Kill Stealing Rorsh

 Although games have been a little scarce lately, I still got in one 50 point game of Warmachine.

My list was:

Skorne

Lord Arbiter Hexeris [+27]
- Bronzeback Titan [17]
 - Cyclops Savage [7]
 - Cyclops Shaman [8]
 - Rhinodon [12]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Venator Dakar [4]
Void Spirit [4]
Legends of Halaak [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Slingers (min) [8]

Opponent had:

Cryx

Iron Lich Asphyxious [+28]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Reaper [13]

 - Slayer [10]

Bane Lord Tartarus [6]

Rorsh [15]

Bane Riders (min) [12]

Bane Warriors (min) [10]

Because of some time constraints, we opted for Annihilation scenario from main rule book - that one has guaranteed six turns, so game wouldn't drag on endlessly.

Opponent deployed in a corner, giving us both a headache on terrain layout - the factory building, corrosion cloud effect and burning difficult ground made the effective board rather tiny.

Opponent brought his warjacks behind the building, Bane Riders behind rubble and Bane Warriors, Tartarus and Rorsh & Brine in the open near the board edge. Asphyxious scorched the mace wielding Legend of Halaak with Hellfire.

Cyclops Shaman positioned itself to serve as an Ashes to Ashes platform, and three Bane Warriors died. Rhinodon had Cloak of Ash and Bronzeback had Banishing Ward to fend off any troublesome Parasites. A couple of slingers took erosion shots at Slayer, but didn't do much. The naginata wielding legend tried to cripple enemy arc node, but failed to land a hit.

At least the Cyclops Shaman ate Cryxian activations - Asphyxious cast Parasite on it, and then Tartarus and a single Bane Warrior that was within charge range failed to kill the warbeast. Rorsh needed to score the killing blow by shooting into melee.

Naginata legend obviously died, but all in all not a terrible second round.

Asphyxious had been left without focus, and I knew I shouldn't try a spell assassination. But that's what I did, anyway. It's all Cyclops Savage's fault! Because I had access to future sight animus, I decided to go for it. The result was a worthless feat that dealt nine points to Asphyxious.

Bronzeback wrecked Deathripper, and Slingers continued to pepper Slayer to season. This time it lost most of its damage boxes - left claw being the only functional system. 

This time removing Bronzeback took most of opponent's turn. Bane Riders with Scything Touch, and Reaper weren't enough to bring it down - Rorsh had already distinguished itself as a finalizer, and dealt the last remaining point of damage.

Bane Warriors and Tartarus took a bit over half of Rhinodon's health away.

Had I not used the feat, I think I might have been able to get Bronzeback to Reaper with two or three Beat Backs. But there is a good chance of a Deathripper not surviving three Bronzeback melee attacks, and worst result would've been Bronzeback engaged in melee and thus not able to act as a channeler.

I would've probably tried to remove the last Bane Warriors with Ashes to Ashes, deal the last remaining points to Slayer with a Hellfire and maybe Black Spot something, or more Ashes to Ashes. 

Turn 4 I have to live with my decisions, and I lose two Slingers to free strikes from Slayer. Looking back now I wouldn't have needed to - the warjack had lost its movement, hadn't it? Remaining Slingers do manage to remove four hit boxes from Slayer, which incidentally was all it had remaining.

Last remaining Legend makes a Christmas miracle and slays Bane Lord Tartarus with a single combo-strike. Cyclops Savage clears Bane Warriors near Rhinodon, and then Hexeris uses Black Spot on Brine.

Beast Handlers enrage Rhinodon, patch it up a little and prod it towards the big pig. Retaliatory Strike fails to destroy any life branches, and things end up with one dead Brine. 

Cryx then removes Rhinodon as was expected, but no other damage was done. Asphyxious had to come and personally finish the warbeast. You know, the thing with minions and all that. 

Turn 5 Skorne has to start racking up some points. Thus Savage charges a Bane Rider, kills it and is then used to channel a Rorsh-killing Hellfire. Slingers fail their activation miserably, and Extoller manages to shoot a boosted pow 13 to Bane Rider only to trigger vengeance with minimum damage. Great job.

At least last remaining Legend removes one other Bane Rider. 

But then it's all too easy for Cryx to kill Cyclops Savage, all but one Slinger and Extoller. 

We didn't need to play the last round. Hexeris, one Beast Handler and a lone Slinger weren't going to give me the 20 points or so I needed for a win.