Scenario: Supply and Demand
My List:
Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Opponents List:
Forward Kommander Sorscha
* Conquest
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Tactical Arcanist Corps
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
* 2 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist
Harlan Versh
Koldun Lord
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Widowmaker Marksman
My opponent won the roll and chose to go second. The terrain featured a small linear obstacle in the middle of the board just in front of each players deployment, and forests on the close right side (opposite the objective) for each player.
He put conquest a little left of center from my view, where the linear obstacle wouldn't interfere with movement. I put the Hunters center, with Krump off to the left and Muggs to the right near the edge of command. The two Axers went to either side of Grim, and the Fennblades went 6 to either side (thank you giant command bubble). Mauler came in back with the support staff. After his deployment, I placed the Burrowers fairly central, and the Whackers off to the right to run into the forest.
His AD widowmaker went opposite the Whackers, while his winterguard deathstar went central and right, close to his objective. The Koldun Lord went to the left (from my view) of Conquest, while the various solos went center or right, with the Great Bears central. Sorscha herself was approximately in the middle.
The Burrowers went under (possibly unnecessary, but Conquest has a lot of AoE potential) first turn as is their wont, and the Fennblades ran up the field, spreading pretty substantially with the officer in the middle. Grim got Harmoniously Exalted and put out two Rushes on the Axers and Mirage on the Fennblades. Everything else ran and tried to take up good supporting positions, since I thought next turn was going to be my first big swing turn. Tale of Mists went on the Fennblades.
The Koldun Lord gave the Conquest a focus, and then I got a small surprise in the form of a series of Creeping Barrage templates across the middle of the board. The big gun fired, but I believe deviated harmlessly, or failed to break armor somewhere. The Winterguard came up on the right and center, spreading out all over and clogging up the board with Bob and Weave and Iron Flesh. The Widowmaker jacked a Bushwhacker who proceeded to Tough, the TAC came up near his objective, and the support staff and Great Bears moved up near the Conquest a bit back.
Due to the Creeping Barrage templates, the Dygmies didn't have great angles to cross the board, so my feat got nixed for a turn. I looked at my board position, didn't entirely like what I saw, and decided that I was going to be playing more cautiously than planned. The Dygmies advanced, with 2 going through the Creeping Barrages with no armor break, and 1 toughing out. Another one crept around the edge to take a shot at a TAC member, but sadly failed to hit, so they assumed clogging positions. I had placed fairly carefully so the Fennblades would have good charges, and with a Fell Called +2 sent 3-4 Fennblades clogging into the Winterguard (and the Widowmaker), taking out 1-2 Winterguard with a lucky big roll and getting the Widowmaker. The Whackers 6 manned a TAC member out, while Grim shot another and crapped out his damage to leave him on 1 box. The rest of the Fennblades and Dygmies stayed fairly safe, but the 3-4 Fenns I sent forward were in solid clogging positions to hold up his lines. Tale of Mists ended up on the Dygmies to try to get a reburrow.
As a result of my clogging, he wasn't able to get as far forward as he liked, so he advanced relatively carefully and used Sprays and shooting (with some misses that were lucky for me) to clear my jam. A couple of accidental bad positions left some Winterguard engaged that he wanted to use in other ways, but he was able to drop the Fennblades to about 6 men left approximately + the Drummer, and cleared 4 Dygmies. Stray AE damage left Muggs down three boxes. Conquest shot, but a Gobber cloud and Tale of Mists kept me out of a lot of too much trouble. My toughs started a trend of being a bit overkill, screwing up his plans more than either of us expected.
On my turn, I saw a good opportunity; he only had 3 Winterguard in the zone, and I felt I could clear them relatively well. I reburrowed my 6 remaining Dygmies (after Vengeance moves from the Fenns) and used my repositioning to get some good lanes with the Fennblades. After a little bit of shooting, I got a Winterguard knocked down with a Tough roll, and I laid a Mortality on him from Grim. However, my Fennblades betrayed me and missed needing 7's, so I still had one in the zone. However, I had a brief flash of foresight, and had run the Drummer up so that my Axer had a perfect slam angle to take the Drummer over 2 Winterguard and potentially clear them; with Mortality I had a near guaranteed kill. Thankfully, this worked, and the slam got 2 guys (and failed to break my armor!) and I killed both of them; Grim was toeing the zone, and I went up 2 CPs. Also, I had removed the rest of the TAC from the board with a 2-man from the Whackers followed by a 4-man to the unhurt guy. I made one key mistake, however, in a mispositioned Mauler who was within threat range of the Conquest with Boundless charge; if he got on him, I would have a VERY hard time salvaging this game out.
He put 3 on the conquest, and started shooting back into my guys with the Winterguard and others. After a number of attacks from Gorman, the Winterguard, and everyone else, I was down a Bushwhacker and down to 2 Fennblades, one of whom had ended up way out of position because I'm silly. Thankfully, a lot of Toughs held me out longer than anticipated, and he had to blow way more shots into me than he planned on. Sorscha moved up and popped feat, but then a mistake was realized: Sorscha was too far to get Boundless onto the Conquest, meaning he would be short no matter what based on my Mauler position, leaving me in a fantastic place. As a consolation, he charged the 3 Great Bears onto the Axer that slammed, putting him down with the 3rd swing (crap dice on the first two, I almost made it!), but Backswinging his own guy into the ground (although he did Tough). Conquest moved up, but missed most of his shots onto the Mauler, reducing me by only 6 boxes, leaving me in a very good spot. The Great Bears and a handful of Winterguard contested, but there was not much I needed to clear.
