Counter Chain

A few days ago I had this 75 point game of Warmachine.

My list:

Black Industries
Lich Lord Venethrax [+26]
- Deathripper [6]
- Erebus [16]
- Malice [15]
- Slayer [10]
- Slayer [10]
- Stalker [8]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Machine Wraith [2]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [0(4)]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (3) [0(6)]
- Skarlock Commander [3]



Opponent:

Mercenaries
Soldiers of Fortune
Magnus the Warlord [+28]
- Blockader [33]
- Freebooter [9]
- Nomad [12]
- Toro [13]
- Toro [13]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker [0(4)]
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire [0(7)]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Steelhead Arcanist [4]
Steelhead Arcanist [4]
Steelhead Arcanist [4]
Steelhead Ironhead [4]
Steelhead Mortar Crew [0(5)]


Early on I gained slight scenario point advantage, which I as soon about to lose. Malice takes enemy Freebooter, but didn't manage to kill it. It took another Slayer to finish the job. So point investment was about three times the cost of Freebooter.

Flag on the right saw some action - I brought Erebus to contest the flag. On mercenary turn Stannis Brocker came to control the flag, and I had Erebus counter-charge him. This had Toro countercharge Erebus, which in turn had Malice countercharge Toro. Much fun and many joy was had, but effects were rather negligible.

Oh, except that there was now two of my heavies close to each other. Blockader with those absurd fists slammed Malice into Erebus and single-handedly wrecked both despite Venethrax having his feat on. That was 31 points that just went missing.

I can't help but compare P+S 22 slampush fists with 4" reach to my own factions Kraken's... with three less p+s.

Oh well. I had forgotten how sorry feat Venethrax has against Warmachine. Both Power-Up and Empower can circumvent it completely.

It was downhill from there.

Stalker managed to kill Alexia and ambushing Mechanithralls ended Stannis. Some enemy warjack had come to my rectangular zone, and it took Slayer, Venethrax, Withershadow Combine and Warwitch Siren to remove the thing. But Magnus was now so far ahead in scenario game that there was little I could do to prevent him from winning.

Befuddled

So I got a game against new and improved Fiona the Black. This is my story of survival.

My list was:

Dark Host
Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Deathripper [6]
- Desecrator [14]
- Inflictor [13]
- Nightwretch [7]
- Reaper [13]
- Skarlock Thrall [4]
Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]
Wraith Engine [15]


Opponent had:


The Irregulars

Fiona, the Black [+27]
- Rover [14]
- Toro [13]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker [0(4)]
Alten Ashley [0(6)]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Gastone Crosse [4]
- Nomad [12]
Croe's Cutthroats (max) [16]
Idrian Skirmishers (max) [15]
- Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide [0(5)]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
Press Gangers (min) [7]


I played Dark Host for a change. And once again I misplaced the theme clouds and blocked my own line of sight for some charges. Oh well.

No sooner than round two I learned a thing or two about Befuddle. I was somehow thinking Inscrutable would protect Wraith Engine. Also, I wasn't paying attention that Aiyana & Holt can give magical weapons. There went my glorious Wraith Engine.

Wait. What? It didn't? There were some... rolls... involved. Idrians with magical weapon and Prey on Wraith Engine, along with Gastone Crosse somehow didn't crack through the battle engine. It was left alive with two damage boxes remaining. Well, at least it had Death Ward on, but this combination of magical weapon, prey and a random 3" confusion of a colossal necromechanical inscrutable monstrosity machine kind of overwhelmed me. Didn't see that one coming, not yet.

Well, at least Fiona didn't use her feat yet. I might be able to do something.

I decided to use Scaverous' feat now. Three telekinesis' shuffled two enemy warjacks around and Reaper closer to enemy. Scaverous had to remove one Idrian with Excarnate.

Skarlock turned Wraith Engine around, which then charged Gastone Crosse and managed to kill him. Whee. I got my very first free Machine Wraith, ever. This had unexpected extra boon: Nomad fell inert deep within Kill Zone. Fiona probably wouldn't go an fetch it.

Bane Warriors scored my first control point by destroying enemy objective. Reaper drags Toro with harpoon, and then whatever I have left try to take it down. I thought I'd be able to make it without the help of Inflictor, but if opponent didn't wreck Wraith Engine, neither did I any damage of consequence to the mercenary warjack. So I don't think I have any rights to complain here.

Opponent destroys Wraith Engine next for sure. From then on the game goes odd. Fiona also uses her feat, and my next turn is a mess. My biggest achievement was to destroy the Toro or Rover or whatever it was I had dragged with Reaper.

