Seeing how I've been having some success with Lylyth lately, I decided it's a good time to try out my other 5-fury caster: Rhyas. I've read a lot about her being the weakest legion caster and though my current models don't support her well at all, she's a ninja, an thus too cool for me not to buy. This was my list:
Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight
Carnivean
Seraph
3 Shredders
Max Warmongers
Striders
Forsaken
My opponent was actually the store's press ganger, trying out a new list with his trolls:
Borka Kegslayer
Earthborn Dire Troll
Dire Troll Mauler
Max Trollkin Champions w/ Skaldi Bonehammer
Trollkin Champion Hero
Fell Caller Hero
Trollkin Skinner
Immediately I knew this would be trouble - the one synergy I have is the Carnivean throwing a beast at the warlock on feat turn, teleporting in, and chomping the caster. One problem: Borka can't be knocked down while his keg bearer is alive! Still, facing so few models, I'm feeling good about my chances. My opponent wins the roll off and decides to go second.
Legion Deployment
The terrain is an odd mirror, with forests to both our rights and hills to both our lefts, just out of the deployment zones. In the center is a large hill with a battered mausoleum, which we decided was difficult terrain and cover. I deployed my Warmongers in the middle, with my beasts. The Forsaken, and Rhyas to their right. One shredder was deployed to the left of the Warmongers; the other two to the right of my heavies.
Troll Deployment
His formation mirrored mine, with the Champions in the middle and the Dire Trolls and Borka to their right.
Legion Advance Deployment
My striders deploy up the far right edge of the board - I'm hoping to outflank the champions and get a few shots at them.
Troll Advance Deploy
Once again he mirrors me, putting the Skinner as far up as he can on the left of my army. I assume he's going to try to get around to my beasts when they move to engage.
Legion Turn 1
My Carnivean runs full out into the forest. Rhyas casts Occultation on the Seraph, then move up into the edge of the forest to put Rapport on the Carnivean (at this point I discover my opponent has no ranged attacks, but it's not that important). The Seraph runs towards the center of the board, and the Warmongers run up to get between the Skinner and the Seraph, staying at the base of the center hill. The Forsaken runs up behind the Seraph, and two of the Shredders run up while one walks up into the space between the forest and the hill. The Striders run as far as they can down the right flank, hoping to get into good position.
Trolls Turn 1
The beasts and champions all run up, 4 champions forming a shield wall in front protecting Skaldi (shieldwalling with the last champion) and the fell caller. The dire trolls end behind the ruins, and are soon joined by the skinner. Borka moves up and drops iron flesh on himself, and the keg bearer follows to give him stumbling drunk.
Legion Turn 2
Deciding I'm tired of dealing with ridiculous units with ability granting UA's AND solos, I move my Rapport'd Carnivean and spray, catching one champion, Skaldi, and the hero. Boosting attack and damage rolls on the two specials allows me to put some damage on them, and my Seraph follows up by strafing at Skaldi through a small gap between the mauler and the front line of champions. Though I only get 1 extra shot, I allocate it to the hero and, boosting both attack and range rolls once again, I take them out! The Warmongers then charge in, two moving up to engage the champions (killing one) and the others once moving between my Seraph and the skinner. I almost underestimate reach, but I check and catch the skinner with one warmonger! Though I roll well enough to kill him, he passes his tough check. The striders get atop the hill next to the champions and take a few shots at them, and the Forsaken takes the fury off the seraph while the shredders walk into the gap between the forest and hill. Rhyas moves deeper into the forest, getting just enough range to put Spiny Growth on the Carnivean.
Trolls Turn 2
Shrugging off most of his wounds, my opponent decides its time to go on the offense. The champions charge in first, two going after the striders while the remaining two are engaged with the Warmongers. While only 1 strider goes down, both Warmongers are killed, opening up a charge lane to both my heavies. Borka then moves up and puts Iron Flesh on the remaining Champions, then casts Mosh Pit. The Mauler goes for the Seraph, but despite burning all his fury, leaves the beast with 1 hit point left. The Carnivean doesn't fare so well against the Earthborn however, falling to its onslaught (but not before getting several points in due to Spiny Growth). , and the Fell Caller takes swings at one of the Ogrun, but fails to kill it. The Skinner fail his ledership check against Abomination, but can't go anywhere due to being knocked down.
