Game 313 - Gorten vs eKrueger

Round two of Slam, playing into my age old nemesis of Circle. NOooooooooo......

Last Batrep was lazily short because I've been scratching my head at this game that took place straight after.

eKrueger - Ghetorix, Stalker, Gorax, Una + Rotterhorn, Stones + UA, Stones, Druids + UA, Gallows Grove, Wilder, Black Clad, Tharn Blood Weavers


Close Quarters, so not super live at least.


Merc Deploy: Earthbreaker took the forest side to ameliorate my relative lack of pathfinder.



Circle Deploy: The forces of evil...



Merc 1: Press Gangers fan out, Madelyn sits herself in the blob on the left side. Gorten casts Solid Grounds and charges up toward my friendly flag. The Earthbreaker runs up as far as its stumpy tracks can take it, heading toward the middle of the board.



Circle 1: The Druids move up, half cloud and half do magic spaz attacks on Press Gangers. The Gallows pops forwards, Krueger arcs a Lightning storm through it that kills another Gangers, puts in place the obligatory Storm Wrath and moves up with all the other junk. The Stones go to port positions, Una casts Watcher. I believe it was eight Press Gangers that died this turn.



Merc 2: I have a rare chance to pop both Circle Heavies, so I try to do that.
Gorten Intrigues forward and to the left, Risen join the battery.
Solid upkept, two focus to the Earthbreaker.
The few Communists remaining on the left run up, one charges the left most stone. Una triggers Watcher, the Rotterhorn moves up and misses the Marxist. The stone takes two damage.
The Smurfs on the right charge the Gallows Grove and run up into the forest. They easily kill the magic tree.
Gorten charges a Smurf and kills him, then feats to drag the Druids, Ghetorix and the Stalker forward, killing a few Druids in the process with the lightning AoE. Krueger and half the Blood Weavers also get affected but mostly don't have anywhere to go.
Piper puts tough on Alexia and the Risen, she then charges the Stalker losing a couple Risen to the lightning cloud. She burns about half a dozen Risen to kill it.
Thor Tunes up for to hit rolls.
Madelyn moves across, Seduces a Druid into going into the lightning cloud.
The Gun Mages shuffle left, shoot down the remaining blocking Druids and lightly tickle Ghetorix.
The Earthbreaker charges Ghetorix and is a few mill out.
FAIL.
Remaining solos screw around, Gorman clouds, I forget to activate Anastasia.



Circle 2: Black Clad Sprays but doesn't achieve much. Rotterhorn screaches, animus', screeches again to kill the last Commies. Una walks up, shoots Alexia twice with a bunch of boosts to maul her, she has one health and three Risen left. The Stones port the Gorax up, the Stone Keeper Rock Hammers Alexia and kills her (She had a successful tough from something but I don't recall what).
Krueger TK's Ghetorix forward, TK's Gorten and turns him around, Ghetorix gets the job done comfortably.



Mercs on the left.


Incidental crap I should have done better:
1) Measured Stormwall at the improper time in my turn two, very displeased I did that
2) Earthbreaker could have shot Ghetorix to death, but I was too attached to the preconception I had conjured at the beginning of the game; that being that my colossal's shots weren't going to be doing much.

While I screwed up my chance to live the dream, my real problem is that I had a great chance solely because of a minor placement error by James on the bottom of 1 which played perfectly into this one Merc Caster's feat.
If the Shifting Stones are placed in front of the Heavies I have to go with my original plan, which is to cop the feat on the chin, counter feat what I can to stay in the game, keep the Earthbreaker alive and leverage it's awesomeness to take out the beasts.
Original plan two for turn two:
1) Risen pop out the front edge of Alexias command, working off the assumption that Madelyn is dead
2) Anastasia runs to trigger Watcher or block the Griffins movement
3) Press Gangers get out of the way, likely duplicate the actual game by killing the Grove and flailing at a stone
4) Gun Mages ping about half the Druids
5) Alexia spawns a Thrall Warrior to go for the left stone again, Risen jam, the battery shuffles to the right out of the way
6) Earthbreaker runs on the Diagonal toward that impassable wall thing
7) Gorten goes base to base with Earthbreaker, pops a wall 2" in front of himself next to Alexia, Gorman clouds in front of them to block LoS
8) I pray fort Gorten holds.



In a live scenario I don't see it holding together, yet still being better than MacBain trying to take it on (Stupid Entropic Field....). Back to dodge Circle plan I guess?

Game 312 - Gorten vs Saeryn

We return for another Slam!

Field of six, two Mercs, one each of Ret, Khador, Circle, Legion. Time for the shortie to pop out.

Gorten - Earthbreaker, pAlexia + Risen, ATGM + Dude, 2x Press Gangers, Anastasia, Tinker, Gorman, Madelyn, Piper, Thor, Hawk
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Round 1, Destruction.

Into Russ' Legion we go again!

