Warmachine Tournament

There was a smallish Warmachine tournament held in Jyväskylä about a week ago. And there might be more to come, so an enormous yay for that.

My lists were:

[Theme] Infernal Machines
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver [+27]
- Corruptor [16]
- Deathripper [6]
- Inflictor [13]
- Leviathan [16]
Necrotech [2]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
2x Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
2x Soul Trapper [1]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]
Mechanithralls (max) [9]
- Brute Thrall (1) [2]
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls [4]
Soulhunters (max) [18]

No theme
Lord Exhumator Scaverous
- 2x Deathripper
- Nightmare [18]
- Stalker [8]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius [4]
- Reaper [13]
Machine Wraith [2]
Necrotech [2]
Satyxis Raider Captain [4]
2x Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Bane Warriors (min) [10]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]

Game 1:

First game was against Skorne.

I chose Deneghra who had to face:

[Theme] Imperial Warhost
Makeda & the Exalted Court
- Agonizer [0(6)]
- Basilisk Krea [0(7)]
- Cyclops Brute [8]
- Molik Karn [19]
- Titan Cannoneer [17]
- Titan Sentry [15]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [4]
Tyrant Zaadesh [4]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
2x Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew [2]

Scenario was Spread the Net. Opponent kept a keen eye on ambushing Mechanithralls, so they didn't get to do much. I played, true to my ill-advised style, rather aggressively with Deneghra, starting to score points with her from flag on my side.

Opponent forgot to bring anyone to contest the rectangular zone, so scenario game opened with 3 for Skorne and 2 for Cryx. To make it even, for some reason I forgot to activate Inflictor and Deathripper along with one Pistol Wraith. You know, the incorporeal solo. Against army that had close to zero magical attacks. Contesting the circular zone with no retaliation was a real possibility.

I tried to shoot Titan Sentry off the board, and, well. Sounds a little absurd, yes. But I did get Mortality on it (no healing) and nail it stationary with Pistol Wraith and break Spirit.

I tried rinse & repeat approach, again casting Mortality on Sentry and making it stationary, but this time there was quite a bit more planning to do, as opponent had more shield guards now. But mortified & stationary it was, but somehow I got fixated over killing the beast. It wasn't until some post-game talk where I realized it would have been more advantageous for me to leave it to block charge lanes from such inconsequential models as Molik Karn.

I got scenario to 3-4 for Cryx, and having used Deneghra's feat. Something moronic happened there. I wanted to give some trouble for opponent by casting Grave Wind on Leviathan that charged mid-field to kill one of the Exalted Guards - my idea here was to prolong Cryxian presence on the circular zone for contesting purposes.

Then Deneghra also made a spray just for giggles against nearby Swamp Gobbers. Well, there was this that I was afraid they'd run to contest my flag. Deneghra boosted both attack rolls and killed only one Gobber before repositioning herself back to flag, having two focus for damage mitigation.

So, what could have been a def 17, poltergeist, arm 16 target with four focus points for Molik Karn was def 15 and two focus points.

Yup, Mk3 Molik Karn still comes from far, far away.

To ease my pain somewhat, first two attacks Karn made would have hit Deneghra even if she would've had Grave Wind. But it was the third attack that killed her, and attack roll was eight.

Game 2:

Second game is against Legion of Everblight and I picked Deneghra list again.

Opponent has something like this:

[Theme] Primal Terrors
Vayl, Consul of Everblight [+28]
- 2x Carnivean [19]
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
- Seraph [14]
Warmonger War Chief [0(6)]
2x Blighted Ogrun Warspears (max) [15]
- Warspear Chieftan [5]
Hellmouth [0(6)]

I might be mistaken and I believe opponent forgot to deploy War Chief. Opponent started game and I did get to make acquaintances with these Hellmouth shenanigans, when Icy Grip is cast on Bile Thralls on the first turn.

Ambushing Mechanithralls got a nice charge against one of the Warspear units. I would've wanted Mechanithralls on different side of the table, but situation was too good to pass.

I forget opponent took the magical weapon granting objective, so I lost both Pistol Wraiths early in the game.

