4+Tournament: Caleb's Circle, -or- pBaldur Rides Again!

So, there's a newbie-friendly tournament coming up this weekend, and I figured I'd participate. I'm be escewing Trollbloods because, frankly, I'm getting pretty good with them, and I don't want to "stomp newbie face all over the place". As the NFL league has shown (with my terrible 1-3 record so far), I'm a whole heck of a lot worse with Circle, and in the vein of both getting better and playing more casual games, I'm going to take that and run with it. Without further ado....

Baldur the Stonecleaver (*6pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
* Woldguardian (9pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
* Stone keeper (1pts)
Warpborn Skinwalkers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warpborn Alpha (3pts)
Blackclad Wayfarer (2pts)
Una the Falconer (3pts)
* Rotterhorn Griffon (3pts)

I actually got some practice in with this list, with a gallows grove instead of the stone keeper, in my most recent NFL game (the Tower League that pGrexy has been talking about... yea, I need to do more battle reports...), and it was a knock down drag out attrition slug fest vs Skorne, which was a little unexpected - I didn't think Circle could do that. pBaldur's feat and spells were pretty central , but once everything was engaged, the real surprise was Una the Falconer -- her 3 boostable POW 10 shots per turn ignore virtually everything in the way (plus the target in melee penalty), and because she could boost damage, they became pretty useful for taking out support solos and wounded infantry.

Kromac the Ravenous (*4pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Rip Horn Satyr (9pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
Stoneward and 5 Woldstalkers (5pts)
Blackclad Wayfarer (2pts)
Druid Wilder (2pts)

Gallows Grove (1pts)
Lord of the Feast (4pts)

I'm hoping to pick up a Rip Horn Satyr today now that they're out, but if not, I'll be buying a 2nd heavy Warpwolf kit and magnetizing a Feral/Pureblood for use with Kromac. If your knee-jerk reaction is "why are you bringing Kromac to a newbie-friendly tournament, you fool?!", fear not - I've played approximately 2 games with him (losing both horribly), the list isn't made to be brutally competitive, and I've already checked it out with the guy running the event (who, like many at Tower, are well aware of my less competitive streak).

I'm a bit wish-washy about the support models - I'm debating dropping the Woldstalkers and LotF for a Pureblood, but I want to see how this list does first (plus, that would give me a whole mess of fury problems with four FURY 4 beasts - the Wilder is going to be a bit taxed to begin with).

So, there are the lists - now that the 35pt games for the league are done (thus giving me a chance to get my Circle legs under me again) and we're moving up to 50pts, I'll try to get some actually battle report posts up in the coming weeks. Maybe. If I can. I hope.

Steam Rollin': Force Wall

I've been obsessing about Kaelyssa's new tier ever since the good ol' days of "Hail Hydra", and even though we lost our Gains Focus-powered Shoryuken I think it still shows a lot of potential, especially since I got into this game to play with steam/soul powered/geothermal stompy robots. It asks a very interesting question- if we're left with basically nothing but our 'Jacks, but they are allowed to live to their full potential, can we make a winning list?

NFL League Game 4: A Civil Disagreement (Skorne vs Skorne - 35pts)

Pre-Game Thoughts

Here's the report for my fourth NFL league game, and this time, I'm up against Skorne.  Since I'm also playing Skorne, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.  Skorne tends to run heavy armor with warbeasts, and tends to break heavy armor pretty well with those same beasts.  We usually run at least one unit of infantry for screening and killing other infantry, but we have some great infantry options against most opponents too.

The three 'casters I'm most worried about from Skorne are Xerxis, Zaal, and Morghoul 1.  Xerxis runs a mean brick, with armor I'll need serious commitment to crack, and the damage buffs to let ordinary infantry kill just about anything.  Zaal is kind of similar: he can buff infantry to the point where they'll kill warbeasts, plus he has some very deceptive ways to assassinate.  Morghoul 1 runs beasts that move very fast, and hit very hard, and has a denial Feat that can completely shut down warbeasts for a round.

