Masters Jaga-Jaga list

Well, it's been a few days since discussing my first list (see here) and it's time to get started discussing the second. Before I jump in, though, let me talk about my weekend. I went to a local steamroller with my two lists, and did ... horrible. I went 0-3 (though technically 1-2 since I had a "bye" the first round), and faced Butcher 3 twice. This guy is broken, and I hope he gets reigned in A LOT in the next Khador CID, whenever that is. But to be honest, part of the reason I lost (probably a large part) was bad play on my part and unfamiliarity with the lists. Hopefully this will change as the year progresses. Look for the battle reports of my three games as the week progresses.

Ok, with that out of the way, let's get down to the meat of this post - Jaga-Jaga's list for the future. In the same manner as with Barnabas, we will examine the warlock and see what makes her so cool. This is especially important with Jaga-Jaga, as she changed so much after the Blindwater CID released.

First up, her spell list - which, personally, goes way beyond Signs & Portents (though that is a great spell!):
Battle Host: An upkeep spell with a huge range (CTRL) that I haven't heard much talked about. It gives her warbeasts +2" movement (not SPD, so be careful) when advancing. If one of her warbeasts is within 3" of her, she also gets +2 ARM. Extra movement is always nice, giving our 'beasts a better chance at getting that alpha strike.
Deadweight: An offensive spell that I've never heard discussed either, that I think is being overlooked. When you destroy an enemy model (living or undead), choose a model within 2" of it. The chosen model must forfeit either its Movement or its Combat Action during its next activation. This is HUGE! The effect is unshakable, so target a squishy warrior next to a Warcaster/Warlock (like Butcher 3) or a warjack/warbeast and remove its effectiveness next turn! It's short ranged, so best used with an arc node (like the Blindwalker :-) ).
Ghost Walk: A cheap way to bypass terrain, this makes a model or unit (unit is nice!) Ghostly for one turn. Besides the benefits of just going through the terrain, Ghostly also allows the models to ignore free strikes! :-)
Grave Wind: An upkeep spell which grants +2 DEF and Poltergeist. This only affects a single model, so make sure it's on your important ones (say Jaga-Jaga?) Sadly, since it's an upkeep, you can't put both Battle Host (for ARM buff) and this (for DEF buff) on Jaga-Jaga.
Signs & Portents: Her new signature spell, and the main reason the internet seems to like her, this spell allows all friendly Faction models (since when would she be playing with non-friendly Faction?) in her control range to roll an additional die on all attack and damage rolls. This cannot be overstated, really - HUGE! Very rarely will anything affected by this spell not remove their target.

Her feat, Vengeful Spirits, is a little confusing. It reads:
Choose up to d3+5 enemy models currently in Jaga-Jaga's control range. Remove from play one friendly Faction warrior model within 5" of each chosen enemy model. Each chosen enemy model suffers a magical damage roll with POW equal to the base ARM of the corresponding removed model. Models destroyed by Vengeful Spirits are removed from play.

My biggest problem with her feat is not its mechanic, but its wording. It's ambiguous, and Privateer Press deliberately left it this way. Most people don't feel it's ambiguous, but my initial reading of it is different than what was intended. If I had never asked the rules question, but just assumed my interpretation was correct, I would have been in for a sad, and rude, awakening at a tournament. Really, I just hate ambiguous rules.

Anyway, simply put, it's a souped up version of the Witch Doctor's Sacrificial Strike, removing one of my models to automatically hit an enemy model. While this has been poo-poo'd across the internet, it can actually be very powerful. Use it to take out pesky incorporeal models, high DEF models, Stealth'd models, or anything that is difficult to hit. While not game-breaking, when employed correctly I think it will surprise people as to how effective it is.

Finally, Jaga-Jaga's abilities:
- Field Marshal [Death Rage] - a cool ability that gives her warbeasts one last swing before they die. This can be really good on the Blackhide.
- Poison (on her weapon Serpent Strike) - this gives her an additional die on her damage rolls when using her RNG 2, chain weapon zombie snake. That means on the charge, if she cast Signs & Portents first, she rolls five dice, dropping the lowest, against living models!

After my initial list musings, I decided I really wanted to abuse Signs & Portents. So rather than follow my typical list-building method (pick a theme and build around it), I decided I didn't want theme, as it opened up the chance to take the best models to abuse this powerful spell:

- Farrow Brigands - With Prey (thanks to the Brigand Warlord), these guys can threat 15" with a RAT7, POW14 gun that will be rolling three dice on attack and damage rolls. I have vaporized Trollblood and Khador heavies with LESS than one squad of these guys. With 12 shots, they can decimate their Prey at range. And they aren't slouches in melee, either (MAT8/P+S12 vs. their Prey), unlike most ranged units. Add in Hog Wild (shoot, then charge/run), Dig In (a *ACTION now instead of an order), and Reposition [3"], they are really jacks-of-all-trades that are pretty effective at most of them.
- Efaarit Scouts - Originally, way back in the beginning of Mk III, I hated these guys. They just looked dumb and I didn't think they were worth 6 points. Then I started running them in Thornfall Alliance as free models, and realized how stupid good they were. Their MOV 9(!) and RNG 12 guns give them a 21" threat. Armor-Piercing means even Khador heavies are only Dice -3, and Marksman allows them to pick the column or branch. With Reposition [5"], this model should always be at least 17" from an enemy, Add in Signs & Portents, and you have a highly mobile strike team that won't kill a heavy on its own, but will put a hurt on anything.
- Croak Hunters - Are you sensing a theme here? Another ranged solo that can really help out, its DEF 13 and Stealth helps keep it alive; while Hunter, a poison 8" spear, and Reposition [3"] allows it to move in, hit something hard, and back up to safety again. If you do catch it in combat (or it charges), Quick Work gives the possibility of two attacks (one melee, one ranged). Also, with Stealth, they can do a reasonable job of camping your flag - y'know, in case you're worried about scenario. ;-)

So, with all of that in mind, it was time to build the list. While it is not in theme, I do not believe I really lose much, as the theme benefits gained by using Croak Raiders instead of Brigands/Scouts do not even come close to outweighing the effectiveness of these models.

