Game 76: Helynna vs Zaal2

Game 76 – Vs Ryan Longthorne – Skorne – 19/08/17

My list:

Magister Helynna

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Spears of Scyrah

His List:

Zaal, The Ancestral Advocate

-Basilisk Drake

-Basilisk Krea

-Cyclops Shaman

-Agonizer

Ancestral Guardian

Ancestral Guardian

Hakaar the Destroyer

Swamp Gobber Chef

Max Immortals

-Extoller Advocate

Max Immortals

-Extoller Advocate

Max Immortals

-Extoller Advocate

The final round of the 3^rd list testing Steamroller saw me drawn against Ryan, the local Skorne Tyrant, who like me was trying to find the lists to build around his Makeda double cats list. I wanted to try out Helynna with Sentinels as their armour can become pretty absurd, and Ryan dropped the Immortal spam Zaal list. High Armour, slow Vengeance troops slogging into each other. Not what you want on game 4. Ryan won first turn and the slog began.

Ryan casts Vision on Zekaar and Aura of Power on Zaal, before running up all of his troops, with the Warbeasts generally getting ahead of the sea of Immortals.

I respond by running up as well, staying out of his predictable threat ranges and getting at lease something in each zone unless he tried to jam me out. I plan to use the Manticores on the right to control that flank with Covering Fire and try to win the game on the left. The single Arcanist is sat near the right flag to start scoring next turn if possible.

As I have remained out of threat there isn’t too much for Ryan to do this turn, but he gets slight tunnel vision and tries to take out some Sentinels with his guns. The Basilisk spray kills one Sentinel, triggering Vengeance on the right unit, whilst the single shot from the Shaman is Shield Guarded onto a Spear, failing to kill, but triggering Vengeance on the unit.

The extra 3” of range on 2 of my units gives me a pretty good way in to one of Ryan’s units. I know this is going to be feat turn so if I can kill most of a unit without reprisal I may be able to hold a pretty strong attrition position. A couple of Vengeance attacks followed by charges from the Spears destroys the Shaman, before the Sentinels charge into the Immortals, killing 4. The Manticores then move into position to shoot into the same unit, killing 3 more, before Rhythm of Warring back out of threat. The rest of my Sentinels run to engage the left unit. Under Iron Zeal and Helynna’s feat, the Sentinels are sat in his face at ARM23. I score my flag to lead 1-0.

Zaal feats and his Immortals begin pointlessly attacking my Sentinels, dealing no damage with early attacks and quickly concluding that it is not worth triggering Vengeance. He does finish off the Spear that previously Shield Guard, triggering Vengeance on the two remaining members. With nothing happening, I score my flag again to lead 2-0.

It is now my turn to flail ineffectively into high armour, but after considering a moment I consider a different approach. If I can stop Ryan contesting my flag in his turn I will win. If I don’t kill any models at all in my turn then his Advocate won’t be able to make the unit Incorporeal, so I may be able to jam them away from the flag. I jam as best as I can with the Sentinels, put down Covering Fire from the Manticores and use Rhythm of War to move them further in. I score again to lead 3-0.

I have made a pretty significant miscalculation in my plan, as if Ryan loses an Immortal to either Covering Fire or a Free Strike, he will still gain the Soul to fuel becoming Incorporeal. His centre unit activates and provides that Soul, though all of the unit dies to Free Strikes from a Spear of Scyrah. The full right unit advances members through to contest the flag until one survives the Covering Fire, then removes a load of my Sentinels. On the left flank Ryan is very unlucky not to remove all of my Sentinels in the zone, leaving one alive contesting both the flag and zone. Nobody scores so the score remains 3-0 to me.

My route to victory is to kill the objective and remove the single contesting Immortal. Helynna charges the Immortal, not risking a damage roll and instead just pushing it away. One Spear and 2 Immortals move into the objective, though one Sentinel dies to a Defensive Strike. They do some damage before Discordia tramples in and destroys it. I score 2 without reply to win 5-0.

