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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Gun Mage Fever
Cygnar Fluffernutters Vol. 1:
I've been considering the idea of tiered/theme lists in WarMachine for a while. Essentially, the idea behind theme lists is that you can only take certain models, units, etc. But, in exchange you get some benefits, whether it's decreased cost on units, or free models, or even starting the game with upkeep spells in play or focus points on 'jacks.
My buddy who got me into the game said "never do tier lists, it's like tying one arm behind your back." And in a sense, it is. The model selection tends to be extremely limited for most of them, and the benefits rarely outweigh the "cost" of limited model selection. That being said, I have always liked the idea of artificially limiting the building blocks for any given project, as an exercise. Call it theorymachine calisthenics. It's one of the reasons I like drafting in CCGs; I like being forced to use unpopular choices so that I have to reconsider them or otherwise _make_ them work.
So with that, I decided to at least work toward a few tier lists in warmachine. Flipping through the Forces of Warmachine: Cygnar book, I was looking for theme requirements that could be met by multiple theme lists. Two units show up multiple times (in multiples) in several theme lists: Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, and Long Gunners. I decided that I liked the ATGMs better than Long Gunners, and if I had to buy two units of something (most theme lists require doubling-up on certain infantry, which isn't often done; most players only ever want one of a given unit in their collection) I would buy those. Even better, the first unit was on sale used at my FLGS, and a resculpt came in April. So not only would I have two units, but they would look totally different.
When I actually got the units, I mixed the two sculpts a bit so that each unit has 6 unique figures (most units have 3-5 sculpts, with some duplicates). I also painted them in different colors, both for differentiation, and because ATGMs can be taken in one of the mercenary contracts. So then my merc ATGMs look different from my Cygnar ATGMs. Even better, the Forces of Warmachine: Mercenaries book has another tier list that requires two units of ATGMs, so now I'm working toward 3 theme lists with my purchase.
The lists:
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever 1
Cygnar
Theme Force: Sons of the Tempest Tier 4
35+6 points, 23 models
Lieutenant Allister Caine +6 points
* Avenger or Defender 9 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 5 points
* Gun Mage Officer
** Hunter 6 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 5 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Hunter 6 points
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 points
2x Gun Mage Captain Adept 2 points each
I like this version because it has some symmetry, but after playing it a few times, I'll probably drop a hunter and both Gun Mage Captain Adepts for a Stormclad on Caine. Then I'll move the Defender/Avenger to the now 'jackless Gun Mage Officer for Rune Shot. Caine needs the Stormclad beatstick. Prime Caine's tier might be cool enough to actually play in a serious game.
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever II
Cygnar
Theme Force: The Huntsman Tier 3
35+5 points, 27 models
Captain Allister Caine +5 points
* Minuteman/Firefly/Sentinal/Charger 5/4 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** 2x Hunter 6 points each
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 points
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Rangers 5 points
This list is weird, and I don't actually own eCaine or several of his 'jack possibilities. I'll probably run it after I get epic Caine once or twice, but this is one of the theme lists that loses a lot for little gain. It'll still be fun to play, and Caine's epic version is pretty amazing even without his Squire and goblin buddy, but I'll just use it for casual play.
And now for the mercenary gun mage fever!
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever III
Mercenary Theme Force
Theme Force: Viva Le Resistance Tier 4
50+6 points, 35 models
Ashlynn D'Elyse +6 points
* Nomad 6 points
* 2x Vanguard 5 points each
Anastasia Di Bray 2 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer
** Mule 8 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
10 Precursor Knights 8 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord 2 points
Rutger Shaw 2 points
Taryn di la Rovissi 2 points
I generally prefer 35 point lists and games to 50s, but I feel that Ashlynn's tier list is so much better with the extra points for a Nomad or Mule and more Precursor Knights. If I had some serious gun mage fever I could even drop some support pieces like Rutger Shaw (who is there to hook Taryn up with Tough and Dodge) and Rupert for my GMCAs.
As you can see, I don't yet have all the models (don't want to play eCaine until I've got some more pCaine games in, and my FLGS hasn't gotten Anastasia in for months) that I need/want for my lists, but it's still cool to know that I can work toward three tier lists with one doubled unit. That's Cygnar and Highborn tier lists with some unit-purchasing efficiency.
I'm a huge fan of pCaine's tier because after setting up the basic (and awesome!) gun-mage framework of 16 points (2 units of ATGM at -1 pts, with a free UA, and the Black 13th), I have X points left over for 'jacks (25 in a 35 point list with Caine's 6 JPs), and as long as I can afford 3 'jacks I've hit tier 3 and 4. This allows me to tap into my stable of Cygnar warjacks with ranged weapons (umm, most of them) and play around with different combinations.
Or I could buy more gun mages. Probably not though.
Hunter Hunter Defender GMCA GMCA
Minuteman Minuteman Minuteman (or more gun mages?) Stormclad
Hunter Hunter Hunter Hunter
Charger Sentinal GMCA Minuteman Stormclad
Avenger Avenger Hunter
And so on.
Next month: Long Gunners, or how I learned to stop worrying and love dual shot CRAs.
I've been considering the idea of tiered/theme lists in WarMachine for a while. Essentially, the idea behind theme lists is that you can only take certain models, units, etc. But, in exchange you get some benefits, whether it's decreased cost on units, or free models, or even starting the game with upkeep spells in play or focus points on 'jacks.
My buddy who got me into the game said "never do tier lists, it's like tying one arm behind your back." And in a sense, it is. The model selection tends to be extremely limited for most of them, and the benefits rarely outweigh the "cost" of limited model selection. That being said, I have always liked the idea of artificially limiting the building blocks for any given project, as an exercise. Call it theorymachine calisthenics. It's one of the reasons I like drafting in CCGs; I like being forced to use unpopular choices so that I have to reconsider them or otherwise _make_ them work.
So with that, I decided to at least work toward a few tier lists in warmachine. Flipping through the Forces of Warmachine: Cygnar book, I was looking for theme requirements that could be met by multiple theme lists. Two units show up multiple times (in multiples) in several theme lists: Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, and Long Gunners. I decided that I liked the ATGMs better than Long Gunners, and if I had to buy two units of something (most theme lists require doubling-up on certain infantry, which isn't often done; most players only ever want one of a given unit in their collection) I would buy those. Even better, the first unit was on sale used at my FLGS, and a resculpt came in April. So not only would I have two units, but they would look totally different.
