Game 350 - eCaine vs Kaelyssa

Second game crammed in on this Moon Day.

After six odd months including an arbitrary extension cause I was slothful, the Swans are a go!

Thanks to Badge Vest Guy for being an enabler.

eCaine - 'Ol Greg Rowdy, Squire, Rangers, Boomhowlers + Murdoch, Gun Mages + Dude, pAlexia + Risen, Aiyanna + Holt, TAC, Anastasia, Piper, Reinholdt, Taryn
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Basically cribbing off the most popular internet builds, with TAC thrown in because I fear Caine dying to a stiff breeze.
I hadn't really thought about Objective which is criminal, I went with Effigy for the Cover.

I went in against Southster, best of the Canberra lot at the Saturday heat with Kaelyssa using the stuff he doesn't normally indulge in.

Kaelyssa - Imperatus, Disco ball, Silly Wishes-he-could-nail, MHSF + UA, Infiltrators + 3Eiryss + 2x MHA, 2x Arcanists, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Effigy

As the first man points out after the game, a bunch of the stuff I did was irrelevant against Ret, but I was mainly concentrating on just learning how the list plays out in general so I was ok with some suboptimal plays for the matchup.


Caine Deploy: I won the die roll and picked first, at the time I was trying to remember how my opening turn was going to go, counter deploying under those circumstances seemed like a bad prospect. In hindsight, I think I spread out to much, the Boomhowlers could have been a single continuous line and Ol' Rowdy/Aiyanna + Holt behind them rather than out on the flank.


Ret Deploy: Painted unit on the left is the strike force, Infiltrators on the right. People doing acrobatics off Pillars and bird baths are the Assassins.


Caine 1: Next pic not as blurry, I promise...
The TAC end up intermingled with the Boomhowlers, I thought the right side were going to go around the Obstruction but the line of TAC mucked Murdochs placement. Ol' Rowdy and Aiyanna/Holt stay on the flank for no good reason.
Blur goes on the TAC, Heightened Reflexes on the Boomhowlers and True Shot on Caine. The Boomies also went to Ground this turn.

This is gong to take a bit more thought before next game. Go To Ground was one of the moves irrelevant in the matchup but that I wanted to impress on my brain was a rule Murdoch has.


Ret 1: It all runs up, Discordia pops the Armour buff imprint. One of the Mage Hunter Assassins ends up way forward to be mean and threaten Ol' Rowdy. I think anyway. Phantom Hunter went on Kaelyssa.



Caine 2: So, what I wanted to do was walk Caine forward, kill the Assassin on the hill and take a pot shot at any other Infiltrator in range then fall back, have the TAC move forward and cloud him to safety.
My TAC placement buggered that up, as Caine couldn't walk past them and his Teleport stops the range game. I end up clouding with the TAC first, one of them does an irrelevant Flameburst instead so that Caine can draw LoS to the smuck on the hill.
The Boomhowlers get the tough boost and assault forward, Greygore falls way back (More on that later). Gun Mages move up and pop off a few Strike Force. Alexia runs up to claim Corpses. I move Reinholdt/Squire behind the Obstruction, which cuts off the Lane Ol' Rowdy was going to take to get near Caine and some game relevancy. Instead the Jack mopes around next to the Rock. Anastasia goes in front of him to draw some Infiltrators out.

Gah, big and basic mistakes at this point. Greygore so far back would cancel the 4+ tough effect when Murdoch dies (Models have to be in formation), Reinholdt acted after Caine, Ol' Rowdy was in a pointless spot.



Ret 2: Infiltrators come in, they kill a TAC. Kaelyssa stays behind her wall. Narn charges a pair of Boomhowlers who both tough. Strike Force kill Murdoch and a few other models, Greygore is now well out of command of the unit. Anastasia also got popped by the Infiltrators, Rowdy counter charged in between to kill an Infiltrator. Discordia sprays a bunch of the Gun Mages down.


Caine 3: The Jam is down, my Heavy/Damage Buff won't be contributing for at least another turn and my units are in disarray. Time for my Caster to take the tools Q has given him and throw this villainous elf down a smoke stack.
I run a Ranger through the forest to be within 5 of Kaelyssa after upkeeping True Shot and pulling from the Squire. Gun Mages/TAC clear out some infiltrators. Caine gets Reloaded, walks forward, pops feat and burns all his focus buying attacks, killing Kaelyssa on the last shot.



