So.....the thing about mocking the 3 huge base list is that you just might then have to play into a list with 6. Battle Engines for daaaaaays.
Rask1 - Gator Soul Slave, Wrastler, 4x Bone Swarms, Rorsh/Brine, Dahlia/Skarath, 2x Efaarit Scouts, 2x Spirit Cauldron + Pot Pusher, Swamp Gobbers, Witch Doc, Eilish, Bone Shrine
vs
Reznik2 - Judicator, Assault Chariot, Siege Chariot, 2x Winterguard Gun Carriage, min Choir, Vilmon, Hedgehold Scroll dude, Mechanik, Wrack
What's that? I left this sitting in draft at this point for five days and now need to hammer this out before another game ejects the pitiful scraps of available brain memory? Well, this Snozberry isn't a strudel.
Anyway, this looks like an absolutely dreadful matchup for Maelok. Spell Piercer, RFP feat, loads of armour right after I decide to pull the Wrastler out? No thanks. The Dracodile can blind battle engines and that's about it.
Need to give the Rask list a spin anyway, been to long since I've had the joy of trading up cheapo models.
Win the roll, take first. Lack of units on both sides makes the Anarchy scenario....precarious? This is basically what the Swamp Gobbers are really for, given Rask can pop like a rotted peach if he moves forward to score anything.
Table has a current forests in the centre, I have some water of mild impediment and a safety wall. Menoth gets some terrain of little import given the number of huge bases (I'm assuming they picked that side for a less annoying wall for them to move around).
Minion 1: I hope you like your proxies to come in "garish"
Hoo boy. Left to right.
Yellow Rhino/Vessel of Judgement = Winterguard Gun Carriages
1st Blank Base with paper = Siege Chariot
Church = Reznik2
Judicator = Judicator. Well, there you go.
2nd Blank base with paper = Assault Chariot
Everything runs up. Bone Swarms lead out up the middle, I'm expecting a weird placement game of Bone Swarm threat vs Lamentation impeding Rask throwing out Buffs. Fury and Admonition both go on different swarms.
Ninja Pig goes up the left, Dahlia and sneaky snek go up the right. Efaarit and Wrastler hide behind the right most forest lest the Judicator intend to drift some rando shots.
Menoth 1: Forward wheeled contraptions of doom, you goblin machine of madness, those religously inclined in a horsey way
Everything moves up, one Gun Carriage goes further than the rest and intrudes into the left zone. Everything else makes moves to stay out of my threat ranges for the most part, sacrifice detected.
Reznik puts up Lamentation and moves to just barely tag Rask while not getting into murder range. This is the point where I realised I put Ninja Pig in a silly spot, he should have run to the centre in my unpack.
Scroll dude everyone is proxying at WTC goes toward the left, the other non-huge models are on the right.
Minion 2: Dangit, wit of the staircase moment
On the one hand, I like "Steal my Sunshine". On another, the band shares the name of a boss who was a tosser. On the third hand, I'd have to be a mutant. The Chrysalid's is surprisingly hard to get through, keep nodding off.
The plans are simple, feat with Rask to stop Reznik feating and maximising his murder, kill the forward Gun Carriage and if possible ding up the Siege Chariot. Of the two Man-O-Wars thingies, the Slam gun feels more threatening than the blasts.
Rask is in Lamentation range, so he upkeeps Admonition for free with the Slave and walks back, throws out Fury/Rage on the left Boneswarm. The left pot Sauces up to max Corpses and moves those to the same missile boyo. Soul Slave gives it Boundless Charge. Eilish gives re-rolls (Not all Bone Swarms are treated equally).
The Bone Missile goes into the Carriage, snake eyes to miss, free charge, damage dice +1. Maxes Fury, overkills it by a box. Hawt.
Only other real attacks of consequence this turn are the Efaarit, who I thought might have finish the Carriage off. Instead they plink the Assault Chariot for about 8ish points and repo back.
Everything else just moves around for next turn, the Admonition Bone Swarm moves up to be annoying, the Wrastler stays behind the forest to see where the Judicator ends up (Colossals are a stretch to far for a Bone Missile, needs the pure Gator to go in).
