And we're back

Hey guys, its been a while! Moving has been pretty hectic, but I finally managed to get out and play a few games of Warmachine this weekend at Gamescape in San Francisco. They were actually hosting a tournament, and it seemed like a good way to meet the local Warmachine/Hordes community. I completely forgot how draining they are though. A friend of mine randomly wandered into the store between the third and fourth rounds, and I'm pretty sure I sounded drunk! I managed to go 2-2, which I was pretty happy with, especially since my losses were to the only guy who went undefeated and a combo I'd never seen that got me on turn 2. The format was 2 list, 35 points, using 2012 Steamroller scenarios. These were the lists I brought:

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (+5pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
Blackfrost Shard (5pts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician (3pts)
2 Spell Martyrs (2pts)

Thagrosh, the Messiah (+3pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Seraph (8pts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician (3pts)
2 Spell Martyrs (2pts)

The Saeryn list should look familiar to anyone whose read this blog before, and it was a nice way to ease back into the game with a list I have a lot of practice with. The Epic Thagrosh list was an attempt to combine all the best things I've done with him, including an assassination with Scourge and a Carnivean's spray, as well as mobs of Shredders under Manifest Destiny and his feat, Dragon Storm. Anyway, without further ado, here are recaps of my matches:

Game 1: Saeryn vs. Epic Vlad
Scenario 2 - Gauntlet
Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion (+5pts)
* Drago (8pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)

This was the guy who ended up going undefeated. His other list was Karchev, who I knew I probably wasn't going to assassinate, so I chose Saeryn. I managed to down the Ulhans early with Striders and a Shredder, and seriously injure the Great Bears with a Blightbringer, but forgot to feat on the second turn and lost my Carnivean. I almost managed to get the win anyway by clearing a path for my Scythean to get to Vlad, but after he took 10 damage from the first blow his defenses got too high for me to finish him off thanks to Might of Kings. 24 Iron Fangs was ridiculously hard to deal with, mainly because of the numbers, high ARM, and the fact that they are strong enough to threaten heavies. Still need to figure out an answer to that...

Game 2: Saeryn vs. Naaresh
Scenario 15 - Restoration
Master Ascetic Naaresh (+6pts)
* Basilisk Krea (4pts)
* Cyclops Brute (5pts)
* Cyclops Savage (5pts)
* Molik Karn (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)

Both his lists had a Cyclops brute to provide Safeguard to prevent the caster from being knocked down, so I opted for Saeryn since Thagrosh would lose one of his best assassination vectors. On turns 1 and 2, I arc'ed Breathstealer on Molik Karn to keep him at bay, then used my feat on turn 2 to force my Carnivean and Scythean into his lines, killing Molik Karn and injuring Naaresh. In response he cycloned out and put himself next to Saeryn to go for the assassination next turn, and unfortunately most of my beasts frenzied, and the Scythean alone couldn't penetrate Naaresh's DEF 18 ARM 20 thanks to Iron Flesh and Pain Monger. My beasts frenzied, and I had to focus on killing him cyclopses rather than going after Naaresh, but thankfully none of the paingivers could get to him that turn so he wasn't able to bring down Saeryn, giving me another turn to finish him off.

Game 3: Epic Thagrosh vs. Calandra
Scenario 7 - Incursion
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (+5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
Farrow Bone Grinders (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Alten Ashley, Monster Hunter (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

At last, a chance to try out Epic Thagrosh! Well, not really. On turn 2, he used his feat and unborrowed his Pyg Burrowers to assassinate Thagrosh. While I've heard of them before, I've never seen them in action - those POW 14 guns really hurt! I almost managed to weather it by using the spawned Shredder to prevent 2 of them from firing, but the last one still managed to finish me off. I was kicking myself because I brought Thagrosh out of cover for no good reason, and the DEF bonus would probably have saved him. Also, I had excess fury and used it to cast tenacity twice instead of Spiny Growth, which would have saved him.

Game 4: Saeryn vs. The Witch Coven
Scenario 8 - Process of Elimination
The Witch Coven of Garlghast (+5pts)
* Defiler (5pts)
* Defiler (5pts)
* Helldiver (3pts)
* Deathjack (12pts)
* Seether (9pts)
Bane Knights (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)

I really wanted to use Thagrosh here, but the scenario seemed too good for Saeryn's feat. On turn 2 I ran both my heavies into the middle of the control zones and popped feat, essentially daring him to try to take them. He had no choice but to move up to keep me from scoring, and I was able to charge and finish off both his heavies while using Striders and Blightbringer to carve up the Bane Knights. As a last-ditch attempt he tried to assassinate Saeryn with the Helldiver, but it wasn't strong enough, and I cleared out the last of his units to get the second control point.

