and keeps him alive. Naaresh also likes a way to fix Mat, like a Battle Boar in Disciples, and a Krea and/or Agonizer to further keep him from harm. The War Hog and Road Hog, also in Disciples, can damage themselves to get free charges. In general, Naaresh wants a big battlegroup, because hit Feat, when properly applied, is very strong.<br />
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It is, however, a combined offense/defense Feat, like Zaadesh 2's, and you need good timing if you want to get decent use out of both halves. The other big thing to watch out for with Naaresh is not to overdo it with whipping him. He does not need to be P+S 16 Arm 20 every turn. Even with his various ways to heal, that damage will add up, and with Naaresh hanging out close to the action, it's likely to get him killed.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Master Tormentor Morghoul (Morghoul 1)</span><br />
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Morghoul 1 is very different from versions 2 and 3, and very fun to play. He brings beast support Abuse to make them faster and hit harder, Admonition, which lets either a beast or him dodge an attacker, and his Feat which is great denial against enemy beasts and jacks. He's easy to use but hard to master. He's much easier to (and often more fun) to use than Xekaar, and he makes a good replacement battlegroup 'caster in a JML if you're feeling frustrated with Xekaar.<br />
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Morghoul 1 likes a battlegroup of tough heavies that can live through the opponent's initial attacks on the Feat turn. He only really has any support for beasts, so any units you take should be self-sufficient. Because of this, he does well in Disciples. He always wants a source of Rush, so either a Gladiator or the Terrorizer is good with him. Because he can buff both speed and damage, naturally fast beasts are great for getting a first strike in from long range. Archidons in particular, don't need to worry about staying in his tiny CTRL. In Disciples, Road Hogs go from slightly pillow-fisted to frightening. Both have the Lightning Strike Animus, which let Morghoul get some use out of his Rippers without getting killed.<br />
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Morghoul 1's tools are powerful, but he's only Fury 5. He has to be close to the front to manage his battlegroup, and he doesn't quite have the stats to be there. If you're clever about Admonition and pay attention to positioning, Morghoul 1 is great, and lots of fun.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Primus Jalaam (Jalaam 1)</span><br />
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Jalaam is Skorne's Venator Warlock, but he's not really about shooting so much as he is about maneuvering. Warpath is his best tool, and there are a lot of great things you can do with it. Three inches of out-of-activation movement is a massive amount of flexibility most battlegroups don't have. Artifice of Deviation and Scavenger's Blessing both help you maneuver in difficult terrain, while also protecting your units and hampering the opponent.<br />
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Jalaam likes a big battlegroup. He really wants to have as many Warpath angles as he can manage with his Fury 6. A source of Snipe - either a Cyclops raider or a Titan Cannoneer - is a must for him. His shooting is amazing, and he really wants those extra 4" on it. Cyclops Shamans are good backup for a Snipe Beast in general with Ghost Shot, but with Jalaam, they have the added bonus of bing Warpath triggers. There are a number of good targets for Deadeye, but my absolute favorite is the Basilisk Krea. Deadeye makes Krea's Paralysis gun much more reliable against 'casters, and once it hits, the assassination run is on. Archidons are also great, since they can be much further away, and have access to Sprint.<br />
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Jalaam's biggest weakness is that with the exception of Deadeye, he has no way to buff accuracy or damage. This means he must take accurate, hard-hitting models, or play in Disciples so he can have access to Primal. Jalaam's lack of offensive buffs, combines with his pretty lackluster Feat, mean that he often bounces off opponents despite his other excellent tools. I have yet to figure him out, though I do feel he has good potential.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Supreme Aptimus Zaal and Kovaas (Zaal 1)</span><br />
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Zaal 1 has some great support, especially for infantry, but will tend to burn up your army, so whenever you play him, be ready for massive casualties. He can boost damage and accuracy to extreme levels with Last Stand and his Feat, but Last Stand kills your models, and the feat requires models to be killed. The other thing Zaal focuses on is Ancestral Guardians and Soul Tokens. He hands out souls, and of course, brings the Kovaas along to pop out of any AG's that die. The Kovaas is very strong, and having it appear out of a model that should have just taken some effort to remove is an excellent bonus.<br />
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Zaal 1 plays well in The Exalted and Masters of War, though you can play him in Disciples with Nihilators as your main infantry. I wouldn't recommend Winds for Zaal 1 just because it lacks melee infantry, which is something Zaal wants. That said, Zaal can certainly use a ranged game, and he might be able to get enough melee out of just Ancestral and Supreme Guardians and his battlegroup. Zaal really likes mobile units. Ferox, with their super long threat range and ability to jump, are fantastic assassins with him.<br />
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My big worry with Zaal in the current meta is that anti-infantry tech is very efficient, so your infantry has a tendancy to die too fast to get much use out. Ideally, you want a steady flow of souls from your infantry, and you want enough of them left alive to take advantage of all the rage tokens from your Feat. At least one unit of sturdy infantry like Karax or Immortals is good for keeping a unit on the table for a few turns. I haven't tried Zaal 1 with Keltarii yet, but the combination of Blade Shield and Parry seems like it has good potential.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Supreme Archdomina Makeda (Makeda 2)</span><br />
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Makeda 2 is a solid warlock whose viability has decreased somewhat with the emergence of the Void Archon. She plays a very tenacious attrition game with Stay Death, and packs some good support for her infantry with her spells. She wants to field mostly warrior models, and a lot of players take a minimum beast loadout with her.<br />
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Makeda 2 plays super well in Masters of War, and... can be played in our other themes I suppose. She really likes tough units that are hard enough to kill that she won't need to Stay Death too much. Praetorian Ferox are probably our top unit for this, and they combine that tenacity with great speed and maneuverability as well as respectable hitting power. Other elite units, like Cetrati and the Legends, are also great with her. Swordsmen, of course, gain Vengeance with her, and Vengeance will trigger even if she saves the damaged model with Stay Death. She often likes to take a Basilisk Krea to stack with Deflection against ranged infantry. Also consider a Supreme Guardian if you can afford it, since recursion on Swordsmen or Cetrati on top of Stay Death is just mean.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Makeda 2 has declined a bit with the release of the Void Archon, as I said before. Entropic Force is extremely easy to apply, and models under its pall cannot be saved by Stay Death. This isn't a death knell for her, since of course you'll have your other list, but it might mean that she wants more of a ranged presence in her battlegroup specifically to get rid of Void Archon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Tyrant Xerxis (Xerxis 1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Xerxis 1 blends powerful defensive tech with some great tools to increase the speed and maneuverability of what might otherwise be a slow and predictable force. He runs a powerful attrition list that focuses on being hard to kill, and absolutely demolishing anything that gets in its way. Xerxis also tends to brick up, since his feat rewards you for keeping models in base to base, and his Tactician [friendly warrior] means you're rarely blocking your own LoS or clogging your own charge lanes even if you stay in a clump.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Xerxis like Masters of War a lot, but he can play well in any theme because his spells and feat are good with anything. That said, the battle plans are very strong, mostly on faction melee infantry, so you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't take at least one unit. Beyond that, he's quite versatile, and if you have the Paingivers to manage fury, can run a beast brick surprisingly well. If you're going for infantry, Cetrati are great for blocking LoS to Xerxis, and synergize very well with his spells and feat. Ferox are great in general, but they're especially annoying with access to Defender's Ward and Xerxis' feat. Xerxis also likes the Krea and Agonizer, since they both support his relatively tight formation. He also really likes it when a Supreme Guardian returns his Cetrati to play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Xerxis' big problems are low Fury, somewhat low speed, and no innate accuracy fixing. Accurate units or some other way to fix accuracy is a high priority for Xerxis. He can also be outmaneuvered what with much of his force wanting to stay in his small and relatively slow CTRL bubble.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Void Seer Mordikaar (Mordikaar 1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mordikaar is a strange one, but he's also pretty solid. He brings a very decent recursion and def-based attrition game, as well as some dastardly tricks and the ability to do almost all of what he wants from well out of harm's way. His list can be either troop or beast heavy, but he'll always want at least one big faction unit. He's built around using Despoiler and Void Spirits, so these are so much a synergy with him as a requirement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Like I said, Despoiler is a must. However, bringing Despoiler is a lot like bringing Void Spirits, and the Void Spirits Despoiler pops out are going to get a lot more work done for you than the ones you bring in my experience, so putting Void Spirits in your starting army list is not really necessary. Otherwise, Mordi wants a heavy hitter and at least a few accurate models. Although Despoiler has Dark Shroud, he brings a lot else that I don't want to put up for trade just to get rid of an irksome heavy. Mordi also does nothing for accuracy, so take models that can hit. Praetorian Ferox are pretty much perfect for him: he can Revive them, the hit hard and accurately, and they can get into some very sneaky Essence Blast places. Archidons are good with him too, both for ignoring free strikes with Host of Shadows, and for being Essence Blast targets. Bloodrunners are a fun source of early fury from Hollow in Disciples. If you're running small or medium units, a Supreme Guardian supplements Mordi's recursion game nicely, and can send him souls from clear across the table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">For all his tricks, Mordikaar is tricky to use. Having no good source of accuracy or damage buffs does hurt, and he can sometimes get into a situation where he has a lot of fury, and nothing much to do with it. Recursion is certainly not dead, including on Mordikaar, but Revive on its own can get overwhelmed fast, and recursion is very important to keeping Mordikaar in the game long term.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Xerxis, Fury of Halaak (Xerxis 2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Rough Rino Xerxis brings some extra accuracy and hitting power, even more accuracy and hitting power with his feat, and speed. How much speed? All the speed. Plus 2 SPD for every warbeast in his battlegroup. With access to Rush and some of the quicker minion beasts, his list is very fast. X2 himself is fast, hits hard, and brings knockdown and pitch with his mount. Stranglehold is also the best direct damage spell at its cost in the game, but Fury 5 means you won't be casting it much; just remember you have it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Xerxis is big, and blocking LoS and charge lanes to him is tricky, so he really needs protection. His battle engine status makes him immune to stationary and knockdown, so there's no need for safeguard. He does want a Rhinodon, Razorworm, or Bull Snapper for Spiny Growth. He also wants to be next to a Krea, and an Agonizer, and be in range of a couple Shield Guards. All this, plus his field marshall, is pointing toward Disciples for a theme, but he can run beast heavy in any theme. Tiberion is great with him, and really benefits from being fast.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">While Xerxis 2 is fast and hits hard, he can be assassinated, and that's your main worry. His Fury stat is what limits the risk you can put him in. He's tough, but he still wants transfers, and most armies can put attacks on him if they really want to. His other weakness is that his toolbox isn't very deep. He has a game plan, and he supports it well, but he's predictable, and doesn't have a lot of specific answers to things your opponents might try. You need to be good at positioning with him, and leverage that extra speed for all it's worth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Zaal, the Ancestral Advocate (Zaal 2)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Zaal 2 has a good attrition game, mainly with constructs. He has the best Soul Taker rule available: Reclaim. He's personally pretty tough, and he gives his models lots of accuracy and damage support from Aura of Power, and gives constructs a turn of +5 Arm with his feat. He has a couple other tools to give his army some more flexibility, including a very credible melee or spell assassination if he happens to have a lot of soul tokens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Although Zaal 2 can theoretically be played reasonably well in Masters of War, his real bread and butter is The Exalted. Immortals have plenty of armor, but the Feat drives them up to levels that are actually quite difficult to handle with standard anti-infantry tech. Aura of Power also fixes their accuracy problem really well. I'd recommend at least a few ranged beasts for Zaal 2's battlegroup, since they give a very melee-oriented force a little flexibility. It's also hard to hide from them thanks to Mage Sight. All of our constructs are excellent with Zaal 2, and some defensive support for Zaal, who likes to be close to the front, goes a long way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">One of Zaal 2's weaknesses is that while he is tough, he's going to be easy for the enemy to hit if they want to assassinate, and even with transfers, that damage is going somewhere. Another is that if the enemy does happen to have the tech to kill off your infantry, you'll lose them fast, and not have a real way to use their souls.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">That's a wrap on our warlocks. If anyone has any extra advice or tricks (or if you just disagree with me I'd love to hear about it.</span>pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-70516098990741795402020-03-21T08:01:00.000-07:002020-03-21T08:07:05.101-07:00Skorne Faction Review Part 1: ThemesHello, everyone who still follows this blog. It's been close to a year, during which a lot has happened in my life, which unfortunately did not include playing a lot of WarmaHordes. We're now in the midst of a global pandemic, so it seems like that situation will continue for some time.<br />
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However!<br />
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I'm more or less settled from the other, non-wargame stuff I've been doing, and now have a lot of free time at home to think about games, build armies on Warroom, and aimlessly wish I could get back to playing. But since theorymachine is the responsible thing to do right now, I'm may as well post my musings so other people can correct me if I'm too far astray. I might try playing on Vassal soon, but Vassal games take a long time, and aren't as fun as in-person games.<br />
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Since I've been out of the game so long, I'm going to start with a review of my main faction and host of horrible torture-babies: Skorne.<br />
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Our themes have had a little bit of a revamp since the last time I posted, and it's mostly good as far as I can tell. I have a couple of questions, mainly about the place of Winds of Death in the faction now that Disciples of Agony has opened up so much, so I'll start with that.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Winds of Death</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="imagecache imagecache-product_image" height="193" src="https://privateerpress.com/files/imagecache/product_image/products/FlayerCannon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From: <a href="https://privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/skorne/units/venator-flayer-cannon">Privateer Press Gallery</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Not a lot has changed for Winds of Death. We have access to all the Venator units, all non-character warbeasts, both battle engines, and our most essential support elements: paingiver beast handlers and extollers. The theme benefits are Reposition [3] on weapon crews, and a free wall template we can plop down at the beginning of the game.<br />
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There are a few Skorne warlocks who can really make Winds sing, and they're mainly the ones who could do it before: debuff-oriented 'casters like Rasheth, Morghoul 2, and Hexeris 1. It's possible that Xekaar is playable in Winds now because he can channel through Immortal Vessels. My inner fluff bunny likes the idea of Jalaam in Winds, and he can certainly use a unit of Venators to help trigger Warpath moves at long range.<br />
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Even though the above warlocks work well in Winds, I'm forced to wonder if they aren't simply better in Disciples of Agony.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Disciples of Agony</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://files.privateerpress.com/insider/happy-agonizer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="250" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From: <a href="http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-6/04/2010-matt-dipietro">Privateer Press Insider</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In the Oblivion overhaul, Privateer Press took the old Disciples of Agony and Imperial Warhost themes, and just smooshed them together. The result is versatile and very powerful. We can take as many minion units and solos as we want, and our warlocks can take minion warbeasts, which count as friendly faction. The other benefit is that Paingiver models gain sacrificial pawn [minion warrior model], which is decent if you're running minion units, and forgettable otherwise. The requisition options include solos (as in the old Disciples), Agonizers (including the Terrorizer) and Kreas (like in the old Warhost), or 2 Paingiver Taskmasters for a single option, which is great if you're running minion units.<br />
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It's a very strong theme for all our 'casters except Zaal 2, who really needs constructs. Making minion warbeasts friendly faction gives us access to all their animi. The biggest standouts are the Battle Boar and Blackhide Wrastler for Primal and Rage. The short version is that if your 'caster fixes Mat sufficiently, take a Wrastler, if not (or if you don't have the points), a Boar. There's also the Blind Walker as a channeler for warlocks like Xekaar and Morghoul 2 and 3, who really want access to one. Finally, there's the War Hog, which is a cheap and devastatingly powerful heavy that's easily one of our best with access to Skorne animi and paingiver support.<br />
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I also shouldn't overlook minion units and solos. Croak Raiders and Farrow Brigands are excellent choices for a bunch of our 'casters, and having the option to take more than one minion solo in theme is nice for builds that really want, say, a Mist Speaker and Wrong-Eye. <br />
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For me, the best thing about the new Disciples theme is that opening it up to all warlocks lets the ones who need infantry build with Nihilators and Bloodrunners, but take an overall beast-heavy list that includes all the combinations available with Minion warbeasts. I'm very interested to see what Zaal 1 and Mordikaar can do with access to Nihilators and the minion beasts and animi.<br />
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A more troubling thing is that I'm not seeing a lot of compelling reasons to run Winds of Death over Disciples right now. Venator Rievers are very good, but Farrow Brigands and Croak Raiders step into their role with very little difficulty. They give up a little range, but add a lot of their own tech, including better hitting power. The Venator weapon crews are fine, but not so strong that they make up for the ability to stick Primal in a list. The wall template is something that Disciples doesn't replicate, and I can see incorporating it into your strategy enough that it's worth taking with Winds' other limitations. My big question here is: who likes to run Winds, and what tricks are available to us in Winds that aren't outshone by Disciples.<br />
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On a more self-involved note, my personal fave, Makeda 3, is a real monster these days, and the ability to bulk out her old roster in Warhost with minion beasts and Nihilators is filling me with glee.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Masters of War</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEngifcbhDQVDol72Ygm6I_shL2dcwReMzxP9zpufcKzgkZ_lQ_bqa4VJujyZH6gL8OvMDmXE_Yb0Gf_WXSWFR_uAjDIBwVNUlXeYSSvZTwjZLJTcU6Ul9dQpN67fRI_tI_ITJ3ZF4ycm-/s1600/CDD9F3FE-668A-4838-B344-F06A2F5EE222.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEngifcbhDQVDol72Ygm6I_shL2dcwReMzxP9zpufcKzgkZ_lQ_bqa4VJujyZH6gL8OvMDmXE_Yb0Gf_WXSWFR_uAjDIBwVNUlXeYSSvZTwjZLJTcU6Ul9dQpN67fRI_tI_ITJ3ZF4ycm-/s320/CDD9F3FE-668A-4838-B344-F06A2F5EE222.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A terrifying Ferox with her prey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As with Winds of Death, there wasn't a big change to Masters of War, just the overall change to requisition options. Molik and (more importantly) Tiberion can go with any warlock in this theme, and your units are a fairly diverse selection of melee fighters plus the ranged cataphracts. In addition to fighty grumpsters, you can take exalted and extoller solos, and the Supreme Guardian, which is great for several 'casters, but not probably not great enough to run Zaal 2 outside of Exalted. Masters lost the initiative bonus it used to have, but kept the best reason to choose it: ignoring Tough and RFP-ing with warrior models' melee attacks.<br />
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Masters of War is super solid, and remains my go-to with a bunch of 'casters, especially when I feel like breaking out our super fun Praetorian Ferox or the Legends of Halaak. Masters fits best with our buff-centric Warlocks, who are more faction exclusive with their support for units. I've really enjoyed the first two Makedas and Mordikaar in Masters, and I'm looking forward to trying Zaal 1 as well.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Exalted</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" data-lazy-loaded="1" data-zoom-image="http://home.privateerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SG_Scale.jpg?is-pending-load=1" src="https://home.privateerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SG_Scale.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="520" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From: <a href="https://home.privateerpress.com/2018/09/04/list-building-with-the-supreme-guardian/">Privateer Press Blog</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I have the least experience with The Exalted, mostly because I still just own one unit of Immortals, but it looks like a lot of fun. It also has the fewest extra changes, since it was overhauled just prior to the Oblivion arc. All the Exalted and Extoller models are allowed, as is Despoiler and Void Spirits. Additionally, Void Archons are in theme, so we can field multiples to put more Dark Shroud to help the Immortals crack armor.<br />
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Exalted is Zaal 2's bread and butter, though despite the limited model selection, most of our Warlocks do quite well with it. Only the ones who really prefer living troops, like Makedas 1 and 2, don't do well there. It's important to note that despite not having a good target for Hollow, Mordikaar does fine in Exalted, because Supreme Guardians can use Direct Spirits to give him souls from friendly troops who die near them.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overview</span><br />
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Overall, our themes seem to be in a pretty good place, with the possible exception of Winds of Death. It's been a long time since I've played though (and even when I played regularly I wasn't great), so maybe I'm missing a few key synergies that make Winds better in some circumstances.<br />
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My favorite theme is probably Disciples of Agony just because there are so many things you can do with it. Most of the lists I'm working on right now are in DoA.<br />
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That's it for now. It'll probably take me quite a while to get through the whole faction, but until I can play games out in the world, I'm happy to be blogging.<br />
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Until next time...pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-24566143310167781772019-05-07T16:33:00.002-07:002019-05-07T16:33:31.521-07:00Upcoming Pod TournamentThe Twin Cities meta is having another Pod tournament. This time, they split up the pods by skill level, and I decided to play in the "black diamond" category.<br />
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I'll be running Skorne, with Makeda 3 and some other Warlock - either Morghoul 2 or Mordikaar 1.<br />
