4 weeks ago
Monday, March 12, 2012
Can I just say...
Master Necrotech Mortenebra has to be the SINGLE most infuriating model in the world to assemble. Just saying. Ugh.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Cryx vs Legion, 50 pts, 3/1/12
Another quick battle report.
Played a 50 point game against Rob, who decided to run Legion of Everblight. I took the Witch Coven list I had run two days prior against Minute.
Rob's list:
Vayl, Consul of Everblight
- Nephilim Protector
- Shredder
- Angelius
- Ravagore
- Typhon
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Bayal, Hound of Everblight
The Forsaken
I had never seen Epic Vayl in use before, and this was his first time trying her. Although we knew her abilities, it's hard to say how they would work out in-game.
The scenario we rolled up was 'Incursion'. In this one, there are three flags along the mid-line of the board, and one randomly disappears.
For set up, Rob basically had his army slightly off center, but mostly focused slight to my left. I, in my normal Cryx manner, spread out to put things all across my deployment zone. Mechanithralls + Necrotech + Nightwretch to my far left. Deathjack + Witch Coven + Withershadow Combine + Bloat Thrall in the center, and the Banes, Bile Thralls, a Nightwretch, and the Warwitch Siren off to my right. This gave me the ability to apply some pressure to all three flags at once.
Rob went first, and basically sent everything straight forward, and put Admonition on the Ravagore.
I ran as much forward as I dared to. The Bile Thralls hid in a forest off to my right, about 6-7" away from the flag there, and the Deathjack approached the center flag. At the end of my turn, we rolled to remove a flag- this ended up removing the center flag.
This put Rob in a rough spot- he had most of his forces slightly to the right of center, approaching the central flag, but still in range of the rightmost one. The only thing he had close to the left flag was a Ravagore. Still- with three control points required for victory, it wasn't a big issue for the moment.
Rob started his turn by shooting the Deathjack with the Ravagore, and dropping 8 damage on it. His Hex Hunters moved up and started to magic away at my various troops, accounting for 2 Bile Thralls, 2 Bane Knights, and a Bane Thrall I believe. His Nephilim Protector moved up to contest the right-hand flag, in case I got through the Hex Hunters, and the Blackfrost Shard parked a little behind to support him, Typhon moved up as well, towards the center of the board.
I try to guestimate the distance to Typhon, and am fairly sure I'm in range. I allocate three focus to the Deathjack, and have the Witch Coven advance and spread some Ghost Walk to my troops in the forests, as well as Infernal Machine on the Deathjack. I then pop my feat. The Bile Thralls, Bane Thralls, Bane Knights, and Tartarus make short work of the Hex Hunters, leaving them with a single model. The Mech Thralls run to the far side of the left-hand flag, and I park my arc node right next to it, giving me control of it. The Deathjack then charges in. Despite having Excessive Healing on it to help preserve its life, the Typhon quickly dies to the Deathjack due to incredible damage rolls (I think I dealt 14 on my charge attack, and followed it with another 10?). My turn ends, and I gain a control point.
Rob is faced with a lot of tough decisions here. He has the Deathjack front and center, who is going to create a tremendous amount of problems for his army if he doesn't deal with it. He has only one beast available to try to wrest control of the left-hand control point from me. On the right, he has the Nephilim Protector contesting the control point, but I had run a Bane Thrall into it to try to lock it into place. On top of all of that, the Witch Coven's feat was up, making LOS and hitting my models a tremendous pain.
Rob spends some time going over a few options, and decides that his primary goal needs to be contesting the left-hand control point, and killing the Deathjack. He has the Ravagore trample towards the flag, getting in range to contest it, and attempts to take a swing at the Nightwretch, but misses. At least for now he is contesting it.
He contemplates how to tackle the Deathjack with the available resources, and sadly makes some order of activation errors. First, he has the Blackfrost Shard move up- they kill the Bane Thrall engaged to the Nephilim Protector, and kill two Bile Thralls, hoping to make a game of contesting the flag over there.
The Angelius charges in against the Deatjack, manages to hit, and then rolls poorly for damage on the Armor Piercing attack. A few more attacks put a few points on the Deathjack, before the Angelius decides to Repulsion it away. The Nephilim Soldier then charges the Deathjack, and despite the -2 to hit, manages to put a few damage onto it as well. The Forsaken moves up, and I think drops one more point on it.
So, at this point the Deathjack had taken about 20 damage, and had only lost an arm. Not nearly enough to help Rob, so he has Vayl move back (out of my feat), shoot the Angelius to create an Arc Node, and pops her feat. The first Obliteration unfortunately misses (here's the order of activation problem- he definitely didn't want the Deathjack engaged for this, although his roll was poor enough it wouldn't have mattered), but succeeds in killing his own Forsaken. Thrilled, he puts Admonition on Vayl, Frostbite on the Mechanithralls (to stop them from Combo Striking), and then spends Fury for another Obliteration shot that DOES hit. A boost to the damage doesn't deal enough to the Deathjack, however.
At this point, Rob conceded, more because we were running low on time than because of his chances. I personally think I could've gotten a control point on the right this turn, using the remaining Bile Thralls to clear the Blackfrost Shard, and then moving the Nightwretch onto it. The left one would've been more difficult, because the Ravagore was too close to most of my Mechanithralls, meaning they couldn't have charged, limiting my damage. I probably could've gotten a Curse of Shadows onto the Ravagore which would've helped, but even so, Rob would've had a difficult time fighting for the right flag at this point, which would've given me the win.
We aren't really sure what to do with Epic Vayl- she has a decent number of tools, but finding the right models to run with her will be a challenge. Hopefully Rob takes her again, and we can get a better idea of just what she can do!
Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! I will start working to put pictures back in the battle reports soon!
Played a 50 point game against Rob, who decided to run Legion of Everblight. I took the Witch Coven list I had run two days prior against Minute.
Rob's list:
Vayl, Consul of Everblight
- Nephilim Protector
- Shredder
- Angelius
- Ravagore
- Typhon
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Bayal, Hound of Everblight
The Forsaken
I had never seen Epic Vayl in use before, and this was his first time trying her. Although we knew her abilities, it's hard to say how they would work out in-game.
The scenario we rolled up was 'Incursion'. In this one, there are three flags along the mid-line of the board, and one randomly disappears.
For set up, Rob basically had his army slightly off center, but mostly focused slight to my left. I, in my normal Cryx manner, spread out to put things all across my deployment zone. Mechanithralls + Necrotech + Nightwretch to my far left. Deathjack + Witch Coven + Withershadow Combine + Bloat Thrall in the center, and the Banes, Bile Thralls, a Nightwretch, and the Warwitch Siren off to my right. This gave me the ability to apply some pressure to all three flags at once.
Rob went first, and basically sent everything straight forward, and put Admonition on the Ravagore.
