Monday, December 26, 2011

Santa Stopped By

Silent Aire Scorpion IW-C Compressor
Here in the Baxcave, Santa is a big supporter of modeling and gaming.  In pas years t Santa has brought model kits and new foam.  This year, he swung for the bleachers.

What's this under the tree?  Why, it's an air compressor!  Oil-free and quiet enough it won't wake the baby.  And the timing is perfect.  I plan to cut my teeth painting the Dindrenzi fleet and have some modicum of skill before the House Vyre myrmidon kits release (probably in February).

Several friends recommended sites for learning airbrush painting.  Now, I just need an airbrush... recommendations?


OttLite Battery Task Lamp
Lately I have been painting during lunch, Tuesdays and Fridays.  There seems to be more time there than at home.  The ubiquitous fluorescent office lights are a challenge.  Generally I snag a table down in our cafeteria where there are generous windows with natural light (and good tater tots).  Santa learned about this, too, and under the tree was a perfect painting-at-work gift.  OttLite's portable, rechargeable, full-spectrum lamp.  It's smaller than you might think, only 10.5 inches, but it makes a very nice, focused little workspace – just what I needed.

Pleased to Bits

Happy holidays.  The whole family is in town and we're enjoying some time off from work.  All's well.  To put the cherry on top, our friendly postal carriers dropped off this week some little treasures.

First, the replacement Dindrenzi Carrier model arrived.  The store-bought kit had a shrunken starboard half and significant over-pour.  This one appears perfect.  My hat's off to Spartan Games for their excellent customer service in replacing this model, no questions asked.  He'll join the rest of the fleet shortly.

Dindrenzi Carrier replacement
Then the No Quarter Eiryss figure arrived.  This is just an alternate sculpt of Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios, but quite a nice one.  Thanks again to Anthony, our local pressganger for the advice to purchase NQ back issues fifteen through seventeen to acquire the coupons.  That was this summer.  Now, unfortunately, issue fifteen is out of stock.  

No Quarter Eiryss figure

Hope you are having a great holiday, too.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Fleet Assembled

Dindrenzi and Rense Fleet
"The fleet is nearly assembled, admiral.  We..."


"Excellent, captain. Where are my flagship's escorts and our other heavy cruiser?"


"They appear to be completing their shunt into our system now, sir."


"Good god, man, what happened to that carrier?"


"Some kind of terrible shipyard malfunction. The hull is lost, but fleet command is sending a replacement ship as we speak."


"Then we wait."

---

This is a starter box, two gunships, two destroyers, a heavy cruiser, and a carrier.  It's about 900 points, just shy of our club's 1000 point standard.

Paint scheme research is well underway.  Most players seem to paint their Dindrenzi in a dull grey metallic with red, orange, or yellow stripes and details.  This Retribution of Scyrah scheme appeals to me with its minty clean lines.  They should contrast nicely with the black space mats.


Saturday, December 3, 2011

Firestorm Armada, First Contact

Update: I contacted Spartan Games via their web site on 7 December. Within five hours they responded and shipped replacement parts. That's astonishingly good customer service.


These Firestorm Armada models are, hands down, the worst quality minis I've seen.  Even the worst quality Forge World resin model is a peach compared to the best of these Spartan models.  Let's take a tour, shall we?

Bubbles revealed when trimming misaligned mold edges

Mis-aligned molds happen.  I can work with that.  Even ones so misaligned that a hobby knife and twenty minutes are required to clean the model.  Even ones where a couple millimeters of material must be removed.  But to do that only to find bubbles -- many bubbles -- is frustrating.  Flaws concealing flaws.  This will require Green Stuff all around.

2-3mm of excess resin; more bubbles

This amount of excess resin will require a serious sanding effort, probably from an orbital sander.  And because it's epoxy resin, that means a respirator.

4mm shrinkage on a 90mm model
But, it's not worth it to sand this model, because one half has shrunk so much that it no longer fits together.  Poor, poor, poor quality.