For my 'casters, I went with Makeda 3 and Mordikaar.  Makeda 3 can crack armor very easily in case I see a brick of some kind.  I would have liked to take Zaal instead of Mordikaar, because as I said above, he's good against Skorne.  But Mordikaar still has some decent armor cracking potential, and has a lot of flexibility and attrition power for scenario play.  He's also a decent answer to Zaal.

Void Seer Mordikaar (*5pts)
*Despoiler (10pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

Despoiler is cool, especially with Mordikaar, since the Void Spirits it creates can have all kinds of interesting angles, and Mordikaar helps them out a lot.  Otherwise, the list is an infantry slog.  There will be lots of Reviving Swordsmen, and a few Reviving Cetrati.  I've got decent armor cracking power with the Cetrati and the heavies, but no real specialists there.  I am counting on Despoiler's Dark Shroud affinity to crack armor if it comes to that.

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

And here's my Makeda 3 brick again.  It's proven reliable against several kinds of lists so far, and I trust it against both Arm-skew and infantry heavy Skorne.

My opponent, Braden, obviously went through the same thought process I did when picking lists, and brought Morghoul 1, and Rasheth, both warlocks who can run an armor cracking Titan brick.

Master Tormentor Morghoul (*7pts)
*Tiberion (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

Well this list isn't messing around.  Four Titans is a lot of beef to chew through at 35pts (heck, it's kind of a lot at 50pts).  Besides that, they'll have Abuse and Rush to get them an 11.5" threat range, 13" for Tiberion, and a really solid denial feat against 'jack and beast heavy opponents.

Dominar Rasheth (*5pts) - Chain Gang Tier 4
*Bronzeback Titan (9pts)
*Titan Gladiator (7pts)
*Titan Gladiator (7pts)
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Paingiver Task Master (2pts)

Chain Gang is a scary list I didn't expect.  The Tier benefits make Titans cheaper, increase the FA of Agonizers, give Minion units a Spd boost on turn 1, start the Agonizers off with Fury, and expand the Deployment Zone 2" forward.  Rasheth also gives some great support against many different enemies, but especially living models.


Scenario, List Selection, and Deployment

We rolled up Balance of Power, a center scenario with a 12" by 6" rectangular zone in the middle of the table, and a flag on each player's side of it.  Controlling the zone is worth 1 point, dominating it is worth 2, and dominating the friendly flag takes away one of your opponent's points.  A strange scenario, but a cool one.

We set up terrain, and revealed out 'casters.  I picked Makeda 3, and Braden picked Morghoul 1.

Against two beast bricks, I'd need all the armor cracking I could get, and my Mordikaar list just doesn't have enough.  To top it off, Makeda's good at center scenarios because she likes the brick formation to stay tight.

I didn't ask Braden why he picked Morghoul over Rasheth, but I suspect he knew I'd have to go with Makeda 3, and Morghoul shuts her beasts down better, and his Feat and Torment can deny her transfers, which she needs to stay alive at the front lines.

Braden won the roll-off, and chose to go second.

I deployed in my standard brick in front of the zone.  The Brutes went on the flank, the Krea and Makeda went in the middle, and Molik and the Gladiator went just to the side of my center pieces (Molik on the left, the Gladiator on the right).  The Paingivers and Agonizer went behind the front line of beasts along with Makeda's Exalted Guardians.

Braden deployed in a similar group, with Tiberion on the right, the Bronzeback and Morghoul in the middle, and one of the Gladiators on the left.  The Willbreaker and the Paingivers went behind that line, along with the second Gladiator, who went right behind Morghoul.

Neither of us had any AD, so that was the setup.

The Gator models are our flags for the Scenario.

Turn 1, Makeda

I ran with the Brutes, Molik, and the Krea, Rushed and Trampled with the Gladiator, and had Makeda cast Vortex of Destruction and put 4 Fury on the Agonizer before charging up to keep pace with her army.  The Paingivers advanced, but I'd deployed them a little too far back, and I'd have to take a Threshold check next turn.

I was painfully aware of how much longer Morghoul's threat ranges generally are than mine.  Hopefully next turn, I could force Braden to commit to killing the Brutes so that I could mob his heavies and bring them down.


