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.

Warmachine Battle Reports - Khador (Harkevich) vs. Khador (Vlad 3) - Steamroller 2016 Incursion

Here's today's Lists:

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

Warcaster: Harkevich
Warjack: Behemoth
Warjack: Black Ivan
Warjack: Destroyer
Warjack: Devastator
Warjack: Decimator
Warjack: Juggernaut

Harkevich is on 2 game win streak (Win vs. Drake MacBain / Win vs. Lord Koslov) and is looking to crush some Cavalry this battle report. He's bringing his 6 heavies and relying on Mobility (+2 SPD & Pathfinder) to get him up the field and tank his way to a victory.

He faces off against Vlad 3 with his Calvalry army ready to Alpha Strike his way to a victory. I'm really happy to get my Iron Fang Uhlans and Markov off or BarterTown.com. I found someone who gave me such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up.

Deployment: Harkevich (right side) wins the roll and chooses to go second because he wants to hide behind the center obstruction. Vlad 3 (left side) deploys with the Greylord Outriders and Fenris on top while the Iron Fang Uhlans and the Man-O-War Drakhun hold the bottom. Conquest and Vlad 3 hold the center.

Top of Turn 1: Vlad 3 - Vlad 3 activates first and casts Dash which gives all Warrior models (including Cavalry) +1 SPD. He then casts Infernal Machine on the Conquest which gives him +2 SPD and Murderous which gives an additional die to attacks vs. Warrior models. He then casts Hand of Fate on the Iron Fang Uhlans which gives them an extra die when rolling attacks and damage, dropping the lowest one. He moves up along with the Uhlans who run 18".

The Greylord Outriders run their 20" and set up to flank behind Harkevich next turn to possibly get some sprays. Fenris joins them. Conquest runs his 12" and the Drakhun runs his 14".

Bottom of Turn 1: Harkevich - Since the Cavalry is so far up, Harkevich decides to put up some shots to see if he can take a few out. He gives 1 Focus to the Behemoth and one to the Destroyer and then casts Mobility which gives all his Battlegroup +2 SPD and Pathfinder. He moves up to get behind the center obstruction.

The Juggernaut, Demolisher, and Decimator run up to block charge lanes to the shooty jacks.

Behemoth activates first and dose some damage to Markov. He tries again and fails to kill him but does 3 damage to another Uhlan with the blast. Black Ivan is able to finish off Markov and do some more damage on another Uhaln. The Destroyer activates and fails to kill anything after missing his shot.

Top of Turn 2: Vlad 3 - Vlad 3 Upkeeps Hand of Fate on the Iron Fang Uhlans and Infernal Machine on the Conquest. The Iron Fang Uhlans charge into the Juggernaut knocking it down and severely cripple it. They also do a couple damage to Black Ivan. The Conquest moves up and is able to finish the job and remove the Juggernaut. The Man-O-War Drakhun looks to tie down Behemoth and runs up next to him hopefully trying to survive with his dismount in the following turn.

The Greylord Outriders ditch the Demolisher and Decimator and run their 18" into enemy lines hoping to get some back-arc sprays next turn against Harkevich.

Fenris charges in on the Decimator and is able to do a few boxes of damage.

Bottom of Turn 2: Harkevich - Harkevich allocates 2 to the Behemoth and 1 to Black Ivan. He camps 3 because he fears the Outriders coming to spray him with their magic. Behemoth activates first and easily dispatches of the Man-O-War Drakhun and his Dismount. He repositions up 3" so the Iron Fang Uhlans can't charge him next turn. The Decimator moves up and tries to kill the lone Greylord Outrider but fails so it makes it difficult for them to score. The Demolisher easily kills Fenris and his dismount and repositions back to the flag.

Harkevich moves base to base with Black Ivan and pops his feat giving his Battlegroup +3 ARM for a round to help weather the storm of Cavalry.

The round ends with the score 0/0.

