Warmachine Battle Report: Kommander Sorscha vs. Intercessor Kreoss

Kommander Sorscha vs. Intercessor Kreoss in … Zepply and Zemand

CommanderTso and I met up for a friendly game at his kitchen table. The scenario for the evening was going to be Incursion, but given the width of the table and the fact that in incursion, the outer flags are only 9" from the battlefield edge … we switched to Supply and Demand. He wanted to play his Ocean's 18 list and I wanted to kick off my 2015 Warcaster plunge with Intercessor Kreoss. Khador won initiative and elected to go first. Protectorate took the side of the table with the forest because the Battle Engine has Pathfinder and Kell has prowl (plus I didn't want any of his army lurking in the woods).

The Lists:

Khador

Kommander Sorscha

 - Sylys Wyshnalyrr

 - Behemoth

Fenris

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Widowmaker Marksman

Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile

Kell Bailoch

Harlan Versh, Illuminated One

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

Widowmakers

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Great Bears of Gallowswood

Greylord Outriders (3)

Protectorate of Menoth

Intercessor Kreoss

- Reckoner

- Redeemer

Vessel of Judgement

Vassal of Menoth

Vassal Mechanik

Alten Ashley

Kell Bailoch

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Choir of Menoth (4)

Temple Flameguard (10)

- Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard

Exemplar Vengers (5)

DEPLOYMENT

The Vessel was pre-deployed right of center towards the forest. Khador piled up on his deployment line with the Behemoth in the middle and the Cav on his right flank. The Widowmakers lined up to reach the linear obstacle on turn 1. All the rest of the mercs peppered around in the backfield. On the Protectorate side of things, I knew if I put Holy Ward on my Vengers they might last a bit longer (so long as Harlan didn't cross the field to get to them), so the heavy Cav lined up opposite the light cav. The TFG took center stage and the merc guns hid in the forest.

KHADOR TURN 1

The Outriders made for the hill and the Marksmen set up behind their linear obstacle. Everything else ran. We forgot about Abomination on Fenris for most of the game. Sorscha advanced, cast Wind Rush and Fog of War.

MENOTH TURN 1

I am concerned about not having brought the Book to a Sorscha fight. I know my opponent will take the first opportunity to feat and clear out as many of my models as possible. I decide Holy Ward is going to go on my Vengers, I am not going to move Kreoss at all (knowing next turn I will have to be zippy to avoid Kill Box). To that end, I mini-feat and run the TFG. That should keep the feat off the table for one turn and I can use that time to make the Vengers an issue. The Redeemer takes a few shots, all of which go astray. Everything else positions carefully to avoid advancing into his gun range. The Vengers crash up the flank. I do not want his Outriders getting past my Vengers and into my support and if he ignores them, I am going to run down his guns with lances.

KHADOR TURN 2

Sniper does good work and the TFG pay the lead price. Between the Widowmakers, the Behemoth, and the rest of the Ocean, the Flameguard are reduced to four … one of which is the Flag Bearer. Gorman tosses an acid bomb and Sorscha advances, kills a TFG, then Wind Rushes back to safety. Greylords kill a TFG and attempt to spray through themselves into the Vengers. It triggers Battle Driven but fails to kill, leaving the leader on one box. The engaged Greylord casts Winter's Wind on himself presenting me with a small puzzle box to solve on my turn. Harlan and Fenris steer hard to the Venger flank.

MENOTH TURN 2

I consider for several minutes the range of my Battle Driven Vengers. I need to eliminate the Outriders before I move on anything. Fenris is probably about 13.5" away and Sorscha is nigh-unhittable. Eventually I decide to keep on clearing models as best I can. The Choir hands out Battle again and the Reckoner Assaults the ensorcelled Outrider. Boost to hit, boost to damage (the charge was free because of the scenario) and the Horselord drops. The Redeemer advances and takes some downtown shots at Sorscha. The first scatters onto Sylys but only hits him for four. The second kills Reinholdt and a Widowmaker and deals 4 points to Sorscha. The Vassal gives the Redeemer one more with feeling and this time it scatters onto two more Widowmakers, taking them off the table. The remaining Widowmaker fails her command check.

