Game 298: Issyria vs Morvahna2

Game 298 – Vs Paul Sheard – Circle – 13/01/19

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Legions of Dawn)

-Imperatus

-Phoenix

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

House Shyeel Artificer

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Min Dawnguard Destors

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Morvahna the Dawnshadow (Devourer's Host)

-Storm Raptor

-Wild Argus

Tharn Wolf Rider Champion

Lord of the Feast

Tharn Ravager Shaman

Tharn Ravager Shaman

Max Tharn Ravagers

-Tharn Ravager Chieftain

Max Tharn Ravagers

-Tharn Ravager Chieftain

Max Tharn Wolf Riders

The final of the Steamroller is fittingly a matchup between the two players who are 4-0 at this point. Paul is playing a terrifying circle player of Morvahna2 Tharn and Krueger2 Bones. We had spoken about our lists the night before and both knew that the matchup was going to be Issyria against Morvahna. I won the first turn and we got moving.

Admonition on Phoenix, Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels and get up the table, being aware of the threat of Lord of the Feast.

Paul spreads out across the board with the Ravagers on the left and Wolf Riders towards the right. Morvahna put up Fog of War and Carnivore onto Lord of the Feast. He moves Lord up into an aggressive but safe position.

I can get to Lord of the Feast with the Phoenix and I try to trace out the flow of the game in my mind and decide it is a worthwhile way to start the piece trade. The |Trident Slipstreams the Phoenix sideways allowing it to see the Rider next to Lord, and after charging it with the off hand I can hit Lord with the Thermal Blade, taking him out. That allows me to push up harder on the right flank and hold back on the left a bit.

Paul uses Jump to play around Admonition on the Phoenix, taking it out with the 4 remaining Wolf Riders. One Ravager charges the Trident, dealing some damage. Otherwise he commits a handful of Tharn to contest zones and force me to trigger Vengeance. Nobody scores so we start the scoring at 0-0.

I decide to do a big scenario push this turn to try and force Paul to be more aggressive. Under my Feat the right Trident takes out three of the Wolf Riders with the Sentinels finishing off the unit and the objective. I clear out some of the Tharn in the centre to reduce Paul's attacks for the next turn and try to position in such a way that Paul couldn't get a route around an Admonition Imperatus to shoot Issyria.

And I almost did it too. It took the judge about 5 minutes with widgets to work it out, but there was about a millimetre gap where the bird could be in range and have line of sight past Imperatus. All that was left was the Tharn Champion to kill off the blocking Sentinel and for the Bird to hit the boosted 10 on Issyria to finish the game.

VICTORY

This was a really great game, and a perfect way to close out the tournament. I was gutted that I was so close to closing out the assassination angle and with Issyria a little bit further back I'd have been ok. Paul was a great opponent and a deserving person to win the event. His reports on the game and event can be found HERE. Next up is the UK invitationals and I'm really glad that I have a list pair that I'm really happy with. Really enthused for the faction at the moment, we have so many great options.

Game 297: Issyria vs Scaverous

Game 297 – Vs Chris Young – Cryx – 13/01/19

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Legions of Dawn)

-Imperatus

-Phoenix

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

House Shyeel Artificer

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Min Dawnguard Destors

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Lord Exhumator Scaverous (Black Industries)

-Deathjack

-Deathripper

-Erebus

-Malice

-Ripjaw

Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius

-Kharybdis

Machine Wraith

Warwitch Initiate Deneghra

-Nightmare

Sea Dog Deck Gun

For day 2 of the Southport Steamroller we have split into 4 man pods based on the results of day 1. This leaves me in a pod with a Circle, Cygnar and Cryx player to fight out for final positions. The first game sees me against Chris and his Hateful8 Scaverous list. Chris won the roll but chose to give me the first turn and we got moving.

Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels, Admonition on the Phoenix and everything runs up the table, being careful of the threat ranges of Deathjack and Kharybdis.

