Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Warmachine/Hordes Battle report - eVayl vs. Vlad 2 - 50 points


This is a 50 point steamroller prep match with a local player. We played the scenario, Outflank. We have two casters each, eVayl and eAbby for Legion, and Vlad 2 and Butcher 3 for Khador. We were playing timed turns, with 10 minutes per side and a 5 minute extension. We had a bit of list chicken going here, as eVayl was not going to be Vlad 2's friend, while Butcher 3 could present eVayl with problems. eAbby doesn't want to see Vlad 2 across the table, as he is one of the rare casters that can out-threat her. She does not mind Butcher 3 nearly so much, as Fortify can nullify one of his biggest advantages. I ended up choosing eVayl and she can play into even unfavorable matchup's and come out on top, where eAbby doesn't have that flexibility. My opponent chose Vlad 2, as I had been playing eAbby quite a bit lately and he must have thought I would stick to her. Now here are the armies:

Vlad 2
Demolisher
War Dog
Max Uhlans
Max Outrider’s
Max Doom Reaver’s
Max Doom Reaver’s
Max Winterguard Infantry
UA, 2 x Rocket attachments
Kovnik Joe

eVayl
Angelius
Angelius
Angelius
Ravagore
Ravagore
Max Hex Hunters
Max Spawning Vessel
Shepherd
Shepherd
Spell Martyr
Deployment
I won the roll off. I chose sides so that I could pick the one with two walls about 6-10 inches from my deployment zone. My opponent then went first. Mission is Outflank. He deployed the Outriders to my far left. Vlad was central behind a small forest. The Uhlan’s were just right of him. The Winterguard were to my right. I deployed two Angelius’ to my left, followed by a Ravagore and Vayl. Then I placed half the unit of Hex Hunters on each side of my Spawning Vessel right in the middle of the table so they could freely move through the hole between the two walls. To the right of them was my second Ravagore followed by my final Angelius. My opponent advance deployed a Doom Reaver unit to both the middle right and middle left. I advance deploy a Shepherd and Spell Martyr to my left by my Angels and the wall. One Shepherd goes on the right near my Ravagore and Angelius on that side.
Khador – Turn 1
My opponent activates Vlad, casts Transference on himself, assail on the Demolisher, and Hand of Fate on the Uhlan’s. He then charges forward into the forest. The Doom Reaver’s activate and both units run forward and spread out throughout the zone. The Uhlan’s activate now and run forward in a big clump so they all benefit from the +2 armor. My opponent realizes he got too close to his Doom Reaver’s so takes an abomination check and just passes. Joe and the Winterguard Bob and Weave and run up behind the Doom Reaver’s and pass their abomination check. The War Dog runs up behind Vlad. The Outriders run way up on my very far left and spread out. The Demolisher charges an Angelius. And with that over to Legion!
Legion – Turn 1
I started off my first turn by activating the Hex Hunters and running them forward between the walls in roughly a three row deep formation. I was dumb and moved the leader first and furthest to the left so that limited my movement capabilities. I suck at playing infantry…. Next the spawning vessel trundled forward between the walls. I now activate my left Ravagore, which walks up next to the wall, casts its animus, and boosts a shot into the front Uhlan. I score a direct hit and vaporize that Uhlan while lighting three of the four remaining members on fire. I actually score one point of blast damage on one with a roll of box-cars. Next up is Vayl. She casts Admonition on the furthest Angelius on the right and Refuge on the nearer one. She then drops two Fury and walks forward but is not within an inch of the wall. My left Angelius with Admonition activates and flies 9 inches forward into the left zone and boosts a shot into a Doom Reaver on the hill at the edge of the zone. It hits and blows the Doom Reaver away. The Angelius with Refuge moves forward and boosts a shot into a Doom Reaver in the same unit and once again blows it up. The refuge move brings it back to standing up against the left side of the wall. My right Angelius moves up near the right wall and boosts and kills a Doom Reaver. The right Ravagore moves up to the right wall and tries to take a shot at the right Uhlan in the block and ends up a half inch short. The scatter lands on the Uhlan but blast damage fails to break ARM. The Shepherd on the left gets behind the Ravagore and wipes its Fury. The Shepherd on the right goes behind the Angelius and wipes its Fury. I forget the Spell Martyr but my opponent lets my run him over behind the left wall. He has a lot of Spell Warded and Immune to Cold models so I don’t have a lot of spells to arc this game. On to Khador!
