Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Warmachine Battle Report: pSeverius vs eFeora

In early November I participated in a three round tournament at a local hobby shop. My third matchup was against Menoth. I was listing pSeverius and Harbinger. He was showing eFeora and Harbinger. 

I chose to go with pSevvy. There was no killbox and I felt like I could do a good job with the list. I swapped out my Vassal, and my Zealots for a Battle Engine and a Mechanic.

The Lists:
pSeverius
 - Redeemer
 - Reckoner
Avatar of Menoth
Covenant of Menoth
Vessel of Judgement
Vassal Mechanik
Wrack
Rhupert
Choir (min)
Exemplar Errants + UA
Rhovan and Co.



eFeora, 2 units of TFG with UA, a unit of Daughters, a Reckoner, a Vanquisher, a Redeemer (bonded), Rhovan, Choir, and a unit of Cleansers with UA.

The scenario was Outflank, which I am very familiar with. I knew the problem I had with it in the past was splitting my army. When I saw my opponent split his army I thought I had an advantage. I was wrong.

Here is why:

1 - I elected to go SECOND. Because I got it in my head that I wanted the extra three inches of deployment. Instead of what I KNOW IN MY HEART to be “Go First and Get your GD Buffs and Tough out”. I didn’t think he could reach me! It’s Menoth!

2 - It was a Tier 4 eFeora list. And his Daughters ran 18 $%#!ing inches on turn 1. They AD’d at 13 inches, ran 18 inches on turn 1, and that is 31 inches, aka 7 inches past the center line and right on top of my Errants. I had daughters in my face on turn 1.

I was so far back on my heels that I forgot to take pictures for a while. Basically the Daughters ran into my grill and I spent two turns ungrilling myself while he ran into the zone and camped. His Tier 4 bonus gave all his Flameguard +2 SPEED, not movement, SPEED. TFG with 16 inches of run on turn 1 and 18 for Daughters? It was a bad time from the start and I couldn't un-bad it. The Redeemer was taking shots from Downtown and I had a heck of time getting forward.

Turn 3:

At this point I have managed to get my Reckoner into the Zone to contest and my Avatar into the other. I have been trying to clear the left zone but I keep getting screwed by clouds that I can’t see through to shoot. Rhovan was supposed to be there for this exact thing except he and his guards have been trying to murder daughters who can glide through everything. You will notice that pretty much my entire unit of Errants are completely dead by this point. FIRE BAD. The Battle Engine has been extremely under-whelming. I need more time with it, because I just can’t make it work. I have managed to admonisher some cleansers, and I killed one of the honor guard. Unfortunately, Rhovan and the other one got super mad.


Turn 3 and 4:

The Reckoner gets put into the dirt by a massed charge of TFG and Rhovan + Guard. My opponent scores a CP on the right and I have absolutely nothing I can get into the zone to stop him. My only choice is to attempt an assassination run. I probably should have waited one more turn. I probably should have feated as well to prevent his jacks from demolishing my Avatar. At this point it is almost 7 PM and I am getting tired and my back hurts. I am a little bummed out by how poorly I played in my last two games. The Avatar decides to charge the Vanquisher because it can’t reach eFeora. The Reckoner rolls something in the mid 30’s for damage on the Free Strike (my armor is 21 so I still take a pile). The Vanquisher gets hurt really bad, but I fail to break anything and the next turn he dirts the Avatar. I am screwed. My opponent scores on my turn and his turn bringing him to 3.

Score: pSevvy 0, eFeora 3


































Last Turn:

pSevvy attempts to move into the Zone and do something … turns out the only thing I have that is any good is a fire attack … so I toss an Ashes to Ashes to see what happens and do a little bit of damage on eFeora. I am completely out of resources and gas and time. I pass turn camping 5 with 90 seconds on my clock. eFeora scores another point. My opponent has 2 and a half minutes. He fiddles around for a while, fails to kill Sevvy, gets to about 45 seconds before he realizes that he has to activate all his models before he clocks himself. He does so and ends his turn, score his 5th point

Score: pSevvy 0, eFeora 5






























I just couldn't get any zone control. I lost hard on the right flank. I got shut down for two turns in the beginning. Did I mention some daughters danced through everything and stabbed the crap out of pSevvy before Rhovan and Company rescued him? At one point I had to put a ring of choir and Rhupert around Severius to keep him safe from the Daughters!

I played this one like complete garbage and it really made me question a lot of my decisions. I should have Never ceded initiative. It is too important to get Defender’s Ward, Eye of Menoth, and Tough out on my forces.

