Here's the other game I played this past Friday:
I played my Ossyan list:
Lord Arcanish Ossyan (+6)
*Banshee (10)
*Manticore (8)
10 Dawguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard (2)
10 Mage Hunter Strike Force (8)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
I've only used this incarnation of my Ossyan list a few times. It hits extremely hard from a deceptively long range with the Mage Hunter Strike Force, and Dawnguard Invictors. The Manticore and Banshee give it some good support with their abilities. It is vulnerable to fast jamming units, however. Neither the Mage Hunters nor the Invictors are great at melee, and will tend to struggle with a jam just long enough for opponents to capitalize with their second wave models.
My opponent, Ben, decided to break out his Durgen list for more explosions:
Durgen Madhammer (+6)
*Ghordson Driller (6)
Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
Cylena Raefyll and 5 Nyss Hunters (7)
10 Kayazy Assassins (8)
*Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4)
Kayazy Eliminators (3)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2)
Saxon Orrick (2)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1)
This list seems to be a core of exceptionally strong Merc units (the Nyss Hunters and Kayazy Assassins) surrounded by a whole lot of support. Durgen has a dangerous ranged game, and a very good spell list to make those units as troublesome as possible in a slugfest. He handles units, especially low-Arm units well, and the list can take down heavies with concerted effort. I would worry about facing a beast brick with a list like this though. It doesn't have great tools for taking on a lot of heavies at once.
Deployment
I won the roll-off, and decided to go first. I deployed my Invictors in two clumps of 6 ready to march around a small forest in the center of the table. The Banshee went between the Dawnguard clumps, and the Manticore went on the left. Ossyan and the Arcanist deployed behind the Invictors and 'Jacks.
Ben Deployed the Kayazy (both the Assassins unit and the Eliminators) in the center-left to jam my Invictors and Jacks. The Nyss went on my right flank. Durgen, MacNaile, Reinholdt, and the Driller went in the middle near a hill they could climb on. The other support solos went behind the Kayazy.
Finally, I put my Mage Hunters opposite the Nyss.
Turn 1
I ran most of my models. Ossyan put Shatter Storm on the Mage Hunters and Quicken on the Invictors, who stayed in Defensive Line formation as they sprinted upfield.
Ben ran the Kayazy Assassins and Eliminators toward my troops. Reinholdt put Reload on Durgen, and MacNaile used his mini-Feat to give nearby Mercs +2" of range on their ranged attacks. Finally, Durgen advanced, put Explosivo on 3 Nyss, and Carpet Bombed the Mage Hunters, killing about 4. The Nyss fired explosive arrows at the Mage Hunters, and killed 1 more. The Driller ran to screen Durgen from my leftmost troops.
First blood to the Mercenaries, but Durgen was pretty far forward, and I might have a shot at him. Hopefully I hadn't misplaced my Invictors so badly that I couldn't capitalize.
Turn 2
I started off by upkeeping Quicken from the Invictors, and dropping Shatterstorm. Then Ossyan Feated and charged a Mage Hunter in the back. He didn't quite make it, but did toe into that central forest, which protected him from a lot of what Ben could throw his way next turn. More importantly, it put Durgen in his CTRL, so I'd get With the Feat adding to their damage rolls, the remaining Mage Hunters advanced, and shot the Driller, hoping to destroy it to open line of sight to Durgen for my far group of Invictors. They damaged it heavily, but didn't get rid of it. The Invictors used Extend Fire to get range to Durgen, and all those who could see him blasted him with 2-man CRA's, taking him down to 3 hit boxes. Three of the remaining 5 Invictors finished off the Driller, but the last 2 couldn't CRA Durgen, because one was out of range, and the shot missed. Last, I ran the Banshee forward to stop a lot of the Kayazy from charging, and advanced the Manticore, which put a Covering Fire template on my Invictors (still in Defensive Line) to keep the Kayazy from killing them.
Ben was locked down pretty well, and Ossyan's Feat was preventing him from doing much ranged damage, so he decided to do what he could to the models he could reach, and jam the rest. Durgen lurched into the Driller's Wreck for Cover, cast Primed on the Kayazy Assassins, and camped the rest of his Focus. The Eliminators charged into the Mage Hunters, killing 4 and causing the remaining 2 to flee, and Side Stepped into the front Invictors on their side. The Kayazy had no good charge targets, but ran to engage both Myrmidons, Ossyan, and one other unengaged Invictor. The Nyss charged into the last remaining Mage Hunters, and killed the only one besides the Commander. Saxon killed the Arcanist, and Holt took some shots at an Invictor in the Covering Fire template, but didn't kill him on 1d6. Rhupert gave the Kayazy +1 Def and Terror, but the Invictors weren't scared.
I had a few options at this point. I could try to play attrition against Ben's Kayazy and Nyss, and maneuver the warjacks around for another shot at Durgen, or I could ignore most of Ben's infantry, and go after Durgen again. Fortunately, the start of both plans was the same, so I wouldn't have to choose right away.
Turn 3
I allocated 2 Focus to each Myrmidon, and dropped Quicken. The Manticore Trampled over a few Kayazy Assassins to free up the Banshee, which actually lost a column to the resulting explosion. The Banshee then Trampled over a few more Kayazy, killing one to free up the Invictors who had been protected by the Covering Fire template last turn, and ended up engaging Aiyanna, Holt, and Gorman. :D Then, I decided to go for it. Durgen was only at 3 hit points, and even at Def 20 (for being on a hill and in Cover) and Arm 19, it seemed worth the risk. The Engaged Invictors managed to kill off the two Kayazy Eliminators to free up one of their brethren, and the far Invictors carefully advanced around all Kayazy melee arcs in a sort of Conga Line until they looked to be with 10" of Durgen. Then I did a 4-elf CRA. It hit thanks to the Combined Arms reroll, and did just enough damage to kill Durgen.
Victory to the Retribution!
Thoughts
Well, I definitely lucked out on that last assassination run, but I basically played an ok game. I made some mistakes in Deployment. I should have deployed all my Invictors together to coordinate them a little better. I played pretty solidly otherwise. I used the Myrmidons well this game. Running up, and trampling through the lines with them was a good move that kept the Kayazy from jamming as effectively as they usually do. I also put the pressure on in my second turn with the almost-successful ranged assassination. On turn 3, the smart move was definitely to play attrition, and get the Myrmidons into Durgen when I could. Trying for a ranged assassination against Def 20 Arm 19 was a long shot, even with the Combined Arms reroll, could easily have been a waste of my only remaining unit's activation.
I like this list pretty well, but it is definitely vulnerable to jamming. Invictors just have trouble clearing models out, and part of the reason I went for the assassination on turn 3 was that I wasn't confident they'd fight their way free of the Kayazy. They are amazingly effective with Ossyan's Feat though. Their guns are very accurate, and can threaten a long distance between Quicken and Extend Fire. If just one more Invictor had been in range to CRA Durgen, I'd have killed him on the top of turn 2. Mage Hunters aren't an ideal jamming unit/tarpit either, since they'd like to be shooting and hiding. Lots of people have been touting Halberdiers with Ossyan, and I'll definitely give them a try (possibly instead of the Manticore) as soon as I pick them up.
Ben made a mistake early on by overexposing Durgen. He was too interested in stopping the Mage Hunters before they could do serious damage, and misjudged the threat range and accuracy of the Invictors under Quicken. He started to recover well on his second turn when his list's superior attrition game against mine started coming into play, but Durgen was already badly damaged, and that was enough for me to win.
Ben's list seems effective, but it does invest heavily in support solos. I'm not sure what Merc option would fit the bill, but it seems like a dedicated ranged unit would fit well in the list. Alternately, the Driller could be upgraded to a 'jack with a more imposing gun. Durgen's personal ranged threat is pretty significant, and I feel like he'd benefit from having a few more models to back him up in early game shooting.
Thanks for a great game!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Battle Report: Kaelyssa vs. Gunnbjorn at 35pts
It's been a while. I had some more of my story lined up for you, but then I got to play a couple of games. For this one, I went with Retribution and Kaelyssa.
I played:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (+7)
*Phoenix (10)
*Banshee (10)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
10 Dawnguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
6 Mage Hunter Strike Force (5)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
I've played this Kaelyssa list a couple of times, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. The Phoenix and Banshee are both great for infantry support, the Invictors are a solid shooting unit that's pretty good at melee when it can Flank with the Warjacks. The Strike Force is a powerful toolbox unit that threatens many different targets. In short, I have a lot of firepower, and pack a decent punch in melee. My list's biggest weakness is the lack of a jamming element, meaning it has a tendency to get jammed itself. If that lets my opponent deny me Flank on the Invictors, my melee options against enemy heavies are limited.
My regular opponent and co-blogger, Caleb, went with:
Captain Gunnbjorn (+5)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Slag Troll (6)
*Troll Impaler (5)
*Rune Bearer (2)
10 Kriel Warriors (6)
*Piper and Standard Bearer (2)
*2 Caber Throwers (2)
6 Pyg Bushwhackers (5)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
His thoughts on this list can be found in this post. It seems like a solid gunline list for trolls. The Kriel Warriors are a good jamming unit that can hit hard with the Caber Throwers. The Beast selection is all ranged, which would make me a little nervous about fighting a beast heavy list, but together the three beasts can put out some very respectable firepower. The Bushwhackers seem like a good all-around unit. They're a little pricey, but benefit well from Snipe, and can be fun with spammed Explosivo. This list looks like it will have trouble against a 'beast or 'jack heavy list that won't go down easily to shooting or the Kriel Warriors.
Deployment
I won the roll-off and went second, so I could pick the table edge with better access to walls. Gunnbjorn has Rock Wall, and I didn't feel like trying to soften him up with my shooting when he could give his whole army cover from walls without even using his Feat.
Caleb deployed everything mostly behind a hill for the elevation bonus. His Kriel Warriors went up front with his Warbeasts, Gunnbjorn and the support close behind.
I deployed my models in a clump opposite Caleb's. I mixed the two 'jacks in with 3 clumps of Dawnguard, and put Sylas and Kaelyssa behind them. My Arcanist went in the front to help out the 'Jacks.
Caleb deployed the Bushwhackers on my left flank near some woods, and I deployed my Mage Hunters opposite them to keep them from harassing my Dawnguard and support models.
Turn 1
All the Trollbloods ran except Gunnbjorn, taking a commanding position on the hill, with the lead Kriel Warriors getting to the other side. Gunnbjorn put Snipe on the Bushwhackers to take them to Range 18. The Bushwhackers advanced into the woods.
I ran everything up except Kaelyssa and the Mage Hunters. The Dawnguard stayed in Defensive Line to live through the Pow 10's and blast damage coming my way. Kaelyssa used her remaining Focus (after allocating 1) to cast Rift twice at the Kriel Warriors through the Phoenix. Both castings fell very short, but popped up a roughly 10" wall of rough terrain in front of the Kriel Warriors, keeping them off my Dawnguard for another turn. The Mage Hunters advanced to threaten the Bushwhackers.
A pretty standard first round of running and buffing. Significantly, I'd slowed the Kriel Warriors down with the double Rift templates. Caleb had no way to give them Pathfinder, so they'd be slogging through the templates, and I'd have an extra turn to shoot with my Invictors and Myrmidons.
Turn 2
The Kriel Warriors ran as far up as they could, but were slowed quite effectively by the Rifts. The Impaler used its Far Strike animus to give the Bomber +4 range. Gunnbjorn advanced, cast Far Strike on himself, cast Guided Fire, and killed an Invictor. He also used his Feat to give everything in his Control area Cover and immunity to Knockdown and blast damage. The Bomber advanced, half wrecking the Phoenix (though the Generator and Arc Node were still intact), and killing another Invictor with the blast damage. The Pygs advanced on the Mage Hunters, but didn't get within 5" and couldn't draw LoS around the woods to the Invictors.
Kaelyssa allocated one Focus to the Banshee. The Mage Hunters advanced and shot the Bushwhackers, killing all but one. The Arcanist tried to repair the Phoenix, but failed the skill check. The Phoenix advanced to within 2" of the lead Kriel Warriors, and used Combustion, killing one and setting another on fire. The Invictors advanced, used their Extend Fire mini-Feat to give themselves +4 range, and took out the next 4 Kriel Warriors they could reach. Sylas used Arcane Secrets on Kaelyssa, who advanced, put Phantom Hunter on the Banshee, and cast Rift at one of the rear Kriel Warriors to catch it and the 2 Caber Throwers in rough terrian. She also used her Feat to give her whole army Stealth and prevent it from being charged for a round. The Banshee advanced, and slammed one Kriel Warrior into another, killing both.
A pretty good round for me. Caleb hadn't had the time to bring either his firepower or his jamming unit to bear yet, and I had inflicted a lot of damage on his infantry this turn. Invictors doing CRA's are amazingly accurate. I'd expected more shots to miss due to Cover, but rerolled 8's to hit is actually pretty reliable. Caleb still had some dangerous shooting from the Warbeasts and Gunnbjorn, but they'd be shooting at Stealth targets this turn, so the damage would be limited.
Turn 3
There was only one Bushwhacker left, so Gunnbjorn dropped Snipe. The Bomber advanced on the Phoenix, and got to within 5 inches. Two more bombs saw the Phoenix's Arc Node, Generator and Movement taken out. The last of the Bushwhackers advanced, and shot a Mage Hunter, but missed due to being Rat 4. Gunnbjorn put Explosivo on the Slag Troll, then advanced to within 5" the Phoenix, shot it with his Bazooka. He scored a Critical Devastation, which threw the Phoenix back an inch and knocked it down, but failed to finish it off. Finally, Gunnbjorn The Rune Bearer put Snipe on the Slag Troll. The Slag troll advanced, and shot acid at my Invictors, but the blast damage did nothing. Finally, the Kriel Warriors ran again to engage the Phoenix and a few Dawnguard.
Gunnbjorn was safe from charges behind his wall, but not safe from a lot of my shooting. If I could get him with the Banshee's shot, I could take him down. So Kaelyssa allocated 2 to the Banshee and kept the rest for herself. Sylas upkept Phantom Hunter on the Banshee for free. The Banshee aimed and shot Gunnbjorn, slamming him away from the wall and knocking him down. He hit a Kriel Warrior, and transferred the damage. Then Kaelyssa cast Phantom Hunter on herself, and shot the rest of Gunnbjorn's Fury off, doing a little damage in the process. Last, the Invictors activated, advanced, and shot Gunnbjorn to death.
