Game 117: Elara2 vs Madrak1

Game 117 – Vs Ste Passey - Trollbloods – 15/11/17

My list:

Elara, Death’s Shadow (Defenders of Ios)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Manticore

-Manticore

-Chimera

Arcantrik Force Generator

Houseguard Thane

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Fane Knight Skyreth Issyen

Heavy Rifle Team

Heavy Rifle Team

Max Houseguard Halberdiers

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters

His List:

Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain (Band of Heroes)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Dire Troll Mauler

-Dire Troll Bomber

Fell Caller Hero

Trollkin Champion Hero

Stone Scribe Chronicler

Max Trollkin Champions

-Skaldi Bonehammer

Max Trollkin Champions

Max Trollkin Fennblades

-Officer & Drummer

Min Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Stone Scribe Elder

With the troll CID updates dropping about a month ago it was time to see what the latest scary list has to offer. Madrak1 with double Champions and literally anything else brings a unique combination of armour and super high defense, as well as very strong hitting power. I played Elara2 into it, partly as she was who I wanted to try out, but I think she is a decent shout as she brings both a Defence and Armour reduction to the table. Ste won first turn and, after I Advance Moved my Halberdiers, got moving.

This Madrak list is not subtle. He casts Even Ground and puts the rest of his Fury into the Stone. Everything runs up, with Tactician making it a bit easier for them to get where they need to go.

I advance up ready to gain some scenario presence. The AFG runs up to take a strong firing position whilst the Fane Knight flanks hard on the right (this feels like a mistake, as I didn’t get an awful lot out of him over the game). Elara casts Scything Touch onto one of the Halberdiers, and advances up into the trench. A manticore puts down a Covering Fire in front of the Fennblades, to allow me to advance up my Halberdiers in Shield Wall without the threat of them being charged.

Ste takes the one charge available onto a Halberdier, but can’t roll the 9 needed to hit through Set Defence. The unit uses it’s Mini-Feat to run further up the table and jam me. The rest of his forces continue their advance under Even Ground. Madrak Feats to prevent me charging into him.

Marked for Death is a great spell to counter this list with, but it pretty much means that you need to concentrate on one unit at a time. For this turn I cast it onto the Fennblades and use the Halberdiers, Menticore and AFG (Forgot that Hard made them immune to collateral damage, which was frustrating) to remove most of the unit. I manage the threat ranges on the left unit of Champions and prepare to commit to them next turn. My Manticore on the left destroys the objective for a 1-0 lead.

As predicted, Ste’s forces in the centre destroy my Halberdiers, but they bought me some time which is all that can really be asked. My good positioning on the left means that he can’t really get anything else, but he does engage the AFG to reduce it’s options next turn. The Bomber turns round to shoot at the Fane Knight, but leaves it mounted. My objective is destroyed to move to 1-1.

I switch Marked For Death onto the unit of Champions on the left, and throw my entire army at them, and after a frankly absurd amount of effort and attacks the unit is wiped out. The amount of effort that it takes to wipe out a 17 point unit is incredible. I get salty, and remain so to this day. I contest all the zones and the score remains at 1-1.

Ste continues to attrition really hard. The Bomber attempts to finish off the Fane Knight, but doesn’t get close enough and the dismount can be outside of a inch. The Champions kill off the central Manticore and the Mauler Tramples over the Nyss Hunters, killing a couple of them. Madrak has the central zone locked down to take a 2-1 lead.

Over the course of the game I have put a reasonable amount of chip damage into the remaining Champions unit, and after switching over Marked For Death onto the unit, work on removing them and taking a good attrition position. The dice have other ideas however. I don’t roll over a 5 on a damage roll all turn, and don’t take out a single Champion, leaving me in a horrible position. I am able to take out the Mauler with my remaining Manticore though, but the Fell Caller Champion prevents me from scoring it. Nobody scores and I remain 2-1 behind, but do not have the attrition lead I was hoping to at this stage.

I was annoyed and forgot to take a picture, sorry. Ste clears out the middle zone and finally rids the right zone of the Fane Knight. Marak attempts to bounce an axe shot onto Elara, but thankfully misses. Ste moves 4-1 up but is down to only about 3 minutes on the clock.

I consider a few options with how to proceed. I could try and clear out the remaining Champions, contest all the zones and hope to hold out for a clock win, and realistically I probably should have done. Instead I look for a clean win and go for an assassination. This was definitely the wrong call as it is do dice dependent. I do land the Marked for Death on the second attempt and the AFG reduces Madrak to 1 box. But with tough, Scroll and a single transfer it is still a tall order. I try to clear out a path for my Manticore to charge, but can’t clear the lane, so have to rely on getting the 3 shots. I roll a 1 and the run is over. I concede.

DEFEAT

OK. A few days have passed since playing this game and I’ve had a bit of time to consider the matchup. I actually quite like this Elara list into this, and with a second unit of Halberdiers or going first I feel I would possibly even be favourite in the matchup. Despite the loss I am starting to really like Elara, she has an amazing toolbox and I definitely want to try some other stuff with her. The more positive thing out of this game though, is the elevation of another clubmate into a really competitive player. Ste has been in the game for about 3-4 months now and has really quickly reached the point of being a real threat, especially with how quickly he has got his head around this Madrak list. This is only a good thing going forward for the club as we go from strength to strength.