Harpoon contest

 Had two games of Warmachine a while ago. Both were 25 point games of Brawlmachine.

Game 1:

My list:

Cryx

Goreshade the Bastard [+29]
 - Corruptor [12]
 - Leviathan [14]
 - Stalker [8]
Necrotech [1]
Warwitch Siren [3]
Bile Thralls (min) [6]
Mechanithralls (min) [6] - Brute Thrall (2) [4]

Opponent had:

Cygnar

Commander Coleman Stryker [+30]

 - Defender [14]

 - Hammersmith [12]

 - Lancer [8]

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [6]

Stormguard Infantry (max) [15]

Forest in the middle divided the battle, Bile Thralls and Warwitch Siren approaching from the left, warjacks and warcaster from middle and Mechanithralls from the right. Leviathan inflicted some serious damage on Defender. With a good damage roll Stalker could have removed Defender from the table, but that was not to be. But at least Stalker was contesting enemy  flag.

Cygnar had a good turn where it removed half of Bile Thralls with Stormguard and all regular Mechanithralls with the rest, while having Brute Thralls knocked down. Stalker went down with a single hit from Defender.

As Stryker didn't use his feat yet, it was Goreshade's time to cause as much havoc as possible. Feated Bane Warriors removed Hammersmith, and Bile Thralls did away with the few Stormguards that were contesting my flag. To give opponent something that required immediate answer, Corruptor charged Lancer and mostly managed just to nearly fry its own Cortex.

Opponent tried to assassinate Goreshade and knocked him down with Earthquake. A single Lancer, however, just was not enough to kill the eldritch. Cryx had gained such an upper hand in terms of points, so we just started another game.

Game 2:

Second game was against Cryx.

My list:

Cryx

Captain Aiakos [+29]

 - Harrower [13]

 - Malice [13]

 - Ripjaw [6]

Bloat Thrall [2]

Necrotech [1]

Warwitch Siren [3]

Wrong Eye [16]

Opponent had:

Cryx

Iron Lich Asphyxious [+28]

 - Defiler [7]

 - Desecrator [12]

 - Reaper [11]

Pistol Wraith [4]

Bane Warriors (min) [8]

Satyxis Blood Witches (max) [11]

Bloat Thrall attempted to control my flag, while the rest of my forces advanced to meet enemy on the right side of the forest. Wrong Eye & Snapjaw tried to protect my models from being dragged by enemy Reaper.

Enemy Reaper, then, switched fronts and tried to drag my arc node from the left side of the forest. Harpoon missed, as usual. 

It's funny how badly I manage to mess up my movement next when I only had nine models to start with! Well, the thing is, I replied to enemy harpoon action with my own - and Malice delivered the required hit. Then, however, I realized how I had dragged a heavy warjack to contest my flag! Also, I had moved Necrotech to block the charge lane of Snapjaw. So it was upon Wrong Eye to remove Necrotech from the board. This succeeded, but after Star Crossed he no longer had fury points to use Submerge. Harrower charges Bane Warriors to contest enemy flag, and Ripjaw ran to contest enemy zone.

Bane Warriors and Desecrator make short work out of my Harrower, no surprises there. Satyxis Blood Witches clog up the bottleneck that is between forest and structure. Arc node runs into position, and Asphyxious charges Ripjaw, not doing anything. He uses feat to try to assassinate Aiakos, but after first Breath of Corruption leaves much to be desired, he instead launches the volley on Wrong Eye, thus removing both the warlock and the warbeast.

Grim situation for Aiakos, but I conjure a plan to assassinate. Ripjaw tries to  move into back arc of Asphyxious, but the ensuing free strike cripples Arc Node. Then I spend my activations trying to clear up a lane for Malice to move and drag Asphyxious. Aiakos has to do some acrobatics to get into position to try White Squall Asphyxious - which would throw him into completely wrong direction anyway. But that didn't bother my plans, as the spell never hit. 

It was over for Aiakos. Over.

Asteroid belt

 Had two games of Warmachine. Format was Brawlmachine, and scenario in both games was the new Asteroids.