VICTORY

Ryan and I both agreed that this game was not a particularly fun slog, and I did not really enjoy playing my list. I would have lost the game had the remaining Sentinel not hung on in his zone, as I was down on attrition and scenario was my only way out. We were both tired in the game which led to some bad decisions, but it was still good to see our lists in action.

I finished the Steamroller 3-1, as I have the previous 2 events. The more surprising result was the fact that out of my 3 lists, Ravyn was the one that stood out, so I have made the decision that her list will join Issyria and Vyros2 as my lists for the Nationals. I have 3 weeks to get as many games in with them as possible, and hopefully be prepared for whatever the wider British meta throws at me.

Game 75: Ravyn vs Heretic

Game 75 – Vs Matt Harris – Grymkin – 19/08/17

My list:

Ravyn, The Eternal Light (Defenders of Ios)

-Helios

-Helios

Arcantrik Force Generator

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Stormfall Archers

Stormfall Archers

His List:

The Heretic (Bump in the Night)

-Gorehound

-Crabbit

-Crabbit

-Skin & Moans

Death Knell

Glimmer Imp

Lord Longfellow

Witchwood

Max Hollowmen

-Lantern Man

Max Hollowmen

-Lantern Man

Max Piggybacks

Max Piggybacks

Round 3 of the Steamroller and I was delighted to be drawn against the one Grymkin player at the event. I had planned my Ravyn list out as a potential Grymkin drop and was glad to be able to try it out especially as I had really enjoyed my previous game with her, even in defeat. Matt was playing in ADR and switched out the Weaponmaster Dread Rots for the Piggybacks, and I was interested to see how they played out on the table. I won the roll to go first and we got moving. Matt chose the Shroud and Ill Omens Arcana to go with The Heretic’s Reckoning.

Ravyn puts Snipe on the AFG and puts up a defensive Veil of Mists. The colossals and AFG run up the centre and the Stormfalls head towards the walls on the flanks, hoping to use them as defensive positions for shooting.

Matt runs his forces up the table with the Gorehound on the left flank. He puts out a Wall of Fire to use up Fury. The lines are set.

The 2 Helios run up to form a wall with the building whilst my Stormfalls and AFG start with shooting. The AFG leaves the tree on 3 boxes and I can’t finish it off, and slams down the Gorehound. The left Stormfalls finish the Light Warbeast and kill a couple of Hollowmen who had strayed out of The Heretic’s control. The right Stormfalls used Star Strikes to set many of the Hollowmen on fire so as to not trigger any Arcana. This is the basis of the list into Grymkin: The Stormfalls and the Helios can get so much work done without killing a model, giving him no opportunity to trigger an Arcana until I allow him to. Then his options are either -1,-1 or Stealth by which time the turn is over, or to start the Reckoning chain on a model like the AFG, which even at -2DEF and ARM is far enough back to stay safe.

Matt is not in a position to attack the Helios so continues advancing and attempting CRAs into the Stormfalls, but at DEF17 he needs huge numbers to hit and doesn’t manage to take any out. The Skin & Moans is given souls and hangs back hoping to attack later. We both score our zones to go 1-1

This was the turn where I had to get enough work done to win the game, and so order of activations was vital in not triggering any Arcana before I was ready. The Stormfalls on both sides set most of the remaining Hollowmen on fire, catching Lord Longfellow in the process. The left Helios pulls in and kills the Skin & Moans, removing one of the biggest threats from the table. The right Helios killed off the Tree, before pulling in and killing 2 of the Piggybacks on the right, triggering the Reckoning Arcana. The AFG finishes off a load of the Hollowmen on the left flank with a POW 9 AOE shot. We again both score our zones to make it 2-2. (The below picture is taken after fire rolls)

Fury is upkept on the right unit of Piggybacks, who charge into the Reckoned Helios, followed by the Battle Engine and a Crabbit, leaving it on around 20 boxes. Fury is switched to the full unit who charge and roll very well on the left Helios, leaving it on around a dozen boxes. The Hollowmen continue trying to kill Stormfalls, but with limited success. We continue scoring defensively and go to 3-3.

