Game 1: The Grind nonsense continues!
Into Saul of Tarsus, rocking Canberra's favourite, ye old Skornidons.
It's Magnus with Mauler/Rover vs Xekaar with Gladiator and...um.....stabby Cyclops and shooty Cyclops (No magic Cyclops).
As always, it's the horrible struggle that is Sniped Rover shots. I pew pew the Savage (ah, that's his name) a couple times, Xekaar has a go at healing him up with non-calm surgery.
I attempt some snag and drag, moving the Mangler into range of just the Brute.
Xekaar then moves up a bit, Mortalities the Mangler, heals the Savage and does his whippy buffy action thing.
The Savage charges the Mangler, it's hitting a lot harder than expected (Didn't account for Xekaar's Strength increasing action) but Death Ward lets me flick damage around as needed. The charge attack hit for hard enough I had to sacrifice the left arm, I could have taken it on column 3/4 but that then puts Movement and Cortex at risk, whereas I don't really need the punching spike.
Gladiator then runs up in a threatening spot, Raider runs and engages the Rover.
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I didn't quite work out the plan during the Skorne turn, as it was reliant on free strikes and done in ignorance of Magnus' feat granting Parry these days.
Magnus moves over, feats, sprays the Impaler for a bit of damage. In a fit of optimism, the Rover walks out of Xekaar's feat and shoots him on zero camp. I hit, then do a mighty 4 damage on boosted straight dice. Good thing I don't deserve any sympathy the way I play this list in this environment.
The Mangler then charges the Raider to get out of Xekaar's feat and easily kills it.
After my feat moves is when I popped the photo.
We played a couple turns after this, there's a blocking forest now and some severe incredulity that we're playing this on a 4x4 table. I can see the Mangled Metal Journeyman being much improved by making it a 3x3 table with very small deployments (four inches perhaps?). Then again, I'm not really the intended audience.
The next turn or two I repair the Mangler a bit and formulate my next plan, I'll move Death Ward to the Rover and drag in another Skorne beast. It doesn't get to that, as this has been to much agony for the Hoksunites.
Game 2: Bacon frying!
After some token resistance (It's not on players to balance the game!) I accede to the suggestion to switch to the Ossrum battlebox instead.
Got another one into Chapacon, the latest adherent of stereotypical Opera singers possessing some mass.
Pans out as Ossrum (Proxied by Gorten), a Driller, a pair of Gun Bunnies and a Spray Bunny into Helga, a War Hog, Battle Boar and a pair of Razor Boars.
I win the roll, pick first because it's easy, Snipe a Gun Bunny and Fire for Effect Ossrum. Three fully boosted Hand Cannons feels pretty good.
The Pigs run up, I shoot down a Razor Boar. Pigs run up again, the Razor Boar engages my Driller who is out front, followed by the Defenders Warded War Hog on a hill. Following them is Helga camping three and the Battle Boar.
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The Driller doesn't kill a Defenders Warded War Hog, I could feat and pull back to do the Magnus games all over again, but I'm aiming for less demoralizing strategies (There isn't a different Mercs box to fall back on after all).
Helga has good defensive stats and is camping three, but she's in the open and I can get all my shots on her.
I fully load the Driller, then every gun in the list peppers her. I get some nonsense rolls to strip off two transfers and do some points. I then Energiser the Driller, copping a freestrike from the Rab for a few points. I have to charge to get distance (should have feated....), my charge attack is the claw because Set Defence is bad. I miss as expected, boost my initial Drill to strip the last transfer, then do a bought sustained attack for the win.
I had nothing left, had Helga survived then it's going to go bad for me (War Hog kills Driller, Battle Boar kills Spray Bunny). I then feat a turn late, spread out and take shots on Helga.
I'd been agonising on what to spend my 10 points on for next weeks games (We've done away with the Battlegroup models only restriction), I'd halfheartedly settled on the Devil's Shadow Mutineers, thankfully with Ossrum the choice is easy.
