Warmachine Battle Report: Khador (Vlad 3) vs. Khador (Old Witch) - Steamroller 2016: The Pit

Here's today's Lists:

Warcaster: Old Witch
Warjack: Scrapjack
Warjack: Behemoth
Unit: Kayazy Assassins
Unit Attachment: Kayazy Underboss
Unit: Winter Guard Rifle Corps
Unit Attachment: Rocketeers x3
Unit: Widowmaker Scouts
Solo: Widowmaker Marksman
Solo: Kell Bailoch
Solo: Alten Ashley
Solo: Eiryiss 1

Warcaster: Vlad 3
Warjack: Conquest
Unit: Iron Fang Uhlans
Unit: Greylord Outriders
Solo: Iron Fang Markov
Solo: Fenris
Solo: Man-O-War Drakhun

Old Witch - The Old Witch has some unique abilities, first being Field Marshall: Apparition. This is going to allow Warjacks in her Battlegroup to reposition 2" during the Maintenance phase. The goal would be to use Apparition along with Gallows to give Behemoth some extended threat ranges while shooting and charging.

She can also pull off some fun tricks herself with her Unseen Path spell which allows her to be placed completely within 2" of Scrapjack.  You can use her to take out some infantry and collect souls and Yo-Yo her back to Scrapjack.

The other significant spell is Iron Flesh. We're going to try this on the Kayazy Assassins and hope that with Stealth and no blast damage, that they'll get behind enemy lines and push the line of battle up on the opponent's side and when the time comes she can give them Battle Lust so they can wreck face.

Wield Secrets is kind of interesting and we may put it on the Rifle Corps to allow them to ignore Cover. It also might help a little against tables with lots of terrain since it gives Pathfinder.

Her Feat seems fairly useless as it got nerfed into the ground from MK2. This Feat will keep some infantry back for a turn but she normally has no problem with dealing with them anyway. We'll see how it plays out.

Vlad 3 - Vlad 3's army is my current fun favorite list to play but I just can't seem to get any real work done on his Feat turn.  Now that he'll have a ton of Infantry to fight against we might get to see some good Sprint positioning. The Sniper line might give his Cavalry a hard time but I think the Conquest will help close out the game once the Behemoth has been dealt with.

Deployment - Vlad 3 wins the die roll and opts to go 2nd. Old witch deploys her Rifle Corp to the bottom and the Kayazy in the Center. The Old Witch and Behemoth deploy toward the middle as well. Eiryiss, Kell Bailoch, Widowmaker Scouts, Marksman, and Alten Ashley advance deploy to try to stop the Greylord Outriders from spraying all their infantry to death.

Vlad 3 deploys toward his friendly flag in hopes to score first. He puts the Uhlans toward the bottom to help protect it and the Greylord Outriders towards the top to spray down on the Kayazy. Conquest holds the center.

Top of Turn 1: Old Witch - The Old Witch activates and casts Iron Flesh on the Kayazy Assassins giving them +2 ARM and immunity to Blast Damage. She casts Avatar of Slaughter on Scrapjack which makes +2 MAT and +2 STR along with giving him Berserk and Overtake. Then she casts Wield Secrets on the Rifle Corp which gives them Pathfinder and allows them to ignore Cover & Concealment.

Everyone moves up but not too far up because some of the Cavalry can run 20" up the board and engage them.

Bottom of Turn 1: Vlad 3 - Vlad 3 activates and casts Dash giving all his Warrior models +1 SPD. He gives Infernal Machine to Conquest which gives him +2 SPD and Murderous (Extra die to attack vs. living models) and Hand of Fate on the Greylord Outriders which gives them an extra die, dropping the lowest on attacks and damages.

The Uhlans run up and get base to base so they get their +2 ARM bonuses. Vlad moves behind his friendly flag and the Greylord Outriders set up just so they are out of range of the Kayazy Assassins. Conquest runs up 12" and tries to get into the center zone.

Top of Turn 2: Old Witch - The Old Witch upkeeps Iron Flesh for free on the Kayazy Assassins because of her Great Power ability, Wield Secrets on the Rifle Corps, and Avatar of Slaughter on Scrapjack. She also allocates 1 to Behemoth. The Kayazy Assassins charge in and easily destroy an Uhlan and position themselves outside of the Greylord Outrider's sprays.

Kovnik Joe gives the For the Motherland speech which gives the Rifle Corps boosted attacks. The Rifle Corps then make a 7 man CRA on one Uhlan hoping to kill it but leave it on 2 boxes. The other 3 take their CRA and damage another. The Rocketeers finish off the remaining boxes and end up kill 2 Uhlans.

Behemoth moves in and launches 2x shots against Conquest softening him up. The Widowmakers, Marksmen, Kell Bailoch, and Eiryiss also take shots at Conquest further weakening him.

The Old Witch moves up next to her friendly flag and pops her feat making it so if anyone ends their movement within 14" of her they take an unboostable POW 14 and if any Warrior models take damage, they become knocked down.

Bottom of Turn 2: Vlad 3 - This is going to be a rough round for Vlad and his Cavalry because of the Old Witch's Feat. Vlad upkeeps Hand of Fate on the Greylord Outriders and Infernal Machine on Conquest. He then allocates 2 to Conquest and moves up next to his friendly flag and casts Wind Wall which makes non-magical ranged attacks automatically miss him. He pops his Feat which gives Warjacks and Cavalry Side Step and Sprint and ends his activation.

Conquest moves up and clears out 3 Kayazy Assassins and Side Steps up. He's pretty banged up from the snipers and Behemoth so Vlad 3's goal is to use him as a road block so he can win on Scenario.

Most of the Cavalry can't do anything because of the Feat. If they try and move up to spray or charge they will take a POW 14 and become knocked down. It's definitely much harder to deal with than the Harbinger's MK3 Feat. The Man-O-War Drakhun however can handle that so he runs towards Old Witch's flag and contests it. Fenris is also outside of her Control area and he moves in to kill 3 Rifle Corps.

Score: Vlad 1 - Old Witch 0

Top of Turn 3: Old Witch - Vlad 3 has the points advantage so the Old Witch has to get aggressive. She lets Wield Secrets drop on the Rifle Corp and Iron Flesh on the Kayazy Assassins but keeps Avatar of Slaughter on Scrapjack.

Her goal this turn is to take out Conquest and push to get a point on her friendly flag and hopefully set up to dominate the center in future rounds.

The Rifle Corp activate and CRA on Fenris, easily dismounting him. The Rocketeers finish him off. Scrapjack activates next and kills off a Greylord Outrider. They Kayazy Assassins put some hurt on an Uhlan, killing it and also dismounting the Drakhun. The Drakhun dismount is just outside of contesting the flag.

Behemoth then activates and along with help from the snipers, they are able to take out Conquest.

Score: Vlad 2 - Old Witch 1

Bottom of Turn 3: Vlad 3 - Unfortunately I'm missing a picture for this turn. Vlad 3 upkeeps Hand of Fate on the Greylord Outriders and activates. He casts Wind Wall again protecting himself from the Rifle Corp and Behemoth. Two of the Uhlans charge into Behemoth and cripple his right arm. The Greylord Outriders activate and put some heavy casualties on the Kayazy Assassins and also kill Eiryiss 1 in the process. The dismounted Man-O-War Drakhun is able to kill a single Kayazy Assassin but moves a little closer to contest.

The Turn ends with Vlad 3 dominating his friendly flag

Score: Vlad 3 - Old Witch 1

Top of Turn 4: Old Witch - The battle for scenario is becoming very tight. The Old Witch can win if she can figure out how to contest her enemy flag while also dominating the center zone twice.

The Old witch lets all of her upkeeps drop except Avatar of Slaughter on Scrapjack. The plan is to use Scrapjack to take out the two Greylord Outriders that are contesting the center zone, use Behemoth to take out 2x Uhlans and have the Rifle Corp CRA on the last contesting Uhlan so she can Dominate for 2.

Everything goes according to plan and her army is able to clear the zone. The Widowmakers, Marksman, Kell Bailoch, and Alten Ashley stay put as backup for next round when they need to clear out the remaining Outriders to win the game. The remaining Kayazy Assassins run toward Vlad 3 and contest their enemy flag.

Score: Vlad 3 - Old Witch 3

Bottom of Turn 4: Vlad 3 - Vlad 3 is too far from the Old Witch to attempt an assassination so his only option is to hope that the Old Witch won't be able to take out the two contesting Greylord Outriders. He casts Hand of Fate on himself and Flashing Blades the Kayazy Assassins blocking his path. He then charges into Behemoth and Kell Bailoch just to take away some potential weapons. He is able to easily kill Kell and really hurts Behemoth but is unable to take him out.

The Greylord Outriders move into the zone and miss two shots on the Marksman.

Score: Vlad 3 - Old Witch 3

Top of Turn 5: Old Witch - The Old Witch allocates 2 focus to Behemoth and Scrapjack and upkeeps Avatar of Slaughter on Scrapjack. She then tries to kill Vlad 3 who has +3 ARM from Blood-Quenched but he tanks it like a boss. Behemoth with no arms is also unable to kill him. It's all up to Scrapjack.

Scrapjack moves in is easily able to kill both Greylord Outriders with no issue and The Old Witch wins on Scenario.

Final Score: Vlad 3 - Old Witch 5

Final Shot - If Vlad 3 had sat on his Feat he would have had a shot at killing the Old Witch. All he needed was that Side Step and he'd be in her face. Unfortunately, he popped it earlier just because in the previous two matches, he waited too long for it to be relevant. It's a fairly weak feat but if he had saved it he would been able to easily kill the Old Witch on average dice.

Old Witch's MK3 feat is still actually great vs. Infantry and Cavalry. The problem is that you won't see so much of them in MK3. I'm not sure how well it plays into Thexus and his 60 Drudge spam but it might be a good counter.

She's got a cool toolbox and a great scenario game. I look forward to playing her more often.

Warmachine Battle Report: Khador (Vlad 3) vs. Menoth (Harbinger) - Steamroller 2016: Outflank

Vlad 3 and his Cavalry

Harbinger and her Followers

Here's today's Lists:

Waracaster: Harbinger of Menoth
Warjack: Vanquisher
Warjack: Crusader
Warjack: Redeemer
Warjack: Avatar of Menoth
Unit: Exemplar Errants
Unit Attachment: Officer
Unit: Choir of Menoth (Min)
Solo: Vilmon
Solo: Paladin
Solo: Paladin

Warcaster: Vlad 3
Warjack: Conquest
Unit: Iron Fang Uhlans
Unit: Greylord Outriders
Solo: Iron Fang Markov
Solo: Fenris
Solo: Man-O-War Drakhun

Vlad 3 is coming off a decisive win against a Harkevich Jack Spam. Today he faces Harbinger who was a monster MKII. Can she get the job done?

Khador wins the roll and chooses to go second. Menoth deploys their Warjacks centrally with Vilmon and the Paladins holding the bottom. They also match up the Errants with the Uhlans in hopes that their Sac Pawn will help against Cavalry charges.

Khador deploys with the Outriders at the bottom and the Uhlans and Fenris up top. The Drakhun, Vlad, and Conquest hold the center.

Top of Turn 1: Menoth - Harbinger and her forces run up. The Errants get in a tiered formation to help against the Uhlan charge. Harbinger moves behind the Vanquisher and Crusader.

Bottom of Turn 1: Khador - Vlad 3 activates first and casts Dash giving his Warrior models +1 SPD. He also casts Infernal Machine on the Conquest which gives him +2 SPD and Murderous which gives him an extra die on attack vs. living models. He finally moves up and gives Hand of Fate to the Greylord Outriders which gives them +1 die to their rolls, dropping the lowest one. The rest of his army runs up.

Top of Turn 2: Menoth - The Errants activate first and they are able to kill the Uhlan in the Zone. They position themselves in 3 layers hoping that their Sac Pawn will give them the advantage they need. Uhlans really need to charge to be effective.

The Paladins run up and try to block a charge lane to the Avatar while everyone else gathers around Harbinger to protect her.

The Harbinger casts Purification, removing Hand of Fate from the Greylord Outriders.

Bottom of Turn 2: Khador - Conquest is allocated 2 Focus and Vlad 3 Upkeeps Infermal Machine on him. Vlad 3 activates first and gets Hand of Fate back on the Outriders. He pops his Feat which gives his Cavalry and Warjacks Sidestep (2" movement on initial hit) and Sprint (Make a full advance after killing an enemy model in melee). He then parks himself behind a giant tree waiting to pounce.

The Outriders activate and unleash a devastatingly effective spray killing 3 Errants and both Paladins. Harbinger chooses not to use Martyrdom which would allow her to suffer D3 damage to save them because of the volume of attacks.

The Conquest moves up and unleashes his big cannon into the Vanquisher dealing damage to his left arm. The Uhlans charge up and kill a few more Errants, clearing the zone. Fenris is able to finish the last 2 up with Berserk. Vlad 3's feat was pretty useless because Sac Pawn denied the Uhlan's kills.

Score: Vlad 1 - Harbinger 0

Top of Turn 3: Menoth - The Harbinger allocates 2 focus to the Redeemer, Vanquisher, and Crusader. The Choir sings their Battle Hym and move into position. The Crusader activates and charges into an Outrider, killing it. He purchases attacks and is able to kill another Outrider and an Uhlan.

The Vanquisher aims and boosts and is able to kill an Outrider giving a charge lane for the Avatar to Conquest. The Avatar rolls a D3 for Focus and gets 2 total. He charges into Conquest and after his activation, he has destroyed its right side. The Redeemer takes 3 boosted shots at Fenris and fail to hit him. The Errants attack and move into the zone to contest.

Harbinger moves up and pops her Feat which makes it so anyone that ends their movement within 10" of her takes an unboostable POW 14.

Score: Vlad 1 - Harbinger 0

Bottom of Turn 3: Khador - Vlad 3 lets everything drop and gives Conquest 2 Focus. He also activates and gives him Hand of Fate and moves towards the top zone along with casting Wind Wall to protect himself against any ranged shots. A fully loaded Conquest with a working hand is able to easily destroy the Avatar with attacks to spare.

The Uhlans clear the zone of Errants and are careful not to be within 10" of Harbinger. Fenris moves toward the back of the zone and controls it. The Outrider misses his spray against Vilmon.

Score: Vlad 2 - Harbinger 0

Top of Turn 4: Menoth - Now that the Avatar is gone, there is desperation in the air for Menoth. The Crusader and Redeemer are allocated 2 and tasked with bringing down the Conquest with the help of Vilmon. The Choir sings their Battle Hymn and Crusader charges into the Conquest leaving it with 20+ boxes. Vilmon goes in and gets Conquest down to 15 boxes.

This leaves no room for the Redeemer to charge so he decides to finish off the last Outrider. The Vanquisher launches a shot at the Conquest but fails to do work. The Errants move to contest the zone and block charge lanes for the Uhlans. Finally, Harbinger moves towards the bottom zone to prevent any Cavalry charges against her hopefully to set up a domination when the Conquest goes down.

Score: Vlad 2 - Harbinger - 0

Bottom of Turn 4: Khador - Conquest still has his right side functioning and is allocated 2 focus. Vlad 3 upkeeps Hand of Fate on the Conquest and moves into the top zone with Wind Wall. The Uhlans clear the zone which Khador now dominates.

The Conquest unleashes a Sweep Power Attack damaging the Crusader and killing Vilmon. He purchases more attacks and gets Crusader down to 1 Cortex box.

Score: Vlad 4 - Harbinger 0

Top of Turn 5: Menoth - This is the last ditch effort for Menoth. They need to contest the top zone and take out the Conquest to have any shot at winning the game. The Crusader only has 1 Cortex box and is allocated 2 Focus along with the Redeemer. 

The Vanquisher with 20+ boxes turns around and runs into the top zone so Khador can't dominate. The Choir chooses not to sing and instead spread out in the top zone to help contest. The Crusader activates and does a few damage to the Conquest leaving it with 9 boxes.

