Tournament Practice

Last Tuesday right after the Deadzone game I played a 35 point Warmachine game.

We were practicing for an upcoming tournament which has 40 minute deathclock.

My list was:

Asphyxious the Hellbringer & Vociferon
- Erebus
- Ripjaw
- 2x Helldiver

Maximum unit of Satyxis Raiders + Sea Witch

Withershadow Combine
Satyxis Raider Captain
Warwitch Siren
Necrotech & Scrap Thrall

Opponent had:

Captain Victoria Haley
- Defender

Maximum unit of Long Gunners
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers + Officer
Black 13th
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Squire
Epic Eiryss

So, Cryx vs Haley1. I've beaten Haley1 only once before with Cryx, and it was against the same player here when he was still starting out, and I had Kraken and Venethrax in my list - not an easy duo to kill mainly with POW 10's.

But I like tough match-ups, and thanks to Helldivers and correctly played Satyxis I might stand a chance against such a gunline.

First picture is taken from the end of Cryx turn 3, I think. I somehow failed to take a special notice where Haley was deployed, and then I failed to estimate 6" move + 16" control area, which caused the front line of Satyxis Raiders to get caught in Temporal Barrier. Damn. I've had good experiences in having the Satyxis as Eiryss hunters, so I guess that was the reason I ignored Haley.

Satyxis were pitifully shot to pieces, and the few of them that survived (and were out of Temporal Barrier) ran to engage Eiryss, and hopefully Black 13th.

Ashen Veil was re-cast on Erebus, and Asphyxious plus the helljack advanced forward. Objective and Erebus blocked LoS to Asphyxious.

Next turn Haley used her feat, and six RAT 12, POW 15 CRA attacks from Long Gunners wrecked Erebus. Gun Mages fared less well - I don't really remember what they did, except missed shots against Withershadow Combine. Black 13th and the Gun Mages mopped up what was left of Satyxis, and they disabled some system from Ripjaw, but I forget which. Eiryss disrupted Ripjaw.

Well then. What the heck.

Opponent had had zero casualties, and I was 18 points short.

Mage Storm cloud effect was in annoying place, blocking LOS to Haley with most of my stuff.

One Helldiver got easily within Headbutt range, and that's exactly what the Helldiver did. It knocked Haley down and bought a new attack. Haley was camping two focus. Damage roll was good even without boost, but then I was a bit starved for any additional attacks against her. Warwitch Siren then charged objective and cast Venom, which got Haley under. Didn't do much.

Now, looking back, I think there might have been a slight chance. Asphyxious cast Mobility and charged a Gun Mage. Extraordinary attack roll caused a hit, which triggered Blood Boon. I decided to cast two Bone Shakers at Haley, which she just took away with Arcane Vortex. I was desperately hoping that Withershadow Combine would be within 16" of Haley, despite not being in Temporal Barrier... You came here for logic? Shoo, go read something else!

Anyway, I actually should have cast the Bone Shakers on Gun Mages and go beat Haley with the zombies. Granted... P+S 7 wouldn't have a great chance of killing an Arm 16 target, but no matter how you look at it - they would have had greater chance than two entirely negated attacks.

Oh, and another order of activations thingy came into my mind - if Asphyxiosu had charged first, and Warwitch had come last, Haley would have had two points less armor. Of course it wouldn't have won this game with same rolls, but still... there was room for improvement.

Asphyxious had used his feat, but that really didn't help him much. Outrageous damage rolls from Gun Mages killed him before any focus users even got to activate...