This weekend I went to see my friend Dan down near Brighton. I don’t remember the last time we had a battle together, but I was assured that it was a long time ago (six months). We sat our other halves down in front of a film and got on with organising a small skirmish. I had brought my Necrons along with me this time (it had been a while) while Dan had sifted through various boxes and put together a force of Chaos Space Marines. We set the limit at 1500 points, in which I got to take the following:
“Lefty” the Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb, Veil of Darkness and Warscythe.
10 Immortals.
10 Warriors
10 Warriors
11 Warriors
5 Destroyers
3 Heavy Destroyers.
Dan wasn’t sure about whether his Codex was up-to-date (plus I haven’t played 40k in a while and have been concentrating on WM), so he picked a list from the newest looking book and picked the following (I am not sure of the particulars as this was just an extremely relaxed friendly):
Chaos Lord
Sorcerer
Champion
1 unit of Thousand Sons Marines
1 unit of Plague Marines
1 unit of regular Chaos Marines
1 unit of Raptors
3 Obliterators
The game was played rather tentatively as we were playing on a 3’x5’ table.
Dan won the roll-off and gave me the first turn, and I wasted no time in drawing a bead on the Obliterators. The Heavy Destroyers shot first with causing three wounding hits which went unsaved. The first turn also saw a rather foolish move on my part, which involved “Lefty” use his Veil of Darkness to transport himself and his Immortals behind the chaos lines and wreak some havoc there. When they appeared from nowhere they opened fire with their Gauss Blasters, but only managed to kill one of the regular CSM. This proved to leave them awfully vulnerable during Dan’s first turn where everything except of the Chaos Lord, Raptors and Obliterators turned to face the undead rust buckets and opened fire with everything they had. I do not need to point out how much of a stupid mistake it was to do this. Nor do I need to present the outcome of such a mistake. So with a third of my points cost down the drain, I set about making a killbox with my Warriors and Destroyers.
Second turn saw a complete on Obliterator fall and not much else. Dan charged his Raptors into one unit of Warriors and not much else.
The rest of the game saw us both edging towards each other until we were both in firing range. The close combat was indeed that – close, with neither side gaining an advantage (this actually stayed like this up until the penultimate turn).
The Obliterators fell in the third turn, while we both executed rather poor displays of long range shooting. The Raptors wore down the Necrons bit by bit, but eventually needed help from the Plague Marines and Chaos Lord.
The Thousand Sons and regular CSM all succumbed to my deadly Gauss weaponry Leaving the Sorcerer and Champion alone. I lost a fair number of Necrons who eventually got engaged en masse by the traitor marines (my Dark Angel heart was screaming) as soon as the Raptors and Plague Marines were free of their opponents. The Necrons saw the futility in sticking around so Phased Out.
This was a fun little game to play but I was hoping that the Raptors finished off their unit of Warriors in Dan’s turn meaning I would be in position to open fire on him right away. As it was the combat was finished in my turn, leaving Dan to charge me without obstacle. The badly thought out move of teleporting directly into enemy territory could have gone a lot better if I hadn’t presented my self to more than on unit. Jumping back and forth over the table would have provided a much needed distraction.
Still it was fun to give my Necrons a little run around, but it made me sad for my Dark Angels. They haven’t been let out of their box for even longer. They may not actually see the light of day unless GW releases a new Codex. But ultimately, they won’t see any action for the foreseeable future as I’m very much into Warmachine currently with the upcoming club campaign and the Scrap Metal II tourney I’ll be attending.
One day it may be different.
Monday 26 July 2010
Saturday 24 July 2010
An edge of your seat battle (no word of a lie guv)!
Once again, I am writing things a bit later than usual as Real Life has reared its ugly head and seconded me into doing actual responsible stuff. With danger averted, I hope to inform you of the great and wonderful game I played on Tuesday 13th against a guy called Ravage (Mark) and his Khador force. Even though this was such a monumental game, I will, in all likelihood, forget some of the details.
We agreed on playing a 35 point game in which I would be using new models.
I had dusted off pKreoss (whom I am hoping to spearhead my Scrap Metal II force (more on the subject in another post)) and decided to field a carefully proxyed Fire of Salvation (I used a Crusader) and a unit of Exemplar Bastions (I used a unit of Deathwing terminators). The full list is as follows:
High Exemplar Kreoss (*5pts)
* Revenger (6pts)
* Fire of Salvation (9pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (3pts)
Vassal Mechanik (1pts)
While Mark took:
The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
* Berserker (6pts)
* Kodiak (8pts)
Assault Kommandos (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Greylord Escort (2pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
Fenris (5pts)
I think I lost the roll to set up so I started with placing my Bastions as far forward as they could go (they would need a bit of a head start with their low movement) on my left. On their right stood both ‘jacks backed up by the Choir with Kreoss behind them. The Senny sat back behind the Bastions waiting for his moment.
Mark put his ‘jacks directly facing my Bastions with the Butcher and Shocktroopers behind them. The Assault Kommandos set up in the centre of battle line, while Fenris started off right at the back of the field.
Next up was the Advance Deployments. I placed my Errants and UA behind some woods in left-field with Mark placing his Reavers and Greylord more or less opposite them.
First turn saw a general advance with not much happening for either side. Kreoss cast both of his upkeep spells, Lamentation and Defenders Ward on the Bastions (taking them up to DEF 13 and ARM 18). Mark did the same and cast his upkeeps.
Turn two saw a bit of contact between the two sides. My Errants popped out of their cover and charged the Reavers killing four of them. Kreoss cast Cleansing Fire via the Revengers’ Arc Node causing a few points of damage on one of the Shocktroopers and setting him on fire. Mark opened fire in retaliation with his Kommandos. They put a few points of damage on the Fire of Salvation. The Greylord inflicted a whole world of pain on the Errants taking advantage of their crowding and cast Frostbite. This killed a grand total of 8 Errants leaving the Officer and Standard Bearer along with the leader and one grunt. The Berserker charged into the Bastions causing a bit of damage which was spread around as a result of their Sanguine Bond. The Kodiak skirted around the woods to my extreme left.
Turn three saw Kreoss edge forward thus putting the Butcher within his control range, subjecting him to Lamentation (Butcher would have to pay double for spells and upkeeps – which came in quite useful). The Bastions didn’t quite get the hang of hitting the enemy ‘jack with only two out of five causing damage. The FoS broke cover and ran towards the Shocktroopers using it’s Holy Fervor (American spelling) Imprint (spend Focus point to gain boosted melee attack rolls). Didn’t cause as much damage as I’d hope but he tied up the Butcher’s bodyguard. The remaining Errants finished off the Doom Reavers leaving only the Greylord. Mark’s turn saw the Kodiak charge the Bastions causing a little damage. The Berserker didn’t do much better either. Mark’s Kommandos laid down more fire, this time aiming at the Revenger. Luck wasn’t really showing her face this turn as the Greylord tried to duke it out with an Errant and failing. Last of all Fenris activated and raced toward the back of my line causing some concern for Kreoss.
Turn four saw the end of the Greylord leaving the Errants free to venture towards the Kommandos. The FoS went to work on putting the Shocktroopers down for good as he was loaded up with Focus. The Senny finally came out of hiding and launched himself at the Kodiak. His pulled of all three attacks (two initial plus a Smite chain attack). This took the Kodiak to within an inch of its life and knocked it down. This in turn reminded me about Kreoss’s feat. I popped the feat which made the Berserker go down quicker. I maybe should have popped the feat at the start of the turn but I’ll beat myself up over that later. Things looked fairly decent for me.
Mark kept at though as the Kodiak stood up and smooshed the Senny, who never recovered because no friendly model died near him in order to trigger off Restoration. Mark had popped his feat at the start of the turn but still couldn’t cast multiple spells as I was upkeeping Lamentation. The Kommandos started shooting at the oncoming Errants but sadly did not do anything fatal. The Fenris drew ever closer to the back of my line while drawing a bead on Kreoss.
Turn five saw me pull back Kreoss and the Revenger just enough to still let the Butcher feel the effects of Lamentation. The Errants went to engage the Kommandos killing just one as all bar one was in charge range. The FoS finished off the last remaining Shocktrooper, while the Bastions saw off the threat of the Kodiak. Mark positioned the Fenris for an assassination run.