So, before I got anything else at all going... The Runebearer once per gamed Mortality onto the Conquest, hitting easily to drop him to 18 armor. Grim put Rage on the Mauler, shot the Conquest and boosted damage (to ensure a free charge), Muggs and Krump shot random things (missed, I think), and the Mauler was off. Charge in, not snakes to hit - hits the charge, and dice... 6-5-5 on the charge at dice + 1. Holy balls. The Mauler continues his way through, and with 1 Fury to spare scraps the Conquest. Granted, there was going to be a Fell Caller and an Axer that could still charge, so I wasn't in bad shape yet; that just made everything else much easier.
From there, I did some cleanup; the Fell Caller finished off one of the last Great Bears (I think one of the two Hunters Pygs actually finished another), the Dygmies and Bushwhackers cleared Gorman, Harlan, and some Winterguard, leaving Aiyana and Holt, some Winterguard, Mechanics, and that's about all. Here's the catch: I had long cleared the zone. I was going to be at 4-0 on CPs... WITH AN OBJECTIVE REMAINING. /facepalm. I completely forgot I could have 5-manned the objective with Whackers, shot it with every Dygmy and the Axer, and closed out the game 5-0. That was dumb. VERY dumb.
Thankfully, Grim was on 3 transfers, plenty of beef to transfer to, and not in good position for Sorscha to assassinate, so all my opponent did was just jam up as best as he could. I cleared the way after that, got Mortality on the objective, the Axer charge it at dice-2 with a free charge (Grim put like 5 on it or so), and I easily ended the game 5-0.
I really actually played as clean a game as I've played in quite some time, I think. The only two major mistakes were 1) Mauler placement and 2) not ending the game with the objective on that one turn, and because I had so much stuff left, that last one wasn't horrible. The Mauler placement could have gotten me, but I thankfully was able to get away with it, taking the 5-0 CP win.
I had to leave after this, however, leaving the unresolved game with Andy to finish off... So now I owe him one!
Showing posts with label Hunters Grim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunters Grim. Show all posts
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Troll Beast Thoughts (Or How I'm Trying to Make up for Non-Character Reach Heavy Absence)
One of the major frustrations that Troll players have had stems from our lack of a non-character heavy with reach. It has felt like a missing piece from our arsenal, putting us into a problematic situation of somewhat reduced threat ranges.
When you look at it in simple numbers, it's a 1.5" lower threat range. That doesn't seem like so much, in some ways, but when you place it on the table, it's a huge difference, especially in Steamroller play. That 1.5" is the difference in effective placement across a Steamroller zone to threaten the other side; for example, the Scythean is a lower PS than our beasts generally achieve, but with 2 reach attacks, a Chain Attack that will usually hit on our beasts, and a solid Fury 4, in addition to Speed 6, meaning an 11" threat range. By comparison, the Mauler is a SPD 5 non-reach at PS 16 base, meaning an 8.5" threat range, for the same price.
That's not meant to be an exhaustive comparison, simply some input on what it can feel like on the board. That's in a vacuum, and comparison across factions is wildly inaccurate at the best of times because of relative strengths. For example, Rush with the Axer, or Lanyssa, or Grim1's gun, can bump our speed, and the Mauler's Rage animus puts him up above the Scythean... and so on. I'm well aware of factional differences; this was simply a convenient comparison.
In thinking about this, I've been trying to look at the Axer as a viable option. At 6 points for an 18/22 defensively and 6/14 offensively, with a very good animus, it's really more than a simple light, but less than a heavy. However, we also have access to some of the best damage buffing in the game; the Mauler can turn the Axer into a PS 17 beater, which is very respectable for a light. It may not kill an ARM 20 beast, but it can start a very efficient piece trade, and with a little help can remove some less hardy beasts/jacks from the table.
My two major speculative placements for this have been with pMadrak and Hunters Grim, with pGrim as a standby. I'm also considering eDoomy, but I'm trying to leave him on the shelf for the moment, as he saw a lot of play for me for some time. He's definitely a potential placement, however; he can give the Axer some very large threat ranges with a little help.
pMadrak's two major advantages are obvious: Carnage and the feat. In combination, these two can send the Axer way above his expected points value; he synergizes excellently with both, since Reach helps ensure continued hits, and Carnage taking him to MAT 8 will reliably hit most targets. pGrim similarly solves MAT issues, but can also increase his charge range with his gun. Additionally, Axers can be an excellent Primal target if you take Rok, which can provide you with a MAT 10/POW 16 Axer. This may not be enough damage to take down most heavies, but is excellent for the infantry mulching that pMadrak excels at.
The Hunters Grim has been the focus of my experimentation, however. With a little work, these guys can solve both the PS and MAT issues of beating up on enemy models. Mortality is a brutal spell, and in combination with the Mauler swings the Axer up to effective PS 19. This is in range to remove or severely damage other heavies, and against an enemy beast will likely remove 1-2 aspects if it fails to outright kill. It can easily cripple systems on jacks, similarly, and if you're lucky might blow out the Cortex. Additionally, the Hunters Grim give Axer's a free charge if Grim's gun hits, bumping their expected damage against an ARM 20 heavy (assuming all attacks hit) to approximately 27 damage. This can be aided by the Knockdown gun, which can remove the need to roll to hit. Against anything ARM 19 or lower, if knocked down, you're essentially looking at a near-guaranteed kill.