I have a problem shaping up. I can feel the cold approach of a freezing winter wind … Sorscha is itching to feat and because I had to run Kreoss into the Kill Box, he is very very visible. The TFG decide to leave the remaining Outriders for the Vengers and instead charge Gorman (who they miss with a CMA) and Holt (who they also miss). The Vessel activates, advances, and hammers the enemy objective for a pile of damage. Admonisher kicks in and with three boosts, Orin, Aiyana, and Holt are removed from consideration. Alten and Kell attempt to take down the rest of the Objective and I have no idea why I did not use Sniper with Kell. I fail to destroy it and leave it one three boxes. Through a miracle of Menoth, the Mechanik passes his repair check and heals the Vessel.

Now the Vengers need to save my bacon. They declare a charge/run. Three of them motor to the center of the board to block LOS to Kreoss and the Redeemer. The remaining two smash into the last Outriders and lance them off the table. I pass turn expecting to lose everything but my caster and Vessel on the next turn.

KHADOR TURN 3

Feat turn. Sorscha advances and feats. She catches the Vengers, the remaining TFG, and the Reckoner. She pots a TFG, casts Wind Rush, and returns to safety. Dougal mini feats and shoots a TFG. Harlan Versh steps up and between himself, Kell, and the Marksman one Vengers drops and the rest are cut up. The Behemoth moves up and kills a Venger. Gorman blinds the Vessel with a scatter. The Great Bears advance into the zone and the Widowmaker fails command again. When the guns stop shooting the TFG unit leader remains the sole survivor. Fenris gains the hill and surveys the battlefield. Eiryss disruptor bolts the stationary Reckoner. The Widowmaker fails her command check again. The only reason Khador doesn't score a point here is because the Vessel and the Redeemer are not stationary.

MENOTH TURN 3

Feat turn.  Gorman is a problem and my front ranks are not going to get to do anything. I feel like if I can take away Gorman and manage the Behemoth a bit, I can recover enough from the feat to swing attrition back to my side of the table. I would have loved to clear the zone, but the appearance of the Great Bears made that a non-starter. If I can free up an attack or two I can finish off the Objective. However, I will have to do it withouth the Vessel this turn. First priority, though, is Gorman. I cannot take another turn of blind and expect to win.

Kell attempts to kill Gorman but only deals 3 points of damage. Alten misses. Aiyana kisses the Great Bears while Holt shoots Gorman (and misses … TWICE). Le Sigh. The Redeemer advances and shoots Gorman, dealing 1 point of damage. It buys a second attack and kills Gorman. $%!@ you, Gorman. Capping the Objective is now off the table for another turn.

Kreoss declares a ride-by attack, advances and feats. He puts Holy Ward on himself, Ignite on the Vengers (whyyyyyy? Versh is riiiight there), and Death Sentence on the Behemoth. Then he casts Force Hammer on the Behemoth. The spell knocks the jack back into a Great Bear, but the Great Bear toughs. Then Kreoss backs up. The Vassal advances and puts Enliven on the Redeemer. Choir used Passage this turn.

KHADOR TURN 4 (missing picture)

Dougal shoots the last TFG and Doors of Judgement triggers. The TFG advances and kills the Great Bear Volkov. Behemoth tramples forward and buys some shots on the mercs, but only manages to kill Alten. Fenris charges the Reckoner and smashes it for a ton of damage but doesn't take out any systems. Harlan kills an Ignited Venger. The other Great Bears charge, one kills a Venger, one takes out the Reckoner's movement. Kell pops the Reckoner's cortex with his magical gun. The Widowmaker rallies while Eiryss attempts to get a line on Kreoss. However, she ends her movement within five inches of Behemoth and her activation ends immediately. The Marksman shoots at Aiyana and misses.

