Game 309: Helynna vs Borka2

Game 309 – Vs Gary Stewart – Trollbloods – 17/02/19

My list:

Magister Helynna (Forges of War)

-Chimera

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

-Manticore

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Borka, Vengeance of the Rimeshaws (The Power of Dhunia)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Earthborn Dire Troll

-Earthborn Dire Troll

-Mulg the Ancient

-Rok

-Storm Troll

-Troll Axer

Troll Whelps

Troll Whelps

Max Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Stone Scribe Elder

Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Another practice game with Helynna and I’m up against Borka2 again, but this time in the Beast theme. My game plan will be much the same as it was against Rob, but with three differences. Firstly, the beasts threaten a bit further as Gary has a Troll Axer for Rush. Secondly, we are on a much more live scenario than before and thirdly, I don’t win first turn this time. With some issues to play around, we get moving.

Borka puts up Counter-Charge and Snow Shroud and fuels the stone before everything runs forward.

I get up the table as far as safely possible. Neither Earthborn has a speed boost at the moment so the threat ranges are fairly manageable.

Gary Feats with Borka and moves his battlegroup up, putting the Earthborn animus on himself (as he would for the rest of the game). He moves a Whelp to the right flag to allow him to score in my turn.

One of the weaknesses in this list is not really having anything to score flags, so I have to take an Arcanist out of the right to do so. This turn is a lot of awkward positioning. I largely back off to avoid having to Feat, giving up some scenario presence in return for a turn of safety. To counteract this, I am able to charge a Trident up on the left, take out the Gobbers and a couple of Whelps before repositioning out of range of the Earthborn. I lead 2-1.

Gary is uncertain how to play this turn, as I don’t think he expected me to back off so aggressively. He charge the Axer into my left Trident, leaving it on 8 boxes, before pushing up with the rest of his battlegroup, hoping to overwhelm me with targets. 2-2.

This is the turn where I need to get work done, and I don’t do particularly well. The Earthborn on the right being Defence 16 against my shooting means the Trident doesn’t get much damage on it, and the Manticore I commit can’t finish it off due to having to boost to hit. On the left things go better, the Trident takes out the Axer, and Discordia and the Manticore combine to take out a Hand of Fated Mulg. 3-3.

Gary does what he can into my feat, but struggles to get too much damage done. The right earthborn gets Primal and reduces the Manticore to around 8 boxes, the left tickles Discordia a bit, and Rok walks through the forest to kill the Chimera. 4-4

Here we go, its been a long time since I had to write up a turn I played this badly. It should have been simple, kill 2 heavies, leave just Rok alive and stroll to victory. Instead I triggered Counter-Charge on Borka, who hit the Crit-Smite on my fully fuelled Manticore, as a result the left Earthborn survived to threaten me next turn. Then some pretty bad dice (Trident midding a boosted 8) meant that the right Earthborn just wouldn’t die, taking my entire right flank to remove it. I do clear the top left zone through to at least pull ahead 6-5 on scenario.

Time to see if I get away with my mistake or not. Helynna is behind a wall with 3 Focus so essentially a 17/20 caster but this could still easily go wrong. Gary plays it well, clearing out the blocking Manticore with Rok before putting Primal on the Earthborn and sending him in. He rolls pretty well on the assassination, hitting 2 of 3 unboosted 9s to hit, but some slightly under average damage rolls mean I survive with a single box, for the second time in a weekend. The game is over here, as I would go 2 CPs up in his turn (the assassination was his last activation) and would just need to clear my right zone to win.

VICTORY

I played a lot of this game really well, before completely falling apart at the end. I could easily have got both heavies onto the Earthborn without triggering Counter-Charge but just forgot about it and nearly threw away a really strong position. I really enjoy playing Gary, and he’s becoming a really strong opponent in what is a great Merseyside meta. I won’t have too many more games before the York event, and then after that I will be building towards the Welsh and then the WTC. Garryth2 coming out means it’s a really exciting time for the faction and there seem to be so many options at the moment. Its now been 40 games since I last played Vyros2, I feel like I need one of those Alcoholics Anonymous badges.

Game 307: Helynna vs Borka2

Game 307 – Vs Rob Brown – Trollbloods – 15/02/19

My list:

Magister Helynna (Forges of War)

-Chimera

-Discordia

-Manticore

-Manticore

-Manticore

Dawnguard Trident

Dawnguard Trident

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

-Soulless Escort

His List:

Borka, Vengeance of the Rimeshaws (Storm of the North)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Earthborn Dire Troll

-Pyre Troll

-Rok

Fell Caller Hero

Valka Cursebor, Chieftain of the North

Max Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Northkin Elder

Northkin Bear Handlers & Battle Bears

Northkin Bear Handlers & Battle Bears

Northkin Fire Eaters

Northkin Fire Eaters

Max Northkin Raiders

Second practice game with Helynna and I’m up against Borka2 played by my clubmate Rob, who inexplicably had avoided being on this blog up to now. I win the first turn and we get moving.

Helynna puts up Deceleration and everything gets up the table, with Rhythm of War allowing everybody to get into Discordia’s Kinetic Field bubble for some extra armour.

I’ve kept my support far enough back to be out of the Fire Eater’s threat (as much by luck as by judgement) and so they get lit up by the Pyre Troll and set some of my Jacks on fire. Other than that he gets up the table, with the Bears taking the snow drift to give themselves Stealth. Borka Feats.

Much like the last game, I don’t want to Feat this turn. If I can hold back just out of threat I can then take a strong attrition position next turn. I shoot off the Fire Eaters that had come forward, and Discordia sprayed down the conga line of Bears and Handler, killing one bear and Deafening the leader. She was then Slipstreamed and Rhythmed back to safety. I shoot off a handful of Raiders.

I had left both Tridents just within range of the ambushing bears, doing rough maths to work out that they shouldn’t kill it. And I was right; the unit ambushing on the left and rolling fairly well to leave me on 7 boxes. What I hadn’t calculated was Rob killing the Deafened leader, allowing the last Bear in the unit to charge and finish it off. Rob then turned to an attempted assassination, with my caster being on zero camp (probably an error). 2 Fire Eaters could get sprays on her, but one was killed by Covering Fire and the second missed. Rok’s spray made contact and left her on a handful of boxes, so Rob went all in and went for Borka’s Sprays. The first hit and left her on a single box, with the second (unboosted and needing a 10) thankfully missing. I survive the turn. 0-0

Despite Borka being right in front of my with no Fury, this still isn’t a trivial assassination as he ran up with everything he had to jam me. Eventually I solve the problem by smiting the Earthborn at Borka with a Chain Attack from Discordia, knocking him down and clearing a route for a Manticore to finish him off.

VICTORY

My mistake this game was thinking I needed Hand of Fate to take out the Fire Eaters. This cost me three focus on Helynna, but my jacks would still have easily been able to remove them. With 3 extra Focus (and ideally being in range of Kinetic Field) the assassination would never have been on. As it was, I had to rely on a bit of good luck to survive. Rob was a great opponent and we have a lot of fun in this game, Helynna isn’t as bad as I feared.

Game 303: Issyria vs Kolgrimma

Game 303 – Vs Byron Liles – Trollbloods – 03/02/19

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:

Kolgrimma Stonetruth, Winter Witch (Storm of the North)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Dire Troll Mauler

-Earthborn Dire Troll

Fell Caller Hero

Northkin Shaman

Northkin Shaman

Trollkin Champion Hero

Min Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes

-Northkin Elder

Northkin Bear Handlers & Battle Bears

Northkin Bear Handlers & Battle Bears

Max Trollkin Champions

-Skaldi Bonehammer

Max Trollkin Champions

The final round of the UK Invitational and the first time in the event that I’ve played against a new opponent, Byron with his pair of Kolgrimma and Doomshaper2. We both pretty much knew that matchup would be Kolgrimma against Issyria, and with me winning first turn we get moving.

Admonition on the Phoenix, Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels and run. I want to be in a position to get a good alpha before the Bears can come on to retaliate.

Byron moves up in a fairly defensive formation, putting down 4 clouds from Kolgrimma to block my lines and force me to Feat. His Earthborn moves up behind the building in the centre of the table.

It has been a long weekend, I’m tired, and I have a long drive home, so when I spotted the assassination here it was too tempting not to go for. With a Slipstream Imperatus can get a slither of LoS to the Earthborn, and with 2 Side-Steps can get to a zero camp Kolgrimma. 2 bought attacks later and Kolgrimma Toughs, but with the right Trident in range I can finish her off.

VICTORY

I couldn’t really resist that assassination, even though the odds weren’t incredibly good. I figured that if the first attack didn’t do much damage I could choose to finish off the Earthborn instead and still had enough models on the table to play a hard attrition turn (the Trident had pretty much left all the left Champions on a box each). I finished the tournament at 3-2 and 9^th place out of 30, a result I was pretty pleased with. This event is a big part of WTC selection, so I think I’ve put myself in a decent place to qualify. Now only time will tell. We also have a new caster to look forward to, and I really can’t wait to get Garryth2 on the table.

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.

Game 289: Issyria vs Grim2

Game 289 – Vs Nick Hancox – Trollbloods – 21/12/18

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:

Hunters Grim (The Power of Dhunia)

-Muggs & Krump

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Dire Troll Blitzer

-Dire Troll Bomber

-Dire Troll Mauler

-Earthborn Dire Troll

-Ice Troll

-Troll Axer

-Troll Impaler

Janissa Stonetide

Troll Whelps

Dhunian Knot

My second game with Issyria after being range assassinated in my first was against Nick and his Grim2 list, so I would need to be on my guard again. I won the first turn and we got moving.