This is only a solution with one warlock, but it's been interesting, and has yielded excellent results. Axers are fairly cheap, can work well off the flanks, and it helps them become more than simple "animus-bots". I've been getting excellent work and matched my expected points return on them recently, with a few opponents surprised at the damage they can lay out.
When you look at it in simple numbers, it's a 1.5" lower threat range. That doesn't seem like so much, in some ways, but when you place it on the table, it's a huge difference, especially in Steamroller play. That 1.5" is the difference in effective placement across a Steamroller zone to threaten the other side; for example, the Scythean is a lower PS than our beasts generally achieve, but with 2 reach attacks, a Chain Attack that will usually hit on our beasts, and a solid Fury 4, in addition to Speed 6, meaning an 11" threat range. By comparison, the Mauler is a SPD 5 non-reach at PS 16 base, meaning an 8.5" threat range, for the same price.
That's not meant to be an exhaustive comparison, simply some input on what it can feel like on the board. That's in a vacuum, and comparison across factions is wildly inaccurate at the best of times because of relative strengths. For example, Rush with the Axer, or Lanyssa, or Grim1's gun, can bump our speed, and the Mauler's Rage animus puts him up above the Scythean... and so on. I'm well aware of factional differences; this was simply a convenient comparison.
In thinking about this, I've been trying to look at the Axer as a viable option. At 6 points for an 18/22 defensively and 6/14 offensively, with a very good animus, it's really more than a simple light, but less than a heavy. However, we also have access to some of the best damage buffing in the game; the Mauler can turn the Axer into a PS 17 beater, which is very respectable for a light. It may not kill an ARM 20 beast, but it can start a very efficient piece trade, and with a little help can remove some less hardy beasts/jacks from the table.
My two major speculative placements for this have been with pMadrak and Hunters Grim, with pGrim as a standby. I'm also considering eDoomy, but I'm trying to leave him on the shelf for the moment, as he saw a lot of play for me for some time. He's definitely a potential placement, however; he can give the Axer some very large threat ranges with a little help.
pMadrak's two major advantages are obvious: Carnage and the feat. In combination, these two can send the Axer way above his expected points value; he synergizes excellently with both, since Reach helps ensure continued hits, and Carnage taking him to MAT 8 will reliably hit most targets. pGrim similarly solves MAT issues, but can also increase his charge range with his gun. Additionally, Axers can be an excellent Primal target if you take Rok, which can provide you with a MAT 10/POW 16 Axer. This may not be enough damage to take down most heavies, but is excellent for the infantry mulching that pMadrak excels at.
The Hunters Grim has been the focus of my experimentation, however. With a little work, these guys can solve both the PS and MAT issues of beating up on enemy models. Mortality is a brutal spell, and in combination with the Mauler swings the Axer up to effective PS 19. This is in range to remove or severely damage other heavies, and against an enemy beast will likely remove 1-2 aspects if it fails to outright kill. It can easily cripple systems on jacks, similarly, and if you're lucky might blow out the Cortex. Additionally, the Hunters Grim give Axer's a free charge if Grim's gun hits, bumping their expected damage against an ARM 20 heavy (assuming all attacks hit) to approximately 27 damage. This can be aided by the Knockdown gun, which can remove the need to roll to hit. Against anything ARM 19 or lower, if knocked down, you're essentially looking at a near-guaranteed kill.
This is only a solution with one warlock, but it's been interesting, and has yielded excellent results. Axers are fairly cheap, can work well off the flanks, and it helps them become more than simple "animus-bots". I've been getting excellent work and matched my expected points return on them recently, with a few opponents surprised at the damage they can lay out.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Battle Report, 3-7-14
I got some extra time off work this week, and went down to Liam's place with Keith and Will for a little bit of extra table time. I learn some of the best information about my lists from gaming at Liam's, and I've probably made more progress as a player from that than any other time.
Liam wanted to test out Magnus the Warlord's Bad Seeds tier from No Quarter 36, figuring out if he wants that as one of his competitive lists going forward. His list (as always, as best as I can figure it out) was:
Magnus the Warlord (*6pts)
* Renegade (6pts)
* Renegade (6pts)
* Mangler (8pts)
* Mule (8pts)
Rangers (5pts)
Sword Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Trencher Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* 2 Trencher Infantry Grenadier (2pts)
* Trencher Infantry Officer & Sniper (3pts)
Kell Bailoch (0pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
Trencher Master Gunner (2pts)
The Trencher infantry may be a hair off; something doesn't seem quite right, but I'm not sure I have the points precisely right. I ran my Hunters Grim list again, in my continuing effort to try this as an all-comers list. It has been described in my previous posts, so I'll save space on listing it.
Similar to my game with Andy, the scenario was Supply and Demand. I took my normal deployment of central Fennblades and Burrowers, Axer on either flank, Bushwhackers to a flank, and everything else fairly central with the Fenns.
Liam's jacks went central, Kell off to my right flank, the Rangers ended up on my left flank, Saxon and the Sword Knights ambushed, and the Trenchers went mostly central too.
