First and the Last

 Had a Warmachine Mk4 game.

My list:

Scaverous
- 2x Corruptor
Bane Warriors + attachment
Bane Lord Tartarus
Pistol Wraith
2x Necrotech

Opponent had:

Bane Witch Agathia
- Desecrator
- Reaper
- Deathripper
2x Bane Warriors
Bane Riders

Scenario was one from Steamroller document.

Scaverous started game and rushed forward. Agathia used her feat right at the start and gave stealth to almost her entire army, so on my second turn there was little to do. My warjacks lined up behind long wall in the middle, while Bane Warriors went to flank from the right. Pistol Wraith was sitting in the forest with Skarlock behind the secret gathering of trees. 

I did, however, manage to take a shot at Bane Rider in cover with Corruptor, and kill a single Bane Warrior with burster attack. 

Agathia repositions with all of her army to the circular zone, leaving a massive advantage for me in scenario.

Bane Riders went to punish Pistol Wraith, getting in range thanks to vengeance. Magical weapons came from a command card. 

Desecrator managed to snipe one of the Necrotechs dead with boosted blast damage roll. 

One unit of Bane Warriors ran to make a wall between Corruptor and Reaper, which had run to the zone as well.

On my next turn one of my Corruptors uses the unstoppable command card and charges Bane Riders. That activation was... less than ideal. I thought Corruptor would smack the rider dead and spend remainder of its focus bursting some Bane Warriors too, but all it managed to do was three points of damage to Bane Rider. 

Scaverous uses feat and casts Feast of Worms over Reaper. Second Corruptor removes some Bane Warriors with a ranged attack, which was far more effective than melee. I mean... it killed two models!

At least Bane Lord Tartarus did anything useful that turn - he single handedly, dual attackedly, wrecked Reaper. Skarlock also finishes with Excarnate what a Corruptor couldn't in melee with three focus... Removed that Bane Rider.

 My Bane Warriors ran to engage Desecrator.

Agathia removed Bane Lord Tartarus and a Corruptor and Bane Warrior Officer, but did nothing to contest scenario. 

After my turn I would have been at four victory points. So I don't know why I opted to killing Desecrator... But so I did. Scaverous moved into position to make a nice thresher attack, cast Feast of Worms and then failed to hit Desecrator. Yeah, not good. 

So I go into a kind of panic mode and want to make sure the warjack is gone from next to my warcaster. 

Bane Warriors run to give some Dark Shroud for Desecrator, and surely enough Corruptor kills last heavy jack from Agathia. But now that my Banes were not engaging enemy Banes, Scaverous had to sweat through five charging Bane Warriors - a terrifying prospect when Agathia hits Parasite on my caster. 

Scaverous has a focus point to blocking damage, but still takes eight damage in from the very first attack. Three Bane Warriors proceed to miss so I start to get a little hopeful - but nope, not today. Last Bane Warrior hits Scaverous and 4d6-1 didn't come out 7 or less. 

Maybe this was a lesson for me. I just needed one point.

Mortenebra vs Witch Coven

 A 50 points game of Warmachine 3.5.

And with the downfall of Conflict Chamber, these lists might be incorrect.

My list, however:

Mortenebra & Deryliss
-Malice
-Desecrator
-Deathripper
-Stalker
2x 5 Bane Warriors
Black Ogrun Boarding Party
Darragh Wrathe
Gerlak Slaughterborn
Pistol Wraith
Bloat Thrall

Opponent had:

Witch Coven of Garlghast
-Desecrator
-Reaper
-Slayer
-2x Deathripper
2x 5 Bane Warriors
2x 5 Satyxis Blood Witches
2x Pistol Wraiths

Scenario was one from the main Mk4 rulebook. The cluster of 3" templates in the middle are disappearing cloud effects that would go out on 1-2 at the start of every round.

Mortenebra started and advanced in a more or less united front with warjacks in the middle, units on flanks. Witch Coven had more or less the same, except Bane Warriors emphasized left flank more. 

Second round Mortenebra tried to advance under the cover of cloud effects in the middle, and offer some trouble for the opponent by attacking Satyxis near the enemy flag with Stalker who then triggered Overrun for Desecrator. Desecrator then took a shot at Reaper.

I had tried to block a Reaper lane against Desecrator with Gerlak and Bane Warrior, which proved to be a woefully inadequate screen when enemy Desecrator shot Gerlak down with one shot. At least he passed Tough -roll, but then Pistol Wraith just took a clean shot at the general.

