Game 240: Vyros2 vs Goreshade1

Game 240 – Vs Duncan Harradine – Cryx – 10/08/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon      

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

House Shyeel Artificer

Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

Goreshade the Bastard (Black Industries)

-Deathwalker

-The Withershadow Combine

-Desecrator

-Inflictor

-Leviathan

-Ripjaw

-Scavenger

-Slayer

Iron Lich Overseer

-Seether

Machine Wraith

Machine Wraith

Warwitch Siren

Warwitch Siren

Cephalyx Overlords

With the first game finishing quickly we “rerack” for another.

Only half of my models had moved on my assassination run, so we reverted back to my top of 1 and Duncan redeployed.

Duncan casts Lamentation and Shadowmancer and runs up, being a bit more restrained than last time.

I back off to the point where I am threatening the full zones, and shoot off both Machine Wraiths.

Duncan moves up and gets into the zones, projecting threat where he can. 1-1

I Hunters Mark the Inflictor, allowing me to destroy it, the Slayer, the Ripjaw and around half of the Seether. It feels like a strong attrition turn. 2-2.

Goreshade Feats and between the Bane Warriors and his remaining Jacks he cripples or takes out a lot of my jacks. 3-2 to Duncan

Despite a strong turn of attrition Goreshade is still within range for an assassination. I build Synergy before a Griffon takes out Deathwalker allowing Vyros to destroy Goreshade

VICTORY

-      Probably a rough match for the Cryx, especially going second. Goreshade has to be up the table to leverage his abilities and puts him in danger of assassination

Retribution Initial CID thoughts – Week 1

Retribution Initial CID thoughts – Week 1

I haven’t been posting much recently since I’ve been on WTC lock down, but with the Retribution CID finally going live yesterday I thought it as good a time as any to put a post up with my thoughts. As ever, all opinions are my own, but please feel free to let me know if you disagree.

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven

At the end of last year I ranked all 12 Retribution casters and put my blog’s namesake right at the bottom of the pile. That won’t be the case any longer. A new Feat and a rewriting of his spell list has made him a genuinely interesting looking choice that I will definitely be looking to test at some point. The 4 new spells he’s picked up are Dauntless Resolve an amazing defensive upkeep, Freezing Mist for the cloud wall Ret always wanted, Hand of Ice a straight up armour debuff and Light of Wrath as a dual purpose nuke and Stealt removal/DEF debuff. Wow, it is an incredible spell list. He also keeps Ghost Walk (Yay) and Revive (Meh). His Feat has been reworked too, now causing stationary to enemy models when they destroy a model in his control, as well as collecting souls from fallen models to be used as Focus next turn. It is still early days, but he looks great to me and I can’t wait to get him on the table.

Ravyn, The Eternal Light

Another caster being given a new lease of life with the CID. Gaining Sprint and Weapon Master really lets her get some work done without immediately dying afterwards, and her new spells Countermeasure and Open Fire are really strong, though the latter may run into the issue of being able to shoot into deployment zones on turn1 that has always been toned down in previous CIDs.

Daemon

A reduction to 14 points is actually pretty decent, and is enough to make me start to look at putting some paint on mine. The gun has some interesting uses, and can move your own models around a bit, and Blessed weapons are always useful. Not going to grab any headlines during the CID cycle, but a good change.

Gorgon

Went down a point. Still rubbish.

Hyperion

Range 12 on the Starburst is a nice buff. I still refer the defensive abilities and utility of Helios but this is certainly an improvement.

Hypnos

Unlike some of our character Jacks, Hypnos didn’t get released into any themes, and as I’m not a fan of Ossyan this change doesn’t affect me too much. Still, a point drop is definitely a good thing.

Imperatus

Regular readers will know that I play Vyros2 in Forges a LOT, and until fairly recently have had Imperatus in the list. I dropped him a couple of months ago and honestly haven’t looked back. A MAT buff and pint drop probably doesn’t get him back into the list, as I don’t think he solves Vyros’ problems, but him having the Legions theme opened up to him does present some opportunities with a threat extending caster like Elara or Thyron, possibly even marshalled onto a Scyir for some really impressive threat ranges.

Moros

Moros has always been hamstrung by Garryth, but at least now has a place without him in Shadows. A speed boost and Parry help as well. Some interesting assassinations might be possible with that gun

Phoenix

Always felt a little overcosted at 18 points, so a drop along with a MAT buff is a great change. It has a lot of rules on its card but can never use all of them, so feels pore appropriately costed now.

Dawnguard Trident

The big shock inclusion for the CID is our second battle engine and it brings a whole lot to the party. It gains power tokens in the same way as the Storm Strider, and can us them to boost its Momentum melee attack, it’s 3D3 range 12 Pow 13 guns or, most excitingly, place a nearby model 2” in the same manner as Slipstream in Legion. I think this thing maybe has one too many rules, and may not make it through CID in this capacity, but there is a lot to be excited about here. PP have warned about a long wait for the actual model but it looks like it will be worth it.

