Battle Report, Cryx vs Khador, 1/11/18 [Warmachine]

As I've been trying to get back into Warmachine and Hordes, I've been working hard to recruit the old group of players (in addition to Joey, who is interested and new to the game), and I finally managed to get Rob interested in throwing down for a game. We decided we were ready for a 75 point game, set the date, and got ready to throw down.

In looking at my armies, it looked like the only one I was able to field at 75 points on short notice was Cryx, so after tinkering with a few things, I settled on Black Industries under Goreshade, ending with this:

Cryx Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Black Industries

(Goreshade 1) Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Deathjack [23]
- Deathripper [0(6)]
- Deathripper [0(6)]
- Leviathan [16]
- Reaper [13]
- Seether [13]
- Slayer [10]
- Stalker [8]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Machine Wraith [2]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]

I figured Rob was likely to drop either Karchev, Harkevich, or Butcher3, and I thought I had a decent change in any of those matchups.

Rob showed up, and we rolled for scenario, getting Standoff, with circular zones to our left and right, and rectangular zones near each of us, with an objective in each zone.

Turns out Rob did bring Karchev, and brought the following:

https://conflictchamber.com/#c3101b_-0x7a7w7odZ0d7m8r8y868Hcecg8e

Khador Army - 73 / 75 points
[Theme] Jaws of the Wolf

(Karchev 1) Karchev the Terrible [+30]
 - Behemoth [25]
 - Decimator [16]
 - Grolar [18]
 - Juggernaut [12]
Kell Bailoch [5]
Widowmaker Marksman [0(4)]
Yuri the Axe [0(6)]
Battle Mechaniks (min) [3]
 - Battle Mechanik Officer [3]
Kayazy Assassins (min) [9]
 - Kayazy Assassin Underboss [4]
Widowmaker Scouts [8]

Rob won the roll to go first, chose to do so, and deployed.

Our deployment

Turn 1
Rob runs everything forward, except for Karchev, who casts Countercharge, and advances forward. His goal was to put pressure on the zones as much as possible, forcing me to engage.

I respond by basically doing the same- I run and advance everything forward, matching the Deathjack, Leviathan, a Warwitch and Deathripper against his Kayazy and Behemoth in the circular zone to the left, the Seether, Machine Wraith as my primary threat on my right, and the jacks mostly moving towards the middle.

Goreshade advanced and cast Lamentation and Shadowmancer. I realized at this point that Shadowmancer was CMD range only, meaning I had quite a few things out of position and without Stealth, but nothing I could do about that now!

End Turn 1

Turn 2
He starts his turn by firing the Behemoth at the Leviathan, who is not Stealthed due to being outside of Shadowmancer range. With Carapace, however, he only manages one damage on the jack. He runs the Kayazy into my left circular zone, and into combat with some of my jacks, to try to stop them from having easy movement lanes.

I actually thought he might try something different here, running the Kayazy, and using them to screen the Behemoth (as I can only kill so many with the forces on that side). Maybe he felt he didn't have enough bodies to do that.

Anyway, the Widowmaker unit on my right basically does the same thing, running to engage my jacks after figuring they probably wouldn't be great against all the Stealth he was facing. Primarily, he was hoping to block off my Reaper, which I was planning to get into a position to drag one of his heavies out out of position with, to allow a Slayer or Seether to kill.  The Widowmakers don't have a free strike to fear, but they did block up some table space that I wanted to use. To further prevent my plan, he ran some Mechaniks in front of his jacks, to prevent any pulls I would attempt.

Mid Turn 2

At the start of my turn, I decide i should try to be aggressive on one side, and choose my right side. I park my Machine Wraith on the far side of the forest near him, hoping to keep him safely contesting the zone, as only Karchev and his objective can provide Magic Weapons. I move the Stalker up... and get countercharged by the Grolar (oops!). Fortunately, the Grolar whiffs, and I hop past him into combat with Yuri. Unfortunately, I only manage four damage on Yuri, leaving a lot of angry stuff available to deal with the Stalker. I also clear a few Widowmakers with my other jacks.

Goreshade upkeeps Lamentation (with the Withershadow Combine), moves up a little, and casts Shadowmancer again.

On my left, I get to work killing Kayazy, as the Behemoth isn't in the zone, and I figure I'd play for scenario. I kill all but two Kayazy, but fortunately those two weren't in the zone, so don't stop me from scoring it. I end turn, and Rob scores one point to my two, giving me a net 1-0 lead.

End Turn 2

Turn 3
Rob continues to work to eat through my forces. On my right, his Widowmakers get within five inches of my Warwitch Siren, and shoot her off the board. The Grolar moves backwards and kills my Stalker, freeing infantry and Yuri. His Decimator received Magic Weapon from the objective, moves into the forest, and kills my Machine Wraith, giving his significant advantage in that zone.

He shoots with to no real effect with the Behemoth, mills around a bit with Karchev and the Juggernaut, moves a Kayazy into the left zone to contest it, and ends the turn. He ends up scoring two points (one for his rectangular zone, and one for the circular zone on my right) to my one, tying us at 1-1.

I am in full scenario mode now, and decide to grab some points. On my left, I use the Deatjack to kill the lone contesting Kayazy, then use the Leviathan (which I've allocated an additional focus, and given it one from the Warwitch Siren) to move up and shoot the objective, destroying it (yay for generating three shots!). This gives me another scenario point, putting me at 2-1. On my right, I work to chew through the bodies that are there, but I'm wary of getting too much closer with Karchev and his jacks there.  I kick the Reaper further to my right, and drag/kill the Mechanik UA. I'm pretty comfortable with how things stand, and pass my turn.  I score two zones to his one now, a net plus one for me, and our score goes to 3-1.

End Turn 3

Turn 4
Karchev starts the turn allocating focus to the Juggernaut and Behemoth, then backs up to cast Road to War (in order to get out of Goreshade's Lamentation range), then pops his feat.

Kell decides to come out and play, and moves up.  Before he can shoot, I decide to Countercharge with my Seether, killing him. The Widowmaker Marksman on my right moves around, and shoots and kills the Deathwalker, triggering Road to War on the Behemoth, who promptly charges and kills the Deathjack in two attacks (holy crap!). Fortunately for me, he's too far away to take out the Leviathan as well.  Eesh.

The Grolar on my right charges my Seether, and disables on of its arms. The Juggernaut follows up, killing the Seether and the central Deathripper. I'm starting to lose the attrition game- Rob is up in my face now, but I'm doing great on scenario, as I score a point at the end of the turn (in my rectangular zone).  Due to Rob's movement, he scores nothing, giving us a score of 4-1.

I start my turn needing to score two points to win, and I have two different paths to do it. I'll be able to score my rectangular zone so long as I don't move anything. On my left, the Behemoth is the only model contesting the circular zone, and if I kill it, I can score that zone. Alternatively, Rob's rectangular zone is sparse- just three Mechaniks defending it. If I can clear it, and get a jack there, that could be a point too.

I realize I have the tools to try for both alternatives, and can just hope ONE pays off. I start by running my remaining Deathripper into his rectangular zone, giving me an Arc Node, and a jack there. I have the Warwitch Siren give a focus to the Leviathan, who moves a bit, then takes a few shots at the Behemoth, doing about seven damage. I activate Goreshade, pop his feat (but didn't really bother setting up my Bane Warriors yet, they were going to be placed to go after the Behemoth), and arc Bleed through the Arc Node, needing fives to kill Mechaniks.  I have three to kill, and manage to get the rolls I need, clear the zone, and win the game.