We each had some careful advancing up the board, wary of being shot up too early. Liam knocked off a couple of Bushwhackers early with Rangers, and the Trenchers advanced carefully into the zone with Dig In. My Dygmies emerged and shot up a Mule and Renegade, taking out of much of the Mule and a chunk of the Renegade; again, I forgot to move Grim up far enough to lay out a Turn 2 Mortality. This recurring mistake may have cost me destroying the Mule, unfortunately. I sent some Fennblades in to do supporting damage, but didn't cause any major casualties for Liam.
Most of my Dygmies got killed off and more than half my Fenns on the next turn, as Liam took advantage of his heavy combined arms approach to reduce my numbers. He plugged the objective with a couple of Renegade shots to remove it, and placed scattered damage around, as well as getting Ambushing Sword Knights onto my Axer.
I was able over the next couple of turns to remove most of his jacks and to whittle his numbers down, but it had come at too high a cost; I was running out of pieces. His Trenchers were still on the board, and I simply couldn't do anything about it. The game ended officially when I clocked; I was slow on my early turns, and couldn't make up for it later, and he won 1-0 on scenario/clock.
Again, as with the game with Andy, the details are a little hazy, and I'm working on trying to be a little smoother on my reporting, so I'm glossing over details. My unhappiest mistake was a repeat of a previous one; I feel like I need to be more aware of getting Grim up the board for Mortality. I could consider the Bone Grinders, but I would actually like to build in more combat pieces currently, and those are decidedly support.
Additionally, I think I focused too much on his jacks, and not enough on infantry removal. I feel like I should have put more emphasis on removing some of his infantry, which chewed chunks through my Dygmies and Fenns. If I could have reduced his volume of attacks, I might have gotten better clogging on the board, although I'm not 100% sure. That's simply theorycraft.
Also, I let 8 points of Sword Knights + Saxon tie up 2-3 Fennblades, a Stone Scribe Chronicler, Fell Caller, Axer, and (somewhat) Bushwhackers. Liam got the better trade in this situation, preventing me from bringing more to bear on the center of the board. I may wish to keep the Axers a little more central to threaten into the center of the board; one Axer was a consistent threat on one side of the board all game, but the other Axer bogged down clearing Sword Knights, which was an unfavorable exchange I think over the game.
Liam wanted to test out Magnus the Warlord's Bad Seeds tier from No Quarter 36, figuring out if he wants that as one of his competitive lists going forward. His list (as always, as best as I can figure it out) was:
Magnus the Warlord (*6pts)
* Renegade (6pts)
* Renegade (6pts)
* Mangler (8pts)
* Mule (8pts)
Rangers (5pts)
Sword Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Trencher Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* 2 Trencher Infantry Grenadier (2pts)
* Trencher Infantry Officer & Sniper (3pts)
Kell Bailoch (0pts)
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)
Trencher Master Gunner (2pts)
The Trencher infantry may be a hair off; something doesn't seem quite right, but I'm not sure I have the points precisely right. I ran my Hunters Grim list again, in my continuing effort to try this as an all-comers list. It has been described in my previous posts, so I'll save space on listing it.
Similar to my game with Andy, the scenario was Supply and Demand. I took my normal deployment of central Fennblades and Burrowers, Axer on either flank, Bushwhackers to a flank, and everything else fairly central with the Fenns.
Liam's jacks went central, Kell off to my right flank, the Rangers ended up on my left flank, Saxon and the Sword Knights ambushed, and the Trenchers went mostly central too.
We each had some careful advancing up the board, wary of being shot up too early. Liam knocked off a couple of Bushwhackers early with Rangers, and the Trenchers advanced carefully into the zone with Dig In. My Dygmies emerged and shot up a Mule and Renegade, taking out of much of the Mule and a chunk of the Renegade; again, I forgot to move Grim up far enough to lay out a Turn 2 Mortality. This recurring mistake may have cost me destroying the Mule, unfortunately. I sent some Fennblades in to do supporting damage, but didn't cause any major casualties for Liam.
Most of my Dygmies got killed off and more than half my Fenns on the next turn, as Liam took advantage of his heavy combined arms approach to reduce my numbers. He plugged the objective with a couple of Renegade shots to remove it, and placed scattered damage around, as well as getting Ambushing Sword Knights onto my Axer.
I was able over the next couple of turns to remove most of his jacks and to whittle his numbers down, but it had come at too high a cost; I was running out of pieces. His Trenchers were still on the board, and I simply couldn't do anything about it. The game ended officially when I clocked; I was slow on my early turns, and couldn't make up for it later, and he won 1-0 on scenario/clock.
Again, as with the game with Andy, the details are a little hazy, and I'm working on trying to be a little smoother on my reporting, so I'm glossing over details. My unhappiest mistake was a repeat of a previous one; I feel like I need to be more aware of getting Grim up the board for Mortality. I could consider the Bone Grinders, but I would actually like to build in more combat pieces currently, and those are decidedly support.
Additionally, I think I focused too much on his jacks, and not enough on infantry removal. I feel like I should have put more emphasis on removing some of his infantry, which chewed chunks through my Dygmies and Fenns. If I could have reduced his volume of attacks, I might have gotten better clogging on the board, although I'm not 100% sure. That's simply theorycraft.