When I actually got the units, I mixed the two sculpts a bit so that each unit has 6 unique figures (most units have 3-5 sculpts, with some duplicates). I also painted them in different colors, both for differentiation, and because ATGMs can be taken in one of the mercenary contracts. So then my merc ATGMs look different from my Cygnar ATGMs. Even better, the Forces of Warmachine: Mercenaries book has another tier list that requires two units of ATGMs, so now I'm working toward 3 theme lists with my purchase.
The lists:
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever 1
Cygnar
Theme Force: Sons of the Tempest Tier 4
35+6 points, 23 models
Lieutenant Allister Caine +6 points
* Avenger or Defender 9 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 5 points
* Gun Mage Officer
** Hunter 6 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 5 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** Hunter 6 points
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 points
2x Gun Mage Captain Adept 2 points each
I like this version because it has some symmetry, but after playing it a few times, I'll probably drop a hunter and both Gun Mage Captain Adepts for a Stormclad on Caine. Then I'll move the Defender/Avenger to the now 'jackless Gun Mage Officer for Rune Shot. Caine needs the Stormclad beatstick. Prime Caine's tier might be cool enough to actually play in a serious game.
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever II
Cygnar
Theme Force: The Huntsman Tier 3
35+5 points, 27 models
Captain Allister Caine +5 points
* Minuteman/Firefly/Sentinal/Charger 5/4 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
** 2x Hunter 6 points each
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team 4 points
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Rangers 5 points
This list is weird, and I don't actually own eCaine or several of his 'jack possibilities. I'll probably run it after I get epic Caine once or twice, but this is one of the theme lists that loses a lot for little gain. It'll still be fun to play, and Caine's epic version is pretty amazing even without his Squire and goblin buddy, but I'll just use it for casual play.
And now for the mercenary gun mage fever!
Army Name: Gun Mage Fever III
Mercenary Theme Force
Theme Force: Viva Le Resistance Tier 4
50+6 points, 35 models
Ashlynn D'Elyse +6 points
* Nomad 6 points
* 2x Vanguard 5 points each
Anastasia Di Bray 2 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer
** Mule 8 points
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages 6 points
* Gun Mage Officer 2 points
10 Precursor Knights 8 points
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard 2 points
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord 2 points
Rutger Shaw 2 points
Taryn di la Rovissi 2 points
I generally prefer 35 point lists and games to 50s, but I feel that Ashlynn's tier list is so much better with the extra points for a Nomad or Mule and more Precursor Knights. If I had some serious gun mage fever I could even drop some support pieces like Rutger Shaw (who is there to hook Taryn up with Tough and Dodge) and Rupert for my GMCAs.
As you can see, I don't yet have all the models (don't want to play eCaine until I've got some more pCaine games in, and my FLGS hasn't gotten Anastasia in for months) that I need/want for my lists, but it's still cool to know that I can work toward three tier lists with one doubled unit. That's Cygnar and Highborn tier lists with some unit-purchasing efficiency.
I'm a huge fan of pCaine's tier because after setting up the basic (and awesome!) gun-mage framework of 16 points (2 units of ATGM at -1 pts, with a free UA, and the Black 13th), I have X points left over for 'jacks (25 in a 35 point list with Caine's 6 JPs), and as long as I can afford 3 'jacks I've hit tier 3 and 4. This allows me to tap into my stable of Cygnar warjacks with ranged weapons (umm, most of them) and play around with different combinations.
Or I could buy more gun mages. Probably not though.
Hunter Hunter Defender GMCA GMCA
Minuteman Minuteman Minuteman (or more gun mages?) Stormclad
Hunter Hunter Hunter Hunter
Charger Sentinal GMCA Minuteman Stormclad
Avenger Avenger Hunter
And so on.
Next month: Long Gunners, or how I learned to stop worrying and love dual shot CRAs.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday Night Combat
Well, warmachine games at the Gamer's Sanctuary in Flint, really. I went up for some casual games and played two new opponents.
Game one was my prime Caine tier/theme list (Gun mage fever!) against an epic Caine list that looked remarkably similar. My opponent was a newer player who still had a trick up his sleeve.
We played a 33 point game (that's all my opponent could muster). My list was:
pCaine
Defender
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Officer
Hunter marshaled to Officer
ATGM unit 2 (tier requirement) + free Officer (tier bonus)
Hunter marshaled to Officer
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Gun Mage captain Adept
I didn't really have a lot of choices, aside from 'jacks, as the theme/tier list requirements are for all those gun mages. It's a thing I'm trying out.
My opponent, not playing a tier list, played:
Epic Caine
Squire
Lancer
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Officer
Ironclad marshaled to Officer
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Now that I'm typing his list out, I realize that he didn't discount himself epic Caine's 5 warjack points, so he's actually only at 29. I got a free officer and GMCA out of the deal. Ah well.
Epic Caine is one of the most feared assassins in the game. His feat is called Overkill, and when he pops it, he does an additional damage with each successive gun shot he makes that hits. So he's all about getting more shots. Reinholdt can give a warcaster a reload for an additional pistol shot, and eCaine has one with each pistol to start. He can then buy 6 more with his focus, or 7 with the extra focus from a Squire. So his power-12 shots can be doing power 22 by the end of his run, if he hits with all of them. That's insane. And since it's ranged he can do it from 19 inches away, with his seven-inch move. His ranged attack rating of 9 seals the deal as an incredibly accurate assassination 'caster.
I knew this going in, and I planned accordingly. I used my gun mages to screen my advance and took some potshots at eCaine's forces. I was rolling very poorly, and I missed many of my approach shots. Eventually, I decided that hiding my pCaine was a waste of time. I put Blur on him to jack his defense against ranged and magical attacks to 20, daring my opponent to try his assassination run.
He took the bait and moved up eCaine after getting a focus from the Squire and a reload from Reinholdt. Now, he needed 11s to hit, so he boosted his initial attacks with focus to try and make one connect. The Caines have a low armor rating, so if he could land a couple shots he could have won the game. But alas, his three boosted initial attacks missed, and then he spent all his focus shooting but _not_ boosting. Then he ended his turn without activating any of his other troops, and conceded the game.
It was a most unsatisfying victory.
I managed to find another opponent and decided to try out the new Cygnar warcaster, Constance Blaize. She's a cool customer with a religious theme, and in the couple games I've played with her lend themselves to assassination-style play. She likes to finish games herself with her Sun Spear. Her feat and theme lend themselves to a melee-centric army, but I find that I really want a ranged element in all the games I play, so I've been adding in some ranged toys to help cover her advance.