I was slowly whittling away Ogruns and even managed to shoot Nephilim Bolt Thrower off the board. But opponent had the big beasts very much alive, and gained the upper hand in scenario game. Annoying piece of terrain made Hellmouth way too survivable and the game came into point that I just didn't know what to do.

I kept Orin Midwinter hugging Deneghra at all times.

I guess it was a sort of game-opener when Hellmouth popped a tentacle behind Orin Midwinter, hit, and dealt only three points of damage. Opponent had already (at least mentally) committed to assassinate Deneghra. I had given a fair opportunity for that, as Deneghra had taken a free strike from Hellmouth tentacle earlier that dealt ten points of damage.

Anyway, Vayl cast Icy Grip on Deneghra three times, burning away Power Tokens from Orin Midwinter. Last Icy Grip resulted in a miss, so Vayl had no transfers.

Carnivean charged Deneghra. It needed 11+ to hit, so it boosted every attack roll. Twice it rolled 10, one of which was the charge attack.

I don't clearly remember what happened with last attack. I have vague memories that Deneghra had three damage boxes or something. Anyway, Deathripper ran close enough Vayl that Scourge wouldn't deviate off. The spell missed, but at least Legion warlock was knocked down. Then Denegra cast Ghost Walk on herself and charged Vayl, killing her.

I was a bit lucky at critical stages during this match. And I can't congratulate me for choosing the tactic "let's place my warcaster in dire spot and let's see what we can do if she survives." But it was Vayl2, so I suppose I'll gladly take any victories over her that I only can.

Game 3:

Last game was against Circle of Orboros. I picked Scaverous, as I wanted to play with both lists at least once.

I think I got this list wrong, but generally it was:

[Theme] The Wild Hunt
Morvahna the Dawnshadow [+27]
- Gorax Rager [7]
- Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
2x Gallows Grove [2]
2x Shifting Stones [3]
- Stone Keeper [2]
2x Warpborn Skinwalkers (max) [15]
- Warpborn Skinwalker Alpha [0(4)]
Wolves of Orboros (max) [11]
- Wolves of Orboros Chieftain & Standard [4]

This last game was, uh, kind of disappointing. I felt cheesy and like I was abusing something. I guess this is the apologetic Finnish mentality. Though really game was more about opponent having never played against Scaverous.

Anyway. As opponent didn't have excessively high model count, there was not all that much screen for Morvahna.

Morvahna was far enough that I had to bring a Deathripper within melee range of a Skinwalker. I thought Stalker would be able to kill him, but no. It took three Bile Thrall purges to get through the last three damage points or so. Sadly my Deathripper was inside all of the three sprays - but to my advantage, four damage boxes that were left after the automatically hitting purges had Arc Node and Movement.

Then Scaverous could activate and used Telekinesis to move three or so Skinwalkers out of Morvahna's way. Telekinesis also turned Morvahna around, and after that Scaverous was even able to cast Icy Grip on her.

Aiakos had upkept Escort, so Reaper could advance 8" to shoot harpoon at Morvahna. Reaper had Puppet Master from Tremulus, but didn't need to use it. All the rolls were adequate enough.

Morvahna had five transfers I think, four for sure at least. But also on top of Reaper I could charge with a couple of Bane Thralls as well as the Nightmare. Too many attacks, so she suffered an assassination on the second turn of game.

So two wins and one loss. And a sad notion how pretty much every list in the tournament were theme lists. On a more positive note, death clock didn't dictate the outcome of any of my games even if I hadn't really practiced with either of these lists. Though I have used Deneghra3 in Infernal Machines before, so there's that.

But just like it was after the tournament at Ropecon, there was this slight spark of enthusiasm from a few years ago when I went into tournaments a little more frequently. So I went to two tournaments this year. Let's make it at least three next year.

Company of Iron

Some days ago I played first two games of Company of Iron.

They were 20 point testing around, scenario being the same in both games. We played Lost Patrol and switched roles between games.