Well, I dropped to 1 for 3 on the day and took 10th out of 11th over all. I shot about 16 points of models off the table in the third game but failed to score anything in scenario.

I didn’t win the painting contest, but I didn’t expect to. I had a great time and everyone was super friendly. I met a bunch of interesting Warmahordes players and it sounded like everyone there was a good sport. I still need work on my speed and some of my tactical decisions, but this was the first time I had ever played in an environment like this. Final tally for my first tournament: I got a cool win and some good experiences in list chicken. 

Thanks for reading



Friday, December 27, 2013

Warmachine Battle Report: Harbinger vs Stryker

Harbinger vs Stryker

In early November I participated in a three round tournament at a local hobby shop. My second matchup was against Cygnar. I was listing pSeverius and Harbinger. Cygnar was presenting eHaley and Stryker.

The scenario was Close Quarters. In this scenario there are two flags, 21” from the back edge and 18” from the side. Menoth selected Harbinger because there was an eHaley Stormwall list possibility. This was a major mistake. It turns out that my Harbinger list is at an extreme disadvantage in this scenario. It is too slow. There is a killbox, and pSevvy doesn’t like that at all, but the reality is my Harbinger list can’t easily threaten scenario on this one.

Harbinger List
Harbinger of Menoth
    - Hierophant
- Devout
- Reckoner
- Vanquisher
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal
2 Units of Max Bastions
Wrack
Gorman
Vilmon
Aiyana & Holt
Choir (min)

Stryker List
Stryker, Ol’ Rowdy, Sentinel, ATGM, Horgenhold Hammer-jerks, A&H, pEiryss, And some mounted dudes, plus a host of other Cygnar support staff like a captain something or other and a journeyman.

Harbinger wins the roll and elects to go first. Cygnar requests we switch sides, and that is my second mistake. I should have realized that a piece of terrain was going to create a super huge problem / advantage depending on where you were.

Deployment:

Standard line of Menoth. Cygnar is in a jumbled mess.




Turn 1:

Menoth runs a Crusader’s Call charge and advances as far as possible. Stryker … not just Cygnar … Stryker runs way out in front and that’s when I realize I am in serious trouble. Stryker sees you there … Stryker doesn’t care. Everything else advances / runs.

[No Picture]

Turn 2:

Harbinger advances out of Killbox threat and feats. Vilmon and Gorman attempt to get around the big obstacle. The Bastions slowly stomp forward. They should have ran this round as well but I was worried about getting out of range and getting wrecked by a cavalry charge. Unfortunately when Cygnar activates, the left Bastions get jammed with a Rebuke and the right bunch get jammed by Cav … behind the objective, preventing Harbinger from getting into domination range.

Score: Menoth 0, Cygnar 1


Turn 3:

Menoth is jammed hard and rocked back on his heels. Vilmon moves forward and Stone & Mortars trying to contest. A&H are on the wrong side of the field and should have tried to overload the important objective (the enemy objective). The Reckoner is also in a bad spot and moves up the field. Some Bastions murder a few Cavalry.

Cygnar advances Ol’Rowdy, and the hammer dwarves. Stryker goes B2B with the Flag. The Bastions take A TON of Damage from Guns and Harbinger martyrs hard. I should have let a couple Bastions go. Still getting used to when to do it. pEiryss disrupts the Reckoner. The Vanquisher fails to hit or deviate. Stryker feats, some Hammer guys and Gunners knock Vilmon backwards many inches. Stryker moves up, murders Vilmon and moves back to the Flag. All the other Cygnar guys move up and get additional attacks.

Score: Menoth 0, Cygnar 2





Turn 4:

Menoth is jammed. Harbinger moves Base to Base and the rest of the team clear the area. Hammer guys get Fear of God put into them. The Vanquisher derps his activation and ends engaged and can’t do anything (no reach). The Seneschal has to move in to get work done and ends up facing a stupid direction. The Hierophant heals Harbinger for an inconsequential amount.

Score: Menoth 1, Cygnar 3




Cygnar murders and jams. Between pEiryss and Stryker’s gun, both Jacks are disrupted. I wasn’t expecting the disrupted Vanquisher and it isn’t looking good. Menoth can’t apply any pressure on the left and is getting shut down on the right. I have 14 points in the wrong place getting nothing done.

Score: Menoth 1, Cygnar 4



Turn 5:

Seeing the end coming, Menoth does the one thing I can do, play for time / contest with the only thing available: The 1 hp Seneschal. Harbinger heals back up to 50% and sends the Seneschal in to contest. The Vanquisher gets stopped from getting close. The rest of the team clears the area near the flag and we see what happens. Death Clocks are getting very low.