Saeryn - 2x Angel, 2x Scythean, Raek, Naga, Shredder, 2x Death Stalkers, 2x Forsaken
Objective: Fuel


Legion Deploy: I lose the die roll (Dammit Anastasia!), Legion pick first. I decide to take the side with the hill rather than the side with a trench. That black undercoat model in the middle of the line up is the perpetrator, name of Saeryn.


Merc Deploy: Almost a solid square of models.


Legion 1: Everything runs up, Deathstalkers go on either flank. Russ forgets to move Saeryn forward....


Merc 1: The Press Gangers surge forward and spread out. Anastastasia hides behind my Objective. Gorten plonks a wall down, casts Solid Ground and charges forward. Earthbreaker runs up to the hill. Alexia gets tough from the Piper then she goes behind the wall while the battery hangs back. Hawk runs to be in the middle of the Press Ganger blob.


Legion 2: Saeryn moves up and feats. Between her shots, the Deathstalkers, the Naga and the Angels a ton of Press Gangers die. The Raek leaps in to kill Madelyn, one of the Scytheans charges up and kills Hawk. The left Angel has Respawn, all the heavies get Tenacity.


Merc 2: Risen join the battery, one is placed up front for a Thrall to go into the Objective if needed. I upkeep Solid Ground.
The Smurfs (Right Press Gangers) charge the objective, the Raek puts them down to one member from free strikes, he fails to damage the Objective.
Earthbreaker gets Tuned up for damage, walks up along the hill and shoots down the Objective.
Gorten charges and kills the forward Risen, feats all the beasts back 8 inches and Rock Walls in front of himself.
The Commies, still six members strong, jam up the left Angel and Scythean.
Half the Gun Mages aim, half advance. They knock the Raek out of the zone and knock him down, then shoot the left Forsaken dead.

Mercs go to 3 CP.


Legion 3: Right Deathstalker walks up, shoots at Thor and puts him on one box. Left Deathstalker kills two Gun Mages. Angels and Scythean limp forward and kill half the remaining commies. Raek toes the zone and kills the last Smurf.


Merc 3: Solid Ground upkept, rockwall drops, one given to Earthbreaker.
Earthbreaker gets damage, starts shooting at the Raek, after the first few shots we remember it has stealth so I stop.
A pair of the Gun Mages aim, other three advance, opening shot knocks Raek andthe left Deathstalker out of the zone.

Mercs go to 5 CP.

Happy with this one, pretty much textbook Gorten on Destruction.


Mercs on the left.

Game 311 - MacBain vs eCaine

Day of Manic-ism game.

Slog off set for Swan land, which defaults me to MacBain. Ended up against eCaine.

eCaine - Gallant, Squire, Boomhowlers (Max), ATGM + Dude, Gorman, Aiyanna + Holt, Nyss + Murdoch, Rangers, eEiryss
Objective: Effigy of Valor


MacBain - Buccaneer ,Galleon, Sylys Wyshnalyrr, Aiyana & Holt 4, TAC, eAlexia, eEiryss, Dougal, Orin, Kayazy Assassins (Max) + UA, Bokor, Tinker
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Threw in Kayazy, Bokor and Tinker after giving the Press Gangers and Grogspar a holiday.

Swan Deploy: I won the roll and picked the side with a tasty trench to cower in.

Merc Deploy: As captain HMAS Derpatron I thought all my solos had Advance Deployment, so they ended up being thrown in some default spots. I had thought that I might run Alexia on one flank, but that would lead either to being stuck on some Boomhowlers or pincushioned by the Nyss.

Swan 1: Caine pulls off the squire. Everything runs up, Eiryss going far out to the right toward the Galleon. Blur goes on the Rangers, Heightened Reflexes goes on the Boomhowlers and True Sight goes on Caine. Murdoch uses go to ground as the Nyss run up on the right. The Rangers fan out front.

Merc 1: I give one to the Galleon. MacBain Feats on Alexia, Eiryss and a stack of Kayazy, casts Fail Safe and Countermeasures. He then walks into the back of the trench.
Dougal pops Artillerist on the Galleon and mini-feats. The Galleon then walks forward, scatters shots onto Eiryss and kills her.
The Kayazy run forward and spread out.
The Buccaneer moves forward, then I remember I'm meant to be putting Aleixa in that spot and awkwardly stick it out of the trench.
TAC run up, Orin stays in the back and Anti-Magics, Eiryss stands up the back and wonders why the hell she was feated on.

Swan 2: All spells upkept (Blur, Heightened, True Sight), Squire pulled off. Gallant gets nothing, because he is a munchkin there to be a Shield Guard at the moment.
The Nyss flood forward, two of them engaging the Galleon.
Gallant plods forward in the right zone, Gorman moves up and clouds up next to him.
Rangers spread out.
Reinholdt Reloads. Caine walks forward, toes the Gorman cloud, knocks down three Kayazy and puts two magic bullets on the Gun Mages (Something weird happened here, at first I thought he put out three Magic Bullets, but the math is off, either way he cast that a few times and camped zero).
Gun Mages go, half aim and half advance. They kill a Kayazy way in the back, a TAC and knock down a load more Kayazy. Magic Bullet also kills Orin.
Boomhowlers move up and 4+ tough in the left zone.