I ran as much forward as I dared to. The Bile Thralls hid in a forest off to my right, about 6-7" away from the flag there, and the Deathjack approached the center flag. At the end of my turn, we rolled to remove a flag- this ended up removing the center flag.
This put Rob in a rough spot- he had most of his forces slightly to the right of center, approaching the central flag, but still in range of the rightmost one. The only thing he had close to the left flag was a Ravagore. Still- with three control points required for victory, it wasn't a big issue for the moment.
Rob started his turn by shooting the Deathjack with the Ravagore, and dropping 8 damage on it. His Hex Hunters moved up and started to magic away at my various troops, accounting for 2 Bile Thralls, 2 Bane Knights, and a Bane Thrall I believe. His Nephilim Protector moved up to contest the right-hand flag, in case I got through the Hex Hunters, and the Blackfrost Shard parked a little behind to support him, Typhon moved up as well, towards the center of the board.
I try to guestimate the distance to Typhon, and am fairly sure I'm in range. I allocate three focus to the Deathjack, and have the Witch Coven advance and spread some Ghost Walk to my troops in the forests, as well as Infernal Machine on the Deathjack. I then pop my feat. The Bile Thralls, Bane Thralls, Bane Knights, and Tartarus make short work of the Hex Hunters, leaving them with a single model. The Mech Thralls run to the far side of the left-hand flag, and I park my arc node right next to it, giving me control of it. The Deathjack then charges in. Despite having Excessive Healing on it to help preserve its life, the Typhon quickly dies to the Deathjack due to incredible damage rolls (I think I dealt 14 on my charge attack, and followed it with another 10?). My turn ends, and I gain a control point.
Rob is faced with a lot of tough decisions here. He has the Deathjack front and center, who is going to create a tremendous amount of problems for his army if he doesn't deal with it. He has only one beast available to try to wrest control of the left-hand control point from me. On the right, he has the Nephilim Protector contesting the control point, but I had run a Bane Thrall into it to try to lock it into place. On top of all of that, the Witch Coven's feat was up, making LOS and hitting my models a tremendous pain.
Rob spends some time going over a few options, and decides that his primary goal needs to be contesting the left-hand control point, and killing the Deathjack. He has the Ravagore trample towards the flag, getting in range to contest it, and attempts to take a swing at the Nightwretch, but misses. At least for now he is contesting it.
He contemplates how to tackle the Deathjack with the available resources, and sadly makes some order of activation errors. First, he has the Blackfrost Shard move up- they kill the Bane Thrall engaged to the Nephilim Protector, and kill two Bile Thralls, hoping to make a game of contesting the flag over there.
The Angelius charges in against the Deatjack, manages to hit, and then rolls poorly for damage on the Armor Piercing attack. A few more attacks put a few points on the Deathjack, before the Angelius decides to Repulsion it away. The Nephilim Soldier then charges the Deathjack, and despite the -2 to hit, manages to put a few damage onto it as well. The Forsaken moves up, and I think drops one more point on it.
So, at this point the Deathjack had taken about 20 damage, and had only lost an arm. Not nearly enough to help Rob, so he has Vayl move back (out of my feat), shoot the Angelius to create an Arc Node, and pops her feat. The first Obliteration unfortunately misses (here's the order of activation problem- he definitely didn't want the Deathjack engaged for this, although his roll was poor enough it wouldn't have mattered), but succeeds in killing his own Forsaken. Thrilled, he puts Admonition on Vayl, Frostbite on the Mechanithralls (to stop them from Combo Striking), and then spends Fury for another Obliteration shot that DOES hit. A boost to the damage doesn't deal enough to the Deathjack, however.
At this point, Rob conceded, more because we were running low on time than because of his chances. I personally think I could've gotten a control point on the right this turn, using the remaining Bile Thralls to clear the Blackfrost Shard, and then moving the Nightwretch onto it. The left one would've been more difficult, because the Ravagore was too close to most of my Mechanithralls, meaning they couldn't have charged, limiting my damage. I probably could've gotten a Curse of Shadows onto the Ravagore which would've helped, but even so, Rob would've had a difficult time fighting for the right flag at this point, which would've given me the win.
We aren't really sure what to do with Epic Vayl- she has a decent number of tools, but finding the right models to run with her will be a challenge. Hopefully Rob takes her again, and we can get a better idea of just what she can do!
Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! I will start working to put pictures back in the battle reports soon!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Cryx vs Trollbloods, 50pts, 2/28/2012
Quick battle report from last night.
Minute and I played a 50 point game at Games & Stuff, where we generally try to play a game once a week.
I decided to run the Witch Coven. I'm working on assembling some new Skorne models to more effectively run some of my warlocks, and I don't seem to get the Cryx on the table often enough. Plus, Minute has been on a bit of a winning streak, and that just isn't allowed.
My list:
The Witch Coven of Garlghast
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Deathjack
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Bloat Thrall
Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall
Warwitch Siren
I don't think there's anything really strange about this list, although I did take a Necrotech, mainly because I had a single point left over with nothing better to use it on.
We ended up rolling a scenario requiring reinforcements, so my reinforcements were Darragh Wraith and a minimum unit of Soulhunters.
Minute took:
Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels
- Troll Impaler
- Dire Troll Bomber
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer
Fell Caller Hero
Horthol, Long Rider Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
For reinforcements, Minute chose the Earthborn Dire Troll.
Our scenario was envelopment- there are two controls zone off center, one closer to each of us, and we have to control the far one to get control points. It's actually one of the scenarios I most enjoy because it both has reinforcements and does a good job getting the two armies to fight one another.
I didn't take pictures, so I won't bore everyone with a play-by-play. Basically, first turn Minute moved everything up, and I did the same, and threw a Veil of Mists in front of the Deathjack which was in the control zone closest to me (which Minute needed to control for control points). Second turn, he started shooting at me, knocking the Deathjack down with one of Grissel's shots, and then dropping two Bomber shots on me, which unfortunately didn't do a whole lot for damage due to rather poor rolling. Minute also sent Horthol way off to my left for a strong flanking maneuver, unfortunately for him. The Fennblades began charging in, doing very minor damage to the Deathjack, and killing two Bane Knights.
I began by having my reinforcements come in, who immediately charged and killed Horthol and his dismounted form. The Bile Thralls sacrificed two of themselves to drop a few Fennblades, and the Bane Knights killed a few themselves, healing up the Deathjack with the newly released souls. My Mechanithralls charged into the oncoming Long Riders on my left (who were hit with Curse of Shadows so I could get through them), killing two. I also feated.
This put Minute in a tough spot. I had pretty much wiped most of his Fennblade unit, and I had a few Bane Knights over on his side of the board, making it difficult to get his beasts into the action. The feat stymied any hope of him charging and doing serious damage, and it really hosed his Scattergunners, who were too far away to go after the main things he wanted to target. The Long Riders were engaged, but hardly out, but there was a full unit of Mechanithralls in between him and my vulnerable casters.