Constance Blaize, knight of the Prophet
Gallant
Cyclone
Precursor Knights (full) with UA
Stormblades
Black 13th
Rupert Carvolo
Arlan Strangewayes
My opponent played the Iron Wolf, Harkevitch.
Harkevitch
Black Ivan
Destroyer
War Dog
Full winterguard with grenadier and UA
Widowmaker snipers
Widowmaker marksman
Kovnik Joe
Prime Eiryss, Mage Hunter
Harkevitch's list has tons of ranged attacks, and I wasn't sure how to approach it. It's entirely possible I should have popped feat and bum's rushed it first turn, as it went first and got decent board position. As it was, the warjacks dropped huge area-of effect bombards on my guys and killed a number of them early. The most effective thing in his list by far was the widowmaker snipers. They killed 3 of my Precursors on the top of turn two, and then shot several Precursors or Stormblades every turn. I simply didn't have an answer to 5 snipers in the woods (well, I did, but my Cyclone whiffed on his attack rolls, needing 6s on two dice he missed 4 times out of 6). That probably cost me the game, but I did have a chance.
He had moved Harkevitch up after feating, and I could have gotten Constance next to him, but I didn't realize that the war dog would not be able to countercharge (I knew it could do it, but I simply played sloppy and poorly) if I ran my last precursor next to it. If I had done so, I could have put Constance with 6 focus next to Harkevitch (or at least close enough to stab), and since she ignores upkeeps she didn't care about Escort. With flank she would have been MAT 9 rolling an average of 23 damage against Harkevitch's 19 armor with feat. SIX times. Chances are I would have ended the game then; if she hits four of those six times for average damage she wins the game.
But alas I did not do that, and then the wardog killed my precursor/flanker. The option was lost, and instead Constance was caught by pEiryss flat footed and without her shield guard Gallant. It took Harkevitch's jacks two turns to kill Constance, and it was sad that they were having such trouble.
Good game, and good loss for learning experience.
-Merlin out
Game one was my prime Caine tier/theme list (Gun mage fever!) against an epic Caine list that looked remarkably similar. My opponent was a newer player who still had a trick up his sleeve.
We played a 33 point game (that's all my opponent could muster). My list was:
pCaine
Defender
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Officer
Hunter marshaled to Officer
ATGM unit 2 (tier requirement) + free Officer (tier bonus)
Hunter marshaled to Officer
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Gun Mage captain Adept
I didn't really have a lot of choices, aside from 'jacks, as the theme/tier list requirements are for all those gun mages. It's a thing I'm trying out.
My opponent, not playing a tier list, played:
Epic Caine
Squire
Lancer
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Officer
Ironclad marshaled to Officer
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Now that I'm typing his list out, I realize that he didn't discount himself epic Caine's 5 warjack points, so he's actually only at 29. I got a free officer and GMCA out of the deal. Ah well.
Epic Caine is one of the most feared assassins in the game. His feat is called Overkill, and when he pops it, he does an additional damage with each successive gun shot he makes that hits. So he's all about getting more shots. Reinholdt can give a warcaster a reload for an additional pistol shot, and eCaine has one with each pistol to start. He can then buy 6 more with his focus, or 7 with the extra focus from a Squire. So his power-12 shots can be doing power 22 by the end of his run, if he hits with all of them. That's insane. And since it's ranged he can do it from 19 inches away, with his seven-inch move. His ranged attack rating of 9 seals the deal as an incredibly accurate assassination 'caster.
I knew this going in, and I planned accordingly. I used my gun mages to screen my advance and took some potshots at eCaine's forces. I was rolling very poorly, and I missed many of my approach shots. Eventually, I decided that hiding my pCaine was a waste of time. I put Blur on him to jack his defense against ranged and magical attacks to 20, daring my opponent to try his assassination run.
He took the bait and moved up eCaine after getting a focus from the Squire and a reload from Reinholdt. Now, he needed 11s to hit, so he boosted his initial attacks with focus to try and make one connect. The Caines have a low armor rating, so if he could land a couple shots he could have won the game. But alas, his three boosted initial attacks missed, and then he spent all his focus shooting but _not_ boosting. Then he ended his turn without activating any of his other troops, and conceded the game.
It was a most unsatisfying victory.
I managed to find another opponent and decided to try out the new Cygnar warcaster, Constance Blaize. She's a cool customer with a religious theme, and in the couple games I've played with her lend themselves to assassination-style play. She likes to finish games herself with her Sun Spear. Her feat and theme lend themselves to a melee-centric army, but I find that I really want a ranged element in all the games I play, so I've been adding in some ranged toys to help cover her advance.
Constance Blaize, knight of the Prophet
Gallant
Cyclone
Precursor Knights (full) with UA
Stormblades
Black 13th
Rupert Carvolo
Arlan Strangewayes
My opponent played the Iron Wolf, Harkevitch.
Harkevitch
Black Ivan
Destroyer
War Dog
Full winterguard with grenadier and UA
Widowmaker snipers
Widowmaker marksman
Kovnik Joe
Prime Eiryss, Mage Hunter
Harkevitch's list has tons of ranged attacks, and I wasn't sure how to approach it. It's entirely possible I should have popped feat and bum's rushed it first turn, as it went first and got decent board position. As it was, the warjacks dropped huge area-of effect bombards on my guys and killed a number of them early. The most effective thing in his list by far was the widowmaker snipers. They killed 3 of my Precursors on the top of turn two, and then shot several Precursors or Stormblades every turn. I simply didn't have an answer to 5 snipers in the woods (well, I did, but my Cyclone whiffed on his attack rolls, needing 6s on two dice he missed 4 times out of 6). That probably cost me the game, but I did have a chance.
He had moved Harkevitch up after feating, and I could have gotten Constance next to him, but I didn't realize that the war dog would not be able to countercharge (I knew it could do it, but I simply played sloppy and poorly) if I ran my last precursor next to it. If I had done so, I could have put Constance with 6 focus next to Harkevitch (or at least close enough to stab), and since she ignores upkeeps she didn't care about Escort. With flank she would have been MAT 9 rolling an average of 23 damage against Harkevitch's 19 armor with feat. SIX times. Chances are I would have ended the game then; if she hits four of those six times for average damage she wins the game.
