In spite of my goal to only play Saeryn and Thagrosh between now and the upcoming tournament, I've found myself playing a few games with Rhyas lately, and thought I'd post one up here. She's my worst Warlock by far, since with low fury and not much synergy with a lot of the models I normally take I'm having a hard time getting effective use out of her. Since my old strategies haven't worked, I decided to try something new:
Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight
-Scythean
-Seraph
-Shredder
-Shredder
-Shredder
Striders
The Forsaken
I normally bring my Carnivean since I want to use the throw something at the enemy caster/teleport next to the knocked down caster for the kill combo, but I've found either the caster is too far back or the Carnivean can't get in walking range. I decided to swap him out for a Seraph, which also helps me save on points since we're playing 25 instead of 35. I also replaced the Nephilim Soldier I usually bring with more Shredders, since I haven't gotten much use out of the Nephilim's animus while the Shredders are pretty powerful on Rhyas' feat turn. The last change was dropping the Strider UA - its mainly to make the points, and against Blindwater I don't expect I'll be able to get much shooting.
My opponent had the following:
Bloody Barnabas
-Blackhide Wrastler
-Ironback Spitter
-Bull Snapper
-Bull Snapper
Gatormen Posse
Croak Hunter
The last time I played against gators, the only beast they had was the Wrastler, so it'll be interesting to see how the Spitter and Snappers play. I win the starting roll and opt to go first.
Terrain
We decide to play a scenario, so we take turns placing pieces of terrain until we're satisfied. I go for two forests, putting them in the middle since it gives me a huge advantage. My opponent puts up a wall and obstruction on his side, then drops the two shallow water templates he gets as a Minion contract bonus in the middle. We end up with a setup like this:
We roll for scenario and get Throw Down - there are two objectives, one on each side of the board. At the end of a turn, if a warrior model is within 8" of an objective with no enemy models within 8", its owner gets a control point. 2 control points are required to win. The objectives are the black circles in the middle of the map. This is going to be rough, since all I have that can take control points are Rhyas, the Striders, and the Forsaken. Luckily my opponent is in a similar boat, so we'll both be looking for the assassination.
Legion Deployment
Wanting to take advantage of the forests, I deploy my forces on the right side, with the Seraph and Carnivean up front, flanked by the Shredders, and Rhyas and the Forsaken behind them.
Blindwater Deployment
My opponent deploys Barnabas and the beasts in the middle, with the Wrastler and Spitter up front and Barnabas and the Snappers behind them. The Gatormen go on the far left, looking to take the left objective.
Legion Advance Deployment
I put my Striders as far up as I can on the left, hoping I can shoot down enough of the Gatormen to take the control point for myself.
Blindwater Advance Deployment
The Croak Hunter deploys on the far right, hoping to take some pot shots at my beasts before the fighting starts.
Though the army's approach would have been silent to most ears, in the quiet of the swamp they may as well have been a herd of elephants to Barnabas' trained ears. His prey was strange smelling, almost unnatural. What passed for a slow grin crossed the aged Warlock's toothy maw. Perhaps this new food would finally be able to help him achieve his apotheosis.
Legion Turn 1
Rhyas gives one of the Shredders Occultation, puts Rapport on the Seraph, then uses Slipstream to move up, pulling the Seraph with her. The Seraph also uses Slipstream before moving up, pulling the Scythean forward. It tries to shoot the Croak Hunter but is well out of range. The Occulted Shredder goes Rabid and runs into the right forest, hoping to get in range to snack on the Croak before it can hurt anyone. The Scythean runs up as well, getting just a little bit into the forest. One of the other Shredders runs up, putting itself a bit behind the shallow water on the right, while the last Shredder just walks forward. The Forsaken runs up next to Rhyas, and the Striders run forward, getting near the objective and hoping to keep the Gatormen off it.
Blindwater Turn 1
The heavies both run forward, as does the Snapper on the right. The Snapper on the left moves towards the Gatormen and gives out of them Spiny Growth. They all run forward, putting themselves in a line so only the on with Spiny Growth can be hit with a CRA. Barnabas then moves up and puts a Swamp Pit near the Croak Hunter before giving himself Iron Flesh. The Croak Hunter moves into the swamp pit and takes a shot at the Shredder in the forest. He's just close enough to ignore Occultation, and takes about half the Shredder's health.
Rhyas whispered a soft curse as she felt her forward Shredder growl in pain. This mission kept getting more and more annoying - first the city Everblight tasked her to recover the relics from had sunk into the swamp in the eons he had been gone, and now her small scouting party was under attack. She hoped the Strider team sent to recover the other relic had managed to avoid the conflict, but over the silent swamp she her the distinct sound of bowstrings and arrows sinking into flesh. She willed her beasts forward - if the enemy would not submit, she would bring them to heel with the edge of her blade.
Legion Turn 2
I'm wounded, but feeling pretty good - the forest is providing me with some excellent cover. Rhyas activates first, dropping Occultation but keeping Rapport. She moves up and spends a point to heal the wounded Shredder for 1, then gives herself Tenacity, just in case. The newly healed Shredder then goes Rabid and moves up to the Croak Hunter, and takes him down with one bite. Mmm, tasty, tasty frog legs! The Seraph moves up and takes a shot at the Snapper in range, though it only gets 2 shots with Strafe. Even though I boost to hit on both rolls, the second one misses, so the Snapper survives. The Forsaken and other Shredder both move up, and the Scythean stays put - he's really liking the cover of the forest. On the opposite side of the board, my Striders move up and do a 6-man CRA on the lead Gatorman, who lives by 2 points. Ahhh, if only he didn't have Spiny Growth, or if I had taken the UA, he would be dead!