Game End

Thoughts
My first Mk3 win! I was definitely helped by the fact that I focused on winning by scenario instead of trying for a caster kill (end of Turn 3, I gave it some thought, but decided to stay the course). I was doubly helped by the fact I feel my army matched up well against his- his shooting was ineffective against my Stealth, and Carapace made the shots hitting my jacks a non-concern. I was also helped by the fact I had a longer threat range than Rob's army, unless he could trigger Road to War.

I struggled to find an opportunity to use my greater threat range, as Rob wisely jammed his infantry down my throat, but knowing it was there kept Rob from playing more aggressively, which helped.

I quite like how Cryx plays- it's similar enough to how it went in Mk2, but man, I have a lot of work to do to make these armies competitive.  Thankfully, it seems like the interest for more games is there, so I'll have ample motivation to get to work!

First games using Venethrax, 1/30/13

Alright, time for some sweet battle report goodness.

On the 30th of last month, I broke out some Warmachine, and more specifically, broke out some Venethrax, who I had recently assembled, and had been interested in playing.

So, I enlisted Mr. Rob to play some games, breaking out his Khador.

Game 1:

The list I took for both games was this:
Lich Lord Venethrax
* Deathripper
* Stalker
* Deathjack
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
General Gerlak Slaughterborn
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith
Warwitch Siren

Admittedly, this isn't a terrible original list compared to the list I take with ANY caster, but I promise- I'm working on getting some new Cryx stuff up and running.

Rob's list for game one was a Tier 4 Full Assault list:
Forward Kommander Sorscha
* Conquest
* Demolisher
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
* 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Gun Carriage

This looked pretty impressive on the table, with the Colossal and the Battle Engine.

We decided to play a Steamroller 2013 scenario, and ended up rolling Outflank.  Basically, two circles around the middle of the table, and you need 5 Victory Points to win.  You score one for controlling a circle, and two for dominating it (meaning your warcaster is in it, and it's not contested by your opponent).

Rob won the roll to go first, we set up our forces, and were off.

Turn 1:

Rob started the game off by running his large unit of Winter Guard central to the table, with a two in the zone to my right.


I had set up my caster on the right, after all, and at the very least, Rob wanted to make sure I was forced to engage him to dominate the zone.

With the Theme Force, Rob's mortars received a free pre-game move, meaning they were in position to try for acting from the first turn.  He attempted to take a long range shot at the Deathjack, missed, but the deviation stayed on the Deathjack, still doing no damage.

Sorscha cast Boundless charge on a bunch of Rob's models, moved towards the center, and was joined by the rest of Rob's forces.


I start my turn by running my entire army forward aside from Venethrax and the Deathjack.  No sense in risking the jack so early, I thought, and decided that Venethrax needed to set the town early.  He walked forward a little, and used the Deathripper to arc a Blood Rain into the Winter Guard, which hit and killed four.  Pretty good start to the game, from my perspective.


Turn 2:

Rob starts working to soften me up by shooting.  His mortars take shots at my Bane Knights, and manage to kill one.  The Winter Guard follow up by hoping over the fence, getting into position, and spray into my Banes, killing 2 Bane Thralls and a Bane Knight.  Unfortunately, Rob forgets to give his guys the Bob & Weave order (for the extra defense).

The Winter Guard who didn't spray down my Banes take a CRA shot at my Deathripper, and at 'Dice plus 5' roll snake eyes, dealing a total of 7 damage (and to add even more insult, he rolls a column that ends up disabling none of my systems).

The Conquest tries to get into the action, walks forward, and begins shooting.  He ends up killing Gerlak and drops four more damage onto the Deathripper, which I believe disabled the movement?  I can't remember.

Rob followed this up by advancing his other big model, the Gun Carriage into the zone, and shooting as well, but only managed to kill a single Bane Knight.


His turn ends with him advancing Sorscha up to cast Iron Flesh on the Winter Guard.  With Bob and Weave, that would have been incredible, but yeah, as mentioned above, it's just not fully there, sadly.


At this point, I've actually taken quite a bit of casualties from shooting, but I see that I've got a lot of space on my right to take over the zone, and scoring early will set me up for a good chance to win.

I start out by activating Venethrax, who moves into the zone, and casts a Blood Rain through the Deathripper into the Winter Guard, killing 3.  I follow with Bane Lord Tartarus charging into them, killing another one, and finish with charging by Bane Thralls and a Bane Knight into them, killing yet another one.  The poor Winter Guard decide they've had enough, and even with the Standard Bearer, fail their command check.  At this point, I'm guaranteed to Dominate the zone on my right.

The other two Bane Knights charge into the Gun Carriage and between them and the Pistol Wraith (who activated earlier) manage to deal 14 damage to it, not enough to kill it.

The Deathjack ends the turn by killing another two Winter Guard, grabbing me two more souls to use for getting into the action next turn.  I gain two control points, for dominating the right zone.


Turn 3:

Rob decides his chances are perfect for an assassination, and goes for it.  He starts with Sorscha activating, and popping her feat.  She then tries to shoot at my Deathripper, misses, and casts Iron Flesh on herself.

Rob activates the Conquest, aims, boosts, and takes a shot from the main gun into Venethrax, who I think had no focus on him (oops!).  He needs a 9 to hit, but rolls an 8, which scatters to no effect.  With his best shot to end me gone, he has the Conquest use his other shots to kill a Bane Knight, a Bane Thrall, and put 6 damage onto Bane Lord Tartarus, as well as kills one of my Pistol Wraiths.

The Gun Carriage activates, and kills a Bane Knight in combat with it.

Rob hasn't given up on his assassination though.  The Mortars both take shots again Venethrax, both miss, and Rob is forced to concede (he can't stop me from scoring enough control points to win).

So, first game over, and I still don't feel like I have any feel for Venethrax.  Plus, I really screwed up my setup.  My Mechanithralls spent the entire game behind my army, unable to find a way to get out and into the action.  We had decided to play another game, and I was determined to not make that mistake for this one.

Game 2!:

I took the same list as before.  Rob chose to run:

Vladimir Tzepesci, Great Prince of Umbrey
* Berserker
* Conquest
* Devastator
* Drago
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss

Pretty heavy list.  I won the roll to go first this time.

Turn 1:

I run everything forward, but have Venethrax cast Dragon Slayer on himself and advance.


Rob basically does the same thing.  Everything runs up but Vlad, who casts Hand of Fate on the Conquest.


Turn 2:

I am still out of range to do anything, and again basically run everything forward.  I can't score points this turn, so choose to get as far forward as I can to put pressure on Rob.

Rob responds by upkeeping Hand of Fate on Conquest, and getting to work.  The Conquest aims his Main Gun at the Deathripper, and hits, dealing 12 damage to my poor little jack, disabling the Arc Node.  His other shots manage to kill a Bane Thrall and a Bane Knight.  He also throws down two templates in front of my Bane Knights, to try to limit my movement.

The Berserker attempts to charge my Stalker (off far to my right), but is a few inches out of range.

Drago walks forward and kills my lead Mechanithrall (I had sent the unit into the left zone to try to keep Rob back in his zone).  Vlad joins in the fun, pops his feat, and charges a Mechanithrall, killing it.  His side steps kill another two, and his Sprints back to safety.  Rob's goal was to get forward to kill one of my Pistol Wraiths, but failing to do so, chose to get back to where he wasn't in danger.

