 |
| Hedonism bot = Rasheth |
I've managed to get a couple more games in since my last post. For some reason, my area is fraught with Skorne players, and as such I'm likely to play them a lot. This post is no exception - two different days, two different Skorne players.
Today I played my favorite caster in MKII - Krueger2. He got nerfed a little (his feat no longer prevents charges due to the SPD debuff), but still does some really good things. I'm definitely more of a control-style player, and if K2 is anything, he's a control caster.
Game 1: Circle Krueger2 vs. Skorne's Morghoul1!
My List:
Krueger2
- Ghettorix
- Warpwolf Stalker
- Gorax
- Tharn Bloodtrackers (max)
- Sentry Stone & Mannikins
- Sentry Stone & Mannikins
- Druid Stoneward & Wold Stalkers
- Shifting Stones
- Bloodweaver Nightwitch
- Bloodweaver Nightwitch
- Blackclad Wayfarer
- Gallows Grove
- Gallows Grove
His list (from memory):
Morghoul
- Titan Gladiator
- Titan Bronzeback
- Titan Sentry
- Tiberion
- Agonizer
- Praetorian Karax (max)
- Beast Handlers
- Extoller Soulward
- Mortitheurge Willbreaker
- Void Spirit
>> My opponent won the roll to go first, and took it.
Pre-game thoughts:
After asking a few questions, this didn't really seem like a good scenario for my Krueger2 list to be in. His titans would be at roughly ARM 21 after the Agonizer debuff, and his feat (prevent beasts from using fury) was pretty ball-busting if I wanted to try to kill his beasts without my own dying first.
A few things I noted, that all connected to help me form my plan:
- Morghoul's control range was 10". Really really tiny.
- The two flags are certainly more than 10" apart. More than 16", probably (16" is significant because it's the distance Morghoul can dominate his own flag while still controlling his beasts and allowing them to contest my own flag.
- My beasts were almost certainly going to lose the attrition war.
- My units/solos were almost certainly going to beat his own units/solos.
If he wanted to contest, I would be able to circle around with my units and control his own flag.
If he wanted to dominate his own flag, I would contest in my own turns with random infantry/solos, while scoring on my own flag every turn.
Incidentally, I needed to kill as many of his infantry as quickly as possible to give me the edge.
Deployment:
 |
| Proxies: Two Nyss at the bottom there (blue) are actually Bloodweaver Nightwitches. |
 |
| His Nihilator models = Praetorian Karax. Incidentally, I put Prey on them to start off. |
Skorne Turn 1:
He ran up. Not much more to it than that.
 |
| Lots of my army is AD. Kind of helpful to deploy them later, as more information is always better. |
Circle Turn 1:
I ran up too. Sentry Stones popped forests. One of them forgot to move it's Mannikins up to screen it.
In my defense, this was my first time using them.
 |
| I put my Bloodtrackers where they are to bait his Karax into jamming me. Figured that would help me remove them faster, and keep them out of shield wall. |
Skorne Turn 2:
Karax did indeed jam. This was nice, but was also frustrating, because they were in range to charge my rightmost Sentry Stone, which they killed. If I had put my Mannikins up to screen the Stone, that wouldn't have been possible.
Willbreaker gave Karax Tough.
My opponent moved cagily. He wanted to ensure his huge threat ranges gave him the first hit.
 |
| The battle has been joined! |
Circle Turn 2:
I saw an opportunity here: I could probably kill his Gladiator, and control the zone this turn if I played everything right.
Gallows Grove on the left moved up so I could arc TK on the Gladiator.
Krueger went and used TK to turn the Gladiator around and move him 2" closer to my lines. He then moved toward my objective and TK'd himself into B2B with it.
Blackclad went up and tried Hunter's Mark. He needed a '3', but got snake eyes. Doh!
Wold Stalkers (Shrimp) took some shots at the Gladiator and did some actually pretty good damage.
Stones teleported my Stalker to within 2" of the Gladiator (and outside of the 8" bubble of hate from the Agonizer).
Stalker punched the Gladiator to death (rolling snake eyes once again on one of the hit attempts), but still had enough Fury to buy Lightning Strike. I placed him in a way so as to bait Tiberion to charge him - I wanted Morghoul away from his flag (hence why I didn't pop my feat).
Right-side Gallows Grove moved up to deny Tough rolls on around 5 of the Karax.
Blood trackers went, and... whiffed. They needed very low rolls, and really rolled poorly.
Mannikins also went, and they did a little better. They were able to spray away a few of them.