Reaper dragged my Desecrator next to two un-activated Bane Warrior units. Turned out just one was enough, however.

Three Satyxis Blood Witches managed to kill Stalker, so it wasn't exactly the trouble for opponent that I wanted. All in all my Bane Warriors were dying left and right and even my Pistol Wraith that had shot enemy Deathripper stationary died to the very same Deathripper after it shaked off the effect.

I guess I severely underestimated threat ranges in this game. I wonder if playing Malifaux somehow skews my range assessment. Oh well, I still had my one chance even after opponent used feat.

My two remaining Bane Warriors ran to engage a couple of Witches and Egregore. Deryliss used Tune-Up on Malice, Mortenebra cast Overrun on herself and killed an enemy Bane Warrior, then Malice advanced and trampled next to Coven. Unfortunately the two attacks by Malice weren't enough to kill all three Witches, so a focus-less Mortenebra had to endure three heavy warjacks worth of various attacks.

Spoiler: she didn't.

Venethrax vs Agathia

 A 50 point game of Warmachine.

My list:

 Lich Lord Venethrax [+29]
- Deathripper [5]
- Erebus [13]
- Leviathan [14]

Necrotech [1]
Black Ogrun Boarding Party (max) [11]
Mechanithralls (max) [9]
 - Brute Thrall (x3) [6]
 - Skarlock Commander [3]
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls [2]
Wraith Engine [15]

Opponent had:

Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [5]

 - Kraken [32]

Bane Lord Tartarus [5]

Necrotech [1]

Bane Riders (max) [17]

Bane Warriors (max) [14]

 - Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]

We had a steamroller scenario. Looked like I received the short end of the stick when it came to matchup, as I kind of lost: dismember and terminal velocity on Venethrax, had a lousy feat when opponent had just one warjack apart from arc node, and even Wraith Engine wouldn't be making any Machine Wraiths this game.

I started game, and rushed Wraith Engine up from left since nothing there posed a threat for it as long as it didn't lose incorporeal.

Erebus and Black Ogrun Boarding Party were aiming to go right, while Venethrax and Leviathan were ready to go either way. Mechanithralls were spread all over the board to die as needed.

Bane Warriors and their pals were coming from the left, but didn't close the distance to their fullest to leave me without charge targets. Bane Riders did the same on right, and the rest of Agathia in the middle. She used her feat, so all but Kraken were stealthed.

I tried to jam opponent by running everything forward, engaging especially Riders so they wouldn't charge around. Wraith Engine just walked to act as an enormous roadblock. Leviathan decided to come help the situation in left rectangular zone with Bane Warriors, and Erebus hid behind a screen of trash models.

Almost all Mechanithralls died, but what's that when they'd come back soon enough? Erebus received Parasite from Agathia. Bane Warriors charged Mechanithralls, and I decided to counter-charge one Bane with Leviathan - a decision I sorely regretted after another Bane Warrior came charging in towards the crabjack and struck over half of its health boxes away with one gigantic attack.

Machine Wraith removes Tartarus and a couple of Bane Warriors. Erebus, Black Ogrun Boarding Party and some operational Mechanithralls kill all but one Bane Rider.

Necrotech and warjacks on the right score two points.

But then, uh.

I've been playing Malifaux a lot lately, and this was a good reminder how the survivability of models is NOT the same here. Also I thought that opponent might get some Bane Warriors to my warcaster, but not some Bane Warriors and a fully loaded Kraken since "screen" of Mechanithralls was entirely and completely ignorable thanks to apparition on Banes and 4" reach on Kraken.

So... game over for Venethrax.

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.

Wraithbane Witches

Had a game of Warmachine. Points were 50.

My list:

Wraith Witch Deneghra [+28]
 - Inflictor [13]
 - Nightmare [18]
 - Nightwretch [7]
 - Ripjaw [7]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [6]
Soul Trapper [1]
Soul Trapper [1]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]

Opponent had:

Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Kraken [35]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

 - Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]

Satyxis Blood Witches (min) [8]

Steelhead Riflemen (min) [8]

Scenario was Close Quarters from main rulebook.

My forces run forwards on the first turn - not much else to do with Deneghra2, really. Nightmare took Kraken as its prey target.

Agathia advances with Bane Warriors in the middle, Satyxis inside trenches and Steelheads in front of them. She uses feat to protect her army from my spells.

Next turn Nightwretch advances within Stealth distance of a Bane Warrior in the middle. Deneghra goes incorporeal and advances into an otherwise lethal position to launch a Hellmouth via arc node, killing five or so.

