You Reap What You Seethe

 A 50pts game of Warmachine Mk4.

My list:

Cryx Dark Host
Goreshade the Bastard & Deathwalker
-Nightmare
-Reaper
-Seether
Bane Warriors + Officer & Standard
Pistol Wraith

Opponent had:

Khador Winter Korps
Tatiana Sikora
-Great Bear with Aggressive, Battle Mace and Cannon Shield
2x Man-O-War wrecking Crew
Winter Korps Infantry
Sergeant Sergei Krol
2x Battle Mechanik

Scenario was Best Laid Plans where 50mm objectives were lost.

It was certainly a bummer that 50mm objectives went off when I had over 50% of my points on warjacks, but hey, such happens. 

Khador went to caches with only Winter Korps Infantry, and I challenged them with Seether and Pistol Wraith. 

Nightmare and Reaper were coming in from the middle, but were screened by a dense fog terrain. Goreshade and Deathwalker were going to take care of the flag terrain, while Bane Warriors were going to 40mm markers. 

Khador had a group of Man-O-Wars and their Mechanik to the left, Winter Korps to the right and everything else in the middle.

Khador had started the game and tried to play it safe - but it was a little bit too safe. Bane Warriors were able to claim 40mm scenario point without anyone contesting. 

Reaper shot a Man-O-War dead with harpoon, and Nightmare tried to keep Reaper's back. 

Winter Korps Infantry tried to claim both caches on the right, but Seether ran to engage them. Pistol Wraith had been a tad too far from my claimable cache, so it just had to run next to it. 

With Tatiana's feat Khador devastated both Reaper and Nightmare, leaving Goreshade staring at an uninjured khadoran heavy  warjack and two Man-o-War's. That looked like ouch time.

Winter Korps Infantry backed off, which in another situation might  have been a good move - after all, the six or so points managed to direct my 16 points away from the action.

Man-O-War's to the left engaged Bane Warrior, and that was pretty much the start of turn three.

Winter Korps Infantry had made kind of a blunder with the caches, and Pistol Wraith was able to claim two points, bringing the difference to three for Cryx.

Bane Warriors tried to remove a unit of Man-O-War's, but without a charge bonus one of them was left standing, contesting both 40mm objectives. Oh well. At least Goreshade was able to use his feat and run along with Deathwalker to get points from flag terrain. After feated Bane Warriors ran to contest enemy flag terrain, points difference was four for Cryx.

Khador tried to assassinate Goreshade, and that almost succeeded. Great Bear and two Man-O-Wars brought Goreshade down to two health remaining, with Deathwalker remaining. 

Thus it was a scenario victory for Cryx. 

Just Walk It Off

 Had a 50 point game of Warmachine Mk4.

My list:

Goreshade the Bastad & Deathwalker
-Corruptor
-Reaper
-Slayer
Bane Warriors & Command attachment
Bane Lord Tartarus
Necrotech

Opponent had:

Wurmwood & Cassius the Oathkeeper
-Feral Warpwolf
-Gnarlhorn Satyr
-Wild Argus
2x Tharn Bloodweaver units
Lord of the Feast
2x Gallows Grove

Scenario was rectangular zone with two objectives and two flags for a compact 50pts game.

Circle started and had warbeasts in the center of their formation, flanks protected by Bloodweaver units. Wurmwood was hanging around behind the buildings.

Bane Warriors and Tartarus seized my flag, and warjacks went into trench on the right. Goreshade crept slowly with Lamentation and Shadowmancer on.

Tharn Bloodweavers charged Bane Warriors, and this is when I learned about their Burster attacks. What an insane ability on infantry models. Fortunately only five Bane Warriors died to two successful Bloodweaver attacks...

One Bloodweaver unit took the enemy flag on the right, and warbeasts positioned themselves to protect enemy objective. Wurmwood grew a feated forest. 

The forest LoS penalty messed up my turn big time. I just was not able to get LoS to anything of importance. Corruptor tried to shoot into concealment and melee to have an arc node, but Def 20 is a bit of a challenge for RAT 5 model. 

Tartarus was able to bring back only one Bane Warrior because Tharn Bloodweaver passed tough check. Bane Officer brought the minimum of two. Atrocious attack rolls ensured that I was not able to score point this turn, but Slayer ran to contest enemy flag so opponent wouldn't score either.

Goreshade used feat and tried to remove my flag contesting Bloodweavers and tie up enemy warbeasts.

I had brought Goreshade to a relatively vulnerable position. Opponent was able to clear a lane for Primaled Gnarlhorn to slam Corruptor over Goreshade and dealt massive collateral damage - seven points in even after reducing the damage with one of Goreshade's four focus points. At least the remainder of attacks weren't so successful.

But then Primaled Warpwolf took a trample next to knocked down Goreshade who had only two focus points left by now. First damage roll against Cryxian warcaster was only moderate at best, so Deathwalker had what it takes to have Goreshade survive.