After some thought, he had the Bomber clear a Bane Knight who was near Grissel, and started moving most of his army to his right (my left) to camp in the zone I needed to get to. The large unit of Scattergunners moved up, and targeted either the Deathjack, or themselves (they auto-miss themselves, but it was handy for getting shots at things they couldn't see). The end result of all this shooting was a dead Bloat Thrall and Bane Lord Tartarus, a few boxes chipped off the Deathjack, and a Nightwretch with no Arc Node. He also managed to roll a 12 to hit my Warwitch Siren, but rolled really poor for damage (his rolls all night were pretty poor).
The Long Riders began riding through the Mechanithralls, killing 8 of them, I believe, and Minute declared his turn over. He had thrown a large unit right down the center of his target deployment zone, in between me and his warlock. Of course, with the Witch Coven, that's not a problem.
My turn was longer than it had to be, but I'll mention the main points. The Scattergunners were blocking LOS to Grissel from the Deathjack, who I was fairly certain was in charge range (with Infernal Machine on him). The Warwitch Siren went up and sprayed, killing one of the two blocking models. The Withershadow Combine took care of the last one. One Ghost Walk later, the Deathjack was in combat with Grissel (camping two fury), with 5 focus to use. My charge attack missed, sadly, but thankfully I hit her with enough attacks to end her.
I forgot how much I missed playing the Witch Coven. Their movement tricks make it very easy for me to do what I want during the game, and they have the ability to put out enough offense if they need to (which I didn't use at all this game). Unfortunately for my opponent, this seemed like a super-favorable match-up for me. Inhospitable Ground did not mean anything to my army, and her feat, control range, and abilities didn't have the ability to do much to my army, it felt like. Of course, this was my first time facing her (and his first time using her), so more games may be more telling.
I have another game on Thursday, so I'm sure you'll hear from me soon after!
Minute and I played a 50 point game at Games & Stuff, where we generally try to play a game once a week.
I decided to run the Witch Coven. I'm working on assembling some new Skorne models to more effectively run some of my warlocks, and I don't seem to get the Cryx on the table often enough. Plus, Minute has been on a bit of a winning streak, and that just isn't allowed.
My list:
The Witch Coven of Garlghast
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Deathjack
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Bloat Thrall
Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall
Warwitch Siren
I don't think there's anything really strange about this list, although I did take a Necrotech, mainly because I had a single point left over with nothing better to use it on.
We ended up rolling a scenario requiring reinforcements, so my reinforcements were Darragh Wraith and a minimum unit of Soulhunters.
Minute took:
Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels
- Troll Impaler
- Dire Troll Bomber
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer
Fell Caller Hero
Horthol, Long Rider Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
For reinforcements, Minute chose the Earthborn Dire Troll.
Our scenario was envelopment- there are two controls zone off center, one closer to each of us, and we have to control the far one to get control points. It's actually one of the scenarios I most enjoy because it both has reinforcements and does a good job getting the two armies to fight one another.
I didn't take pictures, so I won't bore everyone with a play-by-play. Basically, first turn Minute moved everything up, and I did the same, and threw a Veil of Mists in front of the Deathjack which was in the control zone closest to me (which Minute needed to control for control points). Second turn, he started shooting at me, knocking the Deathjack down with one of Grissel's shots, and then dropping two Bomber shots on me, which unfortunately didn't do a whole lot for damage due to rather poor rolling. Minute also sent Horthol way off to my left for a strong flanking maneuver, unfortunately for him. The Fennblades began charging in, doing very minor damage to the Deathjack, and killing two Bane Knights.
I began by having my reinforcements come in, who immediately charged and killed Horthol and his dismounted form. The Bile Thralls sacrificed two of themselves to drop a few Fennblades, and the Bane Knights killed a few themselves, healing up the Deathjack with the newly released souls. My Mechanithralls charged into the oncoming Long Riders on my left (who were hit with Curse of Shadows so I could get through them), killing two. I also feated.
This put Minute in a tough spot. I had pretty much wiped most of his Fennblade unit, and I had a few Bane Knights over on his side of the board, making it difficult to get his beasts into the action. The feat stymied any hope of him charging and doing serious damage, and it really hosed his Scattergunners, who were too far away to go after the main things he wanted to target. The Long Riders were engaged, but hardly out, but there was a full unit of Mechanithralls in between him and my vulnerable casters.
After some thought, he had the Bomber clear a Bane Knight who was near Grissel, and started moving most of his army to his right (my left) to camp in the zone I needed to get to. The large unit of Scattergunners moved up, and targeted either the Deathjack, or themselves (they auto-miss themselves, but it was handy for getting shots at things they couldn't see). The end result of all this shooting was a dead Bloat Thrall and Bane Lord Tartarus, a few boxes chipped off the Deathjack, and a Nightwretch with no Arc Node. He also managed to roll a 12 to hit my Warwitch Siren, but rolled really poor for damage (his rolls all night were pretty poor).
The Long Riders began riding through the Mechanithralls, killing 8 of them, I believe, and Minute declared his turn over. He had thrown a large unit right down the center of his target deployment zone, in between me and his warlock. Of course, with the Witch Coven, that's not a problem.
My turn was longer than it had to be, but I'll mention the main points. The Scattergunners were blocking LOS to Grissel from the Deathjack, who I was fairly certain was in charge range (with Infernal Machine on him). The Warwitch Siren went up and sprayed, killing one of the two blocking models. The Withershadow Combine took care of the last one. One Ghost Walk later, the Deathjack was in combat with Grissel (camping two fury), with 5 focus to use. My charge attack missed, sadly, but thankfully I hit her with enough attacks to end her.
I forgot how much I missed playing the Witch Coven. Their movement tricks make it very easy for me to do what I want during the game, and they have the ability to put out enough offense if they need to (which I didn't use at all this game). Unfortunately for my opponent, this seemed like a super-favorable match-up for me. Inhospitable Ground did not mean anything to my army, and her feat, control range, and abilities didn't have the ability to do much to my army, it felt like. Of course, this was my first time facing her (and his first time using her), so more games may be more telling.
I have another game on Thursday, so I'm sure you'll hear from me soon after!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Absylonia, Terror of Everblight (conversion)
I've really been in a kick to work on converting some miniatures, but I haven't been able to find the perfect one for me to work on. Skorne, Dark Elves, Empire... these really don't fit the bill for convertible opportunities. Cryx do a little, but I have most of my more interesting Cryx minis already assembled, so that doesn't work as well for now.
It turns out I have a small amount of Legion miniatures, from when my brother was interested in playing, until he decided he wasn't interested at all. Going through them, I found Absylonia, and realized she'd be perfect for my needs.
So, to start, I looked at what her miniature looked like (image from the Privateer Press website):
Now, the model is fine, as is. Certainly not too flat, plenty of detail. But I didn't like it for two main reasons. First, Absylonia can give herself reach, and I didn't feel like this model gave me that feeling. Second, she can give herself flight, and although her wing-hands kind of give the impression that she can, I didn't much like it.