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So expect a couple of battle reports in the near future.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-3374529710818304742019-04-28T16:31:00.001-07:002019-04-28T16:31:55.124-07:00Hi AgainI don't know if this means I'm back to blogging, but I just tried post-Exalted Mak3da for the first time, and I'm still mad with power.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-16998562464330831812018-10-15T14:18:00.003-07:002018-10-15T21:50:18.603-07:00Battle Report: Morghoul 2 vs. Kallus 1 (75pts)In my last battle report, I said I was taking a little break. Well, now I'm back, and here's the game I played before I left, the third game in the pod tournament we're playing in my local meta.<br />
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My opponent was Dave, the Legion player whose Anamag list <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2018/09/battle-report-mordikaar-1-vs-anamag-1.html">crushed me</a> a couple months ago, so I knew I needed to have an answer. I thought about using Zaadesh, since I'd been able to block drags with Inviolable Resolve before, but then I looked at Anamag's cards, and she has Hex Blast, so that was a no-go. Instead, I came up with a new list that I was pretty sure would be able to tangle with Primal Terrors and still be decent into some other matchups depending on what Dave brought.<br />
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<u><b>Lord Assassin Morghoul (*29pts)</b></u> - Winds of Death<br />
<i>*Mammoth (38pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (6pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aptimus Marketh (0pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Dakar (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Rievers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Slingers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
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Morghoul 2 has some excellent tools against Primal Terrors: Mortality to help take care of those pesky Chosen, and a Feat which can take most infantry Morghoul can see out of the game for a turn, not to mention dropping Def to levels where the Mammoth and Turtle will have no trouble hitting. Overall, I was pretty optimistic about this list into Anamag, and willing to play it into an Oracles list if he brought one. This would be my first time ever playing Morghoul 2, so we'll see what he's capable of.<br />
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Dave did bring his Anamag list, but he decided that since I was "obviously playing Morghoul" she wouldn't be a good drop, so he went with this list:<br />
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<u><b>Kallus, Wrath of Everblight (*30pts)</b></u> - Primal Terrors<br />
<i>*Blight Bringer (32pts)</i><br />
<i>*Harrier (3pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ammok the Truth Bearer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Feralgeist (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Spell Martyr (1pt)</i><br />
<i>Spell Martyr (1pt)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Chosen of Everblight (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Chosen of Everblight (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Rotwings (Leader and 9 Grunts) (12pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Rotwings (Leader and 9 Grunts) (12pts)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts)</i><br />
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This list looks a lot like Anamag's. It won't hit quite as hard, but it will be even more accurate, and it has amazing attrition power between the double Chosen and Kallus' Feat.<br />
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Dave was right, and I did drop Morghoul, because while Zaadesh might have some game into Kallus, he'd be in a bad spot against Anamag. Morghoul would be solid into either list, and I wanted to see how he'd do.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Deployment</span><br />
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We were playing The Pit II. I won the roll-off, and decided to go first. I put my theme wall right in the center zone, where it would help me contest it.<br />
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I put the Mammoth in the center with the Agonizer behind it, and the Animantrax on the right with the Paingivers right next to it. Morghoul and the Rievers went between the two huge bases, along with the solos. The Archidon went to the left of the Mammoth.<br />
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Dave put the Blight Bringer on the center-right, and one unit of Chosen and Rotwings on either side. The Gobbers and Kallus went in the middle, and the two Spell Martyrs spread out. The Feralgeist went on the far left (proxied by a little purple base). Dave had forgotten Kallus at home, so he's proxied by Bayal.<br />
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I advance deployed the Slingers in front of the Mammoth and Dave distant deployed the hellmouths in front of each rectangular zone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRbWrrAcgH5ulLiwnqiKOTDmWp5OUV9qoATeUsOLW02z1OeGwznMwWiVHDQWwbUXNHFvEPjwIwTsvhyphenhyphenflzRjAMGU2g8Bb87ocwmQdwOWZcl7JeZkEATykf9Y78Tw6JZi6QpT6XvjAqfoG/s1600/image1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRbWrrAcgH5ulLiwnqiKOTDmWp5OUV9qoATeUsOLW02z1OeGwznMwWiVHDQWwbUXNHFvEPjwIwTsvhyphenhyphenflzRjAMGU2g8Bb87ocwmQdwOWZcl7JeZkEATykf9Y78Tw6JZi6QpT6XvjAqfoG/s640/image1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 1</span><br />
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I Apparitioned forward with Morghoul. Everybody ran. The Paingivers whipped up the Animantrax, then healed it. Morghoul put Shadow Play on the Archidon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP5iys0OpKvkJ1TqEZ2JaajOAWIbFa1T4npl9ZMmttebORimZ5nn0FDjYqz-I-PeL-1ZKdwjjL-toMFq0JlV1YVMu5dx47khO-aLfA5rzVg4C0iIYrtWrFyeg-ZG26khG67H4nJ8Hncgl/s1600/image2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP5iys0OpKvkJ1TqEZ2JaajOAWIbFa1T4npl9ZMmttebORimZ5nn0FDjYqz-I-PeL-1ZKdwjjL-toMFq0JlV1YVMu5dx47khO-aLfA5rzVg4C0iIYrtWrFyeg-ZG26khG67H4nJ8Hncgl/s640/image2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
I was out of all the threat ranges except the Blight Bringer's gun, which could scatter onto either of the Venator units, and setting up to see what Dave would do.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Legion Turn 1</span><br />
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Dave moved up to threaten past the zones and keep me out of them. The Blightbringer took a shot, which scattered onto the Venator Riever officer, and killed it.<br />
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<br />
Dave was pretty well set up, and I'd be missing some long range shooting due to bad placement of my officer (it should've been at the back of the unit).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 2</span><br />
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Morghoul upkept Shadow Play, and Apparitioned. The Animantrax moved up and killed a Chosen with shooting, then repositioned out of threat range. The Slingers moved up to contest the left zone, and a Riever moved up to contest the right zone from behind the wall.<br />
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Dave had kept out of threat range of the Mammoth's guns with the Chosen, but I was able to kill a fair number of Rotwings between Slinger and Mammoth shooting. The Archidon moved up behind the house. The Mortitheurge put Tough on the Slingers, and the Paingivers ran to support the beasts on the right.<br />
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I was playing it cautious, still very much in the game, but without a huge presence in the scenario. I was hoping Dave would commit the Chosen to clearing out my models. Then I'd be down on scenario, but I could use Mortality and Morghoul's Feat to tear a huge chunk out of Dave's list.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Legion Turn 2</span><br />
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Dave played it cooler than I'd hoped. He used Blight Bringer shooting to kill the Venator contesting the central zone, and was able to kill my objective between Hellmouth tentacles and Rotwings. A single Chosen, plus an assortment of Tentacles and Rotwings took out the contesting Slingers.<br />
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Kallus moved up and popped his Feat, and the right Chosen repositioned to the left side of the table to help out against the approaching Mammoth.<br />
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Dave scored 4pts, and ended his turn.<br />
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I was in a real pickle. Being down 2-0 or 3-0 is usually manageable if your counter is good, but being down 4-0 is very dangerous, and Dave was contesting too well for me to get on the scoreboard this turn, especially with Kallus' Feat replacing everything I killed with a new Incubus. I'd have to see what I could do on attrition, and hope that his counterattack couldn't net him that last point.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 3</span><br />
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Morghoul upkept Shadow Play, and Admonitioned forward. The Venators got back into the central zone and cleared out some Rotwings.<br />
<br />
The Archidon advanced, and killed the Chosen that had killed the Slingers last turn, but wasn't able to do anything about the Incubus that popped out.<br />
<br />
Morghoul advanced to where he could see all but the two Chosen lurking at the back, then popped his Feat and put Mortality on the Blight Bringer. He killed a Rotwing with his fan, then killed the Incubus that popped out with Mercy, and put Lightning Strike on himself to get back to my lines.<br />
<br />
The Animantrax charged in to contest right zone, and did a whole bunch of damage to the Blight Bringer in the process. The Mammoth advanced into the center and left zones, and finished the Legion Garg off with shooting. The Agonizer ran up and used Gnawing Pain right behind the Mammoth. The Paingivers cleaned up some Fury.<br />
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It all hinged on whether the Animantrax could tough it out. Most of the Chosen were blind from Morghoul's Feat, and couldn't really do anything. But the Animantrax was my only model contesting the right zone, and if Dave could kill it and get a beast or Kallus in there, he could win.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Legion Turn 3</span><br />
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In the end, it took everything Dave could put on it, but the Animantrax died. Kallus ran into the right rectangle, and Dave won on scenario.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to the Legion!</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
This was a really fun game, and a lot closer than my last one against Primal Terrors. I think with a little more experience using Morghoul 2 and Winds of Death, I might be able to pull out a win. Scaring Dave into dropping Kallus instead of Anamag was already a small victory. I did make a couple mistakes. The first was just not paying attention to where my Riever officer was hanging out, and getting him killed by a stray template. The second was not going after Dave's objective, which I'd sort-of forgotten about, on turn 2. I had 2 shots left with the Mammoth after killing the Blight Bringer, and if I'd been thinking, a couple of cannon balls plus some Riever fire would've put me on the scoreboard, and ensured I wouldn't straight-up lose if Dave killed the Animantrax. Finally, I focused the Agonizer behind the Mammoth, but it really is better as a guardian piece for the Animantrax. Dave might not have been able to kill the Animantrax if the Agonizer was backing it up (or kill both if he wanted to remove its aura). He had very limited resources on that last turn, and I definitely would've been better served by the Aggy backing up the more aggressive SA rather than the slower Mammoth. Any of these might have kept me in the game, and let me do a lot of damage to Dave's remaining workhorse units on my next turn.<br />
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Despite my lack of practice, I like this Winds list a lot. It works well into one of the big boogey-lists in the meta right now, and once I get its tricks down, I'll be a lot more confident into the Legion matchup. I don't think it's fully optimized, so I'll be fine-tuning it over the next couple months. Morghoul 2 is a really fun 'caster, and I'm looking forward to giving him and Winds of Death a real run through their paces, especially with the changes proposed for Marketh and the Mammoth in the Exalted CID.<br />
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Dave played a very solid game as usual. He set up well on his first turn to keep me from putting a serious presence in the zones, and racked up the points in his second turn as a result. He played a very cagey game with both his Chosen and Kallus, which was definitely the right move against my list. Attrition might have been about to swing in my favor, but he made sure he was well ahead by that point. One mistake that Dave realized after the game was that the Rotwing Morghoul killed with his Fan should've lived due to Kallus' Unyielding aura, which would've made Morghoul's sprint to safety a lot chancier.<br />
<br />
I don't know Legion well enough to comment much on his list. It certainly doesn't care about defense, but might struggle into certain armor spam lists. Still, with the Blight Bringer buff, it might not have too much to worry about, and the attrition potential of double Chosen backed by Kallus' Feat is boggling. The Rotwings work really well in the list too. They do a lot of damage for such cheap models, and make excellent little spawn points for Incubi on the Feat turn.<br />
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My final pod game got stalled by my vacation, but it is coming up, so expect a report in the next couple of days. <br />
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Thanks for reading!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-80271073528223603952018-09-17T17:02:00.003-07:002018-09-17T17:02:30.795-07:00Battle Report: Zaadesh 2 vs. Tanith (75pts)On to game two of the pod mini-tournament we're playing. I brought the same Zaadesh list I played last week, as well as the same Mordikaar list I brought to the tournament a month or so ago. This time, I was up against Jeff's Circle. He brought Tanith and Wurmwood. It felt like either list would have trouble cracking Zaadesh's armor, and while Mordikaar definitely had game into either matchup, I just felt more comfortable with the brick:<br />
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<u><b>Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts)</b></u> - Imperial Warhost<br />
<i>*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
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There's a huge amount of armor here, and it was startlingly effective the last time I played it. I kind of can't score circles or flags, but I have so much gristle that I'm hoping I can just attrition my way through, and contest until my opponent has nothing left.<br />
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Jeff went with Tanith<br />
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<u><b>Tanith, the Feral Song (*31pts)</b></u> - The Wild Hunt<br />
<i>*Loki (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Pureblood Warpwolf (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Woldwyrd (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Woldwyrd (9pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Eilish Garrity, the Occoltist (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Reeve Hunter (0pts) </i><br />
<i>Gallows Grove (2pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Reeves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Wolves of Orboros (Leader and 9 Grunts) (11pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>The Death Wolves (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Shifting Stones (Leader and 2 Grunts) (3pts)</i><br />
<i>*Stone Keeper (2pts)</i><br />
<br />
This list has a lot of infantry, and some good board control between Tanith and Loki. The Reeves can do a lot of damage to heavy armor with Affliction.<br />
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The scenario was Invasion, so two round zones flanking a rectangle with an objective on each side. Each of us picked the healing objective.<br />
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I won the roll-off, and chose to go first. Jeff picked the table side with some forests to hide his wolves in. He decided to ambush his Wolves. I put the Animantrax in the center-left, and everything else basically in the middle. Jeff put the two heavies on the center-left, the two Wyrds on the center-right, the Reeves on the far left, and the Death Wolves on the far right.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 1</span><br />
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I advanced up the center, with the Animantrax going up the left flank. Zaadesh put Inviolable Resolve on the Aradus Soldier, and put Battle Charged on himself. The Paingivers whipped the Animantrax and healed it.<br />
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I'd set up out of threat range of all Jeff's units. I'd see how he positioned, and then decide what to do.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Circle Turn 1</span><br />
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Jeff moved up cautiously, keeping the warpwolves in the forest with the shifting stones. The Reeves ran up the left flank, and the Death Wolves ran up behind the house in the right zone. Eilish and the Reeve Hunter moved up to the objective and the central forest. Tanith advanced, and put Admonition on Loki.<br />
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Jeff was setting himself up. The warpwolves were out of melee range, and the infantry wolves could come in on either side of the table. I wasn't sure whether they'd come in to support the Reeves or make a play for the right zone with the Death Wolves.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 2</span><br />
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Zaadesh upkept his spells.<br />
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I advanced into threat range, doing my best to ensure none of my beasts would be pulled to their dooms. The painted Sentry stayed behind the Soldier, and the painted Agonizer and Krea moved up and used their defensive abilities. The Animantrax shot a Reeve.<br />
<br />
The Gladiator advanced behind the objective, and the Bronzeback moved into charge range of the two warpwolves. Zaadesh advanced, and shielded the Bronzeback with a pair of clouds. The primed Sentry moved up to contest the right zone. The Paingivers advanced, healed the Animantrax back to full, and managed Fury.<br />
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<br />
This turn would make or break my advance. I didn't think Jeff's list could put too much of a dent in mine, but he certainly had tools at his disposal. It would depend on whether he'd be able to kill at least one heavy (or the turtle) and keep one or both warpwolves safe.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Circle Turn 2</span><br />
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Tanith upkept Admonition. The Wolves of Orboros Ambushed in on the left side of the table, clearly intent on taking out the Animantrax.<br />
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Jeff activated the Reeves first, and moved them into range of the Animantrax, then realized he'd forgotten to put affliction on the Animantrax first. Instead of murdining it with a thousand bolts, the Reeves ended up doing just a small amount of damage.<br />
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The Wolves of Orboros charged in, used their mini-Feat to gain an additional melee damage die, and did a lot of damage to the Animantrax, but failed to kill it. The Reeve Hunter advanced through the forest, but was killed by a counter-charge from my Gladiator. The two Woldwyrds advanced, one doing some damage to the unpainted Agonizer, and the other popping Arcane Suppression.<br />
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Tanith advanced, and popped her Feat. She shot the Aradus Soldier to shut down its movement and make it and the Sentry force to shake Shadow Bind next turn. She also channeled a couple Rifts through the Woldwyrd in the woods, killing the unpainted Agonizer and 4 of my Paingivers.<br />
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The Shifting Stones ported Loki up to within range of the painted Agonizer, but I saved the little champ with a Shield Guard from my Sentry. Jeff then noticed the direct line between my Bronzeback and Tanith, which I'd been trying not to stare at too hard, and moved his Pureblood to block the charge. The Death Wolves ran to engage the primed Sentry, and that was that.<br />
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<br />
I still had a pretty good shot at assassinating Tanith, I'd just need to manage my resources and make sure everything happened that needed to.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 3</span><br />
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Zaadesh upkept his spells, and the Sentry and Aradus shook Shadow Bind.<br />
<br />
Zaadesh was out of range of Arcane Suppression, so he cast Rush on both the Bronzeback and Aradus Soldier. He also used his Feat. Then I started activating the army.<br />
<br />
The painted Sentry killed the two Wolves who'd charged it, then the Animantrax killed about 7 or 8 of the Wolves engaging it. Then the Paingivers advanced, and Enraged the Aradus and Bronzeback. The Aradus advanced to Loki, who Admonitioned to block its pull of the Pureblood. The Aradus did kill Loki, but was unable to kill the Pureblood. Then the Gladiator Rushed itself, and advanced up to the Pureblood, then used Power Attack: Throw to clear a path for the Bronzeback...<br />
<br />
...which charged in and finished Tanith.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
I played a really solid game, and pushed attrition with my heavy armor. Again, I was able to use Inviolable Resolve, my objective, and LoS-blocking clouds to deal with a single source of drag. I like this list a lot. It certainly has its shortcomings, but it also definitely has some strengths, including being a giant hunk of beef that can be pretty hard to deal with.<br />
<br />
Jeff made some activation order mistakes which cost him the opportunity to take out my animantrax with Affliction. He also left Tanith in a very dangerous position, which cost him the game. He definitely set himself up well, though, especially with the Reeves. If he'd gone through the activations needed to shoot down the turtle, I'd've been in a lot of trouble on the left flank, and I'd've had to push assassination or else seriously recommit to killing the Wolves before they could wipe out my backfield.<br />
<br />
That's it for now. I'm already scheduled to play my next Pods game this coming Wednesday, then I'm on a bit of a break.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Thanks for reading!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-41376570798244612882018-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:002018-09-15T17:07:16.819-07:00Short Battle Report: Thagrosh 2 vs. Zaadesh 2 (75pts)We're doing a pod tournament in the Twin Cities meta, which is nice because it means that I can schedule games with each opponent at a sedate pace of once per week. I often can't play tournaments because I usually work on Saturdays.<br />
<br />
This week, I was matched up against Brandon's Legion. I played:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts)</b></u> - Imperial Warhost<br />
<i>*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
Scenario schmenario? This list will have trouble scoring round zones, and can only score flags with Zaadesh, but it has a very strong attrition game, and a lot of extremely fun warbeasts plus the Siege Turtle. Hopefully, between all the beef and Zaadesh's defensive tech, I'll be able to contest what I need to and push through on attrition.<br />
<br />
I played against:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Thagrosh, the Messiah (*25pts)</b></u> - Primal Terrors<br />
<i>*Typhon (20pts)</i><br />
<i>*Carnivean (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Scythean (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ravagore (16pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>3 Spell Martyrs (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts) </i><br />
<br />
<i>Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Gorag Rotteneye (6pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Ogrun Warspears (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
This is much different than the last Primal Terrors list I played against. Thagrosh 2 is a very cool warlock. I thought last time that Zaadesh might have the tools to tangle with Primal Terrors. I guess we'll find out.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
The scenario was face-off. I won the roll-off, and chose to go first.<br />
<br />
I deployed in a fairly centrally, with the Animantrax on my right flank. If needed, I could pivot my brick to the center-left to keep the left circle contested while the Animantrax held up the right circle. The game plan otherwise, was essentially to take out the Hellmouth ASAP then out-trade Legion as best I could with the heavies I had available.<br />
<br />
Brandon deployed his beasts centrally, and put a unit of Ogrun in front of either round zone - Warspears on the left and Warmongers on the right. The Spell Martyrs spread out, while Thagrosh and the Mist Speaker went in the middle.<br />
<br />
I Advance Deployed the Aradus centrally since I wasn't sure where I'd need it. Brandon deployed the Hellmouth behind the central forest, where it could threaten well into my half of the table from out of sight.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
<br />
I advanced toward the table center. Zaadesh put Battle Charged on himself and Inviolable Resolve on the Aradus Soldier. My other warbeasts posted up behind the Aradus and the objective to prevent drags. The Animantrax advanced to just beyond the edge of the right zone.<br />
<br />
Brandon advanced to just behind the woods with his Carnivean and Scythean, with Typhon fairly close by. The Ravagore walked, and shot at the Animantrax for some damage. A tentacle charged the Aradus, and ended up triggering a counter-charge from the left Sentry.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
I was in range to get an alpha strike in on the Legion beasts. Zaadesh upkept both his spells.<br />
<br />
The Gladiator Rushed the Aradus, and attacked a jamming tentacle. Various models cleared the way for Zaadesh, who Rushed both Sentries and Feated, and the Paingivers, who Enraged the Aradus and the painted Sentry.<br />
<br />
The Aradus advanced, and destroyed the Hellmouth and the Carnivean. The painted Sentry charged and killed the Scythean, then used Ornery to gain Retaliatory Strike. The primed Sentry trampled and used Ornery. The Animantrax had line of sight to the Warmongers, and was able to wipe them out between tail attacks and shooting, then it repositioned back into Zaadesh's control range to gain Defensive Strike.<br />
<br />
Brandon ended up taking a bunch of damage on his own turn, and conceded the game when his Ravagore lost 2/3 of its health before making any attacks.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