I had one unengaged Bane Warrior with LoS to Wurmwood and the Unstoppable command card. Bane axes started chopping the tree, and thanks to multiple terrible damage rolls it was the very last Bane Warrior that able to score the killing blow.

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.

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.

Goreshade vs Twins on vassal

Played a 75 point game of Warmachine against a friend in Vassal. Lists involved were:

Me:
[Theme] Scourge of the Broken Coast
Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Helldiver [6]
- Leviathan [16]
- Reaper [13]
- Slayer [10]
- Stalker [8]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)]
Misery Cage [2]
Satyxis Raider Captain [4]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]


Opponent:
[Theme] Children of the Dragon
Saeryn & Rhyas, Talons of Everblight [+24]
- Archangel [35]
- Typhon [20]
- Zuriel [18]
Annyssa Ryvaal [8]
Blighted Nyss Warlord [0(5)]
Blighted Nyss Warlord [0(5)]
Craelix, Fang of Everblight [0(6)]
Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [18]

Legion started game. I tried to pick the side which would mitigate opponent's eyeless sight a bit. Don't know if that worked.

Anyway, in short summary: Slayer was shot off the board, then Reaper was shot off the board, then objective was shot off the board, then Satyxis and Gerlak were shot off the board. But that's not nearly all of my models, no! Because unit of Bane Warriors were melee'd off the board and so was Stalker and Swamp Gobber River Raider.

Alright, I'm making it sound a lot worse than it actually was. Slayer went down all too easily, but the remaining pieces at least involved some degree of piece trading.

On my second turn my objective gave Eyeless Sight for Reaper, who plucked off Anyssa Ryvaal. Satyxis Raiders charge and miss Zuriel, which prompts Dodge from the nephilim.

Leviathan deals some random eight points of damage to Archangel.

Then I lose most of my Satyxis, Reaper, and received some solid damage to Leviathan. I was rather skeptical if I'd have a game anymore, but Satyxis Raider Captain gives me a chance when she manages to shoot Craelix down with her hand cannon, and remaining Satyxis Raiders killed Nyss Warlord. That was one point for me, too!

Feated Bane Warriors and Leviathan take down Typhon, and Stalker goes to take out another Nyss Warlord. Sure, I was thinning down some inconsequential models but Zuriel and Archangel were questions I had no answer for.

Then I lost Stalker to charging Raptors, what was left of Satyxis unit to Zuriel and Gerlak to Archangel. Rhyas took a two fury costing Flashing Blade to get rid of whole unit of Bane Warriors.

Next turn I score additional point from killing enemy objective with conjoined efforts by Helldiver and Leviathan. Black Ogrun Boarding Party Pirates shoot one Raptor dead and charging Axiara kills another - which leaves just one Raptor contesting the zone. Leviathan might have helped there, but thanks to poor rolls all of its three shots and all of Helldivers attacks had to go towards the objective.

While it was interesting game, now it started to look like I was going down fast. Rhyas took down the hero of this match, Leviathan, and Zuriel shot dead the Satyxis Captain. Zuriel was now within charge range of Goreshade, so I decided to go for it. If a miracle would happen and Goreshade survived, then it would.

But looked like it wouldn't, when Goreshade had to spend all but one of his focus to kill the beast.

Oh well. Game over, when both Rhyas and Saeryn charged him.

Lamentation worked great throughout the game. Not only it had its psychological factor, but even if I had paid upkeep cost (which I didn't thanks to Blood Priestess), I would have gained more from the spell than I would have spent.

This time I remembered about Gang Fighter, though. It was just that there was not a single melee that involved both my warjacks and my warrior models.

JMG Warmachine tournament V

So there was a Warmachine tournament in Jyväskylä.

With my practice games I had practiced enough that I scrapped Aiakos list for the most part and did a new one. My lists were:


Black Industries
Captain Aiakos [+29]
- Corruptor [14]
- Helldiver [6]
- Nightmare [18]
- Reaper [13]
- 2x Stalker [8]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Machine Wraith [2]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
2x Warwitch Siren [0+4]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (3) [0(6)]


Scourge of the Broken Coast

Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Leviathan [16]
- Reaper [13]
- Seether [13]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
Satyxis Raider Captain [0(4)]
2x Warwitch Siren [4]
Wrong Eye [17]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]


Game 1:
First game was against Circle of Orboros, tharn theme lead by Iona. I had taken Goreshade.

I made the mistake of giving opponent free points from the zone on right by turn two. I also learned a thing or two about Ravagers - if Rapid Healing caught me by surprise earlier, now it was the Vengeance. I pretty much wasted my unit of Satyxis Raiders by charging them to few Tharn Ravagers, then using Reposition to engage them even more. Clever move, I must say.

At least Leviathan managed to shoot a tharn ravager dead who had been blocking the lane to Feral Warpwolf. Reaper then pulled Warpwolf and Snapjaw snapped it's spine.