No theme force (GASP!)
Jaga-Jaga, the Death Charmer [+27]
- Blackhide Wrastler [16]
- Blackhide Wrastler [16]
- Ironback Spitter [14]
Croak Hunter [3]
Croak Hunter [3]
Efaarit Scouts [6]
Efaarit Scouts [6]
Farrow Brigands [15]
- Farrow Brigand Warlord [4]
Farrow Brigands [15]
- Farrow Brigand Warlord [4]

I've already discussed the non-battlegroup models, so this is strictly to determine the role of these monsters:
- Blackhide Wrastler - a beast in combat (a pun!), this guy has a P+S 17 bite and two P+S 14 claws for three initials, and can charge living warrior models for free. That makes him very efficient at getting into combat. With Rage (+3 STR), his melee damage output goes into the stratosphere (damaging Khador heavies on straight dice is fun!) He's slightly slow, but Battle Host can help with that, and once he gets into combat, he will be Snacking his way through everything. I have two because they are my only credible melee threats.
- Ironback Spitter - honestly, I already have a lot of shooting. I have him in here to stand by Jaga-Jaga (so she gets +2 ARM) and provide slightly more ranged pressure. That and a Swamp Horror was too many points. He's not useless, but he's going to be the first thing dropped when the new Blindwater stuff comes out in February (Jaga-Jaga really wants a Gatorman Soul Slave!)

That's the list pair, time to get some table time with them. Thanks for reading!

Masters Barnabas List

As mentioned yesterday, I am hoping to up my Warmachine/Hordes game in 2018. This includes participating in Masters events, and maybe even Champions. To that end, I need to be playing the ADR warlocks for Minions. The warlocks for 2018 (at least the first half) are:

As previously stated, I don't really like the Farrow warlocks. In fact, they are my least favorite (even though Sturm & Drang are supposed to be good). However, the two Blindwater warlocks are my favorite of that side of the faction, so it's an easy decision to choose to play those two.

In designing my lists, I took a hard look at the warlocks and their capabilities, as well as having a hard and fast rule - ONE of the lists (at least) had to have the DRACODILE!! Now that it's an official model, I will be playing it. Heck, it's even pretty close to the home-brewed version I made at the beginning of the year (that may be a blog post in the future!)

So, to start I'll talk about the old trusted and true - Bloody Barnabas! While I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on Barnabas, Lord of Blood this Saturday (I had someone ninja him at PAX, and get him Saturday), his first incarnation has always been one of my favorites.

His spell list first:
Death March: Upkeep spell that gives +2 MAT and Vengeance to a unit. Sounds perfect to put on Gatorman Posse, as they will be hard to remove, and then get free attacks.
Flesh Eater: Offensive spell (POW 13) that allows some healing of the warlock or a beast in his battlegroup.
Swamp Pit: Upkeep spell that makes Amphibious models completely in its 5" AOE untargetable by ranged attacks. This is AWESOME! It allows important models to get across the board without taking ranged damage. And coincidentally, the Dracodile's base is 5" :-)
Warpath: Upkeep spell that allows extra movement to his battlegroup if enemy models are destroyed in his control range. This is really good as well, because giving extra movement to a heavy warbeast is always good!

Barnabas' feat is Black Tide:
- Enemy models without Amphibious currently in Barnabas' control range become knocked down.

This is really cool, as knocked down models (especially melee models) are easy prey and basically lose a turn of usefulness. However, I need to watch out for abilities like Steady (which is more prevalent than you would think), since they basically negate my feat.

Finally, the abilities on the back of his card:
- Countercharge - Allowing him to charge out of activation seems nice on paper, but really - I don't generally want to get my warlock into the enemy for him. Mostly because I tend to run my warlock on empty (no Fury).
- Unyielding - This is awesome! While engaging enemy models (not engaged by), he gets +2 ARM. Takes his already great ARM into the upper reaches.
- Critical Consume - This is only on his bite, and only works on small-based warrior models - but on a critical hit he simply removes the model from play. That can be powerful, but not something to base a list around.
- Blood Boon - On his big axe (Bone Cleaver), this allows him to cast a spell of COST 3 or less (which is all of his spells) for free after he destroys an enemy model. It can only be done once per activation, and while free spells are nice, I don't see myself using it much.

So, with all of that, what models would be really good for him? I've come up with:
- the Dracodile. Duh! With Swamp Pit, you can't remove, or even damage, the monster with ranged attacks. That raises his survivability greatly, and will allow for all types of shenanigans with the Dracodile's animus.
- the Ironback Spitter. Hitting knocked down models with a 4" corrosive AOE is always awesome-sauce.
- Gatorman Posse. Perfect recipients of Death March, and can easily fuel Warpath.

With all of that in mind, I'm ready to start list building. However, a quick shout-out to LOS Warmachine during this, as I got a lot of the inspiration from listening to their podcast on list building for SR 2017 and their podcast on list building for ADR. My new Barnabas list will consist of the following:

The Blindwater Congregation theme force
Bloody Barnabas - [+28]
- Dracodile [36]
- Ironback Spitter [14]
Sacral Vault [17]
Totem Hunter [0]
Bog Trog Mist Speaker [0]
Feralgeist [2]
Feralgeist [2]
Gatorman Posse [16]
Gatorman Posse [16]

So, let's analyze the list, going from bottom to top:
- Gatorman Posse - these guys are here for two reasons: 1) They are very resilient and can easily hold or contest a zone. With two attacks, one with 2" range, and prayers they can deal major damage to most opponents' infantry. And with 8 boxes (due to theme), Snacking, Tough, and ARM 18 (due to Unyielding) they can take a hit and shrug it off. Very powerful! 2) They are naturally awesome targets for Death March and can also be used to proc Warpath very easily. This gives some great synergy with Barnabas.