Brandon made some mistakes, and I was able to capitalize. It's a game I'd be interested to replay when he's feeling a little more focused. I've played against his Cygnar several times, and he's usually much better about checking distances and blocking his opponent's moves.<br />
<br />
Zaadesh was able to contend pretty well with a single Hellmouth. I'd be interested to try him out against two. The angles might not be manageable with only one heavy and the Animantrax being immune to pulls. If I can make it work, then I might start to feel like I can play this list into the Anamag list that had me so wrongfooted a month ago.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-19310502801022640792018-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:002018-09-09T08:00:09.566-07:00Starting Skorne in the Age of Themes: Winds of DeathIn my previous Starting Skorne post, I gave a general impression of what's changed in the faction since my first advice posts two years ago. My next couple of posts are going to be some list building advice for playing the league with each theme. This time, I'm going to talk about one of the better themes to start building at week 3 of a league: Winds of Death.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
What can you take?<br />
<ul>
<li>Any Warlock (though you must start with Xekaar)</li>
<li>All non-character warbeasts</li>
<li>All Venator models/units</li>
<li>Paingiver Beast Handler units</li>
<li>All Extoller solos</li>
<li>Mortitheurge Willbreaker solos</li>
<li>All Skorne battle engines</li>
</ul>
This is a pretty reasonable selection of units, which is one of the reasons I recommended Winds of Death in my previous post. It lets you experiment with a wide variety of warbeasts, units, and solos compared to our other themes, and is pretty strong.<br />
<br />
What are the theme benefits?<br />
<ul>
<li>Skorne Warbeasts in the army gain Swift Hunter, which lets them take a short move after killing something with a ranged attack. This is a pretty useful ability, and one which will help you understand what a big difference even a small move can make in your games.</li>
<li>Before models are deployed, you can place a wall template (which is an obstacle and grants cover) anywhere completely within 20" of your table edge (and not within 3" of a hill, obstacle, or obstruction). This is very useful, Cover will make you a lot more durable against ranged attacks, and obstacles give you a Def bonus in melee as well. Get used to placing your wall where you can incorporate it into your tactics.</li>
<li>You get a free solo or weapon crew for every full 20pts of Venators and/or battle engines in your list. Free models are one of the major benefits of themes, and your options here are pretty good.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Recommendations<br />
<br />
<b>For week 2</b>, you can add 15 points of warbeasts to your battlegroup.<br />
<br />
If you go for a second heavy warbeast, I'd recommend either a Titan Sentry or an Archidon. The Sentry is heavily armored, and will be almost invincible on Xekaar's Feat turn. It also has Shield Guard to help keep him and your other pieces alive.<br />
<br />
The Archidon is a much faster piece, and functions as sort of a medium warbeast. It's a little more complicated to use than the Sentry, but it can be very powerful if you know what you're doing. Long Leash and the Lightning Strike animus let it get into interesting places. With Enrage and Mortality, it can do a fair amount of damage.<br />
<br />
Alternately, you can take a light warbeast or two. The Cyclops Brute is a solid choice. It can absorb a charge or two on the front lines, something Winds of Death can otherwise struggle with. It also has Shield Guard to protect Xekaar and other important models from shooting. Mortality helps a lot with its lackluster offense too.<br />
<br />
The Cyclops Shaman is also good. It can use other animi like Rush or Far Strike. Craft Talisman is also a good way to get extra range on Xekaar's spells. Between its shooting and the Raider's, you'll be able to inflict some serious harm at range.<br />
<br />
This will leave you enough space in the list to take a Basilisk Krea or an Agnoizer if you want to. Both are solid support piece that you'll use in other lists, so picking them up is a good idea whether you field them at this stage or not. Either one will give you more durability in your list. The Krea will protect you against shooting, and can paralyze enemy models. The Agonizer will help protect you against melee attacks, and the Repulse animus can open up a lot of very interesting tricks, especially if you have a Shaman in the list as well.<br />
<br />
<b>For week 3</b>, you get 15 more points, which you can use on anything besides battle engines, and you can start to benefit from your theme force. If you have a bunch of points saved up, you can get a free model at this stage, but it's probably better to start by focusing on the basics. You'll start getting free models soon enough.<br />
<br />
My advice at this stage hasn't changed much either. Paingiver Beast Handlers are a must for most Skorne lists. A minimum unit should be enough for now, but a full unit might be handy if you have the points. Aptimus Marketh is also quite good with a lot of our 'casters who can play in Winds of Death, including Xekaar.<br />
<br />
Depending on how many points you have left, you might be able to fit in a unit and/or another solo. For units, Venator Slingers and Venator Reivers are both solid choices. Many competitive Winds of Death lists use both.<br />
<br />
<b>For week 4</b>, you add another 15 points, and you can switch Warlocks if you want. Some strong options who work well with Winds of Death are Dominar Rasheth (Rasheth 1), Lord Assassin Morghoul (Morghoul 2), Primus Jalaam (Jalaam 1), and Lord Arbiter Hexeris (Hexeris 2). If you don't want to continue with Xekaar, any one of them will be a good replacement. Rasheth is probably the strongest 'caster in Skorne, and runs a mean Winds of Death list. All of them also work well with Marketh. <br />
<br />
You have 15 more points to add, and if you didn't take a Venator unit last time, you should rectify that. You also have space for some solos. The best ones allowed in Winds of Death are the Venator Dakar and the Extoller Soulward. Alternately, you can pick up another beast or two if doing so would give you list more hitting power or flexibility. If you have 16 points in your list and are keeping Xekaar, an Aradus Sentinel is worth considering. Swarm stacks with Xekaar's Feat against most models to give them -5 to hit on the Feat turn.<br />
<br />
Try to leave yourself 2 points to play around with because... <br />
<br />
<b>For week 5</b>, you might want to pick up a Siege Animantrax. There is some talk about it getting a power reduction in the Skorne Exalted CID coming up in winter 2019. If you feel like waiting until then, I won't blame you, because the model is quite expensive compared to heavies and units.<br />
<br />
However, it's also quite powerful. It's a staple piece of most Winds of Death and Imperial Warhost lists, and works well under just about anyone. However, all of the Warlocks I recommended above (including Xekaar if you're sticking with him for the league) work very well with it. It might take you a while to figure out all the Animantrax's tricks.<br />
<br />
If you like the look of the Siege Animantrax, then more paingivers, either maxing out your current unit or taking a second unit, are a good idea.<br />
<br />
If you don't like the Siege Animantrax, or you'd rather wait on it until you can be more certain of its power level, the jump up to 60pts is a good place to try to make sure you've got 40pts worth of Venator models in your list so far. That will get you 2 free solos and/or weapon crew units. The weapon crews do good damage, but they're fragile. They are Venator units, so they do count toward other free models. In terms of other Venators, both the Rievers and the Slingers are good. Slingers do more damage to 'jacks and infantry, and provide some support with Flare. Reivers do a bit more damage to non-'jacks, and have significantly longer range as well as Reposition [3].<br />
<br />
<b>For week 6</b>, you're free to take what you want. If you weren't able to hit the 40pt threshold for two free models last week (though the Animantrax counts for that if you want to take it), make sure you get that set up now. If you've already got 2 free models, run whatever interests you.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of Winds of Death lists to look at online that have ideas you might want to poach.<br />
<br />
Here's a list I'd build toward for a JML. It seems strong and fun, and has a good mix of shooting, melee, and assassination potential.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Assassin Morghoul (*29pts)</b></u> - Winds of Death<br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Raider (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Savage (7pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aptimus Marketh (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Dakar (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Reivers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Slingers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
My main game plan is to get Morghoul and/or the Archidon onto a blinded enemy 'caster, and end the game. I'll use the threat of my assassination potential and the general bullying power of the Siege Animantrax to keep opponent's cautious and compete at the scenario, and my shooting to wear opponents down. The Raider, Shaman, and Venators will snipe out key models from long range.<br />
<br />
On a critical turn, I'll use Morghoul's Feat to shut down the opposing army and move in to set up my assassination run and kill what I can.<br />
<br />
This list isn't incredible against heavy armor, but it can always assassinate, and has some tools to break armor - it'll just run out of them before most opponents.<br />
<br />
I haven't ever played this list, and I'm not entirely sure how it will do, but when I do play, I'll be sure to let you all know.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-30396493775836810522018-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:002018-09-04T21:47:15.554-07:00Battle Report: Mordikaar 1 vs. Anamag 1, 75ptsHello!<br />
<br />
Sorry for the unannounced 2-week-long hiatus. I had the GRE last Saturday (the 25th), and I was deep in the Study Zone. I spent most of this past week regenerating my mental powers.<br />
<br />
I went to a tournament on the 18th, as I said I might. However, I was sick that morning, and ended up bowing out after the first round, so I'll just give the report from that battle.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I played<br />
<br />
<u><b>Void Seer Mordikaar (*29pts)</b></u> - Masters of War<br />
<i>*Despoiler (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
My opponent, Dave, ran<br />
<br />
<u><b>Anamag the Doom Feaster (*27pts)</b></u> - Primal Terrors<br />
<i>*Blightbringer (32pts)</i><br />
<i>*Harrier (3pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ammok the Truth Bearer (4pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Warmonger War Chief (5pts)</i><br />
<i>3 Spell Martyrs (3pts) </i><br />
<br />
<i>Chosen of Everblight (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Gorag Rotteneye) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Rotwings (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pt)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
I've never played against Primal Terrors before, but I've heard it's quite powerful.<br />
<br />
Dave won the roll-off, and chose to go first. He deployed a unit of Warmongers on either side, and the Blightbringer and Chosen more toward the middle.<br />
<br />
I put my Ferox and on the left flank, my Swordsmen and both Archidons toward the center right, and Despoiler, the Gladiator, and Mordikaar in the middle, along with the beast and infantry support.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Dave put one Hellmouth foward to threaten the left zone, and one Hellmouth as far back as possible for its tentacles to perpetually contest my flag.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
<br />
Dave ran everything forward aggressively. The Chosen got +2 armor for one of Anamag's spells.<br />
<br />
I ran up a little, put Hollow on the Swordsmen, and Feated with Mordikaar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Aa4YFq8OiWgda8SA91wqatcsP7uJx9ciLVGCrFo6iJhooSN_a2RP15JLCh7c4E959eAumZta2-QnmJ1VTND279pW3xA1RH8lEl1Ef8dJ89XPhwYNfjjlzpquJN9ZrJi8D-qRZzWVNuXn/s1600/image2%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Aa4YFq8OiWgda8SA91wqatcsP7uJx9ciLVGCrFo6iJhooSN_a2RP15JLCh7c4E959eAumZta2-QnmJ1VTND279pW3xA1RH8lEl1Ef8dJ89XPhwYNfjjlzpquJN9ZrJi8D-qRZzWVNuXn/s640/image2%25289%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Dave had said something before the game about absurd Mat fixing, but I was hoping it wouldn't be absurd enough to kill off my swordsmen.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
Dave continued advancing with the bulk of his infantry. The Blightbringer killed a couple Swordsmen with a blight blast, and the Chosen charged in and accounted most of the rest. Between Carnage and the Def debuff from Gorag the Chosen were Mat 11, and they had no trouble hitting everything they aimed a weird draconic appendage at.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULFbfSnBc07CTtaz4HYJnbYd3gp0A2KPB-6Cvw3iPjOeGTu6lvabs8aGH62iN3GvHMkPeaTdSu4rnwCHaSEiw5Qxx5apwSCiKWkAiJclc6hcLHE21R2tKSR5LH0QuPH4k_PE1tReHTolx/s1600/image3%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULFbfSnBc07CTtaz4HYJnbYd3gp0A2KPB-6Cvw3iPjOeGTu6lvabs8aGH62iN3GvHMkPeaTdSu4rnwCHaSEiw5Qxx5apwSCiKWkAiJclc6hcLHE21R2tKSR5LH0QuPH4k_PE1tReHTolx/s640/image3%25289%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Various models, including several Swordsmen, the Archidon, and Despoiler managed at long last to kill off the one Chosen jamming me. Mordikaar Revived 5 Swordsmen to hold off the remaining Chosen for another turn.<br />
<br />
The Ferox advanced, and attacked the left Warmongers. They managed to kill one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mDQX8xJn0lsizEpCC_W6qsrBeNeiazdgbp2l4D_-GStAh7UTbGwh6pUuO3ASyddDt2sZy-ljBvxJEggjN1djZFTQ370i-hKgiUcum59pEqsTsqR_cKdTiOvT3s_Gz3TUePwPi7WY5Nky/s1600/image4%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mDQX8xJn0lsizEpCC_W6qsrBeNeiazdgbp2l4D_-GStAh7UTbGwh6pUuO3ASyddDt2sZy-ljBvxJEggjN1djZFTQ370i-hKgiUcum59pEqsTsqR_cKdTiOvT3s_Gz3TUePwPi7WY5Nky/s640/image4%25289%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Well, I was in a bit of trouble now. I had accomplished almost nothing, and I was looking at another turn of damage like the last one.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
<br />
Dave wiped out the Swordsmen and Ferox, and killed the Archidon and Despoiler.<br />
<br />
I looked around for some kind of last ditch assassination, but Anamag was too well defended. I scored a point for controlling the left zone, but then I decided to concede.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to the Legion!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
That was pretty brutal! I'd also brought a Zaadesh list, which might have fared better. I'll try that next time. Hilariously, my Makeda 3 list would've been able to deal with the Chosen quite well by swapping Grievous Wounds around. I still feel like I'm better off overall sticking with Zaadesh.<br />
<br />
I ended up dropping from the tournament at this point. I was feeling sick, and had a bye for the next round and a test coming up in a couple days. <br />
<br />
Dave played a very good game, and forced me into a bad spot by keeping scenario pressure up and using all the tools he needed to counter mine. I've got to work out how to deal with Anamag. I'll see if I can make Zaadesh work next time. I also like Jalaam quite a bit, since he's got Grievous Wounds on his gun. Maybe Mak3da will get some love in the CID.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjmK-4ilB1AHBipiU46bSoiqrwM-WV89tl197FAu-xJUTHVDrakuUcL4FNEhG8cbJQWPy5puOjFJ9wfVsSMNONJrCTV61_i1J9ND2Nj0qdPe5praGgZKvGzV-NGtvM_bHQqwcGN4A9nKW/s1600/image5%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjmK-4ilB1AHBipiU46bSoiqrwM-WV89tl197FAu-xJUTHVDrakuUcL4FNEhG8cbJQWPy5puOjFJ9wfVsSMNONJrCTV61_i1J9ND2Nj0qdPe5praGgZKvGzV-NGtvM_bHQqwcGN4A9nKW/s400/image5%25287%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basically my expression after that game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-22286457725877120462018-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:002018-08-19T10:00:08.164-07:00Starting Skorne in the Age of Themes, OverviewHello again. <br />
<br />
Way, way back in 2016, I made 3 posts about <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2016/08/tactica-skorne-battlegroup-and-start-of.html">starting Skorne from the battlegroup box</a> and building up to a 75pt list over the course of a Journeyman League (JML). That information has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years - we had a faction overhaul and a bunch of themes released. On top of that, the rules for the JML have been updated. So this seems like a good time to update my recommendations a little.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Changes to Skorne </span><br />
<br />
The tactics I outlined for the battlegroup largely still hold true. The point costs for the Titan Gladiator and Cyclops Savage were changed to make the Gladiator a little more expensive and the Savage a little less so, but the battlegroup still has an over point value of zero, and none of the rules on the battlegroup models has changed.<br />
<br />
When you start adding troops to your list, though, things start to get a little more complicated. For one thing, most of our models improved significantly in the faction overhaul. Some of our infantry options, for example, are a lot more enticing. In my <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2016/08/building-from-battlegroup-journeyman.html">"building from the battlegroup" post</a>, I mention Praetorian Karax and Paingiver Bloodrunners for melee infantry. However, if you're interested in a melee-oriented list, Praetorian Swordsmen and Cataphract Cetrati are decent options now, and the Legends of Halaak have also become a lot more dangerous and easy to use.<br />
<br />
For warbeasts, I recommended all the Titans, largely because the rest of our warbeast stable was sorely lacking. Post-update, Archidons are excellent, Rhinodons are solid, and the Aradus Sentinel got a sweet little boost in the form of a real animus. The Titans, meanwhile, aren't being taken as much because they tend to trade poorly with the cheap 'jacks that most Warmachine factions can field. They're also being upstaged by infantry, light beasts, and especially by the Siege Animantrax. The turtle is a pricey model (money-wise), but it's fast, flexible, durable, and dangerous at both melee and range. Most theme lists that can take the Animantrax should probably take one, and there's a strong argument for taking 2 in a lot of cases. That brings us to...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Themes</span><br />
<br />
The benefits from theme forces are many and powerful, and ours are no exception. In this day and age, you should probably be playing in theme unless you have a specific reason not to. We currently have 5 themes, of which 4 are playable in a JML.<br />
<ol>
<li>Winds of Death - A strong and flexible theme, and probably the one you'll be looking at in the JML. It lacks melee infantry, but gives access to most of our shooting options, as well as a wide selection of our support models. Most Warlocks can run this theme well, and some are very strong with it.</li>
<li>Imperial Warhost - If you want to run beasts, beasts, and more beasts, this is the theme to do it. Your options outside of beasts will be very limited, so you won't have the same kinds of support tools other themes have. That said, this is a strong theme, probably my favorite.</li>
<li>Masters of War - Another good theme, with a focus on melee infantry. Almost no ranged weapons are allowed, even on beasts, which means you can't run this theme at all in the JML thanks to the Cyclops Raider. As you dig into Skorne though, you'll definitely want to give MoW a look, because it allows a lot of our best troops and gives you a lot of fun options.</li>
<li>The Exalted - This theme focuses on our Exalted and Extoller models, which currently is an extremely limited selection. The theme is very powerful with the right 'caster, and if you like the Exalted enough, you won't go wrong building this theme. You won't get a very broad perspective on Skorne, and you'll be investing a significant amount of money to build a list that covers a small amount of the faction, but that's fine as long as you like the results. However, sometime in the next 5-6 months, the Exalted will get a new look in CID, and new Exalted models will be introduced. The Supreme Guardian battle engine is already on the way.</li>
<li>Disciples of Agony - A number of Warlocks can run this theme, and Xekaar is even one of them. DoA gives you access to all Minion warbeasts and units who work for us, and makes the beasts Skorne, so you can use most of your abilities on them. It's a great theme if you want to explore and exploit the synergies between Skorne and Minion models, but you might not wind up with that many Skorne models at the end of the league.</li>
</ol>
Over the next month or so, I'm going to be updating my advice for building up from the JML with an eye toward each of our current themes. I'll also discuss Masters of War briefly; even though you can't run it in a JML, it's pretty easy to build it with a couple of purchases.<br />
<br />
The most recent rules for a JML can be found <a href="http://privateerpress.com/organized-play/leagues/journeyman-league-rules">here</a>. <br />
<ol>
</ol>
pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-17091835703415074442018-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:002018-08-15T08:00:12.573-07:00Another Upcoming Tournament and More BloggingThere's another local tournament coming up, which I'd really like to attend. I'll know by Friday whether I can, but in the meantime, I'm thinking about lists.<br />
<br />
I want to keep playing Mordikaar, since he's been very solid as well as a lot of fun. I may try to squeeze in another proper heavy, although I'm not sure where I'll find the points. I'm also not completely sure which heavy I'd run. I <i>might</i> be able to find the space for Tiberion. I love his model, and he's quite solid on the table, but Jeezy Creezy he's a lot of points. We'll see, I suppose.<br />
<br />
For Mordi's partner, I'm very interested in running either the Makeda 1 or the Jalaam 1 lists I was musing about in <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2018/08/state-of-lists-what-im-thinking-and.html">this post</a>. If I can't get a little practice in with either of them, I can fall back on my Zaadesh 2 list. I've already said it's probably the strongest of the bunch, but it would be cool to try something new.<br />
<br />
In more certain news, I think I'll be able to keep the blog up regularly going forward. I'm aiming for 2 posts per week, one Wednesday or Thursday, and another one over the weekend or Monday. I have a couple of posts planned, and if I'm able to play games over the week, I'll be doing reports as well.<br />
<br />
Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions. I know I have a couple regular readers; what do you want to read about?pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-55264492040114144882018-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:002018-08-13T08:00:08.509-07:00State of the Lists - What I'm Thinking and Doing With SkorneHello Again!<br />
<br />
I can't make any promises that I'll actually start blogging consistently, as I really don't play all that often. I've played about 6 games this year, including the 3 I played at the tournament in my last post. That said, I've been thinking about list building a lot lately, and this seems like as good a place as any to try to organize my thoughts.<br />
<br />
I'm thinking about lists mainly in terms of themes. I can play 3 of our themes, because I only own one unit of Immortals and very few minions. That may change, but until it does, I'll just focus on the themes I can play: Imperial Warhost, Masters of War, and Winds of Death.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Imperial Warhost</span><br />
<br />
I like both our Warbeasts and the Siege Animantrax a lot, so Imperial Warhost is easily the most compelling theme for me despite being the most restrictive in terms of model selection. It's just the theme I want to build in the most.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Arbiter Hexeris (*27pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Mammoth (38pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i>Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
I'm interested in this as an all-comers list, but I'm concerned that there's not enough heavy threat removal to really get the Mammoth and Animantrax to shine. There's a whole lot of flexibility in terms of channeling spells, and perhaps the lights and Archidons can do a sufficient job setting the Mammoth up to rule the table. If not, fudging some points around to fit in a real heavy seems very doable, but at the cost of some of my flexibility.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i>Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts)</i><br />
<br />
This is very similar to the list I ran at Renegade last year, although I think the Mist Speaker has a lot more synergy with Zaadesh than the Willbreaker did. I could fudge some points around to change the beast lineup, but I'm pretty happy with how this has done in the past. This is probably the strongest list I'm considering for Imperial Warhost: Zaadesh 2 is probably one of our top 3 'casters and the pieces all work pretty well together here.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Primus Jalaam (*28pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
This is probably the list I'm most excited to run. It has a solid array of ranged weapons, the main purpose of which is to get into melee with the bugs! If you read my last battle report, you may remember that I said Tom W sold me on the Soldier, and I'm going to give them a shot. I can threaten a good 13" with any piece in this list, and can hand out plenty of Rush to make sure it happens. On top of that, I've got some real solid shooting, and the ability to trade well with 5 heavies who can all pull their weight (literally in the case of the Aradi - ho ho ho) in melee. The Fury management also looks solid at first glance, which is nice given how much Fury I'll be generating with my ranged element.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Archdomina Makeda (*29pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Mammoth (38pts)</i><br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Lormahordes user Slaughtersun shared a similar list that was run by a Portuguese WTC player last year in <a href="http://lormahordes.freeforums.net/thread/7873/mammoth">this thread</a>, and I knew I had to try my own version. I'd had a lot of fun with a Mak 1 Masters of War list that worked well, but I also like my Mordikaar list a lot, and it's cool to try new things with a 'caster, especially when it's been proven successful. I'm not saying I'll achieve anything like the same results as a WTC player, but this list sure looks fun to try.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Masters of War</span><br />