MENOTH TURN 4

I see an opportunity to get rid of the Behemoth. The Reckoner is mostly a lost cause at this point, however, if it can soak a few activations to be properly removed, I will have enough time to prepare for the arrival of Fenris. I give the board a look for a few minutes and then make a decision. At this point there are three models contesting the zone, the Behemoth, a Great Bear, and Eiryss. Killing Eiryss is going to take the Venger, but I need the Venger to hammer on the Behemoth. At this point it is my biggest hammer. That means clearing the zone is not going to happen. I choose to focus on the jack.

The Redeemer gets 1 focus, I upkeep Holy Ward on Kreoss and Ignite on the Venger and camp 4. The Choir battle my jacks (they were ok with Fenris being an abomination). The Reckoner smashes Fenris for 9, leaving him mounted. That is a complication. I was hoping for a dismount and then using the Vassal to hammer the Great Bear. Instead, the Ancillary Attack goes into Fenris, the dismount fails to tough and Fenris lines up to cleave himself a Reckoner next turn.

Next up, there is a Great Bear in the zone with a clear line straight to my caster. Kell aims and puts two shots into the Great Bear. He fails his tough and another deadly problem leaves play. Now it is time for the show. Aiyana & Holt advance. Aiyana kisses the Behemoth. Holt shoots the Marksman and gets to put his second shot into Behemoth, scratching off some paint. Kreoss activates, declares a ride-by-attack, advances, Force Hammer's the Behemoth about two inches, and then retreats. The Behemoth fails to smash into the Objective (I was hoping it might make distance), however I crank the unboosted damage roll on the spell and actually darken some boxes. I have one more ranged attack before I charge in. The Vessel aims, boosts (needing three 1's to miss), and hammers the Behemoth at dice off 4 with a boosted shot. I forget the Admonisher and the Objective and Dougal live! Then the Redeemer charges in and takes a swing for about nine more boxes. And finally the Ignited, Battle Driven, Divinely Inspired Venger charges in and delivers the coup-de-grace. Mission accomplished. Behemoth wrecked. High-fives all around. Time to pack up and head home… what? oh right … the rest of the match.

KHADOR TURN 5

With the loss of Behemoth and the hour drawing late, Khador attempts to force the issue. Sorscha tries to make distance on Kreoss, but falls short. Eiryss takes a shot at him but the dice go cold. Fenris trashes the Reckoner and a Choir. The Great Bear runs to engage Kreoss. Dougal steps up and kills Holt (Aiyana is ok with this). Sylys runs into the zone. Harlan Versh fails to make distance on his shot against Kreoss (that would have been bad news because of Holy Ward). My opponent is dejected that Sorscha has been presented. However, she is Defense 18 and I still have to hit her to knock her down.

MENOTH TURN 5

Nothing is a given and I consider for a minute casting Warpath, having the Venger kill Sylyss, Warpath triggering the Redeemer, advancing the Redeemer to power attack head-butt Sorscha. Then I come to my senses. My opponent has given me a Great Bear to pinball into Sorscha (and even if he had not, I had two Choir there ready to die for the same cause).

Kreoss declares a ride-by-attack. He advances and Force Hammers the Great Bear into Sorscha. Then he proceeds to kills Sorscha with melee attacks. The only thing we forgot (upon writing this report) is Witch Hunter from Versh. Although at that point Kreoss had no upkeeps on him, so at most it could have done three points of damage.

VICTORY FOR MENOTH!

Thoughts on the Match

I should have scored a few points and completely overlooked my chance to do so. Some rolls went my way and some did not, but that is how the game goes. Overall, I felt like I recognized the threats I had to deal with and although I did not have the Book to rely upon for protection, made the right choices in where to put my spells and which targets to prioritize. I don't think my opponent accounted for the nastiness of Admonisher on the Vessel of Judgement. Taking Aiyana & Holt out of the equation helped my Vengers survive as long as they did. I put twelve points of activations into taking out Gorman, not because I planned it that way, but because no one was getting the job done. On one hand that inhibited my ability to attrition that turn, but on the other hand, Gorman had to go. Blind Vessels of Judgement are the saddest Vessels of Judgement.