Bane Warriors with Apparition charge a disturbing length on the board, and all but destroy Inflictor. Fortunately it is left alive with a couple of damage boxes, as opponent wouldn't score a scenario point now. A single Bane Warrior charging Nightmare dealt twelve points of damage, removing columns three and four from my character warjack.

Deneghra uses her feat, making at least Nightmare and Inflictor incorporeal. Nightmare charges Kraken, while Inflictor just huddles forward through a sea of Bane Warriors. Bile Thralls then purge the Bane Warrior unit into oblivion. My Banes tie up Steelheads and Satyxis. I was able to score one point.

Kraken removes Nightmare as was to be expected. Enemy Deathripper comes to contest my flag, and incorporeal Inflictor continued to contest enemy - along with my few remaining Bane Warriors.

My Bane Warriors charge enemy Kraken, and then Inflictor - which had cortex and main melee weapon still intact - removes Kraken. Agathia surrendered after this turn, as there were not enough contestants left for Agathia to contest Deneghra from winning via scenario.

Malifaux Vassal Tournament part I

I took part in a Vassal tournament for Malifaux. It was a round robin style tournament, which means five rounds. Here are the first three games. 

 First game was Corner Deployment Symbols of Authority, and scheme pool: Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim Jump, Spread Them Out.

My list:

Seamus & Copycat Killer
Bete Noire
Grave Golem
2x Crooligan
Dead Doxy
Dead Dandy
Gravedigger

Pool: 6

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent was playing Neverborn:

Nekima + Inhuman Reflexes & Blood Hunter
Hayreddin
2x Corrupted Hound
2x Black Blood Shaman
Mature Nephilim
+1x upgrade somewhere

Pool: 9

Schemes: ???

Turns 1-2:

An aggressive advance by Resurrectionists ensures a bloody fight ensues sooner rather than later. Turns out Bete Noire isn't holding the entire Neverborn crew all alone, and she barely survives with one health point remaining after Hayreddin says hello. 

Nekima then charges Grave Golem, who had been nearing middle field along with Dead Doxy and Seamus. Five points of damage was worrisome, since I had no idea if Nekima had any anti-demise tech available. 

Crooligans and Gravedigger score Spread Them Out on second turn. 

Seamus somehow manages to bring Nekima down to one hit point remaining. Sadly worthless minions couldn't deliver the last point, so Nekima would activate at least once more.

Turn 3:

Nekima activates first, shoves aside Grave Golem and attacks Copycat Killer. Killer doesn't die thanks to minimum damage, but then something happens as a bonus. Dead Doxy in same melee with Nekima had suffered a little from Black Blood already and was at one hit point remaining, too.

Boom. A zero-action killed two of my unactivated models. 

At least Seamus managed to kill Neverborn master, but it was a heavy price to pay. Black Blood Shaman grows up as a Mature Nephilim and tosses a corrupted hound at Dead Dandy.

I had grand plans of scoring strategy and breakthrough on this very same turn, but unfortunately it happened so that my opponent ran out of available time - just when things started getting interesting. Game scored as a victory for me, but it certainly doesn't feel like a victory. Oh well. Such happens, even on Vassal. 

Game 2:

Flank deployment, Public Enemies. Scheme pool: Vendetta, Catch & Release, Let Them Bleed, Leave Your Mark, Research Mission

My list was:

Seamus & Copycat
Madame Sybelle
Mortimer
Grave Golem
Bete Noire
Mourner with Grave Spirit Touch

Pool: 6

Schemes: Catch & Release. Leave Your Mark

Opponent had:

Titania & Gorar
Hinamatsu
Aeslin
Malisaurus Rex
Hooded Rider
Autumn Knight

Pool: 5

Schemes: Let Them Bleed, Research Mission

Turn 1-2:

This game had a brutal start. Resurrectionists were ambushed at the Arctic Lodge and butchered to pieces - Grave Golem went dead on the first turn, as did Mortimer thanks to Red Jokerin' Hinamatsu. Mourner died at the start of second turn and somewhere in the process Titania beat up Seamus down to four hit points remaining.

I had sent Bete Noire to flank around, which was a mistake as the situation went from bad to critical in the blink of an eye. Or maybe a few blinks. 

Madame Sybelle and Copycat Killer took on Hinamatsu together, dealing in some minor points of damage.

My best luck was in getting a Red Joker with Seamus' damage flip against Hooded Rider. This had Madame Sybelle later kill the rider with a Critical Strike damage track of 5/5/6.