However, after all my best efforts, two Karax were left alive, and one of them was in the zone, so I'd be unable to control the zone. :-/
Still, I scored 1.
Score: 1-0, advantage Circle.
 |
| Poor, lost Bloodtrackers. The way I use them, I kind of wonder if I should put Nuala with them to give them Quick Work. They get jammed so often, that might end up being a huge benefit. |
Skorne Turn 3:
My opponent didn't hesitate. His Sentry would be able to charge my Stalker, which meant he could push up his entire battleforce, pop his feat, and dare Ghetto to respond without the ability to force.
However, that would likely expose Morghoul, or at least expose his flag. And, if he wanted to get all the buffs up on the Sentry, Morghoul would only be sitting on a single transfer.
Then, the game got a little weird.
Morghoul went, and charged my remaining Sentry Stone. He did a little bit of damage, but my opponent seemed obsessed, and spent ALL of Morghoul's fury on trying to kill it, and failing. In the end, he was B2B with my stone, out of Fury. He popped his feat.
Then, all the Titans ran, because he had forgotten to buff his Sentry.
Karax took some ineffectual swings.
Circle Turn 3:
I was a little weirded out. But my opponent declined my offer to take back a move or two.
So, I used Gorax + Nightwitch to kill his remaining Karax. Blood trackers shifted Prey to Morghoul.
Mannikins sprayed Morghoul, and one actually hit, and did some damage. Lol.
Bloodtrackers were easily in range, and threw their spears at Morghoul, killing him with shots to spare.
.... heh.
Weird-ass victory for Circle!!
Post-game thoughts:
My opponent said that he forgot to use Sidestep on Morghoul or something. It didn't really make sense to me.
If he had done what I expected, I think the game would have been pretty close. I still might have had an assassination vector on Morghoul, but I think it would have been more likely that I would have needed to go for a scenario victory. At that point, my opponent only had his battle group and some pain givers, with a couple solos I assume I'd have been able to kill off with the rest of my own turn.
Krueger could pop his feat and keep the titans away from him and Ghetto for a turn (and TK the Sentry back, away from the flag. I could get a control and a dominate for 3 total points in my own turn, and try to win the game on Turn 4. My opponent would have one turn (at SPD -2) to kill Krueger, or risk losing via scenario.
At least, that's my perception. You never know, though.
In the end, I think Morghoul's control range really screws him for scenario play.
I did love playing K2 again. TK and his various scenario shenanigans are so much fun! My list is a little all over the place, but it has lots of tools. I'm excited to explore it more.
Game 2: Circle Krueger2 vs. Skorne Rasheth!
My list:
My List: (unchanged)
Krueger2
- Ghettorix
- Warpwolf Stalker
- Gorax
- Tharn Bloodtrackers (max)
- Sentry Stone & Mannikins
- Sentry Stone & Mannikins
- Druid Stoneward & Wold Stalkers
- Shifting Stones
- Bloodweaver Nightwitch
- Bloodweaver Nightwitch
- Blackclad Wayfarer
- Gallows Grove
- Gallows Grove
His list (from memory):
Rasheth
- Despoiler
- Tiberion
- Titan Sentry
- Agonizer
- Basilisk Krea
- Praetorian Swordsmen (max) w/ UA
- Beast Handlers (min?)
- Beast Handlers (min?)
- Extoller Soulward
- Mortitheurge Willbreaker
Scenario: The new one everyone hates with four total flags and two objectives.
>> I won the roll to go first, and took first turn.
Pre-game thoughts:
I was interested in how this game would go. Everyone says this scenario is BS, though it would be interesting to see if that was true.
I decided that, especially after my opponent's deployment, I would try to just dominate one flag and get a scenario win. It was the same issue as last game - his force wasn't going to be able to spread out well enough to cover all the objectives.
One thing of note is that Vince didn't bring a beast that gave him Rush. That meant that his max threat range was 9", which is dramatically worse (IMO) than the 11" threat I'm accustomed to. You kind of need more threat range in this game, or your opponent can do some dirty stuff to you, especially in this age of pre-measuring.
Deployment:
 |
| Proxies: Nyss = Bloodweaver Nightwitches |
Circle Turn 1:
I ran up. I wanted to make sure Vince couldn't really have access to my flags.
 |
| Bloodtrackers put Prey on the Swordsmen. |
Skorne Turn 1:
Vince ran his guys up.
Krea protected the Swordsmen with his +2 DEF animus.
Swordsmen got Carnivore.