<br />
I like this theme, and appreciate all the tools it can bring to the table. Even though my first thought is often "needs moar beast," I've had a lot of fun playing Masters of War with several 'casters. Right now, I'm thinking about Mordikaar and Makeda 2 while I experiment with Mak 1in Imperial Warhost. <br />
<br />
<u><b>Void Seer Mordikaar (*29pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Despoiler (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Savage (7pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (7pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (4pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts) </i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0tps)</i><br />
<br />
This is the exact list I ran at the tournament, and I like it a lot. I'm open to fudging around with the Warbeast lineup, since I'm not sure this is the <i>most</i> efficient list I can run, but I really like the core of the list - the Swordsmen and Ferox - as is. In particular, I'm looking to add another combat heavy without sacrificing too much defense on Mordikaar. Maybe I can pull it off just by playing him back. This list is super fun to play, and has both a solid attrition grind and super janky shenanigans. I'd highly recommend giving it a shot.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Supreme Archdomina Makeda (*27pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (7pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Legends of Halaak (Valgesh, Cidaar, & J'Deth) (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts) </i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
I won't lie, the composition of this list is real similar to Mordikaar, but I expect it to play very differently. Makeda 2 has a whole different toolset to bring to bear. I also love the Legends of Halaak, and I'm excited to try them again in this format. I know it's popular to go double kitties with Makeda 2, but I think the Swordsmen are super compelling with her as well, and the Legends are always fun as I said.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Winds of Death</span><br />
<br />
For whatever reason, I have the most trouble coming up with lists I like in Winds of Death. Maybe I just haven't played enough. It certainly has a lot of our fun units. Maybe I just need to buckle down and make myself play it. Here are the lists I'm thinking for this theme right now.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Assassin Morghoul (*29pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aptimus Marketh (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Wrong Eye and Snapjaw (17pts) </i><br />
<i>Venator Dakar (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
I like Morghoul 2 a lot in theory, but I have yet to actually try him on the table. I want to play him in Disciples of Agony, but Winds of Death is the theme I have more models for. I don't own the catapults yet, but I have a line on a few, and anyway I do want to try them out before buying them. They hit Def 10 a decent amount of the time just by aiming. Give them access to Mortality and Blind, and they can really get some work done. At least, that's the hope. We'll see how this shakes out.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Dominar Rasheth (*28pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Sentinel (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aptimus Marketh (0pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Venator Dakar (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<br />
<i>Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Reivers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
I feel like I have to start playing Rasheth at some point, since he's the best 'caster in Skorne. I don't have the model yet, but I probably will soon. This is a list I'm going to try out a couple iterations of in Winds of Death, but I have some ideas for Rasheth in Imperial Warhost as well. Despite the fact that I've never played Rasheth, I am pretty excited to be trying him out soon. I know there's a "the Rasheth list" out there that uses 2 turtles among other things. I'll look it up after a couple games with this.<br />
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That's it for now. I'm still getting my thoughts together for the near future. There's another tournament coming up soon. I might not be free, but if I am, I'll try to make it. I'm not sure which of these lists I'll run. Probably Mordikaar and Jalaam, if I can magnetize my bugs before then. I want to give each of these lists a try or two, with the vague idea of picking three to practice exclusively for the Renegade Open (although if the Supreme Guardian is released before then, all bets may be off). It all depends on how my schedule shakes out for the rest of the year.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-46426821925379415272018-08-09T07:13:00.001-07:002018-08-09T07:13:51.825-07:00Belated June Tournament Report!Hey everyone!<br />
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Almost 2 months ago now, I went to a local tournament. As usual, I had a great time, and even won a couple games. Here are the lists I took:<br />
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<b><u>Makeda and the Exalted Court (*24pts)</u></b> - Imperial Warhost<br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Savage (7pts) </i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
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<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
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<i>Tyrant Zaadesh (4pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Drake (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
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<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
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This is my most recent take on Mak3da. The last list I played had serious Fury management problems, and I'm hoping this list will do better. There are a lot of beasts on Zaadesh 1, but he's pretty tough for a lesser Warlock, and he can handle their Fury reasonably well. Other than that, the list has good hitting power, a lot of infantry clearing, and a couple of tricks. I want to like Makeda 3 a lot, and hopefully this list will sell me on the Maksperience.<br />
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<b><u>Void Seer Mordikaar (*29pts)</u></b> - Masters of War<br />
<i>*Despoiler (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (7pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Savage (7pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (4pts)</i><br />
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<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts)</i><br />
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Mordikaar is quite strong and flexible in my opinion. Masters of War is a good way to run him, since Revive and Hollow are still a solid pair of spells for our better units. This list can play the recursion game with both Ferox and Swordsmen, and has some solid tools for an Essence Blast assassination run with the Savage, Archidons, and Mortitheurge. The secret weapon is Void Spirits, which aren't allowed in the core Masters of War theme, but which are still created by Despoiler, and can do a lot of damage. I built this list to be an answer to Haley 3, now that I've fought against her and have seen what she can do. It won't be an easy fight, but it's one I feel this list has the tools for.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Game 1 vs Matt's Cygnar</span><br />
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Matt was running Haley 3 in Gravediggers and Kraye in Heavy Metal, so we were in a bit of a list chicken situation. I knew my Mordikaar list had the tools to deal with Gravediggers if I played well, but it's lacking a little in the armor cracking department. Makeda 3 has good armor cracking, but really lacks the flexibility to deal with Haley 3 reliably. I decided to go with Mordikaar, while Matt dropped Kraye. Whoops.<br />
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<u><b>Captain Jeremiah Kraye (*28pts)</b></u> - Heavy Metal<br />
<i>*Stormclad (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Centurion (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Centurion (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ironclad (12pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ironclad (12pts)</i><br />
<i>*Hammersmith (12pts)</i><br />
<i>*Charger (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Squire (0pts)</i><br />
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<i>Journeyman Warcaster (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Charger (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Captain Arlan Strangeways (0pts)</i><br />
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<i>Field Mechanics (Leader and 3 Grunts) (3pts)</i><br />
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Matt won the roll-off, and went first. I took the table edge a little closer to the central forest. The scenario was The Pit II, so everything was on the centerline.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
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Matt made the most of Kraye's ridiculous speed, and got his warjacks right up in my face. <br />
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I ran up to meet him, and had Mordikaar use his Feat. I put the Swordsmen in a position to charge some 'jacks next turn, and got some attacks on a leading Ironclad with the Ferox. The Archidons moved quickly to claim the left rectangle, though I wouldn't be able to score it until next turn.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2 </span><br />
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Matt tried a lot of things to do damage to my list, but ultimately killed nothing of value (one Swordsman and one Ferox). He advanced his 'jacks to block me out of the right rectangle unless I did something about them. The Chargers moved up to contest the right rectangle against the Archidons.<br />
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I retaliated hard. The Swordsmen used their mini-Feat, and between them and Despoiler, they killed an Ironclad and the Hammersmith. The Ferox and Rhadiem put some damage on the second Ironclad and the right Centurion by jumping into its back arc. The Archidons flailed around at the Chargers, but didn't do much. Mordikaar tucked himself into a corner as far from the Chargers and central (non-tied-up) 'jacks as possible.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
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Matt did some coming back, attacked my Archidons for decent damage, killed some Swordsmen and some Ferox, and the Krea, and shifted away with Kraye. Dealing with my central Ferox let him advance with his Centurion and Ironclad to a position to threaten Mordikaar.<br />
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I finished off the other Centurion, killed Strangeways, and started putting damage on the Stormclad and second Ironclad. Mordikaar Revived a Ferox into the Centurion's path, and cast Host of Shadows to give his battlegroup Ghostly.<br />
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One Archidon went after Kraye, but didn't kill him. The Savage ran to help the Revived Ferox block the Centurion's path.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Round 4</span><br />
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Matt tried an assassination run, but the Chargers didn't finish the job, and he ran out of time before he could activate much more.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
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My list did a lot better in this matchup than I thought it would. Swordsmen are excellent on the turn they use Power Swell, but even just regular Combo Strikes are pretty decent against Arm 18. Despoiler was fantastic, and the Ferox were great as always. Matt mentioned that he thought I should've gone for an assassination on my 3rd turn. The pieces were in place for it, but I was really hesitant to sacrifice the Archidons in case it failed.<br />
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Matt made some mistakes. He overcommitted to trying to kill Swordsmen on my Feat turn, and I was able to kill 2 heavies and inflict critical damage on a third. He also hesitated and ran his clock down a fair amount, possibly because my list was putting up more of a fight than either of us expected. In the end, that was what got him.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Game 2 vs Shannon's Menoth</span><br />
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Shannon was running Kreoss 1 and Thyra 1, both infantry heavy. I figured Mordikaar was my better drop, and he went for Thyra.<br />
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<u><b>Thyra, Flame of Sorrow (*29pts)</b></u> - The Faithful Masses<br />
<i>*Reckoner (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Reckoner (16pts)</i><br />
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<i>Champion of the Order of the Wall (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Champion of the Order of the Wall (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Paladin of the Order of the Wall (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Paladin of the Order of the Wall (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Allegiant of the Order of the Fist (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Allegiant of the Order of the Fist (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Idrian Skirmishers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (15pts)</i><br />
<i>Holy Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts) (12pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Monolith Bearer) (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Holy Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts) (12pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Monolith Bearer) (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts)</i><br />
<i>Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts)</i><br />
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Shannon won the roll-off, and chose to go first. I chose the table edge with access to a wall and a forest to stash Mordikaar behind. The scenario was Spread the Net, so there would be a lot of potential scoring, and one 'jack or 'beast would hang back to score the friendly rectangle. Shannon chose the Swordsmen as the Idrians' Prey.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
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Shannon ran forward aggressively, claiming a lot of table space, and moving his Idrians into position to start killing Swordsmen asap.<br />
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I saw an interesting opportunity to do a lot of damage, and after a little measuring, I decided to go for it. I moved the Krea, the Swordsmen, and Despoiler up very fast, getting Despoiler to within a critical 5" of one of the lead Idrians. Then Mordikaar cast Hollow, moved into the woods, and shot the unfortunate victim with his gun, spawning a Void Spirit.<br />
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The spirit immediately activated, killed a bunch of Idrians and a couple Zealots, then teleported behind an Allegiant, but missed its attack.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
Shannon moved up, started jamming me, and killed a couple Swordsmen and the Void Spirit. One of the Champions started a move around the far flank to get to Mordikaar from behind. Thyra moved into the center where she could redeploy wherever she was needed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhToDniTp00RwMic_-yi6k-Omei1vdExH8J1_pq42QAJbZLv7xpXXMpTA4ODbQZbv03Uupw6ASIU1pHGHWw0oVUBXhqveehnv3d77v0Vzdw6BzbQdheLe5xC1R-TlAbdmaqNH8mAXuopM/s1600/image6%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhToDniTp00RwMic_-yi6k-Omei1vdExH8J1_pq42QAJbZLv7xpXXMpTA4ODbQZbv03Uupw6ASIU1pHGHWw0oVUBXhqveehnv3d77v0Vzdw6BzbQdheLe5xC1R-TlAbdmaqNH8mAXuopM/s640/image6%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
The Swordsmen and Ferox charged forward, slaughtering most of the remaining Idrians and Zealots. One Archidon put a little damage on a Reckoner, while the other killed an Idrian, and Sprinted over to Mordikaar's side of the table. The Savage charged a Champion, but failed to kill it.<br />
<br />
Another Void Spirit was created, which killed a couple Zealots in the rear of the formation, then teleported into the Choir at the very back, and killed a bunch of them.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
<br />
Shannon killed a bunch of Swordsmen, one Ferox, the Savage, and both Archidons, and moved Thyra to the right to help support his disintegrating flank.<br />
<br />
I saw an assassination opportunity. The Mortitheurge put Puppet Master on the Krea, who advanced and shot at Thyra. She hit with the reroll. I charged Thyra with the Void Spirit and a Swordsman under their mini-Feat, and took her down.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
This Mordikaar list is brutal into a list that depends on infantry and recursion. I forgot to Feat on my second turn, which ended up ok, but would probably have saved both Archidons and most of the Swordsmen Shannon killed. Shannon definitely didn't see the turn 1 Void Spirit spawn which cost him a lot of models early on. Next time, he'll definitely consider it. Even so, it was an uphill game for him. His Kreoss list might have been a better pick.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Game 3 vs. Tom's Skorne</span><br />
<br />
I've played against Tom W a bunch of times over the years, and he's always a fun opponent. Plus, this was going to be a Skorne-on-Skorne game! He brought Rasheth in Winds of Death with double Animantraxes and Zaadesh 2 in Imperial warhost with no Animantraxes. I dropped Makeda, and he dropped Zaadesh.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts)</b></u> - Imperial Warhost<br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aradus Soldier (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts) </i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Bog Trog Mist Speaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts)</i><br />
<br />
Tom won the roll-off, and chose to deploy on the table edge that didn't have a forest mucking up the center of its advance, which meant I would go first. With both of us benefiting from a 2" deployment extension, we were also starting very close together. The scenario was Recon II, so beasts and solos would be doing the scoring, and there would be objectives to choose. I picked the Pathfinder objective (Fuel Cache) because I had a mess of a forest to deal with. Tom chose the healing objective (Stockpile) because he did not.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
<br />
I advanced, and cast my upkeeps: Hand of Death on the turtle, Vortex of Destruction on Makeda, and Tag Team on Zaadesh. The Animantrax also damaged an Aradus, which used Hyper-Aggressive to advance a bit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeITiWv6jeZ9VOnVyVh42qxkzO3EXULVWzQiSo7EGNu4JXtHUSSwESw93yepaESOwDlVkwj4SnNn4GBk7OPoHwpW30KvwL1IfOyJ4MiOTnQ7bU8IjJb4zL_0M2tHP2K2M8ttAFc_S76z9/s1600/image2%25288%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeITiWv6jeZ9VOnVyVh42qxkzO3EXULVWzQiSo7EGNu4JXtHUSSwESw93yepaESOwDlVkwj4SnNn4GBk7OPoHwpW30KvwL1IfOyJ4MiOTnQ7bU8IjJb4zL_0M2tHP2K2M8ttAFc_S76z9/s640/image2%25288%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Tom advanced right back at me. The bugs mostly stayed put, jockeying for position against the Animantrax. Everything else caught up to them, and Tom's beasts got into all the zones. Zaadesh cast Battle Charged, but didn't put up any clouds.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
I started pushing forward with my Cyclopes and advancing behind them. The Animantrax did a little more shooting, and managed to take out the Agonizer's Spirit.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Tom used Zaadesh's Feat, and put up some clouds to block off his right flank. He also went in hard on the left flank with a Sentry and one of the Aradi; the other stayed back to counter-charge or retaliate next turn. The Mist Speaker moved up to the flag, and started scoring it.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
<br />
Molik killed the Archidon without triggering any Defensive Strikes, and the Cyclopes on the right moved up, The Animantrax continued to skirmish against the Aradi. An Enraged/Flanked/Tag-Teamed Krea almost killed the Sentry jamming me on the left.<br />
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<br />
<br />
I was doing reasonably well in attrition, but I'd forgotten to contest the scenario. Tom had scored a second point at the end of my turn, and easily cleared both zones to score 3 more for a 5-0 win.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">But not, you know, me.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
I made 2 key mistakes this game. The first was definitely forgetting to contest the scenario on my third turn. The second, related mistake was not loading up my Siege Animantrax with Rage tokens at the start of the game. I hadn't played this incarnation of the Mak3 list before, and I'd misdeployed my Paingivers to load it up. If it had been full of Rage tokens, I'd have charged it in, and done a much more convincing job contesting the left flank. Tom also sold me on Aradus Soldiers with this list. Carapace and the options they have with Pull look like a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
I had a blast as usual, and I think I've convinced myself of two things. First, Mordikaar is extremely solid. I don't think he's a top 'caster for Skorne, but he brings a lot to the table, and I like this list a lot for him. I thought I was toast in the Kraye game, but that list did a very decent job at attrition against a much heavier opponent. Second, I think I'm going to leave Mak3 on the shelf until she gets another look in the CID. I'm really not wrapping my head around her, and most of what she brings, other warlocks do better. I have a lot of other Imperial Warhost lists I'm eager to try, including one for Hexy 2 and another for Jalaam.<br />
<br />
I also placed 4th overall, despite having 0 Control Points for the whole event, because both Tom and Shannon went 2-1 as well. <br />
<br />
Many thanks to Matt, Shannon, and Tom for being great opponents, and to Tom K for running the event! I haven't been able to make it to any tournaments since June, but hopefully I'll get to more this fall, and I'm deffo planning to be at the Renegade Open again this year.<br />
<br />
<br />pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-4982354076521352582018-04-22T17:44:00.001-07:002018-04-22T17:44:55.804-07:00Renegade Open Non-Team Tournament ReportsHello again everyone!<br />
<br />
I also played in the non-team event the next day. We had enough to play 5 rounds, although only the top 8 would play the last 3 rounds to make room for another event. I decided to keep the same Makeda 1 list from the <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2018/04/renegade-open-team-tournament-reports.html">day before</a>, but after significant fury management woes, I decided to switch the Mak3da list out for a more conventional Zaadesh 2 list:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Lord Tyrant Zaadesh (*28pts)</b></u> <i>- Imperial Warhost</i><br />
<i>*Bronzeback Titan (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Sentry (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Archidon (10pts) </i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<i>Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (2pts)</i><br />
<br />
I like Zaadesh 2 a lot. He feels like one of the most "Skorne" 'casters we have, especially with a big beast brick like this one. The main work comes from the Titans, while the turtle and Archidon give me some flexibility a brick doesn't usually have. The plan is: clouds up front, murder stuff with elephants. :) I would run a second free Agonizer instead of one of the Kreas, but I only own the one.<br />
<br />
On to the games!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span> <br />
<br />
My first opponent had played on the last team we'd matched up against in the team tournament. He'd played against Ben. Today, he was running Ossyan and Elara 2. Ossyan was running guns as usual, which meant I was dropping Zaadesh. My opponent correctly predicted I'd be hiding behind clouds all game, so he went with Elara.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Elara, Death's Shadow (*28pts)</b></u> <i>- Defenders of Ios</i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Arcantrik Force Generator (17pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcantrik Force Generator (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Houseguard Thane (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Houseguard Thane (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Houseguard Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>*Weapon Attachment (Soulless Escort) (1pt) </i><br />
<i>Houseguard Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<br />
We played Standoff.<br />
<br />
I won the roll-off, and deployed first. My opponent Advanced Moved his Halberdiers, and then I got to moving.<br />
<br />
The brick rolled forward with Paralytic Auras and clouds in place to make my army as hard to shoot as possible. Zaadesh put Inviolable Resolve on the painted sentry. The Archidon stayed behind the clouds too. AFG's can do a lot of damage.<br />
<br />
My opponent Shield Walled the Halberdiers up 11 inches, and kept everything else near the AFG's as they moved into range. No shots were fired, as everything ran into position. Scything Touch went on Skeryth.<br />
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<br />
<br />
I had the Archidon run behind the house in the right zone. From now on, its job was to keep the Halberdiers from scoring. The brick continued to roll forward with Force Auras and Gnawing Pain. The left Sentry put Ornery up, but the right one had to run to get into position. Zaadesh put up Battle Charged, and popped his Feat. The Siege Animantrax crashed into the left Halberdiers, and killed a bunch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuAwAyhHJUdoDDu_-uvjSwXZ8MI1uIwc8lDjDutyDa6rGpkTfiuHp1vkkNF5rKyq4LtplJCgIQxNH1h6rdytnUh79ACnhXBV95YwuZ82ZJx09487pdCYwO-_5rFCI-8aOEfCZ6qeW3J4q/s1600/image2%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuAwAyhHJUdoDDu_-uvjSwXZ8MI1uIwc8lDjDutyDa6rGpkTfiuHp1vkkNF5rKyq4LtplJCgIQxNH1h6rdytnUh79ACnhXBV95YwuZ82ZJx09487pdCYwO-_5rFCI-8aOEfCZ6qeW3J4q/s640/image2%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