Both sides are slowly whittling away, and it's probably seventh turn when I get a spot for an assassination. Scaverous charges an Idrian, bringing himself within 8" of Fiona. This also gave soul for Scaverous, so Reaper wouldn't need to be that afraid of missing with harpoon.

But it didn't miss. Fiona found a harpoon bolt sticking through her tummy.

Not a result I could have expected. Befuddle was cast on almost every round. Could be that first round was the only exception. Had Wraith Engine died when it should have, I doubt I could have put on much of a fight.

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.

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.

Irregular Consistency

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

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

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


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

2x Pistol Wraith [free]

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

First game was with Deneghra against Ashlynn.

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

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


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

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

Game 2:

Second game was Mortenebra against Magnus2.

[Theme] The Irregulars

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

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

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

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

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

Loss for Mortenebra.

Irregular Machines

Around a week ago I played this 75 point Warmachine game.

My list was:

[Theme] Infernal Machines
Asphyxious the Hellbringer
- Leviathan
- Reape
- Ripjaw
- Stalker
Darragh Wrathe
Necrotech
2x Pistol Wraith
Bile Thralls (min)
Mechanithralls (max) + 2x Brute Thrall

Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Soulhunters (max)


Opponent had:

[Theme] The Irregulars
Captain Damiano
- 2x Mangler
Major Harrison Gibbs
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor
Ragman
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max)
Idrian Skirmishers (max) + Chieftain & Guide
Kayazy Assassins (max) + Underboss
2x Kayazy Eliminators
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Cryx started game for once. It becomes apparent quickly that despite the arrival of Mechanithralls from ambush, I wouldn't stand much chance in scenario game - or at least I didn't believe in my capability to clear the board with such high defense on Kayzys all over. And contesting enemy zone and flag would only work half of the time - opponent had advantage in attack volume as well as strength. Well, sure, I had Bile Thralls, but I didn't expect them to survive Idrians and Holt for an extended period of time that scenarios would require.

So I sent Vociferon to die. Asphyxious managed to take only three souls via this particular skarlock.

Mechanithralls made impressive job in killing one Kayazy Eliminator and even scoring a hit against the other - damage roll just wasn't enough to kill her. Also, Idrian command attachment was gone.

Damiano starts scoring points. All but one Brute Thrall is eradicated, and three Soulhunters survive only because of poor rolls by Kayazy Assassins. Although it isn't showing in the picture, my rectangular zone is being contested by an Eliminator in farthest corner possible. And another Eliminator contests my flag.

Now when I look at the pictures I don't understand why did I not try to score three control points? I mean, surely everything I got could have taken care of two Eliminators and a few Forge Guard on the middle zone. Maybe being outnumbered so badly scared me, and made me attempt assassination instead - even when Damiano had used his feat.

First various models try to clear some Forge Guard. Ripjaw runs into position and Asphyxious casts Calamity on Damiano (which hits) and then Mobility.

Darragh gives Death Ride and Bile Thralls get something around three of four Purges on Damiano. Speed of seven and range of thirteen gave even Leviathan some random shots against Damiano. Finally Reaper walks into melee with Damiano, and succeeds to kill the Don Quixote of Iron Kingdoms. Once more it was last possible attack I could make that killed Damiano, but considering it was an automatic hit from sustained attack Helldriver, it was a fairly secured one.

Warmachine tournament at Ropecon

Last year I skipped Warmachine tournament that was held in Ropecon. Mk3 had just launched and all, and I felt somehow exhausted. But this year I took part, and these were my 75 point tournament lists:

List 1:
[Theme] Infernal Machines
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver
- Corruptor
- Kraken
- Nightwretch
- Skarlock Thrall
Necrotech
2x Pistol Wraith
2x Soul Trapper
Mechanithralls (max)
- 2x Brute Thrall
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Soulhunters (max)

List 2:

Asphyxious the Hellbringer
- Desecrator
- Malice
- Ripjaw
- 2x Stalker
Bane Lord Tartarus
Darragh Wrathe
Satyxis Raider Captain
Machine Wraith
Necrotech
Bane Warriors (min)
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard
Bile Thralls (min)

First game was against Issyria. I chose Deneghra, and I lucked out when I got to play against the list which had Imperatus in it. Mortality was pretty devastating tho Phoenix protocol.

Ambushing Mechanithralls and Soulhunters wrecked one flank completely.

I played aggressively with Deneghra, and I suppose it worked out somehow. The Retribution battle engine spent a couple of turns shooting at Deneghra, but seemed to miss more often than it should have - Issyria had no problems landing Blinding Light on Deneghra.

