Game 136: Kaelyssa vs Thagrosh1

Game 136 – Vs Mark Williams – Legion – 20/01/18

My list:

Kaelyssa, The Night’s Whisper (Legions of Dawn)

-Helios

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Min Dawnguard Destors

Min Dawnguard Destors

His List:

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (Children of the Dragon)

-Azrael

-Typhon

-Zuriel

Craelix, Fang of Everblight

Bog Trog Mist Speaker

Spell Martyr

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Min Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters

-Bayal, Hound of Everblight

Min Blighted Nyss Swordsmen

-Abbot & Champion

Ice Witches

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

The final round of the Steamroller and I am facing one of the other 2 undefeated Legion players. Mark was running Thagrosh1 and Vayl2, and I had a bit of a conundrum about which list to run. I opted for Kaelyssa as I knew he wouldn’t be able to drop Vayl into her, and I liked Helios’ ability to pull in Thagrosh’s expensive heavies and get up early. Mark dropped Thagrosh as expected and got the first turn.

Mark runs his forces up. I’m used to seeing Legion further up the table than this but the lack of a Seraph in the theme force makes such a difference. Thagrosh puts up Fog of War to protect his forces and trigger Prowl on the Hex Hunters.

I put up the usual suite of Blur on Helios and Refuge on Kaelyssa. I decide that holding back slightly is a better option than Feating bottom of 1, and do think it was the right call, but probably not for how the game progressed. As in the first game I made sure that for the most part he could only target Sentinels, triggering Vengeance if he tried anything.

Mark pushes up into my threat ranges, trusting the combination of Unyielding and Death Shroud to keep his heavy beasts alive. Swordsmen and Hex Hunters are used to jam into my troops in an attempt to hold me back, whilst Craelix shoots off one of my Destors and deals some damage to another.

I have the opportunity for a big turn, but need to clear out some models first. The right unit of Destors charge up to take out Craelix, but the first is Counter-Charged by the Champion, and the second chooses to charge and kill him, ending the turn engaging Craelix. The second Destor unit charges through the Sentinels taking out the blocking models, and the Sentinels on the right charge and kill Typhon as well as a handful of Swordsmen. On the left the Sentinels charge in and damage both Unyielding beasts, before Helios moves in to kill Zuriel. Kaelyssa Feats to limit Mark’s response and nobody scores.

Mark strikes back, feating back Typhon an Obliterating a few Sentinels. The Ice Witches’ Sprays, remaining Swordsmen and Azrael do a good job at clearing out the front Sentinels, and the rest are jammed back with his remaining models. Thagrosh scores his flag for Mark to take a 1-0 scenario lead.

I’m in a good position so just need to keep pressing and take out what I can. The Sentinels Vengeance moves take out the first line of jamming infantry and I prepare to put Helios into one of the beasts on the left. I activate the remaining Destors who remove the rest of the blocking infantry and an assassination angle from Sentinels opened up. Kaelyssa Phantom Hunters herself before removing Thagrosh’s 2 Fury, dealing a bit of damage in the process, before 4 Sentinels charge the Warlock, killing him with the first attack.

VICTORY

This game was a real showcase for how powerful Tactician is as an ability. The amount of times I was able to push through my own lines left me able to constantly unjam myself and get a great amount of work from my Sentinels. It was great to get a first Steamroller win with Ret under my belt after coming close so many times, and qualifying for the next round of the UKISS is a nice bonus. I think my pairing for the event was strong even if it does have a bit of a Cryx problem. It is a couple of weeks until my next event, a UK Invitational event in York, so I’m hoping I can carry on this good run into that.