In first game I had:

Aphyxious the Hellbringer [+24]
- Reaper [11]
- Ripjaw [6]
- Slayer [10]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [5]
Pistol Wraith [4]
Bane Warriors (min) [8]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]

Opponent had:

Commander Coleman Stryker [+30]

 - Hammersmith [12]

 - Ironclad [12]

 - Lancer [8]

Black 13th Strike Force [7]

Rangers [7]

Stormguard Infantry (min) [9]

With Mobility up, my both heavies enter the rectangular zone. They are greeted by Stormguard that are screening enemy warjacks. Rangers on right are opposed to Bane Warriors, and Black 13th is flanking from left. Pistol Wraith tries to relocate itself away from their magical pistols. Nothing especially fancy.

But then... it seems there are some things I never really learn.

One of them is trying to make an initial opening by pulling an enemy warjack with a harpoon drag.

Feels like that misses 75% of the time.

And now my heavy warjack had only exposed itself to enemy charges. I tried to bring Asphyxious to front and use feat in an attempt to deter opponent from wrecking Reaper, or at least pay a price for doing so.

At least Hex Blast from Vociferon did exceptional job, frying three out of six Stormguards.

Ripjaw charges Black 13th and kills their double pistol model.

Stormguards then charge Reaper, and take almost half of its hit boxes away. Ironclad who comes to assist is far less effective, and leaves Reaper standing with cortex and melee arm still functional.

Lancer tries to free Black 13th from Ripjaw, and kind of succeeds. Bonechicken loses its head, meaning it wouldn't hit with free strike even if it rolled a six. Gun mages try to shoot Vociferon, but do not hit or damage. 

Stryker uses feat, making my next turn difficult.

Asphyxious had gained exactly one (1) focus point from his feat.

Ripjaw moves a bit so that it contests cygnaran flag. Bane Warriors destroy enemy objective and bring back all dead Bane Warriors via minifeat. 

Heavy warjacks and Asphyxious deal with the remaining Stormguards. Asphyxious is left with three focus for damage mitigation.

Three focus points just wasn't enough, as Stryker got Earthquake on Asphyxious. Black 13th and even rangers dealt in enough damage to take out two focus points, so there really was no chance for the iron lich when Ironclad parked itself within melee range. Loss for Cryx.

Game 2:

My list in second game:

Lord Tyrant Hexeris [+28]

 - Agonizer [5]

 - Aradus Sentinel [12]

 - Cyclops Raider [9]

 - Titan Gladiator [13]

Mortitheurge Willbreaker [2]

Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]

Thrullg [3]

Venator Slingers (min) [8]

Opponent had:

Kaya the Wildborne [+32]

 - Feral Warpwolf [14]

 - Gnarlhorn Satyr [10]

 - Wild Argus [6]

 - Wild Argus [6]

Gallows Grove [2]

Lord of the Feast [5]

Gatorman Posse (max) [13]

Circle approached with Gatormen, Gallows Grove and Lord of the Feast on the left, and the rest coming from the middle.

My battlegroup was also nearing the rectangular zone while Slingers and Cyclops Raider were bracing against the Gatormen.

Winter Argus managed to freeze Aradus Sentinel for a while. Circle warbeasts did clump up rather nicely there, so Aradus took a walk and sprayed some respectable damage in to both arguses and Feral Warpwolf. Attack on Kaya missed even with a re-roll from Puppet Master.

Gatormen had ran closer, so I though I might try to get some mileage out of Hexeris' feat. 

It didn't turn out so well, as the one and only Gatorman the slingers succeeded to kill passed its Tough roll - no Dark Dominion for me.

Cyclops Raider takes an aimed (and thus stealth-ignoring) shot against Lord of the Feast, and removes the solo single-handedly. Dark Dominion for me. 

Swamp Gobber River Raider tries to act a hero, and harpoons itself to enemy objective, poking in a point of damage into Feral Warpwolf. Hexeris had cast Parasite on it, though.

Gladiator just tries to look menacing, and protect Agonizer that was providing strength penalty.