Khador – Turn 2
My opponent starts off the turn by upkeeping all his spells and rolling fire. None of the fires go out. I cause a point on one and four points on another. This leaves one undamaged, two at four boxes, and one at one box remaining. The first to activate is Vlad. He moves to the other side of the forest and pops his feat. He rolls up 5 guys gaining super powers. He powers up three of the Uhlan’s and a Doom Reaver from each unit. The right Doom Reaver unit then activates and get a run charge order. Two get charges into my Hex Hunter and one runs up to the wall trying to engage my Ravagore and failing and the last two just hang back in the zone. The Hex Hunters pass command thanks to Vayl being nearby. The super powered Doom Reaver hits and kills three Hex Hunters with Berserk. My pot gets filled to the brim. The second Doom Reaver misses and kills nothing. Next up is the Ulhan’s. They get a run charge order. One Uhlan managed to impact kill a Hex Hunter and successfully charge Vayl. The second Uhlan tries the same and kills a Hex Hunter but can’t reach Vayl since she was about an inch and a half from the wall. The third couldn’t fit in so just ran up into base contact. The fourth charges a Hex Hunter deep in my lines, but failed to hit the impact attack on the Hex Hunter on the way in so he got stopped. He still manages to just barely reach the Hex Hunter so he took his attack and still missed. My Hex Hunters pass their break test for casualties. The Uhlan that got the charge on Vayl easily hits her with a boost and Hand of Fate. He boosts damage and does a monstrous 20 points of damage to her. I transfer the damage to my left Ravagore and it cripples his body. The left unit of Doom Reavers get a run order and spread throughout the left zone and the super powered one engages my Admonition Angelius. I don’t use Admonition and sit tight. The outriders swoop deep into my territory on the left side with a run move. The War Dog walks up by Vlad. The Demolisher charges up into the left zone. The Winterguard Bob and Weave move up into the right zone and take some pot shots at my Spawning Vessel ladies, killing a few. And with that it was over to Legion!
Legion – Turn 2
Well I have to admit, that went far better than I could have hoped! Sure, my opponent got a solid hit into Vayl, but all his highest value models are right next to me and easily within attacking range of most everything I’ve got. Plus I only lost 5 Hex Hunters and a few Spawning Vessel members. Not bad at all! Now time to do some work. I pull in Fury and realize I miscounted and have to cut for one. I drop Admonition and upkeep Refuge. I make a mistake right off the bat this turn and activate Vayl. I have her move to her right to be clear of the wall and cast and Icy Grip at the Uhlan right in her face. I forget the fact that it no longer has reach but is engaged by one of my Spawning Vessel members, so I’m looking for a 12 to hit. I boost but miss. Dang. I really should have moved my Spell Martyr around the wall and I would have had an easy target onto one of the back members who had no cover and was not engaged. Oh well. Vayl casts Admonition on herself and that finishes up her activation. Next I activate my left Ravagore, forgetting entirely that it is damaged. I move him up 6 inches over the wall and try to take a shot on Vlad. I have him by about a half an inch. I cast my animus and boost to hit, looking for a 10 and getting a solid 14. I boost damage and roll a 10, causing 6 points of damage and lighting him on fire. I then realize he is damage and think I messed that whole activation up! But it was only his body that was crippled, so he could shoot unhindered! Phew. Next I activate the left Angelius with Refuge, and it flies up as far past the Doom Reaver engaging my other Angel that it can without taking a free strike. I boost to hit my armor pierce into him and get the hit and kill him. It then overtakes forward and just engages another Doom Reaver. I buy an attack and miss. I buy another hit and kill. I overtake to the right and barely engage the second to last Doom Reaver. I buy miss. Buy, hit, kill. I then take my refuge move and fly back to just in front of the left wall. Now