Army Name: Blaize Troopjam lolz
Cygnar
25+6 points, 19 models
Constance Blaize +6 points
* Gallant 9 points
* Lancer 6 points
Archduke Alain Runewood 3 points
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points
6 Precursor Knights 5 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
6 Sword Knights 4 points
Army Name: Grim Angus SubPar Shite
Trollbloods
25+6 points, 20 models
Grim Angus +6 points
* Earthborn Dire Troll 10 points
* Troll Impaler 5 points
* Runebearer 2 points (mostly useless)
Janissa Stonetide 3 points
10 Pyg Burrowers 6 points
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew 1 point (not great)
Trollkin Runeshapers 4 points
I'm sticking to the lists, tournament style, because sometimes stuff just doesn't work in context. Maybe Viktor Pendrake actually isn't boss, he just got lucky. Maybe the Runebearer is cool with Grim, but he was against a list that shut him down.
Maybe the Runebearer is terrible with Grim, and he's essentially playing a 23pt list.
Constance won the toss and set up first with lots of cover for her Nyss and solos. They all lurked near a building in the center of the board in the woods after running first turn. Constance cast Transference and Banishing Ward on the Nyss. Now the only models targetable by spells in her force were herself, Gallant, and Eiryss. The PKs ran as well.
Grim set up with his Runeshapers across from the Nyss advance and most of the rest central, though Grim and Janissa were left of center and near some rough terrain.
The Pygs were Advanced Deploy and up about 6 inches. They immediately tunneled and moved directly behind the center building, so they could unburrow and threaten both Nyss and PKs if necessary. Grim's amazing threat range shot a PK on turn one. The EDT gave Grim Transmute and Janissa put up the rock wall. The Runeshapers wanted to throw out some magical aoes and hope for good deviation, but couldn't target anything in their LOS with magical attacks. So they hid in the woods. Impaler, Troll Moses, and the Gobbers did a basic advance.
The Pygs were a problem for Constance, who wants to control the engagement and troopjam early. She feated and moved up a bit to cover a large area of the board with her control area, then ran her whole force to engage Grim with a PK, and put 4 Nyss into the Runeshapers, but out of charge range so they ran to engage. Harlan and Eiryss tried to shoot Janissa but missed and flubbed damage. Sad. Gallant backed up the PKs.
Grim's Impaler moved up and tried to slam Gallant with a spear attack, but didn't crit. He did do an incredible amount of damage on the hit though, taking out Gallant's movement and making him a sitting duck. Grim moved out of melee with the PK, taking a big free strike in the process and giving 11 damage to his Earthborn, then spending a fury to heal the now-crippled branch on the dire troll. He then shot Eiryss in the face, ending her.
Grim feated to give a huge accuracy boost to his force and the Pygs rushed out and killed 3 Nyss, 3 PKs, Harlan Versh, and cranked a bunch of damage on Gallant as well. Constance got 6 souls in the process.
3 Nyss were out of range of Constance's feat and the Runeshapers chopped them down without feeding the beast. The Earthborn charged the remaining, unengaged PKs and ate 2, and since he Snacked on them they didn't give Blaize souls either. He healed 4 more damage. Janissa put a rock wall up for her and Grim to hide behind. The Gobbers put a smoke cloud between Blaize and Grim.
Blaize, even with 12 focus, didn't have a lot of good choices. She decided to attack the EDT with Gallant and gave him 3 focus. Removing Grim's heavy might enable some beats on the Impaler, but first Blaize had to Sunburst the two Pygs engaged by Gallant. She hit the first one and killed it, but the second made a tough check on the blast damage. She cast another Sunburst and killed it, but was then down to one focus. Gallant moved up and cranked the Earthborn, but a snake eyes on one damage roll meant that the troll had 4 life left after the attack. The PK next to him attacked as well, but failed to kill him.
The Nyss managed to kill 4 Pygs on the other side of the board, and none of them passed their Tough rolls. Both zones were still contested, but Grim was winning the attrition war.
Grim activated and healed the earthborn's damaged crippled branches so that it could operate at peak efficiency. Then he cast Mark the Target on the Nyss to lower their defenses. Then he shot one.
The Impaler moved up and crit-slammed Constance back an inch, doing a few damage. The earthborn killed Gallant and the PK in his grill. The burrowers and Runeshapers killed the Nyss and moved into the zone.
Grim scored a point. Constance only had herself left. Grim would have won by scenario next turn and she conceded after trying to finish the EDT herself.
MVP: Pyg Burrowers were nasty against Blaize.
Lessons learned: Burrowers are a hard counter to troopjam armies. Their ability to pop up within 5" of the burrow token and clog up the midfield with 20 melee attacks from a variety of vectors is simply amazing. I wish the Grim list had a Fell Caller instead of the Runebearer and Swamp Gobbers.
Constance had little answer to the super-threat of Grim's burrowers.
-Merlin out
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone y'allz
Banner
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Mercenary Blaize v. John Woo Shooter
Match 4 of round 1. Gaining Ground.
Army Name: Holy Mercenaries
Highborn Covenant
25+6 points, 22 models
Constance Blaize +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (again, Blaize needs the hookup on Morrowans)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution 3 points
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One 2 points (I don't like merc utility solos in a Cygnar Blaize list, but when we're talking a merc list they're so much better because they benefit from all Blaize's buffs and she benefits during feat turn if they get mauled)
10 Nyss Hunters 10 points (pathfinder, weaponmaster, CRA, super fast, all good)
6 Precursor Knights 5 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
Army Name: Caine Netdex (so named because a better player than I ran a similar list at Gencon and I modified it from his blog)
Cygnar
25+6 points, 22 models
Lieutenant Allister Caine +6 points
* Ol' Rowdy 9 points (Rowdy is one of, if not the, best 'jacks in the faction)
Lady Aiyana and Master Holt 4 points (at 25 I had to choose between the Black 13th and this duo. I decided that 4 5-man CRAs from the Long Gunners would be sick if they all hit a heavy for +2 because of Aiyana's damage buff; I lose the ability to deal with stealth tho)
10 Long Gunners 10 points (not great generally, but Snipe and Deadeye can make them murderous)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord 2 points
6 Stormguard 6 points (the last bits I'm not sure about. This might be better as 10 'guard and no Aiyana and Holt, but since the Stormguard are only in the list as a speedbump, to enable the LGs to get in some extra shots before being engaged, they might do the trick)
Blaize won the roll and again elected to go first. She chose the side of the table with the forest to abuse the Nyss' native high defense and pathfinder. The Nyss and Harlan ran into the woods. Eiryss ran along that flank to half-hide behind a building. The Precursors ran to the walls in the center of the table to use them as cover, and Gallant backed them up. Constance cast Transference and walked behind Gallant.
Caine had some tough choices to make. His game plan was to give Blur to the Stormguard to protect them from ranged and Snipe to the Long Gunners. He decided that was a good plan, but not wanting to waste his own gunshots he also advanced himself, a little too far. Then Rowdy moved up to screen him, but this put Rowdy in danger of a couple of Nyss charges.
