Khador Butcher 3 vs. Circle Krueger 2 Warmachine Battle Report (35 Point Steamroller 2015)

Here's a quick little battle report with Khador (Butcher 3) vs. Circle (Krueger 2) and yes, I am playing against myself.

There's a 35 point tournament coming up at our local store and it's kind of their last hurrah for MKII. There aren't many Warmachine players there but hopefully MKIII will bring in some new blood. I won the previous 35 point tournament with Butcher 3 and Old Witch. My biggest challenge right now is probably Krueger 2 and I know there's a very good player in our Meta that plays him. I was able to beat him last time because he didn't want to be list locked and instead played against his Krueger 1 which I was able to beat.

The issue I am having is how to combat Kreuger 2's feat turn.

In the practice game I played Butcher 3, Ruin, Juggernaut, a unit of Press Gangers, Madelyn Corbeau, Widowmakers, Widowmaker Marksman, and Kell Bailoch. The sniper pack is mostly for The Book or Orin Midwinter. They do help clear paths out for Butcher 3 but are probably not the best choices. I might swap one out for Doc Killingsworth for the Press Gangers.

The Circle list included Krueger 2, Ghetorix, Stalker, Gorax, Druids + UA, Stones, Stones + UA, and a Gallows Grove.

Deployment

Circle Top of Turn 1

Circle focused on the top zone and set up to take it over. The druids held the bottom and used Summon Vortex to put up clouds to contest.

Khador Bottom of Turn 1

The Press Gangers spread out in the top zone hoping to contest long enough for Butcher and the Jacks to get up the field. Butcher 3 sets up on a hill and uses Energizer to move up his battlegroup. Ruin and the Juggernaut each take opposing zones. The Widowmakers and Widowmakers take shots at the DEF 18 Druids (Camo + Smoke) and come up short. Kell Beiloch also misses.

Turn 2

 

Circle used the Stalker to clear a path for Ghetorix to the Juggernaut and Kruger 2 set him up with a Telekenisis. Circle thought they could send in a POW 19 Ghetorix with lightning strike to finish off the Juggernaut but fell very short only crippling its movement. With Ghetorix's last attack he tried to kill a Press Ganger to trigger Lightning Strike and move back but rolled snake eyes and failed. Circle also should have feated on this turn but it wouldn't have helped too much since the Juggernaut would have killed Ghetorix most likely. The Druids simply move up and cast summon vortex. The Stone Keeper kills 2 Widowmakers and they fail their command checks.

On Khador's turn I send in Ruin which explodes Ghetorix with 3 hits. Butcher just moves up and tries to set up in the zone to prepare for the carnage ahead. The Widowmakers have to flee but Kell Bailoch is able to kill a single Druid.

Circle Turn 3

Butcher 3 is camping on 0 focus and this might be the only chance Circle will get to assassinate him. The first part of the plan is to use the Druids to push away the Ogrun Bokur and have the rest do damage to Butcher. They do about 2 damage. The next step is to have the Stone Keeper do some damage and he is able to put on 4 damage.

Kruger now moves in and has LOS to Butcher. He boosts to hit and makes it. He has Sustained attack with his gun which is POW 12 ROF 3. He uses all of his shots and boost them all and gets Butcher 3 to 8 boxes. Circle should have feated but again, I don't think there was a chance with Impending Doom, Energizer, Reach, and Butcher 3's feat still active.

Khador Turn 3

Madelyn Corbeau's skill triggers and butcher moves up 3". He then uses Energizer to move another 3". He then charges the Stalker doing damage and then casts Impending Doom which sucks in Krueger 2. With MAT 9, Weaponmaster POW 16 he is able to decimate both Krueger 2 and the Stalker for a caster assassination.

The Killing Blow

 

That's the end. I missed a lot of things with Circle and I think a truly skilled player would have beat me on scenario. The Press Gangers were awesome and held the zone with toughs and volume. I am thinking about throwing in Doc Killingsworth to give them a little more staying power as their only job is to hold the line and wait for Butcher and friends to make it up field.



Circle vs. Mercenaries (Captain Phinneus Shae vs. Morvahna the Dawnshadow) Steamroller 2015: Incoming

This was an interesting match up. I really wanted to get back into Shae's A Pirate's Life theme list again since it's fun and unique. The match up today is Shae vs. eMorvahna.

Mercenaries List: Phinneus Shae, Galleon, Press Gangers, Sea Dog Boarding Crew + 1 Weapon Attachment + UA Mr. Walls, Lady Aiyana & Master Holt, Dirty Meg Jack Mashalling a Mule, Doc Killingsworth, Bosun Grogspar, First Mate Hawk, Lord Rockbottom, and my favorite: The Commodore Cannon.

 

Circle Orbors List: eMorvahna, Druid Wilder, Ghetorix, Warpwolf Stalker, Gorax, Bloodtrackers + Nuala, Warpwolf Skinwalkers + Alpha UA, Lord of the Feast, and Shifting Stones + UA.

Staring Deployment

I've been trying to figure out the math for Pirates and decided to go 2nd with them. They have such a long threat range with all their movement tricks that they're highly likely to get the alpha strike.

Circle deploys with the Bloodtrackers to the right of the field and Prey on the Sea Dog Boarding Crew. He also sets up Ghetorix and the Stalker towards the right to try and take care of the Galleon.

I wanted to try out a different deployment with the Pirates and I spread out the Commodore Cannon and the Galleon so I could control both of the zones with long ranged shots. I kept the Sea Dog Boarding Crew more centralized with the super Pirate support staff behind them.

Circle Top of Turn 1

Circle runs up and spreads out a bit. eMorvhana stays in the middle while the army splits in two. The left side is controlled by the Warpwolf Skinwalkers, UA, and Lord of the Feast while the other side has Bloodtrackers, Stalker, Ghetorix, and Stones with UA.

Mercenaries Bottom of Turn 1

On my turn I activate Shae first and pop feat. This gave me 3" to position everything except the Galleon and some Press Gangers on the fringe. I also cast Storm Rager on First Mate Hawk. The Feat gave me a good charge against the Lord of the Feast which the unboosted Sea Dog Boarding Crew were able to handle with a good charge(I forgot to activate Lord Rockbottom first to get extra melee attack dice but it worked out) They also took care of 1 Blood Tracker.

The Press Gangers at the top spread out a bit. You can see that I try to hide one behind the ruins so that Circle would have a tough time trying to control the zone. The rest move charge in and take out 2 Bloodtrackers.

The Commodore Cannon blasts a cannon ball at a Skinwalker and does 5 damage. The collateral damage also knocks down the Skinwalker next to him and does 6 damage.

The Mule jackmarshalled by Dirty Meg moves up and does nothing.

The rest of the Pirate support staff (Lord Rockbottom, Grogspar, Killingsworth, First Mate Hawk) set up to give their Tough, No Knockdown, and +4 Knockdown to the Sea Dog Boarding Crew.

The Gallon missed a shot vs. Ghetorix because he was too far but was able to use his AOE Rapid fire shots (4 total) and killed 5 Blood trackers with AOEs which worked out great.