Turn 1, Morghoul

The Gladiator behind Morghoul Rushed Tiberion, who ran 10" up the table.  Morghoul put Abuse and Admonition on the Bronzeback, and advanced on the center-right of the table, about opposite his flag.

The Gladiator on the left Rushed the Bronzeback, and trampled up 7 inches.  The Bronzeback sprinted 14" up the table, sticking its toes into the zone.  The Paingivers moved up, and managed Fury on the beasts they could reach.

Braden was in a solid defensive position here.  His lead Bronzeback was well defended by Admonition, and threatening a huge area past the zone.  Tiberion and the left Gladiator were threatening into the zone, and I'd have to contest it this turn, or Braden would start scoring points.


Turn 2, Makeda

Makeda upkept Vortex of Destruction, and leached Fury.  One of the Brutes had to take a Frenzy check, but passed due to Molik making them all Thr 10.

The Krea advanced, and boosted a Spiritual Paralysis shot at the Bronzeback, but missed.  The right Brute advanced into the zone, and used Safeguard to prevent itself from being smashed around by slams and crit-Smites.  Braden decided to use Admonition to duck the Bronzeback to the left a bit, giving it a better charge lane at Molik Karn.

However, this also gave Molik a good charge lane at the Bronzeback.  Makeda and her Court got out of the way, the Guardians positioning themselves to hamper Tiberion if he came after anyone except the right Brute.  The left Brute advanced to the edge of the zone.  The Gladiator shuffled forward, and Rushed Molik, and the Paingivers Enraged him, and managed Fury.

Molik charged the Bronzeback, and killed it with his 2 initials, and 3 bought attacks, then used Fate Walker on himself.

The Agonizer advanced, and used Gnawing Pain to debuff Morghoul's beasts a little.  Finally, Molik took his Fate Walker move to step out of Morghoul's threat ranges.

Killing the Bronzeback was huge for me, since it had been the core of Braden's offense.  I still had Tiberion and 2 Gladiators (plus Morghoul's Feat to deal with), but now I was in a better position to deal with his threats.


Turn 2, Morghoul

Morghoul leached in his Fury.

He activated first, walked to the right corner of the zone, and cast Abuse on Tiberion, and Admonition on himself.  The Paingivers walked up, and Enraged Tiberion and the left Gladiator.

Tiberion charged the central Brute, and turned it into a red smear.  He'd scored two critical hits with Tetsubo, but Safeguard kept the Brute in place, if not alive.  The Willbreaker advanced, and used Ancillary Attack to have Tiberion smash the right Exalted Guardian too.

The left Gladiator Rushed itself, and charged at Molik, but was out by a little over an inch.  The rear Gladiator advanced, trying to get into Morghoul's CTRL or the Willbreaker's Command range.

Braden's beasts were committed now, and vulnerable.  It would take some planning to kill them off, but I had the opportunity to gain a huge leg up on attrition and scenario.


Turn 3, Makeda

Makeda leached, and upkept Vortex of Destruction.  There was still a Fury left on Molik, and he failed his Frenzy check, taking a fully boosted attack at the left Gladiator for moderate damage.

Now was my time to get the most out of my offense, so even with Molik out of commission, it was time to Feat.

The Agonizer used Gnawing Pain, and ran out of Makeda's way first.  Then she used her Feat (whenever a model in her battlergroup destroys an enemy model, she can gain a Fury or remove one from a warbeast in her battlegroup), and issued a Run/Charge order.  She charged the Gladiator, and her remaining Exalted Guardian charged the Willbreaker.  The Guardian killed the Willbreaker, and did a little damage to Tiberion.

Makeda finished off the Gladiator, used Blood Boon to cast an Eliminator at a nearby Paingiver, then used the 2" advance to get range and LoS on another Eliminator at another cluster of Paingivers.  She boosted the attack roll, and got another advance to get within melee range of Tiberion.  Rather than take attacks, I decided to have her camp her remaining 2 Fury.