I took out following list:
Ancestral Guardian (Frontline Officer)
Extoller Soulward
Minimum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Command Attachment

In first game opponent had:

Satyxis Raider Captain (I forget the upgrade)
Helldiver
Maximum unit of Mechanithralls

First game was hilarious pillow-fight for many turns. Nobody really died. Praetorian Swordsmen were able to crack Helldiver with their minifeat, but that was probably because warjacks didn't get injury roll.

Skorne got two rounds in a row some +2 defense battle plans, and it was easy for me as the attacker to have pretty much everyone benefiting from those plans. Eventually Cryx started failing their Injury rolls, and were overwhelmed. It wasn't until the last round Skorne found the correct mission marker, but it was unavoidable that Skorne wouldn't be able to do exactly that.


Second game opponent had:
Satyxis Raider Captain (I forget the upgrade again)
Pistol Wraith
Maximum unit of Mechanithralls

And was the attacker. I placed the mission tokens a little bit goofy, and found great trouble when I had to spread my forces way too thin. It isn't an ideal situation when it looks like your commander has to hold one flank just about alone.

It somehow seemed that attacker had the advantage of not failing the Injury rolls in both of these games. It was terribly difficult to remove those Mechanithralls. I was also fairly worried about the Pistol Wraith, and decided to sacrifice Extoller Soulward in an attempt to kill the ghost. This required Extoller to walk through a cloud effect that gave Fire continuous effect on entering.

My commander actually managed to slay opponent's commander, but by then Skorne was all but overrun. There were too many Mechanithralls looking for, well, whatever they were digging. Scenario victory for Cryx.

Generally I welcome Company of Iron as a change of pace from Warmachine. Flow of the game different in an interesting way, though after two games it's too early to judge. Anyway, quite recommended.

Envisillan, years 15-20

Lantern Year 15 hunt
Sunstalker level 1
Twinja, Twinkare, Sacronicus and Frumio were chosen for the party.

Hunt phase was uneventful. Though it could have been game changing. I had no old survivors in the party, so I did not dare to try and snatch Muramasa. Showdown, however, was distressing. Once again trap was within the first five hit location. Luckily I had the Cat's Eye Circlet, or three out of four survivors would have taken the kaleidoscopic vomit all over them.

Both Twinja and Twinkare lost their once-in-a-lifetime rerolls in this fight. And I didn't have time to get to mine any salt, either. Sacronicus took a blow in the kidneys, which was annoying as I had planned to take her to upcoming Butcher fight.

Twinja had intracranial hemorrhage instead of being decapitated, and Twinkare was fleeing for a while instead of dying to mortal terror.

But Sunstalker was stalking no more, and survivors even managed to strike it dead at the Death Blow location.

Year 16:
Settlement Event is... Bone Eater. Ech. There must be some correlation in using Axes and getting either this event, or Murder. I'm afraid to use Axes from now on. Anyway, Biliouli had to be nominated for this because of her Marrow Hunger. Her actions went unnoticed, and a new Murder is coming up right next year.

This time I'm not too bummed about upcoming murder. I plan to throw Mursonus at Butcher, and if he survives he will have the highest hunt experience. And he has the Virus Flower, so it's kind of a win/win. If Mursonus survives. If not, well, it means Mursonus had died and Paraske would be next in line...

Settlement innovates Clan of Death and makes some leathers for extra shield and completing Leather Armor set. Settlement also uses Armor Ritual and makes Love Juice at Pottery. Last endeavor is Linieve learning Abyssal Sadist.

Year 16 showdown versus level 2 Butcher.
I choose Paraske, Mursonus, Linieve and Twinkare for this job. Linieve even eats the Blistering Plasma Fruit. All but Twinkare have +4-5 Evasion from base stats and gear, so I feel really confident.

Clawhead arrow misses, how else.

Also, last card Butcher draws on his turn is Lantern Frenzy and he targets Linieve. I let loose a heavy sigh, but it could be worse as Linieve has shield and +4 evasion, and the ability that gives armor for each bleeding token. For a while I actually think that damn, Butcher went into easy mode now. He wouldn't be able to crack through Linieve's armor and I had two bandages and first aid kit to remove bleed tokens.