Time to start tidying up and getting ahead on scenario. The left Helios does a sweep to kill 3 Piggys and tough the other 2, buying 2 further attacks to finish off the unit. The other Helios takes out the Battle Engine and a Crabbit. The Stormfall Archers shoot at the objective but can’t finish it off. We both score our own zones but I have been able to clear the left to finally take a 5-4 lead.

With very little left Matt knows the writing is on the wall. The Heretic casts Fury on himself and finishes off the last Helios. Very little is happening in the right zone as our last remaining models are trapped in melee with each other. I score 2 to Matt’s 1 again, to lead 7-5.

All I need to do is destroy the objective and contest his zone to win. The Stormfalls deal with the former, and the last damaged Helios runs up to finish the game 10-5.

VICTORY

There is little more satisfying in this game than having a plan going into a game and seeing it perfectly play out on the table. This was a great fun game against a top opponent, and it was fantastic to see Ravyn be able to have an impact. Even if she does nothing else, moving Snipe around and feating is a strong enough toolbox to look at. I really enjoyed playing the list again and it took another step towards making my final tournament pairing.

Game 74: Ravyn vs Haley3

Game 74 – Vs Glenn Wareing – Cygnar – 19/08/17

My list:

Ravyn, The Eternal Light (Defenders of Ios)

-Helios

-Helios

Arcantrik Force Generator

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Stormfall Archers

Stormfall Archers

His List:

Major Prime Victoria Haley

-Centurion

-Thorn

Captain Arlan Strangeways

Journeyman Warcaster

-Charger

Arcane Tempest Rifleman

Arcane Tempest Rifleman

Ragman

Gun Mage Captain Adept

Max Trencher Infantry

Max Storm Lances

The second list I was wanting to try to fill out my three lists for the Nationals was a Ravyn list I thought about some time ago. Playing with Garryth back at the Welsh showed me what a strong combo the AFG and Helios are, so I looked at turning that to 11 with this list. Glenn was playing Cygnar and dropped Haley3, which didn’t feel like a disaster, as whilst I would strggle to shoot through the cloud wall, he would potentially not have enough armour cracking to grind through 2 colossals. Glenn won first turn and we got moving.

Glenn brought out the Past and Future versions and put Tactical Supremacy onto the Trenchers, who advanced, clouded and Repositioned back. The junior put Arcane Shield on the Storm Lances who ran up the flank.

Glenn has set up the cloud wall in such a way that I can just about see Future Haley. The AFG gains Snipe and sends some AOEs in her general direction, getting lucky with the scatters and killing a Trencher, toughing another, and reducing both Riflemen to 3 boxes each. Rough terrain was also put down to impede his advance. The rest of my forces ran up ready to contest the zones next turn.

There is not much for Glenn to do this turn unless he wants to basically throw away his Storm Lances, so he just continues advancing behind the smoke cloud, and casts Temporal Distortion to increase his defence further. He makes a mistake and there is a gap in the cloud that gives me a way to get into his lines. The Storm Lances wait for their opportunity to attack.

This is the turn where Ravyn needs to get work done, I spot a possible assassination run and realise that I can go for it without risk, and play out a strong attrition turn should it not work out. Ravyn starts by firing a Blaster Round at a Trencher, deliberately missing to hope for a good scatter. I get lucky and it floats onto Ragman, killing him. Ravyn then feats. I go for the assassination run by charging the right Helios into a Storm Lance. If I can hit Haley with 2 out of 3 boosted 13s I can drag her forward enough to kill her. I miss the first one and switch to attrition, killing 2 of the Storm Lances. The AFG kills a further lance, before taking on a cheeky shot needing a 13 onto Haley Future, in cover under Temporal Distortion. I make the roll and kill her. On the left the Helios advances up, pulls the Centurion out of DEF boost range and kills it. A strong attrition turn leaves him with very little to threaten the colossals.