The Paingivers Enraged the Gladiator and the Krea.  The Krea used Paralytic Aura, and charged Tiberion to drop his Def.  She also did a little damage with her bite.  The Gladiator charged Tiberion, and took advantage of Vortex of Destruction to kill him off.

Finally, the remaining Brute ran to screen Makeda from Morghoul a little better.  I ended my turn, and scored 2 points for dominating the zone.

I'd done everything I set out to do, and Braden was in a very tough position.  He basically had to kill Makeda this turn, or I'd quickly be able to win one way or another.


Turn 3, Morghoul

Morghoul was already full on Fury.

The last Gladiator advanced into Morghoul's CTRL, and Riled itself for Fury.  Morghoul used Maltreatment to take it for a 6th point of Fury overall.

Then he started his assassination run on Makeda by popping his Feat to deny her transfers to any beast in his CTRL.  Since the Brute was in the way, he had to go around, and couldn't quite reach her with a 7" walk.  However, he was in melee range of the Exalted Guardian, and if he could destroy it, he could Overtake into Makeda.  However, his Anatomical Precision doesn't work on statues, and he couldn't roll enough damage to kill the Guardian before running out of Fury.

With Morghoul so exposed, Braden decided to concede, and we counted it as an assassination.  Makeda lightly tapped Morghoul with her sword to let him know why she's in charge of the Empire.

Victory to Makeda!


Post-Game Thoughts

I didn't make any serious mistakes, and I judged my threat ranges and plays well.  Braden made two major mistakes that I was able to capitalize on to gain the advantage, and both of them revolved around using Morghoul's defensive tools offensively.  Both Admonition and Morghoul's Feat are mainly defensive tools.  While they can be used offensively, their main function is to give Morghoul's army more staying power against the types of enemies who can best take it out.  If Braden had kept Admonition on the Bronzeback rather than using it to get a better charge angle, it would have been able to dodge Molik.  If he had used Morghoul's Feat defensively on his second turn, Tiberion would very likely have lived (due to my beasts being unable to force), and Braden would have had another chance to rally.

Molik is the MVP this time around.  His long threat range and hitting power allowed him to kill off Braden's Bronzeback on turn 2, and put Braden on the defensive from then on.  Molik really is a power piece in any list, and he's extra terrifying under Makeda.

Braden's list was almost pure beef (elephant?), and is very close to what I would run with Morghoul at 35pts.  The only change I'd make is to possibly switch the second Gladiator out for a little more support - maybe a Krea and a Cyclops of some kind, or an Agonizer and a min unit.


That's it for now.  Stay tuned for next week's game, when we move up to 50pts, and I play against Circle.

Thanks for reading!

What-If Machine

I had an interesting conversation at the last tournament I attended at Tower back in March.  One of the other players (Professor Lust, I think?) was talking about preparing for a tournament by essentially playing the same game out a bunch of different ways.

Basically, both players take their first turns as normal, getting everything set up where it would be just before Turn 2, when most of the fighting starts.  Then, they'd mark where everything was (or just remember, since it's pretty casual), and play out the turn or the round, or even a couple of rounds.  Then, they'd reset the board, and play it out again, this time making different decisions, and seeing how the game plays out differently.  It gives people a chance to actually play out all those times where they said "oh, but I should have done..." after a game.

This doesn't give you the same kind of competitive experience as a normal game of Warmachine, but that's not the point.  Instead, you get to practice trying multiple things against the same army, with the same setup, which is a great way to learn how to use your lists.  It seems especially useful in tougher matchups, where small mistakes can really cost you.  I can definitely see how solving those kinds of problems casually, with time to go back and try again if things don't work out, could be a better way to improve your tactics than a normal game.  It gives you a lot more time to consider you're doing and what your opponent can do, and a lot more repetition of similar table positions, which helps you think and react quickly in a timed game.

Basically, it seems like a very interesting way to practice for more competitive games.

Anyway, I'm going start doing this at some point, although I don't have a whole lot of extra time between league games right now.  I'll probably even do a Groundhog Day style battle report, where no matter what we try, we always come back to turn 2 sooner or later.

Thanks for reading!

