50 pt Steamroller tournament Battle Report - eVayl vs. MacBain

MacBain

Galleon

eEiryss

Gorman

Orin Midwinter

Ragman

Rhupert

Alexia and Risen

Max Greygore Boomhowlers

Max Kayazy Assassins w/ UA

Kayazy Eliminators

Mission is incursion. I chose eVayl because I felt more comfortable with her facing off against a caster I have never faced. In hindsight, eAbby may have been a bit better against MacBain, but she doesn’t much care for Incursion with her limited control area and small army. Anyways, I lose the roll off and my opponent chooses the side. There were two houses to his left and right outside of his deployment zone, and a decent sized forest right in the center of his table half. He said he wanted that side so that I couldn’t hide Vayl within the forest. In reality, with occultation, I wasn’t very worried about any assassination attempts against this list. On my side I had a house dead center, with a hill on my left and a wall on my right. I did not realize houses are infinitely tall, so I can’t fly over them. This would come back to bite me in this game. He deploys his Galleon right in the middle. I deploy Vayl to the left of my center house. To her left go two Ravagores and an Angelius. The other two Angelius go to her right with one being placed on the right side of the house. The Hex Hunters and the Spawning Vessel deploy to my right side with the wall about 9 inches in front of them. From my point of view, MacBain goes to the left of the Galleon with Gorman, Orin, and Rhupert kind of crowded around the colossal. Greygore and his Boomhowlers go to the far left and Alexia and the Risen go to the left behind the house. On the right goes the Kayazy. The Eliminators were deployed somewhere by the Boomhowlers and Alexia. I place my Spell Martyr in front of my Hex Hunters and the Shepherds in front of my Ravagores. eEiryss is then deployed near his house on my right. And with that, Turn 1 Legion!

Turn 1 – Legion

Vayl starts off, putting Refuge and Admonition on two Angelius and Occultation on herself, then she charges ahead to end up to the left side of the house. All three Angels run forward, not going the full distance but getting out in front of Vayl and the far right one getting in front of the house. Both Ravagores run forward onto the hill. The Shepherds run up behind. The Hex Hunters run up and spread out. The Spawning Vessel walks forward. The Spell Martyr runs forward behind the wall.

Turn 1 – Mercenaries

1 focus goes to the Galleon. MacBain goes first, putting Failsafe on the Galleon and Countermeasures on the Eliminators (which I should have really read closer when looking at his cards). I think that was it, then he walked up behind the left house. Boomhowler cries for 4+ tough and runs forward on the left. The Eliminators run forward, getting up close to engaging some of my stuff. Alexia and her Risen run up behind the Boomhowlers. Rhupert gives the Kayazy pathfinder and they all run forward spreading out. eEiryss moves forward and kills my Spell Martyr (DAMN!). The Galleon runs forward and gets most of the way through the forest. Ragman moves up behind. Orin says no spells. Gorman moves up by MacBain behind the house. We roll for flags and the one on my left disappears… Damn….

Turn 2 – Legion

With losing the left flag, I’m in a very bad spot. I only have Hex Hunters and a Spawning Vessel trying to hold the right side flag, which really isn’t enough. In hindsight, I should have spent this turn running to crowd the right side of the field. I am faster than my opponent, and if I brought my whole battlegroup to the right side, I would have really put my opponent into a bad position for scenario. Ah well, live and learn. Instead, I try to cut the heads off of the two units to my left (Boomie and Alexia). I succeed in neither…. I start off by upkeeping spells. I move my Refuge angel forward and find a lane to take a shot at Alexia. That’s when I discover I can’t shoot when near a model with Countermeasure… Great… That is an Angelius activation wasted. Next I activate Vayl and cast Refuge on the other Angelius. She shoots the Angel that wasted its activation in the back and arcs an Icy Grip onto the Boomhowlers. Then the Angelius charges the Galleon and puts some decent damage into its right side. It then uses its refuge move to fall back onto the edge of the hill. The last Angelius also charges the Galleon and misses its armor piercing attack with a triple 1… Ugh… Both Ravagores take some shots at the front few Boomhowlers, putting scathers in front of them and preventing charges into my beasts. The Hex Hunters move forward and put a few Hex Blasts into some Kayazy. One gets into combat with eEiryss and misses. The Spawning Vessel moves forward. Shepherds wipe Fury, over to Mercs!

Turn 2 – Mercenaries

My opponent upkeeps both spells and allocates 3 to the Galleon. The Galleon goes first and spends its activation pummeling my Angelius, but with some bad dice my opponent misses all but one or two attacks and my Angelius still stands. MacBain goes and pops feat, protecting Gorman, Alexia, Boomhowler, Ragman, Orin, and a Boomhowler because Rhupert is out of his control area. He does a Jackhammer with Galleon and misses my Angelius. Gorman moves forward and tries to Black Oil my Angelius, but misses. He moved close enough that he can’t scatter off my Angelius, but he catches the Galleon as well. The Eliminators run forward, one engaging my two Ravagores and the other engaging an Angelius. The Boomhowlers shuffle around a bit but can’t do much of anything, but Boomhowler does the howl where I get -2 to attack rolls. They do manage to engage an Angelius. Alexia and her Risen run forward and she makes a Thrall Warrior, which charges and puts some decent damage on a Ravagore. Rhupert gives the Kayazy Dirge of Mists. The Kayazy get a run charge and several Hex Hunters die. Eiryss swings at my Hex Hunter engaging her and kills him (Doh!). Ragman and Orin move behind the Galleon.