Eventually it was a scenario victory for Cryx.

Game 2:

Second game was against Gorten Grundback, and I had picked Deneghra3 again. I didn't have an idea what I should be doing. At one point looked like I could try to start grinding some scenario points by seizing three control points, but then dice went all kinds of awry and I was left with only one. Plus I made mistakes in my positioning elsewhere, too - I had to leave Deneghra in a terribly vulnerable position.

Opponent didn't even have to bother with scenario, he just shot Deneghra into smithereens.

Still it was a nice game - even if I was a bit clueless, I still felt like I was at least doing something.

Game 3:

I played against the newly released Morghoul3. I am always especially excited when I get to play against new warcasters, and I had never faced Morghoul3 even during Mk2, where he did not exist. I chose Asphyxious3 as my list.

Bile Thralls did well enough in removing some Praetorian Swordsmen. I was too greedy and waited too long to use Asphyxious' feat. Even a couple of extra focus points could have made the difference, when I got Malice to shoot a harpoon at Morghoul3 who had Calamity, dragging him within Dark Shroud of Bane Lord Tartarus.

But even more impact than a less greedy usage of feat would have been if I would have moved Darragh Wrathe or anyone to take a point from my flag. I didn't.

And then I lost.

Game 4:

Last game I chose Deneghra once more, as I was against Cryx. Opponent took Asphyxious2.

Game was very exciting and brutal. Opponent made one tragic mistake, where he charged with Bane Riders - only to find out the last cavalry model, unit leader, was stationary.

Opponent also missed a couple of critical attacks, most notably ones targeting Kraken and Pistol Wraiths. I did have my share of bad luck a turn earlier, though, where despite everything I threw at enemy Darragh Wrathe, I just could not bring him down to start scoring scenario.

But yeah, Kraken lasted far longer than it should have against Bane Warriors. Ambushing Mechanithralls were amazing once more and I have to say I quite enjoy Infernal Machines theme.

Though I don't think I used Hyper Aggressive even once. But it's not that often when you want to go Hyper Aggressive with a Night Wretch... or a Corruptor, for that matter.

Eventually it was a scenario victory for Deneghra.

2-2, not bad result considering I haven't played in tournaments for ages. I was happy that none of the games were decided because of Deathclock - though some matches were pretty close. I think in the last game I had like three minutes left in my clock.

Does two Wrong Eyes make a right one?

Two 75 point games of Warmachine from this... month, or so.

Deneghra, the Soul Weaver
- Corruptor
- Defiler
- Erebus

Mechanithralls (min) +2x Brute Thralls

Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
The Withershadow Combine
Iron Lich Overseer
- Leviathan
Necrotech
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor
Pistol Wraith
2x Soul Trapper
Warwitch Siren

Opponent had:

Actually I got no idea what opponent had. I don't remember the names of the monstrosities and cannot easily tell the two drudge units from each other. List may have been something like this:

Cognifex Cyphon
- Warden
- 2x Wrecker

Alexia Ciannor & the Risen + Dominator

2x Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges (max)
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges (min)
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges (max)
Cephalyx Overlords
Horgenhold Artillery Corps + Dominator
2x Cephalyx Agitator

Scenario was Take & Hold.

This write-up is bound to be brief, as it's been way too long since I played this game and it was a long one.

In the first picture, for example, I forget why there is one monstrosity close to my flag. It was probably something with Leviathan having Stealth from Iron Lich Overseer, so that Cognifex was not able to cast Gallows on the heavy warjack. It's possible that opponent had used feat this turn, too, and when Gallows shenanigans and such went wrong, the benefits of feat were less than impressive.

So was my next turn, too. I really hope Cognifex had used the feat, because otherwise dice rolls must have been exceedingly subpar. I dedicated Leviathan, Iron Lich Overseer, Deneghra, Defiler and Pistol Wraith to kill the monstrosity - and failed. The monstrosity was at one hit box remaining, under corrosion and stationary from Death Chill.

Opponent killed Iron Lich Overseer, because somehow I had thought it more beneficial to take a POW 12 swing at ARM 22 target or something than cast Stealth. I think Erebus took a hit despite DEF 16 and obviously some Mechanithralls died, but other than that I cannot remember. Except, well, there it is in the picture. A daunting swarm of drudges closed in.

I think I used Deneghra's feat next and spammed Mortality all over the board. Corruptor is a nice piece of art when fighting Drudges with a warcaster that can remove Tough.

For some reason I also charged in with Erebus, getting four kills at maximum. Deneghra re-activated Leviathan under her control and used feat souls to fill it with focus. It probably killed monstrosity on the right next.

Of course I lost Erebus, foolish as I was launching him in to the thick of action. Necrosurgeon was steadily bringing in new batches of Mechanithralls - opponent had been extremely unlucky in his attempts to remove her.

Next I figure that if I kill the last monstrosity, Deneghra will have very little to fear. She and Leviathan killed it. From here on game went weird and awkward. We were both trying to dominate the enemy flag. Cyphon was continuously spraying Deneghra with the "cannot cast spells" gun, which meant I didn't have the courage to charge him. Not without Mortality, no.

Eventually Deneghra was more successful in grinding out scenario points. Killing blow was when Cognifex was unable to finish Leviathan that didn't have all that many health boxes remaining.



Game 2:

Second game was played about a week later. My list was:

Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Malice
- Ripjaw
- 2x Stalker
Bane Warriors (max) + Officer & Standard
Bile Thralls (min) + Skarlock Commander
Darragh Wrathe
Scrap Thralls
2x Soul Trapper
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw

Opponent had:

Gorten Grundback
- 2x Ghordson Driller
- 2x Grundback Gunner

2x Kayazy Eliminators
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Kell Bailoch
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor
Savio Montero Acosta
Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker
Rorsh & Brine
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw


Scenario was Entrenched and Cryx started game.

I had some success in removing some solos and whatnot with surprise SPD 6 Purge sprays from Bile Thralls.

Engaging didn't feel like an option when both had Star Crossed going on for them.

Looked like game would become a scenario grind-fest, but opponent got Savio Acosta into a difficult spot to remove and I didn't feel like I would be able to punch through enemy armor any time soon.

So, assassination attempt it was. All models I had tried to kill Wrong Eye first. It didn't succeed, so Asphyxious walked forward and cast Parasite on Gorten. Then he used feat and got seven thralls back or something. One thrall killed off Wrong Eye, and a four thralls or so succeeded in charging Gorten.

One was a miss, but three other attacks hit.

Last one caused a Tough roll, which obviously succeeded when I couldn't make any more attacks. Maybe with a little bit better positioning from the very start of my feat I could have got five thralls at him... but maybe it wouldn't have changed anything. After all, three 7+'s on two dice out of four attempts was far better statistics than what I have come used to...

Anyway, Asphyxious was butchered up many times over on the next turn. If I had saved up enough focus points for Teleport, maybe I would have played for one additional turn.

Now, Asphyxious3 needs to fail at caster kill because of Tough roll and I have a full set complete.

Dice: the most cruel lash of them all

Since errata and all that, it was good time to give first game for my Skorne in new edition. Since Hexeris1 with whom I started Skorne, he was all but solidified choice for my list. Of course he receiving quite a few changes in errata had a kind of an impact here. Anyway, it was a 75 point game.

Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Agonizer
- Archidon
- Basilisk Drake
- Tiberion
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Praetorian Swordsmen (max) + Command Attachment
Venator Reivers (max) + Command Attachment
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Hutchuck, Ogrun Bounty Hunter

Effigy of Valor

Opponent probably had:


Theme: Operating Theater

Exulon Thexus
- Subduer
- Warden
- Wrecker
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt + Dominator
3x Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges (max)
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges (max)
2x Cephalyx Overlords
2x Cephalyx Agitator

Effigy of Valor

Scenario was Entrenched and Skorne started game. Death March is on Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on Archidon. I bunched up my infantry in the middle and tried to use Hexeris' feat way too early. Which was turn 2. I had thought that I might have chances of removing some 8-10 drudges at least, but damn they were good at passing Tough checks this time. Hexeris' feat gave Skorne only one extra... knockdown.

Opponent dealt less damage than I had anticipated. Only a few Swordsmen died, but opponent secured two scenario points - one from dominating their zone and one from destroying my objective. Could have been three, though, because opponent had no-one to control it.

Next turn I wanted to have an assassination or something, and used Tiberion to kill a monstrosity and Praetorians who used Power Swell to kill another - which had been knocked down by Hutchuck. Exulon went down with the bomb, too. Praetorians got the monstrosity down to one hit box remaining after Basilisk Drake had sprayed around a little with it's eye. Spray attack was sacrificial pawned on the last monstrosity, too.

But Sacrificial Pawn works while knocked down, so Venators removed the knocked down monstrosity and had pawned damage roll on the last one.