Score: Menoth 2, Cyngar 4

Cygnar tries to shoot a bunch of extra stuff off the table while his clock burns down. The ATGM mostly miss and eff up on the Seneschal, Harbinger martyrs for 1 a few times. Stryker finally moves in, defensive strike hits him for a few points of damage. He throws several attacks, Harbinger martyrs the Seneschal until she is at 2 HP. The next shot hits the Seneschal and Harbinger lets it dies. Stryker slides back to the Flag and dominates for a point, winning the match.

Score: Menoth 2, Cyngar 5



I couldn’t risk Martyring Harbinger to 0, even though it cost me the match because I was pretty much going to lose on my turn regardless. If Harby had died it would have given my opponent 28 points in models (her Battlegroup +5)

I wish I had selected the side instead of the turn order. I wish I had played pSevvy’s list because it is marginally faster and has more guns and tough. In my defense, my opponent was good and Stryker is a rough matchup in a Killbox setting and this scenario.

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Warmachine Battle Report: The Harbinger of Menoth vs Absylonia, the Terror of Everblight

The Harbinger of Menoth vs Absylonia, Terror of Everblight


In early November I participated in a three round tournament at a local hobby shop. My first matchup was against Legion. I was listing pSeverius and Harbinger. Legion was listing Absylonia and pLylith. Even though technically my pSevvy list is supposed to be stronger against Legion than Harbinger and Harbinger’s feat wouldn’t do much, I felt like starting the day with the list I practiced. Plus, the scenario was Incursion and I felt like Harbinger was a strong drop in that scenario.


Incursion. Three Flags centrally located, after the second player’s first turn the center flag randomly disappears (SR2013).


The Lists:
Harbinger of Menoth
    - Hierophant
- Devout
- Reckoner
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal
2 Units of Max Bastions
Wrack
Nicia, the Tear of Vengeance
Gorman
2 Paladins of the Order of the Wall
Vilmon
Aiyana & Holt
Anastasia


Absylonia,
Angelius
Carnivean
Raek
Ravagore
Typhon
4 Shredders
some forsaken
a shepherd


Menoth won the roll and chose to go first. Menoth deployed in a line with Gorman and Nicia on the right flank. Legion consists mostly of just a battlegroup and deployed centrally.





Turn 1


Menoth runs like heck. Nicia super runs up the flank. A&H move up the left flank. The Paladins tromp forward as do all the Bastions. Harbinger doesn’t move, there is no killbox. Absylonia juggles some spells and moves some stuff forward. It was a tier list so some of the beasts had Advance Move. They didn’t seem to get too far forward, but there are some heavy hitters in there so it could get interesting.


[No Picture]


Turn 2


Harbinger moves forward and feats. The paladins and Vilmon shift hard left to make a play for the left flag since the center flag disappeared (of course). The right flank Bastions make a hole and the Reckoner steps through looking for shots but whiffs. Legion puts some damage on the Bastions but it gets spread around. Legion realizes that Gorman is immune to fire and corrosion. Gorman himself forgot this and found himself a little too far inside. Harbinger’s feat did about 7 damage on average to every beast that walked into it. The Raek jumped on Gorman and murdered him and Legion scores a Control Point.


Score: Menoth 0, Legion 1





Turn 3


Menoth charges Typhon, both of us screw up how controlling a flag works but we screw it up in both directions. You have to be B2B with a flag. That rarely happened all game. Oops. In this turn Menoth charges the Raek and destroys it with the fieriest of fire rolls. (It took 7 from the feat and then 1 Bastion one shot it for the rest of its life, rolling something 35 points of damage on one roll) Menoth “scores a control point”. The second Bastion unit advances towards the right objective.


Score: Menoth 1, Legion 1




Turn 4


Menoth moves forward with the Reckoner and shoots and hits nothing. The Reckoner has taken a fair bit of damage at this point from Legion warbeast shots. Nicia is doing a crazy end run around the back and being weird. I really don’t know what I am doing with her. The Bastions move forward. The Paladin Package moves up and Stone & Mortars and controls a flag. It’s getting a little fuzzy and I wish my pictures were more consistent, but at this point my death clock is ticking pretty low. Legion moves up and contests all over the place.