Me on the right.

That was ugly. Southron pointed out that Imperatus could easily have been blocking Kaelyssa, my frazzled brain failed to spot it at the time but Taryn could have then walked forward and shadowfired anyway.

I'll play this iteration of the list at least another couple times, I think the TAC cloud wall will be easy to handle but I'm not sure if it's the best use of the points, with some added concern about the damage output of the list.
Current changes contemplated: Drop TAC/Taryn, add eEiryss and something.

Game 349 - Arkadius vs eFeora

Mons Day. The prophet of the almost-rise-of-the-Huge-bases is destined to empower my swan hood with cards (I know I know, I'm just to lazy to learn how to warroom in games alright!), but in the meantime I have the army that's easy to transport and get ready because I don't need to move models around between lists.

Piganation!

Arkadius (His bestest tier @ 4) - 2 of Road Hog, War Hog, Gun Boar and Gorax. Min Bone Grinders, Targ, 6 RaBo's appropriately costed.
Objective: Arcane Wonder, because I think Fuel is over rated for the list.

Got the joy of the bigger Christoffersonanddaughter, with the religious inclined peoples on Fire Support.

Theoretical Ark/Jaga Jaga pairing against eFeora/High Reclaimer, obviously I'm playing the list I brought, end up facing off against eFeora. I'm not sure the lists are to problematic for the Ark, as they both spam the same issue of an infantry horde the Ark can theoretically hold water against.

eFeora - Templar (Bonded), Devout, the Book, Piper, Errant + UA, Zealots + UA, 2x Press Gangers, Hawk, Wracks, Choir, Rockbottom, Hierophant
Objective: Fuel



Menoth Deploy: Menoth win the roll, I actually blank a bit when Chris asks me if Ark prefers first or second, the answer in this instance is that first is better, but against less AD infantry spam second is generally not disadvantaged. He does, however, correctly pick first.
That's the Errants on the left, Pirate blob in the middle and Zealots on the right.



Pig Deploy: I'm not super sold on this deploy, it's fairly standard but not really a big deal, I only like to burn the Ark feat bottom of 1 if it'll net Road Hog sprays into important solos and the Warcaster, but Feora is immune and has plenty of chaff available.




Menoth 1: Escort goes out and the horde advances. Piper/Book functionally go to support the errants on the left. That sacrifice line of three or so Press Gangers on the left side is annoying as hell.



Pig 1: Feat is a no go as Chriseora has wisely not given me squat. Plan is to slow down the left Press Gang unit, get Arkadius next to the Objective for cheap upkeeps and long term bait out the Templar for a Heavy, see how the infantry attrition goes before I try to work out a weird assassination.
Arkadius moves up to my Objective, slings a Crippling Grasp into the Press Gangers thanks to the Bone Grinder range boost, Forced Evo's the left Road Hog. Gun Boars/Road Hogs do a few shots, they pop off a couple Press Gangers but nothing super amazing. The Rabo's run to blocking positions in front of the stuff I care about in two lines of three, though one on the right does take some damage from a Gun Boar Targ prods at the wrong moment.

Could have not damaged my RaBo by moving the Gun Boar/Ancillary attacking prior to the Rabo move. The RaBo's also should have been deployed in triangles to double up the Bacon odds.



Menoth 2: Escort sticks around, the horde advances. Ignite goes on the right non-Crippled Press Gangers, they go in and take out a pair of the RaBo's and the Spirit on the last chump. Most of the Crippled unit hang back aside from two who take up "Screw up Arkadius' feat" positions and engage the left RaBo pack.
The Errants try a bunch of crossbow shots but fail to impress. The Templar moves to a threatening spot, he gets No Spells from the Choir.