Turns out Winter Argus is able to spray the lesser warbeast dead, and as a result Wild Argus and Feral Warpwolf butcher Aradus Sentinel. Gatormen remove half of slingers - although only because they couldn't reach for more.

I try to pick the pieces that are left - Feral Warpwolf is left alive with one hit point remaining, despite the efforts of Thrullg and Cyclops Raider. Titan Gladiator charges Gnarlhorn Satyr dead.

Slingers shoot one Gatorman down, and Hexeris charges another. For some odd reason I try to shoot another Gatorman with Sunder Spirits... and didn't even succeed.

Hexeris' downfall was completely unnecessary. Winter Argus could slam him, and then Kaya spammed Spirit Fangs on him until he was torn to shreds - as he had only one transfer available. Loss for Skorne.

Its new and scary

I had two games of Warmachine with the most recent rules update, both with Brawlmachine format.

Lists were same in both games. My list:

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+28]
 - Malice [13]
 - Ripjaw [6]
- Slayer [10]
Bloat Thrall [2]
Misery Cage [2]
Pistol Wraith [4]
Soulhunters (max) [16]

Opponent had:

Cygnar

Major Beth Maddox [+30]

 - Charger [9]

 - Defender [14]

 - Firefly [7]

Arcane Tempest Rifleman [3]

Black 13th Strike Force [7]

Stormguard Infantry (max) [15]

Scenario was Syzygy. 

Both games played out very similarly. Cryx scored their flag twice, Malice broke enemy objective and either middle zone or flag was scored third time again. Cygnar wasn't able to contest Cryx flag reliably while Soulhunters contested Cygnar flag.

I kind of wonder if Syzygy is a functioning scenario. It seems to boil down to "who can contest enemy flag longest", where ultra fast difficult-to-remove units naturally have advantage. Maybe Soulhunters were a "hard counter" for the entire scenario. But that's not all.

Had we played with the old rules, my list would have been a whopping 12 points less, while opponent would have played only 5 points down. That was seven "extra" points for me, which is a crazy number for this point size. Well, time will tell if the point cost adjustments were spot on but it certainly felt like cheating in these games.

Dual Singularity

 Had a couple of games of Brawlmachine. Scenario was the Singularity.

First game I had:

Cryx

Asphyxious the Hellbringer [+24]
 - Deathripper [6]
 - Seether [13]
 - Slayer [10]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
 - Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]

Opponent had:

Circle

Baldur the Stonecleaver [+31]

 - Gnarlhorn Satyr [12]

 - Woldwarden [14]

 - Woldwatcher [8]

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (min) [10]

Shifting Stones [3]

Warpborn Skinwalkers (min) [9]

Circle approached with stone-formed Woldwatcher in front, which was promptly wrecked by my heavy warjacks. Helljacks were in a bad position now, in a possible charge range by opposing heavies. Satyxis Raiders that had Cloak of Ash on sacrificed themselves for the protection of Slayer and Seether. 

Somehow opponent kept hitting Satyxis Raiders despite needing 10 to hit. Over half of them died, including Sea Witch. But at least they were only Satyxis.

Vociferon had tried to sneak up to my flag, but suddenly there were a unit of Nyss Hunters there so plan was foiled. 

Woldwarden died to Seether, which was good enough I guess. But since there was a five round limit, casualties inflicted by both sides were too low for either of us to gain a big point advantage.

However, I did have one point advantage from the turn when Cryxian jacks destroyed Woldwatcher. This was the winning point at the end of fifth round. 

Game 2:

Skorne

Dominar Rasheth [+28]
 - Agonizer [6]
 - Archidon [10]
 - Tiberion [19]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Void Spirit [4]
Praetorian Swordsmen (min) [8]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]

Opponent had:

Retribution

Kaelyssa, the Night's Whisper [+29]

 - Banshee [18]

 - Chimera [8]

 - Manticore [14]

Mage Hunter Assassin [4]

Mage Hunter Strike Force (min) [10]

Second game was excessively short, perhaps to compensate for the first one.

