This Battle Report is the second blowout game I played last week. The last one showed off the amazing power of the Ravagore, but rather than try out the Scythean, I decided to try another list that caught my attention: the Shredder Spam.
Epic Thagrosh
Scythean
9 Shredders
Striders + UA
2 Spell Martyrs
I've been having a rough time with Epic Thagrosh lately, and thought this might be a good way to play him fully to his strengths. To get at least some testing in, I decided to use a Scythean instead of a Carnivean. Not only did this let me get 1 more shredder in, it would also be a chance to see how much I missed the breath and Spiny Growth.
My opponent was playing a slightly modified version of her previous list, swapping out the Cyclone for Ol' Rowdy:
Prime Haley
-Thorn
-Ol' Rowdy
Full Long Gunners + UA
Prime Eiryss
Journeyman Warcaster
-Defender
Again, I think she accidentally put in full Long Gunners for the price of a minimum squad, but it didn't end up making much of a difference. I won the roll and opted to go first.
Terrain and Scenario
We played on the same board as last time, with two hills on either side of each of our deployment zones, as well as one tall pillar just to the left of the center of the board and a small hill right of center. We also played kill box once again.
Legion Deployment
I deployed my main force in the center of the board, with a line of Shredders in front, and Thagrosh, the Scythean, and the Spell Martyrs right behind them.
Cygnar Deployment
My opponent deployed Haley and her jacks just behind the left side of the kill box, while the Long Gunners deployed to the right, with the Journeyman and Defender joining them. I was going to have to move diagonally to get to either group, giving me more ground to cover.
Legion Advance Deployment
The Striders went directly in front of the Long Gunners, hopefully taking them apart before they could hurt my beasts.
Cygnar Advance Deployment
Eiryss deployed to the far left side of the field, hoping to come around and flank my force (as well as avoid the Striders!)
Legion Turn 1
Wow, never had to deal with this many beasts before. Managing fury was going to be tough! I had 6 of the Shredders run the full distance forward, then had Thagrosh fly up and cast Dragon's Blood on one of them, as well as Tenacity on 3 others and himself. I almost tried to cast Spiny Growth - I'm missing my Carnivean already! The other Shredders walked forward, as did the Scythean, who kept to Thagrosh's left to watch for Eiryss. The Striders ran forward, not using their whole movement but still setting themselves up to move and shoot the Long Gunners next turn, and the Spell Martyrs run up but stay behind the front line of Shredders.
Cygnar Turn 1
Ol' Rowdy and Thorn both ran forward, and Haley advanced a bit behind them and cast Temporal Barrier, catching two of the Shredders who ran. The Long Gunners advanced up cautiously, as did the Journeyman and Defender. I think they were hoping that even if the Striders shot up a few Long Gunners, the others combined with the Journeyman and Defender would take them out. Eiryss then ran as far as she could up the left flank, putting her about even with Thagrosh but far to the left.
Legion Turn 2
Here's where things go to hell fast for my opponent. With most of her force in range, Thagrosh flies up a bit, casts Manifest Destiny and pops his feat. 3 of the forward Shredders go rabid and are able to walk into melee with Thorn, severely damaging it. Two more of them charge to do a few points to the Defender, who quickly finds himself lacking backup when the Striders move up and take down half the Long Gunners (who don't fall back because of the Standard Bearer). 2 of the remaining beasts charge towards Ol' Rowdy, but are well short, and another does the same except targetting the Defender. The last Shredder and the Scythean move up but stay close to Thagrosh, still cautious of Eiryss. The Spell Martyrs move into the group of Striders, hoping to arc some shots at either the Long Gunners or Haley. My feat then triggers, and things get even worse. It only takes one of the Shredders to finish Thorn, so one of the other two goes after the Defender, as does the Shredder who failed a charge at it during its movement. Combined with the other two already attacking the jack, it is reduced to 3 boxes! The other Shredder who was fighting Thorn now has a clear path to Haley, and though he is out of the range of Manifest Destiny, he manages to hit and do a whopping 12 points to her! The 2 Shredders who failed to reach Ol' Rowdy are now able to, and put a few dents in him, but not damaging any systems. The Scythean and Shredder hanging with Thagrosh shuffle a bit to better block line of sight and charge lanes to their leader.
Cygnar Turn 2
My opponent is reeling from the blows, but knows how fragile Shredders are and decides she needs to take them out if she wants a chance. Haley casts Temporal Barrier to make that easier, then pops her feat and crushes the Shredder attacking her with two solid blows. Ol' Rowdy does likewise to the two lesser beasts snacking on him, and the Defender, Long Gunners, and Journeyman use all their attacks to carve up 3 of the 4 Shredders attacking the Defender. One was even in range of a poorly placed Spell Martyr, and the Nyss was killed by its extra shot. Eiryss moved towards the center, and with a pair of well placed shots did 6 damage to the Scythean, thankfully not enough to take an aspect. My army suddenly feels really small - though they're damaged, my opponent has 2 heavy jacks still alive, and I'm down to 3 Shredders!