Victory to the Retribution!
Thoughts
That was probably the best game I've played yet with Retribution in terms of positioning and timing. I used Kaelyssa's abilities well, and took advantage of the terrain well. Using Rift to slow Caleb's jamming element was essential to keeping control of the game, and timing it just before popping Kaelyssa's Feat worked very well. Otherwise, I made no power plays, but I also made no major mistakes. I just methodically exploited my advantage, and played attrition until Gunnbjorn exposed himself.
The list worked out very well this game, although I've had it fall flat once or twice. The lack of a jamming/counter-jamming unit is sometimes hard to deal with. The Invictors can't really break themselves out of melee without Flank (and even then they can have trouble). They're versatile, and they were very strong this game, but they get swamped easily. Kaelyssa can help them out with Rift and her Feat, but it can be a little hair-raising, especially if the opponent has easy access to Pathfinder. When I pick up Halberdiers (the next big thing for Ret for me), I'll try them out in place of the Invictors and the Mage Hunters, and see what works best. They'd speed the whole army up, and help out a lot in the jamming department.
Caleb had a bad matchup here. He didn't make any mistakes other than hoping that a wall would protect Gunnbjorn. He chose his targets well (beating up on the Phoenix to prevent it from disrupting his infantry and threatening his only heavy), and timed his Feat to give him the most protection against my shooting. It just wasn't enough. Without a Fell Caller to grant Pathfinder, his Kriel Warriors couldn't jam, and got shot to pieces. With my overall high Arm and Kaelyssa's Feat granting Stealth, Caleb never had the chance to maximise his list's firepower. Gunnbjorn's last ditch shot to finish off the Phoenix wasn't worth the risk, especially against a list that can ignore Cover so easily, but there wasn't much else for Caleb to do at that point.
As for his list, it's hard to judge. A source of Pathfinder would be very nice, and not just for the Rift and Inhospitable Ground matchups. The Stone Scribe Chronicler and Rune Bearer both seem nice but unnecessary. Maybe swapping them out for a Fell Caller and a third Caber Thrower would help the list out. The Fell Caller gives out Pathfinder or +2 to melee attacks, which is a good set of abilities. Standing the army up would be more corner case, since the Kriel Warriors have Steady, and Gunnbjorn's Feat prevents Knockdown. And the Fell Caller has good melee and ranged attacks of its own. Another Caber Thrower means the Kriel Warriors jam better and longer, although I can also see the argument for a sorcerer to remove Speed debuffs etc. from the unit.
That's it. Thanks for the game, Caleb.
I played:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (+7)
*Phoenix (10)
*Banshee (10)
*Sylas Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2)
10 Dawnguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
6 Mage Hunter Strike Force (5)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
I've played this Kaelyssa list a couple of times, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. The Phoenix and Banshee are both great for infantry support, the Invictors are a solid shooting unit that's pretty good at melee when it can Flank with the Warjacks. The Strike Force is a powerful toolbox unit that threatens many different targets. In short, I have a lot of firepower, and pack a decent punch in melee. My list's biggest weakness is the lack of a jamming element, meaning it has a tendency to get jammed itself. If that lets my opponent deny me Flank on the Invictors, my melee options against enemy heavies are limited.
My regular opponent and co-blogger, Caleb, went with:
Captain Gunnbjorn (+5)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Slag Troll (6)
*Troll Impaler (5)
*Rune Bearer (2)
10 Kriel Warriors (6)
*Piper and Standard Bearer (2)
*2 Caber Throwers (2)
6 Pyg Bushwhackers (5)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
His thoughts on this list can be found in this post. It seems like a solid gunline list for trolls. The Kriel Warriors are a good jamming unit that can hit hard with the Caber Throwers. The Beast selection is all ranged, which would make me a little nervous about fighting a beast heavy list, but together the three beasts can put out some very respectable firepower. The Bushwhackers seem like a good all-around unit. They're a little pricey, but benefit well from Snipe, and can be fun with spammed Explosivo. This list looks like it will have trouble against a 'beast or 'jack heavy list that won't go down easily to shooting or the Kriel Warriors.
Deployment
I won the roll-off and went second, so I could pick the table edge with better access to walls. Gunnbjorn has Rock Wall, and I didn't feel like trying to soften him up with my shooting when he could give his whole army cover from walls without even using his Feat.
Caleb deployed everything mostly behind a hill for the elevation bonus. His Kriel Warriors went up front with his Warbeasts, Gunnbjorn and the support close behind.
I deployed my models in a clump opposite Caleb's. I mixed the two 'jacks in with 3 clumps of Dawnguard, and put Sylas and Kaelyssa behind them. My Arcanist went in the front to help out the 'Jacks.
Caleb deployed the Bushwhackers on my left flank near some woods, and I deployed my Mage Hunters opposite them to keep them from harassing my Dawnguard and support models.
Turn 1
All the Trollbloods ran except Gunnbjorn, taking a commanding position on the hill, with the lead Kriel Warriors getting to the other side. Gunnbjorn put Snipe on the Bushwhackers to take them to Range 18. The Bushwhackers advanced into the woods.
I ran everything up except Kaelyssa and the Mage Hunters. The Dawnguard stayed in Defensive Line to live through the Pow 10's and blast damage coming my way. Kaelyssa used her remaining Focus (after allocating 1) to cast Rift twice at the Kriel Warriors through the Phoenix. Both castings fell very short, but popped up a roughly 10" wall of rough terrain in front of the Kriel Warriors, keeping them off my Dawnguard for another turn. The Mage Hunters advanced to threaten the Bushwhackers.
A pretty standard first round of running and buffing. Significantly, I'd slowed the Kriel Warriors down with the double Rift templates. Caleb had no way to give them Pathfinder, so they'd be slogging through the templates, and I'd have an extra turn to shoot with my Invictors and Myrmidons.
Turn 2
The Kriel Warriors ran as far up as they could, but were slowed quite effectively by the Rifts. The Impaler used its Far Strike animus to give the Bomber +4 range. Gunnbjorn advanced, cast Far Strike on himself, cast Guided Fire, and killed an Invictor. He also used his Feat to give everything in his Control area Cover and immunity to Knockdown and blast damage. The Bomber advanced, half wrecking the Phoenix (though the Generator and Arc Node were still intact), and killing another Invictor with the blast damage. The Pygs advanced on the Mage Hunters, but didn't get within 5" and couldn't draw LoS around the woods to the Invictors.
Kaelyssa allocated one Focus to the Banshee. The Mage Hunters advanced and shot the Bushwhackers, killing all but one. The Arcanist tried to repair the Phoenix, but failed the skill check. The Phoenix advanced to within 2" of the lead Kriel Warriors, and used Combustion, killing one and setting another on fire. The Invictors advanced, used their Extend Fire mini-Feat to give themselves +4 range, and took out the next 4 Kriel Warriors they could reach. Sylas used Arcane Secrets on Kaelyssa, who advanced, put Phantom Hunter on the Banshee, and cast Rift at one of the rear Kriel Warriors to catch it and the 2 Caber Throwers in rough terrian. She also used her Feat to give her whole army Stealth and prevent it from being charged for a round. The Banshee advanced, and slammed one Kriel Warrior into another, killing both.
A pretty good round for me. Caleb hadn't had the time to bring either his firepower or his jamming unit to bear yet, and I had inflicted a lot of damage on his infantry this turn. Invictors doing CRA's are amazingly accurate. I'd expected more shots to miss due to Cover, but rerolled 8's to hit is actually pretty reliable. Caleb still had some dangerous shooting from the Warbeasts and Gunnbjorn, but they'd be shooting at Stealth targets this turn, so the damage would be limited.
Turn 3
There was only one Bushwhacker left, so Gunnbjorn dropped Snipe. The Bomber advanced on the Phoenix, and got to within 5 inches. Two more bombs saw the Phoenix's Arc Node, Generator and Movement taken out. The last of the Bushwhackers advanced, and shot a Mage Hunter, but missed due to being Rat 4. Gunnbjorn put Explosivo on the Slag Troll, then advanced to within 5" the Phoenix, shot it with his Bazooka. He scored a Critical Devastation, which threw the Phoenix back an inch and knocked it down, but failed to finish it off. Finally, Gunnbjorn The Rune Bearer put Snipe on the Slag Troll. The Slag troll advanced, and shot acid at my Invictors, but the blast damage did nothing. Finally, the Kriel Warriors ran again to engage the Phoenix and a few Dawnguard.
Gunnbjorn was safe from charges behind his wall, but not safe from a lot of my shooting. If I could get him with the Banshee's shot, I could take him down. So Kaelyssa allocated 2 to the Banshee and kept the rest for herself. Sylas upkept Phantom Hunter on the Banshee for free. The Banshee aimed and shot Gunnbjorn, slamming him away from the wall and knocking him down. He hit a Kriel Warrior, and transferred the damage. Then Kaelyssa cast Phantom Hunter on herself, and shot the rest of Gunnbjorn's Fury off, doing a little damage in the process. Last, the Invictors activated, advanced, and shot Gunnbjorn to death.
Victory to the Retribution!
Thoughts
That was probably the best game I've played yet with Retribution in terms of positioning and timing. I used Kaelyssa's abilities well, and took advantage of the terrain well. Using Rift to slow Caleb's jamming element was essential to keeping control of the game, and timing it just before popping Kaelyssa's Feat worked very well. Otherwise, I made no power plays, but I also made no major mistakes. I just methodically exploited my advantage, and played attrition until Gunnbjorn exposed himself.
The list worked out very well this game, although I've had it fall flat once or twice. The lack of a jamming/counter-jamming unit is sometimes hard to deal with. The Invictors can't really break themselves out of melee without Flank (and even then they can have trouble). They're versatile, and they were very strong this game, but they get swamped easily. Kaelyssa can help them out with Rift and her Feat, but it can be a little hair-raising, especially if the opponent has easy access to Pathfinder. When I pick up Halberdiers (the next big thing for Ret for me), I'll try them out in place of the Invictors and the Mage Hunters, and see what works best. They'd speed the whole army up, and help out a lot in the jamming department.
Caleb had a bad matchup here. He didn't make any mistakes other than hoping that a wall would protect Gunnbjorn. He chose his targets well (beating up on the Phoenix to prevent it from disrupting his infantry and threatening his only heavy), and timed his Feat to give him the most protection against my shooting. It just wasn't enough. Without a Fell Caller to grant Pathfinder, his Kriel Warriors couldn't jam, and got shot to pieces. With my overall high Arm and Kaelyssa's Feat granting Stealth, Caleb never had the chance to maximise his list's firepower. Gunnbjorn's last ditch shot to finish off the Phoenix wasn't worth the risk, especially against a list that can ignore Cover so easily, but there wasn't much else for Caleb to do at that point.
As for his list, it's hard to judge. A source of Pathfinder would be very nice, and not just for the Rift and Inhospitable Ground matchups. The Stone Scribe Chronicler and Rune Bearer both seem nice but unnecessary. Maybe swapping them out for a Fell Caller and a third Caber Thrower would help the list out. The Fell Caller gives out Pathfinder or +2 to melee attacks, which is a good set of abilities. Standing the army up would be more corner case, since the Kriel Warriors have Steady, and Gunnbjorn's Feat prevents Knockdown. And the Fell Caller has good melee and ranged attacks of its own. Another Caber Thrower means the Kriel Warriors jam better and longer, although I can also see the argument for a sorcerer to remove Speed debuffs etc. from the unit.
That's it. Thanks for the game, Caleb.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Trollblood Tactics, pt 1: Mulg vs Rok - the Eternal Question
I haven't been doing a lot of posts in a while, but I'm hoping to change that. Expect more battle reports in the coming future, hopefully at least 2 a week from myself. In the meantime, here's this:
In an effort to be a more effective blogger (and forestall further increments of Skorne fanfiction... even if it is a fun read...), I'm going to be doing posts on subjects that, for me, don't have definitive answers or advice elsewhere.
All of us, at one point or another, come across a question or an issue -- indeed, one would say a indubitable conundrum -- in Warmachine/Hordes list building, tactics, or with a model (or 2) that we either:
1): cannot, for the sake of delicious apple pie, find an answer for (despite developing short term carpal tunnel by apparently angering the Google itself with unceasing attempts),
2): find so many answers, counter answers, and arguments for/against that it becomes a exhausting quest to mine useful information from the numberless hordes, or
3): find answers that, at the core of your being, you simply disagree with or feel are misguided.
Of those three possibilities, #2 is the most common, #1 the least (for the simple reason that many of the good stump-er questions/answers get a well thought out response eventually), while #3 can be the most downright frustrating.
Today's Conundrum: Mulg or Rök?
In terms of Heavy Warbeasts, Trollblood players have approximately 6 choices (not counting the Mountain King, aka -- apparently-- "Bruce"). Let's break them down a little:
Shooting: Blitzer and Bomber - they both shoot, have Fury 4, can do melee (but will need some help), and have a useful animi.
Melee/Support: Earthborn and Mauler - melee powerhouses, the EBDT is more of a toolbox while the Mauler is flat out aggressive destruction. Both have very useful animi, and can wreck face.
Characters of Destruction: Mulg or Rök - the two deadliest Heavy Beasts that Trolls have, they play very differently. Lets discuss why, and determine which is "better" at what.
Side A: Mulg
Ah, Mulg the Ancient, the tactical nuclear missile's badass grandpa. The term "Mulg-ed" has long been a stand alone reference to "doomed in as short and bloody fashion", and your opponent likely knows that (or, bonus for you, very soon will). Here are the quick Pros and Cons.
Pros:
- P+S 19, Reach, Magical, Crit Smite main attack
- P+S 17, Open Fist secondary attack
- Mostly good stats - MAT 7, ARM 19, etc.
- 34 hit boxes. Just... damn.
- Great abilities - Relentless, Protective Fit, etc.
- Animus will flat out shut down enemy spells/animi.
- Fury 5, Threashold 10
Cons:
- SPD 4
- CMD 6, making his animus effect short ranged
- He's not a cheap date - 12pts is pretty expensive.