This was my first time out with Kreoss3 in many many months. He is going to be my primary warcaster for 2015 and I am excited to unlock all his mysteries. This is also one of the few times I have put Vengers on the table, and they were very pleasing. I know that isn't always the case, but I am excited to use them more.

From my opponent's side of the table, he asked me what he could have done differently in the match. I felt like he could have been more aggressive with his models. He has so many dangerous guns in the list that there is no reason not to shove a few down my throat. He couldn't get to the Vessel, although he did Blind it for one turn. Once the Behemoth went down, I felt like he pushed for assassination one turn too early. Although there is merit to his belief that at that point he had nothing which could crack the Vessel, I think he could have mitigated the Battle Engine effectiveness by staying spread out. His remaining models could have done one more round of shooting and I would have been left with very few activations. In his defense, it was very late by that point in the night and we were both dreading work in the morning. While we did use a clock, we both decided at the beginning of the match that we were going to continue playing after time expired because list practice was more important than time pressure that night.

All in all, it was a good clean game and we both had a ton of fun. Thank you, CommanderTso. And thanks for reading.

Warmachine Battle Report: The High Reclaimer vs. Kommander Strakhov

A close friend and I wanted to play a fun variant and try something a little different. To that end we each constructed the Worst List we could manage out of the models we owned. There were some list construction rules.

• 35 points plus Jack/Beast points; Steamroller legal (it could come in up to 2 points short)
• Included at least 1 Faction Heavy
• Included at least 1 Faction Solo
• Included at least 1 Faction Unit (either min or max)
• Could not include a Colossal or Gargantuan
• No Proxies, you have to own the model
• You had to be prepared to explain how to run the list and if any synergy existed because…

We had to play the other person's list. I waffled back and forth on various builds until I discovered I somehow owned four Revengers. Here is the steaming pile I handed over to fight against:

High Reclaimer

• Scourge of Heresy

Tristan Durant

• Revenger
• Revenger
• Revenger
• Revenger

Exemplar Cinerators (min)

I felt compelled to point out that I was giving my friend one of our more popular tournament casters along with two of the three models that have not seen action in any 2014 Master's list. In my mind that means this list was really special. I explained how the feat worked and where he could stick the four potential souls. I pointed out Tristan's powerful nuking spell and that to hit and do appreciable damage he would need to boost, but that was ok because he had all four focus required. I told him how cool Fortify was and pointed out he had four arc nodes and four reach jacks. I even told him about the flameburst ability on his non-reach, speed 4 infantry. Infantry with multiple wound boxes ...

This is what I got in return.

Kommander Strakhov

• Juggernaut

Manhunter

Assault Kommandos (min)

Kossite Woodsmen (min)

Man-O-War Shocktroopers (min)

Man-O-War Shocktroopers (min)

Winter Guard Infantry (min)

My friend pointed out that he didn't have a deep well of sub-par models, but this list wasn't so great. I was ok with having an ambush unit and six guys with eight boxes. Also, the Manhunter had two axes, pathfinder, and stealth. Plus my caster had a focus for every spell on his card!

DEPLOYMENT:

The scenario was Supply and Demand. I won initiative and elected to go second. I grabbed the side opposite where I wanted to ambush my Woodsman. I set the Woodsman aside and ignored even looking at them for the next turn. Everything else got lined up in the center of the table. Across the way were a horde of jacks on one side and a set of medium base warriors on the other.

TURN 1:

Everyone runs. He allocates all the focus Tristan has to his jacks and they run forward. Tristan moves up behind them. The Cinerators run eight inches and the High Reclaimer follows behind. On my end, I run everything forward, I put Sentry on one Shocktrooper and Superiority on the Juggernaut. The Manhunter runs to the end of the forest.

TURN 2 (MENOTH):

Tristan allocates a focus, HR allocates a focus. Three Revengers advance. Tristan drops Fortify on the outside Revenger and it runs. The Cinerators run, as does the Scourge. HR moves up and starts dropping clouds. The Revengers are base to base screening HR and Tristan.

TURN 2 (KHADOR):

The Woodsman ambush! They advance and shoot at Tristan but juuuust miss. They forget to reform forward! (facepalm). The AKs attempt to charge the Fortified Revenger and meet with little success. The Shocktroopers do some damage on their charge/run. In the middle, the center Shocktroopers shield wall and advance. Sentry and Superiority are both upkept. The Winterguard advance into the clouds and start shooting … they do a little damage to the Cinterators! The Juggernaut shifts to the side and waits for an opening. The Manhunter runs forward, begging Tristan to stay put.

TURN 3 (MENOTH) [picture missing]:

The Cinerators charge! One is shot dead by Sentry! The second one jams into the Shield Walled Shocktroopers while the third kills a Winterguard. Fire goes everywhere. The High Reclaimer now has 25% of the available souls in his army and lives inside an active soulstorm! Tristan hotfoots it toward the center. His jacks attack some Shocktroopers but fail to kill them. The lead Revenger kills some AKs. HR feats the dead Cinerator back into existence and hides behind a linear obstacle and puts out a pair of clouds. Scourge moves into the zone, blocking LOS to Tristan.

TURN 3 (KHADOR):

Strakhov upkeeps Superiority. Two fires go out! One WGI dies to fire! The goal this turn is to drop Tristan but the lane isn't clear. There is a Cinerator in the way and the Scourge is also preventing access. Fortunately Strakhov has an out. The Winterguard push and shove out of the way and manage to kill a Cinerator somehow (including one firing his weapon into melee and hitting) - the soul goes to the HR. The Shocktroopers jostle around and clear a lane for Strakhov to move behind the lines, while those that successfully engaged the Cinterator turn him into paste. High Reclaimer gets another soul. Then Strakhov slides across the field, feats, and casts Battering Ram (seriously … six spells on his card.) He boosts because the spell has to hit and pushes the Scourge out of the way. Then the Superiority Juggernaut charges Tristan and turns him into jelly. The Woodsman run at the HR (who has four souls now). The red troops lock in around Strakhov and hope an Ashes to Ashes isn't going to ruin anyone's day. The AK's flail at the Revenger and the Man Hunter charges the Objective. With 27 points of his army now dead/inactive … my friend is less than pleased with me.

TURN 4 (MENOTH):

The writing is on the wall, but the HR never says die! (he can't … he took an oath of silence). This turn HR has nine focus. The Scourge gets some of it and the rest gets dumped into murdering Woodsman. Unfortunately the Woodsman don't break under the duress of losing all their friends. The Scourge charges the back of the Juggernaut … who has Superiority up … which is an upkeep … which means the Scourge does 16 points of damage to it on the first swing. Then hits with the second initial. Then buys and attack and scraps the Juggernaut from full in one activation. Why isn't this jack in every tournament list!!??! The third model with an activation is the last Cinerator (he passed his command check). He kills a WGI and lights another on fire.

(this was a recreated pic, the Manhunter should be by the Objective)

TURN 4 (KHADOR):

The Shocktroopers charge the objective and obliterate it (Khador scores a point). The Manhunter charges the High Reclaimer and kills him in two swings. But hey … at least it wasn't the Woodsman, right?

VICTORY OF KHADOR (but actually Menoth)!

Thoughts on the game:

This was ridiculous, but we both had a ton of fun. I got to drive around a big stompy robot and he got to put out annoying clouds. The ambush put up a ton of pressure on the weakest link in the list. Once Tristan is down, 24 points of metal goes with him. Designing a terrible list isn't that difficult. However, the real challenge is wondering what garbage you are going to be given to deal with it.

If anyone is interested in reading the thread where I started talking about this in the Menoth forums, it is right here.

Thanks for reading!!

