Weekend Report

This past weekend saw a nice bit of gaming: the monthly Saga get together, a game at Andrew's, and a trek through a very foggy Portland to play some Warmachine at Rune & Board.

Saga: Normans v. Normans!

I figured I'd play my Crusaders as Normans this weekend, as everyone else is playing Age of Vikings and the figures are close enough. Dropped into Bob's (better-painted, better organized) Normans and pulled out a very bloody draw.

Deployment. My knights on each flank, crossbows, longbows, and spearmen in the center. Bob has two full levy longbow and three fat units of mounted warriors waiting for me.

Some initial shuffling on both sides; I backed out of longbow range, which was probably a mistake. Should have pushed more aggressively.

A scrum on the right results in horrible casualties; I lose four knights to seven of his serjeants. While I can't afford to lose a lot of men, at least I take away a Saga die from him.

Finally, I start pushing up. My archers kill a bunch of his central levy unit, while my sole remaining knight on the right bravely rides away. Over on the left, my knights are suffering bowshot.

Longbows reduce his center levy to under Saga die level, while my spearmen rush the other archers...

And a bit later, at end of game, we see that my spearmen were run down by the rightmost mounted serjeant unit. What unit, you ask? Why, the one I dedicated all my shooting to and then used my Warlord to finish off. Had this game gone another turn, I think Bob would have carried it with those undamaged warriors on the left, though....

Russian Civil War: What's Red and White all over?

Nothin' civil 'bout a civil war... This was a test game Harry's running for Enfilade, so I'll try not to spoil any surprises, but it was pretty fun. We've got the Reds straddling a railroad trying to capture a VIP on the armored train. Lots of cavalry, some armored cars and tachankas, and a rather quick-moving system (1914, by Great Escape Games). I ended up as high command on the Red side, which, as any student of the Soviet Union can tell you, is a rather dangerous spot to be in. (Nonetheless, we won...)

Table layout prior to deployment.

Brave Revolutionary naval artillerymen.

My cavalry pushing up the field....

The train approaches!

Though the front (artillery) car is disabled, the train chugs on... oblivious to the cavalry scrum on the line.

Game end, more or less.... my center and left are just about broken, but the train has been stopped...

 The system wasn't bad at all. I'm not sure it's suited to a convention, but it moved quickly and we started getting into combat right away, and the results didn't tweak my suspension of disbelief. I'd play it again.

The mat and tracks, btw, are apparently from Cigar Box.

Masters' League Game: Grymkin vs. Skorne

After much scheduling hassle, I was able to get the first game in our local Masters' League (think tournament, but stretched out over a month) in at Rune & Board with Jeremiah. He brought a Xekaar beast brick, a classic titan herd; I brought the Wanderer with my own beast brick. He won the roll and opted to go first.

As this was Jeremiah's second or maybe third game with this list, he managed to clock himself top of three, giving a result of (if I recall correctly), 2 control points and 17 army points for me, 3 control points and 9 army points for me. (I failed to write it down quickly, so that may well be off.) We then played out the rest of the game off the clock, and I won with an assassination. As usual with Wanderer, it's all Star-Crossed for the money and not much else. So, pictures!

Xekaar's second turn just beginning.

Beginning of Xekaar's third turn.

End of game by clock; Xekaar on the left hiding behind a building. I've used the Shadow Arcana over on the right with the red Cage Rager. One thing that isn't obvious is that Xekaar has cunningly applied Dead Weight to the center Skin and Moans.

End of game by assassination. The center S&M was able to kill off the blocking Titan Gladiator, and then the left-hand S&M walked around the building and just chopped up Xekaar. Over on the right we see the effects of the Shadow arcana - very cold dice meant that Cage Rager accomplished nothing.

Battle Report: Warmachine Tournament, March 5, 2016

I finally attended a Warmachine even this year - it's been hectic - and had a good bit of fun. It was run by Asher, one of our local Press Gangers, at Red Castle Games, and had a turnout of twenty. Quite a lot of Legion of Everblight and Protectorate of Menoth...

Lists

I brought a Morghoul 1/Hexeris 2 pairing, though as things turned out I only ran the Morghoul 1 list.

Master Tormentor Morghoul

- Aptimus Marketh
- Aradus Sentinel
- Aradus Sentinel
- Aradus Soldier
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Extoller Soulward
Tyrant Zaadesh
- Cyclops Raider
- Cyclops Brute
- Basilisk Krea
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
(Vanguard) Molik Karn
(Vanguard) Titan Gladiator)
(Vanguard) Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew

Lord Arbiter Hexeris

- Aradus Sentinel

- Aradus Sentinel

- Cyclops Raider

- Cyclops Shaman

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Extoller Soulward

Paingiver Beast Handlers (max)

Cataphract Incindiarii (min)

Cataphract Incindiarii (min)

Venator Slingers (max)

(Vanguard) Titan Gladiator

(Vanguard) Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor

(Vanguard) Extoller Soulward

(Vanguard) Agonizer

(Vanguard) Cataphract Arcuarii (min)

Round One

Paired off against Josh's Protectorate of Menoth - Anson Durst and Harbinger of Menoth. I went for Morghoul, he dropped Durst and won the roll. He chose to go first, so I picked the side with the wall and the trench.

Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith
- Hierophant
- Reckoner
- Reckoner
- Fires of Salvation
Vassal of Menoth
Vassal of Menoth
Wrack x3
Pyrrhus, Flameguard Hero (not that Pyrrhus)
Exemplar Vengers (max)
Temple Flameguard + Officer & Standard Bearer
Choir of Menoth (min)

Deployment

He moved in and took my objective pretty early. I screwed up and failed to contest his zone on my second turn, so gave him basically a free point. Aside from that - and playing too slowly, because new units and new list - I thought I played fairly well.

Mid game.

Halfway through the game and I've started the piece trade pretty well - his Flameguard are mostly gone, the bugs and Raider have all but eliminated his cavalry, the Aradus Soldier has destroyed one of the Redeemers, and I'm properly contesting both zones.