- He's a bit TOO powerful - don't expect him to live long against a smart opponent.
The Savvy: He can kill anything. I'm not kidding - there is not a single damn thing in Warmachine/Hordes that he cannot wreck, smite, crush, destroy, maim, or (assuming it was alive to begin with) eat in a single turn. Barring certain warcasters/warlocks (the Butcher(s), Thagrosh(s), Kromac on a good day, maaaaybe Terminus), I have not run into a single model in the entire game with more raw destructive potential than Mulg, and that includes a few Colossals/Gargantuans.
However, he first has to get there, and, despite being ludicrously powerful and annoyingly hard-to-kill, he's not invulnerable. Plus, your enemy will probably know all of that - Mulg is one of those models with a very well deserved reputation, and you don't play the game long before figuring that out. Trolls have a messload of stuff that make up for this, however -- various feats, animi, and support spells provide speed boosts, and the ubiquitous trollblood brick (and snacks) only enhances his survivablity. Regardless, he is only one model - the enemy can and will kill him at the earliest opportunity, there are a metric crap-ton of things that can slow him down, and after everything else he still has his issues (like dealing with high DEF, being knocked down, Gorman, etc.).
His Niche: He can kill anything. Jacks, beasts, warcasters, warlocks, solos, UAs, whatever - he will kill it. Plus, he will shut down the enemy's spellcasting and animi when he's near them (assuming he survives the "kill it! kill it with fire!" knee jerk reaction), making him a great Brick model. This is particularly useful against attrition armies (skorne or trollbloods, for example) and Warmachine, as he can simply power through any ARM bonuses/damage penalties and lay waste to whatever he's targeting.
That being said, he will not work well against units - high DEF (e.g. kayazy) and/or numbers will be able to bog him down and tie him up for a while, especially if the enemy can block trampling lanes or reduce his speed. A tar-pitted Mulg is going to be in trouble.
Pairings of Note: Axer, whelps
Mulg really is a loner - he needs very little to function effectively, but whatever he does get make him even more deadly. The Axer is a great option, as +2 movement is just what the doctor ordered to counteract the speed issue, especially in those crucial first few turns when he's going to lag behind. Since you want to get as much use of of him as possible, most of the time it's best to max out his fury on a charge and kill as many things as possible. If he lives through the retaliation, you're really going to want whelps around to make sure he doesn't frenzy and so you can heal him up next turn.
Side B: Rök
The younger, drunker crazy uncle of the Dire Troll family, Rök brings a lot of things that Trolls don't get anywhere else, and he brings it with style. And by 'style', I mean 'deranged beer-soaked homicidal rampage'. Here's the lowdown:
Pros:
- Amusingly Aggressive (Berserk & Assault)
- Nasty-good Animus (with a MAT & STR boost!)
- P+S 18 Axe & P+S 16 Open fist = good
- Boostable 6" POW 14 Spray w/ Crit Freeze!
- MAT 7 and SPD 5 mean he's fast AND accurate
- Durable (Snacking, Regen, and decent hit points)
- Immunity:Cold (Khador might be inconvenienced)
Cons:
- Your beasts (him included) will frenzy with Primal
- 6" spray is a bit underwhelming and situational
- Berserk can be troublesome to use properly
- Effectively as hard to kill as a Mauler
- Lacks Reach
- Cheaper than Mulg, but more than a Mauler
The Savvy: Used properly, he can kill a few things in one turn. Berserk, Assault, SPD 5, and a boostable Spray attack make him the absolute bane of most infantry (especially heavy infantry, surprisingly), and Berserk gives him the option to have his cake and devour it too. Where Mulg can pick one or maybe two targets a turn and utterly smash them into pulp, Rök can conceivably take out a single big target -- or that pack of poor foolish infantry and (if you angle it right) the big target too. The Spray attack and Assault lets you clear out pesky solos and beast/jack buddies (henceforth known as "oh hello Paingivers, let me sing you the song of my people...") while beating the living tar out of the the big guy they were hiding behind.
Stop planning Berserk-a-geddon, because Rök is no Molit Karn -- he lacks (probably deliberately) the support abilities that maker Berserk ridiculous, such as reach, overtake, bulldoze, or sidestep. So instead of working his way through a unit or two, Rök needs to find a pack of models (maybe close to a heavy beast/jack or high-ARM target) and proceed to go to freaking town on them. Plus, thanks to Snacking, you have a rather efficient way to stop the berserk if you go nuts a little too close to your own lines -- namely, just eat something. Berserk ended. This has it's upsides and downsides - you can't crazy-snack your way through an enemy unit, but you also won't snack your way through your own units.
His Niche: Crowd Control, plus heavy hitting. That wall of advancing Man'o'War? Line Segments. That brick of Cetrati? *Burp* The Avatar of Menoth and those choir? Rubble and frozen corpses. And while you're at it, that Mauler on the other side of the field suddenly and unexpectedly went Primal'd batshit on the high-DEF enemy warlock.
What Rök really brings is versatility - he's kill-y enough to go toe-to-tow with heavy jack/beasts, his abilities let him face down heavy infantry better than any beast we have, and his animus is just what the doctor ordered for those assassination runs where your other beasts need just a little more oomf to take on Warcasters/Warlocks. Where Mulg can often be overkill, this guy is just about right for most situations, and can spread out the hurt a lot more.
Pairings of Note: Earthborn, Mauler, Blitzer, Light Beasts (especially the Axer and Night Troll)
Much like his club-wielding counterpart, Rök is fairly self contained, and anything else you bring is really just a bonus for him. However, where Mulg wants models to buff himself, Rök wants models that benefit from his animus the most. Troll Beasts (excluding Mulg and Rök) have always had a tough time hitting opponents - who can blame them, with an average MAT of 6? But, if you boost that MAT up to 8 (and throw in an extra +2 damage) you've pretty much solved that problem and then some. The Axer's Thresher ability benefits especially well from this, as does the new Night Troll with it's below-average MAT. The next problem arises when you realize that the beast will frenzy and you're going to lose it for a turn regardless - this alone makes whelps less of a good buy, as you could spend 2 points on models to pick up the slack on that turn.
Conclusion: I like 'em both, and I can see situations where either would be more useful. I've had Mulg for longer but haven't used him much (no, I have no idea why not), whereas Rök and his animus seem very centered on an all-out, 1 turn assault - which I often end up doing anyway, given retaliation from a smart opponent. I'll be using both of them from this point onward, though not always in the same list.
In an effort to be a more effective blogger (and forestall further increments of Skorne fanfiction... even if it is a fun read...), I'm going to be doing posts on subjects that, for me, don't have definitive answers or advice elsewhere.
All of us, at one point or another, come across a question or an issue -- indeed, one would say a indubitable conundrum -- in Warmachine/Hordes list building, tactics, or with a model (or 2) that we either:
1): cannot, for the sake of delicious apple pie, find an answer for (despite developing short term carpal tunnel by apparently angering the Google itself with unceasing attempts),
2): find so many answers, counter answers, and arguments for/against that it becomes a exhausting quest to mine useful information from the numberless hordes, or
3): find answers that, at the core of your being, you simply disagree with or feel are misguided.
Of those three possibilities, #2 is the most common, #1 the least (for the simple reason that many of the good stump-er questions/answers get a well thought out response eventually), while #3 can be the most downright frustrating.
Today's Conundrum: Mulg or Rök?
In terms of Heavy Warbeasts, Trollblood players have approximately 6 choices (not counting the Mountain King, aka -- apparently-- "Bruce"). Let's break them down a little:
Shooting: Blitzer and Bomber - they both shoot, have Fury 4, can do melee (but will need some help), and have a useful animi.
Melee/Support: Earthborn and Mauler - melee powerhouses, the EBDT is more of a toolbox while the Mauler is flat out aggressive destruction. Both have very useful animi, and can wreck face.
Characters of Destruction: Mulg or Rök - the two deadliest Heavy Beasts that Trolls have, they play very differently. Lets discuss why, and determine which is "better" at what.
Side A: Mulg
Ah, Mulg the Ancient, the tactical nuclear missile's badass grandpa. The term "Mulg-ed" has long been a stand alone reference to "doomed in as short and bloody fashion", and your opponent likely knows that (or, bonus for you, very soon will). Here are the quick Pros and Cons.
Pros:- P+S 19, Reach, Magical, Crit Smite main attack
- P+S 17, Open Fist secondary attack
- Mostly good stats - MAT 7, ARM 19, etc.
- 34 hit boxes. Just... damn.
- Great abilities - Relentless, Protective Fit, etc.
- Animus will flat out shut down enemy spells/animi.
- Fury 5, Threashold 10
Cons:
- SPD 4
- CMD 6, making his animus effect short ranged
- He's not a cheap date - 12pts is pretty expensive.
- He's a bit TOO powerful - don't expect him to live long against a smart opponent.
The Savvy: He can kill anything. I'm not kidding - there is not a single damn thing in Warmachine/Hordes that he cannot wreck, smite, crush, destroy, maim, or (assuming it was alive to begin with) eat in a single turn. Barring certain warcasters/warlocks (the Butcher(s), Thagrosh(s), Kromac on a good day, maaaaybe Terminus), I have not run into a single model in the entire game with more raw destructive potential than Mulg, and that includes a few Colossals/Gargantuans.
However, he first has to get there, and, despite being ludicrously powerful and annoyingly hard-to-kill, he's not invulnerable. Plus, your enemy will probably know all of that - Mulg is one of those models with a very well deserved reputation, and you don't play the game long before figuring that out. Trolls have a messload of stuff that make up for this, however -- various feats, animi, and support spells provide speed boosts, and the ubiquitous trollblood brick (and snacks) only enhances his survivablity. Regardless, he is only one model - the enemy can and will kill him at the earliest opportunity, there are a metric crap-ton of things that can slow him down, and after everything else he still has his issues (like dealing with high DEF, being knocked down, Gorman, etc.).
His Niche: He can kill anything. Jacks, beasts, warcasters, warlocks, solos, UAs, whatever - he will kill it. Plus, he will shut down the enemy's spellcasting and animi when he's near them (assuming he survives the "kill it! kill it with fire!" knee jerk reaction), making him a great Brick model. This is particularly useful against attrition armies (skorne or trollbloods, for example) and Warmachine, as he can simply power through any ARM bonuses/damage penalties and lay waste to whatever he's targeting.
That being said, he will not work well against units - high DEF (e.g. kayazy) and/or numbers will be able to bog him down and tie him up for a while, especially if the enemy can block trampling lanes or reduce his speed. A tar-pitted Mulg is going to be in trouble.
Pairings of Note: Axer, whelps
Mulg really is a loner - he needs very little to function effectively, but whatever he does get make him even more deadly. The Axer is a great option, as +2 movement is just what the doctor ordered to counteract the speed issue, especially in those crucial first few turns when he's going to lag behind. Since you want to get as much use of of him as possible, most of the time it's best to max out his fury on a charge and kill as many things as possible. If he lives through the retaliation, you're really going to want whelps around to make sure he doesn't frenzy and so you can heal him up next turn.
Side B: Rök
The younger, drunker crazy uncle of the Dire Troll family, Rök brings a lot of things that Trolls don't get anywhere else, and he brings it with style. And by 'style', I mean 'deranged beer-soaked homicidal rampage'. Here's the lowdown:
Pros:
- Amusingly Aggressive (Berserk & Assault)
- Nasty-good Animus (with a MAT & STR boost!)
- P+S 18 Axe & P+S 16 Open fist = good
- Boostable 6" POW 14 Spray w/ Crit Freeze!
- MAT 7 and SPD 5 mean he's fast AND accurate
- Durable (Snacking, Regen, and decent hit points)
- Immunity:Cold (Khador might be inconvenienced)
Cons:
- Your beasts (him included) will frenzy with Primal
- 6" spray is a bit underwhelming and situational
- Berserk can be troublesome to use properly
- Effectively as hard to kill as a Mauler
- Lacks Reach
- Cheaper than Mulg, but more than a Mauler
The Savvy: Used properly, he can kill a few things in one turn. Berserk, Assault, SPD 5, and a boostable Spray attack make him the absolute bane of most infantry (especially heavy infantry, surprisingly), and Berserk gives him the option to have his cake and devour it too. Where Mulg can pick one or maybe two targets a turn and utterly smash them into pulp, Rök can conceivably take out a single big target -- or that pack of poor foolish infantry and (if you angle it right) the big target too. The Spray attack and Assault lets you clear out pesky solos and beast/jack buddies (henceforth known as "oh hello Paingivers, let me sing you the song of my people...") while beating the living tar out of the the big guy they were hiding behind.
Stop planning Berserk-a-geddon, because Rök is no Molit Karn -- he lacks (probably deliberately) the support abilities that maker Berserk ridiculous, such as reach, overtake, bulldoze, or sidestep. So instead of working his way through a unit or two, Rök needs to find a pack of models (maybe close to a heavy beast/jack or high-ARM target) and proceed to go to freaking town on them. Plus, thanks to Snacking, you have a rather efficient way to stop the berserk if you go nuts a little too close to your own lines -- namely, just eat something. Berserk ended. This has it's upsides and downsides - you can't crazy-snack your way through an enemy unit, but you also won't snack your way through your own units.
His Niche: Crowd Control, plus heavy hitting. That wall of advancing Man'o'War? Line Segments. That brick of Cetrati? *Burp* The Avatar of Menoth and those choir? Rubble and frozen corpses. And while you're at it, that Mauler on the other side of the field suddenly and unexpectedly went Primal'd batshit on the high-DEF enemy warlock.
What Rök really brings is versatility - he's kill-y enough to go toe-to-tow with heavy jack/beasts, his abilities let him face down heavy infantry better than any beast we have, and his animus is just what the doctor ordered for those assassination runs where your other beasts need just a little more oomf to take on Warcasters/Warlocks. Where Mulg can often be overkill, this guy is just about right for most situations, and can spread out the hurt a lot more.