Shortly put, Tiberion ran to middle field and opponent focused all attacks to kill Agonizer and then Tiberion - but thanks to one double 1 attack roll by Banshee Tiberion survived with two boxes remaining.  Rasheth feated next and Tiberion wrecked two of opposing warjacks - suddenly gaining points from the rectangular zone, all the while Void Spirit & Swamp Gobber River Raider were collecting points from flags. Scenario win.

2x Brawlmachine, Cryx vs Cygnar, vs Cryx

 Two games of Brawlmachine format. Scenario in both was the Binary.

Game 1:

My first list:

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
 - Harrower [16]
 - Inflictor [13]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]

Opponent had:

Major Beth Maddox [+30]
- Avenger [17]
 - Charger [9]
 - Firefly [8]
Arcane Tempest Rifleman [4]
Steelhead Riflemen (min) [8]
Stormblade Infantry [9]

First game is summed up rather quickly. I thought I was the underdog in this matchup because I was woefully outnumbered. But then I jammed Inflictor sitting next to enemy warcaster in a failed assassination attempt - and this is the crux of this matter, really. I went all in, and now Mortenebra was feating in a compromised position. 

Only after I realized that I might have had a real game without the assassination attempt - arm 21 def 13 warjack needs some effort to get rid of when its engaging your shooty warjack and warcaster. But that goes on to the territory of iffing. 

Short story short: Mortenebra was shot to pieces by Cygnaran arms.

Game 2:

Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Desecrator [14]
 - Slayer [10]
 - Stalker [8]
Bloat Thrall [4]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [6]
Misery Cage [2]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Opponent had:

Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Desecrator [14]

 - Reaper [13]

Pistol Wraith [5]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

Right side of the board was between Gerlak and Bloat Thrall versus Bane Warriors. On the left side, everything else. 

Opponent ran Reaper to engage Stalker, which brought Reaper within charge range of my Slayer. There was just this wall between them. But Stalker leaped and softened up Reaper a little from back arc. Slayer charged and had no trouble of removing the ranged variant of same chassis.

Deathripper broke Stalker's cortex, and enemy Desecrator came to vivisect Slayer through the wall. It was not very successful vivisection as next to no damage was done. 

Slayer got some job done at wrecking enemy Desecrator, but it wasn't very impressive either. Well, the crabjack had essentially +2 def and +2 arm, so it wasn't completely unexpected.

My Desecrator shot some contesting Bane Warriors off the board, and I was able to leap to +2 control points over my opponent.

Unfortunately, opponent was able to bring Desecrator to contest my circular zone and my flag, thus scoring evening the scores to +1 for Cryx.

It wasn't too bad as long as I can remove already injured Desecrator with feated Bane Warriors and what was left of Slayer. But still, three Bane Warriors and the aforementioned Slayer together didn't put a dent to enemy warjack. Two Bane Warriors missed and one didn't get that many points through armor. Only cannon was broken down.

It all went downhill from there. 

Desecrator contesting my zone and Bane Warriors my flag while controlling enemy circular zone... all this meant that opponent got to +1 points. All in all, I wasn't able to get rid of that Agathia's lead. Five rounds is surprisingly short amount of time.

Brawling again

Had two games of Warmachine at the very end of February. Because of the format they were 25 point games. 

Game 1:

Cryx

Captain Aiakos [+29]

 - Corruptor [14]

 - Malice [15]

 - Stalker [8]

 - The Withershadow Combine [9]

Bloat Thrall [4]

Warwitch Siren [4]

vs

Trollbloods

Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain [+29]

 - Dire Troll Mauler [15]

 - Troll Axer [9]

 - Troll Impaler [9]

Janissa Stonetide [4]

Totem Hunter [6]

Trollkin Fennblades (min) [9]

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew [2]

We rolled off to see which lists we'd play. Why, oh why did the dice gods decide to put Aiakos again against Trollbloods? 

And against Trollbloods with a supercharged sniper Impaler, who removes Malice's Harpoon right away on the second turn?

Oh well. Maybe there was a still game to play. 

Stalker removes Janissa Stonetide from controlling enemy flag, so at least Cryx got the scenario lead. Corruptor and Bloat thrall also were able to remove three Fennblades, so removing their circular zone controllers wasn't that far off.