Score: Menoth 2, Legion 1




Turn 5


Harbinger banks hard to the left. Aiyana and Holt clear the area around the flag again. There is a flurry of thrashing and smashing in the middle of the table. The Bastions are trying to jam as hard as possible, the Vassal is trying to place himself so that Legion won’t be able to clear the area around the right flag due to too few attacks. Harbinger has martyred down to about 50%. Anastasia makes an appearance. Again, we screw up the rules and Harbinger “dominates” for two.


Score: Menoth 4, Legion 1





Turn 5


Legion, a bunch of attacks, an attempt to spray Harbinger that fails. Absylonia runs across the zone to contest and camp. A forsaken moves to contest as well. The beasts were all running super hot and pretty much all three of the heavies failed their threshold.


Score: Menoth 4, Legion 1


Turn 6


A Bastion murders the forsaken. Menoth has about 3 minutes left on his death clock and it is ticking down fast. Its time for an assassination run. Absylonia is camping hard, but doesn’t have any transfers. The Paladins try to do anything and manage to come up with all of 2 points of damage. Anastasia espionages and they all try again but fail. Harbinger, camping 10 because the Reckoner is a wreck and the left side of the board is the big show, pulls one off the wrack and moves in B2B with the Objective -and- within reach of Absylonia. Mat 3 equals Mat infinity, initial attack, boosted damage, buy and attack, boost damage, buy an attack boost damage … I don’t even think it needed the third attack. Harbinger dirts Absylonia and dominates for 2.


Score: Menoth 5, Legion 1, assassination victory.




Menoth scores 60 points of models destroyed (everything not in Absylonia’s battlegroup was off the table), when a caster dies you get the entire battlegroup as points plus 5 for the kill. Deathclock was at 26 seconds. Whew. If the clock had run out I would have lost by default.


My hands were super jittery but I had a victory!


I am getting a little annoyed that I keep winning while also screwing up the scenario rules. But this is why I am practicing. We seriously botched the rules around controlling and dominating a flag. This was my first tournament, first time under a real death clock (not just a friendly "let's see how fast we play" match), and the first time I had played against a total stranger. I am glad I got the assassination, but when reviewing my notes from the match was overall disappointed in winning with an asterisk.


Thanks for reading.




Monday, December 23, 2013

Warmachine Battle Report: The Harbinger of Menoth vs Major Victoria Haley


Another Warmachine Battle Report from my stable of recent battles. This match-up occurred over Halloween. There were people in the gaming store in costume ... it took me many many minutes to realize why.


Harbinger vs eHaley, 50pt


My Cygnar friend (we all have them) and I got together for a 50 point matchup at a local hobby shop. The scenario for the evening was Destruction. In Destruction (SR2013), there is a standard size zone in the center of the board and a monolith at each corner.
Monoliths are legal targets on the second player’s second turn and there is a killbox.


This is what it looks like when the Stormwall is in your face:




The Lists:
The Harbinger of Menoth
- Hierophant
- Devout
- Reckoner
Vassal of Menoth
Grand Paladin Vilmon
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal
Two max units of Exemplar Bastions
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance
Gorman di Wolfe
Lady Aiyana and Master Holt
Anastasia di Bray
A set of three Wracks


Major Victoria Haley
-Squire
-Lancer
-Storm wall & Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangeways
Journeyman Warcaster
Stormsmith Stormcaller
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + UA
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Tempest Blazers (Gun Bronies)


Menoth has a +1 to the die roll because of Anastasia, wins the roll and elects to go first. The Stormwall is pre-deployed almost dead center. Menoth arranges a long line of Bastions. Harby, the Jacks, and the Hierophant are set behind the line. The paladin package and Gorman are set to the right flank. Aiyana & Holt are set on the left near some terrain.
Cygnar deploys in a line eyeing the advantageous linear obstacle.
The Wracks are placed within 13" of the back. Nicia was set on the extreme left wing.




TURN 1


Menoth goes first and runs most of his stuff up the field. Cygnar runs the Stormwall and toes into the zone. The Gunmages advance to the liner obstacle. The Bronies move forward up the flank.




TURN 2 - Menoth


Nicia realizes she deployed poorly and cuts hard back toward center. Aiyana & Holt chillax on a hill (the gunmages really put pressure on the field). The Bastions continue to advance into the zone, getting ready for the big show. The paladins advance and go into Stone & Morter stance (ARM 21). Gorman slides left fearing the Gun Bronies and puts up a cloud. The Reckoner sidles up behind the cloud. Most if not all of the Cygnar units can see through stealth and ignore cover, which hampers Menoth’s aggressiveness. Harbinger gets a Spell Ward from the Devout, pulls a focus from a Wrack which explodes, advances and Feats camping a bunch. Menoth forgets to activate the hierophant because he is waaay in the back. Anastasia does not make an appearance.