Legion – Turn 3

I pay to upkeep Refuge and drop everything else. The Refuge Angel activates and kills the Eliminator engaging it. The other passes command. The Angel Refuges in front of Vayl. Vayl goes and pops feat, casts purify, puts occultation on herself, Refuge on another Angel, Admonition on one of the Ravagores, casts Icy Grip on the Boomhowlers again, and throws an Obliteration at one of the Boomhowlers, knocking it down. She then casts another Obliteration and has to pay one extra I think for it because of Alexia being nearby. She kills a Boomie. The Spawning Vessel goes and spawns a Harrier, which I fail and place out of my control area, so it can’t cast its animus… It goes and tries to hit the UA and whiffs. The Hex Hunters get a run charge and kill several Kayazy between charge attacks and Hex Blasts. Not enough to stop them from likely destroying my unit next turn. My Angelius engaging the Galleon goes and cripples the right side with its Armor Pierce. My other Angelius tries to attack Boomhowler, as he is engaging it and doesn’t do enough to knock him down. I should have just repulsed and flew over to the Galleon and put an Armor Piercing attack into it and bought a boosted attack against Gorman. Really would have made a huge difference in this game, but again, Hindsight is 20/20. My Shepherds both charge the Thrall Warrior to get him off my Ravagore, but both whiff their attacks needing a 6. The Ravagores both walk and take some free strikes, trying to disengage themselves. One Ravagore gets its spirit crippled. Both shoot some Boomhowlers and kill two.

Mercenaries – Turn 3

1 goes to Galleon. The last Eliminator goes and runs up by my Angelius engaging the Galleon and turns towards Gorman. Gorman goes and Black Oils the Eliminator, catching the Angelius. MacBain activates and Jackhammers the Angelius until it is dead. The Galleon moves up and touches the center flag and tries to shoot my Angelius near Vayl. It misses. Boomhowler and his buddy take some swings at my Angelius for some solid damage. The Kayazy clear off my Hex Hunters and Harrier and the Underboss charges my Spawning Vessel and rolls crazy high, one hitting it. That leaves that objective completely open. Eiryss moves over to control it. Ragman and Orin move further forward in the forest. Alexia can’t get to my beasts due to the scathers so she crafts another Thrall. The Thralls kill off my Shepherds. Score goes to 2-0.

Legion – Turn 4

The details of the last turn or two are a bit fuzzy here. One Ravagore aims and boosts a shot into the Boomhowler engaging the Angelius. I kill it but can’t quite knockdown Greygore. The other Ravagore one hits Alexia. The engaged Angelius can’t afford a free strike, so spends its activation killing Boomhowler. The other Angelius kills the Galleon and Refuges onto the center flag. Vayl moves up near the center flag and tries to shoot Ragman, who is contesting the flag. Unfortunately, he gets cover from the Galleon wreck and I can’t kill him. My opponent scores a point and goes to 3-0.

Mercenaries – Turn 4

My opponent moves some Risen forward. Most are out of command now. Everything else just kind of shuffles around aimlessly as most of his hard hitters are out of the game now. He scores another point and goes to 4-0

Legion – Turn 5

I have to try to stop the Kayazy and Eiryss from scoring again. Both Ravagores walk over and I hope I have range for a shot on some Kayazy, but I fall short and both shots scatter in the wrong direction and do nothing. My Angelius can’t run far enough to engage. I accept I can’t win and shake. Victory Mercenaries!

Post-Game Thoughts

Well, that was just a very poorly played game on my part. I played my Angelii terribly. The left flag disappearing really hurt me. My opponent deserved his win, he played very well. But had I played smarter, I feel like I would have won that game. As for the tournament as a whole, I certainly can’t be upset! This was my first “real” tournament, as my only other experience was in a beginners journeyman tournament. I ended up taking third due to tiebreakers from strength of schedule. Overall, I think I played well until that last game. Vayl can play through a lot, whether it be poor matchups or new casters that an inexperienced player has never faced. I hope you enjoyed my reports, and there will be more to come!

50 point Steamroller - Game 3 - eVayl vs. eMakeda

eMakeda

Molik Karn

Titan Gladiator

Titan Gladiator

Archidon

Min Incendiarii

Max Nihilators

Min Beast Handlers

Mortitheurge Willbreaker

Extoller Soulward

Once again, down a point

Again, I am down a point on his list and I’m not sure where. Oh well! I won the roll off and chose first turn. My opponent chose the side with a forest in the center and a wall on my left just a little ways out of his deployment. I got the side with a hill in the middle and a house to the right side. I place two Angelius on the left side at the edge of Vayl’s control. The Ravagores and the last Angelius deploy to Vayl’s right. Vayl goes just right of center. The Hex Hunters go to the center left with their attachment, the Spawning Vessel. My opponent placed the Archidon and Molik Kharn to my left. Makeda goes in the middle with the Nihilators and the Incendiarii. The Titan Gladiators went to the right side. The support was spread around the back. On to Legion turn 1!

