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 287: Goreshade4 vs Zerkova1

Game 287 – Vs Rob McCormick – Khador – 2/12/18

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:

Koldun Kommander Alexsandra Zerkova (Armoured Corps)

-Marauder

-Spriggan

Man-O-War Kovnik

Ragman

Kayazy Eliminators

Max Man-O-War Bombadiers

-Man-O-War Bombadier Officer

Max Man-O-War Demolition Corps

Max Man-O-War Shocktroopers

- Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer

Max Man-O-War Shocktroopers

- Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer

Second Steamroller of the weekend sees my second final, which means I must be doing something right despite my lists hardly being an optimal pair. This time I was up against Rob McCormick and his incessant puns. He writes a blog himself and his thoughts on the event and our game can be found HERE. I didn’t feel like I had a great answer to his Man-o-War list, but Goreshade had brought me this far through the event so off we go! I won the first turn and we got moving.

Its another super-live scenario so I just need to get up the table as quickly as possible. Dauntless Resolve goes on the max unit of Halberdiers.

Rob runs up all his forces, with Zerkova moving up and beginning a “cloud wall battle”. Some of my min unit of Halberdiers are shot off by the Bombadiers.

I am able to sneak Eiryss around the building and through the clouds, landing a Disruptor Bolt on Zerkova (needing an 8 to hit). It takes both Rob and I by surprise and to be honest I don’t really know how to best capitalise on the situation. I put some shots into the Khador troops but don’t achieve too much. Goreshade Feats.

With no focus Zerkova’s options are fairly limited, and a large part of Rob’s turn is spent making sure she survives the next turn. She Feats, significantly limiting my options and the Khador army removes a portion of my army. Rob doesn’t want to kill too much and give me a huge stack of focus, and instead concentrates on the scenario game, scoring his own zone and contesting mine to move 1-0 ahead.

None of my pictures show this well, because of an unfortunate building in the way, but I have a pretty decent assassination run on Zerkova. I can fire off 3 Light of Dawns at models next to her, catching her with blast damage at dice -8, before putting in a Mini-Feated 4 man CMA form the Halberdiers (48% according to Oddsmachine after the event). After the first 2 spells I had done no damage and so abandoned the whole plan. Instead I did what damage I could, and scored my zone and flag to level at 2-2.

In response, Rob killed a lot of stuff, and pushed really deep into my army, killing a lot and pushing the line of battle a long way up the table. He only scored 1 more point, but I knew the game had gone, and conceded.

DEFEAT

It is strange what writing these reports does sometimes. I don’t like to make excuses in them at all, but I was very tired during this game. 9 tough games and a lot of driving over the weekend had really taken it out of me and as a result I did not play this well. Even looking at it now I realise that the game was far from over. I had enough on the right flank to take that next turn and with Eiryss could have at least postponed the issue of the Spriggan in the centre, pushing it out of the zone to keep scoring myself. I think I would have lost on scenario in the end, but still had a lot of fight left in the game. I think part of my reasoning in going for the assassination was that I was tired and had the opportunity to end the game quickly. I finished the event in 2^nd, which is still something to be pleased with in an extremely strong field. More importantly, I have found a list that I am really enjoying playing. My issue is that it doesn’t pair with Vyros, but I’ve been wanting to drop him for a long time. So now the new search begins for a Goreshade pair, and it will probably involve Tridents. Thanks for reading.

Game 286: Goreshade4 vs Maelok

Game 286 – Vs Andrew Howarth – Minions – 2/12/18

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:

Maelok the Dreadbound (The Blindwater Congregation)

-Gatorman Soul Slave

-Blackhide Wrastler

-Boneswarm

-Bull Snapper

Thrullg

Underchief Mire

-Boneswarm

Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron

Min Gatorman Posse

Min Gatorman Posse

Min Gatorman Posse

Max Gatorman Posse

Max Gatorman Posse

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Round 3 of the Sherwood Steamroller and a rare competitive game against Minions. Andrew was playing a pair of Maelok and Rask, and both of those seemed to be pretty obvious Goreshade drops. I won the first turn and we got moving.

We are playing Spread the Net, and with limited shooting on Andrew’s side there is really no reason for me not to just get up the table as fast as possible. I put out Dauntless Resolve on the max unit of Halberdiers, and made sure to keep them out of threat of Thrullg hiding behind the central building.

Maelok puts up Death Pact and Soul Harvester onto one of the max Posse before everything runs up the table. Andrew is slightly hampered by the central building, forcing him to split his force in half.

There are a decent number of Gators in threat range so, with Andrew having chosen not to use his Feat, I decide to commit pretty heavily. I take out around 4 Gators on each flank, with the Ghost Snipers proving invaluable in taking out any models that toughed and were knocked down. I hold a unit of Halberdiers back in the centre, with the plan to use them and their mini-feat to take out the Wrastler later on. Goreshade Feats.

Andrew does Feat this turn, largely due to a need to contest my zones. A Gator runs through on each flank to contest both my flag and zone. He kills a decent number of infantry, the Posse not being too bothered about being made stationary, but is unable to score mainly due to my Soulless Escort contesting the left zone in an extremely difficult position to remove. 0-0

With Maelok’s Feat and Death Pact raising the Posse’s armour to ridiculous values it really is just a matter of killing what I can this turn. I do clear both my flag and my zone to score twice, but only manage to take down a couple more Gators, mainly again thanks to the reliable damage from the Snipers. 2-0 to me.

Andrew realises that with the attrition game going against him and me having started scoring before him, he needs to make a big play to try and turn the game. He clears out what infantry he can with his dwindling numbers before pushing forward with the Wrastler, Snapper and one of the Bone Swarms. He is unable to contest my zone however, so I move to a 3-0 lead.

I am relieved that I don’t really have to solve the puzzle that Andrew has set me with the beasts, as he only has 2 damaged Gators contesting his flag. I take them out and run my Arcanist up to score 2 and win 5-0.

VICTORY

Looking back a few of weeks later (I am very behind on battle reports) I think this is the game where I understood Goreshade4. The Legions list just didn’t suit me, but this one, with the advanced board position and useful shooting elements in the Rifle Teams and Snipers is a list I really enjoy. I rolled pretty well in this game, and Andrew didn’t have the best luck with tough rolls, but the constant attrition push of the list is a great feeling. I do wonder how this game would have played out had Andrew pushed the beasts a turn earlier under his Feat, as it would probably have been quite difficult to clear them out. On to the final against fairly regular opponent and fellow England WTC player Rob.