However, opponent's game was ruined by Wrong Eye's Star Crossed. Circle had some bad rolls too on turn three. (they only butchered seven satyxis raiders and their captain, took almost half of boxes off from Reaper and one Cephalyx Overlord... on bad rolls) Me, on the other hand, had some good damage rolls. Against my own objective, that is. Sure Seether destroyed the Wolf Rider Champion, but berserk attack brought my objective down to five boxes remaining.

Second turn in a row, Star Crossed ruined the day of Tharn Ravagers. Seems like the magic with Star Crossed is when you need 6's or 7's to hit. Not when you need 4's or 3's, but I'm getting ahead of things now. Scenario game was slowly going towards Circle victory, although otherwise my position seems surprisingly secure. Especially after Bane Warriors and Seether destroyed Ghetorix.

Had there been more time in deathclock, perhaps I could have seized the zone on left and the middle zone, but when we both had only a few minutes left in the clock, we both started making hasty decisions. Iona ran to zone on right where Seether could charge her. End of Iona, and I was left with less than forty seconds on my clock.

Game 2:

Second game was against the newest faction, Infernals, lead by Zaateroth. I decided to give Aiakos2 a go, as opponent could benefit from my souls in my Goreshade list.

However, I gained nothing from stealth on Stalkers, Sirens, Withershadow Combine and Aiakos, as well as nothing from Incorporeal on Pistol Wraith and Machine Wraith, as just about all models opponent had sported magical weapons and eyeless sight.

Zaateroth was extremely cautious of my threat ranges, which gave me a jump start in scenario game. But this also put me in a vulnerable position, and casualties started piling up. I had some good options to contest, but opponent was able to zap my point scoring models off the table, so I was not able to go even near victory here.

With heavy horrors appearing left and right, I couldn't even bring them down to their starting number, although Nightmare did good job in killing one with unboosted initial attacks. Sadly three additional attacks were not enough to take a second horror down.

It was a scenario loss for me.

Game 3:

Last game was against Legion of Everblight and Absylonia2. I chose Goreshade.

Absylonia had a list with, what, nineteen shredders or so, with more to come from two spawning vessels and those minion croc pots.

It was insane list to fight against.

Again, I was unfamiliar with Absylonia's tricks and made the mistake of giving her models to kill so that it triggered extra MAT for her battlegroup.

Then sharknado happened, and lesser warbeasts were all over the map. With good rolls opponent could have scored all five points required to win on turn two.

Luckily rolls were not that good. Three Shredders shredded Reaper, and most of Satyxis died. Satyxis had made a good job in culling the herd of shredders - it's rare to use red mist ability, but here I did, along with Power Swell. Had the whole unit been able to engage Shredders, I dare say I could have removed half of them. But it was not to be.

Opponent scored "only" three points. I struggled to remove all the tiny pests. If only I could have arranged enemy to gain one less point and remembered on my turn to run a Bane Warrior to enemy rectangular zone, perhaps game I could have stood a chance. Opponent would have needed to score four points and deny my point. But like this it was far too easy for Legion to gather three points from somewhere.

Anyway. Opponent started with nineteen lesser warbeasts. During game, Cryx killed twenty. When game ended, there were still seven lessers around.

Ropecon 2019 Steamroller

Here's the games from Ropecon Steamroller tournament.

Only two days prior to the tournament the rules changed to use Oblivion update instead. It went fine as far as I can tell, but because of this I'm not even trying to put together opposing lists. The hassle of rule update in middle of event had TO to let in themes both from Oblivion and pre-Oblivion.


My lists:

[Theme] Black Industries
[Scaverous 1] Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Corruptor [14]
- Deathripper [6]
- Deathripper [6]
- Inflictor [13]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius [0(4)]
- Reaper [13]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Necrotech [2]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (3) [0(6)]
Wraith Engine [15]


[Theme] Scourge of the Broken Coast
[Goreshade 1] Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Harrower [16]
- Helldiver [6]
- Leviathan [16]
- Reaper [13]
- Seether [13]
- Stalker [8]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]

Satyxis Raider Captain [0(4)]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]


Game 1:
First game was against Circle Orboros. Tharn theme with Iona.

It was a brutal and mostly one-sided game. I probably picked the wrong list here anyway.

As I was still thinking Bloodweavers had Dispel as one of their attack options, I didn't slap Death Ward on Wraith Engine. Since it wasn't warded against death, five ambushing Bloodweavers destroyed Wraith Engine from full hit boxes down to zero. Two of them also charged a Deathripper and destroyed it. At least it eases my pain a little that when you consider how Bloodweavers were rolling the dice, it would've mattered little if Wraith Engine would've had Death Ward on.

Wolf Rider Champion single-handedly breaks Movement system off from Reaper - after it had missed twice with harpoon attack.

Another Wolf Rider Champion puts a heavy dent on Inflictor. Some system broke. It even had Death Ward on. However, having a broken system was on me. I forgot I could've decided the column.