Turn 1 – Legion

I ran both Angelius up the left flank one behind the other, hoping to remain out of Kharn’s threat range. I activate Vayl and place Refuge on the nearby Anglius and Admonition on one of the Ravagores. She puts Occultation on herself and charges forward onto the hill. My Hex Hunters activate and run forward and spread out. The Spawning Vessel gets carried up behind them. The Refuge Angel flies up on the right. The two Ravagores run and place themselves in front of Vayl. The Shepherds run up behind. The Spell Martyr runs forward.

Turn 1 – Skorne

My opponent thinks Kharn has range on my Angelius. I’m surprised because I am quite a ways out. Makeda goes and casts Leash on Kharn and the spell for +2 movement for everything. She then walks forward into the forest. The Nihilators run straight forward and spread out. The Incendiarii run and spread out, and a key thing is that one goes in front of Makeda to block line of sight. One of the Gladiators goes and walks over to Kharn, putting Rush on him. The other Gladiator moves close to Makeda. The Beast Handlers move forward, removing some Fury and giving the +2 strength and free charge buff to Kharn. The other solo’s move up. Kharn goes and gets a charge on my front Angelius in my line. He only hits with one initial, and after 3 bought attacks puts the Angel down. He then decides to Fatewalker rather than attack the other Angelius, and uses it to walk over the nearby wall.

Turn 2 – Legion

I leach Fury and upkeep all spells. I start with the Refuge Angelius. It kills some Nihilators and Refuges into the right zone. I then activate the Hex Hunters, doing a run charge on the Nihilators, killing a large portion of the unit. The Spawning Vessel then moves up and pops out a Shredder. The Shredder walks over near the left Angelius. Vayl goes and shoots the Shredder in the back and arcs a Refuge onto the Angelius. One of the Ravagores goes left, boosting a fiery shot into Molik Kharn for some nice damage and lighting him on fire. The Angelius goes next, and after an Armor Pierce and some bought attacks, Kharn goes down. The other Ravagore walks forward and boosts a fiery shot into the Incendiarii right in front of Makeda. It kills the Incendiarii and lights a Beast Handler, Makeda, and the Archidon on fire. I boost blast damage on Makeda and do about 5 points. The Spell Martyr was actually used for an Icy Grip into the Nihilators from Vayl I think. That’s how my Hex Hunters were able to hit them relatively easily. Shepherds wipe some fury. Over to Skorne!

Turn 2 – Skorne

My opponent is on his back foot now, with Kharn being dead and my beasts in position to score some points. To make matters worse, the fire does not go out on Makeda and does another 6 points of damage. The Beast Handler burns and the fire on the Archidon goes out. His turn basically revolves around boosting the speed of the Archidon to crazy levels and getting into Vayl. He misses most all his attacks, needing hard 9’s. With that, my opponent concedes, as I score two control points in his turn and would gain another 2 and very likely 3 as Vayl could easily dominate if I can kill off the Archidon. Legion victory!

Post game thoughts

  I think my opponent made a few mistakes this game. He really should have held Molik back until the later game, as it was unlikely he would kill to Angelius in one round (but far from impossible!). It is crazy how far eMakeda can throw her beasts though! Man I was not ready for that first charge from Molik! I think I played against these crazy threat ranges well though. I made my opponent pay for throwing Molik out there, and that set the tone for the whole of the game. With that victory, I am off to final table! My next opponent: Mercenaries!

50 point steamroller - round 2 - eVayl vs. Goreshade 3

eVayl vs. Goreshade 3

Goreshade 3

Skarlock Thrall

Deathripper

Max Bane Riders

Max Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders

Max Satyxis Raiders w/ UA

Max Soulhunters

Darragh Wrathe

Pistol Wraith

Warwitch Siren

Looking at this in Warroom, I think my opponent was down a point. That, or he had something that I can’t remember. I chose eVayl as my Cryx drop, as she has amazing hit and run ability and can mulch through infantry. The scenario was 7: Incoming. I won roll-off and chose sides so I could take the wall. There was a forest right in the front middle of his deployment There is a wall on the far right in the middle of the board. There is a hill in the middle about 10 inches from my deployment, and a wall about 9 inches on the left. My opponent deployed with Goreshade dead center. The Bane Riders were on the far right (all from my point of view). The Soulhunters and Darragh went on the far left. Blackbane went just to the right of Goreshade. The Deathripper went on the left of him with the Skarlock Thrall, pistol wraith, and Warwitch Siren. I deploy Vayl behind the wall just a bit left of center. I put two Angels just to her left. The two Ravagores go to her right straight from the hill. The other Angelius goes to the right of the Ravagores. The Spawning Vessel is sandwiched in the Hex Hunter unit. He then advance deploys his Satyxis right in front of Goreshade and in front of the forest. I put both Shepherds in front and right of the Ravagores. The Spell Martyr went way to my far right.

