Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Warmachine Battle Report: Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Captain Allister Caine


I have decided to get back into the habit of capturing games for reports. I played 18 games at TempleCon, took pictures during every one, and can only remember enough details for a couple of them. Last night, I met up with a few friends for a pair of friendly games. We are practicing 35 point lists with specialists for PAX East. Since I am going to be in the possession of Tristan Durant by the time PAX hits, I decided to roll up a few lists with him and give it a try. As much as I want to give him a Templar, I am concerned about his defensive stat line. I could mitigate that concern with Harbinger, but I instead opted to make him a Redeemer feeder and run some Feora2.

My first opponent of the night was playing Cygnar and running Caine2. Here are the lists:

Captain Allister Caine - Cygnar Epic Warcaster
- Squire
- Rowdy
Reinholdt
Gunmages + UA
Boomhowlers (min) + UA (Capt. Jonas Murdoch)
Forgeguard Hammer Dwarves (min)
eEiryss
Lady Ayana & Master Holt

Feora, Protector of the Flame - Protectorate Epic Warcaster
- Templar (bonded)
- Vanquisher
Initiate Tristan Durant (played by the esteemed Dartan Vilmon)
Redeemer
Vassal of Menoth
Saxxon Orrick
The Covenant of Menoth
Choir of Menoth (min)
Temple Flameguard + UA (max)

Specialists:
Visgoth Juvian Rhovan & Honor Guard
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Wrack
Gorman Di Wulfe

I swapped Saxxon and the Vassal for eEiryss and the Wrack before the start of the match. The scenario was Outflank (two circular zones … pretty standard stuff). We dropped a knit ball in the middle of the battlefield prior to determining the scenario. It represented a big, impassible rock. Menoth won the initiative and elected to go second and chose the side of the board with more central terrain features.

DEPLOYMENT

Cygnar deployed heavily towards his right flank. Eventually placing Eiryss in the woods on his left. Menoth deployed centrally, but put Tristan and the Redeemer on the right flank. The thought here was to be able to cover most of the board with ranged templates while angling Feora for the pocket in the woods.




TURN 1: CYGNAR

Cyngar runs the Gunmages to the wall and the Boomhowlers into the zone. The Hammer dwarves do their best to catch up. Everything else advances. The Boomhowlers get Heightened Reflexes, the Gunmages get Blur.




TURN 1: MENOTH

Tristan puts Fortify on the Redeemer and advances to the wall. The Redeemer advances and attempts to deviate a rocket towards the Gunmages, but fails. Eiryss slips up behind the big rock. The TFG shieldwall and advance. Feora breaks left, heading for the pocket near the forest. The TFG get ignite and she raises Escort. The Templar and Vanquisher advance. The Book says “No Knockdown” and the Choir advance and sing “You need Magical Guns to target the Jacks”.




TURN 2: CYGNAR

The Boomhowlers advance deeper into the zone. Eiryss repositions eying the other Eiryss (or at least where she thinks the other Eiryss is as forests are dense). The Gunmages consider advancing beyond the wall but decide against it. They come up short on shots at the TFG. The Dwarves tuck into formation behind the Boomies. Caine advances and then Gatecrashers forward. Threatening Feora’s flank. Rowdy rowdies on up the field, looking good.





TURN 2: MENOTH

Menoth is wise to Caine’s tricks after getting shot in the head during TempleCon (Thanks for the lesson, Jay). Feora needs to find a slightly safer position. Unfortunately the Vanquisher is about an inch and a half outside of her control range. She upkeeps Escort and Ignite and chooses to camp hard. Tristan upkeeps Fortify and loads up the Redeemer. The Choir advance and battle the Redeemer and the Vanquisher. Eiryss feints out to the edge of the zone, gauging the 12 inches she needs to stay safe from her evil twin. The Redeemer advances into the zone and starts floating shots across the board. A Boomhowler dies and the shots at the Gunmages go astray. The Vanquisher lights a Boomie on fire, but then the TFG mini-feat and charge/run. Two confirm charges, one fails and the rest run. The flaming Boomie goes down and the Hammer Dwarves fail their command check against the Terror. The Templar moves up and the Book says “No Knockdown”. Feora repositions and pulls of the Wrack, camping 5. She is keeping as much forest between herself and Caine as possible. Menoth controls the right zone and scores a point.

SCORE: MENOTH 1, CYGNAR 0




TURN 3: CYGNAR

Lady Ayana puts Harm on the TFG. The Gunmages lose Blur and start shooting down TFG. Boomhowlers assault and cut deeper into their ranks. When the smoke clears, about half the unit is dead. Caine moves up to the edge of the forest and Rowdy backs him up. Eiryss tips into the zone while keeping one foot in the forest, contesting the point. The Dwarves rally.

SCORE: MENOTH 1, CYGNAR 0




TURN 3: MENOTH

At an extraordinarily high DEF, Eiryss is going to be a pain to dislodge. Thoughts of grinding out a scenario win start to fade, as Menoth realizes there isn’t any cover from the Gunmages if Feora were to switch sides. Instead Feora upkeeps Escort and lets Ignite drop. She allocates three (holding back the extra, just in case) to the Templar. The TFG press into the Boomhowlers, but Tough checks keep them going. They manage to kill the UA. The Choir advances and Battles the Templar. The Templar charges 4.5 inches through the forest and gets Caine into reach range. Rowdy attempts to counter-charge but can’t fit his base between Caine and the end Boomhowler. The Templar boosts to hit on his charge attack, buys, boosts to hit and damage, and Caine falls.

SCORE: MENOTH 1, CYGNAR 0




VICTORY FOR MENOTH!!

It was a fun battle. We have started to experiment with making one side of the field more interesting that the other side to give the initiative more weight. I played on the clock and felt like I did alright with my time management. Getting jammed on the counter-charge sucked (as did losing an activation of dwarves), but that stuff happens. Tristan provided a nice little package, even though I didn’t much in the way of points off the table. I think I killed a grand total of three models (two Boomies and Capt. Jonas Murdoch). I like the list. Having the second heavy feels really good. The Specialist selections are going to be critical, and finding a comfortable way to swap in Rhovan for a stealth out is going to be interesting.

Thanks for reading.









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