Destors and Destor Thane

As anyone who frequents this blog often will know, I am already a big fan of Destors, and these changes make them really very potent. It makes their infantry clearing a bit more reliable, their support removal super reliable, and helps them dink a few more points off heavies, but where it makes a huge difference is when they go up against light jacks and on assassination runs, where the extra reliable hitting POW 14 will be a huge deal. I still don’t think that max units is the way to go with them, but as support units they look like they will now be doing a lot of work.

Invictors and UA

Not the most glamourous of changes here, but Reposition 3 and a point reduction feel like exactly what these guys needed. They are one of the very few units that I have never put on the table, but am tempted to do so now, especially under a caster that can boost their ranged output.

Sentinels and UA

Sentinels were easily worth 18 points, this seems like a very odd change. I’ll take it though…

Battle Mages, Artificer and Magister

All of the Shyeel models gained Set Defence as a new standard rule, with the Battle Mages and Artificer losing Force Barrier to compensate. Obviously for the Magister this is a straight buff, which is great, but for the rest the picture is more complicated. I think that this is a real loss for the Battle Mages, who relied on Force Barrier to deliver themselves, but they have at least dropped a point and become FA:U, which leaves some interesting options. The Artificer gained the ability to give Force Barrier to a unit within 6”, which is an interesting change, especially with it being opened up to the Legions of Dawn theme. These are interesting changes that feel like they need a lot of looking at going forward.

Mage Hunter Infiltrators

Up a couple of points and gain Combo Strike. An interesting change, and would certainly mix up the Elara2 list I was running a bit back, they would get up to P+S 16 with combo strike, gang and Scything Touch which is a pretty respectable number. I like Infiltrators a lot, but mainly liked them for being very cheap. Now that they’ve lost that tag it will need to be seen if they can get enough work done to justify the extra points.

Mage Hunter Strike Force Commander

Now gives the unit magic ranged weapons. Pretty cool. Will help against Gremlin Swarms, Machine Wraiths and the like, as well as giving a few more options into Menoth. A nice change.

Stormfall Archers

Became a Houseguard unit. Means they can gain buffs from the Thane to ignore Stealth or gain Desperate Pace. Useful.

Defenders of Ios

Just changed so that instead of just all Halberdiers gaining Advance Move, one melee unit gets to move for each Houseguard unit taken. In simple terms: take Rifle Teams or Stormfalls, Advance Move Ellowuyr or Ryssovass. A nice change.

Forges of War

Threshold for free cards moves up to 30, but you can now take a Shyeel unit for free. This is a pretty big change and allows a lot of extra stuff, I’m not sure it’ll stick. Also we can take Elara1 now, so that’s something.

Legions of Dawn

Gained Imperatus and some support solos. Still looking like this will be our first major CID theme. Having access to the Lys Healer is good though.

Shadows of the Retribution

Gained Moros and the Lys Healer, and can now take command attachments for free, which may convince me to get Eiryss3 onto the table at some stage. It’s a shame there is no Artificer in here but I can understand why.

So that’s our lot, I like the changes on the whole and I think it will open up so many options within the faction. The obvious things are the reworked casters, but there are bound to be so many great combinations that are now opened up. Go, play games, test things and report back to the CID forum. This is a great opportunity.

Second 100 Games of Retribution (Plus Blog Update)

Second 100 games with Retribution

As I did after my first 100 games, I though it worth having a little recap of where I’m at after my second hundred games with Retribution, as well as offer a bit of an update as to where the blog will be going over the next few months.

I’ll start with this, as I wouldn’t want it to be missed by people not getting to the end of my stat-apocalypse. I decided a while ago that after the Welsh I would be taking a break from publishing my blog posts. I will still be writing them, and will put them up in time, but they will not be of the same depth that they are at the moment. The reason for this change is that I am delighted to have been invited onto the England Roses team at the WTC in September, and with that there needs to be a certain level of secrecy, not only for my own lists, but also my opponents as I play in more and more practice events. Following the WTC, everything will be published en masse, and the blog will continue as it has done so far. I hope you will all come back and continue supporting the blog as you have done so far.

Results

The main target for me in this batch of games was to show real improvement from my first 100 where I was really just learning how the faction worked, and I think the results show that I’ve been successful in this regard. In my first 100 games I won 60, a reasonable start. In my second 100 games I have pushed this up to 75, which is really where I want to be. This is down to increased experience of the faction, but also much more focus on a handful of casters and really drilling down into what they can do.

