There's a new Warmachine book out, and it's all the rage with the scene. I like it quite a bit, though as a newer player the shiny newness doesn't have quite the same appeal to me. I played a game with Ray, using proxies to represent the new models which have not yet come out. Ray wanted to try the new Sanctifier heavy warjack for the Protectorate of Menoth, and I wanted to try out a lot of Cygnar newness.
Our lists were, at 50 points:
Me playing Constance Blaize, Knight of the Prophet +6 points
* Gallant 9 points
* Squire 2 points
Journeyman Warcaster 3 points
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 points
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points
Archduke Runewood 3 points
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution 3 points
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One 2 points
10 Precursor Knights 8 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
Stormblades 5 points
* Stormblade Officer & Standard 3 points
** Stormclad 10 points
My opponent ran High Executioner Servath Reznik +6 points
* 2x Sanctifier 9 points each
* Scourge of Heresy 9 points
* Hierophant 2 points
4 Choir of Menoth 2 points
5 Exemplar Cinerators 8 points
10 Idrian Skirmishers 10 points
* Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide 3 points
Vassal of Menoth 2 points
3 Wracks 1 point
1 Covenant of Menoth 2 points, but that's a point too many. . .I gotta remember to add these things up for my opponent. :p
My foe won the roll to go first and decided to deploy a 'jack wall in the middle of the table, with the Scourge front and center and the Sanctifiers running its flanks. Reznik came behind them. The Idrians found some cover in the woods near the center-right (my right, I guess) of the table and declared their prey to be the Black 13th. The Cinerators came down the center-left of the table, climbing toward a hill on that half of the map. The book said no knockdown and the choir no shooting. The Idrians dug in in the woods, making them tough to get rid of. Reznik cast Iron Aggression on one sanctifier and Ignite on the Cinerators.
The no shooting thing was funny, because my army wasn't shooty at all, I set my Precursor Knights in the middle of the table, with the Stormblades on their left a bit (across from his Cinerators) and the Black 13th and Harlan Versh on the right. Behind the infantry in the center left was my 'caster, 'jacks and support solos. Epic Eiryss was on the left flank up a bit for Advanced Deployment.
I moved the PKs up in Shield wall for armor. The Stormblades ran toward the same hill the Cinerators were approaching. Eiryss put a bolt into the Cinerators to remove Ignite, staying a good distance away. The 'jacks and support moved up behind the melee wall, and the Black 13th moved behind the Precursors a little to screen them from the Idrians who were hunting for their blood. Harlan moved up just a bit. Constance put Banishing Ward on the Stormblades, so that both of the frontline melee units were immune to Reznik's Perdition tricks.
Next turn saw the book giving flaming attacks to all the Idrians, who immediately moved up and took some potshots at my guys. They set Versh, the Stormblade Officer, and a couple of my grunts on fire, but they failed to penetrate anyone's armor. The 'jack wall moved up a bit, with one Sanctifier running to move up behind the Idrians. This is the one with Iron Aggression on it. The Vassal Enlivened it as well. Reznik recast Ignite on the Cinerators, but they were out of range to hit anything with their charge. Choir said no shooting again.
Then the shit hit the fan. Harlan and the PK managed to douse their flames but the two Stormblades on fire died horribly. I activated Constance early and cast Crusader's Call to give all the troops +2 inches on a charge and then popped her feat. I realized later that all her (faction) models get this hookup, which also spikes the threat range on her 'jacks. Nice. I moved Runewood to get a shot at an Idrian blocking the PK's charge lane to the IA Sanctifier, gave the PKs +2 to their charge attack and Terror, and blasted the Idrian off the table. I had the PKs charge into the IA Sanctifier and the Idrian front runners (there were 4 and the UA hiding in the woods still). The PKs managed to do some hurt to the Sanctifier, but not much. I had decided not to pop their minifeat for extra damage yet. Two of them died to free strikes I incurred intentionally to get more guys at the Sanctifier.
The Black 13th and Harlan took a few shots and managed to kill an Idrian, but it was tough with the cover and the few who were available were engaged by Precursor Knights. Harlan straight up missed his first shot, which of course meant he wasn't much use. I then had Gallant activate and charge the IA Sanctifier, using reach and an opened left by a murdered PK to get to it. He did about 15 boxes of hurt with the two focus he had (one from Arlan and one from Morrow accumulator). The Stormblades charged in and all but erased the Cinerators from the board. There was one left after their charge, and the Stormclad mugged it too. Again I lost a grunt to a free strike during this, and it put Constance at 3 soul tokens for the next turn. Eiryss killed a member of the choir. I had Junior move the Arcane Shield from the Stormclad to Gallant, since the Stormclad was now close enough to both Reznik and Scourge to be a victim.