Pairings of Note: Earthborn, Mauler, Blitzer, Light Beasts (especially the Axer and Night Troll)
Much like his club-wielding counterpart, Rök is fairly self contained, and anything else you bring is really just a bonus for him. However, where Mulg wants models to buff himself, Rök wants models that benefit from his animus the most. Troll Beasts (excluding Mulg and Rök) have always had a tough time hitting opponents - who can blame them, with an average MAT of 6? But, if you boost that MAT up to 8 (and throw in an extra +2 damage) you've pretty much solved that problem and then some. The Axer's Thresher ability benefits especially well from this, as does the new Night Troll with it's below-average MAT. The next problem arises when you realize that the beast will frenzy and you're going to lose it for a turn regardless - this alone makes whelps less of a good buy, as you could spend 2 points on models to pick up the slack on that turn.
Conclusion: I like 'em both, and I can see situations where either would be more useful. I've had Mulg for longer but haven't used him much (no, I have no idea why not), whereas Rök and his animus seem very centered on an all-out, 1 turn assault - which I often end up doing anyway, given retaliation from a smart opponent. I'll be using both of them from this point onward, though not always in the same list.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Battle Report: Makeda 3 vs. Vindictus at 35pts
I got another game in with Makeda 3 this past Friday to celebrate the model being released. I ran:
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
This is a small, but fast list which can hit hard, and focuses on synergy with Makeda 3. Makeda 3 really gets a lot from having the Molik Karn + Bronzeback + Gladiator combo in the list. She's a front line Warlock with a lot of ways to move around the board, so she likes a Gladiator so her Warbeasts can keep up. She really wants a Bronzeback, because the Train Wreck animus gives any beast the ability to munch its way through whole units of infantry on her Feat turn. And she really wants Karn for 2 reasons. First, with Side Step, Mat 7, Future Sight, and Reach, Molik Karn is the best Warbeast in Skorne to take advantage of Makeda 3's Feat. He can get where he needs to be, and kill nearly anything without much trouble. Second, he gives Makeda access to Fate Walker. A Warlock who wants to dive into the middle of an enemy list, killing everything in her path (and helping her army kill stuff with Vortex of Destruction), benefits a lot from having end of turn movement like that.
As for the rest of the list, I decided to play aggressively, and went for a Savage and Swamp Gobbers. The Savage is no Molik, but it's got Reach and Future Sight, and I won't mind sacrificing it if I need an early jam. Besides, the guy is fully painted, and loads of fun to throw at the enemy. The Gobbers are point filler. I have no idea how helpful they'll be, but Makeda can probably get back to their cloud if she really tries to.
My list's big weaknesses are high Def, and an opponent who can play the trading game better than it can. The only model in the list who can really put the boots to Iron Fleshed Kayazy is Makeda with her spells. Both Molik and the Bronzeback can boost their attacks and hope for 12's, but only Makeda has ways to hit them automatically. The list is also kind of a glass cannon. Apart from the Savage, each beast adds a lot to the way the list functions. If the enemy eliminates one, the list might not be able to deal with the loss.
My opponent, Ted, played:
Vice Scrutator Vindictus (+6)
*Judicator (18)
*Reckoner (8)
10 Holy Zealots (6)
*Monolith Bearer (2)
4 Choir of Menoth (2)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (2)
Vassal of Menoth (2)
Vassal Mechanik (1)
Menoth would be bringing some solid shooting from the Reckoner and Judicator, as well as a nasty jamming force in the Zealots. I don't have much experience against Vindictus and his tricks. He makes infantry a lot faster with True Path, and a great defensive spell in Defender's Ward. He's also got some versatile offense in Rift and Immolation. Overall, it seems like a well balanced list with no major blind spots. The heavy hitting is consolidated in the 'jacks, but there are two, and they won't be going down easily if they stay behind the line of zealots most of the game.
Deployment
I won the roll off, and chose to go first. We both had a pretty good terrain setup, with walls and forests surrounding the middle of the battlefield.
I deployed the beasts in a line about 10" across in the center of my deployment zone, with Makeda, the Guardians, and the Gobber Team interspersed to provide support. The Paingivers went behind the beasts.
Ted deployed Vindictus, both 'jacks and their support about 10" or so in front of a low wall in the center-right of the table, and put the Zealots and Seneschal in the center opposite my battle line.
Turn 1
I decided to move ahead fast. The Gladiator Rushed itself and Trampled forward, Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction, Rushed the Bronzeback, and charged at the Menites, angling for a wall, while her Guardians ran. The rest of the army simply ran, forming a rough line an inch or two ahead of the Gladiator. The Gobbers advanced, and puffed out a smoke cloud.
Vindictus allocated a Focus to each 'jack. Both the Judicator and the Reckoner ran. Vindictus advanced, cast True Path, and cast Defender's Ward on the Judicator. The Choir and Vassals advanced to keep pace with the 'jacks, and the Zealots and Seneschal blitzed up the field with the True Path-boosted speed.
Turn 2: Skorne
Zealots are fast with Vindictus. I had to do something about them immediately, or I'd be badly jammed next turn while they used their mini-Feat to become immune to damage. Time to put Makeda's anti-Infantry game to work.
Makeda activated first, Feated, cast Train Wreck on Molik, then charged a Zealot. She killed it, and cast a free Eliminator with Blood Boon at the Seneschal. She knocked the Seneshal down, but didn't take out either the Monolith Bearer or the other Zealot the template had clipped. The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, and advanced. The Paingivers Conditioned the Gladiator, and Enraged both Molik and the Savage. Molik charged into the Zealots, and bounced through their unit to kill off all but 3 ordinary Zealots. Thanks to Makeda's Feat, he could also cast Fate Walker on himself to retreat a little. The Bronzeback advanced, and the Savage charged at one of the surviving Zealots, but wasn't in range. The Gobbers ran to try to keep up.
I'd done a lot of damage, and seriously put Ted on the back foot with the Feat. Without the Zealots, it would be his 'jacks against an army which is very well equipped to kill them. Ted did have the wall he'd put his 'jacks and Vindictus behind, however, and if he could take out my Gladiator - my source of Pathfinder - he could make it very complicated for me to get to him.
Turn 2: Menoth
Vindictus upkept Defender's Ward, and gave out most of his Focus. The Seneschal got up, and walked to engage Molik. The Choir sang the Hymn of Battle at the two 'jacks. The Reckoner aimed, and put a nasty hit on the Gladiator. The Judicator also aimed, and hit the Gladiator with both rocket pods, hurting it severely. It couldn't quite reach the Gladiator with its flamethrowers, but did manage to incinerate a Zealot who happened to be in the way. The Vassal used Ancillary Attack on the Reckoner, but it left the Gladiator at 2 boxes. A Zealot advanced to try to finish the job, but walked into Counter-Charge range of the Bronzeback, and died.
The Gladiator was still up, and that meant I still had ways to deal with terrain. I'd have to try to finish the game here though, and I thought I had a chance.
Turn 3: Skorne
Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction. Molik had to take a Frenzy check, but he was fine. The Paingivers advanced, Medicated the Gladiator, healing 3 damage, and Enraged the Bronzeback. Then the Gladiator advanced, and Rushed the Bronzeback. Makeda advanced, and boosted an Eliminator at the Vassal, but missed and killed two Choir members instead, causing them to flee. Then she advanced 4" to the Seneschal and the last remaining Zealot. She cut down the Zealot, and cast a free Eliminator at the Seneschal, disabling him.
Then the Bronzeback charged the Reckoner, casting Train Wreck on itself before resolving the charge attack. It hit the Reckoner with the charge attack, killed the Vassal with its Tusk attack, then punched the Reckoner again. I chose to advance into Vindictus rather than do Chain Attack: Grab and Smash on the Reckoner. I was able to get one fully boosted attack into Vindictus, leaving him at 4 hit boxes. On the plus side, I'd taken out the Reckoner's Cortex and Mace with my attacks.
I finished up by advancing around the Seneschal with Molik (putting him on a hill), advancing the Savage, and running the Swamp Gobbers.
Turn 3: Menoth
The Seneschal finally died. Vindictus let Defender's Ward drop from the Judicator: he had a new target in mind (himself), then gave the Judicator a Focus. The Choir rallied. The Judicator advanced, and did a Double-Handed Throw Power Attack on the Bronzeback, hurling it into Molik Karn and knocking them both down. Then Vindictus cast Defender's Ward on himself, retreated a bit, and cast Rift on the Bronzeback, damaging it and locking both it a Molik Karn in Rough Terrain. The Reckoner hit the Gladiator again, but without the Hymn of Battle or any extra Focus, wasn't able to kill it.
It would take a couple turns for me to extract Molik and the Bronzeback from the mess they were in, and the Gladiator was pretty far from the action, so Vindictus had bought himself some time. I'd have to use my functional models to keep the pressure up, and prevent Vindictus from repositioning to a safer location.
Turn 4: Skorne
I upkept Vortex of Destruction again. The Bronzeback Frenzied, but could only get up (and wasn't facing Molik when it did). Makeda had line-of-sight to a Choir member, cast Fate Walker, and charged it, hoping to put herself in melee range of the Reckoner. She was just out. The Paingivers advanced, Medicated the Gladiator, and Enraged the Savage. The Savage hopped the wall, and charged the Reckoner, taking out everything except a few boxes and its Movement. The Gobbers ran. Molik walked around the Bronzeback's side to draw a bead on Vindictus. Makeda used her Fate Walker move to back off.
Vindictus was boxed in pretty well, and Engaged by the Savage. The only other functional combat model was the Judicator. We'd have to see how this played out.
Turn 4: Menoth
Vindictus allocated no Focus, but upkept Defender's Ward. The Choir used Hymn of Battle on the Judicator, which aimed, and put some more damage on the Bronzeback, as well as a little on the Savage with its Flamethrowers. The Reckoner missed the Savage. Vindictus boosted another Rift at the Bronzeback, hitting, and popping some more rough terrain up around it.
It was a valiant attempt, but I'd probably be able to get around it with Rush since the Gladiator was still alive. More importantly, Vindictus was in Makeda's threat range.
Turn 5: Skorne
Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction, then charged Vindictus, and cut him down.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
That was an amazingly fun game. Makeda 3 is quickly becoming one of my favorite Warlocks. I made a bunch of mistakes, but they were generally pretty small. I should have kept Makeda's court near the Gladiator to protect it, especially after it almost died on turn 2. I also should have taken the Grab and Smash attack against the Reckoner with the Bronzeback, and maybe even stuck around to finish it off. I was just too focused on getting to Vindictus, and left it more or less functional. Popping Makeda's Feat early was a good move. If those Zealots had been able to tie me up, I would have been pounded by Ted's shooting game, and stuck in the middle. In general, I used the beasts pretty well, keeping them out of harm's way while threatening the slower Menoth list after turn 2.
This may well be my go-to 35pt list for Makeda 3. It's super fun to play, and very mobile. Makeda has a lot of extra movement she can pull personally, especially with Molik on the table. Between Fate Walker and Eliminator, she managed to be almost wherever I wanted her. Molik's Side-Step and Beat Back shenanigans on top of Fate Walker make him even more agile than Makeda, and the rest of the list is fast, solid and hard-hitting. I may swap a Shaman in for the Savage for more versatility and defense against offensive upkeeps. I may also swap both the Savage and Gobbers out for a Krea or Drake and an Agonizer or Willbreaker. I'm currently liking the Drake/Willbreaker combo, which will give me a great spray and all the utility of the Willbreaker. I will lose the jamming and melee threat of the Savage though.
Ted played a solid game, but he was at a serious disadvantage from the top of Turn 2 onward when I killed almost all his Zealots before they could mini-Feat and jam me. It was a bind for him, since using their mini-Feat on turn 1 might have saved them then, but they wouldn't have been able to jam me nearly as well after that. Taking out the Gladiator with shooting was a good plan, but the dice just weren't with him, and one or two sub-average damage rolls meant it stayed alive.
The Vindictus list was very new to me, and the Judicator seems like a dangerous model, especially backed by a Vassal and the Hymn of Battle. Zealots are definitely great for their cost with the Monolith Bearer, and the Exemplar Seneschal would have been downright scary if I'd let him stay on his feet. Any kind of Smite is very dangerous, and the Seneschal hits very hard at Pow 13 (often thanks to Righteous Fury).
Thanks for a great game!
Makeda and the Exalted Court (+2)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Cyclops Savage (5)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
This is a small, but fast list which can hit hard, and focuses on synergy with Makeda 3. Makeda 3 really gets a lot from having the Molik Karn + Bronzeback + Gladiator combo in the list. She's a front line Warlock with a lot of ways to move around the board, so she likes a Gladiator so her Warbeasts can keep up. She really wants a Bronzeback, because the Train Wreck animus gives any beast the ability to munch its way through whole units of infantry on her Feat turn. And she really wants Karn for 2 reasons. First, with Side Step, Mat 7, Future Sight, and Reach, Molik Karn is the best Warbeast in Skorne to take advantage of Makeda 3's Feat. He can get where he needs to be, and kill nearly anything without much trouble. Second, he gives Makeda access to Fate Walker. A Warlock who wants to dive into the middle of an enemy list, killing everything in her path (and helping her army kill stuff with Vortex of Destruction), benefits a lot from having end of turn movement like that.
As for the rest of the list, I decided to play aggressively, and went for a Savage and Swamp Gobbers. The Savage is no Molik, but it's got Reach and Future Sight, and I won't mind sacrificing it if I need an early jam. Besides, the guy is fully painted, and loads of fun to throw at the enemy. The Gobbers are point filler. I have no idea how helpful they'll be, but Makeda can probably get back to their cloud if she really tries to.
My list's big weaknesses are high Def, and an opponent who can play the trading game better than it can. The only model in the list who can really put the boots to Iron Fleshed Kayazy is Makeda with her spells. Both Molik and the Bronzeback can boost their attacks and hope for 12's, but only Makeda has ways to hit them automatically. The list is also kind of a glass cannon. Apart from the Savage, each beast adds a lot to the way the list functions. If the enemy eliminates one, the list might not be able to deal with the loss.
My opponent, Ted, played:
Vice Scrutator Vindictus (+6)
*Judicator (18)
*Reckoner (8)
10 Holy Zealots (6)
*Monolith Bearer (2)
4 Choir of Menoth (2)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (2)
Vassal of Menoth (2)
Vassal Mechanik (1)
Menoth would be bringing some solid shooting from the Reckoner and Judicator, as well as a nasty jamming force in the Zealots. I don't have much experience against Vindictus and his tricks. He makes infantry a lot faster with True Path, and a great defensive spell in Defender's Ward. He's also got some versatile offense in Rift and Immolation. Overall, it seems like a well balanced list with no major blind spots. The heavy hitting is consolidated in the 'jacks, but there are two, and they won't be going down easily if they stay behind the line of zealots most of the game.