Also, I let 8 points of Sword Knights + Saxon tie up 2-3 Fennblades, a Stone Scribe Chronicler, Fell Caller, Axer, and (somewhat) Bushwhackers. Liam got the better trade in this situation, preventing me from bringing more to bear on the center of the board. I may wish to keep the Axers a little more central to threaten into the center of the board; one Axer was a consistent threat on one side of the board all game, but the other Axer bogged down clearing Sword Knights, which was an unfavorable exchange I think over the game.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Battle Report, 3-5-14
For my regular Wednesday gaming at Game Theory, I played against Andy, one of our local Legion of Everblight players. He was wanting to test a new list, trying out the new pThagrosh tier list (New Blood from No Quarter 50), and I'm continuing my testing of my Hunters Grim list, trying to decide if I like its current incarnation, or if I have any improvements I would like to test.
Andy's list, as best as I can reassemble it:
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (*5pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
My Hunter's Grim list remains the same as previous efforts; I may change some pieces, but I want to playtest it thoroughly in a variety of games before I draw any conclusions.
Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Unfortunately, I'm writing this battle report a week after the fact, rather than the fairly immediate writing I would like to do, so the details are fuzzy; this may be more of a summary than a true report. Scenario was Supply and Demand; the objectives had no real effect on the game except getting in my way!
Early highlights: I went first, running up the board and advancing an Axer too far up the board, trying to be aggressive to bring him into the game early. The Dygmies went under, otherwise I kept a fairly central presence with a wide spread.
Andy moved up a Vessel, brought out a Stinger onto a Beast Mistress, and landed a pair of Stingers onto my Axer, leaving me an Axer short as of the bottom of round 1, a beast that would have been extremely useful across the rest of the game.
The Dygmies came up and with help blew up all three Spawning Vessels, which I had decided I needed to remove from the board to minimize his recursion throughout the game, and landed damage on the Scythean despite Spiny Growth, and I did some other tertiary damage. I did not move Grim far enough to land a Mortality, or I would have nigh-crippled the Scythean. I placed other random damage, and boxed some lessers in. Additionally, I didn't spread the Fennblades enough and left some of them in bad positions.
Andy retaliated, removing most of my Dygmies and Fennblades, and we banged out several turns of attrition. I removed the Scythean from the board but it came back from the feat, and Andy was able to put scenario pressure with a domination and objective destruction. On my last turn, I forgot to move the Mauler into the zone as I should have, preventing me from contesting with it, and letting Andy clear a single Fennblade to win the game.
I learned a few key lessons from this game, though; one is the brutal attrition of pThagrosh. Andy hasn't played him very regularly, so I simply was not aware of how nasty he can be. I learned a lesson from this game, and I have a better awareness now of what he brings to the table, as well as how hard it can be to remove him and his beasts.
Additionally, I need to bring more aggressive pressure with my beasts, particularly my Mauler and Axers, and be careful not to lose an Axer stupidly. There was no gain from my early Axer loss, and my Mauler was so far back as to be out of the game for the majority. Instead, I can use my Mauler's Rage animus and Grim to hand out Rage to key Fennblades for charges, bringing them to PS 15, or PS 17 effective with Mortality, which can do a lot of the needed damage while keeping my key pieces safe.
I also thing going for the pots may not have been the correct decision. Removing Andy's recursion was helpful, but I think that trying to force an early feat by removing a heavy from the board may have been better. If I can land a Mortality, the Dygmies guns are at dice - 4 effectively on a Spiny Growth'd beast, meaning the unit can potentially remove a heavy. That may be a more effective goal, as the trade of Thags feat for Dygmies is a fairly good one. If I can clear charge lanes for the Fennblades with my Dygmy placement, I bring additional pressure.
Andy played a very good game and taught me a couple of key lessons; I think the list is running nearly how I would like for it to, but I need to practice it more and figure out the wrinkles.
Andy's list, as best as I can reassemble it:
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (*5pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Spawning Vessel (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
Beast Mistress (3pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Stinger (2pts)
My Hunter's Grim list remains the same as previous efforts; I may change some pieces, but I want to playtest it thoroughly in a variety of games before I draw any conclusions.
Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Unfortunately, I'm writing this battle report a week after the fact, rather than the fairly immediate writing I would like to do, so the details are fuzzy; this may be more of a summary than a true report. Scenario was Supply and Demand; the objectives had no real effect on the game except getting in my way!
Early highlights: I went first, running up the board and advancing an Axer too far up the board, trying to be aggressive to bring him into the game early. The Dygmies went under, otherwise I kept a fairly central presence with a wide spread.
Andy moved up a Vessel, brought out a Stinger onto a Beast Mistress, and landed a pair of Stingers onto my Axer, leaving me an Axer short as of the bottom of round 1, a beast that would have been extremely useful across the rest of the game.
The Dygmies came up and with help blew up all three Spawning Vessels, which I had decided I needed to remove from the board to minimize his recursion throughout the game, and landed damage on the Scythean despite Spiny Growth, and I did some other tertiary damage. I did not move Grim far enough to land a Mortality, or I would have nigh-crippled the Scythean. I placed other random damage, and boxed some lessers in. Additionally, I didn't spread the Fennblades enough and left some of them in bad positions.
Andy retaliated, removing most of my Dygmies and Fennblades, and we banged out several turns of attrition. I removed the Scythean from the board but it came back from the feat, and Andy was able to put scenario pressure with a domination and objective destruction. On my last turn, I forgot to move the Mauler into the zone as I should have, preventing me from contesting with it, and letting Andy clear a single Fennblade to win the game.
