Ropecon 2019 Steamroller

Here's the games from Ropecon Steamroller tournament.

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


My lists:

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


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not my most magnificent game.

Game 2:

Second game was against Khador, Vlad2.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boarding with no Party Pirates

This was a traditional Warmachine game against a friend during Ropecon.

Tournament next day was going to use Oblivion rules, so we were practicing those.

Well thought-out choice would have been to practice with my lists... but no, I went with my newest painted warcaster, Captain Aiakos. And I even knew I'd be against Xerxis2.


[Theme] Black Industries
Captain Aiakos [+29]
- Defiler [8]
- Leviathan [16]
- Reaper [13]
- Seether [13]
- Slayer [10]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]

Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (3) [0(6)]
Wraith Engine [15]

Opponent had:

[Theme] Disciples of Agony
Xerxis, Fury of Halaak [+28]
- Agonizer [0(6)]
- Basilisk Drake [8]
- Basilisk Drake [8]
- Basilisk Krea [0(7)]
- Bronzeback Titan [17]
- Chiron [19]
- Titan Sentry [15]
- Titan Sentry [15]
Swamp Gobber River Raider [1]
Tyrant Zaadesh [0(4)]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]

Scenario was slightly in my favor. Opponent had next to no units to grab points from circular zones. I didn't have that many units either, but Mechanithralls were ambushing.

The huge beast brick looks completely unassailable. So I try to go for the scenario instead.

Mechanithralls take a point from zone on left. I was thinking it could be worth it to trade a Slayer to Gladiator. +2" off from from warbeasts' movement as well losing access to Pathfinder could have been good enough piece trade even if I was outnumbered.

If it had succeeded, that is.

Pistol Wraith failed to make Gladiator stationary.

Tremulus failed to cast Puppet Master on Slayer.

Defiler failed to apply Corrosion on Gladiator.

Slayer succeeded in charging Gladiator under Assail, but failed to stay out from Agonizer agony range. And on top of that rolls were sub-par.

I think Xerxis used feat here, and assaulted Chiron to my Reaper, destroying it, killing a Black Ogrun and even Tremulus.

Slayer went down without too much of a hassle.

I thought I had lost too much of my damage potential, so started figuring out a way to kill Xerxis, who had only one transfer. Had it been actual tournament game, I would've ran out of clock. I did have a nice plan, though, which I realized not to work in midway of it's application. Seether didn't have a charge lane to Basilisk Krea, and I had forgotten the need to either charge or run during activation. Seether would've reached it's target with +3 SPD from Aiakos' feat.

It was one heck of a mess, then.

At least I removed Chiron and Agonizer, but eh. What was I to do?

Next turn for Cryx situation looked so grim that as a final gesture of defiance, Aiakos entered the fray. He cast White Squall to toss Gladiator away from zone, and then proceeded to destroy Basilisk Drake all by himself.

I did get that control point, so yay I guess.

Burning Ash & Caustic Mist

There was one casual game of Warmachine in Ropecon where we agreed not to use theme lists. Because I really have missed that.

My list was:

Lich Lord Asphyxious [+28]

- Desecrator [14]
- Nightwretch [7]
- Ripjaw [7]
Bane Lord Tartarus [6]
Iron Lich Overseer [5]
- Harrower [16]
Necrotech [2]
Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [4]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]
Satyxis Raiders (max) [16]
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch [4]

Opponent had:

Lord Tyrant Zaadesh [+28]

- Aradus Soldier [16]
- Aradus Soldier [16]
- Archidon [10]
- Chiron [19]
- Rhinodon [12]
- Titan Gladiator [15]
Legends of Halaak [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (max) [7]

Obviously I had great advantage in scenario game. Opponent closed in from the middle, so Bane Thralls were quite safe from Chiron's sprays. Opponent took a gamble with Chiron, bringing it forward and trying to spray Iron Lich Overseer. The attack was a miss.

Next turn Zaadesh used feat and rushed quite a lot of heavy beasts on to me. Harrower went down like it was butter, and I have no doubt that same fate would have been reserved for Desecrator had it been just a little closer to Aradus Soldier.

Chiron sprayed Ripjaw almost into wreckage. It only had cortex and weapon system intact.

On my turn I tried to kill both Rhinodon and Aradus Soldier in the middle, but only Rhinodon went dead. Aradus did have it's spirit broken and thanks to Desecrator it was suffering from Grievous Wounds, so at least it wouldn't assassinate Asphyxious.

Somehow Titan Gladiator couldn't kill Desecrator. How is that possible? I don't remember any more. It probably involved quite a few missed hits. So Cryx survived fairly well that turn, and next Bane Thralls were able to reach almost all of the warbeasts.

