I visited a friend last weekend, and I took Gloom with me.
We played one game with two players, and this time the Unhappy Homes expansion was used.
Families involved were the circus folk again and the artist family that came with Unhappy Homes.
When Mr. Giggles went into politics, Darius Dark had to find some new ways for the circus to thrive. After all the stars that were still working for him were the Bearded Man and tattooed lady who won't show her tattoos... Thumbelisa had already been eaten by bears.
Answer proved to be animals. Lots and lots of different animals. Manatees, mice, porcupines... you name it. And most of them were the most violent individuals of their species. Just about all of them turned against their master, too.
But fear not! Circus receives a very disturbing star indeed in the form of Samson O'Toole, the Bearded Man. He was accused of witchcraft at several points of his career and he was finally burned by a mob. Sad thing here was that he didn't die...
The artist family was shaken by many, many scandals. That's somehow fitting, I think. I do have one good piece of advice, though: Never, ever eat at the Duke. It may give a temporary boost to your career, sure, but people were dying all over the dishes, getting poisoned and suffering from dysenteria. If that sounds somehow doable, just wait until you see all the ghosts and poltergeists and whatnot mourning their last supper.
Simon Simone lived a rather interesting and colourful life that I'm not even trying to remember in detail. This was because there was a curious shortage of Untimely Deaths. I'm not expecting to see a bigger stack of cards on a family member in my own lifetime. Post-game I took a look on the remaining cards, and every other card was an Untimely Death there, so it wasn't only imagination and bad choices on discarding cards.
There being only two players probably made the situation only worse, when there were less people drawing cards from the deck.
I'm not entirely sure if that counts as a tragedy in itself.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Main damage dealers being Rangers and Journeyman Warcaster
Okay, I'm exaggerating in the topic.
But anyway, I played a 50 point Warmachine game with Skorne.
My list was:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon
- Basilisk Krea
- Basilisk Drake
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Minimum unit of Cataphract Cetrati
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Venator Flayer Cannon
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Extoller
Opponent had:
Siege
- Defender
- Ol' Rowdy
Maximum unit of Long Gunners + Unit Attachment
Maximum unit of Horgenhold Forge Guard
Rangers
Squire
Arlan Strangewayes
Journeyman Warcaster
Gorman diWulfe
Ragman
Reinholdt
Skorne started the game at the cost of starting from difficult table edge. However, I really wanted to go first because my whole army was so damn slow, and Cygnar had quite impressive shooting options available.
Scenario was Outflank.
Well, as I already said, my army was slow. First picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 2. Hexeris had cast Death March on Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on Archidon.
But then things started happening. Tons of Praetorian Swordsmen fell to shooting by... rangers. Even Ragman causes two deaths with Bone Shaker. But what griefs me most is the fact that two... just two rangers shot down my dear Rufus! Who was even hiding in a forest! Damn it, why lesser warbeasts never die that easily when I try to attack them? Well... at least Rufus got to Play Dead...
On my next turn Hexeris uses his feat, which has less than impressive results. If my memory doesn't fail me, Ragman and one or two Horgenhold Forge Guard members were the direct casualties. Oh, and Journeyman Warcaster had only one hit box remaining.
Last remaining Reptile Hound ran to block Ol' Rowdy's counter charge. I shuffle with the remainder of my army, except for Agonizer who unleashes all of its tears, denying focus allocation, and then ran towards the front line.
Next turn the most horrible thing imagined.
First I was relieved that Gorman diWulfe's movement was blocked by Defender and Siege. But that didn't stop Bronzeback Titan from being blinded by black oil, thanks to a fancy deviation.
Then it's obviously a perfect turn for Siege's feat. Things I lost: Reptile Hound, Basilisk Krea Archidon, Agonizer, rest of Praetorian Swordsmen except for the officer, and though Bronzeback didn't die, it took a lot of damage.
After casualties like that I usually go into reckless mode, and this is exactly what happened again.
Cataphract Cetrati declare a charge, and the unit leader aims for Siege. It's was a bit bummer that when I measured if charge was succesfull, it was quite apparent that it would had been possible to get a charge in at Gorman diWulfe. Ah well. Anyway, three Cetrati charge Ol' Rowdy (who had been denied a counter charge again by a beast handler), but don't wreck the jack.
Blinded Bronzeback manages to kill a forge guard, and Praetorian officer kills a ranger and tries to kill another forge guard, but fails in that.
Basilisk Drake sprays a few models dead, and Extoller shoots something down. Possibly a forge guard, since there is only one remaining in the picture.
Well, Hexeris finishes what Cetrati started. He charged Ol' Rowdy, and thanks to some bad rolls in the end it took him all but 1 Fury. He had Puppet Master on him, and this was probably the first time that I remembered to use the re-rolls and I needed those re-rolls, but as has been proved so many times before - re-rolls don't help. Well, I did improve 1 and 2 to 1 and 3.
By this time Cygnar had scored 1 control point, and now Skorne scored by dominating the zone on right.
Cygnar just needs to clean the board now. Bronzeback Titan is shot to pieces, and then there are some foxhole shenanigans and Hexeris is almost done for, too. The one Fury that was left saved him, though now when I'm looking at the picture I wonder if Drake was actually in his control range. Probably toeing it or something.
Gorman diWulfe attempts to blind all the Cetrati, but thankfully only one falls to the dreaded AoE.
However, there is only one model contesting right zone again. And Hexeris lived.
The model in question was promptly killed, and Skorne would be soaring to 4 control points. Hexeris launches Obliteration at Squire, and kills both its target and Reinholdt.
A Cetrati kills Gorman, and Extoller walks into melee with Forge Guard, boosts to hit and to damage and kills the dwarf.
And then something happens that gives this game a "fail" tag.
I somehow deem that shooting Siege with a spray is somehow more important than killing the last contesting Long Gunner from left zone. I'm not sure what the heck happened in the dark corners of my mind. I guess I failed to adapt to the situation, as I hadn't been counting on Extoller being able to kill the Forge Guard and I had given up the left zone in my mind. When situation changed, the best I could figure out was "hey, I go spray arm 21-22 warcaster!" instead of trying to hit a def 13 model that would die on a hit.
The end of story is short, but embarrassing. Long Gunners shoot down the last transfer target, Basilisk Drake.
Defender doesn't manage to do anything useful, and Siege missed against Hexeris with Ground Pounder.
The last possible guy then shuffles a little and takes a random shot at Hexeris - this last guy being Journeyman Warcaster. Against all odds (Hexeris was def 19 in cover) the attack hits. The hand cannon has pretty nice POW of 12, so I was quite worried at this point especially when Hexeris had something like 5 or 6 boxes remaining.
A poor roll could still save Hexeris, but, alas, the Journeyman Warcaster gains an advance in rank by gunning down a warlock.
But to be honest - I deserved that for my mental fart last turn.