While I didn't place, I did randomly win a gift certificate as part of the raffle, which I'll probably put towards some Hex Hunters. I feel like I'm using Striders too much and they seem like a good alternative. I'll leave you guys with some pics from my third game, the only one I remembered to photograph. Thanks for reading - its good to be back on the field!

Final view of the battle.

Pyg Burrowers shoot up Thagrosh. To his left you can see the cover I was hiding behind until I thought it was a good idea to move out and Slipstream my Seraph, who was fine where it was. I still don't know what I was doing.

The rest of my opponent's army. The Fennblade unit lost 6 members to the Striders on the first turn, and I really feel like I could have won this game had I not foolishly left my caster out. 

If you can't be good, be lucky. Woo free moneys!

Hiatus

As you've probably guessed by the title (and lack of posting), I'm putting this blog on indefinite hiatus because I am moving to another state for work. I was hoping to have a battle report or review to go with this, but unfortunately the chaos of finding a new place to live, someone to take over my lease, and the moving itself pretty much sucked up all my Warmachine time over the last month. I'm going to be looking for another place to play, but at least for the next month I'm unlikely to get any games in while I settling into my new job. Hopefully I'll be back in February, but I'd rather not make any promises.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Battle Report: Saeryn vs. pMorghul

Hey all. It's been a pretty intense weekend on the Warmachine front. Like I mentioned last week, one of the stores I go to was running their Domination event this Saturday, and I took the opportunity to try out some of the new Everblight models. This game actually took place last Friday, as several players were trying out lists for Saturday's event. I decided to try out one of the most intriguing new additions to the Legion, the new character Carnivean Proteus. At 11 points, it feels like he'll be competing against the Carnivean for space in lists, so I decided to sub into my Saeryn list, which ended up looking like this:

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight
-Proteus
-Scythean
-Shredder
-Shredder
Striders + UA
Blackfrost Shard
2 Spell Martyrs

There are two big downsides I see with Proteus: his most powerful attack is P+S 16, and his MAT isn't any better than the Carnivean's. I feel like this list should help address both of those problems, since the Blackfrost Shard's Kiss of Lyliss boosts his POW up to Carnivean levels, and both the Shard and Saeryn can help him hit with Ice Cage and Breathstealer respectively. Hopefully it'll also help his ranged attack connect, which I think is his best ability.

My opponent was running a beast heavy Skorne list, headed by pMorghul:

Master Tormentor Morghul
-Bronzeback Titan
-Titan Gladiator
-Rhinodon
-Cyclops Savage
-Cyclops Brute
-Basilisk Krea
Full Paingiver Beast Handlers

Wow, thats a ton of beasts for a 5 FURY Warlock! It'll be interesting going up against this list - Proteus and my Scythean should tear into his beasts, especially with the Blackfrost Shard and Saeryn's feat backing them up, but the Striders are probably going to running interferance more than anything else.

My opponent won the roll and opted to go first. Here's a quick sketch of the terrain:

Deployment
My opponent deployed his forces in the center, with the Bronzeback, Gladiator, Rhinodon and Savage forming a front line. Morghul was behind them in the middle, flanked by the Krea and Brute. The Paingivers deployed around the back, trying to set up as close to the beasts as possible.

I deployed everything on the far right, hoping to take advantage of the forest. Proteus and the Scythean deployed directly behind it, with the Shredders on either side of them and Saeryn behind them. The Spell Martyrs deployed next to the Shredders, and the Blackfrost Shard deployed close to the middle, behind the wall. Though opponent had virtually no shooting, I figured it would keep them safe from charges. The Striders advance deployed as far up as possible on the right. I figured I could run them into the back field and try to snipe out the Paingivers.

Skorne Turn 1
Rush was passed out, and all my opponent's beasts ran towards my force, stopping short of the forest.

Everblight Turn 1
My Striders ran forward, placing themselves to the right of the forest and my opponent's force. They had 2 roles: bait opposing heavies close so I could get the charge, and if they survived, push further and take a shot at the Paingivers. Unfortunately Perfect Balance made Morghul immune to Combined Range Attacks, and with the Krea's animus I was unlikely to get an assassination that way. The rest of my force ran forward, placing themselves behind the forest. Saeryn gave Respawn to Proteus, since I figured he would end up closer to the opposing force and be more likely to need it.

Skorne Turn 2
My opponent noticed that the Rhinodon had line of sight to my Scythean, and decided to go for a quick kill. He placed Rush on it and then use the Paingivers to boost its strength, then moved up Morghul so it would remain in his control radius and cast Abuse on the beast. All told, it had +4 Strength and Speed! It charged my Scythean, just barely making it into range. After a few lucky rolls, my poor beast was reduced to paste. Thats what I get for underestimating Skorne's charge range! The Titans and Savage went after the Striders, killing 3 of them as they tried to get around the forest and get LOS to Saeryn. Meanwhile, the Krea and Brute moved forward to protect Morghul with their abilities and animi.

Everblight Turn 2
Things are looking bad, but there is a silver lining: Morghul is now within Proteus' range. Decided I need to go for broke, I run my Spell Martyrs up and activate Saeryn, making sure to pop her feat before moving up and casting Hellfire on the Cyclops Brute - I couldn't have Shield Guard messing up my assassination. She then placed Breathstealer on Morghul. The Blackfrost Shard then activated, moving around the Rhinodon to place Ice Cage on Morghul (sadly only one of the two hit) and Kiss of Lyliss on the Brute. My Shredders then moved forward, immune to the Rhinodon's free strikes thanks to Saeryn's feat, and with some good rolls devoured the Brute and opening up a path for Proteus. The Cthulhu-Carnivean hybrid then moved up and used his ranged tentacle attack. Boosting to hit, I barely managed to snare Morghul and drag him close. Fortunately he was only sitting on 1 FURY, and fell under Proteus' barrage of attacks.

Aftermath
Wow, that was a nailbiter! While Proteus was clutch, upon thinking about it, I realized I was relatively unimpressed with him. Here's why: while I initially thought he would be competing with the Carnivean, I actually found he was closer to a Scythean. While the Carnivean is more of a utility beast with his spray and animus, Proteus' special ability is his drag. While it seems like a good utility ability, all it does is move one model. I can think of a better way to accomlish this: kill that model. In this respect, Proteus seems more like a beatstick than a utility beast, even more so because of his weak animus.

Ok, so he's a beatstick. He still has extra range on the Scythean thanks to his ranged attack, and an additional point of FURY on the Scythean. That makes him worth 2 more points, right? Unfortunately, Proteus has one more disadvantage: his best P+S weapon is 1 point weaker than the Scythean's. To me, this is the deal breaker. While he'll do fine against most targets, against the very heviest opponents, more often than not Proteus will fail to finish them off while a Scythean would get the kill.

It isn't all bad news though. With a damage buff, Proteus should be able to take on anything. For Warlocks who can provide one (pLylyth, pThagrosh, Kallus) or for those already including the Blackfrost Shard, he should be a solid alternative to the Scythean. In a game thats won by millimeters, having an extra inch of range can make all the difference, and between his extra FURY and attacks he's definitely a serious threat to all but the most armored opponents.

Longest Night

Long time no post! Last week I played at a Longest Night event at one of the stores I go to, and I have to say it was a lot of fun. Most of the players agreed that the scenario is the best Privateer has ever come up with, which was especially impressive because the only terrain on the tables was the festival tents. Perhaps one of the best moments was on a table next to me, where the players got so caught up in fighting each other they didn't pay attention to the thralls. As a result, by the end of turn 4 there were more thralls on the board than models controlled by both players combined, and they had managed to kill 3 light warjacks and 3 heavies! If you didn't get a chance to play, I'd highly recommend trying it out next time you have a match - you can find the rules here.

This week is the Domination release event, so hopefully I'll have some interesting Hordes vs Hordes battle reports to put up. I'm going to be pretty busy this month so I won't have much time to play, but I'll make some time to post my thoughts on the Domination releases. I know most have been spoiled already, but I'd like to take a look at the book so I don't miss any details and maybe try one or two out.

One last thing - I mentioned in my last post that I was going to work on painting, and I've actually got most of my Scythean complete. Unfortunately my camera is broken, so it'll be a little while before I'm able to show off the pictures. I'm also working on finishing my Shredders and Spell Martyrs, mainly because of the Longest Night event. There were bonus points for having a fully painted army, and I missed by just those little guys, which inspired me to finish them up!

End of September Update

Hey guys, its been a while since I've posted, so I figured I'd put up an update to let you know how things are going. After my last battle report, I got some feedback that I should find tougher opponents to play against, so I started hitting some other stores in my area in search of competition. Unfortunately, everyone is starting up the Journeyman League right now, so its probably going to be a few weeks before I can get a full 35 point game in.

I had originally planned on starting a Magnus list for my store's Journeyman league, but it ended up sneaking up on me and I didn't have time to order the models. Fortunately, the pressgangers who's running it is allowing us to use whatever Warlocks and battlegroups we wanted, I decided to use it as an opportunity to practice with Kallus, as well as get some more of my Legion painted. This week was the 15 point level, and here's what I brought:

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight
-Scythean
-Shredder
-Shredder
Full Warmongers

Dark Guidance has been serving me well, and my Scythean and Warmongers were able to carve through pDeneghra and Jarl Skuld. I'm going to try to take this time to paint up some of the models that have been waiting for a while, so stay tuned!

Battle Report: Kallus vs Kara Sloan

Hey guys, I'm back with a report featuring the newest of Everblight's Warlocks, Kallus! I picked him up at PAX a few weeks back, and finally got a chance to take him for a test run last night. This is the list I brought:

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight
-Scythean
-Nephilim Soldier
-Shredder
-Shredder
-Shredder
-Shredder
Blighted Nyss Striders
-Strider Officer & Musician
Full Warmongers
1 Spell Martyr

This is by no means an optimal Kallus list - I'd really like to have another melee infantry unit to take advantage of Dark Guidance, as well as turn into Incubi on feat turn. Still, I'm excited to see how the Scythean and Warmongers do.

My opponent was one of the Cygnar players I normally go up against, though she was bringing a caster she's never played before, Kara Sloan:

Captain Kara Sloan
-Defender
-Charger
-Charger
Full Long Gunner Infnatry
-Long Gunner Officer & Standard Bearer
Full Nyss Hunters
-Captain Jonas Murdoch

Ouch, this is going to be a rough list to go up against. There's so much shooting in there I don't know how much of my stuff will be able to make it up field, and I'm worried that if I bring Kallus up far enough to take advantage of Dark Guidance I'll get shot to pieces. On the plus side, if I can get my Warmongers into enemy lines under Dark Guidance, I should be able to tear all that infantry to pieces.

Terrain

My opponent won the roll and decided to go second

Everblight Deployment
Wanting to take advantage of the forest, I deployed the Scythean, Nephilim, and 2 Shredders directly behind it on the right, with Kallus behind them. The Warmongers deployed to their left, hoping to use the wall as cover, and the Spell Martyr stayed behind them, trying to stay centered while using the Ogrun as cover. The remaining 2 Shredders deployed in the middle of the board next to the Warmongers, hoping to provide support.

Cygnar Deployment
Kara Sloan and her battlegroup deployed directly across from Kallus, the Scythean and the Nephilim; I'm going to have to make sure the forest stays between us so I don't get sniped. The Nyss deploy in the middle of the board, and the Long Gunner deploy to their left.

Everblight Advance Deployment
I deploy my Striders across from the Long Gunners. With any luck they'll keep the riflemen from getting to the center and raining down CRAs.

Everblight Turn 1
The Scythean, Nephilim, and Shredders on the right all run up behind the forest, followed by Kallus after the Warlock puts Ignite on the Warmongers and burns the rest of his fury on spamming Tenacity. It ends up being a poor Ignite choice - 6 fury is so low that I drop the upkeep next turn. The Warmongers run up, deciding to move around the wall instead of behind it so they can get into combat faster, and the Spell Martyr follow close behind. I do some quick math and figure out the Striders can't get into range of anything, so they run up the large hill, with the Shredders on the left following suit.

Cygnar Turn 1
My opponent moves up cautiously, running her battle group up to the wall on her side of the board and taking a few shots at my Shredders, severely wounding one. The Nyss and Long Gunners also walk forward, and while they take a few shots are all out of range.

Everblight Turn 2
I realize that I probably was too cautous last turn - none of my models are in charge range, which means I have to get creative if I don't want to endure a turn of brutal shooting. I have the two Shredders on the right go Rabid and run to engage the Chargers, placing themselves so the Defender won't be able to attack them unless the Chargers move out of the way first. I hope this will keep my oppnent from killing the Shredders to allow the Chargers to shoot. I advance the Scythean and Nephilim Soldier into the forest, hoping they're tough enough to endure a round of shooting so they can charge. The Spell Martyr weaves through the Warmongers and Striders, and Kallus uses it to arc Eruption onto the Nyss, boosting to hit and killing 4 with the blast. I'm pretty relieved - almost half that unit is gone, and they really could have made my life difficult. The Striders then activate, those in range of the Nyss standing still for the aiming bonus while the others move closer to the Long Gunners. The end result is 2 more Nyss dead along with 3 Long Gunners, though the Nyss pass their command check. I have the wounded Shredder run up to engage two of the Nyss Hunters, hoping to keep them back as long as possible. Two of the Warmongers run forward, one managing to engage a Charger while the other is just short. I realize now that Kallus is a bit exposed to the infantry on the left, so I move the other 3 Warmongers to block line of sight to him.

Cygnar Turn 2
While I had a good turn, I'm not out of the woods yet. My opponent gives focus to the Chargers who pound the Shredders engaging them into blighted mush, and the Long Gunners who are close enough kill a Strider while the rest form up for a big CRA to kill the unengaged Warmongers. Jonas Murdoch and the remaining Nyss Hunters assault into my Striders, killing 2 while the 2 engaged by the Shredder chop the lesser warbeast up. Kara and the Defender both take shots at the Nephilim Soldier, who is badly wounded but keeps all his aspects.

Everblight Turn 3
I've manuvered into position, whethered the initial barrage, so now its time for Kallus to do his thing! The Wrath of Everblight moves up into the forest and casts Dark Guidance, saving the remaining 2 fury for transfers. The Scythean then charges the Defender, catching both the Chargers in its melee range. Thanks to the boosted attack rolls I'm able to hit the heavy warjack with ease, and after a flurry of attacks and Bloodbath, the Defender is down and both Chargers are badly wounded. The forward Warmonger charges into the Long Gunners, killing 3 thanks to boosted attack rolls and Beserk, while the 3 that were shielding Kallus move up to finish off one of the Chargers. The Striders continue taking shots at the Nyss Hunters, using CRAs to kill Jonas and two more elves. The Nephilim Soldier tries to finish off the other Charger, but just doesn't have the power to bring it down. Still, the turn feels great - its almost like a feat turn for any other Warlock!

Cygnar Turn 3
With almost nothing left, my opponent decides its do or die time and has Kara Sloan and the remaining Long Gunners open up on Kallus. Unfortunately they're only able to do minor damage, and my opponent concedes before my Scythean can tear into Kara.

Aftermath
Though the game was pretty one-sided, I feel like I learned a lot about Kallus. His spell list was as powerful as expected: Dark Guidance was a game winner, and the early Eruption was pretty great as well. I'll probably try to get another Spell Martyr in so I have the option of lobbing another one out later in the game. I think in the future I'll just drop Ignite on the Scythean and leave it there all game - +2 damage doesn't seem to make the big difference +2 MAT does when it comes to infantry, but as I've seen witht the Blackfrost Shard, it can be really helpful on a heavy.

One of the funny things about playing Kallus is I didn't take advantage of his melee prowess at all despite the fact that he has some of the best offensive stats in the Legion. I'll have to try that in future games but I'm a bit apprehensive since it seems like he'll go down to even a moderate effort. I also still need to figure out his feat; I'm really hoping for a soulless melee unit in Domination, since then I could take advantage of the +2 DEF without having to hope my opponent kills my infantry. Speaking of which, I really should grab some Hex Hunters. Battle Wizard is all but guarunteed when they charge in under Dark Guidance.

The Striders get a special mention for doing an outstanding job even though they didn't synergize too well with the rest of the list. They managed to hold back both the Long Gunners and Nyss Hunters with almost no help, allowing my battlegroup to go for the kill. On the other side of the spectrum is the Nephilim Soldier, who once again failed to prove his usefulness. I don't think the Massacre animus suits my playstyle, and if I don't use it he's just an overpriced, underpowered reach weapon. I think I'll bench him for the time being;  eventually I'll probably try to figure him out, but for now I have enough other things on my plate.

Newest Addition

Well the whole "waiting for Domination to come out" thing failed pretty miserably the first day of PAX, so here are some (sadly low-res) pictures of my newest Warlock, Kallus, Wrath of Everblight:

Haven't gotten a chance to assemble him yet and I'm busy packing for a trip, but with any luck I'll have a battle report featuring Kallus early next month!