Hexeris with Puppet Master cast two damage boosted Sunder Spirit's at Exulon, and dealt seven points in total. Exulon had two focus points remaining and Deceleration on. Now Hexeris had no fury, three beasts on maximum fury and only a few contestants on both zones. Whee.

Because of some bad dice rolls (namely with Telekinesis and three misses on equal to Magic Skill 8 ) Hexeris survived. But first things first. Master Holt took shots at Hexeris, one of which was shield-guarded by Tiberion. Not sure what triggered such a terrible hatred and frenzy on Tiberion, because next moment he attacked Hexeris, dealing enough damage to bring Hexeris to nine boxes remaining. Cause was Rampager from Exulon Thexus, of course. Immovable object is not that immovable any longer.

Well, then Exulon Thexus was sitting there in the middle of Skorne army with no focus points, already being injured. At three control points, though.

I felt like I should have lost the game. I made so many ridiculous mistakes (wasting my feat, not contesting my zone with, for example, immovable Tiberion, fooling around in the middle with no transfers...)

Opponent conceded, as there was no chance for def 14 arm 14 target to survive Venators, Basilisk Drake, Hexeris with seven fury points and what was left of Archidon.

Breach of Contract

This game was played over a week ago. I had originally planned to play Deneghra3, but I forgot both the miniature and a few warjacks at home, so in haste I threw this list together:

The Witch Coven of Garlghast
- Erebus
- Slayer
- Leviathan
- Nightwretch
- Defiler
- Deathripper
The Withershadow Combine

Cephalyx Overlords
Bile Thralls (min)
Necrotech
Pistol Wraith
Soul Trapper
Swamp Gobber River Raiders

I am not entirely sure about the enemy list, but it was something like this:


Operating Theater
Exulon Thexus
- Subduer
- Warden
- Wrecker
Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges (max)
Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges (max)
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) & Cephalyx Dominator
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt & Cephalyx Dominator
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges (max)
Cephalyx Overlords
3x Cephalyx Agitator

Scenario was Take and Hold and Cephalyx started game. For whatever reason Cephalyx had turned their weapons against their Cryxian paymasters (or bodymasters?)

In the first picture I have sent Slayer to kill one of enemy monstrosities. Witch Coven has used their feat, so I had a relatively safe turn coming from the opponent next. Even Slayer gave tremendous difficulties for low MAT & RAT models.

Opponent had been failing Tough rolls far below average, and still there were so darn many mind slaves on board. Even with Bile Thralls and my own Cephalyx Overlords I was running low on the number of attacks to kill that many models in time. My choice of warcaster didn't actually help in this matter either - Coven doesn't really have any tools to remove large number of models.

Forest was an easy hiding place for Exulon Thexus, but Maelovus had been casting Ghost Walk on various arc nodes, who had then ran to channel spell at the enemy warcaster. Arc node #1 caused a few damage points in thanks to Puppet Master. Most of them were removed via Psycho Surgery, though.

I don't have the actual details on my memory any more, but Exulon had kept failing at something on his feat turn, so he only had one focus point left for damage block. Most of my Bile Thralls had been lined up to die under psychic sprays of different Overlords.

I was too afraid of losing Erebus and then having nothing to deal with monstrosities, so I tried assassination.

It took a little bit of shuffling to get Defiler to run for channeling position, but after that was done two damage boosted Stygian Abysses with re-roll from Puppet Master was enough to give me the victory.

Additional league games

And the Journeyman League continues, slightly sloppily when it comes to my activity at least.

But once I got to a gaming night, I played thee 10 point games.

I expanded my list with:

Mohsar the Desertwalker
- Gnarlhorn Satyr
- Winter Argus
- Gorax

Blackclad Wayfarer
Druid Wilder
Gallows Grove

First game was against General Ossrum, who had added Basher to the list. Basher broke off the base just before we started game, so it is the empty base with some cork in it.

This game went a little better than the first one. Not much, but at least I got to do something other than advance and die.

I tried to open up the game so that I'd block enemy heavies to the right side of the board, while wrecking things on the left and hopefully getting to Ossrum in time. However, Basher got to kill Gorax.

Also, Gnarlhorn Satyr was not able to kill one enemy light warjack, though it had Curse of Shadows on it. Well, sure, Ossrum had his feat on, but come on.

Basher destroyed any pillars that were protecting Gnarlhorn, and Energizer got Driller to position where it could easily go and make some minced meat out of the Satyr.