That was until Butcher decided to roll all hit results to Linieve's body location.

Linieve had something like 8+ armor at every other location until she died to bleed tokens, caused by severe injury rolls.

Also I drew a couple of traps in quick succession.

I could not wake any optimism in me, I was sure that I had lost.

But much to my amazement, nobody else died.

And on top of that, survivors scored another Death Blow kill. Two times in a row. And never have I ever succeeded at Death Blows before. I was especially giddy over Mursonus' evasion +3, and him dying to Murder.

But it bothers me how I lost the super ability of blood plasma fruit thing from Lonely Tree, and Lantern Halberd as well. But when the time is right I believe I can take the Guidepost from ground - survival points aren't going to be a huge trouble from now on.

Year 17
Settlement event is Haunted, and all returning survivors lose their Insanity and settlement gets one less Endeavor. That isn't a big deal as I had eight of them.

Biliouli continues her killing spree, and is going to do so right next year. Nope. Anhednia re-roll Murder to year 22 instead.

Settlement innovates Pictographs.

Anhednia and Frumio both get Founder's Eye, and choose a new surname, to create a line of super babies. I mean, they get +1 accuracy, +3 strength and +2 evasion each.

Pottery makes Love Juice, and then two Love Juices give two infants, but this places me only back to earlier population.

Sacronicus goes do some augury, and it takes three attempts to get Intimacy. And this Intimacy gives blessed twins to the settlement. Population of 12. Highest I've had.

Year 17 hunt against level 2 Screaming Antelope
Sacronicus, Anhemio, Frudnia and Twinkare take care of the Antelope.

Even with a relatively fresh party the hunt did not pose too much of a problem. If it wouldn't have been for some unfortunate tramples and brain traumas, I think I might have even tried a level 3 Antelope instead.

Most notable thing here was that I drew Lonely Tree again, though the hunt event has been archived. This place is very lonely as these trees seem to pop up all the time.

Year 18
Settlement Event is Elder Council, and the senile senior is rambling again about the Beast of Sorrow... that has already been killed.

Then Hooded Knight promises to train some fighting arts. But it's a heavy price for Mighty Strike, three resources. Armored Strangers proceed to slaughter five population, which is unacceptable. One of the new survivors expends his re-roll, and settlement loses Inner Lantern instead.

Then Mursonus, the Dingle Sneak of the Antelope is back, and Frumio Meyhope is no more. Sure Mursonus is but a shadow of his former self - he lost Fencing, King's Step and Red Fist, Bitter Frenzy and Thundercaller plus all the abilities associated with Courage and Understanding in this transition process.

Settlement manages to innovate Inner Lantern right back, which is a little bit of a boring thing.

Mursonus and Anhednia paint Founder's Eye and get twins. I'm so close to society principle now that I make Love Juice with Pottery.

Paraske even plucked Guidepost from ground until I remembered that he, the eldest of the settlement, was too busy with the story about the Beast of Sorrow. (I did not have the Endeavor to pick the Guidepost.)


Year 18 hunt
Mursonus, Anhemio, Frudnia and Twinkare set out to hunt Phoenix.

Hunt event is 41, Nightmare. Anhemio archives King Spear and picks up the cursed sword.

Fertile Field + 18, Dead Weeds. Anhemio cures his broken leg, which (at least to my understanding) is bad thing, as it doesn't heal the permanent penalty.

Next is Sickening Mess, which I re-roll via Anhemio's Insight hunt epiphany result.

Next event is Bird Brained, and Phoenix ambushes the survivors.

Party was too sane to fight Phoenix effectively, and acquired quite a few Age tokens. Blue Lantern made this fight rather easy, though, as Time Stop wasn't that near the top of deck. But to me "a little over half-way" feels like "near the bottom."

Phoenix had no AI decks remaining and there was Inner Face death blow location coming up. Last couple of rounds survivors were toying with the bird, but people started to be out of survival point. It was too hazardous to try to fish the Death Blow, so the monster was vanquished traditional way.

Year 19
Settlement event is the dreaded Plague.

