Cross Slow Grow Round 2

‘Grabbing Defeat from the jaws of Certain Victory’ is not something that has happened to me throughout my tabletop gaming lifetime, but has certainly been prevalent on those rare occasions I have won a game. As a teenager, it used to be that my best friends Eldar army thrashed my Dark Angels on a weekly basis. Every now and then, just to prove that his fast-hitting Eldar were not instant game winners, we would swap forces and then he would thrash me with my own beloved Angels. But since becoming a member of Cross Gaming Club, I have found a game where every tricky situation is fixable and there is a way out from between a rock and a hard place. There is always one more trick up any sleeve.

Round 2 of the Cross Slow Grow League was no exception. I had agreed to take up the challenge from Nick the Ultimate Sweetheart. The limit was set at 25 points with the Overrun scenario. On to the lists:

Pirate Queen Skarre
* Harrower
* Skarlock Thrall
Bloodgorgers (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Cephalyx Overlords
General Gerlak Slaughterborn
Saxon Orrik
3 Scrap Thrall
3 Scrap Thrall

Bloody Barnabas
* Bull Snapper
* Blackhide Wrastler
* Ironback Spitter
Gatormen Posse (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Croak Hunter

 I won the roll-off and opted to go first.

 

I got pretty much everything to run and got Barny to lay down his upkeeps, Warpath and Iron Flesh on the GMP.

Nick ran his stuff forward towards the edge of the scoring zone. Skarre popped a Scrap Thrall with Sacrificial Strike and gained 6 more focus for the next turn.

This is the turn where things began to go a little wrong. I got my distances mixed up and my GMP charge order fell a little short of the Bloodgorgers behind the wall. Not being able to hurt Nick’s plans (and looking like I have a bit of trouble coming my way), I moved the Wrastler into the scoring zone in order to have something a bit more significant to contest the area. The Croak Hunter missed a Bloodgorger with his spear. The Spitter spat at the Harrower causing some damage but not enough to take out any of its systems. Barny then laid down a Swamp Pit for shits and giggles.

The Cephalyx kicked things off and started spraying the Wrastler and a Gatorman doing a bit of damage to the Wrastler. The Harrower came in and finished off the big guy. Skarre came forward a little and popped her Feat and cast Dark Guidance with the abundance of Focus she had which came in handy for the Bloodgorgers. Saxon activated to give the Bloodgorgers Pathfinder, which they used to charge the Gatormen and the Croak Hunter. Despite the GMP’s DEF being a whopping 16 (Iron Flesh and Dirge of Mists), I didn’t have much hope seeing charging Bloodgorgers with Gang and Dark Guidance on a Feat turn. The Croak Hunter died badly while the GMP suffered a total of 38 points of damage leaving a solitary Gator standing in defiance. The Skarlock popped off another Scrap Thrall but only rolled for one point of Focus for its mistress in the next turn.

After a devastating round, it seemed I was delaying the inevitable. The lone Gatorman killed one Bloodgorger but its second target made its Tough roll. Still it was enough to trigger the Spitter to move under Barny’s Warpath, lining itself up for a charge on the Harrower. Barny activated next and cast Iron Flesh on himself and then Flesh Eater on a nearby Bloodgorger. This failed. The Spitter then charged the Harrower. It might as well have just walked up and pulled faces at it for all the good it did. The Harrower only suffered two points of damage.

Skarre came forward to fight the Spitter but didn’t cause much in the way of meaningful damage, but she was successful in knocking it down. Two of the Cephalyx sprayed the Spitter again softening up for the Harrower to finish off, while the last sprayed Barny and the Bull Snapper causing a few points of damage on the Snapper only. The Bloodgorgers then came forward (a few taking (and dying to) Free Strikes from the last Gatorman) and charged into Barny’s face but to no avail. They did, however, finish of the remaining Gatorman.

With only the Snapper and Barny left alive, there wasn’t much to do. Except go and put some hurt on Skarre who had come forward and left herself open. Firstly, the Snapper went around and tried to free Barny from Melee but the Bloodgorger made both of its Tough rolls. And much to my chagrin, he was still in Gerlack’s Command area. So Barny popped his Feat affecting only the Cephalyx and the opposing caster. With only 10 boxes of damage left and no Focus for Overboosting her power field, she was ripe for the taking. Flesh eater was cast and needing to roll a 12 for the kill Barny, rolled a 5. Casting it for the second time and needing a 9 to kill, Barny rolled a 4. Out of fury and with no way to Skarre, it was Game Over. Or so I thought until it was pointed out that Barny hadn’t taken his movement. So he walked up to Skarre and needing a 6 to kill with his axe, he rolled and 8 to win the game.

Nick and I both thought that the game was over when I failed (botched might be a better word) my ‘magical assassination attempt’. But when it was pointed out that the game wasn’t quite over. I felt quite dirty taking the win. It just goes to show that in this game, you should never give up.

Looking back, there are things I wished I’d done different:

• Not gone first.
• Not lost my Wrastler so cheaply.
• I had gotten the Spitter to DOUBLE HANDED THROW the Harrower instead of attacking it with its pillow fists.
• Somehow used the Croak Hunter as back-up to the GMP. It has Gang and an additional die of damage against living models. I might have got him to bide his time and get to Gerlak so I could line up Barny’s Feat.
• Just been plain bold with Barny in the last turn. He would have took a Free Strike if he walked out of Melee with the Bloodgorger which would then have been transferred to the Snapper. Then with five Fury, smacked Skarre around a bit.

There are things that I wished I’d remembered:

• The GMP can give themselves Pathfinder via one of their Prayers.
• That while in a Swamp Pit, the Wrastler and Gatorman should never have taken any damage as they couldn’t be targeted. (EDIT: not sure how this works with the Harrowers range weapon with Ghost Shot).

A win is a win, but I have to say that I was ready to admit defeat which would have been a reprieve for Nick after leaving Skarre with a target on her chest. And he would have deserved the win for a flawless victory.