(It's really long, but well worth the read. On google docs, it's 32 pages, but only because of the incredibly well-documented battlereport that's told like History Channel's documentary of D-Day. You'll enjoy it.)
75
Points: Cygnar (Siege) vs. Trollbloods (Grim2)
Hello fellow wargamers! Alan O’Bryan
here (Arizona_Troll), and I’m honored and excited to be posting
this guest Battle Report on Dice of the First Degree. You can
find me on Twitter at @Irish_Al or check out more pictures of my
model at www.whpictures.blogspot.com.
I hope you enjoy this report!
My good friend Travis wanted to duke it
out at 75 points, and we thought it was a perfect opportunity to
bring the big boys! So the rules of this engagement were:
1) 75 point lists, 1 caster
2) You must bring exactly one colossal
or gargantuan.
3) Each round we would crack open a beer, split it between glasses,
and enjoy the experience of playing a great game with a good friend.
As the sun sets in the distance,
Grim Angus looks on from his hiding place in the woods at the columns
of Cygnaran troops marching down the road. From their activity, he
knows that advance scouts have already spotted his own forces camped
in the hills nearby. Surely they will not leave his forces at the
rear and march on. In the morning he best have his troops ready for
battle. Before turning to leave, Grim notices a familiar sight.
Trollkin march with the humans wearing Greygore Boomhowler’s
Quitari. Grim smiles as a plan forms in his mind.
##########
Greygore Boomhowler and his
mercenary Trollkin camp at the edge of the forest, set apart from the
main Cygnar tents and fires. No matter how much they pay, they
Cygnarans still don’t quite accept he and his troops as friends. He
can’t blame them, for he’s had his share of battles against the
Swans in his days as a mercenary. He takes another bite of the dry,
tasteless rations. Dhunia knows that Cygnaran coin spends well, but
eating from their larder is almost a punishment.
A twig snaps behind him from the
edge of the forest. Greygore freezes.
“Grey. It’s been a long time,”
says a familiar voice. Without turning around, Greygore responds.
“Angus. Are you the one got these humans all riled up?”
Grim Angus steps from trees, careful
to watch for signs that he was spotted by the Swans.
“I have something for you, Grey.”
Grim tosses a bag in front of Greygore, the sound of coin clearly
ringing out. “Walk away from this fight. I’d hate for you to end
up in the belly of my Mountain King.”
Greygore laughs. “That’s hardly
more than what the Swans are paying. Surely I can’t risk my
reputation for the price of a few measly treats.” This was a lie.
By the looks of the bag, it was easily twice what Siege was paying
him. He finally turns around to look at Grim, who is holding a large
sack over one shoulder. A barrel of Borka’s finest brew sits at his
feet.
“Is that...”
“Salt pork. Fresh roasted boar.
And a keg of a real Troll drink. Not this ... water... the humans
serve.”
The two Trollkin smile at one
another.
##########
At first light, the Cygnaran
trumpets blare, calling the army to formations. Leaving their tents
pitched and the morning fires still smoldering in the pits, they
march towards the Trollkin lines hoping to catch them unprepared. It
is not to be. Lining the ridges across a shallow valley is a massive
Troll army, at least as large as Siege’s own.
A deafening roar echoes through the
valley, and a creature as tall as the hills comes into view. The
Cygnar lines waver slightly at the sight of such a humongous beast.
Siege begins to shout out orders to
get his troops moving and get their minds off of their fear.
“Lt. Marks. Get those Trollkin
mercenaries up in front of the Stormwall. I don’t want anything to
break through our lines there.”
“Um, sir. They’re gone.”
“What?”
“They left sometime during the
night. All they left behind was this.” Marks holds an empty ale
cask with Troll glyphs branded onto its surface. The top has been
removed, and rattling around inside is a pile of Cygnaran coin.
“Cursed mercenaries. Well, forget
them. We can’t leave this army on our flank. Prepare for
battle!”
*******
SCENARIO
AND DEPLOYMENT [Beer
Choice: Firestone Woodsy Jack]
Travis had first choice of beer, and
he chose a dark, flavorful IPA, suitable for contemplating dark deeds
and mourning the inevitable loss of comrades in the upcoming battle.
Scenario: Recon!
Dominate either flag for 1 CP.
Destroy/RFP opponent’s objective for
1 CP.
Control the zone for 1 CP, Dominate it
for 2 CP.