End game. Another minute or two on my clock and I'd probably have assassinated Durst.

Sadly, slow play did me in. He managed to clear his friendly zone and score a few more points; I killed his objective and dominated my own zone for a few points. The Soldier, cranked up on Abuse and Enrage, managed to wreck Fires of Salvation on Durst's feat turn. But I ended that turn with only about thirty seconds left on my clock... We ended on my fifth turn, but diced it out. If I'd had time to properly Abuse, Enrage, and throw Puppet Master on the Soldier, he'd almost certainly have killed Durst in that assassination run.

Lessons from this game: A) Play faster! B) Aradii shut down a ranged game hard. With Basilisk Krea support they can go to DEF 15/ARM 25 vs shooting, and very few lists bring the shooting that can deal with that.

Round Two

Against Lucas' Protectorate, a Kreoss 2/Severius pairing. He put down Kreoss and I dropped Morghoul 1 again - a mistake, as it turned out.

Grand Exemplar Kreoss (Crusaders of Sul theme force, tier 4)

- Fires of Salvation

Knights Exemplar Seneschal

Knights Exemplar Seneschal

Exemplar Errant Seneschal

Exemplar Errant Seneschal

High Exemplar Gravus

Knights Exemplar

Knights Exemplar

Knights Exemplar

Knights Exemplar

Daughters of the Flame

Exemplar Errants + Officer & Standard Bearer

Theme Force Benefits: FA U on Knights Exemplar; Knights Exemplar gain Advance Move; free Exemplar Seneschal solo; +2" on your deployment zone.

Deployment. Same as last game.

 After he'd deployed, I realized I dropped the wrong list. Morghoul simply doesn't have the volume of fire to deal with this, while Hexeris 2 does. But there was a chance - assassination. Despite that huge swarm of Exemplars running across the board at me, my Sentinels, with Arcing Fire, could still pop shots at Kreoss. I deployed as I had in the last game, with the bugs up on the AD line and the rest of the army clumped up behind them.

He ran his army across the table pretty damn quick. Between the Advance Move on the Knights and the AD on the Errants, he basically began with everything 15" up the table already - on the edge of the zone, as can be seen above. Here's where he ran into his first problem, though - too many figures on the table, and the Errants began to block his Knights' attack avenues. My Sentinels started off punting shots, and between them and the Raider I was able to remove both Errant Seneschals. To be honest, I'm not sure that was the best choice. I was able to get a single shot onto Kreoss, putting some damage into him; then, dash Morghoul over to the flag on my left to score my only control point of the game. The following turn I had another assassination opportunity, probably around a 60% shot. Kreoss was on a hill, but if I could get the Sentinels out of melee, I'd have two POW 13 fully boosted shots, with Puppet Master rerolls, on him.

First shot was simple. Sentinel was only engaged by one model, and I was able to clear that off quickly. Forfeit movement to aim, and... out of range. By about a millimeter. The scatter doesn't help. Second shot is a lot trickier - the Sentinel is tied up by four models, two of which are Errants. Errants have an ability that allows one model to die in another one's place, which lets them keep critical models alive - like one of the ones engaging the Sentinel. I manage to kill all the engaging models but one, and have to risk a free strike to get the assassination shot. And the Errant makes and rolls hot on the damage, straight up killing the Sentinel.

End game. Kreoss has narrowly avoided assassination and cleared the zone for a scenario victory.

That's pretty much the game right there, as he's already cleared the zone, and scores the last two points he needs to wrap up the game. Lesson learned: Don't drop this list into an infantry swarm. Also, gun bugs are awesome.

Round Three

I drew the bye, so I got to play Watchmachine for a couple hours.

Round Four

Versus Dustin's Legion of Everblight. He'd brought Thagrosh 1 and Lylyth 2 - both strong lists, both with a Blight Bringer. This time Morghoul was the obvious choice. He dropped Lylyth.

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight

- Ravagore

- Blight Bringer

- Nephilim Bolt Thrower

- Naga Nightlurker

Strider Death Stalker

Strider Death Stalker

The Forsaken

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Croak Raiders (max)

Deployment, and Croak Raiders first move.

I went second so I could take the side with the hill and the trench. Both of us had very simple deployments, as seen above. I was well aware of Lylyth's assassination potential, but was counting on the ability of the bugline to block LOS to Morghoul - who would be sitting at DEF 19/ARM 15 thanks to the Krea animus most of the game, camping at least three transfers.

He moved up fast, as expected, with the Death Stalkers doing the usual flanking maneuver and the Croak Raiders took the center. My first turn went well. I was able to knock out a few of the Croak Raiders, and put some damage on the Ravagore that my opponent hadn't expected. Unfortunately I left a gap in my defensive line between the Krea and the objective, which turned out extremely badly...

He took a heck of a lot of shots on his turn - the Croaks shot out plenty of oil bombs, though through pure luck they missed hitting Morghoul. And then his Ravagor took a shot at one of the Beast Handlers next to Morghoul, missed, and scattered straight onto Morghoul, the Extoller, another Beast Handler... and Tyrant Zaadesh. And then he rolled a hard 15 on the damage.

Midgame. Things have suddenly gone very badly.

Welp. Now I've got three wild warbeasts - my Raider, Brute, and Krea. That's a couple legit combat beasts and two crucial animi off the table for the moment. Also, Morghoul's on fire. I've gone from having a pretty strong position to being in serious trouble, especially since Lylyth hasn't feated yet. He finishes off his turn by dropping the Blight Bringer's monster AOE on the Krea, killing off some more support and putting damage on the Krea.

I start my turn by moving the Soldier up to kill off some Croak Raiders and contest the zone. Then most of the rest of my models take out the Ravagore - takes a bit more work than I'd like, preventing me from hitting any of his other models. Morghoul moves over and pulls the Krea into his battlegroup. I camp four Fury and hope it's enough.

End game. Note Morghoul at the bottom of the photo, knocked down and on fire.