At least I had Ammonia innovated, so effects of plague were heavy, sinking heart and apathetic dice rolling. But essentially it took away three of my five endeavors.

One endeavor goes to innovation, and there it is. Mocking me. Bloodletting, when it could have made all the difference during Plague. Settlement innovates it anyway.

Second endeavor is some leathers, and settlement builds Feather Shield, Phoenix Plackart and Phoenix Faulds and a couple of extra Dried Acanthuses.

Year 19 fight
Mursonus, Sacronicus, Frudnia and Niamur start the hopeless fight against level 2 King's Man.

I lucked out by drawing Tall Grass. With proper placement King's Man was hitting Mursonus only on 10's, and Mursonus had Block from feather shield and Hyper Sensitive disorder.

Fight went amazingly easily, though it took a really long time to finish.

But I would have gotten a completely wrong picture about the lethality of this fight. Once I made a mistake in positioning. Well, actually it was because of "all-out" attempt to kill the King's Man that only had one AI card left, Coupe de Grace. Flower Knight badge had given Spiral Formation for this fight, and there were couple of "perform basic attack" reactions coming next from King's Man, so.

Survivors took the formation, and failed to kill.

I didn't think this would be too bad, but then King's Man started dancing with it's "first target a survivor in blind spot" basic action and Out-Fighting.

Mursonus didn't care, and Biliouli had been mostly uninjured during fight, so she survived just fine. But poor Frudnia had to take a total of eight accuracy 3+, damage 4 attacks, so she was a deader in the blink of an eye. And because of one (1) slight positioning mistake. Frudnia had Blue Lantern, so I lost far greater asset here than just a human life.

But I managed to lure King's Man into fighting Mursonus again for an indefinite period of time so that Biliouli was able to score the kill strike - I really wanted that on her so that King's Curse would not spread.

Year 20

Settlement event is Weird Dream, and there were 7 endeavors.

Watched event puts Hands of Heat to Lantern Year 24.

Settlement innovates Storytelling.

Paraske takes the Lantern Halberd off the ground, but then I figured it was probably a mistake. Armored Strangers were gone, so there was no chance to gain another.

It takes two endeavors to a successful face painting, this time for a bonus to departing survivors. Armor ritual is a success also.

Sacronicus learned Abyssal Sadist and Twinja tried to cure her intracranial hemorrhage, but got Shallow Lungs disorder instead, and Sneak Attack fighting art.

Departing survivors are getting +2 Survival, +4 Insanity, +1 armor

I'm starting to get a little anxious over upcoming Watcher fight. I also need to find a way for to survive upcoming murder. Well... I got that one covered up. But it'll be during next five year span.

But I guess that will start the 2018.


Settlement storage:

1x Fresh Acanthus
Elder Cat Teeth
Jagged Marrow Fruit
Lonely Fruit


2x Great Cat Bones
1x Lion Claw


3x Pelt
3x Shank Bone
2x Large flat tooth
1x Beast Steak
Bladder
Screaming Brain

2x Love Juive
4x Broken Lantern

Pustules
Small Hand Parasites
Phoenix Whiskers

2x Sunstones

3x Small Sunteeth
2x Huge Sunteeth
Shadow Ink Gland

Equipment:
Dried Acanthus
2x Lion Beast Katar, 2x Bandages
Ancient Lantern
Dormant Twilight Cloak
Catgut Bow, Clawhead Arrow
2x Skull Helm
Bone Darts, Bone Dagger, Bone Blade, Bone Club
Scrap Dagger, Scrap Sword
Skullcap Hammer
Counterweight Axe
2x Full Rawhide Set, Rawhide Boots
Cycloid Scale Jacket + gloves + helm
Leather Armor Set + Leather Boots, 2x Shield
Phoenix Plackart, Faulds + Feather Shield
Sickle
2x Monster Grease, 2x Lucky Charm and Fecal Salve.
Monster Tooth Necklace
Flower Knight Badge
Regal Helm, Plackart, Boots and Skirt (on Biliouli)
Butcher Axe
Lantern Halberd
Twilight Sword (on Anhemio)
Death Mask
Cat's Eye Circlet
Satchel
Scavenger Kit
First Aid Kit
Vespertine Cello, Whisker Harp