But alas I did not do that, and then the wardog killed my precursor/flanker. The option was lost, and instead Constance was caught by pEiryss flat footed and without her shield guard Gallant. It took Harkevitch's jacks two turns to kill Constance, and it was sad that they were having such trouble.
Good game, and good loss for learning experience.
-Merlin out
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Warmachine Mini Tournament
I managed to get up to the Gamer's Sanctuary on Monday night for open Warmachine/Hordes play, and found that there was an impromptu tournament going on.
I had the five bucks to participate, and I wanted to get in a few games, so this seemed ideal. Further, I'd never played with Scenarios before, and I feel that they add a lot to the game. Playing the standard "chess" warcaster-kill game is a little boring to me; and I feel that many warcasters aren't as good at assassination as they are at scenario or objective-based play. So if you're only playing caster-kill games, each faction's roster of 'casters isn't as competitively deep as it could be otherwise.
Of course, as 'caster-kill is still a victory condition for most scenario games, assassination 'casters are still good. But army-buffing 'casters like Commander Douchebag are actually pretty good at scenario play.
My 15-point "Duel" slapped-together at the last minute list was:
Lieutenant Alister Caine (+6 Warjack points)
Ol' Rowdy character Ironclad warjack 9 points
Stormblades Unit 5 points
Stormblades Officer and Standard Unit Attachment
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
In scenario play, controlling objectives either requires solos or whole units, or warjacks. I hadn't considered this before building the list, and instead just went with stuff that I liked, had painted, and that is generally considered good.
I've already written about Caine, and I still like him alot. He has the potential, even without the Squire and Reinholdt, to put 4 reasonably accurate power-12 shots into a target. Against many warcasters a boosted power 12 will put a dent in them. And two fully boosted shots with another two focus left to Teleport away makes Caine a headache in small-points play. Further, his feat is great at murdering swathes of infantry, and can give an early points advantage.
The Stormblades are a glass cannon. They hit like trains, and hit like trains _twice_ with the UA, or once with the UA from a serious distance. However, they're not going to last through much engagement.
The Black 13th are elite gun mages who I've also already written about. When I roll poorly for damage they don't shine, but every once in a awhile they roll fire and they wreck shit.
Ol' Rowdy is the pet warjack of Stryker, and he's probably Cygnar's best warjack. He's stupid-accurate with his hammer, he's got above-average armor, he can pay a focus to counter-strike during the opponent's turn, and he can counter-charge (if an enemy model ends an advance within 6"of Rowdy and in Line-of-Sight, Rowdy can out-of-turn charge that model). He's goddamn dangerous. He's also built on the Ironclad chassis from the battlebox, and so his hammer has critical knockdown, and Rowdy can drop a reasonably accurate Earthquake as needed.
All of these models are solid choices in any army. In a small points game they performed well.
Round 1: Cygnar v. Khador
I'd told Mike, the local Press Ganger and tournament organizer, that this was my first ever WM tourney, and only my 15th game (something like 15, more than 10 and less than 20). He said I could play him in the first round, and since he was the TO it was an autowin. He also told us that anyone who actually beats him gets an extra prize, since we were autowinning anyway. He played Khador, known for high armor, slow jacks.
His list was
Kommander Harkevitch
Spriggan
Winterguard full unit
Winterguard Weapon attachment
Winterguard Unit attachment
Winterguard support solo (Kovnik Joe)
Harkvitch allows the slow Khador heavies to move more quickly, and they protect him while they stay close with a spell called Escort. The Winterguard are a common tournament sight, as the full unit described above is 13 dudes, and with Kovnik Joe supporting them they gain a lot of special rolls, including extra attack dice or Tough (harder to kill).The Spriggan is a shield-and-lance heavy warjack which also fires low-power area-of-effect grenades for clearing infantry.
Mike won the die roll and set up first. I set up across from him, splitting my deployment a little with the 'blades in the middle (they're slow, so I needed them as close to the action as could be), Rowdy and Caine a bit to the left (near some walls for cover), and the Black 13 on the right (on the other side of a building that took up a good part of the middle-right-center of the board.
We were playing a scenario that required us to get a lot of models into a control zone in the middle of the board and keep the enemy models out.
Mike just moved his guys up and made his winterguard Tough with Joe. That was good for them, because I got a crazy-lucky scatter on Ryan's Mage Storm that plopped into 4 winterguard and Harkevitch like 15 inches away from Ryan. Even with Tough I managed to kill 3 guys.
Caine then moved 7 and popped his feat, which allows him to fire a shot at everyone in range. He killed three or four more winterguard, then used his basic attacks to kill another. He put Blur on the Stormblades to shore up their ranged defense and Teleported to relative safety in cover.
Harkevitch moved up and managed to shoot Ryan. He kept Escort up, and then the ranged attacks came. Joe gave the winterguard boosted attack rolls, and the grenadier weapon attachment blew up a Stormblade. Then the rest of the winterguard moved up and shot, but didn't manage to actually kill much. The Spriggan had more luck, dropping two 3" grenades into the thick of the Stormblades and killing 3 more.
It seemed silly to upkeep Blur, so I dropped it. Rowdy charged a winterguard (as much to get into a favorable position as anything else) and missed it twice, rolling snake eyes twice in a row. Caine cast Snipe on himself to get more range and put two shots into winterguard, killing them. He bought another attack against Harkevitch, but missed. He then Teleported back a bit. The B13 moved around and shot Harkevitch, hitting once but doing no damage, since Harkevitch's armor was at 19. The stormblades Assaulted forward for ranged attacks (they were out of reach of their melee attacks) and managed to kill a few winterguard but again did not scratch Harkevitch.
Harkevitch had his winterguard harass Caine but they missed. He popped his feat, which gives armor to himself and the Spriggan for a round and allows Harkevitch and the Spriggan to make a ranged attack before charging. Between the two of them they killed the other four Stormblades. Kovnik Joe hid behind a hill.
Mike said that the round would be called after this turn, and decided to try something ballsy. Caine put two on Rowdy and then moved to get a good line to slam the Spriggan away from Harkevitch using Thunder Strike. He hit pretty easily, but I needed to roll a 4 or more to get rid f Harkevitch's Escort armor bonus (if he has a 'jack within 3 inches he gets +2 armor under Escort). Even without Escort, the Kommander was at 20 armor, which was gonna be tough to get through. Caine managed to roll a 6 on the slam, which also pushed the Spriggan out of the control area (so I could win by scenario even if my assassination failed). Caine took his two shots at Harkevitch and managed to do a couple points of damage. The last two B13 moved into the zone and shot Harkevitch in the back, and they rolled gangbusters, doing 8 or so damage to him.