Titan Gladiator proved to be a difficult one to remove from the board, and Asphyxious tried to come to finish the beast. He had cast Hellbound and used feat. Feated Bane Thralls and some Satyxis Raiders wiped the board from warbeasts, and when Skorne started turn there was only Zaadesh and two members of Legends of Halaak left. He conceded.

Ropecon 2018 Warmachine Tournament

I played in a Warmachine tournament during Ropecon 2018.

My lists were:

[Theme] Infernal Machines
Lord Exhumator Scaverous [+27]
- Deathripper [6]
- Erebus [16]
- Reaper [13]
- The Withershadow Combine [9]
Bloat Thrall [4]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Necrotech [2]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Ragman [4]
Soul Trapper [1]
Soul Trapper [1]
Warwitch Siren [0(4)]
Bile Thralls (min) [9]
- Skarlock Commander [3]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (2) [4]
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls [4]
Soulhunters (min) [11]



[Theme] Dark Host

Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
- Desecrator [14]
- Kraken [36]
- Seether [13]
Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Machine Wraith [2]
Scrap Thrall (3) [2]
Soul Trapper [1]
Soul Trapper [1]
Bane Warriors (max) [16]
- Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [5]

For the record, this was my first time using Dark Host theme.

Game 1: Master Necrotech Mortenebra & Deryliss

First game was against Trollbloods, and opponent had a list something like this. Might contain some inaccuracies:


[Theme] Band of Heroes
Kolgrima Stonetruth, Winter Witch [+28]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Earthborn Dire Troll [14]
- Trollkin Runebearer [0(5)]
Fell Caller Hero [0(5)]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Trollkin Champion Hero [0(5)]
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (max) [9]
- Northkin Elder [3]
Trollkin Champions (max) [16]
- Skaldi Bonehammer [5]
Trollkin Champions (max) [16]
Trollkin Long Riders (max) [20]

An exciting game to say at least. Most of the game was at the brink of destruction - would Kraken hold? Would it survive charging weapon masters while at effective Arm 23?

It did, until heavy warbeasts decided to enter the battle.

Also, there was this major mistake made by me when Deryliss had used Tune Up on Kraken, who had killed some trollkin in melee and then used Kill Shot on Stone Bearers. I kept on boosting this thing, as I was thinking Tune Up. After realizing this I removed the focus points spent on boosts from Mortenebra - she was in base contact with Kraken. I would have rather spent those focus points on attacks against the trollblood in melee.

But when the Kraken fell, so did Mortenebra.


Game 2: Lord Exhumator Scaverous

Second game was such an optimized build of Haley3 and Gravediggers theme that I can't get the points right.

It was a desperate struggle. There was a glimmer of hope when I got a nice purge in that melt away Patrol Dog and an Express Team or something, and Mechanithralls got a charge in and killed a Master Gunner. The one Brute Thrall would have needed to kill Alexia, though, but this was not to be. I'm not saying I had won had that happened. I just might have stood a chance to find some kind of opening.

I did score some six scenario points, and there was a moment in the game where I actually had the lead. But once that blob of Trenchers was in middle of the field there was little to be done to contest. They had shot my warjacks dead. So I lost something like 6-11.

It was a hellish game, but an interesting new experience.



Game 3: Lord Exhumator Scaverous

Last game was against Khador, and with a list that I probably reverse-engineered incorrectly:

[Theme] Jaws of the Wolf

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion [+27]
- Behemoth [25]
- Devastator [14]
- Marauder [11]
- War Dog [3]
Manhunter [0(4)]
Manhunter [4]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Yuri the Axe [0(6)]
Battle Mechaniks (max) [5]
Kayazy Assassins (min) [9]
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss [4]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
- Koldun Kapitan Valachev [4]

Early in the game Vladimir2 used his feat and launched two feated Manhunters and Kayazy Eliminators to tie up my leftmost flank. Luckily Manhunters did not wreck my warjacks, though they did take heavy damage.

I was distressed. I couldn't reliably kill those four pesky models, and that would give all the time Khadoran warjacks would need to get into position for scenario victory. And what was I to do to those mentioned warjacks? I had suicidal POW 12 sprays and P+S 13 combo strikes, all with defensive statistics that would fall in swathes to Behemoth bombarding.

So.

It's time to figure out a far fetched assassination plan that's bound to fail sooner or later.

Far too much time went to trying to free Reaper from melee. All the resources that I could not assign to assassination went to killing those few models.

Bile Thralls, Erebus, Soulhunters, Pistol Wraith and Scaverous (!!) later none of the four feated models were dead. One was stationary from Pistol Wraith, though.

