Epic Pit
Round t-t-t--t-t-t-t-t-treeeeeee. It's the Vics, sadly we return to our round 1 tables and their obscene every-table-has-a-central-forest-bs.
We thought this was the other top team in our bracket, our matchups evened out with equal trash/good matches and big swathes of even games. All my games were rated evenly, primarily because I didn't read the Clockatrice card before the event and that thing is ludicrous.
Based off that tidbit, one player was a version of Pat Dunford running a Dream/King of Nothing pairing with Clockatrice spam. Paralysis and a speed debuff seems stupid to me on the same model, good luck Hordes players going into that mess.
Otherwise it's Circle, albeit minus Wurmwood, the current meta plague. There's Khador, another non-Ossrum Merc, and Menoth.
I end up nabbing the Khador, regardless of opponent all my drops on this team were Gorten.
On the table itself I win the roll, pick first as it's Vlad2 Doomreaver spam and I would like some board presence.
I get a forest not touching any zones and a big hill, there's a central trench and Khador gets a big stonking forest that intrudes heavily into the centre circle.
Note that generally the tables had more terrain than the ones I played on, it just so happens that I prefer to not have to deal with more terrain given the Gorten list is, to be put it charitably, "pathfinder light".
Vlad2 is easily the caster I have opposed the most. In fact Gorten vs Vlad2 is the matchup I've played the most. I thought Butcher3 was going to be dropped, however I mistook the list as having a few Clamjacks that stopped pushes when this was not the case.
Anyway, DOOMREAVERS! It's been a while since I saw those sodders. Someone have a heart and make them in plastic with less snappable sword connections. I'm not across the Greylord changes, apparently they all gained weird spells and, for some reason, Doomreaver recursion? How the hell does that work? (No, it's not hypocritical for Press Gangers to turn Gallows Woods into human pirates. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBH4g_ua5es]Everyone wants to be a pirate![/url] ).
The Vlad list does have a Victor. I spent the first 10 minutes of the game refusing to believe it wasn't a Conquest, then it set shit on fire.
Merc 1: Doomreavers with Advance Deploy and Apparition versus Pressgangers with Advance Deploy basically means that the positioning cat and mouse game is from from the get go.
I opt to keep the blue right most unit back out of threat range, reasoning they need to survive a while and contest the right zone while I push to score the centre and leftside.
The red Pressgangers are in the centre, I send forward three deliberately in threat range to bait out some Doomies and feed Alexia, the rest stay as a line which the Bashers and Gorten mash into.
Khador 1: The Victor is anchoring the left, whilst the Doomies are basically straight across from the Pressgangers with murder donkeys behind.
Courtesy of the theme, Hand of Fate starts on the Donkeys, while the Victor has Assail and Arcane Might is on Vlad.
The Doomies come forward, centrally a pair run in to try to Berserk down the Pressgangers. They perform dismally and only pop one. The Victor moves up, lobs a fire shot that pings the back line of Red Pressgangers and the Bashers. 20 inches aye? Wasn't prepped for that.
Merc 2: Stuff isn't engaged enough to be worth feating, Vlad looks to be heading to hide behind the large forest so it's time to throw stuff forward and see how much dies.
Centrally fire and tough resolves, luckily the Lass lives so command range isn't an issue. They charge up and eat some Doomreavers, returning their losses who emerge from Shanghai in front of them to gum up the works.
The Gunners were running around the forest on my side of the board, they move past it this turn and ping Doomies with shots.
Alexia spawns some Thralls then repos back.
After the shots were resolved the Thralls were meant to kill the remaining two Doomies in the unit to stop them coming back. 7's to hit can be a bad time as they flail badly and miss.
One Kayazy unit runs in front of Gorten, who is otherwise camping four.
Rightwise the Blue Pressgangers likewise engage while one Basher toes the right zone.
Anastasia comes into the backfield, goes in and charges a Murder Donkey and kills it. I've faced those stupid things with Hand of Fate, I'll happily kill one in a min unit for Anastasia.
Khador 2: The reds begin with some umming and arring. About my imminent doom.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOv-eDCvmJwA_2GhfqjT7luys-vdJ0C6XjhaMrT64zKzAYV1_miXu-soehymca3mXe1r3rSNo1RHIGkm_kG83iMlCEMBdmEbiNFheWQNtbv2m2NgJ2z08gdzkgr95RzUsaZX_E4H0mcn34/s1600/thinking.gif[/img]
It's all about how many Doomreavers can Apparate forward without spliching themselves and get to Gorten, albeit after cutting down the Eliminators in front of him. Vlad can feat/Arcane Might to boost the attacks. Two were a definite, three was a maybe.
After a fair chunk of measuring, the third Doomreaver looks in doubt so it gets panned as a plan. Was a little sad about that, it seemed like a low odds run and would get the damn super juice feat out of the way. Calculated it afterward, two Doomies have less than 1%, three of them get up to 25%, not accounting for the Kayazy in the way, not that a boosted 7 is that much of a barrier.
I could have just cast rockwall and been immune to the run, honestly did not think about that spell at all.
It's attrition time instead. Doomreavers kill off Alexia's Thralls, the left side Ternion unit generate some Doomreavers.
Victor either aims or stays relatively back, pops a shot into....a Basher I think? It wasn't a super concern.
Vlad hides behind the forest, the Murder Donkeys satisfy themselves with killing Anastasia.
The right side has a muted advance, leaving about 4ish Doomies contesting the zone. The single enemy Eliminator unit can in to kill some Pressgangers, a Ternion throws whatever the cloud generation spell is (It's those super lame ones that go away when you pop the model).
Definitely no chance of Khador scoring, so no points scored (A couple Doomies went into the left zone to contest it).
Merc 3: I do a less scientific version of weighing up if I can kill Vlad.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPVXHn-94RXCbT0gIgmpjB9-wqLDR_taut08T09VV3H1vJXdzPdJz-ObUPelvXSHyyYHqAYc6YbySuejsWmwewxeEgYWCaWbWV7DaqIDDUCI6NMeWQpXqy818zUCu1fJX31KqSSVL1T_d/s1600/thinking.gif[/img]
He's behind the forest with half a dozen Doomreavers in front of him.
Feat would easily drag him into line of sight of stuff on the right, however it doesn't look like I'll get anything super hard punching on him. Given the Victor has hung back, scenario is a better play anyway.
Gorten moves up in the centre zone, feats on the Victor, Vlad and a host of Doomreavers, sending them away.
On the left Acosta kills the enemy objective, the Gun Bunnies pop the Ternions while the Pressgangers Shanghai Doomies. Importantly the Victor is further than two inches away, so can't possibly get in to contest.
Centrally the Bashers run around Gorten, Alexia pops out more Thralls that clean up nearby models.
Rightwise the Spray Bunny kills the enemy Kayazy, Pressgangers Shanghai some Doomreavers.
I get the objective, left and centre zone, now 3-0.
Khador 3: Vlad feats on Doomreavers, who finagle their way into the left and centre zone.
The right most unit isn't hampered in the same way, so it comes in and kills my objective, spray donkeys kill one of my own Kayazy units.
Alas, in doing something in place of running, Vlad was stuck in the killbox.
Score is now 5-1.
Merc 4: A bunny and Gorten kill the feated on Doomies in the centre zone, Acosta kills the one in the left. 7-1 Scenario.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6bbTOyWIUG-tnqTfskZlaTZovsmG2kvC7unVQ09-xNlFa7z4VQVVgeaQBlowg5N0cOEQbVh205Lvv0-sXKIxThN0HVOXG_BDRjqH2TYiXcSpArUdkdqIV2QOXzIYBV7ccJJK5llRcZ5Q/s1600/s3+%2528640x361%2529+%2528640x361%2529.jpg[/img]
Team wise we pip this one out 3-2, so things look on track for middle of the table placement goal.