Swordsmen also got Tough.
Vince arced a Breath of Corruption at my Bloodtrackers, but missed. It scattered out of harm's way.
 |
| Could I kill some of the Swordsmen? |
Circle Turn 2:
I couldn't score this turn, so I decided to just try to kill more Swordsmen and get better table position. It was becoming obvious that it would be easiest to take the right-hand flag.
After the Bloodtrackers and Mannikins and Shrimp went, I had managed to kill 7 of the Swordsmen (out of a possible 12), despite all of them having a +2 DEF from either the Krea or the hill.
 |
| I put the Mannikins up there they are to bait Vince into running a beast up there to kill them. If he did, then he could pop his feat, and I could dance away for a turn. I'd rather get that feat out of the way earlier than later. |
Skorne Turn 2:
Vince moved up again. I had deliberately placed my Sentry Stones just outside of 9" from his beasts, so they wouldn't really be able to do much this turn.
His Krea walked up and used his shot to make Ghettorix DEF 5. For whatever that was worth.
Swordsmen charged in and didn't do much to my Bloodtrackers.
Tiberion came over and killed all three of one Stone's Mannikins. Maybe the Sentry helped.
Rasheth went and popped his feat. He put up Castigate, and hung out with four focus. Wise to hang on to that focus - I think I could have assassinated him with Ghetto without a large camp.
 |
| Some stuff is exposed. Is it enough stuff though? |
Circle Turn 3:
I could score this turn, and I intended to do so. I also intended to get rid of some supporting models and keep Vince at bay for another turn. With the feat up, I wouldn't be able to kill any of his heavies (-2 STR is rough).
Stones teleported Ghetto to within 2" of a Swordsman and the Krea. He killed the Krea in a few hits, and killed the swordsman as well.
Bloodtrackers went and killed the remaining swordsmen, including the UA. They cycled Prey to Rasheth.
Bloodwitch ran to control the rightmost flag.
Bloodwitch ran to control the leftmost flag, which was uncontested.
Krueger went and POPPED HIS FEAT. He TK'd Ghetto away 2" to keep the Sentry from charging him, and put up Storm Winds. He also walked to within 12" of the flag on the right so that he could run to dominate it next turn in the right situation.
Otherwise, I kept my models mostly outside of Vince's 7" threat range (feat made everyone -2 SPD).
I scored two points.
Score: 2-0, advantage Circle
 |
| Ghetto isn't really in a lot of danger, happily. |
Skorne Turn 3:
Vince decided to score some points this turn.
Tiberion charged his objective and destroyed it, then killed a Stone as well, for fun.
A few beast handlers ran up to contest the flag on the left.
Rasheth arced a Breath of Corruption onto my right side Blood Witch and killed it.
Otherwise, his army just repositioned some.
Score: 2-1, advantage Circle.
 |
| Could I score enough to win next turn? |
Circle Turn 4:
Vince had positioned his Beast Handlers perfect on the left - I couldn't kill both with my Nightwitch.
I decided to try spraying one with my Blackclad, but he missed his magic roll. Needed a '6'. Sigh.
Bloodwitch, who was engaged, killed one of the Beast Handlers.
After looking at the board, I decided I could still win.
I had Ghetto charge the objective, and killed it easily.
Bloodtrackers killed the Extoller Soulward easily.
Krueger then ran 12" and dominated the flag for two points.
I ended my turn, and the game ended.
Final Score: 5-1, advantage Circle.
VICTORY for Circle Orboros!!
Post-game thoughts:
I think Vince needs more threat range. My faster army wasn't really at risk for much of this game. If I can choose the place and time the engagement occurs, I hold all the advantages.
In addition, I think it also hurts that this style of army can't really spread out much. Despite Rasheth's 16" control range, the beasts are incentivized to stay close to one another, due to the Agonizer's bubble of awesome. Without really solid units to hold objectives, this scenario is pretty difficult for a list like his.
Thoughts on my list:
I liked it a lot. I really like the Bloodweaver Nightwitches. They add a really solid presence, and can do a lot of different things for me. They're fast, provide grievous wounds when necessary, and can kill solos and units pretty well.
The Sentry Stones are great too - looking forward to playing them more. Mannikins are a great screen, and the stones are harder to get to than one might think. Once they're all gone, then my caster and beasts can jump out and do some borderline filthy things.
Really, so far, I have no reason to complain about this list so far. I have a tournament coming up next weekend, and I imagine this will be one of my pairings, along with Baldur1.
Anyways, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment