Game 6: Helynna vs Vlad1

Game 6 – Vs Richard Beech – Khador – 25/03/17

My list:

Helynna (Forges of War)

-Sylys

-Helios

-Helios

-Hyperion

Arcanist

Arcanist

Artificer

His List:

Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Prince (Winterguard Kommand)

-Juggernaut

-Juggernaut

-Marauder

-Marauder

-Marauder

Kovnik Joe

Min Winterguard Rifle Corps

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

Min Winterguard Rifle Corps

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

Min Winterguard Infantry

-UA

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

-Rocketeer

Mortar Crew

Field Gun

Game 2 of the Steamroller saw me go up against Richard Beech and his Khador. I had played Richard once before and had an extremely fun and close game. He is one of the cleanest and most calculated players I have ever gone up against so I knew I would be in for another tricky game. His pairing of Vlad 1 and Butcher 3 left me uncertain in terms of list selection so I opted to go with familiarity and drop Helynna. Richard dropped Vlad, I won first turn and started running up the table.

Richard ran in response, putting up Wind-wall to protect the colossal-slaying Marauders and generally getting Winterguard models up in my face to make life difficult. However he, as with Barry in the game before, left me the opportunity to fish out a heavy early on.

Hitting 3 unboosted 5s in a row to drag in a heavy can be pretty risky business and this set up left me no opportunity to draw it in for another jack to wreck it. In these situations I tend to hard roll the first 2 and then boost the 3^rd, knowing that 4 dice+3 attacks should pretty reliably wreck the Juggernaut. This leaves Helios without any of it’s defensive tech up but it feels worth it to essentially start up a heavy. The plan works and I destroy the Juggernaut. One down, 4 to go. This plan however easily leaves me in threat range of feated Marauders and so I feat and put up decal to buy myself a turn, ensuring that I don’t give him anything that can get into me without his feat. The proxy base in the below pic is the Helios that killed the Juggernaut.

Seeing my feat up Richard predictably backs off and simply shoots my objective off with Signs and Portents rockets. The armoury objective was in range of my right Helios and he didn’t enjoy the prospect of my using it to get around Wind-wall. Other shooting into the colossals does some damage but nothing game-changing.

The one mistake Richard made during this turn (and probably the game) was to leave the second Juggernaut in range to be fished out like the first. He thought it was safe behind 2 layers of Winterguard but the Hyperion’s guns can pretty easily clear a path through. I moved my Helios up so that only 2 pushes would be required to bring the Juggernaut in. Hit the first 5, miss the second, boost the 3^rd and roll 1,1,2 to miss. Whoops. Helios punches the objective instead, like a petulant child. At this point the battle plan has to change to scramble a defence. The right Helios moves back to toe my zone and all the defensive tech goes up. At this point a game I felt pretty up in starts to feel very hard work.

Failing to damage the Juggernaut last turn means that Richard is able to do signigicant damage to me without having to break up “Fort Marauder” and so the piece-trade phase of the game goes significatnyl in his favour. The juggernaut with Signs and Portents backed up by all the rockets destroy the failure of a Helios, Hyperion has to be sent in to destroy the Juggernaut, allowing him to feat and send to Marauders in to kill Hyperion. All the while his Rifles are managing to pick off my support staff with CRAs and the game is massively getting away with me.

Richard’s way of winning games is basically to get ahead and then just stand on your throat until you stop wriggling, and the remainder of this game was an excellent example of why he has made the England WTC team, he just doesn’t let up when he’s ahead. Despite having some possible assassination runs he just moved over to start scoring control points, destroyed the last Helios with his remaining 2 Marauders, and slowed down my own scoring so that I wouldn’t ever get ahead. He eventually won the game 5-3 on scenario with me just having my caster and an Artificer to my name.

DEFEAT

Another great fun game and putting a decent fight up against a player of Richard’s skill is really all I can ask for. We tried to play out mentally what would have happened had the Juggernaut been dragged in but there were still far too many variables to be able to plot the course of the game. I was pleased with my own ability to keep my head after this setback, as this has affected me badly in the past. I had come to this event to test my Kaelyssa list, and after 2 rounds was yet to play her, so being in the “fun bracket” I made the decision to definitely play her in the next game. I probably shouldn’t have done that.