The AFG's directed heavy shooting into the lead Sentries, but didn't do a lot of damage through Arm 23. A Manticore and Skeryth charged into my Sentries, but took almost as much damage as they dealt (with the painted Sentry counter-charging in). The right Halberdiers moved to where they could march through the cloud next turn to attack my support. We each scored a point, bringing us to 1-1.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zX-7KLlwbK9_jQkddPuL0kGJuXkQvquYmvqVRIvn2lRN8udrr7pny8288coQbBoOReB0nkWFVSWyn1RkoxmuLVJVpzAbnRa9OEnn9LCB8e-rwjGwz4iTeBKj9gJxEhuMlKrv2qFmOu1x/s1600/image3%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zX-7KLlwbK9_jQkddPuL0kGJuXkQvquYmvqVRIvn2lRN8udrr7pny8288coQbBoOReB0nkWFVSWyn1RkoxmuLVJVpzAbnRa9OEnn9LCB8e-rwjGwz4iTeBKj9gJxEhuMlKrv2qFmOu1x/s640/image3%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
I some more Halbs with the Animantrax, while the Titans killed off Skeryth and the Manticore, and did some damage to the left AFG. The Archidon continued to hide behind the house. No movement on scenario, we went to 2-2.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYgaMnmFDVJyL0uQg0EL6p5X4xK_uTj03vDRYEBbe-f8_4T2EJI9YZ1h5kbQ2RkfBzUCN__a-3mxY_GlHcDl1kndzJ6waoWtiqm-0Iq_DwzbsxfZBPt3yK5ZaACl7XLXcmrCUN6KRG1c4/s1600/image4%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYgaMnmFDVJyL0uQg0EL6p5X4xK_uTj03vDRYEBbe-f8_4T2EJI9YZ1h5kbQ2RkfBzUCN__a-3mxY_GlHcDl1kndzJ6waoWtiqm-0Iq_DwzbsxfZBPt3yK5ZaACl7XLXcmrCUN6KRG1c4/s640/image4%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
My opponent sent in the other Manticore against Titans, and I was able to counter-charge into his zone. The Halberdiers on the right moved into my zone and started attacking my support. We were still at 2-2.<br />
<br />
I responded by killing the Manticore and one of the AFG's. I moved Zaadesh into the left zone to score it. 3-2.<br />
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<br />
My opponent was really on the back foot. He did what he could, but didn't kill anything. He moved the Halberdiers mostly around the Swamp Gobbers to attack my objective, but sent 3 back into his zone. He could not contest the left circular zone, so I scored, bringing it to 4-2.<br />
<br />
I killed off everything in he had left except the Halberdiers contesting my zone and Elara herself. I ran the Swamp Gobbers into the right circle. I scored both circles, and got one more for killing my opponent's objective, so I won on scenario 7-2.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
This list worked very well, and I can see why Zaadesh is so well liked in Imperial Warhost, and with the Siege Animantrax. My opponent was less experienced than I am, and made some mistakes, which let me turn my brick against his most powerful pieces one at a time.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
This time, I played against Dave, a Twin Cities meta regular who plays Legion. He brought Kallus 2 and Fyanna 2. I figured Fyanna would have an advantage against Zaadesh, so I dropped Makeda. Dave dropped Kallus:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Kallus, Devastation of Everblight (*28pts)</b></u> <i>- Ravens of War</i><br />
<i>*Angelius (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Angelius (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Anyssa Ryvaal (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Nyss Deathstalker (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Nyss Deathstalker (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Grotesque Assassin (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Spell Martyr (1pt)</i><br />
<i>Spell Martyr (1pt)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Blighted Nyss Raptors (18pts)</i><br />
<i>Blighted Nyss Raptors (18pts)</i><br />
<i>Grotesque Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (12pts) </i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (6pts)</i><br />
<i>Hellmouth (6pts)</i><br />
<br />
We played The Pit II.<br />
<br />
I won the roll-off, and chose to go first. Dave chose to Ambush with the Grotesque Raiders.<br />
<br />
Makeda put Quicken on the Cetrati. I advanced conservatively, with my Cetrati heading toward the right rectangle, and the Ferox and Rhadiem going for the left along with the Gladiator. The Legends, Molik, Makeda, and the support stayed in the middle where I could redeploy them as needed to react to my faster opponent.<br />
<br />
Dave also advanced conservatively, well aware of my Ferox's 19" threat range. There wasn't a lot of action anywhere on the table.<br />
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<br />
I decided to play for territory. I advanced everything into the three zones, and popped Makeda's Feat. Dave would have to pull back or commit to a turn of almost no damage just to stay in the game. And if he did that, my army was prepared to eat his relatively fragile one alive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAOlk26bOLetf5VJuj7AxLlMwrwBajmw8wMHBYCoa5l7fJqORn6U-eH8wuvD0SB7aCUE6hyWVd5VvX66E-gctQK2WFeSNs-dLSwHRyFTUEYVkHmdYZAjs9mDhvevLHn05cmjvTOMGZZlV1/s1600/image2%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAOlk26bOLetf5VJuj7AxLlMwrwBajmw8wMHBYCoa5l7fJqORn6U-eH8wuvD0SB7aCUE6hyWVd5VvX66E-gctQK2WFeSNs-dLSwHRyFTUEYVkHmdYZAjs9mDhvevLHn05cmjvTOMGZZlV1/s640/image2%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
He chose to pull back, leaving only a smattering of solos and the Hellmouths to contest the zones. He also deployed the Grotesques. Between them and some shooting from the Raptors, he did some damage to Makeda, but I kept everyone alive and mounted. Dave either didn't have the models available to contest the Central zone or forgot that I could score it with the Legends, so I ended up scoring once on his turn. 1-0<br />
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<br />
Most of Dave's army was safe, attrition-wise, but if I was a little lucky, I could score all 3 zones and kill his objective for a scenario win this turn. Makeda cast Carnage. I had some of my backline models clear the Grotesques out, killed the objective with Rhadiem, and had the Ferox kill off the tentacles, the Deathstalker, and the few remaining Grotesques. Molik toed the left rectangle to score. The Cetrati advanced, and killed everything in the right rectangle except a Deathstalker, who they missed. The game would go on. I had the Legends and Scarabs move to screen Makeda. I didn't know Kallus 2's whole shtick, but I knew part of it was long threat ranges. I scored 3 for the turn, and the game was now 4-0.<br />
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<br />
Dave committed back hard. He contested all the zones, wiped out my Ferox with Angelius attacks and Raptor shooting, and killed off two of the Legends. The Angelius in the left zone also Repulsed Molik out, but was unable to kill off Rhadiem, meaning Dave didn't score any points this turn. It was still 4-0.<br />
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<br />
At this point, it was a fairly easy task to clear out the left rectangle and score it with Molik, so that's what I did, winning 5-0.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaq8rrNVr-De6Fotomnp1_7b-UZ9ezrhThsWciGuOAfjDKkncCJsNQg4PzbZEdxRS1d2jMJ4J-FOJJecvc0nWSBmVvFg9AgUMPCKX6hm6io4w3SoIW7CJ8Vhj23wvwUgqs58eLgGAG92J/s1600/image6%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaq8rrNVr-De6Fotomnp1_7b-UZ9ezrhThsWciGuOAfjDKkncCJsNQg4PzbZEdxRS1d2jMJ4J-FOJJecvc0nWSBmVvFg9AgUMPCKX6hm6io4w3SoIW7CJ8Vhj23wvwUgqs58eLgGAG92J/s640/image6%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
The Makeda list runs very smoothly, and I was able to put a lot of pressure on Dave right when it mattered. The long melee threat of the Ferox was definitely in his head too. I played it pretty well, but it helped a lot that I got to go first, since that let me establish a board presence that might've been denied by Dave's super-fast list if he'd been able to go first.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
<br />
I'd made it to the top 8, and was paired up against Jake, who'd been on the Muse on Minis team the night before. He was playing Haley 3 in Gravediggers and Nemo 3 in either Storm Brigade or Heavy Metal. I was worried about Nemo shredding Makeda with lightning, so I dropped Zaadesh. Jake dropped Haley 3:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Major Prime Victoria Haley (*25pts)</b></u> <i>- Gravediggers</i><br />
<i>*Grenadier (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Grenadier (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Grenadier (9pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Trench Buster (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Trench Buster (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Captain Maxwell Finn (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Commander Anson Hitch (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Patrol Dog (2pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Trencher Long Gunners (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)</i><br />
<i>Trencher Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Weapon Attachment (Rifle Grenadier x3) (6pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Sniper) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Captain Jonas Murdoch (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Trencher Express Team (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Trencher Express Team (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
The scenario was Spread the Net <br />
<br />
Again, I won the roll-off, and decided to go first.<br />
<br />
I rolled up and clouded up. I put Inviolable Resolve on the unpainted Sentry, and advanced behind a spread of clouds surrounding the central forest. I snuck my Mortitheurge up to the wall in front of my flag, ready to claim a single point before being cruelly gunned down on turn 3.<br />
<br />
Haley's Trenchers advanced behind their own cloud wall, and Haley put up her time barrier to buff her whole army, and Tactical Supremacy on the Trencher Infantry to reposition out of those clouds.<br />
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<br />
I Feated, and through my Sentries and Animantrax into the fray. I killed a couple Trenchers, and braced for the retalliation.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Jake killed the Animantrax and one of the Sentries, but lost some Trenchers (and had a Trench Buster get knocked down) by my Defensive and Retalliatory Strikes. The other Sentry was badly damaged as well.<br />
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<br />
<br />
I was pretty tired at this point, so I decided to try an assassination attempt. I had the Archidon try to crit-Pitch a trencher into Haley, but it missed. The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, which advanced, and threw the right Trench Buster into Haley. Jake and I mistakenly thought I could boost the damage roll on Haley, and for a moment I thought I'd killed her, but then we remembered that you can't boost collateral damage, so she lived. I decided to concede the fight and call it a day.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to Cygnar!</span><br />
<br />
I wasn't familiar with Hal3y Gravediggers last year, but this game definitely showed me how it worked. I probably should have continued to advance conservatively behind my clouds and engage on turn 3 instead of 2. I'll remember that for next time. I'll probably also switch some Drakes into the list, because they add their excellent magical sprays, which can take care of the Haley echoes long enough to remove their Def buff for a turn or two.<br />
<br />
I had a lot of fun again; I'll definitely participate again next year. I need to work on my endurance though - I could have tried to play that last game out with what I had, but I was really flagging. I like the Makeda 1 list a lot still, and Zaadesh is definitely promising, and tons of fun. I loved the Siege Animantrax, both in the Zaadesh and Makeda 3 lists, and it seems like it's becoming quite a power piece in Skorne.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXzTw_T4t3qU04Mj1AwUg5zJftvekM1PO4w4816HBUXdzvCdYl45p0dEFluCpru5lAj6G4NUNe6bN8mAV_VZEfu8jSM9ateIf2YDlhOy_jsjWkdGERyqDNZtTJOpN2iR79lmuVPo60LcE/s1600/image4%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXzTw_T4t3qU04Mj1AwUg5zJftvekM1PO4w4816HBUXdzvCdYl45p0dEFluCpru5lAj6G4NUNe6bN8mAV_VZEfu8jSM9ateIf2YDlhOy_jsjWkdGERyqDNZtTJOpN2iR79lmuVPo60LcE/s640/image4%25285%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pax's Opinion of Haley 3 Gravediggers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-83511267894843969142018-04-16T21:01:00.001-07:002018-04-22T17:34:26.329-07:00Renegade Open Team Tournament ReportsAs I said sometime last year (sorry folks, I had to let the blog drop to take care of myself), I went to the Renegade Open, and played in a couple of Warmachine tournaments there. The first one was the team tournament on Friday night, a 3-person event. I was the captain of Team 4+ Tough, which also included my co-blogger Caleb, and friend of the blog and frequent opponent Ben.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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I've been really getting back into Skorne, so I played the following lists:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Makeda and the Exalted Court (*24pts)</b></u> <i>- Imperial Warhost</i><br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Raider (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts) </i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Brute (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Drake (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Agonizer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
<br />
The theme benefits (besides free stuff) are: Warbeasts gain Hyper Aggressive, and a 2" extended deployment zone.<br />
<br />
I like Makeda 3, and I think I might have found a list that I actually feel works well for her. It's a lot less bricky than I'm used to playing, and it relies on the light beasts for a lot of early-game work. Late game, Makeda, Molik, and the Gladiator can clean up. My big problem with it is Fury management - it's really running hot starting on turn 1, and that makes it really stressful to play.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Archdomina Makeda (*29pts)</b></u> <i>- Masters of War</i><br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Scarab Pack (10pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Tyrant Vorkesh (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>The Legends of Halaak (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
The theme benefits are: Warrior models ignore Tough and may chose to RFP models they box with melee attacks, and +1 to the roll to go first. <br />
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I played this list against Caleb a few weeks before the tournament, and it works really well. It has solid hitting power and great staying power. The Ferox and Cetrati backed up by Molik and Makeda's toolkit make this list solid at attrition, assassination, and scenario. I loved it the first time I put it on the table, and I was looking forward to throwing it down against a bunch of different opponents.<br />
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Caleb was playing Mercenaries with General Ossrum and Constance Blaze, and Ben was playing Circle with Krueger 2 and Tanith.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
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We were paired against team Muse on Minis, with Keith (Cryx), John (Menoth), and Jake (Cygnar). I decided to try to match Ben against Cygnar since Krueger seemed like a decent drop into shooting. Team Muse won the roll-off, and put a sheet down on one table. I put Ben's sheet down on another, and then we switched lists. Turns out, Muse had put John's sheet down to dodge me (Testament doesn't really want to be up against a whole list of RFP it turns out). So I put Jake on Ben's table, and John put Caleb on his table. That left me and Keith to duke it out in the middle.<br />
<br />
I've played Keith once before, and it was a total rout, so we'd see if I could do any better this time. I dropped Makeda 1, and Keith dropped a Scourge of the Broken Coast list led by Deneghra 1:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Warwitch Deneghra (*28pts)</b></u> <i>- Scourge of the Broken Coast</i><br />
<i>*Nightmare (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Deathripper (6pts)</i><br />
<i>*Deathripper (6pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Satyxis Raider Captain (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Satyxis Raider Captain (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Rag Man (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Cylena Raefyll and the Nyss Hunters (Leader and 9 Grunts) (19pts)</i><br />
<i>Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Sea Witch (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Satyxis Raiders (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Sea Witch (3pts)</i><br />
<i>Satyxis Blood Witches (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Blood Hag (4pts)</i><br />
<br />
The theme benefits are: Satyxis gain Pathfinder, and one Blood Witch unit in the army gains Ambush.<br />
<br />
The scenario was Breakdown. I won the roll-off, and chose to go first.<br />
<br />
I ran forward to put myself just out of range to be Crippling Grasped right off the bat with my Ferox, which put me in a good position to occupy the zones next turn. I did have Makeda put Quicken on the Ferox to start with<br />
<br />
Keith ran up, and spread out his Satyxis and Nyss pretty wide, getting some Satyxis into the left zone, but holding back on the right so I'd have to really commit my Ferox if I wanted to get work done.<br />
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<br />
And I did want to get work done! I ran the Cetrati up to contest the left zone, put Push to the Limit on the Ferox, and jumped them into the Cryx infantry. I killed several Satyxis and Nyss, and repositioned into places where I'd still be able to keep the Satyxis off my heavies while staying live in the scenario. Makeda Feated to keep her troops alive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQBeQwaHeWNMusxyubTxAt7Pq-QPGU6UsIiBvGzfuTFRGb0Akzj0fQ9EONhSwmWLvcgZisgNolJibquUVP2yI6ezRsRl6qF6CQGAepNM6-NdPnvcqZRxNPgFpzHDiXAlVSDjEADpefYV-/s1600/image3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQBeQwaHeWNMusxyubTxAt7Pq-QPGU6UsIiBvGzfuTFRGb0Akzj0fQ9EONhSwmWLvcgZisgNolJibquUVP2yI6ezRsRl6qF6CQGAepNM6-NdPnvcqZRxNPgFpzHDiXAlVSDjEADpefYV-/s640/image3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Keith started out by moving Deneghra up cautiously and popping her Feat, catching most of my list, but not the Gladiator or Makeda. Here, I'd forgotten about the Blood Hag and her awful Entropic Force, but Keith had not. He moved her in range of all the Ferox plus Rhadiem, and wiped them out with the Satyxis. This would let him start to score the right zone as soon as he got something in it that could score it. The Satyxis on the left beat up on the Cetrati, but I used Makeda's Feat to keep them alive. Keith had been able to clear the center and right zones, and scored both.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbnWU1w-Xa-fQlICpQ-xnJ98tSdbDuF8AYWxyT7C7CuJQ1KC7OhgLqQscwMPAMbz6jGOqqTkRkUv7qREwhHN9XSe5HgrV7Hrn70gGPZ2euHXio0Q2fk0trb3m6qhOsTfRcL1GsKJEBoqa/s1600/image4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbnWU1w-Xa-fQlICpQ-xnJ98tSdbDuF8AYWxyT7C7CuJQ1KC7OhgLqQscwMPAMbz6jGOqqTkRkUv7qREwhHN9XSe5HgrV7Hrn70gGPZ2euHXio0Q2fk0trb3m6qhOsTfRcL1GsKJEBoqa/s640/image4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had something of a long-shot assassination run here. There was a direct line from the Gladiator to Nightmare to Deneghra. All I had to do was clear that line, and I'd potentially be able to slam Nightmare over Denny, and kill her with bought attacks after a followup. So that's what I tried. Makeda, Molik, and the Legends cleared the way, and the Gladiator slammed Nightmare, but came up short of hitting Deneghra. I believe I forgot to contest the right zone, giving Keith a point on my turn. I did contest the center, but that brain fart would seal my fate. I'd pulled Molik back to keep his presence on the table and maybe pull something out next turn, but as a result I only left a single Scarab and the back edge of the Gladiator to contest the center zone.<br />
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<br />
Keith finished off the Scarab and the Gladiator and scored 2 more points for the right and center zones, winning 5-0.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJbwqnc_C-bSVMi0YnbHblLJ0okfUw6cD0pfVcRTey-k6cjFFj3TyyvozSBFstefNWNJ4g152WAP6DiS3vnh2qF7YlfTURjV3u0WY7Sx9tj7Tq7ZoLnq9M80FSHMi9UorT9x2sCNWEeBE/s1600/image6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJbwqnc_C-bSVMi0YnbHblLJ0okfUw6cD0pfVcRTey-k6cjFFj3TyyvozSBFstefNWNJ4g152WAP6DiS3vnh2qF7YlfTURjV3u0WY7Sx9tj7Tq7ZoLnq9M80FSHMi9UorT9x2sCNWEeBE/s640/image6.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to Cryx!</span><br />
<br />
I made two key mistakes this time out. First, I forgot about Entropic Force on the Blood Hag, which completely negated Makeda's Feat, and lost me the whole right flank. If I'd remembered, I would have held my Ferox and Feat back for another turn, and tried to take her out. My second big mistake was not contesting on the right on my last turn. I could have gotten something over there if I'd just been thinking about it, but I was focused on freeing up that Gladiator, and by the time I noticed, I'd activated everything that could get over there. Still, I had a shot at victory that I don't think Keith saw coming, even though I'd have needed a very good slam distance to pull it off. Keith is also a much better player than I am, so I'm pretty happy with how I handled myself.<br />
<br />
Caleb and Ben both lost their games to Testament in the Exemplar theme and Haley 3 in Gravediggers respectively, so we were officially in the fun bracket.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 2</span><br />
<br />
We went up against Team (I don't remember this is 5 months later I'll try to find out). This time I decided to drop Caleb into... I don't remember, but I gave him the good drop. The other team dropped Ben into Khador? I think? And I also played into Khador. I don't remember what my opponent's other list was, but he played this:<br />
<br />
<u><b>The Butcher Unleashed (*22pts)</b></u> <i>- Jaws of the Wolf </i><br />
<i>*Behemoth (25pts)</i><br />
<i>*Ruin (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Devastator (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*Devastator (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*War Dog (3pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Greylord Forge Seer (0pts)</i><br />
<i>Greylord Forge Seer (0pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Widowmaker Scouts (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Kayazy Eliminators (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Kayazy Eliminators (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
The theme benefits are: Battle Mechaniks gain Reposition [3"], and enemy models lose Ambush.<br />
<br />
Since we were still in the middle, the scenario was the same. I won the roll-off, and decided to go first.<br />
<br />
I ran most of my stuff, but put up a few Force Auras to protect me on the way in. Makeda put up Vortex of Destruction on herself, and Hand of Death on the Siege Animantrax. I also immediately ran afoul of my list's poor Fury management by miscounting... I'd have to take a Frenzy check top of turn 2. Oops.<br />
<br />
My opponent ran most of his list forward. I think the Butcher put Silence of Death on the left unit of Eliminators, and cast Energizer. The left unit of Eliminators stayed just out of Animantrax charge range, while the right unit moved into the zone aggressively. The Widowmakers advanced, and did some shooting, but didn't accomplish much.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBBN-O-ctcF5ftzbFDyv0Tgibj23b6aFoEg6e6B7-20USBn6Wp3KogTayKlB1NKWsaIbXTI_gpK8t4nqMRM_y06f-3sWGNbKGa7l1sP7vwnl6mzFKrftjeD0oxp9dlNJfGCdKdlUI-s9p/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBBN-O-ctcF5ftzbFDyv0Tgibj23b6aFoEg6e6B7-20USBn6Wp3KogTayKlB1NKWsaIbXTI_gpK8t4nqMRM_y06f-3sWGNbKGa7l1sP7vwnl6mzFKrftjeD0oxp9dlNJfGCdKdlUI-s9p/s640/image1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
I decided to take the Frenzy check on my right Krea, which would disrupt my plan the least if it failed. It passed, luckily. I had the Drake advance into the right zone, and vaporize both Eliminators with its lazer stare. The Brutes advanced to screen my force, and put up Safeguard. The rest of the list advanced to contest the zones, and did some shooting. The Agonizer hid behind Makeda and used Spiritual Affliction to stop the Butcher from ending the game right there with Impending Doom.<br />
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<br />
My opponent committed his 'jacks to the center zone. He killed the right Brute, and badly damaged the left one. The Butcher backed off a little, still threatening the center. The Widowmakers and Behemoth killed 4 of my Paingivers. If the game wore on, Fury management was going to be a big problem. The Butcher had spend most of his Fury on allocation, Energizer, and putting Silence of Death on himself, which meant that if I could get to him, I could probably kill him.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf02P-Yc_AsfHr-iu63Jh0RcysPtm8cG41MzUEclUJ9Qophp2vmXuYSOq22Il9nBBZ3-OWRQr6XHXkj8sJw3mvmrR63NDncnMUZ9riC8_amNd1bSZqTaMJWyyWYtlLioYWkgXq4jyTHEA/s1600/image3%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf02P-Yc_AsfHr-iu63Jh0RcysPtm8cG41MzUEclUJ9Qophp2vmXuYSOq22Il9nBBZ3-OWRQr6XHXkj8sJw3mvmrR63NDncnMUZ9riC8_amNd1bSZqTaMJWyyWYtlLioYWkgXq4jyTHEA/s640/image3%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
That's what I decided to try. I took a Frenzy check on my Drake, which charged and killed a Widowmaker. The first thing I did was aim with my right Krea and try to paralyze the Butcher, who was just within range. She hit, making the rest of my job a lot easier. My shooters cleared out the two War Argi, and Makeda ran to engage the Butcher. Molik charged the Devastator, and side-stepped into the Butcher. A few attacks later, and the Butcher was dead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13ZqQ6u_a9a46cnIS0iFT-pukhI_KMNfWzGkjqbWkykOdnPafqQs2M6kgwjPQtem1yYmXDJtHzes4OE_UDh-0nVbv1y_sZg5Wq3TGyzIXKWcP-gpppvBV9LdrPFEjtE15QCQ65FCa9kJk/s1600/image4%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13ZqQ6u_a9a46cnIS0iFT-pukhI_KMNfWzGkjqbWkykOdnPafqQs2M6kgwjPQtem1yYmXDJtHzes4OE_UDh-0nVbv1y_sZg5Wq3TGyzIXKWcP-gpppvBV9LdrPFEjtE15QCQ65FCa9kJk/s640/image4%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
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Keeping Fury under control is difficult and stressful in this list. I love how much it can do at range, but I'm going to really need to get used to choosing to do less than I can in order to keep my options open next turn. I played a very solid game. Spiritual Affliction on the Agonizer really threw my opponent off, I think, and he ended up placing Butcher poorly as a result, and I was able to capitalize.<br />
<br />
Caleb and Ben both lost their games again, against Khador and Skorne respectively. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 3</span><br />
<br />
This time, we were paired against a team that I think was all Retribution. My memory of match choosing is vague for game. I think I decided to dodge Rahn, and the other team gave their least experienced player the favorable matchup.<br />
<br />