- Feralgeist - these little guys are there for one reason - they are difficult to remove. Being incorporeal, they can only be damaged by magical attacks. On top of that, they are DEF 14. This means they are perfect for camping a flag - both mine and my opponents, creating scenario pressure and/or disrupting my opponent's plans.

- Bog Trog Mist Speaker - again, a guy in the list for a very specific reason - helping the Ironback Spitter. While having the ability to Summon a 3" AOE cloud is nice for hiding Barnabas, it's much more important to put Guidance on the Spitter, to keep him running at maximum efficiency.

- Totem Hunter - a high MAT (8), high DEF (8) model with Stealth, he's there for solo hunting. I want to be able to take out their support solos, and he gives me a pretty resilient option. If necessary, he can also hold a flag fairly well.

- Sacral Vault - I'm a little hesitant on this, but the ability to handle a swarm of infantry if needed is pretty nice. Dealing an automatic 1 point of damage will easily deal with infantry, and it's gun can do some good damage as well. Finally, while I've never used it, Arcane Vortex is an interesting tool in the toolbox.

- Ironback Spitter - he is there for that massive AOE. A 4" AOE is awesome, and with Corrosion and Continuous Corrosion, it the kind of damage that keeps on giving. He synergizes extremely well with Barnabas' feat, and with help from the Mist Speaker, his effectiveness is even better. I really thought of putting a Blackhide Wrastler in, but I think the versatility of the Spitter outweighs the Wrastler's animus.

- Dracodile - really, the main focus of the list. He's a huge, giant crocodile monster that can do almost anything. He has a 10" spray that deals Corrosion damage, with Continuous Corrosion (though his RAT 5 is a little disappointing). He also has assault - so he can charge and spray. And last (but definitely not least), his spray causes Blind. Yes, you read that correctly - anything he hits with that RAT 5 will be insanely easier to hit by everyone else, and basically be losing a turn of activation!

For melee, he has FOUR initial attacks, one at P+S 19 and three at P+S 17. With MAT 6 (actually average for a Gargantuan), FURY 4, and Territorial (charge large and huge based models for free), he is a monster (pun intended) in melee. With his ARM 20 and 54 boxes, along with Snacking, it will be extremely difficult to kill him. Finally, his animus makes a huge amount of mobile shallow water, granting cover to any amphibious model with 5" of him (or possibly Barnabas).

Anyways, there's my first list ready for the coming year. There will be changes, probably - especially with the Gatorman Soul Slave (free upkeeps) and Void Leeches coming out. This will be played tomorrow at a Steamroller, so we'll see how it goes!

End of one year, beginning of the next

Sigh - I keep doing this - having a great time writing, but then slowing down and eventually stopping. However, this time I'm starting back up BEFORE the new year! :-)

So, for 2018, I have a few Warmachine goals that I'd like to write down and share:
1- I want to have fully painted Minions. Currently (though this will change in less than a month), I own almost the full faction - including both major subgroups and many of the outliers. However, only about 67% of this is painted. So, I am going to shelve my fears and worries, apply my PRC skills (something I learned earlier this year on how to manage DESPITE the migraines), and paint - even if it's not perfect, I'm just going to paint.

2- Play Warmachine! My goal is to play 100 games in 2018. And the way I am going to track them is by writing about them here! This will actually be a hard goal to reach, and will require me to play in more tournaments. This is because my local gaming group only plays one game a week, so I will generally only get one game a week. As you can tell, that's only half of the goal. If I want to reach my goal, I need to play eight - nine games every month. That is going to require at least one tournament! And Lock 'n Load :-)

3- Improve my Warmachine skills. This is simple - in the course of playing those 100 games, I want to win at least 51% of them. Right now, I'm not sure I can say that. By the end of the year, I want to confidently state that I have won more games than I have lost :-) However, attached to that is also being able to play at more competitive events. I like the beer and pretzels games at my local club - but every once in a while, especially after reading Jaden Iwaasa's blog LOS Warmachine, I want to play in a hard-core game! So I'm going to go ahead and sign up for Master's at Lock 'n Load. I'm going to go to some of those big tournaments in Seattle. I may even go to one in Portland :-) All to give me a little different perspective on what works in this game, and apply it to my skills and army.

With all of that in mind, I am going to be shelving my Thornfall Alliance models for a while. Not because I don't still love them (because I do!), but because I really don't like the warlocks in ADR this year for the Farrow. However, the two warlocks for the Blindwater are my favorite for that side of the faction, and so will be playing them.

My initial two lists will be published on a following post - probably tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading, and get ready for a great 2018!

Battle Report #7: Minions (Lord Carver) vs Trollbloods (Borka2)

I finally got my Heavy Warbeasts back from painting - they look gorgeous!!! - and gladly pulled out the Farrow for a few games to shake the rust off. Let's just say they were really rusty ;)

For this game, my list consisted of my favorite 'caster, Lord Carver. His list was:
Theme: The Thornfall Alliance
Lord Carver, BMMD, Esq. III [+28]
- War Hog [15]
- War Hog [15]
- War Hog [15]
- Battle Boar [7]
- Battle Boar [7]
Maximus [4]
Farrow Brigands [15]
- Farrow Brigand Warlord [0]
Farrow Brigands [15]
- Farrow Brigand Warlord [0]
Farrow Razorback Crew [5]
Farrow Razorback Crew [5]

I was just starting to use this list when I sent my Heavy Hogs away, and really like the potential. Carver gives those Brigands a +3 attack swing on their Prey targets, which makes them RAT 8! And Maximus has the potential to munch a large group of infantry (I've never actually had the chance, though) during Feat turn. The Razorbacks are iffy with their RAT 4 (RAT 5 when close to Carver), but really they are there to provide a couple of shots and give me free Warlords.