Turn six saw the Bastions run toward the Butcher and fall short. The FoS engaged the Kommandos along with the remaining Errants. Kreoss ordered the Revenger to stand between him and Fenris. In Mark’s turn, he charged Fenris into Kreoss. But he had to go through the Revenger who got a free strike which didn’t quite do enough damage. Fenris used both of his attacks well and scored more than enough damage points to put Kreoss down.
Mark won by ‘caster kill in only his third game.
We both agreed that this was an extremely awesome game which did go right to the end. And, as usual, we both had a long list of things we forgot/did wrong. Mark wishes he used his Doom Reavers differently and maybe advanced his Kommandos more. As for me, where do I start?
The obvious one was right the end. I should have loaded the Revenger up with Focus and charged Fenris. That would have left Kreoss and the Bastions to take care of Butcher. Kreoss should not have pooped his feat mid-turn, the Senny might still have been alive to aim himself at the enemy ‘caster. The Errants did not use their Quick Work Tactic granted by the UA. After they killed some Doom Reavers in melee, they had a free shot with thier crossbows. This may have finished off the unit and/or the Greylord. The FoS could have ignored the Kommandos and went for Butcher. If I had done one or more of these things, the game might have ended differently.
But overall, I’m happy with how everything performed. Kreoss’s upkeeps kept the Butcher fairly quiet. The FoS showed, if used correctly, that it can be a melee beast. The Bastions were just as tough as I hoped, while the Senny and Revenger did their bit for Menoth. Special mention goes to the Exemplar Errants. With their new UA, they have now become my auto-include unit. It used to be that I would never enter a battlefield without some Zealots and Monolith Bearer (although I can see me taking them later with the likes of Vindictus running the show). The UA granting Pathfinder and giving the Quick Work tactic makes them a lot more fun to use. Also add the Errant Senny, who grants them Hunter, and you have a very nearly perfect unit.
This list was a smaller version of what I aim to take to Maelstrom Games’ Scrap Metal II event in August, so I was very encouraged with what I saw tonight. At first glance, I may change the Revenger (I didn’t put the Arc Node to full use) for a Devout (who’s abilities I got confused and thought belonged to the Revenger). I may also take eKreoss instead of pKreoss. These two changes frees up two points which can get me a very useful Vassal. I will see in my next game against Marcus and his Khador (!).
We agreed on playing a 35 point game in which I would be using new models.
I had dusted off pKreoss (whom I am hoping to spearhead my Scrap Metal II force (more on the subject in another post)) and decided to field a carefully proxyed Fire of Salvation (I used a Crusader) and a unit of Exemplar Bastions (I used a unit of Deathwing terminators). The full list is as follows:
High Exemplar Kreoss (*5pts)
* Revenger (6pts)
* Fire of Salvation (9pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (3pts)
Vassal Mechanik (1pts)
While Mark took:
The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
* Berserker (6pts)
* Kodiak (8pts)
Assault Kommandos (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Greylord Escort (2pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
Fenris (5pts)
I think I lost the roll to set up so I started with placing my Bastions as far forward as they could go (they would need a bit of a head start with their low movement) on my left. On their right stood both ‘jacks backed up by the Choir with Kreoss behind them. The Senny sat back behind the Bastions waiting for his moment.
Mark put his ‘jacks directly facing my Bastions with the Butcher and Shocktroopers behind them. The Assault Kommandos set up in the centre of battle line, while Fenris started off right at the back of the field.
Next up was the Advance Deployments. I placed my Errants and UA behind some woods in left-field with Mark placing his Reavers and Greylord more or less opposite them.
First turn saw a general advance with not much happening for either side. Kreoss cast both of his upkeep spells, Lamentation and Defenders Ward on the Bastions (taking them up to DEF 13 and ARM 18). Mark did the same and cast his upkeeps.