TURN 2 - Cygnar


Cygnar gallops the Blazers in for shots on the Paladins and gets a little bit of damage on one. The Black 13th shift sideways avoiding the feat and take more shots, killing a paladin, and put down an AOE cloud of bullets that the paladins ignore. The Stormwall puts some damage into the Bastions and hits the Seneschal hard enough to cause a martyrdom, the Gun mages knock several of them back with Thunderbolt bullets. Haley casts Timebomb on a pile of Bastions (-2 DEF, -2 SPD and therefore can’t charge), and puts some pain into one of them. Harbinger martyrdoms a few times. Haley feats and hits most of Menoth’s front line, including the paladins. However, Haley doesn’t move far enough forward to avoid the killbox giving Menoth 2 points.


SCORE: Menoth 2, Cygnar 0




TURN 3 - Menoth


The Bastions heal and move forward as best they can and prepare to weather the second turn of getting shot at by Cygnar. The Paladins Stone & Mortar again. The Reckoner shoots and kills the Stormsmith after hearing the word “Disrupt” mentioned the previous turn. Gorman prepares to die for the cause in the name of delivering the Reckoner, so he slides up and clouds to attempt to obscure the Jack from some shots. The Hierophant runs forward. The Devout Spell Wards and Harbinger pulls a focus off of a Wrack (does not explode), slides left and forward to protect some Bastions, camps focus. The Seneschal tries to hide behind a Monolith and some Bastions. A&H move forward a little more and observe. Nicia repositions on elevation. The Vassal enlivens the Reckoner. Anastasia does not make an appearance.


SCORE: Menoth 2, Cygnar 0




TURN 3 - Cygnar (no picture)


The Stormwall moves deeper into the zone and starts punching Bastions. Harbinger martyrs (down to about 8 boxes now, getting close to the… DANGER ZONE). Ponies murder Gorman and the Vassal and put in a few points on the Reckoner. Black 13th puts a few more points in on a paladin and one on Vilmon. Tempest gunmages backup and thunderbullet more Bastions, knocking several down with crits. eHaley moves into the Killbox and casts Domination through the arcnode, moving the Enlivened Reckoner back around the wall to sit in timeout.


SCORE: Menoth 2, Cygnar 0


TURN 4 - Menoth


Slightly forget some of the particulars on the scenario and also for a bit think Menoth has 3 instead of the 2 indicated on the score marker (not shown). Decided to destroy two Monoliths (impossible) and get the win! (Not possible). The Reckoner shoots the right Monolith and then Vilmon and the Paladin charge it and put it into the dirt. Aiyana moves forward and puts the Kiss of Lyliss on the Stormwall. Holt puts some damage in on shot one and nothing on shot two. Two Bastions charge/approach and hit the second Monolith … scoring some damage which is then erased when Menoth is reminded that the second Monolith is immune to damage. ALL IS LOST! Other Bastions standup and the second unit gets a few charges off and puts enough damage into the Stormwall to shutdown an entire side. The leader of the second unit (no arms in the picture because of a packing error) charges and fails to damage the arcnode. Nicia waits. Harbingers gets 1 point of healing from the Hierophant, Spell ward from the Devout, pulls a focus from a wrack (it explodes), and camps. Anastasia does not make an appearance.


SCORE: Menoth 3, Cygnar 0




TURN 4 - Cygnar


The Blazers demolish an objective and come around on a repositioning move. The Black 13th puts the Paladin and Vilmon into the dirt. The Gunmages end the lives of Aiyana & Holt and a Bastion. Strangeways moves up and heals the Stormwall for 6. The Stormwall attacks but it only results in a couple Bastions getting martyrdom. Harbinger is definitely feeling it now. The Journeyman warcaster backs up and the arcnode fails to damage the lead Bastion. eHaley timebombs and severely injures a Bastion.


