Game 88: Kaelyssa vs Sturgis2

Game 88 – Vs Gareth James – Cryx – 06/09/17

My list:

Kaelyssa, The Night’s Whisper

-Helios

Arcantrik Force Generator

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

His List:

Sturgis the Corrupted

-Skarlock Thrall

-Defiler

-Defiler

-Deathjack

Darragh Wrathe

Pistol Wraith

Pistol Wraith

Max Bane Warriors

Max Carrion Thralls

Max Soulhunters

My last practice game before the Nationals saw me play Gareth, a local Cryx play whose work had kept him away from the game for a while. He is reaching deep into the jank-tank for the Nationals and bringing Sturgis, Aiakos2 and presumably another equally left field caster. He tried out Sturgis into me, and having not positioned well with Kaelyssa last game I wanted a game to do it better. I won the roll to go first, and got running.

I deployed better than the Una game, and avoided getting myself jammed up early on. Kae cast Refuge on the AFG as usual, and put Banishing Ward on Helios to protect him against Parasite. The rest of my forces ran up, ready to see what presents itself next turn.

Gareth runs up his forces, keeping out of threat of the Sentinels and flanking hard on the right with Darragh and the Soulhunters (great jazz band name). He casts Occultation on the Bane Warriors and camps the rest of his focus, moving into the security of a trench.

I think that I can take out Deathjack and an arc node this turn, and under Feat be pretty safe from retaliation. The AFG has other ideas sadly, missing both his shots requiring 5s, meaning that Kae has to Stationary Deathjack herself. Her first shot misses, meaning she has to buy a second, and as a result I tilt and forget to Feat. I still get the 2 jacks killed by a combination of the Sentinels and Helios, but without my feat it gives Gareth a chance to retaliate.

4 Bane Warriors are able to charge into Helios, taking out around a third of his boxes. The remaining Arc Node moves around to the side of the Sentinels, spraying down them and Corroding 5 of them. 2 more are corroded by Sturgis himself but eventually a 9 is rolled for damage, triggering Vengeance. Other Bane Warriors and the Pistol Wraiths kill some Sentinels on the left, and the cavalry continue  their hard flanking manoeuvre. I score my flag and Gareth scores my zone, to move to 1-1.

Vengeance attacks and Corrosion rolls account for a lot of models before I even start my activations, and by the end of my turn the Cryx forces are looking pretty sparse. The Sentinels deal with all the Banes and one of the Pistol Wraiths, whilst the AFG shoots off the last Arc Node and one Soulhunter, with a Sentinel accounting for another. The AFG then Refuges into the zone to stop his scoring there. Eiryss remains on her flag to move me 2-1 ahead.

Sturgis gets to live the dream as his feat kills around 8 Sentinels, also pulling Eiryss off her flag. He Teleports back to the safety of his trench. The Pistol Wraith tries to shoot Eiryss but misses both shots and the Soul Hunters start attacking the AFG, but with limited impact. Nobody scores so we remain at 2-1.

It is mainly a cleanup turn for me as I am well ahead on scenario. I clear the central and left zones, scoring them with a last Sentinel and Helios respectively. I charge 3 Sentinels into Sturgis, dealing some damage and one being knocked down from Reversal. I finally remember to Feat before the AFG kills another Soulhunter and I move into a 5-1 lead.

Kaelyssa’s Feat is really good when losing her is the only way to lose the game, I’m going to pretend that I tactically held onto it for this long! Gareth knows the game is up and just tries to kill Helios. Between Parasite (I had dropped Banishing Ward once the Bane threat was gone) and Chain Attack -2 Arm Sturgis can deal a huge amount of damage and has a lot of attacks. He comes up slightly short leaving the colossal on 4 boxes. Dream crushed. I score twice more to win 7-1.

VICTORY

Not my cleanest win by any accounts, partly due to having no idea what half of the Cryx stuff did. The rep was useful with the list though and I’m feeling confident enough to use it at the Nationals. I hope Gareth does well with his lists, and will certainly catch some people out, but think he will struggle against people’s dedicated Cryx drops. Issyria for example would have torn his list to pieces.