Well, obviously Scaverous did not spend all of his focus into futile attacks against these models. He instead cast Icy Grip on Vlad, telekinesis on Vlad and a couple of telekinesis's on Manhunter. Deathripper had ran to arc position earlier. Objective had given Pathfinder for Reaper, and Tremulus cast Puppet Master on Reaper. I don't remember if it was Maelovus or feating Scaverous that cast telekinesis on Reaper.

Anyway, then MAT 7 Reaper was free to walk into melee with Vlad, who had left his dog far behind. Vlad had perhaps one focus for mitigating damage.

Four attacks later Vlad had died.

Maybe I need to play Scaverous a little more, since my awkward assassinations seem to work slightly better with him.



Great tournament, as I had never played any of these warcasters before during Mk3. And for some odd reason I had not even once played against Cygnar in this edition. As far as factions go, I'm still missing Minions and, of course, the Crucible Guard.

Fields of Golden Corn

So it's that time of the year again, when I'm overburdened with write-ups from Ropecon.

Though 'overburdened' may be an exaggeration, as there was only five games played in total, four of which were Warmachine.

But this one is a board game called Stone Age.

What I enjoyed in this game was the multitude of choices when it comes to gathering victory points. I chose the route to become the agricultural master race.

And how I enjoyed seeing all the other players (we were three in total) to suffer from their lack of grain products! Bwahaha!

Well, crops were the only thing my civilization was producing. There was exactly one cultural product I had, compared to six to eight the other players had.

I did gain 80 points from my agricultural prowess, but this was not enough to secure me victory.

I did place second, though.

It was an interesting new acquaintance.

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.

Scaverous vs Xerxis1

A somewhat traditional Warmachine/Hordes game from Ropecon against a particular friend.

My list was:

Lord Exhumator Scaverous

- Defiler
- Erebus
- Nightmare
- Ripjaw

Iron Lich Overseer
- Leviathan
Warwitch Siren
Satyxis Raiders (max)
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch
The Withershadow Combine

Opponent had:

Tyrant Xerxis

- Tiberion
- Titan Gladiator
Tyrant Zaadesh
- 2x Cyclops Brute
Cataphract Cetrati (max)
Legends of Halaak
Nihilators (max)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min)

Scenario was Breakdown. I started game.

I had absolutely no idea what I should be doing, so I tried to jam enemy a little with Satyxis Raiders - so that I would lose just the unit, not warjacks.

But I did lose the whole unit and Erebus. And then opponent used feat, too. The threat range of Tiberion is scary in this list, and now opponent was pretty much unassailable because of the defensive bonuses.

Well, Skorne wasn't the only one in this match who could threat with scary ranges.

Scaverous used feat, cast Telekinesis on Nightmare and charged Tiberion. There he cast Telekinesis on Xerxis and put Icy Grip on him, too. With last remaining focus he cleared a line of sight for Leviathan to Xerxis.

It was a cheap victory, but only one I could have even attempted.

Kind of a success (Asphyxious2 vs Xekaar)

Last game from Ropecon has been waiting to get written for almost two weeks.

My list was:

Lich Lord Asphyxious
- Seether
- Corruptor

Maximum unit of Bane Warriors + Command Attachment

Minimum unit of Bile Thralls
Aiakos1
- Desecrator
Madelyn Corbeau
Gorman diWulfe
Darragh Wrathe
Warwitch Siren
Soul Trapper

Opponent had:

Beast Master Xekaar
- Agonizer
- 2x Basilisk Drake
- Cyclops Shaman
- Titan Gladiator
- Tiberion

2x Minimum units of Beast Handlers
Maximum unit of Nihilators
Aptimus Marketh

Scenario was Close Quarters. First picture shows how I try to block the advance of Nihilators with Caustic Mist AoE and scather template. It kind of succeeded. One Nihilator runs to contest my flag.

Next turn I bring Corruptor to the front of my lines because I want to shoot the shiny new 5" AoE over Nihilators. It kind of succeeded. I caught at least five of them under the template. Isn't that nice? Potentially yes. But only two of them die. No, not all of them passed their tough rolls. At least two didn't even have to make it. Me, bitter? Not the least! I considered that taking out five Nihilators and luring Tiberion out with Corruptor might be worth it.

Well, sure... it did lure in Tiberion. That part of plan was - yet again - kind of a success. Tiberion did charge in. However, also Desecrator was within Tiberion's reach. Not sure if baiting Tiberion with 30 points worth of warjacks was worth it. Thanks to some poor rolls by opponent also Gladiator had to charge in to remove Corruptor from the equation. Both heavies were well protected by Xekaar's disturbing "while within" style of feat.

Seether had been neutralized by Deadweight.