So basically, I wanted to give her flight and reach, somehow. I decided, of course, to give her small wings, and tentacles instead of that one leg coming out of her dress-thing. Also, why not put her on a more interesting base, while I'm at it?
So, the results follow:
I personally like the way it turned out. The tentacles were fun to do, and even though it's not exactly exceptional modeling (wire and green stuff wrapped around it), it made me FEEL like I was doing real modeling, haha. Trying to bend the cloak so that it hugged the rock on the back was a bit more difficult, but the result was decent enough for me.
So yeah, that's done, and now it's on to painting. I'm going to try to push my painting a little, and I'm going to try for only gray-scale. I'm not sure how it will look (I'll test blending and the color scheme on one of my random shredders first), but I think I can get it looking good enough for my tastes.
It turns out I have a small amount of Legion miniatures, from when my brother was interested in playing, until he decided he wasn't interested at all. Going through them, I found Absylonia, and realized she'd be perfect for my needs.
So, to start, I looked at what her miniature looked like (image from the Privateer Press website):
So basically, I wanted to give her flight and reach, somehow. I decided, of course, to give her small wings, and tentacles instead of that one leg coming out of her dress-thing. Also, why not put her on a more interesting base, while I'm at it?
So, the results follow:
I personally like the way it turned out. The tentacles were fun to do, and even though it's not exactly exceptional modeling (wire and green stuff wrapped around it), it made me FEEL like I was doing real modeling, haha. Trying to bend the cloak so that it hugged the rock on the back was a bit more difficult, but the result was decent enough for me.
So yeah, that's done, and now it's on to painting. I'm going to try to push my painting a little, and I'm going to try for only gray-scale. I'm not sure how it will look (I'll test blending and the color scheme on one of my random shredders first), but I think I can get it looking good enough for my tastes.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Various games played lately
Well, I haven't been posting much (okay, okay, not at all), but I have actually been playing games, so I figured I'd post an update of what I've been up to, by army.
Dark Elves:
What? A fantasy game? That's right- I played a 3000 point Fantasy game against Frans' Skaven last month. Our scenario was Battle for the Pass. It wasn't super close, but it did teach me a bit more about how fantasy works (at least from the Dark Elves' perspective). I have a bit of learning to do, no doubt.
Cryx:
I've played a few games with Cryx. Last month I played Iron Lich Asphyxious against Rob running Vlad, and got a win. My highlight of that game was using my newly assembled Darragh Wraithe. I didn't get much mileage out of him, admittedly, but the threat of Incorporeal Soulhunters did help dictate the game some.
I've been busy fixing a lot of my old Cryx models (mainly jacks). My hope is to assemble Mortenebra soon and get them (and her) on the table.
Skorne:
I've been playing a lot more frequently with my Skorne, including breaking out some new warlocks.
First, I gave Naaresh a try, in two games- one against Jerry playing as Siege, and one against Rob running Harkevich. Although I won in both games (although the one against Jerry was partially because I did a poor job explaining the scenario), I feel like Naaresh was just there to pop his feat and let his beasts do the work. I've been running him fairly beast heavy (Titan Gladiator + 2 Cyclops + Razorworm + Basilisk Krea), because his feat is very good, I just haven't gotten a feel for what I should be doing otherwise with him. Cyclone is a nice spell, but he's not going to be able to assassinate casters, and really its just there to get him out of unfavorable combats. Still undecided about him.
I've been loving Dominar Rasheth however. In three game (loss vs Ben playing Grissel, and wins vs BK playing the Harbinger and Rob playing Vayl) I've already decided I love the way he plays. Running the Cannoneer + an Agonizer does a good job keeping him alive, and running Gatormen Posse and a few beasts seem to provide him with enough punch. I'll be working to tweak what I run with him (I need to buy Nihilators!) and posting some battle reports of those games.
Finally, I ran Mordikaar once, against Rob's Bethayne army. It turned out to be a pretty favorable matchup, but man Mordikaar seems like a boring 'lock. I Revived what I could every turn, popped my feat on the second turn, and had Marketh cast Ghost Walk once. Other than that, my warlock was basically a spectator. Not too impressive... but I'll try some more times.
Legion:
I finally played a game with my Legion! Unfortunately, it was a game using regular Lylyth with a bunch of melee elements. Needless to say, I'm not very good with Legion, and I got destroyed by Ben's new Retribution army. We'll see if I can get something working with these guys (maybe with Thagrosh). I did, however, finish a fun conversion for Legion this weekend, which I'll post pictures of on Monday morning, most likely. Let me know what you think when it's up!
Anyway- I'm still here, just not frequently. I'm excited that I'm playing more games of late, so hopefully I can use that to drive my painting as well (since strangers now see my miniatures semi-regularly!).
Dark Elves:
What? A fantasy game? That's right- I played a 3000 point Fantasy game against Frans' Skaven last month. Our scenario was Battle for the Pass. It wasn't super close, but it did teach me a bit more about how fantasy works (at least from the Dark Elves' perspective). I have a bit of learning to do, no doubt.
Cryx:
I've played a few games with Cryx. Last month I played Iron Lich Asphyxious against Rob running Vlad, and got a win. My highlight of that game was using my newly assembled Darragh Wraithe. I didn't get much mileage out of him, admittedly, but the threat of Incorporeal Soulhunters did help dictate the game some.
I've been busy fixing a lot of my old Cryx models (mainly jacks). My hope is to assemble Mortenebra soon and get them (and her) on the table.
Skorne:
I've been playing a lot more frequently with my Skorne, including breaking out some new warlocks.
First, I gave Naaresh a try, in two games- one against Jerry playing as Siege, and one against Rob running Harkevich. Although I won in both games (although the one against Jerry was partially because I did a poor job explaining the scenario), I feel like Naaresh was just there to pop his feat and let his beasts do the work. I've been running him fairly beast heavy (Titan Gladiator + 2 Cyclops + Razorworm + Basilisk Krea), because his feat is very good, I just haven't gotten a feel for what I should be doing otherwise with him. Cyclone is a nice spell, but he's not going to be able to assassinate casters, and really its just there to get him out of unfavorable combats. Still undecided about him.
I've been loving Dominar Rasheth however. In three game (loss vs Ben playing Grissel, and wins vs BK playing the Harbinger and Rob playing Vayl) I've already decided I love the way he plays. Running the Cannoneer + an Agonizer does a good job keeping him alive, and running Gatormen Posse and a few beasts seem to provide him with enough punch. I'll be working to tweak what I run with him (I need to buy Nihilators!) and posting some battle reports of those games.
Finally, I ran Mordikaar once, against Rob's Bethayne army. It turned out to be a pretty favorable matchup, but man Mordikaar seems like a boring 'lock. I Revived what I could every turn, popped my feat on the second turn, and had Marketh cast Ghost Walk once. Other than that, my warlock was basically a spectator. Not too impressive... but I'll try some more times.