Amazingly, all three ship models demonstrated all of these flaws. We're three for three here at the Baxcave. And, stunningly, it's not just the models.  Each of these ships comes with a beautiful, clear acrylic flight stand to suspend it in space.  Only one of the first six I checked actually fit within its pre-drilled hole.  The rods are slightly too large, so the bases must be re-drilled.  And the ship stat cards which arrived in the pack are all mis-cut, missing edges of the printed tables.  What a mess.

I am deeply disappointed and seriously considering any further time or effort on Spartan Games' products.

And it's not just me.

Am I mad?  Is it a conspiracy of bad luck?  I'd love to hear your experience with their models.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Junior Warcaster

"Are you going to paint robots and monsters tonight? Can I help?" She's too small to paint or play, but Hannah still makes a point of overseeing the entire Retribution war effort, from manufacturing through transport loading.

Here she's literally inspecting the primer coverage. Amazingly, she's pickier than me. Perhaps her heightened sparkle-detection ability is able to find shiny uncovered metal. She's quite good.

Her latest contribution has been organizing my paints into pretty colors (Necrotic Green, Beaten Purple, Carnal Pink, Molten Bronze, etc.) and ugly colors (anything remotely brown, grey, or ferrous).

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Journeyman, Week 4

Played Monte this week. He's still at fifteen points with his Legion, so we didn't follow the week's rules (Battle Box upgraded to twenty-five points with a different caster).

Monte ran:
Lylyth, Herald of Everblight- Carnivean
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
The Forsaken
And I ran my fifteen pointer from week two, again:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper- Manticore
- Griffon
- Chimera
Mage hunter assassin
Mage hunter assassin
Legion had advantage in mobility and model count, so the first order of business was to clear shredders and dent Lylyth's fury generation.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Journeyman, Week 3.5

Tonight was the second week of twenty-five point games in our Journeyman League. Over the weekend I finished the last two myrmidons from the battle box, a manticore and a griffon, and blocked out a full Mage hunter strike force and commander. So it was nice to field a nearly fully-painted army for the first time.

Turnout was up, but we gabbed a while and didn't start until almost eight.  Diane has a fully painted Circle army, so we had a beautiful table for Kill Box.


Kaya the Wildborne
* Argus
* Argus
* Feral Warpwolf
Druids of Orboros (+UA)
Lord of the Feast
(one point short)

And I ran my same list from last week, partly because it was designed for Warmachine opponents, and weak against Hordes; and partly because it's almost fully painted.

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper
* Manticore
* Chimera
* Griffon
Mage hunter assassin
Mage hunter strike force (min+UA)
Mage hunter strike force (min+UA)

Kaya setup center with her beast, druids on her right in a forest, and LotF on her left on a hill. Kaelyssa setup center-left with both squads of mage hunters left on a hill and assassins far right across from LotF. My plan was to flush Kaya to my right using the mage hunters where she'd be open to an assassin or griffon charge. I'd use Kaelyssa's anti-magic spells (Arcane Reckoning and Banishing Ward) to counter the druids' spells. Oh, and Witch Hound, too (thanks, Brandon!).

Early Game

Everything was working great.  By the botton of turn two, things were looking great for Retribution.  The LotF had made a dangerous advance on turn one and fell to the griffon and assassin on turn two.  Kaya retreated to the back right corner of the kill box, fleeing the mage hunters.  A druid spell deviation onto my chimera got the griffon into melee with her.  Lovely.  All's well.

Mid Game

And then Circle shows why they are masters of movement and surprise.  One argus is waaay in the back, behind some forest, hiding.  I'm hardly thinking about him.  The second argus uses its animus to give the first one Pathfinder.  It runs through the woods, around my chimera, dodging two mage hunters and into the middle of my lines.  Kaya's standing in melee with my griffon on a hill in the back right.  She runs her warpwolf over, and then casts Spirit Door to teleport into the middle of my lines, about five inches from Kaelyssa.  Oop.  Not done yet.  She then teleports the warpwolf next to her, engaging Kaelyssa.  Yikes!  But, wait.  It gets better.  Then she feats, allocating three fury to all her warbeats and reaving six back to herself.  For three more she teleports the first argus up next to her and the warpwolf, about two inches from Kaelyssa.  Lucky for me we're in Mark II and none of them can activate after Spirit Door.