Rowdy took a free strike from the winterguard in front of him, but he managed to charge over to Harkevitch, hit on the charge with a critical knockdown, and do an absurd amount of damage on the damage roll (harkevitch's 20 armor was good, but Rowdy's power 18 hammer and 12 on the dice did the trick).
So, that worked out well. Rube Goldberg it may be, but it was a lot of fun to pull off.
Round two: Cygnar v. Cygnar
In round two I found myself squaring off against Cygnar. It happens. In fact, there were at least four guys there who play Cygnar. My last opponent played Mercs instead, but he's got a sizable Cygnar force that I've seen him play. My opponent, Ignus, played this list:
Epic Stryker (Lord Commander Stryker, Epic Douchebag, Stormb Brigade, etc.)
2 Lancer light warjacks (as from the battlebox)
Stormblades
Stormblades UA (Officer and Standard)
Stormblades weapon attachment
I looked at the list and cringed a bit because I knew just what it could do. eStryker has some awesome spells, and plays much more aggressively than basic/prime/normal Stryker. I'll write him up more at a later date (I own him but have only used him once), but with Lancers he can arc a spell called Rebuke onto my units, which means they can't get orders (charging or running is an order, so it slows me down) or do special attacks. Stryker also has a spell that makes his Lancers much more formidable in melee combat (well, any 'jack really, but in this instance two Lancers).
However, my opponent gave me some chances. Epic Stryker allows Stormblades to Advance Move, meaning that after deployment they get to walk forward a bit, before either player's first turn. Ingus won the die roll and deployed his 'blades front and center, with a Lancer on each flank and Stryker behind. I deployed my B13 on the left-hand side near a huge forest, since they gain Prowl in cover, and the blades near the center to avoid some rock walls and get charge lanes. Rowdy and Caine took the right flank.
Ingus moved his 'blades up wit Advance move, then ran his whole army forward toward the middle of the board. We were playing a "take control of the center and opponent's side" control zone scenario, so we had to cross the field to get points. Or kill the other 'caster.
Caine Blurred the Stormblades, then moved up 7 inches and popped his feat on the bottom of turn one. He caught 6 Stormblades in that salvo and managed to kill all but one. He used his first normal pistol attack to kill the one that survived the feat, then cast Snipe on himself to extend his range and tried to kill another but missed on snake eyes (that's a lot of double aces so far tonight). He then Teleported to behind a wall. The rest of my army ran, either through the woods if they were the B13, or through the middle for the rest.
My opponent was disheartened, but soldiered on. He moved up a Lancer and then arced Rebuke onto the Stormblades (Blur did not help as much as I'd hoped during these games). His remaining 'blades milled around the center, knowing they were out of range of my own Stormblades since mine couldn't charge. His other Lancer engaged Rowdy with its spear, but didn't hurt the heavy 'jack much.
Rowdy mauled the Lancer in front of him in two swings, but it wasn't wrecked yet, so I felt I should move the Stormblades to finish it off and contest the center point. They tied up his other Lancer and wrecked the one bothering Rowdy. The B13 moved up in the woods and shot two more of Ingus' Stormblades, leaving him the Standard Bearer. Caine activated and moved up, killing the last Stormblade and taking a potshot at Stryker that missed. Then he Teleported back behind Rowdy again.
I didn't want to be anywhere near epic Stryker. He's a sword-toting wrecking ball. He can overboost his powered armor to gain a +xd6 Strength bonus during his turn, but takes xd6 damage as well. Until he's hurt he's dangerous. In the one game I played him, I wrecked a heavy 'jack with him and did like 14 damage to an enemy 'caster. He also has a ridiculous threat range and vector, since he has a spell that grants him an extra move once per turn of 2-6 inches depending on how many focus he spends, and his feat gives his whole army an additional 3 inches of movement and another melee swipe (including himself).
The remaining Lancer killed the 'blade engaging it. Stryker Rebuked the 'blades again, then moved up and killed two more of them.
I activated the B13 and they took shots at Stryker, hurting him a little but not much. Caine took a few shots but again didn't kill, just chipped away at him. Rowdy stayed back as cover for Caine. I engaged Stryker with 2 of my remaining 'blades but they failed to hit him (dude has some serious defense and armor stats to boot).
Ingus decided he needed to go for an assassination on Caine, and cast Velocity to move Stryker 6 inches away for a charge lane on my 'caster. This gave my Stormblades engaging him free strikes as Stryker left their engagement arc, and they stabbed him to death on his way out.
So two victories, both of which were unexpected. I wound up in the finals of the 8-player tourney, as after 2 rounds there were only two undefeated guys.
Round 3: Cygnar v. Mercs
My opponent, Andy, was playing Ashlynn, who was featured in my last visit to the Gamer's Sanctuary write-up.
Ashlynn
Mule heavy warjack
Precursor Knights
Precursor Knights Battle Chaplain and Standard Bearer
Boomhowler and Company
Andy's army was very tricksy. Ashlynn has a Quicken spell that allows a +2 movement, and Andy used it a LOT to move his guys inordinate distances. It also grants some ranged defense bonuses, and that certainly helped. We played on the same table as my last game, and I even played on the same side, as Andy had the most tournament points and got to choose table. He also won the die roll to choose to go first, but told me to set up first instead.
We were playing a "take an 8-inch circle Control Point on your opponent's half of the board" scenario.
I deployed and moved my guys much as I did in the last game, being the same table and all. Andy put Boomhowler and Co in the middle, with the Precursor's behind them, and the Mule and Ashlynn on his right (my left near the woods and B13) flank. Ashlynn gave Boomhowler and Co Quicken, and they ran 16 inches to threaten the center of the board. The Precursor Knights advanced behind in shield wall formation for extra armor. The Mule ran as well, but pretty slowly.
Caine saw the opportunity to wreak havoc and moved deep into the board to pop his feat. He personally killed one of Boomhowler's trollkin, knocking two others down (he killed them, but they made their Tough checks and were knocked down instead removed from play). He also killed 5 of the 8 Precursor Knights, and one of the remaining guys was the standard bearer, who is too busy praying to pick up a mace. That was a devastating blow to the backline. Caine took his initial attacks and managed to kill another trollkin outright, then Teleported to relative safety. My Stormblades activated and assaulted the remaining trolls, killing the two Caine had already killed once (Tough! *shakes fist*), leaving only one grunt and Boomhowler himself alive. Rowdy moved around a bit to threaten Boom howler. The B13 put out a bunch of shots but didn't manage to do much.