It's not. I get one dose of luck - his Blight Bringer frenzies and does a bit of damage to his objective. With that having taken almost 20% of his army out of the game this turn, he's a bit doubtful, but goes for the assassination. Between the fire damage roll, the attacks from Lylyth, the Nephilim Bolt Thrower, and the Naga Nightlurker, he's able to force all my transfers, knock Morghoul down, and finish things off in fine style.

Lessons learned from that game:
A) Don't leave LOS gaps in your line against Lylyth (or, I suppose, any ranged assassins).
B) Keep Zaadesh super super safe. Further back is better. Maybe pop a Razor Worm into the list for Girded. And maybe put one of those support beasts under Morghoul instead.
C) The Blight Bringer is very, very good.

All told, I had a lot of fun at this event. I'm happy with the Morghoul list. Thanks to Asher for running it, and to all of my opponents for fun games.

Tournament Report: Ticket Takedown, December 5 2015

Yesterday was the annual Ticket Takedown at Haven Gaming, the first prize being a ticket to Lock & Load 2016. I forsook Circle for this event and went back to Skorne; just can't stay away from the elephants. I'm just more excited about the Skorne lately than I have been about the Circle stuff, even if Circle is seen as a more powerful faction. The tournament was Master's format, so I was able to take advantage of ADR. Here's what I brought:

Master Tormentor Morghoul

* Aptimus Marketh

* Mammoth

* Titan Gladiator

* Titan Sentry

* Cyclops Brute

Agonizer

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Extoller Soulward

Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor

Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)

VANGUARD

Aradus Sentinel

Basilisk Krea

Cyclops Raider

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew

Objective: Effigy of Valor

Zaal, the Ancestral Advocate

* Tiberion

* Basilisk Krea

* Cyclops Shaman

Hakaar the Destroyer

Ancestral Guardian

Ancestral Guardian

Cataphract Arcuarii (min)

Cataphract Incindiarii (min)

Nihilators (max)

VANGUARD

Basilisk Drake

Nihilators (max)

Immortals (max)

Objective: Arcane Wonder

Morghoul is one of my favorite casters, and I'm pretty happy with the Mammoth attached to him. Of course, for this event, I forgot the Mammoth at home as it's too big to fit in the bag and usually has to sit in the passenger's seat. Luckily, another player was kind enough to lend me his model...

Zaal 2 is the new hotness, or he would be if he hadn't gotten such a lukewarm reception from the Skorne community. Most people who haven't played him think he's crap; those who have played him think he's not that bad. I'm still on the fence, but he's definitely got some interesting facets. Most of the community, myself included, is disappointed that his playstyle is more of the same "ax to face" that Skorne has had throughout Mark II. We were hoping for a bit more variety.

Round 1

Scenario: Recon

Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed

* War Argus

* War Argus

* War Dog

* Ruin

Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan

Saxon Orrik

Iron Fang Kovnik

Kovnik Andrei Malakov

* Spriggan

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Ogrun Bokur

Iron Fang Pikemen (max)

* Black Dragon Officer and Standard

Widowmakers

Greylord Ternion

Game End: Ruin has just finished squishing a prone Morghoul. The big white disk is the Mammoth, model removed for ease of play.

I took advantage of ADR and swapped the list around so that I had the ranged battlegroup instead of the melee-focused one, planning on trimming down his infantry and support with boosted blast damage from the Mammoth and the Sentinel before sending in the Mammoth to clean up and either dominating the zone or trying to kill Butcher with whatever was left - probably Morghoul, the Brute, and the Krea. In retrospect, the Zaal list might have been a better choice.

I won the roll and went first, and advanced about as aggressively as I could. Under Abuse and Rush, the Mammoth moved up quite far to set up for some round 2 shooting, while the rest of the army clustered around him. Doug advanced pretty far, but a little more cautiously.

Second round, I got very aggressive and was able to pick off some of his infantry with the Mammoth and the Sentinel - critically, a lucky shot managed to take Madelyn Corbeau off the table. I then ended the turn by pushing Morghoul up into the center of the zone under feat and Admonition, and camping three transfers. I figured he was pretty safe; without the ability to spend Focus and unable to target him with Combined Melee Attacks, the Khadoran forces were extremely unlikely to be able to kill him.

Unfortunately, I neglected to have the Brute put Safeguard on Morghoul, so he could be knocked down. And both Malakov's Spriggan and the Ogrun Bokur can Slam without needing Focus. So he was able to position a War Argus, lower its defense with the Greylord Ternion, and then use the Ogrun Bokur to slam it over Morghoul, knocking him down. After that, it was just a question of putting enough attacks into him, and that was game.

Aside from that mistake, I was pretty happy with how this game went; I felt like it was at least a 50/50 matchup, and if I'd played a bit more carefully, I could have won.

Round 2

Scenario: Destruction

Captain Victoria Haley

* Squire
* Stormwall

Stormsmith Stormcaller

Journeyman Warcaster

The Black 13th

Tempest Blazers

Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers

* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer

Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt

Tactical Arcanist Corps

End game: Mammoth in mid-swing on the Stormwall, Morghoul lurking at the bottom of the photo, and Haley hiding behind the wall in the upper left.

With a Stormwall in one of my opponent's lists, I felt like I had to drop the Morghoul list. When James did, indeed drop the Stormwall list, I chose to do the same swap I did last round, mostly to pull the Krea in. Under the Krea bubble, the Mammoth and Sentinel are extremely resistant to shooting, and most of the shooting in his list was POW 10 - practically worthless in this matchup.

I lost this game on clock. Had I moved quicker on my second and third turns, I'd probably have won. The picture above, at game end, shows the Mammoth tearing into the Stormwall; I'm up two control points, and if I'd had time to clear the zone, all that he'd have had left would have been Haley herself. In return, he only killed four models - two Beast Handlers, a Willbreaker, and the Extoller, and that on his last turn of the game. He did manage to set Morghoul on fire with the Tactical Arcanist Corps on round three, though. That was a little exciting.