Deployment
I won the roll off, and chose to go first. We both had a pretty good terrain setup, with walls and forests surrounding the middle of the battlefield.
I deployed the beasts in a line about 10" across in the center of my deployment zone, with Makeda, the Guardians, and the Gobber Team interspersed to provide support. The Paingivers went behind the beasts.
Ted deployed Vindictus, both 'jacks and their support about 10" or so in front of a low wall in the center-right of the table, and put the Zealots and Seneschal in the center opposite my battle line.
Turn 1
I decided to move ahead fast. The Gladiator Rushed itself and Trampled forward, Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction, Rushed the Bronzeback, and charged at the Menites, angling for a wall, while her Guardians ran. The rest of the army simply ran, forming a rough line an inch or two ahead of the Gladiator. The Gobbers advanced, and puffed out a smoke cloud.
Vindictus allocated a Focus to each 'jack. Both the Judicator and the Reckoner ran. Vindictus advanced, cast True Path, and cast Defender's Ward on the Judicator. The Choir and Vassals advanced to keep pace with the 'jacks, and the Zealots and Seneschal blitzed up the field with the True Path-boosted speed.
Turn 2: Skorne
Zealots are fast with Vindictus. I had to do something about them immediately, or I'd be badly jammed next turn while they used their mini-Feat to become immune to damage. Time to put Makeda's anti-Infantry game to work.
Makeda activated first, Feated, cast Train Wreck on Molik, then charged a Zealot. She killed it, and cast a free Eliminator with Blood Boon at the Seneschal. She knocked the Seneshal down, but didn't take out either the Monolith Bearer or the other Zealot the template had clipped. The Gladiator Rushed the Bronzeback, and advanced. The Paingivers Conditioned the Gladiator, and Enraged both Molik and the Savage. Molik charged into the Zealots, and bounced through their unit to kill off all but 3 ordinary Zealots. Thanks to Makeda's Feat, he could also cast Fate Walker on himself to retreat a little. The Bronzeback advanced, and the Savage charged at one of the surviving Zealots, but wasn't in range. The Gobbers ran to try to keep up.
I'd done a lot of damage, and seriously put Ted on the back foot with the Feat. Without the Zealots, it would be his 'jacks against an army which is very well equipped to kill them. Ted did have the wall he'd put his 'jacks and Vindictus behind, however, and if he could take out my Gladiator - my source of Pathfinder - he could make it very complicated for me to get to him.
Turn 2: Menoth
Vindictus upkept Defender's Ward, and gave out most of his Focus. The Seneschal got up, and walked to engage Molik. The Choir sang the Hymn of Battle at the two 'jacks. The Reckoner aimed, and put a nasty hit on the Gladiator. The Judicator also aimed, and hit the Gladiator with both rocket pods, hurting it severely. It couldn't quite reach the Gladiator with its flamethrowers, but did manage to incinerate a Zealot who happened to be in the way. The Vassal used Ancillary Attack on the Reckoner, but it left the Gladiator at 2 boxes. A Zealot advanced to try to finish the job, but walked into Counter-Charge range of the Bronzeback, and died.
The Gladiator was still up, and that meant I still had ways to deal with terrain. I'd have to try to finish the game here though, and I thought I had a chance.
Turn 3: Skorne
Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction. Molik had to take a Frenzy check, but he was fine. The Paingivers advanced, Medicated the Gladiator, healing 3 damage, and Enraged the Bronzeback. Then the Gladiator advanced, and Rushed the Bronzeback. Makeda advanced, and boosted an Eliminator at the Vassal, but missed and killed two Choir members instead, causing them to flee. Then she advanced 4" to the Seneschal and the last remaining Zealot. She cut down the Zealot, and cast a free Eliminator at the Seneschal, disabling him.
Then the Bronzeback charged the Reckoner, casting Train Wreck on itself before resolving the charge attack. It hit the Reckoner with the charge attack, killed the Vassal with its Tusk attack, then punched the Reckoner again. I chose to advance into Vindictus rather than do Chain Attack: Grab and Smash on the Reckoner. I was able to get one fully boosted attack into Vindictus, leaving him at 4 hit boxes. On the plus side, I'd taken out the Reckoner's Cortex and Mace with my attacks.
I finished up by advancing around the Seneschal with Molik (putting him on a hill), advancing the Savage, and running the Swamp Gobbers.
Turn 3: Menoth
The Seneschal finally died. Vindictus let Defender's Ward drop from the Judicator: he had a new target in mind (himself), then gave the Judicator a Focus. The Choir rallied. The Judicator advanced, and did a Double-Handed Throw Power Attack on the Bronzeback, hurling it into Molik Karn and knocking them both down. Then Vindictus cast Defender's Ward on himself, retreated a bit, and cast Rift on the Bronzeback, damaging it and locking both it a Molik Karn in Rough Terrain. The Reckoner hit the Gladiator again, but without the Hymn of Battle or any extra Focus, wasn't able to kill it.
It would take a couple turns for me to extract Molik and the Bronzeback from the mess they were in, and the Gladiator was pretty far from the action, so Vindictus had bought himself some time. I'd have to use my functional models to keep the pressure up, and prevent Vindictus from repositioning to a safer location.
Turn 4: Skorne
I upkept Vortex of Destruction again. The Bronzeback Frenzied, but could only get up (and wasn't facing Molik when it did). Makeda had line-of-sight to a Choir member, cast Fate Walker, and charged it, hoping to put herself in melee range of the Reckoner. She was just out. The Paingivers advanced, Medicated the Gladiator, and Enraged the Savage. The Savage hopped the wall, and charged the Reckoner, taking out everything except a few boxes and its Movement. The Gobbers ran. Molik walked around the Bronzeback's side to draw a bead on Vindictus. Makeda used her Fate Walker move to back off.
Vindictus was boxed in pretty well, and Engaged by the Savage. The only other functional combat model was the Judicator. We'd have to see how this played out.
Turn 4: Menoth
Vindictus allocated no Focus, but upkept Defender's Ward. The Choir used Hymn of Battle on the Judicator, which aimed, and put some more damage on the Bronzeback, as well as a little on the Savage with its Flamethrowers. The Reckoner missed the Savage. Vindictus boosted another Rift at the Bronzeback, hitting, and popping some more rough terrain up around it.
It was a valiant attempt, but I'd probably be able to get around it with Rush since the Gladiator was still alive. More importantly, Vindictus was in Makeda's threat range.
Turn 5: Skorne
Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction, then charged Vindictus, and cut him down.
Victory to the Skorne!
Thoughts
That was an amazingly fun game. Makeda 3 is quickly becoming one of my favorite Warlocks. I made a bunch of mistakes, but they were generally pretty small. I should have kept Makeda's court near the Gladiator to protect it, especially after it almost died on turn 2. I also should have taken the Grab and Smash attack against the Reckoner with the Bronzeback, and maybe even stuck around to finish it off. I was just too focused on getting to Vindictus, and left it more or less functional. Popping Makeda's Feat early was a good move. If those Zealots had been able to tie me up, I would have been pounded by Ted's shooting game, and stuck in the middle. In general, I used the beasts pretty well, keeping them out of harm's way while threatening the slower Menoth list after turn 2.
This may well be my go-to 35pt list for Makeda 3. It's super fun to play, and very mobile. Makeda has a lot of extra movement she can pull personally, especially with Molik on the table. Between Fate Walker and Eliminator, she managed to be almost wherever I wanted her. Molik's Side-Step and Beat Back shenanigans on top of Fate Walker make him even more agile than Makeda, and the rest of the list is fast, solid and hard-hitting. I may swap a Shaman in for the Savage for more versatility and defense against offensive upkeeps. I may also swap both the Savage and Gobbers out for a Krea or Drake and an Agonizer or Willbreaker. I'm currently liking the Drake/Willbreaker combo, which will give me a great spray and all the utility of the Willbreaker. I will lose the jamming and melee threat of the Savage though.
Ted played a solid game, but he was at a serious disadvantage from the top of Turn 2 onward when I killed almost all his Zealots before they could mini-Feat and jam me. It was a bind for him, since using their mini-Feat on turn 1 might have saved them then, but they wouldn't have been able to jam me nearly as well after that. Taking out the Gladiator with shooting was a good plan, but the dice just weren't with him, and one or two sub-average damage rolls meant it stayed alive.
The Vindictus list was very new to me, and the Judicator seems like a dangerous model, especially backed by a Vassal and the Hymn of Battle. Zealots are definitely great for their cost with the Monolith Bearer, and the Exemplar Seneschal would have been downright scary if I'd let him stay on his feet. Any kind of Smite is very dangerous, and the Seneschal hits very hard at Pow 13 (often thanks to Righteous Fury).
Thanks for a great game!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Battle Report: Supreme Aptimus Zaal vs. Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls at 50pts
I got another game in with Caleb this week, and here's how it went down.
I tried out Zaal again for the first time in a long time, and went with:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Cyclops Raider (5)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
*Kovass (-)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
10 Immortals (8)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
This is a Tier 3 Immortal Host list, meaning that I get increased Field Allowance on Ancestral Guardians and Extoller Soulwards for each unit of Immortals in the list, Ancestral Guardians in the list gain Advance Deploy, and Extoller models in the list begin the game with 3 Soul Tokens each.
This looks like a pretty strong list to me. Zaal is a good infantry warlock, and can let nearly anything in the list take out enemy heavies or high-Def infantry thanks to Last Stand. This means I can focus on a cheap selection of ranged and support beasts. The Raider and Shaman are a good firebase on their own, and hand out Far Strike to the Extollers and Zaal, which gives me up to 4 shots, range 12-14, which ignore Cover, Concealment and LoS. With Guidance, I can forfeit one or two of them to ignore Stealth. The Cannoneer is there for the higher Pow shot and AoE. In terms of infantry, the Praetorians and Immortals are both workhorses, though the Praetorians also provide Soul Tokens.
My list's main weakness is Zaal's vulnerability to Remove From Play effects (which seriously cramp his Feat and Soul generation from the Praetorians), and a slight weakness to super high Arm. Zaal can mitigate that with Hex Blast, but even then the highest Arm models in the game will be tough for my infantry to take out even with Last Stand and Rage of the Ancients.
Caleb tried out pDoomshaper again after a long break to learn Calandra and pGrimm.
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (+7)
*Rok (11)
*Dire Troll Mauler (9)
*Troll Axer (6)
*Rune Bearer (2)
10 Trollkin Scattergunners (8)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
3 Trollkin Champions (6)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3)
Kriel Stone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1)
Janissa Stonetide (3)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
This seems like a pretty well balanced list. The Scattergunners give it a decent ranged game, and their normally mediocre accuracy can be boosted by Fortune. Rok and the Mauler are both good heavy beasts, and the Axer provides Rush and another answer to infantry. Champions are hard-hitting and fairly tough, and should do well alongside the beasts as melee support for the low-Mat Scattergunners. Troll support is good as always. Janissa will make sure Doomy's poor Def isn't too much of a liability, and the Chronicler will make sure any infantry who kill the Scattergunners gets knocked down.
There are no major blind spots in this list, although it does rely on a relatively small number of models to do all its hard-hitting (the Beasts and Champs). Otherwise, it deals with all kinds of enemies pretty well, clears jams well with the Scattergunners, and threatens all kinds of targets.
Deployment
Caleb won the roll-off and decided to go second.
I placed all my infantry in a line across the table with Swordsmen on the left and Immortals on the right. Zaal and the Warbeasts deployed centrally in gaps I'd left for them on the front lines. The Extollers and Marketh went just behind the infantry.
Caleb placed his Scattergunners opposite my Swordsmen despite the fact that this meant putting them in front of a forest with no way to gain Pathfinder. The Champs and Beasts went opposite Zaal and my warbeasts, leaning a little to the right toward the bulk of my Immortals. The support and Doomshaper went behind this group.
Finally, I deployed all my Ancestral Guardians in a staggered line 6" ahead of my other troops, with Hakaar more or less in front of Zaal.
Turn 1
Most of my models ran, although Zaal walked in order to cast spells. Last Stand went on my lead Ancestral Guardian, while Inviolable Resolve went on Hakaar and Spiritual Awakening went on the Shaman.
Most of Caleb's army also ran, though Doomshaper walked up so he could cast Fortune on the Scattergunners (who were having a little trouble with the woods), and dump the rest of his Fury onto the Kriel Stone.
Next turn, I'd be in range to do some damage and slow Caleb down.
Turn 2, Skorne
It was time to start getting down to business. The Swordsmen ran and spread out to jam up the Scattergunners. The Immortals ran forward again. The Shaman put Far Strike on itself, and shot at Rok, but missed. Zaal put Far Strike on the Cannoneer, who killed a Scattergunner and made their Officer pass a Tough check. Marketh swapped Last Stand onto an Ancestral Guardian who looked to have charge range on Rok. It charged, damaging Rok pretty heavily. My lead Ancestral Guardian then charged the Champions, killing one. I ended my turn by popping out the Kovass.
I really would have like to kill Rok, but I realized it wasn't likely. Now Caleb would have to deal with both my AG and the Kovass though, and my second wave of infantry was right behind them.
Turn 2, Trollbloods
Caleb activated the Champs, who killed the Ancestral Guardian after taking some damage to a Defensive Strike. Then he advanced the Kriel Stone, and the Elder caused all Kovasses in its Warding bubble to lose Incorporeal. The Axer advanced, and put Rush on Rok to give him +2" of movment. The Mauler advanced, and killed the Kovass. Then Rok charged into the Immortals. He Berserked through 3 of them, a Soulward, and Hakaar, using Doomshaper's Goad ability to reach new targets as he cleared out the old ones. I put the Kovass back into play. The Scattergunners killed just over half the Swordsmen with their sprays. The Chronicler used Hero's Tragedy, making sure my Swordsmen would fall over when they tried to exact revenge. Finally, Doomshaper walked up and cast Stranglehold at my last Ancestral Guardian, ensuring it would make no attacks next turn.