I screw up with Skarath, getting dreams of Counterblasting for free, so he charges into the forest with Dahlia's spell giving him Prowl, however I fail to think it through and the Snake ends up outside of Rasks control/feat. Whoops.
I also just straight up forget to activate Rorsh and Brine. Skills.
Menoth 2: Honestly, I always found caring about them actually being "Protectorate" to be a bit weird
There's a series of umming and arring. The great thing about the Bone Swarm suicides is that by default they are in control for feat, which means that sometimes, as in this situation, the disposable missile (Who was dead in my heart the instance it was committed) actually has good survival odds.
The Gun Carriage and both chariots end up just running forward and getting up in my business. There were dreams of the Siege Chariot slamming a Swarm into Eilish, alas the relevant Beast was the Admonitioned one so that was a no go. I did proc Admonition to move said Boneswarm forward a bit.
The Scroll Bearer Hengehold whatsit dude toes the left zone to ensure contesting (It being the side I'm clearly intending to score with the Swamp Gobbers).
The Judicator charges in and easily kills Skarath, Reznik toes the right zone to score and the War Doge goes to the Menoth flag.
Menoth score the right zone and their flag, 0-2.
Losing Skarath wasn't a big deal, not contesting the zone was irksome. Should have sat Dahlia on the edge with all her transfers. She'd have been attackable as Rasks control area is only so big, feels okay with her defence and transfers up.
Minion 3: The Alien invasion is a stress test
There's a lot of meat/metal in my grill. Going to struggle to kill enough to keep Rask safe, and he needs to contribute his buffs.
Starting out on the left. In an ideal world the zone gets cleared as well, that seems unrealistic alas.
The Bone Swarm hero from last round was dinged up by the Gun Carriage, burns a corpse to heal up and has Fury upkept on it for free. Goes into the Gun Carriage, obviously not as super buffed as last turn though still manages to decently ding it up.
Big Pig gets Boundless Charge from the Soul Slave and Rage from Rask, charges in and finishes off the Carriage without a couple Fury to spare. Ideally he goes in without the damage buff however that felt risky with the Scroll Bearer nearby.
The Bog Trog Ambusher appeared, his attempt to drag the Scroll bearer out of the zone is foiled by the ignore damage once a turn and I get can't other attacks on him, let alone the requisite 5 needed. Rats, no scoring that bit for me.
Centrally Rask shuffles across and burns his other 4 Fury casting Fury/Rage on the Wrastler. Rask then pulls off a Fury from the Bone Shrine, I fail the Curse roll so.....woot.
It takes an Efaarit shot and two Bones Swarms going high on Fury to kill the Siege Chariot.
Rightwise, the Wrastler gets pathfinder off the objective, shuffles to engage the Assault Chariot and Judicator. Claws the Chariot for a bit, puts all its bites into the Judicator. The Judicator survives on three boxes, is then finished off by the Spirit Cauldron boosting a magic pew pew into it. Said Cauldron and Dahlia move to hem the Assault Chariot in as I've now scraped the bottom of the pan so much for attacks that I've punched through.
The Bone Swarm that Admonitioned forward casts Swarm and lumbers over to contest the flag where the War Dog gets a brief nip in from a Countercharge before returning.
I score my flag, 1-2.
Menoth 3: That's a nice warlock. Would be a shame if something were to.....NUKE IT WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR A MONOLOGUE
Attritionally and on scenario Menoth are screwed. My next turn I'll have some neutering from the sheer and immense amount of Fury I have on the table, I'll still easily have enough to clear out the left zone then run Rask to safety, it's hail mary assassination time.
It's finagled that Reznik 2 has to come in, crit knockdown the Wrastler from the mount attack and nuke the Witch Doc to allow the Assault Chariot to get a line on Rask.
Alas, it fails from the get go as Rezzy comes in and doesn't get the crit. Rask is Cursed and Flesh is Weak attempts are made, they fall short and that is that.
Oh Boneswarms how I have missed you. Making pretty basic screwups vis a vis contesting properly and some execution finagles that dice basically solved for me, so working on those areas of play to be done. Currently happy with Rask list, for the most part, though the amount of support bits might be worth a look at.
Don't like the Reznik list personally, seems unlikely to ever have an even matchup. Would really want to drop a couple Huge bases for some fighty units.
