Battle Report: Saeryn vs. Epic Madrak

I'm out of town for the next week, so I thought I'd help tide you guys over with a new battle report! This is against a troll player I haven't faced yet, and should be an interesting challenge - I still don't have much experience against Hordes. I decided to take one of my 7 fury warlocks, and since my Shredders hadn't been fully stripped down yet, I ended up using Saeryn:

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight
* Carnivean
* Scythean
* Shredder
* Shredder
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Striders
* Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician
2 Spell Martyrs

It's been a while since I've played this list, but in the past it hasn't let me down. My opponent brought Epic Madrak:

Madrak Ironhide, World Ender
* Mulg the Ancient
* Troll Impaler
Full Trollkin Fennblades
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer
Min Trollkin Long Riders
Fell Caller Hero
Janissa Stonetide

Light on beasts, but heavy on power. The Fennblades will be a tarpit that can get pretty dangerous on mini-feat turn, and Mulg can easily take down either of my heavies. At least Janissa isn't as dangerous, thanks to the Scythean's reach and hunter on the Striders. He won the roll for deployment and opted to go first.

Terrain

Deployment
Trolls put everything in the middle, with Madrak and his beasts in the center, the Long Riders on the left, and the Fennblades on the right. Janissa deploys next to Madrak, and the Fell Caller hangs with the Fennblades.

I decide to deploy in the far left corner, for two reasons. First, it means I can run up behind the forest. If I can force the battle to be fought in the terrain, I'll have a huge advantage. Second, his Fennblades will have to run across the board to get to me, either slowing down the rest of his force or coming at me piecemeal. With that in mind, I put my Carnivean and Scythean on the far left, with the Shredders to their right and Saeryn and the Spell Martyrs behind them. The Blackfrost Shard deploys closer to the middle, behind the obstacle, hoping to come in late and flank once the battle is centered on the forest. The Striders advance deploy as far forward towards the forest as possible, hoping they can use it to take shots at anything that came near.

Madrak gazed out into the distance, towards the foe he could sense but not yet see. Calandra's prediction had been accurate so far, but he would rather have avoided this conflict if at all possible. Still, Doomshaper had been insistent that they hunt down this blighted witch, even sending Mulg the Ancient to assist. With a heavy sigh, Madrak shouldered Rathrok. Battle would be joined soon.

Trolls Turn 1
The Long Riders run towards the wall in front of them, while Madrak, his beasts, and Janissa follow suit after the Warlock puts up Warpath. The Fell Caller and Fennblades run down towards the hill, as they are unable to get cover without being blocked by the rest of the army next turn.

Legion Turn 1
The Striders run into the forest, hoping that anything that he'll continue to advance closer and I can take a few shots. The beasts and Spell Martyrs also run forward, still about a turn outside the forest, and Saeryn moves up and puts Respawn on the Carnivean before giving several models Tenacity so can leech all the fury next turn. The Blackfrost Shard advances up and gets Stealth, both trying to stay out of the fight and keep away from the Impaler.

In spite of the thundering steps in the distance, Saeryn urged her forces towards the safety of the trees. Whatever Warlock she had been sensing, he had clearly come to fight, and she would rather do so from relative safety.

Trolls Turn 2
The Fennblades and Fell Caller run left, forming up on the far edge of the wall, while the Long Riders move forward a bit, unable to get at the Striders because the lack line of sight. Madrak and the beasts are close behind, followed by Janissa who puts up a wall in front of the Buffalo riders. He's trying to reposition his forces so he can hit me with everything at once, though thankfully he's just a little too close...

Legion Turn 2
I make a Shredder go Rabid and run, getting close to 4 Fennblades, a Long Rider, and Madrak. A Spell Martyr runs in behind, and Saeryn arc Blightbringer onto the lesser warbeast. I boost the damage on the Long Rider, killing him, and while one of the Fennblades makes his tough check, Madrak's Grim Salvation takes him down anyway. The Striders then advance up, 4 of them nearly killing another Long Rider who succeeds at his tough roll. The others then shoot at several more Fennblades, taking out another 2 before the blighted elves reform back into the forest, out of line of sight. Saeryn and the beasts, advance up behind the forest, trying to move towards the edge of the board to avoid the Fennblades. The Blackfrost Shard is unfortunately too close to escape, but a few Ice Bolts kill enough Fennblades to force a command check, though they pass.