Chris puts up Death Ward on DJ, and Escort on Aiakos before everything runs up in a rough V formation.

Chris was really careful with my threat ranges until his final activation with Deathjack, which he placed in melee threat range of the left Trident. With both heavies in range of Cryx heavies and my Feat allowing me to see through clouds, I can get in and deal a lot of damage. By the end of the turn I have taken out Deathjack, Erebus and Kharybdis, and Malice is knocked down and Disrupted. Chris concedes.

VICTORY

Chris didn't appreciate the threat ranges of the army and knew he had lost the game to a pretty devastating alpha. There isn't really too much to say about this game other than the fact that Smite is the rule on the Trident that seems too much, it had Ram at one point in CID and honestly that would be the more balanced rule. Onto the final.

Game 296: Goreshade4 vs Vlad2

Game 296 – Vs Jonny Jennings – Khador – 12/01/19

My list:

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven (Defenders of Ios)

-Chimera

-Harpy

-Harpy

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen

Ghost Sniper

Ghost Sniper

Heavy Rifle Team

Heavy Rifle Team

Min Houseguard Halberdiers

-Houseguard Halberdier Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Houseguard Halberdiers

-Houseguard Halberdier Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Ryssovass Defenders

-Soulless Escort

Max Ryssovass Defenders

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion (Armoured Corps)

-Devastator

-Kodiak

Man-O-War Kovnik

Man-O-War Strike Tanker

Man-O-War Strike Tanker

Man-O-War Suppression Tanker

Man-O-War Suppression Tanker

Kayazy Eliminators

Kommandant Atanas Arconovich & Standard

Max Man-O-War Demolition Corps

-Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich

Max Man-O-War Shorctroopers

-Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer

Man-O-War Siege Chariot

The final round of day 1 is agains Jonny's Khador. In terms of qualifying for the top pod of day 2, 2 2-1 players would make it, so at 2-0 I was in a good position. I didn't think my D&C was going to be strong though, so this did feel like a must win game. It was an onvious Goreshade4 drop for me, despite getting destroyed by Rob's Man-O-War list a month ago. I learnt a lot from that game and was confident I could take this down. Jonny wins the first turn and we get moving.

With 8 Advance Move units on the table its a fair while until we even get to turn 1, and the lines are already closing pretty quickly. For Jonny's part, he runs everything up, putting Assail on the Devastator and Hand of Fate on the Shocktroopers.

I can get use out of clouds this game, but with Vlad having Wind Blast I have to be clever with their placement and use them essentially as a defence buff for my troops. I place 2 down, making sure they can't be removed by a single spell, and put Dauntless Resolve on the Max Halberdiers. I get up the table, staying out of threat of all but the guns and Chariot.

Jonny makes an ill considered charge with his Chariot into my Halberdiers, forgetting about Set Defence and thus only killing one. IT is compounded by bad luck as he fails to hit my Harpy with the cannon. Everything else continues it's slow trudge up the board, with the Suppression Tankers putting down Covering Fire to protect from my Ryssovass.

It is Feat turn for Goreshade4 as I definitely want to Feat first in this matchup. I plan how to get an Alpha and spot that I can get a few guns onto one of the Suppression Tankers. I take it out, put Hand of Ice on the Shock Troopers, and charge the Ryssovass and Halberdiers into them and the Chariot. I don't roll superbly on the Men-O-War, but take 3 out and damage others, but the Chariot goes down with a bit of help from the Ryssovass on the right. I walk Goreshade to the flag to start scoring at 1-0.

Jonny has a tough decision to make this turn. He has some bits on the left flank that he can kill without being effected by my Feat, but little in the centre or right. He does opt to Feat defensively, and runs both Eliminators up into Goreshade to threaten next turn and give an awkward DEF20 to worry about. I tough quite well on the Ryssovass, preventing him from scoring his flag. I stay 1-0 up.