But it's rare to see dice that are on fire like this. I suppose it's bound to happen sooner or later.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a way to assassinate Iona. Getting node close enough to cast Telekinesis on her as well as three Brute Thralls, but the arc node I would've needed went down with two charging Bloodweavers. I measured if I'd be able to get a node via Corruptor shot, but I couldn't see that far to the forest anyway.

I just did not know what to do, so I tried to stack some souls on Scaverous and wait for a turn and hope opponent makes a small positioning mistake. But opponent scored a point with Iona on my turn, and then four from both circular zones, flag and destroying my objective.

Not my most magnificent game.

Game 2:

Second game was against Khador, Vlad2.

Table was a nightmare to all but Dark Host. Which I didn't play.

I picked Goreshade as my list, as I thought I might be able to hit Vlad's feated models with Gang Fighter.

Opponent did have Greylord Adjunct to offer Behemoth Eyeless Sight turn after turn. This mitigated my Shadowmancer quite a bit. Also Vlad being able to upkeep two spells for free made Lamentation lackluster.

I thought I had placed Helldiver to wrong side of the board. So it was by accident that I had a contestant on rectangular zone on my right.

Vlad uses his feat on five models - both Eliminator units and a lone Kayazy assassin. Eliminators on right just ran to engage my Warwitch Siren. River being rough terrain robbed them of their charge.

Another unit came to tie up Satyxis. And did they tie up Satyxis. Kayazy Assassins attacked Harrower, that had been seriously damaged by Behemoth already. But Harrower didn't die, it just lost Cortex.

Cryx managed to clear all the assassins from circular zone and contest rectangular zone on right with Helldiver that popped up.

Satyxis Raiders, Axiara and Satyxis Captain all tried to do some damage in to Eliminators on left, and succeeded. Just to deal random damage points in. Not to kill anyone.

Yuri the Axe charges from woods and kills a bunch of Satyxis Raiders. Eliminators continue to kill them. Marauder cannot charge contesting Helldiver, so it positions itself so that next turn Helldiver won't be able to contest and be outside of Marauder's threat range. Warwitch Siren dies to another unit of Eliminators and I'm left with few warjacks that are seriously damaged.

Thanks to some lucky rolls I clear the circular zone with ease. Axiara Wraithblade runs to the flag, and Goreshade with Deathwalker is on the zone. That's two points.

Stalker charges Yuri, and Satyxis finally remove one of the eliminators.

I try to position my jacks so that next turn I'd be able to go to rectangular zone on the right that was about to fall to Khador.

But a miracle happened there. Marauder did the combo-smite thing and slammed Helldiver four inches or something. This was phenomenal luck. Because Helldiver was still contesting and was outside of threat range of Kayazy Eliminators. One inch more or one inch less and I'd have lost the zone.

Vladimir tried to remove Helldiver with Razor Wind, and failed.

Devastator wrecks Stalker and a mechanic comes to contest circular zone.

After removing contestors with Reaper, Seether charges Behemoth to tie it up. Seether had only one arm and no cortex, so damage wasn't spectacular. I spent quite a bit time on deathclock trying to figure if I should try to assassinate Vladimir. I would've probably tried that if both Axiara and Harrower wouldn't have missed. But they did.

When I'm looking at the game pictures now, it's absurd that Harrower survived that long. After Marauder wrecked Helldiver, Harrower still stood contesting. Behemoth took down Seether. Kayazy Eliminators charge last remaining Iron Monger, and position themselves to contest both the flag and the zone.

Goreshade takes care of the Eliminators and Axiara positions herself to the flag. Leviathan shoots enemy objective down and Reaper runs to contest the zone.

Behemoth comes to contest zone, Vlad wrecks Harrower and Devastator bulldozes Reaper off.

Reaper comes back for more, Blood Priestess runs to contest rectangular zone and Goreshade and Bane Warriors wreck Behemoth.

It was the last round, and one of first, if not the first game in my Mk3 tournaments that had to be resolved with tiebreakers. I had lead of three control points, so a victory for Cryx.

Game 3:

Last game I was against Blindwater Congregation. First time in Mk3.

I wanted to try if Scaverous would be able to score an assassination, but I should've thought about the position of objectives. Opponent picked anchor objective, and with this 5" template of shallow water with protection from ranged attacks had Barnabas1 in a safe spot.

I managed to kill Wrastler. A big mistake was to charge Sacral Vault with ambushing Mechanithralls. I thought three Brute Thralls ought to make a dent in the battle engine - and sure they did... but I had not paid attention at all that there was Gobber Tinker around. Who repaired for six. Yay. Then the thing shot all Brutes in one turn, and what were Mecanithralls to do when their only target was protected by this soul storm thing?

I charge Wraith Engine to that Sacral Vault, and poor rolls still have the thing standing. Well. At least someone was contesting enemy rectangular zone.