Aside from time management, this is the game I where I felt I played my best. But that's a pretty big caveat.

Round 3

Scenario: Close Quarters

Kromac, Champion of the Wurm

* Druid Wilder

* Warpwolf Stalker

* Ghetorix

* Riphorn Satyr

* Pureblood Warpwolf

* Gorax

* Winter Argus

Gallows Grove

Shifting Stones

* Stone Keeper

End game: Kromac, sans all his heavies, base to base with the Skorne flag. Morghoul has just used Admonition to back out of range of Kromac's ax.

I dropped Morghoul again, but this time I stuck with the melee loadout. Becky's a newer player, and she lost on clock in this game. I made some rather bad mistakes, though; forgot to feat on the turn where it would have made the biggest difference, forgot to take the Agonizer's Gnawing Pain aura into account while she was killing the Mammoth, and should have boosted to hit rolls when I sent the Mammoth after Ghetorix and the Stalker. Dice didn't love me either; to get around Cricle's high DEF, I tried to head butt most of the beasts before buying attacks on them, and failed every attempt but one. Had Becky played a bit more aggressively, she could have taken the Mammoth off the table in exchange for Ghetorix or the Stalker, and used Kromac and the surviving beasts to assassinate Morghoul. So... not my greatest game.

Round 4

Scenario: Fire Support

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight

* Succubus

* Zuriel, Champion of Everblight

* Angelius

* Angelius

* Harrier

* Harrier

* Shredder

* Nephilim Bloodseer

Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Hellion

Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Hellion

Strider Deathstalker

Strider Deathstalker

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

End game: Saeryn dominating her friendly flag, with most of the Skorne army jammed out by the winged beasts. The lone Arcuarius in the upper center has run over to contest in order to deny one last control point before time.

This was my last game, and I was getting pretty tired by this point. Since I was 1-2, I figured I might as well drop Zaal, regardless of what Scott was putting down. This resulted in a bad matchup; once again, the Morghoul list, with ranged battlegroup, would have been a better choice. Also, Scott's a pretty solid player. His list relies on a combination of Saeryn's feat preventing melee attacks against her battlegroup, and the Nyss Sorceresses preventing ranged attacks to jam out the scenario and dominate toward a victory. If I hadn't run out of time, this probably would have worked, too.

This was my first time to put Zaal 2 or the Arcuarii on the table. I chose not to swap anything in the list. It was a learning experience more than a serious game from my perspective, so here's a quick list of lessons:

• Nihilators should have been deployed close to the center instead of on the flank, so they could run up, jam, and get killed early for those sweet, sweet souls.
• Zaal 2 is shockingly durable, even at DEF 10. I don't think Scott made any serious attempts to assassinate him.
• The list really does depend on melee + Transference, so Saeryn's feat was a real problem. I also did not boost via Transference when I should have - mostly on to-hit 
• Zaal himself is no great shakes in melee. He made a fair number of attacks this game out of necessity, but I probably should have kept him back and tried to do more work through Transference/Sunder Spirit.
• The Big One: For years I've been playing Ancestral Guardians as if they had Ghost Shield. They don't. Oops. Lesson: read the entire card...

Anyway, a good game in the sense of learning stuff, not so much in the sense of playing well. About what I expected. Scott's battle plan worked very well, though I did throw him off his stride a little by threatening with Tiberion and a Guardian on turn 2 and forcing him to turn back to deal with them. Wasn't enough to get me up on the attrition game.

Final Thoughts

Pretty good experience, though I do wish the local meta started events a little earlier. I dropped before round five as I had no desire to get home at midnight. Thanks to Lucas for running it and to Haven for hosting it, and to all my opponents for a set of fun games. As for the pairing... well, I'm actually happy with it. Morghoul's an old favorite, and Zaal 2 looks to be interesting to mess around with. They'll be seeing more table time together.

Battle Report: That's A Huge Base Tournament, July 18, Haven Gaming

I competed in a Warmachine Master's format tourney this past Saturday down at Haven Gaming in Salem. I didn't do very well, 2-2. I'm feeling pretty burned out on competitive Warmachine right now, to be honest; I don't feel like I can keep up with the competitive players simply because I don't have the time to dedicate to practice and theory. And I'm not sure it's really worth it, in the larger scheme of life, to make time...

But enough maundering. The games!

I brought the following lists, using the ADR rules. Rasheth is the caster I'm most comfortable with, and since my meta has a preponderance of Legion, he's a really solid drop in most competitions. Makeda is there to drop against Cryx and Cygnar, but I'm very inexperienced with this list.

Archdomina Makeda

* Mammoth

* Cyclops Raider

* Basilisk Krea

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Extoller Soulward

Cataphract Cetrati (max)

Venator Slingers

Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer

Paingiver Beast Handlers (minimum)

Specialists:

Cataphract Incindiarii (max)

Gatorman Witch Doctor

Cyclops Shaman

Tyrant Vorkesh

Objective: Bunker

Dominar Rasheth (Chain Gang theme force, Tier 4)

* Titan Gladiator

* Titan Sentry

* Titan Cannoneer

* Bronzeback Titan

* Basilisk Krea

Agonizer

Agonizer

Agonizer

Paingiver Task Master

Gatorman Posse (max)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (minimum)

Specialists:
* Titan Sentry

* Basilisk Drake

* Basilisk Drake

* Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Objective: Arcane Wonder

Round 1: Vyros, Incissar of the Dawn

Turn Three, and Ryan's set the line of engagement well forward for him.

First game was against Ryan, who brought Vyros 2 and Issyria to the party - both at tier 4. He dropped Vyros with a battlegroup evenly split between heavy and light 'jacks. I countered with Makeda, and swapped out the Krea so I could bring in the Gatorman Witch Doctor to Tough my infantry.

The scenario was Close Quarters. I lost the roll and selected the side without the enormous obstruction in front of the deployment zone. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake, since the wheat field (rough terrain) on the side I did choose turned out to be something of a problem.