I have the opportunity for a second alpha here, but the Feat makes some targets extremely difficult to deal with. I get lucky on the Eliminators, hitting a boosted 13 from Goreshade on one, and an unboosted 7 from Halberdier CMA on the other. I switch Hand of Ice onto the Kodiak, and remove it and the Strike Tanker on the right in melee, with my guns taking out the final Suppression Tanker. Some good dice in this turn for sure. I score my flag again to lead 2-0, and my attrition lead is growing nicely.

Jonny feels that the attiriton game has completely gone, and he has lost all real ways of contesting the right flag and zone. He kills what he can but can't even clear his flag (Ryssovass have been so good this game) allowing me to move further into a 3-0 lead.

I nudge Goreshade into the zone to score 2 and win 5-0.

VICTORY

It was difficult to sum up in the report but I can't understate how good the Sniper package was in this game. Their constant damage was great to finish off damaged Men-O-War and along with the Harpies and Rifle Teams provided the constant damage the list needed to swing the attrition. At 3-0 I qualified for the top pod on day 2, which also contained my Cygnar opponent from today along with Circle and Cryx.

Game 295: Issyria vs Sloan

Game 295 – Vs Phil Rothwell – Cygnar – 12/01/19

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Legions of Dawn)

-Imperatus

-Phoenix

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

House Shyeel Artificer

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Min Dawnguard Destors

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Captain Kara Sloan (Heavy Metal)

-Squire

-Firefly

-Firefly

-Hunter

-Hunter

-Hunter

-Hunter

-Minuteman

-Minuteman

-Minuteman

-Minuteman

Captain Arlan Strangeways

Journeyman Lieutenant Allister Caine

-Ace

With my first round finishing fairly quickly I had a bit of time to wander around the other games and see what people were playing. I got to Phil's game just as he was completing a Sloan assassination, and realised that having dropped Vyros2 from my pair there was now the potential for a real Sloan problem. Naturally I faced Phil in Round 2, and with me going first we got moving.

I think Spread the Net as the scenario really helps me here, but only if I can get far enough up the table early on. As such I push forward as far as I can, keeping the things I hold dear out of threat as much as possible. Admonition goes on the Phoenix and Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels in what is largely becoming auto-pilot. The Hunters were to my right so I should definitely put IR on the Trident there. Issyria sits in a trench with Force Wall on her. At DEF22 she should be ok until Phil can start aiming.

Phil opts not to Feat this turn, and just put chip damage into me where he can. He regrets the decision when he rolls high and leaves the right Trident on just 2 boxes. I breathe a sigh of relief. 4 Sentinels die: 2 because I tempted Phil into triggering Vengeance and 2 because I positioned them like an idiot.

Phil asked the key question just a couple of activations left in his turn. “How far does Imperatus threat”. As it is, after a Slipstream he threatens one of the Hunters, and within a single Side-step of Sloan. There is work to be done though, as Phil scrambled well after realising his situation. I need to clear out 2 Minutemen to make it work, but the Destors and Trident manage this between them, clearing the route for Imperatus. I'm after S&P 8s to hit her, and after spiking the first damage, I boost the second initial and finis her off.

VICTORY

Glad I found a way out of this one, even at the hand of a slight positioning error by my opponent. I don't really know how I win this one if Phil doesn't give me a way in as I would lost most of my army on the next turn. I was able to take out 4 lights almost by accident on my turn, and could easily have made it 5 or 6 if I'd been trying, which may have given me a good enough position to grind through it. I'd say it required more testing but I really don't want to play this again! Onwards to Round 3.

Game 294: Issyria vs Kromac1

Game 294 – Vs James Durr – Circle Orboros – 12/01/19

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Legions of Dawn)

-Imperatus

-Phoenix

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

House Shyeel Artificer

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Min Dawnguard Destors

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Kromac the Ravenous (Call of the Wild)

-Druid Wilder

-Ghetorix

-Pureblood Warpwolf

-Warpwolf Stalker

-Riphorn Satyr

Una the Falconer

-Storm Raptor

Lord of the Feast

Shifting Stones

2 day event this weekend in Southport. Only 12 players so being played as a standard SR on day 1 before splitting into pods of 4 for day 2. I was taking Issyria and Goreshade4, with the intention of playing them as evenly as possible. Round 1 saw me up against James with his Circle. With him winning the first turn we got moving.

James puts up Warpath on Kromac and the beasts run up the table.

I am really tentative this turn, keeping everything out of threat range of the Beasts, and only allowing the right Phoenix to be in range of Lord of the Feast. Admonition is cast on the Phoenix and Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels.

James puts up Bestial and presses further up the table. The Storm Raptor puts three shots into the left Trident, spiking dice pretty hard to leave it on 6 boxes. Una puts up Guardian Beast up to deter me moving into the Storm Raptor.

I missed taking a picture this turn, but just imagine all the circle beasts being too close. I power up the Heavies before slamming Ghetorix over Kromac with the right Trident. I shoot off Una and the Lord before targetting Kromac a bit, transferring damage onto the Satyr, leaving it on a couple of boxes. From there the beasts and Sentinels charge in, Issyria's Feat powereing them enough to take out all the beasts but Ghetorix. I score 3CPs.

James knows he has lost, but takes out the Trident on the right with Kromac and Ghetorix to claw back some points. I score again on his turn and mine to win 5-0.

VICTORY

James and I spoke about the matchup afterwards, and there are some things that he could have done better. It is still a rough one for Circle though, as Issyria's Feat really cancels out the defence that they rely on to survive. On to round 2.

Game 293: Issyria vs Thexus

Game 293 – Vs Mark Ellis – Mercenaries – 10/01/19

My list:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (Legions of Dawn)

-Imperatus

-Phoenix

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

House Shyeel Artificer

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Min Dawnguard Destors

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Exulon Thexus (Operating Theater)

-Wrecker

-Warden

-Warden

Cephalyx Agitator

Cephalyx Agitator

Cephalyx Agitator

Max Cephalyx Mind Bender and Drudges

Max Cephalyx Mind Bender and Drudges

Max Cephalyx Mind Bender and Drudges

Max Cephalyx Mind Slaver and Drudges

Min Cephalyx Mind Slaver and Drudges

Min Cephalyx Mind Slaver and Drudges

Cephalyx Overlords

Cephalyx Overlords

First game of 2019, but no new lists. I'm very close to having a list pair that I'm really happy with in Goreshade4 and Issyria and with a 2 day event coming up at the weekend I got a game in against regular opponent Mark to test Issy into a serious dude spam. Mark gets the first turn and we get moving.

Mark runs up with everything, casting Telekinesis on all 3 heavies to put them further up the table. The Overlords stab the monstrosities to give them all 2 Focus, with one spiking damage pretty majorly to put a bit of a hole in one.

There are ambushers, there is Thexus' Feat, there is Telekinesis and frankly there's the fact that it's been a while and I've lost track of what the various Cephalyx bits do. I'm out of threat for the time being so I decide that the best course of action is to bunch up as much as possible to make Mark's life difficult. Co-ordinated Movement and the new theme benefit means that the list unjams itself really well so that isn't a concern. I wait to see what happens.

Mark decides that it is too early to start firing superpowered Drudges at me, and so moves up and spreads out more ready to press forward next turn.

The things I know about Cephalyx can mostly be summed up to “if it wears a skirt, kill it” and with Issyria's Feat granting True Sight I have a real opportunity to take out a few here. I Feat, commit a couple of Destors and both Tridents and manage to take out 4 unit leaders, 2 Overlords and one of the Agitators, which seems like a decent start. We both score our own zones to start scoring at 1-1.

The piece trade starts in earnest with Mark's heavies charging into my Tridents. On average dice they would leave a Trident alive on a couple of boxes, and the numbers largely work out as one goes down with the other surviving. Mark scores twice to lead 3-1.