At the end of second round, both players scored strategy and opponent revealed Research Mission, bringing points to 1-2 for Neverborn.

Turn 3:

Seamus disengages, teleports to shoot Hinamatsu and teleports again to relative safety. Madame Sybelle only tickles Hinamatsu before dying herself to the puppet-thing. Malisaurus Rex eats Copycat Killer, and Titania, Autumn Knight and Aislin scare off Bete Noire from trying to scramble Leave Your Mark points. 

Grave Golem pops up behind Hinamatsu and smacks it dead, bringing me another strategy point. Opponent's points for this round were on Hinamatsu, so points went 2-2.

Turn 4-5:

Rest of the game isn't much of a game any more - sure, Grave Golem stood strong (which means dying repeatedly to a wet sock)  and opponent wasn't able to score strategy easily, but he did manage to munch Seamus with Malisaurus Rex. That thing charges FAR.

But it was really Neverborn playing whack-a-mole with Bete Noire and Grave Golem constantly going up and down. 

In the end, it was a steady victory for Neverborn with 5-2, when he scored both end conditions from his schemes.

Game 3:

Scenario was Recover Evidence with standard deployment. Scheme pool was Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Spread Them Out and Runic Binding. This time I was against fellow Resurrectionists. I thought I might as well give Kirai a go with following list:

Kirai & Ikiryo
Datsue Ba
Lost Love
2x Drowned
2x Seishin
Hanged with Grave Spirit Touch

Pool: 9

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Opponent had:

Molly & Necrotic Construct
Rogue Necromancy
Archie
Forgotten Marshal
2x Crooligan
2x Night Terror

Pool: 4

Schemes: Breakthrough, Spread Them Out

Turns 1-2: 

These turns saw lots of action. I had deployed Ikiryo, Kirai, Seishin, Drowned and Lost Love around middle of the board, Datsue Ba far left and Hanged, Seishin plus another Drowned far right. Ikiryo challenged a Crooligan in mid-field right next to Rogue Necromancy, and Kirai summoned an Onryo to tie up Archie. Datsue Ba failed to startle a little kid, but did enter midline almost unchallenged.

Ikiryo brought a Crooligan down to one hit point remaining, having it drop its intel marker. Rogue Necromancy obviously bit a severely damaged Ikiryo in two halves, having her drop her intel marker. 

Night Terrors and one Crooligan bunch up on the right, and Hanged manages to put its upgrade on one of the Night Terrors and remove half of its hit points. Another Night Terror runs to a forest deep in my side of the board, which probably meant opponent had Breakthrough as his scheme. But the Night Terror did not survive a spiritual triple barrage by Kirai - who flipped two 13's with a negative flip on attack against target in concealment, and then a red joker for her last attack.

Neither player revealed any schemes yet, so points were 1-1 at the end of second round. 

Turn 3:

I waste Kirai's, re-summoned Ikiryo's and Drowned's full activations trying to take down Rogue Necromancy at 6 hit points. Only Drowned managed to do two points in. More damage was done to my models via Molly's Lethe's Caress.

Datsue Ba speeds into enemy deployment zone, hopefully getting a point of Breakthrough next turn.

I learned that Hanged are not  especially good models against Night Terrors - the attached upgrade only helps them! Had not Seishin managed to walk another Drowned twice, I'd have had bat beasts flapping in my deployment zone to whom I'd not be able to do a thing. But the Drowned came and secured another strategy point to me. 

Enemy Crooligans schemed somewhat, but nothing I considered worrisome just yet. I had my Gaki sitting next to evidence marker, most likely giving me third strategy point on turn 4, so I didn't want to commit it to remove enemy scheme markers.

Archie fails to jump but does not fail to destroy Onryo. 

Kirai scores strategy, getting ahead in points 2-1. 

Turn 4

Forgotten Marshal had been a bit of a useless model for the entire game, failing at every summon he tried to make. To make up for his deficiencies, he killed two of my models with Peacebringer. Gaki and Seishin were gone. Fortunately Gaki had already managed to pick up Evidence marker. 

Datsue Ba interacts for a scheme marker and walks as deep into enemy territory as possible. Hanged walks to enemy deployment zone on the other side of board. 

Archie leaps and smacks already injured Drowned dead with one attack, and flurried a second attack at Ikiryo, killing it too. With his final action Archie picked up evidence marker.

Kirai barrages a Crooligan dead and re-summons Ikiryo, who then positions for next round to collect that particular Crooligan's evidence or scheme marker. 

Rogue Necromancy chases Datsue Ba, but doesn't get near enough to deny Kirai a point.

