Zaharasheth

 A 50 point game of Warmachine over War Table.

My list:

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

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

Opponent had:

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

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

Scenario was Two Fronts from Steamroller 2024.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dominar Wildborne

It was time for monthly game of Warmachine, again over War Table site.

 My list:

Skorne Unlimited
Dominar Rasheth
-Titan Gladiator
-Aradus Sentinel
-Agonizer
Venator Reivers
Tyrant Commander & Standard
Paingiver Beast Handlers
Extoller Soulward

Arcane Forces, Breakthrough, Careful Recon, Infiltration, Power Swell

Opponent had:

Circle Unlimited
Kaya the Wildborne
-Feral Warpwolf
-Winter Argus
-Wild Argus
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters
Warpborn Skinwalkers
Lord of the Feast
Druid Wilder
Gallows Grove

Power Swell, Blessing of Gods, Breakthrough, Infiltration, True Inspiration

Circle started game, and had arguses on the left with Lord of the Feast and Gallows Grove, both units, Kaya and Wilder in the middle and Feral Warpwolf holding rectangular area with objective. 

Rasheth cast Carnivore on Titan Gladiator and wobbled forward, about one walk away from my rectangular objective area that was held by Gladiator and Agonizer. I had Beast Handlers with Infiltration in the middle with Tyrant Commander and Aradus Sentinel contesting circular zone. Extoller Soulward and Venators were going towards flag. 

Circle advanced cautiously, with Gallows Grove teleporting to flag and Lord of the Feast hiding behind forest on the left. Warpborn Skinwalkers with Occultation were contesting circular zone, with both argus a little behind. Kaya and Nyss were hugging for cover in open graves templates, and Feral Warpwolf received Infiltration to protect it.

Extoller ran to flag and Venators shot objective off the board. Aradus Sentinel managed to spray one Skinwalker and one Nyss down, and just about the only model realistically in sight for Circle. Tyrant Commander and Beast Handlers were hiding behind the forest. Rasheth got to rectangular zone and continued to proccastigate, while Titan Gladiator and Agonizer just walked for a bit. 

And hot damn that Warpwolf still charges far! Fortunately it had to warp for movement to reach Aradus Sentinel, and thus failed to kill. Skinwalkers didn't have a chargeable line for them, so they just walked into melee and got the last remaining six points of damage in with a single strike. Yeah, that's dice -6. Oh well. Happens.

Nyss charged Venators and killed a couple of them. 

Both arguses went behind Skinwalker screen, and Kaya called Feral Warpwolf back with Spirit Door. Lord of the Feast missed with his bird and was left awkwardly standing in the open.

Rasheth used his feat and shot Breath of Corruption onto Skinwalkers. One was left with one damage point, another had a few more. Castigate was cast again because there was that scary tree behind a forest. 

Tyrant Commander and his sidekick managed to kill Winter Argus, and even Beasthandlers handled the Skinwalker that had a single point of damage left.

Titan Gladiator removed remaining Skinwalker and Lord of the Feast. Agonizer contested enemy flag. Even Venators managed to do some damage to Nyss, although Cylena who was shot down by Extoller Soulward passed her Tough -check retroactively (because we forgot they had True Inspiration on) and as such is missing from the picture. 

Skorne took a two point lead.

Nyss Hunters charged Extoller Soulward, but were not able to kill him. Feral Warpwolf had to tear through Venators to secure a control point. Wild Argus and Kaya manage to kill Tyrant Commander, but not the standard. Kaya uses her feat trying to kill Agonizer, which thankfully fails even after Druid Wilder comes to help with Spell Slave. 

Kaya teleports away from action, and tides of battle seemed to turn against Skorne, despite looking so good just a turn ago. But, they had lead in victory points.

Extoller shot Cylena dead for a second time, and Rasheth managed to clear the remaining two Nyss with the command card that gave +5" range to spells. Agonizer continued to contest enemy flag, and Tyrant Commander standard ran to contest enemy zone. Paingivers dealt respectable damage in to Argus, but not enough for it to matter.

Game entered a phase of cat and mouse, with both players trying to contest something relevant. Circle did gain the upper hand eventually and started catching up in points, but so was game nearing end. When Feral Warpwolf ran to contest both the circular zone and Rasheth's rectangular zone, it was either draw or victory for Skorne, depending whether Rasheth manages to clear zone. And with Agonizer's animus he did. Close game, and probably the first Mk4 game that ended in rounds running out. 

Dual Singularity

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

First game I had:

Cryx

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

Opponent had:

Circle

Baldur the Stonecleaver [+31]

 - Gnarlhorn Satyr [12]

 - Woldwarden [14]

 - Woldwatcher [8]

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (min) [10]

Shifting Stones [3]

Warpborn Skinwalkers (min) [9]

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

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

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

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

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

Game 2:

Skorne

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

Opponent had:

Retribution

Kaelyssa, the Night's Whisper [+29]

 - Banshee [18]

 - Chimera [8]

 - Manticore [14]

Mage Hunter Assassin [4]

Mage Hunter Strike Force (min) [10]

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

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

Outgunning Caine

Played a 50 point game of Warmachine yesterday.


Dominar Rasheth [+28]
- Agonizer [6]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Cyclops Raider [9]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Tiberion [19]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Venator Dakar [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Reivers (min) [9]
- Venator Reiver Officer & Standard [4]

Opponent had:

Captain Allister Caine [+27]
- Avenger [17]
- Defender [16]
- Ironclad [12]
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [4]
Black 13th Strike Force [10]
Rangers [9]
StormbladeInfantry [9]

Scenario was one from main rulebook, the one with three flags in the middle.

I was somewhat horrified of the matchup, but then on the other hand I had a shield guard against those range 16 cannon shots. But that required my troops to move in a blob formation - not ideal for a scenario like this. I was hesitant to rapidly approach, and this gave opponent a clear lead in the scenario game.

But hey, then there was an Ironclad within charging range of Tiberion, and all defensive maneuvers were promptly defenestrated. The Cygnaran warjack had a total of -4 armor, and Tiberion was swinging at P+S 20 so it was... messy.

On the right side of the board, rangers and stormblades were exchanging shots with reivers, and while both sides suffered casualties, skorne was in the difficult position where they had to dislodge point scorers.

Caine shot off the Agonizer, which had two Cygnaran heavies put a dent in Tiberion. Without it, the damage would have been next to nothing. Rasheth had used his feat, so that would've been an effective +4 arm for the character titan. But turns out even +2 is a lot, when you have arm 19 model with shield.

I did quite enjoy the combination of Cyclops Raider and Shaman. They took down most of the Black 13th, and some other inconsequential models such as Caine... whoops, did I spoil the ending? Oh my.