Sadly I had to sacrifice Warwitch Siren in contesting rectangular zone.

Turn 3 Dire Troll Mauler kills Warwitch Siren, and Stalker is removed by Axer. Totem Hunter charges Corruptor, who has to waste its activation in removing the foreign bounty hunter. What's left of Erebus nearly kills Dire Troll Mauler. I really wanted that troll dead, so Aiakos charged in to finish the job. 

On opponent's turn scenario goes 2-2, and on my turn 2-3 for Trollbloods because Aiakos had left the flag. 

Opponent got easily to 2-5 next, so there was little point in continuing the game, as we still had second armies waiting enthusiastically.

Game 2:

Cryx

 Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]

 - Erebus [16]

 - Ripjaw [7]

 - Slayer [10]

 - Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]

Machine Wraith [2]

Necrotech [2]

Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]

Bile Thralls (min) [9]

vs

Cygnar

Major Beth Maddox [+30]

 - Avenger [17]

 - Cyclone [13]

Alten Ashley [6]

Black 13th Strike Force [10]

Stormblade Infantry [9]

Second game was far quicker than the first. I decided to launch a full-blown offensive against Cygnaran forces and not wait for them to start shooting my forces to bits. 

On second turn Slayer charged a Black 13th member under Terminal Velocity. Then it counter-charged both remaining members into melee with it. 

Erebus counter-charged Cyclone and hit with melee attack, causing Cygnaran warjack to become stationary. 

Opponent breaks Slayer with remaining Black 13th and Stormblades. 

Bile Thralls purge all remaining Stormblades dead, and machine wraith charges Avenger, who tries to take a swing at Alten Ashley, failing at that. But wait, there's more! Erebus finalizes Cyclone and slaps cortex off of Avenger. Who is now without cortex and stationary. 

There was very little opponent could do to prevent Cryx from winning by scenario.

Test brawl

 Had a 25 point game of Warmachine on Vassal. 

Brawlmachine format has been evading me for a while, but this is no longer the case. We played the Ignition scenario.

My list was:

 Asphyxious the Hellbringer [+24]
- Malice [15]
 - Nightwretch [7]
 - Slayer [10]
Machine Wraith [2]
Necrotech [2]
Pistol Wraith [5]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Opponent had:

 Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Desecrator [14]

 - Reaper [13]

 - Skarlock Thrall [4]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

I chose to go second to start scoring. I felt the new and improved Bane Warriors of Agathia were oppressing, so as soon as I got the chance I slapped Calamity on them. Worth it? I don't know. I lost Nightwretch and entire unit of Cephalyx Overlords, but hey, Calamity!

Opponent had used feat on turn 2, but this didn't stop me from scoring two scenario points by walking my army far too close to enemy lines. This ended up with Desecrator shooting the cortex off of Malice, the loss of aforementioned models and even six points of damage to Asphyxious after using focus to mitigate damage.

But Asphyxious' forces survived, with fourteen focus on Asphyxious to boot. First Slayer activates to trample, and removes movement from enemy Reaper. Vociferon shoots a Hellfire to Reaper, and even Malice comes to take a focusless harpoon shot at it. And yet the thing survived with cortex and helldriver intact. 

Asphyxious charges to a group of nicely lined Bane Warriors, and manages to kill all five and still ended his turn with six focus. Pistol Wraith had been sitting on a flag, attempting to score points but now there was a Bane Warrior sitting within range to contest. The bane was shot.

It's turn 3, and Asphyxious leads the game by three points.

Now he just needed to survive a shot from Desecrator, three focus worth of attacks from Reaper and whatever Agathia would be able to deliver.

The heavy warjacks bring Asphyxious down to two focus remaining, plus half of his damage grid dusted off. It wouldn't be easy for Agathia to finish him, and eventually she didn't. And since there were no contesting models near Pistol Wraith, game ended in favor of Asphyxious.

Warmachine in Stopped Motion

 

This game was played a long time ago actually, many months ago. But it took me a great while to actually complete this video, but now it's here! Never mind the Warwitch Siren that I forgot to deploy!