At any rate, he moved up the board extremely quickly, and managed to jam me out of the middle of the board. Although I killed just about all of his army, I wasn't able to contest my own flag, and he was able to win on scenario by turn 4.

Round 2: Lich Lord Terminus

Turn two: Cetrati hold the line against Mechanithralls.

Kyle brought Lich Lord Terminus and the now-ubiquitous Deneghra 2 Body & Soul Tier. He dropped Terminus, to my regret; I can deal with Body & Soul, but the Terminus list brought way, way too much meat for me to kill. Bane Thralls, two Mechanithralls units, and, of course, two units of Stitch Thralls. I dropped Makeda again, and swapped out the Slingers and the Krea for the Incindiarii. I probably should have actually taken the Cetrati off the table instead, just to maximize my ranged attacks.

The scenario was Recon. Terrain made little difference in this game, except for the craters in the zone. I'd assumed they were simply rough terrain, while he thought they granted cover (+4 Defense). Remember, kids, talk out terrain with your opponent before the game starts!

This game went much like the last; he managed to jam me out of scenario, and though I did kill quite a few zombies, I wasn't able to contest. He killed my objective, dominated a flag, and controlled the zone to win by turn 3.

Round 3: Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight

No picture for this one; it was too blurry.

Don brought Thagrosh 1 and Abyslonia 2, and dropped Thags T4 - two full units of Warspears, Carnivean, Ravagore, Scythean. I dropped Rasheth and subbed out the Cannoneer for the two Drakes.

The scenario was Outflank; I lost the roll and picked a side. The only terrain that mattered was a forest between the two scenario zones which divided my forces, but made no difference to the Legion units.

This match up was one I'm quite comfortable with. I jammed out one side with fast moving Gators, used the Drakes to engage the other side, and brought my beasts up the middle. The Sentry with Carnivore under feat was able to remove both his Ravagore and Carnivean in a single turn. After that, it became a bit of a grind; I narrowly avoided assassination thanks to Thagrosh not having Eyeless Sight to draw LOS through a forest, and then was able to finish off Thagrosh himself with the Bronzeback.

Round 4: Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight

Rasheth's POV on turn two

Derek had Absylonia 2 and Kallus; he dropped Aby, I dropped Rasheth. Lost the roll, picked a side (same table I played round 2 on, as it happens), and we got underway with the Destruction scenario.

Aby had a pair of Blight Wasp swarms, two Scytheans, a Seraph, and an Extreme Carnivean. I used the same setup as I had in round 3. This game was a bit tighter than last round. Derek was able to kill off quite a bit of my pieces, but I caught him out with a classic Gladiator slam & follow up assassination.

All told, not a bad tournament. It went to 5 rounds, but I dropped after round 4 to get home at a reasonable hour. But I think this will be my last tournament for a few months, maybe for the rest of the year.

Lock & Load 2015: Master's Qualifier Report

Lock and Load 2015 was this past weekend, June 5-7. Since I live in Portland, it's an easy drive and after Enfilade, it's my favorite convention. This year I signed up for the first heat of the Masters Qualifier, so James and I left Portland before 6 to get there in time...

Qualifier Tournament Report

I brought carbon copies of Martin Hornacek's Masters' lists, because I'm terrible at list building and wanted to use the ADR rules. Mordikaar, who's a favorite caster, and Naaresh, who's not. But it availed me not...

Round 1

Deployment

Up against Brandon Anderson playing Body and Soul for a bad matchup to start things off, but this was the only game I won. His list was pretty straightforward B&S, and I dropped Mordikaar.

I was able to weather his feat pretty well due to him being about 1/4" further back from my lines than he thought he'd be, thus leaving huge amounts of my models able to move. We traded pieces back and forth until I was able to go in for a sneaky Essence Blast assassination and win the game.

Post assassination

Round 2

Deployment

This round saw me playing Jamie Perkins, noted tourney player, who was running Sorscha 2 with a bonded Conquest, Nyss hunters with Valachev, and the Winterguard Death Star. I dropped Naaresh into this one just to get him out of the way. Highlights of the game were Jamie's first turn, where he tried to pull off a double-handed throw assassination by pitching Alexia 2 at Naaresh. This, he told me, was to win a bet with Trent Denison. The assassination failed, but he was able to run roughshod over me with really clean, careful, fast play. Even though I lost to an assassination on turn 3, this was probably the game I most enjoyed playing in the tourney.

Post assassination

Round 3

This game wasn't a lot of fun. Not the fault of my opponent, save that he dropped a Skarre 1 list that pretty much took my Mordikaar out behind the woodshed and beat it six ways from Sunday. (Also, my opponent, Robert, was from my local meta, which always a little bit of a disappointment when you're hoping to play new people.) For his Ritual Sacrifice over the four turns of the game, he rolled 6 6 5 5, which pretty well put me on tilt. I lost on scenario.

End of game

Round 4

After my first turn.

Played Jon with his Khador. He ran a Harkevich list with Black Dragons, MoW Shocktroopers, Demolisher, Behemoth, and Black Ivan. For the first few turns, I pretty well had this game under control, to the point where I was able to jam his Black Dragons on one side and start scoring on my flag by turn 3. However, I'd shifted Tiberion too far to the left to deal with Behemoth and the MoWs, and when he slammed the Demolisher into my lines, I wasn't able to deal with it. I was running low on time, so I went for a low-probability assassination. It failed, and he was able to use his Demolisher to squish Mordikaar.

Right before the assassination.

Final Thoughts

To be honest, I'd have had more fun if I'd dropped after round 2; my game with Robert was very much not a fun experience, and I'd have been able to rack up some skulls in the Iron Arena or attend a painting hangout. It was also rather disappointing to face only Cryx and Khador... Still, I learned something from my games (positioning and don't lose sight of objectives), and I had enough fun. I'm also glad I made sure to pack some energy bars, 'cause not having to buzz off for food or dealing with hunger pangs made for a much more pleasant experience.

Final Record: 1 win by assassination, 2 losses by assassination, 1 loss by scenario. I felt I played quite well in first game, but not very well in the others.