Turn two saw a bit of contact between the two sides. My Errants popped out of their cover and charged the Reavers killing four of them. Kreoss cast Cleansing Fire via the Revengers’ Arc Node causing a few points of damage on one of the Shocktroopers and setting him on fire. Mark opened fire in retaliation with his Kommandos. They put a few points of damage on the Fire of Salvation. The Greylord inflicted a whole world of pain on the Errants taking advantage of their crowding and cast Frostbite. This killed a grand total of 8 Errants leaving the Officer and Standard Bearer along with the leader and one grunt. The Berserker charged into the Bastions causing a bit of damage which was spread around as a result of their Sanguine Bond. The Kodiak skirted around the woods to my extreme left.
Turn three saw Kreoss edge forward thus putting the Butcher within his control range, subjecting him to Lamentation (Butcher would have to pay double for spells and upkeeps – which came in quite useful). The Bastions didn’t quite get the hang of hitting the enemy ‘jack with only two out of five causing damage. The FoS broke cover and ran towards the Shocktroopers using it’s Holy Fervor (American spelling) Imprint (spend Focus point to gain boosted melee attack rolls). Didn’t cause as much damage as I’d hope but he tied up the Butcher’s bodyguard. The remaining Errants finished off the Doom Reavers leaving only the Greylord. Mark’s turn saw the Kodiak charge the Bastions causing a little damage. The Berserker didn’t do much better either. Mark’s Kommandos laid down more fire, this time aiming at the Revenger. Luck wasn’t really showing her face this turn as the Greylord tried to duke it out with an Errant and failing. Last of all Fenris activated and raced toward the back of my line causing some concern for Kreoss.
Turn four saw the end of the Greylord leaving the Errants free to venture towards the Kommandos. The FoS went to work on putting the Shocktroopers down for good as he was loaded up with Focus. The Senny finally came out of hiding and launched himself at the Kodiak. His pulled of all three attacks (two initial plus a Smite chain attack). This took the Kodiak to within an inch of its life and knocked it down. This in turn reminded me about Kreoss’s feat. I popped the feat which made the Berserker go down quicker. I maybe should have popped the feat at the start of the turn but I’ll beat myself up over that later. Things looked fairly decent for me.
Mark kept at though as the Kodiak stood up and smooshed the Senny, who never recovered because no friendly model died near him in order to trigger off Restoration. Mark had popped his feat at the start of the turn but still couldn’t cast multiple spells as I was upkeeping Lamentation. The Kommandos started shooting at the oncoming Errants but sadly did not do anything fatal. The Fenris drew ever closer to the back of my line while drawing a bead on Kreoss.
Turn five saw me pull back Kreoss and the Revenger just enough to still let the Butcher feel the effects of Lamentation. The Errants went to engage the Kommandos killing just one as all bar one was in charge range. The FoS finished off the last remaining Shocktrooper, while the Bastions saw off the threat of the Kodiak. Mark positioned the Fenris for an assassination run.
Turn six saw the Bastions run toward the Butcher and fall short. The FoS engaged the Kommandos along with the remaining Errants. Kreoss ordered the Revenger to stand between him and Fenris. In Mark’s turn, he charged Fenris into Kreoss. But he had to go through the Revenger who got a free strike which didn’t quite do enough damage. Fenris used both of his attacks well and scored more than enough damage points to put Kreoss down.
Mark won by ‘caster kill in only his third game.
We both agreed that this was an extremely awesome game which did go right to the end. And, as usual, we both had a long list of things we forgot/did wrong. Mark wishes he used his Doom Reavers differently and maybe advanced his Kommandos more. As for me, where do I start?
The obvious one was right the end. I should have loaded the Revenger up with Focus and charged Fenris. That would have left Kreoss and the Bastions to take care of Butcher. Kreoss should not have pooped his feat mid-turn, the Senny might still have been alive to aim himself at the enemy ‘caster. The Errants did not use their Quick Work Tactic granted by the UA. After they killed some Doom Reavers in melee, they had a free shot with thier crossbows. This may have finished off the unit and/or the Greylord. The FoS could have ignored the Kommandos and went for Butcher. If I had done one or more of these things, the game might have ended differently.
