Game 272: Elara2 vs Syvestro

Game 272 – Vs Andy Garrard – Crucible Guard – 7/10/18

My list:

Elara, Death's Shadow (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Siren

-Siren

-Chimera

-Moros

Arcanist Mechanik

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

-Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

His List:

Aurum Adeptus Syvestro (Magnum Opus)

-Suppressor

-Vindicator

-Vindicator

Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist

Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter

Combat Alchemists

Combat Alchemists

Dragon's Breath Rocket

Dragon's Breath Rocket

Max Crucible Guard Rocketmen

-Captain

Max Crucible Guard Assault Troopers

Min Crucible Guard Storm Troopers

Final round of the UK Nationals put me up against Andy Garrard, my captain from the recent WTC, using his new Crucible Guard. This was one of the factions I had been considering when I wrote my Elara list, so it was great to get the chance to play it. I win the roll to go first and we get moving.

Scything Touch on Narn, and everything runs up, with Elara Teleporting to get into a more aggressive position.

The Crucible Guard forces move up and unleash an opening salvo into the Mage Hunters, killing 8 or so with various blast damages. They bunch up centrally to avoid being charged by my ambushing Infiltrators.

I activate Elara's Feat and charge in/shoot with the Strike Force. In total I'm able to take out 3 Rocketmen, 2 Storm Troopers and all but one of the Combat Alchemists. I think it's a decent enough turn, with the Infiltrators running on to pressure the back lines and engage some shooting pieces.

Andy Feats and has a huge Feat turn, taking out a lot of my Mage Hunters as well as Moros. Nobody scores, but I'm pretty sure I have lost too much to be able to stay in the game. Time to see how well this list can attrition.

I start off strongly, taking out a number of the Troopers on the right with Elara herself before Teleporting to safety. The remaining Mage Hunters and jacks are then able to clear the left zone and take out one of the heavies, the left Rocket, and a couple more Rocketmen. I score to open the scoring 1-0.

Andy takes another chunk out of my army, completely taking the right flank and removing one of my Sirens from the centre. Andy scores the right zone to level at 1-1.

I'm in a really bad way now, but can score some points and the game is grinding down to the point where Elara's personal impact really changes the game. She Scything Touches herself and charges the heavy in the left zone, reducing it to enough for the Siren to finish the job. My Arcanist runs to the flag and last Mage Hunter on the right contests to move to a 4-1 lead.

I don't lose too much this turn, but Andy pushes his remaining forces hard to the centre, taking out my objective and last contesting models on the way. He closes the score to 4-3.

I will admit that I am writing these reports a long time after the game, so the exact details of the last few turns escape me. I manage to take out most of the remaining forces and objective, but can never contest the right zone again, and so Andy steadily closes on scenario and eventually takes an unassailable lead. At the end of my turn 7 the score is 10-7 to Andy, and he simply has to contest and end his turn to win at the end of the game.

DEFEAT

This was an incredibly fun game. Andy is always a great opponent and for a first game into Crucible Guard I felt I did pretty well. I lost just too much on Feat turn but I really like how the list played out from that point. I will be playing this list more in the future. I finished the Nationals 4-2, narrowly missing out on best in Retribution on strength of schedule, but still a reasonable result especially as I was playing my first post CID games. The real testing starts here!

Game 271: Vyros2 vs Xerxis2

Game 271– Vs Alun Barfoot – Skorne – 7/10/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

Xerxis, Fury of Halaak (Imperial Warhost)

-Agonizer

-Basilisk Krea

-Basilisk Krea

-Desert Hydra

-Desert Hydra

-Titan Gladiator

Feralgeist

Min Paingiver Beast Handlers

Min Paingiver Beast Handlers

Round 5 of the UK Nationals and once again I'm faced with something I have no idea how to play against, so I'm dropping Vyros again. As suspected I get the double Hydra list, which I must admit absolutely terrifies me. Thankfully I win the roll to go first and we get moving.

Step 1 of “having no idea how to play a matchup” is to run as fast as I can up the table, keeping out of the significant 14” threat range of the Hydras.

Hydras move up followed by the support staff, staying out of threat of more than one or two Griffons each. Between the Krea animus and Sandstorm my shooting is going to be pretty ineffective.

I have a really tough turn of positioning ahead of me, as I need to tempt the Hydras in with enough firepower left over to take them out afterwards. I can get a Griffon to the Agoniser, and if this game goes long taking that out would be vital, so I build Synergy and send it in to take it out. I Feat with Vyros, and jam, hoping that something will come up next turn.