Circle Top of Turn 2

Morvahna 2 upkeeps Carnivore on the Skinwalkers and they activate. Two are knocked down so they give up their action to stand and just move. The rest of the Skinwalkers are able to kill off 3 Sea Dog Boarding crew guys with charges. The Alpha stays back and toes the zone hoping to stay alive.

The Bloodtrackers activate and clear up some of the Press Gangers and Sea Dog Boarding Crews at their right flank. The Stone Keeper and Stones activate next and try to Rock Hammer a group of Press Gangers behind the ruins but only manage to kill 1.

This left a lane for the Warpwolf Stalker to charge in and Berserker into  5 Press Gangers. He needs 7's to hit and is able kill one but when the Berserk triggers, the Press Ganger toughs. This goes on for 5 hits with Tough and needing 7's to hit being major roadblocks for the Stalker. It would have been a better idea to swap over the Carnivore +2 MAT to the Stalker. He would have be able to wipe out the Press Gangers instead of leaving 3 alive.

eMorvahna then activates and decides to feat and brings back 7 Bloodtrackers. I think saving it for the Skinwalkers would have been much better but Circle needed a way to block the Drag shot from the Galleon to Ghetorix. She then casts Fog of War and camps 3.

Ghetorix moves into place and gets ready to charge the Galleon.

Mercenaries Bottom of Turn 2

My goal for Turn 2 was to dominate the right zone. It didn't seem like a huge problem with the tools I had on that side of the field.

I was really excited to get some Commodore Cannon action going so I activated them first. I probably should have debuffed them with Kiss of Lyliss before I shot though. The Commodore shot the Skinwalker with RAT 8 and blasted him back 4" which knocked down the Alpha. The shot killed the Skinwalker hit and did a good chunk of damage to the UA.

Aiyana and Holt activate next and Aiyana successfully casts Kiss of Lyliss on a Warpwolf Skinwalker that is out of eMorvahna's Fog of War range. I should have just targeted the knocked down Alpha, duh.

The Sea Dog Boarding Crew activate next and do some charging. I screw up again and forget that First Mate Hawk gives them Weapon Master vs. Warrior models. They are able to kill everything except they leave 1 Skinwalker on 4 boxes which would have been dead if I remembered the rule.
Since I didn't clear the zone, I didn't have to run Shae into it so I just moved him within walking distance of it next turn.

The Mule does nothing again. I really need another unit of Press Gangers.

The Galleon activates next and moves up to walking distance of the left zone. He gets 4 Rapid Fire shots again and with AOEs he is able to kill 5 Bloodtrackers. His last shot with his Trident is boosted and smashes a Bloodtracker that is within 5" of him

Lord Rockbottom gets aggressive and aims for a spray shot. He is able to kill the Stone Keeper and removes the teleportation threat off the table.

Circle Top of Turn 3

No points have been scored yet due to some bad dice and bad strategic play on both sides. eMorvahna lets Carnivore drop on the one Skinwalker and moves into kill some Press Gangers behind the ruins. This also gets her away from the Galleon but keeps her in the zone to Dominate. The Skinwalker activates and with some bad dice and tough are only able to kill 1 of the 2 Press Gangers contesting the zone.

The Bloodtrackers clear a path for Ghetorix by moving out of the way and putting all their Weapon Master ranged shots into Bosun Grogspar that is contesting the zone. They are able to kill him after a couple Tough checks.  The Stones without their UA also get out of the way of Ghetorix.

The Druid Wilder users her special action and casts the Primal Animus on Ghetorix. Ghetorix then charges in with MAT 9 - POW 21s against the Galleon's ARM 19. On Average dice he should do about 39-43 damage on the Galleon but only does 37 which takes out his Left side.

The Gorax has nothing left to do and moves into the right zone and hopes to survive.

Mercenaries Bottom of Turn 3

The game is pretty much mine because Circle failed to score on their turn. I just need to keep Shae safe. Even if Cirlce were able to Dominate for 2 I think my Pirates would have had enough tools to defend the Objective and contest for a scenario win. Circle was pretty wiped out by now.

Shae gives 3 Focus to the Galleon and camps 2. Aiyana and Holt activate and get Kiss on the Gorax and the Sea Dog Boarding Crew finish him off. Phinneus Shae handles the last Skinwalker and Dominates the zone.

The Galleon activates, moves in a little closer and boosts to hit Ghetorix. After spending all his focus he leaves Ghetorix on 6 boxes.

Dirty Meg runs toward the Galleon hoping to repair him next turn. The Mule follows her and sets up to contest the zone next turn.

The Commodore Cannon is too slow and too far way to do anything. I definitely need to centralize it more next time I play this list.

Mercenaries score 2 Points

Circle Top of Turn 4

Ghetorix frenzies because of Primal and does 11 damage to the Galleon. The Galleon still has all systems functioning for his right side. Circle has to contest or lose the game so they run a Bloodtracker into the zone. Another Bloodtracker tries to charge First Mate Hawk but fails to hit needing 9s.

The Stalker is faced the wrong way and has a Giant rock separating him from the Galleon so he just runs towards the edge of his zone to protect it from being contested.

Score: Mercenaries 2 - Circle 0

Mercenaries Bottom of Turn 4

The game is mine if I can complete 2 simple tasks. 1 - Kill the Bunker Objective. 2 - Kill a Bloodtracker. If I can do these things I will Dominate the zone again and get a point for destroying my opponent's objective.

I decide to play out all my pieces just for practice. The Galleon with 3 Focus is able to take out Ghetorix, Rockbottom sprays and takes out a Stone, and the Mule charges the Stalker and misses. Woo hoo.

Shae then activates, boosts to hit and annihilates the Bloodtracker. Three Sea Dog Boarding Crew members charge into the objective with POW 10 boosted attacks. I was able to do just enough damage to kill it. In retrospect that was a bad idea because the average damage would be around 6 and I need 15 damage to an ARM 18 to kill.

I didn't realize it but I could also Kiss of Lylss the objective since it's a model. I could have also shot it with Holt and pull back Hawk to hit it with 2x POW 9 Weapon Masters giving me a better chance to destroy the objective. Either way, I got lucky and took it out and Mercenaries won the game with 5 victory points.

Summary

Pirates are tricky because of all the synergy involved. They've got a Charge distance buff from Shae along with his feat of allowing them to move 3", they have Lord Rockbottom's coins which either give them Tough, +2 RAT +2 Ranged damage, or boosted melee attack dice, First Mate Hawk's +1 additional die vs. warrior models, Grogspar's no knockdown, Killingsworth's +4 tough, and they have Mr. Wall's +2 Movement + Pathfinder mini feat.

Trying to get everything to line up is pretty tough on model placement. You've also got the Press Gangers which benefit from the same thing but usually there's not enough room for everyone to get the goodies.

A Pirate's Life theme list struggles with ARM skews a lot but is great vs. lots of warrior models. The next time I play this list I plan to centralize the Commodore Cannon more and I'd probably swap out the Mule for 10 Press Ganges and 2 Sea Dog Weapon Attachments. It does mean I'd have to purchase more Press Gangers but people are now starting to play them in Butcher 3 which might be fun for me.

I could swap out the Mule which threatens 12" with a Mariner which threatens 20" (15 Range + 5 Move) and get more work out of it but that means Dirty Meg will have to ditch the Galleon and exclusively be tethered to the Mariner. I also lose 1 POW and 1" of AOE. A boosted RAT 5-7 at POW 14 - AOE 3 - with a 15-20" threat range could do way more work than a boosted RAT 7 POW 15 - AOE 4 - with a 12" threat.

Over all, I like this list because I haven't seen many people play it and a lot of people won't know how to handle it. I will practice it a bit more and get the threat ranges down in my next blog post.

Cygnar (Strkyer 3) vs. Skorne (eMorghoul) Battle Report

I was planning on playing some of my Steamroller Khador parings tonight but I didn't want to make Austin cry like a little girl so I threw together a Skorne army.

The Skorne army consisted of eMorghoul, Molik Karn, a Brute, Tiberion, Harpoony dudes, Incindiarii, Prateorean Swordsmen, the Warlock attachment, and the Paingivers.

Austin decided to play his Stryker 3 with a Centurion, Stormclad, Lancer, Storm Blades, Runewood, Finn, JWC, The solo Gun Mage, Strageways, Boomhowlers, and Rhupert.

Austin already confused about the set up

All of Cygnar ran up on turn one. Austin got Fuiry on the Sword Knights and set them up to take the first hit. On Turn 1 I was able to move up my Incidiarii slowly and lob a couple shots at the Sworsmen who Reformed closer. I was able to set 2 on fire and kill one.

Cygnar Top o Turn 2

Austin began drawing the line of battle with the Sword Knights and Boomhowlers. I was able to kill 2 Boomhowlers after he made 4 tough rolls which helped a bit. He lined up his Arcane Shielded Centurion up front for me to try and smash.

Skorne Bottom of Turn 2

Austin was able to tie up Molik Karn and blocked the charge lane to Centurion with Sword Knights. I used Morghoul with Fate Walker to clear a path and charged in.

Skorn Bottom of Turn 3

On my turn I was able to clear some room for Tiberion to charge the Arcane Shielded Centurion. With bad dice rolls I was only able to take out his left arm. On my next try, I trampled with Molik Karn and was able to get the Centurion down to 1 life. I had to send the Brute in which took a free strike from a Fury'ed Sword Knight and took out an aspect. I had to boost but I was able to kill the Centurion off. It took pretty much everything.

Cygnar Top of Turn 4

Austin feated and was able to kill Tiberion and didn't do much after that. His Boomhowlers failed to do any damage to Molik Karn and the Brute. In an odd strategic choice, Austin ran Stryker so he would be in Melee with Morghoul.

On my turn I moved Morghoul out of the way with that 2" thing and  then launcheda combined shot with 6 Incindiarii doing about 8 damage. Morghoul was able to charge in and finish off Stryker 3 for a Skorne victory.

Skorne is ok. Their beasts aren't as good as Warpwolves and their casters have low Fury with minimal spells. They're fun to play once in a while but I feel they lack deep strategy and flexibility. I am loving Incindiarii though. If Khador's Bombardiers were like them, I would take them in every list.

Khador vs. Mercs - Butcher 3 vs. Drake MacBain (35 Points)

Tonight was the second time I delved deep into the world of miniature table top wargaming, or as normal people call it, playing with my little plastic friends. Rob, the owner of Table Ready Terrain (tablereadyterrain.com) found me on Facebook and challenged me to a 35 point Steamroller 2015 match up.

For this game we played Outflank which has 2x circular zones that can be controlled for 1 point or dominated for 2.

Rob from Table Ready Terrain getting ready to deploy after winning the starting roll.

For my list I decided to bring Khador and flex my Butcher 3 muscles. He is definitely a fun caster to play but has his share of bad anti magic match ups.

Khador - Butcher 3 - Butcher Unleashed

Warcaster: Butcher 3  (-4)
Warcaster Unit: War Argus
Warcaster Unit: War Argus
Warcaster Attachment: War Dog (+1)
Warjack: Ruin (+10)
Warjack: Juggernaut (+7)
Unit: Kayazy Assassins (+8)
Unit Attachment: Kayazy Underboss (+2)
Unit: Aiyana & Holt (+4)
Solo: Saxon Orrik (+2)
Solo: Widowmaker Marksman (+2)
Solo: Ogrun Bokur (+3)

Butcher is the driving force in this list. He won't start the fight but he sure will end it. The goal is to use the Juggernaut to initiate a piece trade and end that transaction with Butcher smashing face. The Kayazy are MAT 9 with Gang and DEF 16 in melee. They are there to jam while Aiyana & Holt are there to assist them against higher ARM. The Ogrun is just for security because Butcher sometimes gets shot off the table. Shield Guard allows him to dodge a silver bullet.

Mercenaries - Drake Macbain

Warcaster: Drake MacBain  (-4)

Collosal: Galleon (+18)

Unit: Press Gangers (+6)

Solo: Bosun Grogspar (+2)

Solo: Wrong Eye(+9)

Warbeast Snapjaw(+9)

Warbeast: Bullsnapper (+3)

Solo: Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (+2)

Rob brought a Galleon ARM skew list. MacBain's Fail Safe (+2 Armor, Warjack doesn't suffer crippled effects) and the Bullsnapper's Spiny Growth (+2 Arm) brings the ARM total of the Galleon to an impressive 23. The Press Gangers are there to jam and buy time while the Galleon drags heavies to their scrap metal death.

Rob wins the roll and elects to go first

Rob casts Fail Safe on the Galleon and runs everyone up. He ends his turn with casting Spiny Growth on the Galleon making his ARM total 23.

On my turn I run most of my units up but I cast Energize with Butcher 3 to get my battlegroup and Warjacks up 3 more inches. I almost screw everything up because I forgot that Ruin had Abomination instead of Terror which forced command checks on my Kayazy and Ogrun Bokur. Lucky for me they both passed. 

After that debacle I offer up the Juggernaut to the Galleon hoping he'll spend a turn killing it while I set up Ruin and Butcher for a counter attack. I tried to block the Juggernaut from being dragged by some Kayazy and the War Argus but forgot the Galleon had blast damage on his rapid fire guns.

End of Turn 1

Rob upkeeps Fail Safe on the Galleon and allocates it 3 focus. He then charges in with his Press Gangers but unfortunately isn't able to kill any Kayazy. He then activates Galleon and after a 3rd party confirmation and a laser line check, he is able to drag the Juggernaut to his death. He ends the turn casting Spiny Growth on the Galleon.

Yes! He took the bait! Now I just have to close the deal... but wait... am I too far? Uhh... I think I'm just a hair shy from Ruin and Butcher wreaking havoc on him! I activate Aiyana & Holt and cast Kiss of Lyliss on the Galleon but I'm about a half inch too far and miss. I am able to kill the Bullsnapper with Holt though which really helps. My plan was to get the -2 ARM Debuff on Galleon and charge in Ruin to remove Fail Safe, then finish him off with the Butcher. Unfortunately, I have to activate Butcher first and cast Energizer to make sure I am in charge range for everyone.