Pig 2: Up until that Choir activation I'd planned on Sprinting Arkadius, charging up with a range increase to Crippling Grasp the Templar, popping a Press Ganger and walking back. Chris had foiled that ingenious stupid risky plan (Good odds, but sometimes that four tough rolls or so happen and you leave your 15/14/14 lock with his arse hanging out).
Backup plan after a few minutes thought: Pop the Menofix on the Zealot unit with a Road Hog, otherwise just continue to grind out.
The Gun Boars/Targ clear out some of the Press Gangers on the right, freeing up the Road Hog Assault. He lines up through a Press Ganger, kills a zealot, misses another two, misses the boosted shot on the Menofix then for some salt in the wound doesn't hit the Objective. He Sprints himself, thankfully manages to kill the Press Ganger he charged and walks back.
Most of the RaBo's ping the Press Gangers on them, aside from one brave little Piggy that goes into the Errants and kills one. The left War Hog runs to absorb the Errant attacks, the left Road Hog kills a pair of Crippled Gangers and a member of the Choir.

Low achieving turn here, I contemplated trying to line up a spray on the Book and start some Fire damage rolling, but it involved difficult positioning for minimal gain, especially when Feora will move that fire on feat turn which I expect to be incoming.



Menoth 3: The rightside Pirates again charge in, this time popping the last RaBo on the right and doing nothing to the Road Hog but jamming it. Crippled Gangers become human shield around the centre obstruction. The Zealots pop mini-fat and punch the fuel objective, doing two points and setting themselves on fire. The Errants get Fire causing attacks, they're rangers are off on the more distant lights but they set the nearby things on fire. One of them stabs the jamming RaBo's, taking out at least one aspect, the other engaged guy does nothing in case he kills it (Menoth has no issues with veganism if they subscribe to his bad fatherhood religion first).
Feora goes into her little Press Ganger/Obstruction bunker, feats to remove all the fire on her stuff, Every pig lights up except for Arkadius, Targ and the Bone Grinders. The Templar gets fully loaded off the feat, swings in and fails to kill the Forced Evo Road Hog, takes out it's Spirit though.



Pig 3: Fire goes through and damages some of the lights. The RaBo's and the right Road Hog frenzy on the Menite infantry jamming them. Forced Evo stays, I drop the Crippling Grasp as there are bugger all of that Press Ganger unit left.
Simple plan, kill the Templar, hold up the Errants from getting to my left side heavies. I've considerably up on clock at this point, all those infantry activation's are taking a toll compared to my tenish meaningful activations.
Targ medicates the damaged Road Hog, who then walks across and headbutts the Templar down. Arkadius puts Forced Evo on the left War Hog then heals up the Battlegroup, restoring all the lost aspects. That left War Hog then forced for damage, charges the Knocked Down Templar and maxes himself out to kill it. I'd moved the Road Hog over, so when the War Hog Frenzies it'll be on either any enemy model that goes into it or the damaged RaBo which will heal it with Bacon.
The left most Gorax goes in and pops a couple Errants. The Gun Boars pop some of the right Press Gangers.

Play error here, we'd forgotten Fires didn't go out in Feoras control area so we plonked the expired tokens back on mid-turn.



Menoth 4: The Zealots do serious damage to the Road Hog on the right, then Hawk charges in and finishes it off. The Errants kill the RaBo and take out the Mind on the Gorax engaging them. Feora goes Last Ditch, she goes into the open and flamethrowers out, pinging my two heavies and Arkadius who gets Shield Guarded by the Gorax. She camps four, gets no spells from the Devout who goes behind her.



Pig 4: Fire does some more scratching. War Hog does Frenzy and eat the RaBo next to it, fueling himself up a bit.
It's kill Feora time, Chris'll have to go for an assassination if he lives so I'll want Arkadius to camp at least three.
Some screwing around activation's happen first, one Gun Boar kills an engaging Zealot, the right War Hog kills Hawk.
The back Gun Boar then slams a Press Ganger, throwing him back the full 6 into Feora and knocking her down.
Arkadius heals for max, everyone gets their Aspects back. Primal goes on the Road Hog, then Arkadius maltreats a Gorax.
The Road Hog Pain Dials for speed/pathfinder, charges Feora. I forget the assault shot, not that it could do much. The Devout misses it's defensive strike, then the Road Hog maxes Fury and kills her.



Me on the left.

The Slam line up was fortuitous for me, but even if the run fails it's all slinky. The left Gorax would max Fury to kill three or so Errants, it'll be down to Feora and the Zealots to take out my heavies, after which even if they succeed I'll still have a War Hog, a pair of Gorax/Gun Boars and a feat, so I'll be able to max Fury to kill what I need to then clear off the Fury and camp on five Fury after Healing/Objective based Forced Evo and a Maltreat.