Anyway, fast forwarding to end, Caine looked like a possible scenario winner despite nearly devastated army. A true solo gunslinger. But, I had my chance of shooting Caine with the dynamic duo of Raider and Shaman. First, Raider scores the 12+ needed for a hit and deals nearly ten damage points in. Next Cyclops Shaman does the same. A lot hinged on those 12+ rolls, but this time luck was in my favor.

Wolves, wolves everywhere

Also about a week ago I played this 75 point game of Warmachine/Hordes.

As I had finally managed to finish painting Venator Dakar, it was time to play a little bit of Skorne. I know there's a tournament coming up a month from now, and perhaps I'll try my luck with Skorne there before going back to Cryx.

But my list was:

[Theme] Winds of Death
Dominar Rasheth [+28]
- Agonizer [6]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Rhinodon [12]
- Titan Sentry [15]
- Aptimus Marketh [0(5)]
Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter [6]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [0(4)]
Venator Dakar [4]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew [2]
Venator Flayer Cannon Crew [5]
Venator Reivers (max) [15]
- Venator Reiver Officer & Standard [4]
Venator Slingers (max) [13]

Opponent had:

[Theme] Call of the Wild

Wurmwood, Tree of Fate [+27]
- Gorax Rager [7]
- Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
- Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
- Wild Argus [7]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Gallows Grove [2]
Gremlin Swarm [3]
Farrow Bone Grinders (max) [8]
Shifting Stones [0(3)]
Shifting Stones [3]

And what an oppressive game it was.

While Rasheth was a fairly good warlock against Cassius, Winds of Death wasn't the best theme here. I was afraid of moving forward with my ranged units as Hellmouth would just annihilate them, and this meant that Circle was able to have all the warbeast out of the range of my weapons. And when Circle did move forward, it did so under Wurmwood's feat, so again I was not able to shoot anywhere.

At least ambushing Hutchuck was able to down one Warpwolf Stalker. Rasheth cast Blood Mark on it via Venator Dakar, and then everything that I could muster to attack warpwolf did so. Hilariously enough they were not able to kill it. It was left alive with one hit box remaining, plus corrosion continuous effect. For once corrosion did not go off at the worst possible moment, and the Warpwolf died at the start of opponent's turn. Phew.

Then a Pureblood assaulted to destroy objective and deal some extra damage with assault spray. In retaliation I was able to kill it with excessive amount of toil and trouble.

Two wolves down, and yet there were still Warpwolves beneath every rock and behind every tree. Will they never end?

Opponent saw a somewhat good chance to assassinate Rasheth, and proceeded with that plan in mind. I don't quite remember what happened except that a critical Hellmouth was missed by the power of triple 1's.

And this left Wurmwood in a less than ideal position to survive Skorne turn.

Eh.

I did not feel like I should have won. Though attrition-wise had fared decently, opponent had already, what, a three control point lead in scenario, or something.

Also I felt that I had played terribly. Except that looking back it was a difficult match for my list.

All Aboard The Ambush Ship!

This game also dates about a week back.

This time game was 75 points Skorne versus Protectorate of Menoth, and I continued with the ambush madness.

My list was:

Dominar Rasheth
- Agonizer
- Basilisk Krea
- Tiberion
- Titan Gladiator
2x Bog Trog Trawler
Extoller Soulward
Hutchuck, Ogrun Bounty Hunter
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Bog Trog Ambushers (max)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Venator Reivers (min) + Venator Reiver Officer & Standard

Opponent had:

The Faithful Masses (War Room version, which means it is missing one free solo)
The Harbinger of Menoth
- Devout
- Templar
- Hierophant
2x Allegiant of the Order of the Fist
Anastasia di Bray
Initiate Tristan Durant
- Templar
The Covenant of Menoth
Wrack
Choir of Menoth (min)
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) + Attendant Priest

Idrian Skirmishers (max) + Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide

Scenario was Recon II, and Protectorate started game.

I lose Master Tormentor straight away when I moved her behind a house to take cover from any random shots Idrians might come to commit within 5". Otherwise a sound plan, but somehow I managed to place Master Tormentor just within charge range. Woopsie.

On turn 2 I did get both Trawlers and Hutchuck on board. My plan was to throw knockdown bomb and drag some Idrians away from Martyrdom range. I got their command attachment officer this way, but considering I just threw 12 points to kill two models. Ouch. At least second Breath of Corruption deviation protected Tiberion from charging dwarves almost perfectly. However, those two missed attack rolls did give Allegiant the chance to walk to contest my flag.

Opponent did surprisingly little damage on their turn 3. Hutchuck and one of the Trawlers died, but miraculously one Trawler survived with one hit box remaining.

But yeah, now opponent scored two points and I was still sitting at zero, thanks to Rasheth's Breath shenanigans.

On my turn 3 I get the Bog Trog Ambushers on board. Harbinger had come just a little too close to Tiberion - she was within charge range with Rush. Now, there were quite a couple of enemy models on the way that needed to be removed. I really wanted that charge, because trampling would give me only one or two swings at her. And that feels quite a risky business for assassinations.

Rasheth is one of the first models to activate, and he uses feat. He casts Carnivore on Tiberion plus Rush on it and if I remember correctly, also on Titan Gladiator. I don't remember where the last two fury points went - possibly a random Sunder Spirit against Idrians.

Basilisk Krea manages to kill one Forge Guard, and then Venators activate and use their minifeat. I decided to try and clear Forge Guards from board instead of taking shots against Harbinger who had three shield guards at her disposal. Opponent started rolling some mighty three points of damage from nearly every Martyrdom roll Harbinger had to take. But the two models remained that were causing trouble to me.

Bog Trogs charge but their output was inconsequential.

The few models I still had to activate tried to kill the Tiberion blocker. These were the Extoller and a Beast Handler, as I couldn't figure out a way to get Gladiator anywhere that wouldn't block Tiberion from trampling.

Then Tiberion trampled and had to take two Weapon Master free strikes along the way. With a good roll there might be a spiritless, enraged Carnivorous Tiberion starting furiously at Harbinger. But the damage rolls didn't yield anything meaningful.

Tiberion had to buy attack and boost to hit. Awe + hitting behind a wall were negated by Rasheth's feat and Carnivore. After all the unlucky Martyrdom rolls Harbinger had four damage boxes remaining, which confused me. Also I always overestimate the Mk3 focus camping benefits especially on low armor warcasters. I thought I still needed to roll something a little below average to kill Harbinger, but after all calculations it turned out Tiberion was at dice +1 even after counting in the removal of damage points. So even triple 1's would have done it, or something abysmally low anyway even if I don't remember the involved hit boxes correctly.

Yay. Rasheth did it. Won against Harbinger.

(Though honestly I think I would have lost the game if Harbinger wouldn't have exposed herself.)

All Aboard The Ambush Boat!

A game from about a week ago.

