JMG Warmachine Tournament

So here's my games in JMG Warmachine Tournament that was held last weekend.

It was a 75 point tournament with 1-2 list and D&C 0. I had a Mortenebra1 list with some satyxis in it, but none of the opposing lists allowed me to play it in even remotely secure way. So I'm listing only the Deneghra3 army.

[Theme] Infernal Machines
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver
- Corruptor
- Deathripper
- Inflictor
- Leviathan

2x Pistol Wraith
Necrotech
Scrap Thralls
2x Soul Trapper
Bile Thralls (max)
Mechanithralls (min) + 2x Brute Thrall
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Soulhunters (max)

Game 1 was against Trollbloods.

I may have a mistake in this reconstruction of opposing list, but it should give a general idea what the list was about:

[Theme] Band of Heroes
Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain
- Dire Troll Mauler
- Earthborn Dire Troll
Fell Caller Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Kriel Warriors (min) + Caber Thrower (1) + Standard & Piper
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (max) + Stone Scribe Elder
Trollkin Champions (min) + Skaldi Bonehammer
Trollkin Champions (min)
Trollkin Fennblades (min) + Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Warders (max)

So I couldn't pick Mortenebra list. And removing Tough is always nice against Trollbloods. So Deneghra3 it was bound to be.

Thanks to my Spd 9 cavalry, Madrak had to pop his feat on turn 1. Good enough. Deneghra cast Mortality on Fennblades on turn 2 and then Soulhunters walked into melee. They weren't able to do that much, especially when I didn't pay attention where unit leader was. One Soulhunter walked out of coherency, thus losing any attacks it could make.

Deneghra's feat was able to remove both warbeasts and some random trollbloods from the board. Warders with their Shield Guard messed up my game play continuously. I seemed to categorically forget that rule on them. Trolls sure took their time in chewing through Soulhunters. There was some terrible dice rolling involved, I have to admit. Staying three rounds face-to-face in melee combat against Fennblades who had their Vengeance triggered every turn, Warders and even some Champions with Guided Hand and Fell Calls was quite impressive.

But in turn they were not able to do any damage. Ambushing Mechanithralls made a dent to Fennblades, but nowhere near enough. Attrition was soon lost.

Eventually I was starting to run low on my deathclock, too, so I decided to try assassination when I had the chance.

This involved Deneghra shuffling around for what seemed like an eternity - all because I remembered Mortality cast range incorrectly. I thought it was 8" when it was 10". Opponent had accidentally put his figures so that Deneghra couldn't get a charge off against Madrak - there was no space for her base, no matter how I tried to fit a proxy. In the end Deneghra succeeded to cast Mortality on Madrak, but nothing else.

Two Bile Thralls were able to Purge Madrak. Then Leviathan walked into melee with Madrak and got a total of one attack in, with a damage boost. 13+ would have killed the warlock, but I got only 10.

Even 12 would have given a chance for Madrak to die to corrosion. Oh well. Deneghra was very dead this turn. Good game anyway.



Game 2 was against Grymkin. Both Grymkin lists were warbeast heavy, so I thought Mortenebra would struggle in every imaginable way.

Opponent had a list something like this:

[Theme] Dark Menagerie
The King of Nothing
- 2xCage Rager
- 3x Crabbit
- Rattler
- 4x Skin & Moans
4x Gremlin Swarm
Lady Karianna Rose

There were two large impassable terrains making for quite a choke-point near flag on the right. But both casters had access to ghostly, which alleviated all but problems with Line of Sight.

I did make some random damage to few of the heavy beasts - I had originally wanted to kill one Cage Rattler with ambushing Mechanithralls and Ghost Walking Soulhunters, but I didn't get as many Mechanithralls to the warbeast as I wanted, and had placed my models so that Ghost Walking Soulhunters were not able to get it within melee range.

Corruptor had taken a shot against another Cage Rattler. So when Soulhunters killed one of the Crabbits, opponent popped this arcana that nullified damage that had been done. All I managed to do with Mechanithralls was to feed Grymkin warbeasts with corpses.

Skin & Moans was able to remove Leviathan from board, and another failed to do the same against Corruptor - didn't even break one system.

Inflictor killed a Rattler and Bile Thralls managed to purge one injured Skin & Moans dead, which made opponent pop this arcana that killed quite a few bile thralls as a "thank you" for killing battlegroup member.

In the end it was a really exciting game.

I even made extra scrap thralls with Necrotech that actually were a game-changing models - they were able to contest zones and flags during my own turns.

I would have most likely lost to deathclock, had not Deneghra died first. We both had amazing number of control points, something like 8-7 or whatever.

If I would have had a little more experience against Grymkin perhaps I would have done some things differently, but still I'm quite happy how this first game versus the fairy folk turned out.



Game 3 was against Circle of Orboros.

It's difficult for me to write about this game. It stings and it pains me so much.