This is one of turns where the pictures don't really explain how the turn went down. I knew I could remove the two Wardens pretty easily, but getting the Wrecker was my real aim for the turn. Doing so required the Sentinels charging through the Trident to take out the Warden, and then the Phoenix charging through the Sentinels. This is the real strength of the list in my opinion as it is almost impossible to get yourself trapped. I take out three heavies and a few more infantry, scoring my own zone to close up to 3-2.

Mark needs to score 4 CP's to win, and has a look at whether he can get it done, but it would require taking out my objective and he just can't get anything there. With no way to kill my heavies he concedes.

VICTORY

Having essentially army wide Tactician was really key to this matchup, allowing me to bunch up to protect from Thexus' movement tricks. From there it was really just a matter of target prioritising to strip away at the threats and keeping my key pieces safe. Issyria being essentially immune to being moved in the matchup is pretty useful too. I really like this list, and can't wait to try it out in a tournament environment.

Game 292: Goreshade4 vs Madrak1

Game 292 – Vs Nick Hancox – Trollbloods – 30/12/18

My list:

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven (Defenders of Ios)

-Chimera

-Harpy

-Harpy

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen

Ghost Sniper

Ghost Sniper

Heavy Rifle Team

Heavy Rifle Team

Min Houseguard Halberdiers

-Houseguard Halberdier Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Houseguard Halberdiers

-Houseguard Halberdier Officer & Standard Bearer

Max Ryssovass Defenders

-Soulless Escort

Max Ryssovass Defenders

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain (Band of Heroes)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Glacier King

Fell Caller Hero

Max Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Stone Scribe Elder

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Max Trollkin Champions (proxied as Warders)

-Skaldi Bonehammer

-Trollkin Sorcerer

Max Trollkin Champions

Max Trollkin Fennblades

-Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer

The final game of the year is a nice friendly game against Nick. I had done mean Issyria things to him a week before, and so he didn’t want to face that again, so the deal was that he wouldn’t drop a Storm of the North list. Thus, we arrived at Goreshade4 vs Madrak1. I win the first turn and we get moving.

Standard first turn. Dauntless Resolve on the max Halberdiers and everything runs up the table.

Nic feels that he needs to Feat this turn in order to get enough table presence to not lose too quickly on scenario. He does so, and Madrak puts up Even Ground to further increase the defence skew of his list.

With the Feat up I cant charge into anything, but without the instant heal in Madrak’s pocket it means that any chip damage I can do to the Champions is worthwhile. I focus on Skaldi’s unit, as they will be immune to my Feat in coming turns, and roll well to reduce them all to one box each. I put up clouds to avoid Feating.

When in doubt, especially on a live scenario like this, run and jam. Unfortunately Nick doesn’t have a solo in place to get to his flag, but does score his own zone for a 1-0 lead.

I don’t have the most successful turn. I take out half of the left Champion unit, half the unit that ran into my lines, and a reasonable handful of Fennblades. I score twice to take a 2-1 lead and Goreshade Feats.

Nic continues an attrition game that he is slowly losing, taking out some more of my infantry, and finishing off a Harpy. However he has lost the ability to contest my zone and flag, so whilst he had a decent turn, I still more further ahead to 4-2.

From here it all about keeping Goreshade safe and seeing out the game. I finish off the Champions and all but one of the Fennblades before putting a decent chunk of damage into the Glacier King. I score 2 more to lead 6-2.

Nick plays out a bit of his turn, but still can’t contest my zone and eventually loses 8-2.

VICTORY

If I assume that the pairing I’m looking at is Issy/Goreshade I think Trolls may prove to be an issue. I will have to try playing Issyria into something like Kolgrimma, but with how easily Sentinels can go down against her I think it might be tricky. That’s a problem for “future Ben” to worry about though. Right now I have 2 lists I’m really enjoying, and that hasn’t really been the case since my Kaelyssa list stopped working. I really should look at her again.