Kill Box: NO
Alan (Trollbloods) wins the roll. He
choose to go second while taking the side of the board with the hill.
This proved to be very important in the game. Travis (Cygnar) goes
first, Huge bases are deployed, and we go from there.
*******Travis somehow forgets to
unpack Greygore Boomhowler and Company. Thus, he plays down 9 points,
although neither of us realized it until the next day. *******
TURN
1: GETTING IN TO POSITION [Beer
Choice: New Belgium Trippel]
My choice of beers for the first
round. I chose a nice, sweet Belgian beer with a hint of Coriander.
Lighter than the last brew, this one is suitable for giving you
liquid courage without making you feel weighted down as you run up
the field towards the enemy.
Top of Turn 1: Cygnar (Travis)
“I want Rangers and Blazers on the
flanks!” Siege orders. “Harry their advance, and force them
towards the center! Move! Now!”
Allocation: 1 Focus to the Stormwall.
1. Tempest Blazers: Run into
the forest.
2. Rangers: Run up behind the
building.
3. Gun Mages: Run up to be
between the forest and the zone.
4. Forgeguard: Run forward and
create small pockets of models base to base with each other.
5. Stormwall: Spends a Focus to
run forward.
6. Stormlances: Run forward
into the forest.
7. Siege: Moves behind the Stormwall,
casts Foxhole over the Gun Mages.
8. Reinholdt: Moves up next to
Siege.
9. Piper: Gives fearless and
tough to the Forgeguard and moves up.
10. Squire: Moves up.
11. Stormblade Captain: Runs up
to toe into the Foxhole template.
12. Journeyman Warcaster: Moves
up, casts Arcane Shield on the Stormlances.
Travis spends his turn running most of
his stuff forward. The key aspects of this turn were casting Foxhole
to protect his Gunmages from getting shot at by the Bushwackers.
Also, he wasn’t happy about it, but he placed his cavalry in the
forest to protect them (Concealment with Arcane Shield) and to get
them in position for the next turn knowing that if they declared a
charge later that they would have Pathfinder thanks to the close
proximity of the Stormblade Captain.
Bottom of Turn 1: Trollbloods
(Alan)
Grim sends orders ahead for the
Burrowers to enact his battle plan, and gives his Fell Caller a nod.
The pieces are put in motion.
“Watch our flanks, my brethren,”
Grim says to his unit commanders. “Don’t let them box us in. We
can’t afford to give that colossal an easy shooting gallery. Stay
spread out!”
“Sir! Stormlances assembling in
the woods!”
“Dang!” Grim looks across the
valley. Sure enough, a unit of Stormlances are lining up for a
charge. Fennblades are great against most cavalry, but those
electrical bastards are a different story.
“Hold back, lads. Don’t move up
too far. Give our plan time to develop. Don’t make yourselves a
target!”
1. Bushwackers: Move up, 10-man CRA targeting the Stormwall.
At Dice+1 damage, they roll an 8 and inflict 9 damage to the
Stormwall. Damage goes onto the left side, column 3.
2. Warders: Run up to protect my flank.
3. Bomber: Riles and moves up behind the Bushwackers, toeing
the hill.
4. Burrowers: Burrow, move the Burrow Marker up 5 inches.
5. Runebearer: Shuffles back a bit.
6. Mountain King: Riles for 1 Fury, runs a little to the side
and then forward.
7. (Whelps (3 of 5 started in play): I don’t recall exactly
when I activated each one, but they just ran to their final positions
when necessary to get out of the way).
8. Fell Caller: Runs forward next to the Mountain King.
9. Fennblades: Run into position.
10. Hunters Grim: Moves behind the Mountain King, transfers 5
Fury to the Stone, reforms a bit to get into final position.
11. Stone: Activates, uses 1 Fury to create the Aura (with
Immunity to Continuous Effects), then moves to be between the
Mountain King, Bomber, and Warders to try to cover them all.
12. Sons of Bragg: Run behind the lines to be near the Stone.
I had intended to shoot some Gunmages
with a couple of CRAs from the Bushwackers, maybe even using my feat
if I thought I could really decimate the Pistoleers. However, Foxhole
put a damper on those plans. So, since he didn’t put Arcane Shield
on the Stormwall, and without any other great targets, I decided to
put a big shot into his Stormwall, hopefully scaring him enough to
switch Arcane Shield to it. In games like this I tend to ignore the
Stormwall and try to pick apart the rest of the army, so having
Arcane Shield on him is preferable to me than having on it a powerful
cavalry unit. The tactic worked (see Turn 2). I was also very afraid
of his Stormlances charging my Fennblades. I’ve seen that play out
before...assault shots, electro leap, plus melee attacks and more
electroleap if he can get there. That’s not a fun scenario for my
low defense, low armor troops. So I played very cautiously on that
side of the table to limit his options. I also shifted Grim and my
support towards the center of the table. I had intended to use the
Runebearer to put Mirage on the Fennblades, but completely forgot
when the time came. Alas.
