The scenario was Incursion (SR2013) ... three flags ... random flag disappears and it is rarely the flag you planned/hoped on losing.
The Lists:
The Harbinger of Menoth
- Hierophant
- Devout
- Reckoner
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal
Exemplar Bastions (max)
Exemplar Bastions (max)
Vassal of Menoth
Gorman di Wulfe
Anastasia di Bray
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Wrack
Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Helldiver
- Nightwretch
Bane Lord Tartarus
Darragh Wrathe
Saxon Orrik
Bane Knights (max)
Bane Thralls (max) + UA
Bile Thralls (max)
Satyxis Blood Witches + UA (the Sea Hag)
The Withershadow Combine
Harbinger won initiative again and elected to go first.
TURN 1, Menoth:
Lots of running, but a little bit more of conservative movement from Harbinger. Nicia comes from downtown and goes base to base with the left flag. The Paladin package aims for the central flag. The Reckoner steps next to the linear obstacle and decides to be cautious. The Bastions are a jumbled mess but will get sorted soon.
TURN 1, Cryx:
More dispersion and lots of running. Less chance for Cataclysms or other bad things. Gaspy puts out a corrosion cloud at the limit of his control range. Bane Lord T moves forward and Darragh Wrathe makes all the undead scoot forward an inch. The left-most flag disappears! Quelle Surprise!
TURN 2, Menoth:
Nicia dances straight through the Bane Knights and confirms a charge on BLT! Needs something like a 6 or 7 to hit, rolls a 3! Second attack! Rolls another 3! So long Nicia! The Paladins move B2B with the flag and Stone & Mortar to 21 ARM. Vilmon moves up and Stone & Mortars to 21 ARM. The Bastions run again. They are the absolute slowest things. The Reckoner moves beyond the linear obstacle and misses a gunshot. It is a slow approach on the other flag. Harbinger feats.
TURN 2, Cryx:
Cryx can shuffle around on the edges, but mostly had to not advance under Harbinger’s feat. Nicia dies hard. Several of the Bile Thralls spray corrosion around. A pile of corrosion goes up on the Paladins, but neither takes any damage. Cryx has someone within 4” of the center flag and therefore contests. However, no Menoth are within range to contest the right flag and Cryx scores a control point.
SCORE: Menoth 0, Cryx 1
TURN 3, Menoth:
The feat turn did what it was supposed to do: give Menoth one more turn to move up the field. The Bastions murder some Vengeful Bane Knights and a few other units make tough rolls. I think that is cool until I discover they can stand up for free. The other unit of Bastions murder some Satyxis Blood Witches and the Reckoner charges one and kills a second with a purchased attack. A&H stealth and shoot a Bile Thrall. Gorman throws an acid bomb. Harbinger moves up some but is very concerned about Gaspy’s feat. The Paladins sack both movement and attack to go full Stone & Mortar plus Impervious wall. Something Soldrath pointed out to me a while ago: the Paladin Package is baller at holding objectives. I finally got to see that in full effect. Menoth contests the right flag and scores a point on the center.
SCORE: Menoth 1, Cryx 1
TURN 3, Cryx:
It took a moment to figure out what happened on this turn based on the picture. The key is that the Bile Thralls explode for an auto-hitting 12 POW to everything within 6” of it. The left unit of Bastions are annihilated. The Paladins laugh it off. And the right Bastions force Harbinger to martyrdom a chunk. The Satyxis Blood Witches start spiking and thrashing Bastions. Defense 16 holds up well, they distribute some damage and Harbinger martyrs hard. The Withershadow Combine charges in and lands the perfectly worst possible hit. 12 points to the 4, which wiped the Reckoner’s cortex and eliminated a possible assassination run. The Reckoner couldn’t charge, but it could trample. Alas, all of that is out of the window. The threat of the Helldiver still exists, so the Reckoner enlivens around the Bastion and tries to jam up the zone. Cryx contests the center flag, Menoth contests the right flag.