Merc 2: Counter Measures and Fail Safe upkept, Galleon gets two.
Eiryss aims and knocks Blur off the Rangers.
Dougal Artillerists Galleon, who then turns on the spot and does shots on Gorman. One of the early shots scatters onto Caine, I boost the blast damage and do 9 points. Another shot kills Gorman, I get down to two shots with one focus, I decide to boost to hit needing a 12, I miss by one,  (I forgot that Gallant was a Shield Guard...). The next shot scatters onto the squire and I roll the box cars needed to kill it. Last shot goes nowhere, and I am completely okay with that.
The Kayazy mini-feat and limp forward, one gets a Gang Charge into Aiyanna and misses, they also kill a couple Rangers.
Alexia has full souls, moves into the Boomhowlers who fail their terror check. She spawns Three Thralls. If I kill a Ranger and the Gun Mage on the hill I'll be able to Domiante. MacBain moves into the zone while staying the trench, misses the Handcannon shot on the Gun Mage. Buccaneer goes in front of MacBain and in the trench.
Thralls go, one kills the Ranger, another misses the Gun Mage and the last charges Caine and misses.
Aiyanna/Holt/TAC harm the Boomhowlers and kill some models on the left side to refuel Alexia.

This is the second time I've forgotten Gallant has Shield Guard to horrible detriment. The last time was Wintercon Steamroller, a latter round versus Big Chris. The Road Hog felt so good at first trying to burn Damiano.....

Swan 3: Heightened and True Sight upkept, Gallant gets two.
The Boomhowloers fail to rally.
The Gallant moves to get in melee range of the Kayazy on Aiyanna, boosted hit rolls ensure their demise.
Aiyanna moves forward a smidgeon and stealth's, Holt aims and shoots the Thrall engaging Caine.
Caine moves behind Gallant, does some shots that kill Kayazy.
Nyss charge, three get to the Galleon plus the two from the previous turn. They ping it for very little.
Gun Mages shoot down a few more Kayazy.

Cygnar goes to 1 CP.

Merc 3: Counter Measures/Failsafe upkept. Three goes to the Galleon.
Eiryss aims, shoots own a Boomhowler.
Tinker fails to repair Galleon.
Dougal Artillerists Galleon.
Galleon walks to the left and up, Nyss get 5 free strikes and takes out half of the right side. Galleon whirls up shots, it takes four of the opening five to get a hit, boost the damage roll and kill Caine.



Mercs on the left.

Well, I was confident I had the stuff to go against Cygnar. I'm not any more.
Counter Measures only get me so far, there just aren't enough bodies to push the preferred MacBain win conditions, at any point had MacBain been within 19" of Caine he could have feated and shot me to death, even with the Trench.
I need more stuff to absorb the feat and in this instance less tools.

ADR Fallout:
I think the solution at this point is to cut loads of support and keep the pirate boat in, so from the base list:
-Buccaneer, TAC, Aiyanna + Holt, Sylyss Wyshnallyr
+ Kayazy Assassins + Underboss, Bokur

In hindsight had I made these changes and elected first I get into a much stronger position. Everything can move up about 5 inches from the AD line and not get shot, top of two MacBain feats on Countermeasured Press Gangers, Alexia, Underboss and Grogspar. They then run forward in a wide skirmish line, other Press Gangers behind in pods of two to shield the front line of five Kayazy. He can feat to wipe out a load of infantry, but then the Galleon can pop Gallant and bombard the Nyss and be relatively safe. Important solo's stay not with 4 inches of anything.

eCaine Future Changes:
If anything this game has made me realise how soft Caine is, armour 13 and wanting to spend your stack is just sad. I'm thinking of changing around my list to get the Journeyman in for Arcane Shield and TAC for clouds (Blurred TAC in Clouds are 16/16 with 5 boxes versus non-Eyeless shooting, seems alright....)

Game 310 - Round 3 (Final) - Gorten vs eLylth

Final tables! Woo!

Legion.....less woo....

Recon......woo has left the building.

Saeryn or Lylth2 are the Legion Warlocks, no way it isn't the pew pew lady of death.

MacBain! dies to one Ravagore shot and two rounds of fire, so Gorten is the usual Legion drop.

Gorten - Earthbreaker, pAlexia + Risen, ATGM + Dude, 2x Press Gangers, Anastasia, Tinker, Gorman, Madelyn, Piper, Thor, Hawk
Objective: Effigy of Valor

eLylth - 3x Ravagore, Angelus, Harrier, Naga, Shredder, 2x Beast Shepherd, Spell Martyr, 2x Death Stalker
Objective: Bunker

Merc Deploy: Won the roll and picked first. Anastasia is on the far right to contest that flanks flag if I need to.