I had some trouble contesting flags. Swamp Gobber River Raider scored a point for enemy, and a small bottleneck had my heavy warjacks in a difficult position to do anything other than kill a couple members of Gatormen Posse.

Hilariously enough Wraith Engine didn't... oh wait, it did die.

But it took the combined efforts of Sacral Vault, Ironback Spitter, Gatormen Posse, Bull Snapper and even a charging Mist Speaker. And since they just couldn't do it, Barnabas destroys the thing with a spell.

But losing the engine was my downfall, and slowly and steadily opponent grinded control points to victory.

Looking back now the match-up doesn't look as horrible as it felt. Game was probably playable - I just succumbed to some silly mistakes and being too fixated on assassinating Barnabas.

Sorscha1 vs Goreshade1

Oh my. Ropecon starts tomorrow and this is still in queue for writing. Better do it now.

I played this 50 point game of warmachine about a week ago.

My list:

Goreshade the Bastard [+27]

- Deathripper [6]
- Leviathan [16]
- Malice [15]
- Slayer [10]
- Stalker [8]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [4]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Opponent had a list something like this. I can't figure out the remaining two points, though.

Kommander Sorscha [+29]
- Destroyer [14]
- Destroyer [14]
- Juggernaut [13]
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [7]
Man-O-War Shocktroopers (max) [16]
Steelhead Riflemen (max) [13]

Because it looked like I wouldn't be doing many practice games before entering Ropecon tournament, I built my list to somewhat resemble my second list. Which, by the way, was overhauled overnight because two days before tournament rules... changed. But that's another story.

We played one of the new 2019 scenarios.

Cryx went second, and all in all scenario game looked promising. If it wasn't for Eiryss, who came to contest flag on my side. I charged her with Iron Mongers, but they just pretty much tied each other into melee. Fortunately opponent didn't score lucky hits to critical systems on my warjacks just yet, so "losing" mechanics this early wasn't a fatal blow. And of course they tried to repair Eiryss off the board instead.

Slayer trampled to contest enemy rectangular zone. Then I decide to launch an all-out offensive. I thought if I could remove at least two Khadoran heavies, I would be able to take Sorscha's feat without too much casualties.

Goreshade used feat and Bane Warriors charged around. I forget if Malice finalized Juggernaut or what. Leviathan got full three shots and took at least two of them on Destroyer with boost to hit. Stalker charged another Destroyer. It has only few damage boxes left, so even Cephalyx try to come and use psychic storm.

All in all I could not destroy two Khadoran heavies, but both remaining were crippled enough.

Next Sorscha uses her feat, but she plays safe and stays behind her army.

I'm amazed that Slayer survived that turn. Stalker went to study what the heck does the word "smithereen" actually mean. But all things considered it wasn't too bad. Cryx focused on removing warrior models from board. Most Man-O-Wars perished, but that was it.

However, I had been getting lead in scenario game. Not a huge lead, but slowly it added up. Goreshade won by scenario.

Headless rumours everywhere

Some time ago I played this 75 point game of Warmachine.

I'm still tinkering with Goreshade1 in Slaughter Fleet Raiders. My list was two points short, because I haven't got my hands on a Misery Cage yet. Though I suppose that's relatively useless model for Goreshade.



Slaughter Fleet Raiders
Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Harrower [16]
- Leviathan [16]
- Nightwretch [7]
- Slayer [10]
- Slayer [10]
- Stalker [8]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]

Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]


Opponent had:

Hammer Strike
General Ossrum [+28]
- Ghordson Basher [9]
- Ghordson Driller [10]
- Ghordson Driller [10]
Ogrun Bokur [0(5)]
Steelhead Gunner [3]
Steelhead Gunner [3]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Hammerfall Siege Crawler [18]
Hammerfall Siege Crawler [18]

In the pictures the colossal is a proxy for another Siege Crawler.

Cryx started. Opponent had carefully placed his warjacks out of my melee threat, so in order to do something I decided to use Goreshade's feat on turn 2a.

Harrower, Leviathan and Black Ogruns opened fire, before Goreshade put some Bane Warriors on board. Banes mulched only one Driller, but Basher was damaged enough that Stalker with Leap managed to wreck it. Plus poke Grievous Wounds on the remaining Driller that had lost Cortex.

In turn I lose all Bane Warriors and all but one Black Ogrun Ironmonger plus objective. Ossrum had retaliated with his feat, so I guess things could have been worse.

Well, of course there was still the extra armor part...

Cephalyx Overlords heroically spray dead opponent's gunner who was trying to score points at opponent's flag. Stalker went and poked another Grievous Wounds on Driller. No other damage there.

Harrower and Slayer clear my rectangular zone from Forge Guards despite them not giving it easily. Tough was giving me tough time. Slayer could have done it all by itself, in the perfect world. Scenario points went 2-2.

But then Forge Guard destroys Harrower and severely damages Leviathan and Slayer. Opponent scored only one scenario point, but I was running out of troops.