My next turn took quite a bit of time to resolve. Xekaar didn't have any fury points left for transfers, so this was my chance.

Now, if I only would get a Black Oil on Xekaar, I might be able to pull it off with Hellfire from Darragh Wrathe, a couple of Hellfires from Asphyxious and one Bile Thrall purge.

Gorman diWulfe obviously failed the very first step, so I decided I wouldn't try to go for an assassination unless I somehow got a really good damage roll with Bile Thrall. Bane Warriors charged and ran here and there, not doing much other than dishing out the -2 Arm from Death Shroud. -3 MAT had some severe inclinations here.

Next I wanted to take out Tiberion. Asphyxious had to cast Parasite on him and deal as much damage as possible by himself. He didn't do too bad, but had to teleport away.

Aiakos advanced an leaped to the back arc of Tiberion. I'm not sure if Darragh tried to cast Hellfire on the titan, too. Tiberion was now at one or two damage points remaining and with -5 Arm. Warwitch Siren charges in to finish the beast and give one or possibly two autohitting POW 12's to Xekaar with no Fury. She needed 4+ to hit. Do I really need to tell more?

I decide to try to get at least one Bile Thrall to Xekaar even if it needed to suffer a free strike. Of course Tiberion's mind branch was still functioning. Failed.

The rest of the Bile Thralls try to Purge Tiberion. Damage roll of 11 did exactly that, but it was a pyrrhic victory at best in this situation.

We still play for one round, but when I had only Darragh Wrathe, Seether outside of Asphyxious' control range, one Bile Thrall and a Soul Trapper while opponent has pretty much lost only Tiberion, I yield. It's a rare occasion I do that. And I was tempted to try and get Asphyxious' feat to kill Gladiator and perhaps a couple of other warbeasts, but exhausted as I was (and in a little bit of a hurry) I just couldn't defy those odds.

The Way of the Moo

Well...

It was a game with rules. So I'm obliged to write this.

However, the game and the rules were casually tossed out by the persons who were in charge of the miniature events during the weekend.

Game figures were made out of cones and represented cows. I'm not sure if cone cows are a thing outside of Finland. Game had a grand name:

Mooshido - the way of the moo

You got to choose from one of the three general cow profiles that had a little bit different 'stats' like endurance, strength and what else. You had to come into contact with the other cone to make an attack. If you rolled a hit and caused an injury, the other cow lost one point of health. All basic profiles had three wounds. Advanced profile like Batman cow had extraordinary stats, but had a balance mechanic: you have to pay ten euros to play Batman cow, because Batman is stinking rich and has more than enough money.

I played the Boogeymoo from moomins, and opponent had Pikamoo.

The fight was a very special one, since it was filled with brutal violence and tender hugs and questionable innuendo.

First it looked like Boogeymoo stood no chance against the more experienced Pikamoo, as their health remained at one point for Boogeymoo and two points for Pikamoo for quite a while. But then something happened. I guess Boogeymoo gave off its trademark growl from the TV-series and Pikamoo was either terrified or frozen. Pikamoo moved no more and Boogeymoo won a pile of gold coins. But... did Boogeymoo want the fresh kill at all? Or was it searching for a friend in a completely new arena?

We may never know.

This is not a test test

I played a demo game of This is not a Test (TnT) during Ropecon 2016.

At one point we were supposed to start a TnT campaign of our own here in Jyväskylä, so I thought it might be worthwhile to give it a try.

Also, the board was gorgeous.

I got to choose my team between some sort of weapon carrying scavengers and wasteland mutants, and, well, honestly there was no choice for me. Mutants it was.

The demo scenario was a homebrew system that was both a race to get to the other side of the board. You got most victory points from getting out of table, but also from killing NPC monsters and opposing team members.

Combat mechanics reminded me a little bit of Frostgrave. You roll a die, both add their modifiers and that's it. Melee combat roll doesn't decide the result for both combatants, though, but as the wounds are actually resolved at the end of the round the melee combat is very lethal indeed. Beware those rats and badgers you might see running amok in the post-apocalyptic world.

I got to satisfy my disturbed perversion of trying to out-shoot the shooty factions with non-shooty options. My pistol wielding mutant spent several turns firing at scavengers, but it wasn't very effective. In the end the pistol jammed, putting an end to my shooting spree. I guess the dice knew better.

Scavengers got tied up against giant rats and the badger for several turns. Mutants had a little bit easier time dispatching a scorpions and some giants rats. Furry melee mutant I had went recklessly into melee at every possibility. This was it's downfall as a rat ate the mutant. Its sacrifice shall not be forgotten! (Unless it already is...) Last of the three mutants, some sort of bile belching guy, succeeded in melting all the remaining NPC resistance that was on my way.