Ashlynn popped her ridiculous feat (all models making attack rolls in her control area for a round [her turn+my next turn] roll two extra dice, and Ashlynn chooses two to discard) and moved the Mule to fire a Steam Lobber shot at Caine. Caine was hiding behind a wall, but the Steam Lobber has Arcing Fire so it doesn't care about Caine's cover. However, he got unlucky and the shot missed Caine's 17 defense, even with five dice to choose from. (he needed a 12 on 3 of 5; got an 11 with 4,4,3,1,1) Ashlynn moved up and shot a Stormblade. Boom howler moved, and I had Ol' Rowdy countercharge him. Even rolling two extra dice didn't save him from Rowdy's hammer, and Boomhowler failed his Tough check. The last trollkin killed a Stormblade. The Precursors moved up in Shield wall to protect ashlynn.
I was winning decisively at this point, but I started playing sloppy, and Ashlynn's feat is difficult to weather. I took a lot of shots and missed most of them during my turn. Rowdy engaged the Precusors and the Stormblades killed the last Trollkin and managed to kill the Mule. Caine finished off the 'jack himself.
Ashlynn moved onto the wreck marker from her Mule and cast Quicken on herself to get bonus speed and defense against Caine's pistols. She cast Flashing Blade and killed all but two of my Stormblades.
I was really sloppy the next turn. I just shot at her with all my guys and had Rowdy mug a Precursor Knight, moving the last two 'blades to engage her. It was foolish, as she is incredibly dangerous in close combat. Further, I forgot to Teleport Caine away from her so that she couldn't stab him. Just poor play on my part.
Ashlynn ignores free strikes (whoops, forgot that) and walked past my Stormblades to get at Caine. She stabbed him twice and did a bunch of damage but he wasn't out yet. I moved the blades and Rowdy to block her advance and moved the Black 13th into the Scenario Objective. I got a control point, and as long as I held it I would win the game next turn. I teleported Caine 8 inches away from her.
She managed to get back at him with Quicken and stabbed him twice more, leaving him on 2 boxes. I won on Scenario.
It was then we realized that she is a weapon master and he should have rolled an extra die for damage four times. So he should have won. However, the TO let it stand as my victory, tainted though it was. Hey, I forgot to teleport Caine during one turn, and that stood, so I guess it's alright. I decided to split the first place prize (store credit) with Andy anyway, because I felt like he should have gotten that victory.
Ashlynn also should have killed my Stormblades for trying to stab her; she has Riposte. She's pretty badass, actually.
If I was a good player, I'd have used the B13 to clean the Precursor Knights off of Rowdy with Black Penny shots, then used Rowdy to fire a Boosted Tremor at Ashlynn while she was sitting on ridiculous defense. He would have needed a 9 (7 if he gets the back arc bonus) on three dice to knock her down (about a 60/75 percent chance), but if I had we wouldn't have even needed to worry about her weaponmastery.
Still it was good times. It was nice to play some scenarios and learn how to hold the objectives too. That's all stuff I'll need to know if I play in larger tournaments.
So, playing Caine against a lot of infantry in small points games is awesome.
-Merlin out
I had the five bucks to participate, and I wanted to get in a few games, so this seemed ideal. Further, I'd never played with Scenarios before, and I feel that they add a lot to the game. Playing the standard "chess" warcaster-kill game is a little boring to me; and I feel that many warcasters aren't as good at assassination as they are at scenario or objective-based play. So if you're only playing caster-kill games, each faction's roster of 'casters isn't as competitively deep as it could be otherwise.
Of course, as 'caster-kill is still a victory condition for most scenario games, assassination 'casters are still good. But army-buffing 'casters like Commander Douchebag are actually pretty good at scenario play.
My 15-point "Duel" slapped-together at the last minute list was:
Lieutenant Alister Caine (+6 Warjack points)
Ol' Rowdy character Ironclad warjack 9 points
Stormblades Unit 5 points
Stormblades Officer and Standard Unit Attachment
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
In scenario play, controlling objectives either requires solos or whole units, or warjacks. I hadn't considered this before building the list, and instead just went with stuff that I liked, had painted, and that is generally considered good.
I've already written about Caine, and I still like him alot. He has the potential, even without the Squire and Reinholdt, to put 4 reasonably accurate power-12 shots into a target. Against many warcasters a boosted power 12 will put a dent in them. And two fully boosted shots with another two focus left to Teleport away makes Caine a headache in small-points play. Further, his feat is great at murdering swathes of infantry, and can give an early points advantage.
The Stormblades are a glass cannon. They hit like trains, and hit like trains _twice_ with the UA, or once with the UA from a serious distance. However, they're not going to last through much engagement.
The Black 13th are elite gun mages who I've also already written about. When I roll poorly for damage they don't shine, but every once in a awhile they roll fire and they wreck shit.
Ol' Rowdy is the pet warjack of Stryker, and he's probably Cygnar's best warjack. He's stupid-accurate with his hammer, he's got above-average armor, he can pay a focus to counter-strike during the opponent's turn, and he can counter-charge (if an enemy model ends an advance within 6"of Rowdy and in Line-of-Sight, Rowdy can out-of-turn charge that model). He's goddamn dangerous. He's also built on the Ironclad chassis from the battlebox, and so his hammer has critical knockdown, and Rowdy can drop a reasonably accurate Earthquake as needed.
All of these models are solid choices in any army. In a small points game they performed well.
Round 1: Cygnar v. Khador
I'd told Mike, the local Press Ganger and tournament organizer, that this was my first ever WM tourney, and only my 15th game (something like 15, more than 10 and less than 20). He said I could play him in the first round, and since he was the TO it was an autowin. He also told us that anyone who actually beats him gets an extra prize, since we were autowinning anyway. He played Khador, known for high armor, slow jacks.
