Once more into the Circle breach! Ol' Kreugy boy, my nemesis from mark 2 (In the sense that I would have been one of those minor characters thrown in to protect the Star Metal piece on a side quest created by Nale).
I was happy to play either Winion list, did Maelok against circle last time so Rask it is.
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
Krueger2 - Megalith, 2x Wolwardens, Fulcrum, 2x Wells, 2x Stone Shapers, 2x Shifting Stones, 2x Sentry Stones, Mistspeaker, Blackclad, Gallows Grove
Playing on once-upon-an-outlast, so central rectangle, defensible objectives, circle zones on either side.
Bodgy terrain time, as we played in the crib instead of the local watering hole. Biggest thing being an obstruction, represented by a flamboyant tree on a chunk of steel, of height enough to block Huge bases which is different from our normal choices.
I lost the roll and got first, giving me said tall obstruction. I also get a cloud and some rubble, Circle gets a forest that allows easy contesting of the centre and a rightside fog lot. There's some water on the Circle side of no import.
There's also a forest in the middle of the left zone either side can use.
Winion 1: Let's make this opening Dreamfast convo super awkward
Blank bases are the Wells.
Stuff runs up staying shy of the 14" pew pew of the wells, no point getting shot for free when it wasn't denying me that much board space.
Dahlia and Snek go out on the left, Ninja Pig heads up the centre. I had dreams of the Efaarits chilling out and pinging the wells, realistically they don't do enough to be worth. Standard problem with Structures/Battle Engines, not much value to dinging it when it is as effect on 1% health as it is on 100%.
Circle 1: Onward stickmen soldiers, marching as to war, with the lame wellwishes of Krueger going on before.
Manikins move up on the left, Krueger and Megalith stay back away from Ninja range. Fulcrum shuffles up a bit, Woldwardens go behind the forests. Both Wells pop out Tharn punchy dudes.
Winion 2: Efaarits are heroes
Step 1, as always per our Mark 2 Circle trauma training, take out the damn Shifting Stones. This is the turn our feat can have an impact, so that'll pop as well. Telekinesis can muck the feat interactions up a little, so popping the Gallows Grove is also a necessity.
The Efaarits get re-rolls, one off a pot and another off Eilish. Most models move around to accomodate the Efaarits having a path to get to the relevant areas, Big Pig moves up to behind the obstruction. I move the Wrastler to the wrong spot, blocking the spot I intended for Rask to hug, ergo the warlock ends up not hugging the obstruction. Feats up, so not the end of the world.
Skarath moves up to toe the left zone, I'd hoped to spray the Gallows and the Tharn solo, alas the spray could not be lined up properly so it just nuked the Grove.
One Efaarit moves up the centre, caps a Shifting Stone and repos back, the other pokes around the obstruction to do the same.
One Boneswarm moves up aggressively with max corpses and Admonition up on the left at the max extent of Rasks control to pull something in. One Boneswarm with Fury moves up into the rubble.
Circle 2: T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-kaaaaaay
Green proxy is Brine.
On the left, the Admonitioned Bone Swarm starts getting surrounded by Manikins so he Admo's forward, my thinking being that he would now be out of Rasks control and could lure stuff in. Instead it just gets dinged up by teh Fulcrum and Tharn solo, losing Body.
Centrally, we have Telekinesis for days from Wolds and Krueger. Tragically Ninja Pig was not in a suitably safe place, should have been behind the obejctive. He gets TKed around. The Fury Bone Swarm, intended to take advantage of the Admonitioned bait, is instead TKed around and most of my list is pushed and affected by Kruegers feat. Rats.
Rightwise Manikins just gun up Boneswarms.
So much of my stuff moved around and first I thought I missed the Circle turn.
No scores.
Winion 3: Kenobi Cauldron, you're my mild hope.
Alrighty, turns out the Admonition position was terrible, should have been central. Not to worry, our primary plan is to drag in a Wold with a Cauldron, kill it with a Boneswarm and be sitting pretty attritionally. We'll scenario push on the right as it doesn't have an annoying forest in the centre of it to allow simple contesting.
Leftwise, the former Admo Swarm shuffles back into Rasks control after passing its Threshold check and flails at the Tharn solo who has no issues face tanking it.
Skarath toes the zone and vomits away the remaining Manikin on this side. Dahlia runs up to be behind the forest, specifically out of line of sight of the Well.
Centrally, the Pot moves across to get the angle, lands the drag on the Wold Warden, if I drag it 2 inches the Bone Swarm might be in, 3+ and it definitely is. Making the die roll of a 1 particularly problematic, the Warden is to far to where Rask wants to hide so it must die. Sorry Big Pig, you must go away for the greater good.
Big Pig gets Rage/Boundless, Smoke popped to fix facing, easily smooshes the Warden.
Rask ends up hiding behind the objective and putting down his cloud.
The Efaarits split to either side, one kills another Shifting stone, the other pot shots something I forget.
Rightwise, the Bone Swarms just wiggle past Manikins to threaten the length of the zone as a Cauldron moves up with it.
Lastly, the Bog Trog Ambusher pops in from the side table and tries to murder the Stone Shaper, sadly missing.
Scoring is...like....an optional way to play I guess.
Circle 3: Just the Woldy life
Leftwise, the Fulcrum toes the zone then tries to AoE and Lightning Dahlia to death, the tranfers end up killing Skarath. Sorry my precious scaled pet. Well and the Tharn pop the Boneswarm.
Dahlia is my only contesting model, so the friendship of the cold blooded is not in vain.
Centrally, Krueger moves behind the forest and TK's Big Pig in, Meg's then comes in and punches him to death before TKing backward. The other Wold comes in and pops Animus, so can't be dragged anywhere.
Rightwise a Well shot and the Tharn solo kill a Boneswarm as the Shifting Stones jump in front of the other.
The Stone Shaper and Sentry try and fail to kill the Bog Trog Ambusher.
Circle clock out this turn, though we carry on.
I turn out to be the king of numptyness, as I never activated the Fury'ed Boneswarm so he is facing the completely wrong way. Yikes.
Winion 4: A most valid point, to the Watsonian machine!
The Bog Trog Ambusher has bought me a scoring opportunity, hazzah! My Fury Boneswarm failure might be game ending attrition wise, hoe noes!
On the left, the Efaarit moves up and rolls like a god to kill the (Albeit already damaged from friendly attacks) Sentry Stone. I clock out on that zone, Dahlia, the Efaarit and a Bone Swarm are now contesting it and only Krueger is in a position to (suicidally) score it, so now it's push up on the right.
Centrally, given the Bone Swarm can't go in we have to send in the Wrastler, which usually means we are down to the dregs. Attritionally I don't like how it is looking, nothing has the time to kill the Wells.
The Bog Trog Ambusher isn't engaged by anything, so cheeckily walks around the back and goes for a long odds harpoon shot on Krueger (To many TK's and gun shots for the anti-range spell to be up). Alas he misses, would have been hilarious.
The Cauldron kills the left Tharn.
Wrastler gets Ghostly and roided up, goes into the Warden and almost sods it up. Sometime the Defence doesn't need to be that high it turns out. Manages it with max Fury.
Rask backpedals a bit and throws up a cloud.
Rightwise Efaarit pops the Tharn, Boneswarm kills the Shifting Stones and the Swamp Gobbers toe the zone.
I go up 1-0. Now ready for tie breakers.
Circle 4: LEAVE THE BOG TROG AMBUSHER ALONE!
Left Boneswarm gets shot up. Megalith kills the Wrastler, Krueger stays behind the forest, the Bog Trog Ambusher is killed by the Stoneshaper, Sentry Stone contests and kills one of the Swamp Gobbers.
Winion 4: The Murdering
Boneswarm can see Krueger who has no transfer targets. Gets all the buffs, easily goes in and murders him.
Attrition was a bit sketchy at the end, Rageless Bone Swarms have a harder time killing Heavies. Plus the right Bone Swarm frenzied, which obliterated the chance of it killing the Sentry Stone on the right, not that we were in any serious scenario position at this time.
Still happy with the list, though this bizarre new knack I've got of not activating one important model on critical set up turns is going to get old fast.