I'm also not sold on ADR as a major advantage. I think it's a good edge, but not compared to having really solid practice with a caster already. So I'm excited for the next season's ADR, which has two casters with which I'm pretty well practiced and one caster with which I have a passing familiarity.

Battle Report: Cherry City Iron Gauntlet Qualifier

This past Saturday, I competed in an Iron Gauntlet tournament down in Salem, a qualifier for the Cherry City Invitational. Short version: Had a great time, went 2-2.

Long version!

Here's what I brought for my three lists:

Dominar Rasheth (Chain Gang theme force, Tier 4)
* Titan Gladiator
* Titan Sentry
* Titan Sentry
* Basilisk Krea
Agonizer
Agonizer
Paingiver Task Master
Paingiver Task Master
Gatorman Posse (max)
Gatorman Posse (max)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)

Supreme Ascetic Naaresh
* Molik Karn
* Bronzeback Titan
* Titan Gladiator
* Basilisk Krea
* Cyclops Brute
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Nihilators
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max)


Void Seer Mordikaar
* Tiberion
* Basilisk Drake
* Basilisk Krea
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Nihilators (max)
Paingiver Bloodrunners
Cataphract Cetrati (max) + Tyrant Vorkesh
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)

Round One

Faced off against Sean playing Circle Orboros. The scenario was Two Fronts, and he chose to drop a Morvahna 2 list. I dropped Rasheth - my usual Circle choice.

Turn two begins

This was a straightforward game; Sean's list wasn't one he was practiced with, while I'd played against Morvahna 2 a couple weeks ago, run by a very good Circle player, with this exact same Rasheth list. So... his dice weren't doing him any favors either. The game ended with a Titan squashing Morvahana and 6 control points for me.

Final positions

Round Two

I was up against Brett, one of the better Legion of Everblight players in the area. He dropped Abyslonia 2 against my Naaresh list in Incoming.

Turn two under way

As you can see, he's sporting an Archangel in this list. It didn't do a whole lot this game, and he found its chief disadvantage was that he kept bumping into the wings as he leaned over to move models...

Regardless of this disadvantage, he went for an early assassination after I moved in to try for some control points on Naaresh's feat turn. I screwed up a bit, lost my Fate Walker move, and was unable to move Naaresh back to a safe position; he was able to walk his Scythean up and kill Naaresh. A good, quick game, though I'm still kicking myself over the error.

Final position, Naaresh gobbled up by a Scythean

Round Three

Circle Orboros again, this time played by Jeremy. He put down Morvahna 2, and I chose Rasheth again - locking myself into Mordikaar for round four.

This was a much tighter game than the first match. He went for a top of turn 2 assassination using War Wolves returned to play by Morvahna's feat, and damn near did it; it's only the fact that War Wolves can't use Sic 'Em if they're in melee that saved Rasheth from becoming dog chow.

After that, the game settled into an attrition slog in which I had the advantage. I managed to remove his Wold Wrath from the table on turn three or thereabouts, and slowly eliminated almost all of his units. He finally went for a Hail Mary: Morvahna had Blood Mark on her, but he was able to get a single charging Skinwalker on Rasheth, who transferred to Morvahna and thus killed her. Luckily, the blowthrough damage didn't kill Rasheth...

Final position - Rasheth transfers charge damage to Morvahna, killing her.

Round Four

Last game, I was up against Adam running Minions. Usually they're not a problem, but he was locked into a really solid matchup against me, with Maelok the Dreadbound versus my Mordikaar list.

Adam's first turn under way.

At first glance I thought this would be a pretty straightforward match, but it was actually extremely difficult. I feated coming up the board, as usual. That was a bit of a time walk, but I found I simply couldn't put out enough high-value attacks to remove three units of Tough Gatorman Posse all sitting at around armor 20 or so. After his feat turn, I had lost very nearly all my models, so I conceded and we called it a night.

Final position - Mordikaar has almost nothing left to swing with.

I had an excellent time, and I'm growing very fond of the Iron Gauntlet rounds. Doesn't hurt that I won a $20 gift certificate in the post-tournament raffle...

Battle Report: Iron Gauntlet League finals, round 1

This past Monday, I went up against Asher (one our local Press Gangers) in the first round of the finals for this Spring's Iron Gauntlet League.

For those unfamiliar with the format, Iron Gauntlet is a Warmachine Steamroller event. Each player brings three 50-point lists. The first few rounds are normal steamroller, and each list must be played at least once. The final four (or eight in this case) players match up in single-elimination 75-point games, with the list built from the models brought for the 50-point lists.

I didn't expect to make it into the finals rounds, so my list selection wasn't optimized for the finals rounds. I'd brought Makeda 3 Brute Squad, Rasheth Chain Gang, and Martin Hornacek's Mordikaar list. Asher had run Saeryn, Abyslonia 2, and Vayl 2. Because of the league format, we'd had time to scope out each other's possibilities, so the usual list building phase was already done:

Saeryn
* Succubus
* Angelius
* Angelius
* Ravagore
* Shredder
* Typhon
* Zuriel
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
The Forsaken
The Forsaken
Spell Martyr
Spell Martyr
Blighted Nyss Sorceress and Hellion
Strider Deathstalker
Blackfrost Shard
Strider Rangers

This list is four points short, as I'm hazy on what else he had. Probably a Spawning Vessel & Acolytes.

Dominar Rasheth (Chain Gang, tier 4)
* Titan Sentry
* Titan Sentry
* Titan Gladiator
* Titan Gladiator
* Bronzeback Titan
* Basilisk Krea
* Basilisk Drake
Agonizer
Agonizer
Agonizer
Paingiver Master Tormentor
Paingiver Master Tormentor
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Gatorman Posse (max)
Gatorman Posse (max)

The scenario was two fronts. He won the roll and chose to go first; I picked the side with a couple of walls on it. The center of the board was dominated by a hill. His side had a hill and a forest.