After playing that out, I'd call this list match up weighted in my favour. Had it been High Reclaimer I think it gets Dicier, but his cloud functionally mark the range at which the Road Hogs can spray him and RaBo positioning + feat counters the Cloud Wall somewhat on an important early turn.

Game 348 - SS Heat Rd 4 - Gorten vs Barnabus

Round 4, attempt to Deno it continues.

Gorten - Earthbreaker, Hawk, Madelyn, Anastasia, Rhupert, Gorman, Thor, Reinholdt, ATGM + UA, 2x Press Gangers, pAlexia + Risen
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Durgen - 2x Gunny Bunnies, Gastolleon, Boomhowlers, ATGM + Dude, Dougal, eEiryss, Rockbottom, Reinholdt, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Effigy of Valor


Incursion! The reign of Killbox is sadly over and we get back to this old favourite.

Got Traishinator with Winions, Trolls now being so last month.

Fundamentally I get on the inverse situation of my last round, as out of Rask/Barnabus I get the knockdown Croc whose feat is fundamentally cancelled by Solid Ground.

I throw down Gorten, same situation as Frawlinator regarding Rask Feat/Swamp Pits doing a horrible number on the ranged game.

Barnabus - 2x Spitter, 2x Snapper, 2x Vault, 2x Croak Raiders



Merc Deploy: I picked first, as I wanted to move up the board a little before the Croak Raiders did their thing of death. Traishy rightly saddles me with the worse side, my deployment made awkward by an obstruction and large expanse of shallow water. I figure the Croaks will go across from the Earthbreaker so that it and the Gun Mages can move into appropriate positions to kill next turn, using spawned Risen to target with the AoE's if they go into Swamp Pits.
That Risen is on the far right to create an early Thrall to mess around with the right flag as needed.


Minion Deploy:The Croaks end up out wide, so I'm expecting they'll push a flag each while the Sacrals and Beasts meet my block in the middle.


Merc 1: Some quick math tells me I have about 3 inches past my AD line when I'm not in range to be Croaked, with the diagonals involved giving me a little more space out front. I throw Solid Ground and Strength of Granite out while everything shuffles forward.


Minion 1: Nearly everything runs, the left Croaks move to the middle and get Iron Flesh, presumably to not be killed off by the Gun Mages. The Vaults head toward the left and centre flag


Merc 2: Hawk runs into the middle of the Iron Flesh Croaks, engaging three of them, both mobs of Press Gangers spread out behind her to fill out the middle of the board. The Gun Mages manage to cap a pair of the Iron Fleshed Croaks, so that was a bonus.
Gorten/Alexia hide behind a wall, the Earthbreaker moves forward a little and toward the centre again to try to keep distance from the croaks.
Anastasia runs to be in the way of the left Vault, the Thrall goes to distract the right side Croaks, engaging one not in claim range of the flag.

I made a big positioning error this turn in hindsight, the right Vault could have advanced and easily pinged Gorman. It then likely dies to the Earthbreaker, but then Croaks will easily be able to Oil and take out my Colossal, or at least cripple half of it.



Minion 2: The Croaks move in on the right flag but in a scoring capacity, both units kill a bunch of Press Gangers and cap the Thrall Warrior, though some good tough rolls leave four of them merely on fire....
Barney kills Anastasia. Both Vault move in to Contesting Range of the left and centre flag.


Merc 3: Fire kills a few more Press Gangers, a load of Risen become the new frontline. Gorman blinds the right Vault, because errata's are not all reaching. The Earthbreaker gets boosted attack rolls, moves up and to the right and pops off two thirds of that flanking Croak Unit. The Smurfs had failed their command check, so the last surviving three fall back and fail to rally. The Gun Mages mostly sit still, two move to left flag contest range and they ping another Croak. The Commies run up to be in the way as do Risen, then Gorten, Alexia and Madelyn hide behind a new Rock Wall.

Should have popped out a Thrall to nab a point on the right flag.


Minion 3: Barney goes for the feat, gets one Gun Mage not in Solid Ground Range. Spitters clear out the front jamming Commies and Risen, Croaks then killa bunch more of my mook infantry. Left Vault goes to the left flag, clears off the contesting models aside from the Gun Mage Officer who hangs on.