Warmachine Battle Report: Feora, Protector of the Flame vs Durgen Madhammer

Recently I played a pair of games in anticipation of the arrival of Tristan Durant and the upcoming tournament at PAX East. My first game (the battle report is here) was against Cygnar, my second game was against Mercs - specifically Durgen.

Here are the lists:

Feora, Protector of the Flame - Protectorate Epic Warcaster

- Templar (bonded)

- Vanquisher

Initiate Tristan Durant (played by the esteemed Dartan Vilmon)

Redeemer

Vassal of Menoth

Saxon 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

Durgen Madhammer – Rhulic Mercenary Warcaster

- Wraughthammer Rockram

- Basher

MacNaile (the Doogs)

Rhupert Carvolo

Reinholdt

Thor Steinhammer

pAlexia

Nyss Hunters

Tactical Arcanist Corp

Specialists:

Aiyana and Holt

Taryn

Anastasia

Gorman

The scenario was Supply and Demand (the ammo dump). Menoth swapped the Vassal for Gorman, Mercs made no substitutions. Menoth won initiative and elected to go first.

DEPLOYMENT:

Menoth was eying a convenient linear obstacle near the zone and therefore parked the Vanquisher and Feora on the left. Tristan took up the right flank, with the Redeemer eyeing another piece of terrain. The TFG planned on moving right up the middle with the Templar backing them up. The Mercs deployed in a brick with the TAC on their left flank. No one was interested in the forest.

TURN 1: MENOTH

The Redeemer gets Fortify and runs for the linear obstacle. The Vanquisher moves up. Feora casts escort and puts ignite on the TFG. She moves up. Gorman advances and puts up a cloud. The TFG shield wall and advance six inches. Everything else tucks in behind.

TURN 1: MERCS (not pictured)

Everything advances. Durgen attempts to drift some deviations … lots of deviations but nothing sticks. The TAC drop clouds. The Basher heads for the center of the field. The Nyss Hunters get Primed which is a sick and evil thing to do. Rhupert makes them Fearless and they all spread out nicely. Alexia holds up the rear.

TURN 2: MENOTH

The Redeemer gets a full load from Tristan. Feora upkeeps two spells, gives one to each Jack and camps a few. The Choir battles the Jacks. The Redeemer attempts to drop some shots into the Nyss, cleans out a few, but doesn’t accomplish much. The TFG mini-feat and run to get some sort of jam going on those Nyss. Menoth makes a mistake by accidentally engaging one (while they are Fearless). The Templar runs up behind the TFG and toes into the zone.

TURN 2: MERCS

Mercs activates the Nyss before Alexia or Rhupert. If they had not been engaged they would have had to pass a terror check when they started run/charging past the TFG front line. Menoth weighs some options, decides to attempt the lethal free strikes. Some hit (exploding the Nyss and the TFG), some don’t (letting the WM charges land). One of the Nyss runs to engage the Redeemer. Many TFG are killed. The Basher attempts a slam but fails. There are some explosive shenanigans and move TFG die as well as a Nyss. The exploding Nyss boxcars damage on the Basher dealing 7! Durgen and his friends demolish the Objective for a point. The TAC hide Durgen again. Alexia makes a Thrall … it advances and kills a TFG.

SCORE: MENOTH 0, MERCS 1

TURN 3: MENOTH

The Templar gets three focus, the Redeemer gets two focus. Tristan upkeeps Fortify and camps 1 (to boost later on). Feora drops Ignite, upkeeps Escort, and gives one to the Vanquisher (for boosting damage), camping 1. The Choir advance and battle the Jacks. The Templar beats the Basher into the ground and takes out another Nyss (and a TFG from the exploding Nyss). The TFG declare a shield wall and fail to kill anything. Saxon advances and murders … something important? The Nyss leader, perhaps? Alexia is finally starting to get corpses. Tristan activates, advances and drops the Nyss jamming the Redeemer. The Nyss explodes … and against an armor 19 Redeemer, manages to hit it for 7 … in the 1. There goes the Rocket. Craaaaaap. The Redeemer aims and tries to take out a few Risen … poorly. The Vanquisher tries to drift a shot into Durgen, but fails. If the Templar can withstand the next round, things will turn around. If not, the Vanquisher can finish the piece trade and things will still turn around. Gorman advances and tries to obscure Feora with a cloud, aware that a Nyss hunter is out there on the loose. Feora tucks in near the Vanquisher to keep her armor high.