Butcher then charges and I roll incredibly bad on 6 hits, not damaging any systems. I have 3 focus left after popping my feat and I have a decision to make. Should I spend the 3 and take a shot at killing the Galleon and then set myself up to be Ganged by MacBain? No. I decide to camp the last 3 focus. 

I activate Ruin and he charges in with 3 focus. I almost forgot about Dispel on his weapon but that was crucial to remove Fail Safe. After Ruin's activation, Galleon has a crippled Left Side but still has his massive Trident.

I pop the Kayazy mini feat and charge them through the Press Gangers and get a couple shots at the Galleon only doing about 5-6 damage to him. I run the War Dog and Ogrun Bokur to help the Butcher against his final stand and end my turn. 

I do end up moving into position and scoring 1 point for controlling one of the zones.

Mark 1 - Rob 0

Mercenary Turn 3

Rob goes in the think tank for quite a while. He's trying to decide the best way to handle the situation. The War Dog is a huge problem for him as it bumps Butcher's defense to 16. In the end he decides to allocate 3 to Galleon and smash away. He boosts to hit on all of his shots and hits 2 out of 3 leaving Butcher on 6 health. He then buys 3 Jackhammer shots needing hard 10s to hit and misses them all.

He moves his Press Gangers in and try to take out the Kayazy but fail. He also tries to charge Bosun Grogspar at Butcher but eats 2 free strikes from the Kayazy and dies. Wrong Eye and Snapjaw are able to handle Ruin and leave him a steaming pile of wreck marker. MacBain, sensing impending doom, moves back since the scenario is not Killbox and ends his turn.

Mark 2 - Rob 0

On my turn, instead of risking being left wide open after killing the Galleon I decided to wipe out the Press Gangers instead. Those nasty pirates tough the hell out of their rolls and force me to use everything I've got. In anti-climactic fashion I am able to kill over half his unit forcing him to make a tough check. They fail and there's no one to contest the zone. I simply toe the zone with Butcher and dominate for 2 points and have Aiyana & Holt with the Widowmaker Marksman control the other bringing my total to a game winning 5 points.

Mark 5 - Rob 0

End of the Game - Khador Victory by Scenario

Overall a very good game. It could have gone either way with just a simple dice spike. Rob did a hell of a job almost killing Butcher. I got pretty lucky on making the call to camp the 3 focus instead of trying to finish off the Galleon because without it, Rob would have had exactly enough to kill Butcher.

Final Thoughts

I made a couple of huge mistakes this game. My first mistake was thinking Ruin had Terror instead of Abomination and forcing myself to make command checks on both my own Kayazy and Ogrun Bokur.

The second mistake is that I placed 2 Kayazy base to base with the Juggernaut trying to stop the drag, forgetting that the Galleon had AOE which wiped them out like nothing when the attack targeted my easy to hit Juggernaut.

I wouldn't change too much of the list at 35 points. If I were playing this in a two list pairing for Steamroller I might take out Aiyana & Holt so I can get better use out of them in another list. I'm pretty comfortable with the Kayazy and their mini feat really catches a lot of people off guard and is hard to plan for. I could try Iron Fang Black Dragons but that isn't my play style. I could also switch for some Nyss Hunters but lately I haven't had too much luck with them other than just being a contesting jam unit. I might put in the Widowmakers instead to help clear a path for Butcher and his Jacks.

I do love Butcher 3 and his pups. There's a tournament at GMI Games on Saturday and if I go I'll most likely play him with either pVlad, pSorcha, or Old Witch. There's a lot of Trolls in the Inland Empire meta though so I need heavy hitters.

Till next week!

Warmachine Battle Report Analyisis- Khador Butcher 3 vs. Menoth pKreoss (35 Points)

Mark - There's a 35 point Steamroller coming up at our local game store in November and I'm trying to figure out what I want to play. I've narrowed it down to Khador or Menoth. The winner of the battles will decide which faction I bring!

Khador - Butcher 3 (35 Points)

Warcaster: Butcher 3 (-4)
Warcaster Unit: War Argus
Warcaster Unit: War Argus
Warcaster Attachment: War Dog (+1)
Warjack: Ruin (+10)
Warjack: Juggernaut (+7)
Unit: Kayazy Assassins (+8)
Unit: Kayazy Underboss (+2)
Unit: Widowmakers (+4)
Solo: Widowmaker Marksman (+2)
Solo: Saxon Orrik (+2)
Solo: Ogrun Bokur - Client Butcher 3 (+3)

Butcher 3 is hands down the deadliest model in the entire game. He's a MAT 9 Weapon Master with a POW 16 Magical Weapon with Reach that can Flashing Blade and hit everything within 2" of his front arc. Not only that, he's got Impending Doom which pulls everything within 5" all the way towards him, Vengeance with his War Arguses which allows him 3" of movement and a free melee attack, and Energizer to get him that extra 3" advance. If you do the math his threat range is:

+5" for Speed
+3" for Charge
+2" for Reach
+3" for Vengeance (if your opponent happens to kill your War Argus)
+3" if you can trigger Madelyn Corbeau's Intrigue.
+5" Impending Doom
+ Pathfinder when he charges
-----------------------------------------------------
Total: 21" Threat Range

He can easily suck everyone in with Impending Doom and wipe out 3 of your opponent's best heavies. Not to mention his feat which allows him to utilize 12 focus that turn.

The goal of this list is to find a way to deliver Butcher safe and sound within a reliable distance so he can start his murderous rampage. The trick is to get him into a place where he's close enough to the enemy Warcaster or anchor pieces and set him up so he doesn't have to feat defensively.

To do this you can use his War Arguses to screen him while Juggernaut and Ruin either clear him a murderous path or take the brunt of the first wave onslaught. The Ogrun Bokur is perfect to save you from one large ranged shot the opponent might get on Butcher. Once you're close, the +2 Defense from the War Dog will most likely force your opponent to boost to hit him in melee, if they ever get the chance.

The Kayazy Assassins and Saxon Orrik are used as the jamming unit because they can get up field quickly, ignore terrain, and stay relatively protected with their high defense and stealth. Once they're close enough you can pop their mini feat which allows them to move through other models and take no free strikes and use them to either scalpel out troublesome solos with their Gang MAT 9 POW 12s or just cause general disruption.

The Widowmakers and Widowmaker Marksman usually can soften up most single wound infantry units and snipe out The Covenant of Menoth and Orin Midwinter, both which shut down Butcher 3 with their anti spell tactics.

Ruin can charge for free with Pathfinder, wipe out entire units with his Soul Taker ability, and can kill heavies with his POW 18 Magical weapon with Reach. He also has Dispel on his main which can remove Defenders Ward, Iron Flesh, and Arcane Shield.

Juggernaut is just a cost effective beat stick that can absorb damage.

It's a fun list to play and gives you plenty of options.

To counter this list I wanted to see how pKreoss' anti-magic tactics + Pop & Drop would stand up against Butcher 3.

Menoth - pKroess (35 Points)

Warcaster: High Exemplar Kreoss (-5)
Warjack: Reckoner (+8)
Warjack: Redeemer (+6)
Unit: Exemplar Errants (+8)
Unit: Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard (+2)
Solo: Exemplar Errant Seneschal (+2)
Solo: The Covenant of Menoth (+2)
Solo: High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (+3)
Solo: Vassal of Menoth (+2)
Solo: Vassal of Menoth (+2)
Solo: Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (+3)

This list focuses heavily on the Pop & Drop feat of pKreoss where he knocks down everyone in his control area and brings down the wrath of Menoth on his targets. To do this you need to have sufficient firepower and range to make the best use of his feat.

With the Choir's battle buff the Reckoner can launch a boosted POW 15 shot and one umboosted ancillary POW 15 shot. The Redeemer can shoot 2 Boosted POW 14 shots and one unboosted ancillary shot. If you're close enough with Kreoss you can also shoot an unboosted Cleansing Fire for a POW 14. Don't forget about the Errants and Errant Seneschal. That's 12 unbosted POW 10s. To top it off you've got Eiryss who will do 1 Snipe damage and remove all upkeeps and focus on your target.

So if you do the math:
POW 15 Boosted
POW 15 Unboosted
POW 14 Boosted
POW 14 Boosted
POW 14 Unboosted
POW 14 Unboosted
POW 10 Unboosted (12 times)
Snipe 1 Damage

All this on a knocked down target that's most likely going to be stripped of buffs and focus.

The trick is protecting pKreoss till he can get within 14" of the enemy Warcaster while also making sure nothing AOE's Eiryss. The Covenant of Menoth and Lamentation will help control any fancy tricks your opponent might have in his spell book.

Game Result

• Menoth Turn 1 - Menoth goes first and runs up to position well for pKreoss' feat. The Exemplar Errant's Hunter ability helps the Errants move and see through the dense forest on their side of the map. pKreoss casts Lamentation and gives Defender's Ward to the Reckoner.
• Khador Turn 1 - Khador moves up and uses Juggernaut and Ruin to shield Butcher. Butcher uses a patch of forest to block LOS so he can safely use Energizer and move his battlegroup up 3".Kayazy Assassins run up the Flank while the Widowmakers are able to take out 3 Errants but are just outside of 5" to do anything to Eiryss.
• Menoth Turn 2 - Lamentation and Defenders Ward are upkept. The forest blocks the Pop & Drop so the Reckoner and Redeemer move up and take out 6 Kayazy with their AOEs which pass their command check. The Errants are able to kill all 4 of the Widowmakers leaving only the Widowmaker Marksman. The Covenant of Menoth casts Lawgivers Creed and blocks spell casting within 10" of it.
• Khador Turn 2 - Khador moves up in position and sets up their next turn to charge into Menoth's Warjacks. In a crucial turn, the Widowmaker Marksman is able to move in and roll a hard 8 killing Eiryss. Butcher senses that the Pop & Drop is coming and camps 5. The remaining Kayazy charge and kill Vilmon and jam up the Redeemer.
• Menoth Turn 3 - Here it is. The Pop & Drop. pKreoss activates and pops his feat knocking everyone except the Widowmaker Marksman and 2 Kayazy down. The Choir sings Battle and the shots begin to rain down on an ARM 23 Butcher 3 with 20 boxes. With average rolls, the entire army is only able to do 15 damage to the Butcher leaving him on 5 boxes. 
• Khador Turn 3 - Butcher has survived but is still hampered by The Covenant of Menoth + Lamentation so he decides to allocate 3 to each Warjack and feat defensively. The remaining Kayazy finish off the Covenant of Menoth and move in to get back strikes to the Menoth army on the next turn. Ruin takes out both of the Reckoner's arms and has the Redeemer in melee. The Juggernaut reduces the Errants to 2 models, and the Ogrun Bokur kills the Errant Seneshal that was working to flank Butcher.
• Menoth Turn 4 - With the army suffering severe casualties, Kreoss decides to make a last ditch effort to kill Ruin with 7 focus. Unfortunately he barely scratches him with his POW 14 Reach weapon and is left out in the open like a sitting duck.
• Khador Turn 4 - Butcher smells blood and charges into pKreoss and destroys him with 2 shots. 

Khador wins by Assassination Turn 4

Butcher 3 Murdering pKreoss who failed a pop and drop against him

Analysis

It was a huge mistake for Menoth to put Eiryss out so far. She got greedy and wanted to kill the Widowmaker Marksman and it backfired and cost her army the game. If she had stayed back behind the Errants she would have been able to snipe Butcher removing his focus and allow the Menoth Warjacks to assassinate him. Other than terrain, there would be nothing to stop the Pop & Drop assassination.

I definitely have to try this match up again because I think if Eiryss can stay safe till the Pop & Drop, there's nothing Butcher can do to stop it other than keep the Ogrun Bokur 14" away from pKreoss but 2" away from Butcher.

Khador vs. Mercenaries - Butcher 3 vs. Captain Phinneus Shae Battle Report

Today we have an epic 50 point battle between Captain Phinneus Shae and Butcher 3. Shae and his speedy antics will surely get the alpha strike but will it pack enough punch to weather the vengeance of Butcher 3's retaliation? Let's take a look at the lists.

Mercenaries - Talion Charter (Tier 3)

Bonuses: (+1 Starting Roll, Models have Pathfinder on first turn, -1 Cost to Solos)

Warcaster: Captain Phinneus Shae  (-6)

Colossal: Galleon (+18)

Unit: Press Gangers (+6)

Unit: Sea Dog Boarding Crew (+8)

Unit Attachment: Mr. Walls the Quartermaster (+2)

Weapon Attachment: Sea Dog Rifleman (+2)

Unit: Aiyanna & Holt (+4)

Unit: Commodore Cannon & Crew (+4)

Solo: Lord Rockbottom (+1)

Solo: First Mate Hawk (+1)

Solo: Doc Killingsworth (+1)

Solo: Bosun Grogspar (+1)

Solo: Dirty Meg (+1)

Jack Marshalled: Mule (+8)

Objective: Effigy of Valour

The goal of this list is to run up hard and get Alpha Strike then have the Galleon drag in heavies and destroy them while a dozen +4 Tough Sea Dogs create a wall in front of it hopefully preventing retaliation.

Khador - Butcher 3

Warcaster: Butcher 3  (-4)

Warcaster Attachment: War Dog (+1)

Warjack: Ruin (+10)

Warjack: Behemoth (+13)

Unit: Kayazy Assassins (+8)

Unit Attachment: Kayazy Underboss (+2)

Unit: Winter Guard Infantry (+6)

Unit Attachment: Winter Guard Office & Standard (+2)

Weapon Attachment: Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeer x2 (+2)

Unit: Widowmakers (+4)

Solo: Widowmaker Marksman (+2)

Solo: Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich  (+2)

Solo: Saxon Orrik  (+2)

Objective: Fuel Cache

The goal of this list is to push a wall of metal (Ruin/Behemoth) using Energizer (+1 movement per focus spent up to 3) with Butch 3 and the dogs behind it and begin piece trading with the opponent's heavy hitters. The thought is whatever kills Ruin or Behemoth will be killed by either the surviving Warjack or Butcher 3 himself. Butcher 3 can wipe out 3 heavies or a Colossal with ease. The Kayazy Assassins are there to jam and cause trouble with their acrobatic mini feat, the Winter Guard are there to Bob & Weave and handle stealth with sprays and combined ranged attacks, and the Sniper group of Widowmakers and Marksman are there to pick off key solos and weaken front line infantry.

Let's start the game!

Mercs with their +1 Starting Roll end up deploying first. The scenario they are playing is Two Fronts.

Mercenaries deploy with Galleon in the middle with hopes to drag heavies and grind them into dust. The Pirate ball support cast of First Mate Hawk, Lord Rockbottom, Bosun Grogspar, and Doc Killingsworth deploy behind the Sea Dog Boarding crew. The Commodor Cannon and Press Gangers are placed to hold the left zone.

Khador deploys Butcher 3 in the center of the board hoping to get a good shot at the Galleon. The Kayazy Assassins are poised to deal with the Pirate Ball while the Winterguard Death Star, Widowmakers, and Widowmaker Marksman are going to rush the right side since it's only protected by Press Gangers. They have to be careful because they're backed with the very deadly Commodore Cannon.

Mercenaries Turn 1

Mercenaries run up. Shae does not pop his feat and Mr. Walls doesn't pop his mini feat. With all their tricks (Godspeed Feat, No Quarter, Coup De Main) the Sea Dog Boarding Crew has a threat range of 16.5") The Sea Dog Boarding Crew gets quite far up the field. The rest of the army runs forward while the Commodore Cannon slowly trudges along.

Khador Turn 1

Knowing that there's no way to out threat Shae, the  entire Khador army runs up except for Butcher, the Widowmakers, and the Widowmaker Marksman. Everyone else braces for impact. Butcher casts Energize for 3 focus and moves his battlegroup 3". The Widowmakers and Marksman aim and are able to hit 4 Press Gangers but 3 of them tough.

Mercenaries Turn 2

Shae gives Galleon 3 focus in hopes that he can destroy the Behemoth which is his biggest threat (other than Butcher 3) Aiyana is able to land Kiss of Lyliss on the Behemoth forcing him to take +2 damage and Galleon is able to drag him into melee range where he begins to tear into his metal. Unfortunately to Shae's surprise, it is not enough to kill the Behemoth but gets him down to 8 health, leaving just his Cortex and his Right Arm.

Mercenaries Turn 2 Continued

It's up to a Storm Ragered First Mate Hawk to try and finish off the Behemoth or Galleon will be forced to eat an armor piercing fist in the face. She fortunately is able to charge with 4 dice and barely kill the Behemoth leaving just a pile of wreckage.

The Sea Dog Boarding Crew front line is able to charge and kill both Butcher's dogs triggering Vengeance. The rest run to block a charge lane from Ruin/Butcher to the Galleon. The Commondore Cannon critically misses a key roll against Ruin which could have possibly slammed him into Butcher knocking them both down.

Khador Turn 3

Ruin is allocated 1 focus just in case the Sea Dogs tough (which they all failed.) Ruin was able to clear a good late for Butcher and stack up 2 soul tokens. The Winter Guard Infantry combined an attack on a Sea Dog blocking Butcher from Galleon and was able to kill him and forced the unit to make a command check which they failed.

It still seemed too far for Butcher to get to Galleon but by utilizing Energizer and Reach he was able to get a charge off on him. With the help of his feat (regain 6 focus) Butcher murdered First Mate Hawk, Holt, and disintegrated the Galleon with 2 focus to spare. The Kayazy kill off a good chunk of the Sea Dog Boarding Crew and jam up the Mule in the right zone.

Mercenaries Turn 4

It's looking pretty grim for Shae. The Mercenaries were able to retaliate with a stiff Commodore Cannon shot to Butcher, slamming and knocking him down and forcing 5 damage on him. Bosun Grogspar debated whether or not to pitch the knocked down Butcher or just to go for an all out charge. Eventually he decides to charge and rolls fire and is able to take off another large chunk of Butcher 3's health bringing him down to 6 life.

Shae was blocked by Rough Terrain and a Forest so he was not able to see the Butcher. If Shae had known how much impact Grogspar would have he would have shot his gun at Butcher and might have had a boosted chance at killing him. Instead Shae decided to move by the Commodore Cannon hopefully to goad Butcher into trying to finish him off on his own terms.

Khador Turn 4

Khador is by far winning the attrition game and is able to clean up a lot of the Press Gangers and Pirate Ball support cast. Butcher kills Bosun Grogspar and gets behind the forest so the Commodore Cannon can't see him. The Kayazy Assassins are able to take out the objective for 1 point and continue to jam the Mule.

Mercenaries Turn 5

With no jack to allocate to, Shae moves in and wipes out the Widowmakers and tries to hide in the back of Butcher 3's front arc. The Commodore Canon does all it can do and slams Ruin back 3" and knocks him down only doing 5 damage. It looks like all hope is lost for Mercenaries.

Khador Turn 5

Butcher is able to charge at the Mule, cast Impending Doom, and finish both Dirty Meg and the Mule. The Kayazy Assassins run toward the Cannon to hopefully distract it and set up to kill the crew next turn. Butcher scores 2 points for Dominating the enemy zone bringing Khador's total to 3 points.

Mercenaries Turn 6

Knowing all hope is lost, Shae makes a last ditch effort to wreak havoc and clears out a pile of Winter Guard Infantry. He ends his activation staring directly at Ruin The Commodore Cannon shoots its 20" ranged cannon ball and is able to knockdown Butcher 3 and almost push him out of the zone. Unfortunately, the damage still leaves him with 4 health.

At the end of the Mercenaries Turn 6, Khador reaches 5 points with Butcher again dominating the enemey zone.

Khador wins by Scenario Turn 6.

Analysis:

Mercenaries - The Talion Charter is quite limited in model selection and when you drill it down to Shae's A Pirate's Life Tier List it's even more restrictive. The problem with Shae's army is that it doesn't deal with Heavy Warjacks very well. The Galleon is a monster but when he's gone, there's nothing the rest of the army could do.

To get the most out of this Mercs list the key thing would be to get more work out of the Commodore Cannon. The Commodore Cannon is so powerful and can slam models with a RAT 8 - 20" Ranged shot that does POW 16. It's pretty amazing but it's so slow. People sometimes throw the Cannon to get it up the field quicker but that means bringing a jack with open fists.

If you see that your opponents have multiple threats to Galleon you could sacrifice positioning in the enemy zone and use some Press Gangers to block charge lanes to it allowing the Galleon to get a second drag off against Butcher or Ruin and probably swing attrition to Merc's favor.

I love the Talion Charter list but it's defintiely going to struggle against ARM skews and there's not much to change that other than good positioning, making better use of the Commodore Cannon, and defending your Galleon well.

The Jack Marshalled Mule didn't pull his weight. It might be a better idea do drop it and get another unit of Press Gangers +2 Riflemen for the Sea Dog Boarding Party. It's still overly infantry that doesn't pack a huge punch. You'll definitely be playing for scenario.

Khador - Butcher 3 is so amazingly strong it's absolutely ridiculous. On his feat turn he was able to completely decimate the Galleon and 2 good defense models (Holt & First Mate Hawk.) The original plan about piece trading worked like charm. Behemoth was sacrificed for a Galleon and after the Galleon was dead, there wasn't anything on the board that could take out butcher reliably.

The Kayazy Assassins did a wonderful job of mini feating and taking out Lord Rockbottom and Doc Killingsworth severely hampering the strength of the Pirate Ball. They were also able to Jam up the Mule and put pressure on the Commodore Cannon towards the end of the game.

The Winter Guard Infantry was ok. They handled the Press Gangers well but it seemed like they could have wiped them out faster. With Bob & Weave they're DEF 14 and with Kovnik Joe they have Tough so they were pretty annoying. Their combined ranged attack made sure key models blocking Butcher from Galleon  were dead really helped.

The Widowmakers + Marksmen were able to plink off a few shots but didn't do as much work as I thought because of the tough rolls made by the Mercs. They are definitely needed espeically vs. The Covenant of Menoth or Orin Midwinter which can completely shut down Butcher 3.

If there's anything I would change it might be swapping the Winter Guard Death Star with Winter Guard Riflemen to pick off pesky high DEF infantry. Butcher and Ruin can handle the big stuff while the Riflemen with Kovnik Joe can deal with the infantry. Although, the Deathstar is great vs. Stealth which could pose a problem in some matchups.

I would also consider dropping Behemoth for a Juggernaut and picking up either Doom Reavers or dropping 1 Rocketeer or War Dog and picking up a second Juggernaut.

In the end, Captain Phinneus Shae survived and was able to dent the Khadorian forces but ended up giving up too much ground. Butcher laughed maniacally as army controlled the battlefield and dominated the game.

Mercenaries vs. Trollbloods - Bartolo Montador vs. pGrissel

I was lucky enough to get 2 games in this week at a game store called GMI Games in Riverside, CA. I had never played at a store before so I was quite nervous till the league organizer, Joe, welcomed us in.

I had only ever played games against five other factions (Cygnar, Cryx, Retribution, Legion and Trollbloods) and I was excited to get a chance to play against something new. I ended up playing two games against Trollblood (doh) but the list was something I had never encountered.

The first game I played was my Mercenaris vs. pBorka in a 50 point mach up which you can read about here.

The second game was 35 points against the League organizer, Joe, and his pGrissel list.

(35 points) Bart's Batten Down The Hot Shot

Warcaster: Bartolo Montador (-5)
Warcaster Attachment: Slys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (+2)
Colossal: Galleon (+18)
Unit: Kayazy Assassins (+8)
Unit Attachment: Kayazy Underboss (+2)
Unit: Aiyanna & Holt (+4)
Solo: Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (+2)
Solo: Ragman (+2)
Solo: Saxon Orrik (+2)

My goal with this list was to set up Galleon as a Hot Shot Colossal turret in the middle of the field while Bart gives him Batten Down the Hatches for +3 armor and gives him a second turn of shooting with his knockdown if moved into control area feat.

The Kayazys would jam while Ragman hid behind the Galleon using Death Field (-2 Armor) to make sure that anything the Galleon dragged in would be blown to smithereens.

Aiyana & Holt would be able to clear paths for the Galleon and Kiss of Lyliss (-2 ARM) would give allow the Kayazys (POW 12, Mat 9 with Gang) to take down some of the other Warbeasts and tough units.

(35 points) pGrissel List

Warcaster: Grissel Bloodsong, Fell Caller (-5)
Warbeast: Earthborn Dire Troll (+10)
Warbeast: Dire Troll Bomber (+10)
Warbeast: Troll Impaler (+5)
Unit: Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (+4)
Unit Attachment: Stone Scribe Elder (+1)

Unit: Trollkin Fennblades (+8)
Unit Attachment: Fennblade Officer and Drummer (+2)

Turn 1 Mercs - I gave the Galleon Hot Shot (Upkeepable Boosted Ranged Damage Rolls) and charged Bart up the field. Everyone else just ran and spread out a bit. I didn't know what was about to come.

In the middle of Trollbloods Bottom of Turn 1

Turn 1 Trollbloods - My opponent used his mini feat on his Fennblades (+2 Speed) and ran them up 16". He then ran up everything else and had pGrissel pop her feat which allowed her entire army to make a full advance. This meant he was 34" into my zone with the Fennblades. He was able to engage my Kayazy and my Galleon and built a nice wall of Fennblades blocking his Earthborn Dire Troll, Bomber, and Impaler.

 Round 2

Turn 2 Mercs - I was pretty shocked and didn't see that coming. I figured since I went first I'd dictate the line of battle with my Kayazy and then use a Hot Shotted Galleon to pick everything off one by one. At the beginning of my turn I kept up Hot Shot on the Galleon and gave him 3 focus. My goal was to find a way to get Galleon a path to drag in his Earthborn Diretroll any means possible.

The first thing I did was activate my Kayazy and used their mini feat which allowed them to move through other models. With this I was able to charge my Kayazy at the Fennblades blocking his Earthborn Dire Troll. With their MAT 9 and POW 12 (+2 to both due to Gang) I was able to clear most of the way for my Galleon.

Aiyana was unable to get Kiss of Lyliss (+2 to all damage taken) on the Fennblades and they were too far to get it on the Earthborn. Holt was able to pick off one of the Fennblades by aiming (RAT 10) vs. their 16 defense (+4 for being in melee). The Fennblades' reach really screwed with my shooting.

I then activated Ragman and had him cast his Death Field and hide behind the Galleon so I would be sure to crush the Earthborn. The Galleon went it and rolled fire. He was able to pop 5 shots into the Earthborn to soften him up and 1 into the Krielstone. He then used his Trident to drag the Earthborn to him and crushed him with melee attacks.

I rolled very well this turn and I almost felt bad. Most of my die rolls were 5-6 through the whole activation. It didn't matter too much because most of my attacks only needed 5's to stick and damage. I was also rolling +3 damage against the Earthborn which made quick work of him.

Before I ended my turn I was dumb and decided to put Bart on a hill and surround him with Kayazy thinking he'd be safe. I was wrong. I ended my turn casting Batten Down the Hatches (-2 DEF +3 ARM to Battlegroup)

I was also too eager and nervous and forgot to pop my feat which would have sealed the game right then and there.

Turn 2 Trollbloods - This was an all or nothing turn for my opponent. He really needed to get the assassination off because he had nothing left to take the Galleon.

His first move was to give Snipe to his Bomber (+4 Range) and then move him up so he could see Bart. I totally forgot that my Kayazy didn't block LOS because they were stealth! He made sure he outside of 5" of them but still within range of Bart and lobbed 2x RAT 5 POW 16 shots which were both boosted and hit bart for a total of 6 damage. I got off pretty lucky.