But overall, I’m happy with how everything performed. Kreoss’s upkeeps kept the Butcher fairly quiet. The FoS showed, if used correctly, that it can be a melee beast. The Bastions were just as tough as I hoped, while the Senny and Revenger did their bit for Menoth. Special mention goes to the Exemplar Errants. With their new UA, they have now become my auto-include unit. It used to be that I would never enter a battlefield without some Zealots and Monolith Bearer (although I can see me taking them later with the likes of Vindictus running the show). The UA granting Pathfinder and giving the Quick Work tactic makes them a lot more fun to use. Also add the Errant Senny, who grants them Hunter, and you have a very nearly perfect unit.
This list was a smaller version of what I aim to take to Maelstrom Games’ Scrap Metal II event in August, so I was very encouraged with what I saw tonight. At first glance, I may change the Revenger (I didn’t put the Arc Node to full use) for a Devout (who’s abilities I got confused and thought belonged to the Revenger). I may also take eKreoss instead of pKreoss. These two changes frees up two points which can get me a very useful Vassal. I will see in my next game against Marcus and his Khador (!).
Thursday 8 July 2010
Honours even.
After a few weeks off from gaming, I was back in action this Tuesday with a new player at the club called Marcin. He is quite new to WM/Hordes and certainly wants to make an impression (and with an all beast Circle list he certainly did). We agreed upon a 35 point game in which I modified my previous pSeverius list:
Grand Scrutator Severius (*6pts)
* Blessing of Vengeance (7pts)
* Vanquisher (8pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Holy Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Holy Zealot Monolith Bearer (2pts)
Exemplar Errant Seneschal (2pts)
The Wrack (3 wracks) (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
I wanted to see the enhancements that were brought by the Exemplar Errant Seneschal and UA. With their new skills my trusty Errants would be seen in a different light. I swapped the Knight Exemplar Seneschal for the Errant Seneschal (and a set of Wracks, Sevvy loves extra Focus), while the Reclaimer stepped back to make room for the Errants UA. Looking at Marcin’s list of five beasts (four heavy and one light or three heavy and two light I cannot remember) led by Kromac, I felt a little apprehensive. So we went into the game and Marcin had the first turn in which he moved through forests rather speedily towards my line. My turn saw a steady advance the Blessing, Choir, Zealots and the Old Man. I followed up with the Vanquisher who happened to be in range (range 14 thankfully) and launched the Flame Belcher towards a forest containing a heavy beast (I always forget which are which, also it was a proxy for another anyway which confused me more). Unfortunately, this beast had Stealth so I had to go for the model next to it. Kromac. I hit and rolled quite a bit of damage which was nice. I was then wondering what to do with the Errants as they were not within charge range but could advance and then shoot their crossbows (the Seneschal gives Hunter) only to be charged afterwards. I then realised that the Vassal hadn’t yet activated yet, so I put him behind the Vanquisher and used Ancillary Attack so the Vanquisher cracked off another shot with the Flame Belcher.
GAME OVER in one turn.
This was a nice situation where the right models were in the right place at the right time. As the game was over far too quickly we swapped table edges and began again. This time Marcin gave me the first turn. After a general advance on my part, Marcin used his Warp Wolf (or Feral Wolf) to head my Errants of at the pass while the other four beasts and Kromac advance towards my line.
Once again I won’t, or can’t, go into detail because of the piece of Swiss cheese I call a brain, so I’ll give a brief review of how everything played more or less.
Sevvy: … I’m still angry so I’ll come back to him.
Vanquisher: played it’s part in causing some damage on the oncoming beasts, ably aided by Vassal, Choir and Eye of Menoth.
Blessing: did what an Arc Node should do (although I forgot the +2 to damage because of it’s bond with Sevvy) until it got pummelled by four beasts.
Choir: sung their songs with gusto, and one even put two points of damage on a beast.
Vassal: Helped the Vanquisher with Ancillary Attack a few times.
Zealots: Only had one turn of bombing causing quite a bit of damage, although not enough, before the Monolith Bearer popping his mini-feat and becoming human shields. Sadly this didn’t stop them from getting picked off with magic.
Wracks: used two out of three for their focus, both blew up sadly next to no-one.