Merc 4: I keep Solid Ground and give two to the Earthrbeaker.
Gorman Blinds the right Vault again, Earthbreaker kills two of the remaining three Croaks on the right unit and knocks down the forward Spitter and shoots it a bit.
Alexia goes into the Spitter and kills it. The Smurfs finally rally. The last Commie screams that Trotsky was right and moves to contest the left flag. The Gun Mages don't achieve anything this turn. Gorman gets a snugly wall. Madelyn runs to the right flag.

Mercs go to 1 CP.

This was the turn I feared being killed, I'd left Gorten on no camp and in the wind, I thought there was more around at the time but it looks like three or so Croaks (two getting free strikes from Risen), the Vault and one Spitter could have shot him. Luckily for me Alexia was enough of a distraction.


Minion 4: Left Vault claims the left flag as he kills the last Commie. The Blind Vault backs up and Barney goes behind him. A Snapper go into Alexia, they pop all the Risen and put her on one box, then she passes a few tough rolls. The Spitter goes in, boosts its to hit rolls and misses each one. The last Croak on the right ducks a Risen and kills Madelyn.


Merc 5: 15 minutes no pic yadda yadda. Gorman walks into the forest and blinds the Vault yet again. The Gun Mages contest the left flag and pop a Croak or two. Earthbreaker mvoes to the right flag, kills the contesting Croak and the Snapper. Alexia stabs around for a little bit at the beasts.
Tinker runs to the centre flag, Gorten walks back somewhat.

Mercs go to 3 CP.


Minion 5: The left Vault kills Alexia, the Blind one moves in and engages Gorman. Spitter walks to contest the middle flag and kills the Tinker. Barney moves up and behind it. The last Snapper runs to contest the right flag.


Merc 6: Gorten walks forward, feat pushes Barney, the Spitter and Snapper back 8 inches. Thor runs to the middle flag and I get to 5 CP.




Me on the left.

That was an awful matchup for Traishy, outside of going for that assassination run mid game I don't think there was a lot he could do.

Game 347 - SS Heat Rd 3 - Durgen vs Iron Mother

Cygnar, Circle and Cryx. Does your faction start with a C? Then I live in fear.

Round 3, Pat gets a chance to venge his bro.

Gorten - Earthbreaker, Hawk, Madelyn, Anastasia, Rhupert, Gorman, Thor, Reinholdt, ATGM + UA, 2x Press Gangers, pAlexia + Risen
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Durgen - 2x Gunny Bunnies, Gastolleon, Boomhowlers, ATGM + Dude, Dougal, eEiryss, Rockbottom, Reinholdt, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Two fronts, so Killbox heavy tourney it is.

Some admirable purple CoC on display...

Axis and Iron Mother, I would normally go with Gorten, but really don't want to be list locked in the fourth and Axis seems like the better drop overall for him.

I flub this matchup so hard. It's Durgen into Iron Mother, who I didn't ask enough about or I wouldn't be running Gastolleon into a caster with auto-damage and backlash...

Iron Mother + Servitors (Tier 4: The Servitoring) - Prime Axiom, Mitigator, Diffuser, Assimilator, TEP, Repair dudes, Corollary, a load of Servitors
Objective: Bunker





CoC Deploy: I lost the roll, return of the Robertson picked first. The killbox is dead easy to eyeball off this scenario, so I knew the horizontal wall on one side wasn't actually a safe haven, I picked the side with an awkward forest but the Galleon would be an answer to that.
That long line of Servitors is divided by type, the three on the far left are the countercharge/dig in ones, the centre three do one repair or something and the six on the right are the auto point annihilators of my dreams.



Merc Deploy: Galleon went at that spot more for terrain issues than because of the TEP, being across from the Axiom at that spot might have made me reconsider, but alas there was no escaping the dream crushers.



CoC 1: The wall of pain does it's job, the Axiom can only advance up and pop more of the damn Sentinels. Everything moves up, Tactical Supremacy goes on the TEP but gets dropped shortly after this turn, pretty sure it never triggered. The Countercharge dohickeys Dig In.