His Fennblades attacked my Kayazy (DEF 16 in melee) which missed a lot and only manged to get 2. He then moved up pGrissel behind the Bomber and launched Rift at the Kayazy, killing 3 and forcing me to make a tough check which they failed.

Turn 3 Mercs - I kept up Hot Shot on the Galleon and gave him 3 focus. I tried really hard to find a way to kill pGrissel but I couldn't. She was camping transfers and I couldn't get a good angle to her for a drag so I changed my plans to kill the Bomber.

My Kayazy run backwards to protect Bart from charges and rally at the end of their activation.

Aiyana fails to land Kiss of Lyliss on both the Bomber and the Galleon (whew) and Holt was able to take out 2 Fennblades with his guns.

Ragman moves up and gives himself (and Galleon) Death Field.

The Galleon then Activates and I roll fire again and was able to demolish the Bomber which left pGrissel wide open.

Dougal charges a Fennblade but fails.

I forget to feat again! I cast Batten Down the Hatches which was a horrible idea because it dropped my DEF by 2 boosting my ARM 3 but it cost me 3. There was nothing on his side of the board that could have taken Galleon anyway so I just nerfed myself 2 DEF.

Round 3 - Final

Turn 3 Trollbloods - pGrissel ran her beasts hot last turn so she was stuck making a frenzy check on the Impaler which failed. The Impaler charged and killed his own Fennblade.

I thought I was pretty safe vs, his army but I forgo that pGrissel has a spray and Rift. It was all or nothing again for my opponent and he moves up and casts a Rift needing a hard 9 to hit and it stuck. Bart takes a boosted POW 13 against his 19 armor which he takes 7 damage taking him to 4 health.

After that, pGrissel shoots her spray 8 at Bart needing 10's. He boosts and is able to hit and Bart takes a boosted POW 12 to his 19 ARM. My opponent rolls a 10 which does 3 damage leaving Bart on 1 box.

The store was about to close and pGrissel was sitting on no fury in melee with the Galleon so he conceded and shook my hand.

Final Thoughts: I definitely almost handed this game to my opponent by stick Bart on tht hill. What I should have done was to hide him behind the Colossal and he would have been just fine. I also forgot that the Kayazy had stealth which hurt me because they didn't block LOS. I also had 2 chances to Feat (Knockdown any enemy models that end movement within Bart's control and gives them -3 attack) which would have sealed me the game but I totally forgot to do it. I also shouldn't have casted Kiss of Lyliss against a Fennblade that was engaged with my Galleon but I was lucky I missed both.

Looking at the picture, Galleon might have had reach so pGrissel wouldn't be able to make her Hail Mary shot but I can't really tell.

It was really fun to play something and someone new. Joe, my opponent, knew what my models did and didn't have to sit and read my cards which was really nice. I'm looking forward to going back to GMI next week.

Trollbloods vs. Mercenaries Battle Report - Bartolo Montador vs. pGrissel

I've never played at a local gaming store and today was my first time. I was nervous at first but after meeting a couple of the regular players I was ready to get a couple games in.



The first game I played I brought a Bart/Galleon Mercenaries list that I wanted to try.

Bart's Gun N' Stun

Warcaster: Bartolo Montador (-5)
Warcaster Attachment: Slys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (+2)
Colossal: Galleon (+18)
Warjack: Mule (+8)
Warjack: Mariner (+8)
Unit: Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (+10)
Unit: Aiyanna & Holt (+4)
Solo: Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (+2)
Solo: Eiyrss, Angel of Retribution (+3)

My opponent Brought:

pBorka List

Warlock: pBorka (-5)
Warlock Attachment: Pyg Keg Carrier
Warbeast: Earthborn Dire Troll (+10)
Warbeast: Troll Axer (+6)

Unit: Northkin Fire Eaters (+4)

Unit: Trollkin Champions (+10)
Unit Attachment: Skaldi Bonehammer (+3)

Unit: Krielstone Bearer & Sone Scribes (+4)
Unit Attachment: Stone Scribe Elder (+1)
Solo: Horgle, Ironstrike (+3)
Warbeast: Pyre Troll (Attached to Horgle) (+4)
Solo: Fell Caller Hero (+3)

Solo: Troll Whelps (+2)

Solo: Trollkin Champion Hero (+3)

Solo: Alten Ashley (+2)

The goal of my Bart list was to set up my Galleon, Mule, and Mariner to pop off a ton of shots with broadside. I would use the Nyss to jam up the other side and hold off any charges. When I pop my feat I would be able to buy a second turn of guns, hopefully softening him up to be crushed.

The whole 3 Warjack thing didn't work out at all. I needed to put 3 on Galleon so he had enough juice to drag in and finish of heavies. The other 3 focus were spent on Batten Down the Hatches to keep my jacks alive.

In the first round I was able to push my Nyss up to control my enemy's flag and I was able to dominate with Bart on my friendly flag. By the end of the 3rd round I was able to accumulate 3 points.

After that, things went a little bad. My Nyss were decimated by the Pyre troll and Champs. Ryan had positioned his Axer and Earthborn behind rocks so I was unable to drag them to my Galleon. His Champs had Iron Flesh + set Defense + Krielstone which made them pretty hard to kill. Fortunately my Feat bought me a turn. (Models that end their movement in Bart's control area are knocked down and any enemies inside the control area suffer -3 to attacks)

With some buffs and stuff the Earthborn was able to get into melee range with the Galleon and he began beating the crap out of him. The Galleon lost his Left Side from the Earthborn Dire Troll and when I retaliated I was unable to kill it with 6 boosted POW 13 Shots, a Boosted POW 15 shot, and 4x POW 21 Melee hits.

It was a sad day for the Galleon. Fortunately one out of the 9 remaining of my Nyss survived the onslaught of Champs and Hero Champ and contested his friendly flag. My opponent was too far away to contest my friendly flag and I was able to squeeze out a victory.

If it were to go on any longer, the next turn he would have sent in all his champs and Troll Axer and finished off my Galleon. Luckily I was able to score 1 on his turn and 1 on my turn giving me 5 points and the last minute win.

After writing this I also realized that he had a knocked down whelp next to my flag which we didn't count as contesting but I later found out that it did so I would have only had 4 points. He would have had to run his guys through rough terrain to contest on his turn and I have a feeling I would have been able to handle a 1 or 2 Champs to clear out my flag for a win. Oh well.

What would I change about my list? Well having the two other jacks were kind of worthless. They can't do much to heavies without the focus to boost. I never even used Broadside once because I needed to give 3 focus to Galleon and pump everyone's ARM +3.

I would definitely drop the Mule and Mariner and pick up another infantry unit to jam up charge lanes against the Galleon and let his Hot Shot'd guns do the work.

Kayazys would have been great to take on the champs or maybe some Press Gangers to buy some time for the Galleon. Ragman would have also been great to take down the Earthborne that I had to boost to hit.

Overall it was a good game and I was happy I won. It was a great experience to play in public and I got over my fear of game stores :)