I was up against an Elara 2/Ossyan pair. I dropped Makeda 3 because I thought she'd handle Elara better. My opponent dropped:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Elara, Death's Shadow (*28pts)</b></u> <i>- Legions of Dawn</i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Griffon (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir (0pts)</i><br />
<i>*Griffon (8pts) </i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader and 9 Grunts) (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Officer and Standard Bearer) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>*Weapon Attachment (Soulless Escort) (1pt) </i><br />
<i>Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (8pts)</i><br />
<br />
The theme benefits are: marshalled warjacks gain Flank [Dawnguard], and a 2" extended deployment zone.<br />
<br />
I won the roll-off, and went first again. I was a little drained for this game, so my picture-taking is a little less consistent than the other games.<br />
<br />
I ran my stuff up, and Makeda put Vortex of Destruction on herself and Hand of Death on the Animantrax. Crucially, I did my counting right this time, and wouldn't have to take any needless frenzy checks next turn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaLbj8wizQB3FZGq3BOUHvvcnXirZAJGkzINP1ulRoWWy6xRTfixh10OCZadpFI_0IGw5CobAiOaPSaxAC6YRFL9V9u0gJrf0Hh4P03oYoA77Pl0QwtV1xQ4nICvnAhrqZyzGk1PI_2LM/s1600/image1%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaLbj8wizQB3FZGq3BOUHvvcnXirZAJGkzINP1ulRoWWy6xRTfixh10OCZadpFI_0IGw5CobAiOaPSaxAC6YRFL9V9u0gJrf0Hh4P03oYoA77Pl0QwtV1xQ4nICvnAhrqZyzGk1PI_2LM/s640/image1%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
My opponent ran his stuff up as well, setting his threat ranges deep. The Griffons would threaten 17" if I gave them their Righteous Vengeance moves.<br />
<br />
Being out-threated, I moved up, and screened Molik, the Gladiator, and Makeda with my lights. I did a little shooting on the lead Sentinels, but I mostly held out and braced for the charge.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AyA0KlBLNphWppJSbbaaj1f1HiRExh2bElaIklYZlS8N4P3rsgi8KhyhmgOaNWwW70APIdwTTuS65T5RgFagMA08mcfzilHtnI0iuMkCXgUXrrUMVGCsGerwwfDGR4zMB7LT7EKKpJPV/s1600/image2%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AyA0KlBLNphWppJSbbaaj1f1HiRExh2bElaIklYZlS8N4P3rsgi8KhyhmgOaNWwW70APIdwTTuS65T5RgFagMA08mcfzilHtnI0iuMkCXgUXrrUMVGCsGerwwfDGR4zMB7LT7EKKpJPV/s640/image2%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
My opponent ran the left Sentinels, and charged in with the Manticores and right Sentinels. All told, they did a lot of damage, slaughtering most of my screen of lights, and killing Molik, which meant my best counter to the Sentinel swarm was out of the game. My opponent also scored 3pts - two for controlling the round zones, and one for controlling his own rectangle with Elara.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbA7mwFLJD0fhsOB6gesqrbwCqD1avmNi5d1-Uwkg8BnvPUT5cqqHK-srNZNFg1QU862WdWezPOG0oiLGmLbXGDwImGDLlmQ3Zwm_zqkU9qRoT_SGsB2tXWyOBLq56ayjIWpv2vl_kRk_/s1600/image3%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbA7mwFLJD0fhsOB6gesqrbwCqD1avmNi5d1-Uwkg8BnvPUT5cqqHK-srNZNFg1QU862WdWezPOG0oiLGmLbXGDwImGDLlmQ3Zwm_zqkU9qRoT_SGsB2tXWyOBLq56ayjIWpv2vl_kRk_/s640/image3%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I answered as best I could, with Makeda killing a Griffon and a Manticore, and the Gladiator killing the other Manticore. The SA charged into the Sentinels on the right, but didn't do enough damage. My opponent had a very real opportunity to win on scenario this coming turn. All he had to do was clear the right zone (the left had too much of my stuff in it).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnGxwh2kcPA27UNGzBwOOTlXknz0yxIQEcWbopk2aMIrK-uTSrFKoVROH6p7bbP5KUGzdkG05V64-M1xVND3F7VaKptKOEDoYxOk2PS6HRyUIX5Mysyd_hK0bqRtT05tzCY1ru5pYnAyo/s1600/image4%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnGxwh2kcPA27UNGzBwOOTlXknz0yxIQEcWbopk2aMIrK-uTSrFKoVROH6p7bbP5KUGzdkG05V64-M1xVND3F7VaKptKOEDoYxOk2PS6HRyUIX5Mysyd_hK0bqRtT05tzCY1ru5pYnAyo/s640/image4%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In the end, he made a big mistake. Elara stayed put to score my opponent's rectangle, and the Sentinels finished the Animantrax, clearing the right zone. However, one of the Sentinels remained out of the zone to attack one of the Exalted Guardians. So the whole unit of Sentinels was not in the zone, and was thus unable to score. My opponent definitely has the moral victory here, but we kept playing.<br />
<br />
Makeda charged an Arcanist, used Blood Boon to kill another Arcanist with Eliminator, and used the Eliminator move to advance into Elara. Elara died to 2 attacks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwkYXB_ICSfP0YKvVOKduSwe5CPbYBxD-x3x1aDBAFtNu5VXqR5o4_0zeRsg02YT5r-YvI3eMbTOSUb3s-LQcZFBKH-Em3moBbyxbLU00mrVYxWuzMU_9RuJOOu4L5gDC2F2k3KDpSsbe/s1600/image5%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwkYXB_ICSfP0YKvVOKduSwe5CPbYBxD-x3x1aDBAFtNu5VXqR5o4_0zeRsg02YT5r-YvI3eMbTOSUb3s-LQcZFBKH-Em3moBbyxbLU00mrVYxWuzMU_9RuJOOu4L5gDC2F2k3KDpSsbe/s640/image5%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
My opponent really deserved the win on this one. I got sloppy with Molik, and let him get killed off. Elara's massive threat ranges were really getting into my head. This matchup might have been played out better by Mak1 in retrospect. Mak3 had plenty of power to kill off those Sentinels, but it was hard for me to set up the alpha strike, and my opponent was too good to let me counter the way I needed to.<br />
<br />
Ben also won his match, giving Team 4+ Tough our first and only victory of the night!<br />
<br />
That was a lot of fun and a whole new format for me. I'll definitely try to wrangle a couple players for a team next year, and maybe if I have the free time, I'll try out for one of the Twin Cities meta's ATC teams too.<br />
<br />
Next up, the singles tournament. I'll probably have it up by some times next week. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up some semi-regular posting this time around. Thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5-U1_30Of1rNbRSH1s8Xbc9EUjpIZjD4n8cCMH9Ku-ze-T5iBGBsTLcu-V4xtICuQiwZgwEUDRVcpXxgHcrAWMBs4JqPEzbwVPxigscFk6H0zUOVfV0xRJYKiRyftu5cMkye8v5NgPu1/s1600/IMG_2790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5-U1_30Of1rNbRSH1s8Xbc9EUjpIZjD4n8cCMH9Ku-ze-T5iBGBsTLcu-V4xtICuQiwZgwEUDRVcpXxgHcrAWMBs4JqPEzbwVPxigscFk6H0zUOVfV0xRJYKiRyftu5cMkye8v5NgPu1/s640/IMG_2790.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Ridiculous Oldster</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-62469588989144659752017-11-19T09:14:00.001-08:002017-11-19T09:14:12.533-08:00Renegade Open Reports Incoming!This past weekend, I went to the Renegade Open, a wargames convention right here in the Twin Cities. I played in both the team tournament and the individual tournament with Skorne, and I'll have the reports up before (American) Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
I had an absolute blast, and I'll definitely be back next year.<br />
<br />
That's all for now. Stay tuned for updates.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-43524959888966205962017-10-17T15:09:00.001-07:002017-10-17T15:09:35.782-07:00Battle Report: Makeda 1 vs. Kaelyssa (75pts)Hey everyone!<br />
<br />
I've played a bunch of Cryx lately, but I haven't neglected Skorne. I'm super excited about all our new themes, and I thought I'd give one of them a try last weekend. Here's what I took:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Archdomina Makeda (*29pts)</b> - Masters of War</u><br />
<i>*Molik Karn (19pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Gladiator (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Scarab Pack (10pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Tyrant Rhadiem (9pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Tyrant Vorkesh) (0pts - Theme Benefit)</i><br />
<i>Praetorian Ferox (Leader and 4 Grunts) (20pts)</i><br />
<i>Legends of Halaak (8pts)</i><br />
<i>Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (0pts - Theme Benefit)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<br />
<u>Theme Benefits</u><br />
*+1 to the starting roll<br />
*Free Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer or Command Attachment for every 20pts of Praetorian or Cataphract models/units.<br />
*Melee attacks by warrior models ignore Tough, and a model boxed by those attacks is removed from play.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
This seems like an amazing theme, and I'm very excited about this list. It seems like it will attrition and assassinate very well, and the Feat can be great for scenario with really fast units like Ferox jamming the opponent out of zones. It's well balanced for any type of scneario, and threatens a truly ghastly range with Quicken on top of Rush and Push to the Limit. It only has 2 heavies, so its ability to deal with serious heavy spam will be limited. We'll see how it holds up.<br />
<br />
I was playing against Caleb, who's just picking up Retribution. He was playing:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Kaelyssa, the Night's Whisper (*29pts)</b> - Shadows of the Retribution</u><br />
<i>*Phoenix (18pts)</i><br />
<i>*Hydra (15pts)</i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*Sphinx (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Chimera (8pts) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (0pts - Theme Benefit)</i><br />
<i>Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios (6pts)</i><br />
<i>Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress (4pts) </i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Strike Force Commander) (4pts)</i><br />
<br />
<u>Theme Benefits</u><br />
*+1 to the starting roll.<br />
*Free solo or Command Attachment for every 20pts of units.<br />
*Melee attacks by warrior models ignore Tough, and a model boxed by those attacks is removed from play. <br />
<br />
An interesting Kaelyssa build. She does some good things for the Shadows theme, namely giving her army more time to leverage its shooting elements before getting into melee. This list has a lot of shooting from various sources, and hits hard with the heavies. It may be a little unfocused, and may have trouble clearing jams with a low number of quality melee attacks. People are playing Shadows as a counter to Ghost Fleet's recursion, so I'm interested to see how it does against a very different kind of list.<br />
<br />
It's also pretty neat that the theme benefits for Masters and Shadows are almost identical, but the lists tend to be super different because of the difference in the factions and allowed models. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Scenario and Deployment</span><br />
<br />
We ended up playing Recon II, which has 2 rectangular zones 12" from each table edge. Each zone has a flag on one end (making it easier for the nearer player to score that flag). Each player also has an objective. Score any scenario element or destroy your opponent's objective for 1 control point. Warbeasts/'jacks and Battle Engines can score rectangular zones, while solos can score flags. Warcasters/Warlocks can score any kind of scenario element as normal.<br />
<br />
For my objective, I chose Stockpile. Makeda would be taking a bunch of damage on her Feat turn, and it'd be great to have that little trickle of healing afterward to help keep her safe. I could also use it to keep my Beasts topped up since they'd be taking a lot of bullets for the infantry. Caleb picked Fuel Cache to give his Warjacks the Pathfinder they'd need to get through the big central forest. <br />
<br />
I won the roll-off, and chose to go first. I put my Ferox and Rhadiem on the left flank where I had a flag closer to my deployment zone. My plan there was to get Rhadiem to the flag and use the Ferox's speed and my Feat to kill off the Mage Hunters and jam Caleb out of the zone starting on his second turn. I put the Cetrati on the right flank to contest the zone with the flag closer to Caleb. They'd be tough to remove, and I just needed to stop Caleb from scoring over there. I put Makeda, the beasts, and the support elements in the middle.<br />
<br />
Caleb weighted his deployment toward my right flank. The Hydra was approximately in the middle, but all the other 'jacks were deployed closer to the right zone. The Arcanists went behind the 'jacks, and the Mage Hunters, Eiryss, and Narn went in the middle. Caleb's plan looked to be to flood the right zone with armor while using the Mage Hunters and Warjack shooting to whittle me down in the center and the left.<br />
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<br />
We played on a slightly short table, so our deployments are a little crowded, but the measurements are accurate.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 1</span><br />
<br />
Makeda put Quicken on the Cetrati, and the Tyrant Commander put Push to the Limit on them,, and they Shield Walled up 9". Everything else moved up pretty cautiously. I had superior melee threat range here, so there was no need to rush. I tried to get good coverage for Shield Guard with my beasts, and set myself up to grab the left zone next turn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoMzL1TU_vLIjDWCVpNeVxQZrZTN__ypHH3c9N5fRpr8tNFBL95gnl8R4sdO9t0UUK0mUHhXtT97rPpaZNu0d4xZFNLEpzbsb09BQhejWPW8l6Y944sTx2LNk2-PEOkdEL_qsXDmzMhXP/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoMzL1TU_vLIjDWCVpNeVxQZrZTN__ypHH3c9N5fRpr8tNFBL95gnl8R4sdO9t0UUK0mUHhXtT97rPpaZNu0d4xZFNLEpzbsb09BQhejWPW8l6Y944sTx2LNk2-PEOkdEL_qsXDmzMhXP/s640/IMG_2398.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Retribution Turn 1</span><br />
<br />
Kaelyssa allocated a bunch of Focus to the Hydra since it would keep it over time. She also cast Refuge on the Hydra, and popped her Feat, preventing me from charging in. The Warjacks ran up. The Mage Hunters advanced, and did a lot of shooting at the Legends of Halaak, but even though they rolled very well, I was able to Shield Guard all the hits. Caleb decided to hold Eiryss back this turn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8AEwdUtzZK8YAWEYsRUtD4znh1q771Kx00Lozuwwobk3leLyWCfYYsR7aFHgBmHc6LBy_V93MtEj4u37rayBAM03F6VyHNEE5YQeUMfPtxZDEhvAmvbVt-hONpgcEf17A8gQwFfAyWKt/s1600/IMG_2399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8AEwdUtzZK8YAWEYsRUtD4znh1q771Kx00Lozuwwobk3leLyWCfYYsR7aFHgBmHc6LBy_V93MtEj4u37rayBAM03F6VyHNEE5YQeUMfPtxZDEhvAmvbVt-hONpgcEf17A8gQwFfAyWKt/s640/IMG_2399.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I had a chance to do a lot of damage this turn. I couldn't charge, but all my Ferox and two of my Cetrati had the chance to get into melee, and I needed to make it count.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Makeda upkept Quicken on the Cetrati. <br />
<br />
The Tyrant Commander put Push to the Limit on the Cetrati. They Shield Walled forward, and killed 2 Mage Hunters. Makeda advnaced, popped her Feat, switched Quicken onto the Ferox, and cast Carnage. This left her on zero Fury, so I made sure the Scarabs were all bunched around her for Shield Guard. The Gladiator and Legends moved behind the Cetrati to make a supporting charge after Caleb's Myrmidons had banged them up.<br />
<br />
Rhadiem moved to control the flag in the left zone. The Ferox advanced, and jumped into the Mage Hunters, killing 6 more, and leaving just the Officer and one trooper. They repositioned to block access to Makeda and engage Eiryss in melee. Molik ran to control the left zone.<br />
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<br />
<br />
I'd been very effective at taking out Caleb's screen, and I'd put myself in a good position overall. Makeda's Feat would let me get through Caleb's turn with most if not all of my infantry intact, and I was in a very strong position on my left side. The trouble was on my right side. After this coming turn, the Cetrati would almost certainly be overwhelmed by Caleb's heavies, and I'd need to play a good game to keep scoring while dealing with them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Retribution Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Caleb let Refuge expire, and allocated 2 Focus to each to the Phoenix and Sphinx, and one to the Manticore. The Fuel Cache gave the Manticore pathfinder.<br />
<br />
The Arcanists advanced, and put Concentrated Power on the Phoenix and Sphinx, and used Empower on the Manticore to give it a 3rd point. The Phoenix advanced, and used Combustion, setting all the Cetrati on fire and doing enough damage to take a few of them out. I saved them by taking damage on Makeda. The Phoenix and Sphinx did a bunch more damage to Makeda by disabling Cetrati, and I allowed the Chimera to finish one off.<br />
<br />
The Manticore attacked the Ferox and did a little more damage to Makeda, and the Hydra vaporized a chunk of the Gladiator's health with a shot from its energy gun. Kaelyssa shot the Fury off the Gladiator, and did a little more damage.<br />
<br />
Narn charged Molik and contested the zone, but I used Intuition to force Narn to reroll his attack until Molik was at full Fury. Narn ended up hitting anyway, but Molik killed him with the Retaliatory Strike from Makeda's Feat. Then Eiryss walked into the zone (the Ferox engaging her missed its Free Strike), and calmly shot all the Fury off Molik again with Disruptor Bolt.<br />
<br />
Finally, Lanyssa advanced, and used Winter Storm to deny Pathfinder to the Ferox. <br />
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<br />
<br />
I scored 1CP for controlling the left flag. I was still in a good spot, although Makeda would have to damage herself some more to leach back to full Fury. I had a reasonably good chance to take out the Phoenix, Hydra, and Sphinx and put myself solidly ahead on attrition. I could easily kill Eiryss, and get up a couple more points on scenario too. However, I also had a good shot at taking out Kaelyssa with the Ferox. I'd try that first, then see what else I needed to do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 3</span><br />
<br />
Before I could start my assassination run, I had some unpacking to do, but even before that, I had fire checks. Two more Cetrati died to fire, the Stockpile healed Makeda for 2, and Makeda dropped Quicken from the Ferox.<br />
<br />
The Cetrati advanced in Shield Wall, and poked at the Warjacks engaging them a bit, and did a little damage. The Tyrant Commander put Push to the Limit on the Ferox, and advanced. The Scarabs ran forward. Makeda put Rush on the Gladiator, advanced to the point where Kaelyssa would barely be in her CTRL, and cast Carnage.<br />
<br />
The Legends of Halaak charged in, Valgesh and Cidaar going after the Chimera, and J'Deth charging the Phoenix at an angle. Valgesh and Cidaar easily killed the light warjack, and J'Deth used Combo Smite to slam the Phoenix into the Sphinx doing massive damage to the Phoenix (and nothing to the Sphinx). Now that the Gladiator could take out both Retribution heavies, I could focus on my assassination.<br />
<br />
The Ferox advanced as far as they could, and jumped in around Kaelyssa. Four CMA mount attacks later, and, well....<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
I played a really good game for me. My positioning with Shield Guards was solid, and I was planning for everything, including my caster's safety (which sometimes eludes me). I don't think I made any major mistakes, although maybe I shouldn't have bunched my Cetrati so closely on turn 2. If I'd sent a pod of 3 forward and held the rest back, I would have had at least a few that weren't on fire. Caleb also rolled a lot better than I was expecting on those fire damage rolls though - I'd expected very little damage to get through arm 20, and instead I wound up losing 2 to fire and taking a lot more damage on all of them.<br />
<br />
This list was amazing. I've taken Makeda 1 out a couple of times since the January 2017 errata, and this is by far the best I've felt about a list. Masters of War gave me that little extra bit of support that I need to make the list really go. I was easily able to control the game, and the lack of a bunch of heavies to oppose Caleb's ended up not being a big deal. I'll have to try this list against real Arm skew at some point to see if it holds up, but for now I'm really liking it. I'm not 100% sold on the Cetrati. They certainly did their job this game, but they still feel a bit like they lack the damage or durability to make up for their cost. Time will tell. Caleb's dice this game were really... on fire? Eh? Eh??<br />
<br />
Anyway.<br />
<br />
Caleb is still pretty new to Retribution, and ended up in a pretty bad matchup for his list. His choice to overload the right side of the table and let me claim the left more-or-less unopposed would probably have put him on the back foot in the long run. He also left Kaelyssa hanging without any Focus camp on his second turn - a temptation I'm very familiar with. She can do a lot with her Focus, but she's actually quite fragile, and Caleb really needed to make sure she didn't die to Ferox first, and worry about Fury-stealing shenanigans second.<br />
<br />
I'm not completely sure about Caleb's list. I feel like the Strike Force aren't a great screen, but that might not be such a bad thing. Kaelyssa doesn't need a screen as badly as a lot of 'casters, because her Feat helps her get a convincing alpha and a leg up on ranged attrition. It does take some thought to get the most out of it, however.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-9611762617879902972017-10-11T17:58:00.001-07:002017-10-14T12:26:04.697-07:00JML - 30pt Battle ReportHello dear readers. Between three weeks ago and just now, we decided to switch from the 2016 JML rules to 2017, which has you add models in 15pt intervals. Since people were sick or busy over the intervening weeks, we decided to add just 5pts to take us from 25 to 30. I was running:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Bane Witch Agathia (*29pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Reaper (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Slayer (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Canker Worm (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Deathripper (6pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Pistol Wraith (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Warwitch Siren (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Carrion Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)</i><br />
<br />
Total: 28/30pts<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>This week, I played against Caleb and his Retribution. He had<br />
<br />
<u><b>Magister Hylenna (*30pts)</b> - Defenders of Ios</u><br />
<i>*Hydra (15pts) </i><br />
<i>*Manticore (14pts)</i><br />
<i>*Sphinx (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Chimera (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Griffon (8pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Arcanist Mechanic (2pts)</i><br />
<br />
Total: 30/30pts<br />
<br />
<br />
My list was a balanced list with a melee focus. I want to jam my opponent up with the Carrion Thralls, disrupt them with Drag from the Reaper and Death Chill from the Pistol Wraith, and hit them with the Warjacks in the second wave. I want to use Agathia's Feat to outmaneuver my opponent, and deliver my army mostly intact. Caleb's army is heavy armor all the way. Those 3 heavies are incredibly solid, and backed up by Hylenna's Feat and the Arcanist, they'll be very hard for a well-balanced list to grind through. They'll take a little while to get through infantry, but most infantry will be very hard-pressed to do anything to them in exchange.<br />
<br />
The scenario was Trial by Fire, the JML scenario for weeks 3 and 4. There's a big circular zone in the middle of the table, you can control it with anything, and you win when you have 5 more points than your opponent. Caleb won the roll-off, and chose the side of the table with the wall he wanted to hide Hylenna behind.<br />
<br />
I deployed my Pistol Wraith and Agathia in the middle, where they could lend their support anywhere, and the Carrion Thralls in the center-right. The two heavies and Siren went on the left in front of my wall, and the Deathripper went on the right - it's fast enough to reposition if it needs to.<br />
<br />
Caleb deployed his battlegroup in the center-right where they could use that wall to block my ability to drag them in. The exception was the Chimera, which went on the center-left to arc that sweet sweet Hand of Destruction at my heavies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 1</span><br />
<br />
Agathia put Hellwrought on the Reaper, advanced, and Vanished further forward. Everything else ran. The heavies went up the center-left to circle around the Ret battlegroup and try to take them apart piecemeal, while the Carrion Thralls went up the center-right to jam them up. The Deathripper went around to the right, and the Pistol Wraith ran up back up the Carrion Thralls. Canker Worm moved up aggressively to take the lead.<br />
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<br />
I was pretty well positioned. We'd see how Caleb responded.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Retribution Turn 1</span><br />
<br />
Caleb's Battlegroup turtled up behind his wall, with all the 'jacks in front of Agathia. Agathia cast Rhythm of War to give them a little extra flexibility, and loaded up the Hydra for future turns. The Manticore laid down some Covering Fire to block charges from the Carrion Thralls. Otherwise, not much action. The only model even remotely in range was Canker Worm, and it had Stealth.<br />
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<br />
Caleb's in a strong defensive position here, but I'm planning to take the zone and force him out of it.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
I allocated 1 Focus each to the Slayer and Reaper, and upkeep Hellwrought.<br />
<br />
The Deathripper ran to within 8" of the Chimera. Agathia advanced, Feated, and cast Parasite on the Chimera. The Warwitch Siren advanced, and put a Focus on the Reaper. The Reaper advanced, and shot at the Chimera, but missed. The Pistol Wraith advanced, and shot the Chimera, successfully making it Stationary. I did a drastic reposition around to the left with Canker Worm, and jammed up the Ret brick with the Carrion Thralls.<br />
<br />
No picture this turn. I was pretty bummed not to have dragged in the Chimera. Taking away Hylenna's Arc Node would have made casting Hand of Destruction a much riskier proposition, and given my army some protection. Otherwise, I was doing alright. My Feat would ensure I didn't get too chewed up by shooting.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Retribution Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Hylenna upkept Rhythm of War, and Allocated a Focus to the Griffon.<br />
<br />
Hylenna popped her Feat, and cast Hand of Destruction on the Carrion Thralls. She also Feated. The Chimera killed a bird jamming the Sphinx. The Hydra trampled forward, and tried to kill the Deathripper, but came up way short. The Sphinx advanced and killed some more birds, and the Griffon charged in from the right flank and killed another.<br />
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<br />
<br />
A decent turn for Caleb, but I'd survived mostly intact except for a couple ablative crows. Time to see if I could take a heavy off the table through Hylenna's Feat.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 3</span><br />