Legion:
I finally played a game with my Legion! Unfortunately, it was a game using regular Lylyth with a bunch of melee elements. Needless to say, I'm not very good with Legion, and I got destroyed by Ben's new Retribution army. We'll see if I can get something working with these guys (maybe with Thagrosh). I did, however, finish a fun conversion for Legion this weekend, which I'll post pictures of on Monday morning, most likely. Let me know what you think when it's up!
Anyway- I'm still here, just not frequently. I'm excited that I'm playing more games of late, so hopefully I can use that to drive my painting as well (since strangers now see my miniatures semi-regularly!).
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Lord Tyrant Hexeris: Thoughts/Tips
I finally have some experience with Hexeris (at least enough to write SOMETHING about him). He's certainly different than the other Skorne warlocks I've used, and with his epic version coming out, there's never been a better time to be excited about him!
Stats:
His stats aren't really amazing (or terrible) all around. Average SPD, decent MAT, DEF, and ARM. Having 17 damage boxes actually puts him slightly above average in Skorne, and he has a few ways to heal himself. His FURY stat of 7 is really nice as well. Overall, his stats are pretty average or slightly above average.
Attacks:
His only attack is Gulgata, a moderate P+S weapon with reach. It has Beat Back, which is a nice ability that lets Hexeris move his opponent around some, either to push him into a more favorable position, or even to push him out of combat, if you'd like. Also, it has Life Drinker- if he kills a living enemy model, he can heal d3 damage.
I don't find myself getting into combat much with Hexeris, but it's actually not that bad if you do. P+S 14 will definitely get the job done, and with Beat Back to help move people out of combat if you'd like, Life Drinker will help keep him alive, and with Vampiric Reaving (look under Special Rules) he can really get a lot of Fury during his turn to be very effective. Of course, you aren't going to have that happen too terribly often, but even though it rarely occurs it's a nice addition.
Feat:
Hexeris' feat is Dark Dominion. When an enemy living or undead model is boxed while in his control area, you gain control of them, they become undead, they can move three inches, make an attack, and then are removed from play. With luck, you can chain this through your opponent's army, getting a lot of value for a single death (although in practice, you're lucky to get even the one extra dead model per model you kill). With luck, you can drop an opponent's warbeast with some of your attacks, and get a free warbeast attack (with no lost aspects) on another of an opponent's models.
As I 've said, with some luck, this becomes a TERRIFYING feat. I mean, it can end a game sometimes. Usually, you'll use it to kill models that are blocking charge lanes, or get a few extra points of damage on something that you're having a hard time killing.
Spells:
Death March: This spell tends to get used every game. Extra MAT and Vengeance is really helpful in a generally melee oriented army. You'll need the extra MAT often enough to make it worth using for that alone, but having the extra attacks from Vengeance, plus the extra movement can make even mediocre offensive units into something a lot scarier. Throw it on something first turn, and move it to something else when the time comes.
Obliteration: AOE 4 POW 15 attack. Decent damage and the AOE is nice, but at a cost of 4, you're not likely to cast it often during your games. However, on the feat turn, sending one of these into a group of enemies can really get you started on the right foot. I find I rarely cast this.
Psychic Vampire: This spell is incredibly helpful against some armies, and not nearly as useful against others. However, even with the 'less useful' armies, it still might be nice to cast right away and upkeep it. Whenever an enemy model casts a spell or uses an animus while in Hexeris' control area, they take a point of damage and Hexeris heals a point. This spell will put a definite limit on the lifespan of several units, including Greylords, Battle Mages, Hex Hunters, and Druids. It'll also chip away at those spell casting solos pretty quickly. The healing is a nice bonus that could occasionally keep you in the game.
Against warcasters and warlocks, it's not quite so strong, but how often do you find your opponent at 1 health after your turn? Often enough that this can really be a powerful spell.
Soulfire: This is a pretty solid spell. It's POW 12, but removes the boxed model from play if it kills it (effectively making it useless for your feat). However, if you kill a living non-soulless model with the spell, you gain a fury (effectively making the spell only cost a single fury to cast!). POW 12 is high enough to be deadly to most infantry, and with the extra fury you can get a lot of mileage out of this spell.
Soul Slave: Two parts to this one- first, the warbeast you cast it on automatically passes threshold checks. That's actually not so bad on its own, although with Paingivers and FURY 7 you're not going to be struggling horribly with managing it. However, in addition to that, Hexeris can channel through the model this spell is on. That's REALLY nice.
Throw it on a Bronzeback, and none of your Titans needs to worry about Threshold checks. Throw it on a Gladiator, slam something, and start casting at the knocked down models.
There are plenty of ways that this spell can be handy so it's probably good enough to say that you'll be throwing this on something from the very beginning and upkeeping it the entire time.
Special Rules:
Vampiric Reaving: Hexeris can reave fury from enemy warbeasts if he's closer than anyone else who could do the reaving. Not only do you get extra fury, which is always really helpful for spell casting, healing, or holding for transferring, but you also deprive it from your opponent, who is going to be more restricted about doing those things next turn. Of course, this ability means that you'll want to keep Hexeris up towards the front line a little, but with the abilities he has to help heal himself, having him just behind the front line isn't such a bad idea.
Synergies:
Cyclops Savage: Other than the benefits the Cyclops Savage gives to the other members of your army, there isn't really any major synergy between the two. Perhaps making Soulfire more likely to hit would be nice, but there are probably better targets for Prescience. Soul Slave isn't really that helpful on the Savage either.
Molik Karn: Since Karn is so good in every list, it makes sense that he would work so well with Hexeris. Soul Slave is really nice for when Karn gets too far ahead. You can very effectively extend your spell threat range. The amount of pain Karn can dish out can really feed Hexeris' feat turn. Hexeris' 14" control area gives Karn the ability to operate even further out.
Titan Cannoneer: I really like taking a Cannoneer with Hexeris for a few reasons. First, the gun is very handy on the feat turn. Shooting into low ARM infantry can really effectively clear them out. Second, when you're in position to shoot the gun, you'll be in position to channel some offensive spells through (via Soul Slave). The shooting + offensive spells can make for a moderately effective ranged threat. Also, since Hexeris is likely to be fairly close to the front, Diminish is a very handy animus to have available.
Titan Gladiator: Another very strong choice for Hexeris. Soul Slave allows you to put an arc node equivalent right in the midst of your opponent's army, where, after a Gladiator's slam, you should have some very vulnerable targets to drop an Obliteration or a Soulfire onto. Using the Gladiator as any sort of wrecking ball for some spell attacks is pretty effective.
Paingiver Beast Handlers: Not really any major synergy, although you can run really beast heavy if you wanted, because Soul Slave removes the threat of frenzying from a beast. Of course, you'll end up taking these guys in almost every list you can take anyway.