Alun plans out his turn really impressively, coming up with a way to deliver a Hydra into my heavies. Unfortunately he makes one mistake. After slamming the blocking Aspis out of the way with the Gladiator he buys attacks to take it out, allowing me to Feat move a Griffon in the way, saving the 2 Heavies. I end the turn having lost the Aspis and 3 Griffons, which under Xerxis' Feat seems reasonable. More importantly, I'd been able to move around the scenario elements, allowing me to score 2 unanswered CPS.

All I need to do to win is shoot off the Feralgeist and run Vyros to the flag. I get it done and win 5-0 on scenario

VICTORY

This was an odd feeling victory, whilst it was great to win the game I didn't particularly feel like I'd earned it. Alun played the game really well and one mistake cost him the game. Even so, I don't think I would win this game on any other scenario, and only how live Spread the Net is saved me. Still, with one round to go I was sat on 4-1, guaranteeing me a positive result. The Best in Ret award was also hotly contested, and that was my focus going into the final round.

Game 270: Elara2 vs Skarre1

Game 270 – Vs Andrew Devine – Cryx – 6/10/18

My list:

Elara, Death's Shadow (Shadows of the Retribution)

-Siren

-Siren

-Chimera

-Moros

Arcanist Mechanik

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

Max Mage Hunter Infiltrators

-Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

Max Mage Hunter Strike Force

-Commander

His List:

Pirate Queen Skarre (Slaughter Fleet Raiders)

-Satyxis Blood Priestess

-Stalker

-Stalker

-Stalker

-Stalker

General Gerlak Slaughterborn

Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius

-Kharybdis

Axiara Wraithblade

Max Blighted Trollkin Marauders

-Jussika Bloodtongue

Min Black Ogrun Boarding Party

Min Black Ogrun Boarding Party

Scharde Dirge Seers

Black Ogrun Ironmongers

Round 4 of the Nationals and I finally manage to drop my Vyros2 habit, dropping Elara2 who I'm hoping has decent game into Cryx. I win the roll to go first and we get going.

Elara puts up Scything Touch onto Narn and takes residence in the central trench. Everything runs up, staying at a range where the Stalkers will have to either Charge or Jump to get into Melee.

Andrew Feats on 15 models, allocates Focus, and casts Dark Guidance. The Stalkers move in a kill off a decent number of Mage Hunters, jamming deep into my lines. The Dirge Seers cloud up and move in front of Skarre.

If I can get a Convection onto Skarre I only need a boosted 12 to kill her, so I work on clearing a path and line of site for my Chimera. A CRA from the Strike Force take out the Dirge Seer cloud and Moros shoots off the one blocking Marauder. The first Convection misses but I'm all in at this point, so I go for the second and it takes her down.

VICTORY

I really don't know how this game would have played out, and as a test for the list it was pretty poor, but I saw an opportunity and felt that I had to go for it. I ended the game at 3-1, and with only 5 unbeaten players it was likely that the event would only go on 2 more rounds the next day so I was keen to push on for as good a result as possible.

Game 269: Vyros2 vs Locke

Game 269– Vs Andrew Murchie – Convergence of Cyriss – 6/10/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

Aurum Lucanum Athanor Locke (Destruction Initiative)

-Prime Axiom

-Corollary

-Inverter

-Inverter

-Conservator

-Conservator

Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex

Attunement Servitors

Elimination Servitors

Elimination Servitors

Reflex Servitors

Optifex Directive

Round 3 of the UK Nationals and my second against Convergence. Andrew dropped Locke who, unfortunately, I hadn't been able to get a game in against before the WTC. I won the first turn and we got moving.

I had no idea how to proceed in this game, but it can be a pretty live scenario if you can push on hard enough, so I eyed up that as a possibility. To that end, everything runs.

Redline is put up onto the Prime Axiom and everything gets up the table, but being careful to stay well out of my threat ranges.

I decide to spread out pretty severely, trying to tempt Andrew out and giving me the best opportunity to score zones next turn. The weakness of this list has always been contesting the enemy zone on this scenario, but that was a bridge to cross later.

Andrew takes out one Griffon before Warpathing the Conservator back slightly. The rest of the forces push up and he contests my zone to take a 1-0 lead.

I need to take some chances in this game, and so I decide to push hard. I shoot off the objective, contest Andrew's zone with a Griffon, and score both circular zones to take a 4-1 lead and put Andrew under some pressure.

However, in my haste to score points I have left Vyros within 16” of the Prime Axiom, so after a lucky Flare scatter lowers his defence, the Axiom runs up and takes Vyros out with Jackhammers.