I do my best at contesting, and thanks to Blood Priestess getting into melee to finish what Slayer could not do, scenario goes 3-5 for Cryx.

But then both Slayers become smoldering scrap heaps, and I got only a handful of models left. Opponent probably catched me on scenario points, too.

Ossrum was hiding behind a wall, behind an Ogrun Bokur and Leviathan was tied up in melee with Forge Guard.

Axiara releases Leviathan from melee, who then proceeds to shoot Ogrun Bokur off. It was already down to one hit box remaining, so it was well withing probabilities. Leviathan got three shots and did some random damage points even to Ossrum - by rolling double sixes to hit.

Now Goreshade had a free charge to Ossrum, with Deathwalker negating his bonus from intervening terrain.

But even with attack boost Goreshade misses charge attack and then it's just rolling dice for giggles, hoping enough 7+ on two dice to kill There were some, but three focus points coupled with too many misses made the assassination a failed one. If memory serves, Ossrum was left with thirteen hit points, so even a double six on my last attempt in dealing damage wouldn't have done it.

Goreshade lost shade and turned into gore.

Reclaimed Bastard

Few days ago I played this 75 point game of Warmachine.

My list:

[Theme] Slaughter Fleet Raiders
Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Harrower [16]
- Leviathan [16]
- Nightwretch [7]
- Reaper [13]
- Seether [13]
- Stalker [8]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]

Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]


Opponent had:

[Theme] Exemplar Interdiction
The High Reclaimer [+32]
- Judicator [34]
Exemplar Bastion Seneschal [0(5)]
High Exemplar Gravus [8]
Scrutator Potentate Severius [0(6)]
- Dervish [7]
Exemplar Errants (max) [16]
- Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard [0(4)]
Exemplar Errants (max) [16]
- Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard [4]
Knights Exemplar [9]
- Knights Exemplar Officer [4]
Knights Exemplar [9]

Scenario was Mirage.

I let opponent start the game, because I didn't want High Reclaimer hiding behind a building.

Early on Judicator nearly shoots Reaper into a smoldering wreck with sprays.

This had Judicator close enough for Seether to charge - as well as the feated unit of Bane Warriors. I just had to clear a few exemplars that were blocking the way. As an extra challenge I wanted to clear my round zone to start scoring points.

This plan succeeded.

Removing Judicator, on the other hand, succeeded too well. Seether was able to destroy it, so it promptly removed three bane warriors with berserk attacks as well. Oh well. At least it was a colossal warjack down in one round. Something I usually have a fair bit of difficulties.

Less surprisingly, exemplars then butchered all of my warjacks except for Leviathan and Nightwretch.

Overlord sprays and desperate attempts had been clearing enemy infantry. From the thirty five exemplars that began the game, I can count only thirteen from the picture. Though the structure might hide someone.

But there was no more game for me once I lost last Overlord, Leviathan, Axiara and a couple of Ironmongers. Opponent had also rocketed too far ahead on the scenario points. It was a loss.

Still, I think there might be something in this theme/caster pairing. Gang + Dark Shroud is an amazing combination.

Irregular Fleet Raiders

Here's two Warmachine games that were played a while ago.

As I have begun to get bored of Infernal Machines, I decided to try something new. My list was:


[Theme] Slaughter Fleet Raiders
Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Harrower [16]
- Nightwretch [7]
- Seether [13]
- 2x Slayer [10]
- 2x Stalker [8]
- Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan [4]
Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]

Even if I don't have that many Slaughter Fleet units, I wondered if I could make something out of my collection. Goreshade the Bastard looked like he'd alleviate my lack of proper models - bringing Gang Fighter bonus wherever needed with his feat.

Black Ogrun Iron Mongers are still on the painting table. And that's where I forgot them. Axiara Wraithblade, on the other hand, has not even arrived yet. So there's some proxies on the table.

I think opponent had a list something like this:

[Theme] The Irregulars
Ashlynn d'Elyse [+29]
- Freebooter [9]
- 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]
2x Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
Press Gangers (max) [12]

Game 1:

First game was over sooner than it had begun. The astonishing threat range of Rorsh caught me by surprise, so we decided to play another game.

Game 2:

Second game took quite a bite longer.

Otherwise my list seemed to somehow work - Curse, gang fighter and Dark Shroud stacks in a manner someone might find disgusting. Warjacks were able to do at least a little something even during Ashlynn's feat. But Goreshade doesn't have enough focus. Maybe the new Satyxis warcaster attachment would help there by upkeeping Lamentation. But still it would not be enough for this many warjacks.

When opponent engaged with his heavy warjacks, he had some really bad luck and did not wreck a thing.

Opponent can't get to Goreshade and I can't get to Ashlynn, and neither side was scoring scenario points in a reliable manner. Play became a version of Cat & Mouse, with after many turns Goreshade finally won.

However, such a victory feels hollow, when had it been an actual tournament game opponent would have won via deathclock. And if we would have counted turns, there would have been a good chance that by the end of seventh turn opponent would have had the lead.