Deployment for both of us was pretty simple. He placed his beasts in a brick with the Angelii on my left, support in the rear, Blackfrost Shard and Deathstalker on my right, and the Nyss Sorceress and Rangers on my left. I deployed in a brick with Rasheth right up in the front (slow fat man has to get up the table), and the Titans arrayed beside him, the Bronzeback slightly behind. One unit of gators was on each flank, and the Agonizers and Beast Handlers snuggled up in the back. The Basilisks were placed between the Titan herd and the left-hand gators.

First turns were pretty typical - we both ran up the field as far as we could. Well, I went slightly shorter, to deny him an easy alpha. Rasheth tossed Carnivore on the right-hand gators and popped feat. Between feat and the Agonizers, I effectively locked him out of doing any serious damage to me, so instead he maneuvered for position on his second turn and popped his own feat - definitely locking me out of doing any serious damage, as it prevents melee attacks on his beasts and I had one ranged attack.

I then jammed with the Sentries, using Locker to prevent his beasts from moving in any direction except directly toward the Sentries. I put out a very little damage with the Drake, and used the right-hand gators to cripple the Blackfrost Shard and remove the Deathstalker. Left-hand gators tried to move up and take out the Rangers; they did no damage, but the Rangers failed a fear check, so that was good enough. Finally, I used a Gladiator to take out the objective, and thus scored a point, plus another for controlling the zone.

Unfortunately, I'd moved Rasheth too far forward. He threw the right-hand Sentry at the nearby Gladiator with the Ravagore, knocking both Titans down and neatly eliminating Locker from the equation. After that, it was just a matter of tagging Rasheth with Saeryn's ranged weapon, which prevented him from transferring, and then killing him with a couple of spells.

All in all, a pretty good game and a valuable lesson: keep your caster back as far as possible...

Just A Games Con Masters Tournament, April 18

I drove all the way down to Corvallis yesterday - ninety miles of gorgeous weather through farm country. Might have been the best part of the day, which tells you something about the games. I was attending the Just A Games Con for a small Warmachine Masters Tournament. It ended up with nine players, myself being the ninth, and I got the bye in the first round. So I only got to play two games...

First game was against Chadd's Circle Orboros. He was the only player at the tournament running with the Active Duty Roster, and was playing Mohsar/Cassius. The scenario was Recon, but that proved irrelevant for our game. He dropped Mohsar versus my Zaal list, and after adjusting with his ADR specialists, produced the following matchup:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal and Kovaas
* Aptimus Marketh
* Cyclops Raider
* Cyclops Shaman
Hakaar the Destroyer
Extoller Soulward
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Saxon Orrik
Paingiver Task Master
Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Swamp Shamblers
Venator Slingers (max)
Nihilators (max)
Immortals (max)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Mohsar the Desert Walker
* Ghetorix
* Megalith
* Gorax
Alten Ashley
Saxon Orrik
Gallows Grove
Gallows Grove
Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper
Tharn Bloodtrackers (max)
Farrow Slaughterhousers
Farrow Slaughterhousers

Mohsar won the roll and elected to go second. This was probably the right choice.

This was a bad matchup for four reasons:

1. Chadd's a good player, one of the best in our meta.
2. He just got into Skorne as a side army, so he knows what my stuff does.
3. He was able to swap out a heavy and put in the two units of Slaughterhousers to negate all the Tough I had on the field, plus add in some Remove From Play to prevent my Shambler Engine from working at full capacity.
4. I'd never played this Zaal list before.

So things didn't go well for the Skorne Empire. He was able to use the Pillars of Salt and the Bloodtrackers to dictate the terms of engagement in the center of board. First round he dropped pillars to prevent me from engaging the Bloodtrackers with much of anything; second round he used the Bloodtrackers to clear a space and did it again. Third round he went for a teleport assassination with Ghetorix and won the game. (I'd almost killed one of the stones on the prior turn, but the dice failed me!)

I had issues with deployment and unpacking my army - Hakaar never got into contention simply because he was jammed up, for example. The Slingers might have been very useful against the Pillars of Salt, but because I'd deployed first and put them off on one flank, they weren't able to get into effective range before they were killed off by Bloodtrackers and Slaughterhousers. Immortals, too, were pretty well jammed out of the fight by my own models.

So, some thoughts from this game:

• Practice! Have to practice deploying and unpacking first turn.
• This list probably wants to go second, just for some extra room in the deployment zone and for the ability to react to the opponent's deployment.
• I should probably drop Saxon and the Swamp Gobbers for a Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer. The extra 2" of movement from Press Forward will extend the threat range of the Slingers and help alleviate some of the unpacking issues.
• The Slingers and Immortals might end up being replaced, probably with Swordsmen or Karax and Venator Reivers or Keltarii (or a second unit of Nihilators). That'll have to wait for a few more test games in better matchups, though.
• Might want to drop the Gatorman Witch Doctor for an Ancestral Guardian. Again, needs some more games before I decide.

The second game was against Scott's Legion of Everblight. Scenario was Close Quarters, terrain was largely irrelevant. He'd lost both games in earlier rounds, so he went with his experimental Kallus list instead of Lyllyth 2. He also won the roll and went second. The lists were thus:

Makeda and the Exalted Court
* Molik Karn
* Bronzeback Titan
* Titan Gladiator
* Cyclops Brute
* Cyclops Brute
* Cyclops Shaman
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight
* Succubus
* Nephilim Soldier
* Zuriel
* Afflictor
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
Fyanna the Lash
Strider Deathstalker
Strider Deathstalker
Totem Hunter
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires + Captain Farilor & Standard
Strider Blightblades
Spawning Vessel
Blackfrost Shard

This was a straight mash up that Scott lost on clock, as he'd never played this list before and it has a lot of moving pieces. If he'd not timed out, he probably would have won. At any rate, I went with the usual approach for Makeda's Brute Squad: Run up the table, then jam with the brutes and threaten with Makeda, Karn, and the Bronzeback. It would have worked, too, if not for Kallus' feat and the ambushing Blightblades. He advanced a bit more cautiously up the table, with his Legionnaires under their mini-feat and in Defensive Line, plus Unyielding from Kallus, putting them at a respectable ARM 22.