Turn 1 – Cryx

My opponent starts off forgetting to allocate focus to the Deathripper. The Satyxis Raiders start off the action, running forward and spreading across the middle of the table. The Soulhunters move far up my left flank with Darragh following behind. Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders run up to the right of the Satyxis Raiders. The Bane Riders run up on the right behind the Satyxis and Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders. The Skarlock moved up by the Soulhunters and gave them Scything Touch. Goreshade moves straight forward behind my opponent’s objective. The Deathripper moves up next to him. The Siren runs up in the big blob of Blackbane’s and Satyxis.

Turn 1 – Legion

I start my turn activating Vayl. She casts Refuge and Admonition on the two Angelius near here. She then charges forward behind the wall. My Angel with Refuge moves up behind the wall and boosts a shot into a Satyxis Raider. She dies. The Angel with Admonition moves up to Vayls right behind the wall. It boosts a shot into another Satyxis and misses. Both Ravagores moved up and shot the front most Satyxis in front of Vayl and one in front of the Ravagores, placing the scather so that it protected my caster and beasts from a Satyxis charge. The Hex Hunters all run forward into the right zone with the Spawning Vessel following up behind. Both Shepherds move up behind the Ravagores and the Spell Martyr ends up tucked into the Hex Hunter blob. Over to Cryx!

Turn 2 – Cryx

The Satyxis all shift to my right, charging and running to engage Hex Hunters. A few Hex Hunters die in the resulting combat, filling up the vessel. Blackbane’s Raiders run to the center of the board, placing two engaging my Ravagores and the rest standing in the middle and a few in the right zone. The Soulhunters run forward, two engaging my Angels and Vayl, two standing further back in the left zone. Darragh moves up behind the rest of the Soulhunters. The Bane Riders shift up on the right. Goreshade moves up a bit further towards the center of the board. The Deathripper moves up next to Goreshade again. The Skarlock Thrall moves up into the forest and puts a spell I can’t remember out.

Turn 2 – Legion

I leach fury back to full, drop Admonition on one Angel and upkeep Refuge on the other. I start off using the Refuge Angel, moving about the wall so that he can engage two Soulhunters. It puts an armor pierce into the Soulhunter by the wall, easily blowing it up. The Angel buys an attack into the next Soulhunter and with a boost to damage, puts it down. The Angel then Refuge’s right back to where it came from. The other Angel flies forward and armor pierces another Soulhunter, killing it easily. I activate the Hex Hunters and give a run/charge order. They charge several Satyxis, killing roughly half the remaining unit and Hex Blast a few Blackbane’s and the Satyxis UA. The pot moves up and pops out a Harrier. The Harrier activates, casts its animus, and charges the Siren, killing her and sprinting to engage some nearby Satyxis. The right Angelius activates and charges a Bane Rider, easily killing it in one shot. I buy and boost damage on a second attack, killing a second one. One Ravagore activates and tries to move over the Blackbane engaging it, triggering a free strike and forcing the Ravagore to remain where it was. I have to use the Ravagores activation killing that single Blackbane. I am smarter with the second Ravagore, walking around the Blackbane, which he decides not to take a free strike with. I get a shot into Goreshade, doing about 6 damage and lighting him on fire. I also catch the Deathripper and boost blast damage, rolling box cars and knocking out his head. Not bad! Both Goreshade and the Deathripper are on fire. I activate Vayl and she casts Admonition on herself and tries to shoot a Satyxis and misses.

Turn 3 – Cryx

We roll for fires and the fire on Goreshade goes out (Doh!) but the fire on the Deathripper sticks and I roll high again, knocking out its Arcnode. Hell yeah! The Satyxis go first and move to engage my Angelius, Harrier, and a Hex Hunter. Goreshade then goes and pops feat, forcing my models to be stationary. He then walks forward a hair and Mockery of Life’s back a Bane Rider and a Soulhunter. Things get a bit messy here and I forget some of the details of his order of operations here, but basically one remaining Soulhunter charges Vayl, one moves to the far left edge of the left zone, and the newly spawned one holds tight. The Soulhunter I think hit with the charge and I transferred the damage to an Angel. The stationary Angelius gets charged by a Bane Rider or two, 3 Blackbane’s, and the Pistol Wraith and takes some heavy damage, but remains standing due to some terrible rolls for my opponent. The Harrier also lives after being charged by 2 Blackbane’s. The other Bane Rider charges into the Hex Hunters and misses his impact attack so gets stuck on a guy but still have reach on his target, killing him. Some Blackbane’s get charges on Hex Hunters, killing a few and spawning more Blackbane’s. Darragh moves up behind the Soulhunters. The Skarlock Thrall pretty much holds tight. The Deathripper attempts to move to engage the Angelius but can’t quite get there.