Ossrum had no Focus points, so I guess I really needed to make caster kill now. Mohsar charged in to cast Curse of Shadows on Ossrum but missed. Ossrum had Bullet Dodger on, so it advanced away from Mohsar's cast range. I accidentally thought of making some pillars to block Ossrum's advance, so Winter Argus was free to try and kill an uninjured enemy def 16 warcaster with two RAT 4, POW 12 attacks.

Failed. And Mohsar died.

Game 2:

Second game was against Cryx:

Lich Lord Venethrax
- 2x Slayer
- Deathripper

6x Mechanithralls
Skarlock

I was way too scared of Terminal Velocity in this game. And it didn't exactly help either that I didn't bother to ask about the Venethraxs' new feat's details. I was under impression that it forbade forcing when it instead didn't allow for to leech.

That was one ouchy touch turn.

But I did put up a valiant fight, though. Piece by piece I was removing Cryxian stuff from the board until there was only one Slayer left. Venethrax had been sitting on the flag, grinding scenario points whole time.

But it wasn't a scenario victory, no.

Slayer charged Gorax with Terminal Velocity and got within 1" of Mohsar. First attack brought Mohsar to one or two points remaining or something like that. Then Mohsar died.

New and improved Crevasse is quite a nice spell, though.

Game 3:

Last game was against Syntherion, who had added Corollary and some servitors to his list.

I chose to make a grand opening in this game and sent Gnarlhorn Satyr to its death, trading a 12 point beast to 7 or 8 point warjack. But I made that on purpose this time, as I thought Syntherion would now have to dedicate quite a bit of his resources to deal with a heavy and also Winter Argus, buying me time to start to score scenario points.

It almost worked. However, there was always some nasty enemy model that was able to run to contest my flag from one vector (pun...?) or another. And I had ran out of models to contest enemy flag.

A rare game, where both players went to 5 control points.

However, next Mohsar lost last remaining model from his army list - the Blackclad Wayfarer. Mohsar's game was doomed.

So that was three losses. Oh dear.

Journeyman League

A Journeyman League with slightly modified rule set started in my home town.

My initial list was:

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

0-point games were played with Mangled Metal rules.

My first game was against:

General Ossrum
- Ghordson Driller
- 2x of those tiny jacks with a single shot cannon
- 1x of the warjack with spray weapon

... and oh boys, was I rusty.

First turn I started to think about my fury management once I had already activated two of my beasts that only ran. So I had to cut up, what, four points on my turn 2?

Well, it was quite tough match up anyway. As there was no scenario pressure, I had to keep going at them, all the while getting shot to pieces. At least the salt pillars were a nuisance for Ossrum and protected me somewhat.

Once Driller got to charge Gnarlhorn Satyr and I had not seriously damaged even one of their jacks, I started to figure out a way to give me even a tiniest sense of accomplishment, as winning the game looked unlikely.

I ended up wrecking the Driller with Mohsar. Yay.

Game 2:

Second game was against Convergence of Cyriss:

Syntherion
- Monitor
- Diffuser
- Galvanizer

Oh, this game brought me back fond memories of playing Mk2 with Mohsar against Khador.

I used my feat on turn 1.

I was less afraid of the shooting aspect of enemy forces this time, and pushed forward much more aggressively.

Syntherion, however, got Magnetic Hold on Gnarlhorn Satyr, which made me feel a lot less confident.

All Gnarlhorn did was to walk over to Diffuser and beat it to the ground. I expected to lose it next turn.

Reconstruct was on Monitor, so I'd have to somehow wreck it twice with light warbeasts. Perhaps with Curse of Shadows.

However, a sort of miracle happened. Monitor did not kill Gnarlhorn, and neither did Galvanizer who came to help. Attack rolls by opponent were terrible. Syntherion spent all of his focus points that turn, so now I would have to try to assassinate him.

Mohsar charged Monitor and cast Curse of Shadows on Syntherion. Gorax gave Primal to Winter Argus, and Winter Argus then walked to back arc of Syntherion, who promptly died.

Day 2 of Steam & Fury

These are the last two games at a tournament I played in a tournament in Vaasa. Since on Sunday there were only two games I'm writing them first.

First I was against Cryx, and I really wanted to play at least one game with Lord Tyrant Hexeris.

Opponent had:

Goreshade the Cursed
Heresy of Shadows tier 2
- Kraken

Maximum unit of Bane Knights
2x Maximum unit of Bane Thralls + Unit Attachment

Bane Lord Tartarus
2x Necrotech & Scrap Thrall
Scrap Thralls

So... that must have been the greatest number of Banes I've personally played against.