The Kayazy activate and charge into the Mechanithralls as well, killing another two.  They were a little too far out to get at the rest of them, unfortunately.

Rob ends the turn by advancing his Devastator, attempting to threaten my right zone some.


Turn 3:

I decide that the Kayazy are probably my biggest concern at this point.  With some luck, they could get through all of my infantry, and if Rob managed to successfully contest my right zone, I'd have a hard time getting enough to the left to fight him.  So I go all in, trying to kill them.

The Bane Knights, Bane Lord Tartarus, Mechanithralls, and a Pistol Wraith are thrown at them, and I manage to kill 5 of the Assassins, plus the Underboss.  The Mechanithralls were of particular note, because with the 4 remaining, I manage to drag down two Assassins, needing elevens to hit.

The Deathjack charges and kills the Berserker, clearing out my zone for the moment.  The Pistol Wraith on my far left Death Chills Drago, saving my poor infantry from being horribly annihilated.  Whew!

With nothing in my right zone, and Venethrax right in the middle, I again dominate it, and gain 2 control points.



Rob has two objectives this turn.  First, he needs to contest my right zone well enough to stop me from winning soon, and he needs to score some control points himself.  He probably considers assassination at some point here (I don't actually know, I'm not a mind reader), but I'm camping some of my focus and have Dragon Slayer upkept by the Withershadow Combine, so I'm around armor 23.

Rob starts on clearing the left zone.  His Kayazy go off to my left more, and kill a Pistol Wraith and a Mechanithrall.

The Conquest follows up by advancing towards the middle of the table (and doesn't contest my zone, importantly), and shoots into the large cluster of troops I have, killing, when it's all over with, 3 Bane Knights, 2 Bane Thralls, 2 Mechanithralls, a Pistol Wraith, and one of his Kayazy, as well as takes a point off of Gerlak.  Not half bad!

Drago can't move and activate, so elects to move out of the way of Vlad, who charges Gerlak.  Several crappy rolls by Rob later, Gerlak eventually dies, and Vlad kills the last Bane Knight in the zone, clearing it.

He ends the turn by moving the Devastator into my zone, contesting it, and scores two control points for dominating his zone, tying us at 2-2.




Turn 4:

Unfortunately for Rob, he reminds me that I can throw models, and I happily do so, moving the Deathjack forward to throw the Devastator out of my zone (I sure wasn't going to kill it!).  I run everything else up to block the far side of my zone so that the Battle Mechaniks and the Conquest can't get into it.

I charge Bane Lord Tartarus at Vlad, but sadly, he's out of range.  The remaining two Bane Knights attempt to be heroes, but sadly, don't manage to hit Vlad.  I end my turn, and go up 4-2.

Rob realizes that he can't contest my zone, and that scoring his doesn't help him, and decides he HAS to assassinate Venethrax.  He uses Flashing Blade to try to clear the Bane Knights engaging him, but sadly only manages to kill one, meaning he has to Flashing Blade AGAIN to clear a charge path. 

Vlad charges, but now, I have all my focus camped, and prove too difficult to kill.  Casters don't count as contesting zones, and Rob can't stop me from scoring what I need to win.

Summary:

Although winning is nice, I feel a little disappointed in that I didn't really get any use from Venethrax.  I completely forgot about his feat (which isn't very good anyway), and other than a few castings of Blood Rain, pretty much didn't need to use his spells.

Rob's had a difficult time with Cryx, and as he pointed out, it doesn't matter what caster I take in the end, it's my army itself that is causing him issues.  We may end up trying to switch it up just so that I can see how I would do against Cryx.  In the meantime, I'll probably switch to Skorne for a while, just to keep my friends ;).

The Conquest didn't feel like it made much of an impact on either game, sadly.  Sure, it killed some infantry with its shooting, but I never bothered trying to put damage on it (meaning the Mechaniks did nothing through both games).  I suspect Rob needs to focus on getting the Conquest into a zone to contest it, and force me to deal with him.  With this particular Cryx list, it might actually be a problem, especially if enough of my Bane Thralls die before getting there.  The Deathjack can certainly hurt it, but I don't think I can kill it (especially with Mechaniks repairing it) before I'm crushed. 

One day, I'll get Venethrax on the table again, hopefully against a Hordes opponent, and see how much mileage I get out of him in a matchup he's designed to be more useful for.

Hobby progress for week ending 12/15/12

A little done:

- Started assembly of Lelu and Lilitu for my Neverborn crew.
- Started assembly on a Watcher for my Guild crew.
- Got about halfway through assembling Gerlak Slaughterborn for my Cryx army.
- Drybrushed bone color onto my Slayer.

Really, I need to work harder on painting a tiny bit every day- I've had a rough patch, timing-wise for this, but hopefully I can get that back on course.

Hobby progress for week ending 11/17/2012

This week I:

- Assembled a Neverborn Cherub for my Lilith Crew.

- Attached the second wing to Terminus, leaving me only with his sword and a few spikes to assemble before he's completed.

- Assembled a Cryx Stalker.

- Continued work on Wraith Engine conversion, cleaning two more of the resin pieces.  I still have a lot of work to do, but might begin assembly of part of it this upcoming week.

- Re-primed my Slayer, with the goal to start putting paint on it, and determine my Cryx color scheme.  Something green based, most likely.

Hobby progress for week ending 11/3/2012

Not a whole lot this week, unfortunately, since I was given a dog to take care of by a coworker, kind of last minute.

I did get a least one thing done though- I started work on my Wraith Engine!  More specifically, I started work on a great Wraith Engine conversion, that hopefully will turn out pretty well.  Once I get some more progress done, I'll put up more details.

Past weekend gaming fun

Last weekend, a bunch of friends and I all headed over to a friend's place, and spent part of Friday and all of Saturday playing some games.  So naturally, I'm going to say a few words about the different games I played.

X-Wing:
Finally, I got the chance to put Fantasy Flight's game, X-Wing, on the table.  I ended up playing 3 total games, with two of them being basically starter/teaching games (pitting two TIE Fighters against a single X-Wing).  Personally, I had a blast playing it, and would love to get it on the table more.  The only non-teaching game I played was a small 50 point game that we ended up ending because Luke Skywalker w/ R2-D2 is too difficult to kill.  I've actually accumulated a moderate amount of stuff (I LOVE Star Wars, for those that don't know), and I'm itching to try some of the other stuff out (like trying to get some mileage out of that Y-Wing, or even trying some of the weapon upgrades).

Warmachine/Hordes:
This was the main focus of the weekend, and I managed to get a few games in.  I actually worked hard the last two weeks to have some new toys for these games, which mostly made an appearance.  Brief recap:

First game I played was a 50 point game, with me taking Tyrant Xerxis against Rob taking Harkevich.  Rob had recently built his Conquest, and was determined to get it on the table (which he did, several times- he'd have to tell you how he felt about it).



The scenario was Overrun (which I played a lot of this weekend... hmm...), and as you can tell, we played with a lot of terrain (thanks to Minute, which I decided I actually loved).  My early game shooting did a ton of damage, and Rob was forced to come into combat on my turns due the the Nihilators, and I actually managed to take down the Conquest with a fully buffed Gladiator, giving me the win.

Second game was against Minute, another 50 point game, again playing Overrun.  I took eHexeris, and almost the same list as my game against Rob, whereas Minute took Ossyan.