Top of Turn 3: Vlad 3 - Vlad 3 upkeeps Infernal Machine on the Conquest and Hand of Fate on the Iron Fang Uhlans. He gives Conquest 2 Focus. The Iron Fang Uhlans activate first and since they are further than 1" away from Behemoth two of them charge away from him and into the Destroyer, knocking him down. They other just moves slightly to make room for Conquest. The Uhlans do some damage to the Destroyer but don't cripple anything.

The Greylord Outriders run deep behind Harkevich threatening an assassination next turn, one takes a Free Strike and dies to the Decimator. They just don't have the firepower to do it this turn vs. Harkevich's feat which makes him DEF 16 - ARM 21.

Conquest activates and gets base to base with Behemoth and the center flag. He unloads 5 melee attacks but rolls snake eyes on 2 of them leaving the Behemoth on a few boxes. Vlad 3 ends the round by running and Dominating the bottom flag.

Score: Vlad; 1 - Harkevich: 0.

Bottom of Turn 3: Harkevich - Harkevich gives Behemoth 2 focus and Behemoth unleashes 5 deadly armor piercing shots against the Conquest. It cripples his left side but leaves him with his right side.

The rest of his Battlgroup fails to do much damage to the Cavalry. The Demolisher is able to move base to base with the flag and scores a point. Harkevich turns around and hides behind the rock hoping to withstand the deadly cold sprays next turn.

Score: Vlad: 2 - Harkevich: 1

Top of Turn 4: Vlad 3 - Conquest is quite beat up and probably won't last much longer so Vlad decides to play a positioning game vs. Harkevich. He upkeeps Infernal Machine on Conquest and Hand of Fate on the remaining Uhlans. He loads up Conquest with 2 Focus and unleashes him on the Behemoth easily destroying him. The Iron Fang Uhlans charge into Decimator and takes out more of his systems.

Vlad 3 then decides that instead of ordering an assassination attempt with the Greylord Outriders, he tells them to run back to the flag with the Demolisher so that they can contest it.

Score: Vlad: 3 - Harkevich 1

Bottom of Turn 4: Harkevich - There's not much hope for Harkevich now. He is can't contest flags and his Battlegroup is too far away from the bottom flag to do anything about it. They are able to kill a few of the Cavalry and Harkevich himself moves up as close to the flag as he can and ends the round Vlad: 4 - Harkevic 1. Vlad quickly ends his turn for a Turn 5 victory.

Over View: It was really fun to play the Cavalry, especially with Vlad 3 because he gave them all +1 Speed. Have the Alpha Strike was very important and setting the line of battle in enemy territory gave Vlad 3 a huge advantage.

Vlad 3's feat was kind of wasted because he didn't really need it. It should have been popped on the 2nd turn when they had their Alpha Strike. This would have allowed them to push up a little bit further and gotten into Harkevich's face. Sprint wasn't very effective because there weren't any small models to kill.

Harkevich maybe could have also popped his feat on turn 2 and took the chance that the Juggernaut would survive the Uhlans and Conquest (not likely) but I don't think it would have made much difference.

Vlad 3 is very fun and his spell list is great. I think I need to work on his feat timing. I think I usually sit on it too long waiting for the perfect moment when I should just do it earlier and get some attrition swing.

Next Battle Report we'll see how Vlad 3 does vs. a Butcher!

Warmachine Battle Reports: Khador (Harkevich) vs. Khardor (Lord Koslov) - Steamroller 2016 Entrenched

Harkevich and his steam powered army has come to wreck some face! He's just finished wiping the blood of Drake MacBain off of his shoes (View his battle report vs Drake MacBain) and is ready to take on Lord Koslov and his band of Man-O-Wars.

Here's today's Lists:

Warcaster: Lord Koslov
Warjack: Ruin
Warjack: Beast 09
Unit: Man-O-War Shocktroopers
Unit: Man-O-War Shocktroopers
Unit: Man-O-War Bombardieers
Unit: Widowmaker Scouts
Solo: Widowmaker Markman
Solo: Man-O-War Kovnik

Warcaster: Harkevich
Warjack: Behemoth
Warjack: Black Ivan
Warjack: Destroyer
Warjack: Devastator
Warjack: Decimator
Warjack: Juggernaut

Top of Turn 1: Harkevich - Harkevich smells dirty Man-O-War blood and casts Mobility which gives his Battlegroup +2 SPD and Pathfinder and moves up the field. His wall of metal runs up as far as they can.

