Rocking my theoretical SS heat pair, Gorten with Thorbreaker and Durgen with Gastolleon (That'll totally catch on....).
Naturally Russel with his real life hack of working across from the game store was up for an early start game. eLylth has fled into the distance, eThags new life partner being that most epic of Vayls.
I dropped Durgen, mostly to get some more experience with a list I haven't played in quite a while. My over thinking has been on the Masters format alas, which the Canberra SS Qual is not.
Durgen - 3x Gunners, Gastolleon, Dougal, Reinholdt, eEiryss, Grogspar, 2x Press Gangers, Rockbottom, Aiyanna + Holt
Objective: Effigy?
eVayl (Untiered!) - Zuriel, Seraph, 2x Angels, Pot + Lunch Ladies, Croak Raiders, Succubus, 2x Shepherd, Black Frost Shard
Mighty Outflank. Not a terrible test, given I don't like Gorten nearly as much outside the more compact scenarios.
Merc Deploy: I win the die roll, I um and arr for a little bit. I theorised that going second wasn't the end of the world, as I'd probably be able to bomb the Croaks off the table, but in the end neither side felt preferential. One side had a Linear I could use, but I have a wall of Lights to provide cover where I need it anyway and the forest on the table was going to be irritating either as an advance impediment or a place for Vayl to hide behind.
After a load of deliberation, I pick first so Russ ahs to work it out. He stays ont he side he's on.
Pretty sure I'm not in danger of underthinking this junk at the moment.
Legion Deploy: Zero proxies. This is no the Russ I thought I knew.
Merc 1: It all runs forward, fort Durgen walks up next to the Galleon. Primed goes on the Commies on the left in a spirit of optimism. Eiryss goes into the forest more because she can. Aiyanna/Holt go around the obstruction because I didn't want them to be useful anyway.
Legion 1: Vayl goes behind the corner of the Linear and throws out spells, the beasts and Croaks shoot the Commies for days. I pass a load of tough checks, but ultimately the remaining four Commies are on fire and not looking pretty.
Said Commies also have Icy Grip on them, the Croaks have Occultation and the Angel in the cetre has Refuge. Vayl camps one Fury, the pot runs in front to block LoS.
Merc 2: The plan was simple, Durgen with feat clears out the Croaks, Galleon peppers the right Angel as much as it can and threatens the right zone, Press Gangers then jam.
Fire wipes out all but one Commie. Galleon gets three, two of the Gunners get a focus.
Eiryss pops off Occultation from the Croaks, the focus-less Gunner walks forward and pops a Croak. Dougal does his thing, popping mini-feat and whacking Artillerist on Durgen.
Durgen feats, Explosivos the two Gunners left to activate, Primes the Smurfs then rolls Deviations like an absolute numpty to kill no where near as many Croaks as he should.
One Gunner advances, he pings the Pot, wings eVayl and absolutely Cranks the damage roll, doing thirteen points that gets shunted to the Seraph taking out its mind.
I change my mind about the plan, Durgens four shots were woefully ineffective but the Galleon can move up and probably be in range to finish off Vayl.
The Smurfs run up to engage to give room for the Galleons new plan position.
I've mucked up my positioning, so the last Gunner runs to block Durgen as it can't shoot the pot. Galleon has to advance as far across as it can, it rolls four shots. The opening one kills the Pot which spawns a Stinger, the blast sadly doesn't roll great only doing five damage to Vayl. I harpoon the Stinger for giggles, hurt it a fair bit and drag it into a Press Ganger. I then have shots on Vayl, but I couldn't move the Galleon forward enough to bypass the Linear. I boost the next two mini shots, needing a 15 on 4 dice, but get neither of them as scatter way wide.
It's looking grim. Either plan was alright, but I really should have put Artillerist on the Galleon in hindsight.
Legion 2: Vayl feats, Purifies off Prime, Admonitions Zuriel, Occultates herself then hides back behind her Linear camping a bunch.
The remining Croaks get an Oil on Durgen, two of the Gunners and the Galleon. The Seraph and right Angel max Fury to decimate the Smurf village, for they are agents of Gargamel.
Zuriel and the other Angel get up in my Grill, Durgen ends on fire with 9 health, while one Bunny dies and another is half dead but all systems active.
The Succubus runs and engages Eiryss.
Merc 3: Fire puts Durgen on three health.
Do or die, there's no way I can keep Durgen/Gastonne alive and attrition from here. Vayl has an insurmountable looking five Fury camp, but can only transfer to the forward Angel and the Stinger, everything being maxed out.
The plan is Rockbottom/Holt pop the Shredder, while Durgen wil damage the Angel as much as he can, then the Galleon will need to scatter shots to finish off Vayl.
Rockbottom gives Moneyshot to Holt, which is so glorious I can't reason why I haven't done it before. Chris then points out it's because the duelist knob isn't a legal target. Dangit.
Anyway, the flamethrower attempt falls short. Moneyshot or no, Holt gets to the hill and blows the half alive Stinger away.
Eiryss pings Admonition off Zuriel.
Durgen decides now is his time to DORF MODE IT UP. He Primes himself, charges the Angel and burns all his Focus to kill it.
Time for the winning play, Gastones Galleon gets Artillerist and marches forward.
He proceeds to scatter with wild abandon, giving Vayl a lovely and lively but ultimately barely singeing firework performance.
Nuts.
Legion 3: Zuriel stretch, yawns, smirks that he's got this. He then misses Durgen with his first spray attempt. After quickly looking around to make sure no one noticed, he tries again and viciously overkills the moron who made himself a bomb.
Me on the right.
Interesting game, but definitely could have had better plays from both sides I think. Vayl just needs to camp a bit more and not be in blast range of the Pot, my positioning could have been loads better (Same deal with the pot vis-a-vis Oil on the Gunner next to Durgen), I'm torn on whether changing to the assassination play was the right call, might leave that thought for a few days.
