Tournament Report

Yesterday my FLGS hosted a tournament, and I went in without either Saeryn or my Striders, something that made me a little nervious to say the least! Still, it forced me to try something different, so I decided to go with Kallus and Epic Thagrosh:

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight
-Scythean
-Seraph
-Shredder
Blackfrost Shard
Full Hex Hunters
Full Warmongers

Thagrosh the Messiah
-Carnivean
-Scythean
-4 Shredders
Full Hex Hunters
2 Spell Martyrs

My first game was against another Everblight player, which oddly enough is one of the armies I don't see very often. He had a pair of Thrones of Everblight, though there was only one in the list I played against:

Epic Thagrosh
-Typhon
-8 Shredders
Throne of Everblight
Shepherd

I used my Kallus list, and tried to get ahead early by ambushing Typhon with my Seraph. Unfortunately the Blackfrost Shard missed both Ice Cage and Kiss of Lyliss since Typhon was hiding in a forest, and I had Ignite on my Warmongers instead of the Seraph. I did manage to do some damage thanks Dark Guidance helping me get critical poison, but not nearly enough to kill the beast. The game got pretty close near the end when I trampled my Scythean up to Thagrosh who had been hit by 2 Ice Cages and Kiss of Lyliss, but he managed to live with 5 hp after using his last transfer, and I'd brought Kallus too far out and died to his Shredders. Overall a really good game, and it stings to think about all the mistakes I made. Definitely a learning experience! Oddly, we almost forgot about the Throne, since my Scythean killed it early on, after it had only managed to take out two Hex Hunters. Thats similar to what I've seen from it - while it seems like a solid infantry hunter that can also block line of sight and charges or hold an objective, it never seems to do as well as a unit of Striders or Hex Hunters would.

My second game was against the Retribution, using Adeptis Rahn's theme force:

Adeptis Rahn
-Phoenix
-Manticore
Battle Mages
Battle Mages
Battle Mages
Magister
Magister
Magister
Arcanist
Arcanist
Arcanist

Wow, even reading it feels like a lot of Battle Mages! I went with Kallus, though the game ended up being painfully short. He ran his Phoenix up and used Rahn's feat to arc telekinesis at Kallus, sliding him out of cover and then opening up with all his Battle Mages, dragging me closer to get more in range. Its a little annoying to lose another tournament match to an assassination I didn't know about - last time it was to Pyg Burrowers, this time the Battle Mages. Goal for next tournament: don't get assassinated on turn 2!

I'm 0-2 now, so while I have no chance of making the top 3 I'm trying to at least break even. My next game was against a Protectorate player, wielding their newest Warcaster, Thyra:

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow
-Blood of Martyrs
-Repenter
-Hierophant
Min Choir of Menoth
Daughters of the Flame
Full Holy Zealots
-Monolith Bearer
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist
Saxon Orrik
The Covenant of Menoth
The Wrack
Vassal of Menoth

Reinforcements:
Min Exemplar Vengers

Kallus hasn't been working for me so far, so I decided to go with Thagrosh for this game, adding a Nephilim Soldier and a Forsaken as my reinforcements. I don't know how to describe this game other than weird. There was a giant forest in the middle of the board, though my opponent used Saxxon Orrick and the Daughters of the Flame to move through it quickly. They battled my Hex Hunters, with both sides getting mostly killed off while he moved around/through the forest. His Vengers came in from the side on the top of turn 2, but I countered with my feat and used my Shredders to eat them before they could do much damage. Meanwhile, I had my reinforcements (backed up by spell support thanks to the Spell Martyrs) attack his Zealots and Allegiants on the other side of the board. I managed to clear out enough models to score a control point the first turn I was able, mostly because my opponent made the mistake of moving his Allegiants out of the control zone after they dodged my attacks. The next turn he tried to get to Thagrosh with Silence of Death, but had trouble thanks to a cloud created by killing off an Allegiant who wandered too close. He moved his Zealots in to battle the Nephilim, but was a bit too cautious and the beast and Forsaken were able to clear them out and score a second control point. Overally I think my opponent played too cautiously - he didn't really try to clear out my control zone to score a point, commit enough models to defend his control zone, or get close enough to Thagrosh with anything that could have gotten the kill. I guess thats the kind of play scenarios are built to punish, and that certainly happened this game.

My final match was against Lord Carver and his bacon brigade:

Lord Carver
-War Hog
-War Hog
-Road Hog
-Targ
Full Brigands
Slaughterhousers

I went with Thagrosh again, and ran my Hex Hunters forward early to threaten a charge if he moved up. Sure enough he was forced into charge range to contest the objectives, and I managed to take out half the unit and deal some damage to one of the War Hogs. I piled a little more on with the Carnivean's spray, and protected myself from retribution with both Spiny Growth and Dragon's Blood, along with putting a pair of Shredders in the beast's path. He responded by killing off a handful of my Hex Hunters, and though he trampled my Shredders and dealt some damage to my Carnivean, ARM 22 proved too much to crack. He also brought his other Warhog in too close, counting on the Slaughterhousers to provide a speedbump, but I used my Shredders and Hex Hunters to clear a path (even having one Shredder eat a Hex Hunter who was poorly positioned after his attack!). After my Carnivean finished off the weakened War Hog he gave my Scythean Spiny Growth, while Thagrosh followed up with Dragon's Blood and Manifest Destiny to allow the beast to charge in and KO the War Hog from full HP. He underestimated my beast's toughnesss and didn't feat, expected the Slaughterhousers to take it down, but even with help from the Road Hog it wasn't enough. Carver eventually moved in and used his feat to finish it off, but by then things were already going against him. I used my Hex Hunters and Shredders to open a path and my Carnivean devoured his caster. I felt like my opponent was spent after playing so many games in a row, but I still figured out a cool trick with Thagrosh - with Dragon's Blood and Spiny Growth, and ARM 22 beast can be really tough to kill, especially when its dealing damage back to you. I can't wait to try that combo out with the Archangel...

Despite going 2-2, it was a really fun event. While I had some trouble with Kallus, I think I'm finally getting the hang of Epic Thagrosh in lists that don't rely on Shredder Spam. It was also fun playing without Saeryn since I was free to use the Blackfrost Shard in other lists. While I'm going to keep her off the field for the rest of the year, I think I'm going to bring in my Striders to try using them with Epic Thagrosh instead of Hex Hunters. I'm going to try to figure him out by the end of August, and if all goes well retire him for a while to practice with Kallus, Primal Lylyth, and by far my worst caster, Rhyas.