Late Game

Frightening and impressive as the situation was, it was a bad tactical move for Circle.  She had put her DEF 16 ARM 13 caster right in the middle of a fully-operational assassination army.  We played in for keeps.  The manticore got three focus, performed a two-handed grab on the argus and hurled him into Kaya.  Knocked down, she was easy prey for the thirteen remaning mage hunter strike force.  The end.

Lessons

Like my games against Kommander Sorscha, Kaya has taught me about movement and unorthodox charge lanes.  Watching the movement of the warbeasts will be a high priority in our next game.  The defense on the argus beasts was very impressive!  I had not expected warbeasts in the DEF 15-16 range.  Fortunately, I did not need to deal with them.  And I continue to enjoy the manticore in my lists.  Its utility has never disappointed.

Thanks for the game, Diane.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Gemology

Tonight was Manticore night. I planned to spend the evening finishing a heavy myrmidon for the Journeyman League tomorrow night. It was already base-coated and the weapons blended and washed. "How hard could it be?"

Fun Retribution Fact: A manticore heavy myrmidon figure sports sixty-seven metallic gems. If you ever want to become good at gems, forget Eldar: paint a manticore.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Journeyman, Week 3

Tonight began the third "week" of the Journeyman League, so lists bumped to twenty-five points. Mike K. and I played a nail-biter rematch of Kommander Sorscha versus Kaelyssa. Mike's list was:

Kommander Sorscha's Battlebox
Kommander Sorscha
* Juggernaut
* Destroyer
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Assault Kommandos (min+flamethrowers x2)
Widowmaker Marksman

Versus my:

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper
* Manticore
* Chimera
* Griffon
Mage Hunter Assassin
Mage Hunter Strike Force (min+UA)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (min+UA)

We played Kill Box again, but on a regulation 4x4 table.




The Plan

Retribution's strategy was to use Kaelyssa's Backlash spell against the Khador 'jacks and then use my fourteen mage hunters, Manticore, and Kaelyssa to dink Sorscha to death, one hit at a time. It almost worked.

Early Game

The destroyer came forward, received Backlash through the chimera's arc node, took a hail of fire from two units of mage hunters, and fell back on turn two.  They had taken Sorscha down about a third.  This seemed to rattle the Khadorans, as they all rolled left and the destroyer fell back to get out of range.  The Great Bears stayed well out of range, and the kommandos formed up in shield wall centrally within some hills.  Juggernaut came forward to press the attack and cover the destroyer's retreat.

Mid Game

More Backlash, more shooting from the mage hunters, the manticore, and even Kaelyssa.  The kommandos moved forward for some countering fire through the chimera and griffon into mage hunters. By now I'd lost about six.  My assassin decapitated Volkov (grants Pathfinder on charge) to prevent the Bears coming across a linear obstacle, midfield.  Backlash damage against the 'jacks had left Sorscha with a dramatic single box remaining.  Uh oh.

Late Game

Sorscha outflanked on my left, passing the assassin, dashing through a mage hunter's threat range, and Windrushing/charging entirely behind my line and across the board to Kaelyssa, on my extreme right.  An intricate dance of Khadoran power ensued, as Mike and Doug (our Press Ganger) meticulously carved a charge lane for Sorscha from my left flank.  Tricks flew.  Great Bears were engaged by my griffon, but used his reach range to back off and pivot so they could swing at the assassin but still backswing at the griffon.  Assault kommandos fired flame templates through their own (immune) friends.  It was a beautiful display of game rules mastery.  By the end they had killed an assassin, formed a lane passing behind all three of my warjacks, and killed two of the three mage hunters who would have threatened free strikes.  Deep breath.