I played Skorne, toying with ambush madness:

Dominar Rasheth [+28]
- Agonizer [6]
- Aradus Sentinel [16]
- Basilisk Krea [7]
- Titan Sentry [15]
Bog Trog Trawler [3]
Bog Trog Trawler [3]
Hutchuck, Ogrun Bounty Hunter [6]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Bog Trog Ambushers (max) [16]
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew [2]


Opponent had:

Grim Angus [+29]
- Rök [21]
- Winter Troll [8]
Kriel Warriors (min) [7]
- Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (2) [4]
- Kriel Warrior Standard & Piper [3]
Northkin Fire Eaters [7]
Scattergunners (max) [14]
- Scattergunner Officer & Standard [4]
Sons of Bragg [11]

Scenario was Spread the Net, which was relatively funny, considering it's the same name as Grim Angus' feat.

Skorne started, and the first picture is from the deployment phase. I thought it would be funny to take a picture when most of my army list isn't even on the table yet.

Bog Trog Ambushers got a nice charge against Scattergunners. Master Tormentor was being used for channeling an Influence on a Scattergunner, plus a Breath of Corruption. It was a shame I didn't realize to bring one Trawler for the flag on my side. I mean, opponent would have most likely been busy with Ambushers in the first place.

If Ambushers had been brutal on Scattergunners, they paid back in full. Only three Bog Trog Ambushers survived that turn. Grim Angus took a scenario point, but so did Aradus Sentinel.

It's time for Rasheth's feat next. I bring the rest of my ambushing models, two Trawlers and Hutchuck, on board. One Trawler takes a flag on my side of the board, and Hutchuck and Trawler come to contest Angus' flag.

First Rasheth uses feat and casts Influence on a Northkin Fire Eater, plus gives Carnivore for Titan Sentry.

Swamp Gobbers go and try to block the advance of some remaining Kriel Warriors. Titan Sentry succeeds to kill Northkin Fire Eaters.

Hutchuck lobs a knockdown grenade on Winter Troll with Wild Shot and walks to take a hit against it. Troll had used its animus, so Hutchuck went stationary.

Trawler takes a shot at the knocked down Winter Troll, but doesn't kill it. Aradus Sentinel shoots it finally, though this meant it got easily within charge range of Rök. Anyway, Skorne scored two points. It was 1-2 for Skorne now.

Grim Angus uses his feat next. He gives Primal for Rök and tries to kill Hutchuck, but fails thanks to some poor rolls.

Rök just manages to kill Aradus Sentinel, which was a bummer since now scenario went 2-3 for Skorne.

Next Sentry fails to do pretty much anything to Rök even when it had Blood Mark on it. And I had hoped to score a point from there.

However, I got to 2-4 anyway. And opponent got to 3-4 next, but importantly neither Rök was able to harm Sentry in any meaningful way.

Trawler ran to contest Angus' flag, and I manage to clear both zones. Sentry takes a point from rectangular zone and Rasheth from the circular, getting Skorne to 3-6. It was getting a little late, so we decided to end the game here. Opponent wouldn't be able to contest rectangular zone, and even if Angus would secure flag for himself opponent needed to kill the other Trawler from my side of the board without being able to start scoring points there himself. It could have taken a couple of turns for Titan Sentry to chew through the few infantry models opponent still had, but it would have required atrocious rolls to destroy the titan.

Oh well. It was rather a gritty game. It was a relatively good scenario for ambushing units, since flags were within run distance of ambushing solos.

Neither -2 arm nor +3 def does the trick

Maybe, then, I am trying the wrong trick?

Alrighty, I'll edit a new game right into this one. The games here have about a week in-between them, but since opponent had exactly same list and I had the same faction, I thought I wouldn't need a new post.

Two 75 point games of Warmachine with Skorne and Protectorate.

Game 1:

My list was:

Dominar Rasheth
- Agonizer
- 2x Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- Tiberion
- Titan Sentry [
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max)
Venator Reivers (max) + Venator Reiver Officer & Standard

Ancestral Guardian
Aptimus Marketh

Opponent had:

The Harbinger of Menoth
- Devout
- Redeemer
- Vigilant
Choir of Menoth (min)
Flame Bringers (max)
2x Knights Exemplar
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard
2x Allegiant of the Order of the Fist
Anastasia di Bray
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance
Hierophant
The Covenant of Menoth
Wrack

Scenario was Outlast and Protectorate started game.

Menite forces parked themselves, contesting both zones and well within Martyrdom range, waiting for me to commit.

And sure I did commit!

I rushed forward with Tiberion and Titan Sentry, and actually with pretty much everything I got. I placed Agonizer so that both heavies would benefit from Gnawing Pain, even if they would be attacked from maximum reach. Rasheth used his feat defensively, so that anything that would try to attack focal point would get -4 for damage rolls. Lucky deviations from Breath of Corruptions screened Skorne forces nicely, too.

Now, it looked and felt quite sweet to be impervious there, with two big guys closing in with opponent unable to do anything to them.

However, it wasn't that sweet when the 22 and 15 point warbeasts were tied up by two Allegiants of the Order of the Fist, with me being unable to do anything to them thanks to way too high defense.

If it wasn't for them, my bold plan of grinding control points from flag might have been a little more feasible. Now I just put Rasheth in the way of continuous assassination attempts, or at least possibilities.

Slowly and steadily Exemplars were clearing zone on the right, so my scenario victory didn't look like it would happen any time soon.

Frustrated, Tiberion trampled forward, hoping to survive long enough to somehow get to Harbinger.

Well, Tiberion was killed. Game had dragged on for quite a while by now, and there didn't seem to be any chance for a win to me, only to prolong the inevitable. I did something most unheard of: I conceded.



Game 2:

Void Seer Mordikaar
- Agonizer
- Aradus Soldier
- Archidon
- Cyclops Savage
- Titan Gladiator

Cataphract Cetrati (max)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Praetorian Swordsmen (max) + Officer & Standard
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Void Spirit

Scenario was The Pit II, and Protectorate started again.

I figured I had very little options, as Harbinger would have absolutely no trouble at all at removing Hollow from Swordsmen. I did get a couple of souls from the spell when Harbinger chose not to cast Purification, but all in all I think I lost more Fury in upkeeping and re-casting the spell than what I gained from souls.

So I decided to rush in with all I got and hope +3 defense would give a chance to do something, somewhere, preferably via charging, ghostly Archidon at Harbinger.

It kind of worked, except for the charge part. I did manage to navigate in the thick of Protectorate forces for quite a while, and Harbinger went dangerously low on her health thanks to Martyrdom a few times during game. Mordikaar was able to annoy her a bit with Manifest Void, too.

Now, for some reason it didn't even cross my mind during game that I might have tried to assassinate her during those turns of low hit points with Essence Blast targeted somewhere else so that Devout wouldn't be able to protect her. Instead I tried to win Harbinger with attrition and scenario. A choice well made!

But somehow, at the height of my power, I was at 3-0 control points. Then the downfall began and I started to run out of, well, everything, and so I did not contest nor did I score points any longer.

It's nice to know I did have the chance here, even if feeble mind didn't realize it.

Rasheth vs Goreshade the Bastard

A 50 point game of Warmachine from who knows when. Got to start writing these things up lest I forget everything.

My list was:

Dominar Rasheth
- Agonizer
- Cyclops Savage
- Aradus Sentinel
- Rhinodon
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)
Praetorian Swordsmen (max) + Command Attachment
Venator Reivers (min)
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor

Opponent had:

Goreshade the Bastard
- 2x Nightwretch
- Reaper
- 2x Slayer

The Withershadow Combine
Mechanithralls (max)
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls
Satyxis Raider Captain
Warwitch Siren

Scenario was Extraction and Cryx started game.

Opponent brought a couple of his warjacks too close and I decided to launch Rasheth's feat. Feat was satisfying, as it wrecked quite a few Mechanithralls and two Slayers plus a Nightwretch.

Gnawing Pain from Agonizer and Rasheth's feat being an aura-like effect didn't make Cryx's retaliation a very impressive one. A reaper and a full minimum unit of Bane Thralls killed pretty much just the Cyclops Savage.

I could have attempted an assassination next, but I thought my position was strong enough to play safe.

Well, my next turn wasn't all that beautiful either. I was struggling to remove the Bane Thralls, and I couldn't even wreck Reaper.

I opponent would have removed both heavies next turn, it could have turned the tables entirely. But that didn't happen even if Goreshade charged in. Neither heavy beasts died.

I somehow got rid of the Deathwalker, critically knocked down Goreshade with Rhinodon, and then Aradus Sentinel walked to maul the cryxian warcaster. Aradus had to take a free strike from Reaper, but that didn't accomplish anything.

Goreshade was destroyed. I suppose there would be extra details I could squeeze from my brains into this writing, but in the end it was pretty straightforward game.

I made a good decision once...

... though it wasn't in this game.

Last Monday I played a 50 point game of Warmachine.

My list was:

Dominar Rasheth
- Tiberion
- Rhinodon
- Basilisk Krea

Minimum unit of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Venator Reivers + Unit Attachment
Maximum unit of Bog Trog Ambushers
Swamp Gobbers
Agonizer
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw

Opponent had:

Hierarch Severius

- Judicator (bonded)
- Reckoner
- Blessing of Vengeance

Minimum unit of Choir of Menoth
Maximum unit of Temple Flameguard + Unit Attachment
Visgoth Rhoven & Honor Guard
Ayiana & Holt
Vassal Mechanik
2x Vassal of Menoth

Scenario was Fire Support and Protectorate started game. Holy Ward was cast upon Temple Flameguard. I didn't bother with Carnivore just yet, instead Rasheth filled Agonizer with four fury and put up Castigate. Krea did that too and charged Judicator, bringing it nicely to contact with Tiberion. Wrong Eye and Snapjaw were advancing under Snapjaw's animus.

Turn 2 Protectorate didn't get to make any meaningful damage just yet. Only one Beast Handler died to Judicator's blasts and Tiberion was set on fire.

Then. If I had been secretly happy about such a poor performance, I was about to receive a harsh punishment for that fleeting moment of joy.

A full unit of Venator Reivers with unit attachment, combined ranged attacks and aiming bonuses were able to kill exactly one (1) Temple Flameguard, who had shield wall order, but not Iron Zeal just yet. Quite a feat for 11 point investment!

Tiberion killed another one, which was also remarkable performance from an eleven point beast. Though that one was entirely my own mistake, as I had placed Tiberion around two or three millimetres too far from a second member of the unit. Rhinodon walked next to to block line of sight to Rasheth. Krea advanced under its animus to provide bonuses for Rhinodon and Tiberion. Rasheth advances a little and casts Breath of Corruption on Gius or Cassian. My intention was to provide a sure charge block for Temple Flameguard against Rhinodon and hopefully even to Tiberion.

Well. The first template scattered nowhere. Second went to a little better place, protecting at least Rhinodon. Then Rasheth had two fury left, and I hadn't cast Castigate. The only way that might possibly save Rasheth's greasy behind that I could figure out was to charge a Temple Flameguard with Snapjaw and engaging Judicator in the process.

I think Snapjaw dealt around four points of damage to Judicator, and failed to kill the Flameguard grunt.

That move probably prolonged the game, as opponent didn't try to go in for the assassination. And why should he, Wrong Eye was on a plate there, and I wouldn't be able to threat his valuable pieces in any meaningful way.

All things considered, Protectorate turn 3 wasn't too horrifying. Both of us had had their share of low rolls during this game. Though Gius' or Cassian's damage roll against Wrong Eye wasn't low - the voodoo croc was instantly slain the moment the Exemplar started to look his way. That took down Snapjaw, who had witnessed some of the poor rolls Aiyana & Holt had thrown in its general direction.

Judicator tried to shoot Agonizer down, but the blast damage caused only a couple points of damage. Swamp Gobbers died to scattering templates, and one additional Beast Handler, too. Admonisher attack that was channeled through Blessing of Vengeance missed it's target entirely.

So, I had my warlock still standing (or, technically I had the agonizers that were carrying my warlock still standing) and net losses had been only around eleven points.

Bog Trogs entered the game and charged to kill Aiyana & Holt, and tied up Rhoven.

Venators had much better results this turn in whittling down the Flameguard. Rhinodon and perhaps Tiberion also beat a couple of them in an attempt to open up room for Agonizer to run through. And then Agonizer ran. I wanted to catch all of the Protectorate warjacks to the "no focus allocation" agony, but that needed Agonizer to run to Blessing of Vengeance's melee range, and even then getting Judicator within 9" was uncertain.

Perfect moment to forget about things like Defensive Strike... really. Need to try to read some of the opponents cards other than the warcaster before the game begins, too. Ah well. There went the Agonizer.

Instead of trying to escape somehow, Rasheth advances forwards. I wanted to bring some of the Bog Trogs within Rasheth's control area to cast Blood Mark on Severius, but it started to look too risky, so I ended his movement behind Krea. Gius or Cassian looked too threatening. This time I remembered to cast Castigate. Rasheth was just a wee bit out of 8" to Blessing of Menoth, so he used a Venator to channel boosted Blood Mark on Blessing of Vengeance.

EXCEPT. That Venator was also out of range, even more than Rasheth. It looked like it was slightly closer... perspective is a precarious thing.

I left three fury left for transfers, brought Beast Handlers to block charges, and bit the pillow.

Then goes Protectorate. Rhoven takes a free strike from Bog Trog, but apparently free attacks against key pieces don't work both ways. Rhoven survived and took a fury point away from Rasheth, so he only had two transfers now.