Praetorian Swordsmen: Death March on these guys is really nice. They become MAT 8 with is really nice, and with Vengeance, they become quite a bit more threatening, especially to a nearby beast or jack. Moving from two attacks to a potential three, in addition to the extra movement potentially provided by Vengeance (and Side-Step, of course), Hexeris can turn this unit into a huge pain in your opponent's army. Certainly not a bad choice.
Agonizer: There's no special synergy with the Agonizer, but the extra durability that he could bring may be handy. Two less damage from living models may be the difference between alive and dead with Hexeris, you never know.
Ancestral Guardian: Not any particular synergy, but reach and potential to have extra attacks can make the Ancestral Guardian an effective starter during a feat turn.
Tier Thoughts:
Hexeris' tier list is called the 'Kingdom of Shadow.' It's a very non-restrictive list of models you can include, although to hit tier 4 you're required to take 2 units of Praetorian Swordsmen (giving them Advanced Deployment), Aptimus Marketh (who I'll review soon, and is an amazing choice), and at least two Cataphract units. The benefits (Advance Deploy, Advance Move, and an extended deployment zone) are all geared to get you to grips with the enemy faster, and combined with Death March and some strong beasts, this could be a very effective combination of tools.
Oh, and he gets to have all his upkeeps up on the first turn. That's just fantastic of course. I've heard about using a Soul Slaved Razor Worm to put a shot into your opponent's deployment zone Turn 1, but I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know exactly how helpful that is.
Since this list is fairly open, I'll try to get it on the table one of these days in the not too distant future. Looks like it could be very effective.
Thoughts:
Overall, Hexeris is a fairly strong caster. You don't see him taken in a lot of major tournaments, because he isn't as 'easy' as some of the other strong Skorne casters. You'll want to take a strong melee-oriented army, with at least one good melee unit (even Swordsmen work here), and a beast that'll need to be up close. All three of his upkeeps will probably be in play the entire game, leaving Hexeris enough focus for a solid Soulfire shot. I think Aptimus Marketh is absolutely required to run Hexeris- the extra spell a turn can save you some focus (even if you're just recasting an upkeep so that Hexeris doesn't have to pay for it), and the occasional ability to upkeep spells can help Hexeris' fury go a long way.
You'll probably end up playing fairly close to the action, so you'll need to make sure to have some protection as well as focus to leave on Hexeris in order to transfer damage. He can heal himself, a couple of ways, which will extend his lifespan. I've been able to fairly successfully run Hexeris as a backfield caster, but it can be a little tough if your Soul Slaved beast gets heavily engaged.
Stats:
His stats aren't really amazing (or terrible) all around. Average SPD, decent MAT, DEF, and ARM. Having 17 damage boxes actually puts him slightly above average in Skorne, and he has a few ways to heal himself. His FURY stat of 7 is really nice as well. Overall, his stats are pretty average or slightly above average.
Attacks:
His only attack is Gulgata, a moderate P+S weapon with reach. It has Beat Back, which is a nice ability that lets Hexeris move his opponent around some, either to push him into a more favorable position, or even to push him out of combat, if you'd like. Also, it has Life Drinker- if he kills a living enemy model, he can heal d3 damage.
I don't find myself getting into combat much with Hexeris, but it's actually not that bad if you do. P+S 14 will definitely get the job done, and with Beat Back to help move people out of combat if you'd like, Life Drinker will help keep him alive, and with Vampiric Reaving (look under Special Rules) he can really get a lot of Fury during his turn to be very effective. Of course, you aren't going to have that happen too terribly often, but even though it rarely occurs it's a nice addition.
Feat:
Hexeris' feat is Dark Dominion. When an enemy living or undead model is boxed while in his control area, you gain control of them, they become undead, they can move three inches, make an attack, and then are removed from play. With luck, you can chain this through your opponent's army, getting a lot of value for a single death (although in practice, you're lucky to get even the one extra dead model per model you kill). With luck, you can drop an opponent's warbeast with some of your attacks, and get a free warbeast attack (with no lost aspects) on another of an opponent's models.
As I 've said, with some luck, this becomes a TERRIFYING feat. I mean, it can end a game sometimes. Usually, you'll use it to kill models that are blocking charge lanes, or get a few extra points of damage on something that you're having a hard time killing.
Spells:
Death March: This spell tends to get used every game. Extra MAT and Vengeance is really helpful in a generally melee oriented army. You'll need the extra MAT often enough to make it worth using for that alone, but having the extra attacks from Vengeance, plus the extra movement can make even mediocre offensive units into something a lot scarier. Throw it on something first turn, and move it to something else when the time comes.
Obliteration: AOE 4 POW 15 attack. Decent damage and the AOE is nice, but at a cost of 4, you're not likely to cast it often during your games. However, on the feat turn, sending one of these into a group of enemies can really get you started on the right foot. I find I rarely cast this.
Psychic Vampire: This spell is incredibly helpful against some armies, and not nearly as useful against others. However, even with the 'less useful' armies, it still might be nice to cast right away and upkeep it. Whenever an enemy model casts a spell or uses an animus while in Hexeris' control area, they take a point of damage and Hexeris heals a point. This spell will put a definite limit on the lifespan of several units, including Greylords, Battle Mages, Hex Hunters, and Druids. It'll also chip away at those spell casting solos pretty quickly. The healing is a nice bonus that could occasionally keep you in the game.
Against warcasters and warlocks, it's not quite so strong, but how often do you find your opponent at 1 health after your turn? Often enough that this can really be a powerful spell.
Soulfire: This is a pretty solid spell. It's POW 12, but removes the boxed model from play if it kills it (effectively making it useless for your feat). However, if you kill a living non-soulless model with the spell, you gain a fury (effectively making the spell only cost a single fury to cast!). POW 12 is high enough to be deadly to most infantry, and with the extra fury you can get a lot of mileage out of this spell.
Soul Slave: Two parts to this one- first, the warbeast you cast it on automatically passes threshold checks. That's actually not so bad on its own, although with Paingivers and FURY 7 you're not going to be struggling horribly with managing it. However, in addition to that, Hexeris can channel through the model this spell is on. That's REALLY nice.
Throw it on a Bronzeback, and none of your Titans needs to worry about Threshold checks. Throw it on a Gladiator, slam something, and start casting at the knocked down models.
There are plenty of ways that this spell can be handy so it's probably good enough to say that you'll be throwing this on something from the very beginning and upkeeping it the entire time.
Special Rules:
Vampiric Reaving: Hexeris can reave fury from enemy warbeasts if he's closer than anyone else who could do the reaving. Not only do you get extra fury, which is always really helpful for spell casting, healing, or holding for transferring, but you also deprive it from your opponent, who is going to be more restricted about doing those things next turn. Of course, this ability means that you'll want to keep Hexeris up towards the front line a little, but with the abilities he has to help heal himself, having him just behind the front line isn't such a bad idea.