Legion Deploy: How is this nonsense 50 points of such evil?

Merc 1: The Press Gangers march to their imminent demise. Madelyn/Hawk both stay near Gorman, who hangs back, and in Sucker! range of a few Press Gangers each. The Earthbreaker runs up 7 inches to stay out of Ravagore death range. Alexia/Risen gets tough. Gorten charges a Risen and plonks down a wall in front of Hawk, casts Solid Ground. The Gun Mages run a short distance and duck to the left a bit.

Now to see if OzMachine was help enough. I've got a load of tough bodies out ready to jam, though really what I was hoping for was to draw the feat out. My Objective can't be targetted yet and gives cover, a meaningful feat turn for legion would be to kill Hawk, Gorman, Madelyn and Alexia. 
The way this happens is feat goes off to my mind:
1) Lylth Shadowpacts, feats, does whatever (Possibly the Harrier gets out of the way first so she can move up).
2) The left Deathstalker and possibly a Ravagore kill four Press Grangers, specifically the ones who are Sucker targets for Madelyn and Hawk. 
3) The Naga moves up, shoots Madelyn Twice. I either lose Gorman or Sucker onto Alexia and lose a stack of Risen or her. Right Deathstalker moves up and finishes off the job.
4) Remaining Ravagores either finish those jobs (Hawk isn't important in the same vein as Madelyn/Gorman/Alexia) then kill the front line Press Gangers to create a Scather wall.
That would hamper me, but then it's down to the Earthbreaker surviving long enough over several turns with a wall to mess around with to pop multiple Legion Heavies.

Legion 1: Both Deathstalkers live the opposing model dream (Def 13 one wound?! Paradise!) and kill some Press Gangers. The left Ravagore tries to kill Hawk, 19 is a stretch to far for him. The first Ravagore on the right tries and fails to kill Madelyn, but sets her and the two nearby Press Gangers on fire. The Naga and last Ravagore kill some Press Gangers. The Angel walks up, tries to shoot Madelyn and is two mill out. The Spell Martyr hovers forward. Shredder puts Tenacity on Lylth.

Merc 2: Fire goes out on Madelyn! (Haapppy daaayyyys!) The Lass also stops, drops and rolls, the other Press Ganger on fire goes Denethor style. No Intrigue, all the Risen pop out as far as possible up in the zone.
The Rockwall and Solid Ground are upkept, Earthbreaker gets a focus.
Piper puts tough on Alexia and her humanoid ponies. Alexia sprints forward, engaging the Naga and the right Ravagore. Madelyn moves out of the way, Gorman shelters behind the wall, the Smurfs being on the left side for once space around, one engages the left Death Stalker and another goes to the Harrier nearby. The Commies on the left engage the Martyr and go into the Angel, I get two attacks that do reasonable damage but don't remove an aspect sadly. Anastasia runs up to the building on the far right. Earthbreaker runs into the zone, Gorten runs to be behind it and shares a drink with the Tinker.

Legion 2: Shadowpact drops (Arcane Interference for the win). Left Deathstalker ducks the free strike and kills a Risen on the engagement line. The Harrier stabs the Smurf on him. Lylth walks back a little, pincushions a Risen, then shoots a load of engaging Risen to death. Angel and Naga try to feast on Commies but are somewhat inept at it. The Shredder kills another Risen. The Ravagore smove around a little, one touches the base of the Legion Objective, the left most toes the zone. Between them they kill Alexia, leaving half a dozen Risen, two are on fire as is Madelyn. Spell Martyr kills the commie on it. Right Deathstalker tries and fails to kill Anastasia.

Merc 3: One of the Risen burns to death. Madelyn against makes the fire save.
I um and arr on the Intrigue move for long enough that I drop it to get on with my turn.
Solid Ground is kept, Rockwall drops, Earthbreaker gets two. Gorman walks up, Blinds the contesting Ravagore.
Madelyn moves to the left side of the zone. 
Thor Tunes up for damage. Earthbreaker walks up, knocks down the other Ravagores, the Shredder and the Naga with boosted to hit torpedoes. Mini-guns then use all their shots to kill the Naga.
The remaining Risen go into two groups, the leaderless trio rabble head to the left flag area of the table, the Grunt with ideas above his station takes a trio to limply sit on the Blind Ravagore.
The Gun Mages walks into the back of the zone, fail to hit the Deathstalker off three attempts, two attacks miss the left Shepherd but the Officer pings off the right Shepherd.
Four smurfs remain, one gets a charge on the left Deathstalker with gang and misses, the Lass misses the Harrier. The remaining pair of Commies scratch futilely at the Angel.
Piper puts Fearless/Tough on the Gun Mages.
Anastasia goes all Amazon and charges the right Deathstalker, lopping off her head with a mighty POW 8 attack.
Gorten walks up behind the Earthbreaker, distracts the Tinker from fixing the Scather damage.

Mostly happy with this turn, the only glaring issues is that I didn't re-plonk the wall in front of the Earthbreaker to stop the Angel charging, because I literally forgot that Legion beasts could do melee stuff. Like Armour Piercing.
This was the turn that Bunker messed me up, the perfect Objective choice to stop my normal plans. If it was a non-Impervious flesh variety:
1) Gorman moves up with Intrigue, Solid Ground Upkept
2) The Earthbreaker gets a damage tune up and kills the Objective comfortably even if I roll minimal shots
3) Gun Mages Thundershot the Naga and Ravagore out of the zone (Some trickyness there, likely have to do Commies first to make room).
4) Gorman is moved up, Blinds two Ravagores and the Shredder.
Gorten stays hiding behind the Earthbreaker, I go to 3 CP, next turn doesn't matter if my Colossal is dead because I charge up and feat everything out of the zone and win.

Legion 3: Blind Ravagore frenzies and kill a Risen.
Lylth feats, Pin Cushions the Earthbreaker and buys a couple shots killing some Smurfs, freeing up the Harrier. Harrier kills a smurf and knock another down to clear up the Deathstalker. The Deathstalker walks up and kill Gorman.
Both remaining Ravagores shoot the Earthrbeaker and take out a side. Spell Martyr knocks down a Smurf on the Angel. The angel charges, gets missed by the Lass' free strike and Armour Pierces the Earthbreaker.
When all is said and done the Earthbreaker stays alive on eleven boxes.

Merc 4: Madelyn Intrigues Gorten forward around the Earthbreaker.
I upkeep Solid Ground out of a sense of whimsy, Earthbreaker gets two focus.
Madelyn seduces the Deathstalker to turn around. Gun Mages move out of Gortens way, they kill the Deathstalker and the remaining Shredder.
Risen run around, one goes to a charge spot. Gorten then charges him and butchers him for his trouble, then feats on all the Legion models, the only relevant models moved is Lylth into base contact with the Ravagore.
Thor Tune ups the Earthbreaker for damage. Tinker repairs three boxes on the left side.
The Colossal then activates, knock down torpedo hits the Ravagore to make Lylth sit down, nipple guns shoot her to death comfortably.

Had the Earthbreaker died, Gorten instead charges up through the Wreck marker which still gets him into feat range. The Legion stuff then gets dragged to the left table edge for 5 inches, leaving Lylth in the open with -3 defence and no transfers. I then have seven gun mages move up and crit Brutal, in theory it is slightly better than a coin flip to kill her.
If that doesn't work I'm buggered and the Heavies kill Gorten no worries. 

Three games to me, the first tournament I've ever won. Better than that they were all good games were I didn't super derp to badly and had fun each round (I successfully dodged James' Circle when he went down in an epic round one fight against his pillow).

Game 309 - Round 2 - MacBain vs High Reclaimer

Round two, other winners are the double Legion and one Menoth. Divide and Conquer 1 in three rounds is problematic here, I want to drop Gorten into Legion, but if I get the Blighted rubbish twice then I'll be forced into MacBain who loathed the matchup (Damnable Scytheans being popular...).

I lucked out at this point and rolled into the Australian Warmachine Unicorn, Menoth piloted by Christastic. The internet has not prepared me for High Reclaimer and 3Kreoss, I drop MacBain so that Gorten can go into the inevitable Legion matchup afterwards.

The certainty that Chris (Who played Reclaimer in round 1 in the Menoth civil war) would also not want to be list locked was a complete failure to take the same judgements I was making in regards to his lists. Who the hell would play High Reclaimer into Legion?!

Thus we get to MacBain vs High Reclaimer. The 'tache versus the Iron Kingdom Orpheus (But better than the original, because he didn't screw it up).

I've played double Press Gangers a lot of late, so much so that only having one ten man unit in a 50 point list felt pretty bad, though it panned out well enough once it hit the table.

High Reclaimer - Devout, Idrians + UA, Gastonne, Zealots + UA, Orin, Gorman, Bastions, Vengers, Bastion Seneschal, Wracks, eEiryss
Objective: Armory

Had my ADR option been available the ideal swap is probably Eiryss out and Bokor in, though by current defaults I'd take out the TAC. I have no context for Menoth list matchups, the High Reclaimer and 3Kreoss pairing felt very different to me and makes ADR very difficult.
In hindsight against this list I don't need Eiryss or even Aiyanna/Holt and Rockbottom. The guns are so few that the right call is also to keep the double Press Gangers around and keep the Kayazy in the sideboard, Countermeasures vs Zealot fire bombs is the same with or without Stealth and I can jsut take a few casualties from the Idrians.



