Newer player friendly, so was limited to 3 rounds with an extra 15 minutes on the normal clock amount. I didn't think that would be relevant, we'll get to that eventually.
Rolled with the easily transportable and not soul-crushing-Gorten, thus:
Thexus1 - 3xWreckers, 3x Wardens, Subduer, 3x Agitators, 2x Eliminators + Dominators
Objective: Stockpile
Into bye-buster electrotyrantHaidman.
Nemo2 - Dynamo, 2x Ironclad, Hammersmith, Avenger, 2x Minuteman, Squire, Lannysa, Arlan Strangeways
Objective: Stockpile
Opening scenario is ye old baseball diamond (Extraction).
Terrain.....uh....yeah.....we could use some deforestation on this table.
The most important thing is the green banana of leafy doom smack bang diagonally situated in the middle of the board. There's also water and a trench on the flanks of the middle, some more forests around the outer edges and a hill in front of one deployment zone. None of them matter in the least.
It's going to be a game of trading heavies, though I have to be wary of the Minutemen flying and wrecking my support bits.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3M0JKN5h83R9vpjUvXrlQorCeQpF0iUrBjZgrqZdCgRdh9gF2DNw2Iq7QcCyYGOGECVgWHHbidEper0AyMUPeXjPerANxWdu_08uKN9ERnohU2iwHFK4Ay9USjSdc1Z0qUy6VQbM8h4/s1600/003+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Mercs 1: I got first, laziness gave me the hill side....I think? This is a game that started before 12, my lizard brain struggles at that point of the day.
My big concern here was I wanted first to get up the board before the Minutemen forced me into awkward sacrifice a precious Agitator mode, that creates another issue unique to this board.
Focus efficiency in the list is generated early on, principally that the Eliminators need the opening turn to fuel up the Wreckers, which involves the key component of the Wardens slamming.
Had the swans deployed particular to the table, they could have denied every slam target.
Thankfully, I'm not the only one who's a blunter tac in the morning, and I could move everything up as normal.
Most of the Wreckers move up out on the left, hanging back out of Minuteman range.
One Warden, being my default flankers, is out far right to deal with the right flank. Wreckers, being the heavy hitters, end up as a pair around my objective in case the Swans push up on the right flag.
Subduer is the bloke on the top left of the Monstrosity Body Builders line up.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioszEnIsVmt9lIHNu4agWoefCoDX4hwUHEWRgKiM7_7ktfsuRuLyHSCETE0B9TevyvXQsrX7x2BtEWHn7-9vWPP9fok5m2NjqDwHNQCGWVynfsm9a2i2DzzkEaL2REoK8H9fRNi9i3IIA/s1600/004+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Cygnar 1: The Minute Men don't suicide out on me sadly, one goes behind the forest of doom, the other goes to the right flag. The Ironclads also lean out toward the right, one sitting behind the trench and calling out my flanking Warden. The Hammersmith and Avenger hang around the Swan Objective, while Dynamo (Represented by a pair of legs, courtesy of that scourge of invading armies, the need to transport them) gets Positive Charge and heads to the gap between the two chunks of disruptive foliage.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCjnekMY5qDKSCoWllB_h5oxQfRRCDMYY3dHEJCQCTiRWIp5rtkb5ylVmlcpef_p5NkUDkDLdhqt86lNcFQblJdyJDJWQ3_jJlJoBAwD1R_KLuCffzA7JgcsbAgr7-0V0qJdCuv4gGjM/s1600/005+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Mercs 2: I could throw a Monstrosity to contest the right flag, but there's no value to contesting this early in the game when all it really pans out to is throwing a precious heavy away.
I could feat and pull in a Minuteman, not worth doing that. Energiser cancels some of the more irritating push and TK turn things around plays, so we'll just kill Dynamo and be content.
One Warden advances to be in arcing range, then Thexus throws out a TK that moves Dynamo across and spins him around. The Subduer then moves up, throws out the net, drags Dynamo in, hits him a bunch of time to allow a Wrecker to wade into the water and finish him off.
The flanking Warden starts trotting through one of the forests, heading towards the Wrecker that gets assigned to threatening the right flag duty.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe9eEckfYfqbA5nIUB1NQPcHVpkeJUqg6bYYaFh1pyp798Mn0baOKbSGaqxIxOqiA4GrOlYVjqL6RTxwR_mQLH8Rrw8jV-3ZJLdpGjqhfIQ_UdyOi0Ve9NfcssvTiqsizEknfHcQ1SZlc/s1600/006+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Cygnar 2: Nemo hangs behind his objective, does the Energiser junk and puts Lightning Shroud on the Avenger.