Exemplar Errants: I put them too far out in their flanking manoeuvre. The Pathfinder ability given by the UA was extremely useful, as was the Hunter ability conferred by the Seneschal. Running and shooting through forests is so cool. Half of the unit got wiped out by the beast that came towards them, but Marcin didn’t know that they were all Weapon Masters. The beast was torn to pieces by the remaining five Errants, the UA and the Seneschal. Unfortunately, this distracted them for too long and they were not involved in the rest of the game.
Bloody Severius: Started off with upkeeps and allocation of Focus. Used the Blessing’s Arc Node once, but was then hampered by Kromac’s Bestial Spell which stopped all spell casting. Hid behind the Zealots out of the eyes of the oncoming beasts. Once the ‘jacks, Choir and Zealots were dealt with, Severius faced the remaining four beasts with Kromac behind them. With the all the beasts in bad condition (one had two points of damage left, another had five while another was half dead) Sevvy had the opportunity to finish them off. With a full compliment of Focus, plus another borrowed from a Wrack, He went to cast Ashes to Ashes (in the hope of hitting the first and then hitting the d6 closest targets). He needed a five on 2d6 and rolled a three. Ashes to Ashes was expensive to cast so, put off by that, he changed to Immolation. Rolled a four. Tried again and rolled four again. No more Focus. In Marcin’s turn, Sevvy was in base to base contact with three beasts. Kromac and the last beast were just behind them. Two meaty hits and Sevvy was done for.
As you can imagine, this was a fairly big anti-climax. One of the better Warcasters in the game and he couldn’t come up with the goods when it mattered. I can offer no excuses for the Old Man. If he could have got rid of the nearest three beasts, he would have just been out of threat range from Kromac and his last companion. This may have given the Errants time to rush in and distract Kromac, but it wasn’t meant to be.
I have to say it was a fun game against a new player, and I was learning the differences between Hordes and Warmachine. But I have never come up against an all beast (or all ‘jack) army before except for Battlebox demo games. I asked myself on the train home that if I knew I was up against a force without infantry, would I have changed the composition of my own force? I have enough in the way of Warjacks to do so, both heavy and light, and I was thinking that maybe I would have changed. But sitting down to write this, I know that Zealots used properly with their UA can be bad new for heavy ‘jacks or beasts. So can my Errants, especially with their new friends. So maybe I wouldn’t. Looking back to the game, the Zealots held up play which may have given the harder-hitting Errants time to make their mark at my opponents rear. I realise that my list can comfortably compete against this type of enemy.
Next week I have a game against Mark, who I played a few weeks ago when he realised he was 24 points light when picking his force. I’ll think I’ll give Kreoss a go this time as I hope he’ll be leading my force when I take part in the Scrap Metal II event in the second half of August.
Grand Scrutator Severius (*6pts)
* Blessing of Vengeance (7pts)
* Vanquisher (8pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Exemplar Errants (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard Bearer (2pts)
Holy Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Holy Zealot Monolith Bearer (2pts)
Exemplar Errant Seneschal (2pts)
The Wrack (3 wracks) (1pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
I wanted to see the enhancements that were brought by the Exemplar Errant Seneschal and UA. With their new skills my trusty Errants would be seen in a different light. I swapped the Knight Exemplar Seneschal for the Errant Seneschal (and a set of Wracks, Sevvy loves extra Focus), while the Reclaimer stepped back to make room for the Errants UA. Looking at Marcin’s list of five beasts (four heavy and one light or three heavy and two light I cannot remember) led by Kromac, I felt a little apprehensive. So we went into the game and Marcin had the first turn in which he moved through forests rather speedily towards my line. My turn saw a steady advance the Blessing, Choir, Zealots and the Old Man. I followed up with the Vanquisher who happened to be in range (range 14 thankfully) and launched the Flame Belcher towards a forest containing a heavy beast (I always forget which are which, also it was a proxy for another anyway which confused me more). Unfortunately, this beast had Stealth so I had to go for the model next to it. Kromac. I hit and rolled quite a bit of damage which was nice. I was then wondering what to do with the Errants as they were not within charge range but could advance and then shoot their crossbows (the Seneschal gives Hunter) only to be charged afterwards. I then realised that the Vassal hadn’t yet activated yet, so I put him behind the Vanquisher and used Ancillary Attack so the Vanquisher cracked off another shot with the Flame Belcher.