Reckoner, however, somehow missed the flare shot against Rasheth. This caused one of the Judicator rockets miss Rasheth, and another one was shield guarded by Tiberion. Ancillary attacks caused a few stray points in to Rasheth. Now Blessing of Vengeance had free charge lane to Rasheth. Two transfers and whatever the latter attacks did left Rasheth at six hit boxes.

Two Temple Flameguards get a charge in to Rasheth. The first one misses.

Opponent had no more models to activate, except maybe perhaps Vassal Mechanik. Severius had spent his activation on clearing Bog Trogs with his feat, and moving Beast Handlers out of the way.

This was literally the last possible attack opponent would be able to make.

It's a hit, and Rasheth is on fire.

Damage roll is...

... something like 4,5,5.

Ah well. Though my positioning was terrible in this game and I played way too aggressively with Rasheth against Protectorate of Menoth that had powerful enough ranged weaponry to be a threat to Rasheth, I had some moments where I at least feel I could have turned the train to safer tracks. Agonizer would really have definitely kept me playing for at least one more round if I would have sufficed for the two Protectorate warjacks. I did have good tools against Severius2, as the fire stick Severius can channel wouldn't become a problem, and Carnivore definitely helps in dealing against Holy Ward. Wrong Eye and Snapjaw were also protected from most of the tricks in Protectorate's arsenal.

Welcome to the Slaughterhouse(s)

Played two 35 point games of Hordes last Monday with following list:

Dominar Rasheth

- Archidon
- Rhinodon
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- 2x Reptile Hounds

Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen
Minimum unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Feralgeist

And opponent had:

Thagrosh the Prophet
- Carnivean
- Ravagore
- Scythean

Maximum unit of Blighted Ogrun Warspears
Forsaken

Scenario was Close Quarters in both games, and Skorne started both games.

There's not much to say about the first game. Thagrosh was too close and had spent all his Fury because of a slight mismanagement of Fury. Rasheth had Carnivore on Rhinodon, Blood Mark on Thagrosh and then used his feat.

Warspears were lined up so that I really needed to kill a few of them or Rhinodon would take far too many free strikes on his was to Thagrosh. Basilisk Drake rolled pretty good rolls with the spray and killed maybe two warspears, and then reptile hounds took care of the last one who was threatening with a free strike.

But still... Thagrosh was Arm 16 with that -2 strenght bubble going on for him. Rhinodon was Enraged (P+S 16) and Thagrosh had Blood Mark and Plague Wind (-4 arm) so the final chances were MAT 7 (Carnivore) with all damage straight in to Thagrosh with four Fury. This time it was more than enough.

Well, next game went a bit differently. Or, quite a lot differently, in fact.


Game 2:

So, we got the same scenario and same starting order.

First picture from this game is actually from the end of Skorne turn 2. Carnivore had been cast on Rhinodon, and Rasheth has cast Blood Mark on Carnivean.

I thought I'd try to get some sort of alpha strike with Archidon, but the enraged charge was about quarter of an inch too short.

One full round has passed in between the pictures.

Warspears were punishing Praetorian Swordsmen, and Ravagore took a shot at Rhinodon, setting the turtle on fire. Scythean beat the crap out of Archidon, but didn't kill the beast. Carnivean backs up a little and sprays Archidon, killing it. This time I remember to use Feralgeist, who Spirit Binds the flying reptile.

Next Blood Mark is cast on Ravagore, and Rasheth cast Amuck to Rhinodon. Beast Handlers enrage Rhinodon and Rufus, the reptile hound. Basilisk Drake sprays Ravagore, and finally Rhinodon charges it, but fails to kill. Well, what can you expect from a 7 point base p+s 14 warbeast?

Next another Reptile Hound runs to engage Ravagore, after which Rufus charges with Slaughterhouse on. Damn the little dogs bite hard with that flank bonus - Ravagore was removed from play.

Again one full round is in between the pictures.

Attacking was tricky for Legion now. If Archidon would die, then Feralgeist would be free to give an additional hit to any of the many beasts Skorne got lined up in the front line.

I don't remember the exact activation order, but I think that Carnivean activated first and tried to kill Rhinodon, but failed.

Then Forsaken got Line of Sight to Archidon and charged it, killing it. Feralgeist popped out. Scythean used Slaughterhouse animus and advanced to remove Rhinodon and one of the Reptile Hounds from game. Since both heavy warbeasts were on full Fury now, Thagrosh started flinging spells all over the place. First he cast Mutagenesis on a Praetorian Swordsman, then advanced and cast another Mutagenesis on Feralgeist.

Meh.

Well, then it's Skorne turn. Swamp Gobbers run fast forward, and Rasheth uses one of them to cast Blood Mark on Scythean. He also uses Plague Wind, since it was quite imperative to get those heavy beasts removed from play. I think Rasheth also cast one Sunder Spirit at Carnivean.

Basilisk Krea paralysed Scythean, or at least tried to, I don't remember if it was a success.

Beast Handlers enrage Reptile Hound and Basilisk Drake. Drake charges Carnivean first and does impressive damage alltogether. But still the beast had a little too many hit boxes remaining that I could realistically hope for Reptile Hound to kill it... but that didn't stop Rufus from trying.

Reptile Hound uses Slaughterhouse and charges Carnivean. Damage roll was either 5, 5, 6 or 6, 6, 5. Oh my, Rufus had already taken down two heavy warbeasts. Was there any chance it would take down the whole trio?

No, no there wasn't.

Scythean Slaughterhouse'd both Basilisk Drake and Reptile Hound down, and the duel between Warspears and Praetorian Swordsmen was finally over.

So... I got two different options. I could try to kill Scythean with a couple of spells from Rasheth and Basilisk Krea. I think Scythean was on full Fury, so I also might try to kill Thagrosh with spells from Rasheth. Since Thagrosh had much less hit boxes than Scythean, I decided to try to go for the assassination, come what may.

Willbreaker gives Puppet Master to Basilisk Krea, who then advances and shoots Thagrosh with its blinded eyes. It's a hit! So, at least I wouldn't miss any of Rasheth's spells.

Slowly and unsteadily Rasheth lumbers forward and start measuring Control Area to see if Thagrosh was within 10". Turned out he wasn't. Damn it, why didn't I measure 14" before advancing? Well, then Rasheth tried to cast two Breath of Corruptions, hoping for good deviations. One of them actually was lucky, and I got to make a boosted POW 12 damage roll against Thagrosh. Well, I'm sure it's no suprise - it didn't one-shot Thagrosh.

Now. Situation was bad. It had been bad before, but now it was unbearable.

Ogrun Warspears assault Rasheth, but don't really do damage. There is, however, a Scythean within walking distance to Rasheth.

I took a close-up picture from the epic last stand of Rasheth. I mean, that Scythean sure has a meal on a plate right there. It's chin was in fact inside the chalice with that undefined yellowish drink.