Battle Report: Ossyan vs Grissel1

Two games in a row? What the what?

This time I played Dan and his Grissel1 list. I don't have much experience against Trollbloods except for one encounter with the Miserable Meat Mountain that I got thoroughly trashed in, so I was a bit nervous about this matchup. 

NFL League Game 3: Abomination! (Skorne vs Khador - 35pts)

Pre-Game Thoughts

Greetings tabletop sportsfans.  It's time for the third battle of Tower's NFL themed summer league, and this time I'm up against Khador.  I don't have the greatest record against Khador, but that has given me a pretty good idea of what to watch out for.  Khador has a lot of hard-hitting infantry, and I'm expecting at least Ironfang Pikemen and the Great Bears of the Gallowswood, and even though high-Def is on the outs in our meta, I might see some Winter Guard Death Star and Kayazy Assassins.

'Caster-wise, I was prepping for three in particular (for whatever reason, I'm worried about three 'casters per faction, no more, no less) who can give Skorne trouble: Butcher 3, Irusk 1, and Sorcha 2.  The Butcher offers very little army support, but he can basically kill everything himself, and he murders Warlocks.  Sorcha 2 has a great spell list, and a serious armor cracking feat, and Irusk 1 is great at attrition in general.

I chose my lists mainly with Butcher 3 in mind.  I wanted to have an answer to him in both lists so that I could base my selection on the other 'caster my opponent went with.  To that end, I went with my mostly infantry based Zaal list, and a slightly modified version of my Makeda 3 brick.

Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Tiberion (11pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
*Kovass ( - )
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
*Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardain (3pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

Zaal has an innate ability to deal with the Butcher thanks to his love of Ancestral Guardians and Last Stand.  Last Stand lets his models kill the Butcher, even at full camp, and he's a support-type caster who likes to stay far, far away from trouble.  Against other lists, he'll have a decent attrition game, and always threaten assassinations.

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

Without Molik Karn available, Makeda's best way to retreat from combat is Sprint from the Archidon's Lightning Strike animus.  Orin Midwinter is good in general, especially against potential high-def units, and is Makeda 3's anti-Butcher 3 tech.  Khador doesn't usually have trouble cracking armor, but if a list looks like it might struggle, I'll drop Makeda 3.

My opponent, Tom, brought Butcher 3, since he really is rising to the top as a meta-bender for Khador, and Irusk 2 - a little like Irusk 1, but a little different.

The Butcher, Unleashed (*4pts)
*Juggernaut (7pts)
*War Dog (1pt)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Black Dragon Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Black Dragon Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Tactical Arcanist Corps (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Ogrun Bokur (Client: The Butcher) (3pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)

This is a solid Butcher 3 list with a wall of clouds for the Butcher to hide behind, and a wall of meat to ensure the enemy needs to commit some serious hitting power within the Butcher's melee range.  Basically your standard Butcher delivery system.

Supreme Kommandant Irusk (*5pts)
*Behemoth (13pts)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
*Black Dragon Officer and Standard Bearer (2pts)
Doomreavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
The Great Bears of the Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)

This looks like a pretty well rounded eIrusk list.  It has a variety of hard-hitting units, a good all-around 'jack in Behemoth, and eIrusk's great supporting spell list and abilities.  Battle Lust will let this list remove heavies, and Tough, and the Black Dragons and Doomreavers should be able to mow through any pesky infantry.


Scenario, List Selection, and Deployment

We rolled up a scenario, and got Outflank.  There are two large circular zones midway up the battlefield.  Controlling a zone is worth one point, while dominating one is worth 2.  Nice and simple.

We set up the table, and hid our 'casters.  I picked Zaal, while Tom went with Irusk 2.

I wanted Zaal because his list spreads out a little more, and because I do want to try out a couple of non-Makeda 3 lists.  I need to get some experience with other 'casters too.  Zaal also has a little more reliability against Irusk's Tough with the Swordsmen.

Tom picked Irusk because he saw that both my lists had anti-Butcher tech, and if I could keep Butcher 3 honest, his more-or-less complete lack of support for his troops would probably swing any attrition war in my favor.