Turn 3 – Legion

I leach fury and drop all upkeeps. I start off with Vayl and she walks over the wall, still engaging the Soulhunter and manages to just toe into the zone. She pops feat, purifying off Scything Touch. She casts Refuge on one of the Angels, Admonition on herself, and Icy Grip on the Blackbane’s. She then casts and Obliteration into the Soulhunter she is engaging, killing him. She heals her damaged Angel and Harrier, then shoots a Blackbane boosting damage and killing. She ends her activation. Each Angelius now goes, killing the final remaining Soulhunter and Darragh. The Refuge Angel flies back in front of Vayl. The before damaged Angel activates and armor pierce kills a Bane Rider and then kills the Pistol Wraith and Deathripper with bought attacks. My Harrier goes and kills a Blackbane. My Hex Hunters kill a few more Blackbane’s between melee attacks and Hex Blasts. The Spawning Vessel moves a hair forward and pops out a Shredder. The Shredder fails to do anything to the Bane Rider. Both Ravagores move close to the hill and try to shoot Goreshade, but I didn’t realize he was within an inch of the Deathripper and so has cover. One shot hits him and the other scatters off into nowhere. I roll okay and plink off another 5 or 6 damage. I dominate to go up 2 - 0

Turn 4 – Cryx

Once again, it is a bit of a mosh pit on the right side of the board. One Bane Rider charges and one shots my Spawning Vessel, taking all the ladies with him. The other kills a few Hex Hunters with impact attacks, but whiffs on the last guy, and also whiffs the attack. The Blackbane’s get a run charge order, with the ones charging my Hex Hunters killing all but the leader, who subsequently breaks, leaving only my Shredder in the zone. The other half of the unit runs into the left zone to stop me from dominating. One engages my Angelius by eVayl. Goreshade goes, considering an assassination attempt, but decides against it. He charges my Shredder in the right zone, avoiding my Angelius threat range of 12 inches. He obliterates the Shredder (Figuratively, not with the spell) and dominates the zone. Score goes to 2-2. With that, over to Legion!

Turn 4 – Legion

I am confident I can end it here on scenario, so I Leach fury and get the show on the road! The big question is, can I hit and kill with all 3 of Vayl’s gun attack. We shall see! I start by activating Vayl and walking around the Angelius. I start off putting an Icy Grip into one of the unengaged Blackbane’s. I hit only needing a 4 or 5. I take my first shot with the gun at the hardest target, the guy engaging my Angelius. I boost to hit and get the hit! I boost damage and kill. I buy and hit only needing I think a 4. I boost damage and kill. I buy, boost to hit, boost damage, and kill the final Blackbane in the zone, leaving it open for domination. I charge my now unengaged Angelius into the objective, and one bought attack later I kill it. I move a Ravagore to toe his zone and end turn.

5-2 scenario victory to Legion!

Post game thoughts

I got lucky in that one. Not because I was in any really bad position on either scenario or attrition, but because I ended that turn with less than a minute left before dice down. Phew! I have to admit that his dice also really hated him, and that cost him some important rolls. Either way, I am very happy with the victory, and I don’t often win by scenario so I’ll take it! Next up, Skorne!

50 point Steamroller tournament - Game 1 - Legion vs. Mercenaries

eAbsylonia vs. Damiano

So for my first game I faced Mercenaries. My opponent was running a Gorten list with the Earthbreaker and all the fixin's and a Damiano list shown below. I decided to start off with eAbby as I think she has a lot of game against many Mercenary armies. Her list has the tools to ignore tough, prevent knockdown and pushes, and always threatens some crazy assassinations.

Damiano

Rocinante

eAlexia

eEiryss

Rhupert Carvolo

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters Max

Greygore Boomhowler and Co. Max

Kayazy Assassins Max w/ UA

Kayazy Eliminators

Press Gangers Max

I lose the roll off and choose the side with a nicely placed hill about a charge distance out of my deployment zone. There is a forest just outside his deployment on my right. There is a hill about 8 inches from my deployment zone right in the center. There is a house on the right. There is a forest just outside my deployment on the left. I deploy Abby right in front of the hill. I put the Scythean to her left, followed by a Raek, the Shredder, the Shepherd, the Succubus, and finally the Naga. To her right are the two Ravagores followed by the other Raek and the two Forsaken. My opponent deploys Damiano dead center across from Abby. Rocinante goes to his left (all from my point of view). The Kayazy deploy on the right side of the line with the eliminators on the outside of that. Rhupert deploys behind the Kayazy. Cylena and the Hunters deploy to the far left with the Boomhowlers deployed right next to Rocinante. I advance deploy my two Strider Deathstalkers in front of my right lines across from the Kayazy. My opponent advance deploys his Press Gangers just in front of the Kayazy. 

Turn 1 – Mercenaries

Basically everything runs straight forward. Damiano casts Sure Foot on Alexia and Death March goes on the Kayazy. The Kayazy are by the right zone and the Press Gangers fill up the right zone. The Nyss are pressing forward on the left with eEiryss. Damiano only walks forward. Boomhowlers are at the edge of the left zone. The Eliminators are on the far right pretty far forward. Oh and Rhupert gave the Kayazy tough and fearless. Wise.