Then it was Sorscha's turn.  Seeing a full-focus warcaster charge twenty inches across the table never fails to impress.  Naturally, the mage hunter missed his free strike (MAT 6+2 versus DEF 16, I believe).  Had he hit, she would have died.  Kaelyssa, at full health but with no power field stood to take it on the chin.  Unfortunately, the dice were not with Mike, either, and he only scored a few points of damage. With one-health Sorscha three inches from a full-health manticore and a warcaster, Khador conceded.

Backlash... it almost worked.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Paintmachine

Mmm, new brushes. Niiice brushes.  Every painting tutorial I've watched speaks highly of the natural-hair Kolinsky brushes.  Art Supply Warehouse conveniently carries these at a reasonable price.  These should help control the thinned paints and allow me to start on the gems and eyes.

Only the Finest Sable

Nearly the entire army is primed.  Here are the solos and halberdiers drying between coats.  I found that putting six to ten guys on one paint stick allowed me to go pretty quickly and waste very little primer.

Priming the troops

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Warcaster/Warlock Names

In preparation for the upcoming Domination book and the arrival of "double-epic" warlocks, I've converted the site to the official naming scheme.  Warcasters and warlocks are referenced by their full name where appropriate.  Tags use the indexed suffix form like "Ravyn2" – hey, a guy can hope!

Into Every Life a Little Paint Must Fall

Out club has recently taken up a Journeyman League, which is a slow-growth Battle-box based painting and playing hybrid league.  It's a peer pressure perfect opportunity for beginners to get into the hobby and for pewter-pushing generals to get some paint on the board.

Years and years ago I used to paint – mostly 1:72 scale aircraft models, but also model rockets and some BattleTech miniatures.  Over three years in this hobby and I haven't once put brush to mini.  My excuses seemed reasonable: small children in the house don't mix with mineral spirits and paint thinner and I'd prefer to spend unallocated with the kids.  But, social competition is compelling, so I did some research.  And – Great googly moogly!  The paints are acrylic now!  No more bowls of liquid petroleum.  And, frankly, I'm tired of being that guy.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Steamroller, Round 1

First mission was Destruction, where each army must destroy two 50mm twenty damage bases. Lost a quick game to Steve's Thagrosh the Messiah list, which stormed the objectives faster than I could handle.

Thagrosh the Messiah
- Scythean
- Carnivean
- Raek
Spawning Vessel (full)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (full)

Tournament Preparation

9:45. The crew has been chugging away this morning. We have seven tables ready to go.


Trophies are here, too.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Morghoul1 versus Ossyan

Chad and I got in a 35-point game of "Outflank, Outfight, Outlast" Saturday night. This mission has two 12-inch diameter scoring zones along the center-line.

We played on his new TheTerrainGuy.com desert terrain mat. The texture was perfect, but the color was disappointingly uniform.

Chad threw together a pMorghoul list, and I gave my Ossyan tournament list a first test drive.

Master Tormentor Morghoul
- Cyclops Brute
- Rhinodon
- Titan Bronzeback
- Titan Gladiator
Agonizer
Bloodrunners
Bloodrunner Master Tormentor
Paingiver Beast Handlers (full)


Lord Arcanist Ossyan Vyre
- Manticore
- Griffon
- Griffon
Arcanist
Dawnguard Invictors (full+UA)
Houseguard Riflemen (min+UA)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
House Shyeel Magister

Retribution of Scyrifornia

Ramon at our FLGS has added some local color to his Garryth and Ravyn warcaster figures.  He was nice enough to let me take some photos.  I think these speak for themselves.

Garryth, Dude of Retribution


Ravyn, Eternal Wave

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Tournament Preparation (T-20 Days)

Apologies for the slowdown in battle reports.  Family and work have prevented a good game these past few weeks.  Sad, because the club 35-point tournament is approaching in three weeks.  Most of my gaming effort has been in theory-crafting for the tournament lists and considering the challenge timed play presents.