<br />
Agathia upkept both spells, and allocated one each to the Reaper and Slayer.<br />
<br />
Canker Worm charged the Chimera, but left it on 1 hit box. The Pistol Wraith moved into melee with the Hydra, and made it Stationary. Agathia then charged the Hydra, and cast Parasite on it. The Reaper finished off the Hydra, while the Slayer tried to Double Handed Throw the Sphinx, but failed the Strength Check. The Siren tried to put Corrosion on the Chimera with Venom, but missed. The Carrion Thralls hovered around the Myrmidons and pecked them ineffectually.<br />
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<br />
<br />
I'd taken off the Hydra, but opened myself up to some nasty retaliation. Caleb could probably take out both my heavies, and most of my remaining Carrion Thralls.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Retribution Turn 3</span><br />
<br />
Hylenna dropped Rhythm of War, and put a bunch of Focus on the Manticore and Sphinx<br />
<br />
Hylenna activated first, advanced to the wall, and put Hand of Destruction on the Reaper. The Griffon moved up, and killed the Pistol Wraith. The Arcanist gave the Manticore Concentrated Power, and it advanced, and tore up the Reaper, which had a couple boxes in its Movement left, but nothing else.<br />
<br />
The Sphinx similarly tore up the Slayer, which had Cortex boxes left, but nothing else. The Chimera did nothing of note, since it had too many systems out to hit.<br />
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<br />
I was in a bit of a pickle. My heavies were basically useless, while the Manticore and Sphinx were at full health. My only way out was to kill Hylenna, who was camping 0 and in range of Canker Worm, but Canker Worm's charge lane was blocked by the Chimera and Arcanist. I might be able to get to Hylenna with Agathia, but I'd either spend most of my stack making sure I got there in one piece or eat some very nasty free strikes on the way.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 4</span><br />
<br />
Agathia dropped her upkeeps, and allocated 2 to the Canker Worm.<br />
<br />
The Warwitch Siren advanced, and cast Venom on both the Chimera and the Arcanist, but missed them both. The Slayer boosted an attack into the Chimera, and took it out.<br />
<br />
Agathia advanced, cast Vanish to get out of melee, and killed the Arcanist with Hellfire.<br />
<br />
Then Canker Worm charged Hylenna and killed her with one armor piercing bite.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to Cryx!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
These little games are fun! I was definitely on the back foot, but I was able to pull through in the end. Next time, I'll be adding the Soul Hunters, which have been delightfully gruesome to paint. I might also add a Necrosurgion and Stitch Thralls to give my Carrion Thralls some extra staying power. I'm also debating switching Agathia for Goreshade 3, who loses out on Ghostly, but adds durability with recursion, and has a much stronger assassination game with his Feat. We'll see.<br />
<br />
I played a pretty good game, although I was possibly a little too aggressive with my warjacks during Caleb's Feat turn. If I'd held the Slayer back instead of trying for that Throw, I wouldn't have been in that assassinate-or-die position on turn 4. I also definitely should have tried to Stationary the Chimera first on my second turn, but I was pretty sure of hitting that boosted 7 with the Reaper.<br />
<br />
Caleb also played a pretty solid game. He was cagey with his Warjacks, and inflicted critical damage to my ability to play attrition against him. Hylenna was a little too far forward to get Hand of Destruction off without the Arc Node, and that ended up costing him. He might have inflicted a good amount of damage without it, and kept Hylenna safe, but he might also have failed to do enough damage to the Reaper, and lost the attrition war as a result.<br />
<br />
There's a Skorne battle report in the works, since I managed to play a full-sized game recently. It should be up by the end of the week. <br />
<br />
Looking forward to next time!<br />
<br />
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pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-47070031420791660932017-09-19T10:44:00.001-07:002017-09-19T10:44:29.336-07:00More JML - 25pt Battle ReportThis past Friday we moved up to 25pts, meaning that if I want to stay ahead on painting, I need to get my act together this week.<br />
<br />
I played a fun game, even though it was small, so I'll do a report. At 25pts, I had:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<u><b>Bane Witch Agathia (*29pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Reaper (13pts)</i><br />
<i>*Slayer (10pts)</i><br />
<i>*Canker Worm (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Deathripper (6pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Pistol Wraith (5pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Carrion Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)</i><br />
<br />
To the usual Cryx battlegroup, I added Canker Worm, who does a lot of what Agathia lets her army do on its own, max Carrion Thralls as a jamming force and to finish off Parasited enemies, and a Pistol Wraith for a little bit of a ranged game and some control. <br />
<br />
My opponent, Ben is building up a circle army with:<br />
<br />
<u><b>Tanith the Feral Song (*31pts)</b></u><br />
<i>*Pureblood Warpwolf (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Woldwyrd (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Gorax Rager (7pts)</i><br />
<i>*Wild Argus (7pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Warpborn Skinwalkers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Command Attachment (Warpborn Alpha) (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Shifting Stones (Leader and 2 Grunts) (3pts)</i><br />
<br />
Ben added the Woldwyrd, to add more shots and punish the opponent for using their upkeep spells, Shifting Stones to help with Fury management and teleporting models around, and min Skinwalkers + Alpha to have an independent batch of damage dealing infantry.<br />
<br />
I ended up going fist. I think we were supposed to switch to a zone scenario, but we didn't.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Round 1</span><br />
<br />
I ran just about everything. I put Hellwrought on Canker Worm because Stealth would protect it from the Woldwyrd a little. I also wanted to bait Ben into damaging it to get a little extra movement. <br />
<br />
Ben moved forward cautiously, and hid Tanith in the woods. He miscalculated a bit, and put a Shifting Stone in range of my Reaper. The Pureblood cast Wraithbane on itself, and did a hefty chunk of damage to Canker Worm with its spray, but didn't take out any systems.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwDKk_EbJzNvqoE0DI0LUNOYwEe4SdTCmWNUe6EBO8PJSXBsjJcdQ4wQoLe0OUzpzSPv1nfq0pwsytKZlOHL9MNFRLe4g5jrAqULgqVBhk0Fq2glpmQAmFhd8JSxUnrDa9migV4nkaOM3/s1600/IMG_2337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwDKk_EbJzNvqoE0DI0LUNOYwEe4SdTCmWNUe6EBO8PJSXBsjJcdQ4wQoLe0OUzpzSPv1nfq0pwsytKZlOHL9MNFRLe4g5jrAqULgqVBhk0Fq2glpmQAmFhd8JSxUnrDa9migV4nkaOM3/s640/IMG_2337.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Canker Worm crossed the wall, and Agathia dropped Hellwrought. The Reaper killed the lead Shifting Stone with its harpoon. The Deathripper ran to within 8" of the Gorax. Agathia advanced, Feated, then put Parasite on the Gorax.<br />
<br />
Canker Worm charged and killed the Gorax, then vanished into melee with the Woldwyrd. The Carrion Thralls jammed up the Skinwalkers, but did no damage. The Pistol Wraith and Slayer ran forward.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6x1KPNBj7Ern_XPFGqhCAysHlHoOAA-cPpOgzWNXOHTZ4kLWijMJaoarpLSXj40IXT2rbsVtrKDSFHpab6lXmvfjXBM6lrY1JkxXHnrmtDaywIguQlK4D2dy-qXrpyNvti6FzU8jEH5B/s1600/IMG_2339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6x1KPNBj7Ern_XPFGqhCAysHlHoOAA-cPpOgzWNXOHTZ4kLWijMJaoarpLSXj40IXT2rbsVtrKDSFHpab6lXmvfjXBM6lrY1JkxXHnrmtDaywIguQlK4D2dy-qXrpyNvti6FzU8jEH5B/s640/IMG_2339.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Circle Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Tanith put Admonition on the Pureblood. The Argus and Woldwyrd killed Canker Worm. The Purblood sprayed at the Reaper, but did no damage. The Shifting Stones moved to block my from Dragging the Pureblood. The Skinwalkers killed a couple of birds.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 3</span><br />
<br />
Agathia allocated 2 each to the Slayer and Reaper.<br />
<br />
She activated first, advanced, and cast Ghost Walk on the Carrion Thralls. The Deathripper charged the Shifting Stone blocking the drag on the Pureblood, but only did one damage. The Pistol Wraith shot at the Pureblood, did some damage, and more importantly, successfully made it Stationary with its Chain Attack.<br />
<br />
I sent the Carrion Thralls against the damaged Shifting Stone, but they failed to kill it. I repositioned them to jam 3 out of the 4 Skinwalkers. The Reaper dragged in and killed the fourth.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KEPLhc_pppD-xRruREDCh5xnApkOwoqZ7aa-VLGT18heO7OKKr_0fm_Hox0BywAOC6DDAAuQ3ZsMLM1BzZKaDd_d8tQHBaxYZVJsDv4QpeLQg0rwoLOspGvdTx9xQGCo3ppj2zBhReiz/s1600/IMG_2343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KEPLhc_pppD-xRruREDCh5xnApkOwoqZ7aa-VLGT18heO7OKKr_0fm_Hox0BywAOC6DDAAuQ3ZsMLM1BzZKaDd_d8tQHBaxYZVJsDv4QpeLQg0rwoLOspGvdTx9xQGCo3ppj2zBhReiz/s640/IMG_2343.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Circle Turn 3</span><br />
<br />
Tanith upkept Admonition, and the Pureblood shook off Stationary.<br />
<br />
The Skinwalkers and Woldwyrd killed off most of the Carrion Thralls. Tanith cought the Deathripper with Shadowbind from her ranged weapon, and the Argus finished it off. The Shifting Stones moved to partially screen Tanith, and the Pureblood charged the Slayer, but failed to kill it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cryx Turn 4</span><br />
<br />
I had a chance to assassinate Tanith, since her only available transfer target was the Argus. Agathia allocated 1 Focus to the Reaper.<br />
<br />
The Pistol Wraith aimed, and froze the Argus, which the Reaper dragged in and killed. Then Agathia Vanished forward, and charged Tanith, and killed her.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSfrdccPYG7j8tjgANAGUjv1MDDawoOIjCjcJTQDUG-HADIrWxdulQ9tq9HE7cheHMFhtJEshQbohlqEZ7rqV9VkJCQjx2104rG0HMPtE2AMGbVZ_21NlYD1PnfGQB1y2YwVmC67mZPHr/s1600/IMG_2344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSfrdccPYG7j8tjgANAGUjv1MDDawoOIjCjcJTQDUG-HADIrWxdulQ9tq9HE7cheHMFhtJEshQbohlqEZ7rqV9VkJCQjx2104rG0HMPtE2AMGbVZ_21NlYD1PnfGQB1y2YwVmC67mZPHr/s640/IMG_2344.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
As I said earlier, a fun game. It could have gone very differently if Ben had correctly measured the distance from his Stones to my Reaper and stayed out of range on his first turn. The Carrion Thralls with Ghost Walk worked very well, although I was hoping to get more work out of them with Finisher. The list certainly gels a lot better with some infantry to keep the 'jacks screened, and with the jam going, the Reaper was able to sit back and be a menace. Ben said after the game that it really messed with his head and put him on the back foot.<br />
<br />
My next upgrade will be min Soulhunters and Barathrum because the models are <i>amazing</i>. Tomorrow I'll be back to non-JML posts, but in the meantime, thanks for reading!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-16939182009368249412017-09-13T10:19:00.002-07:002017-09-13T10:19:53.650-07:00JML Progress!I finished my Pistol Wraith, so here are some pics of that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5K2L2_0LKGGL0bPqCZJZWjky_lhFDKUSWoBKMxQ6kXV9_mORmYKUCFkPNYdlqWy9ZzFSTE_7jEQZoST6TFxoOYmV94XEBehYwkmp7vevah_pX8EM6YmseGZBtOHZEoaU4-C4n3_k8aNI/s1600/IMG_2315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5K2L2_0LKGGL0bPqCZJZWjky_lhFDKUSWoBKMxQ6kXV9_mORmYKUCFkPNYdlqWy9ZzFSTE_7jEQZoST6TFxoOYmV94XEBehYwkmp7vevah_pX8EM6YmseGZBtOHZEoaU4-C4n3_k8aNI/s320/IMG_2315.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPI2agEOTWySX57CMAMeejVqiE2ohelZoMF1PUDrH-kw-OU8RzHxHBiCCTWCKOCcSrc6JTjQhTRMNQLvdeMSHz_fd9T258hyphenhyphenuE4QkAAYFi5vi3utyJzuCqoEDMukvypsvK-x-Mu8Jmqth/s1600/IMG_2317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPI2agEOTWySX57CMAMeejVqiE2ohelZoMF1PUDrH-kw-OU8RzHxHBiCCTWCKOCcSrc6JTjQhTRMNQLvdeMSHz_fd9T258hyphenhyphenuE4QkAAYFi5vi3utyJzuCqoEDMukvypsvK-x-Mu8Jmqth/s320/IMG_2317.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And the whole 25pt force I'm ready to field:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKT5S5IhZn0KnNmwoecn0o5TiQ4TG3H8w6H4PXIeYVphew6OpD5Gic39ctWO3t0s_cbCMmY-QbD_QUaquDGEndturDy3QaTUD_8VFvwIdbXDy2gGSNRsJWZH4uZV4L-DXedtkkYrQ_NY1J/s1600/IMG_2318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKT5S5IhZn0KnNmwoecn0o5TiQ4TG3H8w6H4PXIeYVphew6OpD5Gic39ctWO3t0s_cbCMmY-QbD_QUaquDGEndturDy3QaTUD_8VFvwIdbXDy2gGSNRsJWZH4uZV4L-DXedtkkYrQ_NY1J/s640/IMG_2318.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We met last Friday and I played 2 games at 10pts (battlegroup + Canker Worm for me), and lost them both! The Skorne box still makes a lot more sense to me, although I'm no fan of Xekaar. Clearly I need to learn to Cryx a bit better. A couple shots from my games:<br />
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I'm currently 1-4 for the league, but at least I'm ahead on painting.<br />
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Until next time!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-21459203069847167142017-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:002017-09-06T08:00:03.987-07:00Skorne vs. Ghost Fleet: Initial ThoughtsGhost Fleet is a Cryx theme list that debuted last year, was unlocked sometime over the winter, and has been tearing up the meta at a very high level this spring and summer. It's strong into a lot of matchups, and plays a pretty different game from many lists, which means you have to have a specific plan for dealing with it. That means both having a list that can handle Ghost Fleet, and a strategy for winning against Ghost Fleet with that list.<br />
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I realise that this post is a little behind the times, since Ghost Fleet has been a powerhouse for a while, but these kinds of thought experiments are fun for me, and maybe Skorne doesn't have a lot of information out there yet (I don't follow the FB group or LormaHordes very much). Anyway, here's my take:<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
What is Ghost Fleet?<br />
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Ghost Fleet lets the Cryx player take pirates, ghosts, and Wraith Engines, along with any 'caster and non-character Warjacks. In exchange, the Cryx player gets:<br />
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+1 Revenant Crew returned each turn with Deathbound<br />
A free solo or weapon crew for every 20pts of Revenant models in the list<br />
+1 to the starting roll<br />
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What this means is usually 12-ish points of free solos, a very strong recursion game, and you'll probably go second. The list is naturally good at attrition because of the Revenant Crew, and naturally good at scenario, both because of the recursion and because it can field plenty of incorporeal models. Many Cryx 'casters run Ghost Fleet well, but the one to watch out for the most is probably Deneghra 1. A typical list looks something like:<br />
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Warwitch Deneghra (*28pts) - Ghost Fleet<br />
*Stalker (8pts)<br />
*Stalker (8pts)<br />
*Deathripper (6pts)<br />
*Deathripper (6pts)<br />
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Wraith Engine (15pts)<br />
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Hellslinger Phantom (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
Pistol Wraith (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
Captain Rengrave (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
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Revenant Crew of the Atramentous (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)<br />
*3 Revenant Crew Riflemen (6pts)<br />
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)<br />
*3 Revenant Crew Riflemen (6pts)<br />
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)<br />
*3 Revenant Crew Riflemen (6pts)<br />
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Whatever combination of Revenants gets you to that 3rd free card. I built the list with min Blackbane's Ghost Raiders and a Revenant Cannon Crew, but other builds are probably valid.<br />
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Deneghra adds a lot of raw control and a hellish assassination game to Ghost Fleet's already strong attrition and scenario game. Her typical endgame is: Feat on the enemy army, cast Scourge on the 'caster to knock them down, cast Parasite on the knocked down 'caster, and have a zillion Ghost Shot guns finish the job. It's very hard to prevent without the right tools, since it's very hard to get rid of the Revenant riflemen and defend yourself from Deneghra's assassination. Fortunately, Skorne has a few options that can do both.<br />
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What tools do we have?<br />
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Warlock-wise, I like Hexeris 2, Zaal 2, and Morghoul 2 best. Other warlocks who look like they work include Rasheth 1, Hexeris 1, Morghoul 3, and if you know what you're doing, Makeda 1, Makeda 3, and Zaadesh 2. What do these Warlocks bring to the table?<br />
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First, they have ways of making themselves hard to assassinate. Hexeris 2 has Banishing Ward for spell immunity. Zaal 2 has Vision, his Feat, and a naturally high armor stat. Morghoul 2 has Steady, Stealth, and a Feat that inflicts Blind on the opponent's army. Rasheth has Castigate and Impervious Flesh, Morghoul 3 has Steady and Stealth, and the Makedas and Zaadesh have ways of pawning hits off on other models.<br />
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Second, some of them have ways to remove enemy models from play. Hexeris 2 has Hellfire, which can snipe out Revenant Crew unit leaders. Zaal 2 has Annihilation, which is expensive, but worth it if it stops recursion. Hexeris 1's Feat RFP's anything that dies in his CTRL on the Feat turn, which is a great tool against recursion. I mention RFP effects specifically, because any Revenant removed from play cannot return, and if the leader model (the one who gives the unit the Deathbound rule) is removed from play, the unit will lose access to Deathbound. The strategy for RFP against Ghost Fleet should always be to remove the unit leaders. Once that's accomplished, the rest of the unit will stay dead if killed by conventional means.<br />
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Third, most of them have tools to deal with a large number of infantry fairly quickly. Hexeris 2 has Black Spot, Hexeris 1's Feat can make the Cryx models kill each other, and Morghoul 3 and Makeda 3's Feats let them slaughter infantry very efficiently.<br />
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Finally, some of them have the means to put magic damage where it needs to go. The Hexies and Rasheth can channel, Zaal prefers a construct-heavy army, and all our constructs have Magic Weapons.<br />
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You may have noticed that not every Warlock is in every category. In fact, Hexeris 2 is the only one who's in all of them. Most of these blind spots, however, can be covered by the right army list.<br />
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If you need more protection, a Basilisk Krea and/or a couple of Shield Guards do a good job. The Cyclops Brute deserves a special mention for the Safeguard animus, which will protect you from Scourge. If you need more anti-infantry, many of our options are good at it. If you need more Magic Weapons, you can take Extoller Soulwards or the Cyclops Shaman or Basilisk Drake. The Shaman can also snipe out the Hellslinger Phantom at long range if he's hiding behind something to stay safe. For RFP, some Minion units have Takedown or other effects, but there's nothing in Faction.<br />
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Tactics<br />
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Rule number one is: keep your Warlock safe. Don't give Deneghra (or whoever is playing the list) an angle to assassinate you. Ghost Fleet does a lot of things well, but assassination is probably its biggest win condition. Practically, this means protecting yourself from Scourge and Parasite as best you can, and making sure you have enough Fury and/or Shield Guards to ride out the assassination run. Ghost Fleet doesn't have a way to ignore Stealth, so that will buy you some safety from a lot of the guns in the list. Otherwise, make sure you're as hidden as you can be from the arc nodes and Stalkers, and camping enoug to survive.<br />
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While you're doing that, try to remove the Revenant unit leaders from play. That will shut off their recursion, and let you take out the rest of the unit without having to take them all out at once. Or, you could just kill them wholesale. Makeda 3 and Morghoul 3 are pretty good at this approach. If you wipe out the whole unit, then none of them are coming back.<br />
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Threaten Deneghra. Deneghra has to get pretty far forward to catch your Warlock in her Feat. If you can make this very dangerous (usually by having a good shooting element that can ignore Stealth - another reason to take Extollers), then you'll make your opponent hesitate before trying to kill you. If you do it and keep your caster safe enough, you can capitalize on that hesitation to get more work done against Deneghra's list, and maybe even assassinate her.<br />
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Those are my thoughts for now. I have a Hexeris 2 list I'd like to try into Ghost Fleet, and I'm as excited for the Immortal Host theme as anyone for that matchup among others. I haven't actually played against Ghost Fleet yet, although I'll definitely let you all know what I've learned when I do.pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-60050711045210110102017-09-05T09:36:00.002-07:002017-09-05T09:36:13.996-07:00I Hope You Enjoyed Your "Labor Day," MortalsFor there is no such day in the Nightmare Empire! The baleful light of the forges of Skell never dims, and their clangor never quiets!<br />
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Ahem... <br />
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As I said last week, I'm starting up Cryx in a very casual JML with a few good friends. I don't know Cryx as well as I know Skorne, or even Retribution, but they're cool, and I felt like trying something new.<br />
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Why Cryx?<br />
<br />
Mostly, I really like their look. They have some of my favorite models in WarmaHordes, and I have been having a lot of fun painting them so far. In particular, I like the necromechanika look. Zombies with machine parts, robots with bone parts, ghosts with pistols, it's all great. I also like some of the core mechanics in Cryx. Debuffing enemies is fun, and using the souls of slain enemies as robot and spell fuel is awesome. Cryx should also play quite differently from both Skorne and Ret, which will be great when I want some variety.<br />
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My list so far:<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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I'm probably the most experienced player in this JML, and we have some newbies, so I'm not going to go for the most powerful list I can field; instead I'm just picking things that seem cool. First up, the battlegroup.<br />
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Agathia is very cool because she's holding a battle axe one-handed like it's no big deal, and her dress is made from the souls of the damned. I've decided to stick with her throughout the JML, partly because of how awesome she looks, but also partly because she's not actually that good rules-wise.<br />
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I'm a little disappointed with the way her skin turned out, and I don't think I did her dress justice, but I really like the way the Soul Cages look. I also decided to have a little fun with the bits of her base not covered by her dress, and give her a green slime surface to stand on, and I like that too.<br />
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The Warjacks are all cool, and I'm pleased with the way they turned out. This is my first real attempt at basing (I'm using green stuff and a set of molds I found at Tower Games with a "sketchy dockside" theme). It looks pretty good, although I still have a lot of room for improvement.<br />
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My first addition (up to 10pts) is Canker Worm. Sure, it already does most of what Agathia gives models, but that just means it doesn't need her support, right? Besides, look at this model! How cool is this metal-eating robot death centipede?! I also think I did a really good job on it. It's definitely among the best-looking models I've painted.<br />
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To take me up to 25pts, I can add units and solos, so I decided to add one of each: a full unit of Carrion Thralls and a Pistol Wraith (still in progress). I already said I like the necromechanika look, and Carrion Thralls definitely have that. I also read Sabriel when I was a kid, and never really got over gore crows, which are basically these but without the tiny boilers and necrotite glow. Pistol Wraiths are some of my favorite models, and have some great fluff (as far as I remember). I decided to go with ghostly blue instead of green for this one, and I think it fits in alright. I decided on a swamp theme for the bases on these models instead of a dockside theme, and I also think they fit in ok. I'll probably stick to those two as I experiment with basing going forward.<br />
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I'm not really sure what I want to add next. I'd like to add another character 'jack, and/or something else with a soul taker mechanic, so I'm considering Malice or a Harrower. I also really like the Warwitch Siren and Soul Hunter models. Any recommendations would be welcome, although I may tone it down if it seems too mean for newer players.<br />
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Until next time!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-77560579196590418832017-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:002017-09-02T09:12:23.834-07:00CID Battle Report: Primus Jalaam vs. Ashlynn D'Elise (75pts)Hey everyone!<br />
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Welcome to my first battle report since I crawled back into the blogosphere. This is a CID battle report, so probable spoilers for the upcoming Skorne Warlock, Primus Jalaam, and for proposed changes to Ashlynn 1 after the break.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