On the second turn, I dropped Black Spot through my Cannoneer onto his Halberdiers, and proceeded to lay into them with the Reivers, taking out most of the unit, and dropping a few Stormfall Archers as a bonus.  Minute's shooting was a little disappointing for him, partially because my Nihilators made five out of their six tough checks on my right.  At the end, I was pretty mangled, but killed enough on the board that Minute conceded.

Third game was a 35 point game against BK.  I ran Epic Asphyxious against his Epic Lylyth, playing, you guessed it, Overrun.



BK used his feat first, killing a lot my infantry, but it ended up just powering up my feat, which I used to kill Typhon, and damage a Ravagore.  Having taken over most of the zone on my turn, he wasn't able to get enough in to stop me from winning by scenario.

And finally, I played another 50 point game against Rob, who chose to run the Old Witch against Terminus (I didn't take a single picture of this game, unfortunately).  Rob continued with his goal of running the Conquest though, something that actually made me a little concerned, since Terminus takes a LOT of infantry.  This time, the scenario was Process of Elimination, and I managed to score the zone on my left on the second turn, leaving me free to focus on the right.  Rob had a full unit of Winter Guard there, who took shots at the nearby infantry (mostly Mechanithralls).  The Old Witch parked behind them and popped her feat, keeping my infantry back.

I took the bait, advanced up, and hit her with a spray, taking out more than half her health.  Of course, this left me without Sacrifical Pawn targets, and after the Winter Guard easily destroyed my only nearby warrior model (a non-Incorporeal Pistol Wraith), lined me up for a combined range attack, starting at about my armor... and then rolled a 3.  Eesh.  Terminus chuckled, Rob's other shooting didn't get the job done, and after failing to Gallows me far enough to get me in charge range of the Conquest, Rob conceded (I could have walked up and killed the Old Witch next turn, most likely).

Managed to end the weekend 4-0 at Warmachine/Hordes!

Firestorm Armada:
In between games, Rob and I found some time to put Firestorm Armada on the table, and try to get a few turns in.  Rob let me borrow his Directorate fleet.. and I think he took the Terran Alliance.  We played a little into the second turn, ignoring some of the rules (mainly fighter/bomber wings and such), but enough to get the basic turn structure.  It's pretty fun- there are definitely things about it that I think are great improvements over Battlefleet Gothic, and I borrowed the rulebook to read on my own time.  Next time it hits the table, hopefully I'll have a good enough grasp of the rules to play with all of them.

Boardgames:
Finally, I managed to get two boardgames in: Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Zombicide.  Both these games were AWESOME.  Very thematic, dripping in theme-y goodness, and a blast to play.  If you're looking for either a great super-hero themed card game, or a zombie survival board game, check these two out!

What have I been doing lately?

So, as you can plainly see, I haven't been posting a lot here, or anywhere.  As I've probably said before, there are lot of reasons for this, some personal, some financial, and some just lack of drive.  Fortunately, I've rediscovered my interest in various games, and I've actually started being productive.

Let's start with a big part of my new interest- there's a newish game store in the area (DropZone games), and that place is a miniature gamers' dream- lots of gaming tables, great stations for working on miniatures, and a good variety of miniature systems available without people trying to force you into a particular one.  It's good stuff.

So what have I done?  This past week, I've pretty much repaired almost every model I own (for Skorne and Cryx), I've gotten about halfway done filing down a unit of Nihilators, assembled a Cyclops Brute, and begun the work for pinning Terminus.  I've also actually done some repairs on Empire Knights, for Warhammer Fantasy.

I also played a 50 point game last night against Rob.  I took epic Morghoul against Saeryn, and managed to pull off a close win.  I don't have a Battle Report, because I didn't take notes, but did take some pictures.





So, basically, I'm loving miniatures again, and can't wait to get back into the swing of things.  Look forward to seeing me around more!

Cryx Kraken revealed

Yeah, yeah, I'm probably the last person to have seen this (thanks Minute!):

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-4-9-2012

That thing looks really really sweet.  Well done PP! 

(Also, take notes, GW- that's what a video should include- some information, and some people to give the company a more 'human' touch!)

Sent to me by Minute- Asphyxious the Hellbringer!

Asphyxious the Hellbringer!

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-3-26-2012

Well, the art has me super excited.  Man I can't wait to see this guy's rules and model!

Three Games with Mortenebra, 3/13/12 - 3/14/12

Well, got three games with Mortenebra in this week, despite her being only half completed.  Basically, it's my first time using Mortenebra, and really the first experience I've had using more than one or two Cryx heavies at once.

Also, I promise to keep these pretty short.  No pictures, and I didn't take notes, but I do want to show that I've at least been playing :).

My first opponent was BK, playing Menoth.  We ran a 35 point game, and our scenario was A Flag Too Far.  Basically, there were 4 flags, two down the middle, another one close to me on my left, and another close to him on the far right.  There were also reinforcement that came on.  Basically the flags to our right (the one in the middle and on the opposite side) were our objectives. 

BK's list:
Feora, Protector of the Flame
- Redeemer
- Reckoner
Avatar of Menoth
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Vassal of Menoth

His reinforcements:
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Exemplar Errant Seneschal

My list:
Master Necrotech Mortenebra
- Cankerworm
- Deathjack
- Reaper
- Slayer
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Machine Wraith
Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall

Warwitch Siren

Reinforcements:
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith 

Admittedly, I didn't own enough jacks to use her as well as I'd like, but I'm working to rectify that in the future.  Anyway, on to the game.

I lined up Mortenebra and the jacks in the middle, with the Bane Thralls to my right (hoping to have Bane Lord Tartarus join up with them, and end up handling the control point duties.  However, BK's Redeemer made quick work of them with some very favorable scatters.

My Cankerworm sat in a forest in the middle of the table, and waited for a good opportunity.  When BK's Daughters came onto the board (on my left), I sent my closest jack, the Deathjack, to deal with them (I learned a lesson here- use another jack on my flanks).  An Overrunning Deathjack sent the Cankerworm moving forward, and I had it charge Feora, ending up dealing a total of 9 damage (Feora was camping focus, and I really had no shot of doing decent damage to her).  My Reaper and Slayer went up and started fighting through the block of Exemplar Errants that were marching somewhat off to my left.  Bane Lord Tartarus and the Pistol Wraith came on the board, and I tried to move them to give me a control point, but failed.

BK responded by dealing a decent amount of damage to the engaged Reaper and Slayer, but not killing either do to some really poor rolls (the Avatar moved up and actually missed once, and rolled really badly for damage a second time).

At this point, things were pretty bleak, so I had to try to kill Feora.  Deryliss dropped Overrun onto the Deathjack.  Mortenebra cast Spectral Steel on the Slayer (letting him ignore free strikes), repaired the Slayer 1 point of damage (so he at least had a functioning arm).   The Deathjack killed a Daughter, getting the Slayer free, who charged Feora.. and after rolling a little bad (not terrible, mind you), I failed to kill her.  In return, the Avatar killed Mortenebra, and gave BK the win.

I learned a few things in this game.  First, I need another jack.  Second, I need a better melee jack with reach.  Ugh.  The Reaper is a good jack, but I don't have enough attacks to make him scary.  I'll need to try a Harrower, with her.  Second, I need to have the Deathjack more central.  I don't know how I screwed that up.  Third, the Cankerworm was useless.  I am tempted to say light jacks aren't going to get much use from her, but the light jacks I think would be best with her, the Stalker and the Helldiver, aren't assembled yet, so I don't know for sure.

