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)
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| Deployment |
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| Mid game. |
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| End game. Another minute or two on my clock and I'd probably have assassinated Durst. |
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.
Theme Force Benefits: FA U on Knights Exemplar; Knights Exemplar gain Advance Move; free Exemplar Seneschal solo; +2" on your deployment zone.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| Deployment. Same as last game. |
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.
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| End game. Kreoss has narrowly avoided assassination and cleared the zone for a scenario victory. |
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)
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| Deployment, and Croak Raiders first move. |
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.
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| Midgame. Things have suddenly gone very badly. |
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.
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| End game. Note Morghoul at the bottom of the photo, knocked down and on fire. |
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.
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