Merc 1: I contemplate the assassination. Eyeballing off the zone and deployment length, slight variation to include the slight diagonal line, I conclude that Iron Mother is 22.5" away from the Galleon with maybe a half inch leeway either direction.
With Double Powder, Fire Group and a full advance the Galleon threats 23 with it's mini shots. Durgen can feat to give an additional die on the to hit rolls, Dougal can Artillerist to make the shots RAT 7. I didn't do the exact math at the time, Iron Mother was camping five, so was 15/21 with 18 boxes, which I concluded was a minisule chance assassination. I likely would have done that combo sans feat to drag in the Assimilator, but that threat is only 19" so was short by at least an inch.
onto stuff that did happen...
Primed Boomhowlers go forth, Durgen Inhospitable Grounds and walks up to the cover. The Galleon barely moves, hoping to get an effective next turn before the inevitable deactivation.
Eiryss runs for the extreme flank on the left side, hiding behind the convenient house. Gun Mages hang around the back, Aiyanna/Holt stealth it up.

Inhospitable Ground was only really there to slow the Assimilator down, it was an action with negligible worth. The real mistake was leaving the Gun Mage Officer, the Jack Marshall in the list, not within walking distance of the Galleon to reactivate it after Gastonne meets his end.



CoC 2: An Exponent Servitor runs up, Iron Mother arcs Backlash onto the Galleon then a Shredder Swarm to do the first two points to Gastonne. Servitors do their evil, one of the Countercharge exploding chaps goes to engage a Boomhowler in my zone. The Dreamcrushers ping the Galleon to kill Gastonne. Sodding Llaelite.
Assimilator Grounder Pounders and knocks down a Boomie. Diffuser kills the left most Boomie. Axiom walks up and pops down a Servitor of some description.
Looking at it now I'm not sure if the TEP even activates?

Gorten would also have stopped the Blast Servitors cold. moving on....



Merc 2: Durgen gives a focus to the bunnies, something that happens pretty much every turn after this. Primed sticks around. He then gets Artillerist and Reloaded.
The Gun Mages walk around the back field, the Officer starts his journey to the Galleon. They kill all the nearest Servitors.
Boomies charge and kill a few more Servitors, they end up doing work but aren't in the jamming spots they should be.
Aiyanna Harms the Axiom, Durgen/Bunnies ping it for a total of 13 damage, so that was disappointing but not unexpected. Holt dings the Diffuser on the left side of the Axiom for a few.
Eiryss runs around the bottom of the building to Arcane Interference  the Axiom/Diffuser.
Durgen gets in my zone for a quick Dominate before the Axiom contests.

Mercs go to 1 CP.

I'd reasoned that without a full capacity Galleon I was going to have to chip at the Axiom, but I needed spikes to do meaningful damage. The end numbers are reasonable but still not an effective use of the turn. It did highlight to me the existence of the three mechanics behind the Axiom, so that was worthwhile.
Eiryss was wasted, Induction defeats Arcane Interference Bombing at a certain point (That point being when she is brutally killed earlier in the turn). I was going for long term plans anyway, she should have run way up the backfield then started Disrupting the Corollary to make the damn Clockwork Cultists play with focus like normal people.



CoC 3: Eiryss dies to a Ground Pounder shot. The mechanics repair seven points on the Axiom. TEP moves up and kill Greygore with a pair of sprays. The Axiom gets fed some Focus Milk via the Corollary teat, walks into the zone, pops a Servitor down and Powerstrikes it to kill Aiyanna. Holt sobs but keeps his cool. Another Boomhowler dies to some other attacks, Iron Mother tried arcing a Harm on them early on but stuffed it up.




Merc 3: Simple plan, jam to buy time for the Galleon to flip his switch back to "on", kill the support staff in the meantime. That Blue rock marks the Boomhowler leader.
Primed sticks around, Bunnies get focus. Gun Mages move over, the Officer kicks the Galleons foot while the others pop off a few more Sentinels. The Boomies try for a charge, most end up running into spots, they block the Axiom, kill a Sentinel and do six point to the TEP. Holt goes into the other side of the Axiom.
Durgen gets Reloaded and Artillerist. A Bunny moves up and pings the Diffuser, Durgen advances, he carpet bombs the mechanics to death. The other Bunny moves up to shield Durgen somewhat and finishes off the Diffuser.