Next game was immediately after, against Minute.  We played the same scenario.

His list:
Lord Arcanist Ossyan
- Discordia
Dawnguard Invictors (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Dawnguard Invictor Officer & Standard
Mage Hunter Strikeforce (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Mage Hunter Commander
Stormfall Archers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Arcanist
Mage Hunter Assassin

His Reinforcements:
House Shyeel Battle Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mage Hunter Assassin


I changed my list slightly, mostly by proxying in a Slayer.  New list:
Master Necrotech Mortenebra
- Deathjack
- Reaper
- Slayer
- Slayer
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall
Warwitch Siren

And my reinforcements:
Pistol Wraith
Bane Lord Tartarus

This time, I parked the Deathjack in the forest right in the center of the table early, and Ben realized after some shooting that he didn't have much of a way to hurt it.  He put Admonition on his caster, but for the moment was stumped on how to handle the ARM 21 Deathjack (due to Spectral Steel).

I tried to put some pressure on him by using Overrun on a Slayer to move the Deathjack up, and ended up killing some Invictors... but sadly, Ossyan Admonitioned TOWARDS me.  Unsure of how to kill my jacks, he decided to bypass all of that, and make a run for Mortenebra.  A few die rolls later, she was dead, and I learned another valuable lesson- don't play her too far forward.

My third game this week was the next day, against Rob.  We upped the game size to 50 points.

His list:
Vayl, Disciple of Everblight
- Stinger
- Teraph
- Angelius
- Ravagore
Blighted Nyss Raptors (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts)
- Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician
Annyssa Ryvaal, Talon of Everblight
Blighted Nyss Sorceress and Hellion
Strider Deathstalker

This is only 49 points though.  I'm pretty sure this is accurate, but if not, let me know, Rob :).

Since I still didn't have more jacks assembled, I had to flesh out my army a little differently:
Master Necrotech Mortenebra
- Deathjack
- Harrower
- Reaper
- Slayer
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith
Warwitch Siren

The Withershadow Combine is a nice addition, because Spectral Steel is a very handy spell.

Our scenario was Sacrifice.  Here, there is a control zone to my left, and a flag to my right.  To score a point, I must control the zone AND have a model B2B with the flag.  After a score, the model B2B with the flag takes a POW 20 damage roll, and is then pushed away and knocked down.  Not fun.

I deployed second, and put all of my jacks towards my left, to go after the control zone, and left the taking of the flag to my Bane Thralls, Tartarus, and Pistol Wraith.  I put the Deathjack towards the middle, to support where I needed him the most.

Rob sent his Striders off to fight against the Bane Thralls, and everything else to face the jacks.  I managed to get some damage done early on by having the Deathjack kill his Teraph near the center of the table.  Rob tried to take out the Bane Thralls, before going after Tartarus, but didn't roll so well, and ended up killing 4 out of the unit with Tartarus locked in combat, and available to start refilling it.

The battle on the left went a little better for him.  My Slayer managed to kill two Raptors, but was cut down by the rest, although it took quite a bit of time.  Unfortunately, an Overrun on a charging Harrower coupled with my feat and Terminal Velocity sent the Deathjack into his Angelius and Ravagore, killing them both, and Rob conceded after seeing he had no way to contest the zone any longer. 

This game, I at least kept Mortenebra back and safe, and kept my jacks together and focused.  So the good news is that I'm learning.  I still need to work on getting the right tools, however.  I will soon, hopefully, be adding another Cryx heavy and a Warwitch Siren.  With some practice, I think I could be pretty effective with her.  We'll see :).

Can I just say...

Master Necrotech Mortenebra has to be the SINGLE most infuriating model in the world to assemble.  Just saying.  Ugh.

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!

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!

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!).

Reinforcements for my Warmachine armies assembled!

Finished assembly on a few miniatures.  Nothing special conversion-wise, but it's nice to have new toys to use (and I've already gotten use out of some of them!).


Soulhunters


Rutger Shaw and a Warwitch Siren

Rutger Shaw doesn't really help me much, since I can't use him in any of my armies, but since I'm only a unit away from having a playable Four Star Syndicate Army, maybe I'll have a chance to get him on the table one of these days yet.

Next on the assembly table are Cataphract Arcuarii for Skorne and Khorne Berserkers for 40K.
Hopefully I get some painting done this upcoming week!

Quick Battle Report, Cryx vs Khador, 35 pts, 12/16/10

No pictures today, although Rob took a few, so whenever he gets around to posting I'm sure you can see them there.

I played a quick 35 point game against Rob yesterday.  I randomly choose my caster nowadays, and ended up with Iron Lich Asphyxious, for Cryx.

My list:
Iron Lich Asphyxious
- Deathripper
- Deathripper
- Defiler
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Soulhunters (Leader and 2 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Warwitch Siren
Pretty basic stuff.  I wanted to give the Soulhunters a shot, to see how they functioned.  The Warwitch Siren is also a new addition.  Still working to bring new awesome things into my armies :).

Rob's list:
Vladimir, The Dark Prince
- Behemoth
- Drago
Man-o-war Bombardiers (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Widowmaker Marksman

When we were teaching Frans to play warmachine, Frans used (with some direction) Vlad to pretty cool results, especially with shooting.  Rob wanted to leverage this into a fairly strong ranged list, and although I think this is a good start, I could tell that this wasn't going to be an easy fight for him.  Most of those AoE (even after Signs & Portents) aren't terribly scary to my infantry, since I'm generally stealthed.  Regardless, you never know.

We rolled up a random scenario, and ended up with Convergence.  Basically, an 11" circle in the middle of the table, at the end of every player's turn, if someone is in full control of the circle, they get a point- first one to 2 points wins.

Rob won the roll, and chose to go second.  I think that was probably a mistake (I would always go first!), and I told him so, but still, I was plenty happy to go first.

Turn 1:
I started my turn by advancing everything forward.  The Warwitch gave a focus to the Defiler, who ran forward (although not into the circle), and everything moved up 4-5 inches.  Nothing in the control zone yet.

Rob pretty much did the same.  Everything moved forward a few inches, although the jacks ran forward maybe 7 or so inches.  He tried a ranging shot with the mortars but was still far out of range.  However, he ended the turn with nothing in the control zone.  Bad news.

Turn 2:
I ran a Deathripper forward, and cast Parasite followed by a boosted Hellfire onto Drago, dealing about 10 points of damage.  Bane Lord Tartarus moved into the control zone as well.  My Bane Knights, Warwitch, and the Defiler moved towards the circle from my right.  The Bane Thralls moved in from my left.  I sent the Soulhunters 20" across the board into combat with his Widowmakers and Man-o-War Bombardiers, with the hopes of distracting them from shooting at me for a turn.  With things in the control zone, and no Rob- I gain the first control point.

Rob moved Vlad forward and popped his feat (as well as cast S&P).  Drago charged Bane Lord Tartarus, killing him.  The Behemoth charged my Deathripper, and killed him.  The Man-o-Wars managed to kill the Soulhunter engaged with them, but the Widowmakers didn't have much success, dealing only 4 points of damage to one of the other Soulhunters.  Rob ended the turn claiming a control point, tying us at 1-1.