But last game showed how this approach to list building might actually work.

Baneful Forest

Played a 75 point game of Warmachine. My list was:


[Theme] Black Industries
Goreshade the Bastard [+27]
- Harrower [16]
- Malice [15]
- Nightwretch [0(7)]
- Ripjaw [0(7)]
- Seether [13]
- Slayer [10]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius [4]

- Stalker [8]
Machine Wraith [2]
2x Necrotech [2]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
2x Warwitch Siren [4]
Cephalyx Overlords [8]


Opponent had Exulon Thexus list with endless swarm of drudges. At a glance it's difficult to see which units are in question, so I won't try to piece this puzzle together from the few pictures I took. Non-cephalyx models were Alexia and the Risen plus a minimum unit of Forge Guard.

Cephalyx started. Being outnumbered like that is always oppressing, and here all of the enemy models would be able to punch fragile Cryxian heavy warjacks reliably.

In the picture I have, I have just lost Stalker who had managed to walk forward with Escort and then jump next to Exulon Thexus. I had figured that I probably needed to do something that might disrupt enemy battle plans. As a bonus the light warjack did some four or five points of damage to Thexus as well as tagging him with Grievous Wounds.

Thexus moved to use his feat in an attempt to score impressive amount of control points. This turned out to be just one - from my destroyed objective. Opponent forgot, and even more miraculously I remembered Seether had counter-charge. As drudges were flooding into the zones, Seether charged right back in. Three or four drudges were able to charge Seether but did not break it.

As I was probably going to lose attrition anyway, I had to take my chance at assassination. I had grand plans here - some model would kill Deathwalker and then Goreshade would charge in to one of the floating cephalyx models in the forest and turn it right back into Deathwalker so that Thexus would take -2 defense. Everything else went fine, except that when I checked the rules how to spawn Deathwalker I noticed that she replaces the destroyed model. And now the other cephalyx was in melee. I had planned on shooting it down with Hex Blast, but now I needed 13's to hit. I tried it anyway, and Goreshade missed Cephalyx. He hit Deathwalker, though. He boosted blast damage to the cephalyx and fortunately took it down with the blast. But no more Deathwalker.

Well, Goreshade used his feat and Tremulus came to offer them Puppet Master.

I got five Bane Warriors to charge Thexus, with one not receiving charge bonus.

I was blessed with enough 8's to hit for Banes to win the game.

You Just Got Interdicted

Almost a week ago I played these two 75 point games of Warmachine.

After dabbling through summer with Skorne, now that snow has started falling it's only proper thing to switch for my winter based Cryx.

These were my two lists.

Infernal Machines
Goreshade the Bastard
- Harrower
- Reaper
- Slayer
- The Withershadow Combine
Necrotech
2x Pistol Wraith
Saxon Orrik
Warwitch Siren
Bile Thralls (min)
Mechanithralls (max) + Brute Thrall (2)
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Soulhunters (max)



Lord Exhumator Scaverous
- Deathripper
- Nightmare
- Reaper
- The Withershadow Combine
Machine Wraith
Necrotech
Satyxis Raider Captain
Saxon Orrik
2x Soul Trapper
Warwitch Siren
Bane Warriors (min) + Bane Warrior Officer & Standard
Bile Thralls (min) + Skarlock Commander
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max)



Opponent had the same list in both games, and it was:


[Theme] Exemplar Interdiction

Intercessor Kreoss
- Crusader
- Redeemer
- Revenger
Knights Exemplar Seneschal
Vassal of Menoth
Wrack
Choir of Menoth (min)
2x Exemplar Vengers (max)
Idrian Skirmishers (max) + Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard

Scenario was same in both games, and it was The Pit II.

First game I played with Goreshade. I didn't realize how difficult Kreoss3 was for Goreshade because of his easy way to get rid of Lamentation. But that's poor excuse for poor play, anyway.

Infernal Machines theme bonus for ambushing Mechanithralls was astounding once more. They tied up and pretty much wrecked Idrians.

I kind of wasted Soulhunters. I wanted to tie up Redeemer and block easy movement for other warjacks and perhaps even kill some Vengers. Well, at least I got Exemplar Seneschal. With my eighteen points of models. Well, of course I also wanted to double-up with the ambushing Mechanithralls, but Soulhunters just gave birth to flies. They didn't tie enemy long enough, so Crusader got easy charge against Harrower.

Redeemer takes a random deviation right on Admonia and rolls enough to kill her.

Deathwalker took a blast, too.

Next turn I try to play a little scenario. Bad dice rolls screw me over on Goreshade's activation. Though honestly speaking, I just wouldn't give up when I should have. I really, really wanted to kill nearby Venger with Goreshade to get a new Deathwalker as an extra insurance against assassinations. Turned out I Goreshade either missed all of his attacks or didn't do any damage at all. I think I left Goreshade with no focus at all, when originally I thought I'd have at least two and Deathwalker.