SCORE: MENOTH 0, MERCS 1

TURN 3: MERCS (not pictured … it’s getting late)

The Rockram gets three focus. Durgen scratches the paint on the Templar for 2. The Rockram gets Redlined and charges the Templar and needs at least one roll to go above average on damage. The assault misses. The charge hits and deals below average damage. The first buy misses (hope!!), the second buy hits and does average damage, but takes out the shield (noooo), the third buy (Redline meant the charge was free) hits and the damage is absolute fire. Hits the Templar for 17 of its 17 remaining boxes. Le Sigh. It’s ok, Menoth can one round it with a Vanquisher … maybe. Then the Mercs go to work figuring out how to clear the zone. The Nyss run/charge and the two engaged TFG are murdered. The free Nyss runs around the zone to engage Saxon. Then the TAC activate. One advances centrally and pots the TFG standard bearer. One puts up a protective cloud near Durgen to block the attack vector from the Vanquisher, and one shoots the Nyss hunter in the back, which explodes killing Saxon and clearing the zone. Alexia and the Risen run into the zone and look around. Durgen has a toe in and so the Mercs dominate for two.

SCORE: MENOTH 0, MERCS 3

TURN 4: MENOTH

There are a number of lanes open to Menoth to get at Durgen, but none of them are awesome. The Redeemer gets a full load, the Vanquisher gets two. Feora upkeeps Escort and camps three. The Choir Battle the Jacks. The Redeemer sidles out from cover and draws a line on Durgen … but can’t hit because even with Boosting the RAT is crap. The shot goes sideways and the followup goes even more sideways. That’s ok, the Redeemer was a chance thing anyway. Next the Vanquisher attempts to out vector the cloud … and it does, but it comes up 11 inches away from Durgen. Rolls for deviation, and floats it onto the dwarf! Boost damage! *sad trombone* The Vanquisher only scratches him (poor damage roll on blast damage). But everything else is on fire. The Vanquisher uses the second focus to boost damage on the Doogs, killing him. Now its time for Feora to try to close it out. She advances into the zone and feats, bringing her up to 6 focus. She spends 1 to boost the hit and 1 to boost damage on her spray. She hits for a moderate amount. She casts her nuke, boost to hit and damage and … Rolls a five. Durgen is left at 5. (These damage rolls were so very very sad). But he is on fire and cranking the fire damage roll might do it. The Book advances to contest, Gorman advances to contest and cloud? Menoth passes turn and warms up the fire dice.

SCORE: MENOTH 0, MERCS 3

TURN 4: MERCS:

Menoth rolls a seven on the fire damage, dealing two points of damage bringing Durgen to 3. Gorman is murdered, the Book is murdered. Mercs dominate the zone and win on scenario.

SCORE: MENOTH 0, MERCS 5

VICTORY FOR THE MERCS!

It was a fun game. My opponent suggested that I should play Feora more aggressively, and he is correct. I am not used to having a caster who doesn’t die instantly if they get hit. It turns out that keeping a cloud around and Escort up means that Feora is kinda difficult to hit and difficult to damage. Plus if you get near her, that’s when the party starts. The fire party. Overall I like this list enough to play it several more times as is. I think I need to start playing Tristan and the Redeemer more centrally. I did not give myself enough targets with the Redeemer. Primed Nyss Hunters are freaking evil…just...evil. I felt like I was handling the heavy piece trade well, but I shorted myself on pieces to contest the zone and fell behind. I need to get fire on my opponent’s caster sooner and overall I need to be slightly more aggressive without just walking into my opponent’s charge range.

Thanks for reading!