SCORE: Menoth 1, Cryx 1
(pre-Enliven)
(post-Enliven)
TURN 4, Menoth:
Feeling real pressure on the right flank. The Paladins have the left on lock-down. They sac everything again and go Stone & Mortar and Impervious Wall. The right Bastions need to hold out a little longer, they put attacks in on the Withershadow Combine and some Satyxis Blood Witches trying to clear the contested flag. The have limited success, one kills a Withershadow, two miss Satyxis Blood Witches, and two kill Satyxis Blood Witches. The Seneschal murders a Withershadow and the Reckoner shoots a Satyxis Blood Witch. The Vassal arcane bolts a Satyxis Blood Witch. Harbinger cataclysms the rest of the Satyxis Blood Witches (except the damn sea-hag) and the last Withershadow. The Sea-Hag fails her command check due to the horror of seeing her unit cut down. As she should be. Sadly, the Nightwretch contests the flag and Menoth fails to score a point.
SCORE: Menoth 1, Cryx 1
TURN 4, Cryx:
The Nightwretch is engaged and fails to land an attack on the Bastions. Cryx remembers that Darragh Wrath (which had been proxy-represented as a base) has just been hanging out and moves him into the party (and turns him into a visible model). The Banes move carefully around the vigilant Paladins. A Bane Knight is hit by Defensive Strike from the Seneschal, fortunately Vengeance is not triggered by actions during an advance. Saxxon Orik pops 4 points into the back of the Vassal. The Sea Hag rallies and Gaspy backs up. No points are scored.
SCORE: Menoth 1, Cryx 1
TURN 5, Menoth:
The Bastions charge the Nightwretch and put it into the dirt. The Vassal tries to block access to Harbinger by the Helldiver and the Devout gets enlivened. The Devout tries to jam the lanes and braces for the oncoming storm of Banes. The Seneschal slides around a Bane and attempts to kill BLT but fails. The Reckoner tries to jam another charge lane. The Paladins sack only one thing each and one turns around while the other attempts to dirt a Knight. It toughs. Vilmon tries the same and it double toughs. The Hierophant heals Harbinger for 1. And Harbinger moves B2B with the flag and dominates.
SCORE: Menoth 3, Cryx 1
TURN 5, Cryx:
Scenario pressure is in full force. Gaspy casts a death knell and clears one Paladin off the flag, but fails to kill the second. The helldiver appears and contests. Tartarus activates and curses the Bastions but forgets to murder the Seneschal. The Banes activate and charge the Seneschal and Cryx realizes that forgetting to use BLT to clear the lane is going to prevent the Banes from contesting. The only hope is Darragh Wrathe from downtown! Darragh Wrathe charges a Bastion and crushes it. But Harbinger martyrs from 5 down to 4. The mount crushes the Bastion again! Harbinger martyrs from 4 down to 1. Repeat: Harbinger has Martyred to 1 HP. Cryx passes the turn with the flags contested.
SCORE: Menoth 3, Cryx 1
TURN 6, Menoth:
There are two hard targets that have to go for Menoth to win. Harbinger can kill exactly one of them with the resources available. The Helldiver has 18 boxes and Darragh Wrathe has 10 boxes and then 5 boxes. Harbinger allocates two to the Devout. The Devout turns around and hits the Helldiver for 6. Buys an attack and hits it for 8. Buys a third attack and hits it for 4 which is just enough to put it in the dirt. Never commit your big show if you can whittle the enemy down. The Reckoner swings! and misses. The Bastions swing! and miss and miss. The Vassal ancillary attacks the Reckoner which swings! and misses. **** it. Harbinger walks around the flag, pulls one off the Wrack, is camping 9. Autohits at POW 12 and boosts, Buys an attack and Boosts, and Darragh falls off his mount. Buys a third attack and boosts, which ends Darragh’s unlife. The Paladin activates and ends his turn, Vilmon activates and ends his turn. Harbinger dominates the flag for the win.
SCORE: Menoth 5, Cryx 1
Victory for Menoth!!
This was a great game. It was tight. There were only a few mistakes on either side. Unfortunately, a couple of them were pretty costly. My love for my double Bastion / Paladin Harbinger list grows ever greater.
Thanks for reading.
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