I tinkered my list into:

Lord Tyrant Hexeris
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon
- 2x Basilisk Drake

Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Minimum unit of Venator Reivers + Unit Attachment + a rat (looking at the pictures I noticed Flayer Cannon range finder has sneaked in!)
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Orin Midwinter

Scenario was Incursion, and Cryx started game. No surprises from Skorne side - Death March was on Praetorian Swordsmen and Soul Slave on Archidon. Witch Doctor had cast Zombify on... somewhere. Cryx had Phantom Hunter on Kraken, Occultation on Bane Knights and Sudden Death on Bane Lord Tartarus.

Cryx turn 2 was depressing. Even if I own a Kraken myself, that 16" range caught me by surprise. I lost both Gatorman Witch Doctor and Orin Midwinter to just one blast. Well... Orin wasn't so important, but the loss of Zombify really hurt my game. Other than that the Banes were just advancing cautiously, bringing themselves to barely contest the flags.

As pretty much everything had Stealth (and for some reason I didn't remember to put Extoller Soulward on my specialists...) and Kraken was guarded by one Necrotech, I wanted to get at least some mileage out of Venator Reivers. So they used minifeat and shot the Necrotech. Last remaining Venators made a combined shot against the colossal. Kraken had blocked my LOS to the other Necrotech, so seven points were a bit wasted there.

Hexeris probably shot Obliteration and killed a bane thrall.

Cryx turn 3 I suffered far less casualties than I was expecting. But on the other hand Goreshade was holding back. A minimum number of various Banes charged my lines and others tried to remain a safe distance away. I guess they were afraid of Hexeris' feat, and rightly so... And I wonder if I should have used feat anyway. I just wasn't sure if Goreshade's feat created new banes or if it brought back destroyed ones. Turns out it was the latter, so perhaps I should have used feat. That would have been four Bane Knights and about seven Bane Thralls that wouldn't be coming back. But greedy as I was, I wanted more. I wanted them all.

And from there the game degraded into Banes multiplying themselves with Praetorian Swordsmen, Basilisks and Tyrant commanders. Hexeris' feat, while not too bad, just did not remove enough banes to severely hamper their advance. That's painful to write. Hexeris' feat was not enough to remove banes to seriously injure them. Of course there was unnecessarily many tough rolls being made and the new realization that if you kill the bane unit leader and it gets promoted to somewhere else in the unit, the newly promoted unit leader will not be able to make attacks if you later kill it for your feat.

Any and all hope was lost when yet again I was too greedy - I wanted enraged Archidon to charge Kraken and kill Tartarus, who was in the middle of my army. Looked like I'd get Tartarus within Archidon's melee range, but no.

Only the leftmost flag was kind of secured for me, so once it looked like I'd lose the game I started to score scenario points at least for possible tie breakers later in the tournament. Hexeris was there in the middle of action, beat backing Banes and whatnot off from within 4" of the flag. Basilisk Drake scored three points before Skorne finally succumbed to the swarm of banes.


Game 2:

Last game was a second time ever match versus Cephalyx. Since Forward Kommander doesn't have the Exulon tier available for construction, the list may have some inaccuracies.
Opponent had:

Exulon Thexus
Tier level over 9000
- Wrecker

Maximum unit of Nyss Hunters + Dominator
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt + Dominator
2x Maximum unit of Mind Bender & Drudges
2x Minimum unit of Mind Slaver & Drudges (in ambush)

2x Cephalyx Overlords
+ possibly two Agitators?

Hexeris was pretty much out of the question, though his feat could have been quite devastating against such an infantry horde. But such a feat in a horde like that could very well ve devastating for my deathclock, too. Banishing Ward might also be a lifesaver.

So, Mordikaar it would be. And my list was:

Void Seer Mordikaar
- Bronzeback Titan
- Archidon
- Cyclops Shaman
- Basilisk Drake

Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Cataphract Cetrati
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Void Spirit

Scenario was Recon, and looks like Cephalyx started the game. First of all I was terrified about the number of models opponent had. For some crowd control I swapped Basilisk Krea for Basilisk Drake, but I silently wondered if that'd be enough.

Hollow was on Praetorian Swordsmen and Banishing Ward on Cetrati. Witch Doctor was zombifying Cetrati also.

Turn 2 Cephalyx spilled over far worse than the banes of last game. There weren't any real casualties for me. Only the Nyss were shooting a bit, but Mordikaar doesn't care too much for dead Praetorians. So I would be able to make the alpha strike! Against a meatwall, sure, but alpha strike nonetheless! And after that I would be in a fairly defendable position thanks to Mordikaar's feat.