My foe dropped Iron Aggression, deciding not to kill the PKs screening his 'jacks. The Idrians decided to whack the Black 13th, and the paper-thin trenchcoat armor of those elite gun mages wasn't bolstered enough by Constance's feat to save them. He managed to kill a few more PKs with Scourge and the other Sanctifier, but now Constance had 9 souls on her, and things were gonna get ugly for him next turn. He moved Reznik up and cast Engine of Destruction to make him a death machine. His plan was to wreck the Stormclad with Reznik and then hide behind the wreck, then use his remaining focus to Perdition and move the second Sancifier closed to Constance.
He rolled poorly on his first two damage rolls (3 and 4 on two dice, i think), which meant he had to keep burning focus to make sure the Stormclad didn't just end Reznik next turn. He got two good rolls after that, but then Reznik was low on focus and the Stormclad was still up, though heavily damaged (all systems but movement crippled). Reznik bought one more attack, stabbed a PK to death, wracked it, then tried to Perdition the second Sanctifier closer, but Junior's armor was at over 20 by now, and Reznik was out of focus to boost damage. He did kill two more Stormblades with the other Sanctifier (now both Sancs were flush with focus from souls, since we're playing SoulMachine, cue the Parliament Funkadelic y'allz!) by stabbing the wrack and making it explode around them in a pow 14.
He wanted to Perdition the 'blades, but of course I still had them warded, and the PKs have Spell Ward all the time. It was nice. For me. The Covenant said no spells, Reznik popped his feat and waited for the hammer to fall. Under Reznik's feat I couldn't allocate to Gallant, and my upkeeps all dropped. That was all right, as I was starting to realize that Constance's threat range and ability to stab things is pretty good with Gallant involved. I activated the PKs and tripped their minifeat for extra damage dice and they managed to finish the formerly-Iron Aggressioned Sanctifier, which freed Gallant to move around. They also pounded some Idrians down. Harlan killed the three who'd come out to get the Black 13th with his Quad Iron.
Then I had the Stormclad get out of the way of my Shenanigans, as it was blocking Constance's charge lane. I had Arlan give a focus to Gallant (it's worded as "gains a focus" instead of "allocate", and Reznik's feat stops allocations, so I think that's legit?) so that it could run over to Reznik and give Constance the flanking bonus. Runewood gave Constance a +2 to her first charge attack and (needlessly) Terror. Constance's 11-inch charge with 2-inch reach was more than enough to get to Reznik, and even if the hill was rough terrain Runewood could have given her Pathfinder.
She cast Crusader's Call for that extra 2 inches of threat, and with her remaining 12 focus she charged in a finished the High Executioner. In two swings with the flanking bonus. Nice.
Aftergame points:
The Sanctifier was pretty solid, since I needed to get rid of Idrians to get to him, and they just powered his decently-fast, reach heavies. My opponent has been honing a Reznik list that normally includes a Guardian and the Vilmon+Paladins module instead of the two Sanctifiers. I'm not sure the two Sancs were better, but maybe. The Paladins probably would have been eaten up by the enchanted maces of PKs, but you never know.
Gallant was all right. In fact, I never allocated to it from Constance. Arlan and the Morrowan bonus were pretty good to get it going. I probably should have given it one the turn it charged the IA'd Sanc, but alas.
Runewood was good as a Pathfinder insurance policy, and he did manage to pick off a key model with his handgun in a jam. That was cool. He made the PKs insanely accurate on their charge turn as well, and I liked that a lot.
Constance is interesting to me for a number of reasons. First, I did not cast many spells with her. I'm a newer player, and I like pCaine and pHaley, and I'm always strapped for focus. With Constance, I cast Banishing Ward turn one, and Crusader's Call turn two and three. That's it. If I wasn't able to get to Reznik on the last turn I would have cast Transference and used my focus to bolster the attacks of the remaining Stormblades and PKs (would have walked around the crippled Sanctifier to get to him too), but she's quite light on the spellcasting. That's alright, as her 16 armor gets a decent boost from camping a bit.
Crusader's Call is super deluxe awesome. She helps her whole force get that charge. Stormblades can Assault 10 inches, and PKs 11. Moreover, her 'jacks get the benefit as well, so the Stormclad and Gallant both had 12-inch threats with their reach. It was nice.
I briefly considered a Centurion with her, as it can then charge 9 with reach for an 11-inch threat, but then it gives up its no-charge * action, so. . .maybe? With Sword Knights marshaling it it can Pronto as well, for a 15-inch threat! But mediocre mat might discourage some. Still, interesting options.
-Merlin out.
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