In the meantime, I've been fiddling with lists like this (28 models):

Lord Arcanist Ossyan
- Discordia
- Griffon
Dawnguard invictors (full + UA)
Mage hunter strike force (full + UA)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Mage hunter assassin

And this (31 models):

Ravyn, Eternal Light
- Discordia
Houseguard Halberdiers (min+UA)
Mage Hunter Strikeforce (full+UA)
Stormfall Archers
Stormfall Archers
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
House Shyeel Magister

But, neither feels right for a tournament environment with a high Khador and Cryx contingent.  Research continues.  Suggestions welcome.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Terminus versus Ravyn

Last night was an epic match coming after a week off just playing teaching games with new players.  Chad, who is now just days away from his first kid, had one last night out for gaming and we decided to throw down fifty points.  Chad brought his big nasty Terminus list, and I brought my mass-infantry Ravyn list from two weeks ago.

It's probably important to note I have never played against Terminus or seen him played.  Patrick offered me one, solemn piece of advice, "Kill all his infantry... before Terminus gets to you."  Eep.

Chad's list was:

* Leviathan
* Leviathan
Bane Thralls (full+UA)
Bane Lord Tartarus
Withershadow Combine
Necrosurgeon & 3 stitch thralls
Mechanithralls (full+Brute)
Darragh Wrathe
Madeline Corbeau
Saxon Orrik

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Butcher1 versus Vyros

Any day is a good day for a game versus Mike and his Nurgle-ized Khador. We played a quick fifteen point game of Kill Box over lunch. This time we snagged the table by the natural light. Mike wanted to play his first fully-painted fifteen point list, and I just wanted to try some new models.

Mike's Butcher
Mike's list was:

The Butcher of Khardov
* Destroyer
* Juggernaut
Great Bears of Gallowswood

And mine was:

Dawnlord Vyros (Dawn's Talon Tier 2)
* Manticore
* Manticore
* Gorgon
Arcanist
Arcanist

Friday, July 22, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Feora2 vs Ravyn

This week, Patrick and I played. He's preparing for the upcoming SoCal Smackdown and is trying to practice against lists that worry him (like Ravyn) and practice his speed play. So we played fifty points, timed, scenarios. Patrick's list was:

Feora, Protector of the Flame
* Redeemer
* Reckoner
* Vanquisher
Avatar of Menoth
Choir of Menoth (full)
Rhoven & Honor Guard
The Covenant of Menoth
Vassal Mechanik
Vassal of Menoth
Vassal of Menoth
Aiyana & Holt
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Gorman di Wulfe

And I played:

Ravyn, Eternal Light
* Discordia
Arcanist
Houseguard Halberdiers (full+UA)
House Shyeel Magister
Mage Hunter Strike Force (full+UA)
Mage Hunter Assassin
Mage Hunter Assassin
Stormfall Archers
Stormfall Archers
Aiyana & Holt
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Narn

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Mortenebra Tier 4 vs Ossyan

Jim and I played a thirty-five point caster-kill game last Friday, 9 July, after work.  Jim's actually played fewer games than me, but he's a clever list builder and a great player.  His list was:

Master Necrotech Mortenebra (Infernal Machines, Tier 4)
- Deryliss
- Slayer helljack
- Slayer helljack
- Slayer helljack
- Slayer helljack
- Slayer helljack
- Slayer helljack
Necrotech
- Scrap thrall
Necrotech
- Scrap thrall
Scrap Thrall (full)
Scrap Thrall (full)
Scrap Thrall (full)
Warwitch Siren
Warwitch Siren

Holy crap! Six heavy 'jacks!  Mortenebra's tier list decreases the cost of heavy jacks by one point each.  Still...

Warmachine Batrep: Morghoul2 vs Vyros

Chad and I played a quick 15-point Kill Box game over lunch today.