I learned a few key lessons from this game, though; one is the brutal attrition of pThagrosh. Andy hasn't played him very regularly, so I simply was not aware of how nasty he can be. I learned a lesson from this game, and I have a better awareness now of what he brings to the table, as well as how hard it can be to remove him and his beasts.
Additionally, I need to bring more aggressive pressure with my beasts, particularly my Mauler and Axers, and be careful not to lose an Axer stupidly. There was no gain from my early Axer loss, and my Mauler was so far back as to be out of the game for the majority. Instead, I can use my Mauler's Rage animus and Grim to hand out Rage to key Fennblades for charges, bringing them to PS 15, or PS 17 effective with Mortality, which can do a lot of the needed damage while keeping my key pieces safe.
I also thing going for the pots may not have been the correct decision. Removing Andy's recursion was helpful, but I think that trying to force an early feat by removing a heavy from the board may have been better. If I can land a Mortality, the Dygmies guns are at dice - 4 effectively on a Spiny Growth'd beast, meaning the unit can potentially remove a heavy. That may be a more effective goal, as the trade of Thags feat for Dygmies is a fairly good one. If I can clear charge lanes for the Fennblades with my Dygmy placement, I bring additional pressure.
Andy played a very good game and taught me a couple of key lessons; I think the list is running nearly how I would like for it to, but I need to practice it more and figure out the wrinkles.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
March 1st Steamroller, Final Table
My final game was on Destruction, with my opponent running Cygnar's Lieutenant Caine in a Tier 4 list; second lists were optional, and this was his only list. His list (as close as I can replicate) was:
Lieutenant Allister Caine (*6pts)
* Stormwall (19pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (0pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Tempest Blazers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
I tabbed the Hunters Grim to close out my day, and promptly lost the dice roll to make the day 3/3 for my opponents having choice of 1st or 2nd. He opted to go first, and I held the same side of the table, which had a comfortable wall that I felt Grim could hide behind.
Our table contained a wall about an inch outside the control zone on my side, an obstruction (house) a few inches away from the zone on the side, forest on the right side of the zone from my view, and rough terrain and a wall on the left side, with the wall on his side.
He sent the two units of Gun Mages down the center and side with the rough terrain on either side of the Storm Wall, and the Tempest Blazers on the far side to take advantage of the forest as best as possible, and the Hunters ADed in front of the marshalling Gun Mages.
I countered with the Bushwhackers across from the Hunters, Burrowers a little right of center, an Axer on either flank, Grim Center, and the Fennblades spread out around him. The support staff went fairly central, able to respond wherever was necessary.
He ran everything first turn, sending the Hunters up to near the halfway line on my left flank, Blazers into the forest on the right, and as many Gun Mages into cover as possible. The Stormwall ran the max distance a little to the left of central.
I decided to try to get some early damage with the Bushwhackers, since the Hunters had moved easily into range, hit, and promptly blasted it as hard as possible with boxcars! I plinked in more ranged damage, leaving it on four boxes, but the main gun up. The Burrowers went under, and the rest of my army moved up fairly centrally, taking cover or concealment where possible.
His next turn involved blasting one Axer completely off the table, and knocking about half the Fennblades off. A few shots went into Grim to do some early damage, but at DEF 20 behind the wall he was a hard out. The Stormwall advanced to contest the zone, toeing a corner, and the Blazers worked on my right flank, ending up near the objective I would be gunning for. The other Gun Mages slowly advanced up the field as they shot.
I took Vengeance and Mirage moves on the Fenns to reposition, used the Runebearer to hit a Mortality on the Stormwall, and laid in some damage with the Fennblades. The Bushwhackers finished off the wounded Hunter, Grim feated, shot the Stormwall, and Mortalitied a knocked down Blazer. The Mauler got Rush and pounded the Stormwall into unrecognizable electronic bits, while the burrowers had emerged within range of the Blazers and took 4 of them off the table, as well as the objective, with help from an Axer. The Black 13th lost two members to an angry Kithkar, and I was left in position to control the zone for my first CP.
Caine responded by feating and killing most of the single wound models remaining, leaving a few Fennblades and Burrowers, sending the Burrowers screaming at the site of their own blood. The Gun Mages shot some more Fennblades off the table, while one set full CRA'd into the Mauler but rolled low to barely scratch him. The remaining Blazer contested the zone to try to hold him in the game.
My Burrowers responded by screaming more and running even further away, but my beasts held up and removed more threats. I killed a few Gun Mages, but primarily set up Fort Grim with Gobber clouds and medium based models to completely screen Grim and allow him to safely dominate. For safety, I camped on 4, taking me to 3 CPs. On his next turn, he ran some pieces in to contest, but I was able to clear them again and take it to 5 CPs, sending me to 3-0 for the day and taking the tourney!
Thanks for reading, and for bearing with me as I'll be figuring out how to deliver battle reports succinctly but clearly! I may do some list assessment in coming days, analyzing how I felt about my lists, if I can figure out a format!
Lieutenant Allister Caine (*6pts)
* Stormwall (19pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (0pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Tempest Blazers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
I tabbed the Hunters Grim to close out my day, and promptly lost the dice roll to make the day 3/3 for my opponents having choice of 1st or 2nd. He opted to go first, and I held the same side of the table, which had a comfortable wall that I felt Grim could hide behind.
Our table contained a wall about an inch outside the control zone on my side, an obstruction (house) a few inches away from the zone on the side, forest on the right side of the zone from my view, and rough terrain and a wall on the left side, with the wall on his side.
He sent the two units of Gun Mages down the center and side with the rough terrain on either side of the Storm Wall, and the Tempest Blazers on the far side to take advantage of the forest as best as possible, and the Hunters ADed in front of the marshalling Gun Mages.
I countered with the Bushwhackers across from the Hunters, Burrowers a little right of center, an Axer on either flank, Grim Center, and the Fennblades spread out around him. The support staff went fairly central, able to respond wherever was necessary.
He ran everything first turn, sending the Hunters up to near the halfway line on my left flank, Blazers into the forest on the right, and as many Gun Mages into cover as possible. The Stormwall ran the max distance a little to the left of central.
I decided to try to get some early damage with the Bushwhackers, since the Hunters had moved easily into range, hit, and promptly blasted it as hard as possible with boxcars! I plinked in more ranged damage, leaving it on four boxes, but the main gun up. The Burrowers went under, and the rest of my army moved up fairly centrally, taking cover or concealment where possible.
His next turn involved blasting one Axer completely off the table, and knocking about half the Fennblades off. A few shots went into Grim to do some early damage, but at DEF 20 behind the wall he was a hard out. The Stormwall advanced to contest the zone, toeing a corner, and the Blazers worked on my right flank, ending up near the objective I would be gunning for. The other Gun Mages slowly advanced up the field as they shot.
I took Vengeance and Mirage moves on the Fenns to reposition, used the Runebearer to hit a Mortality on the Stormwall, and laid in some damage with the Fennblades. The Bushwhackers finished off the wounded Hunter, Grim feated, shot the Stormwall, and Mortalitied a knocked down Blazer. The Mauler got Rush and pounded the Stormwall into unrecognizable electronic bits, while the burrowers had emerged within range of the Blazers and took 4 of them off the table, as well as the objective, with help from an Axer. The Black 13th lost two members to an angry Kithkar, and I was left in position to control the zone for my first CP.
Caine responded by feating and killing most of the single wound models remaining, leaving a few Fennblades and Burrowers, sending the Burrowers screaming at the site of their own blood. The Gun Mages shot some more Fennblades off the table, while one set full CRA'd into the Mauler but rolled low to barely scratch him. The remaining Blazer contested the zone to try to hold him in the game.
My Burrowers responded by screaming more and running even further away, but my beasts held up and removed more threats. I killed a few Gun Mages, but primarily set up Fort Grim with Gobber clouds and medium based models to completely screen Grim and allow him to safely dominate. For safety, I camped on 4, taking me to 3 CPs. On his next turn, he ran some pieces in to contest, but I was able to clear them again and take it to 5 CPs, sending me to 3-0 for the day and taking the tourney!
Thanks for reading, and for bearing with me as I'll be figuring out how to deliver battle reports succinctly but clearly! I may do some list assessment in coming days, analyzing how I felt about my lists, if I can figure out a format!
Monday, March 3, 2014
March 1st Steamroller, part 2
My second game was against Khador on Outflank, with my opponent choosing eSorscha and I chose Hunters Grim. My opponents list:
Forward Kommander Sorscha (*6pts)
* Behemoth (13pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
* Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
* 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers (3pts)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (3pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)
My Hunter's Grim list:
Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Opponent went first (recurring theme). From my perspective, he sent the Widowmakers and Winter Guard Death Star at the left zone, Behemoth dead center with A&H and Sorscha, and the IFP with Eiryss on the right zone.
I put my Fennblades center, one axer to either flank, the Mauler with Grim, the Gobbers, and the support staff in the center. On AD I put the burrowers slightly right of center due to the IFP, and the Bushwhackers on the right flank across from Eiryss and the IFP, working off the assumption that I could most likely clear the IFP easiest to start getting CP's, because I was worried about the volume of attacks on an Iron Fleshed Winter Guard, but the burrow location would still allow me to react to the right side.
On first turn, my opponent just ran everything mostly straight forward, spreading the IFP out on their run, but managing to get a perfect deviation on a Behemoth trample + Shoot to take out a single Burrower. Iron Flesh went on the Winterguard.
My second turn, I advanced my bushwhackers slightly and picked off 1-2 IFP with CRA's and a little luck on dice. My Axer's advanced up to threaten either zone, Grim in the middle, and I somewhat cautiously advanced the Fennblades up with Tale of Mists, wary of threat ranges, and Mirage on the Fennblades.
My opponent chucked more shots around, originally trying to avoid Vengeance on the Fennblades, but after a high blast damage roll he simply decided to remove more from the board, taking out 4 of them in total. 4 IFP made it into the zone with Iron Zeal and the Winter Guard + Widowmakers flooded one zone.
I charged one Axer into the Widowmakers, taking out 2, and mostly just occupying space. I got Mortality onto the IFP, and used the Sluggers and Bushwhackers, with help from 2 Fennblades, to reduce the IFP to only 2 more members surviving. The Winterguard only had one member knocked down, but I was having trouble with DEF 17. Grim was screened by the Gobber cloud again. I claimed the zone with the other Axer and Kithkar to get 1 CP.