Bottom of Turn 1: Lord Koslov - Koslov activates and casts Tactical Supremacy which gives Reposition 3 on the Man-O-War Shocktroopers at the top of the battlefield and Fury which gives +3 to POW to the Shocktrooper unit on the bottom. He then moves up. Ruin and Beast 09 run up to give him some cover and the Widowmakers + Marksman set up and snipe 7 damage on the Juggernaut.

The Man-O-War Kovnik activates and gives the Shocktroopers on the top Desperate Pace which gives them +2 Movement. The Shocktroopers run up the battlefield 10" and pile in as best as they can. The Bomardiers move up and the bottom Shocktroopers run to try and contest their friendly zone.

Picture is of End of Round 2 

Top of Turn 2: Harkevich - The goal for this turn was to take out a threat with the massive firepower of the Behemoth, Black Ivan, Decimator, and the Destroyer. Harkevich uses Mobility again and moves behind the forest. His Battlegroup moves up and unleashes a barrage of Boosted POW 14s and with some good dice, they are able to kill Ruin.

The Devastator runs up and engages the unit of Man-O-War Shocktroopers and the Juggernaut does the same at the top of the battlefield.

Bottom of Turn 2: Lord Koslov - For some reason I'm missing a picture of this turn but it was quite uneventful. Koslov upkeeps Fury and Tactical Supremacy on the two units of Man-O-War Shocktroopers. The bottom unit of Shocktroopers plink away at an ARM 23 Devastator and do 5 damage. The top unit of Shocktroopers put some more hurt on the Juggernaut. The Bombardiers do a Combined Ranged Attack and finish off the remaining boxes on the Juggernaut.

The Widowmaker Scouts and Widowmaker Marksman block a charge lane from Behemoth to Beast 09 and put 7 damage in his column 4. Beast 09 sets up to charge Behemoth next turn.

Top of Turn 3: Harkevich - If Behemoth can hold his own for a round then it's looking like an easy Scenario win for Harkevich. Harkevich moves towards the enemy zone and pops his feat giving his battlegroup +3 ARM and free charges.

The Devastator is able to push and kill one of the Man-O-War Shocktroopers while the Destroyer just barely finishes off the Objective giving Harkevich 1 point. The Decimator charges in and kills another Man-O-War Shocktrooper which allows them to Control the enemy zone for another point.

Black Ivan drops his bomb on Beast 09 doing a few damage to it. Behemoth decides to go for the grouped up Widowmaker Scouts and Marksman because they'll be much harder to deal with since they are fast and can easily contest. He drops his first shot killing the Marksman and 1 Widowmaker and decides to switch strategies and takes a shot on Beast 09 which hurts him pretty good.

Bottom of Turn 3: Lord Koslov - This was a rough round for Koslov because of Harkevich's feat. Koslov upkeeps Fury on the bottom Shocktrooper Unit which is down to 3 models. He lets Tactical Supremacy drop off the top Shocktrooper unit and they charge into the objective easily taking it out. They are also able to put a few damage on Behemoth.

Koslov pops his feat and charges at Behemoth doing some more damage on him and Sidesteps backwards. A fully loaded Beast 09 charges Behemoth and gets him down to 4 boxes. ARM 23 is a tough nut to crack. The Bombardiers launch a CRA at the Decimater and do some damage on him but nothing significant.

At the end of the round the score is Harkevich 2 and Koslov 1.

Top of Turn 4: Harkevich - Harkevich does the math and sees a chance to win. He needs to allocate just enough so that his Battlegroup can finish off the remaining Man-O-War Shocktroopers at the bottom and then run into the zone. The Battlegroup does their job easily and at the end of the turn the score is Harkevich 3 / Koslov 1. If he can clear the zone next turn he'll have a Scenario win.