Blindwater Turn 2
Deciding its time for some action, my opponent upkeeps Iron Flesh and moves Barnabas up to the edge of the forest and uses his feat, knocking down Rhyas, the Forsaken, the Shredders and the Scythean (thankfully the Seraph can't be knocked down). Unfortunately for him, most of my models are safe thanks to the forest. He heals the Snapper and charges the wounded Shredder, finishing the beast off. His heavies move foward, trying to give Barnabas some protection. On the other side of the board, things don't go so well, as the Gatormen again get Spiny Growth before charging into the Striders. I positioned them too close, and 5 of the 6 are caught in melee range. Thankfully most are only caught by reach and 3 survive the turn, even passing their leadership checks for terror.
Barnabas willed his beasts to close on their prey, his old blood quickening as he felt the aura of another Warlock nearby. The croaking death of the anura scout he sent forward pushed him over the edge into bloodthirsty ecstasy, and he charged forward, unleashing the power of the swamp to bring his enemies to their knees. His beasts followed suit, entering the damp forest where their enemy hid.
Legion Turn 3
While the left side is almost lost, I've got a pretty good assassination attempt and decide to go for it. Rhyas and the beasts all spend fury to stand up, and the Seraph activates first, standing and taking a shot at Barnabas. I roll 3 attacks total, and by boosting hit and damage rolls on the first 2, I take out about half his health. Unfortunately the third shot misses, still not bad for just one beast! Rhyas keeps the last 2 fury for herself, just in case this fails. The Scythean then walks up and takes a chunk out of the Wrastler, teleporting behind him and into melee range of Barnabas. He uses the second swing on the Wrastler as well, dropping it to half health and triggering Bloodbath. The swing on the Wrastler leaves only his mind intact, and I boost the hit on Barnabas, bringing him down to 6 HP. I then take two more swings at him with boosted attack rolls thanks to the extra attack from the feat, and he's forced to transfer both away, killing one Snapper and seriously injuring the other. He's out of fury now, so I have one of the Shredders go Rabid and walk up to the Wrastler, doing a modest 4 points to him before teleporting behind and biting Barnabas with his feat attack. I hit and manage to get enough damage to kill, but he makes his tough roll! There isn't any more space left, so I have my last Shredder go Rabid and finish off the Wrastler. The forsaken takes the fury off the Seraph so I have a transfer target just in case, and on the left side my Striders try to disengage and finish off the wounded Gator. Unfortunately he makes both his free strikes, leaving me with just 1 Strider, who fails to hurt the ARM 18 monstrosity.
Blindwater Turn 3
My opponent is reeling, desperately tries to salvage the situation. The Spitter moves up and takes swings at the Shredders, killing 1 and seriously wounding another. Barnabas then activates, and while he kills the other Shredder, the Scythean still has half its health left. The remaining Snapper runs back towards the right side, but is unable to get in range. On the left, the Gatormen finish off the Strider and score a control point. Despite how well things are going for me, I'm actually close to losing - they'll score another control point at the end of my turn, giving them enough to win. My only hope is to finish off Barnabas now!
Rhyas pulled herself to her feet, surprised she had not noticed the presence of a Warlock in the enemy company until he unleashed a tidal wave on her forces. Though she could not see him, her beasts were well aware of his presence thanks to their heightened senses, and she focused her mind to give them a portion of her speed and skill. They used the powers effectively, tearing apart the large gator-beast protecting its master before unleashing their fury on the Warlock himself. Before they could finish him, her focus was pulled away by the dying screams of the Striders, signaling that they had failed to recover their objective.
Legion Turn 4
Fortunately its not hard. Rhyas heals the Scythean, who gives himself Bloodbath so I don't fail due to tough, and boosting the attack roll lets me finish off the Gatorman Warlock.
Barnabas awoke to find a group of gatormen carrying his battered body through the swamp, entering deeper water that their enemies would not be able to traverse. The shaman informed him that their enemy had been trying to recover some kind of artifact, and they had taken it before eating the leader. For the second time that day, a smile crossed Barnabas' face. The Worthy Prey would be back for their trinket, and when they were, he would be ready.
Aftermath
For 25 points, that was a pretty brutal game! I had a huge edge thanks to the giant forests in the middle, which kept my opponent from taking advantage of his feat and essentially kept me safe until I engaged. It was still a close match though, as if my opponent survived 1 turn longer he would have won on scenario. For the last turn, I probably would have had Barnabas kill both Shredders rather than targetting the Scythean, then had the Spitter throw the Scythean away. If he positioned it right, it would be pretty tough for me to get to Barnabas, especially if he put up a swamp pit to keep the Seraph from shooting him. It just goes to show - if you're losing badly, don't freak out and forget about the scenario, since that might be your best shot at winning!
Its a metal toolbox I got off of Amazon. Why this box? Because I've glued magnets to the bases of most of my models, so they don't move around! Here's what the inside looks like:
All of those models are magnetized to the bottom. When I first set it up, I got a real kick out of turning it upside down and showing that everything was still in place! I also have my templates held to the side with a magnet, as well as part of a cup that I use for water when I'm painting. The other nice part about this box is there is a removable tray that fits on top that holds my other equipment:
I've got all my paints, dice, markers, cards, and measuring tapes. Its really convenient since I never have to worry about forgetting things - everything Warmachine related fits in my case!
When they say "Super Strong", they mean it - sometimes when I try to pick up a model, the magnet proves stronger than the glue and stays stuck to the case! Because of that, I've started gluing a scrap of paper towel to the side of the magnet that will touch the case. Here's a picture of the bottom of a model both with and without the paper:
On the top half of the second picture, you can kind of see the circle of glue from where the magnet initially was before it came off. Keeping the magnet from touching the metal helps significantly, and I have a lot fewer instances of magnets removing themselves from a mini these days.