Turn 3:
I see my chance.  The Bane Thralls attempt to charge Drago, but only two of them can make it.  They still manage to deal a decent amount of damage, however.  The Withershadow Combine finishes him off though, creating a Slayer.  With only the Behemoth left, I can tell I only need to kill him to win.  Asphyxious decides he's up to the task.  I cast Parasite on the Behemoth, and Scything Touch on myself, and charge in.  Dice-1 with Sustained Attack, in addition to popping my feat means a dead Behemoth, and a victorious Cryx.

I think poor Rob was hindered both by the scenario.  Next time, we're going to randomly choose two scenarios ahead of time, write a list with those in mind, then choose one of them randomly before the game starts.  That should help both of us have a chance when we play again.  We'll see though!

Cryx vs Khador, 35pts, 11/26/10

Part of my fun non-shopping Black Friday was spent playing Warmachine (amidst plenty of board games, as mentioned on my Cardboard Warriors blog).  Rob had been really excited to play Karchev, who he's been getting more and more experience with, and I was definitely eager to play.

I've been getting in the habit of randomly choosing my warcasters/warlocks before each game, this way I won't neglect casters just because I'm not good with them.  Occasionally, I'll be forced to play with casters/locks I'm not great with, and hopefully get some more practice.  My random choice this time was Epic Deneghra.  She's an interesting choice- most people think she's just the most amazing scenario caster in the game, and we just happened to be playing a scenario.  Hmm...  Sadly, I've not used her in MkII.  That means this would be an EXTRA interesting game.

My list:
Wraith Witch Deneghra
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Skarlock Thrall
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith

Just about the same list I ALWAYS take.  Unfortunately, after randomly choosing my caster, I realized I didn't have her model handy.  It's assembled, but sadly it was at home.  Sad.  That means that yes, I did proxy her.  I can't go against the random-ness, can I?  I used regular Deneghra for her instead.

Rob's list:
Karchev the Terrible
- Berserker
- Juggernaut
- Marauder
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Man-o-war Bombardiers (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Koldun Lord

Rob ran a Tier 4 Karchev list.  Not a bad choice of models, honestly, although I might have switched up the jacks.  Regardless, pretty hard looking army.

Terrain:


Plenty of terrain on the table. That hill was our objective. We were playing Convergence (I believe that's the name). Basically, we need to control the hill to win.

Deployment:
Rob deployed first:

Since these were completely proxied, a quick translation for you. The Assault Kommandoes are Ternions, those medium based models are all Man-o-Wars of some stripe, the jacks are jacks, aside from the Slayer, which is actually Karchev.

My deployment:

Spread out, just like usual.

Turn 1:
Rob advances everything as far forward as he can.

I advance everything as well. I run a Nightwretch onto the hill, and cast Curse of Shadows on the Shocktroopers, and Pursuit on the Bombardiers.

Turn 2:
The Shocktroopers charge the Nightwretch, and do 10 damage to it (and most importantly, knock out the Arc Node). The Bombardiers shoot, and manage to kill a Bane Thrall. Everything else moves towards the hill.



The Nightwretch advances through the Man-O-Wars and shoots them, dealing 4 damage. The Withershadow Combine manages to kill one of the Bombardiers, and the Bane Thralls kill the unit of Shocktroopers. I move eDenny up onto the hill, and pop my feat, locking the Khador army in place for a turn. I also try to Hellmouth the Bombardiers, but don't deal much damage. The rest of my army swarms the hill.



Turn 3:
Karchev chooses to spray his own jack in front of him, and manages to get eDenny under the spray. He kills a Bane Thrall, deals 9 damage to Deneghra (and knocks her down!), and damages a Nightwretch. Rob tries to follow up with the 2 Bombardiers nearby, who should've killed her... but rolls a double one for one of the shots, and the second shot only deals 5 points of damage. The Ternions manage to kill 3 Bane Knights.

I finally remember to go Incorporeal at the beginning of my turn, and stand up, and move out to the back of the hill, away from the action. Eek. I keep swarming the middle though- my Bane Thralls, Mech Thralls, and Bane Lord Tartarus all charge into the Khador jacks, dealing a ton of damage, and crippling a few systems. I send the Bane Knights into the Ternions, locking them in place, and killing a few. The Withershadow Combine finish off the Bombardiers.

Things aren't looking too too bad at this point, I'll almost have killed the majority of Rob's threats, and I still have a few parts of my army intact. However, with some luck, Rob could definitely wipe out my front rank of guys, and I didn't have much left after that should he succeed.



Turn 4:
Rob knows he has to do things now to win, or else I would wear him out, and then he wouldn't stand a chance. He has the Juggernaut and Marauder trample through my troops, killing a total of 3 Bane Thralls. The Koldun Lord sprayed another Bane Lord... giving Karchev a path to move up and spray Deneghra. He does, and deals enough damage to kill her.



Unfortunately for the both of us, I learned a few days later that Karchev's spray isn't magical, and Rob definitely thought it was. With that said, I think the game was still fantastic, and I still have it marked in my books as a loss. Rob put himself in position to win throughout the game, and although I was saved by luck once, I was going to struggle to keep the pressure going on him after his mass trampling.

I'm still pretty unfamiliar with epic Deneghra, so I'm looking forward to playing her again. I'm not sure when it will be, but I need to re-evaluate what I take with her. I'm assembling some Soulhunters, which should help provide me some extra threat range, and I'll probably need to fit in another arc node. We'll see how I perform next time I use her!

Can't seem to protect my warcaster! (Cryx vs Trollbloods, 25pts, 11/16/10)

Ben and I played another game during our lunch break.

My list:
Iron Lich Asphyxious
- Nightwretch
- Deathjack
- Slayer
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Ben had expressed a lack of fear over the Cryx jacks, aside from Arc Nodes.  I wanted to try to run more jacks, and hope to inspire some terror.

Ben's list:
Captain Gunnbjorn
* Troll Impaler
* Troll Impaler
* Dire Troll Bomber
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Trollkin Sluggers (Leader and 4 Grunts)

This is actually 26 points, but I doubt the single point mattered ;).  Ben has loved Gunnbjorn ever since seeing the concept art for him, so he's been eager to get him on the board.

Our terrain was our normal lunch-time setup.  3 walls, two rough patches, and a column (a salt shaker) in the middle.

I deployed first, and put Asphyxious and the jacks near the middle (the Deathjack was in the middle, just further up due to Advance Deployment), and my Bane models to my right.

Ben deployed Gunnbjorn in the center, an Impaler and his Sluggers off to my left, his Burrowers to my right, and everything else fairly near Gunnbjorn.

I advanced everything forward, but hid Asphyxious and my jacks behind a wall, so they wouldn't take much shooting.  I sent my Nightwretch forward, but it turned out to be out of range for arcing spells.  Ben responded by taking a few shots at my Bane Thralls, but didn't do any damage.  His Burrowers crept on up near the Bane Thralls, however.  Shooting from the Impaler and Gunnbjorn killed the poor bonejack.

I moved my jacks out of cover- the Deathjack ran towards the Sluggers, the Slayer and Asphyxious moved towards the middle, and Asphyxious camped his focus.  My Bane Thralls kept advancing (through a patch of rough terrain), and Bane Lord Tartarus tried to run around a long wall on my right.

One of Ben's Impalers started the turn off by Frenzying, rushing towards his Sluggers, but not quite reaching them.  His Burrowers popped up, and killed 4 of the 6 Bane Thralls.  The Sluggers opened fire on my Death jack, at d3 shots apiece, but ended up doing about 10 damage.  His Bomber attempted to assist, but found himself out of range.  Not quite the effective turn he wanted.