TURN
2: BLOOD IS SPILLED [Beer
Choice: Sharkinator White IPA]
A fitting beer name for the
beginning of the killing, Travis chose this wheat IPA to celebrate
the pain and bloodshed he wanted to inflict on my Trollbloods.
Top of Turn 2: Cygnar (Travis)
“Clever Trolls!” Siege growls.
“They sit there on their hill and refuse to give us an opening. Do
we know who their commander is yet?”
“No sir.”
“Well find out! I feel like I’m
fighting blind! I need to know what we’re up against.”
Allocation: 2 Focus to the Stormwall.
Gains 1 Focus from the Squire
1. Tempest Blazers: Move up and choose electro leap for their
shots, firing at the Bushwackers. His dice failed him. Needing 6s or
8s (depending if the Bushwackers were on the hill), he missed 2 of
his 4 shots (the 5th was out of range). Thanks to some tough checks
and one hit failing to break armor thanks to the Stone, the Blazers
had to retreat after killing only 2 Pygs.
2. Gunmages: Move up, and those that can do so took shots at
the Bushwackers. More poor dice rolling, and they end their
activation having felled only 1 Bushwacker.
3. Forgeguard: Run up, keeping in small base to base
groupings.
4. Stormwall: Moves up, shoots his small machine guns at the
Bushwackers. Gets one shot from one arc, kills 1 Bushwacker. Rolls
two shots with the other arc, misses the first shot, hits with the
second shot, but the Bushwacker makes his tough check. The Stormwall
then fires his big guns into the Bomber. The first shot hits, and
with boosted damage puts 4 damage into the Bomber, column 3. He
misses his second shot, having saved the last Focus to boost damage
if he hit.
5. Rangers: Run into position to draw the attention of the
Fennblades (hopefully).
6. Siege: Moves up, casts Foxhole over the Gunmages again.
7. Stormblade Captain: Runs up into the Foxhole template.
8. Journeyman Warcaster: Moves up and casts Arcane Shield on
the Stormwall.
9. Piper: Move and gives fearless and tough to the
Forgeguard.
10. Reinholdt: Moves a bit.
11. Squire: Moves a bit.
12. Stormlances: Activate and stay where they are.
It should be noted that Travis spent a
long, long time thinking before starting his turn. His comment: “You
have left me with no good targets this turn.” I guess I did my job
then. :-) He really wanted to shoot my Warders with Brutal shots from
the Blazers, but was afraid of giving them Pathfinder on the next
turn so that they could perhaps engage his Blazers through the
forest. He was very worried about losing his entire unit of
Stormlances on the following turn if he moved them up, but knew that
if he left them where they were that he would lose the front rank to
Burrowers next turn. He decided to take that route, although he
admitted later that he didn’t count on me getting to his Stormblade
Captain (see Bottom of Turn 2). Note that he chose not to shoot with
his Rangers because he did not want to trigger Vengeance for only
killing a couple of models.
Bottom of Turn 2: Trollbloods
(Alan)
Grim Angus can feel the unrelenting
hunger of the Mountain King, pulling constantly at their fragile
bond. Its hunger is so deep and raw that Grim himself begins to
salivate, his stomach growling. He quickly quiets the urges, but the
beast is hard to contain.
So far the two sides have been
positioning for battle, only exchanging probing blows. Grim is
waiting for the sign...
There it is! A pygmy troll leaps out
of the ground near the Cygnaran cavalry. The army’s Fell Caller,
prepared with the order, bellows out a rousing shout, and the
Burrowers charge, emboldened by the powerful call.
Grim smiles. He turns to look at the
Fennblades on his flank, awaiting their orders. He gives them the
signal for a cautious advance.
During the Maintenance Phase I placed
the Burrowers between the building and the Gun Mages with one trooper
model back within 4” of the Effigy of Valor (so the Burrowers would
be Fearless this round and so that the Fell Caller could use War Cry
on them.)
1. Fell Caller: Moves up behind the objective, gives War Cry
to the Burrowers for +2 MAT.
2. Mountain King: Sacrifices movement to Aim (targeting the
Objective to line up his shot), his spray catches two Gunmages
(including the Officer) and, after boosting to hit on both and
succeeding, the Gunmages’ heads explode with the force of the cry.
3. Burrowers: Receive a Charge! order. They slam into
the front line of Stormlances, killing the two closest. I also get
one Burrower into the Stormblade Captain and, after hitting with both
attacks, slay him. A couple of Burrowers charge the Gunmages as well,
killing one.
4. Bushwackers: Receive a Run! order and move up to
engage the Forgeguard. They began their activation next to the Effigy
of Valor, so they were fearless for the next round.
5. Warders: Run towards the center of the table to protect my
beasts and hold the line.
6. Bomber: Riles and moves up behind the Warders.
7. Runebearer: Moves a bit, uses Harmonious Exultation.
8. (Whelps: I don’t recall exactly when I activated each
one, but they just ran to their final positions when necessary to get
out of the way).
9. Stone: Activates, uses 1 Fury to create the Aura (with
Immunity to Continuous Effects), then moves to be behind the Bomber.
10. Sons of Bragg: Run to the edge of the hill.
11. Hunters Grim: Casts Mirage on the Fennblades, moves
towards the hill, places 2 Fury on the Krielstone unit, Reform to
their final position.
12. Fennblades: Receive a Charge! order. Three
Fennblades charge the Rangers and, with good rolls to hit, kill two
of them. The rest run into position.
I knew this would be an important turn.
I had to kill as much as possible before Siege used his feat. With
the Forgeguard bearing down on me, I sacrificed what was left of the
Bushwackers as a possible screen in front of the Dwarfs, and getting
them engaged was the best protection from the Tempest Blazers
removing them trivially. I moved my Sons of Bragg to the opposite
side of the field to threaten his Blazers with the assault spray and
so I could use my Warders to hold the center instead of just chasing
the Blazers around the board all day. At this point Travis was
starting to get nervous. [He even made the comment that he felt
like he just didn’t have enough models on the table. I asked him
“Are you sure you built a 75 point list?” He said, “Yeah, and
quickly tallied up most of his army, showing that without even
counting everything he was already above 60 points. If only he’d
actually added up ALL of his points, he would have realized at this
point that the Boomhowlers were missing. But neither of us noticed.]
TURN
3: WHEN WIDOWS ARE MADE [Beer
Choice: Firestone Easy Jack IPA]
Turn 2 wasn’t kind to Travis, so I
picked an easy-drinking IPA for our fourth beer, something really
drinkable to help him drown his sorrows.
Top of Turn 3: Cygnar (Travis)
Siege can hear the screams of his
men as the lines clash. These damned Trollkin are one tough lot,
he’ll grant them that. Siege still isn’t completely sure who is
leading them. He steps around the Stormwall to get a better look, and
catches sight of a Troll with a large rifle and cap pulled low to
shield his eyes.
“Grim Angus,” Siege grumbles,
taking cover behind the glowing stone effigy. Taking stock of the
battlefield, it’s clear that Grim is out of range. Choosing his
shot carefully to free up his mercenary Dwarf company, he shouts the
order.
“Charge! Hit their lines and
collapse their middle. Go! Go! Go!”
Allocation: 2 Focus to the Stormwall.
Gains 1 Focus from the Squire
Journeyman Warcaster upkeeps Arcane
Shield on the Stormwall.
1. Tempest Blazers: Move up and shoot at the Stone unit. They
kill one scribe (forcing me to remove 1 Fury from the unit), and
another scribe makes his Tough check. The other shots either miss or
are out of range.
2. Siege: Moves up next to the objective and uses Ground
Pounder to kill some of the Bushwackers engaging the Forgeguard.
3. Stormwall: Rolls poorly with his secondary weapons, only
killing one Bushwacker (his other attacks he made at the Sons of
Bragg I think and missed). He hits the Bomber with his big guns, and
the bomber takes a total of 8 damage from two hits. The two remaining
purchased whelps are placed into play from the damage. The Bomber’s
Body is “out” and he has some damage to his Spirit. The Stormwall
places a Storm Pod that kills a Bushwacker and puts two damage into a
Warder.
4. Forgeguard: They receive a Charge! order. They
crash into the front lines of the Warders and kill two of the mighty
heroes. They also kill all but two of the remaining Bushwackers. [The
Bushwackers were Fearless this turn and automatically passed their
morale check.]
5. Journeyman Warcaster: Stands still and uses his Handcannon
to shoot at the closest Burrower. His shot misses.
6. Rangers: Run back towards the Forest. One takes a free
strike from a Fennblade and dies.
7. Stormlances: Receive a Charge! order. Between free
strikes, assault shots, and charge attacks, they murder most of the
Burrowers. [The Burrowers were Fearless this round, and so
automatically passed their morale check.]
8. Gun Mages: Charge into combat and kill one Bushwacker and
one Burrower.
9. Piper: Tough and Fearless on the Forgeguard.
10. Reinholdt: Moves a bit, does nothing.
11. Squire: Does nothing.
What sums up this turn, in Travis’s
words: “I just didn’t kill enough stuff at all. Okay, go ahead
and murder me now.” He wasn’t really mad. That’s just Travis.
:-) [Somewhere along the way a whelp was killed from electro leap I
think, but I can’t remember where, and forgot to remove him from
the following diagram. There should only be three next to the
Bomber.]
Bottom of Turn 3: Trollbloods
(Alan)
The Cygnaran Warcaster had stepped
up into the middle of the fray, coming out from behind his massive
warjack. Knowing that this signaled an important turning point in the
battle, Grim extends his focus and skill, lending accuracy to his
army.
“Fire at Will!” he shouts.
“Collapse the left flank, and drive off that blasted cavalry!”
Grim upkeeps Mirage, and the Fennblades
each are placed within two inches of their current locations (heading
towards the Cygnar lines).
1. Stone Unit: Spend 1 Fury (3 remaining) to create the Aura
(with +1 STR), moved up to the side of the Bomber and behind the
Warders.
2. Burrowers: Burrowed beneath the ground and moved the
Burrow Marker within a couple inches of Siege.
3. Runebearer: Used Harmonious Exultation.
4. Hunters Grim: Moved up to the middle of the hill and made
Cygnar “Smell His Troll Feat!” He then shot the closest
Tempest Blazer not in the forest, Boosting the hit but not the
damage. The Blazer died. Grim then cast Mortality on the Forgeguard,
choosing not to boost. The spell landed. The unit reformed back a bit
and ended their activation. Grim had 2 Fury remaining.
5. Bomber: Ate three whelps to heal 6 damage from his body.
Threw his first bomb into the Dwarf behind the Lightning Pod. His hit
landed. He purchased a second shot and threw into the group of four
Forgeguard in front of the Stormwall. I can’t recall what rolls I
boosted, but he ended with 3 Fury on him and the result was that two
nearby Dwarfs and the Pod were destroyed, as well as the entire group
of four Dwarfs next to the Stormwall. My rolls were pretty good, but
Mortality removing tough and dropping their armor really hurt them.
6. Fell Caller: Moved around the objective and gives War Cry
to the Fennblades for +2 MAT. He then tried to spray the Gunmages,
but he missed his attacks.
7. Sons of Bragg: They Fell Call: Fervor for +2 to attack and
damage rolls. Tor charges the Tempest Blazer on the edge of the
forest, and his assault spray kills the poor chap. He catches another
Blazer in the spray template, hits, and does 4 damage to him (leaving
him with 1 remaining wound). Rhudd charges the Blazer in the forest,
but fails his charge because of needing to move through the forest.
Wrathar runs to engage the same Blazer.
8. Fennblades: Receive a Charge! order along with the
No Quarter “mini-feat”. They kill the remaining Stormlances and
one Ranger. The Rangers failed their command check against Terror.
The Fennblade Officer also killed one of the remaining Gun Mages, who
automatically passed their command check because of their proximity
to the Effigy of Valor.
9. Bushwacker: The remaining Bushwacker turn around and shot
a Dwarf, killing him.
10. Warders: Receive a Charge! order. One Warder hits
the Stormwall for 2 damage, another Warder kills a Forgeguard Dwarf,
and the last Warder misses his attack against a Gun Mage.
11. Mountain King: Moved up, sprayed towards the objective.
The spray was short, but that target was just being used to line up
the spray to catch a Gun Mage (and miss my troops). Boosting to hit,
the Mountain King murdered the Gun Mage.
12. Whelps: The remaining whelp ran up into the zone.
Again, I knew it was important to kill
as much as possible since Siege hadn’t used his feat yet (and so it
was obviously coming next turn). Thus, I decided to make Travis
“SMELL MY TROLL FEAT!” this turn. The turn was a good one.
When I asked Travis to comment on this turn, he said “What happened
is that you pretty much collapsed one side of the table and probably
won the game.” I felt pretty comfortable leaving Grim on the hill
with two transfers considering he would be DEF18 vs. shooting. Travis
didn’t know it yet, but I was setting him up for a Mountain
King-assisted assassination attempt next turn...
TURN
4: FINISH HIM! [Beer
Choice: Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale]
It was Travis’s turn to pick the
beer, and he knew he needed some help to pull out a win. And what
better fuel than that little extra Sumpin’ Sumpin’ that comes
with a truly excellent brew?
Top of Turn 4: Cygnar (Travis)
“Sir, we must retreat!”
Siege glares at the journeyman
warcaster. No, retreat is not an option on this day. They still have
a Stormwall, and whatever that giant Troll is, they cannot leave it
alive to ravage the countryside. The innocent people of Cygnar will
NOT be left to fill this creature’s belly.
“No! We fight! Take aim, and give
them everything you’ve got boys!” Siege focuses and extends his
energy to infuse the troops around them, helping to guide their
attacks and maximize their damage. With a cry, he fires his cannon
and lays waste to a squad of Trollkin with huge swords running in his
direction.
“Keep it up men! We aren’t
beaten yet!”
Allocation: 2 Focus to the Stormwall.
Gains 1 Focus from the Squire
Journeyman Warcaster upkeeps Arcane
Shield on the Stormwall.
1. Gun Mages: Move back out of combat. Both die to free
strikes.
2. Reinholdt: Moves up and gives Siege Reload.
3. Siege: Activates his feat, then puts Ground Pounder down
into the large group of Fennblades nearby, killing a bunch of them
(one makes his tough check). He then takes his extra shot and kills
the Fell Caller.
4. Stormwall: With his left machine gun he killed one member
of the Stone Unit, and with his right machine gun he killed the
Fennblade Officer. He then proceeded to two-shot the Bomber into
oblivion. The first attack (under the feat) did 18 damage, and the
second shot finished him off. Grim reaved the Fury.
5. Forgeguard: Received a Charge! order. One Dwarf
killed a Warder, the other missed his attack.
6. Tempest Blazers: Received a Charge! order. One
damaged Rhudd for a few points, and another did 6 points of damage to
a Warder.
7. Rangers: Stayed where they were, rallied with a successful
command check.
8. Journeyman Warcaster: Shot the knocked down Fennblade who
Siege failed to kill and finished him off.
9. Piper: I think he just left him back and didn’t do
anything with him.
Travis killed a lot of stuff, but he
also opened up some clear lanes to Siege. Siege was camping 5 Focus,
and so was ARM 22. I think he should have moved Arcane Shield onto
Siege, but the beer might have been getting to him by this point. Or
perhaps he thought the game was lost and wasn’t fully engaged. Or
maybe it just didn’t occur to him. Who knows?
Bottom of Turn 4: Trollbloods
(Alan)
Grim moves up
and kneels next to the Effigy of Valor, feeling its magical energy
coursing through him. Trying to put it out of his mind, and ignoring
the distance cries of battle and barely restrained fury of the
Mountain King pulling at the bond, he exhales slowly and takes aim at
Siege, who is struggling to stand as Fennblade warriors scream
towards him. He squeezes the trigger, the bullet piercing Siege’s
shoulder. The warcaster falls again, and the Fennblades finish him
off. At his death, a trumpet blares, and the remaining Cygnaran
troops flee the battlefield.
Grim upkeeps Mirage, and the Fennblades
each are placed within two inches of their current locations (lining
up several for a charge against Siege and making sure to get the ).
The Burrowers popped out behind Siege.
1. Whelps: The one remaining whelp runs to within a few
inches of Siege.
2. Mountain King: Moves up and Power Strikes the whelp in the
back. Boosting the hit, the whelp sails through the air and crashes
into Siege. Siege takes no damage, but is knocked down.
3. Bushwackers: The remaining Bushwacker just moves out of
the way.
4. Stone Unit: They spend 1 Fury to activate the Aura (+1
STR), and run to get as close as possible to Siege.
5. Hunters Grim: Grim moves up and puts a boosted damage shot
into Siege, causing 6 damage to Siege.
6. Burrowers: Shoot their Slug Guns at Siege. All of them
hit, but none do any damage at dice minus 8.
7. Fennblades: Receive a Charge! order. Four
Fennblades get to Siege, and the fourth attack fells the Cygnaran
Warcaster.
Grim looks around the battlefield.
His forces have won the day, but at great cost. While the Mountain
King scavenges the field eating the dead, Grim removes his hat and
wipes sweat from his brow. He knows that Cygnar will not take this
loss lightly, and that the United Kriels must prepare for their
eventual counterattack.
END
OF GAME: A TOAST TO VICTORY, TO FRIENDS, AND TO GOOD TIMES! [Beer
Choice: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA]
My choice for the victory toast.
Good friends and good times call for one of my favorites.
VICTORY:
TROLLBLOODS!!!
No friendships were harmed during
this game, but we did slay the following beers. Borka would be proud.
:-)
My thoughts on the game:
1. Some players have a hard time with the idea that every model in the game except your
warlock/warcaster is expendable. It’s a lot like chess. It sucks to lose your knight, but if you lose
him to protect your rook, and to eventually allow you to be able to take a bishop then it’s worth
it. On Turn 2 I ran my Bushwackers at his Forgeguard instead of taking the opportunity to move
up and shoot a CRA at the Blazers or fire at another target of opportunity. They mostly died the
next turn, but it hampered his advancing Forgeguard, kept up the pressure on my opponent, and
forced Siege to focus his attention on taking them out. Which also means he wasn’t shooting at
other things in my army. Positioning in this game (and dictating order of activations for your
opponent) is as important as killing models in many cases, and this is a great example. They only
put 9 damage into the Stormwall and later killed one Dwarf, but I consider their performance key
to my victory in this game.
2. You do not always have to kill the big guys (colossals/gargantuans) to win. While I don’t
think my opponent played his Stormwall perfectly, and he suffered from some bad dice rolling, I
am fine with slowly losing models throughout the game to his shooting (I don’t think he racked
up 19 points worth of kills) while I neuter the rest of his army. Only the mission objectives
matter, including killing the caster.
3. Support models are usually there for a reason...identify that reason and target the ones your
opponent depends on if you can. Because of the board setup, Travis felt the need to place his
Stormlances in the forest Turn 1. I immediately recognized that a lack of pathfinder would
hamper them, and so went after their source of Pathfinder: the Stormblade Captain. Incidentally,
the only reason he was comfortable putting his cavalry in that position was because he thought
he could rely on the Captain to give them Pathfinder. While your opponent will not always
oblige you by putting support models in harm’s way (I never had a clear shot at Rhupert, for
instance), it’s important to identify what support pieces your opponent has in his list and why
they are there. That might give you an idea of his plans, and it might help you identify when it’s
worth the effort to kill them and when you can leave them alone.
4. Power attacks win games. Ask any veteran and they will tell you that the biggest advantage
they have over newer players is an in-depth knowledge of the rules and the models in this game.
Power attacks are very situational, but when those situations come up they can absolutely win
you games. I knew that Siege was going to camp Focus, and I knew that I would have to rely on
some dice spikes to break his armor and kill him Round 4. That means I needed to make sure that
I maximized the number of attacks that hit, and the best way to do this is to knock him down
first. The line wasn’t right for the Mountain King to try to slam him, and I was definitely too far
away to walk up and headbutt him. But I did have a whelp, and I knew that whelp did not have
tough so that after Power Striking him he could not make a tough check and remain in play to
mess up my assassination run. I also knew that Power Strike slams a small base model an
additional +2 inches, so that if I placed the whelp within 3” of Siege I could not miss unless I
rolled triple ones to hit with boosting. My knowledge of Power Attacks facilitated the
assassination run, and I would have surely failed without it. Also, this is a good time to note that
I love this trick with the Mountain King. I have killed a lot of warcasters/warlocks by Power
Striking a whelp into them to knock them down, and it just so happens that the Mountain King
generates his own ammunition. :-)
5. Don’t forget to double check your list and make sure you field all of the points you’re
supposed to. :-)
*****
Arizona_Troll folks! I think that's easily the best batrep I've ever had the pleasure of both reading and having the pictures for. Everything was beautifully painted and the photography was devoid of the dungeon yellow that mine are usually accompanied by. Lots of thanks to Alan and Travis, and we'll see you around!
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