To get in more games per week, many of us have been playing Wednesday and Friday lunch games. I seem to have developed a reputation for bringing this list:

Ravyn, Eternal Light
* Chimera
Mage Hunter Strike Force (full+UA)
* Soulless Escort
Mage Hunter Assassin
Mage Hunter Assassin

So Chad called me out and said that was an unreasonable list at 15 points. Too much stealth and too much speed for most lists to deal with. Fair enough. He also said he was bringing a special "assassination list," whatever that means. Still, I worried over it and decided that based on his emails and extensive Cryx army that he'd be bringing something like a pGoreshade list, taking advantage of his ability to summon six points of bane thralls, which in a 15 point list is game-changing. That, or Terminus. Either way, I decided to change everything and run something new:

Dawnlord Vyros
* Banshee
* Phoenix
Arcanist

The theory was to create an all-reach, high-armor deathstar. Against Terminus there would be no souls. Against pGoreshare they should be able to rely on their armor. It would require the sin of proxying, but Chad's a forgiving sort. Well, let's give it a swing. What did Chad bring?


Lord Assassin Morghoul
* Titan Gladiator
* Titan Gladiator
Bloodrunners

Well, that's not at all what I was thinking.

We decided to play the Kill Box scenario. We didn't want to add the time of setting up and managing a complex scenario, but caster-kill can drag on at 15 points when there is an entire backfield to retreat into. Chad suggested that Kill Box was an excellent base set which would technically be a scenario and would help the game play more quickly.

I won the roll and because of Chad's list's speed, I asked him to set up first. He setup Morghoul dead center, flanked by his Gladiators. I setup slightly right, behind a small forest knowing that Vyros' Birds Eye ability and Mobility spell would allow me to completely ignore it, while being relatively safe from Skorne charges.

Turn 1 (Skorne)


Chad deployed the Bloodrunners very spread out directly in front of me and ran them forward. Morghoul moved behind the centerpiece.

Turn 1 (Retribution)


At this point, the plan is to play distance with the Skorne. I'm much faster (6+2 speed versus his 4), so I should be able to get the charges off on him. I'm just picking off bloodrunners and waiting for them to get closer.

Vyros cast Mobility on himself (+2 speed and pathfinder to entire battlegroup), +2 armor on Banshee, who would be facing the heavier hits, and Heroic Avenger (?) on Phoenix so that he could charge if/when I lost Banshee or the Arcanist. Everyone moved up to the forest's edge. Phoenix fired his halo cannon into the bloodrunners, killing the leader. Everything else was out of range.

End of Turn 1

Turn 2 (Skorne)


The titan gladiators run again. Morghoul scoots up behind his big buddy. The bloodrunners break hard for the center of the board to block charge lanes from the banshee into the gladiators. The new leader moves into cover, perhaps so I don't break the group's cohesion with another halo cannon shot.

Turn 2 (Retribution)


Now I lose the game. I didn't know Banshee's stats solidly and thought his Force Cannon had a ten-inch range. Shouldn't be a problem, right? Those gladiators are speed four, plus two for Rush (?), plus three for charge, plus one-half for range. Nine and a half inches. I can eyeball that, right? How hard could it be? He moves up, but I decide the grey titan is a bit too close and I scoot Banshee backwards and to the left. Now I must be out of charge range from that grey one. My setup is perfect. Banshee takes his shot and knocks down the red titan. Phoenix drops another halo cannon shot into the grey titan and two bloodrunners standing in front of him, killing one.

Well, I screwed it all up. Banshee is too close. And he made a charge lane between himself and the forest. And Morghoul gets a two-inch placement power during his pre-turn. So it's all about to come tumbling down.

End of Turn 2

Turn 3 (Skorne)


Chad teleports Morghoul two inches to his left, making him clear of the red titan and opening a charge lane.

The bloodrunner in front of the grey titan activates and charges between banshee and the forest at my arcanist. He's molecules out of melee range with the arcanist. The others spread out around, trying to find good charge lanes for next turn.

Morghoul activates his feat and makes a ten-inch charge into the banshee. Smack, smack, and the second hit is with Morghoul's fan and causes Blindness. /facepalm. This is exceptionally important because banshee's weapons cause grievous wounds, which prevent damage transfers. Blindness drops his defense and MAT by four, making him pretty much useless.

The red titan activates, stands up, and uses his pathfinder ability to charge Banshee over the slope, but Chad's placed Morghoul too far over, and the titan can't get into melee range. The grey titan then charges -- he's also within 9.5 inches. I'm hearing Emperor Palpatine hiss, "And now, his failure is complete." Banshee is down to about six boxes. Chad sits on the last two fury.


Bottom of Turn 3

Turn 3 (Retribution)

Argh. This is over. I'll spend a couple minutes going through all the possibilities, including killing Banshee and charging Phoenix through his wreckage into Morghoul. The truth of the matter is that even if I get everything I want and roll all sixes, Vyros simply cannot outrun Morghoul or hide well enough (due to the placement effect) to survive next turn. So it ends now, one way or the other.

Arcanist repaired six boxes on the banshee, but he was sitting at MAT 2 with the blindness against defense nineteen Morghoul. I decided not to bother.

Retribution's best move appears to be sending Vyros in with full focus to whack on DEF 19 Morghoul, using Phoenix's auto-hit Combustion ability as a last-ditch shot. Vyros has an excellent MAT 8 and gets +2 MAT and an extra die of damage when he's flanking with a friendly myrmidon. So he needs nine on three dice to hit and then he's rolling 14 + 4d6 for damage against armor thirteen. First roll is 6, 6, 4, 3 -- one point shy of killing Morghoul outright. For one second I thought I had the game... but then he assigned the damage to a titan. And the walls fell down. Second swing was fourteen points over his armor... and that went to the other titan. Third swing was out of focus and it failed. Phoenix ran in and did eight points with fire... and setting Morghoul on fire. Still a chance! I end my turn. At the top of his turn he rolls, and the fire goes out.

Checkmate. Retribution concedes the game.

End of Turn 3

All losers get to armchair quarterback in their battle report. That's just how the world works. Here are some other things I could have tried on turn three. There were a few tools I didn't even try: Vyros' feat, banshee's entire activation, and phoenix's melee attack. So, what could I have done with these extra tools? How about this:


Plan B

Okay, here's Plan B. Vyros allocates one focus to phoenix, then he activates and pops feat. He advances around the bloodrunner (same as before) and burns all his focus attacking Morghoul. Next, banshee activates and takes his two swings at bloodrunners. If either hit, it would be a dead bloodrunner and focus for phoenix. Phoenix advances into the nook between the banshee and gladiator, combusts (auto-killing the bloodrunners for any remaining focus) and swings at Morghoul with whatever he has. That might have worked, assuming phoenix's could roll twelve on three dice to hit. It's a long shot, but it might have won the game.

Plan C

Here's a more conservative approach. Plan C's intent is to kill a heavy warbeast and prevent all charges to Vyros for the next turn. Morghul with less fury is still going to seriously abuse a warjack, but the game will continue. This time, we allocate three focus to phoenix. Arcanist activates and concentrates power into banshee. Banshee then makes some swings against the grey titan. He needs eight on two dice, so he might get a hit in. Second, phoenix activates and advances into the grey titan. He combusts, auto-killing one bloodrunner and making room for Vyros' move. Phoenix unloads his focus into the grey titan. Vyros then charges into the nook between phoenix, banshee, and the arcanist. I position him carefully so that he's out of Morghul's melee range. Vyros then has the choice to swing three focus against either the titan or Morghoul.

Well, that's probably enough for one night. Let me know if you see any other end game plans. I'll be thinking about them, too.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Warmachine Batrep: Strakhov vs Ravyn

Maz and I played thirty-five points Capture the Flag last night, our first scenario game, ever. Maz's list was:

Kommander Strakhov
* Berserker
* Torch
* War dog
Kayazy Assassins (full+Underboss)
Man-o-war Demolition Corps (full)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich

And mine was:

Ravyn, Eternal Light
* Discordia
Houseguard Halberdiers (min+UA)
Mage Hunter Strikeforce (full+UA)
Stormfall Archers
Stormfall Archers
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
House Shyeel Magister