My opponent used Freezing Grip to hold the Fenns in place, then proceeded to blow all but 2 Fennblades and all but 1 Burrower out of the game. Valachev and the remaining Pikemen and Eiryss contested to prevent me from scoring this turn. Behemoth stayed mostly central, not overcommitting mostly due to the Mauler's presence.
Smelling a good chance at a CP victory, I simply went about trying to clear and clog the zone. The Kithkar with +2 from the Fell Caller claimed both Valachev and Holt, while the Bushwhackers earned more points in clearing the last IFP with support from Grim. Eiryss died to an Axer charge to clear the zone, with Grim reforming into the zone after his activation to dominate the zone to go to 3 CP's. The other Axer simply held the zone, and bravely realized he was going to die horribly to the Great Bears. The only potential "fail" on my part was forgetting to set the 5" trap which could have given Grim a little more protection on the next turn.
At this point, the only things that could contest the zones for my opponent were Behemoth, Aiyana, and a Winter Guard that could get in the zone, unless he ran all the Winter Guard, which could get approximately 1/2 of them in the zone, but would be able to hand out very little damage to any of my forces and would simply leave him in place for the retaliation. Instead, he opted to feat and blow all the damage he could into Grim, resulting in two nearly dead beasts (thankfully DEF 16 is hard to hit, even on boosted attack rolls, for the WG!) and the other Axer reduced to meaty bits by the Great Bears. The Behemoth, Aiyana, and a single WG contested, while he scored 1 CP.
I finished the game by clearing the WG and Aiyana, Mortality on Behemoth, and killing him with the Mauler, Fell Caller, and Axer to close out and get the last 2 CP's to take me to 5.
Forward Kommander Sorscha (*6pts)
* Behemoth (13pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
* Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
* 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers (3pts)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (3pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)
My Hunter's Grim list:
Hunters Grim (*4pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Professor Victor Pendrake (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Opponent went first (recurring theme). From my perspective, he sent the Widowmakers and Winter Guard Death Star at the left zone, Behemoth dead center with A&H and Sorscha, and the IFP with Eiryss on the right zone.
I put my Fennblades center, one axer to either flank, the Mauler with Grim, the Gobbers, and the support staff in the center. On AD I put the burrowers slightly right of center due to the IFP, and the Bushwhackers on the right flank across from Eiryss and the IFP, working off the assumption that I could most likely clear the IFP easiest to start getting CP's, because I was worried about the volume of attacks on an Iron Fleshed Winter Guard, but the burrow location would still allow me to react to the right side.
On first turn, my opponent just ran everything mostly straight forward, spreading the IFP out on their run, but managing to get a perfect deviation on a Behemoth trample + Shoot to take out a single Burrower. Iron Flesh went on the Winterguard.
My second turn, I advanced my bushwhackers slightly and picked off 1-2 IFP with CRA's and a little luck on dice. My Axer's advanced up to threaten either zone, Grim in the middle, and I somewhat cautiously advanced the Fennblades up with Tale of Mists, wary of threat ranges, and Mirage on the Fennblades.
My opponent chucked more shots around, originally trying to avoid Vengeance on the Fennblades, but after a high blast damage roll he simply decided to remove more from the board, taking out 4 of them in total. 4 IFP made it into the zone with Iron Zeal and the Winter Guard + Widowmakers flooded one zone.
I charged one Axer into the Widowmakers, taking out 2, and mostly just occupying space. I got Mortality onto the IFP, and used the Sluggers and Bushwhackers, with help from 2 Fennblades, to reduce the IFP to only 2 more members surviving. The Winterguard only had one member knocked down, but I was having trouble with DEF 17. Grim was screened by the Gobber cloud again. I claimed the zone with the other Axer and Kithkar to get 1 CP.
My opponent used Freezing Grip to hold the Fenns in place, then proceeded to blow all but 2 Fennblades and all but 1 Burrower out of the game. Valachev and the remaining Pikemen and Eiryss contested to prevent me from scoring this turn. Behemoth stayed mostly central, not overcommitting mostly due to the Mauler's presence.
Smelling a good chance at a CP victory, I simply went about trying to clear and clog the zone. The Kithkar with +2 from the Fell Caller claimed both Valachev and Holt, while the Bushwhackers earned more points in clearing the last IFP with support from Grim. Eiryss died to an Axer charge to clear the zone, with Grim reforming into the zone after his activation to dominate the zone to go to 3 CP's. The other Axer simply held the zone, and bravely realized he was going to die horribly to the Great Bears. The only potential "fail" on my part was forgetting to set the 5" trap which could have given Grim a little more protection on the next turn.
At this point, the only things that could contest the zones for my opponent were Behemoth, Aiyana, and a Winter Guard that could get in the zone, unless he ran all the Winter Guard, which could get approximately 1/2 of them in the zone, but would be able to hand out very little damage to any of my forces and would simply leave him in place for the retaliation. Instead, he opted to feat and blow all the damage he could into Grim, resulting in two nearly dead beasts (thankfully DEF 16 is hard to hit, even on boosted attack rolls, for the WG!) and the other Axer reduced to meaty bits by the Great Bears. The Behemoth, Aiyana, and a single WG contested, while he scored 1 CP.
I finished the game by clearing the WG and Aiyana, Mortality on Behemoth, and killing him with the Mauler, Fell Caller, and Axer to close out and get the last 2 CP's to take me to 5.
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