But Haley 3 always has an assassination angle. Thorn runs up to the gap between Helios and building, Haley 3 feats and between 3 Force Hammers hitting Ravyn into the wall, takes her down.

DEFEAT

A disappointing loss as getting to 2-0 is always my benchmark of success at a Steamroller, but I liked the list a lot. A bit more understanding and I would have been in a strong position. I didn’t realise that I could Swift Hunter from killing anything, not only the shot target, so had I moved back 2” and put up a Veil of Mists I could possibly have been safe from assassination, which was Glenn’s only way out of the game. Unlike my game with Thyron, I really liked the feel of this list, and really want to try it out again.

Game 73: Thyron vs Doomshaper3

Game 73 – Vs Dan Saunders – Trollbloods – 19/08/17

My list:

Thyron, Sword of Truth (Defenders of Ios)

-Fane Knight Guardian

-Banshee

-Griffon

Ghost Sniper

Ghost Sniper

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Lys Healer

Houseguard Thane

Heavy Rifle Team

Heavy Rifle Team

Max House Ellowuyr Swordsmen

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Max House Ellowuyr Swordsmen

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Houseguard Halberdiers

-Officer & Standard Bearer

His List:

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Dire Prophet

-Scroll Bearers

-Dire Troll Bomber

-Dire Troll Blitzer

-Dire Troll Mauler

-Dozer & Smigg

-Troll Impaler

-Troll Bouncer

Max Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Elder

Another Steamroller at the local club with 15 attendees. It was nominally down as Masters practice but quite a few people, myself included, we using it to try and find a 3^rd list for their existing pair. My first round was against Dan, who had hugely improved his Doomy3 list since last time we played, but is still a fairly new player so I decided to try out Thyron to see how it felt. The list was nominally put together to give a different answer to high Defence armies, which this list definitely wasn’t, but the Banshee would give me a way around his feat so it was worth a look. Dan won the roll to go first and got moving.

Dan does standard Troll stuff of running up and filling the stone, nothing special here.

After Advance Moving the Halberdiers received Desperate Pace from the Thane, before Shield Wall advancing up and Repositioning further forward. In total this gets them 17” up from their deployment line, with +4 armour, which feels great. The rest of my forces run up, with Storm Rager on Thyron himself, and Assail on the Banshee, even though  wouldn’t be able to Slam anything through Implacability.

Dan advances up and starts taking some shots into my mass on infantry. But not too much goes down. The Lyss Healer takes a stray AOE to the fact but a poor dice roll means she doesn’t die. Vitally, Dan doesn’t get much of a presence in the left zone, so I see this as an opportunity to score some points.

The shooting squad of 2 Ghost Snipers and 2 HRTs effortlessly take care of the objective, before the Griffon moves into the zone to start the scoring. The rest of my troops swarm in and do as much damage as they can. On the right Dozer and Smigg are left on a handful of boxes, and the Bouncer goes down, finished off by a charge from the Fane Knight Guardian. In the centre, the Halberdiers kill off a couple of Stone members, before clearing the lane for the Banshee to charge and kill the Bomber. I score 2 points to lead 2-0.

Dan tries to get back into the game and does kill off a decent amount of infantry, especially on the right flank, but cannot contest the left zone, allowing me to score again. Doomshaper feats to protect what is left of his beasts but it feels like a bad position. I lead 3-0.

Only the damaged Impaler is left in the centre zone and all I need to do is score in that to win. The Banshee is given Concentrated Power and the P+S 21 boosted attack is enough to destroy the light Warbeast. With the game wrapped up the Fane Knight takes a charge attack at Dozer & Smigg, needing a 13 on 4 dice to kill it, and was successful. I don’t milk the game any further and end my turn, winning 5-0 on scenario.