The LGs managed to kill three Nyss in the woods with CRAs and Deadeye from Caine. Rupert gave the 'guard Tough in anticipation of the counterattack. Aiyana and Holt advanced along the opposite flank from Eiryss.
So now Constance had a chance at an alpha strike, and things went quite well for her. She activated first and cast Crusader's Call to boost her troops' charge range. Then she put Banishing Ward on Gallant to keep Caine from trying any Thunderstrike shenanigans. She also upkept Transference and feated, ending on zero focus.
Harlan moved up and used his Purgation Quad Iron gun to kill 4 Long Gunners. Rowdy forgot to Countercharge. The Nyss moved in and hit Rowdy hard, with something like 15 damage on two charges (the third in range missed). Rowdy's hammer was out. The other Nyss killed three Stormguard, but one made his Tough check. Then the Precursor Knights charged in, using their minifeat to get a single charge on Rowdy at 4 dice, with the rest just running to engage the remaining Stormguard. That single Precursor Knight hit Rowdy like a ton of bricks, crippling right arm and cortex.
That was a huge loss for Caine. Worse, catching up on attrition was going to be rough against Blaize's diminishing returns feat. Eiryss moved into Caine's control zone behind a building, and Gallant backed up the troops engaged by the Stormguard.
Caine was in trouble. He needed to kill a bunch of Blaize's troops on her feat turn, and survive, while contesting the middle zone. The Stormguard activated first, but they missed their first attack (needed a 6, rolled a 5 on two dice) and then they managed to kill one Precursor Knight. Meh.
Rupert gave them Terror in an attempt to make the Nyss break, but they passed their command check. Then he ran to contest the cente zone. Aiyana couldn't do much this turn. She wanted to put the Kiss spell effect (+2 damage against target model) on Gallant, but Banishing Ward prevented it. She had to settle for the Nyss, but missed the roll. Holt charged the Precursor Officer, but missed 3 of his 4 attacks and then flubbed the damage on the fourth to barely scratch his target.
Rowdy moved away and ate free strikes, getting scrapped in the process. Caine stood still to aim and feated, but he needed 9s to hit many of the Nyss due to engagement. He did kill a few after shooting his own Stormguard in the back on accident. He managed to kill a couple and a whole bunch of PKs, but missed his attack against Harlan Versh. He also missed both of his initial gunshots against Versh. He only needed a 4 on two dice. He bought an attack, hit, and boosted damage, but Versh's armor was through the roof due to Constance's feat. Caine bought one more and managed to kill the witch hunter. Took four focus though. He then teleported behind his LGs.
The LGs dropped two big CRAs on Gallant, and rolled good damage, but not enough to hurt the lug. No control points scored.
Constance got 9 extra focus due to her feat and souls. She gave two to Gallant and upkept Transference. There were still 4 Nyss on the board and two PKs. The Officer killed Holt and the Standard Bearer moved to power Gallant. Constance activated and cast a fully boosted Sunburst at Rupert, killing him. The Nyss charged up and killed two LGs and the remaining Stormguard. Eiryss shot Caine for a few, and Gallant charged in to finish him off. Blaize wins.
Game MVP: Nyss Hunters. Those elves were bananas awesome.
Lessons learned: Nyss are awesome. Still. Constance seems strong so far, but she's won the roll to go first and chosen the side of the board that offers the most cover. I thought Caine had this one in the bag, but he didn't protect his heavy hitters, losing four LGs and Rowdy to the alpha strike. He should have played more conservatively.
Round 2 will be:
Merc Blaize going first against Grim Angus
Cygnar Blaize first against Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls
Ashlynn going first against Caine
Haley first against Stryker
I really don't relish the concept of a Blaize v Blaize confrontation. This exercise was an attempt to get a feel for various models, and while i like her playstyle running her in a "mirror match" won't teach me much, IMO.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Army Name: Holy Mercenaries
Highborn Covenant
25+6 points, 22 models
Constance Blaize +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (again, Blaize needs the hookup on Morrowans)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution 3 points
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One 2 points (I don't like merc utility solos in a Cygnar Blaize list, but when we're talking a merc list they're so much better because they benefit from all Blaize's buffs and she benefits during feat turn if they get mauled)
10 Nyss Hunters 10 points (pathfinder, weaponmaster, CRA, super fast, all good)
6 Precursor Knights 5 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
Army Name: Caine Netdex (so named because a better player than I ran a similar list at Gencon and I modified it from his blog)
Cygnar
25+6 points, 22 models
Lieutenant Allister Caine +6 points
* Ol' Rowdy 9 points (Rowdy is one of, if not the, best 'jacks in the faction)
Lady Aiyana and Master Holt 4 points (at 25 I had to choose between the Black 13th and this duo. I decided that 4 5-man CRAs from the Long Gunners would be sick if they all hit a heavy for +2 because of Aiyana's damage buff; I lose the ability to deal with stealth tho)
10 Long Gunners 10 points (not great generally, but Snipe and Deadeye can make them murderous)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord 2 points
6 Stormguard 6 points (the last bits I'm not sure about. This might be better as 10 'guard and no Aiyana and Holt, but since the Stormguard are only in the list as a speedbump, to enable the LGs to get in some extra shots before being engaged, they might do the trick)
Blaize won the roll and again elected to go first. She chose the side of the table with the forest to abuse the Nyss' native high defense and pathfinder. The Nyss and Harlan ran into the woods. Eiryss ran along that flank to half-hide behind a building. The Precursors ran to the walls in the center of the table to use them as cover, and Gallant backed them up. Constance cast Transference and walked behind Gallant.
Caine had some tough choices to make. His game plan was to give Blur to the Stormguard to protect them from ranged and Snipe to the Long Gunners. He decided that was a good plan, but not wanting to waste his own gunshots he also advanced himself, a little too far. Then Rowdy moved up to screen him, but this put Rowdy in danger of a couple of Nyss charges.
The LGs managed to kill three Nyss in the woods with CRAs and Deadeye from Caine. Rupert gave the 'guard Tough in anticipation of the counterattack. Aiyana and Holt advanced along the opposite flank from Eiryss.
So now Constance had a chance at an alpha strike, and things went quite well for her. She activated first and cast Crusader's Call to boost her troops' charge range. Then she put Banishing Ward on Gallant to keep Caine from trying any Thunderstrike shenanigans. She also upkept Transference and feated, ending on zero focus.
Harlan moved up and used his Purgation Quad Iron gun to kill 4 Long Gunners. Rowdy forgot to Countercharge. The Nyss moved in and hit Rowdy hard, with something like 15 damage on two charges (the third in range missed). Rowdy's hammer was out. The other Nyss killed three Stormguard, but one made his Tough check. Then the Precursor Knights charged in, using their minifeat to get a single charge on Rowdy at 4 dice, with the rest just running to engage the remaining Stormguard. That single Precursor Knight hit Rowdy like a ton of bricks, crippling right arm and cortex.