I was far too aggressive and made a stupid mistake of bringing Deneghra up so far that Warpwolf Stalker with Primal was able to charge one of her warjacks, that had Hunter's Mark from Lanyssa. Sure, one miss from the Warpwolf would have saved my game, but it required 9's to hit and Morvahna2 was close enough to use Scales of Fate on it.

It was somewhat intentional caster-bait sort of thing - to intimidate opponent to not knowing what to do. But yeah, obviously it was a bait gone horribly wrong when my warcaster died during second turn of the game.



Game 4 was against Cryx, and opponent had Dark Host with Asphyxious2. Asphyxious had three stalkers and an arc node. Mortenebra would have been a terrible choice here.

I made some really foolish mistakes here - forgetting to bring anyone to contest middle zone, for example, so opponent got pretty much free control points.

Anyway, two Stalkers came to wreak havoc on Bile Thralls, who in turn purged both warjacks dead. But this had cost movement for them, as well as many members of the unit. Necrotech was able to repair some of the losses, though.

I was hesitant to engage with Soulhunters, so I kept backing with them, keeping out of charge range of Bane Riders.

I did get a relatively nice feat turn with Deneghra - Mortality went on at least three units, and Corruptor was able to use his 5" AoE effectively. Ghost Walking Bile Thralls killed some stray Bane Knights and whatnot.

Ambushing Mechanithralls and Soul Hunters managed to kill three Bane Riders, so it didn't feel too bad to trigger that vengeance.

I had managed to remove enemy presence from right side of the board, but the battle was raging on the left, and I was losing there. Game was intense. I believe I would have won in the long run because I had easier time to score control points, so I didn't feel all that annoyed when opponent ran out of clock.


So three out of four games were close ones. And the one that wasn't was a completely goofed up by me, so it didn't have this "I had no chance to win against a list like that" -feeling. So it was a very nice tournament for me, despite a negative win/loss ratio.

Five years of Maurala

There's Warmachine tournament entries coming up at one point or another, but I'll write this one up first because I believe it's less of a hassle.

I had a friend visit me during weekend, and we started a two-player campaign of Kingdom Death.

Prologue was quite brutal and dragged on for quite a while. One survivor died and we resorted to use two Founding Stones. One survivor received Broken Hip and another one received Shattered Jaw. And the long tradition continues with settlement receiving minimum amount of survivors.

Settlement takes Cannibalize as death principle.

For fun and giggles first words are uttered by the survivor who got shattered jaw. Moldovial is his name.

Settlement hunts two White Lions and one Screaming Antelope without much of an issue. Antelope was toughest

On lantern year 4 before encountering Butcher settlement is visited by Dark Dentist, who builds Metal Jaw for Moldovial. Väinö, one of the starting four survivors, perishes when dentist tries to install Monster Tooth Dentures for him. Dentist apologizes and gives Väinö's skull for settlement. That skull is used right away to fix Moldovial's shattered jaw, so I suppose a trace of Väinö will remain part of the settlement for as long as Moldovial does.

I had been trying to scare the new player about the lethality of boss fights. And on second round of the fight Butcher has one survivor's head explode, and I was certain it was the end now - dreaded trophies gave Butcher extra bleed far too early in the showdown.

Fortunately we had to encounter zero of those terrifying cards that have been ruining my own Butcher fights in the past. Forbidden Light and Embrace the Pain were the only moods that ever turned up, and Infinite Kick was removed with first wound done to Butcher.

After the fight I checked AI pile, and there was the dreaded Lantern Frenzy, but it had been wounded off before triggering. Two last AI cards Butcher had were both Hew cards, and Moldovial had +2 evasion from gear and grease.

Fight had an epic end when Butcher was killed at Death Blow location. All three remaining survivors picked +1 evasion. I was a little disappointed how easily Butcher went down. I was afraid this would give wrong impression from the deadliness of this game.

But we were using Manhunter expansion. Oh boy, a completely new nemesis that I knew nothing about. This was bound to teach fear to the new player.

Wrong.

Manhunter also died way too easily.

Murderous Gaze nearly killed one of the survivors, and Moldovial received bleeding kidneys at one point, but other than that we were doing fine with one survivor yelling +2 strength for non-deaf survivors and a second survivor checking hit locations.

But this easy victory had it's price. We used three founding stones to achieve critical wounds, so I suppose it was fair that we lost zero survivors. Sven did take Enfeebled disorder, but that was it. Moldovial, the speaker of first words and now with metal jaw also had deranged visage from now on.

Later that settlement phase Sven was nominated for intimacy and received Weak Spot disorder as a consequence. That much our life principle, Protect the Young, helped us. Pfft.

Anyway, it was here where we decided to stop playing. Next session to be within two years, I hope.

Settlement has a steady population of ten, and there are some promising rising stars among the weaklings Protect the Young regularly gives.

Instant Princess

Oh my, I have forgotten to make a note about last round of Love Letter that was played a week ago or so.

I remember how the round had quite a start, when the very first card that was played scored a thank you heart for one of us - Prince revealed the Princess right away.

