Decision making is hard, so asked if the almighty star gazing loons would prefer funnies or tourney junk. I'd already resigned myself to some Ashlynn silliness, but instead good old underdwelling mad surgeons got the ball.
It's everyone's favourite: Thexus - 3x Wreckers, 3x Wardens, Subduer, 2x Dominator + Eliminators, 3x Agitator
This time the self obsessed antique humanoid clockware is:
Aurora1 - 2x Conservator, Diffuser, Side Steppy Medium based dues, Shield wall medium chappets, 3x Shield Guardy solo, 2x Soul sucking things, 3x Clockwork Angels (Clearly future Doctor Who antagonists)
Juicy Outflank, on a table laden with triple forest, a hill, a wall and some water.
List on list, to my mind Cephalyx smash this, Wreckers can clear out the infantry lots without to much issue, most of the opposing models/units will only do about a half or 2/3rds health in return by my rough math.
Caster on caster though there is a bit of an issue, Thexus is super weak to melee and Aerogenesis plus Aurora's feat means that if I don't assassinate early Thexus is going to have to stay far back and hide, I'm very fortunate that this isn't a killbox scenario.
By joy of both of us wanting to practice time, we went with 8 minute timed turns with a single 6 minute extension.
I am so down with Deathclock being the base form.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3aRKAqR0uUqrU-2CGzD-s2kzb83RBG0nm7L2WmdLhJQqg7wRy6ZVA9BbPz7tRoIWtYurQMY3rYQvKW5gOsy9guNCdqyaLjCjOFfFf49FwPkzzVmRsLj4rMzI3BYkRlN8pdmY9FgJ3gXN/s1600/001+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Round 1: Wind Up toys win the roll and pick first. I take the side with a wall for Thexus and more importantly and excellently placed forest that will shield a contesting/scoring model on the right zone.
Double Angels outflank on the left, single angel unit on the right.
CoC jacks are centre of the block, left side gets the Side Step guys, right side gets the Shield Wallers.
I put a Wrecker and two wardens to the left side, other four Monstrosities to the right.
I'd fully intended to just run stuff up without doing the random stab for focus junk, but then we we're on timed turns and became the optimal play. Most of my models just advance, the Heavy Vectors threat 13 with Apparition and the Diffuser shot. On the extreme right a Warden slams forward toward the outflanking Angels, primarily for some board space near the right zone.
Thexus goes behind the wall, he's actually technically in the threat range of the Vectors, but Sac Pawn and Shield Guard means the Diffuser shot get's panned far away if needed.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChDad4FLPS3RCMMBz-uXdNelRKP7j2AkigDnwklDuty0VXLnwklYKoIaqvLfPzux8lfSmzx8VekRzNr5efc7dbPnUWIiM2nybE8IndoPCqITpq7-OgZyzIEl2les1jnU25aKUeOa4CdG5/s1600/002+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
CoC 2: Alas, the proper questions are asked and the wasted Diffuser shot doesn't happen.
Convergence basically just gets up the board, the far right and one left unit of Angels runs up and each engage a bunch of my Monstrosities. The remaining angel unit sticks far to the back left, mostly out of camera shot.
The Shield Guard/Defensive Strike solos run out the front, Side step peeps spread out on the left zone, Shield Wall guys form up in the right zone.
Aurora hangs back in the safety forest, her jacks blob up in front of her.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzIXeiSQE2UH4mJrjGTc0izN5vTdXrziYyBgce1i315u_GC_fgzDKh1hAoqNpj5J-xlN0ku5tapXl0OwZ_jOMrftpsvI9NLgji3yAnVQ_nDrpqe4TTBTXQyI0Xw9pkXbakj541Z2vL6SJ/s1600/003+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Mercs 2: So I spent a minute and a half in the tank, which is fine on Dethclock. Totally fine. Tampering with the evidence at the death scene of Odin fine. Not so much in Timed turns.
What I basically got from that minute and a half was that Aurora was safe given the saturation of shield guards in the list, as the Subduer needed to do a drag in order to get her in Wrecker murder range. I'd put enough thought into it that I had to feat though, if only to reinforce the alpha strike.
Thexus went first after allocating two to the far right Warden (Which didn't feel great. I sling spells in this dammit!). Feat moves all the models around, suck it Angels that tried to get in my range. I then TK the right most Wrecker, walk as far back with Exulon as possible and TK again for more distance (Must. Not. Get. Charged.).
On the right side, we have a glorious tale of success. One Agitator advances and Instigates. The Warden that got allocated to throws one Angel into another, clearing way for the TK'd Wrecker to charge the Shield Wall unit where he manages to obliterate them all. Eliminators finish off the last angel on that right unit, which clears the zone for an early score. Woot.
Left zone things aren't so cherry blossomy, the more spread out nature of the units means I can't do the same Thresher of doom on all the side steppy units. I have to kill what I can anyway, as medium bases they don't get the full benefits of the recursion package anyway.
Again I Instigate, then send a Warden to pick off Angels and a Wrecker to clear out the Medium infantry.
The Warden cops a Defensive Strike from the Shield Guardy solo, so he punches her and the flying cheerleaders down, then the Wrecker pops off three of the Side Steppers.
Centre wise, the remaining Wrecker and the Subduer runs and hide Thexus as I don't have the luxury to find out if Thexus is safe or not. The last Warden just makes it over the supposed wall of safety, cops a Defensive Strike, utterly fails to dispatch the relevant solo, which was less than impressive though the efficacy of Monstrosities does take quite a big jump downhill without Agitators, one of which I wanted to keep safe for later rounds.