Mutants won in the end when rats ate a second scavenger and I managed to escape the board with two mutants.

Army of Sheep lead by a sheep

I'll start this year's Ropecon write-ups with one that's by far the easiest one.

Battle Sheep proved it's worth in being a terrific game for even those of us who suffer from severe sleep deprivation while playing.

Though, I have to admit that now and then doing some easy math might save from a humiliating defeat.

Oh well, what can I say more about such a simple game. We had three players, and I did win two times out of the ten or so rounds we played.

Ropecon Warmachine Tournament

I took part in Warmachine main tournament at Ropecon. It was 50 point event that used "Masters" rule set. Top 8 players would qualify for next days event.

Game 1: Scaverous vs Protectorate of Menoth

Feora, Protector of Flame
- Judicator
- Castigator
- Reckoner

Minimum unit of Choir of Menoth
Maximum unit of Holy Zealots + Monolith
Aiyana & Holt
Covenant of Menoth
Wracks
+ 5 points I can't figure out. My guess is Hierophant + Vassal + Mechanic.

Cryx started game and scenario was Destruction. Even if the tournament had Divide & Conquer 0, I thought I'd play with Scaverous list at least once. I was hesitant to bring any of the more important models forward. A fully loaded Reckoner with all the Protectorate buffs would've made a heavy dent to Kraken, and after that there would have been a Judicator to take care of...

So somehow advancing on my toes and shooting AoE's seemed like a good idea. But the first turn is taken from the end of Cryx turn 2. I actually noticed my mistake when I switched the clock for opponent. I didn't have anyone to contest the zone other than my objective. Yay. Pro play.

Opponent took full advantage of that, and wrecked my objective with Castigator.

Also, it's my suspicion that this wasn't the first time opponent was playing epic Feora. Her feat was so beautifully orchestrated that in the end all of my models in he control area were set on fire even before she got to move the fire effects around, and despite casting spells and allocating focus and whatnot she still camped 8 Focus. She entered the zone, and look at that. Suddenly Protectorate had 3 control points.

I guess I had some sort of chance for assassination there, as Feora was easily within the range of most of my army. There were just a couple of... obstacles. First, Feora with ARM 25. Second, ton of Holy Zealots that were untargetable by spells and who wouldn't take damage from anywhere else except for spells.

There was at least three Zealots who blocked charge for Kraken, and they were spread over a large area. Taking them out with a single Feast of Worms was out of the question.

In the end I opted to use Scaverous' feat and cast Feast of Worms on Feora, and telekinesis on Gorman diWulfe, throw Black Oil over Feora, shoot her with everything I got and then trample to her with Kraken. But it had failed from the get-go. Even the damage roll Kraken made was insulting, something like 2,2,1. Second picture must be after resolving continuous effects on Protectorate's turn.

Looking back now I wonder if I could have made this "assassination" some other way. I don't remember the exact position of my models, but I think at least Warwitch Siren got burned by Feora's fire. But maybe I could have moved incorporeal Pistol Wraith close to two Zealots and taken them out with Feast of Worms, and slammed the third away with Ogrun Bokur? Most probably not. The loss of Warwitch Siren cut down my options quite a lot.

Having not learnt any lessons, there was only Kraken contesting the zone when it was opponent's turn. Arm 21 Kraken just isn't going to survive a full onslaught of Reckoner, Castigator, Judicator and whatnot.

Feora dominated for second turn, and it was a scenario victory for Feora there.

I swore I'd never-ever play this list again.



Game 2: Warwitch Deneghra vs Legion of Everblight

Bethayne & Belphagor

- 2x Angelius
- Shredder

Maximum unit of Hex Hunters + Bayal
Blackfrost Shard
Striders + Unit Attachment
Shepherd
3x Spell Martyrs
2x Strider Deathstalkers

Scenario was... Fire Support? Anyway, I was against Bethayne, who is a new acquaintance for me. Come to think of it... I got to play against three different warlocks I had never played against before during Ropecon. Lovely.

Anyway... I don't remember who started. Probably Cryx again, judging from the suicidal positioning of Deneghra if the picture wouldn't be from the end of Legion turn.

Deneghra uses her feat this turn, catching all but, what, three Striders and a Shepherd. Though it wasn't without risks... Aimed and boosted RAT 3 shots just might hit Deneghra, and Angeliuses did ignore her stealth.

But before all this happened, Warwitch Siren seduced one of the Hex Hunters so that once Deneghra activated she got back strike bonuses. Feat and a boost later Hex Hunters had Crippling Grasp on them. Arcane Wonder allowed Deneghra to even cast Parasite on Belphagor.