SCORE: Menoth 3, Cygnar 0




TURN 5


Menoth senses an opportunity. The only enemy contesting the zone is the Stormwall. It has about as many boxes as a solid Khador heavy. Menoth imagines the Bastions parting like the sea and the Harbinger swooping in with a charge attack and then 5 boosted POW 12 attacks. It is dice -7 on three dice (Harbinger autohits in melee) which means 6 attacks with average dice scoring 3 damage … 18 points. Other models are going to need to get some work done. Harbinger allocates 1 focus to the Reckoner. The Reckoner activates, aims for +2, needs a three to hit the Stormwall, confirms the hit, boosts damage and puts a few points in. However, now the Stormwall is Flared (-2 DEF). Nicia activates and charges the Stormwall. She confirms the hit, and the weaponmaster + charge rolls absolute FIRE on her dice: 6-6-5-6 at dice -9 for a total of 14 points of damage. The Bastions activate unit 1, two standup, three are in range and a few get work done putting more damage into the Stormwall. The second unit activates, opens a path for the Harbinger, and then roll well on their weaponmaster dice-7 damage rolls putting the Stormwall into the ground in a permanent way. Devout moves out of the way. Harbinger activates, advances into the zone and dominates for 2 points. Victory for Menoth!


SCORE: Menoth 5, Cygnar 0




Overall we had an awesome time in the match. We played it in 2.5 hours but that included some chatting and a bathroom break. We met a press ganger who was psyched to see us throwing down such a cool matchup. The Stormwall and the Gun Bronies caught everyone’s eye (as they should!) and my friend received many nice compliments.


I was really nervous about going up against magic guns that could see through stealth. I knew that eHaley’s feat was going to timewalk me and give Cygnar essentially two turns of shooting me in the face. I made sure I camped when I could, and I focused on not over-committing my resources. I felt that his choice to Thunderbullet my Bastions was less optimal than going for damage, but he pointed out that he was rocking POW 10 guns against DEF 16 multi-wound models. He was sitting at dice -6 all night and … that really blows. There were a few spots of better play each of us could have made, but overall we felt like it was a really fun match. I never played Anastasia, but I never felt like I had a good opportunity. Haley stayed pretty far back and Anastasia’s stealth would be no refuge.


Thanks for reading!

Post script:
There have been requests for images of Rando's amazing gun bronies and he has graciously given me permission to post them. 








Friday, December 20, 2013

Warmachine Battle Report: Tier 4 Harbinger of Menoth vs Vladimir, the Dark Prince

I need a solid place to host pictures of the Warmachine Battle Reports I have written lately. Seems like the perfect opportunity to pump blood and oxygen back into this blog.



Harbinger vs Vladimir

I played a recent game against a friend with a nutter of a Tier 4 Harbinger list versus Vladimir and Conquest. The scenario was Rally Point. In Rally Point there are two twelve inch zones slightly offset from center. The one close to you is friendly. There are two effigies (objectives) with 20 ARM and 20 HP. The Effigies can be placed within 5” of its current location by a dominating warcaster/lock and Effigies count as a warcaster/warlock for purposes of dominating and controlling. It is kind of a cool scenario and there are some interesting effects caused by it.

The Lists:
The Harbinger of Menoth (Tier 4 Army of the Righteous)
    - Hierophant
    - Crusader
- Crusader
- Crusader
- Crusader
- Crusader
Avatar of Menoth
High Paladin Vilmon
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Paladin of the Order of the Wall
Choir of Menoth (max!)
Temple Flameguard (max) + UA

Tier Bonuses:
I: FA of Paladins of the Order of the Wall increases by +1 for every unit in the army
II: +1 to Starting Die Roll
III: For every Paladin solo (Vilmon counts) place a wall template (linear obstacle) within 20” of Harby’s back edge.
IV: Heavy warjacks without Ranged weapons cost 1 less (5 point Crusaders, 10 point Avatar)

Vladimir Tzepesci
- War Dog
- Conquest
eEiryss
Winter Guard Rifle Corps
Kovnik Joe
Iron Fang Pikemen + Black Dragon Officer & Standard
Iron Fang Kovnik
Greylord Ternion
Doom Reavers

We placed some terrain and rolled for initiative. Even with the +1 for Harbinger’s list, Menoth still lost. The Conquest pre-deployed on Vlad’s left flank. WGRC deployed to the right flank. The Pikemen deployed center with Vlad and the Doomreavers in the back.




Harbinger deployed herself center with two Crusaders on the left flank and two on the right. The Avatar and 5th Crusader sat right of Harbinger along with the Paladin package. The TFG were to the left. The Choir were sprinkled around to unlock the max choir cheevo of putting a hymn on six jacks at once.




TURN 1
Khador
Vlad feats and the Conquest runs a glorious 16” through the forest and into the heart of the Khador friendly zone. The WGRC run forward many many inches. Everything else runs forward a bunch and Eiryss climbs a mountain. The picture shows just how freaking scary the math is about to become for Menoth. The Rifles are much farther up the field than Harbinger wanted. The range on the Conquest guns are now burning scary numbers into the mind of Harbinger.