Synergies:
Cyclops Savage: Other than the benefits the Cyclops Savage gives to the other members of your army, there isn't really any major synergy between the two. Perhaps making Soulfire more likely to hit would be nice, but there are probably better targets for Prescience. Soul Slave isn't really that helpful on the Savage either.
Molik Karn: Since Karn is so good in every list, it makes sense that he would work so well with Hexeris. Soul Slave is really nice for when Karn gets too far ahead. You can very effectively extend your spell threat range. The amount of pain Karn can dish out can really feed Hexeris' feat turn. Hexeris' 14" control area gives Karn the ability to operate even further out.
Titan Cannoneer: I really like taking a Cannoneer with Hexeris for a few reasons. First, the gun is very handy on the feat turn. Shooting into low ARM infantry can really effectively clear them out. Second, when you're in position to shoot the gun, you'll be in position to channel some offensive spells through (via Soul Slave). The shooting + offensive spells can make for a moderately effective ranged threat. Also, since Hexeris is likely to be fairly close to the front, Diminish is a very handy animus to have available.
Titan Gladiator: Another very strong choice for Hexeris. Soul Slave allows you to put an arc node equivalent right in the midst of your opponent's army, where, after a Gladiator's slam, you should have some very vulnerable targets to drop an Obliteration or a Soulfire onto. Using the Gladiator as any sort of wrecking ball for some spell attacks is pretty effective.
Paingiver Beast Handlers: Not really any major synergy, although you can run really beast heavy if you wanted, because Soul Slave removes the threat of frenzying from a beast. Of course, you'll end up taking these guys in almost every list you can take anyway.
Praetorian Swordsmen: Death March on these guys is really nice. They become MAT 8 with is really nice, and with Vengeance, they become quite a bit more threatening, especially to a nearby beast or jack. Moving from two attacks to a potential three, in addition to the extra movement potentially provided by Vengeance (and Side-Step, of course), Hexeris can turn this unit into a huge pain in your opponent's army. Certainly not a bad choice.
Agonizer: There's no special synergy with the Agonizer, but the extra durability that he could bring may be handy. Two less damage from living models may be the difference between alive and dead with Hexeris, you never know.
Ancestral Guardian: Not any particular synergy, but reach and potential to have extra attacks can make the Ancestral Guardian an effective starter during a feat turn.
Tier Thoughts:
Hexeris' tier list is called the 'Kingdom of Shadow.' It's a very non-restrictive list of models you can include, although to hit tier 4 you're required to take 2 units of Praetorian Swordsmen (giving them Advanced Deployment), Aptimus Marketh (who I'll review soon, and is an amazing choice), and at least two Cataphract units. The benefits (Advance Deploy, Advance Move, and an extended deployment zone) are all geared to get you to grips with the enemy faster, and combined with Death March and some strong beasts, this could be a very effective combination of tools.
Oh, and he gets to have all his upkeeps up on the first turn. That's just fantastic of course. I've heard about using a Soul Slaved Razor Worm to put a shot into your opponent's deployment zone Turn 1, but I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know exactly how helpful that is.
Since this list is fairly open, I'll try to get it on the table one of these days in the not too distant future. Looks like it could be very effective.
Thoughts:
Overall, Hexeris is a fairly strong caster. You don't see him taken in a lot of major tournaments, because he isn't as 'easy' as some of the other strong Skorne casters. You'll want to take a strong melee-oriented army, with at least one good melee unit (even Swordsmen work here), and a beast that'll need to be up close. All three of his upkeeps will probably be in play the entire game, leaving Hexeris enough focus for a solid Soulfire shot. I think Aptimus Marketh is absolutely required to run Hexeris- the extra spell a turn can save you some focus (even if you're just recasting an upkeep so that Hexeris doesn't have to pay for it), and the occasional ability to upkeep spells can help Hexeris' fury go a long way.
You'll probably end up playing fairly close to the action, so you'll need to make sure to have some protection as well as focus to leave on Hexeris in order to transfer damage. He can heal himself, a couple of ways, which will extend his lifespan. I've been able to fairly successfully run Hexeris as a backfield caster, but it can be a little tough if your Soul Slaved beast gets heavily engaged.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Skorne vs Khador, 35 pts, 9/23/11
No pictures sadly, but did at least get a game in against Rob.
My list:
Archdomina Makeda
* Basilisk Krea
* Molik Karn
* Titan Gladiator
Cataphract Arcuarii (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
* Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard
Ancestral Guardian
Nothing really out of the ordinary here, in my opinion. I'm trying to run the Arcuarii in every list for a bit to see how I like the feel of them.
Rob's list:
Supreme Kommandant Irusk
* Demolisher
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
* Greylord Escort
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
* 2 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Rob has had some success recently with this list against Ben (from Impact Hits). He was certainly hoping to duplicate that success against me!
We rolled for scenario, and ended up with Overrun. In this scenario there is a 36" x 8" rectangle in the middle of the table, and you are working on getting control points. Pretty standard.
Rob won the roll-off, and elected to go second. The control area had forest on both the left and the right sides, with not much terrain down the middle. I deployed my Swordsmen with the Ancestral Guardian on the right, and everything else on the left.
My first turn was just a basic advance. Most things ran, to get into position. The Krea advanced and used it's animus, and most of the army on my left hunkered around it. I threw Savagery on Makeda and Defender's Ward on the Gladiator.
Rob had his Winter Guard, the Demolisher, and the Kayazy Eliminators run on the right, staying just out of the control zone. The Doom Reavers and Great Bears ran up on my left, with the Doom Reavers entering the control point forest. Irusk cast Fire for Effect on the Mortar, which advances, and Tactical Supremacy on the Demolisher, which got a few extra bits of movement.
I run my Swordsmen into the woods on my left, trying to keep them safe and able to contest the control area should things go bad. I move Makeda forward into the control area to get her control zone into place, pops her feat, and casts Carnage, while moving the Krea, Gladiator, and Arcuarii around her. Molik Karn charges the single Doom Reaver he can see in the forest in the left, and after some side-steps and swings, kills 4 of the Doom Reavers.
Now we're fully engaged, and Rob starts the shooting off. He starts with a Mortar shot at Makeda, but deviates well past her, killing two Paingiver Beast Handlers. Rob spends a few minutes deciding whether to send the Demolisher charging into Makeda, but after some deliberation, realizes he's definitely out of range. The Doom Reavers take chunks out of Molik Karn, and are helped by 2 of the Great Bears who move in to support. They don't fully kill him though (almost!). The Winter Guard move up, get into position, and try a CRA at Makeda, which ends up as a POW 18 attack. The 9 damage is transferred to the Basilisk. Irusk moves to the left, and pops his feat (not realizing he's pretty far out of range for certain of my guys). The Demolisher decides to start shooting at Makeda, but the Krea's animus keeps her safe, and the scatters end up killing a Swordsmen.
