It was my Skorne against opposing Legion of Everblight.
And, uh, somehow I thought it was a VERY GOOD IDEA to take pictures without flash with only inside light. So upcoming are the VERY WORST pictures from games during the whole history of Every one of them, and that really is something!
Anyway.
It was a 35 point game with supposedly the steamroller 2012 Killbox going on, though I cannot be sure, because it didn't affect anything.
My list:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Venator Flayer Cannon
Minimum unit of Paingiver Beasthandlers
Minimum unit of Farrow Bonegrinders
Paingiver Master Tormentor
Extoller Soulward
Ancestral Guardian
Agonizer
And opponent had:
Saeryn
- 2x Scythean
- Angelius
- Shredder
Striders + Unit Attachment
Shepherd
2x Spell Martyrs
... which comes out at 36 points! Well, mistakes like that happen. I know I've made them, too.
I won starting roll, and first picture is taken from the end of my second turn, since nothing important happened during first round (I guess that was because none of our armies were well-versed when it comes to ranged potential).
Death March was on Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on Bronzeback Titan. Respawn was on Angelius.
Well, next opponent started to use Saeryn's feat.
Scythean runs to engage Bronzeback Titan and Angelius charges Basilisk Drake. Because of somewhat sub-par roll on the Armor Piercing attack the froggy is left alive with less than 4 hit boxes, don't exactly remember if it was 1, 2 or 3.
Shredder runs to Praetorian Swordsmen. Being fixated totally on Saeryn's feat and how to navigate it next turn I'm thinking: "Cool... I don't know what opponent is trying to do, but I guess it ain't bad if Shredder ONLY engages a couple of swordsmen."
And just a little while after that I remember that yeah, Saeryn actually does have other things except her feat. Like, you know, Blight Bringer. Bam, bam, bam, about 5 dead Praetorians there and officer down to one or two hit boxes, thanks to a really crappy damage roll on 'Bringer.
A couple of Striders come and shoot the Master Tormentor down, too.
It was a pretty devastating turn, which could have been a lot worse if there weren't a couple of bad damage rolls involved. But that's a sort of beauty in Saeryn's feat. Even if you have a dice screw moment, opponent is still going to have a really tough next turn.
I opt to do awkward things. First Bronzeback Titan runs off to get its channeling ability to bear. Not as in ursus, but to bear. I was thinking of using Hexeris' feat and casting Obliteration on Striders (turned out I was engaged to Scythean. From Scythean to Scythean, Bronzeback always falls for the same type, type that will eventually only tear its still beating heart through its chest... such is love, I guess.) Free strike did hurt, though.
But then Extoller Soulward and Venator Flayer Cannon with a lucky 3 shots punished the first Scythean close to my lines. Extoller rolled really badly for its damage, but I really cannot complain, since not a single one of flayer cannons shots rolled less than 8 for damage, and I think there were some 9 or 10 added into the mix, too.
A special mention goes to Farrow Bone Grinders. They shoot down Shepherd who gained both elevation and cover from the terrain piece it was standing on. That must've been more than the piggies ever did for me in any game.
And now, looking at the picture, I realise both of us forgot all about Saeryn's feat then when Paingivers were activating. I mean... they came and took melee pot shots at the beasts, heh.
Luckily there was no harm done, because I actually helped opponent. I started stripping down fury from enemy beasts, because I didn't realize shredder was on full Fury, too.
Praetorian Swordsmen charge Striders, though only two actually get to charge, rest have to run. They kill one strider and the extra spell martyr.
Next round was again very depressing.
Scythean eats up Basilisk Krea. Another Scythean eats up Bronzeback Titan. Angelius eats up the remains of Basilisk Drake. Striders throw their teeth at Praetorians and eat up them, too. Everything... gone.
Well, my warlock did what a warlock without beasts must do. Full aggression without any regards to personal surviving.
Beast Handlers line up to Angelius, and this time doing it right, filling the beast up with Fury. Also blocking Angelius' Line of Sight to Hexeris, who runs to middle field with the four little pigs.
Ancestral Guardian kills Shredder.
And here is where a deep affection for Agonizer was born. It released the agony that gave -2 threshold to nearby beasts.
On opponents turn every single beast at opponent's disposal fail their check, essentially giving me another turn to play. That pesky 2-point model was the key piece that still had me in this game.
Scythean close to Skorne side of the board beats up Angelius a little, and Angelius kills a single Beast Handler. Middle field Scythean kills a Strider.
Then comes Skorne's harsh payback turn.
Flayer Cannon softens up Scythean a little, and then Hexeris activates, uses his feat and charges the aforementioned beast. He kills it, and Scythean strikes Angelius to back arcs.
Then Hexeris continues to buy more attacks, and finally manages to kill Angelius, which triggers Respawn.
Obviously the snake respawns to Hexeris' back arc.
But I still had Ancestral Guardian left. It took +2" movement with a soul token and charged Angelius, killing it once and for all.
So suddenly playing area looked a lot less threatening, though Hexeris was still playing without beasts. Agonizer had a couple of fury on it, though.
Because Scythean was facing in wrong direction, it couldn't charge and finish off Ancestral Guardian (and everyone complains about the Guardian. Heck, almost in every game I've used it it does not warrant the title of 'paperweight'). Advance + reach wasn't enough to get those claws scythin'.
On my turn I guess it wasn't impossible for Ancestral Guardian, Hexeris and Flayer Cannon to destroy a big beast that was, though, largely left undamaged.
Wrong.
I don't remember how many boxes Scythean had after all of my army had mauled it, but there it was, still very much standing, and on top of that next to my warlock.
GG, right? I was sure next picture would be the last one from this particular game.
Wrong.
Scythean missed around 75% of its attacks (I don't remember the exact allocation of additional attacks and/or boosts), and landed only one solid enough hit that actually hurt. One damage roll was something like 1,1,2.
Saeryn activates next and misses around 75% of her attacks. Granted, there wasn't too many of them, since she had had to heal Scythean a little.
Sadly there are no more sharper pictures from this fight.
Last two pictures are just for sake of completeness. Last turn basically went so that whole army minus warlock killed Scythean, and then Hexeris landed a couple of good hits from Gulgata through Saeryn's spine.
The game was insane with an ending no-one would've expected after the end of opponents second turn.
I guess this deserves the "epic" tag.
Entertaining. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks :) Sometimes that happens, too.
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