TURN 1
Menoth

Menoth writes the word FEAT on the back of his hand with a marker. Harbinger allocates 5 focus. The Choir live the dream and successfully drop Hymn of Passage on every jack in the army. All the jacks run. The TFG slide forward juuuust enough to hopefully be able to jam the Rifles next turn and not completely die to their guns on turn 2. The Paladins move up 6 inches and Impervious Wall. Harbinger Feats and moves forward to dominate the Effigy. Harbinger moves the Effigy towards her zone, camping 5. Feeling a lot exposed given there is a Conquest, like, right there.





TURN 2
Khador

Sitting under Harbinger’s feat, all of the Menoth jacks are Passage’d (cannot be targeted by non-magical ranged attacks), and the Paladins are immune to non-magical damage … Khador feels the bite of Menoth flipping the initiative. The Rifles shoot at a TFG, but Harbinger martyrs him twice. The Conquest backs up 4 inches and attempts to shoot Harbinger, but the deviations go astray. Vlad moves base to base with the Effigy.

Menoth

Harbinger allocates almost all of her focus. The Choir gets off a few Hymns of Battle. The Hierophant hits Harbinger with Harmonious Exultation. Harbinger activates and moves to dominate the Effigy, then transport it into the friendly zone. Then she casts Crusader’s Call. The TFG run into the face of the Rifles, who do not fail their command check (with the UA the TFG are Terrifying). Crusader #1 and #2 … charge 9” and accomplish nothing … Harbinger wishes she had not allocated them focus. The Paladins slide up on the center left line and become impervious. Vilmon slides up center right and becomes impervious. Crusader #4 confirms a charge on the Conquest, and between initials and purchased attacks knocks out the left side of the Conquest. Crusader #3 fails to confirm the charge … Crusader … Y U NO REACH?? The Avatar raises the Gaze of Menoth and runs hard right to make sure the Conquest stops moving toward Miss No Camping Focus. Crusader #5 runs into the center of the field. Menoth Dominates the Friendly Zone for a point.

SCORE: Menoth 1, Khador 0




TURN 3
Khador

Vlad allocates to the Conquest, transports the Effigy toward his Friendly zone and casts Signs and Portents. The Conquest moves towards the Avatar and a Powersweep turns Crusader #3 and #4 into mostly junk. The Pikemen charge in and trash the remains of Crusader #3. The Greylords, the Riflecorp and Joe commit absolute MURDER on the TFG leaving them with only the UA. The Doomreavers move in towards the enemy zone and Eiryss slides toe into the zone and contests. She also shuts down allocation to both Crusader #1 and #2.

SCORE: Menoth 1, Khador 0

Menoth
If only if only … if only Crusader hadn’t failed his charge. If only ... if only that center wall wasn’t just so. Harbinger camps full stack because the only jack who can receive focus is Crusader #5 in the middle and it has nothing to do with it. Harbinger cannot make it into the Enemy Zone and as another loyal Menoth player calls out from the other side of the room “Cataclysm is a trap”, Menoth remembers not to dangle Harbinger in the breeze. She gets a Harmonious Exultation from the Hierophant, activates and casts Crusader’s Call and Guided Hand targeting Paladin #1. The Choir moves up and gets Battle on the Avatar. The Avatar charges the Conquest and … rolls double ones on the charge!! Arggggggg. If only, if only…Avatar punches and purchases and does a pile of damage to the Conquest. But wait … Crusader #4 has 4 boxes left in column 6! That’s a right arm … bang goes the arm … damage is dice -2. Down goes the Conquest. Whewwwwww. Way to go Crusader #4! Here come some guys with celebration pikes to reward you. The TFG UA Officer charges Eiryss. Needs a 9 to hit. Rolls an 8. Paladin #1 charges Eiryss. Needs an 8 on three dice (Guided Hand … aka Dead Eye for Swords), confirms the hit, rolls 4 dice on damage and puts Eiryss into the dirt. Crusader #1 and #2 slide forward to engage some Rifles and then punch several to death. Paladin #2 sacks everything to jam an access point to Harbinger. Vilmon slides up and toes in with Impervious Wall. The Friendly Zone has been cleared. Menoth dominates for another point.