The lack of a Bronzeback Titan was surely felt again in this game. It also didn't help much that I failed to estimate the 10.5" charge of Archidon on turn 2. Regardless, I was really happy with the Reptile Hounds. Their animi were quite essential in lessening Thagrosh's feat's impact. Now, come to think of it... I think every warbeast that got destroyed was removed from play in this game, except Archidon?

So, in this game Rufus played following tricks:

Kill: twice
Play dead: once.

Enraged lil' doggie

About two weeks ago Rufus made his debut on the battlefields of Immoren.

It was a 50 point game, and my list was:

Dominar Rasheth
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- Cyclops Shaman
- 2x Reptile Hounds

Maximum unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Praetorian Swordsmen + Unit Attachment
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Agonizer
Bloodrunner Master Tormentor

Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw

Opponent had:

Jeremiah Kraye
- Ol' Rowdy
- Hammersmith
- 2x Hunters

Maximum unit of Greygore Boomhowler's & Co. + Jonas Murdoch
Rangers
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Arlan Strangewayes
Journeyman Warcaster
Squire

Cygnar started game and first picture is taken from the end of Skorne turn 1. I got to make my first acquaintance with the spell Full Tilt. There is something very disturbing in 16" running Hammersmith, though what really messed up my mind was thinking about 24" running spd 6 warjacks.

I don't remember any more how on earth did Hunter get where it is in picture 2 (on the right, next to Bronzeback) but it did deny a counter charge to hammersmith. Hammersmith, then, charged and beat Basilisk Krea into a pulp. This was first thing I forgot - I didn't jump in with Feralgeist. After all Krea would have been quite a beast in melee if coupled up with basilisk Drake.

On my next turn I wanted to make really sure that both Hammersmith and Hunter would get wrecked. Paingiver Beast Handlers enraged both Reptile Hounds and healed up Basilisk Drake a little bit, but then Bronzeback did it again. In a single activation it managed to punch both warjacks down.

Annoying thing here was now that both Reptile Hound had to declare a charge, thanks to Beast Handlers. Well, one of them charged Ol' Rowdy who had Arcane Shield on. And if I remember right, it even scored one damage point! Way to go, doge!

Rufus, on the other hand, tried to charge a trollkin, but the charge fell woefully short.

Praetorian Swordsmen who had Carnivore on them charged trollkin next, and decimated most of the unit. However, that 4+ tough is one heck of a countermeasure to one-turn anatomical precision.

Wrong Eye & Snapjaw advanced slowly under Submerge animus. Basilisk Drake advanced to contest the control zone and tried to spray Kraye, and scored a lucky hit with even luckier damage roll.

Finally Feralgeist ran to have most of my warbeasts within possession range.

Well, next Ol' Rowdy shows his disrespect for cute lil' doges, after he had knocked down both the dog and the basilisk.

This was annoying. I had intentional plans for Feralgeist jumping to and fro in my warbeasts, I had even brought it that far forward just for that purpose. And when Reptile Hound destroyed, I forgot to possess it. Again.

However, after that it was too late anyway since Master Holt came and shot the ghost down with some fancy magical pistols. I have no doubts that I would've forgotten to possess once again when Drake would die, so in that way this was some comfort.

Basilisk Drake was suprisingly resilient. It survived a shot from Hunter and a hand cannon shot from Junior Warcaster, and even a charge attack and impact attack from Kraye himself. Kraye had to buy one more attack to put the beast down, and I guess this was where opponent got a little bit too greedy for control points - I got Snapjaw, Wrong Eye and Cyclops Shaman within certain charge range. Though Kraye was Def 14, Arm 23 target at the moment.

Given that, I wasn't sure at all if the low-powered attacks of my models would bring Kraye down. However, Dominar Rasheth still hadn't used his feat, so obviously he did that now. Then he cast Blood Mark on Kraye, which mean a total of -4 Arm.

Snapjaw charges Kraye, and the first damage roll from a succesful hit is enough to one-shot him. None of the dice were below 4.

I hope I get to write up next game, where Bronzeback continues its daring exploits, and even Rufus learns a trick... (oh wow, what a hype).

The Smell of Humiliated Fat

I actually played two games of Warmachine yesterday, but I'm writing this one up in haste.

Aw, heck. Who am I kidding here? It wouldn't take that much longer to write a big report instead of a small one, but I really want to break the post count record for any Januaries during this blog. And I'm doing that the easy way now.

So, we played a 25 point game, and I had taken my Skorne with me. Well, I did have a bad feeling about my list, because Dominar Rasheth isn't really your go-to guy in lower points.

My list:

Dominar Rasheth
- Archidon
- Rhinodon
- Cyclops Shaman
- Basilisk Krea

Minimum unit of Beast Handlers
Minimum unit of Bog Trog Ambushers

And opponent had:

Thagrosh the Primal Version
- Carnivean
- Afflictor
- 2x Stinger
- Shredder

Minimum unit of Blighted Ogrun Warspears + Unit attachment
Forsaken

Something inside of me died when I had to hold back all the tears when opponent just wouldn't stop placing models on board. Five damage points was the lowest hit box count Legion had, and that was only one model, too. And still I had only four models more than Legion, and beast handlers and Basilisk Krea almost could be counted out in terms of doing damage to enemy models.

Scenario we randomised was the Steamroller 2014 version of Close Quarters.

Skorne got to start the game, and I didn't cry on the inside only because of the nasty list I was facing - my poor warlock, Dominar Rasheth, with his impressive speed 4 would have a lot of trouble on my side of the board. There was a river on the board that was covered by a hill and a small bridge. Run, fatty, run!

First picture is taken from the end of Legion turn 1.

On turn 2 the bog trogs ambush from the right and kill the Afflictor, and one of the fishmen is sacrificed to cast Blood Mark on Thagrosh.

I thought it would be no use for me to play too safe, because Legion pretty much had greater threat ranges around. So I tried to bring Rhinodon forward and just hope for the best. Cyclops Shaman was trying to be sneaky on the left, and if there would ever come a miracle where I'd be able to get rid of Warspears, the cyclop could start to control enemy flag.

Well, it was a beautiful thought.

Shame that all of my dreams and hopes, even those beyond Warmachine, were crushed next turn. Carnivean assaults Rhinodon and scores a hit against Rasheth with the spray. Boosted damage roll (with two dice) is really high indeed, and Rasheth loses 10 hit boxes. Rhinodon loses its life, so I guess Rasheth did better than Rhinodon in that way.

Thagrosh and Shredder kill all the bog trogs.

Here I really regretted not bringing Bronzeback Titan.

Well, still I tried. Enraged Archidon charges Carnivean and hopes for good rolls. I think there was one good roll or something, and the last attack was a critical hit which threw Carnivean away. Of course that didn't matter much, since next turn it'd only assault again...