Bottom of Turn 3: Lord Koslov - It's looking pretty bad for Koslov but he might be able to pull off a Scenario win if he can just contest for 2 turns. Koslov has no Warjacks to allocate to so he camps his full 6. The Bombardiers perform a Run/Charge order and get one charge off on the Decimator which does no damage. The rest of the Bombardiers run to hopefully contest.

Beast 09 is quite far away so he just runs up toward his friendly zone. The Widowmakers Activate and run their 12" in to strategic spots that hopefully will make it tough for Harkevich to clear the zone. One of them runs and engages Harkevich, another engages Black Ivan and the Decimator and the last one runs towards the corner.

The turn ends at Harkevich 3 / Koslov 3.

Top of Turn 4: Harkevich - This is a do or die round for Harkevich. If he can clear the 3 Widowmakers he wins by Scenario. If he fails to do so, Koslov wins. A fully loaded Destroyer turns around to take out a Widowmaker and fails to roll a 7 on Boosted dice twice. Black Ivan turns around and takes out the other Widowmaker. The Decimator takes a free strike to try and get a shot on the furthest Widowmaker but loses his left arm when he tries to move away.

It's all up to Harkevich. He's got to kill 2 Widowmakers with 2 boosted MAT 7 shots. He moves in position between them with his 1" melee range but takes a free strike which does 4 damage. He then boosts both shots and kills both Widowmakers ending the game with a scenario win Harkevich 5 / Koslov 4.

Final Shot - This was an interesting game. Any other Scenario and I think Koslov is at a huge disadvantage for attrition. Man-O-Wars just don't do enough work vs. ARM 20.  The scenario was just spread out enough that it gave him a shot.

Koslov would have a better chance if he had popped his feat on turn 2 and charged Beast 09 into Behemoth. He also would have probably won if he had spread out his Widowmakers on the very last turn. Harkevich's bad dice would have made it very hard to kill an out of reach Widowmaker.

The best move of the game was when Behemoth decided to shoot an AOE into the Widowmakers instead of taking a shot at Beast 09. It cost him his life but he made it harder for Koslov to contest with the Widowmakers.

Harkevich needs a good solo killer and contester. It might be worth it to swap a Decimator for another Juggernaut and take a 4 point solo. Harkevich is on a 2 game win streak. Who will he fight next? Stay tuned!

Warmachine Battle Reports: Mercenaries (Drake MacBain) vs. Khador (Harkevich) Steamroller 2016 - Extraction

Here's today's Lists:

Warcaster: Drake MacBain
Warcaster Attachment: Sylys Wyshnalyrr
Warjack: Galleon
Unit: Nyss Hunters
Unit: Kayazy Assassins
Unit Attachment: Kayazy Underboss
Solo: Eiryss 2
Solo: Kell Bailoch
Solo: Harlan Versh
Solo: Orin Midwinter
Solo: Saxon Orrik

Warcaster: Harkevich
Warjack: Behemoth
Warjack: Black Ivan
Warjack: Destroyer
Warjack: Devastator
Warjack: Decimator
Warjack: Juggernaut

Drake MacBain pulled off a well played strategic with a strong attrition game vs. Zerkova 2 (read the battle report here) in his last game. Now he's up against a monster Warjack spam army and Harkevich's ability to get them up the battlefield quickly. Let's see how they do!

Top of Turn 1: Khador - Harkevich casts Mobility which gives all his battlegroup +2 SPD and Pathfinder. He then moves up behind his Bunker Objective. His entire battlegroup runs up 12" and sets up for the slaughter next round.

Bottom of Turn 1: Mercenaries - The Nyss activate first and move up to take a combined shot against the Devastator. They do a few damage but nothing significant. Saxon Orrik gives the Kayazy Recon so they can run into the forest which they do. All of MacBain's infantry has to be careful because the Harkevich army has the capability of putting out 7x POW 7 AOE 4 and 3x POW 8 AOE 3s. Kell Bailoch moves into the forest and does 3 damage to the Destroyer.