SCORE: Menoth 2, Khador 0




TURN 4
Khador

Vlad casts signs and portents and advances back and center. The Iron Fang Kovnik slides around Crusader #3 and then turns it into a wreck marker. This opens the lane for the Pikemen. Five charge the Avatar, three confirm 3”, all five confirm melee distance. Signs and portents and a ton of dice … all at -9. The Avatar gets hammered for about 13 total, but no systems are knocked out. It is, however, knocked down from a critical. The remainder of the unit jams the zone and Vilmon’s backfield. And one lone Pikeman charges and murders a Choir member. The Greylords close on Vilmon and put him into an Ice Cage. When the Greylords want one thing caged … they can usually get that thing caged. Vilmon is now a statue. Joe and the Rifles (awesome band, you should totally see them live), murder the last of the TFG and the hero Paladin #1. The Doomreavers reave the doom out of Crusader #1 and #2, leaving them pretty much piles of complete junk. However, nothing contests the Enemy Zone. Khador passes turn and Menoth scores another point.

SCORE: Menoth 3, Khador 0




TURN 4
Menoth

Oddly enough…the Pikeman who charged the Choir member might be what prevents Menoth from winning the game. Menoth seems to have one less activation than he needs (because Vilmon is in a cage!!). Menoth considers having the Choir charge the problem Pikeman … but decides against it. The main target this round is the Ironfang Kovnik. Defense 13 Armor 17 with 5 boxes. The Avatar is MAT 8 which means 5s to hit and only three focus to kill six guys. I cannot afford to boost. Harbinger allocates 2 focus to Crusader #5 and the Hierophant gives Harbinger Harmonious Exultation. The Choir activates and puts Battle on the Avatar and Crusader #5. Crusader #5 activates, sacs his initials, and spends a focus to trample. He eats a free strike from the Pikeman he leaves in the dust and smashes over two other Pikeman, including the problem child. The Pikemen die and #5 spends a focus to dirt one of the ones engaging the Avatar. The Avatar activates, stands up, and attacks the Kovnik. Needs a three to hit, rolls a four! The Kovnik is murdered, the Avatar buys three more attacks and murders three more Pikemen. One Pikeman remains from the charging group.

Harbinger activates. Moves six inches to toe into the zone. Cataclysms the remaining Pikeman, then casts a second Cataclysm on the second group contesting the zone. The zone is clear. Menoth dominates both zones.

SCORE: Menoth 5, Khador 0




VICTORY FOR MENOTH!!

This was an awesome game. Yeah, it turns out I brought an armor skew list that was not very ideal for Vlad. But my friend put a ton of pressure on me and made me play super aggressive. Super aggressive Harbinger can quickly lead to super dead Harbinger. He made me have to answer the Conquest question. And he made me respect pretty much all of his models. The Paladins had to move up the field quickly to get into place, but couldn’t move up the field quickly because of the guns (they had to keep Impervious Wall up and therefore could never run).

This is why if I failed to clear the zone, I might have had some challenges pulling out the rest of the game:

Crusader #1 - left as all but scrap by the Doomreavers
Crusader #2 - left as all but scrap by the Doomreavers
Crusader #3 - scrapped by Pikemen
Crusader #4 - scrapped by Pikemen
Crusader #5 - mostly untouched
Avatar - dented but functional
TFG - murdered to a man and the only attack issued by the entire unit was one miss at Eiryss by the Officer
Vilmon - locked down by mages
Paladin #1 - murdered by bullets
Paladin #2 - currently unmurdered

I feel like I met all of my goals in this game. I think I measured my feat out perfectly. It held Khador back for an entire turn (which is what it does in scenario). And I was able to get the Effigy into the friendly zone on turn 2 to start scoring. I left myself in a dangerous position twice with either low or no camp. The assassination try would have been risky and if it failed would have handed me the game, so I felt it was worth it. On my end, assassination was never really in the picture so I was looking at either attrition or scenario. I used Crusader’s Call twice and Guided Hand once, both times getting serious and important work done. I had one failed charge that I wish I hadn’t failed. I misallocated about 4 focus throughout the game. And I missed with double ones once when I could have realllllly used the hit, but that is dice. The only two times I put myself in a position where I had to hit or lose ground in a big way were the Paladin #1 charge on Eiryss and the Crusader #5 trample. In both cases I gave myself every advantage I could (Guided Hand and Hymn of Battle).

This was one of the most fun games I have played since I started. Also it was really awesome to get a break from playing against Cryx (which I have been matching up with a lot lately). Thanks for reading!

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About Fading Interest

After writing op-eds and travelogues for several years, after finishing a few books, and after failing to get the ball rolling with project after project I stumbled into an idea that might just hold my interest long enough to enjoy some level of satisfaction with my writing.