VICTORY

I think that my win here was down to the sheer intimidation that my list can put out. On his turn 2 Dan should have got his beasts into the zone and Feated, but felt that he needed to do some shooting to thin out my numbers and as a result didn’t have enough of a scenario presence. My dominance on the left would probably have told regardless but the job was slightly easier than it had to be.

In terms of finding a 3^rd list, I know that this isn’t it. I know the matchup wasn’t what it was designed for but it just felt wrong. Partly this is because after only 3 turns I was down to 18 minutes, and I don’t like time pressure. I have 2 other lists to try over the course of the day, and hopefully one of those will jump out more.

Game 72: Issyria vs Coven

Game 72 – Vs Brian Russell – Cryx – 16/08/17

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Hemera

-Sphynx

-Chimera

Arcanist Mechanik

Mage Hunter Assassin

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Spears of Scyrah

-Soulless Escort

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

His List:

The Witch Coven of Garlghast

-Egregore

-Deathjack

-Slayer

-Reaper

-Defiler

-Defiler

Hellslinger Phantom

Pistol Wraith

Pistol Wraith

Soul Trapper

Warwitch Siren

Max Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders

More Issyria practice into Cryx, again with an opponent using an out of theme Coven list, this time with all the Incorporeal that he could fit in the list. Brian is another new player but wanted to play the game out as normal to see how he did. I won the first turn and got moving.

I run and spread out across the table, casting Inviolable Resolve on Hemera and Admonition on Issyria because I have finally learnt my lesson probably. The sea of Mage Hunters across the table is very pleasing indeed.

  

Brian ran up all his forces, leading with the Incorporeal forces, and holding Deathjack back. He chooses not to feat, wanting to hold it back a turn. Deathjack is given Occultation and the Reaper Infernal Machine.

There is no pretty way to say this. Issyria feats and my army kills everything. By the end of the turn Blackbane and 3 of his Raiders, all 3 Incorporeal solos and the Soul Trapper, the left Arc Node and both non-character Heavies are all destroyed, Deathjack has taken 12 or so boxes from a single Assassin, and his second Arc Node is engaged by Narn. Brian concedes.

VICTORY

I did feel slightly bad about this game, as Brian had to watch dice get rolled and his models get removed pretty brutally, but I remember early games where this happened to me and the learning opportunity is huge. Number one for Brian was that he should have feated, but realistically it would only have delayed the game. From my own side it was nice to see the sheer offensive output of the list when it can all be brought to bear, but I doubt I will get an opportunity like this too often. As per the last game I feel comfortable enough to lock in this list, and so the Steamroller at the weekend is all about finding the 3^rd list for the Nationals.

Game 71: Vyros2 vs Doomshaper3

Game 71 – Vs Dan Saunders – Trollbloods – 16/08/17

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

House Shyeel Magister

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Dire Prophet

-Scroll Bearers

-Dire Troll Bomber

-Dozer & Smigg

-Troll Impaler

Fennblade Kithkar

Stone Scribe Chronicler

Troll Whelps

Max Trollkin Fennblades

-Officer & Drummer

Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Elder

-Trollkin Sorcerer

Dhunian Knot

Continuing my Nationals practice Dan wanted a game to try out his Trolls. Dan is a pretty new player at the club and is very much just running with what he has at the moment. I dropped Vyros into him to continue to get a feel for the revamped list. I won the roll to go first and got moving.

The Arcanists all gave a focus to the Griffons to allow them to activate Fleet and the rest of my forces ran up, with Vyros casting Deceleration to go with the Synergy already cast from the theme benefit.

Dan ran up his forces, casting Implacability to prevent his models from getting knocked down. He pressures hard on the left with his Fennblades, the Elder putting Hero’s Tragedy on them to punish me for attacking them.

Vyros starts the turn by moving up to the flag and shooting dead a couple of Fennblades, getting himself knocked down in the process. The Griffons on the left then advance up and attack the Fennblades to build up the Synergy chain, all ending the turn knocked down. On the right, 2 fully focussed and Concentrated Powered Griffons, charged the Bomber, and between 4 boosted damage attacks took the beast down. The Aspis moved to Shield Guard the knocked down Vyros.