Legion Turn 3
The store was about to close, so I decided to see if I could finish this quickly. I ran a Spell Martyr up hoping to arc Scourge through it for the kill, but didn't realize Ol' Rowdy had countercharge. I hate that ability! He easily squished the Martyr, and was now blocking the Shredder who finished Thorn from getting at Haley. Suddenly, I had a thought. I measured control and found that Rowdy was just under 11" away from my Scythean! The Shredder attacked him for a few points, then the Scythean charged in and finished him off. The one Shredder still fighting the Defender frenzied to finish the jack, and the Striders moved in and carved up most of the remaining Long Gunners and the Journeyman. I was careful about choose the Long Gunner targets and managed to prevent another model from becoming the a new Standard bearer, and with a failed morale check the last Cygnarian infantry was running off the board. The last Shredder chased down and ate Eiryss, and my opponent conceded since all she had was Haley against most of my army.
Aftermath
The Shredder swarm performed beyond my expectations. I thought they would have trouble with heavy jacks, but with Manifest Destiny helping out my rolls, they had no problems. The Striders were also crucial, as they helped take on the infantry that were too numerous for the lesser warbeasts to deal with. Once again, however, I completely botched the Spell Martyrs, letting one get killed by a stray shot and the other being countercharged. Being able to arc Scourge onto Haley would've really helped if the game were closer. The surprise stand out was the Scythean. Though I was probably overloaded on Shredders and the extra 2 points weren't a huge difference, having the Reach to charge Ol' Rowdy made a huge difference. Though the Carnivean's assault spray may have been able to take out Haley, he would still need a 12 to hit on 3 dice, nothing close to as assured as the Scythean taking on Rowdy.
Overall, I felt like I was finally using Epic Thagrosh to his full potential. Manifest Destiny and his feat were both game breaking, and if I'd used my Spell Martyrs more effectively Scourge would have been really useful as well. I'm probably going to try this build with one or two fewer Shredders, replacing them with Deathstalkers or possibly Annyssa Ryvval to add some more infantry and solo killing.
Epic Thagrosh
Scythean
9 Shredders
Striders + UA
2 Spell Martyrs
I've been having a rough time with Epic Thagrosh lately, and thought this might be a good way to play him fully to his strengths. To get at least some testing in, I decided to use a Scythean instead of a Carnivean. Not only did this let me get 1 more shredder in, it would also be a chance to see how much I missed the breath and Spiny Growth.
My opponent was playing a slightly modified version of her previous list, swapping out the Cyclone for Ol' Rowdy:
Prime Haley
-Thorn
-Ol' Rowdy
Full Long Gunners + UA
Prime Eiryss
Journeyman Warcaster
-Defender
Again, I think she accidentally put in full Long Gunners for the price of a minimum squad, but it didn't end up making much of a difference. I won the roll and opted to go first.
Terrain and Scenario
We played on the same board as last time, with two hills on either side of each of our deployment zones, as well as one tall pillar just to the left of the center of the board and a small hill right of center. We also played kill box once again.
Legion Deployment
I deployed my main force in the center of the board, with a line of Shredders in front, and Thagrosh, the Scythean, and the Spell Martyrs right behind them.
Cygnar Deployment
My opponent deployed Haley and her jacks just behind the left side of the kill box, while the Long Gunners deployed to the right, with the Journeyman and Defender joining them. I was going to have to move diagonally to get to either group, giving me more ground to cover.
Legion Advance Deployment
The Striders went directly in front of the Long Gunners, hopefully taking them apart before they could hurt my beasts.
Cygnar Advance Deployment
Eiryss deployed to the far left side of the field, hoping to come around and flank my force (as well as avoid the Striders!)
Legion Turn 1
Wow, never had to deal with this many beasts before. Managing fury was going to be tough! I had 6 of the Shredders run the full distance forward, then had Thagrosh fly up and cast Dragon's Blood on one of them, as well as Tenacity on 3 others and himself. I almost tried to cast Spiny Growth - I'm missing my Carnivean already! The other Shredders walked forward, as did the Scythean, who kept to Thagrosh's left to watch for Eiryss. The Striders ran forward, not using their whole movement but still setting themselves up to move and shoot the Long Gunners next turn, and the Spell Martyrs run up but stay behind the front line of Shredders.
Cygnar Turn 1
Ol' Rowdy and Thorn both ran forward, and Haley advanced a bit behind them and cast Temporal Barrier, catching two of the Shredders who ran. The Long Gunners advanced up cautiously, as did the Journeyman and Defender. I think they were hoping that even if the Striders shot up a few Long Gunners, the others combined with the Journeyman and Defender would take them out. Eiryss then ran as far as she could up the left flank, putting her about even with Thagrosh but far to the left.
Legion Turn 2
Here's where things go to hell fast for my opponent. With most of her force in range, Thagrosh flies up a bit, casts Manifest Destiny and pops his feat. 3 of the forward Shredders go rabid and are able to walk into melee with Thorn, severely damaging it. Two more of them charge to do a few points to the Defender, who quickly finds himself lacking backup when the Striders move up and take down half the Long Gunners (who don't fall back because of the Standard Bearer). 2 of the remaining beasts charge towards Ol' Rowdy, but are well short, and another does the same except targetting the Defender. The last Shredder and the Scythean move up but stay close to Thagrosh, still cautious of Eiryss. The Spell Martyrs move into the group of Striders, hoping to arc some shots at either the Long Gunners or Haley. My feat then triggers, and things get even worse. It only takes one of the Shredders to finish Thorn, so one of the other two goes after the Defender, as does the Shredder who failed a charge at it during its movement. Combined with the other two already attacking the jack, it is reduced to 3 boxes! The other Shredder who was fighting Thorn now has a clear path to Haley, and though he is out of the range of Manifest Destiny, he manages to hit and do a whopping 12 points to her! The 2 Shredders who failed to reach Ol' Rowdy are now able to, and put a few dents in him, but not damaging any systems. The Scythean and Shredder hanging with Thagrosh shuffle a bit to better block line of sight and charge lanes to their leader.
Cygnar Turn 2
My opponent is reeling from the blows, but knows how fragile Shredders are and decides she needs to take them out if she wants a chance. Haley casts Temporal Barrier to make that easier, then pops her feat and crushes the Shredder attacking her with two solid blows. Ol' Rowdy does likewise to the two lesser beasts snacking on him, and the Defender, Long Gunners, and Journeyman use all their attacks to carve up 3 of the 4 Shredders attacking the Defender. One was even in range of a poorly placed Spell Martyr, and the Nyss was killed by its extra shot. Eiryss moved towards the center, and with a pair of well placed shots did 6 damage to the Scythean, thankfully not enough to take an aspect. My army suddenly feels really small - though they're damaged, my opponent has 2 heavy jacks still alive, and I'm down to 3 Shredders!
Legion Turn 3
The store was about to close, so I decided to see if I could finish this quickly. I ran a Spell Martyr up hoping to arc Scourge through it for the kill, but didn't realize Ol' Rowdy had countercharge. I hate that ability! He easily squished the Martyr, and was now blocking the Shredder who finished Thorn from getting at Haley. Suddenly, I had a thought. I measured control and found that Rowdy was just under 11" away from my Scythean! The Shredder attacked him for a few points, then the Scythean charged in and finished him off. The one Shredder still fighting the Defender frenzied to finish the jack, and the Striders moved in and carved up most of the remaining Long Gunners and the Journeyman. I was careful about choose the Long Gunner targets and managed to prevent another model from becoming the a new Standard bearer, and with a failed morale check the last Cygnarian infantry was running off the board. The last Shredder chased down and ate Eiryss, and my opponent conceded since all she had was Haley against most of my army.
Aftermath
The Shredder swarm performed beyond my expectations. I thought they would have trouble with heavy jacks, but with Manifest Destiny helping out my rolls, they had no problems. The Striders were also crucial, as they helped take on the infantry that were too numerous for the lesser warbeasts to deal with. Once again, however, I completely botched the Spell Martyrs, letting one get killed by a stray shot and the other being countercharged. Being able to arc Scourge onto Haley would've really helped if the game were closer. The surprise stand out was the Scythean. Though I was probably overloaded on Shredders and the extra 2 points weren't a huge difference, having the Reach to charge Ol' Rowdy made a huge difference. Though the Carnivean's assault spray may have been able to take out Haley, he would still need a 12 to hit on 3 dice, nothing close to as assured as the Scythean taking on Rowdy.
Overall, I felt like I was finally using Epic Thagrosh to his full potential. Manifest Destiny and his feat were both game breaking, and if I'd used my Spell Martyrs more effectively Scourge would have been really useful as well. I'm probably going to try this build with one or two fewer Shredders, replacing them with Deathstalkers or possibly Annyssa Ryvval to add some more infantry and solo killing.
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