Game 129: Vyros2 vs Mordikaar

Game 129 – Vs Richard Beech – Skorne – 30/12/17

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:

Void Seer Mordikaar (Masters of War)

-Cyclops Brute

-Basilisk Krea

-Despoiler

Tyrant Rhadeim

Eilish Garrity, the Occultist

Max Cataphract Cetrati

-Tyrant Vorkesh

Min Paingiver Beast Handlers

Max Praetorian Ferox

Max Praetorian Swordsmen

-Officer & Standard Bearer

Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer

My final game of 2017 saw me face Rich Beech, with his Skorne for the first time. He wanted to try out the armour cracking potential of his Mordikaar list and so dropped it into Vyros 2. Rich won the first turn and we got moving.

The Skorne forces run up the table, with Hollow being put out onto the Praetorian Swordsmen to feed Mordikaar’s souls should they die. The cavalry run up the left flank with the Swordsmen up the right and the beasts and Cetrati down the centre.

Even without Makeda2 at the helm I have been trained to fear cats, and so I reposition my forces over to the right, hoping to tempt some of the cats in so that I can deal with them bit by bit. Not needing Deceleration in the matchup I cast out a couple of Twisters into the Swordsmen, taking out 3 of them with a  good scatter.

Rich half looks at an Essence Blast assassination run, but decides that it is too unlikely, so opts to Feat and get his models up in my face. The Cetrati Shield Wall and advance up, and the Swordsmen press further up but hold back out of my threat ranges. The Cats and Rhadeim leap in and remove one of the Aspis, before moving back behind the central building.

Despite Mordikaar’s Feat being up I make a plan to get ahead in the game. Synergy is built up with Griffons charging on the right and boosting attack rolls, before 2 Griffons on the left each charge and remove a Ferox (even with feat up I only need 6s to hit with Synergy). This opens up a path for Imperatus to advance up, kill a cat with a boosted attack and Side-Step up to Despoiler, killing it with the 3 remaining attacks. Nobody scores as all the zones are contested, but I feel that I have made a good step ahead.

Rich tries to strike back but without being able to charge and with Dark Shroud being taken off the table a lot of his models are a bit pillow fisted into ARM18 jacks. Imperatus is reduced to a handful of boxes and a couple of Griffons are pretty beaten up, but no jacks go down and Rich is unable to clear the right zone. Mordikaar Revives 2 Ferox but with only 1 box they shouldn’t be difficult to remove again next turn.

I need to capitalise on my good position and start getting ahead on scenario. I was a bit tentative with my support last turn and so this turn isn’t as efficient as it could be. Regardless I am able to completely clear out the left of the cats and light beasts and grind through all but 2 of the Certati. The turn is a real example of how strong Vyros2 can be in later turns of engagement, and the Skorne forces really crumbled under the pressure. I score the left zone to take a 1-0 lead.

The Swordmen us their Power Swell mini-feat and come into my jacks on the right, taking out an Aspis and a Griffon. The remaining Cetrati do some more damage into the Griffons but don’t take any more out. Eilish gets into the zone to contest, allowing Rich to level the scenario at 1-1.

Clear-up time now. I remove Eilish from my zone and run up an arcanist unit to allow Vyros the freedom to leave it. My forces cascade round, removing basically all of the remaining threats from the table, with only the Standard from the TyCom, 2 Swordsmen and a Paingiver left at the end of the turn. I score the left and central zones to lead 3-1

Rich realises that the game is up, and simply tries to finish Imperatus off with Essence Blasts through his remaining models. Phoenix Protocol had been triggered in a previous turn leaving him on decent strength and the attacks don’t do enough. With no models left to contest I score twice more to lead 5-1

I end my turn immediately to win 7-1 on scenario.

VICTORY

With 6 losses in my previous 6 games against Rich it was nice to finally get one over on him. This feels like a decent matchup for me, but being able to unpick his feat turn and remove Despoiler to take Dark Shroud off the table was a really big deal. I’ve played this Vyros list a lot now, and my familiarity with it coupled with Rich still learning a new faction helped me turn the streak around.

129 Retribution games is pretty decent for 2017, my New Year’s Resolution is to get at least 150 in 2018, and again play each caster at least once. I’m building nicely to my event in February and a few more practice days like today should put me in a good spot for it.