Battle Report: vs. Gators

Hey guys,

Played another game yesterday, this time against the Blindwater Congregation, the newest Minion Pact. We played at 35 points, so I decided once again to bring out Epic Thagrosh. Here was my list:

Epic Thagrosh
Carnivean
Seraph
3 Shredders
Striders + UA
2 Spell Martyrs
The Forsaken

He was playing a fairly standard Barnabas list:

Bloody Barnabas
2 Blackhide Wrastlers
Full Gatormen Posse
2 Croak Hunters
Wrong-Eye and Snapjaw

Interestingly enough, this was the same opponent whose Skorne I played against 2 weeks back, making him the only player I've faced using Hordes! He won the starting roll and opted to go first.

Blindwater Deployment
He put pretty much everything in the middle, with the Gatormen to the left, the Wrastlers in the center, and Wrong-Eye and Snapjaw to the right.

Legion Deployment
I did a similar placement, putting the Carnivean and Seraph in the middle, Thagrosh behind them, the Shredders to their left and the Spell Martyrs and Forsaken to their right.

Advance Deployment
One Croak deployed on each side, and the Striders placed themselves on the right, partially on a hill.

Blindwater Turn 1
Wrong-Eye and Snapjaw each cast Submerge and charged forward, then Barnabas dropped 3 swamp pits and everthing ran into them.

Legion Turn 1
Sensing my Striders weren't going to be that useful, I ran them up and into the center, forming a line. Though the Wrastlers could get through it, at least the Gatormen would be stopped. Thagrosh cast Dragon's Blood on the Carnivean, and everthing moved up, just behind the Strider line. The Seraph riled for 4 and the Forsaken took all the fury.

Blindwater Turn 2
Outside of Swamp Pit (which he showed off last turn), he proceeded to demonstrate all the shenanigans of the Crocs this turn. First the Feralgeist ran forward, allowing Snapjaw to toss a Wrastler at it. Then the other Wrastler moved up and threw the first one at Thagrosh, though bad deviation meant he was stuck behind the Strider line. Barnabas then activated, charging the Feralgeist, killling it and activating his feat before Rising the thrown Wrastler and casting Warpath. The Gatormen charged the now-helpless Striders, killing 3 and allowing the Wrastler to reposition. He then trampled the Striders and a Shredder to get into melee with Thagrosh, who took a few blows but transferred to the injured Shredder to keep the damage from getting too severe. Finally, Wrong-Eye moved up and cast vodoo doll on the Carnivean, taking out his Spirit.

Legion Turn 2
Ouch, I'm seriously hamstringed, but I feel like I can still pull this off. In my control I stand up Thagrosh all the beasts (except the Seraph who can't be knocked down). The Striders activate first, standing up and moving out of the way. Thagrosh then activates, casting Manifest Destiny and smacking the Wrastler next to him pretty hard, taking out both Mind and Spirit before activating his feat. The Forsaken then stands up and uses Blightstorm, rolling POW 8 + 6d6 on the Wrastler fighting Thagrosh....and rolling 3 1's for a total of 22. This would be the first in my storm of bad luck, and I noticed average rolls would have killed the beast. Not feeling down, I had my crippled Carnivean move up and spray the other Wrastler and Barnabas behind him, but failing to hit either. The Seraph then charged up and with poison, kills the beast. The Shredders Rabid and one goes after Barnabas, rolling terribly on the 3 dice and not doing any damage. The other Shredder goes after the Wrastler fighting Thagrosh, and deals 1 point. I move the Spell Martyrs and then end, moving to my feat. All or nothing time! The Seraph moves up and hits Barnabas, through a slew of 1's mean I only deal 3 points of damage. The Carnivean then tries his luck, but rolls a 3 to hit. Finally a Shredder heads over in a last ditch attempt, but still only manages to put 2 points on the Gatorlock. At this point, I conceded, as the Wraster in combat with Thagrosh was about to finish him.

Aftermath
So I've heard a lot of things about how powerful Gators are, but nothing alone struck me as terribly powerful alone. It really was the combination of Barnabas's feat, Vodoo Doll, Swamp Pit, and the Wrastler throws that put me in a really weak position, and without any one of those, I would have been fine against the other 3. Even then my die rolls were abysmal, and average rolls would've let me take Barnabas out. Once again, I wish I had Ogrun, as they could not be trampled, which would have kept Thagrosh safe for another turn (also putting Dragon's Blood on them would've made them really tough to crack!). In hindsight, I probably should have run the Striders to the side, keeping them out of Barnabas's feat range so they could swoop in for the flank. They didn't provide much help as a defensive line and they really lose a lot from being knocked down. In my defense I forgot about his feat, and figured DEF 15 would have allowed them to do something. Of all my losses though, this one has left the most bitter taste taste in my mouth, as I went up against a pretty crazy army, felt like I did pretty much everything right, and then got completely shafted by the dice. Such is Warmachine though.