GAME OVER in one turn.
This was a nice situation where the right models were in the right place at the right time. As the game was over far too quickly we swapped table edges and began again. This time Marcin gave me the first turn. After a general advance on my part, Marcin used his Warp Wolf (or Feral Wolf) to head my Errants of at the pass while the other four beasts and Kromac advance towards my line.
Once again I won’t, or can’t, go into detail because of the piece of Swiss cheese I call a brain, so I’ll give a brief review of how everything played more or less.
Sevvy: … I’m still angry so I’ll come back to him.
Vanquisher: played it’s part in causing some damage on the oncoming beasts, ably aided by Vassal, Choir and Eye of Menoth.
Blessing: did what an Arc Node should do (although I forgot the +2 to damage because of it’s bond with Sevvy) until it got pummelled by four beasts.
Choir: sung their songs with gusto, and one even put two points of damage on a beast.
Vassal: Helped the Vanquisher with Ancillary Attack a few times.
Zealots: Only had one turn of bombing causing quite a bit of damage, although not enough, before the Monolith Bearer popping his mini-feat and becoming human shields. Sadly this didn’t stop them from getting picked off with magic.
Wracks: used two out of three for their focus, both blew up sadly next to no-one.
Exemplar Errants: I put them too far out in their flanking manoeuvre. The Pathfinder ability given by the UA was extremely useful, as was the Hunter ability conferred by the Seneschal. Running and shooting through forests is so cool. Half of the unit got wiped out by the beast that came towards them, but Marcin didn’t know that they were all Weapon Masters. The beast was torn to pieces by the remaining five Errants, the UA and the Seneschal. Unfortunately, this distracted them for too long and they were not involved in the rest of the game.
Bloody Severius: Started off with upkeeps and allocation of Focus. Used the Blessing’s Arc Node once, but was then hampered by Kromac’s Bestial Spell which stopped all spell casting. Hid behind the Zealots out of the eyes of the oncoming beasts. Once the ‘jacks, Choir and Zealots were dealt with, Severius faced the remaining four beasts with Kromac behind them. With the all the beasts in bad condition (one had two points of damage left, another had five while another was half dead) Sevvy had the opportunity to finish them off. With a full compliment of Focus, plus another borrowed from a Wrack, He went to cast Ashes to Ashes (in the hope of hitting the first and then hitting the d6 closest targets). He needed a five on 2d6 and rolled a three. Ashes to Ashes was expensive to cast so, put off by that, he changed to Immolation. Rolled a four. Tried again and rolled four again. No more Focus. In Marcin’s turn, Sevvy was in base to base contact with three beasts. Kromac and the last beast were just behind them. Two meaty hits and Sevvy was done for.
As you can imagine, this was a fairly big anti-climax. One of the better Warcasters in the game and he couldn’t come up with the goods when it mattered. I can offer no excuses for the Old Man. If he could have got rid of the nearest three beasts, he would have just been out of threat range from Kromac and his last companion. This may have given the Errants time to rush in and distract Kromac, but it wasn’t meant to be.
I have to say it was a fun game against a new player, and I was learning the differences between Hordes and Warmachine. But I have never come up against an all beast (or all ‘jack) army before except for Battlebox demo games. I asked myself on the train home that if I knew I was up against a force without infantry, would I have changed the composition of my own force? I have enough in the way of Warjacks to do so, both heavy and light, and I was thinking that maybe I would have changed. But sitting down to write this, I know that Zealots used properly with their UA can be bad new for heavy ‘jacks or beasts. So can my Errants, especially with their new friends. So maybe I wouldn’t. Looking back to the game, the Zealots held up play which may have given the harder-hitting Errants time to make their mark at my opponents rear. I realise that my list can comfortably compete against this type of enemy.
Next week I have a game against Mark, who I played a few weeks ago when he realised he was 24 points light when picking his force. I’ll think I’ll give Kreoss a go this time as I hope he’ll be leading my force when I take part in the Scrap Metal II event in the second half of August.
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