Locations:
Organ Grinder, Skinnery, Bone Smith, Leather Worker, Weapon Crafter, Barber Surgeon, Skyreef Sanctuary, Plumery

Sculpture: Abyssal Sadist

Innovations:
Language, Paint, Symposium, Lantern Oven, Inner Lantern, Face Painting, Ammonia, Sculpture, Pottery, Shrine, Hovel, Family, Sacrifice, Clan of Death, Pictographs, Bloodletting, Storytelling, Ultimate Weapon
Mastery: Fist & Tooth, Katar, Bow

Principles:
Life: Survival of the Fittest
Death: Graves
Conviction: Barbaric
Society: Accept Darkness

Population 14:

Paraske, Dingle Savior of the Antelope (M) hunt xp 15, movement +1, accuracy +2, strength +6, evasion +3, luck +1 Insanity 0.
Courage 7 (Prepared), understanding 2.
Bow Mastery
Unrelenting
Fencing
Fated vs King's Man
Has no re-roll

Astarno Meyhope (F) hunt xp 6, strength +4, evasion +1, Insanity 5
Courage 1, Understanding 1
Club proficiency 2
Ruthless
Hemophobia, Vestiphobia, Stark Raving
Has no re-roll

Biliouli (F) hunt xp 6, strength +7, evasion +1, Insanity 5
Courage 2, Understanding 2
Dagger proficiency 4
Sneak Attack, Ruthless
Megalophobia, Secretive, Binge Eating
King's Step
King's Curse (head, body, waist, legs)
Fated vs King's Man
Marrow Hunger
Has no re-roll

Mursonus Newlinga, Dingle Sneak of the Antelope (M) hunt xp 15, accuracy +2, strength +5, evasion +3, luck +2, speed +2, insanity 8.
Courage 1, Understand 3 (Analyze)
Sword Proficiency 5
Harvestman
Hypersensitivity

Sacronicus Dingle savior of the Lion (F) hunt xp 8, strength +5, evasion +1, speed +1, Insanity 3
Courage 4 (Prepared), Understanding 6 (Explore)
Axe Proficiency 4
Crazed, Abyssal Sadist
Has no re-roll


Twinkare Meyhope (M) hunt xp 9,accuracy +1, strength +2, evasion +1, insanity 2
Courage 3 (prepared) Understanding 3 (Analyze)
Club proficiency 4
Harvestman, Unrelenting
Ghostly Beauty, Monster Panic
No reroll

Twinja Meyhope (F) hunt xp 1, strength +2, evasion +1, insanity 3
Courage 1, Understanding 1
Club proficiency 1
Sneak Attack
Emotionless, Shallow Lungs
No reroll


Anhednia Newlinga (F) hunt xp 0, strength +2, evasion +1
Understanding 1
Club proficiency 1
No reroll

Anhemio (M) Newlinga (M) hunt xp 7, -1 movement, +1 accuracy, +4 strength, +2 evasion, insanity 10
Courage 1, Understanding 4 (explore)
Twilight Sword proficiency 2
Ruthless, Rhythm Chaser


**Identula (M) Newlinga, hunt xp 0, accuracy +1, strength +3, evasion +2
Understanding 1
Sword proficiency 1
No Reroll

Fabenta (F) Newlingahunt xp 0, accuracy +1, strength +3, evasion +2, insanity 10
Understanding 1
Sword proficiency 1
Swordman's Promise


Niamur (M), hutn xp 1, accuracy +1, strength +3, evasion +2, insanity 8
Understanding 1
Spear proficiency 2
Clutch Fighter
Weak Spot (arms)
King's Step

** Unnamed Survivor (F) hunt xp 0, accuracy +1, strength +3, evasion +2
Understanding 1
Sword proficiency 1

** Unnamed Survivor(M) hunt xp 0, accuracy +1, strength +3, evasion +2
Understanding 1
Sword proficiency 1

Upcoming events:
Hooded Knight and Murder on Lantern Year 22.

Hands of Heat on Lantern Year 24