I won the roll-off, and chose to go second, picking the table edge with what looked like the least annoying terrain setup, though neither of them was that great.

Tom set up his Iron Fangs on the right with the Kovnik, and Behemoth on the left.  Irusk, Sylys, and the Great Bears went in the middle.

I set up my Swordsmen opposite the Iron Fangs with the AG's interspersed to provide support and melee threats, and Marketh just behind for spell support.  Zaal, Tiberion, the Krea, and the Paingivers went on the left opposite behemoth.

Finally, Tom deployed the Widowmaker Marksman in the forest in front of Irusk, and the Doomreavers on the far right to threaten my Swordsmen.

Turn 1, Khador

Irusk allocated one to Behemoth.

Irusk walked forward, gave the Iron Fangs Tactical Supremacy (they get a 3" move after all your activations this turn), and put Fire for Effect on Behemoth.  Then he Energized Behemoth and himself up the field a bit.

The Kovnik and Iron Fangs ran upfield, since I had no real shooting.  The Doomreavers ran up as well.  The Great Bears ran behind the Iron Fangs.  The Widowmaker walked up beside the Iron Fangs.

Behemoth Trampled forward, and took a couple of Bombard shots at the Krea, but was out of range even with a scatter.

This is a standard Khador advance.  Irusk is far back for safety.  The Iron Fangs and Doomreavers are threatening my Swordsmen.  My left flank feels safer, but I don't love the prospect of Behemoth dropping shell after shell right at Zaal.


Turn 1, Skorne

The Swordsmen and Ancestral Guardians ran forward, with the lead Swordsmen in the charge threat of most of the Khador infantry, but I hoped not the walking threat.

Zaal walked up, and gave the nearer AG and Hakaar a soul each, put Inviolable Resolve on Tiberion, and threw a couple of Fury on the Agonizer.

Tiberion ran, and the Krea used Paralytic Aura, and charged Behemoth, stopping when she hit Tiberion.  The Paingivers walked up, and managed Fury, and the Agonizer ran up behind a wall near the zone.

Finally, Marketh advanced, and put Last Stand on my middle Ancestral Guardian.

I ran to meet the Khadoran offensive.  I was not happy at all about this split deployment, but hopefully next turn, I'd be able to take a crack at the Khadoran Infantry while joining my line and contesting both zones.  The eventual plan was to either out-attrition the Khadoran infantry or get a Kovass or Ancestral Guardian into Irusk.


Turn 2, Khador

Irusk dropped Tactical Supremacy, but upkept Fire for Effect, and allocated 1 Focus to the Behemoth.

Sylys advanced, and used Arcane Secrets on Irusk.  Irusk advanced, and cast Airburst on an Ancestral Guardian barely in his CTRL, and the AoE hit the Swordsmen Officer and Standard Bearer.  He boosted damage against the Officer, and killed both, denying the Swordsmen their mini-Feat and Side Step.

Behemoth advanced, and shot at the Agonizer twice.  It missed both times, thanks to Cover, but didn't deviate onto the Paingivers either time.

The Kovnik gave the IFP Shield March, and they advanced in Shield Wall, ending up just out of range of the Swordsmen.  The Doomreavers charged two of their number into the lead Swordsmen, forcing an Abomination check, which the Swordsmen failed.  Ugh.  They also killed 2 Swordsmen.

The Widowmaker advanced, and deftly sniped out Marketh, which removed my chance of rallying the Swordsmen before their activation next turn with Inviolable Resolve.  Ughhh.

The Great Bears ran upfield a bit, staying behind the IFP line.

Well... crap.  With the Swordsmen out of commission for a turn, and out of a mini-Feat and Side Step permanently, I'd have to hope the AG's could hold up my right flank.  The left was looking a bit better with Zaal's battlegroup completely intact, but I was still in a tough spot.


Turn 2, Skorne

Time for some Righteous Vengeance, courtesy of Hakaar, who walked up into dudes-killing range, and knocked down a Doomreaver (who Toughed due to being in Irusk's Cmd).