The left Minuteman moves in, gets in range of the Sudbuer, does a shot that I shield Guard. The damage roll cranks out a painful 9 points, the Warden then Hyper Agressive and engages him, stopping the next shot. He only has half a inch melee, thus we get the glorious at arm's length scene.
Lannysa lands a Hunters Mark on the Subduer, the Avenger then charges in and polishes it off without to much trouble, though given the plan was for it to kill the Warden as well I'm down with that. List revolves around sacrificing a percentage of the Monstrosities anyway.
The Hammersmith runs behind the Avenger, one Ironclad stays behind the devil tree's, the other goes to the right flag.
The right Minuteman goes way out, kills the far right Agitator as I left him an inch to close. Doh.
Swans go to 1 CP.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmFhflmQZSw77K8LJUguuFmhUGqYa9JYOh1Iu6Jt6JyV4At7ncDVgrQ4xq4ZAxgr9VpW4kobiS3937uYClcxzwvzJPqZwg_90ujysG6Edrcj9Whyv_IOoOyu4x-B75tFBnVGGgcfhJZ0/s1600/007+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Mercs 3: Simple enough, feat and kill as many Cygnar heavies as possible.
Feat and TK's go around, bringing the Hammersmith forward next to the Avenger, the centre Ironclad gets moved into the forest of pain.
The Minutemen is left just within 10 of Thexus, giving Aggressive Reaction its trigger.
Right side wise, the flankee Warden goes into the back of the Agitator killing Minutemen and kills it with a pair of focus to spare. The Wrecker on that side goes into the flag scoring Ironclad, I lack an Agitator so as expected doesn't kill it, damages it somewhat. I needed to contest at that point anyway, so that's acceptable.
In our favourite centre woods the central Wrecker and Warden go in and kill the Ironclad I dragged in, needing the pair again as I didn't Instigate with the back Agitator. Blergh.
Around the left flag I at least manage to Instigate, the Wrecker that previously killed Dynamo turns into a Green proxy base (Model sitting the water in the pic, sadly I don't get a bonus Wrecker whenever I want), moves up and Threshers, manages to pop the Hammersmith, though 'd been hoping it'd have enough juice to take off one of the Avengers systems. The Warden of shield guard fame can't get into the Avenger either, so settles for killing the Minuteman. I then run an Eliminator next to the Avenger, worried he'd somehow wheel around and get attacks on Thexus somehow.
Scoring is for other people it seems.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlGF3MHSECtlh138k3LO53yPt2EnRGWHt82CupYqE6X_dOSzJSH2OoPp31I34b4g9M6Ayq1QLNEYSyDwbmyWbK7tFANmSPCUqatUVxPcgVDLaO4ESkmYDzr9mFQSz76MoR5tuVgfdc3o/s1600/008+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Cygnar 3: Outside of a manufactured assassination somehow, the Swans are screwed. That central forest ends up being to much of a hindrance, so Nemo decides to get stuck in.
The old chap feats, Energisers, charges the Wrecker on the right flag, Failsafes the Ironclad. Does some not bad damage. That Ironclad then pops that Wrecker without issue.
The Avenger tries and fails to kill the murder Wrecker,leaves it as just an arm. The armour may be just a thin layer of lotion, but 36 boxes goes a long way.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwhCK6CWMcf3DmxzemXh__V_GOAnVLeH3FOHnzRejfqIXZQuCUxzcu2CXvNCVSd_jUwfY8h8GUJ629V9bACxVp0xNE0ZALwdtWlLXNHWGPAq82HhMLQ9CiSDANXDBYQyKAPdCcr6Kak8/s1600/009+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Mercs 4: Arc a TK, turn Nemo around. Move to get the Avenger in Aggressive Reaction range.
Agitator walks over, Instigates.
Wrecker charges Nemo, kills him with initials blowing through the armour boost reduction.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7ZdVoBRAYJYUPbVYuw6m-U76dz7rPESydnqCeNZ5U-dcMWKxz0YWz-Q0b_tMEeMH3naw4sGfN6egIBzMs-7TzU3fBZehXPiz1mPRB6F7dprUyi7J2046Hv9gYDoo28SpbCoFTLC9bQU/s1600/010+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Me on the left (Would be 26 vs 6 on regular clocks).
Was a bye round, but still nice to win anyway. Cephalyx are a bad list to try to shake the morning cobwebs with, had to futz around a fair bit. This would be a much closer matchup without the wooded abomination on the board, TK being a much better tool than Energiser in terrain.
