Game 146: Ravyn vs Skarre2

Game 146 – Vs Duncan Harradine – Cryx – 09/02/18

My list:

Ravyn, The Eternal Light (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Banshee

-Manticore

Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber

-Harpy

-Harpy

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Spears of Scyrah

His List:

 Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast (Slaughter Fleet Raiders)

-Kraken

-Corruptor

-Deathripper

-Nightwretch

Lord Rockbottom

General Gerlak Slaughterborn

Max Black Ogrun Boarding Party

The Devil’s Shadow Mutineers

Max Bloogorgers

I haven’t played a Shadows list for a long time, and wanted to test whether the age old list of Ravyn plus Mage Hunters was still viable, as well as trying out some Harpies on Elara1. Duncan was using the same list as last game and this time he took the first turn and got moving.

The Cryx forces run up. Duncan chooses not to bother with Death Ward due to all the blessed weapons, but we later consider this to be a mistake. The Bloodgorgers move up the right flank with the Boarding Party on the left. The Kraken presents an imposing threat centrally.

I figure that the best thing to do is go for the first turn Feat and clear out what I can. Ravyn starts and takes a Blaster shot into the Bloodgorgers, killing 2 and knocking down a third. The rest of my forces shoot into the Cryx forces, largely ignoring the Kraken. I kill off 3 of the Boarding Party, the Corruptor and one of the Mutineers. I am satisfied enough with the turn.

I have positioned the Banshee really badly, allowing the Kraken to get into it. Through a combination of Black Spot (cast onto the Mage Hunters), regular attacks and Kill Shot the Kraken is able to put out an incredible amount of damage, killing the Banshee and a whole load of Mage Hunters. On the right one Bloodgorger gets into the Mage Hunters, killing 4 before his Beserk spree ends. Skarre Feats to protect herself, both Arc Nodes, one Boarding Party member and the Kraken. I look at the table and it looks pretty grim.

I continue to chip away at the Kraken on the left, but his Feat makes it difficult, By the end of the turn it is about half dad though, and engaged by the difficult to remove Spears of Scyrah. Mage Hunters on the right charge into some Bloodgorgers, thinning them out further before protecting myself with Covering Fire. I contest all the zones so nobody scores.

The Spears of Scyrah do their job as it takes the Kraken’s full activation to kill the unit. The remaining forces on the left leave me with just 4 Mage Hunters. On the right the Cryx forces can’t quite clear the zone, leaving a single Mage Hunter alive. Duncan still scores the left and central zones for a 2-0 lead.

It is time for Ravyn to get involved, using her impressive personal suite of Blaster, Quick Work and Swift Hunter to clear the zone with a little help from the remaining Mage Hunter and the Manticore, though it takes all her Focus to do so. On the left the Harpies to great work shooting at the Kraken, leaving it weak enough for a single Mage Hunter to finish it off with a charge. The rest of the Mage Hunters finish off the Boarding Party. I score the right zone and Duncan the central to move to 3-1.

With the attrition game having suddenly swung in my favour and my caster on zero Focus Duncan realises that he has to go for a relatively long odds assassination. Rockbottom has a shot on her which misses, blast damage from the Nightwretch deals some damage before Skarre arcs 2 Blood Rains into her. The dice don’t go as he needs and Ravyn is left on 8 boxes. The Deathripper kills another Mage Hunter and Skarre scores the central zone for a 4-1 scenario lead.

With Skarre camping nothing I go for the counter assassination, shooting at her with the 2 Harpies and killing her.

VICTORY

A really tough fun game, and I actually quite like the list. The strong shooting has just enough melee presence to back it up and had I not thrown away the Banshee early on I may have been able to deal with the Kraken sooner. It was great to be able to do some of Ravyn’s trickery without getting her immediately killed. I don’t think the list would ever make it into a competitive pair, but it gives an interesting option with her being on ADR.