Turn 1 - Legion

I start with Deathstalkers. They both walk forward and toe the right zone.  The first one pops the Lass and a Ganger. The other pings a Ganger but it toughs so no snap fire. Boo. I activate Abby and she puts Tenacity on both Raeks, Fortify on the Scythean, then charges Damiano. Fail the charge. So its going to be this kind of game.. ;) My two Raek’s go running up, one into the right zone, and one on the hill in front of Abby. The Scythean goes and runs in front of Abby. The Ravagores both go running up and rile for 4 fury each. The Naga goes and runs into the left forest. Both Forsaken go and take the fury from the Ravagores. Shredder walks up and puts Tenacity on the Scythean. Succubus moves up and puts Tenacity on Abby.  The Shepherd just walks forward.

Turn 2 – Mercenaries

All spells are upkept by Damiano. He forgets to allocate to Rocinante. The Press Gangers get a charge run, with a few charging the Raek and the rest running to engage the Deathstalker’s. The Kayazy get tough and run into the right zone, with many engaging Raek’s, my Scythean, and my Deathstalker’s. The Eliminator’s move up further on the right. The Boomhowlers call 4+ tough and run up in the left zone and in front of the wall in front of Damiano. Damiano charges forward to avoid Kill Boxing himself, and ends right behind the central wall. The Nyss run up further on my left, along with eEiryss.

Turn 2 – Legion

So I leach fury up to full and free upkeep Fortify with the Succubus. I think this is feat turn, as well as game. I start with each Forsaken moving up and Blight Bombing the huge clumps of Kayazy and Press Gangers surrounding all my stuff. I kill all the ones engaging Ravagores, Raeks, and Deathstalkers. I activate the Deathstalkers and pop a few inconsequential Kayazy and Press Gangers. Next I activate Abby, pop feat, cast Slaughterhouse on myself, and charge one of the three Boomhowlers between my beasts and Damiano. She has to buy one attack in the end, but kills all three. She then Teleports back onto her hill, making sure she is far enough forward that I can force beasts near Damiano. I activate my Raek on the hill. It casts its animus on itself and flies over the last Kayazy over there and a Boomhowler behind the wall. I boost a headbutt and knock Damiano down. I activate each Ravagore, boosting shots into the now knocked down caster. He is on like 4 boxes. I activate the Scythean and charge and put him in the dirt.

Victory for Legion!

50 point Steamroller tournament tomorrow

Hello all!

Tomorrow I have a big 50 point steamroller tournament in preparation for Warmachine Weekend (Which I will not be able to attend). It will be timed turns, which is going to certainly be interesting. I think it is the least disadvantageous to Legion of all factions, as we tend to have fewer models than most any other opponent. It is a two list format, and I will be bringing epic Absylonia and epic Vayl. I think they make for a solid combination. Abby can skew for extreme speed versus slower lists, picking them apart before they can retaliate. Vayl pairs well as the all-comers warlock, able to overcome even poor match-ups that Abby just doesn't want any part of. Here are the two lists I plan on bringing:

eAbby - 50+5 pts
Scythean
Ravagore
Ravagore
Shredder
Raek
Raek
Naga Nightlurker
Succubus
Forsaken
Forsaken
Shepherd
Strider Deathstalker
Strider Deathstalker

eVayl - 50+6 pts - Tier 4 Machinations of Shadow
Ravagore
Ravagore
Angelius
Angelius
Angelius
Max Nyss Hex Hunters
Max Spawning Vessel
Spell Martyr
Shepherd
Shepherd

The Vayl list is pretty typical tier 4 list. I like the triple Angel's with her, as it allows me to trade one and still have enough armor pierce's remaining to threaten any heavy.

As for the Abby list, I've tried the melee centric list built around a Carnivean and a few Scythean, and even with Typhon, and I just haven't been a fan. They have some tremendous killing power, but I have little in the way of ranged attacks to pressure my opponent into my claws/teeth. This list also kind of remains in one big clump, with very little board presence.

I've found I really enjoy a mixed list with Abby. The ranged firepower of the Ravagore's add a lot in the early game. They can mess up charge lanes for single wound infantry and light swathes of infantry on fire if my opponent isn't careful. Plus they are always great at sniping important solo's or higher value infantry, such as Cavalry. Then as the game progesses, I can really crank up the power of the Ravagore's on Abby's feat turn. They are in effect, able to contribute what many other heavies are able to at a higher volume of attacks and much higher threat ranges. Plus, they may not seem to get much benefit from conferred rage on non-feat turns, but that extra 2" of movement lets them threaten 22" up the board. That is really quite scary.

So hopefully my games go well! I will post up results and battle reports sometime this weekend! And Happy Halloween!

Warhammer 40k tournament tomorrow

Hello everyone, Andy here. Tomorrow I have both my first tournament, as well as my first games since moving down to the Twin Cities.

It is an 1850 point tournament, and I really have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what armies are played around here are anything, so I am really going on blind. And since I am, I decided I'm just going to bring a ragtag army of all my favorite units from both the Ultramarines and Eldar. That way, even if I lose, at least I will have fun with the armies I have to play!