That was a huge loss for Caine. Worse, catching up on attrition was going to be rough against Blaize's diminishing returns feat. Eiryss moved into Caine's control zone behind a building, and Gallant backed up the troops engaged by the Stormguard.
Caine was in trouble. He needed to kill a bunch of Blaize's troops on her feat turn, and survive, while contesting the middle zone. The Stormguard activated first, but they missed their first attack (needed a 6, rolled a 5 on two dice) and then they managed to kill one Precursor Knight. Meh.
Rupert gave them Terror in an attempt to make the Nyss break, but they passed their command check. Then he ran to contest the cente zone. Aiyana couldn't do much this turn. She wanted to put the Kiss spell effect (+2 damage against target model) on Gallant, but Banishing Ward prevented it. She had to settle for the Nyss, but missed the roll. Holt charged the Precursor Officer, but missed 3 of his 4 attacks and then flubbed the damage on the fourth to barely scratch his target.
Rowdy moved away and ate free strikes, getting scrapped in the process. Caine stood still to aim and feated, but he needed 9s to hit many of the Nyss due to engagement. He did kill a few after shooting his own Stormguard in the back on accident. He managed to kill a couple and a whole bunch of PKs, but missed his attack against Harlan Versh. He also missed both of his initial gunshots against Versh. He only needed a 4 on two dice. He bought an attack, hit, and boosted damage, but Versh's armor was through the roof due to Constance's feat. Caine bought one more and managed to kill the witch hunter. Took four focus though. He then teleported behind his LGs.
The LGs dropped two big CRAs on Gallant, and rolled good damage, but not enough to hurt the lug. No control points scored.
Constance got 9 extra focus due to her feat and souls. She gave two to Gallant and upkept Transference. There were still 4 Nyss on the board and two PKs. The Officer killed Holt and the Standard Bearer moved to power Gallant. Constance activated and cast a fully boosted Sunburst at Rupert, killing him. The Nyss charged up and killed two LGs and the remaining Stormguard. Eiryss shot Caine for a few, and Gallant charged in to finish him off. Blaize wins.
Game MVP: Nyss Hunters. Those elves were bananas awesome.
Lessons learned: Nyss are awesome. Still. Constance seems strong so far, but she's won the roll to go first and chosen the side of the board that offers the most cover. I thought Caine had this one in the bag, but he didn't protect his heavy hitters, losing four LGs and Rowdy to the alpha strike. He should have played more conservatively.
Round 2 will be:
Merc Blaize going first against Grim Angus
Cygnar Blaize first against Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls
Ashlynn going first against Caine
Haley first against Stryker
I really don't relish the concept of a Blaize v Blaize confrontation. This exercise was an attempt to get a feel for various models, and while i like her playstyle running her in a "mirror match" won't teach me much, IMO.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Grim Angus v. Slo-Mo
Match three of the basement series, again using Gaining Ground as the scenario.
Army Name: Haley Gunshow 25
Cygnar
25+5 points, 21 models
Captain Victoria Haley +5 points
* Defender 9 points
* Squire 2 points (pretty standard fare here, Haley loves ranged attacks for feat turn and the Squire takes Temporal Barrier to a whole new level)
Gun Mage Captain Adept 2 points (meh. AD and in-faction for feat)
Stormblades 5 points
* Stormblade Officer & Standard 3 points
* 1 Stormblade Storm Gunner 1 point (Solid Group with Haley; TB protects them from the alphastrike charge and they counterattack like demons)
6 Trencher Commandos 6 points
* 2 Trencher Commando Scattergunners 2 points (a first strike unit, more awesome because of the scattergunner attachment)
Army Name: Grim Angus Basix
Trollbloods
25+6 points, 20 models
Grim Angus +6 points
* Earthborn Dire Troll 10 points
* Troll Impaler 5 points (both the beasts are here to support Grim, either with a +4" range animus from the Impaler, or the EDTs amazing defensive animus with Janissa's rock wall.
* Runebearer 2 points (this guy did not impress me with Grim. Shoulda taken Pendrake or similar)
Janissa Stonetide 3 points
10 Pyg Burrowers 6 points (tough little monkeys who hit hard but are terribly inaccurate. Grim's support makes them super awesome)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew 1 point (had a point left, but these monkeys were pointless)
Trollkin Runeshapers 4 points
Grim won the roll to go first and just moved everything up, and had the burrowers tunnel.
Haley advanced the 'blades into the woods on her side of the table, to cover them against the burrower strike next turn. Then she moved up and tossed out TB as an army-wide accuracy buff. The commandoes moved up and tried to ace the Runeshapers, and they killed two, but one made his Tough roll and stayed alive.
The Defender moved up and took a potshot but was just out of range.
Grim had some order-of activation issues. The burrowers popped up, ready to murder the commandoes and maybe some 'blades. Then the Impaler moved up and gave Grim Far Strike, and the Runebearer gave him a Harmonious Exaltation to reduce a spell cost by one. But then when Grim moved forward to feat, he didn't have line of sight to much. He killed a commando and discarded a bunch of fury after casting a free Return Fire.
The EDT moved up but then turned a bit to give Grim his animus. The burrowers killed all but one of the commandoes and the GMCA, and managed to hit one Stormblade as well (Arcane Shield made them harder to kill tho). The Runeshapers dropped two aoes toward the Defender, hoping to scatter onto the , but they only succeeded in killing the last commando and a Burrower (whoops, my bad). Janissa did her rock wall hookup for Grim.
Haley responded by giving two focus to the defender, then cast TB and moved around the Burrowers, stabbing one to death afterward. Then the 'blades moved in and assaulted the remaining burrowers. With two chances to kill most of them I thought it was money in the bank, but Tough is a bitch. After all was said and done the 'blades had killed 7 of 8 Pygs, but 4 had made their Tough checks (or made two Tough checks). Haley was saving her feat for crushing the EDT or Grim, but now the burrowers were gonna wreck havoc again. The Defender aimed and shot Janissa out from downtown, putting a crimp in Grim's hiding plans.
Grim didn't have a vector on Vicky hiding in the forest, so the turn was spent on attrition. The burrowers tunneled again, freeing LOS to the Stormblades for most of the rest of Grim's force. The Impaler crit-slammed the officer back into a grunt, killing them both. Then the EDT charged over the walls in the middle of the table and killed three more 'blades with his bare hands.
The Runeshapers moved up to block charge lanes and dropped aoes out, killing a couple more storm blades. Grim moved up and shot one of the final 'blades himself, and since his beasts were Fury Heavy he ended his turn on zero Fury, with the EDT animus on himself, next to a rock wall that was always there. Another point went to Grim in the control zone.
Haley was now short on forces and saw an opportunity to ice the Troll. She gave the Defender 3 focus and then feated and moved up so that Grim wasn't behind cover from her angle. The she fired two boosted handcannon shots and managed to do 10 damage to the warlock. If she'd kept her focus she could have cast a boosted spell as well, with a reasonable chance to hit. Alas.
The defender advanced and fired two boosted heavy barrel shots at Haley, but needed 14s to hit. If either had landed they probably would have forced a Tough roll out of Grim, but they fell short.
Haley was hung out to dry, and Grim shot her with his knockdown gun/net and then the Impaler charged and finished her.
Game MVP: Pyg Burrowers. Those little beasts killed 8 guys on their alpha strike, with little chance of stopping it other than "lose by scenario". They were just-unburrowed again at the end of the game, and would have wrecked the defender given half a chance. Beasts.
Lessons learned: Burrowers are money. Grim doesn't need to cast many spells, and can save his fury for animi, meaning his beasts can buff and boost themselves instead of him. Grim doesn't need a Runebearer. Haley wants to TB every turn but it starves her for focus. Stormblades aren't great with her. Tough is a bitch.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Army Name: Haley Gunshow 25
Cygnar
25+5 points, 21 models
Captain Victoria Haley +5 points
* Defender 9 points
* Squire 2 points (pretty standard fare here, Haley loves ranged attacks for feat turn and the Squire takes Temporal Barrier to a whole new level)
Gun Mage Captain Adept 2 points (meh. AD and in-faction for feat)
Stormblades 5 points
* Stormblade Officer & Standard 3 points
* 1 Stormblade Storm Gunner 1 point (Solid Group with Haley; TB protects them from the alphastrike charge and they counterattack like demons)
6 Trencher Commandos 6 points
* 2 Trencher Commando Scattergunners 2 points (a first strike unit, more awesome because of the scattergunner attachment)
Army Name: Grim Angus Basix
Trollbloods
25+6 points, 20 models
Grim Angus +6 points
* Earthborn Dire Troll 10 points
* Troll Impaler 5 points (both the beasts are here to support Grim, either with a +4" range animus from the Impaler, or the EDTs amazing defensive animus with Janissa's rock wall.
* Runebearer 2 points (this guy did not impress me with Grim. Shoulda taken Pendrake or similar)
Janissa Stonetide 3 points
10 Pyg Burrowers 6 points (tough little monkeys who hit hard but are terribly inaccurate. Grim's support makes them super awesome)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew 1 point (had a point left, but these monkeys were pointless)
Trollkin Runeshapers 4 points
Grim won the roll to go first and just moved everything up, and had the burrowers tunnel.
Haley advanced the 'blades into the woods on her side of the table, to cover them against the burrower strike next turn. Then she moved up and tossed out TB as an army-wide accuracy buff. The commandoes moved up and tried to ace the Runeshapers, and they killed two, but one made his Tough roll and stayed alive.
The Defender moved up and took a potshot but was just out of range.
Grim had some order-of activation issues. The burrowers popped up, ready to murder the commandoes and maybe some 'blades. Then the Impaler moved up and gave Grim Far Strike, and the Runebearer gave him a Harmonious Exaltation to reduce a spell cost by one. But then when Grim moved forward to feat, he didn't have line of sight to much. He killed a commando and discarded a bunch of fury after casting a free Return Fire.
The EDT moved up but then turned a bit to give Grim his animus. The burrowers killed all but one of the commandoes and the GMCA, and managed to hit one Stormblade as well (Arcane Shield made them harder to kill tho). The Runeshapers dropped two aoes toward the Defender, hoping to scatter onto the , but they only succeeded in killing the last commando and a Burrower (whoops, my bad). Janissa did her rock wall hookup for Grim.
Haley responded by giving two focus to the defender, then cast TB and moved around the Burrowers, stabbing one to death afterward. Then the 'blades moved in and assaulted the remaining burrowers. With two chances to kill most of them I thought it was money in the bank, but Tough is a bitch. After all was said and done the 'blades had killed 7 of 8 Pygs, but 4 had made their Tough checks (or made two Tough checks). Haley was saving her feat for crushing the EDT or Grim, but now the burrowers were gonna wreck havoc again. The Defender aimed and shot Janissa out from downtown, putting a crimp in Grim's hiding plans.
Grim didn't have a vector on Vicky hiding in the forest, so the turn was spent on attrition. The burrowers tunneled again, freeing LOS to the Stormblades for most of the rest of Grim's force. The Impaler crit-slammed the officer back into a grunt, killing them both. Then the EDT charged over the walls in the middle of the table and killed three more 'blades with his bare hands.
The Runeshapers moved up to block charge lanes and dropped aoes out, killing a couple more storm blades. Grim moved up and shot one of the final 'blades himself, and since his beasts were Fury Heavy he ended his turn on zero Fury, with the EDT animus on himself, next to a rock wall that was always there. Another point went to Grim in the control zone.
Haley was now short on forces and saw an opportunity to ice the Troll. She gave the Defender 3 focus and then feated and moved up so that Grim wasn't behind cover from her angle. The she fired two boosted handcannon shots and managed to do 10 damage to the warlock. If she'd kept her focus she could have cast a boosted spell as well, with a reasonable chance to hit. Alas.
The defender advanced and fired two boosted heavy barrel shots at Haley, but needed 14s to hit. If either had landed they probably would have forced a Tough roll out of Grim, but they fell short.
Haley was hung out to dry, and Grim shot her with his knockdown gun/net and then the Impaler charged and finished her.
Game MVP: Pyg Burrowers. Those little beasts killed 8 guys on their alpha strike, with little chance of stopping it other than "lose by scenario". They were just-unburrowed again at the end of the game, and would have wrecked the defender given half a chance. Beasts.
Lessons learned: Burrowers are money. Grim doesn't need to cast many spells, and can save his fury for animi, meaning his beasts can buff and boost themselves instead of him. Grim doesn't need a Runebearer. Haley wants to TB every turn but it starves her for focus. Stormblades aren't great with her. Tough is a bitch.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Cygnar Blaize v. Ashlynn BR
This was a highborn covenant smackdown match. Constance, as an "ally" warcaster, can work for mercenary contracts that will work for Cygnar. Ashlynn, while a mercenary, has strong ties to Cygnar and her only mercenary contract is the highborn covenant, which includes only mercs that will work for Cygnar.
Again, the scenario is gaining ground.
Army Name: Blaize as a Swan
troopjam
Cygnar
25+6 points, 19 models
Constance Blaize +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (because of Constance's flank ability with Morrowan models, I consider the first 'jack and unit in her army to always be Gallant and a unit of Precursor Knights. Her army choices begin after 10 points IMO)
* Lancer 6 points (this is not a 'jack I particularly like. Some have said that Constance can do spell assassinations with her Sunburst attack spell, and the Lancer helps with the angles on that. I tend to disagree, but I also wanted a cheaper 'jack with reach to support my Sword knights, so it's a dual purpose choice here)
Archduke Alain Runewood 3 points (had to proxy, but buffs units with Pathfinder and gives Sword Knights reform, all good really)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points (my favorite two point solo in Cygnar. His ability to give 'jacks evasion to move about the battlefield ignoring free strikes is huge)
6 Precursor Knights 5 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
6 Sword Knights 4 points (Constance's feat begs infantry fodder, the two units of Knights are it, Constance can flank with her Precursors and Sword Knights flank with faction warjacks).