Again, Admonition goes on the Phoenix and Inviolable Resolve on the Sentinels, who also gain Force Barrier from the Artificer to protect against any blasts from the Bomber. Everything runs up.

The Trolls run up the table, the Earthborn finding a position between a wall and forest to trigger 2 of his abilities. Krump’s trap goes down near the objective to make it difficult for me to advance aggressively into him.

Everything is still too far away for it to be Feat turn, so I just take out what I can at range and prepare to Feat next turn. Eiryss takes out a member of the Knot, a Destor goes in to take out Krump and my Trident on the right starts to deal some damage to the Earthborn. The Sentinels use their mini-feat, as all they really need to do is survive through this turn.

Nick decides to hold on to his Feat as an assassination threat, and instead focusses on taking out what he can. The Bomber and Blitzer combine to take out 4 Sentinels, whilst other Beasts take out 2 of the 3 Destors. We both score our own zones to start scoring at 1-1.

Issyria fills up the 2 heavies and Feats. Pretty much my entire army charges in. Phoenix takes out the Earthborn, Sentinels and Imperatus remove the Blitzer, Bomber and objective, the right Trident takes out the Ice Troll and some of the support and the left leaves the Mauler on a single box. It is a pretty devastating turn. I lead 4-1.

Things only get worse for Nick as the Axer frenzies and finishes off the Mauler. He goes for the longest of long shot assassinations, but it fails, and I score 2 more CPs to win 6-1.

VICTORY

That’s a bit more like it. I will admit this is pretty much an ideal thing for this list to go up against. 12/18 is a statline that will melt pretty quickly to Issyria’s Feat, and Nick didn’t layer his forces in the way you need to against her, but this was still really useful to see. I like this list a lot, and the Tridents are great fun to play with so many options.

Game 275: Goreshade4 vs Madrak1

Game 275 – Vs Gary Stewart – Cryx – 21/10/18

My list:

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven (Legions of Dawn)

-Chimera

-Harpy

-Harpy

-Siren

Arcanist Mechanik

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinels Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinels Officer & Standard Bearer

-Soulless Escort

Max Dawnguard Invictors

-Dawnguard Invictors Officer & Standard Bearer

Min Dawnguard Destors

His List:

Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain (Band of Heroes)

-Trollkin Runebearer

-Dire Troll Bomber

-Dire Troll Mauler

-Earthborn Dire Troll

Fell Caller Hero

Max Krielstone & Stone Scribes

-Stone Scribe Elder

Max Trollkin Champions

-Skaldi Bonehammer

-Trollkin Sorcerer

Max Trollkin Fennblades

-Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer

Apparently Goreshade4 is good now? Time to test him out for myself and see how I get on. I am starting him off in a Legions of Dawn list, but I left a few models at home so wasn’t exactly on the list I intended. Gary was kind enough to play Madrak rather than his Storm of the North list so that we could have a more meaningful game to see how the new version feels. I win the first turn and we get going.

Dauntless Resolve and Ghost Walk go onto the right Sentinels to help them through the water in their way and the rest of my forces run up the table.

The Troll forces run up the table, with Madrak putting up Sure Foot to raise their defence. That’s really all there is to say. Madrak isn’t very complicated…

Goreshade upkeeps Dauntless and puts up a cloud wall in the centre of the table. My Sentinels then move up to be out of walking threat of the beasts and sit looking pretty smug. My Invictors do great work shooting into the Champions, taking one out and spreading a lot of damage around the unit. My Destors don’t do anywhere near as well, mainly because I’m an idiot and forgot that Fennblades were immune to Impact attacks. C’est la vie.

Madrak Feats to heal up the Champions and prevent me from charging next turn, pressing further forward to stop me just clouding up next turn. The Destors all die to the retaliation from the Fennblades. Gary scores to lead 1-0.

I was far too cautious when I repositioned my Invictors last turn. Moving them back rather than pushing up further means they have no shots to take this turn and have to run up. An expensive unit like this can’t really afford to lose a turn to a misplay like that. My Sentinels deal some damage to the Mauler and some Fennblades, with my shooting jacks joining the party to take some more out. Goreshade Feats. 1-0.

Gary starts eyeing up an assassination and I am immediately nervous. The Bomber puts 2 shots into me, connecting with one and dealing decent damage through my single camp. He then works on clearing a trample path for the Earthborn to get through to Goreshade, managing to take only a single free strike which failed to take out any aspects. The Earthborn then buys attacks and kills Goreshade.

DEFEAT

Stupid Earthborn being immune to my Feat. Didn’t see the assassination and got punished for it. I didn’t learn a great deal about the list but it felt fun to play and Goreshade is always going to have something to do. More testing needed.