Mercs go to 1 CP.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTINHQKnvE9TIhzi_kQPoWLMuVKlLc__a3-Awocn_Tuu5pPYFi3vsNJwdFD7g17Y4f1cI1BRBXXF7ooYAiWAepCRmeenmF-1mrAffZPPslQRuHJaEznlb1Gg77Cq8IGmpCfSeMrdJw7MMg/s1600/004+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
CoC 3: Aurora stays hiding in her personal forest, Flicks Admo over to one of the Conservators.
There are three Monstrosities of consequence, the left Wrecker contesting that sides zone, the other Wrecker doing the same in the right and the Warden that's been thrown right up the middle.
In the left zone, the rebuilding twit moves up and pops a Side Stepper back into play. The three ones with full activation's then charge the Wrecker and kill him.
Centre wise, the Warden gets mauled by one Conservator and Shield Guardy solo, but importantly keeps his Brain active.
On the right zone, the Diffuser and Admo Vector team up to pop the right side Wrecker.
Mechanics and other bits and pieces move around, the remaining units of Angels moves in, CRA's an Agitator that I Sac Pawn to that sides Warden, they then reposition backwards a bit.
CoC take the lead 2v1 in CP.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hgx3QCyIZilseh8e9I5qWYjTwU-O79Fadwgiunqa_w1_L9T7h53eynNCKuebVKbKS-nDPAzrpRY4hyphenhyphenUYdTw6iC-G31rznJxCrArDi3CsYKXWjigot41peWOz9JpqX7AFXFcrpMybg6e6/s1600/005+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Merc 3: I feel in danger of losing on scenario, the right zone I can prop up with the forest safety spot, so the impetus is to contest the left zone with my spare Monstrosities. The right zone is contested by one Conservator and a mechanic, so that is quite easy to clear out for another point.
Starting on the right, Thexus floats across, TK's the rightmost Warden into threat range, pops Hex Blast to get rid of Admo (after some generosity on a mis-measurement I did by the Head Controller), hides up back and casts Psycho Surgery.
Said Warden then slams the Conservator, killing the Mechanic. Had it been Deathclock I'd have followed up and made further attacks, but I had a few things to do this turn, so alas.
An Agitator moves up and Instigates the Centre Warden, who then utterly fails to do either meaningful damage or kill the Shield Guard solo. Bleargh. Kayazy then run to block/free strike line if the Conservator tries to pop Thexus.
On the left, Agitator Instigates, the Warden over there moves around kills two of the Sidesteppy dudes. I'd hoped for all three, but after the Slam was a success they apparently thought that was enough for the turn.
The backup Wrecker charges the Shield Guardy solo in the left zone, the centre Warden's failure to kill the same model actually caused me to expect some Beatbacks to get into the zone, but nope, killed straight off the bat. The Subduer then has to run to just contest the left zone.
Points level at 2 apiece.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQKQExPl2jbJqMqyVtMDEQHp-PjSRrNxwzWhIUjqmC8BrcmGBkb54o08bOBw50LifHcvL5vOCHGxhCyomrLEAyuBYcePyfv17DO-nXVB6c7e4Jl_1kyxxo7mh6fH4nA3dCvHBe7FVG5es/s1600/006+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
CoC 4: Attempt to counter maul!
Left side the side steppers go into that sides Warden and Subder, centre wise the Conservator and remaining Steelsoul Protector (Remembered the name eventually...) stab the Warden in front of them, while the Diffuser and other Vector stab the Warden in the right zone.
The dice bellcurve hit Convergence hard this turn, as all the various Monstrosities live. CLock prevented some miscellaneous activations as well.
The bad news for me is that all the Wardens are heavily damaged and lsot their brains, which makes refueling them very difficult (Heal brain>damage for focus>remove Brain system>lose focus>sigh).
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAN50WSQiDlOgp8I-Rb6a5vXPR9Ky2MdV1XLYi6MmqB3fC0xY1k-1nxVNaov2BL_4CRMrfgaFanHJaKlSIjVCzZgRWGT49cotZkLaz4N-kstc8cP9cpCxpvhMCrRoj5vZd-NttQObTZo6/s1600/007+%2528800x450%2529.jpg [/img]
Merc 4: Simple plan this turn, score on the right, damage what I can, free up some of hte healthy Monstrosites to participate in killing the Vectors next turn.
Thexus moves and TK's into the right zone, where he's now in range to do an offensive TK on the Vector in the zone. Plan is to pop him out as I don't like my odds of fighting him.
Sadly I miss the boosted seven, so now I have to cast Pschyo Surgery and hop I can throw enough pieces in to keep Thexus safe.
I move up and Agitator and Instigate, the pair of mauled Wardens then claw away. To my surprise I roll very well on the relevant Warden, who damaged the in zone Vector quite badly, allowing a Combo Smite Kayazy charge to finish it off. The other, central Warden finally kills the damn Steelsoul, lightly scratches the Conservator he's trying to deal with.
I start activating my left side Monstrosities, it gets point out that if I clear out the left zone I win, which I genuinely hadn't spotted.
Between the Wrecker and the Subduer (I forgot to Instigate....) they clear out the zone and I go to 5 CP.
Good game, but while I see the value in the 8 minute turns by god do they produce a sloppier game for me, which I really don't like, turns should be played the same way as consistently as possible but the benefits of pre-measuring (Opponent agreement, Proxy bases, clear indications of intent) all get reduced considerably by the need to fit many activation in, as the lists aren't timed turn designed and that was definitely felt by both sides.
Aurorahas to aim for assassination in this I'm quite sure. Early spike turn had me worried, but full health Monstrosities tank fairly well in spite of their relatively low armour as later turns proved out.
Now to ponder random lists for a bit. Contemplating Skorne or Cygnar for the next Kapital Kup, though my collections of both are not that healthy...