I'd done Reinholdt/Dougal early on while I was contemplating an overall plan, halfway through the turn I realised had I popped Dougals mini-feat I could have killed the Corollary instead of the Diffuser, alas.



Coc 4: The Assimilator, Mitigator and Iron Mother kill three Boomhowlers to free up a lane for the TEP, who wonders forward, puts a boost to hit and two boosts to damage. The totally not a prop from the last Jenna Jameson scene sprays at Durgen and both Bunnies, the warcaster cops a couple points, both Bunnies take about four points and lose no systems.
Axiom shoots and kills Rockbottom plus a Gun Mage.
Reinholdt also dies to something, though I can't exactly remember what.

Average dice leaves both Bunnies on a third health, their box layout is pretty quality though. Regardless, I was lucky the TEP did so little.
I did make an error with my Boomies this turn, when the unit leader was upgraded I should have picked the Grunt in the right zone. The other two would have been out of command, but had Patromotom left Iron Mother in the right zone he could have leveled the points and started threatening the last few turn scores game.



Merc 4: IT'S ALIVE! They shall know it as the bastard born Galleon, he who desperately craves focus but can never have any. I want to kill the TEP and drag in the Mitigator before they pop off my bunnies and Gun Mages.
Bunnies fed, Primed sticks on.
Dougal Artillerists Galleon. Durgen walks backward a bit, feats and casts three Explosivos to tag the Bunnies and Colossal. He then Carpet bombs to kill the three TEP Servitors, I at least remember those damn things have Sac Pawn.
Galleon walks up as far as it can, the opening Harpoon easily drags in the Diffuser, but sadly misses the melee attack. The right Nip guns ping the TEP for a few more damage, the left side puts its one shot into the Diffuser for a few points.
The Bunnies walk back and puts down the TEP. The Gun Mages mostly aim, they push the Diffuser out a bitand leave it on two boxes.
The Boomhowler leader walks past the Axiom, he dies to the free strike, the boosted blast damage does a few points.



CoC 5: The Assimilator Ground Pounders the Boomhowler engaging the Axiom, who then walks forward and mucks up drag shots on the Bunnies (DEFENCE 12 CANNOT BE STOPPED!).



Merc 5: Under 15 minute rules kicks in, alas poor potato. The last Boomhowler (Theaters near you, Jul 2016) kills the Sentinel in the right zone. Gun Mages kick off, a pair move up to block off the Axiom while the rest push the Diffuser back and finish it off. The Galleon walks to the Objective, punches it to death.
The Bunnies blow off the legs and right arm of the Assimilator. Durgen walks back and kills the Mother Servitor in the right zone.

Mercs go to 3 CP


CoC 6: Assimilator blows up half the Gun Mages, Axiom drags in a Bunny but misses the melee attack. Iron Mother and an Exponent duck into the right zone and kill the last Boomhowler.



Merc 6: Galleon kills the contesting Exponent Servitor in the right zone, Durgen runs over there to Dominate for the win.

Mercs go to 5 CP.




Me on the right.

Surprised I pulled that one out, time was drawing to my side by the end but I think in a rematch I wouldn't have the same chances to claw back.

Game 346 - SS Heat Rd 2 - Gorten vs eHaley

Round 2 of ye old SS Heat. List repeated because otherwise I'll forget them:

Gorten - Earthbreaker, Hawk, Madelyn, Anastasia, Rhupert, Gorman, Thor, Reinholdt, ATGM + UA, 2x Press Gangers, pAlexia + Risen
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Durgen - 2x Gunny Bunnies, Gastolleon, Boomhowlers, ATGM + Dude, Dougal, eEiryss, Rockbottom, Reinholdt, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Effigy of Valor

Round 2: The Frawlening.

Close Quarters, Elminster is rocking Haley traditional and the one who broke a clock (You know, number 2 and 3).

Seeing a cloud wall and Deceleration, I plonked Gorten, I don't think Durgen really wants to hit either of these.

eHaley - Stormwall, Thorn, ATGM + Dude + Sentinel, Journeyman, Black 13th, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Definitely one of them


Cygnar Deploy: I think I lost the roll and got second, again took the side with a trench.


Merc Deploy: Anastasia is on the far left to run and contest the left flag if it comes down to an aggressive scenario play, Gun Mages way to the right to try to be out of feat.