Dan charges my mostly knocked down Griffons and does decent damage across them, killing the 2 that had taken out the Bomber. Dozer’s gun shot hit Vyros and did a massive chunk of damage to the Aspis who took the bullet for him. Feat moves allow me to move Imperatus round into an aggressive position and Doomshaper uses his own Feat to protect himself and his beasts. Dan scores the right zone and me my flag to make the score 1-1.

I work on killing off Dan’s infantry as they are not affected by the feat, and by the end I have killed off most of the stone unit and all of the Fennblade unit in the left zone (again being knocked down by Hero’s Tragedy). I move Vyros behind the building and choose not to bother attacking the beasts, instead just contesting the right zone. I score my flag and left to lead 3-1.

Dan backs off with his caster and presses forward with the rest of his troops, but cannot clear his zone. He takes another shot at Vyros but it is again Shield Guarded to a now very ill Aspis. He contests my flag but I score the left zone again for a 4-1 lead.

Only one model is contesting his flag so I only need to kill it and run an Arcanist over to win the game. Imperatus obliges and I score twice to win 6-1 on scenario.

VICTORY

Dan suffered from the common new-player disease of Support Bloat in this game. Between the stone, whelps, Dhunian Knot and solos he had an awful lot of models not designed for fighting, allowing me to push through to win. My biggest take away from this game is how the number of Empowers I have means that models being knocked down isn’t too much of a problem. I definitely prefer the list to the Manticore version and am happy to say this list is locked in for the Nationals.

Game 70: Issyria vs Damiano

Game 70 – Vs Mark Ellis – Mercenaries – 16/08/17

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Hemera

-Sphynx

-Chimera

Arcanist Mechanik

Mage Hunter Assassin

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Spears of Scyrah

-Soulless Escort

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

His List:

Captain Damiano (The Kingmaker’s Army)

-Nomad

-Nomad

-Buccaneer

Dirty Meg

Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor

Kell Bailoch

Stannis Brocker

Min Steelhead Halberdiers

Max Steelhead Halberdiers

Max Trencher Infantry

-Officer & Sniper

-Rifle Grenadier

-Rifle Grenadier

-Rifle Grenadier

Max Trencher Infantry

-Officer & Sniper

-Rifle Grenadier

-Rifle Grenadier

-Rifle Grenadier

Game by game I am feeling more and more comfortable with using Issyria with no Hyperion. The new terrain rules usually give her somewhere to be safe from most shooting, she can’t be assassinated by spells unless you stop paying attention and as long as you don’t drop Admonition (see last game…) she is very difficult to catch in melee. Next test was back into Mercenaries and Mark had his Damiano Kingmaker list. I lost first turn and chose the side with a useful building to hide behind.

I don’t usually comment on deployment in my reports as it can ususally be understood by the first turn pictures but this game was different. After standard deployment Mark set us his AD trenchers, and I put my Mage Hunters in a big clump opposite them, ready to spread out on my turn 1.

Mark started the game by activating his Trenchers, moving forwards under Cautious Advance and firing the AOEs in the general direction of my Mage Hunters. By the time the 6 had fired I had lost 11 Mage Hunters and Eiryss. Before Moving. The rest of Mark’s forces ran up to consolidate a very strong starting position. I tilted hard enough to forget to take a picture, but managed to keep my head in the game pretty well.

After a rough start it was time to find a way back into the game and the first thing was finding a way to kill the Grenades. Whilst they were dug in to DEF17 I had a couple of ways to dig them out. Issyria cast Crusader’s Call allowing Narn to charge and kill one of the Trenchers, and his sprint moe tracked across the unit, engaging and undigging most of the unit. On the right, I did the same trick with a Mage Hunter Assassin, who ran up with her 4” melee, engaging 6 including all 3 prime targets, before shrinking back to 2” melee to disengage at the end of her activation. The Mage Hunters then opened fire killing off 4 of the grenadiers and a couple of other Trenchers. The rest of my forces move up behind to prepare for next turn.