Then Zaal upkept Last Stand on the AG and Inviolable Resolve on Tiberion.  I did some quick CTRL measurements, and off we went.

The Agonizer used Spiritual Affliction to deny Focus Allocation, and sobbed its way over to Behemoth, which would at least keep the 'jack's damage potential to a minimum.  The Paingivers Enraged Tiberion.

Tiberion charged the Iron Fangs in his zone, and after a lot of Tough Checks, managed to Crit Smite the one he could reach into the next one, and kill them both, leaving him maxed on Fury.  The Krea walked up, and used Paralytic Aura.  Zaal walked up behind her, threw a soul on the Ancestral Guardians, and cast Bump on Tiberion to hopefully help him survive the turn.

The Swordsmen meebled around, getting out of the way, and preparing to be useful next turn by rallying (yay).  Hakaar walked up to engage the Marksman and all the nearby Iron Fangs, and killed the Doomreaver he'd knocked down as well as 3 of the 4 Iron Fangs.  The AG behind him ran to a supporting position to threaten Defensive Strikes with Last Stand.  The last AG advanced, and killed off the other Doomreaver who had attacked the Swordsmen.

The basic plan was to force his infantry to deal with the AG's or be attritioned out.  Once they killed the AG's the Kovass would pop out, and hopefully kill Irusk, or at least do enough damage to give me the right flank, and start threatening Irusk.


Turn 3, Khador

Irusk had no Focus to allocate, but did upkeep Fire for Effect on Behemoth for free.

Irusk went early, popped his Feat to give my models/units in his CTRL -2 Speed, and prevent them from receiving (or giving) Orders for a round.  It also stands up his models, and lets them ignore clouds and forests, but that effect would not come into play.  He also cast Battle Lust (an additional die on melee damage rolls and Fearless for a round) on the Great Bears and the Iron Fang Pikemen, and cast Energizer for 3 Focus to bring Behemoth within aiming range of Zaal.

The Great Bears charged in, and killed Tiberion, though it did take them 5 attacks to seal the deal.

The Iron Fang Pikemen used their mini-Feat, Iron Zeal, to give themselves +4 Arm and immunity to Knockdown and Stationary for a round.  They charged the Krea and Hakaar, and killed both easily, along with a couple of Swordsmen.  I spawned the Kovass on Hakaar with a clear line of sight to Irusk.  The nearby Swordsmen passed their Abomination check.

Tom went into damage control mode.  He charged the Iron Fang Kovnik at the Last Standed AG, but the Kovnik failed his Abomination check, and sat there looking scared.

Tom had remembered that the Doomreavers had Magic Weapons, and the 4 remaining ones charged the Kovass (The Swordsmen and Widowmaker Marksman passed their Abomination checks).  The Last Stand AG killed one of those with its Defensive Strike, and one was just out of range.  The first one killed the Kovass on the first swing, then killed the Widowmaker, then hit an Iron Fang, who Toughed it out thanks to being near Irusk.  The last Doomreaver in melee took its initial swing at the Last Stand AG, but didn't finish it off.

Behemoth aimed, and shot at Zaal.  The boosted, Fire for Effect shot missed and scattered wide.  The unboosted normal shot hit him directly for 8 damage.  He chose to transfer to the wounded AG, taking 6 damage from backlash.  I spawned the Kovass again (and the Swordsmen passed yet another Abomination check).  The Kovass could still see Irusk.

Sylys moved to be able to take a free strike on the Kovass with his magic staff.

This was taken partway through the next turn - I forgot until then because I was so focused on the game at this point.

Losing both my beasts (not to mention having the Great Bears within axing range of Zaal) meant the sooner I ended the game, the better.  Fortunately for me, there was a Kovass ready to help Irusk join it in the ghost realm.  All I had to do was clear out everything capable of taking Free Strikes against it.


Turn 3, Skorne

Zaal cut himself for 1 Fury to bring himself back up to full.  He had no spells to upkeep.

The Swordsmen went first, and killed two of the remaining Doomreavers who were threatening Free Strikes on the Kovass.  This forced Tom to promote the one in front of the Kovass, meaning it wouldn't be able to make any more attacks (including Free Strikes) for the rest of the turn.*  Perfect.