Army Name: Le Resistance
Highborn Covenant
25+6 points, 13 models
Ashlynn D'Elyse +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (battle of the Gallants! He's better with Constance, but Ashlynn loves DEF 13 on her feat turn and having a Nomad with a free focus from Harlan is good).
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Mule 8 points (this is a standard Ashlynn combo, all the gunmages and the Mule have crit effects on their weapons, so under her feat they are pushing stuff all over the board.
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution 3 points
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One 2 points
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator 1 point (merc solos are great. Harlan is there to power Gallant, Eiryss is super dangerous, and Reinholdt takes Ashlynn from awesome to amazing with a bonus hand cannon shot).
Unfortunately for Ashlynn, Blaize won the roll to go first. This allowed the Knights to take the side of the board with the forest and hide in there. Blaize's entire force ran forward, save Arlan who power boosted the Lancer after walking.
Ashlynn countered by cautiously advancing toward the hill on her side of the board and moving Harlan and Eiryss up in front of a building. Eiryss shot a Precursor Knight, but that was a bad sign. She'd gotten close enough for a couple knights to counter attack her next turn. The Mule got Quicken from Ashlynn to increase it's threat by two, but it missed the Knights in the woods and the deviation went away into nowhere.
Constance popped her feat and Crusader's Call to allow her stuff to charge an additional two inches. Gallant charged Gallant, missed his first attack, and then bought two attacks on the also-engaged Mule, which had an upkeep, so Purgation gave him an extra damage die. He mugged the Mule good but only crippled its cortex, so no real effect. It still had 10 boxes left.
The Precursors charged in and managed to kill Harlan and Eiryss (big loss for Ashlynn there) and hit Gallant for 16 boxes (popped minifeat), crippling his movement.
The Lancer and Sword Knights ran to engage the gunmages, but couldn't actually attack them. Runewood had given pathfinder to the Precursors in the woods two turns in a row and was sitting midfield after missing a hand cannon shot.
Arlan had powerboosted the Lancer and was sitting way back because of it.
Ashlynn popped her own feat and killed the two Precursors who had gotten Eiryss. They were out of Blaize's control so they did not provide souls. Gallant got fully loaded and put a serious hurting on Blaize's Gallant, crippling everything but movement.
The Mule took a free strike from Gallant to extricate itself, but with the sword crippled it didn't do much damage. Then the Mule fired a boosted steam lobber shot into a Sword Knight behind the Lancer and of course got the crit. The Lancer and four Sword Knights were hit, knocked down, and thrown 2-9 inches away. Two Sword Knights died.
The gunmages activated and killed several Precursors engaging Gallant and another Sword Knight. When the turn ended Constance had 5 souls for extra focus, and as her troopjam had secured the center of the table she got a control point.
Ashlynn's feat is tough to work around. Constance focussed on what she could reliably hit under Roulette. She upkept Transference to boost her troops success rate, and the remaining two Precursors wrecked Gallant. Constance's Gallant moved in and tried to thump the Mule again, but without cortex it couldn't boost, and Ashlynn's feat is brutal against luck.
Constance had allocated two focus to the Lancer. Runewood used reveille to stand up all the knocked down Sword Knights and Lancer. Then he charged a gunmage and killed it. The Lancer charged the Dude but missed. The Sword Knights charged in but missed (except the Dude, who didn't make it) I had been using Constance's focus with attacks against key targets, but it was a lost cause most of the time. She still had 6 left after everyone else had activated and she moved up and cast Sunburst through the Lancer at the Mule. The blast damage killed a gunmage and Reinholdt.
Because Ashlynn chose not to use Admonition to engage the Precursor Knights, Constance got another control point. Blaize 2 Ashlynn 0, first to 4 wins (or assassinate other 'caster).
Ashlynn could have moved into the center to contest the zone, but would have been leaving herself open to Blaize in doing so. It was a tough call. She decided to kill all the Morrowans on Blaize's side to limit flank opportunities. She personally killed the last two PKs, and the Mule finished off Gallant.
The gunmages remaining (only two) were engaged and couldn't do much, but did kill a Sword Knight. Constance got another control point.
At this point Blaize did nothing on her turn, so as to not allow Ashlynn to contest the center by triggering Admonition. Blaize wins by scenario.
For fun Ashlynn made a desperate assassination run post-loss, but didn't seal the deal. Constance was camping focus and Ashlynn couldn't hurt her easily.
Match MVP: Blaize herself? Transference, Crusader's Call, and Sunburst were all important to her victory. Runewood giving pathfinder to PKs two turns was big.
Lessons learned: Blaize, if she goes first, will push the scenario. The threat range on her troops using Crusader's Call is nice. She needs a Morrowan pal to make herself a decent threat. Ashlynn is a beast, but losing her support solos early hurt a lot. Roulette is tough to deal with against high-defense troops, and Gallant's 13 defense would have been great if he hadn't had movement crippled by feat turn.
-Merlin out
Again, the scenario is gaining ground.
Army Name: Blaize as a Swan
troopjam
Cygnar
25+6 points, 19 models
Constance Blaize +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (because of Constance's flank ability with Morrowan models, I consider the first 'jack and unit in her army to always be Gallant and a unit of Precursor Knights. Her army choices begin after 10 points IMO)
* Lancer 6 points (this is not a 'jack I particularly like. Some have said that Constance can do spell assassinations with her Sunburst attack spell, and the Lancer helps with the angles on that. I tend to disagree, but I also wanted a cheaper 'jack with reach to support my Sword knights, so it's a dual purpose choice here)
Archduke Alain Runewood 3 points (had to proxy, but buffs units with Pathfinder and gives Sword Knights reform, all good really)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points (my favorite two point solo in Cygnar. His ability to give 'jacks evasion to move about the battlefield ignoring free strikes is huge)
6 Precursor Knights 5 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
6 Sword Knights 4 points (Constance's feat begs infantry fodder, the two units of Knights are it, Constance can flank with her Precursors and Sword Knights flank with faction warjacks).
Army Name: Le Resistance
Highborn Covenant
25+6 points, 13 models
Ashlynn D'Elyse +6 points
* Gallant 9 points (battle of the Gallants! He's better with Constance, but Ashlynn loves DEF 13 on her feat turn and having a Nomad with a free focus from Harlan is good).
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Mule 8 points (this is a standard Ashlynn combo, all the gunmages and the Mule have crit effects on their weapons, so under her feat they are pushing stuff all over the board.
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution 3 points
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One 2 points
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator 1 point (merc solos are great. Harlan is there to power Gallant, Eiryss is super dangerous, and Reinholdt takes Ashlynn from awesome to amazing with a bonus hand cannon shot).
Unfortunately for Ashlynn, Blaize won the roll to go first. This allowed the Knights to take the side of the board with the forest and hide in there. Blaize's entire force ran forward, save Arlan who power boosted the Lancer after walking.
Ashlynn countered by cautiously advancing toward the hill on her side of the board and moving Harlan and Eiryss up in front of a building. Eiryss shot a Precursor Knight, but that was a bad sign. She'd gotten close enough for a couple knights to counter attack her next turn. The Mule got Quicken from Ashlynn to increase it's threat by two, but it missed the Knights in the woods and the deviation went away into nowhere.
Constance popped her feat and Crusader's Call to allow her stuff to charge an additional two inches. Gallant charged Gallant, missed his first attack, and then bought two attacks on the also-engaged Mule, which had an upkeep, so Purgation gave him an extra damage die. He mugged the Mule good but only crippled its cortex, so no real effect. It still had 10 boxes left.
The Precursors charged in and managed to kill Harlan and Eiryss (big loss for Ashlynn there) and hit Gallant for 16 boxes (popped minifeat), crippling his movement.
The Lancer and Sword Knights ran to engage the gunmages, but couldn't actually attack them. Runewood had given pathfinder to the Precursors in the woods two turns in a row and was sitting midfield after missing a hand cannon shot.
Arlan had powerboosted the Lancer and was sitting way back because of it.
Ashlynn popped her own feat and killed the two Precursors who had gotten Eiryss. They were out of Blaize's control so they did not provide souls. Gallant got fully loaded and put a serious hurting on Blaize's Gallant, crippling everything but movement.
The Mule took a free strike from Gallant to extricate itself, but with the sword crippled it didn't do much damage. Then the Mule fired a boosted steam lobber shot into a Sword Knight behind the Lancer and of course got the crit. The Lancer and four Sword Knights were hit, knocked down, and thrown 2-9 inches away. Two Sword Knights died.
The gunmages activated and killed several Precursors engaging Gallant and another Sword Knight. When the turn ended Constance had 5 souls for extra focus, and as her troopjam had secured the center of the table she got a control point.
Ashlynn's feat is tough to work around. Constance focussed on what she could reliably hit under Roulette. She upkept Transference to boost her troops success rate, and the remaining two Precursors wrecked Gallant. Constance's Gallant moved in and tried to thump the Mule again, but without cortex it couldn't boost, and Ashlynn's feat is brutal against luck.
Constance had allocated two focus to the Lancer. Runewood used reveille to stand up all the knocked down Sword Knights and Lancer. Then he charged a gunmage and killed it. The Lancer charged the Dude but missed. The Sword Knights charged in but missed (except the Dude, who didn't make it) I had been using Constance's focus with attacks against key targets, but it was a lost cause most of the time. She still had 6 left after everyone else had activated and she moved up and cast Sunburst through the Lancer at the Mule. The blast damage killed a gunmage and Reinholdt.
Because Ashlynn chose not to use Admonition to engage the Precursor Knights, Constance got another control point. Blaize 2 Ashlynn 0, first to 4 wins (or assassinate other 'caster).
Ashlynn could have moved into the center to contest the zone, but would have been leaving herself open to Blaize in doing so. It was a tough call. She decided to kill all the Morrowans on Blaize's side to limit flank opportunities. She personally killed the last two PKs, and the Mule finished off Gallant.
The gunmages remaining (only two) were engaged and couldn't do much, but did kill a Sword Knight. Constance got another control point.
At this point Blaize did nothing on her turn, so as to not allow Ashlynn to contest the center by triggering Admonition. Blaize wins by scenario.
For fun Ashlynn made a desperate assassination run post-loss, but didn't seal the deal. Constance was camping focus and Ashlynn couldn't hurt her easily.
Match MVP: Blaize herself? Transference, Crusader's Call, and Sunburst were all important to her victory. Runewood giving pathfinder to PKs two turns was big.
Lessons learned: Blaize, if she goes first, will push the scenario. The threat range on her troops using Crusader's Call is nice. She needs a Morrowan pal to make herself a decent threat. Ashlynn is a beast, but losing her support solos early hurt a lot. Roulette is tough to deal with against high-defense troops, and Gallant's 13 defense would have been great if he hadn't had movement crippled by feat turn.
-Merlin out
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Doomshaper v. Douchebag
I decided to get some practice learning the rules to my models. To this end I'm doing some smaller games using different forces I've collected. The first matchup is prime Douche against the primal Doomshaper. These two are widely derided casterlocks from their respective factions.
The scenario is Gaining Ground (control center zone for 1pt or opponent's zone for 2pts, first to 4pts wins). Here's the lists and some listbuilding thoughts.
Round 1 match 1 thornwood prim(al) rumble
Army Name: Pstryker armorbuffs
Cygnar
25+6 points, 18 models
Commander Coleman Stryker +6 points
* Centurion 9 points (Arcane Shield from Journeyman or Stryker puts the cent at Armor 24. Stryker's feat adds 5 to that)
Journeyman Warcaster 3 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Charger 4 points
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points (I've been running this 14pt module a bit. Many folks run a Hunter 'jack on the Dude; this is the same amount of points, but if Arlan powerboosts the Charger it gets a fully boosted shot and then a second unboosted shot from the 'jack marshal bonus. And they're both Rune Shots from the Dude)
Stormblades 5 points (hardhitting infantry)
Army Name: Doomshaper's Irregulars
Trollbloods
25+7 points, 14 models
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls +7 points
* Earthborn Dire Troll 10 points
* Troll Axer 6 points (with these beasts Doomy can deliver the earthborn a good distance away. If the EDT is near a forest it gets +2" move, and the Axer animus can add two to that. Doomy can also force the EDT to Goad it another 2" if it kills a model)
Janissa Stonetide 3 points (Janissa w/ EDT animus on Doomy is a must, as with her Rock Wall ability he goes from defense [laughable] 13 armor 15 to 17/17 with cover from the wall and the animus armor boost near an obstacle)
6 Nyss Hunters 7 points (Doomy's Hookups aren't faction specific, so enter the Nyss, a great merc choice, if expensive)
Trollkin Runeshapers 4 points (area-of-effect spellblasters that also gain Force lock with Janissa nearby; Force lock keeps a model in their melee range from advancing. Also tough and steady, which is dope)
Viktor Pendrake 2 points (two points left over and this is my only choice for Trollbloods at 2pts)
Stryker won the roll to choose sides and took the hill instead of the forest half of the board. Also kept Doomy away from the water (water grants another 2 defense under EDT animus). Cast Arcane Shield (AS) on himself and Blur on the 'blades to keep them safe from Nyss bows. Moved up.
Centy ran onto the central hill. 'blades ran across from forest and next to hill. Gun mages ran up on other side of hill past water. Charger and arlan ran to hill as well. Junior cast AS on Centy and advanced in the back of the force.
Doomy cast Banishing Ward on the Nyss to keep them safe from Earthquake shenanigans. He moved up a bit. EDT cast animus on Doomy and failed a charge. Axer riled and ran. Janissa put a rockwall up near Doomy and EDT. Nyss ran into woods. Runeshapers and Pendrake advance.
Stryker had to feat this turn, so he needed to engage a bunch of stuff and try to push other threats out of the way with Thunderbolt shots. The Nyss in the woods were going to be a problem. The Stormblades ran to engage 3 of them, leaving 3 to counterattack next turn. The Centy advanced a bit and polarity shielded (can't be charged). Stryker moved up but camped 3 focus. The charger got the powerboost from arlan and fired a crit thunderbolt at the EDT, knocking it down and pushing it 3". Then it missed the second shot (too many linear obstacles in play). Gun mages fired some Thunderbolt shots at the Axer to push it back but the Runeshapers and a building were behind him and he could only go back so far. Gunmages moved up to contest central zone with Stormblades.
Doomy stood up the EDT with fury. He then advanced forward to catch the enemy entirely in his control area and feated himself. He then cast purification to wipe the upkeeps and animi off the table, and EDT animus on himself for protection.
The Runeshapers moved up and tossed aoes at the gunmages but didn't do much. The Axer used his animus and then engaged the gunmages and threshered them. He needed 9s to hit, and missed all of the attacks except for the last one, which was boosted. One dead gunmage.
The Nyss moved out of the woods and killed two Stormblades with good damage rolls. Cylena and two spare Nyss tried to shoot the unengaged 'blades but missed with a 3 and snake eyes.
Doomy was way up to capitalize on feat, but with only two fury left for transfers and a Centurion near enough to charge, things could get ugly. Janissa put her rock wall behind Doomy to box him in and make sure he kept his armor bonus from Transmute, the EDT animus. The Earthborn moved up to block a charge lane but fell short on distance. For good measure Pendrake advanced and threw his bola at the Centurion, knocking it down.
For getting the alpha strike the trolls didn't do well. Poor rolling and Stryker's feat kept Cygnar rolling.
Stryker saw Doomy flapping in the wind and went for an assassination. It was a good idea. The Charger on the hill only needed a 9 on his boosted Thunderbolt shot to hit, and he managed to crit knockdown Doomy as well. So after activating two models Doomy was on his ass and had taken 5 damage. Not good.
Worse, the Centurion had shaken the knockdown with a focus and charged Doomshaper's prone form. His two reach spear attacks autohit the warlock and did massive amounts of damage, which Doomshaper transfered to his earthborn Dire Troll. After those two hits Doomy was out of fury and the EDT was down to about 10 hits left. The stormblades finished off the earthborn, but if Stryker had done that first Doomy might have been more hurt by the Centurion.
Still, losing his only heavy with a Centurion on the board really hurt Doomshaper.
The gunmages and Junior fired shots into the prone Doomshaper, but only managed a few more damage. The Charger and Centurion actually took some serious damage from Doomshaper's feat (d6 per focus spent). Stryker backed up to weather out the counterstike, hoping to outlast the Trolls.
Them trolls rallied, however. Doomshaper had to cut for two Fury and shook his knockdown. Pendrake managed to aim and hit the Centurion with another knockdown bola, disengaging Doomshaper. The Nyss killed 3 of the 4 remaining Stormblades and the last failed his morale check. Cylena led a Combined Ranged Attack on the Journeyman but failed to dent his armor with a poor damage roll.
Doomshaper moved away from the action and cast Stranglehold on the Centurion, hoping to force it to forfeit an action next turn, but he didn't penetrate the armor. The Runeshapers moved up in hopes of disentangling the Axer, but again their aoes deviated poorly, and those that connected got woeful damage rolls. The last Runeshaper engaged the centurion, which force locked it in place until it was dealt with, and tossed an aoe at the Charger, mugging it severely. The Axer needed to thresh four gunmages, needing 9s to hit. He boosted the first two attacks and killed two gunmages, and then rolled two 9s on regular attack rolls to get the others.
Janissa activated and dropped another aoe on the Charger.
Suddenly Stryker was down to one gun mage and one fleeing Stormblade for infantry, and his Charger had crippled movement, cortex, and hammer. He allocated three to the Centurion and shook the knockdown. He then spent the entire turn trying to kill the Runeshaper forcelocking the Centurion in place. Scrambling, he put AS back on himself and put a disrupted pistol shot into the Runeshaper engaging the Centurion, but failed to hurt it.
The last gunmage tried as well, but missed both the Runeshaper and the Centurion. The charger took a boosted shot and managed to hit the Centy instead. Junior missed them both.
So the Centy had to spear the Runeshaper himself. He missed his first attack as well. Then he bought another and speared it to death, but it made its Tough check to stay alive. Ridiculous.
Doomshaper took a commanding lead, with the Axer and Runeshapers finishing off the Charger. Janissa put 10 wounds on the Centy, crippling the shield with her armor-piercing pickaxe. Doomy himself re-emerged from cover to kill Arlan with a spell, and the Nyss Hunters killed the Journeyman and Stryker's remaining infantry.
Stryker began his turn with only a knocked down Centurion on his side, and conceded defeat to the old troll.
Models of the game:
Stryker: the Charger. It almost enabled a turn three assassination.
Doomshaper: Viktor Pendrake. Dude knocked the Centurion down twice, forcing Stryker and the Centy to spend a focus standing up two turns in a row.
Lessons learned: all the armor in the world isn't helpful if the enemy can sidestep the tank and get to the rest of the force. Stormblades with Stryker are good (Blur ftw). Nyss Hunters are off the chain, tho. Huge, pathfinder threat, capable in both melee and ranged. The total package. Doomy is fragile, but was a lot of fun to play.
-Merlin out
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone y'allzs
The scenario is Gaining Ground (control center zone for 1pt or opponent's zone for 2pts, first to 4pts wins). Here's the lists and some listbuilding thoughts.
Round 1 match 1 thornwood prim(al) rumble
Army Name: Pstryker armorbuffs
Cygnar
25+6 points, 18 models
Commander Coleman Stryker +6 points
* Centurion 9 points (Arcane Shield from Journeyman or Stryker puts the cent at Armor 24. Stryker's feat adds 5 to that)
Journeyman Warcaster 3 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Charger 4 points
Captain Arlan Strangewayes 2 points (I've been running this 14pt module a bit. Many folks run a Hunter 'jack on the Dude; this is the same amount of points, but if Arlan powerboosts the Charger it gets a fully boosted shot and then a second unboosted shot from the 'jack marshal bonus. And they're both Rune Shots from the Dude)
Stormblades 5 points (hardhitting infantry)
Army Name: Doomshaper's Irregulars
Trollbloods
25+7 points, 14 models
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls +7 points
* Earthborn Dire Troll 10 points
* Troll Axer 6 points (with these beasts Doomy can deliver the earthborn a good distance away. If the EDT is near a forest it gets +2" move, and the Axer animus can add two to that. Doomy can also force the EDT to Goad it another 2" if it kills a model)
Janissa Stonetide 3 points (Janissa w/ EDT animus on Doomy is a must, as with her Rock Wall ability he goes from defense [laughable] 13 armor 15 to 17/17 with cover from the wall and the animus armor boost near an obstacle)
6 Nyss Hunters 7 points (Doomy's Hookups aren't faction specific, so enter the Nyss, a great merc choice, if expensive)
Trollkin Runeshapers 4 points (area-of-effect spellblasters that also gain Force lock with Janissa nearby; Force lock keeps a model in their melee range from advancing. Also tough and steady, which is dope)
Viktor Pendrake 2 points (two points left over and this is my only choice for Trollbloods at 2pts)
Stryker won the roll to choose sides and took the hill instead of the forest half of the board. Also kept Doomy away from the water (water grants another 2 defense under EDT animus). Cast Arcane Shield (AS) on himself and Blur on the 'blades to keep them safe from Nyss bows. Moved up.