So without further ado, here is the list!

Eldar
HQ - Farseer
Troop - 6 Dire Avengers
DT - Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon
Troop - 5 Dire Avengers
DT - Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
Fast Attack - Crimson Hunter - Exarch
Fast Attack - 8 Warp Spiders
Heavy Support - Wraithknight

Space Marines
HQ - Marneus Calgar
6 Honour Guard -  Thunderhammer, Relic Blade
DT - Drop Pod
Troop - 10 Tactical Squad - Melta Bomb, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher, Combi-Plasma
DT - Rhino - Dozer Blades

So I know this list isn't optimal by any means, but they are models I love and have all painted and enjoy playing. I've found 40k is a lot less fun if you take it to seriously, so I'm going to go out there, throw some dice, and have a good time.

I'll give results and hopefully some pictures tomorrow!

- Andy

Andy's first Warmahordes tournament

Now that the Journeyman League had come to an end, it was time for a small 35-point 2-caster steamroller tournament. I was not entirely prepared for a 2-caster event, as I had largely been playing pThagrosh and I hadn’t played Warmahordes in an entire month. Bethayne and Belphagor had intrigued me near the end of the league, so I had those models on hand. I decided to go with B&B and prime Thagrosh as my two casters for the event.

pThagrosh +5

Carnivean – 11

Scythean – 9

Ravagore – 10

Max Hex Hunters – 8

Shepherd – 1

Feralgiest – 1

Bethayne +3

Belphagor – 0

Scythean – 9

Ravagore – 10

Raek – 4

Max Hex Hunters – 8

Forsaken – 2

3 x Spell Martyrs – 3

Strider Deathstalker – 2

I stuck with my pThagrosh list from the Journeyman League as I was comfortable with it and it had worked well for me. My B&B list, however, was just a hodge podge of models I threw together with no knowledge of how they would work with her as I had never played her. I knew she liked Hex Hunters and Spell Martyrs, so they went into it first. From there it was just random pick and choose. I intended for my Thagrosh list to be my brick list that can crack armor, while Bethayne will be my anti-infantry list.

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Game 1: Bethanye vs. pButcher

Game 1 set me against a seasoned veteran that helped me learn the game quite a bit. He brought his Khador with him (Which is an army I had not beaten up until this point). I was nervous and knew very little about most of the units in both his armies, but I knew that Khador generally favors infantry so I tried out Bethayne. My opponent chose pButcher. This game went by in an agonizing blur, so many of the details are hazy.

So I won first turn. I ran my whole force forward as far as I could. My opponent did the same. I made a charge order with my Hex Hunters and a few engage his widowmakers and kill a few. I move my Scythean into the zone. I move a Spell Martyr up and get counter charged by Man O’ War Drakhun. A little piece of advice, look at cards for models you don’t know about before a battle. B&B are just outside the zone. My opponent is now in charge range of my Scythean with his Drakhun and charges and mauls my heavy. A Marauder charges the Scythean and slams him back into my objective, killing my Scythean. He moves a Demolisher into the zone. His Shocktroopers kill a bunch of Hex Hunters but they hold. My turn comes around and I pop feat and try to kill some stuff off but I have lost my most heavy hitter in the Scythean so things aren’t looking good. I try to block Bethayne from his Demolisher with my Feralgiest, only to find that everything can move through incorporeal models with no penalty. Needless to say, Bethayne didn’t live very long after this.

I was pretty discouraged after that thrashing. I didn’t feel like I could go back to Bethayne after that. I just didn’t know her spells well enough. Lucky for me, I didn’t need to.

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Game 2: pThagrosh vs. pLylyth

My second game was against another new Warmahordes player. She only had her battle box along with a few additions. I felt confidence in this matchup, as I actually knew what it was I was facing, and I knew pLylyth pretty well. My opponent won the roll-off and took first turn.

Her first turn saw her simply run everything forward. She had Raptors on one flank, Striders in the center by a wall, and pLylyth on the other flank with some Shredders and her Carnivean. Lylyth and her battle group were in a nice little forest. My turn I did the same. I didn’t run the Hex Hunters all the way forward, as she did not yet have the Strider UA for hunter. My beasts just followed behind the little wall of infantry. My opponent tried to stand behind the wall and shoot with the striders, but with stealth was unable. The raptors took some shots at beasts, but unfortunately she didn’t roll too well and did minimal damage. Shredders shot out in front of her force. Now it was my turn and everything was well within range of charges. My Hex Hunters went into the striders and caught two raptors as well. I did minimal damage to both. My Carnivean and Scythean charged into the striders and killed a couple. The Ravagore took a shot at Lylyth and missed. Lylyth tries aid her striders. Her Carnivean charges in and kills my Scythean. Nothing else major. I now think my Carnivean is within walking range of Lylyth. I take two free strikes from striders, not even scratching me. I make it to Lylyth and munch her. Legion (mine) victory!

Although this match was against a new player with a minimal collection of models to choose from, I still felt good that I was actually able to win a game.

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Game 3: pThagrosh vs. eThagrosh

Game 3 was another Legion on Legion match, this time against a veteran player. I was feeling good after getting a win under my belt. But I was worried as he had the Archangel (I had never faced a colossal/gargantuan up to this point). My opponent won first turn.

First turn he runs everything forward aggressively. The AA is dead center by eThags, with a Scythean nearby. He has some Shredders nearby, as well as a Raek off on a flank. I deploy my brick center with Hex Hunters on the flank opposite the Raek. My brick advances slowly as I was worried what he may be able to do if I move into charge range. My Hex Hunters run up the flank to a flag. My opponent manages to charge my Scythean with the Archangel and annihilates it. It is also close enough to be engaging my Carnivean. The Raek advances. The Scythean runs into reach melee range with my Carnivean. Now I’m on my back foot and not sure how to save my poor Carnivean. I decide to buff my Ravagore and charge it into the Scythean. I leave the Scythean on one box. I charge my shepherd in and finish off the Scythean. My Hex Hunters run and engage eThagrosh and a few shepherds and a shredder. My Carnivean beats on the Archangel some. The Archangel then proceeds to end the Carnivean. eThagrosh kills a bunch of Hex Hunters. Then his shepherd fails its abomination check for being by eThagrosh. Whoops! The Raek leaps and engages pThagrosh and pokes him a bit. pThagrosh then proceeds to cut the Raek to pieces. I pop feat and bring back the Carnivean and it moves to engage the AA and eThagrosh. My Ravagore charges the Archangel and kills it. At this point my opponent has only a few minutes and deathclocks. Legion (mine) victory!

Another really fun game. Although my opponent deathclocked, I am pretty confident I would have assassinated eThagrosh in my next turn with either my Carnivean or Ravagore or even my swarm of Hex Hunters.

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Game 4: pThagrosh vs. Syntherion

My last game was against a caster that I actually had a bit of experience playing. Unfortunately, my opponent brought a list with two Prime Axiom colossals. Although they were pretty intimidating, I felt pThagrosh was the guy to take them down. My opponent gets first turn.

My opponent runs Axiom’s forward, one to a wall and one to the edge of a small hill. Syntherion moves up and casts Hot Shot (I think that’s what it’s called) on the Axiom to my right. The shield guard solo moves up next to him. I have my Hex Hunters deployed center with my Scythean, Carnivean, and Thagrosh direcly behind them. The Feralgiest is to my far right and Ravagore with shepherd to my far left. I run the Hex Hunters straight forward. My Feralgiest runs towards the flag on my right. The Ravagore runs towards the flag on my left. Thagrosh casts Fog of War, free spiny growth on himself, and Draconic Blessing on the Scythean, then charges a Hex Hunter and fails. My Carnivean runs forwards. My Scythean runs forward and a bit right towards that Prime Axiom. My opponent starts his turn by passing out focus to his right Prime Axiom. He stands and shoots the right Prime Axiom at a Hex Hunter, forgot about stealth and missed. It then used its other shot to shoot the Carnivean for minor damage. The other Prime Axiom activated with some convectioned focus, tried to shoot a Hex Hunter and auto-missed because of stealth.  It then tried to shoot the Ravagore and missed a fair number of shots due to Fog of War. He then remembered to spawn his little mine thingy, which charged a Hex Hunter and killed it. Syntherion and his shield guard just chill a bit back. I upkeep all spells. I activate the Hex Hunters and run charge, mostly bringing the unit to the left Prime Axiom, not doing any damage. My Carnivean charges the right Prime Axiom and manages to engage. It does a fair bit of damage. My Scythean then charges and engages the Axiom and the enemy objective contesting the right flag. The Scythean trashes both the Axiom and the objective. I then run the Feralgiest to capture that flag. My Ravagore shoots and kills the shield guard thing. Thagrosh just wanders towards the right flag. I score two points. My opponent starts by activating Syntherion and gives Hot Shot to the left Prime Axiom, along with focus. The Prime Axiom activates and tramples over my Hex Hunters. It shoots at Thagrosh with all of its right side shots, hitting every one and doing major damage. Thagrosh is down to about 8 health. He then tries shooting with his left side and misses every shot! Lucky, lucky Thagrosh. He passes turn and I see that the Prime Axiom did not get close enough to contest my left flag, so I move my Ravagore to capture it, move Thagrosh to dominate the enemy flag and end turn, scoring 3 to win the game. Victory Legion!

I got a bit lucky that Thagrosh survived all those shots from the Axiom. He also had some hot dice for the first 3 shots, so it kind of balanced out. I also got lucky my opponent really didn’t pay attention to scenario, and would have struggled regardless with only two models to really contest. I still felt like I had the game from the start with my heavy melee beasties.

So with that the tournament ended. Wins and losses were tallied and I was tied with another player for second. We went to points destroyed for the tie-breaker and I had a total of 96 points destroyed, netting me second place! For my first tournament, I was pretty dang excited. I had to thank pThagrosh for the victories, without him I would not have stood a chance.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Andy