Game 200: Kaelyssa vs Strakhov2

Game 200 – Vs Rob Mcormick – Khador – 20/05/18

My list:

Kaelyssa, The Night’s Whisper (Legions of Dawn)

-Helios

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir

Dawnguard Destor Thane

Dawnguard Destor Thane

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Min Dawnguard Destors

His List:

Assault Kommander Strakhov (Legion of Steel)

-Marauder

-Torch

Iron Fang Kovnik

Kapitan Sofya Skirova

Uhlan Kovnik Markov

Great Bears of the Gallowswood

Max Iron Fang Pikemen

-Officer & Stadard

Max Iron Fang Pikemen

-Officer & Stadard

Max Iron Fang Pikemen

-Officer & Stadard

Game 200 of the blog, and the final round of the Welsh Masters. This didn’t happen by accident. I was drawn against Rob Mcormick with his Khador and I was pleased to see him drop his favourite Strakov list. I had played this list recently at Powerfist and lost the game as I didn’t really have a Khador drop, so I was pleased to get another crack at it with a list designed for this kind of thing. Rob won the roll to go first and we got moving.

The left unit gets Quicken and the central unit that had Advance Moved got Inviolable Resolve and the Iron Fangs got up the table. In terms of Counter Chargers he had the Great Bears on the left flank with the 3 solos on the right.

Rob’s army is quick enough that I unfortunately need to Feat first turn to get up the table, so Kaelyssa moves up, Dispels Inviolable Resolve, Refuges back and Feats. I take a few shots into the Pikemen and charge one on the left with a Destor, but generally stay as far back as possible and hope for an opportunity next turn.

I definitely forgot about the additional Advance and Melee range that Quicken gives, and 6 Iron Fangs from the central unit are able to get into my Sentinels, killing 4 of them. Strakov Feats to give a decent Armour buff and, after the left unit take out the Destor, his forces consolidate hoping that I can’t crack their armour next turn.

I go for a big play this turn, charging Helios into the line of Pikemen, killing 2 with the initial attacks, and Flame Bursting 6 more on fire. I then target Strakhov who didn’t Stealth up with the gun, pushing him 3” back and removing most of his left flank from his Feat. On the right I pull back with my remaining Sentinels, as it will take everything to kill Helios, hopefully giving me an opportunity to strike back in the next turn. On the left I charge into the now unFeated Pikemen. I lose 3 Sentinels to Counter Charges but it seems like an acceptable loss as I am able to take out 2 of the Great Bears as well as a number of Pikemen. I score 2 CPs for an early lead.

As predicted Helios does go down to the Pikemen and Torch, but not before 5 more Pikemen had burnt to death. 7 Pikes for a Colossal may feel like a horrible trade, but the turn it bought me was invaluable. On the left, my Iron Zeal Mini-Feat keeps a decent number of Sentinels alive, and I can feel the attrition starting to go in my favour. Rob scores 2 CPs to my one, making the score 3-2 to me.

My Destor Thane tempts out a Counter Charge from Markov by charging the Kovnik, and  Rob fails to roll the boosted 13 on damage to take me out, allowing 2 Sentinels to charge and kill him. Eiryss Disrupts Torch before I completely crush the left flank, leaving just the Rager alive. The last action of my turn is the Scyir cutting down Sofya, giving her no opportunity to heal. I score 2 more CPs to lead 5-2.

Rob is really starting to struggle now and has to Trample the Rager to contest my left flag and sacrifice another banner to contest my zone. Nobody is able to get to his flag so he just takes out what Sentinels he can in the centre. Nobody scores and we stay at 5-2.

I just need 2 CPs to win the game, and between Vengeance attacks and Kaelyssa’s gun I get the job done. I also take out the Rager with the remaining Sentinels to clear up and score the left flag for an 8-2 win.

VICTORY

A real grind to end the event, and a really enjoyable one. I’ve played this list into the Zerkova Pikemen list a few times now and his matchup feels fairly similar. Sentinels just have enough to get through, and the Destors adding bits of precision damage where they can is a real bonus, they were great in this game.

Overall 5-2 in this field feels pretty respectable, and was good enough for 20^th place and best in Retribution, so I will call that a job well done. I will be doing another 100 game wrap up in the next week or so, so keep your eyes out for that. Martyn ran an incredible event once again and I met so many great people. Can’t wait for the 10^th anniversary next year.