I was pretty sure the Kovass could kill Irusk with just Zaal's Feat, but I wanted to be extra sure, so I wanted to get Last Stand on it.

So the Paingivers charged the three Iron Fangs who had killed the Krea, and heroically killed them with a trio of 8's to hit (Anatomical Precision made the Pikemen's high Armor moot).

Zaal would need to walk out of the forest to get into range of the Kovass with Last Stand, but unfortunately, the brave Paingivers were in the way.  Unfortunately for them!  Zaal killed two with Sunder Spirits to the back, left the forest, and barely got within range to put Last Stand on the Kovass.  Then he popped his Feat. to let the Kovass boost melee attack and damage rolls with tokens for every model of mine that had been destroyed.

The Kovass charged Irusk, and was easily able to stay in Sylys' melee range.  Sylys died in the first Thresher, and Irusk died horribly on the second attack.

Victory to the Skorne!


Post-Game Thoughts

Sweet merciless Ancestors, that was close!  Luck was pretty wild this game, and I made a lot of mistakes that cost me dearly.  I shouldn't have deployed Zaal so far from the infantry.  Instead, I should have kept everything in a mutually supporting formation pretty centrally.  Against my deployment, Tom was basically able to refuse my left flank until he could get the Great Bears in on Tiberion.  On my first turn, I forgot about Airburst (and lost my whole Swordsmen UA to it), and let Marketh get sniped out of the game - two things I really should have been able to prevent.  After that (thanks to the failed Abomination check on the Swordsmen), it was all I could do to keep myself in the game at all.  I played Hakaar and the AG's pretty well, and definitely got them into a pretty optimal position for ghost-dropping on my second turn.  I'm not thrilled that my plan had to come down to that, but I'm pleased that in this case, it worked.

I can't judge the list based on this game, since I made some grievous mistakes, but there are a few things I'd really have liked to have.  The first is a second infantry unit.  Swordsmen are good, but if I'm going to be using one unit sacrificially, I'd really like to have more than just my AG's to take advantage of it.  I suppose that's one of the limitations of 35pts.  I could swap Tiberion for a Cyclops Raider and a unit of Swamp Shamblers, which Zaal runs extraordinarily well.  Tiberion wasn't the bulwark he's supposed to be against this list, but Battle Lusted Great Bears will kill just about anything.

The MVP of this fight is Hakaar.  Righteous Vengeance let him move up, and he was able to put some attrition power against the Iron Fangs that forced them to kill him, which is what I needed them to do.

Tom generally outplayed me (although the Swordsmen failing their Abomination check was a major stroke of luck for him).  He deployed well, and managed his activations to snipe out my critical support pieces early on.  His fatal mistake was forgetting the Kovass, which threw him into a scramble when it did appear so close to Irusk.  Tom was well aware that Irusk is pretty easy to kill, and he would have been a lot more careful if he'd kept the Kovass in mind.

Tom's list is very solid, with incredibly high damage output, and a reliable attrition game with the Tough, high-Arm Iron Fangs.  It doesn't have many major blind spots, but it does from the limitations all 35pt lists have.  For one thing, there aren't quite enough bodies between Irusk and danger to feel perfectly safe.  Tom also probably wants a Mortar Crew for Fire for Effect when he bumps the list up to 50pts.

Thanks for great, bloody, and nerve-wracking game, Tom!

My next match is Skorne vs. Skorne, and Zaal is effectively out of commission for the round thanks to Hakaar, Tiberion, and Marketh all being injured.

*This seems weird, but it's actually to prevent people from killing their own unit leaders to get better angles on formation by field promoting someone to the front lines.  If they do it, the newly promoted soldier can't attack.

Battle Report: Ossyan vs Irusk2

Managed to get another game in this week vs one of our local PGs and his heavy armor Khador battalion, lead of course by the indomitable Supreme Kommandant himself. My first army was an MoW brick led by Irusk2, so this was a treat for me.

Fortunately I was planning on practicing my Ossyan list anyway, so here we go: