Breakdown
Can it be? A second game in a day? Yis.
The opposing options for the Terrorists are Vlad2 in Legion of Skill and Old Witch 3 in....Winterguard? Doesn't matter, Trenchers into Old Witch feels super bad. Windstorm looks just bad.
So naturally we drop that most mustachioed of small figurines and receive the Vlad for which we really should be better into by now.
Mercenary Army - 74 / 75 points
[Theme] Llaelese Resistance
(MacBain 1) Drake MacBain [+30]
- Galleon [39]
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [0(4)]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [0(5)]
Major Harrison Gibbs [4]
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord [4]
Taryn di la Rovissi, Llaelese Gun Mage [0(5)]
Dannon Blythe & Bull [5]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Thorn Gun Mages [9]
In ze vendetta:
Khador Army - 74 / 75 points
[Theme] Legion of Steel
!!! Your army contains a CID entry.
(Vladimir 2) Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion [+27]
- Conquest [35]
Iron Fang Kovnik [0(4)]
Iron Fang Kovnik [0(4)]
Kaptain Sofya Skirova [0(5)]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Uhlan Kovnik Markov [7]
Black Dragons (max) [17]
- Black Dragon Officer & Standard [4]
Great Bears of the Gallowswood [9]
Iron Fang Uhlans (min) [12]
Iron Fang Uhlans (min) [12]
It's a pony and Colossal off! Weird and rare? An ubiquitous concern elsewhere? Well, the latter is impossible, can't remember the last Swan list I saw that used Storm Lancers. How times have changed.
Laziness and time constraints ensured that the same scenario and table was used as last time.
It takes three rolls, eventually I win out and get to go first. Good work Anastasia, you're alright.
Khador takes the same side as the previous Cryxites.
Ergo i have a large defensive trench, and a small forest.
The centre line of the board features a prominent forest in the left zone, a central hill and a rightside hill.
Khador gets a super defensive wall and a cloud out on the right.
I opt to place my rubble on the right side this turn, going first with cav means that the left side forest probably won't impede me, while the right side is open enough that cover might be useful against the Conquest pew pewness.
The Cav face off on the flanks, Colossals in the centre. Taryn deploys in the Llael rubble, across from her the Black Dragons go. Why do Khadorans venerate Dragons? Dragons are a real thing in the Iron Kingdoms and basically suck (A quick google of random historical Merc armies was surprisingly bland). The Black Dragons advance up in their well established triangle formations, though they do hold back a little from giving Taryn free attacks. Noice.
Blythe and Bull Prey the Great Bears.
Matchup considerations are the cav facing off with similar threat ranges in which both have weigh ups with the feat. I have more cav and can bait some of them, however I don't have the equivalent follow up.
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Merc 1: Everything moves forward. Counter Measures goes on the left cav unit, Fortune on the Thorn Gun Mages and Fail Safe on the Galleon. Two Cav from each unit move up into Uhlan feated charge range, it's a temptation with a low probability of success but you never know.
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Khador 1: Vlad goes up behind the wall and throws up Arcane Might and Assail on the Conquest.
Both Cav units move up and stay shy of Storm Lancer charge range.
Great Bears space out on the left alongside a Kovnik.
The Conquest barrels up the middle.
Centre/Rightwise the Black Dragons move up and pop their mini-feat. Sofiya, Kovnik and a cav unit go behind them.
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Merc 2: There's some awkward weighing up at this point on how MacBain's feat can whether Vlad's. If Vlad has the option to simply wait and hold on, then the odds are good I lose to many Lancers and get easily out attritioned. Ergo I opt for super aggression to establish a strong board position.
Plan is to use feated Storm Lances to hedge out the centre zone, then use that to maintain the central zone and push for the flank zones opportunistically.
As a random chance activation Anastasia moves in on the far back left and gets a shot at the left Kovnik, lands the attack but rolls low on the damage. In hindsight it's not a great attack run anyway.
The Thorn advance up the centre, use their Thunderbolts to get rid of the relevant IFP triangle impeding the plan.
Galleon moves up, Harpoons an IFP, shoots the right Kovnik, gets Shield Guarded to Sofiya and puts her on zero boxes.
Both Storm Lancers run/charge up the centre.
The left unit has one loon run up and engage Markov to stop his Counter Charge. Another gets a charge into the Conquest for some meagre damage, more importantly the lightning leap pops Orin.
Right unit follows suit, the initial move being a charge on the Kovnik.
This triggers Sofiya's counter charge, surprisingly she misses. The rest of the unit then goes in, one going in on the Kovnik.
The attacks kill the Kovnik, heal Sofiya, then put her back on one box.
MacBain then moves up to feat and ensure good times. I resentfully remember when MacBain's feat wasn't a random number, something I use to argue about constantly on the PP forums before their deserved demise.
Eight of the Storm Lances get the magic wooje. Drake also pops a shot into the Conquest for giggle damage.
We commence praying that everything works. Taryn just sits in the rubble, Blythe/Bull move up behind the left forest.
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Khador 2: The error in the plan is pretty quickly spotted. Positioning has not been done appropiately.
There's a great deal of finicky placement involved, and some bonus activation's of Grat Bears/Markov knocking Horsies down. Anastasia also dies to the Konvik that she was unable to deal with.
Conquest grabs a pseudo unkillable Storm Lancer to make a hole, throws him into the back line hits Gibbs. He toughs, so that's something.
Vlad feats on IFP and the right Uhlans. IFP kill one of the killable Storm Lances, making a nice hole.
Using Markovs tactician, one Uhlan runs through to provide web of steel against a freestrike.
Said 'strike sadly misses in any event, an impact attack clears a blocking Thorn Gun Mage.
Two Uhlans get to stab on MacBain, they overkill him by four points and get a crit knock down so no tough roll.
Woops.
In spite of the net result, content with the overall planning, just not the execution. Needed to bracket the Conquest with a pair of feated Lances prior to making the line. Although it does all fall apart with a low roll on the feat.
I was wrong about Thorn Gun Mages, they seem totally fine.
Blythe and Bull continue to be dis-serviced by being repped by Herne and Jonne, models for who I know the implicit value of. They need a long game in which they actually survive to the late period, maybe then if the Prey selection isn't to garbage it'll all work out.
