Game 118: Elara2 vs Abby2

Game 118 – Vs Mark Ellis - Legion of Everblight – 22/11/17

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:

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight (Oracles of Annihilation)

-Carnivean

-Carnivean

-Seraph

-Shredder

-Scythean

-Proteus

Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Hellion

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

The Forsaken

The Forsaken

Blackfrost Shard

Following Blood and Oil a number of members of the club have decided to switch up factions for a bit. Mark has finally put away his Mercs and is currently trying out various stuff in Legion to see what he likes the feel of. I dropped Elara into his Abby list to give my test list a very different challenge to the last 2 games. I was pretty confident going into the game as I was sure that my guns would make a decent hole in his expensive heavies, but failed to win the roll to go first. After Mark declared Bracer to start on a Carnivean, and I Advance Moved my Halberdiers, we got going.

Mark starts by having the Braced Carnivean further boost its armour to 22 with Spiny Growth, Trampling forward and then being Slipstreamed up by Abby. The rest of his forces advance up the table with the Scythean moving up the left flank with the Blackfrost Shard to deal with the Nyss.

With no Spell Martyr in Abby’s force I advance up to just outside threat ranges without her triggering Pack Hunter. She would still be able to , but doing so would leave her much further up the table than she would want. The Halberdiers go into Shield Wall and one of them is given Scything Touch ready to go into the Heavies next turn. The Fane Knight continues his curse of being massively misplayed by me and flanks hard on the right.

With me staying out of Mark’s threat ranges but having good enough guns to force him in to me, he is forced to unfavourably commit. Both Carniveans advance up and spray into me but his dice don’t make up for how bad RAT4 is. In the end I only lose the spotter from the HRT and 2 Halberdiers. The Braced Carnivean reapplies Spiny Growth. The rest of his forces move up, toeing zones and keeping out of threat ranges where they can.

Time to see how hard this list can attrition into a heavy beast brick. The answer is very. Elara feats, granting everybody Boundless Charge and Ghostly, before the guns open fire. The AFG knocks down and puts some damage into Proteus, and the HRTs make a start on the lower armour Carnivean. The Halberdiers then charge in using their Mini-Feat for Gang, and take out both the damaged heavies, butting a bit of damage onto the ARM buffed Carnivean. The Manticore then charges in, and between Force Generator, Concentrated Power and Scything Touch hits the Carnivean at straight dice damage. I leave it on one box. The Nyss move up and shoot some CRAs at the Scythean and toe the zone. Neither of us score but I am in a strong position on attrition.

Mark uses his remaining beasts and some well placed Blight Shrouds to clear out all of my Halberdiers (apart from the banner hiding well at the back) but can’t clear out the right zone as I have the HRT toeing it at the back. The Blackfrost Shard spell off 2 of the Nyss and the Carnivean that was left on one box was healed up with Psychosurgery and then, boosted from Alpha Hunter and Abby’s Feat, takes out the Manticore. The Sorceress flies up and makes my life difficult with Wind Ravager.  Mark scores the central zone to take a1-0 lead, but he is already down to about 5 minutes on the clock.

All I need to do in order to keep control of the game is to take out what I can safely, keep hold of the scenario and stay safe. I manage exactly 2 of these things. The Nyss clear out 2 of the Blackfrost Shard and I prepare a plan to take out the Hellion. My brain falls apart and for some reason I decide I need Elara in the zone, so after putting Boundless Charge on the Manticore she Teleports into the zone, well in threat range of the Scythean. Thankfully my dice come back to save me and the AFG spikes 2 massive damage rolls to take out the beast, but there was no need to take that risk. The HRTs finish off the Carnivean on the right and I end my turn, still 1-0 down on scenario, but having taken out all of Mark’s combat beasts.

Mark looks at the table for a minute or so, and effectively concedes. We discuss the game for 5 minutes as his clock runs down.

VICTORY

This feels like a really strong matchup for me, and going first would have made it a very simple game indeed. Carniveans just seem so overpriced at the moment, as unbuffed they fall over so easily, and even with all the tricks Abby can bring they don’t threaten that far. I like this Elara list, but some elements feel very out of place, namely the HRTs. I would like to try a list including some of the new Vyre lights, so will be rushing to get them painted once they release next month.