I put Makeda into position to dominate the near flag and jammed the left and right sides with a Brute each - not enough to tie up everything, but tying down about half his models and presenting him with targets that had to be dealt with. Karn killed off the Deathstalker on my left, then Fate Walked back, and here's where I made a critical mistake: I left him with 4 Fury and Makeda with 3. She wouldn't be able to leach him to empty. Everything else moved up to threaten.

His second turn he brought the Blightblades on to contest my flag, preventing me from scoring. They didn't do anything else during the game, but that was enough, since I had to deal with them. He killed of the Brutes, as expected, and it takes a considerable effort to do so, as expected. Then he popped feat, so any warriors I killed became Incubi - and, incidentally, that shuts down Makeda's feat as well, since her feat triggers on destroyed and Kallus' feat triggers on disabled. Third turn co9mes around and I rolled boxcars on Karn's frenzy check, essentially losing me the game - without his ability to kill scores of infantry, I can't chew through enough to overcome Kallus' numbers advantage. I gave it a shot anyway, and fail; at the very last, I trampled the Bronzeback through the Legionnaires to get to Kallus, but they knocked out his Spirit with free strikes so that was a bust.

He went for an assassination himself on his turn, with about six or eight minutes left on the clock, but it failed and he timed out. I might have been able to squeeze out a win, but it would have been dicy at best.

Lesson from this one:

• I probably should have been more aggressive. A few extra inches up the board on the first turn might have brought Karn and Makeda into position to feat on the Legionnaires on second turn, and thus remove them from the table, before Kallus got a chance to bring his feat into play.
• If not, perhaps I should have been a little less aggressive with the Brutes. If he'd had to charge them to eliminate the, Set Defense would have brought their DEF up to 15, which is quite a bit better...

Battle Report: Ticket Takedown, December 6

I went to the Ticket Takedown at Salem's Haven Gaming yesterday and went 2-2... Which isn't as well as I expected, but still, not too bad. No pictures, sadly. The tournament was 50 point Steamroller using the SR2015 beta scenarios; two lists, divide and conquer, first place gets a ticket to Lock & Load 2015.

Here's what I brought:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal and Kovaas (T4 theme list)
* Cannoneer
* Raider
* Aptimus Marketh
Ancestral Guardian x4
Hakaar the Destroyer
Extoller Soulward x3
Immortals (max) x2

Dominar Rasheth (Chain Gang T4)
* Cannoneer
* Sentry
* Gladiator
* Krea
Paingiver Beast handlers (max)
Paingiver Task Master x2
Gatorman Posse (max) x2)
Agonizer x2

I'm pretty comfortable with the Zaal list. While the Rasheth list is held up as quite good, in my experience the gators die too quickly. Maybe I'm playing them wrong.

First game was against Brett's Cryx. I dropped Zaal versus his Goreshade 3. This was shaping up to be a good game, but I put Zaal about an inch too far forward, and he was able to pull off a top of 2 assassination with feat to stationary Zaal and then dropped a couple of Siphon Bolts and Leviathan shots onto him. Whoops.

Second game was versus JC's Skorne - not really a mirror match as we were both playing rather different lists. He dropped Makeda 3 versus my Rasheth. Since we both knew exactly what each others' stuff did, play went very quickly... He managed to set Rasheth on fire first turn with an Incindiarius shot, which made me die of shame a little. Luckily, the fire went out on the next turn. I ran my beasts up the middle and sent the gators along either flank. The Immortals on my right promised to be a serious problem for the gators, but I was able to largely neutralize the Incindiarii on the left with the other gator unit. Popped feat on second turn, ate the Incindiarii and did my best to tie up the Immortals. He came back, feated, and used Karn and Makeda to wipe out half the left-hand gators and then do considerable damage to the Sentry and the Gladiator. But he didn't kill either beast, so I was able to do a fast assassination on my third turn, since Makeda was in melee with both beasts, and that's pretty much a win.

After lunch, third game was against Kyle's Cryx, in Destruction (two flags, two objectives). He dropped a classic Asphyxious 2 lists - bane knight, bane thralls, Tartarus, and Satyxis Blood Witches. I dropped against that, and thanks to going second, I was able to put a boosted Cannoneer shot into Asphyxious on the second turn and drop him to half his health. Next turn, he immediately put Asphyxious behind a wall right on the edge of the kill box, and I left the Cannoneer in the middle of the board to keep him there. Under feat and a rather injudicious use of last stand, I was able to remove most of the Bane Knights and Blood Witches, and shifted hard to the right in an attempt to score. In the end it went to time; I was able to kill the objective, clear the flag, and dominate for two points with about two minutes left on my clock and ten seconds left on his; flipped the clock and he just let it go. A good game, even if it was a grind for both of us.

My final game was against Scott's Legion, in Incursion (three flags). He brought Saeryn, two Angelii, hex hunters, and (most importantly) the new Blight Blades, which he kept off the board to ambush. I dropped Rasheth, my usual anti-Legion tech. In retrospect, Zaal might have been a better choice. This game, the gators on the left (against the Hex Hunters) died very quickly to their spells, while the ones on the right did somewhat better and eventually tied up his left flank. The Sentry proved to be the most important piece in this game, with Locker tying up both Angelii for a couple turns. Sadly, it wasn't enough; even though I started scoring as soon as I could on the right flag, Rasheth has a hell of time running away from ambushing Blight Blades. I wasn't able to keep him alive long enough to win on scenario. If the dice had been a little more favorable, I might have cleared the center flag and been able to score there... but that just didn't happen.

So that's two wins and two losses. On the whole, I'm not displeased with my performance. I'm much happier with how the Zaal list played, while the Rasheth list is leaving me a bit cold. I'm going to change it up; I'm just not sure if I'll go for the full titan herd (six titans) or if I'll try the new Trident list that's going around (Gators, three titans, three Drakes).