After some quick checking, we find out that the only models of mine that the feat affected were about 3 Swordsmen, who don't need the extra distance to reach his Winter Guard. Poor Rob was a bit displeased about this- he mentioned later that Irusk's positioning with the feat cost him the game (for what it's worth, I agree).
I start my third turn off by upkeeping Defender's Ward on the Gladiator, advancing Makeda pretty far, and once again casting Carnage. Molik Karn goes on a rampage after getting healed some, killing all the Great Bears and Doom Reavers (poor tough rolls by Rob). The Arcuarii kill 3 Winter Guard, which clears a path for my Gladiator to charge into the Demolisher, doing some moderate damage (my rolls here were pretty poor). My Swordsmen end up killing another 3 of the Winter Guard.
We're pretty tied up here, but I"m definitely winning the attrition war at this point.
Rob decides to go for a pretty ballsy move, and casts Artifice of Deviation on top of the Gladiator, allowing the Demolisher to charge through him into Makeda. He first drops a Mortar on top of the Krea, but doesn't get a whole lot of damage out of it. The Demolisher charges, but the rolls don't happen to go in Rob's favor, and the 2 attacks that end up hitting Makeda are transferred to the Basilisk, killing it. The Winter Guard turn their attention to the pesky Swordsmen, and end up killing all but one.
Fully stuck in, I hammer the Demolisher with the Arcuarii, and Makeda finishes it off (and casts Defender's Ward on herself). Molik Karn gets healed up some, and slowly moves to rejoin the battle. The Ancestral Guardian and the Gladiator kill almost all of the Winter Guard. Rob is running really low on guys!
Rob again decides to go for broke. The Mortar takes a shot at Makeda, hits, but can't do any damage. Irusk Battle Lust's the Eliminators, who rush in, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, none of their 4 attacks hits Makeda, and Rob decides to concede, tired of the ineptitude of his underlings.
So, another hard-fought win for the Skorne. We talked a bit, and I just don't think the Demolisher works with Irusk. I thought that maybe a Destroyer will be better, and Rob had some ideas himself. He also thought about switching in Fenris for some more offensive punch. I guess we'll see!
My list:
Archdomina Makeda
* Basilisk Krea
* Molik Karn
* Titan Gladiator
Cataphract Arcuarii (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
* Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard
Ancestral Guardian
Nothing really out of the ordinary here, in my opinion. I'm trying to run the Arcuarii in every list for a bit to see how I like the feel of them.
Rob's list:
Supreme Kommandant Irusk
* Demolisher
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
* Greylord Escort
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
* 2 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Rob has had some success recently with this list against Ben (from Impact Hits). He was certainly hoping to duplicate that success against me!
We rolled for scenario, and ended up with Overrun. In this scenario there is a 36" x 8" rectangle in the middle of the table, and you are working on getting control points. Pretty standard.
Rob won the roll-off, and elected to go second. The control area had forest on both the left and the right sides, with not much terrain down the middle. I deployed my Swordsmen with the Ancestral Guardian on the right, and everything else on the left.
My first turn was just a basic advance. Most things ran, to get into position. The Krea advanced and used it's animus, and most of the army on my left hunkered around it. I threw Savagery on Makeda and Defender's Ward on the Gladiator.
Rob had his Winter Guard, the Demolisher, and the Kayazy Eliminators run on the right, staying just out of the control zone. The Doom Reavers and Great Bears ran up on my left, with the Doom Reavers entering the control point forest. Irusk cast Fire for Effect on the Mortar, which advances, and Tactical Supremacy on the Demolisher, which got a few extra bits of movement.
I run my Swordsmen into the woods on my left, trying to keep them safe and able to contest the control area should things go bad. I move Makeda forward into the control area to get her control zone into place, pops her feat, and casts Carnage, while moving the Krea, Gladiator, and Arcuarii around her. Molik Karn charges the single Doom Reaver he can see in the forest in the left, and after some side-steps and swings, kills 4 of the Doom Reavers.
Now we're fully engaged, and Rob starts the shooting off. He starts with a Mortar shot at Makeda, but deviates well past her, killing two Paingiver Beast Handlers. Rob spends a few minutes deciding whether to send the Demolisher charging into Makeda, but after some deliberation, realizes he's definitely out of range. The Doom Reavers take chunks out of Molik Karn, and are helped by 2 of the Great Bears who move in to support. They don't fully kill him though (almost!). The Winter Guard move up, get into position, and try a CRA at Makeda, which ends up as a POW 18 attack. The 9 damage is transferred to the Basilisk. Irusk moves to the left, and pops his feat (not realizing he's pretty far out of range for certain of my guys). The Demolisher decides to start shooting at Makeda, but the Krea's animus keeps her safe, and the scatters end up killing a Swordsmen.
After some quick checking, we find out that the only models of mine that the feat affected were about 3 Swordsmen, who don't need the extra distance to reach his Winter Guard. Poor Rob was a bit displeased about this- he mentioned later that Irusk's positioning with the feat cost him the game (for what it's worth, I agree).
I start my third turn off by upkeeping Defender's Ward on the Gladiator, advancing Makeda pretty far, and once again casting Carnage. Molik Karn goes on a rampage after getting healed some, killing all the Great Bears and Doom Reavers (poor tough rolls by Rob). The Arcuarii kill 3 Winter Guard, which clears a path for my Gladiator to charge into the Demolisher, doing some moderate damage (my rolls here were pretty poor). My Swordsmen end up killing another 3 of the Winter Guard.
We're pretty tied up here, but I"m definitely winning the attrition war at this point.
Rob decides to go for a pretty ballsy move, and casts Artifice of Deviation on top of the Gladiator, allowing the Demolisher to charge through him into Makeda. He first drops a Mortar on top of the Krea, but doesn't get a whole lot of damage out of it. The Demolisher charges, but the rolls don't happen to go in Rob's favor, and the 2 attacks that end up hitting Makeda are transferred to the Basilisk, killing it. The Winter Guard turn their attention to the pesky Swordsmen, and end up killing all but one.
Fully stuck in, I hammer the Demolisher with the Arcuarii, and Makeda finishes it off (and casts Defender's Ward on herself). Molik Karn gets healed up some, and slowly moves to rejoin the battle. The Ancestral Guardian and the Gladiator kill almost all of the Winter Guard. Rob is running really low on guys!
Rob again decides to go for broke. The Mortar takes a shot at Makeda, hits, but can't do any damage. Irusk Battle Lust's the Eliminators, who rush in, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, none of their 4 attacks hits Makeda, and Rob decides to concede, tired of the ineptitude of his underlings.
So, another hard-fought win for the Skorne. We talked a bit, and I just don't think the Demolisher works with Irusk. I thought that maybe a Destroyer will be better, and Rob had some ideas himself. He also thought about switching in Fenris for some more offensive punch. I guess we'll see!
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