I went aggressive at this point.  The Deathjack charged into the previously frenzied Impaler, killing it, and healing 5 points of damage.  Next turn, I was going to have it start eating through the Sluggers.  Bane Lord Tartarus moved up behind the Burrowers, killing 3 (and replenishing some Bane Thralls) before the Bane Thralls activated, killing the Burrower unit.

Asphyxious charged the Bomber, dealing a ton of damage... then Teleported away.  As we'll see, that was a huge mistake.

Ben was pretty excited at this point, cast Guided Fire, and fired with Gunnbjorn, getting a Critical Devastation, knocking Asphyxious down and back, and dealing a LOT of damage to him.  The Impaler next to him stepped up and finished the job.  Loss for Cryx.

Really, I had this game, but I was a little stupid with Asphyxious.  I keep neglecting to pop his feat when he's in danger, wanting to use the extra focus for his turn offensively.  Had I kept smacking the Bomber (probably killing it) with the last two focus instead of Teleporting, and popped my feat for the 7 focus, I probably would've survived.  At that point, I probably could've won the game, since I had already dealt so much damage to the Troll forces.

I'm really going to have to work to remembering that.  Twice now, I've had this happen.  Going to try harder to make sure there's not a third.

Two Quick Battle Reports

Played two games last week, and although I didn't take pictures, I'll write brief reports up just for my own memory, and the enjoyment of whoever will bother reading them.

Game 1:
First game was last Wednesday, at 25 points.  My Cryx vs. BK's Menoth.

My list:
Iron Lich Asphyxious
- Nightwretch
- Deathjack
- Skarlock Thrall
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Pistol Wraith

Fairly standard stuff, I think.  I was trying to take a decent variety of things to show BK different things about Cryx.  I thought the Deathjack would be fun, since I knew he would be taking the Avatar, and having the two on the table could be a pretty great battle.

BK's list:
Harbinger of Menoth
- Crusader
- Hierophant
Avatar of Menoth
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Vassal Mechanik

BK took a Tier 3 Harbinger list, which has been the primary focus of his Warmachine purchases from the very beginning.  I think he just loves him some Paladins.

The table was very basic, flat terrain, with a lot of small patches of rough terrain.  Not many interesting terrain features, although BK's theme list puts out some Wall Templates which really screwed with me.

BK got the first turn, chose to go first, and deployed all of his guys near the middle of his deployment zone, fairly close together.

I did my usual 'fill the board' deployment, with Bane Thralls on the right, Mechanithralls in the middle, jacks, the Pistol Wraith, and my warcaster on the right.

For the first turn, we basically pushed everything forward.  BK used the walls to gain a defensive position while advancing the Avatar towards my line.  I set up my guys for a potential charge on his Paladins or the Avatar next turn should he move forward.

BK took the bait somewhat, charging Vilmon into my Nightwretch, killing it, then using the Avatar's Gaze to lock some of my models in place (the Mechanithralls mainly).  The Harbinger slowly advanced, primarily to ensure that Vilmon was in her control area.

Turns out... I was taking the bait ;).  Asphyxious gets into position a few inches away from Vilmon, and drops some spells on him, which the Harbinger Martyrdoms away.  My Bane Thralls then charge, killing him twice more, meaning 3 more damage on the Harbinger.  My Pistol Wraith attempts to shoot at the Vassal Mechanik, hidden next to one of the wall obstacles, but fails to hit.

BK has the Avatar charge the Bane Thralls, killing the 4 who were around Vilmon.  Vilmon then charges Asphyxious, who was left pretty much in the open, because I didn't see the danger.  Ugh.  Well, he has a lot of health, I'm sure I can survive.  4 dice, dice-1 for damage... BK rolls a 20.  Game over.

BK played very well for not having much experience, and I was a little disappointed I didn't give him more of a game.  I had him use some of his other models to beat on me, just so he could see their relative power.  I'm sure our next game will be a lot closer.  At least I hope so!

Game 2:
Game 2 was a 35 point game, played on Thursday, against Rob's Karchev list.  I chose to try out Epic Asphyxious.

Rob did take pictures of this game, but it does take him a bit to upload them ;).

My list:
Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Cankerworm
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Skarlock Thrall
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith
Pistol Wraith

Really, I had no idea what was best to take with him, so I went for my usual things, expecting the Bane models to be what I use for his feat.  I haven't tried using the Cankerworm prior to this either, but sadly, I don't think I got a good handle on him from this game.  Maybe next one.

Rob's list:
Karchev the Terrible
- Beast-09
- Behemoth
- Berserker
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Koldun Lord
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

Rob's in love with Karchev lately, and he even wrote an article on him.

The tables had a few buildings on the right and left side, with some walls near the middle.  I went first.

I spread out, with Asphyxious, the jacks, and the Pistol Wraiths on my left, all of my Bane models on the right.

Most of his army was deployed on my right, aside from Eiryss who deployed in woods closer to the center of the table.

I basically started off the game advancing everything forward.

Rob advanced Karchev, using tow, and turned around to get his jacks close to the center of the board, prepared to fight me.  Everything else advanced, aside from Eiryss, who took a shot at a Nightwretch and disrupted it.

I sent the Pistol Wraiths through the forest to try to Death Chill some of his jacks, to give me the chance to send the Bane models in, prepared to cause a ton of damage.  First Pistol Wraith shot at the Behemoth, needing anything but snake-eyes to hit, and missed on the second shot.  The Second Pistol Wraith chose the same target... and then missed on the second shot.  Ugh.

The Banes all advanced up; close enough to be a threat to Rob's jacks next turn.  I manage to get a Parasite onto the Behemoth.

Rob hesitated a bit with his movement, and had his jacks mill about, although the Behemoth succeeded in killing both Pistol Wraiths.  Eiryss dealt some damage to Asphyxious.  The Greylords and Koldun Lord moved up, and killed 2 of the Bane Knights, due to poor rolling.

The Bane Knights made their Vengeance move, and killed the a few Greylords.  Bane Lord Tartarus charged into the Berserker, nearly destroying it, and a few Bane Knights came with him, nearly wrecking the jack.  I moved Asphyxious up to try to throw some damage onto the opposing jacks, but couldn't roll well for damage.  The Skarlock moved up and tried to cast a spell onto Eiryss, missed, and died for his efforts.

Karchev moved forward, and cast Unearthly Rage.  He followed this by charging Beast-09 into Asphyxious, dealing decent damage, but not serious.  The Behemoth, with nothing to get into combat with shot at the Withershadow Combine, dealing small amounts of damage off the scatter.  The Berserker failed to kill any of the Bane Knights assailing it.

Asphyxious laid into Beast-09, not dealing tremendous damage, but hurting it some, then Teleported away to safety.  The Cankerworm attempted to follow up, but didn't do much better on the damage rolls, even with the Armor Piercing attack.  Ugh.  Tartarus and the Bane Knights did succeed in killing off the last Greylord and the Berserker though. 

Karchev again advanced, dropped an Eruption template in front of him (killing a Bane Thrall, probably) to stop Asphyxious from feating and killing him (smart!).  Beast-09 tried to get into contact with Aspyxious, but couldn't. 

The game ended with Tartarus and all the Bane Knights charging into Karchev, and after some favorable damage rolls, ending him.