Menoth Deploy: I won the roll and picked sides, lumping the Menoth one with the large forest. That's Gastonne on the left of the Zealots. Eiryss, having decided carrying around a chimney block to stand on was a waste of effort is hiding behind that hedge. The Idrians Prey on Alexia.



Merc Deploy: Kell is on the extreeeeme left. I plonked Eiryss on the right out of uncertainty, she should have just been a part of the Kell/Alexia Snipe-Collect-Go team.



Menoth 1: They're coming right for us! Cloud city happens, Gastonne puts Moving Shadows on himself. Back Wrack explodes.



Merc 1: Two to Galleon. MacBain puts Counter Measures on the Kayazy and Fortune on the Galleon then walks forward. Buccaneer moves to be next to his thin controller. Alexia runs up toward the left, Kell hugs the Unicorn from behind.
TAC run up the right of the Obstruction, Aiyanna/Holt stick near MacBain, as does Orin who pops Anti-Magic out of habit. Rockbottom, Silly and Dougal all hang in the back of the centre, where the latter puts Artillerist on the Galleon and mini-feats.
The Kayazy run out and go into some weird clumps in case there is an Ashes to Ashes move I can't see on the cards.
Galleon walks forward, lines up on the enemy Eiryss, I roll max shots, I need to scatter directly forward to ping her. Six goes, each with a reroll. I fail all of them, one scatter wings a Venger to trigger Battle Driven.
I forgot to activate eEiryss, but there wasn't much she could do in that position anyway.



Menoth 2: Moving Shadows upkept on Gastonne. Idrians move forward in a spread out fashion, four of them get shots on Alexia that do nothing. Gastonne moves up, also shoots Alexia and does a damage point.
Gorman walks up and Clouds, Bastions move around the forest in the centre, Vengers do a spread out pattern so I can't kill the whole unit. Reclaimers walks up and clouds it up.
The Zealots go super conga line style and start running from the left to the right.



Merc 2: Countermeasures upkpt, I drop Fortune and put a focus on the Buccaneer. The Buccaneer runs to the left flag. MacBain feats on the TAC, Orin and seven of the Kayazy, then charges the Buccaneer and Energizes for one to touch the flag.
TAC walk up and cloud, Orin walks behind him and uses Anti Magic.
Aiyanna/Holt/Rockbottom hide behind the Obstruction and do nothing. Dougal hangs with and uses Artillerist on the Galleon.
The Galleon walks up, gets LoS from the right edge to Eiryss, rolls five shots. I again fail to scatter onto Eiryss with re-rolls (The nip guns, they do nothing!). Eiryss futilely sprints forward, but near the end is clearly out of engaging range and tries to fall back into Stealth mode.
The Kayazy charge/run, killing three Idrians with a pair trying to jam the Bastions.
Alexia, having facerolled some souls off the Idrians, rides up and pops two Thrall Warriors. One charges Gastonne and misses, he dodges but doesn't leave melee, the other hacks down the Idrian Scout. Kell then aims and pops off another pair of Idrians, Alexia is now chockers on souls.

Mercs go to 1 CP.

A few screws up for me this turn.
Fail Safe is a waste, I didn't know how much Blessed was in this mob of churchgoers, should have just recast Fortune and moved the Galleon back somewhat, in range to contest the right flag in future turns but out of Venger charge range this turn.



Menoth 3: Moving Shadows upkept.
In the centre, the Bastions edge forward and swing at the pair of jamming Kayazy, they knock one of them down. Orin, Gorman and Reclaimer all go into the forest, the first pops anti-magic, the second clouds up, lastly Reclaimer continues to be all Bespin it up in my face. Reclaimer then feats, spawning back four Idrians.
On the left, Gastonne shanks the Thrall engaging him. The Idrians charge, the Scout tries to go into MacBain and dies to a free strike from a Kayazy. A normal Idrian gets into the 'tache master, a couple go into Kayazy and the last two go into Alexia. The attempted assassin misses, the Kayazy are missed and Alexia takes no damage from a CMA.
On the right the Vengers charges, the front three go into Galleon, the back one saunters around. The Unit leader in the middle tries to charge Eiryss but fails to get the angle. Even worse, the front charges end up out of his command and do no attacks.
Something kills my Eiryss, buggered if I remember what. Menoth Eiryss tried a shot and missed.
The Zealots continue their sprint, arriving at the right sets of flag/Objective.

I'm happy with the feat being used on Idrians, MacBain wasn't going to die to that, I was expecting it to be held until I had no choice but to kill some of the Vengers. I continue to misplace the Galleon, had he walked back he could have used the unkillable TAC to not be charged by the Cavalry munchkins.