Master Necrotech vs Wildborne

A 50 point game of Warmachine with my Cryx against familiar looking Circle of Orboros. Sometimes I have missed that army.

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
- Corruptor [14]
- Defiler [8]
- Seether [13]
- 2x Stalker [8]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Satyxis Raider Captain [4]
Scrap Thralls [2]
Soul Trapper [1]
Bane Warriors (min) [10]

Opponent had

[Theme] Call of the Wild
Kaya the Wildborne [+32]
- Feral Warpwolf [18]
- Gnarlhorn Satyr [12]
- Gorax Rager [7]
- Shadowhorn Satyr [12]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
- 2x Wild Argus [7]
- Druid Wilder [0(4)]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Shifting Stones [0(3)]


Game was quite brutal. Cryx pushed forward aggressively. Shadowhorn Satyr died early in game. Satyxis Captain and Stalker had almost finished the beast thanks to some good rolls. But it was left with something like one or two damage points, so Defiler shot the spray cannon into the thick of melee combat. Satyxis Captain died to friendly fire.

Corruptor had failed to shoot one Shifting Stone down, so I didn't get to do Overrun shenanigans and have Seether attack the Warpwolf Stalker.

Warpwolf Stalker berserked a few Bane Thralls dead, as well as the Defiler.

Bane Thralls and Bane Lord Tartarus failed to kill Warpwolf Stalker, so I had to send Seether to finish the job. Otherwise it would have taken those swings at Gnarlhorn Satyr. This resulted in dead Corruptor.

I decided to try assassination even if Kaya had four transfers.

Warbeasts had pre-emptively screened Kaya, so I didn't get Tartarus there for that -2 arm.

Mortenebra used feat and killed Blackclad Wayfarer, triggering Overrun. Seether walked into position to charge Kaya.

Kaya survived and Seether didn't even kill any warbeasts through transfers. Many went nearly dead, but that's not enough when it comes to warbeasts.

Wild Argus used animus to paralyze Mortenebra, and Gnarlhorn Satyr tore the Master Necrotech to pieces.

Leaders of Small World

Since I've had this tradition to tally up any expansion purchases for board games, let's add Leader's of Small World to the pages of this blog. No idea when I'll get to use this expansion in an actual game.

Irregular Consistency

These games were played at the end of March, so it has surely taken a while to get these written. But since I played another game today, let's start clearing this backlog.

There's a Warmachine tournament coming up in my home town, and these were two practice games for it. Based on these games I'm going to make some adjustments, but I do want to keep the caster pair unchanged, and retain Mortenebra out of theme. Madness, you say? Well, I agree. Here are the lists.

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
- Erebus [16]
- Kraken [36]
- Inflictor [13]
Pistol Wraith [5]
Ragman [4]
Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]


[Theme] Infernal Machines
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver [+27]
- Corruptor [14]
- Deathripper [6]
- Inflictor [13]
- Leviathan [16]
- Madelyn Corbeau [4]

2x Pistol Wraith [free]

2x Soul Trapper [1]
Bile Thralls (max) [15]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (2) [4]
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls [4]
Soulhunters (max) [18]

First game was with Deneghra against Ashlynn.

[Theme] The Irregulars
Ashlynn D'Elyse [+29]
- 2x Nomad [11]
- Vanguard [10]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker [0(4)]
Dahlia Hallyr [17]
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [0(7)]
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [4]
Major Harrison Gibbs [4]
Ragman [4]
Rorsh [15]
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen [10]

2x Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]


It was a tough game. Neither side gained a definite upper hand, devastating losses were tossed left and right until the very end, where I ran out of moving pieces.

I got Deneghra close enough to cast Mortality on Ashlynn, and then Inflictor trampled to take a couple swings at Ashlynn. It wasn't exactly surprising that this assassination failed, and then mercenaries won.

Game 2:

Second game was Mortenebra against Magnus2.

[Theme] The Irregulars

Magnus the Warlord [+28]
- 2x Mangler [15]
- 2x Nomad [11]
- Talon [7]
- 2x Vanguard [10]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker [0(4)]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [0(4)]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [0(5)]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [6]
2x Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]

This game was enormous fun, because I managed to remove four warjacks in one turn from Magnus - both Nomads, a Vanguard and Talon, deal some damage to Magnus via Feedback and some stray points to second Vanguard and Mangler. I probably used Mortenebra's feat, though. I don't quite remember.

But that was my big turn, it all went downhill from there. Mercenaries were gaining scenario points fast, and when I lost Kraken I could only try to assassinate Magnus - with Doom Spiral spam! Let's do this!

Mortenebra had gained a couple of soul token earlier, so she had 9 focus points. That could be 4x doom spiral, and Deryliss had his own Doom Spiral, too. If all spirals would hit a warjack and if all of them dealt damage and I would average 2 points in to Magnus per Spiral, I would be able to do it!

But Deryliss missed. Magnus was left alive with two points remaining.

Loss for Mortenebra.