Not bad. Caleb had done a good chunk of damage to my army on his turn, but enough had survived that I'd be able to mount a decent counterattack. And now was the time to make things happen. I might be able to assassinate Doomshaper if I could clear out the Beasts screening him.
Turn 3, Skorne
In the Maintenance Phase, my surviving Immortals contracted around Rok like a terrible obsidian jellyfish, and killed him with Vengeance attacks. Zaal went first, used his Feat, Rage of the Ancients, then he cast Last Stand on the Kovass, and shot at a damaged Champion, finishing it off. The Kovass charged into Skaldi and the Mauler, but Skaldi passed his Tough check, and the Mauler managed to survive with 2 hit boxes, meaning I'd have to shoot the Mauler down if I wanted to get my Immortals to Doomshaper. The Shaman tried for it, but ended up killing the Kovass instead. Excellent! Now I wouldn't suffer the penalty for shooting into melee with my other beasts. The Cannoneer advanced, and finished the Mauler with a cannon shot.
Then Marketh recast Last Stand on the Immortals, and they charged in. I only thought that one could get to Doomshaper, but I was hoping to one-shot him. Three others charged the Axer, one charged Skaldi, and one charged the last surviving Champion. Skaldi died, but the Champ passed his Tough check. The Axer barely survived due to one really awful attack roll, but Doomshaper had to kill it with a transfer on my last attack, which took him down to 3 hit points. The Swordsmen finished up the turn by killing about half the Scattergunners, then falling over due to Hero's Tragedy. The Raider put Far Strike on the remaining Soulward, and she tried to finish Doomie, but missed due to the melee penalty. Then I removed all the Immortals because they made melee attacks under Last Stand.
Assassination failed, but all the Trollkin beasts were dead, and Doomshaper didn't have much army left.
Turn 3, Trollbloods
Caleb figured he had one shot at victory. Plan C. If Janissa scored a critical hit against Zaal with Rock Hammer, he'd be knocked down, and Doomshaper and the Scattergunners could finish him off with spells and sprays.
It was all on Janissa.
She missed.
Zaal did get damaged by a Stranglehold, but that was it, and Caleb conceded after his Scattergunners all missed.
Thoughts
I had a pretty solid overall advance, but I made a lot of little mistakes, mostly in order of activation. On turn one, I ran all my AG's out of range for my Immortals to gain Resonance. On turns 2 and 3, I ended up charging with critical models before shooting with my Extollers and beasts, which made some attacks much harder than they should have been. I clearly need more practice playing Skorne infantry and solo heavy the way Zaal likes. It also turns out that I could have gotten 2 Immortals to Doomshaper on my 3rd turn, and probably killed him right there. I was maybe a quarter inch in range with one of the ones I sent after the Axer.
Zaal is brutal, and loads of fun to play. He has a great spell list, and the Kovass adds another layer of planning. I liked the list I went with a lot. I think I made the right decision going with a few ranged beasts. The infantry and AG's had no trouble killing Trollkin heavies and Champions under the Kriel Stone's Warding bubble, so I'm probably fine on armor cracking without melee heavies. The shooting I did have was plenty effective at doing damage to a few key models, and would have been a lot more effective if I'd planned my turns better. Finally, I never felt like I was about to run out of beasts or open spots between my beasts and AG's for transfers. I did feel like I ran out of AG's pretty quickly though, and I might have to try a more extreme version of Immortal Host next time, one with 4 or even 5 Ancestral Guardians plus Hakaar. I'll also have to try Zaal out of tier some time so I can get Molik Karn, who seems like a crazy model to combine with Last Stand and/or Rage of the Ancients.
Caleb made some good moves, but also made a few serious mistakes. He targeted my AG's specifically, since they're very dangerous under Zaal. Hitting my last one with Stranglehold made my third turn a lot more complicated than it would have been otherwise. Putting the Scattergunners behind the forest without a Fell Caller or similar source of Pathfinder made them very slow on the first 2 turns, and they were a little bit out of the battle later on. As a screening unit, they would have been more dangerous, and helped keep Caleb's heavier models out of reach of my Immortals and AG's on turns 2 and 3.
I don't quite know what to make of pDoomie yet, and Caleb said after the game that he doesn't either. I've heard a lot of good things about his Tier list, and maybe that's just the way to play him. It's possible that he just didn't have the best tools to deal with the Zaal army I took. All my beasts were way in the back, so Rampager wasn't a factor, and Doomshaper didn't get the chance to Feat. Inviolable Resolve and Spiritual Awakening never really seemed worth casting Purification for. I did like Fortune on the Scattergunners, and Stranglehold on an AG was a good move, but that's really all Doomie did this game.
Thoughts on Project Obsidian
Now I've played Ancestral Guardians at their most optimal, and Zaal really made them go. Last Stand is a great spell for them, and their ability to buy additional attacks makes them deadly with Zaal's Feat. The biggest thing Zaal does for them, though, is give them Soul Tokens with Soul Converter. I never once felt low on Souls in the army. Ancestral Guardians would easily be worth 3pts with anyone if they could be full on Souls for 2-3 turns in a row, and Zaal really lets them do that, especially in Tier with Extoller Soulwards starting with 3 Souls each.
I tried out Zaal again for the first time in a long time, and went with:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5)
 |
| These guys... |
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Cyclops Raider (5)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
*Kovass (-)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
10 Immortals (8)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
This is a Tier 3 Immortal Host list, meaning that I get increased Field Allowance on Ancestral Guardians and Extoller Soulwards for each unit of Immortals in the list, Ancestral Guardians in the list gain Advance Deploy, and Extoller models in the list begin the game with 3 Soul Tokens each.
This looks like a pretty strong list to me. Zaal is a good infantry warlock, and can let nearly anything in the list take out enemy heavies or high-Def infantry thanks to Last Stand. This means I can focus on a cheap selection of ranged and support beasts. The Raider and Shaman are a good firebase on their own, and hand out Far Strike to the Extollers and Zaal, which gives me up to 4 shots, range 12-14, which ignore Cover, Concealment and LoS. With Guidance, I can forfeit one or two of them to ignore Stealth. The Cannoneer is there for the higher Pow shot and AoE. In terms of infantry, the Praetorians and Immortals are both workhorses, though the Praetorians also provide Soul Tokens.
My list's main weakness is Zaal's vulnerability to Remove From Play effects (which seriously cramp his Feat and Soul generation from the Praetorians), and a slight weakness to super high Arm. Zaal can mitigate that with Hex Blast, but even then the highest Arm models in the game will be tough for my infantry to take out even with Last Stand and Rage of the Ancients.
Caleb tried out pDoomshaper again after a long break to learn Calandra and pGrimm.
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (+7)
*Rok (11)
 |
| ...vs. him. |
*Troll Axer (6)
*Rune Bearer (2)
10 Trollkin Scattergunners (8)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
3 Trollkin Champions (6)
*Skaldi Bonehammer (3)
Kriel Stone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4)
*Stone Scribe Elder (1)
Janissa Stonetide (3)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
This seems like a pretty well balanced list. The Scattergunners give it a decent ranged game, and their normally mediocre accuracy can be boosted by Fortune. Rok and the Mauler are both good heavy beasts, and the Axer provides Rush and another answer to infantry. Champions are hard-hitting and fairly tough, and should do well alongside the beasts as melee support for the low-Mat Scattergunners. Troll support is good as always. Janissa will make sure Doomy's poor Def isn't too much of a liability, and the Chronicler will make sure any infantry who kill the Scattergunners gets knocked down.
There are no major blind spots in this list, although it does rely on a relatively small number of models to do all its hard-hitting (the Beasts and Champs). Otherwise, it deals with all kinds of enemies pretty well, clears jams well with the Scattergunners, and threatens all kinds of targets.
Deployment
Caleb won the roll-off and decided to go second.
I placed all my infantry in a line across the table with Swordsmen on the left and Immortals on the right. Zaal and the Warbeasts deployed centrally in gaps I'd left for them on the front lines. The Extollers and Marketh went just behind the infantry.
Caleb placed his Scattergunners opposite my Swordsmen despite the fact that this meant putting them in front of a forest with no way to gain Pathfinder. The Champs and Beasts went opposite Zaal and my warbeasts, leaning a little to the right toward the bulk of my Immortals. The support and Doomshaper went behind this group.
Finally, I deployed all my Ancestral Guardians in a staggered line 6" ahead of my other troops, with Hakaar more or less in front of Zaal.
Turn 1
Most of my models ran, although Zaal walked in order to cast spells. Last Stand went on my lead Ancestral Guardian, while Inviolable Resolve went on Hakaar and Spiritual Awakening went on the Shaman.
Most of Caleb's army also ran, though Doomshaper walked up so he could cast Fortune on the Scattergunners (who were having a little trouble with the woods), and dump the rest of his Fury onto the Kriel Stone.
Next turn, I'd be in range to do some damage and slow Caleb down.
Turn 2, Skorne
It was time to start getting down to business. The Swordsmen ran and spread out to jam up the Scattergunners. The Immortals ran forward again. The Shaman put Far Strike on itself, and shot at Rok, but missed. Zaal put Far Strike on the Cannoneer, who killed a Scattergunner and made their Officer pass a Tough check. Marketh swapped Last Stand onto an Ancestral Guardian who looked to have charge range on Rok. It charged, damaging Rok pretty heavily. My lead Ancestral Guardian then charged the Champions, killing one. I ended my turn by popping out the Kovass.
I really would have like to kill Rok, but I realized it wasn't likely. Now Caleb would have to deal with both my AG and the Kovass though, and my second wave of infantry was right behind them.
Turn 2, Trollbloods
Caleb activated the Champs, who killed the Ancestral Guardian after taking some damage to a Defensive Strike. Then he advanced the Kriel Stone, and the Elder caused all Kovasses in its Warding bubble to lose Incorporeal. The Axer advanced, and put Rush on Rok to give him +2" of movment. The Mauler advanced, and killed the Kovass. Then Rok charged into the Immortals. He Berserked through 3 of them, a Soulward, and Hakaar, using Doomshaper's Goad ability to reach new targets as he cleared out the old ones. I put the Kovass back into play. The Scattergunners killed just over half the Swordsmen with their sprays. The Chronicler used Hero's Tragedy, making sure my Swordsmen would fall over when they tried to exact revenge. Finally, Doomshaper walked up and cast Stranglehold at my last Ancestral Guardian, ensuring it would make no attacks next turn.
Not bad. Caleb had done a good chunk of damage to my army on his turn, but enough had survived that I'd be able to mount a decent counterattack. And now was the time to make things happen. I might be able to assassinate Doomshaper if I could clear out the Beasts screening him.
Turn 3, Skorne
In the Maintenance Phase, my surviving Immortals contracted around Rok like a terrible obsidian jellyfish, and killed him with Vengeance attacks. Zaal went first, used his Feat, Rage of the Ancients, then he cast Last Stand on the Kovass, and shot at a damaged Champion, finishing it off. The Kovass charged into Skaldi and the Mauler, but Skaldi passed his Tough check, and the Mauler managed to survive with 2 hit boxes, meaning I'd have to shoot the Mauler down if I wanted to get my Immortals to Doomshaper. The Shaman tried for it, but ended up killing the Kovass instead. Excellent! Now I wouldn't suffer the penalty for shooting into melee with my other beasts. The Cannoneer advanced, and finished the Mauler with a cannon shot.
Then Marketh recast Last Stand on the Immortals, and they charged in. I only thought that one could get to Doomshaper, but I was hoping to one-shot him. Three others charged the Axer, one charged Skaldi, and one charged the last surviving Champion. Skaldi died, but the Champ passed his Tough check. The Axer barely survived due to one really awful attack roll, but Doomshaper had to kill it with a transfer on my last attack, which took him down to 3 hit points. The Swordsmen finished up the turn by killing about half the Scattergunners, then falling over due to Hero's Tragedy. The Raider put Far Strike on the remaining Soulward, and she tried to finish Doomie, but missed due to the melee penalty. Then I removed all the Immortals because they made melee attacks under Last Stand.
Assassination failed, but all the Trollkin beasts were dead, and Doomshaper didn't have much army left.
Turn 3, Trollbloods
Caleb figured he had one shot at victory. Plan C. If Janissa scored a critical hit against Zaal with Rock Hammer, he'd be knocked down, and Doomshaper and the Scattergunners could finish him off with spells and sprays.
It was all on Janissa.
She missed.
Zaal did get damaged by a Stranglehold, but that was it, and Caleb conceded after his Scattergunners all missed.
Thoughts
I had a pretty solid overall advance, but I made a lot of little mistakes, mostly in order of activation. On turn one, I ran all my AG's out of range for my Immortals to gain Resonance. On turns 2 and 3, I ended up charging with critical models before shooting with my Extollers and beasts, which made some attacks much harder than they should have been. I clearly need more practice playing Skorne infantry and solo heavy the way Zaal likes. It also turns out that I could have gotten 2 Immortals to Doomshaper on my 3rd turn, and probably killed him right there. I was maybe a quarter inch in range with one of the ones I sent after the Axer.
Zaal is brutal, and loads of fun to play. He has a great spell list, and the Kovass adds another layer of planning. I liked the list I went with a lot. I think I made the right decision going with a few ranged beasts. The infantry and AG's had no trouble killing Trollkin heavies and Champions under the Kriel Stone's Warding bubble, so I'm probably fine on armor cracking without melee heavies. The shooting I did have was plenty effective at doing damage to a few key models, and would have been a lot more effective if I'd planned my turns better. Finally, I never felt like I was about to run out of beasts or open spots between my beasts and AG's for transfers. I did feel like I ran out of AG's pretty quickly though, and I might have to try a more extreme version of Immortal Host next time, one with 4 or even 5 Ancestral Guardians plus Hakaar. I'll also have to try Zaal out of tier some time so I can get Molik Karn, who seems like a crazy model to combine with Last Stand and/or Rage of the Ancients.
Caleb made some good moves, but also made a few serious mistakes. He targeted my AG's specifically, since they're very dangerous under Zaal. Hitting my last one with Stranglehold made my third turn a lot more complicated than it would have been otherwise. Putting the Scattergunners behind the forest without a Fell Caller or similar source of Pathfinder made them very slow on the first 2 turns, and they were a little bit out of the battle later on. As a screening unit, they would have been more dangerous, and helped keep Caleb's heavier models out of reach of my Immortals and AG's on turns 2 and 3.
I don't quite know what to make of pDoomie yet, and Caleb said after the game that he doesn't either. I've heard a lot of good things about his Tier list, and maybe that's just the way to play him. It's possible that he just didn't have the best tools to deal with the Zaal army I took. All my beasts were way in the back, so Rampager wasn't a factor, and Doomshaper didn't get the chance to Feat. Inviolable Resolve and Spiritual Awakening never really seemed worth casting Purification for. I did like Fortune on the Scattergunners, and Stranglehold on an AG was a good move, but that's really all Doomie did this game.
Thoughts on Project Obsidian
Now I've played Ancestral Guardians at their most optimal, and Zaal really made them go. Last Stand is a great spell for them, and their ability to buy additional attacks makes them deadly with Zaal's Feat. The biggest thing Zaal does for them, though, is give them Soul Tokens with Soul Converter. I never once felt low on Souls in the army. Ancestral Guardians would easily be worth 3pts with anyone if they could be full on Souls for 2-3 turns in a row, and Zaal really lets them do that, especially in Tier with Extoller Soulwards starting with 3 Souls each.
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Trials of the Mountain King, part 1: Flanks, Distraction, and Attrition
I'm still torn on what to call my new focus on pDoomshaper and Gunnbjorn -- Doombjorn is winning, but Gunnshaper isn't quite out of the running. Gunndoom, Doomgunn and Bjornshaper just sound silly and were knocked out after the first round. Shoot'n'Scoot would be more appropriate with eDoomshaper and Gunny, Gunns&Doom sounds like the title to a bad '80s cop drama.... well, needless to say the nicknames are a bit endless. I'll just declare Doombjorn the winner and move on.
Just look at this majestic bastard!
(I didn't paint this one)
Gander at that devilishly handsome grin!
The gorgeous modeling!
The massive scale!
He is terrifying to behold!
Awe inspiring to comprehend!
So, his rules suck. Lets just get that out of the way right now - the model is fantastic, the fluff is amazing, and the rules... well, the rules for this guy came straight from the crapper of a poorly sanitized truck stop bathroom on burrito night. In Nebraska.
'But Caleb', you say, 'it can't really be that bad'. No no, my poor innocent friend, let me assure you - I've spent 8 solid hours driving across Nebraska (twice, in the same week, alone, in Summer, and on my birthday no less), and let me tell you - I do not use that analogy lightly. Words cannot properly describe the massive let down this majestic specimen of troll-hood brings for his rules. This magnificent embodiment of all that is Dire and Troll-y brings a set of abilities so counter to his awesomeness that the closest analogy would be if the Statue of Liberty ceased to represent liberty and instead came to symbolized smelly toenail fungus.
However, screw that. This guy is $125 of awesome modely goodness, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him languish on the shelf next to that poorly-thought-out unit of Assault Kommandos (stupid impulse buy...). Much like the humble Dire Troll Blitzer and oft' disparaged Trollkin Scattergunners, the Mountain King can be made to work just as well as any other troll model - all it takes is a bit of thought, some trial and error, and finding him the right niche.
Luckily, I just started using 2 warlocks that can get more out of him than the bulk of Trollkin warlocks. First, however, let's break down the Mountain King's mojo and see what we have to work with.
The Breakdown:
Stats - STR 15, ARM 19, and SPD 5 are the high points here - the strength is about at a level to make him a deft hand (or double hand. Heh, puns...) at throws and STR based power attacks; ARM 19 is better than 18 (the normal troll staple) and can be easily boosted to an annoyance-worthy 21; and decent speed means he'll be able to keep up with the rest of your army just fine.
Fury 5 is nice as well (I'm sure not taking it for granted), and a Threshold of 6 just takes the uncertainty away from a potential frenzy (come on, the thing spawns whelps like dandruff - if he's even taking a threshold check, you're doing something wrong or you're facing Mohsar -- and shame on you for not planning ahead). DEF 9 is DEF 9 - not gonna win any awards, but what do you expect from a troll the size of an actual barn?
That's where it starts going downhill fast -- MAT 5/RAT 5 truly is the Mountain King's major stumbling block; his Achilles heel, his tragic flaw, the Moriarty to his Holmes, the worm in his otherwise golden apple, etc, etc. For all his potentially ludicrous damage output, he's going to first have to actually hit something. For something this big that costs a whopping 20pts, there really is no reasonable excuse for anything below MAT 6 - Privateer Press screwed the pooch. Royally. But, like a midlife crisis and a sports car, this is something we can compensate for.
Abilities - he's no Mammoth (see previous chatter, aka Mammoth-envy), but he did at least get some toys from the toy box before the other Gargantua ran off with them.
- Kill Shot: pretty straightforward - kill/snack on something in melee, get a free ranged attack. This is a nice ability that frees him up to focus on melee every turn, as he'll get the 10" spray fairly easy regardless. Plus, once you get stuck in, he can get an aiming bonus against models not in melee with him if he stays put.
- Snacking: this and Sweep can be a pretty nasty combo - box a living model, heal d3 damage, deny souls/corpse tokens, repeat. This again runs into the issue of having to actually hit the enemy model, but whatever.
- Whelp Shedding: ever feel like you have too many whelps? Me neither, and this guy brings them to the table in droves. Trying to nickel-and-dime him to death (say, with Praetorian Swordsmen) now becomes a horrendously bad idea, as it will quickly flood the table around him with more bits of troll than a stabscotch tournament at a Pygmy beer festival. This is the Mountain King's signature ability, and will force the enemy to throw this biggest, baddest thing (or things) they can at him to kill him in one turn rather than cry like babies as he heals halfway up to full from a half dozen little snacks.
Attacks - Here's where they let out most/all of the stops. The MK's damage output is truly inspired, and given the gruesome level of attacks he can put out (spray, sweep, 5 fury, etc), pretty damn dangerous.
- Big Meaty Fists: POW 19 is amazing. POW 19 open fists are even better, but pretty much all the gargantuas and colossals have open fists so meh. This is lessened quite a bit when you consider that Mulg has the same P&S already, can make almost as many straight attacks with it, and costs 8 pts less, but whatever. What Mulg doesn't have is....
- Deathly Roar: Spray 10 and POW 16. This thing is bonkers, and a good chunk of the Mountain King's effectiveness is tied up in it. Barring bad rolls, Kill Shot means there's no reason this shouldn't be used every turn once the big lug is engaged.
Animus - Amuck is... well, it is. At first glance, it seems pretty cool - it'll make the big guy pretty deadly with sweep attacks, the Axer even more deadly with his Thresher, and give Troll Heavies some serious threat on tramples, as in all cases you're effectively boosting all the attack rolls with 1 fury. The drawbacks become apparent when you realize what the Mountain King can't do with it -- namely, use sweep on a charge or trample effectively itself.
The animus isn't great, but at least it has it's uses (limited though they may be) and it's downsides -- the most noteworthy of which is that you don't take a 20pt beast as a support model. Beyond that it's a very lackluster animus better served on something like a Circle light beast--- oh, wait.
The Lists
Enough pointless brain smacking, lets get down to the lists. pDoomshaper and Gunnbjorn are two of the best warlocks in Trollbloods (barring pMadrak and eDoomshaper) for getting the most out of the Mountain King, and I'll elaborate as I go.
pDoomshaper 50pts
Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mountain King (20pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* 2 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (2pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
This list is pretty straightforward - the EBDT's animus, combined with Janissa's wall and the KSB, boosts the Mountain King up to ARM 23. Combined with a strategic placement of the wall and the Mountain King's generic gargantuan-style immobility, this provides one hell of an anchor to a flank, and allows the Kriel Warriors, Cabers, and Earthborn to swing around the other flank while the squishies (Janissa, KSBs, pDoomy, and Runebearer) hid behind the utterly massive immovable base and wall. The Pyre is there to boost the EBDT's damage, provide Immunity: Fire against those sneaky Legion games, and toss out an AoE to light things on fire (you know, as one does). Banishing Ward on the Kriel Warriors will keep them going through just about anything, though I see the lack of pathfinder to be a bit of an issue for them. We'll see how big of one.
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Mountain King (20pts)
* Ršk (11pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
MOUNTAIN KING!
Just look at this majestic bastard!
(I didn't paint this one)
Gander at that devilishly handsome grin!
The gorgeous modeling!
The massive scale!
He is terrifying to behold!
Awe inspiring to comprehend!
So, his rules suck. Lets just get that out of the way right now - the model is fantastic, the fluff is amazing, and the rules... well, the rules for this guy came straight from the crapper of a poorly sanitized truck stop bathroom on burrito night. In Nebraska.
'But Caleb', you say, 'it can't really be that bad'. No no, my poor innocent friend, let me assure you - I've spent 8 solid hours driving across Nebraska (twice, in the same week, alone, in Summer, and on my birthday no less), and let me tell you - I do not use that analogy lightly. Words cannot properly describe the massive let down this majestic specimen of troll-hood brings for his rules. This magnificent embodiment of all that is Dire and Troll-y brings a set of abilities so counter to his awesomeness that the closest analogy would be if the Statue of Liberty ceased to represent liberty and instead came to symbolized smelly toenail fungus.
However, screw that. This guy is $125 of awesome modely goodness, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him languish on the shelf next to that poorly-thought-out unit of Assault Kommandos (stupid impulse buy...). Much like the humble Dire Troll Blitzer and oft' disparaged Trollkin Scattergunners, the Mountain King can be made to work just as well as any other troll model - all it takes is a bit of thought, some trial and error, and finding him the right niche.
Luckily, I just started using 2 warlocks that can get more out of him than the bulk of Trollkin warlocks. First, however, let's break down the Mountain King's mojo and see what we have to work with.
The Breakdown:
Stats - STR 15, ARM 19, and SPD 5 are the high points here - the strength is about at a level to make him a deft hand (or double hand. Heh, puns...) at throws and STR based power attacks; ARM 19 is better than 18 (the normal troll staple) and can be easily boosted to an annoyance-worthy 21; and decent speed means he'll be able to keep up with the rest of your army just fine.
Fury 5 is nice as well (I'm sure not taking it for granted), and a Threshold of 6 just takes the uncertainty away from a potential frenzy (come on, the thing spawns whelps like dandruff - if he's even taking a threshold check, you're doing something wrong or you're facing Mohsar -- and shame on you for not planning ahead). DEF 9 is DEF 9 - not gonna win any awards, but what do you expect from a troll the size of an actual barn?
That's where it starts going downhill fast -- MAT 5/RAT 5 truly is the Mountain King's major stumbling block; his Achilles heel, his tragic flaw, the Moriarty to his Holmes, the worm in his otherwise golden apple, etc, etc. For all his potentially ludicrous damage output, he's going to first have to actually hit something. For something this big that costs a whopping 20pts, there really is no reasonable excuse for anything below MAT 6 - Privateer Press screwed the pooch. Royally. But, like a midlife crisis and a sports car, this is something we can compensate for.
Abilities - he's no Mammoth (see previous chatter, aka Mammoth-envy), but he did at least get some toys from the toy box before the other Gargantua ran off with them.
- Kill Shot: pretty straightforward - kill/snack on something in melee, get a free ranged attack. This is a nice ability that frees him up to focus on melee every turn, as he'll get the 10" spray fairly easy regardless. Plus, once you get stuck in, he can get an aiming bonus against models not in melee with him if he stays put.
- Snacking: this and Sweep can be a pretty nasty combo - box a living model, heal d3 damage, deny souls/corpse tokens, repeat. This again runs into the issue of having to actually hit the enemy model, but whatever.
- Whelp Shedding: ever feel like you have too many whelps? Me neither, and this guy brings them to the table in droves. Trying to nickel-and-dime him to death (say, with Praetorian Swordsmen) now becomes a horrendously bad idea, as it will quickly flood the table around him with more bits of troll than a stabscotch tournament at a Pygmy beer festival. This is the Mountain King's signature ability, and will force the enemy to throw this biggest, baddest thing (or things) they can at him to kill him in one turn rather than cry like babies as he heals halfway up to full from a half dozen little snacks.
Attacks - Here's where they let out most/all of the stops. The MK's damage output is truly inspired, and given the gruesome level of attacks he can put out (spray, sweep, 5 fury, etc), pretty damn dangerous.
- Big Meaty Fists: POW 19 is amazing. POW 19 open fists are even better, but pretty much all the gargantuas and colossals have open fists so meh. This is lessened quite a bit when you consider that Mulg has the same P&S already, can make almost as many straight attacks with it, and costs 8 pts less, but whatever. What Mulg doesn't have is....
- Deathly Roar: Spray 10 and POW 16. This thing is bonkers, and a good chunk of the Mountain King's effectiveness is tied up in it. Barring bad rolls, Kill Shot means there's no reason this shouldn't be used every turn once the big lug is engaged.
Animus - Amuck is... well, it is. At first glance, it seems pretty cool - it'll make the big guy pretty deadly with sweep attacks, the Axer even more deadly with his Thresher, and give Troll Heavies some serious threat on tramples, as in all cases you're effectively boosting all the attack rolls with 1 fury. The drawbacks become apparent when you realize what the Mountain King can't do with it -- namely, use sweep on a charge or trample effectively itself.
The animus isn't great, but at least it has it's uses (limited though they may be) and it's downsides -- the most noteworthy of which is that you don't take a 20pt beast as a support model. Beyond that it's a very lackluster animus better served on something like a Circle light beast--- oh, wait.
The Lists
Enough pointless brain smacking, lets get down to the lists. pDoomshaper and Gunnbjorn are two of the best warlocks in Trollbloods (barring pMadrak and eDoomshaper) for getting the most out of the Mountain King, and I'll elaborate as I go.
Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mountain King (20pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* 2 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (2pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
What pDoomy Brings: Fortune, Purification, Banishing Ward, Rampager -- the first handily helps solve the MAT/RAT 5 issue; the second and third make certain he won't be slowed down by enemy spells; and the the fourth provides both a handy way to position enemy models to his advantage and a rather interesting way of getting rid of the Bane of all Gargantua, Gorman de Wolfe.
This list is pretty straightforward - the EBDT's animus, combined with Janissa's wall and the KSB, boosts the Mountain King up to ARM 23. Combined with a strategic placement of the wall and the Mountain King's generic gargantuan-style immobility, this provides one hell of an anchor to a flank, and allows the Kriel Warriors, Cabers, and Earthborn to swing around the other flank while the squishies (Janissa, KSBs, pDoomy, and Runebearer) hid behind the utterly massive immovable base and wall. The Pyre is there to boost the EBDT's damage, provide Immunity: Fire against those sneaky Legion games, and toss out an AoE to light things on fire (you know, as one does). Banishing Ward on the Kriel Warriors will keep them going through just about anything, though I see the lack of pathfinder to be a bit of an issue for them. We'll see how big of one.
Gunnbjorn 50pts
Captain Gunnbjorn (*5pts)* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Mountain King (20pts)
* Ršk (11pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
What Gunnbjorn Brings: Guided Fire. Yup, that's it, just a single spell. However, that spell makes the POW 16 Spray 10 downright stupidly deadly.
Combine Guided Fire with, say, Rok's animus (Primal) and the Mountain King becomes the murderous mountain of death and destruction we always knew he should have been to begin with. Gunny and the rest are basically just there to watch, chow on whelp popcorn, and toss out ranged attacks to clear the way while the Mountain King and Rok kill, maim, destroy, snack, and spray their way across the table. Pop Gunny's feat at the end, and you're forcing the enemy to deal with the two big nasty beasts in their midst before they can even think of taking out the ranged backup sitting behind cover, a wall, and immunity to blasts and laughing like fools.
The downside of this tactic is that the MK will Frenzy next turn (if he lives through the retaliation), but that's less important than you think. If the enemy ignores him for a turn and tries to kill the rest, he'll be left around to beat the shenanigans out of them, and if they instead try and bring him down first, it lets the ranged element get another turn or more of highly damaging bombs, spears, and explosive shells in. That's right - the huge, terrifying, frenzied, foaming-at-the-mouth mountain monster is the distraction.
The bulk of this list was inspired by a list over at Trollblood Scrum, and while Janissa and a runebearer would be a nice addition, I'm more interested in seeing how Bushwacker backup helps out.
Conclusion:
So, there you have it - two lists that use the Mountain King. They don't look much like any other 50pt trollblood list, and for good reason: a 20pt model leave a pretty big footprint (hehe, puns) no matter which way you throw it. I'll be trying them out in the next few weeks to get a good feel for 'em. Battle Reports to follow!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Battle Report: Lord Arcanist Ossyan vs Cassius the Oathkeeper at 35pts
I got a couple more games in with Retribution last Friday, and here is one of them. Enjoy! Once again, I don't remember my opponent's name, so I apologize :P
Lord Arcanist Ossyan (+6)
*Banshee (10)
*Manticore (8)
10 Dawnguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
10 Mage Hunter Strike Force (8)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
My opponent's list:
Cassius the Oathkeeper (+6)
*Wurwood (-)
*Megalith (11)
*Warp Wolf Stalker (10)
6 Tharn Ravagers (9)
*Tharn Ravager Chieftain (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
*Stone Keeper (1)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Tharn Ravager Whitemane (3)
Gallows Grove (1)
Gallows Grove (1)
My opponent won the roll off, and went first. During regular deployment, he deployed Cassius, Megalith, and the Whitemane in a little cluster in the center of his deployment zone. I deployed everything except the Mage Hunters opposite him, ready to take advantage of whatever cover showed itself.
During his advance deploy, he placed the Stones in a large triangle with Wurmwood in the middle. The Gallows Groves went on either side. The Tharn Ravagers deployed on my left, opposite my Invictors. Then I set up the Mage Hunters to counter his Ravagers. Ravager defensive stats aren't naturally great, and Mage Hunters can ignore just about every buff they can get.
Turn 1
All the circle models ran except the Shifting Stones, who teleported Wurmwood 8" toward the center of the field, and Cassius, who cast Unseen Path to get himself and Wurmwood even further up, then Feated, creating a 10" radius forest centered on Wurmwood. The whole Circle army was now screened from most of my shooting.
Ossyan advanced, put Admonition on the Banshee and Quicken on the Manticore. The Banshee and Invictors ran. The Mage Hunters advanced, and did as much damage as they could to the Ravagers, which turned out to be about 4pts of damage to one of them. :( The Manticore advanced about 8", and put a Covering Fire template in front of some of the Ravagers. It would be enough to damage one or two of them, but it wouldn't be a serious deterrent.
Turn 2
The Ravagers charged in at the Mage Hunters, killing about half of them, and engaged the Manticore. The Stalker ran to a flanking position to get to my heavies. The rest of Cassius' army moved up in support. Megalith cast Curse of Shadows at a Mage Hunter, but missed.
I allocated a bunch of Focus to the Manticore. Ossyan advanced, Feated to give my guns an extra damage die, and shot a Ravager, killing it. The Mage Hunters did some more damage to the other Ravagers. The Invictors used Extent Fire, and took down Megalith. The Banshee advanced attacked the Ravagers engaging the Manticore, but rolled very badly, and didn't un-engage it. The Manticore mananged to un-engage itself, but ended up sitting on 2 Focus it wouldn't use.
Turn 3
The Ravagers killed off all but 3 of my Mage Hunters, then the Whitemane charged through them at my bunched up Invictors. I'd forgotten about Tactician, and there was a very good chance he could munch through all my Invictors this turn. He rolled snake-eyes on his initial attack. :( On my opponent's behalf. Cassius fired Stranglehold at the Manticore, forcing it to forfeit its movement or action next turn, and cast Curse of Shadows on the Banshee to reduce its Arm. The Warpwolf charged and destroyed the Banshee.
My Invictors had survived, which was good because I really needed them to kill the Warpwolf. The Mage Hunters swatted at the Ravagers engaging them, doing a little more damage. The Manticore walked into melee with the Warpwolf Stalker, and sat there looking pleased with itself. I needed to clear off the Whitemane so my Invictors could charge, so Ossyan charged and killed him. The Invictors charged in and killed the Warpwolf (thanks to Flank) and most of the remaining Ravagers.
Turn 4
With limited resources, my opponent decided to try for a spell assassination. Cassius got a casting line on Ossyan, but didn't roll well. He at least managed to land one stranglehold, so Ossyan's options would be limited.
It looked like the game was in the bag. I allocated three Focus to the Manticore, cleared off the last of the Tharn, and shot everything else at Cassius - yet failed to take him down! D:
Turn 5
My opponent was pretty surprised to have lived through that, and didn't waste it. A shifting stone popped up next to Ossyan, and Cassius hit it with Hellmouth, which dragged Ossyan to his death.
Victory to the Circle!
Thoughts
Luck was all over the place this game, but my opponent definitely outplayed me. My biggest mistake was forgetting about Tactician on the Whitemane. I didn't try to neutralize it on turn 2 because it didn't have any charge angles. It was a huge lucky break that it missed with its first attack. If it had managed to chomp through even half my Invictors, I would have had no answer to the Stalker, and I would more or less have lost right there. I also handled the 'jacks a little badly, and I didn't space my Mage Hunters properly on turn 1 - I misjudged the size of gaps I needed, and the Ravagers were able to get to the second line. I think that overall, I played in Skorne mode too. I was a little too willing to get my 'jacks into melee, and a little too willing to go head to head rather than maneuvering and shooting a little more.
I'll definitely be trying this list again, but I might just go back to min Mage Hunters, another Arcanist, and a Phoenix in place of the Manticore. I really felt like the Phoenix added a lot to my army's adaptability when I played it. The Manticore did have more shots, but I wasn't using them very well. This was partly because I failed to free it up with the Banshee, but the Manticore is very focus-hungry.
My opponent didn't make many big mistakes. He knew both our armies well (he also plays Ret), and was able to exploit my weaknesses consistently. He almost cut me out of the game entirely with he Whitemane (he needed anything but snake eyes to hit with that charge attack, though he was looking at 4's afterward). He did leave Cassius exposed on his fourth turn, although I'd pulled ahead in the attrition game and he didn't have much else left. I ended up having my turn of bad luck then, though, so it worked out.
The Cassius list was cool, and very different from what Caleb was running when he played Circle. If I were running it, I'd be worried about the low model count. Tharn are not durable, and there were only two beasts. Even though my opponent got the jump on me, I managed to pull ahead in attrition. Still the list seemed to work well as a unit, and my opponent handled it well. At 50pts, it probably adds the edge it needs to make up for its relative fragility.
Lord Arcanist Ossyan (+6)
*Banshee (10)
*Manticore (8)
10 Dawnguard Invictors (10)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2)
10 Mage Hunter Strike Force (8)
*Strike Force Commander (2)
Arcanist (1)
My opponent's list:
Cassius the Oathkeeper (+6)
*Wurwood (-)
*Megalith (11)
*Warp Wolf Stalker (10)
6 Tharn Ravagers (9)
*Tharn Ravager Chieftain (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
*Stone Keeper (1)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Tharn Ravager Whitemane (3)
Gallows Grove (1)
Gallows Grove (1)
My opponent won the roll off, and went first. During regular deployment, he deployed Cassius, Megalith, and the Whitemane in a little cluster in the center of his deployment zone. I deployed everything except the Mage Hunters opposite him, ready to take advantage of whatever cover showed itself.
During his advance deploy, he placed the Stones in a large triangle with Wurmwood in the middle. The Gallows Groves went on either side. The Tharn Ravagers deployed on my left, opposite my Invictors. Then I set up the Mage Hunters to counter his Ravagers. Ravager defensive stats aren't naturally great, and Mage Hunters can ignore just about every buff they can get.
Turn 1
All the circle models ran except the Shifting Stones, who teleported Wurmwood 8" toward the center of the field, and Cassius, who cast Unseen Path to get himself and Wurmwood even further up, then Feated, creating a 10" radius forest centered on Wurmwood. The whole Circle army was now screened from most of my shooting.
Ossyan advanced, put Admonition on the Banshee and Quicken on the Manticore. The Banshee and Invictors ran. The Mage Hunters advanced, and did as much damage as they could to the Ravagers, which turned out to be about 4pts of damage to one of them. :( The Manticore advanced about 8", and put a Covering Fire template in front of some of the Ravagers. It would be enough to damage one or two of them, but it wouldn't be a serious deterrent.
Turn 2
The Ravagers charged in at the Mage Hunters, killing about half of them, and engaged the Manticore. The Stalker ran to a flanking position to get to my heavies. The rest of Cassius' army moved up in support. Megalith cast Curse of Shadows at a Mage Hunter, but missed.
I allocated a bunch of Focus to the Manticore. Ossyan advanced, Feated to give my guns an extra damage die, and shot a Ravager, killing it. The Mage Hunters did some more damage to the other Ravagers. The Invictors used Extent Fire, and took down Megalith. The Banshee advanced attacked the Ravagers engaging the Manticore, but rolled very badly, and didn't un-engage it. The Manticore mananged to un-engage itself, but ended up sitting on 2 Focus it wouldn't use.
Turn 3
The Ravagers killed off all but 3 of my Mage Hunters, then the Whitemane charged through them at my bunched up Invictors. I'd forgotten about Tactician, and there was a very good chance he could munch through all my Invictors this turn. He rolled snake-eyes on his initial attack. :( On my opponent's behalf. Cassius fired Stranglehold at the Manticore, forcing it to forfeit its movement or action next turn, and cast Curse of Shadows on the Banshee to reduce its Arm. The Warpwolf charged and destroyed the Banshee.
My Invictors had survived, which was good because I really needed them to kill the Warpwolf. The Mage Hunters swatted at the Ravagers engaging them, doing a little more damage. The Manticore walked into melee with the Warpwolf Stalker, and sat there looking pleased with itself. I needed to clear off the Whitemane so my Invictors could charge, so Ossyan charged and killed him. The Invictors charged in and killed the Warpwolf (thanks to Flank) and most of the remaining Ravagers.
Turn 4
With limited resources, my opponent decided to try for a spell assassination. Cassius got a casting line on Ossyan, but didn't roll well. He at least managed to land one stranglehold, so Ossyan's options would be limited.
It looked like the game was in the bag. I allocated three Focus to the Manticore, cleared off the last of the Tharn, and shot everything else at Cassius - yet failed to take him down! D:
Turn 5
My opponent was pretty surprised to have lived through that, and didn't waste it. A shifting stone popped up next to Ossyan, and Cassius hit it with Hellmouth, which dragged Ossyan to his death.
Victory to the Circle!
Thoughts
Luck was all over the place this game, but my opponent definitely outplayed me. My biggest mistake was forgetting about Tactician on the Whitemane. I didn't try to neutralize it on turn 2 because it didn't have any charge angles. It was a huge lucky break that it missed with its first attack. If it had managed to chomp through even half my Invictors, I would have had no answer to the Stalker, and I would more or less have lost right there. I also handled the 'jacks a little badly, and I didn't space my Mage Hunters properly on turn 1 - I misjudged the size of gaps I needed, and the Ravagers were able to get to the second line. I think that overall, I played in Skorne mode too. I was a little too willing to get my 'jacks into melee, and a little too willing to go head to head rather than maneuvering and shooting a little more.
I'll definitely be trying this list again, but I might just go back to min Mage Hunters, another Arcanist, and a Phoenix in place of the Manticore. I really felt like the Phoenix added a lot to my army's adaptability when I played it. The Manticore did have more shots, but I wasn't using them very well. This was partly because I failed to free it up with the Banshee, but the Manticore is very focus-hungry.
My opponent didn't make many big mistakes. He knew both our armies well (he also plays Ret), and was able to exploit my weaknesses consistently. He almost cut me out of the game entirely with he Whitemane (he needed anything but snake eyes to hit with that charge attack, though he was looking at 4's afterward). He did leave Cassius exposed on his fourth turn, although I'd pulled ahead in the attrition game and he didn't have much else left. I ended up having my turn of bad luck then, though, so it worked out.
The Cassius list was cool, and very different from what Caleb was running when he played Circle. If I were running it, I'd be worried about the low model count. Tharn are not durable, and there were only two beasts. Even though my opponent got the jump on me, I managed to pull ahead in attrition. Still the list seemed to work well as a unit, and my opponent handled it well. At 50pts, it probably adds the edge it needs to make up for its relative fragility.
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