Centy ran onto the central hill. 'blades ran across from forest and next to hill. Gun mages ran up on other side of hill past water. Charger and arlan ran to hill as well. Junior cast AS on Centy and advanced in the back of the force.
Doomy cast Banishing Ward on the Nyss to keep them safe from Earthquake shenanigans. He moved up a bit. EDT cast animus on Doomy and failed a charge. Axer riled and ran. Janissa put a rockwall up near Doomy and EDT. Nyss ran into woods. Runeshapers and Pendrake advance.
Stryker had to feat this turn, so he needed to engage a bunch of stuff and try to push other threats out of the way with Thunderbolt shots. The Nyss in the woods were going to be a problem. The Stormblades ran to engage 3 of them, leaving 3 to counterattack next turn. The Centy advanced a bit and polarity shielded (can't be charged). Stryker moved up but camped 3 focus. The charger got the powerboost from arlan and fired a crit thunderbolt at the EDT, knocking it down and pushing it 3". Then it missed the second shot (too many linear obstacles in play). Gun mages fired some Thunderbolt shots at the Axer to push it back but the Runeshapers and a building were behind him and he could only go back so far. Gunmages moved up to contest central zone with Stormblades.
Doomy stood up the EDT with fury. He then advanced forward to catch the enemy entirely in his control area and feated himself. He then cast purification to wipe the upkeeps and animi off the table, and EDT animus on himself for protection.
The Runeshapers moved up and tossed aoes at the gunmages but didn't do much. The Axer used his animus and then engaged the gunmages and threshered them. He needed 9s to hit, and missed all of the attacks except for the last one, which was boosted. One dead gunmage.
The Nyss moved out of the woods and killed two Stormblades with good damage rolls. Cylena and two spare Nyss tried to shoot the unengaged 'blades but missed with a 3 and snake eyes.
Doomy was way up to capitalize on feat, but with only two fury left for transfers and a Centurion near enough to charge, things could get ugly. Janissa put her rock wall behind Doomy to box him in and make sure he kept his armor bonus from Transmute, the EDT animus. The Earthborn moved up to block a charge lane but fell short on distance. For good measure Pendrake advanced and threw his bola at the Centurion, knocking it down.
For getting the alpha strike the trolls didn't do well. Poor rolling and Stryker's feat kept Cygnar rolling.
Stryker saw Doomy flapping in the wind and went for an assassination. It was a good idea. The Charger on the hill only needed a 9 on his boosted Thunderbolt shot to hit, and he managed to crit knockdown Doomy as well. So after activating two models Doomy was on his ass and had taken 5 damage. Not good.
Worse, the Centurion had shaken the knockdown with a focus and charged Doomshaper's prone form. His two reach spear attacks autohit the warlock and did massive amounts of damage, which Doomshaper transfered to his earthborn Dire Troll. After those two hits Doomy was out of fury and the EDT was down to about 10 hits left. The stormblades finished off the earthborn, but if Stryker had done that first Doomy might have been more hurt by the Centurion.
Still, losing his only heavy with a Centurion on the board really hurt Doomshaper.
The gunmages and Junior fired shots into the prone Doomshaper, but only managed a few more damage. The Charger and Centurion actually took some serious damage from Doomshaper's feat (d6 per focus spent). Stryker backed up to weather out the counterstike, hoping to outlast the Trolls.
Them trolls rallied, however. Doomshaper had to cut for two Fury and shook his knockdown. Pendrake managed to aim and hit the Centurion with another knockdown bola, disengaging Doomshaper. The Nyss killed 3 of the 4 remaining Stormblades and the last failed his morale check. Cylena led a Combined Ranged Attack on the Journeyman but failed to dent his armor with a poor damage roll.
Doomshaper moved away from the action and cast Stranglehold on the Centurion, hoping to force it to forfeit an action next turn, but he didn't penetrate the armor. The Runeshapers moved up in hopes of disentangling the Axer, but again their aoes deviated poorly, and those that connected got woeful damage rolls. The last Runeshaper engaged the centurion, which force locked it in place until it was dealt with, and tossed an aoe at the Charger, mugging it severely. The Axer needed to thresh four gunmages, needing 9s to hit. He boosted the first two attacks and killed two gunmages, and then rolled two 9s on regular attack rolls to get the others.
Janissa activated and dropped another aoe on the Charger.
Suddenly Stryker was down to one gun mage and one fleeing Stormblade for infantry, and his Charger had crippled movement, cortex, and hammer. He allocated three to the Centurion and shook the knockdown. He then spent the entire turn trying to kill the Runeshaper forcelocking the Centurion in place. Scrambling, he put AS back on himself and put a disrupted pistol shot into the Runeshaper engaging the Centurion, but failed to hurt it.
The last gunmage tried as well, but missed both the Runeshaper and the Centurion. The charger took a boosted shot and managed to hit the Centy instead. Junior missed them both.
So the Centy had to spear the Runeshaper himself. He missed his first attack as well. Then he bought another and speared it to death, but it made its Tough check to stay alive. Ridiculous.
Doomshaper took a commanding lead, with the Axer and Runeshapers finishing off the Charger. Janissa put 10 wounds on the Centy, crippling the shield with her armor-piercing pickaxe. Doomy himself re-emerged from cover to kill Arlan with a spell, and the Nyss Hunters killed the Journeyman and Stryker's remaining infantry.
Stryker began his turn with only a knocked down Centurion on his side, and conceded defeat to the old troll.
Models of the game:
Stryker: the Charger. It almost enabled a turn three assassination.
Doomshaper: Viktor Pendrake. Dude knocked the Centurion down twice, forcing Stryker and the Centy to spend a focus standing up two turns in a row.
Lessons learned: all the armor in the world isn't helpful if the enemy can sidestep the tank and get to the rest of the force. Stormblades with Stryker are good (Blur ftw). Nyss Hunters are off the chain, tho. Huge, pathfinder threat, capable in both melee and ranged. The total package. Doomy is fragile, but was a lot of fun to play.
-Merlin out
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone y'allzs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)