I wouldn't call this a good deployment, but rather symptomatic of Haley2 inexperience on my part, the Gun Mage/Anastasia junk is based on quick theory at the time, I'd focused my thinking on ADR so much that I'd only thought of playing into this match up with MacBain who was conspicuously absent from my pairing. 


Cygnar 1: Missed the photo because I'm a hater?


Merc 1: Press Gangers flood, Gorten Solid Grounds and Hides behind the Rock Wall because the Stormwall ran 14" and scared the shit out of me.



Cygnar 2: Haley feats away, gets everything except the Gun Mages. I'd completely misunderstood the Black 13th template, which bypasses Sucker and Solid Ground to wipe Madelyn away. Press Gangers splat, Thorn ends up way up the board.

Frelmin pointed out after the game I should have left the Gangers in Alexias collection range, which is most certainly the case.



Merc 2: It's Haleys feat turn, so I spent longer than I should have achieving sod all.
The Gun Mages fail to hit the Black 13th, Thorn idly ducks to not be hit by the Earthbreaker knockdown torpedo. I put Risen around Thorn to try to keep something in kill range of the Earthbreaker. I run Hawk into the left forest to try to have some toys live through the fine blood mist the Swans were inflicting on me.


Cygnar 3: Gun Mages and Stormwall whittle down the Pressgangers to about three, mostly engaging Thorn. A stormpod put Gorman on one wound. Black 13th kill half of my Gun Mages. Haley Time Bombs the Earthbreaker, then Eiryss runs up to the left flag to get some interference action on.



Merc 3:  This isn't looking pretty. In the other age that is a month ago I'd Black Oil the Stormwall and screw around a bit, but now I'm forced to think instead when Gorman is in range of a Colossal. I figure I'll pop Thorn and Eiryss, feat to keep the Earthbreaker alive then keep Gorten back and whittle at what I can until Strength of Granite can be leveraged.
Risen spawn, a mob of four go to the left of the Earthbreaker to have a go at Eiryss, the rest go to die valiantly stopping the Stormwall from aiming. Gorten moves the wall around, walks back a bit and feats on Thorn/Stormwall to move neither, then throws Strength of Granite on the Earthbreaker. Thor Tunes up Attack Rolls. Hawk tries and fails to charge Eiryss, falling an inch short. The four Risen go in and get the lazy eight to kill Eiryss. The Earthbreaker goes in and kills Thorn with his initials.
The Gun Mages finally hit a Black 13th, and put them on one wound. Oh well, that's what happens when Stormpods don't kill Gorman.



Cygnar 4: Stormwall falls back, between it and the Gun Mages all teh Risen die. The Black 13th leave me with two Gun Mages and the last Press Gangers dead. Haley hides behind the Stormwall, the Sentinel goes next to the Swan Colossal to block LoS, Aiyanna/Holt are behind the light jack. Journeyman gives Arcane Shield to Haley.


Merc 4: Simple really, plan is to hide Gorten/Gorman for later turns, kill the Black 13th if I can and have the Earthbreaker pop the Sentinel to kill Aiyanna with blast damage.
I upkeep Solid Ground and Strength of Granite, and give the Earthbreaker a focus. It gets Tuned for Damage, moves up and misses the boosted 10 it needs to hit the Sentinel, then does sod all. The few remaining Risen sigh and run up to the Stormwall, Alexia charges and kills the forward Black 13th.
The Gun Mages miss, because....well......Decel is balls.

ERROR WILL ROBINSON ERROR. Solid Ground was no longer useful, that focus point would have been infinitely better spent boosting a second chance at the knockdown on the Sentinel.


Cygnar 5: The infantry kills Alexia and the remaining Risen. I've mucked it up, so Stormwall charges Gorten, misses the charge attack then leaves him on one. A stormpod kills Gorman.


Merc 5: In the original plan, the charged and hurt but not dead Earthrbeaker gets healed and kills the Stormwall. Gorman beingon one health and vulnerable to every attack on the board makes me go for the long shot. Fully Loaded boosted Earthrbeaker moves up, misses the two chances at boosted 13's to knock down, turns to me fore approval and gets none.

Cygnar 6: Gorten explodes to the Stormwall.


Me on the left, likely would have had issues in later turns had my long odds attrition plans worked, but oh well.