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 (!).
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