Then I kind of waste a lot of my feat potential - all thanks to Black Ogruns. I just HAD to go and drag Belphagor to one of the Ogruns. The rest Ogruns then shot their harpoons at Belphagor, but nobody ever hit it again.

Boosted harpoon from Malice at least hit it, but didn't kill or drag, because lane slightly clipped the Black Ogrun who dragged the warbeast in the first place. At least Defiler could shoot Belphagor... Technically, at least. That goddamn warbeast was immune to Defiler's gun, and Defiler didn't even succeed to kill the Black Ogrun! Finally I resorted into charging the Black Ogrun with Bane Thralls so that Belphagor would stop gaining melee bonus. Nightwretch and Aiakos thankfully were able to score those last few damage points Cryx needed to score a kill. But that was pretty much the straight damage output of Deneghra's feat - Belphagor, a couple of Hex Hunters and Black Ogrun.

At least the feat gave me quite strong position. Legion mostly just backed off with the heavy warbeasts at least. Hex Hunters came to engage Malice a little, and Bethayne moved closer to Legion's objective on the hill. Striders, inside Deneghra's feat or outside of it, killed quite a few Black Ogruns. In fact... looks like they killed all but one.

I'm always a little (or a great) bit scared when I play against Legion. Statistically Legion of Everblight is my nemesis, and as I didn't fully know what to expect from Bethayne, I decided to try an awkward assassination. I guess my other option would have been to remove one of the Angeliuses with Malice & company, back off with Deneghra and then reap whatever infantry models I could. But as I said... I was afraid of Legion, and a cornered beast is the most desperate and most dangerous one.

Deneghra allocated one Focus to Defiler and upkept Crippling Grasp just in case this long stretch would fail. Skarlock cast Ghost Walk on the Defiler, who then ran into position. Deneghra cast a boosted Scourge on Bethayne, needing 11+ to hit. It was 11+, so Bethayne was knocked down.

I don't remember who or what killed some engaging Hex Hunters in the middle, but I see Malice has gained at least one additional soul.

I was quite sure Escort 8" advance + 8" range in Malice's harpoon would get to Bethayne, but there still was two blockers on the hill. One was Spell Martyr and the other was a member of Blackfrost Shard. I was getting rather desperate, as the only attacks against either were a RAT 5 shot from Aiakos, a RAT 5 shot from Black Ogrun and possibly... maybe a spray from Warwitch Siren if moving around a Hex Hunter wouldn't take too much movement away.

Since Blackfrost Shard member had damage boxes (and stealth?) I thought my best bet was DEF 15 Spell Martyr. Black Ogrun missed it. Aiakos missed it (he didn't even have any focus to boost, since one went into upkeeping Escort and rest was allocated to Malice) so Warwitch Siren was my only chance now.

Turned out that I had been over-estimating the amount of movement Warwitch lost when walking around a Hex Hunter, so Spell Martyr was in range. So. I needed 8+ or only a miracle would save my overextended forces from retaliation next turn. And 8+ it was, and damage roll wasn't double 1's either.

Malice walked up front, shot harpoon at Bethayne and had three focus and two souls to kill her. It was more than enough, so game over.

I guess I was a bit lucky in this assassination. I had two 10+'s on two dice and one 8+ chance on two dice to succeed, and this was after a 50/50 roll of succeeding at knocking down Bethayne. I do have this bad tendency of going and trying random assassinations at tournaments. This is mostly because of deathclock. There is nothing more boring than losing or winning with deathclock... in my mind it's better to lose to a badly executed or far fetched assassination attempt.

Though sometimes they work. Sometimes.



Game 3: Warwitch Deneghra vs Cygnar

Temporal Barrier Haley

- Stormwall

Gastone Crosse
- Galleon

Tactical Arcanist Corps
Journeyman Warcaster
Dougal MacNaile
Squire
3x Stormcaller
Gobber Tinker

Scenario was Incursion, and Cygnar started game. Opposing list was disturbing. I'm not sure if I have played against two colossals ever before. Though I was familiar enough with Haley1, I was unsure again what to expect. Throwing my whole army at one colossal might destroy it, but getting there under Temporal Barrier felt nigh impossible. But at least scenario was really good for Deneghra against an army with very low model count.

First picture must be from the end of Cryx turn 1.

And... ugh. Double Powder thingy from Dougal and Fire Group from Gastone cost me Malice right away. Gun Ports didn't do that much, but a turn later they would be easily able to get to the soft targets. Not that I valued Bile Thralls in this match-up too much. But in the end it did open a very real scenario game for me when enemy colossals were unleashing their awe-inspiring firepower at my forces.