Enraged Basilisk Krea tries to charge Stinger that had attacked Rhinodon last turn, but terrain makes the charge fail.

Cyclops Shaman charges warspears and kills one of them. I was hoping that the Shaman could tie up the ogruns.

Next turn the Stinger at the centre of the board frenzies and charges Carnivean. Sadly it doesn't block the possibility to assault Archidon, so Archidon dies. Spray attack also kills one beast handler.

Shredder goes rabid and walks and eats another beast handler.

I don't remember what the heck killed Basilisk Krea, but I know that much that it died. I can't believe Stinger would kill it alone, please, don't say so?

Anyway, after so many things had died the Cyclops Shaman was now the Prey target of Warspears. This meant that even that beast died.

I started my turn with Rasheth who had 8 Fury and 10 hit boxes, and one beast handler.

Uh oh.

Dice just bouncing off from Rasheth (in many ways)

A few days ago I played a 50 point game of Warmachine.

After a while I took out my Skorne, and I decided to play Rasheth. I was suspecting that I would be against Legion and Saeryn, so needless to say, I was a bit horrified.

My list:

Dominar Rasheth
- Archidon
- Rhinodon
- Bronzeback Titan
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea

Maximum unit of Cataphract Cetrati
Maximum unit of Beast Handlers
Minimum unit of Bog Trog Ambushers
Minimum unit of Bone Grinders
Agonizer

As I was bracing myself for the worst it turned out I would be against a far more horrible warlock. Once again it was the dreaded Rasheth vs Epic Lylyth match. Once I saw the list I was surely crying on the inside.

Legion list was:

Lylyth2
- 3x Ravagore
- Carnivean
- Naga Nightlurker

Blackfrost Shard
2x Shepherds
The Forsaken

Legion of Everblight also got to start the game, so Lylyth's feat would most probably come on turn 2, when I'd still be way too far away to close in to melee... This is what was to be expected. Everything else, however, went completely unexpected ways.

Luckily there was a hill on Skorne's side of the board. I had picked the side because I really didn't want Ravagores on a hill, but I quickly found out that a hill and Krea's animus makes even the big jolly guy Def 14. First picture is from the end of Skorne turn 1.

Lylyth's feat came, of course. Suprise here was that it killed nothing. Saeryn missed the critical roll of casting Pin Cushion against Bronzeback. But then every attack from Ravagores was targeted at Bronzeback Titan (who was Def 16, Arm 21 against most shooting). Only one of those attacks missed. All of the damage rolls were boosted. And yet Bronzeback Titan stood defiantly with six or seven damage boxes remaining. The damage rolls that were rolled were incredibly low. Best rolls were just on par with averages.

I can't say I was unhappy about the thing. With this match up I really needed such a dice screw happening for opponent, and had that been one of the few cases of critical dice screws, it could have been pretty much okay...

Well then it was my turn. It was quite annoying that even when opponent wasn't able to do much last turn, I couldn't either. Three Ravagores were even without Lylyth's feat still a very real threat to Rasheth. I just ended up bringing the heavy beasts forward, healing Bronzeback as much as possible and generally just hoping for the best. Scenario had Killbox artifice, so Legion wouldn't be able to fall back too much.

Then was Legion's third turn. And this was the turn where I started to feel bad for the opposing player, despite the difficulty of match-up.

Naga Nightlurker had been left with one Fury, and as it happened, it failed Threshold check, charged Carnivean and dealt an amazing damage roll that broke a branch. That might haven't been too bad, but Naga blocked charge lane for Carnivean now. Opponent could have charged Rhinodon and Archidon and just shoot the nearly dead Bronzeback with Ravagores. Now he had to do the other way - Charge Carnivean to Bronzeback and shoot the other heavy beasts as much as possible.

Carnivean was quite confident in killing Bronzeback, and boosted two attack rolls to kill one beast handler and bone grinder with its spray. But three initial attacks and a couple additional attacks later Bronzeback was still standing. I can say that a lot 1's and 2's were rolled during that activation.

Blackfrost Shard tried to freeze Archidon, and the last one of Shards shoot the Kiss of Lyliss or whatever that ability was against Def 10 Archidon with skill 7. And... it was a miss.

At least all the Ravagores hit Archidon, but by now you can guess it. Their damage rolls were absolutely disgraceful. One of the Ravagores had used its animus, so Archidon and Rhinodon were on fire now, and Archidon had six damage boxes left.

Naga Nightlurker shot somewhere, either Archidon or Rhinodon, and hit but didn't do any damage, even with a damage boost.

I know there have been games where absolutely nothing can be done, despite odds being in your favor. Usually failing a few critical rolls and underperfoming here and there can bring that feeling to you, but honestly... games where it's more than fair to blame the dice to this extent are rare.

Now, then it's Skorne turn 3.

Fire effect deals five damage to Archidon. So Archidon survives with just one damage point left. So the bad luck for opponent didn't stop last turn, no. It continued all the way to end.

I brought Bog Trog Ambushers to field and ran them as close to Lylyth as possible.

Bronzeback mauls Carnivean to the ground, Rhinodon (who had Carnivore) charges Blackfrost Shard and Naga Nightlurker and kills all but Naga.

Beast Handlers heal Archidon and Bronzeback, but only one damage is removed from Archidon, which was a bit of a bummer, but I guess I didn't have any rights to complain right now.

Then Rasheth activates and uses Plague Wind. He heals Archidon for one point, casts Carnivore on Archidon and casts boosted Blood Mark on Lylyth through one of the Bog Trogs. This was quite a risk, because it left Rasheth with no Fury. But I had quite good chances of taking out Lylyth, who had only one Fury for transfer.

Archidon then charges Lylyth, and deals enough damage to bring her down to 3 hit boxes. Second attack deals enough damage to kill her, so it's transfered away.

Next Basilisk Drake walks up and shoots spray at Archidon's back. Even with a boost it misses Lylyth, but hits Archidon without a boost. Damage was rolled. Dice showed 2 and 3. I had to count that many times, because I just couldn't believe Archidon was again brought down to 1 hit box remaining.

Cataphract Cetrati charged around in an attempt to engage as many Ravagores as possible. As a bonus they managed to kill Naga Nightlurker. I actually had this false sense of protection, when Lylyth was engaged. I didn't remember she had Evasion.

And with that starts Legion's turn 4. This is the turn where Legion would either win or lose the game. Now, wouldn't it be just righteous and fair, if all the bad luck was payed back in abundance on the turn where it mattered most? Not according to the Dice Gods.

Lylyth activates and casts Pin Cushion on Rasheth, which succeeds. Then she makes two attacks with all remaining Fury, and deals 7-8 points in. So those rolls were actually... average? And then there were two Ravagores that got to fire their attacks. First one dealt enough damage to bring Rasheth down to 5 hit boxes remaining. Blast damage kills a Beast Handler who was standing next to Rasheth, and because of Plague Wind this brings Rasheth to 6 boxes. Last Ravagore shoots and deals five damage to Rasheth. So even Rasheth is left standing with just one hit box, and that was thanks to collateral damage!