Tournament Results

Event	Date	Results	Position
Blood & Oil	11-12/11/17	5W 1L	5/82
Chorley Steamroller	17/12/17	3W 1L	-
Wirral WMHUKISS Qualifier	20/01/18	4W 0L	1/20
Southport WMHUKISS Qualifier	03/02/18	4W 0L	1/16
Sheffield WMHUKISS Qualifier	24/02/18	3W 1L	-
Preston WMHUKISS Qualifier	17/03/18	2W 1L	2/8
Powerfist Steamroller	15/04/18	2W 1L	4/8
Leeds Steamroller	29/04/18	1W 2L	6/8
Wigan Steamroller	6/5/18	3W 1L	5/16
Welsh Masters	19-20/05/18	5W 2L	20/160

Blood and Oil was a real turning point in my becoming a really competitive player with Ret. I beat both of the players who beat me in the Nationals earlier in the year, and only lost an extremely close game in the semi-final to Mickael Dick. From there I have just become really consistent in events, only going below average in an 8 man event featuring 7 England WTC players. Getting my first Steamroller wins was a great feeling as well, and the next target has to be to start seriously fighting for a major victory. The Welsh was slightly disappointing in this regard, as I lost pretty early in Round 3, though it was against Tom Escaffier, the French player who ended the event in 3^rd.

Themes

Themes continue to be the primary way the game is played currently, and there is no real impression that things will change any time soon. I did not play a single game out of theme in this batch of 100 games, and only played against 5 opponents who were not in a theme, with the latest of them being on the 3^rd of February.

Theme	Games Played	Games Won	Win %
Forges of War	36	27	75
Shadows of Retribution	7	5	71
Defenders of Ios	24	18	75
Legion of Dawn	34	25	74

Well, I guess I’ll hold my hands up and admit that I just straight don’t like Shadows. I did quite enjoy my Elara list in that theme, but it didn’t stick and I’ve really just been concentrating on the other 3 themes since. I am surprised to see such equality on my win rates on the three, but I think the Legion of Dawn result is slightly held back by some experimenting with bad lists when the theme first came out. I still feel that I need to experiment more with Defenders of Ios, as there are so many options in that theme, but so often they just feel inferior to AFGs and Halberdiers.

Casters

As with my first 100 games, I have again played 9 of our 12 available casters in this batch of games, with just Garryth, Thyron and (surprisingly) Issyria not making the cut. I am very aware that Issyria is a strong caster, and I think I’ve spent a lot of time assuming I don’t like her, wheras I think the issue is that I don’t like her in Shadows. I will definitely be testing her in Legions or Defenders at some point to see if that inspires me a bit more.

Caster	Games Played	Games Won	Win %
Elara2	13	8	62
Goreshade4	3	1	33
Helynna	3	1	33
Kaelyssa	24	22	92
Ossyan	2	1	50
Rahn	20	16	80
Ravyn	1	1	100
Vyros1	2	0	0
Vyros2	33	25	76

After my first 100 games I had a clear “top” caster in Vyros2, but was critical of myself for possibly protecting him in the list selection process slightly too often. I think I have managed to get better at that now, and he has been dropped into some really horrific match-ups. I don’t think I’ve been as protective with Kaelyssa, her only losses have been into Legion and I genuinely think the list (in Legions) is one of the strongest that we have access to. 4 casters cover 89% of my games, and I think that they, along with Issyria, are pretty comfortably our top 5 casters at the moment, but throwing a few games in every now and then with some of our lesser casters is good for the soul. Except Goreshade, he is horrendous.

Opposing Armies

I’m planning a blog post in the near future as to where I think we are against the other factions, so I won’t add too much commentary to this section, but now that factions have stabilised a bit following Theme-pocalypse it is certainly interesting to see where I am at personally.

Faction	Games Played	Games Won	Win %
Circle	4	2	50
Convergence	1	1	100
Cryx	22	16	73
Cygnar	7	6	86
Grymkin	6	5	83
Khador	11	8	73
Legion	20	15	75
Menoth	4	1	25
Mercenaries	4	4	100
Minions	4	1	25
Retribution	2	2	100
Skorne	6	5	83
Trollbloods	10	9	90

My main surprise here is the 73% win rate against Cryx, as this whole section of games is since their theme dump. They are the faction I often feel most “back to the wall” against but it looks like I am able to dig my way out of trouble more often than I thought. Menoth are one of my biggest fears, as they aren’t seen much locally and Harbinger is back in the game, which is just great… As I said, there will be a more thorough blog post on this in the near future.

The Future

As I said above, I will be taking a break from publishing battle reports until after the WTC, so I apologise for the relative silence for the next 4 months or so. I will be posting up other bits and pieces though, almost certainly including some thoughts on our upcoming CID.

On that point, I am excited for what is going to come out of it, a few leaks have come up so far and look interesting, but it is all in isolation so far so too early to say. The big question on my part is whether any changes will go “live” before WTC list submission. Either way, I feel pretty good about where the faction is out, and I can’t wait to test myself at the very highest level.

Thank you all for reading, and I’ll catch up with you all again soon.