Deneghra activated, used her feat and cast Crippling Grasp on Stormwall via an arcnode. She was quite dangerously close to enemy even when she had used her feat, so I thought it to be better to camp for four focus. Amazing blast damage rolls wouldn't kill her, then.

Cankerworm killed Stormsmith Stormcaller on the right, and Machine Wraith started to control the flag.

Black Ogruns shoot the second Stormcaller from middle flag, and then I almost mess everything up. To me it looked like the Tactical Arcanist closest to Galleon might be within 4" of the middle flag, so Aiakos advances, jumps and shoots harpoon at the guy. It's just that... I place Aiakos really damn badly. Somehow it escaped me that once I drag TAC member to Aiakos, he'd be left at the other side of the flag, since there was no space for his base! And... that's exactly what happened. Aiakos scored a hit, dealt damage but didn't kill. Hooray. Well, at least there was no longer any question if that particular Arcanist was contesting the flag...

So. I had two options left - Defiler and Nightwretch. Luckily Tactical Arcanists didn't have reach, so their DEF was only 10. Obviously Nightwretch went in first as I didn't really want to spray Aiakos dead with a lucky shot. And I didn't have to resort to that - Nightwretch scored the kill. Two control points.

There wasn't much Cygnar could do here. Galleon advanced 3" closer to rightmost flag and shot harpoon at Cankerworm, scoring a hit and killing the snake.

Arcanists came to contest middle flag and I believe Stormwall shot a pod there, too. Stormwall had only 1" of movement that turn, so it couldn't come and contest middle flag. But in the end Cryx went to three control points.

Rightmost flag was secured, so Cryx would get to at least four control points on my turn. I was rather surprised that, at most, I needed to kill two TAC's and possibly a storm pod. I don't remember how much of my infantry was left after last turn's shooting, but whatever it was, it was enough to clear middle flag and win the scenario.

Ropecon Warmachine Casuals

First game on Friday was against Skorne. I played the modified Deneghra list to see if it was any faster to play or if it worked better.

Opponent played:

Master Ascetic Naaresh

- Bronzeback Titan
- Titan Gladiator
- Basilisk Drake
- Basilisk Krea
- 4x Reptile Hound

Maximum unit of Gatormen Posse
2x Maximum units of Beast Handlers
Swamp Gobbers
Agonizer
Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Paingiver Task Master

Scenario was Fire Support, but I forget which objective opponent was using. I'm not sure what turn it is in first picture. The only way I can make any sense out of this all is that picture is from the end of Cryx turn, and it's Skorne turn 2 going on as I almost forgot to take picture so Gatormen Posse has already activated.

Blood thirst or whatever the rule is that causes +2" charge distance against living models for Gatormen caught me by surprise. But even with +2 STR from Task Master only one Black Ogrun died. Titans ran so that Krea might safely cast her animus and charge a random target and still give +2 def & arm versus shooting.

I think Naaresh used his feat pre-emptively here to give +3 arm and strength for his battle group. One of the reptile hounds on the left ran next to Malice, and the other one charged it. Two attacks later Malice had lost its melee arm at least.

It looked like I'd have to use Deneghra's feat this turn. I was, however, fully aware of counter charge from Bronzeback, that would trigger before I had time to use the feat. So Warwitch Siren had to charge Bronzeback first and Shadow Bind it. When you got MAT 5 there's a big difference in between DEF 10 and 12... oh well. Siren hit, anyway, so no worries about that.

Skarlock cast Ghost Walk on Deneghra, who then walked up front and used feat. She cast Crippling Grasp on Gatormen Posse via an arcnode. I think she also cast one Venom at the Gators, leaving her at zero Focus. She had foolishly allocated two for Cankerworm.

Necrotech tried to fix Malice, but rolled 9+

The two reptile hounds at Malice just refused to die. It took every model I was able to take there to finally kill both nuisances. Well, at least Malice got two additional souls.

Bile Thralls sprayed over Gatormen, and then Black Ogruns charge them. Still one remained, but with -4 to most stats.

Skorne turn 3 (I think?) the opponent mostly just backed off. Gladiator cast Rush on itself and took full 4" step backwards. Oh, and by now Naaresh had lost quite a few damage boxes to beast handlers, thanks to some disturbing damage rolls on their part.

One thing that puzzles me in the picture is that what happened to one of the Reptile Hounds on the left? The one that had been engaged by Scrap Thrall? Surely it did not die to a POW 8 free strike?

Cryx turn 3 Warwitch Siren Shadow Bound Bronzeback again, and Deneghra cast Parasite on it. Bane Thralls then made short work out of the beast.