The game was, sadly, fairly one-sided towards the end, although he did manage to get some pressure on my warcaster which isn't common.  I think Rob needs to spend another turn towing his warjacks into position to ensure he gets the charge into my lines next time.  With that said, after some practice, this could be a much more difficult matchup!

3-player Free-For-All, 25 points, 10/16/10

Having a free Saturday, Ben, Rob, and I all decided to spend some time playing Warmachine/Hordes.  With three of us, we figured that playing a bunch of one on one games would be pretty enjoyable.  However, we didn't want anyone to be excluded to start, so decided to go with a three-player game just to get the day going.

Three players is a bit of a challenge, as anyone knows, so we had to figure out a good way to go about this on short notice. We decided to go with a 'Capture the Flag' style game, with a token in the middle of the board, and the players trying to capture the token, and return it to their board edge.

Picking up the token was an action (but didn't stop you from using another action or an attack), and once you had the token you couldn't run, use any of your special movement rules, and you lost Incorporeal.

Also, we assumed the casters would die at some point, so caster death didn't end the game for you. Your jacks did become autonomous though.

The armies:
I chose my trusty Cryx, and decided to use Goreshade, hoping that a potentially chaotic game would give me a chance to see 'what he could do'.

My list:
Goreshade the Bastard
- Slayer
- Skarlock Thrall
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith

Nothing terribly new here.

Ben ran Trollbloods, since he doesn't have much in the way of choice.

His list:
Chief Madrak Ironhide
- Troll Axer
- Dire Troll Bomber
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler

This is Ben's normal list as well. Basically a brick of beat-downs heading straight down the opposing throat.

Rob chose to run Khador, since he has almost no experience with his Legion.

Rob's list:
Karchev the Terrible
- Beast-09
- Decimator
- Spriggan

Lots of scary jacks there. I haven't seen the Decimator used, nor did I really remember what it did (Rob stole my book >:( ) but I would find out soon enough.

The table and deployment:


The entire table was part of the game, not just the green part. We didn't have enough felt to cover it, because we're lame. The well in the center of the table has the token we needed to bring out.

After rolling, we started deploying.

Khador:


Despite owning many of these models, Rob hasn't gotten around to assembling them. Tsk tsk.

Cryx:


Trollbloods:


With that, we got it started!

Turn 1:
Not much happened at this point, since we were all quite a distance away from one another. Rob advanced as fast as he could directly towards the center. I did the same, but cast Shadowmancer. Ben did the same, after doing all his bricking abilities.



Turn 2:
Karchev tows his jacks forward. They then run towards Ben (Rob was trying to trick me into ignoring him. Not a chance).

I move towards the center and cast Mage Blight, after popping my feat to give me some bodies to face off against Rob.

Ben moves up, and his Bomber begins shelling my infantry, dropping 4 Mechanithralls and 3 Bane Knights.


Looking a little sparse on my side!

Turn 3:
Rob, a little unnerved by the mage blight, advances directly away from both me and the action (I marked this in my notes as a ?!, like in chess). I certainly wasn't going to complain about the reprieve.

I try to take advantage of the lull by attacking Ben. My Bane Knights charge into his Axer, dealing some damage. Everything else advances towards the center, and again I Mage Blight.

Ben's Axer uses Thresher against the three Bane Knights next to him... and misses all three times. His Bomber tramples through the Mechanithralls, into combat with Tartarus... and fails to hit. The Champions kill two of the Bane Knights, but overall, definitely not the turn he (and I, really) expected. Not much you can do about that, man!



Turn 4:
Rob's Spriggan flares some Bane Thralls, and the Devastator manages to drop one of them. Karchev tows Beast-09 into position... he then charges into my Bane Thralls, killing 4 of them.

Beset on both sides (how did I end up in the middle?) I began to unleash some paint. My Pistol Wraith Death Chills his Spriggan. My Bane Thralls + Goreshade (who Mage Blighted again) + the Withershadow Combine drop Beast-09, creating a Seether, who runs towards the Trolls to put some pressure on them.

Tartarus, my Slayer, and my few remaining Mechanithralls kill the Bomber, and the Deathwalker runs into contact with the token. If I can buy her a turn to pick it up, and some time to start moving, I could take this game!

Ben moves Madrak back, so he's out of Mage Blight range. The Champions do some heavy damage to the Seether.


Running out of guys...


Engaging Ben.

Turn 5:
Karchev sprays a Bane Thrall, and manages to hit Goreshade, knocking him down. The Decimator then unloads into him, killing him once (bye Deathwalker!). Fairly scary turn for me.

Goreshade heals, and my Slayer kills a Trollkin Champion. My Bane Thrall and the Withershadow Combine charge into the Decimator, dealing a ton of damage to it.

The Champions bring down the Seether, and almost succeed in killing the Slayer. I'm definitely definitely running out of guys.


Of course, I'm fighting off two armies at the same time, no wonder I'm losing guys so fast!

Turn 6:
Karchev tows the Decimator out of it's engagement... into Bane Lord Tartarus, who it kills, and the Decimator finally picks up the token. The Spriggan flares then shoots at the Withershadow Combine, but fails to kill any.

The Withershadow Combine, trying to find a good target, charge into Karchev, dealing fairly minimal damage. The Bane Thrall kills the Decimator. I have a Mechanithrall grab the token, while Goreshade Mage Blights, hoping to buy a turn.

One of Ben's champions kills the last Bane Thrall. He also kills a Mechanithrall and the Slayer. Madrak shoots and kills the Skarlock, while the Axer gets into combat with Goreshade and deals three damage to him.



Turn 7:
Karchev sprays again, killing the Mechanithrall and knocking down the Axer.

The Withershadow Combine's spells kill a Champion, and the Pistol Wraith Death Chills Karchev.

Madrak misses Goreshade with his thrown axe. However, the Champions, with their axes in their hands, do not miss him. No recovering for him this time.


I am down to the Withershadow Combine and a Pistol Wraith at this point.

Turn 8:
Karchev kills the Axer, and the Spriggan takes a great opportunity shot at the Pistol Wraith.. but deals only 4 damage!

The Pistol Wraith responds by freezing the Spriggan. The Withershadow Combine kill 2 members of the Krielstone bearer unit, trying to collect some souls.

Ben, realizing I'm not quite threatening at the moment, moves in, and the Champions begin taking chunks out of Karchev.

Turn 9:
Karchev kills a champion, and the Spriggan tries to move around to get away from the Pistol Wraith.

The Pistol Wraith doesn't let him, and again freezes him. The Withershadow Combine use their magic on Karchev, and this time do pretty good damage to him.

This is followed by the Champions charging into him, nearly killing him.

All this time, the token is sitting on the ground, by the way.

Turn 10:
Karchev uses Ground Zero, killing a Champion and pushing the other one away from him.

The Withershadow Combine kill that Champion.

Ben rushes in, Madrak throwing his axe, and having a Krielstone Bearer pick up the token.

Turns 11-End
Karchev does finally die, and with my remaining guys I wipe out everything of Ben's except for Madrak... who kills my Pistol Wraith. The Spriggan kills all but one of my Withershadow Combine.

We finally all get locked into an unfortunate combat. Spriggan against one of the Withershadow Combine against a heavily damaged Madrak. Despite Madrak and the WC member swinging at the Spriggan, it eventually slays us both.

With the only model left on the board... Rob wins!