My opponent was playing Borka2 and had this picture he had found on the internet that he wanted to "recreate" once I got my Pigs back.

His list was as follows:
Borka, Vengeance of the Rimeshaws [+29]
- Rok [21]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Troll Bouncer [9]
Totem Hunter [6]
Wrong Eye [17]
- Snapjaw [0]
Trollkin Fennblades [15]
- Fennblade Officer/Drummer [5]

The scenario we were playing was Take and Hold. The crates were obstacles, and the center pile was an obstruction. Both buildings were obstacles, and the ruin was rubble. Minions won the initial roll-off, and chose the side with the buildings.

Trollbloods - Deployment
The Fennblades deployed on the right, bunched between the central forest and water. Borka and his Trolls deployed on the other side of the forest with Wrong Eye and Snapjaw beside them. The Totem Hunter then deployed in the central woods.

Minions - Deployment
First unit of brigands deploy behind the building, with the intention of running around the building. This ended up being a faulty assumption. A War Hog deployed on that flank, with a Battle Boar for Primal support. Both Razorbacks deploy behind the line of crates, and Maximus deploys next to them. In the right gap, the other two War Hogs deploy with a Battle Boar and Lord Carver. Behind them deploy the Brigands. The lefthand brigands put Prey on a Mauler, and the righthand brigands put Prey on the Fennblades.

Trollbloods - Turn 1:
Totem Hunter runs up behind the pile of crates in the middle. Fennblades run up and spread out. Rok runs up behind the Fennblades. Maulers run up, with Wrong Eye and Snapjaw behind them. Borka moves up and casts Snow Shroud on the Fennblades and drops a Fury.

I forgot to take a picture ... :(

Minions - Turn 1:
Carver starts the turn off, and realizes pretty quickly he deployed too far to the right - the left hand portion of his battle group is not in control. Oh well, easily fixed (but I've been doing this a lot lately, need to pay more attention). Carver casts Batten Down the Hatches and Mobility, and advances towards the center of the table. This gets everybody back into control.

Left side War Hog runs, and the Brigands move up behind him. I had originally planned for them to run around the left side of the house, but for some reason changed my mind. This put a real jam into that side - not good. Battle Boar moves up as well, with the two Razorbacks moving up behind the crates. Maximus enthusiastically ran towards the Totem Hunter (he was the Totem's Prey, if I remember right).

On the right side, Carver realized he was just slightly in the charge range of two Fennblades (13" threat is scary!), so had two War Hogs run up to flank him. The Battle Boar ran up, too, with the Brigands spreading out behind.

Trollbloods - Turn 2:
Borka snags all of his Fury and upkeeps Snow Shroud. Totem Hunter moves around the crates (dang, 7" is a long ways) and engages Maximus - then he jumps over Maximus and lands amidst the Razorbacks! He easily slaughters one unit, and Sprints to engage the second in the back.

The Fennblades advance, using No Quarter to Run/Charge and engage my lines. Two of them take swings at Carver, but do no damage. They then reposition slightly.

Dire Trolls advance towards the left side flag, getting into position to take on that flank.

Rok runs towards the right flag - not to actually do anything with it, but to be in position next turn as well. Borka joins him, casts Battle Charged and then Feats. And now I understand why Snow Shroud was so important - his whole army now causes any model that hits them in melee to become stationary as soon as the attack is resolved! Well, the Trollbloods portion of his army, anyway. We then find out the furthest left Dire Troll is outside of control - ouch!

Bouncer advances up behind the Dire Trolls, and Wrong Eye and Snapjaw advance as well. Wrong Eye casts Star Crossed, Snapjaw Submerges and riles.

Minions - Turn 2:
Carver leeches Fury and goes into the tank. That Feat really puts a damper on my plans, and I spend a long time trying to determine how to handle going stationary. First, my only real targets are the Fennblades, and they are not worth having a War Hog go stationary to kill one. The really hard part is they are also engaging everyone but Maximus across the front lines.

After some serious thought, things start to happen. Brigands move up to swing at the Fennblades on the left. One of them ends movement within 6" of a Dire Troll, and the huge beast charges forward (Battle Charged gives Countercharge). He misses his attack, though. :) Now the Brigands can swing, and they kill the two Fennblades on that side. The problem is that now the Dire Troll blocks the path the War Hog had to the Dire Troll out of Borka's control area. :/ *sigh* - more change of plans.

Maximus moves up and swings, taking out a Fennblade and going stationary. The left side Battle Boar moves over and swings at the Totem Hunter, boosting to hit. He misses and swings again, boosting to hit. He misses, buys an attack, and misses. REALLY?!? The Razorback crew, rather than shooting a Fennblade as planned, turn and swing at the Totem Hunter, missing of course.

Brigands on the right flank, after some serious thought, move up and whack/shoot the Fennblades on that side. Several go stationary, but they clear a path for the Battle Boar. The Battle Boar then runs up and engages Borka and Rok - mainly to be an annoyance that has to be dealt with.

Carver backs up between his two War Hogs as far as possible (still staying within melee range of the Fennblades) and casts Batten Down the Hatches and camps three. His flanking War Hogs blow snot on the Fennblades. The left hand War Hog, after a lot of premeasuring, determines he can't get to Snapjaw without multiple free strikes and moves to engage the backline Fennblades.

Trollbloods - Turn 3:
Borka leeches Fury and lets Snow Shroud drop. The remaining Fennblades shuffle slightly with Vengeance, with two swinging at Carver, again doing nothing, and one putting a serious hurt onto Maximus.

The Fennblades go first, killing Maximus and doing slight damage to the non-guardian War Hog, but they lose the Drummer to a free strike, so no more Reposition.

With Maximus dead, the Totem Hunter switches Prey to the left hand Brigands and jumps, leaving his combat and landing next to the Warlord. Two swings, and the Warlord lies dead.

The Dire Troll in front of those Brigands moves over behind the War Hog, and starts swinging. Due to some bad dice rolls, the Hog lives! And the Trollbloods bad luck continues, as Rok moves around the Battle Boar (taking minimal damage from the free strike) and fails to do anything significant to the right guardian War Hog.

Snapjaw moves up, and through more bad dice rolls, leaves the left hand War Hog (that was already smacked by the Dire Troll) knocked down and on two boxes. He lives!! :)

Borka, now with a clear lane to Carver, decides to go for it and charge in. He moves up, casts Primal - oh wait, Primal can only affect Warbeasts. That is unfortunate for Borka :( He swings with Trauma, misses the initial (charge) attack. Buys an attack, and deals minimal damage. He then realizes Carver has three fury, he has three attacks, and there's no way he is killing Carver. He casts the Bouncer's animus - no knockdown or push - and camps two.

The Bouncer moves up, as does the Dire Troll that was outside of Borka's control, and finally - after lots of premeasuring - Wrong Eye as well, casting Star Crossed to get as many enemy models as possible.

No picture of this turn, to much going on

Carver leeches Fury, and the Battle Boar in the back actually fails to Frenzy! Yeah, get those low dice rolls out early.

Carver then activates, casts Primal on the right hand War Hog, casts Batten Down the Hatches (just in case there's another turn), and Feats. He does take a swing at Borka, but does nothing.

The Battle Boar behind Borka activates, casts Primal, and advances into melee with the Trollblood. Three swings and decent damage leave Borka on no transfers.

The right side Brigands shuffle, getting out of the way of the War Hog, and take a couple swings at Rok. This was a mistake, as Rok is Stumbling Drunk with Borka and he moves around slightly - luckily for me he does not stumble into the location I need that War Hog!

The right hand War Hog moves slightly around Borka to get out of Star Crossed range, and puts two punishing axes into the warlock, killing him.

Victory for Minions!!

Battle Report #6: Khador (Sorscha) vs Cryx (Deneghra)

Second game with my wife, this time with a better understanding of just how scary Deneghra can be, especially in small games. However, I don't think I will give as much help to my wife, so maybe I can do a little better ;)

Same lists as the first game:
Sorscha
- Destroyer
- Destroyer

Deneghra
- Twitch (Slayer)
- Spew (Defile)
- Gimpy (Deathripper)
- Clank (Deathripper)

The rolloff for first turn was won by me, and I elected to go first.

Khador - Turn 1
In retrospect, I probably should have went second. :/ The Destroyers move on, along with Sorscha. Focus is allocated, but not used. Everybody simply walks forward. Mainly because I am trying to stay as far from Deneghra as possible, until I'm ready to put the smackdown on. Sorscha does cast Wind Rush for +2 DEF.

Cryx - Turn 1
Cryx moves on the board on the left side, moving halfway up the board thanks to how fast they are. Holy crap! Moving 7" on and then running 14" is really huge when the board is only 30" wide. Gimpy runs into the center woods, with Spew moving in behind him (but out of the woods). Clank ran up the left side, approaching the flag. Twitch advanced to 10" away from my Destroyer. Deneghra walked up, and arced a couple boosted Venoms onto Sorscha and the Destroyer, for no real damage.

No picture of this turn.

Khador - Turn 2
So, I kept out of Deneghra's feat range, which was nice, and now lets kill some 'jacks. First, I made a big mistake here. I forgot about Boundless Charge. I knew that Twitch was 10" away, and assumed I wouldn't be able to get to him because I was only SPD 4. However, Boundless Charge gives +2" of movement on the charge, so I could have gotten to him. Then a couple of whacks with my axe and I could have easily dropped the heavy.

Instead, Sorscha hit Gimpy with a boosted Freezing Grip, making the little guy Stationary (and DEF5). The Destroyers then sat still and aimed at him, wanting to remove the arc node. The two shots left Gimpy on only 3 boxes, with cortex and movement out. Not exactly the result I was looking for.

Cryx - Turn 2
This is where my wife completely surprised me. Rather than advancing or charging everything into my 'jacks, she repositioned. Clank moved into base with the flag on the left. Gimpy moved out of the woods to the right, and Spew ran to base the flag on the right. Deneghra moved around the woods, used her Feat, and cast Scourge onto the Destroyer next to Sorscha, knocking them both down. She then hits Sorscha with Crippling Grasp.

Twitch then charged into the Destroyer and tried to whack him. It didn't go well. :)

No picture of this turn, again.

Score 0-2
Advantage Cryx

Khador - Turn 3
Hmm, that's not good. I didn't expect her to go for scenario. I need to contest the right flag, or she's going to win by moving Deneghra into base contact (and losing on scenario in a Rumble would be embarrassing). So the right hand Destroyer moves up 2" (his new speed *sigh*) to be (just barely) within 4" and shoots into the cluster of 'jacks and Deneghra. He kills Gimpy, knocks out the head and cortex of Spew, and puts a couple damage boxes onto Deneghra (she ignores five of it, though).

Sorscha stands up, feats, and moves to the right a little, to support that Destroyer. The left Destroyer stands up and prepares to wale on Twitch - but not killing him!! Three focus, and I left Twitch on two boxes. *shakes head*
Cryx should have scored another point, but we spaced it.