Kirai scores Breakthrough and Strategy, and Molly scores Strategy for 4-2

Turn 5

Lost Love collects last evidence marker for Kirai, and Kirai collects enemy scheme marker since I was suspecting opponent had Spread Them Out. 

Rogue Necromancy slaughters Datsue Ba, who had left a scheme marker deep into enemy deployment zone. But not deep enough - Molly was able to reach it with her marker removal ability. This meant I wouldn't gain Spread Them Out. 

Archie leaped, walked and schemed into my deployment zone. Kirai parked right next to the big boy. 

Kirai scores Strategy for a final result of 5-2 for Kirai.

Up until fourth turn it was a difficult game, and even there had its terrifying moment when Peacebringer downed two of my models, while one died to Molly's Caress and one to Archie. But as I had some success in denying Molly's scheme runners, losing that many models in a couple of activations wasn't enough to turn the tides that were favoring Kirai.

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.

Test brawl

 Had a 25 point game of Warmachine on Vassal. 

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

My list was:

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

Opponent had:

 Bane Witch Agathia [+29]

 - Deathripper [6]

 - Desecrator [14]

 - Reaper [13]

 - Skarlock Thrall [4]

Bane Warriors (max) [16]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Captain Aiakos vs Warwitch Deneghra

Played a 50 point game of Warmachine a few days ago. It was a Cryx vs Cryx match.

My list:
Captain Aiakos [+29]
- Nightmare [18]
- Reaper [13]
- Reaper [13]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
General Gerlak Slaughterborn [6]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]


Opponent had:

Warwitch Deneghra [+26]
- Deathripper [6]
- Deathripper [6]
- Defiler [8]
- Reaper [13]
Wrong Eye [17]
Bane Warriors (min) [10]
Satyxis Blood Witches (min) [8]
Steelhead Riflemen (min) [8]


Scenario was the one from main rulebook where there is three flags in middle and you win with five control points.

Deneghra's forces outnumbered me heavily, and thus they were quite capable of overwhelming me in the scenario game. Opposing Cryx kept their distance, so it was difficult to get better mileage out of my forces. A deathripper came and arced Crippling Grasp onto Nightmare, and Bane Warriors on the left looked like serious trouble if Gerlak wouldn't take the whole unit down.

Satyxis Raiders removed half of Satyxis Blood Witches and Steelhead Riflemen. Reaper took a deathripper or defiler from the left, and the other Reaper tried to do the same to the arc node in the middle. But failed to wound. Gah! Well, I wanted the thing dead and was hoping for unrealistic miracles when I charged the deathripper with Nightmare.

Because next turn opponent used Deneghra's feat, and removed a vast majority of Satyxis Raiders and the Nightmare.

Reapers then tried to dismantle enemy Reaper, but under Deneghra's feat it proved to be too much of a challenge for them. Oh well, at least it was broken down to only movement system remaining. Warwitch Siren thins down some of the Bane Warriors, and last remaining Satyxis Raider goes and kills a Blood Witch.

Situation looked bad, and while Bane Warriors failed to dispatch General Gerlak Slaughterborn, the general was a little shy it seems - this was his second game, after all - and failed to kill even one Bane Warrior.

Snapjaw charged one of my Reapers but didn't do much. As a consequence I was able to remove Wrong Eye, Snapjaw and what was left of the enemy Reaper. Aiakos personally went and wrecked last remaining enemy arc node, and suddenly attrition looked pretty good for me.

However, I had fallen so far behind in scenario that the Satyxis Blood Witches were able to just come and say "hi, Deneghra wants her helljack back" to Aiakos, winning the game for Deneghra.

Lich Lord vs Witch Coven of Garlghast

Had this 50 point game of Warmachine a couple of days ago.

My list was;

Lich Lord Asphyxious [+28]
- Deathripper [6]
- Desecrator [14]
- Inflictor [13]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Misery Cage [2]
Soul Trapper [1]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]


Opponent had:

The Witch Coven of Garlghast [+26]

- 2x Deathripper [6]
- Reaper [13]
- Slayer [10]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
Satyxis Blood Witches (max) [13]
- Satyxis Blood Hag [4]


Scenario was Close Quarter from main rulebook.

Witch Coven feated on second turn, which mitigated my damage potential. As I was playing Asphyxious2 anyway, I ran forward with Bane Warriors. Their deaths wouldn't feel that bad, considering how they were coming back.

I managed to take down the contestants from my flag, and scored first scenario point from the four required to win.