I talked a little bit about Jalaam 1 <a href="http://fourplustough.blogspot.com/2017/09/primus-jalaam-thoughts.html?">In Yesterday's Post</a>. The short version of this report is up on the CID forum if you have a CID account and any interest. It's a shorter report, and focuses more on Jalaam and Ashlynn than this one, but <a href="https://cid.privateerpress.com/forum/battle-reports/battle-reports/battle-reports-christmas-2017-week-2/42310-jalaam-vs-ashlynn">here it is</a>.<br />
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I decided to try the Primus Jalaam list I posted earlier:<br />
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<b><u>Primus Jalaam (*28pts)</u></b> - Winds of Death - Proxied by Hexeris 1<br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Titan Cannoneer (17pts) - Proxied by Aradus Sentinel</i><br />
<i>*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)</i><br />
<i>*Basilisk Krea (7pts)</i><br />
<i>*Aptimus Marketh (0pts - Theme Benefit)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Siege Animantrax (17pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Dakar (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts - Theme Benefit)</i><br />
<i>Extoller Soulward (3pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
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75/75pts<br />
Winds of Death Benefits:<br />
*Warbeasts in the list gain Swift Hunter.<br />
*Before deployment, you may place one wall completely within 20" of your table edge.<br />
*For every 20pts of Venator models/units, add one solo or weapon crew for free.<br />
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My game plan is shooting attrition/assassination. I'll try to hold the opponent off with Tough slingers and Artifice of Deviation while shooting as much as I can. My guns will be effective against most infantry, and I have enough powerful shooting to focus down heavies as long as their armor isn't too high. With Artifice of Deviation and the free wall from Winds, I'll have good defense against shooting. I have a respectable counterpunch with the Cannoneers and Animantrax too. I may have trouble cracking serious armor, since I top out at P+S 18 in melee, with no damage buff from Jalaam. Jalaam having a lot to do with his Fury might make him susceptible to assassination. We'll see.<br />
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My opponent and co-blogger, Caleb, wanted to try out Ashlynn with the following list. He was tempted to try the Llaelese Resistance, but decided against it in favor of running mainline Mercenary units.<br />
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<b><u>Ashlynn D'Elise (*29pts)</u></b><br />
<i>*Gallant (17pts)</i><br />
<i>*Nomad (11pts)</i><br />
<i>*Freebooter (9pts)</i><br />
<i>*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Taryn di la Rovissi, Llaelese Gun Mage (5pts)</i><br />
<i>Rutger Shaw, Professional Adventurer (4pts)</i><br />
<i>*Buccaneer (6pts)</i><br />
<i>Harlan Versh, Illuminated One (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Major Harrison Gibbs (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (4pts)</i><br />
<i>Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye (4pts)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (16pts)</i><br />
<i>Thorn Gun Mages (Leader and 2 Grunts) (9pts)</i><br />
<i>Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)</i><br />
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75/75pts<br />
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Caleb's plan seems to be attrition, with a possible assassination on the Feat turn or possibly the turn after. This list has a very strong jamming game, and can do good damage in melee between the Warjacks and the Forge Guard. If Caleb moves up aggressively under Ashlynn's Feat, he could potentially play a strong scenario game. This list also looks like high armor could give it a hard time, and a lot of points are spent on solos, so a list that's good at picking them off will be able to do a number on this one very quickly.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Scenario and Deployment</span><br />
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We rolled up the Standoff Scenario from SR 2017. Two rectangular zones right across the table center from each other, each with an objective in the middle, and 2 circular zones on the flanks midway between the two deployment edges. Score 1 point for controlling a zone or destroying your opponent's objective. I picked Stockpile for a little extra healing, and Caleb chose Fuel Cache for a little extra Pathfinding. This does seem like a winnable scenario, so I'll need to make sure to contest zones and not focus too much on shooting.<br />
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Caleb won the roll, and chose to go first. I picked the table side that looked like it would funnel Caleb towards me while giving me a wall for my Catapults. I placed my Winds of Death wall in my zone where the Slingers could hop up and hide behind it.<br />
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Caleb deployed mostly in the middle, with the Forge Guard on my center-left and Ashlynn and her battlegroup on my center-right. The Freebooter, Rutger, Taryn, and the Buccaneer made a little module on the left, and the Halberdiers and Sergeant Verendrye went on the right. The Thorn Gun Mages went behind the Forge Guard.<br />
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I deployed my Catapults on the right to counter the Halberdiers and Nomad, and maybe scatter some AoE's into the support staff, and put the Cannoneers nearby, where they could advance and shoot past the ice crystals blocking LoS through the table center. The Krea went with them to help them out. I put Jalaam and the Shaman in the middle, and the Animantrax out on my left flank. I put most of my support behind the beasts in the middle, with the Venator Dakar near the Catapults for turn 1 Desperate Pace. I Advance Deployed my Slingers in the middle where they could move to tackle either infantry or Warjacks.<br />
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I designated Gallant as Jalaam's Prey. My hope was either to shoot it down on the approach or get into Caleb's head and make him position Gallant badly.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mercenaries Turn 1</span><br />
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Caleb put Quicken on the Forge Guard and Hightened Reflexes on the Halberdiers. He then mostly ran forward with everything (Ashlynn had to charge because she'd cast spells). The Halberdiers ended up clustered around Verendrye just ahead of the 'jacks on my right side, and the Forge Guard ran up to the edge of Caleb's zone across the center. The Gun Mage contingent, Shaw, and the 2 pirate 'jacks stayed behind the left side of the Forge Guard unit, while Versh, Ashlynn and her support solos wound up behind the Nomad and Gallant.<br />
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Caleb had clumped a bit on his advance, which I'd be able to take advantage of. If I could eliminate enough of the lead Halberdiers and Forge Guard, I'd get a solid second turn of shooting. It's worth noting here that we decided not to do any take-backs this game. Take-backs are more useful to the CID process, but it was late, and this was the first big game in months for both of us.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 1</span><br />
<br />
I started advancing and shooting. The Venator Dakar used Desperate Pace on one of the Catapults, then both Catapults and both Cannoneers advanced and blasted the Halberdiers, killing all but one (and Verendrye). Marketh advanced, and put Deadeye on the Slingers, who advanced, and put Corrosion on 5 of the Forge Guard with Acid Bath shots.<br />
<br />
Jalaam advanced, cast Warpath, then cast an Artifice of Deviation on/in front of my lead Slingers to slow down Caleb's advance toward them. The Animantrax ran around the left flank to just out of range of the Forge Guard. The Paingivers advanced, and managed Fury, and the Willbreaker put Flesh-Hardening on the Slingers<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
I'd prevented a jam from the Halberdiers, and the 'jacks would need to face my shooting threat without them. The Forge Guard might be a problem, depending on how many survived Corrosion. The 'jacks were untouched, so they'd have to be my top priority next turn.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Mercenaries Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
Corrosion killed 4 of the Forge Guard, and went out on the fifth.<br />
<br />
Ashlynn let Hightened Reflexes expire, but upkept Quicken on the Forge Guard for free thanks to Sylys. She allocated no Focus.<br />
<br />
Verendrye and the lone Halberdier ran into the woods to contest the right zone as long as they could. Gallant got an extra Focus from activating next to Versh, and killed one of the lead Slingers. The Nomad charged the other one, but fell just short (I'm not clear on why Caleb charged instead of running what with pre-measuring, but the Nomad ended up more or less where he wanted it I think).<br />
<br />
The Forge Guard ran toward the left zone in 2-dwarf pods, and the Gun Mage stuff ran up behind them.<br />
<br />
Sylys advanced, and used Arcane Secrets on Ashlynn. Ashlynn advanced, Feated, cast Distraction on the Slingers, and kille one with her Hand Cannon. She also put Admonition on Gallant. She then used her 3" Reposition (from Gibbs) to go *forward* to catch most of my guns in her Feat.<br />
<br />
Caleb used the rest of his guns to kill a couple more Slingers (putting 2 Souls on Marketh), and contested my zone with his Freebooter, engaging a couple more Slingers.<br />
<br />
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<br />
That was it. Putting Ashlynn so far forward was... risky to say the least. But, she was Def 17 under her Feat, and camping one Focus, so she might well be able to ride out my shooting. I was left with the choice of trying to kill Ashlynn and probably missing a lot, or focusing on other things, and missing more than I should.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Skorne Turn 2</span><br />
<br />
I did have a pretty low-investment way of going for an assassination, so I decided to see how that panned out.<br />
<br />
Jalaam upkept Warpath with Resourceful, and Marketh spent a Soul Token to upkeep Artifice of Deviation, letting me get through the Control Phase with no Fury spent.<br />
<br />
Marketh used Spell Slave to cast Deadeye on the Basilisk Krea, then the Willbreaker put Puppet Master on the Krea. The Slingers shifted about to open lines of sight to Ashlynn. Then the Krea advanced, and shot Ashlynn with her paralysis beam.<br />
<br />
She hit.<br />
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<br />
<br />
At Def 5, Ashlynn was finished. I rolled out the rest of the assassination, but there was very little chance she'd survive. In the end, the first Cannoneer finished her (after both the Catapults and Venator Dakar had whittled her down a bit).<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Victory to the Skorne!</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP4IRrfD3OsHD0qohQ8l0X_pdZWNeOKEJwSS7EgcI0xPOcF5hFUxQnP5oPBfWYcmrbMp5FsztlQO5jTk6Cqm_ItIKijHt7n4kUfAWCmPX6etoYzYdj9rA-rX50e7UZOmQsrU8JpZt4tal/s1600/IMG_2293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP4IRrfD3OsHD0qohQ8l0X_pdZWNeOKEJwSS7EgcI0xPOcF5hFUxQnP5oPBfWYcmrbMp5FsztlQO5jTk6Cqm_ItIKijHt7n4kUfAWCmPX6etoYzYdj9rA-rX50e7UZOmQsrU8JpZt4tal/s320/IMG_2293.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next Time Maybe with Ferox?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">CID Feedback for Primus Jalaam and Ashlynn D'Elise</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">**Red** - (Definite Rules Problem/Abuse)</span><br />
<br />
Nothing.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">**Orange** - (Serious Concerns About Rules/Balance)</span><br />
<br />
Nothing.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">**Yellow** - (Possible Problems, Needs More Testing)</span><br />
<br />
<b>Ashlynn </b>- It felt like she needed to put herself in too much danger to get a defensive benefit from her Feat, and her non-upkeep spells also encouraged her to play far forward. No recommendation yet, because my opponent could have done more to protect her.<br />
<br />
<b>Jalaam, Ranged Abilities and Feat</b> - My instinct says they're solid, but I did not get the chance to try them. It's hard to say whether Jalaam brings enough to make him a good alternative to other Warlocks like Rasheth and Morghoul 2 in Winds of Death without testing these.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="background-color: white;">**Green** - (Good to Go)</span></span><br />
<br />
<b>Jalaam, Spells and Resourceful</b> - With Marketh in the list, I felt I could do everything I wanted to. Without him, I'd still be able to do everything I needed to. Deadeye and Artifice of Deviation were very solid this game. Scavenger's Blessing, Vanish, and Warpath did not come up, but were options, and it didn't take too much effort to use everything. None of the spells felt too strong, but they all felt useful.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thoughts</span><br />
<br />
It was good to play a big game again, even if it was just 2 turns. I stuck to my plan, and did a good job eliminating Caleb's infantry early on. I would have tried to take out Gallant at range if he hadn't left Ashlynn open, or if I'd missed with the Krea.<br />
<br />
Jalaam seems fun, and the list I picked for him worked well. I didn't get to see Warpath and Swift Hunter play off each other, and I didn't get to see his Feat in action. I did get great mileage out of Deadeye and Artifice of Deviation, however. I like this list a lot for Winds of Death, but there are a lot of ways to play Jalaam. I'm interested in trying a more beast heavy list, possibly in Imperial Warhost, to take better advantage of Warpath. I'm also interested in running him out of theme to see how he does with a mobile combined arms type force that includes Ferox. I'll see if I can get some more play with him in on Monday before the CID updates again.<br />
<br />
Caleb didn't have the clearest idea what the strengths and weaknesses of my list were, and he made a bunch of mistakes as a result. Clumping his infantry on his first turn did give them their defensive bonuses, but it also let me use my Slingers and Catapults to devastating effect. If he'd measure more, he could have had a more intact army on his second turn. Leaving Ashlynn hanging in front of his troops was also extremely risky, but if the Krea had missed (or if I hadn't had one), I would have abandoned the assassination attempt in favor of attrition. This is partly a result of not seeing the possibility that my Krea would paralyze Ashlynn, and partly not bringing enough along to defend her. Better screening or a Shield Guard or two would have gone a long way toward keeping her safe.<br />
<br />
Caleb's list also didn't feel like it fit together very well. I don't know exactly what his goal was with the list, but it felt a bit unfocused. There were a lot of pieces that seemed good, but they didn't work together toward a particular goal. Perhaps playing Ashlynn in theme is the answer.<br />
<br />
Until next time!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-42262789188320738672017-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:002017-09-01T08:00:04.199-07:00Primus Jalaam: ThoughtsPrimus Jalaam is the new Warlock for Skorne coming out as part of PP's 12 factions of Christmas promotion. He's still in development, but what I've seen looks pretty interesting, so I'm going to sketch out my thoughts, and try to make a list or two. This is a CID model, so probable spoilers for Jalaam after the cut. I'm talking about the 08/31 Update version (things may change).<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Rundown on Jalaam<br />
<br />
Jalaam is PP's vision of a Venator Warlock. He personally has a magical Riever gun with RoF 2. He also has a Pow 12 "blade" with Grievous wounds, but that's mostly a weapon of last resort*. In addition to a nifty gun, Jalaam has Hunter and Prey, making him pretty good at dishing out some pain at range. His offensive stats are a solid Mat 7 and Rat 7, while his Def/Arm is mediocre at 15/15. He's also got Pathfinder, which is very cool to have on a Warlock, and Tough, which is a neat bonus, but hooboy when you're making Tough rolls on your 'caster, something went wrong. He also (as of the 08/31 update) has Resourceful, which will help him upkeep all those spells.<br />
<br />
His Feat is solid, but bland. Enemy models attacking friendly Faction models in Jalaam's CTRL roll one less die. Take stuff with decent Def, and you'll get good use out of it. I think this Feat will probably pick up some kind of little quirk to make it more interesting as the CID wears on, but if not, it'll still be useful.<br />
<br />
The spells are where Jalaam's really interesting tech is. Artifice of Deviation is good, since Cover matters a lot against some armies, and being able to place Rough Terrain on demand is very nice. Deadeye is excellent. We have some powerful guns in Skorne, and this will make them a lot more accurate. Scavenger's Blessing is cool, and as far as I know, new: target model/unit gains Pathfinder and Prowl. There are a lot of great targets for this spell, since terrain and guns are both plentiful in the current meta. It's worth noting that since Artifice of Deviation doesn't grant Concealment, this won't give models in the template Stealth. One or the other of these spells might be changed to synergize better. Warpath is very cool, and adds some great maneuverability and threat extender options for Jalaam. Finally Vanish lets Jalaam hit and run a little bit, or go those extra 3" to get to a flag or zone. Overall, the list is decent, and with Resourceful taking care of those 3 upkeep spells, Jalaam will have plenty of options.<br />
<br />
*Do keep in mind that Jalaam has a 16" melee threat range between Vanish and Warpath, and that a melee assassination is very much on the table with him if your opponent should leave their 'caster open.<br />
<br />
So where does that leave us list-wise? Well, the one thing Jalaam's abilities indicate a ranged play style, so we probably want some ranged beasts and support. A beast with Far Strike (Cannoneer or Raider) is a must. Range 16 on Jalaam's Riever with all his abilities is too good to pass up. After that, you'll probably want an Extoller or two, Marketh is nice for the extra Deadeye, and perhaps a ranged unit to get good work out of Deadeye... You know what this sounds like? A typical Winds of Death list.<br />
<br />
In fact, there's some really interesting synergy between Jalaam's toolbox and the Winds of Death theme. You can double down on the Cover provided by that wall the theme gets you, and you can double down on the Swift Hunter movement your beasts get by adding Warpath into the mix. There's not as much to deliver to melee in the usual Winds list, but you do get to survive enemy shooting a little better with Artifice of Deviation. Finally, if you're using your free points on Catapults, Deadeye will make those Pow 16-18 direct hits a lot more likely.<br />
<br />
Here's what I'm thinking list-wise for Jalaam.<br />
<br />
Primus Jalaam (*28pts) - Winds of Death<br />
*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)<br />
*Titan Cannoneer (17pts)<br />
*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)<br />
*Basilisk Krea (7pts)<br />
*Aptimus Marketh (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
<br />
Siege Animantrax (17pts)<br />
<br />
Venator Dakar (4pts)<br />
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (0pts Theme Benefit)<br />
Extoller Soulward (3pts)<br />
<br />
Venator Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (13pts)<br />
Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)<br />
Venator Catapult Crew (Gunner and 2 Grunts) (5pts)<br />
Paingiver Beast Hanlders (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)<br />
<br />
Seams reasonable. The battlegroup is smallish but should be able to shoot well and scoot around with Warpath and Swift Hunter. The rest of the list should be able to put out a lot of shots to help out. There's a little trouble when this list gets to melee, since there's no real screening unit (the Slingers only sort-of work), and the ability to un-jam myself is pretty weak. However, if I can do enough damage on the way in, the Cannoneers and SA should be able to mop up reasonably well. I'm not 100% sold on Marketh in the list. More Deadeye is better, but I can drop him, make the Venator Dakar free, and add either a second Dakar or a second Mortitheurge, or a Flayer Cannon. I'll try to play this once or twice before Monday, and post a battle report to the CID forum. (This is not guaranteed).<br />
<br />
I'll try to get a post set up on my tiny Cryx army over the weekend, but we might not even have the JML this week, so we'll see.<br />
<br />
Until next time!pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2317104382011947483.post-82804000978008251282017-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:002017-08-30T08:00:19.464-07:00Imperial WarhostThis is old news at this point, but the Skorne command book was pre-released at GenCon, and a new theme was revealed (and added to Warroom): the Imperial Warhost. So today, I'm going to talk about that, and make a list I think will be a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
For this theme, you can take any Warlock and the following:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
1) Non-Character Warbeasts<br />
2) Battle Engines<br />
3) Paingiver Beats Handlers, Mortitheurge Willbreakers, and solos with Battlegroup Controller (currently just Zaadesh 1).<br />
<br />
In exchange, you get a 2" extended deployment zone (good), Warbeasts in the list gain Hyper-Aggressive (also good), and for every 30pts of Warbeasts or Battle Engines in the list, you can add 1 Basilisk Krea or Agonizer to the list for free (spit-take).<br />
<br />
If you decide to take all Basilisk Kreas with those free points, you can have up to 21 extra points in the list, which is very high compared to what most themes let you get away with. Taken on their own, free Kreas and Agonizers are pretty good, but they're essentially support that doesn't do much work on its own. Agonizers have next to no offensive ability, and Kreas are pretty bad at combat too, although they do have that paralysis gun. That all changes when you add a couple of Basilisk Drakes. Suddenly the Krea is a much more threatening Mat 6 P+S 12 (or 14 with Enrage) weapon master beast. And that can do a lot of damage.<br />
<br />
I've seen people talk about running a Basilisk spam with Imperial Warhost. In MkII it was popular with Xerxis 2, and he looks like a really good choice for it now. You get a lot of sprays from the Drakes, and 3-4 (if you want to pay for another) Basilisk Kreas to help out with melee. They're all Spd 8, and they all benefit from Xerxis' Feat.<br />
<br />
There are other really neat synergies with other Warlocks. Makeda 1 giving her battlegroup Shield Guard lets her use Hyper Aggressive where she wants it. Zaadesh 2 gives you a whole army with Hyper Aggressive and Counter Charge. And, generally speaking, a lot of Warlocks don't mind 20 or so free points in their lists.<br />
<br />
There are a couple fairly significant downsides. The first is a lack of access to some in-Faction support, specifically Extoller Soulwards. The second is that a list so heavily focused on beasts is going to have some issues with SR 2017 scenarios. Like, for example, that Paingiver Beast Handlers are the only thing in the list that can score circular zones. We do a little better with flags, since Zaadesh is solid overall, and Willbreakers will do if they're a low priority target. Still, there aren't a lot of ways to score non-rectangular scenario elements here.<br />
<br />
That said, our attrition game is going to be excellent, since we start 20-odd points up, and we have a lot of what we need to make our Warbeasts shine. Add a Warlock with good tools to play that sort of game, or one who adds some good assassination potential or is tough enough to claim some points, and I feel you can build a list that's reasonably competitive even with scenario discouraging all-beast lists these days.<br />
<br />
Here's the Imperial Warhost I'm planning to play around with at first. It's a Makeda 3 list because Makeda 3 is my problematic fave. (I still think she's a piece that doesn't really fit quite right, but I played the heck out of her in MkII, and had a lot of fun and success - maybe she's just looking for a good theme?). Anyway, here's the list:<br />
<br />
Makeda and the Exalted Court (*24pts) - Imperial Warhost<br />
*Molik Karn (19pts)<br />
*Titan Gladiator (15pts)<br />
*Cyclops Raider (9pts)<br />
*Cyclops Shaman (8pts)<br />
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)<br />
*Cyclops Brute (8pts)<br />
*Basilisk Drake (8pts)<br />
*Basilisk Krea (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
*Basilisk Krea (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
*Agonizer (0pts - Theme Benefit)<br />
<br />
Siege Animantrax (17pts)<br />
<br />
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (7pts)<br />
<br />
75/75pts<br />
<br />
So what does this list have going for it? It's relatively tough, with a lot of beasts, good defensive tech against shooting, and 2 durable little Brutes as a screening and jamming force. It hits hard. Molik, the Gladiator, and the SA are all heavy hitters, and the Kreas with Flank and boosted damage from Vortex of Destruction will crack armor surprisingly well. It has a lot of infantry clearing potential, especially on Makeda's Feat turn. Finally, for a melee focused list, it has a pretty decent shooting game. The SA guns are very reasonable, and the Shaman and Raider are a good sniping team. The Drake spray is also very powerful, and a source of Magic Weapons besides Makeda herself.<br />
<br />
One big problem is that the list doesn't have as good or aggressive a scenario game as I like to play with Makeda 3. Being unable to realistically control round zones or flags with anything other than my Warlock is a pain. On the other hand, Makeda is one of our better Warlocks to be controlling zones with, due to being pretty tough. Another major concern is Fury management. I have a lot of beasts in this list, and they all ant to do stuff every turn. I'll have to be very careful with their Fury, or I'm going to have a lot of frenzies on my hands.<br />
<br />
I'm considering changing up the beast loadout a little. It would be nice to have a third Brute, or a second Drake, for example. It would also be good for Makeda to have an Archidon for Long Leash an access to Lightning Strike, and/or a Razor Worm for Long Leash and access to Spiny Growth. The trouble with that is I'd probably have to break up the Shaman/Raider duo, and they add a lot of flexibility to the list. We'll see how I feel after a couple of games.<br />
<br />
I've been quite busy lately, but I have some free time coming up, and I fully intend to play around with this list, and let you all know how it goes.<br />
<br />
Until next time...pGrexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650204557926652496noreply@blogger.com0