Score: 0-2 (should be 0-3)
Advantage Cryx

Cryx - Turn 3
She knows she's got me on the ropes, so upkeeps Crippling Grasp, and shakes Stationary on herself and her 'jacks (sitting on 1 focus), and runs through the forest to the left side flag (away from all my stuff), basing the flag. Clank then charges the Destroyer, scratching his paint, and Twitch does some more scratching.

Spew limps forward and blocks out the right-hand Destroyer. Cryx scores two points.

Score: 0-4 (should be 0-5)
Advantage Cryx

Khador - Turn 4
Only one chance to win - assassination. Destroyer backs up, taking two free strikes. Twitch does nothing (both his arms are crippled) but Clank hits. Sadly, he does the perfect amount of damage to disable the Destroyer's gun :( So boosting to hit only gives me two dice, and I miss. Scatter comes back and to the side forever and a day, so nothing. Sorscha Wind Rushes (getting close in melee range of Twitch), casts Boundless Charge (because Crippling Grasp stole 2" SPD), and charges Deneghra (Twitch missed the free strike on one die). Both Sorscha and Deneghra are now bssing the flag. I need to boost to hit, though (Crippling Grasp again) and ... miss. Buy an attack and pray ... and hit! Wahoo - but I only do five damage, which Deneghra voids with her last focus. :(

No picture this turn...

Score 1-4
Advantage Cryx

Cryx - Turn 4
She just smiles, and wins on scenario 1-6. Actually, she won the previous round 0-5, but oh well.

The happy victor

Time for a rematch, again, but I've really got to find a way to defeat Deneghra or my wife is going to roll all over me. Honestly, I don't even have any real take-aways except fighting Deneghra sucks...

Battle Report #5: Khador (Sorscha) vs Cryx (Deneghra)

As stated earlier, I'm starting a slow-grow, teaching "league" with my wife, Melissa. We have both of our battle boxes painted, and were finally able to get some games in last week.

Both of our battle boxes were chosen based on multiple criteria, but the main was that I already owned the battle boxes. After that, Melissa wanted the opportunity to build her own battle box, and paint her army. Since Khador is my second army (after Minions), I finished building and magnetizing the Khador battle box (by the way, in case you missed the earlier posts, these are Mk II battle boxes) to match against Melissa's Cryx. However, there was too large of a discrepancy in points for the standard battle group, so it was changed slightly.

My army:
Kommander Sorscha [+29]
- Destroyer [14]
- Destroyer [14]

Melissa's army:
War Witch Deneghra [+28]
- Clank - Deathripper [6]
- Gimpy - Deathripper [6]
- Spew - Defiler [8]
- Twitch - Slayer [10]

A quick addition shows Khador is at -1, and Cryx is at +2. :) But, I'm not worried - I'm an experienced Warmachine player and Melissa is just a beginner. ;)

First, since we were playing such small games, we were using the Rumble rules. For those who have never played, the rules for a Rumble game are as follows:
- The board is 30x30
- Armies are not deployed on the board at the beginning of the game.
- When deploying, models are moved onto the board their speed. Once all a player's models have been moved on, that player's first turn starts.

Our board was set up, with a simple two flag (control for 1 CP, dominate for 2 CP) scenario, though it would be highly unlikely that the scenario would come into play. Also, we were playing a fairly simple ruleset (no Advanced Rules or anything funky), giving my wife an opportunity to get her feet wet without lots of things to remember.

Khador - Turn One:
Cryx won the roll-off, and she decided to go second. So, Khador moved onto the board centrally, and then ran both 'jacks towards the flags (trying to get into good firing locations). Sorscha cast Wind Rush, and then advanced into the woods. With no targets, that was my turn.

Cryx - Turn One:
First, let me say Cryx are fast. Really fast! That was really a surprise for me. After Melissa moved her army onto the field 7" (everything but the Slayer anyway), we discussed strategy and possible avenues of attack. One of the things that drew this faction to my wife was that it was made up of very fast, hard hitting, but fragile, components. She really digs the glass cannon concept.

So, after discussing possible first turns, she selects her favorite scenario and starts. First, she moves Clank to the edge of the hill, 8" from Sorscha. Next, she moves Gimpy up in front of Deneghra to provide some protection. Deneghra then moves up and Feats. She then attempts to arc a boosted Parasite into Sorscha (from Clank) but misses. However, her feat catches my whole army (all three models), which really hurts. Spew advances and attempts to spray Sorscha, catching the Destroyer as well. She doesn't roll well, missing the boosted shot into Sorscha, but it does catch the Destroyer (no damage, but it is now Corroded). Then, Twitch charges Sorscha. The monster misses his charge attack, but does get two hits on her, so Sorscha uses focus to blunt them slightly and is sitting on about half health.

My wife showing her happy face!

Khador - Turn Two:
Hmm, that's a little not nice. -2 to every stat, no charges, runs, or slams makes this turn difficult. And I thought SPD 4 warjacks were slow - try SPD 2! And then I see that Sorscha's feat requires LOS (I didn't know that before). So rather than Feating and then moving, she has to move first to catch Deneghra.

Realizing this, Sorscha advances around Twitch, engaging Spew as well, and Feats. This catches the board, making all enemies stationary. She then proceeds to ... roll really horribly, unable to even scratch the Slayer on three of her seven attacks. When she finishes, Twitch is still on several boxes, with only its movement out (which didn't help me much, as it was still stationary).

So, after some measuring and weighing my options, I sent the Destroyer into Twitch (Twitch was barely under 3" away). He killed it in one swing (Melissa had to leave him lying there for one round :) ). The other Destroyer moved up slightly and dropped a shot onto Gimpy, in front of Deneghra. One thing noted AFTER our games were played was that Deneghra has Stealth - she didn't need the protection of Gimpy, and it actually made her more vulnerable. Gimpy loses everything but Cortex, and Deneghra loses a few boxes.

Cryx - Turn Two:
I didn't cast Wind Rush the previous turn (I needed all the focus to smack Twitch) - big mistake! After talking some more about the strategy, Melissa shook stationary from Clank and Deneghra. Deneghra then activated and sent a boosted Scourge into Sorscha. She wasn't in the forest (not completely in, my mistake!) and was no longer engaged/engaging Spew (he was stationary, so can't be engaged) so she was only DEF 16! Serious mistakes on my part, I was expecting her to be DEF 20+. Scourge hit, did a couple damage, but more importantly knocked her down.

Clank walks forward, autohits because she's knocked down, does damage, buys an attack (from the Power Up focus) and kills Sorscha.

The happy victor!

Cryx Victory!!

Well, that was a little ... surprising. Yes, my wife had help discussing strategy - which actually helped me as well. As the game progressed and we talked about various moves, I saw my mistakes. Hopefully, this will help me alleviate them in the future (and help her become a better player, too)!

Lessons learned:
- Deneghra is brutal in small games. Yes, she's good regardless, but in the close quarters of Rumble and the few models to mitigate her Feat, she is crazy, nasty effective.
- Khador is a new army for me in Mk III - quit assuming I know how everything works because I played them in Mk II (a little). Read the cards, pay attention to detail, and stop with the tunnel vision!
- Protect your warcaster! I kept pointing this out to Melissa, wanting her to understand this important concept, and then completely ignored it for myself. DUMB!

Thanks for reading!

Battle Report #4: Trollbloods (Jarl) vs. Retribution (Vyros2)

Since the beginning of January, the local guys and I have been playing in a league with the guys from Spokane (to the North) and Tri-Cities/Wenatchee (to the West). Last week was a break in the league, and my opponent and I both took the opportunity to play games with armies outside of our factions. :)

For me, that meant I was able to put my gunslinging Trollbloods on the table! Wahoo! This list is built around the totally awesome looking Trollkin Highwaymen and Braylen Wanderheart. It runs Jarl Skuld as its Warlock, but that is for two reasons: #1 - he came with the models in a group I purchased and #2 - he's an outlaw! :)

My list consists of:
Jarl Skuld, Devil of the Thornwood [+30]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Troll Impaler [11]
- Troll Bouncer [9]
Braylen Wanderheart, Trollkin Outlaw [5]
Trollkin Highwaymen [15]
Trollkin Highwaymen [15]
Pyg Bushwhackers [15]
- Pyg Bushwhacker Officer/Mortar[5]

I've received a lot of advice not to run Jarl, which I can understand. But I want to give him a fair trial before (or if) I decide to remove him, because I do believe he has some upside.
- He gets two RNG 16 (with Far Strike) POW 12 shots - combined with his movement he threats 22". He also has multiple ways of then retreating. This makes him a very capable hit-and-run style assassination threat. Move up, pop the caster with two boosted POW 12's, move away. Rinse and repeat.
- His feat actually has interesting applications. Worried about that gunline? Put up a cloud wall and move in behind it. Worried about charges and threat ranges? Put up a cloud wall. The best part is that YOU can still draw line-of-sight through it, so your shooting is not hampered in the least. Nor charges, if you need to get those Maulers into combat.

The list is definitely a ranged attack army (obviously). However, it is short-ranged, so I have a lot of the issues with delivering melee infantry. The one thing this list could really use is Snipe (not Far Strike). Being able to make those RNG8 pistols RNG12 would be awesome!

My opponent was playing his Retribution, and his list was led by Vyros2.
Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard [+27]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker [4]
- Aspis [6]
- Phoenix [18]
- Imperatus [22]
- Sphinx [13]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir [4]
Dawnguard Sentinels [18]
- Dawnguard Sentinel Officer/Standard [4]
Stormfall Archers [9]

The scenario we were playing was Recon, with a very forest setting. Basically, Jarl decided to attack a Retribution supply train, and may have bitten off more than he could chew. :D

Trolls won the rolloff, and decided to go second. Mainly because I wanted to deploy in response to the Retribution (I mean, c'mon - I was ambushing them!) and partly because I didn't want the water on my side.

Retribution Deployment
He deployed his battlegroup mostly center, with the Phoenix all the way on the right flank. Stormfall Archers went next to the myrmidons and the Sentinels filled the large gap between the Phoenix and the rest of the battle group.

Trollbloods Deployment
It's pretty bad when you don't even follow your own plan at the beginning of the game.

Trollbloods deploy one unit of Highwaymen behind a forest, and one unit on the left flank in a forest, with Braylen. These were my flanking unit, and were meant to be self-sufficient. Their main job was to get behind the main battle force and get Back Strike bonuses.

The Maulers deployed next to the Highwaymen behind the forest (mistake #1) with the two light warbeasts and Jarl on the other side of the Highwaymen (mistake #2). Don't ask why, because I honestly couldn't tell you what I was thinking. It was just bad deployment.

The Pygs Advance Deployed in front of the main army.

In retrospect, looking at it, I think that the reason I was so skewed was because I was sitting skewed. These tables are normally 40k tables, and I was sitting centrally for a 96" table (there's space on the edge to place armies/bags). No excuse really, but possible.

Retribution - Turn One:
Vyros casts Easy Rider (giving his whole army Pathfinder) and Synergy, then advances. Everything else runs, with the Archers moving in behind the hedge, the myrmidons forming up around Vyros, and the Phoenix pushing up the right flank. The Sentinels also advanced, moving into the forest and trying to keep (at least some) out of sight. The Arcanists follow the myrmidons and the Scyir follows his battle brothers.

Trollbloods - Turn One:
Well, that was expected, lets see what I can get out of this. First, the Highwaymen on the left advance up, spreading out. But for some reason, I was scared of the Stormfalls. This caused me to be timid and only a few were going to be in range to do anything next turn (mistake #3). Braylen moved up behind the hedge, getting Stealth (since it gave her concealment).

Jarl advances, casts Weald Secrets on the Pygs and Tactical Supremacy on the Highwaymen close by.

Pygs advance and begin shooting CRA's into the Sentinels. Well, first the Mortar fires. A little side story - a friend of mine plays Trolls a lot (I actually wanted to play the Highwaymen because of seeing his) and has horrible results from the Mortar. It's basically a complete throw-away model for him. So I wasn't expecting anything from the little bugger when it fired at the Phoenix. Range was short by an inch, so automatic scatter - which resulted in 5" towards the Phoenix! Behind the myrmidon was a small cluster of four Sentinels. The lowly mortar blew three of them up! The CRA's then joined in, removing Sentinels left and right - it was so awesome! When the shooting finished, six Sentinels were dead!

Remember mistakes #1 and #2 from above? Now they bite me - one of the Maulers was not in Jarl's control range, and the second (front) one was just barely. So, the front one runs up along the forest edge, while the second Mauler advances behind, riling for one (mistake #4 - I should have just moved them to Jarl). The Impaler moves up, casts Far Strike, and takes a potshot at the Phoenix, knocking some boxes off his shield. The Highwaymen advance, spreading out a little, and the Bouncer runs up as well.

Retribution - Turn Two:
The Sentinels use their Vengeance move to move to the edge of the forest (they weren't able to get out of the forest because Easy Rider had expired) and Sylys upkeeps Synergy for free.

The Stormfall Archers shoot at the Highwaymen, using Snipe (three times) and Brutal (once) to kill five of them! Left them clumped too close together, I guess (part of mistake #3 above).

The Phoenix advanced out of the forest and put a Halo Cannon shot into the middle of the Pygs, hitting seven (including the leader and the mortar). The mortar Toughs, as well as three of the Pygs (including a newly promoted leader). The Sentinels advance and use their mini-feat to (hopefully) weather any shooting the Trollbloods are going to send at them.

Everything else advances into the zone, getting ready for a scrum.

Trollbloods - Turn Two:
Jarl lets Weald Secrets drop and upkeeps Tactical Supremacy.

The Highwaymen on the left, now realizing their extremely poor positioning, review their options. They can move, and allow one of them to shoot, and the rest surround the flag. Or, they can run and engage the Stormfall Archers. I chose to take the potshot and grab the points for the flag.

Pygs move up around the flag, with three of them standing up and forfeiting their Combat action (mistake #5 - I need to remember that command is not the same as unit coherency in 40k). The ones that can shoot do so into the Sentinels, killing two. The Highwaymen move up as well, CRAing into the Sentinels and killing three more. They then Reposition 3" to spread out and provide a speed bump to any incoming attacks.

Maulers move, putting themselves into position to countercharge anything that stomps the Highwaymen.

Bouncer moves up to take any more Phoenix shots targeting the Pygs (because they've been doing good work this game) and the Impaler moves around and tries to drop the last Sentinel, but is unable.

Jarl moves closer to the forest (and his Maulers) - finally realizing that his heavies are not going to be much good if they can't stay in his control range. He then measures it out - 12" to that Phoenix, I can hit him with a Magic Bullet and drop the last Sentinel (I don't know why I was so fixated on killing him). Just in case, though, I cast Quicken (mistake #6 - I missed that it was +2 DEF only against ranged/magic attacks). Then Magic Bullet, then spent one for Far Strike (mistake #7 - confused the Highwaymen's guns with Jarl's - he's already RNG 12, didn't need Far Strike) and shot at the Phoenix. And missed :( BUGGER! Oh well, not worried. Jarl Feats, putting 5 clouds on the table (three between him and the Phoenix) (mistake #8 - see below).

Score 0-1
Advantage Trolls

Retribution - Turn 3:
Sylys upkeeps Synergy for free and the remaining Sentinel walks in with Vengeance and whacks a Highwayman.

I think Vyros Feated here, but not sure. It didn't matter. Remember mistake #8 above? Yeah, I forgot (actually, I didn't even know) that Vyros has Bird's Eye. This nifty ability lets models in his battle group ignore clouds, forests, and intervening models when determining LOS. So basically, it completely negates Jarl's Feat - a simple ability! :( GRRR! Who the heck thought that up?!?

Anyway, Vyros charges into the Highwaymen, killing multiple thanks to his melee attacks and Quick Work. The final Sentinel also moves up and kills one (the last one between the Phoenix and Jarl). My opponent measures, decides he has range, and charges the Phoenix through the clouds and barely into Jarl (mistake #9). First swing (boosted) hits (this is when I realize mistake #6) and does good damage. He buys an attack, hits, and finishes off Jarl. :(

RESULT: Retribution victory

So after the game, Jarl is given to many moments of reflection and is able to see his mistakes, and how they cost him the game:
1) Understand your battle plan, and deploy accordingly. Two mistakes in deployment left me hampered through much of the game.
2) Understand YOUR ARMY! Yes, it was a new army with a new 'caster, but I made multiple mistakes, including one that cost me the game, because I did not read/understand/remember my cards.
3) Understand your opponent. This is harder for me, I can't remember everything, but I should have at least looked at his cards, to understand what was coming. It would have saved me from some nasty surprised.
4) It's OK to ask him to verify his measurements. I was pretty sure Jarl was 12" away, and I should have asked him to double check. Better still, I should have been more clear with my measurements as I was making them, so he could double check me to verify Jarl was 12" away.

Thanks for reading!