The Redeemer charges in and fails to kill the Conquest. This leaves Harbinger and her trusty sword to finish the job. Unfortunately she is unable to kill the Conquest with multiple boosted POW 12s.

Score: Vlad 4 - Harbinger 0

Bottom of Turn 5: Khador - The top zone seems difficult to clear so Vlad 3 decides to work a different strategy. He allocates 2 to the Conquest and upkeeps Hand of Fate. The Conquest then activates and does a Power Sweep, killing the Crusader. He then uses the rest of his Focus to finish off the Redeemer.

This leaves only Harbinger in the zone and since Warcasters can't contest, Vlad 3 runs into the bottom zone and Dominates it.

The Final Score: Vlad 6 - Harbinger 0

Overview: Because of the lack of availability of models for Menoth, there wasn't a lot of synergy in the list. There is a definite difference in how Harbinger plays now that her Feat and Martyrdom are reduced to her Command of 10". The Feat did help deter lots of Cavalry charges but was easily avoided. The Avatar's random focus is hard to plan for and without Power Up, it feels like he didn't scale well in MK3.

The mobility with Khador Cavalry is amazing. With Dash they can run 18-20". Conquest with Infernal Machine can run 12" giving Vlad 3's a strong chance at the alpha strike. Vlad 3's Feat still puzzles me and it might not be the best for the list I'm running. The Feat in the previous match vs. Harkevich was hard because of the Jack spam. This time it was hard because the Errants kept Sac Pawning. I'll have to see if I can better use it in his next match.

Vlad 3 is currently on a 2 game win streak. Stay tuned for his next match up!

Model Spotlight: Karchev

I hated Karchev's old pose and wanted to give him a more aggressive look. He's super fun to play and I really enjoy running a ton of Warjacks with him.

I recently played Karchev in a Journeyman League at GMI Games. He does such amazing work with the help of Widowmaker Scouts after they trigger Road to War giving a Warjack a 3" advance.
He has a surprisingly effective Knockdown Spray which can really help with annoying models with high DEF.

His other spell is Battle Charged which gives Warjacks Counter-Charge. With the right positioning you get a 2-3 Counter-Charges off on an enemy model charging in hopefully crippling a system or maybe even destroying it.

His Feat gives boosted Attack and Damage rolls for your Battlegroup and is devastating when you get close enough to use it. A Juggernaut swinging with 4x Boosted MAT 7's with Boosted POW 19 and a Boosted POW 15 is ridiculous. Behemoth with Armor Piercing can easily solo an ARM 20 Colossal with average dice on Karchev's Feat turn.

He's definitely not the most tricky caster to play but it's sure fun to ram some jacks down your opponent's throat.

Model Spotlight: Harkevich

Harkevich is pretty awesome in MK3. Mobility is so great with a Jack spam and his Reposition 3" for all Warjacks comes in handy. There are two really strong list builds for Harkevich, abuse Mobility and the Feat or abuse his Reposition + Broadsides. I've found that Broadsides is pretty weak with RAT 4 guns but is pretty good vs. Infantry as most Khador Jacks have AOE 4. I prefer a Melee centered list and getting Warjacks as far and as fast up the field as possible.

Model Spotlight: Fenris

I got Fenris off of Bartertown.com and he was already converted in a pose which I didn't like. I ended up cutting off his body and repositioning him to the more original pose. He was really hard to paint because off all the detail. The model itself was a little beat up because of the conversion but I do like the final outcome.
Play wise, I've never really had much success with Fenris. I own 2x Doom Reaver units and try to have him with them to be thematic but everyone usually gets shot off the table before they can do anything. There might be a better way to use him. I'm going to see if I can get work done with him with a Vlad 3 Cavalry list.

Model Spotlight: Vlad 3

I normally go with a gold color scheme for my Khador but I switched Vlad 3 up to match the Uhlans who match the Black Dragons. Vlad 3 has a great spell list and is a blast to play.

Model Spotlight: Uhlan Kovnik Markov

I'm not sure how good Markov is right now but he's a fun solo to play. It might be kind of nice to charge over some Black Dragons with your Uhlans. I do like the model and it plays nice in my Vlad 3 list.