Merc 3: Countermeasures and Failsafe upkept. No allocates.
Silly runs up from his strategic planning session at the back to engage the Idrian that tried to stab MacBain. Drake pivots a little on the spot and stabs him dead, then camps four. Buccaneer scratches his ear and shuffles to keep blocking Maccy.
Alexia spawns three Thralls. Two of them kill the Idrians engaging their boss, the last charges the centre leader and kills him. The remaining Thrall spawned last turn misses Gastonne and lets him dodge away. Kell aims, hits Gastonne twice and puts him on one box.
The Kayazy run/charge, killing the last Idrian and engaging Gorman/Orin in the forest and jamming the Bastions.
In the middle, Orin anti-magics, Dougal Artillerists the Galleon. The Colossal then wriggles a bit and shoots two of the Vengers off the table. The TAC charge, two into a Bastion and one into a Zealot. The lunatic Grenadier dies and Sanguine Bond shuffles some damage around.

Mercs go to 2 CP.


Menoth 4: Pic Missed alas, but will my ancestors forgive me? No upkeeps, one allocated to the Devout.
Gastonne, all alone on the left, tries to shoot Alexia twice but fails to do any damage.
In the centre, the Bastionsslash, Gorman stabs, Orin lightnings and the Devout bops away to clear out the Kayazy jamming the infantry and to clear a space for the Reclaimer to get a bead on MacBain for the Spell kill, but he can't quite manage it.
The Zealots pop mini feat and jam on Orin and the Galleon, between them and the Vengers the TAC all die.Eiryss runs onto the hill.

Mercs go to 3 CP.



Merc 4: Countermeasures upkept for free, Galleon gets three focus.
Dougal/Galleon do their thing, Galleon tries to shoot down the opposing objective, rolls minimal shots then fails to hurt it.
One Thrall dies to kill a Wrack. Alexia starts heading to the middle, spawns another pair of Thralls who start going around the back of the Menoth chumps.
Aiyanna/Holt Harm the Bastions, Holt pings them for a little.
The Kayazy pop mini feat and run/charge, the Underboss goes in, Defensive Strike from the Devout kills him. The remaining Kayazy kill Orin and Gorman, Alexia is back to full souls.
Orin antimagics for reasons. Rockbottom makes Aiyanna/Holt tough, walks up and hits three Bastions with his flamethrower, kills the centre one and setting two on fire.

Mercs go to 4 CP.

Alexia really should have run to be next to MacBain/Buccaneer to Vortex away another spell assassination attempts.



Menoth 5: Menoth clock is down to a low amount. One of the Bastions dies to fire. Bastions, Vengers and Eiryss go into the Galleon to try to get some Army Points and fall well short when the clock pings.

Mercs finish up on 5 CP.


Mercs on the left.

Game 308 - Round 1 Local - Gorten vs Maelok

To commiserate those of us unable to travel tot he Brisbane SS heat we had a small local event.
Eight players entered, they all left at the end of the day because it's not that kind of tournament. Field was double Legion and Menoth, singles of Minions, Circle, Mercs (Me) and Skorne.

ADR friendly tourney, but the new season hasn't started so I ran the non-ADR versions of my planned Wintercon lists. Kayazy went into MacBain to avoid doing double Press Gangers in both lists, which can screw up the match up process for me.

Gorten - Earthbreaker, pAlexia + Risen, ATGM + Dude, 2x Press Gangers, Anastasia, Tinker, Gorman, Madelyn, Piper, Thor, Pendrake
Objective: Effigy of Valor

MacBain - Buccaneer ,Galleon, Sylys Wyshnalyrr, Aiyana & Holt 4, TAC, eAlexia, eEiryss, Dougal, Orin, Kayazy Assassins (Max) + UA, Kell, Rockbottom
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Round One Destruction, Matty's Minion Menagerie. Maelok and Arkadius Nature of Beasty-ness tier. Maelok was Posse with Sacral Vaults in the ADR, Arkadius was the standard Ark and I didn't bother to look at it's ADR options.

We had both donned our Pigs Suck shirts, a point I feel we proved when Maelok was dropped. Snapjaw, Pendrake and something went out (A Wrastler maybe?) to get in the Vaults and Raluk Moorclaw.

Maelok - 2x Bull Snapper, 3x Posse, Raluk, 2x Vaults
Objective: Bunker

I won the roll, normally I'd like to go second on this one to pop the Objective but Bunker and Soulstorm made that untenable, the Vaults can't be allowed to get a good foot in the zone, so it'll be jam them outside the zone, force the Maelok feat then counter feat and push everything back.

Merc Deploy: Gorman straight across from the Vaults.

Minion Deploy: Maelok is hidden behind the right Vault, Raluk behind the left soul vortexy thing of death.

Merc 1: Fearless and Tough on Alexia, Solid Ground on Gorten and Strength of Granite on the Earthbreaker. The Press Gangers run up short, the worst thing that could happen would be the Vaults Bone Shaking one of them and getting a lucky melee attack on Gorman.

Minion 1: Everything runs forward, the Vaults stay base to base. Death Pack goes on the Gators nearest the right Sacral.