His list was
Kommander Harkevitch
Spriggan
Winterguard full unit
Winterguard Weapon attachment
Winterguard Unit attachment
Winterguard support solo (Kovnik Joe)
Harkvitch allows the slow Khador heavies to move more quickly, and they protect him while they stay close with a spell called Escort. The Winterguard are a common tournament sight, as the full unit described above is 13 dudes, and with Kovnik Joe supporting them they gain a lot of special rolls, including extra attack dice or Tough (harder to kill).The Spriggan is a shield-and-lance heavy warjack which also fires low-power area-of-effect grenades for clearing infantry.
Mike won the die roll and set up first. I set up across from him, splitting my deployment a little with the 'blades in the middle (they're slow, so I needed them as close to the action as could be), Rowdy and Caine a bit to the left (near some walls for cover), and the Black 13 on the right (on the other side of a building that took up a good part of the middle-right-center of the board.
We were playing a scenario that required us to get a lot of models into a control zone in the middle of the board and keep the enemy models out.
Mike just moved his guys up and made his winterguard Tough with Joe. That was good for them, because I got a crazy-lucky scatter on Ryan's Mage Storm that plopped into 4 winterguard and Harkevitch like 15 inches away from Ryan. Even with Tough I managed to kill 3 guys.
Caine then moved 7 and popped his feat, which allows him to fire a shot at everyone in range. He killed three or four more winterguard, then used his basic attacks to kill another. He put Blur on the Stormblades to shore up their ranged defense and Teleported to relative safety in cover.
Harkevitch moved up and managed to shoot Ryan. He kept Escort up, and then the ranged attacks came. Joe gave the winterguard boosted attack rolls, and the grenadier weapon attachment blew up a Stormblade. Then the rest of the winterguard moved up and shot, but didn't manage to actually kill much. The Spriggan had more luck, dropping two 3" grenades into the thick of the Stormblades and killing 3 more.
It seemed silly to upkeep Blur, so I dropped it. Rowdy charged a winterguard (as much to get into a favorable position as anything else) and missed it twice, rolling snake eyes twice in a row. Caine cast Snipe on himself to get more range and put two shots into winterguard, killing them. He bought another attack against Harkevitch, but missed. He then Teleported back a bit. The B13 moved around and shot Harkevitch, hitting once but doing no damage, since Harkevitch's armor was at 19. The stormblades Assaulted forward for ranged attacks (they were out of reach of their melee attacks) and managed to kill a few winterguard but again did not scratch Harkevitch.
Harkevitch had his winterguard harass Caine but they missed. He popped his feat, which gives armor to himself and the Spriggan for a round and allows Harkevitch and the Spriggan to make a ranged attack before charging. Between the two of them they killed the other four Stormblades. Kovnik Joe hid behind a hill.
Mike said that the round would be called after this turn, and decided to try something ballsy. Caine put two on Rowdy and then moved to get a good line to slam the Spriggan away from Harkevitch using Thunder Strike. He hit pretty easily, but I needed to roll a 4 or more to get rid f Harkevitch's Escort armor bonus (if he has a 'jack within 3 inches he gets +2 armor under Escort). Even without Escort, the Kommander was at 20 armor, which was gonna be tough to get through. Caine managed to roll a 6 on the slam, which also pushed the Spriggan out of the control area (so I could win by scenario even if my assassination failed). Caine took his two shots at Harkevitch and managed to do a couple points of damage. The last two B13 moved into the zone and shot Harkevitch in the back, and they rolled gangbusters, doing 8 or so damage to him.
Rowdy took a free strike from the winterguard in front of him, but he managed to charge over to Harkevitch, hit on the charge with a critical knockdown, and do an absurd amount of damage on the damage roll (harkevitch's 20 armor was good, but Rowdy's power 18 hammer and 12 on the dice did the trick).
So, that worked out well. Rube Goldberg it may be, but it was a lot of fun to pull off.
Round two: Cygnar v. Cygnar
In round two I found myself squaring off against Cygnar. It happens. In fact, there were at least four guys there who play Cygnar. My last opponent played Mercs instead, but he's got a sizable Cygnar force that I've seen him play. My opponent, Ignus, played this list:
Epic Stryker (Lord Commander Stryker, Epic Douchebag, Stormb Brigade, etc.)
2 Lancer light warjacks (as from the battlebox)
Stormblades
Stormblades UA (Officer and Standard)
Stormblades weapon attachment
I looked at the list and cringed a bit because I knew just what it could do. eStryker has some awesome spells, and plays much more aggressively than basic/prime/normal Stryker. I'll write him up more at a later date (I own him but have only used him once), but with Lancers he can arc a spell called Rebuke onto my units, which means they can't get orders (charging or running is an order, so it slows me down) or do special attacks. Stryker also has a spell that makes his Lancers much more formidable in melee combat (well, any 'jack really, but in this instance two Lancers).
However, my opponent gave me some chances. Epic Stryker allows Stormblades to Advance Move, meaning that after deployment they get to walk forward a bit, before either player's first turn. Ingus won the die roll and deployed his 'blades front and center, with a Lancer on each flank and Stryker behind. I deployed my B13 on the left-hand side near a huge forest, since they gain Prowl in cover, and the blades near the center to avoid some rock walls and get charge lanes. Rowdy and Caine took the right flank.
Ingus moved his 'blades up wit Advance move, then ran his whole army forward toward the middle of the board. We were playing a "take control of the center and opponent's side" control zone scenario, so we had to cross the field to get points. Or kill the other 'caster.
Caine Blurred the Stormblades, then moved up 7 inches and popped his feat on the bottom of turn one. He caught 6 Stormblades in that salvo and managed to kill all but one. He used his first normal pistol attack to kill the one that survived the feat, then cast Snipe on himself to extend his range and tried to kill another but missed on snake eyes (that's a lot of double aces so far tonight). He then Teleported to behind a wall. The rest of my army ran, either through the woods if they were the B13, or through the middle for the rest.
My opponent was disheartened, but soldiered on. He moved up a Lancer and then arced Rebuke onto the Stormblades (Blur did not help as much as I'd hoped during these games). His remaining 'blades milled around the center, knowing they were out of range of my own Stormblades since mine couldn't charge. His other Lancer engaged Rowdy with its spear, but didn't hurt the heavy 'jack much.
Rowdy mauled the Lancer in front of him in two swings, but it wasn't wrecked yet, so I felt I should move the Stormblades to finish it off and contest the center point. They tied up his other Lancer and wrecked the one bothering Rowdy. The B13 moved up in the woods and shot two more of Ingus' Stormblades, leaving him the Standard Bearer. Caine activated and moved up, killing the last Stormblade and taking a potshot at Stryker that missed. Then he Teleported back behind Rowdy again.
