Game 141: Vyros2 vs Coven

Game 141 – Vs Paul Cooper – Cryx – 3/2/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Aspis

-Imperatus

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

House Shyeel Artificer

Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

The Witch Coven of Garlghast

-Egregore

-Deathripper

-Deathripper

-Slayer

-Stalker

-Stalker

Max Soulhunters

Min Bile Thralls

Max Bane Warriors

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls

Max Carrion Thralls

Game 2 of the Steamroller sees me up against the brother of my round 1 opponent, playing Cryx with a combination of Coven and Skarre1. Neither of my lists felt incredibly good into the pair, so I went for the “best bad matchup” of Vyros2, he dropped Coven, with a really interesting out of theme list with a lot of quick elements. Paul won the roll to go first and we got going.

The Cryx forces run up, not as far as they can, but easily far enough up to get me worried about where the game is going to be played. The Stalkers flank on my right with the Soulhunters on the left. Infernal Machine is cast on the left Arc node and Occultation onto the Soulhunters.

With impressive threat ranges on both flanks I just have to gather in together, protect my important pieces, and hope that something opens up in a later turn. Vyros casts Deceleration to protect against any Bile Sprays or spells from the Coven. There are models in threat ranges, but hopefully nothing that I will easily lose, and will force him to give something up to do significant work.

The first wave of Cryx come in. Curse of Shadows is cast on the left most Griffon, before 2 Sounhunters charge in, dealing reasonable damage but leaving jack alive with most systems intact. The Carrion thralls run up, dealing a bit of damage with a CMA from a few of the crows. The jacks on the right reposition ready to attack next turn. The Coven feat to reduce my Line of Sight to 5”.

Not too much decision making here, just how I like it. All I can do is take out what has come in to me, and then strike out with a Griffon or 2 where I can. Vyros himself clears out the 2 Soulhunters, and the majority of the lights clear out the Carrion thralls. 2 fully powered Griffons on the left press up, taking out 2 of the Biles, a Bane Warrior and the left Arc Node. Vyros feats to threaten next turn. Unusually on Spread the Net, nobody scores.

Cryx wave 2 and this is starting to feel like a tower defence game. The Banes activate first and take out the 2 forward Griffons. This feels like an error, as it allows Imperatus to move right up the middle with Feat moves without being threatened. The Stalkers come in and kill off the Artificer and the Slayer kills an Aspis. I use Feat moves to get Imperatus right up the table, and the Coven scramble to try and protect themselves. A Witch scores the flag to take a 1-0 lead.

With a single Side-Step I can get Imperatus onto Egregore, so this turn becomes all about working the assassination. I can get a Griffon onto it first, but requires an Aspis to Beat Back the Slayer out of the way. The final attack kills off the heavy, simplifying things. After building up Synergy the Griffon charges in, dealing enough damage to kill a single Witch, before Imperatus walks in to finish it off.

VICTORY

I think I caught Paul out in terms of how much work I could get done on his Feat turn. Between a 10” walking threat from Griffons and the removal of the -2 to MAT/RAT element from the feat I could still attrition fairly well. It feels like one of those situations where I could have just continued the attrition game instead of going for an assassination, but being able to get 2 jacks on the caster felt sufficient to pull the trigger. 2-0 at this point for the event, but the final 4 was a tough bunch, with pairs of Vlad1/Zerkova1, Haley3/Nemo3 and Madrak1/Kolgrimma waiting for me in the next round.