It wasn't difficult for opponent to do the same and deny my second point. I lost my Misery Cage, Soul Trapper and one Ironmonger in the process.

Bane Warrior minifeat brought back some of the destroyed models, and I tried to take down both heavies from Witch Coven. Reaper was destroyed, but Slayer took a big 13 damage hit, and broke not even a single system. Thanks, column 3.

Then I suddenly was looking at my five models versus enemy twenty. Enemy Tartarus had destroyed shield system from Inflictor, but thankfully nothing else. Anyway, even if scenario game was steady 1-1 or something like that, just looking at the numbers present told me I had no chance of playing scenario.

It's been a while since I played with Asphyxious2, or Warmachine for that matter, and I didn't realize I could reach Witch Coven with Spectral Legion. I could bring about four warriors to them. Needing 7's and 8's to hit was so unlikely that I tried to make certain Inflictor would be able to at least trample and take a swing at one of the witches, but Fortuna smiled on me this time. Not a single Bane Warrior missed their attack roll, and that's not good news for Arm 11, eight wound models.

Darkest Host

Alright, I need to write this one down in haste, though I've got one game that was played earlier. But here this time I forgot my camera, and my phone is lost so I couldn't take pictures with that one either. And memory is such an unreliable tool.

It was a 75 point practice game for upcoming tournament in Ropecon. We were both playing Dark Host theme for Cryx.

My list was

[Theme] Dark Host
Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Corruptor [14]
- 2x Deathripper [6]
- Desecrator [14]
- 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

[Theme] Dark Host
Lich Lord Asphyxious [+28]
- 2x Deathripper [6]
- 2x Stalker [8]
Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)]
2x Machine Wraith [2]
Bane Knights (max) [15]
- Bane Knight Officer [0(4)]
2xBane Riders (max) [20]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [0(5)]


Opponent had so little magical weapons available that I dared to run Wraith Engine pretty much to middle board on my right side - far from opponent's objective that could give magical weapons.

On second turn Asphyxious would actually have been within walking distance of Wraith Engine that benefits from Death Ride and Telekinesis. I wasted precious minutes in trying to figure out a way for me to land Telekinesis and Icy Grip on Asphyxious and throw Feast of Worms into the mix.

But I couldn't find even a theoretical way to do that.

Game in short summary: I was flooded with Banes. I had some AoE available for example in Corruptors gun, but Asphyxious could easily force Corruptor to expose itself for charges.

I conceded after fifth turn, because I had lost every important piece to even dream of an assassination, and had too few models left to contest zones in a meaningful manner. I pretty much wasted Scaverous' feat and opponent used his to remove Wraith Engine from board that had finally taken a few swings.

Lord Exhumator vs Bane Witch

A couple of days ago I played these two 50 point games of Warmachine.

My lists were:

Game 1:
Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Defiler [8]
- Malice [15]
- Ripjaw [7]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Necrotech [2]
Soul Trapper [1]
Soulhunters (max) [18]
Swamp Gobber River Raiders [1e
Wraith Engine [15]


Game 2:

Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Defiler [8]
- Malice [15]
- Ripjaw [7]
- Satyxis Blood Priestess [4]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Iron Lich Overseer [5]
- Desecrator [14]
Ogrun Bokur [5]
Soul Trapper [1]
2x Swamp Gobber River Raiders [1ea]
Bane Warriors (min) [10]


Opponent had (in both games):

Bane Witch Agathia [+29]
- 2x Deathripper [6]
- Desecrator [14]
- 2x Slayer [10]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
2x Pistol Wraith [5]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]

Both games also had the Mosh Pit scenario from main rulebook.

Game 1:

First game was over rather fast. Soulhunters removed a bunch of enemy Bane Warriors, but mostly got slaughtered themselves in the process. I was afraid to commit Wraith Engine to actual combat (because two Slayers would shred it to pieces) so I thought best target for Wraith Engine would be Agathia herself. No need to worry about Slayers if their warcaster dies.

Scaverous got to do his thing when he used feat, cast Telekinesis on Wraith Engine and on Agathia, then Icy Grip and Feast of Worms on Agathia. The other Cryxian warcaster had used her feat turn prior, so getting the arc node into position was perhaps the biggest challenge. That succeeded and Wraith Engine charged Agathia dead.

Since game was over so quickly, we decided to play another round.

Game 2:

This one took a bit longer to resolve.

Enemy Desecrator scored a lucky hit on Malice that was on a hill. This dealt enough damage to bring melee weapon to one damage box remaining - so I didn't dare to stay in the scatheresque template.