At least Rufus performed a trick. This was my fourth game with the beast. From now on his statistics can be found from the Numbers subpage.
But anyway, I played a 50 point Warmachine game with Skorne.
My list was:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon
- Basilisk Krea
- Basilisk Drake
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Minimum unit of Cataphract Cetrati
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Venator Flayer Cannon
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Extoller
Opponent had:
Siege
- Defender
- Ol' Rowdy
Maximum unit of Long Gunners + Unit Attachment
Maximum unit of Horgenhold Forge Guard
Rangers
Squire
Arlan Strangewayes
Journeyman Warcaster
Gorman diWulfe
Ragman
Reinholdt
Skorne started the game at the cost of starting from difficult table edge. However, I really wanted to go first because my whole army was so damn slow, and Cygnar had quite impressive shooting options available.
Scenario was Outflank.
Well, as I already said, my army was slow. First picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 2. Hexeris had cast Death March on Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on Archidon.
But then things started happening. Tons of Praetorian Swordsmen fell to shooting by... rangers. Even Ragman causes two deaths with Bone Shaker. But what griefs me most is the fact that two... just two rangers shot down my dear Rufus! Who was even hiding in a forest! Damn it, why lesser warbeasts never die that easily when I try to attack them? Well... at least Rufus got to Play Dead...
On my next turn Hexeris uses his feat, which has less than impressive results. If my memory doesn't fail me, Ragman and one or two Horgenhold Forge Guard members were the direct casualties. Oh, and Journeyman Warcaster had only one hit box remaining.
Last remaining Reptile Hound ran to block Ol' Rowdy's counter charge. I shuffle with the remainder of my army, except for Agonizer who unleashes all of its tears, denying focus allocation, and then ran towards the front line.
Next turn the most horrible thing imagined.
First I was relieved that Gorman diWulfe's movement was blocked by Defender and Siege. But that didn't stop Bronzeback Titan from being blinded by black oil, thanks to a fancy deviation.
Then it's obviously a perfect turn for Siege's feat. Things I lost: Reptile Hound, Basilisk Krea Archidon, Agonizer, rest of Praetorian Swordsmen except for the officer, and though Bronzeback didn't die, it took a lot of damage.
After casualties like that I usually go into reckless mode, and this is exactly what happened again.
Cataphract Cetrati declare a charge, and the unit leader aims for Siege. It's was a bit bummer that when I measured if charge was succesfull, it was quite apparent that it would had been possible to get a charge in at Gorman diWulfe. Ah well. Anyway, three Cetrati charge Ol' Rowdy (who had been denied a counter charge again by a beast handler), but don't wreck the jack.
Blinded Bronzeback manages to kill a forge guard, and Praetorian officer kills a ranger and tries to kill another forge guard, but fails in that.
Basilisk Drake sprays a few models dead, and Extoller shoots something down. Possibly a forge guard, since there is only one remaining in the picture.
Well, Hexeris finishes what Cetrati started. He charged Ol' Rowdy, and thanks to some bad rolls in the end it took him all but 1 Fury. He had Puppet Master on him, and this was probably the first time that I remembered to use the re-rolls and I needed those re-rolls, but as has been proved so many times before - re-rolls don't help. Well, I did improve 1 and 2 to 1 and 3.
By this time Cygnar had scored 1 control point, and now Skorne scored by dominating the zone on right.
Cygnar just needs to clean the board now. Bronzeback Titan is shot to pieces, and then there are some foxhole shenanigans and Hexeris is almost done for, too. The one Fury that was left saved him, though now when I'm looking at the picture I wonder if Drake was actually in his control range. Probably toeing it or something.
Gorman diWulfe attempts to blind all the Cetrati, but thankfully only one falls to the dreaded AoE.
However, there is only one model contesting right zone again. And Hexeris lived.
The model in question was promptly killed, and Skorne would be soaring to 4 control points. Hexeris launches Obliteration at Squire, and kills both its target and Reinholdt.
A Cetrati kills Gorman, and Extoller walks into melee with Forge Guard, boosts to hit and to damage and kills the dwarf.
And then something happens that gives this game a "fail" tag.
I somehow deem that shooting Siege with a spray is somehow more important than killing the last contesting Long Gunner from left zone. I'm not sure what the heck happened in the dark corners of my mind. I guess I failed to adapt to the situation, as I hadn't been counting on Extoller being able to kill the Forge Guard and I had given up the left zone in my mind. When situation changed, the best I could figure out was "hey, I go spray arm 21-22 warcaster!" instead of trying to hit a def 13 model that would die on a hit.
The end of story is short, but embarrassing. Long Gunners shoot down the last transfer target, Basilisk Drake.
Defender doesn't manage to do anything useful, and Siege missed against Hexeris with Ground Pounder.
The last possible guy then shuffles a little and takes a random shot at Hexeris - this last guy being Journeyman Warcaster. Against all odds (Hexeris was def 19 in cover) the attack hits. The hand cannon has pretty nice POW of 12, so I was quite worried at this point especially when Hexeris had something like 5 or 6 boxes remaining.
A poor roll could still save Hexeris, but, alas, the Journeyman Warcaster gains an advance in rank by gunning down a warlock.
But to be honest - I deserved that for my mental fart last turn.
At least Rufus performed a trick. This was my fourth game with the beast. From now on his statistics can be found from the Numbers subpage.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
The Awkward Tree
Last Tuesday I played a game of Hordes vs Hordes.
Not a big suprise, I brought Skorne.
My 35 point list:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Venator Flayer Cannon
Agonizer
Extoller
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
I was playing against Legion of Everblight (in person):
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Carnivean
- Scythean
- Shredder
- Afflictor
Maximum unit of Warspears + Chieftain
2x Forsaken
Skorne started game, but the first picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 2. Nothing has happened yet. Draconic Blessing is on Scythean and Death March is on Praetorian Swordsmen. Thagrosh has Fog of War on, too.
Scythean charges Basilisk Krea, and kills her and a whole bunch of Swordsmen. Afflictor charges to Praetorian Swordsmen and makes an Incubus. Positioning was very awkward here, so the empty medium base high up in the tree represents Afflictor.
Scythean makes an assault and spray kills Agonizer.
So many important pieces dead in one turn. But fear not! I had the perfect plan for a counter-offensive. Hexeris' feat removed models from play, so if I only could kill all the warbeasts on my side, only a Shredder could come back from Thagrosh's feat.
Well.
If only.
I'm quite proud of all the shenanigans I pulled off, shame that they just didn't pay off.
First Hexeris activates, uses feat and charges Scythean. Hexeris manages to miss two attacks, and overall performance is annoyingly bad. I decide to pull back with Beat Back and leave two Fury left for transfers instead of buying attacks against Scythean. I was quite sure I'd manage to do enough damage to kill the beast.
Bronzeback Titan charges Carnivean. Carnivean dies, no suprises there, but Bronzeback knocks over 25% of its own health boxes out thanks to Spiny Growth.
Basilisk Drake advances and sprays so that both Scythean and Afflictor are under the template. Hits Scythean, but misses Afflictor. Scythean is in quite bad shape, but not dead yet.
Running out of options, both of the Reptile Hounds run next to Scythean. Beast Handlers then enrage Rufus.
Mortitheurge Willbreaker activates and uses Ancillary Attack on Rufus. P+S 10 + 3d6 hits Scythean and brings it down to... down to one damn hit box remaining. What is this thing with Thagrosh and one hit box?
I had been saving up my Venator Flayer Cannon and Extoller. Extoller took aiming bonus and an attack boost and tried to shoot Scythean who was engaged in melee. Miss, but a hit on Praetorians.
Venator Flayer Cannon is my last resort, though it needed 10's to hit thanks to melee bonus and concealment. But I really had to deal that one last point of damage. Cannon rolls full 3 shots. All miss. Two of them hit Praetorians, down goes the unit leader and the officer.
That was pretty miserable turn, but at least I know I tried.
Next Scythean is a healed a little and it takes out both Reptile Hounds. Afflictor continues to spawn incubi, and Praetorian Swordsmen manage to fail their command check. Damn it... Skorne has one of the best if not the best Command in the whole game. I guess Praetorians didn't approve the friendly fire from last turn.
Thagrosh juggles Draconic Blessing to Warspears, and they assault Bronzeback Titan. The spears they were throwing dealt much more damage than actual charge attacks, just as in the very same game I linked earlier. That must be some sort of karma thing. Anyway... Bronzeback fell. And when Bronzeback falls, so does whole Skorne.
Next Hexeris charges Scythean again and this time he kills the beast, but that was actually a bad thing for me. Thagrosh would only bring it back next turn.
Rest of Skorne army manages to kill two Warspears, and that's it.
Oh, if you're wondering about the long gunners in the woods - they're the incubi. Somehow I find that more disturbing than the actual incubi models.
Anyway, Legion closes in to Hexeris. Warspears try to assault Hexeris, but only one gets to do actual attacks against him. And misses.
This turn it's time for Beast Handlers to fail their command check. Skorne failing Command check twice during a game. Talk about a disciplined army.
It's pretty much game over, but thanks to Vampiric Reaving of Hexeris, I wanted to do a heroic last stand.
Hexeris started buying attacks against the incubi and warspear, using beat back to advance to Afflictor. He kills Afflictor and reaves 3 Fury from it. He then buys enough attacks to kill the warspear and advance to Shredder. Well, it really would have been awesome to actually do a heroic killing spree like that, but Hexeris was too exhausted to kill a Shredder even with five fury.
Praetorian swordsman feels pity for Hexeris and tries to come and kill Shredder, but the shredder just wouldn't die.
Thagrosh himself charges and makes Hexeris into a cloud effect.
But then to the interesting stuff:
So far, as a result from three games, Rufus has performed each of the following tricks once:
- Lie down
- Bite
- Play dead
Not a big suprise, I brought Skorne.
My 35 point list:
Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Venator Flayer Cannon
Agonizer
Extoller
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
I was playing against Legion of Everblight (in person):
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Carnivean
- Scythean
- Shredder
- Afflictor
Maximum unit of Warspears + Chieftain
2x Forsaken
Skorne started game, but the first picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 2. Nothing has happened yet. Draconic Blessing is on Scythean and Death March is on Praetorian Swordsmen. Thagrosh has Fog of War on, too.
Scythean charges Basilisk Krea, and kills her and a whole bunch of Swordsmen. Afflictor charges to Praetorian Swordsmen and makes an Incubus. Positioning was very awkward here, so the empty medium base high up in the tree represents Afflictor.
Scythean makes an assault and spray kills Agonizer.
So many important pieces dead in one turn. But fear not! I had the perfect plan for a counter-offensive. Hexeris' feat removed models from play, so if I only could kill all the warbeasts on my side, only a Shredder could come back from Thagrosh's feat.
Well.
If only.
I'm quite proud of all the shenanigans I pulled off, shame that they just didn't pay off.
First Hexeris activates, uses feat and charges Scythean. Hexeris manages to miss two attacks, and overall performance is annoyingly bad. I decide to pull back with Beat Back and leave two Fury left for transfers instead of buying attacks against Scythean. I was quite sure I'd manage to do enough damage to kill the beast.
Bronzeback Titan charges Carnivean. Carnivean dies, no suprises there, but Bronzeback knocks over 25% of its own health boxes out thanks to Spiny Growth.
Basilisk Drake advances and sprays so that both Scythean and Afflictor are under the template. Hits Scythean, but misses Afflictor. Scythean is in quite bad shape, but not dead yet.
Running out of options, both of the Reptile Hounds run next to Scythean. Beast Handlers then enrage Rufus.
Mortitheurge Willbreaker activates and uses Ancillary Attack on Rufus. P+S 10 + 3d6 hits Scythean and brings it down to... down to one damn hit box remaining. What is this thing with Thagrosh and one hit box?
I had been saving up my Venator Flayer Cannon and Extoller. Extoller took aiming bonus and an attack boost and tried to shoot Scythean who was engaged in melee. Miss, but a hit on Praetorians.
Venator Flayer Cannon is my last resort, though it needed 10's to hit thanks to melee bonus and concealment. But I really had to deal that one last point of damage. Cannon rolls full 3 shots. All miss. Two of them hit Praetorians, down goes the unit leader and the officer.
That was pretty miserable turn, but at least I know I tried.
Next Scythean is a healed a little and it takes out both Reptile Hounds. Afflictor continues to spawn incubi, and Praetorian Swordsmen manage to fail their command check. Damn it... Skorne has one of the best if not the best Command in the whole game. I guess Praetorians didn't approve the friendly fire from last turn.
Thagrosh juggles Draconic Blessing to Warspears, and they assault Bronzeback Titan. The spears they were throwing dealt much more damage than actual charge attacks, just as in the very same game I linked earlier. That must be some sort of karma thing. Anyway... Bronzeback fell. And when Bronzeback falls, so does whole Skorne.
Next Hexeris charges Scythean again and this time he kills the beast, but that was actually a bad thing for me. Thagrosh would only bring it back next turn.
Rest of Skorne army manages to kill two Warspears, and that's it.
Oh, if you're wondering about the long gunners in the woods - they're the incubi. Somehow I find that more disturbing than the actual incubi models.
Anyway, Legion closes in to Hexeris. Warspears try to assault Hexeris, but only one gets to do actual attacks against him. And misses.
This turn it's time for Beast Handlers to fail their command check. Skorne failing Command check twice during a game. Talk about a disciplined army.
It's pretty much game over, but thanks to Vampiric Reaving of Hexeris, I wanted to do a heroic last stand.
Hexeris started buying attacks against the incubi and warspear, using beat back to advance to Afflictor. He kills Afflictor and reaves 3 Fury from it. He then buys enough attacks to kill the warspear and advance to Shredder. Well, it really would have been awesome to actually do a heroic killing spree like that, but Hexeris was too exhausted to kill a Shredder even with five fury.
Praetorian swordsman feels pity for Hexeris and tries to come and kill Shredder, but the shredder just wouldn't die.
Thagrosh himself charges and makes Hexeris into a cloud effect.
But then to the interesting stuff:
So far, as a result from three games, Rufus has performed each of the following tricks once:
- Lie down
- Bite
- Play dead
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Ifrit sultan or iFrit sultan?
Yesterday I was playing Warmachine at the local gaming shop. A curious sight caught my eye, though.
It was the Firelands expansion for Talisman. Well, my greed knows know boundaries when it comes to expansions for games I own.
After taking a quick look through the contents, it feels like Firelands expansion dilutes with additional expansions even more than the previous ones. That's not entirely a bad thing, but I'm pretty certain that Firelands plays a lot more aggressively as the only expansion than with 500 extra adventure cards, give or take.
But on the other hand, changes to the board probably stay on the board a lot longer with additional content.
Characters seem fun, and it pleases me greatly that Fantasy Flight Games didn't raise the bar yet again when it comes to too powerful heroes.
Variant endings had two hidden cards and one normal card, which was a bit unusual.
Miniatures are once again quite good looking for a board game. Now, if they would only re-do the original fourteen and a few of the first expansions' characters...
It was the Firelands expansion for Talisman. Well, my greed knows know boundaries when it comes to expansions for games I own.
After taking a quick look through the contents, it feels like Firelands expansion dilutes with additional expansions even more than the previous ones. That's not entirely a bad thing, but I'm pretty certain that Firelands plays a lot more aggressively as the only expansion than with 500 extra adventure cards, give or take.
But on the other hand, changes to the board probably stay on the board a lot longer with additional content.
Characters seem fun, and it pleases me greatly that Fantasy Flight Games didn't raise the bar yet again when it comes to too powerful heroes.
Variant endings had two hidden cards and one normal card, which was a bit unusual.
Miniatures are once again quite good looking for a board game. Now, if they would only re-do the original fourteen and a few of the first expansions' characters...
That's Right - Lay Down, Play Dead, Be Dead
Last Sunday I played another game of Warmachine with my new beloved model, Rufus the Reptile Hound.
Game was 35 points, and my list was:
Lord Arbiter Hexeris
- 2x Reptile Hounds
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon (bonded to Hexeris)
Minimum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Venator Flayer Cannon
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Agonizer
Aptimus Marketh
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Opponent had:
High Exemplar Kreoss
- Crusader
- Revenger
- Repenter
- Dervish
Minimum unit of Exemplar Errants
Minimum unit of Deliverers
Vilmon
2x Paladins
Wracks
Vassal of Menoth
Board was interestingly full, but I guess it didn't give either player a big advantage since both of our armies were terrible at navigating terrain. However, we just played a caster kill game. If we'd have had a scenario with two 12" zones and maybe a sprinkling of flags and objectives, their initial placement would have been a pain.
Anyway.
Skorne started game. Kreoss began upkeeping Lamentation, and did this throughout the whole game. I had Ashen Veil on Praetorian Swordsmen. It was a bit annoying that my whole damn army was so slow. On turn 2 I had only brought my army to perfect Kreoss feat position. But better that way than getting your caster knocked down and having multiple blunt traumas with various instruments all over his body. I decided to not take a picture from my second turn as only progress was slowish advancement and a couple of Flayer cannon shots against Revenger.
Second picture is a bad picture, as it leaves out a paladin, rest of the Exemplar Errants and Archidon out on the right. Just try to imagine them there, will you?
Rufus learned a trick this turn - lie down. That was almost a cheat, since I was playing against Kreoss. Kreoss had activated his feat, and everything else but the Archidon, Hexeris himself an standard bearer of Praetorian Swordsmen were inside the control area.
One Dervish and a Repenter wasn't enough to take out a knocked down Bronzeback, however. I guess it would have needed at least Vilmon and Revenger there, too. But if Bronzeback would have survived those even with one box remaining, all three would have been dead on a single activation of that particular warbeast. That is to say - I can understand the hesitation.
Repenter had two shots available thanks to ancillary attack, and one of those attacks scorched Praetorians. Deliverers took shots against them, too, but one of them managed to roll double 1's to attack roll and no blast damage cracked through Arm 14. But even with a little lousy performance from them, all I was left was three praetorians and their standard.
On my next turn I make a serious blunder.
I shake off knock down from all of the warbeasts. I'm going to use Hexeris' feat and get rid of all Exemplar Errants. A couple of beast handlers can forfeit their movement to stand up and enrage the Bronzeback and take fury away from Rufus. Bronzeback then demolishes Dervish in a couple of swings. I think I would have been happier with a little less grand damage rolls, because there wasn't even a remote chance that Bronzeback would get to Beat Back to Revenger. Ah well. Bronzeback throws Dervish to Revenger with Chain Attack, destroying Dervish and knocking down Revenger.
Then Archidon advances and riles a bit Fury.
Hexeris activates and moves forward and I start twirling my evil mustaches and already imagining the wonders I could do with 14 Fury. Opponent says that I just entered Lamentation range. Heh.
Heh.
What would have been an onslaught of flame and cinder turned out to be a couple of heals to Bronzeback and Bronzeback's animus cast upon Rufus.
Valiantly the Reptile Hound charges to Revenger, and really does Beat Back the warjack. Not twice, though, that would have been too much.
Next turn Paladin on the right charges Archidon. I'm sure those knights wondered that why the heck did the beast just come and stare them menacingly. Paladin scored quite high damage, and I was sure Archidon was done for.
Exemplar Errants charge, three get to Archidon and rest go somewhere else. All three missed against Archidon. And to make matters even worse, if I'm looking right at the picture, the two who charged Beast Handler also missed? One who got to Beast Handler unit leader seems to have dispatched his target.
Vilmon goes to Stone and Mortar stance and Impervious Wall. Crusader didn't manage to kill Rufus - it was left alive with one damage box in Mind branch. Revenger backed off and took a free strike from the Reptile Hound, but took no damage. Without Body branch P+S 8 isn't going to do much.
And then some stuff happened.
Bronzeback is enraged by beast handlers and Hexeris casts Trainwreck on it. Then Bronzeback charges Vilmon. Even if it cannot harm Vilmon, it can still Beat Back it. Well, there was this free strike thing, though. Bronzeback had to take a free strike from Vilmon, because I didn't pay attention to the paladin's facing. Damage roll was quite low, though, and Bronzeback lost "only" it's mind.
That did mean that every attack roll had to be boosted, and still hit chances were only about 50%. This time it was enough, and Kreoss was beaten to death by an enraged, mindless Bronzeback Titan on fire.
This was enough for opponent to make a beautiful reaction picture to the situation (used with permission).
I could say it's overreacting, but then I would be lying.
Game was 35 points, and my list was:
Lord Arbiter Hexeris
- 2x Reptile Hounds
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon (bonded to Hexeris)
Minimum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Venator Flayer Cannon
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Agonizer
Aptimus Marketh
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Opponent had:
High Exemplar Kreoss
- Crusader
- Revenger
- Repenter
- Dervish
Minimum unit of Exemplar Errants
Minimum unit of Deliverers
Vilmon
2x Paladins
Wracks
Vassal of Menoth
Board was interestingly full, but I guess it didn't give either player a big advantage since both of our armies were terrible at navigating terrain. However, we just played a caster kill game. If we'd have had a scenario with two 12" zones and maybe a sprinkling of flags and objectives, their initial placement would have been a pain.
Anyway.
Skorne started game. Kreoss began upkeeping Lamentation, and did this throughout the whole game. I had Ashen Veil on Praetorian Swordsmen. It was a bit annoying that my whole damn army was so slow. On turn 2 I had only brought my army to perfect Kreoss feat position. But better that way than getting your caster knocked down and having multiple blunt traumas with various instruments all over his body. I decided to not take a picture from my second turn as only progress was slowish advancement and a couple of Flayer cannon shots against Revenger.
Second picture is a bad picture, as it leaves out a paladin, rest of the Exemplar Errants and Archidon out on the right. Just try to imagine them there, will you?
Rufus learned a trick this turn - lie down. That was almost a cheat, since I was playing against Kreoss. Kreoss had activated his feat, and everything else but the Archidon, Hexeris himself an standard bearer of Praetorian Swordsmen were inside the control area.
One Dervish and a Repenter wasn't enough to take out a knocked down Bronzeback, however. I guess it would have needed at least Vilmon and Revenger there, too. But if Bronzeback would have survived those even with one box remaining, all three would have been dead on a single activation of that particular warbeast. That is to say - I can understand the hesitation.
Repenter had two shots available thanks to ancillary attack, and one of those attacks scorched Praetorians. Deliverers took shots against them, too, but one of them managed to roll double 1's to attack roll and no blast damage cracked through Arm 14. But even with a little lousy performance from them, all I was left was three praetorians and their standard.
On my next turn I make a serious blunder.
I shake off knock down from all of the warbeasts. I'm going to use Hexeris' feat and get rid of all Exemplar Errants. A couple of beast handlers can forfeit their movement to stand up and enrage the Bronzeback and take fury away from Rufus. Bronzeback then demolishes Dervish in a couple of swings. I think I would have been happier with a little less grand damage rolls, because there wasn't even a remote chance that Bronzeback would get to Beat Back to Revenger. Ah well. Bronzeback throws Dervish to Revenger with Chain Attack, destroying Dervish and knocking down Revenger.
Then Archidon advances and riles a bit Fury.
Hexeris activates and moves forward and I start twirling my evil mustaches and already imagining the wonders I could do with 14 Fury. Opponent says that I just entered Lamentation range. Heh.
Heh.
What would have been an onslaught of flame and cinder turned out to be a couple of heals to Bronzeback and Bronzeback's animus cast upon Rufus.
Valiantly the Reptile Hound charges to Revenger, and really does Beat Back the warjack. Not twice, though, that would have been too much.
Next turn Paladin on the right charges Archidon. I'm sure those knights wondered that why the heck did the beast just come and stare them menacingly. Paladin scored quite high damage, and I was sure Archidon was done for.
Exemplar Errants charge, three get to Archidon and rest go somewhere else. All three missed against Archidon. And to make matters even worse, if I'm looking right at the picture, the two who charged Beast Handler also missed? One who got to Beast Handler unit leader seems to have dispatched his target.
Vilmon goes to Stone and Mortar stance and Impervious Wall. Crusader didn't manage to kill Rufus - it was left alive with one damage box in Mind branch. Revenger backed off and took a free strike from the Reptile Hound, but took no damage. Without Body branch P+S 8 isn't going to do much.
And then some stuff happened.
Bronzeback is enraged by beast handlers and Hexeris casts Trainwreck on it. Then Bronzeback charges Vilmon. Even if it cannot harm Vilmon, it can still Beat Back it. Well, there was this free strike thing, though. Bronzeback had to take a free strike from Vilmon, because I didn't pay attention to the paladin's facing. Damage roll was quite low, though, and Bronzeback lost "only" it's mind.
That did mean that every attack roll had to be boosted, and still hit chances were only about 50%. This time it was enough, and Kreoss was beaten to death by an enraged, mindless Bronzeback Titan on fire.
This was enough for opponent to make a beautiful reaction picture to the situation (used with permission).
I could say it's overreacting, but then I would be lying.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Enraged lil' doggie
About two weeks ago Rufus made his debut on the battlefields of Immoren.
It was a 50 point game, and my list was:
Dominar Rasheth
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- Cyclops Shaman
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Maximum unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Agonizer
Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw
Opponent had:
Jeremiah Kraye
- Ol' Rowdy
- Hammersmith
- 2x Hunters
Maximum unit of Greygore Boomhowler's & Co. + Jonas Murdoch
Rangers
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Arlan Strangewayes
Journeyman Warcaster
Squire
Cygnar started game and first picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 1. I got to make my first acquaintance with the spell Full Tilt. There is something very disturbing in 16" running Hammersmith, though what really messed up my mind was thinking about 24" running spd 6 warjacks.
I don't remember any more how on earth did Hunter get where it is in picture 2 (on the right, next to Bronzeback) but it did deny a counter charge to hammersmith. Hammersmith, then, charged and beat Basilisk Krea into a pulp. This was first thing I forgot - I didn't jump in with Feralgeist. After all Krea would have been quite a beast in melee if coupled up with basilisk Drake.
On my next turn I wanted to make really sure that both Hammersmith and Hunter would get wrecked. Paingiver Beast Handlers enraged both Reptile Hounds and healed up Basilisk Drake a little bit, but then Bronzeback did it again. In a single activation it managed to punch both warjacks down.
Annoying thing here was now that both Reptile Hound had to declare a charge, thanks to Beast Handlers. Well, one of them charged Ol' Rowdy who had Arcane Shield on. And if I remember right, it even scored one damage point! Way to go, doge!
Rufus, on the other hand, tried to charge a trollkin, but the charge fell woefully short.
Praetorian Swordsmen who had Carnivore on them charged trollkin next, and decimated most of the unit. However, that 4+ tough is one heck of a countermeasure to one-turn anatomical precision.
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw advanced slowly under Submerge animus. Basilisk Drake advanced to contest the control zone and tried to spray Kraye, and scored a lucky hit with even luckier damage roll.
Finally Feralgeist ran to have most of my warbeasts within possession range.
Well, next Ol' Rowdy shows his disrespect for cute lil' doges, after he had knocked down both the dog and the basilisk.
This was annoying. I had intentional plans for Feralgeist jumping to and fro in my warbeasts, I had even brought it that far forward just for that purpose. And when Reptile Hound destroyed, I forgot to possess it. Again.
However, after that it was too late anyway since Master Holt came and shot the ghost down with some fancy magical pistols. I have no doubts that I would've forgotten to possess once again when Drake would die, so in that way this was some comfort.
Basilisk Drake was suprisingly resilient. It survived a shot from Hunter and a hand cannon shot from Junior Warcaster, and even a charge attack and impact attack from Kraye himself. Kraye had to buy one more attack to put the beast down, and I guess this was where opponent got a little bit too greedy for control points - I got Snapjaw, Wrong Eye and Cyclops Shaman within certain charge range. Though Kraye was Def 14, Arm 23 target at the moment.
Given that, I wasn't sure at all if the low-powered attacks of my models would bring Kraye down. However, Dominar Rasheth still hadn't used his feat, so obviously he did that now. Then he cast Blood Mark on Kraye, which mean a total of -4 Arm.
Snapjaw charges Kraye, and the first damage roll from a succesful hit is enough to one-shot him. None of the dice were below 4.
I hope I get to write up next game, where Bronzeback continues its daring exploits, and even Rufus learns a trick... (oh wow, what a hype).
It was a 50 point game, and my list was:
Dominar Rasheth
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- Cyclops Shaman
- 2x Reptile Hounds
Maximum unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Agonizer
Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw
Opponent had:
Jeremiah Kraye
- Ol' Rowdy
- Hammersmith
- 2x Hunters
Maximum unit of Greygore Boomhowler's & Co. + Jonas Murdoch
Rangers
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Arlan Strangewayes
Journeyman Warcaster
Squire
Cygnar started game and first picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 1. I got to make my first acquaintance with the spell Full Tilt. There is something very disturbing in 16" running Hammersmith, though what really messed up my mind was thinking about 24" running spd 6 warjacks.
I don't remember any more how on earth did Hunter get where it is in picture 2 (on the right, next to Bronzeback) but it did deny a counter charge to hammersmith. Hammersmith, then, charged and beat Basilisk Krea into a pulp. This was first thing I forgot - I didn't jump in with Feralgeist. After all Krea would have been quite a beast in melee if coupled up with basilisk Drake.
On my next turn I wanted to make really sure that both Hammersmith and Hunter would get wrecked. Paingiver Beast Handlers enraged both Reptile Hounds and healed up Basilisk Drake a little bit, but then Bronzeback did it again. In a single activation it managed to punch both warjacks down.
Annoying thing here was now that both Reptile Hound had to declare a charge, thanks to Beast Handlers. Well, one of them charged Ol' Rowdy who had Arcane Shield on. And if I remember right, it even scored one damage point! Way to go, doge!
Rufus, on the other hand, tried to charge a trollkin, but the charge fell woefully short.
Praetorian Swordsmen who had Carnivore on them charged trollkin next, and decimated most of the unit. However, that 4+ tough is one heck of a countermeasure to one-turn anatomical precision.
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw advanced slowly under Submerge animus. Basilisk Drake advanced to contest the control zone and tried to spray Kraye, and scored a lucky hit with even luckier damage roll.
Finally Feralgeist ran to have most of my warbeasts within possession range.
Well, next Ol' Rowdy shows his disrespect for cute lil' doges, after he had knocked down both the dog and the basilisk.
This was annoying. I had intentional plans for Feralgeist jumping to and fro in my warbeasts, I had even brought it that far forward just for that purpose. And when Reptile Hound destroyed, I forgot to possess it. Again.
However, after that it was too late anyway since Master Holt came and shot the ghost down with some fancy magical pistols. I have no doubts that I would've forgotten to possess once again when Drake would die, so in that way this was some comfort.
Basilisk Drake was suprisingly resilient. It survived a shot from Hunter and a hand cannon shot from Junior Warcaster, and even a charge attack and impact attack from Kraye himself. Kraye had to buy one more attack to put the beast down, and I guess this was where opponent got a little bit too greedy for control points - I got Snapjaw, Wrong Eye and Cyclops Shaman within certain charge range. Though Kraye was Def 14, Arm 23 target at the moment.
Given that, I wasn't sure at all if the low-powered attacks of my models would bring Kraye down. However, Dominar Rasheth still hadn't used his feat, so obviously he did that now. Then he cast Blood Mark on Kraye, which mean a total of -4 Arm.
Snapjaw charges Kraye, and the first damage roll from a succesful hit is enough to one-shot him. None of the dice were below 4.
I hope I get to write up next game, where Bronzeback continues its daring exploits, and even Rufus learns a trick... (oh wow, what a hype).
Friday, March 7, 2014
May I present you two dogs and their mut(t)ons?
I know I should be writing up a game from last week, but I'm burdened by a few other writing projects.
So I'm just leaving these here.
I finished converting a couple of more Stage 3A's into mutons for Deadzone, but to be honest they weren't such a story for success as the last one...
The problem with these guys was that they had a lot more clothes on, so their anatomy was bound to be rather... interesting. But hey, they're aliens, right?
I wish I had taken a couple more pictures, since the first one makes me wonder if one plasma shell actually blew up in the barrel of that gun.
Anyway, with that particular muton who is helding the weapon with one hand I realised that I can actually use heated metal in the "sculpting" process. Thanks to that I had to use a lot less Green Stuff, and it gives me a little bit of hope with that HMG guy. They may not be perfect beauties, but they're made with love.
As for the plague hounds, I decided to take almost eye hurting bright tone for their flesh. Eventhough X-Com Enemy Unknown doesn't include any canine monsters (I doubt Reaper is a canine...) I wanted these to look at least remotely fitting for Enemy Unknown setting.
Additional plans:
- Stage 2 as Chryssalid
- Plague Swarm as Celatid
- HMG guy probably needs to go as Heavy Plasma carrying muton, but somehow that doesn't feel right...
- Boom Stick as a Muton with Small Launcher
- CSW team as a Muton with Blaster Launcher (I might try to convert the loader as a pistol wielding muton and... uh... the weapon itself, whatever...)
- Plague Teraton as Reaper
- The floating psychic as either an Ethereal or Sectoid with mind probe, but especially if I go with a sectoid the base size thing might be hilarious...
So I'm just leaving these here.
I finished converting a couple of more Stage 3A's into mutons for Deadzone, but to be honest they weren't such a story for success as the last one...
The problem with these guys was that they had a lot more clothes on, so their anatomy was bound to be rather... interesting. But hey, they're aliens, right?
I wish I had taken a couple more pictures, since the first one makes me wonder if one plasma shell actually blew up in the barrel of that gun.
Anyway, with that particular muton who is helding the weapon with one hand I realised that I can actually use heated metal in the "sculpting" process. Thanks to that I had to use a lot less Green Stuff, and it gives me a little bit of hope with that HMG guy. They may not be perfect beauties, but they're made with love.
As for the plague hounds, I decided to take almost eye hurting bright tone for their flesh. Eventhough X-Com Enemy Unknown doesn't include any canine monsters (I doubt Reaper is a canine...) I wanted these to look at least remotely fitting for Enemy Unknown setting.
Additional plans:
- Stage 2 as Chryssalid
- Plague Swarm as Celatid
- HMG guy probably needs to go as Heavy Plasma carrying muton, but somehow that doesn't feel right...
- Boom Stick as a Muton with Small Launcher
- CSW team as a Muton with Blaster Launcher (I might try to convert the loader as a pistol wielding muton and... uh... the weapon itself, whatever...)
- Plague Teraton as Reaper
- The floating psychic as either an Ethereal or Sectoid with mind probe, but especially if I go with a sectoid the base size thing might be hilarious...
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Never betray your principles or you'll fall, and never rise
Last Wednesday I played a 50 point Warmachine game.
I've had this thing going on for a long time now that I won't play with a model that's not been painted. When I had less models I wasn't so strict about it, but now when I got hundreds of points worth of models, this principle ensures me that I continue to play with my older models and also have the motivation to finish new ones.
But the Kraken has been sitting on my painting table for over a year now. I decided that what the hell, now it's time to try this one out, after all its almost painted.
So, I conjured up a funny list:
Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Kraken
- Nightwretch
Maximum unit of Bane Thralls + Unit Attachment
Minimum unit of Satyxis Raiders + Sea Witch
Bane Lord Tartarus
Satyxis Raider Captain
2x Necrotech & Scrap Thrall
Ogrun Bokur
Ragman
Gorman diWulfe
And opponent had:
Army of Annihilation tier 4
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Carnivean
- Ravagore
- Scythean
2x Maximum unit of Warspears + Chieftain
Maximum unit of Spawning Vessel
The Forsaken
(free) Warmonger War Chief
Legion started the game, and damn it was a horrifying speed the legion closed in. Both warspear units had picked Kraken as their prey, and the unit in middle had this +2 STR & Terror spell on them.
Anyway, first picture is from the end of Cryx turn 1. Satyxis had run to stall the Legion a bit, because I didn't want to run with my whole army to get slaughtered, and yet I didn't want to leave all zones completely uncontested. A pleasant suprise was the astounding RNG of 16 on the Kraken's supersystem gun. I could start shooting on turn 1, though the funniest thing happened - attack hit, but even with a damage boost it didn't kill a Warspear.
Needless to say, all of the Satyxis but the Sea Witch got killed. Now, looking back, I'm not sure if that was a good idea, as I unintentionally fed the spawning vessel enough to create a lesser warbeast.
But all in all, legion could only touch their own zone.
Next the Blood Witch tried to be bold and went to tie legion heavy warbeasts and bloodthirsty warspears. Being there all alone must take some guts...
Bane Thralls just ran forward and Tartarus tried to hide behind. After all Warspears didn't ignore Stealth.
Kraken tried to shoot down yet another Warspear again, yet it failed to kill even with a damage boost. Again.
Asphyxious tried to cast Excarnate on Spawning Vessel. It was a long shot, and didn't pay off at all. Not even a single damage point.
So Cryx had inflicted zero casualties on Legion of Everblight, and it was already second turn.
There is some luck on my side next, as Sea Witch defies all attempts to get herself killed. Ravagore has to step in and kill her after Forsaken doesn't do the job. Also the Stinger that was spawned last round frenzies and bites the spawning vessel. Damage roll was quite high, but sadly it didn't wreck the cauldron. That would have been funny.
Anyway, a shredder is spawned and it comes to engage Nightwretch.
Middle unit of Warspears charge Kraken, but only two got withing melee range. And that was what saved Kraken, since it nearly got wrecked by this charge. Boxes from left field were all gone and almost half of the boxes from right were filled, too. Supersystem and left arm were the only systems that broke down, though.
Other warspear unit and scythean kill bane thralls, but since I was playing epic Asphyxious that wasn't a big concern. Scythean killed three with Take Down animus on, so that was something.
The picture from Cryx turn 3 hasn't focused well, but the important things were that both Necrotechs failed their repair rolls, meaning I wouldn't get off a Kill Shot. That was a bummer.
Bane Thralls perform badly against Warspears on the right, but three of them soften up Scythean a little.
Tartarus curses Warspears and charges them, killing two.
Ragman puts on Death Field and Kraken manages to kill one of the Warspears with its broken tentacle and the other one with second initial attack. Three focus go into extra attacks against Scythean, and the last attack (phew) removes the beast from play.
Ogrun Bokur comes to engage Warspears. Fun fact: the shield DOES do more damage than the halberd.
Gorman diWulfe blinds Ravagore, and feeling courageous because all of this Asphyxious advances forward, camping 3 focus and upkeeping Hellbound.
Nightwretch breaks off from the melee with Shredder and tries to shoot down the spawning vessel. Nope, it's still standing.
Ogrun Bokur did what he was hired to do - almost. Forsaken unleashed all her fury at Ogrun Bokur, but still he was engaging the warspear unit. This lead to an interesting situation, when Thagrosh advanced and cast Obliteration on Ogrun Bokur. This attack killed its target, and as a consequence Warspears were free to charge Kraken. That was the end of Kraken.
Both heavy warbeasts came to block any attempts to use Asphyxious's feat on Thagrosh.
But still - there was a chance!
I tried to clear a path for Asphyxious to charge Black Oiled Ravagore, but nothing really worked out so he had to take two free strikes from p+s 17 Warspears. That brought him down to 5 hit boxes or so. Or maybe the damage done was 5 boxes. I'm not entirely sure, since it was a while since this game was played.
Anyway, after Bane Thralls had activated and tried to do things Asphyxious charged the Ravagore. I decide to go full win-or-lose here and not save any focus for Teleport.
The situation here was that Carnivean was maxed out on Fury, Ravagore was at two Fury and the spawned Stinger had advanced to Thagrosh's control range. So I needed to take out Stinger and Ravagore, bare minimum. Excarnate, a shot from Nightwretch and a charge by Satyxis Raider Captain got rid of Stinger and attacks by Asphyxious and one bane thrall and one satyxis raider from Spectral Legion killed Ravagore.
So, would 3 Satyxis Raiders and 4 Bane Thralls be able to kill Thagrosh?
Turned out that they couldn't. And the result was none other than Thagrosh being left alive with one hit box remaining. If I'm looking for lessons here, it's probably that you don't play Asphyxious2 without a unit of bane thralls AND bane knights. But I'm not looking for such annoying lessons.
And then I lose games. To one box remaining.
Bitter? Hell no.
Thagrosh himself comes and destroys Asphyxious in melee. I had dropped Hellbound from Asphyxious for this assassination run, but if I had upkept it, Asphyxious would've still needed to survive 3x p+s 17 RAT 9-10 ranged attacks and uninjured Carnivean.
Anyway, it was an interesting game. I wasn't entirely disappointed with Kraken, as it had quite an impact on the game and could have achieved a lot more had the dice been a little better for it. After all two dead Warspears could've been everything it would have needed to survive.
I've had this thing going on for a long time now that I won't play with a model that's not been painted. When I had less models I wasn't so strict about it, but now when I got hundreds of points worth of models, this principle ensures me that I continue to play with my older models and also have the motivation to finish new ones.
But the Kraken has been sitting on my painting table for over a year now. I decided that what the hell, now it's time to try this one out, after all its almost painted.
So, I conjured up a funny list:
Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Kraken
- Nightwretch
Maximum unit of Bane Thralls + Unit Attachment
Minimum unit of Satyxis Raiders + Sea Witch
Bane Lord Tartarus
Satyxis Raider Captain
2x Necrotech & Scrap Thrall
Ogrun Bokur
Ragman
Gorman diWulfe
And opponent had:
Army of Annihilation tier 4
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Carnivean
- Ravagore
- Scythean
2x Maximum unit of Warspears + Chieftain
Maximum unit of Spawning Vessel
The Forsaken
(free) Warmonger War Chief
Legion started the game, and damn it was a horrifying speed the legion closed in. Both warspear units had picked Kraken as their prey, and the unit in middle had this +2 STR & Terror spell on them.
Anyway, first picture is from the end of Cryx turn 1. Satyxis had run to stall the Legion a bit, because I didn't want to run with my whole army to get slaughtered, and yet I didn't want to leave all zones completely uncontested. A pleasant suprise was the astounding RNG of 16 on the Kraken's supersystem gun. I could start shooting on turn 1, though the funniest thing happened - attack hit, but even with a damage boost it didn't kill a Warspear.
Needless to say, all of the Satyxis but the Sea Witch got killed. Now, looking back, I'm not sure if that was a good idea, as I unintentionally fed the spawning vessel enough to create a lesser warbeast.
But all in all, legion could only touch their own zone.
Next the Blood Witch tried to be bold and went to tie legion heavy warbeasts and bloodthirsty warspears. Being there all alone must take some guts...
Bane Thralls just ran forward and Tartarus tried to hide behind. After all Warspears didn't ignore Stealth.
Kraken tried to shoot down yet another Warspear again, yet it failed to kill even with a damage boost. Again.
Asphyxious tried to cast Excarnate on Spawning Vessel. It was a long shot, and didn't pay off at all. Not even a single damage point.
So Cryx had inflicted zero casualties on Legion of Everblight, and it was already second turn.
There is some luck on my side next, as Sea Witch defies all attempts to get herself killed. Ravagore has to step in and kill her after Forsaken doesn't do the job. Also the Stinger that was spawned last round frenzies and bites the spawning vessel. Damage roll was quite high, but sadly it didn't wreck the cauldron. That would have been funny.
Anyway, a shredder is spawned and it comes to engage Nightwretch.
Middle unit of Warspears charge Kraken, but only two got withing melee range. And that was what saved Kraken, since it nearly got wrecked by this charge. Boxes from left field were all gone and almost half of the boxes from right were filled, too. Supersystem and left arm were the only systems that broke down, though.
Other warspear unit and scythean kill bane thralls, but since I was playing epic Asphyxious that wasn't a big concern. Scythean killed three with Take Down animus on, so that was something.
The picture from Cryx turn 3 hasn't focused well, but the important things were that both Necrotechs failed their repair rolls, meaning I wouldn't get off a Kill Shot. That was a bummer.
Bane Thralls perform badly against Warspears on the right, but three of them soften up Scythean a little.
Tartarus curses Warspears and charges them, killing two.
Ragman puts on Death Field and Kraken manages to kill one of the Warspears with its broken tentacle and the other one with second initial attack. Three focus go into extra attacks against Scythean, and the last attack (phew) removes the beast from play.
Ogrun Bokur comes to engage Warspears. Fun fact: the shield DOES do more damage than the halberd.
Gorman diWulfe blinds Ravagore, and feeling courageous because all of this Asphyxious advances forward, camping 3 focus and upkeeping Hellbound.
Nightwretch breaks off from the melee with Shredder and tries to shoot down the spawning vessel. Nope, it's still standing.
Ogrun Bokur did what he was hired to do - almost. Forsaken unleashed all her fury at Ogrun Bokur, but still he was engaging the warspear unit. This lead to an interesting situation, when Thagrosh advanced and cast Obliteration on Ogrun Bokur. This attack killed its target, and as a consequence Warspears were free to charge Kraken. That was the end of Kraken.
Both heavy warbeasts came to block any attempts to use Asphyxious's feat on Thagrosh.
But still - there was a chance!
I tried to clear a path for Asphyxious to charge Black Oiled Ravagore, but nothing really worked out so he had to take two free strikes from p+s 17 Warspears. That brought him down to 5 hit boxes or so. Or maybe the damage done was 5 boxes. I'm not entirely sure, since it was a while since this game was played.
Anyway, after Bane Thralls had activated and tried to do things Asphyxious charged the Ravagore. I decide to go full win-or-lose here and not save any focus for Teleport.
The situation here was that Carnivean was maxed out on Fury, Ravagore was at two Fury and the spawned Stinger had advanced to Thagrosh's control range. So I needed to take out Stinger and Ravagore, bare minimum. Excarnate, a shot from Nightwretch and a charge by Satyxis Raider Captain got rid of Stinger and attacks by Asphyxious and one bane thrall and one satyxis raider from Spectral Legion killed Ravagore.
So, would 3 Satyxis Raiders and 4 Bane Thralls be able to kill Thagrosh?
Turned out that they couldn't. And the result was none other than Thagrosh being left alive with one hit box remaining. If I'm looking for lessons here, it's probably that you don't play Asphyxious2 without a unit of bane thralls AND bane knights. But I'm not looking for such annoying lessons.
And then I lose games. To one box remaining.
Bitter? Hell no.
Thagrosh himself comes and destroys Asphyxious in melee. I had dropped Hellbound from Asphyxious for this assassination run, but if I had upkept it, Asphyxious would've still needed to survive 3x p+s 17 RAT 9-10 ranged attacks and uninjured Carnivean.
Anyway, it was an interesting game. I wasn't entirely disappointed with Kraken, as it had quite an impact on the game and could have achieved a lot more had the dice been a little better for it. After all two dead Warspears could've been everything it would have needed to survive.
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