Zaharasheth

 A 50 point game of Warmachine over War Table.

My list:

Skorne Unlimited
Dominar Rasheth
-Titan Sentry
-Rhinodon
-Basilisk Krea
Praetorian Swordsmen
Paingiver Beast Handlers
Void Spirit
Venator Dakar
Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Command cards: Blessing of the Gods, Break Through, Careful Reconnaissance, Infiltration, Power Swell

Opponent had:

Khador Winter Korps
Kapitan Zahara Vilkul, Avenging Force, Fog of War, Superiority
-Dire Wolf with Shield Guard, Ice Hammer, Scrap Saw
-Great Bear with Slammer, Heavy Cannon, Blasting Fist
Shock Trooper Gunners
Winter Korps Infantry + 2x Autocannon + Standard
Winter Korps Infantry + 2x Rocketeer + Standard
Arkanists
Winter Korps Officer
Battle Mechanik

Command cards: Infiltration, Old Faithful, Power Swell, Careful Reconnaissance, Break Through

Scenario was Two Fronts from Steamroller 2024.

Khador started game and advanced under Fog of War, with battlegroup and assorted support going towards 50mm objectives. Shock Trooper Gunners were there in the middle, too, and two units of Winter Korps and their Officer to the left. 

Skorne started with Praetorian Swordsmen to the left, supported by Mortitheurge Willbreaker and Void Spirit. Swordsmen had Castigate on them. It looked like a tall order for five Swordsmen to remove thirteen Winter Korps, but I was seriously outnumbered anyway. Go, heroes, go. 

Venator was exactly 6" away from 30mm objective, and battlegroup was sitting within 3" of Basilisk Krea, with Krea being fully in cover. 

So that was the setting after first round. Second round Winter Korps advanced behind a forest, outside Praetorian charge range. 

Shock Trooper Gunners repositioned to middle inside rubble terrain. Arkanists took positions inside a trench and around 50mm objective, with heavy warjacks nearby. No shots were fired, from Khadoran side, except for Shock Trooper Gunners. Well, kind of.

Dominar Rasheth cast Influence on one of them, blasting the other two and finished the last guy with Sunder Spirit.

Flesh-Hardened Praetorian Swordsmen ean to engage Winter Korps infantry in a bit of a suicide mission. Void Spirit that had been used as an arc node stood nearby. Venator took the flag in middle. Battlegroup tried to take as defensive a position as possible, but damn were they afraid and starved of threat range without Titan Gladiator. Do your worst, Zahara!

Well, they shot Praetorian Swordsmen and Void Spirit off the board. Nothing else, though, so it could have certainly been worse. However, Zahara rolled full six cloud effects, thus being able to cover his entire contingent of troops on the right side. 

Bad news? My "heavy" hitters would still not be able to reach any targets, and western flank was pretty much lost. 

I decided to stall for a turn, waiting for a better opening. Mortitheurge Willbreaker ran to contest my 40mm objective. Titan Sentry and Rhinodon walked a little forward, shielded by Basilisk Krea. Paingiver Beast Handlers sacrificed themselves to land Blood Mark on Great Bear and kill each and every Arkanist with a ritualized Breath of Corruption.  

Mortitheurge was removed easily enough and both 40mm objectives were lost. Zahara killed last Beast Handler and cycloned to relative safety of a trench. Both Khadoran warjacks were able to charge Titan Sentry, failing to kill it. 

While that was a slight boon, situation was terrible for Skorne anyhow. Having sacrificed the damage boost of Paingivers, I decided to go for assassination. Fortunately Rhinodon was well within charge range of enemy warcaster that was at zero focus points. Whoopsie!

Rasheth used his feat and tried to connect Blood Mark and Sunder Spirit on Zahara, but there was a trench in the way. Even Krea attempted to paralyze the Khadoran warcaster, but failed. So, it was up for a carnivorous Rhinodon to win Rasheth the game. 

Initial charge attack with tail scored a respectable amount of damage, dropping Zahara down to three hit points remaining. First claw attack missed, but last one did hit naturally. Even double 1's killed the target, so, it was a victory for Skorne.