Enemy Pistol Wraiths were flanking together on the left, and I countered them with Soul Trapper. That was not very effective, though.

Eventually Agathia's horde charged in - Desecrator and two Bane Warriors got to Malice after Pistol Wraiths had taken their shots. Somehow Malice survived even with Cortex to boot.

Situation was dire for me, so I decided to use Scaverous' feat even if it wouldn't make it into an assassination.

Conjoined efforts by Scaverous, Tartarus, Ripjaw and even Satyxis Blood Priestess removed every enemy Bane Warrior from board, which was a good thing of course. But Scaverous was uncomfortably close to Agathia's Cryx.

Feat removed one Slayer that was guarding Agathia. However, there still was another Slayer. Within charge distance of Scaverous.

Opponent had a streak of bad dice in some important rolls, but what gave most trouble for Agathia was Satyxis Blood Priestess. Without her Scaverous would've been Death Chilled for sure.

And if Desecrator and some light warjack would have removed my Tartarus, enemy Tartarus could have either charged to Scaverous or at least run to give dark shroud penalties.

But there was this Blood Priestess. Blocking Slayer's charge, and making Scaverous pretty much unshootable.

And as a gesture of good will and merry thoughts, Slayer charged Satyxis Blood Priestess.

Without bonuses from Scaverous' feat his ability to line up an assassination wasn't that impressive. However, one boosted Telekinesis did hit Agathia, which brought her within charge range of three Bane Warriors. And, well, Swamp Gobber River Raider too, I suppose.

First Desecrator and... oh my. Now I realize I cheated.

Desecrator and Iron Lich Overseer take random shots at Agathia. This means that there is a non-undead damaging template on Agathia.

Then, Swamp Gobber River Raider comes and takes a heroic shot at Agathia, which unfortunately deals no damage. Then the poor little guy is placed inside the template. Melee attack didn't even hit. But that might be because the gobber knew it should've already been dead.

Kind of sad. The only time it was about to do anything at all, the gobber only dragged itself to it's demise.

Then it was 7+ rolls for Bane Warriors. Who succeeded this time. Agathia went to keep some company to Swamp Gobber River Raider, whose empty, soulless husk is still standing there in the picture.

JMG Warmachine Tournament

So here's my games in JMG Warmachine Tournament that was held last weekend.

It was a 75 point tournament with 1-2 list and D&C 0. I had a Mortenebra1 list with some satyxis in it, but none of the opposing lists allowed me to play it in even remotely secure way. So I'm listing only the Deneghra3 army.

[Theme] Infernal Machines
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver
- Corruptor
- Deathripper
- Inflictor
- Leviathan

2x Pistol Wraith
Necrotech
Scrap Thralls
2x Soul Trapper
Bile Thralls (max)
Mechanithralls (min) + 2x Brute Thrall
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Soulhunters (max)

Game 1 was against Trollbloods.

I may have a mistake in this reconstruction of opposing list, but it should give a general idea what the list was about:

[Theme] Band of Heroes
Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain
- Dire Troll Mauler
- Earthborn Dire Troll
Fell Caller Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Kriel Warriors (min) + Caber Thrower (1) + Standard & Piper
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (max) + Stone Scribe Elder
Trollkin Champions (min) + Skaldi Bonehammer
Trollkin Champions (min)
Trollkin Fennblades (min) + Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Warders (max)

So I couldn't pick Mortenebra list. And removing Tough is always nice against Trollbloods. So Deneghra3 it was bound to be.

Thanks to my Spd 9 cavalry, Madrak had to pop his feat on turn 1. Good enough. Deneghra cast Mortality on Fennblades on turn 2 and then Soulhunters walked into melee. They weren't able to do that much, especially when I didn't pay attention where unit leader was. One Soulhunter walked out of coherency, thus losing any attacks it could make.

Deneghra's feat was able to remove both warbeasts and some random trollbloods from the board. Warders with their Shield Guard messed up my game play continuously. I seemed to categorically forget that rule on them. Trolls sure took their time in chewing through Soulhunters. There was some terrible dice rolling involved, I have to admit. Staying three rounds face-to-face in melee combat against Fennblades who had their Vengeance triggered every turn, Warders and even some Champions with Guided Hand and Fell Calls was quite impressive.

But in turn they were not able to do any damage. Ambushing Mechanithralls made a dent to Fennblades, but nowhere near enough. Attrition was soon lost.

Eventually I was starting to run low on my deathclock, too, so I decided to try assassination when I had the chance.