This time Necrotech succeeded in repairing Malice's arm. I had great plans of Malice walking up front and shooting Titan Gladiator to him, and then killing the beast with charging Black Ogruns and Armor Piercing Cankerworms, but thanks to Basilisk Krea it all failed miserably. Black Ogruns tried to kill the last Gator and form a meat-wall to protect Malice from Gladiator's retaliation, and Cankerworm just ran to function as some sort of threat saturation.

Skorne turn 4 Paingivers whipped Naaresh for good - Naaresh had, during the course of the game, fallen to just two damage boxes remaining. Playing with a pair (see the pun?), opponent ordered yet one more Paingiver to whip Naaresh. A really high damage roll would've meant his death, but it was not to be. With just one damage box remaining Naaresh charged Black Ogrun and Cankerworm, killed the Ogrun and injured Cankerworm, and then cast Cyclone to move away. Blood Drinker brought him back to two or three damage boxes.

Basilisk Krea removed the other Ogrun, and now Titan Gladiator had a free charge lane to Malice. But as Malice was ARM 20 now from all the souls. Still I would have expected Malice to die, but somehow that just didn't happen. Basilisk Drake tried to finish Cankerworm, but failed in that. Both warjacks were, however, in very bad shape and would die to just about anything.

Well. Come Cryx turn, it looks like Titan Gladiator is the only beast Naaresh was able to transfer damage. So Bane Thralls, Malice, Warwitch Siren, Cankerworm and Aiakos take care of the Titan.

Deneghra was the only model now that could realistically make any attacks against Naaresh. I had only two Venoms to accomplish my goal, so there was a real chance of losing just because I HAD to try to get a caster kill.

I did not have to pay for my insolence, for first fully boosted Venom took the last damage boxes off of Naaresh.

I decided to keep this list for tournament, though if this had been a real tournament game, I'd have ran out of clock. But I still felt the list had better synergy than the earlier attempt.


Game 2:

There was this Iron Arena thingy going on, after the first game I played a second one right away. I decided that I'd try my other tournament list to see how it functions on the actual table.

And right after I had taken all the figures from storage foams I saw how much the list sucked. Well, yeah, I did have the Corruptor there so the list had no chance to shine whatever the case... but... Oh well. I was up for the challenge.

I was against Trollbloods, and I was pretty much horrified when I saw the opponent's list. Not only my list was really bad, but it also had good counters to any tricks I'd be able to do. It was Calandra's theme. There may be some inaccuracies in this list as Forward Kommander doesn't have Calandra's Evolutionary Elementalism theme force rules.

Evolutionary Elementalism tier 3
Calandra Truthsayer
- 4x Storm Troll
- 4x Slag Troll
- 2x Pyre Troll
- Winter Troll

Maximum unit of Krielstone Bearers + Unit Attachment
Runebearer (I think?)

Trollbloods probably started, and first picture is from the end of Cryx turn 2. Scenario is Two Fronts.

Well. Perhaps there might be some sort of chance if I'd be able to take out enough Slag Trolls before Kraken dies. Kraken and Scaverous were probably the only meaningful models I had, as Storm Trolls were electro-leaping Bile Thralls away and managed to die somehow early in the game. A surprise bonus was that Corruptor was immune to the main damage dealers opponent had - the Slag Trolls. Yay, Corruptor. Who didn't have much of a target for arc nodes or AoE attacks.

But so far Kraken has been loaded full with Focus, and Scaverous has cast Telekinesis on one of the Storm Trolls so that there was no chance of it blocking charge lane for Kraken. On the right side Gorman diWulfe advanced and threw Black Oil on Slag Troll and Pyre Troll. Afterwards Pistol Wraith shot Death Chill on the Slag Troll, so at least one of the dreaded Kraken-killers would be out of action for next turn.

Then Kraken was supposed to kill another. Well... Supposed to. Calandra had cast Star-Crossed, which caused enough attacks to miss that the tentacles probably just looked like delicious spaghetti that was flailing in front of the Slag Troll, trying to seduce him into a food orgies, despite him being on a diet.

Truth be told, opponent really had to spend a lot of resources to bring Death Warded Kraken down. It took Calandra's feat, some Fate Blessed rolls, three Slag Trolls shooting twice at Kraken, a Pyre Troll and a random number of Storm Trolls. And the damage rolls were rather on the high side. But... it did happen. Uninjured Arm 21 Kraken was one-rounded by light warbeasts.

But the game was pretty much lost there, so I tried to do some sort of assassination just for giggles. But Corruptor was too far, Pistol Wraith was too far, and Scaverous only got to make one Excarnate on Calandra.

Needless to say... though it was a difficult list to beat with my list, this game scared me in regards for next days tournament.