DEFEAT

Whilst the Flare was a big deal (changed the Axiom from needing 8s to 6s) I shouldn't have taken my eye off the ball in that way. I really had no idea how to approach this game and was pretty please with the way I played it in general, as I got Andrew to the point where he felt he needed to go for the risky assassination. I need more practice into this matchup. Vyros isn't a perfect drop into Convergence and when I start investigating some of the new options we have, I'll be looking to see whether we have a better option into lists like this.

Game 268: Vyros2 vs Madrak3

Game 268 – Vs Joe Jephson – Trollbloods – 6/10/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

Her List:

Madrak, Great Chieftain (Band of Heroes)

-Mountain King

Fell Caller Hero

Fell Caller Hero

Horthol, Long Rider Hero

Trollkin Skinner

Max Trollkin Fennblades

-Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer

Max Trollkin Long Riders

Max Trollkin Long Riders

Round 2 of the Nationals saw me facing Joe Jephson and his Trolls. Unfortunately somehow I have lost the report for this match. I am posting this a couple of months after the game (real life can be a cruel mistress sometimes) and so rather than try and remember my way through the game I have decided to just post the pictures and give my thoughts at the end.

VICTORY

In summary, Joe just didn't have the model presence to be able to overwhelm my forces. Mountain King without a threat range extender is always sad into Vyros2 as they can never commit it without trading down significantly. Deafen was great in this match, tagging a Long Rider leader twice over the course of the game. Nice to get a second win, and Joe was a great opponent, I apologise to him especially that this game isn't being properly reported. On to round 3 and back to proper reports for the rest of the event!

Game 267: Vyros2 vs Lucant

Game 267 – Vs Rachel Child – Convergence of Cyriss – 6/10/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

Her List:

Father Lucant (Destruction Initiative)

-Corollary

-Inverter

-Inverter

-Conservator

-Conservator

-Conservator

-Galvanizer

Transfinite Emergence Projector

Reflex Servitors

Attunement Servitors

Elimination Servitors

Elimination Servitors

Accretion Servitors

Optifex Directive

After a short Post-CID break and a bit of time to absorb the Retribution dynamic update that followed a week later it was finally time to get some models back on the table. What better way than to go straight into the UK Nationals. My lists were Elara2 in Shadows, Ravyn in Legions and my old faithful Vyros2 in Forges. I promised myself that I would play Vyros as little as possible, but I wanted a strong performance to hopefully help me onto a WTC team again next year. The first round saw me up against Rachel with her Convergence, which unfortunately meant that it was a Vyros2 drop straight out of the gate. I win the first turn and we get moving.

With no turn 1 threat Vyros just runs up with his army following as much as possible.

Rachel decides that she has to Feat this turn or have to sit so far back that she would give up too much on scenario. Lucant casts Deceleration to further increase their armour and runs everything up, staying out of threat range of my Manticores.

I don't really want to advance into Lucant's Feat, and the threat range on the Vectors is pretty limited, so I decide to back up slightly. I am going to surrender some control points next turn but I think I can afford to. I leave an Aspis contesting the central flag, in threat range of some Vectors, but Rachel would have to commit a heavy to take it out.

Instead, Rachel tried to take out the Aspis using the TEP, but under Deceleration that was always going to be tricky and the Aspis lived. She contested my scoring elements but backed off with most of her forces, scoring twice to lead 2-0

Making attacks with the TEP had left it in range of 2 Griffons, and with Synergy built up by taking out Servitors I sent 2 in to take it out, following up with Discordia into a Conservator to start off the heavy trade. I stay out of threat range of both Inverters and the score goes to 3-2 to Rachel.

With Discordia providing a juicy target in the middle of the table the 2 remaing Conservators are sent in to take it out. The Inverters are both moved to provide Watcher cover for Lucant. The score moves to 4-3 to Rachel.

There are 2 Griffons within range of Lucant, so I start looking at an assassination. The issue is Watcher so I would need to take that out of the equation first. I load up a Manticore and after Synergy is built to 2 I send it in to the left Invertor. The issue that Rachel is set with here is that she can either use Watcher to knock down the Manticore, or save it for the assassination and almost certainly lose the Inverter. She chose to knock down the Manticore. My turn was then a simple matter of taking out the left Conservator and delivering the Griffons to Lucant, with the first taking him out.

VICTORY

Some small CID tweaks in Forges has really improved this Vyros list. Essentially I have swapped out a Griffon and a free solo for Discordia, which is a great change for the list. This game was a really interesting to play, with a couple of turns of feinting and backing off before being able to play Vyros' preferred game and crushing through a flank. Had I not gone for the assassination I could have taken out both Conservators and had a very strong attrition position from there, which I am certain I would have pushed through on what is a very live scenario. On to round 2.