Scourge of Tempest

About a week ago I played these two 25 point games of Warmachine.

Opponent played:

[Theme] Sons of the Tempest

Captain Victoria Haley [+27]
- Lancer [10]
- Stormclad [18]
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages [11]
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer [0(4)]
Tempest Blazers (min) [11]

First game I had:

Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]
- Deathripper [6]
- Erebus [16]
- Ripjaw [7]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Satyxis Raiders (min) [10]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]

My main reason for trying this was to see if Venethrax + Erebus could be a viable combo to play outside of theme.

Unit of Satyxis Raiders took out two out of three Blazers, which had me pretty much dominating the zone on left. Warjacks were wrestling in the middle zone, with Erebus being able to neutralize enemy warjacks even if it didn't do a whole lot of damage.

Gun Mages shot all my pieces off from the zone on right, but this didn't help Cygnar in the long run after Cygnar lost Stormclad.

When opponent had only Gun Mages and Haley left, we decided to start a new game.


Game 2:

This time I played with theme that I won't be able to use for a long, long time in 75 point games. If ever.


[Theme] Scourge of the Broken Coast
Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]
- Defiler [8]
- Inflictor [13]
- Slayer [10]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]

Again Satyxis took out the Blazers, but situation in the middle wasn't that good. Some amazing damage rolls from Gun Mages wrecked Slayer after I had engaged enemy forces. Well, I did have a full unit of Satyxis still going on, but they'd be struggling to wreck Stormclad with Arcane Shield if I lost Inflictor.

Inflictor was able to get Line of Sight to Haley, so Venethrax cast Terminal Velocity and Inflictor charged Haley. It had to take a free strike from Lancer, but either it missed or didn't break anything of consequence. Inflictor did break something of consequence, namely the opposing warcaster.

Old Witch Deneghra (what?)

Alright, now it's been two weeks since I played these two 25 point games of Warmachine. It was against a returning Warmachine player I had never met before. And coincidentally, he also had Trollbloods as his faction. And Gunnbjorn was one of his warlocks.

I had same list in both games, and it was:

Wraith Witch Deneghra
- Harrower
- Helldiver
- Nightwretch
Bloat Thrall
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist
Soul Trapper
Warwitch Siren
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max)

And it's the old Wraith Witch. Errata came after these games were played.

First game opponent had:


Hoarluk Doomshaper, Dire Prophet

- Dire Troll Mauler
- Mulg the Ancient
- Winter Troll
- Trollkin Runebearer
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (min)

We had Mosh Pit scenario from prime rulebook, as some of those are better fitting for low point games such as these.

Implacability and general large-baseness made some trouble for both my Hellmouthing and shooting from Black Ogruns. I wasted my feat, and a total of 10 focus points over two turns were wasted on Hellmouths that killed one stone bearer, I think.

Somehow a decisive moves didn't happen. I had my chances at assassinations when Gorman was lucky at lobbing the Black Oil over Hoarluk. But when my troops had been reduced to Bloat Thrall, Gorman and Deneghra, I decided to just charge it and see how it goes.

Turns out Mulg and Mauler were able to kill the focusless cryx caster.

Game 2:

Here opponent had:

Captain Gunnbjorn
- Dire Troll Bomber
- Dozer & Smigg
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (min)

- Stone Scribe Elder
Northkin Fire Eaters

Here I couldn't do anything to the dire trolls (again) but with a little better positioning Deneghra was eventually able to charge Gunnbjorn while incorporeal, resulting in a dead trollblood warlock.

These write-ups were quite a bit shorter than usually, but two weeks tend to do that.

Such fiery freezing

Yesterday I played a 25 point game of Warmachine.

My journeyman league list had been expanded thus:

Mohsar the Desertwalker
- Gorax Rager
- Winter Argus
- Gnarlhorn Satyr

Maximum unit of Wolves of Orboros + Command Attachment
Druid Wilder
Blackclad Wayfarer
Gallows Grove

Opponent had:

Kommander Sorscha
- Juggernaut
- Destroyer

Minimum unit of Winter Guard Rifle Cords + 3x Rocketeer
Kovnik Josef
Eiryss1

Scenario was Outlast. Circle started game.