The Galleon moves up and sets up to drag in whatever comes close. Orin Midwinter and Kell Bailoch run up and set up to Control the top flag. Eiryss moves up and disrupts the Behemoth. Drake MacBain activates and gives the Nyss Fortune, the Kayazy Assassins Countermeasure, and Fail-Safe to the Galleon. He debates on popping his feat but doesn't realize how much work Harkevich and Broadsides can do.

Top of Turn 2: Khador - Harkevich debates if he should cast Mobility and get his guys up the field or if he should save it for Broadsides (All models in his battlegroup get to make a free ranged attack) to spread some AOE love. He decides to go with the Broadsides strategy. The Behemoth moves up and misses two drifts into Eiryss. The Juggernaut runs up and tries to block Behemoth from the Drag that the Galleon is going to do next turn. Black Ivan takes a shot at the Galleon but only does 3 damage because of the +2 ARM from Fail-Safe.

The Destroyer moves up and is able to drift an AOE on the Kayazy Assassins killing 3 of them. The Decimator moves up and gets two lucky shots on the Nyss. The Devastator moves up and is stuck in Rough Terrain.

Harkevich activates and casts Broadsides giving all his battlegroup an extra shot. Behmoth lands an AOE on Eiryss 2 but fails to kill her. Black Ivan does 2 more damage to the buffed Galleon and everyone else misses.

Bottom of Turn 2: Mercenaries - Drake MacBain upkeeps Fail-Safe on the Galleon and allocates him 3 focus. The Nyss move in and are able to do some damage to the Decimator with a combined ranged attack. Saxon Orrik gives the Kayazy Recon again and they charge one is able to charge into the Decimator and plinks him with a couple damage. The rest run up and try to engage the enemy Warjacks.

Orin Midwinter and Kell Bailoch set up to contest and Control the top flag next turn. The Gallon activates next and puts 3 shots into the Behemoth doing a couple to it. He then drags in the Juggernaut and is close to finishing him off but leaves him on 7 boxes.

Eiryss 2 moves up and disrupts the Behemoth again. Kell Bailoch does 6 damage to the Destroyer.

Drake MacBain activates and casts Jackhammer 3x which allows the Galleon to make 3 extra Melee attacks. It was easily enough to finish the rest of the Juggernaut that was Dragged in.

Top of Turn 3: Khador - It's kind of hard to tell who's winning right now.it, Eiryss 2 has been a huge problem and so have the Kayazy which have been blocking charge lanes to the Fail-Safe'd Galleon. If they keep this up, the Galleon will be able to Drag in a Jack every turn and pummel it to death. Eiryss can keep another one in check and Kell Bailoch and the Nyss with CRA can start picking off cortexes. It might be looking good for Khador and their low volume of attacks.

After examining the battlefield Harkevich sees an opening. He allocates 1 to the Destroyer and holds the rest. He then activates and casts Mobility. Black Ivan begins his turn and launches a Boosted POW 14 shot at Drake MacBain who thinks he's safe behind a forest. The shot hits and does 8 damage.

The Destroyer goes next and moves behind Black Ivan and proceeds to do the same thing and launches a RNG 14" Boosted POW 14 Arcing Fire shot at MacBain. He hits and does another 9 damage to him which is enough for a tough check.

MacBain rolls a 4 and is assassinated.

Final Shot - This was quite a quick game because MacBain didn't realize how much threat range Harkevich gives his Warjacks. With Mobility, Black Ivan, Behemoth, and Destroyer can threaten 20" with 4x Boosted POW 14 Arcing Fire shots and 3x Unboosted. It was just a miscalculation on how dangerous this list is.

Harkevich and his jacks had a huge problem with Eiryss and need a more reliable way of taking her out. She really locked Behemoth down for 2 turns and caused him to not do any work. Possibly Kayazy Eliminators would be a counter to her.

Drake MacBain should have also popped his feat on Turn 2. 5 grunts wouldn't have really changed the outcome but his feat was wasted anyway.

Overall it was an interesting match up. If MacBain could have stayed safe he might have had the toolbox to attrition the Jack Spam.