The little beast seemed to come out of nowhere - one moment his forces were advancing on the enemy, the next, the unnatural creature comes sprinting at them, a cloud of acid erupting from its body. One of his Fennblades stepped in front of Madrak to keep him safe, but he and his comrades were all consumed by the toxins. Ironhide did not have time to grieve for the lives his axe had taken. A flurry of arrows erupted out of the woods, cutting down even more of his forces. Gritting his teeth, Madrak let out a bloodcurling roar, pushing his forces forward to take vengeance for their fallen comrades.

Trolls Turn 3
Though he's taken some damage, there are still plenty of trolls for me to deal with. First the Fennblades use their mini-feat and getting War Cry from the Fell Caller to charge the Blackfrost Shard, taking down Rhylyss (the one who can increase damage) and reducing the leader, Sevryn, to one health. The Fell Caller then charged the Shredder, killing it but taking damage from Blightbringer. The Long Riders also charged, the wounded one going after a Strider but missing, while the leader ran into the forest, engaging 3 Striders. The beasts advanced again, staying behind a wall put up by Janissa, and Madrak then stayed back and used his feat, granting each model an attack against everyone in their melee range. The Fennblades cut down the Blackfrost Shard, and the Long Rider in the forest killing 2 of the 4 Striders he could reach, while his injured companion managed to kill the Strider he was fighting.

Legion Turn 3
All in all, his feat turn wasn't that bad - his army has taken a beating and I still have both my heavy Warbeasts. The Scythean moves up and puts up his animus to kill the Long Rider in the forest, freeing up the Striders who move right and kill all but one of the Fennblades. I debate using Saeryn to take down the last Fennblade and Long Rider, and decide that I can still block line of sight to Mulg and pull it off. For good measure, I also drop Respawn so I have the extra fury, and manage to kill the last of both units with 3 fury to spare. The last Shredder then goes Rabid and walks up to the Fell Caller, and gobbles the troll up, and the Carnivean moves around to keep things out of base contact with Saeryn. At this point, I'm feeling pretty good - my opponent is down to Madrak, Mulg, the Impaler, and Janissa, while I still have my Carnivean and Scythean, as well as half my Striders and a Shredder.

A cold smile crossed the Omen's face as her Deathspurs killed two more trolls. Her opponent had underestimated her, and was paying with the lives of his soldiers. Now all that remained was to finish off his mighty beast...

Trolls Turn 4
It's do or die time for my opponent, but he's got a plan. First, the Impaler throws a pair of spears at the Shredder, seriously injuring the beast, but not killing it. Madrak then does the same with Rathok, killing it. Foolishly I don't reave the fury, and Warpath triggers to move Mulg so he can see Saeryn. I had forgotten that he'd been upkeeping that spell this whole time, and now it may cost the game! Mulg charges Saeryn, but thankfully he has to boost to hit in order to get me. After a flurry of attacks, I'm down to 1 health and no fury! Janissa then moves up and tries to cast Rock Hammer on the Carnivean. It hits, and he needs an 8 or better to finish me off. He rolls...






...and gets a 9!


Saeryn awoke with a start, finding herself in the Carnivean's arms as they ran. Her memory was a blur - the last this she could remember was killing Trolls...and then that huge one came out of nowhere and pummelled her with its club! She shook herself and tried to look around to regain her bearings, but a sharp pain fired up her spine when she tried. Eventually they stopped, and she was able to determine that while she had been badly hurt, most of her force was intact. As the Striders began to make camp, Everblight's Omen used her own pooling blood to read the world's flow. Somehow the Trolls had known where to ambush her. Next time, they would not be so fortunate.

Aftermath
I felt really dumb after that match. I was doing really well, and hadn't even used my feat, but put my caster too far out - something I often chastise other players for doing. To his credit, my opponent played a great game. He didn't simply walk his forces into melee range and allow me the first strike, instead hanging just out of combat range most of the game. This made it much harder for me to use my feat, since there weren't obvious openings when it would be effective. Then again, I have lost many more games because I didn't feat than I have when I feated too early. In the future, I think I'll be more liberal with its use, and see if that helps!