To add plenty of insult to injury, even one of the Cataphract Cetrati was left with just one hit box. During the game Archidon had been twice on one hit box, Bronzeback Titan once, one of the Cetrati and even Rasheth. I wonder what are the odds for all of this happening in one game.

And then... there was Lylyth with three hit boxes, no Fury and Blood Mark on her in middle of Skorne army. Opponent conceded, and I didn't have the heart to force him to watch final rolls, though a grand dice screw on my part could still save Legion. After all Archidon was with one box and on fire, and I had 12 Fury on board. Though now when I think of it, Lylyth had 3 boxes and Arm 12, Breath of Corruption had POW 12 and even with triple 1's she would've died.

It would be nice if I could say that I won Epic Lylyth with Dominar Rasheth by playing exceptionally well. If I'm completely honest, though, it was all only because of amazingly bad dice rolls opponent made, or when they were not 5-6 below averages, they were just one short of doing actual damage.

Finally part 2/3 of Turku Fanatic

Last game on first day of Turku Fanatic was against Legion of Everblight.

It was a little bit of a facepalm time, since I had already played twice with epic Hexeris, so if I took him the third time, I'd be playing with Rasheth for whole next day.

Sweating pure terror, I chose Rasheth. After all, scenario did not have Killbox artifice, and just maybe... just maybe opponent wouldn't pick epic Lylyth?

Well, he did.

List was something like:
Epic Lylyth
- 3x Ravagore
- Naga Nightlurker

Maximum unit of Raptors
Anyssa Ryvaal
Succubus
Forsaken
And either 1x Shepherd & 1x Spell Martyr or 2x Shepherd.

Everblight got to start first, which was also a bad omen, since that probably meant that Lylyth would use her feat on second turn. Which she did. A short story short: Battlegroup shot Bronzeback to pieces and scored random damage to Archidon, too. It was really bad news for me, because opponent had three heavies still standing, and I had lost my sledgehammer from my toolbox, and was left with only screwdrivers and chisels. Oh, and she had moved to dominate my zone. She would not score just yet, but if I couldn't move anything to contest during my turn, she would gain two points in a row. And I couldn't.


Next turn I killed a Praetorian Swordsman to Black Rituals and killed a Raptor with Breath of Corruption. Basilisk Drake tickled one, too, but didn't kill it. A POW 14 boosted attack didn't kill an arm 15, 5 damage box model. That was a crazy turn.

Opponent then launches Naga Nightlurker upon Basilisk Krea, but fails to kill. Ravagores destroy my objective marker, so that's three points raking in for this game to Everblight already. These losses I, however, could still take.

On my next turn I had to remove Naga first. This was accomplished by efforts from Basilisk Krea and Ancestral Guardian. Then everything else tried to kill off those Raptors, but it didn't really succeed. Cyclops Shaman just missed, and I tried to aim Basilisk Drake on closest Ravagore so that spray template would clip Raptor. Nope, didn't clip.

Black Rituals was used again, and I had a nice target where I hoped I would catch a Ravagore, Lylyth and Raptor underneath Breath of Corruption. This time boosted POW 12 doesn't kill a Raptor, and Lylyth was way out there.

Archidon runs to contest my zone so Lylyth couldn't dominate it on my turn.

And then, the last picture.

I had to actually stare at it for a long time until I realised what had happened.

So that picture is terribly misleading, epic Lylyth did not stand there during game, this picture has been taken post-game and for reason or another, Lylyth has been placed elsewhere.

She stood rather close to Basilisk Drake (the red-blue basilisk that is), actually. First her army killed the few models that were contesting Everblight's zone and then Lylyth ran to dominate that zone. Five points total for Everblight. End of game.

But, to be honest, I'm suprised I lost to scenario and not to caster kill for this match-up, heh.


INTERMISSION

So it was 2 losses and 1 victory after first day. A little depressing, but nothing too bad, really.

I take a moment to just sit and relax and ponder about the games I played. Then I get this idea - I could arrange my models neatly and organized to tray for tomorrow's games.

One by one I put my army very carefully, even lovingly, to the tray. Skorne must be my most beautifully (technically speaking( painted army, probably because it's my newest.

So, after a long day of wargaming I finished setting up my army for tomorrows challenges. I sit back on chair and release a sigh of accomplCRRRAAAASHH!

There was so much metal on the plate that it turned over the foam boards and 50% of my Skorne was on my lap and the other 50% on floor.

A rough estimate was that 25% of my Skorne suffered broken and bend parts, and if we count chipped paint, I'm afraid the percentage was even more fatal.

That was... Demoralizing.

END OF INTERMISSION

First game of Sunday

Next day I had recovered from my tragic resin/plastic/white metal heartbreak I had yesternight.

I was against Circle Orboros again, this time versus Baldur. Still construct heavy, though, and tier 4 list.

List was:

Baldur
- Megalith
- Woldwarden
- Woldguardian

Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper
Shifting Stones
2x Woldstalkers & Stoneward
Druids of Orboros + Overseer
Blackclad Wayfarer

I must admit I was shocked how fast Tier 4 Baldur was on midboard and beyond!

Anyway, I had picked epic Hexeris for my list, because Rasheth wouldn't really do anything for either of opponents lists. Last game would then be with Rasheth, come what may...

So, picture is taken from the end of my first turn, and Circle got the start. Ewww.

Circle shoots down Basilisk Drake with woldstalkers, and they do it ridiculously easy. Ashen Veil helps to keeping at least Swordsmen relatively safe. Baldur used his feat, too.

On my next turn I try some shenanigans with charging Lightning Strike'd Archidon to couple of mannikins and then retreating to better position to cast spells from. Archidon was Hexeris' bonded beast.

I also tried to protect Hexeris with rather an interesting way. I went to dominate my Effigy of Valor and moved it to front of opposing woldstructs. Little I did know it then, but it was a nonfactor, but idea behind it was that it would drain at least some resources from enemy to get it from the way of Megalith.

I don't remember what I did with Hexeris' fury, but at least he used his feat to empty some Wolds. Then at least one, maybe two Ashes to Ashes' took a heavy toll on Woldstalkers, but that was about it.

And then there was some insanity, with the end result shown in last picture.

A set (let's call it set A) of shifting stones teleported one shifting stone from stone set B so that megalith was inside the triangle of shifting stone set B. Woldguardian slammed a woldstalker (that had run just for this out of formation) into Hexeris (and here was a funny 5,5,6 damage roll from the collision...)

Then Shifting Stones teleport Megalith to knocked down Hexeris.

That was a short game.

Then there was one more game, that is written down here.