unengaged, my left Angelius charges forward into the Demolisher and gets a brutal armor piercing attack of something like 14 damage on dice +1, crippling its movement. No more slams for you! I don’t bother trying to do anything more against its armor 25. My right Angelius now activates and move into the middle of the clump of Doom Reavers near my Hex Hunters. I max out its Fury buying attacks and overtaking through 2 Doom Reavers. Two remain in the unit, one of which is super powered. I activate my Hex Hunters and they get a run/charge order. Two get charges on the super powered guy, one is already engaging the other, and the final two guys charge the weaker Reaver. My first charge attack on super dude hits needing a 9, but then I roll a 7 for damage, needing an 8 to kill. Doh! The second guys misses super dude. The guy already engaging the other Doom Reaver goes, hitting and killing himself. I don’t have any target for battle wizard so that finishes the Hex Hunters activation. My right Ravagore moves up and boosts a shot into the Winterguard Infantry in front, hitting and killing him and a Komrade from blast damage. The left Shepherd moves up and heals 2 points on the Ravagore, and the right Shepherd moves up and removes the fury from my Angelius. Finally, the Spawning Vessel activates and I shuffle the ladies in from of Vayl, blocking off the Uhlan’s. I pop out a Stinger behind the front Uhlan. The Stinger activates, walking up to the Uhlan and boosts to hit him, needing an 11, and I hit! Oh happy day! I boost damage, and along with poison, send that Uhlan back to wherever Khador believe their dead go. And with that, I pass turn.
Khador – Turn 3
My opponent was quite shocked at the infantry clearing I did last turn. Even if an opponent spreads out, Angels can do work on infantry units! The fire on each Uhlan stays lit and I think one died to the flames. The fire on Vlad goes out. Poo. Vlad drops Assail and Hand of Fate and upkeeps Transference. The right Doom Reaver activates and the two remaining dudes move to engage all my Hex Hunters. The first guy hits with boosts from Vlad, killing two Hex Hunters from Berserk. The second Doom Reaver misses on the first guy even after a boost… Ouch…. That leaves three Hex Hunters on the board. The last Reaver on the left charges into my Angelius engaging the Demolisher and causes something like 6 damage on a bad roll. The Demolisher activates and walks by the Angelius, pushing it out of the zone with its Bulldoze ability. The Uhlans activate and kill a few Spawning Vessel ladies. The Outriders swing forward and get some sprays on my left Angelius by the wall and a Shepherd. The Angel is untouched, but the Shepherd is not so lucky. On the right, Joe activates and shoots one of the Doom Reavers engaging my Hex Hunters. I’m not quite sure why, but he was in the way for something. The Winterguard Bob and Weave and try to shoot up my Angelius, doing relatively minor damage. Vlad activates and runs on top of the hill at the back of the left zone, dominating for two points. And with that, it was Legion turn.
Legion – Turn 3
As I begin this turn, the owner declares that the store is closing so we need to finish up our game. We decide to call it, but I figure I’ll make one move to assassinate just to see if I could. I move my Ravagore to get a clear shot, cast my animus, boost to hit, needing 13’s on the hill, hit! Boost damage, roll 6,6,4, finishing off Vlad. Victory to Legion!
Post-Game thoughts
Well, that was not how I would have expected that game to end! It was a really good game that was going back and forth, barring a few crappy rolls for my opponent. I think had the game continued, I had my opponent on the back foot as he was running out of units that could really do much of anything to deal with my beasts. His heaviest hitters died before really doing much of anything after his feat turn. He did put me in a poor position for scenario by dominating the zone early. However, Vlad had little to protect him from my two Angelius and Ravagore eventually catching him and putting him in the dirt. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this battle report!

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