This involved Deneghra shuffling around for what seemed like an eternity - all because I remembered Mortality cast range incorrectly. I thought it was 8" when it was 10". Opponent had accidentally put his figures so that Deneghra couldn't get a charge off against Madrak - there was no space for her base, no matter how I tried to fit a proxy. In the end Deneghra succeeded to cast Mortality on Madrak, but nothing else.

Two Bile Thralls were able to Purge Madrak. Then Leviathan walked into melee with Madrak and got a total of one attack in, with a damage boost. 13+ would have killed the warlock, but I got only 10.

Even 12 would have given a chance for Madrak to die to corrosion. Oh well. Deneghra was very dead this turn. Good game anyway.



Game 2 was against Grymkin. Both Grymkin lists were warbeast heavy, so I thought Mortenebra would struggle in every imaginable way.

Opponent had a list something like this:

[Theme] Dark Menagerie
The King of Nothing
- 2xCage Rager
- 3x Crabbit
- Rattler
- 4x Skin & Moans
4x Gremlin Swarm
Lady Karianna Rose

There were two large impassable terrains making for quite a choke-point near flag on the right. But both casters had access to ghostly, which alleviated all but problems with Line of Sight.

I did make some random damage to few of the heavy beasts - I had originally wanted to kill one Cage Rattler with ambushing Mechanithralls and Ghost Walking Soulhunters, but I didn't get as many Mechanithralls to the warbeast as I wanted, and had placed my models so that Ghost Walking Soulhunters were not able to get it within melee range.

Corruptor had taken a shot against another Cage Rattler. So when Soulhunters killed one of the Crabbits, opponent popped this arcana that nullified damage that had been done. All I managed to do with Mechanithralls was to feed Grymkin warbeasts with corpses.

Skin & Moans was able to remove Leviathan from board, and another failed to do the same against Corruptor - didn't even break one system.

Inflictor killed a Rattler and Bile Thralls managed to purge one injured Skin & Moans dead, which made opponent pop this arcana that killed quite a few bile thralls as a "thank you" for killing battlegroup member.

In the end it was a really exciting game.

I even made extra scrap thralls with Necrotech that actually were a game-changing models - they were able to contest zones and flags during my own turns.

I would have most likely lost to deathclock, had not Deneghra died first. We both had amazing number of control points, something like 8-7 or whatever.

If I would have had a little more experience against Grymkin perhaps I would have done some things differently, but still I'm quite happy how this first game versus the fairy folk turned out.



Game 3 was against Circle of Orboros.

It's difficult for me to write about this game. It stings and it pains me so much.

I was far too aggressive and made a stupid mistake of bringing Deneghra up so far that Warpwolf Stalker with Primal was able to charge one of her warjacks, that had Hunter's Mark from Lanyssa. Sure, one miss from the Warpwolf would have saved my game, but it required 9's to hit and Morvahna2 was close enough to use Scales of Fate on it.

It was somewhat intentional caster-bait sort of thing - to intimidate opponent to not knowing what to do. But yeah, obviously it was a bait gone horribly wrong when my warcaster died during second turn of the game.



Game 4 was against Cryx, and opponent had Dark Host with Asphyxious2. Asphyxious had three stalkers and an arc node. Mortenebra would have been a terrible choice here.

I made some really foolish mistakes here - forgetting to bring anyone to contest middle zone, for example, so opponent got pretty much free control points.

Anyway, two Stalkers came to wreak havoc on Bile Thralls, who in turn purged both warjacks dead. But this had cost movement for them, as well as many members of the unit. Necrotech was able to repair some of the losses, though.

I was hesitant to engage with Soulhunters, so I kept backing with them, keeping out of charge range of Bane Riders.

I did get a relatively nice feat turn with Deneghra - Mortality went on at least three units, and Corruptor was able to use his 5" AoE effectively. Ghost Walking Bile Thralls killed some stray Bane Knights and whatnot.

Ambushing Mechanithralls and Soul Hunters managed to kill three Bane Riders, so it didn't feel too bad to trigger that vengeance.

I had managed to remove enemy presence from right side of the board, but the battle was raging on the left, and I was losing there. Game was intense. I believe I would have won in the long run because I had easier time to score control points, so I didn't feel all that annoyed when opponent ran out of clock.


So three out of four games were close ones. And the one that wasn't was a completely goofed up by me, so it didn't have this "I had no chance to win against a list like that" -feeling. So it was a very nice tournament for me, despite a negative win/loss ratio.

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.