Legion Turn 3
Though one of my heavies is out and the other is barely standing, I've still got another ace up my sleave. I move my Forsaken up and Blight Shroud both his heavies, doing a whopping 8 + 7d6 to the Mauler and 8 + 6d6 to the Earthborn. Rhyas then steps up and puts Rapport on the Seraph before using her feat. The Warmongers and Seraph then gang up to finish off the Mauler (and the Skinner due to one not being able to get in range), and the Shredders all run Rabid and tear the Earthborn apart. Meanwhile, the three unengaged Striders move around the back of his army and kill the keg bearer - I'm going to need stumbling drunk down if I want even a chance at Borka.
Trolls Turn 3
The trade hasn't gone well for my opponent - out of beasts, he now has to conserve his fury, and his already low model count has diminished greatly. He uses the vengeance move to finish off the Seraph, then activates the Champions. The two engaged with the Striders take their swings, and manage to kill one of the Nyss, but are still engaged by the other 2. Realizing he needs to get rid of my fury generation, the remaining champions go after one of the Shredders, killing the beast. Borka then charges the remaining two Shredders, and, deciding to cast Iron Flesh first, doesn't have enough fury to kill either of them (though one is seriously injured). The Fell Caller takes a shot at one of the Warmongers, but doesn't manage to kill it. Its pretty clear its going to come down to Warlock vs. Warlock, and looks like I'll finally get to use Rhyas's famed assassination skills!
Legion Turn 4
The Shredders take a few bites out of Borka, but then Rhyas charges into the fray. She boosts all her attack rolls (she really need to to hit DEF 17), but sadly, one attack still misses and of the other two, only one criticals. Borka is left at 4 hit points, but no fury - I think I can still pull this off! The rest of my army takes a few pot shots, killing the fell caller, but at this point all that matters is no one can get into range of the Warlock melee.
Trolls Turn 4
The remaining unengaged Champions go for Rhyas, but both miss and are dispatched by Riposte. Borka cuts himself for 3, leaving him at 1, then makes 2 swings, boosting both the attack rolls. The first hits, dealing 11 points - another blow and Rhyas bites the dust! He rolls the attack...and fails with a 7! Unfortunately, there is a bit of gravel on the board, and he questions whether the die is cocked. We call over several other people, but no one is willing to make a ruling on such a tight game. We decide on the following: if he rerolls and manages to kill Rhyas, we call a draw; if he fails to kill her, I win. He rerolls (the die is a 2, so its exactly a 50/50 chance!), and manages to score with a 4, so we rule the game a draw due to questionably cocked dice.
Aftermath
Tight match! So many of the final die rolls were pivotal - had Rhyas critted both attacks instead of just one, or if she had managed to hit with all her attacks, I would've carried it. Never the less, I learned a lot - for one, Rhyas is completely unsuited for the models I have. With her low control radius, really the only infantry unit shes supporting is the Warmongers, since the Striders are too far up. And since she's primarily an infantry supporter, the beasts are getting short-changed on their benefits. Even the Shredders, who did pretty well with the extra attack due to her feat and rabid, would have done just as well with Epic Thagrosh's feat. The one combination I wanted to try with her - using the Rapport'd Carnivean to throw a heavy beast at the enemy caster on feat turn, then teleporting in and eating the knocked-down caster - didn't work against Borka since he couldn't be knocked down.
Looking back, my opponent's list was pretty sub-optimal as well. While Iron Flesh was useful, Mosh Pit was pretty much a waste since the Seraph couldn't be knocked down, and the Warmongers and Carnivean have such low defense they would've been hit anyway, not to mention they died the same turn as being knocked down. He also never got a chance to use his feat. One one hand, I do credit some of this to my tactics - I got Skaldi and the Hero out before they could do anything. Still, I'm convinced if either of us had been playing a better list, it would've been a very one-sided match up, so perhaps this was a good way to test out some strange lists!
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