I do use Goreshade's feat, though to get make opponent's day at least a little more troublesome. But as there was this Venger around, I had to use quite a few Bane Warriors to attack him. In my mind I would have activated Reaper first, dragged Crusader somewhere and then navigating with Bane Warriors a little better than I did. But now I had to charge first with Warriors.

They did their job. But Mk2 associations still made me feel a little too secure behind Bane Warriors. They no longer had Stealth, so were easily shot off the board by Protectorate. If I remember right, it was just one Crevasse from Kreoss that killed Goreshade's only screen. Crevasse clipped Goreshade too, who took a nasty damage roll in. Did some Redeemer blast get through, too? Well I could be remembering incorrectly, after all here are two games spinning in my head when writing these.

Then a Venger charged and killed Goreshade with lance attack. I remember that with one focus point Goreshade would have survived. And Slayer had one Focus point on it that it hadn't used anywhere...

Sour taste. Bitter, almost. But some people like sour and bitter.

Next game!

Scaverous without a theme. With this era of theme lists I felt like purposefully handicapping myself especially when I just played miniatures I wanted to use for a change. I didn't have a super effective "tech" here that would have paid for the loss of theme bonuses. Annoying for sure. It starts to feel like you should have a small perk for daring to play Steamrollers without a theme force. Scale creep, here we (could) come.

Anyway.

And the effects were showing right away, when it seemed like I didn't have other choice than to sacrifice way too much to contest zones, or give a major head start on the scenario for Protectorate. I chose the latter option.

This lead to a situation that opponent would have won the game if he had rolled at least two inches of slam movement with Force Hammer. But he rolled only one.

This left me a chance for assassination, which I managed to screw up entirely because I used unnecessary complexity. I could have: used telekinesis to clear a drag path for Reaper and bring Bane Warrior so that Kreoss would suffer from Dark Shroud once dragged to Reaper. Even Nightmare might have had a charge attempt at Kreoss, though this was unsure.

But here's what I tried: clear a couple of models from the drag path with Telekinesis, and kill a couple with Feast of Worms that would lead to grand total of -4 ARM for Kreoss once dragged.

For an excruciating insult to injury, the last remaining model on the path (Visgoth Rhoven) was left alive with only one box remaining, with corrosion. Though might be I actually re-rolled that one into "no damage at all."

So opponent was able to score the last scenario points at his leisure.

So that's two losses, both mostly because of my own crude mismanagement of important moves. Well, I guess it's consolation of sorts that I did have my chance to win in both games - even in the last one that quickly looked like utter defeat.

Bane Rivalry

So a while ago I played these two 50 point games of Warmachine.

My lists were:

Game 1:

Goreshade the Bastard
- Corruptor
- Reaper
- Seether
- Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan
Bile Thralls (min)
Soulhunters (min)
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (min)
Machine Wraith
Necrotech

Game 2:

Lich Lord Venethrax
- Nightmare
- Malice
- Slayer
- Desecrator
- Ripjaw
2x Warwitch Siren
Necrotech
Machine Wraith

Opponent played this list in both games:

Bane Witch Agathia
- 2x Deathripper
- 2x Slayer

Bane Warriors (max)

Scenario was The Pit in both games.

There were some striking similarities on how the games played out.

In the first game Goreshade and Agathia had to settle it which one was more professional Bane Manager. Both players started scoring points from the flags until Goreshade seized the zone, getting my Cryx to four control points. I would win if I managed to dominate or control the zone or dominate my flag, so opponent decided to attempt an assassination. Vanish is quite a sneaky spell when it comes to that.

Charge attack missed as far as memory serves. Rest of the attacks did mediocre results. It was pretty much game over for Agathia when she left Goreshade at four or something hit boxes remaining with Deathwalker still alive. Deathwalker would have died and Goreshade would have been at one hit box, a Satyxis Blood Witch with that auto-hitting POW 6-7 would have been first legendary caster kill for my Mk3. But not this time. Victory for Goreshade.

Second game I switched to Venehthrax with heavy battlegroup emphasis. Again Agathia seized her flag, but I chose a most greedy route. I tried to conquer whole zone in the middle turn after turn.

It was a huge risk which could have paid off. I had some unlucky dice with Nightmare, when it couldn't wreck it's prey target (who, admittedly, had Hellwrought on) Malice and my Slayer wrecked second Slayer from opponent (I had had to suffer a feated, unlucky alpha strike that didn't destroy even one helljack from me. However, situation looks far better for me than it actually was - Desecrator and Malice were almost smoldering wrecks already, and Nightmare had lost at least one arm. Only Slayer was fully functional.)

So I ran out of attacks to clear the zone, all the while I had not really bothered to contest enemy flag. This was Venethrax' downfall.

Well, I would have needed to try some other kind of approach anyway, because if we consider model count, me getting random models to contest enemy flag was far more difficult than Agathia bringing models to contest mine.

One victory and one loss, good enough I guess.