Mark’s right unit of Trenchers charges into my forces, killing a decent number of Mage Hunters and the left unit again used Cautious Advance to shave off more of my units. His Halberdiers killed of Narn and continued to advance forwards. Damiano moved forwards but the Buccaneer failed to knock him down and trigger Feign Death. I was rapidly running out of units.

With Mark’s misfortune in failing to knock his caster down I possibly have an assassination angle, but he is still behind a forest camping 3 focus. At best I can get 5 or 6 attacks on him but it just isn’t going to work. 2 more people arrive at the club for a game so we call it. I run out of all the zones allowing him to score 3CP on my turn, and 3 on his to win.

DEFEAT

An easy lesson to take from this defeat. Don’t clump up if going second against Trencher Rifle Grenadiers. I was in such a bad position after losing effectively 22 points before moving and where was no way to come back from it. I kept my head well which is another good positive and still found some good ways to get work done the next turn. A horrid game but a vital learning opportunity. Mark is a player much more used to playing with small model count armies but he played this list with 50 infantry really quickly and well, and very much caught me by surprise.

Game 69: Issyria vs Sorscha2

Game 69 – Vs Chis Young – Khador – 09/08/17

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Hemera

-Sphynx

-Chimera

Arcanist Mechanik

Mage Hunter Assassin

Mage Hunter Assassin

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Spears of Scyrah

-Soulless Escort

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

His List:

Forward Kommander Sorscha

-Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

-Ruin

-Marauder

Kovnik Josef Grigorovch

Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

-Koldun Kapitan Valachev

Max Iron Fang Pikemen

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Winter Guard Infantry

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Min Kossite Woodsmen

Kayazy Eliminators

Continuing to test out a non-Hyperion Issyria build saw me play against Chris who was trying some things out for Sorscha2 including the lesser seen Kossite Woodsmen. My phone has corrupted a couple of the images and so this report is a bit short in that regard. I won first turn and got moving.

Issyria puts up Admonition on herself and Inviolable Resolve on Hemera, and everything runs forward, trying not to get too close to the edges of the board in preparation for the Kossites coming on in a turn or so.

Chris responds by moving up in Shield Wall with the Pikemen, putting Iron Flesh on the Eliminators and generally running up with the rest of his units. Ruin advances up the centre with the Marauder on the right flank to wait for an opportunity later in the game.

Chris hadn’t given me too much in terms of Feat targets but I knew that if I didn’t use it now I could be easily swamped by the Khador units. Issyria activates first and puts a Blinding Light on the Winter Guard, and Feating. For some reason I had let Admonition drop, which I think was because I planned to cost Crusader’s Call before concluding that I didn’t need it. Hemera and my shooting units shoot into the best targets available. Dice aren’t great but I still kill Orin, one Eliminator, 4 Pikemen and a number of the Infantry, but sadly miss all my shots on Aiyana. Eiryss Disrupts the Marauder before the 2 Assassins charge in, doing 16 damage between them. The Infiltrators then charge through the gap and finish off all but 3 of the Winter Guard.

Chris feels that the attrition position is out of control for him and for some stupid reason I had left him an assassination vector by dropping Admonition. I had not respected Sorscha’s personal threat enough and after clearing out some of the Mage Hunters, a Boundless Charge, and Zephyr, were enough to get her to Issyria. With only 2 focus left when he got there the dice didn’t approve and Issyria was left on one box, leading to Chris’ concession.

VICTORY

A huge mistake in letting Admonition drop that the dice didn’t allow me to be punished for. Regardless of the result though, I liked the list and felt that the Feat turn did enough to probably see me through the game had it not ended as it did. The Mage Hunter Assassins were a bit underwhelming but again they didn’t have ideal targets. I am thinking that running 1 MHA, Eiryss1 and Narn as my free solos may be the best way to go.