I didn't want to be anywhere near epic Stryker. He's a sword-toting wrecking ball. He can overboost his powered armor to gain a +xd6 Strength bonus during his turn, but takes xd6 damage as well. Until he's hurt he's dangerous. In the one game I played him, I wrecked a heavy 'jack with him and did like 14 damage to an enemy 'caster. He also has a ridiculous threat range and vector, since he has a spell that grants him an extra move once per turn of 2-6 inches depending on how many focus he spends, and his feat gives his whole army an additional 3 inches of movement and another melee swipe (including himself).
The remaining Lancer killed the 'blade engaging it. Stryker Rebuked the 'blades again, then moved up and killed two more of them.
I activated the B13 and they took shots at Stryker, hurting him a little but not much. Caine took a few shots but again didn't kill, just chipped away at him. Rowdy stayed back as cover for Caine. I engaged Stryker with 2 of my remaining 'blades but they failed to hit him (dude has some serious defense and armor stats to boot).
Ingus decided he needed to go for an assassination on Caine, and cast Velocity to move Stryker 6 inches away for a charge lane on my 'caster. This gave my Stormblades engaging him free strikes as Stryker left their engagement arc, and they stabbed him to death on his way out.
So two victories, both of which were unexpected. I wound up in the finals of the 8-player tourney, as after 2 rounds there were only two undefeated guys.
Round 3: Cygnar v. Mercs
My opponent, Andy, was playing Ashlynn, who was featured in my last visit to the Gamer's Sanctuary write-up.
Ashlynn
Mule heavy warjack
Precursor Knights
Precursor Knights Battle Chaplain and Standard Bearer
Boomhowler and Company
Andy's army was very tricksy. Ashlynn has a Quicken spell that allows a +2 movement, and Andy used it a LOT to move his guys inordinate distances. It also grants some ranged defense bonuses, and that certainly helped. We played on the same table as my last game, and I even played on the same side, as Andy had the most tournament points and got to choose table. He also won the die roll to choose to go first, but told me to set up first instead.
We were playing a "take an 8-inch circle Control Point on your opponent's half of the board" scenario.
I deployed and moved my guys much as I did in the last game, being the same table and all. Andy put Boomhowler and Co in the middle, with the Precursor's behind them, and the Mule and Ashlynn on his right (my left near the woods and B13) flank. Ashlynn gave Boomhowler and Co Quicken, and they ran 16 inches to threaten the center of the board. The Precursor Knights advanced behind in shield wall formation for extra armor. The Mule ran as well, but pretty slowly.
Caine saw the opportunity to wreak havoc and moved deep into the board to pop his feat. He personally killed one of Boomhowler's trollkin, knocking two others down (he killed them, but they made their Tough checks and were knocked down instead removed from play). He also killed 5 of the 8 Precursor Knights, and one of the remaining guys was the standard bearer, who is too busy praying to pick up a mace. That was a devastating blow to the backline. Caine took his initial attacks and managed to kill another trollkin outright, then Teleported to relative safety. My Stormblades activated and assaulted the remaining trolls, killing the two Caine had already killed once (Tough! *shakes fist*), leaving only one grunt and Boomhowler himself alive. Rowdy moved around a bit to threaten Boom howler. The B13 put out a bunch of shots but didn't manage to do much.
Ashlynn popped her ridiculous feat (all models making attack rolls in her control area for a round [her turn+my next turn] roll two extra dice, and Ashlynn chooses two to discard) and moved the Mule to fire a Steam Lobber shot at Caine. Caine was hiding behind a wall, but the Steam Lobber has Arcing Fire so it doesn't care about Caine's cover. However, he got unlucky and the shot missed Caine's 17 defense, even with five dice to choose from. (he needed a 12 on 3 of 5; got an 11 with 4,4,3,1,1) Ashlynn moved up and shot a Stormblade. Boom howler moved, and I had Ol' Rowdy countercharge him. Even rolling two extra dice didn't save him from Rowdy's hammer, and Boomhowler failed his Tough check. The last trollkin killed a Stormblade. The Precursors moved up in Shield wall to protect ashlynn.
I was winning decisively at this point, but I started playing sloppy, and Ashlynn's feat is difficult to weather. I took a lot of shots and missed most of them during my turn. Rowdy engaged the Precusors and the Stormblades killed the last Trollkin and managed to kill the Mule. Caine finished off the 'jack himself.
Ashlynn moved onto the wreck marker from her Mule and cast Quicken on herself to get bonus speed and defense against Caine's pistols. She cast Flashing Blade and killed all but two of my Stormblades.
I was really sloppy the next turn. I just shot at her with all my guys and had Rowdy mug a Precursor Knight, moving the last two 'blades to engage her. It was foolish, as she is incredibly dangerous in close combat. Further, I forgot to Teleport Caine away from her so that she couldn't stab him. Just poor play on my part.
Ashlynn ignores free strikes (whoops, forgot that) and walked past my Stormblades to get at Caine. She stabbed him twice and did a bunch of damage but he wasn't out yet. I moved the blades and Rowdy to block her advance and moved the Black 13th into the Scenario Objective. I got a control point, and as long as I held it I would win the game next turn. I teleported Caine 8 inches away from her.
She managed to get back at him with Quicken and stabbed him twice more, leaving him on 2 boxes. I won on Scenario.
It was then we realized that she is a weapon master and he should have rolled an extra die for damage four times. So he should have won. However, the TO let it stand as my victory, tainted though it was. Hey, I forgot to teleport Caine during one turn, and that stood, so I guess it's alright. I decided to split the first place prize (store credit) with Andy anyway, because I felt like he should have gotten that victory.
Ashlynn also should have killed my Stormblades for trying to stab her; she has Riposte. She's pretty badass, actually.
If I was a good player, I'd have used the B13 to clean the Precursor Knights off of Rowdy with Black Penny shots, then used Rowdy to fire a Boosted Tremor at Ashlynn while she was sitting on ridiculous defense. He would have needed a 9 (7 if he gets the back arc bonus) on three dice to knock her down (about a 60/75 percent chance), but if I had we wouldn't have even needed to worry about her weaponmastery.
Still it was good times. It was nice to play some scenarios and learn how to hold the objectives too. That's all stuff I'll need to know if I play in larger tournaments.
So, playing Caine against a lot of infantry in small points games is awesome.
-Merlin out
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