Merc 2: Intrigue moves Gorten forward. Solid Ground and Strength Upkept, Earthbreaker gets nothing. Piper puts Tough on Alexia and friends.
Hawk sprints up into the Sacral Vaults cleavage. The Commies on the left charge into the opposing Posse unit, I roll fire and RFP the front pair.The Smurfs on the right attempt the same on the Death Pact unit and do bugger all. They also form a skirmish line on the edge of the zone and pray.
Gorman walks up, Black Oils Hawk and both Vaults.
Gun Mages spread out on the left side, Alexia and Risen run into the zone.
Gorten charges a Risen who toughs, feats on the Vaults, one Posse on the left and two on the right side pushing them back a little, places a Rockwall in front of Gorman and Alexia.
Everything left advances up a little.

Minion 2: Death Pact upkept. Left Posse charge into the Commies, they kill one. Centre Posse Cold Blood and go in, one gets on Hawk and misses. Maelok feats and Spinies one Vault, a Snapper Growths one of the Right Posse. The Right Posse go in and kill five smurfs, mostly the jamming ones to the right of the zone, the Spiny Growthed member of the unit goes into the front of the zone.

I disagree with the mid turn feat here. I think the best of bad options here are for the vaults to move there maximum inch away from each other to stop the Black Oiling, sacrifice the Objective and hte early points, then next turn feat to get as many Posse into the zone and Gorten as possible.

Merc 3: Intrigue moves Hawk back, Risen then spawn one in Hawks old spot the rest join the Battery. Solid and Granite upkept, Rockwall goes away, Earthbreaker get a focus.
Thor Tunes up the Earthbreaker for damage, Piper puts Fearless and Tough on Alexia and fellow traveling circus performers.
Hawk charges off to the right, stabs a Death Pact Posse for not much. Gorman aims and hits the forward Risen in the back, blinding him and the Vaults. The Commies have a go at the left Posse, they roll abysmally, slightly damaging one.
The few Smurfs on the right move around, the Lass seduces the Posse in the zone and makes him step out and turn around, right now, bright eyes; every now and then I fall apart; and I need you now tonight; and I need you more than ever.
Alexia charges the left Vault, takes a couple points from the two Soul Storms. She makes about three or so attacks boosting the damage, halfway through the Risen I've not even scratched it and I give up to try again next turn.
Gun Mages move up, they Snipe Raluk to death (I'm sure he cursed his Medium base as he fell).
Earthbreaker charges the Objective, one shots it. Other initial kills the previously seduced Posse.
Gorten walks back, puts a wall at the edge of the zone to block the left Vault.

Mercs go to 3 CP.



Minion 3: Death Pack continues to stick around. Left Posse massacre most of the Commies. Both units of right Posse go, they Cold Blood to kill Hawk and most of the Smurfs, two end up in the zone. The Vaults limp forward, the right one toes the zone. Maelok puts Spiny on the right Vault. The right Bull Snapper Spinies the right Posse in the zone, the left Posse charges Alexia, hits with the boosted initial and kills a nice stack of Risen with spread damage.

Merc 4: I have to kill a Vault and two Posse to win, the Vault and one Posse have Spiny Growth. Alexia spawns a bunch of Risen, most go in the Gator back field to be out of the way. I drop Solid Ground (GORTEN FEELS NAKED AND UNCOMFORTABLE), upkeep Strength of Granite and the Rockwall, give the Earthbreaker a full load.
Piper puts Tough on Alexia and gang of thugs. Thor Tunes Up for damage. Madelyn walks up to the nearest Posse and bats her eyelids, but unfortunately he is dead and doesn't care for her ethical life choices.
Alexia goes into the right Vault (I think?) and burns all the Risen to do a little.
Earthbreaker walks in, his initials kill the Vault. First bought attack misses the six to hit the right Posse, I boost the second bought attack to hit and kill.
I am viciously short of attacks to finish off the left Posse. The Gun Mages walk in and shoot into the melee, they kill a Risen first before a lucky Thundershot pushes the Gator a full 3 inches to get him out of the zone.

Mercs go to 5 CP for a first round win!

I should have done the Earthbreaker before Alexia, killing the right Posse first as the only model that can reliably get to him, then the Vault. 
The Sucker! was obviously silly, I mixed up the two right Posse units on which one had Death Pact.

My clock on the right, considering the opposing model counts I think it would be very difficult for me to get threatened with a clock loss.

The List edge is mine here, the double vault triple Posse can't really crack the Earthbreaker, and once my colossal gets into Melee he pops Death Pact Posse with a four on the damage roll and straight up kills normals, the Gators top out at POW 13 and I have two repair smucks.

Arkadius probably gets it done better, Road Hogs pop Madelyn/Hawk/Alexia early, Primal Shock can kill Gorman while RaBo's jam. There is enough armour swing involved that even a pair of light will crack the Earthbreaker. The difficulty is kill enough Press Gangers, which may be well it falls apart, though I think Gorax' throwing Gun Boars over them might get it done.