Void Spirit tried to go and eat the unit leader of rightmost Slaver unit. I don't remember what came out of it. Cetrati took Shield Wall and killed, what, one drudge grunt and one nyss? Cyclops Shaman stared down a drudge grunt, and Gatorman Witch Doctor zombified Cetrati again. That was all I'd be able to do on right.

Bronzeback probably went and destroyed one nyss hunter and beat backed to a safer position.

Mordikaar activates, casts Revive, possibly two, a Ghost Walk on Praetorian Swordsmen and finally casts Banishing Ward on himself. There were so many magical sprays that I thought it might be worth it.

Then Ghost Walked Swordsmen charge all over the place aaaand see what's missing? The feat. The goddamn +3 def feat that was the reason I left Mordikaar with only one Fury left for transfers. Why? Whyyyy?

Once I realise I forgot to use feat I try to form some sort of meatwall for Mordikaar, but there's mostly just Archidon for that job.

Then it's turn 3 for the Cephalyx after my pro play.

Exulon Thexus advances and uses his feat and messes every formation up, and removes all the Nyss Hunters from melee. Then he casts two Hex Blasts on my objective, and a boosted blast damage roll to Mordikaar was astonishing. More rolls like this and it all would be over very soon with minimal pain.

Then Nyss activate and advance to get line of sight to Mordikaar. Bronzeback manages to counter charge one of them and tie one Nyss to melee, and hopefully block Line of Sight for others. Nope, they all got Line of Sight easily enough.

Damage rolls weren't that great, though, and Mordikaar survives.

Then the POW 12 sprays start pouring in. Every Cephalyx with a spray and their dogs advanced forward and sprayed either the Archidon or my objective - all of them catching Mordikaar under easily. About half of the sprays hit, and the grand total is that Mordikaar is left with only one Fury and one hit box. But finally... finally it was the last Cephalyx spray to activate. Mordikaar was saved. Even the objective survived with, what, two damage boxes or something.

And then Aiyana & Holt & Cephalyx Dominator activate... Oh come on! How many of these guy are in the list? I didn't know it then, but Cephalyx Dominator doesn't have a spray attack. So, in fact, it was the miracle of my objective not getting destroyed that made it possible for Mordikaar to survive. Of course I wasn't aware what else opponent would be able to throw at me, but first Holt needed to shoot the objective out of the way, and then Mordikaar twice some how. But even the first attack didn't destroy objective, only the second one did. Arcane wonder.

Then last drudges and whatnots activate, and opponent ends his gigantic turn with a bit less than half a minute on his clock.

So it was a matter of principle for me next. After such an extraordinary survival from almost certain doom it would have been easy for me to run as far with Mordikaar as possible, and win next turn on clock. But I have always complained everywhere how much I hate either winning or losing with the clock, and clock is good only for keeping tournament schedule going forward in a good pace. The actual situation on the board, however, was far from a victory for me.

Perhaps the inner WAAC demon would have been stronger if I had been with five victories and zero defeats then at the final table. But I chose to play as if there was no clock, and try to assassinate Exulon instead.

There was the Wrecker monstrosity and a nyss hunter in the way of Bronzeback to get to Exulon with perhaps two beat-backs against the objective.

My plan was thus: Willbreaker casts Puppet Master on Archidon, who gets enraged and charges the Wrecker, causes a critical pitch and throws the monstrosity away. With the remaining Fury it should be able to kill the nyss. Bronzeback gets Train Wreck from Mordikaar.

Well. First attack made by Archidon fails completely even with Puppet Master re-roll. No critical pitch for me. Extra attack and attack roll boost scores exactly what I need, and an enraged throw carries far. Perhaps full 3" backwards would have ruined everything, but that didn't come to be.

However, the last attack without a boost didn't hit the Nyss Hunter, so Bronzeback was forced to trample through and buy two attacks to get to Exulon. Would Bronzeback be able to kill the DEF 14 ARM 14 warcaster with P+S 19 and three Furies?

Yes, this time it was. First attack without a boost hit and dealt enough damage for Bronzeback to instant kill Exulon with an additional attack. So Bronzeback bought one more attack and boosted attack roll.

Yay. I didn't have to regret for "not playing the clock", though I would have deserved to lose because of that "whoops where's my feat? Three activations back, it seems!"

So. That was it. Two honest victories, one bye and three losses. I guess that's statistically better result than what I was aiming for, as I wanted two victories and four losses. With lists like these hoping for anything better would only cause depression, anxiety and hair loss. However I liked the ADR system very much. Being able to kick out the Krea (what's happening?!) most of the time from my lists was a big boon.