My plan was to win scenario from zone on the left and try to contest the one on the right for long enough to give me the edge.

I was happy to notice I, for once, had some tools against Sorscha. Both Gnarlhorn Satyr and Winter Argus had animi that trumped Sorscha's feat. At least Mohsar wouldn't become a sieve via low-powered, automatically hitting military rifles.

On the left there was also trench that Wolves were happy to abuse, as Sorscha had traveled too far to come and freeze them into the trench.

Despite Wolves and their DEF 17 Winter Guard Rifle Corps shot off the screen from Wolves of Orboros officer, plus the officer himself. Destroyer and a couple of Winter Guard rockets made terrible damage against Gnarlhorn Satyr. Looked like I would be losing my heavy warbeast again before enemy warjacks had even had their paintjob scratched. Well, Juggernaut did take a couple of points from Sunhammer, though. My triumphant shouting and yelling did not seem to quiet down, because there was none in the first place. Only a bitter chirp of crickets.

Anyway. Next Winter Argus goes and sprays Eiryss dead, despite needing 12's to hit. It even had enough fury left to put up its animus.

Wolves of Orboros charged Rifle Corps, destroyed their front line and then used reposition to engage the rest of them, while leaving spots open for Mohsar to cast a couple of Pillars of Salt to make contesting the zone difficult.

Juggernaut smacks Gnarlhorn dead with just one hit, while Destroyer makes initial damage roll against Winter Argus so that the wolf is left with three boxes remaining. Last attack missed. As the Destroyer charged in, it took a few points from the scorching sun above, and then got frozen right next to the Winter Argus. Go figure.

I messed up a few things on my next turn, as I tried to score a caster kill with Primaled Winter Argus. First Gorax cast Primal on the argus, and then Mohsar activated, healing lost aspects from Winter Argus and then advanced to dominate the zone - leaving Winter Argus way out of his control range.

Druid Wilder tried to come and help Mohsar to force the caster killer, but CMD 6 just was not enough.

Well, without boosts Winter Argus did five or something damage points in.

I was really confident at winning by scenario now, but I had forgotten all about Sorscha's feat.

She made her movement tricksies to come and freeze Wolves of Orboros, removing that many attacks from my arsenal to clear off any contestants. Then Rifle Corps and Kovnik Joe ran to the zone, trying to spread out as far from each other as possible.

Gallows Grove was thankfully there to get rid of Tough that Joe had sang about.

Blackclad Wayfarer charges one of the Winter Guards, killed him and made a Battlewizard spray against Joe. Attack hit, but did not kill. Kovnik was left with two or three damage boxes.

Then Mohsar aims a spray at a Winter Guard and... misses.

There were three models to remove now, and Mohsar had eight fury points. Even one missed Crevasse would now ruin absolutely everything.

First one did score a hit, and resulting spray took down Kovnik Joe.

Last, boosted Crevasse did not roll 1,1,1 to hit, so game was over with scenario points being 6-2 in Circle's favor.

Next week starts the 50 point rounds with option to switch warlock.

The Invincible Siren

I played these two 25 point Warmachine games about a week ago.

Opponent played with the same list; I, however, switched casters in-between. Scenario was the same in both games. Deployment sides also. Plus deployment.

Opponent had:

Iron Lich Asphyxious

- Slayer
- 2x Deathripper
- Helldiver

Maximum unit of Mechanithralls + 1x Brute Thrall
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Warwitch Siren
Pistol Wraith

My first list was:

Witch Coven of Garlghast
- Nightmare
- Harrower
- 2x Deathripper
Pistol Wraith

Since Asphyxious has Breath of Corruption and I had to keep all of the witches rather close to each other, I started worrying about getting blasted with the POW 12's from first turn onward. Asphyxious started the game.

One enemy Deathripper runs forward to kill Pistol Wraith.

Witch Coven shoots the enemy Necrosurgeon dead with Stygian Abyss. It isn't very surprising that Coven used Nightfall. Arc nodes would still be a problem, though, but I didn't want to dedicate Nightmare for destroying one pesky Deathripper. Instead both heavies try to kill Mechanithralls. I was sure they wouldn't hit my helljacks under Nightfall. My own Deathripper goes and bites enemy Deathripper. Arc node survives, which worries me a little. I had quite a high bet for either destroying movement or the arc node with one free strike...

Then the Iron Lich. Asphyxious casts Parasite on Harrower but misses. He casts another, this time boosting attack roll, and it's a hit. Quite a few Mechanithralls are eligible for a charge. I was not very amused when only two attacks made by Mechanithralls (one didn't even get the charge bonus) and it took over half of the system boxes. Could've been worse when only ranged weapon was destroyed.

Deathrippers start a bite fight and Helldiver and Pistol Wraith run to threaten the coven.

So, either I take care of the aggressors or try to get Asphyxious. Of course I go in for the kill. My forces shuffle for quite a bit first, as there were three small based models blocking a charge to Asphyxious. Witches tried to remove enemy Warwitch Siren from the board and then charge Asphyxious, but that was not to be. Attack roll missed. I completely forgot about Nightmare's Ghostly ability in terms of free strikes, but oh well. I did remember it for the rough terrain...

So, I had to trample Nightmare to Asphyxious. Mechanithralls died just fine to the trample, but Warwitch Siren proved her resilience when Nightmare actually hit - but didn't deal even a single point of damage.

Asphyxious, on the other hand. That guy exploded all over the place.

Game 2:

My list in the second game was:

Master Necrotech Mortenebra & Deryliss
- Corruptor
- Reaper
- Cankerworm

Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Machine Wraith
Soul Trapper
Swamp Gobber River Raiders

And damn that Deryliss is bugged at the time of writing.

First picture is from Mortenebra's feat. Asphyxious didn't have any focus left from two Breath of Corruptions, so I thought I might be able to seriously damage Asphyxious and probably take out both arc nodes and what else. Corruptor shot one of the Mechanithralls into an arc node, and Mortenebra cast boosted Doom Spiral on Asphyxious, dealing eight or something like that damage in.

Reaper and assorted models wrecked one Deathripper, Machine Wraith, Cankerworm and Soul Trapper another.

Mechanithralls charge Cankerworm, but around one attack hit. Which, again, dealt crazy high damage. Warwitch Siren sprayed Deryliss and a River Raider dead. Asphyxious used his feat and sat on full camp of seven focus.

Corruptor shot Pistol Wraith into an AoE 5, giving a POW 10 to Warwitch Siren. Who survived. Really? Two games in a row?

I decided to rip Asphyxious' battle group into shreds and dragged Slayer next to Reaper. However, Reaper did next to no damage to Slayer. I had considered finishing it with Doom Spiral, or at least sealing its coffin ever more tightly. But... nope. I was certain that two heavy jacks just got wrecked there and then.

Next turn Mechanithralls swarmed my friendly flag, so I would have hard time trying to dominate some points, and Asphyxious had already started that. I think he went to three points now.

Siren Shadow Binds Reaper. Helldiver softens it pretty roughly, and Slayer finishes the helljack with tusks.

And then.

Out of five attacks Slayer could make, it missed four. Despite needing only 6+ to hit.

Well okay, I screwed up last turn by dragging Slayer right next to my vital parts and not having insurance against bad dice, but this... this. Wrecking Slayer with Mortenebra and killing the already injured Asphyxious with Corruptor felt like cheating.

Asphyxious does have impressive camp, but still... Corruptor just cannot make those few remaining damage points. And I had spent all of Mortenebra's Focus points. Tables had been turned so fast that the tableware didn't fall.

Asphyxious comes to cast Hellfires at Mortenebra and misses each and every one of them. Warwitch Siren misses Mortenebra. Everything and their dog misses Mortenebra. Well, one Mechanithrall may have hit her in the back, but didn't score a kill. Looks like the porcelain was in pieces on the floor after all.

A focusless Asphyxious with about three damage boxes fell to one hit.