It’s tournament season! Something about November apparently means that every place I game is hosting Warmachine and Hordes tourneys. The first one was at Drawbridge Games, a 35 point three-round tournament with variable missions chosen from the Steamroller 2015 pool (each table rolled randomly at the start of each round). The tournament was dubbed the Goldun Ogruns 2015, by me, as I was the one who made the trophies by cobbling together a few pieces of display wood, some metallic paints, and a commandeered set of Blighted Ogrun Warspears from prize support. With three trophies on the line: Tournament Winner, Best Painted Army, and Best Painted Model, I was excited to get some games in!

My 35 point Skorne force for the tournament. I went with Hexeris2 and a warbeast heavy approach. It includes the Bronzeback, a Cannoneer, an Aradus Sentinel, a Cyclops Brute, and my favorite model for Hexeris’ bonded channeler: the Razorworm. Rounding out the force were some Beast Handlers, an Agonizer, and a Void Spirit. The force is pretty general, relying upon his Black Spot to enable my shooting beasts to do their damage on enemy forces as they arrive, and the arc node, Bronzeback, and in a pinch Hexy or the Void Spirit to be the threat vectors for the enemy casters or specific model removal. I knew that this force would struggle with scenario points unless my foes were smaller in size and/or lacked the magic weapons/spells to deal with the Void Spirit, so I kept caster kill at the front of my mind in games.  My first matchup was against Tony’s Trollbloods. They were a solid list of Warders, Krielstone bearer, and Northkin Fire Eaters, backed by Janissa Stonetide. The Warlock was Borka1, with an Earthborn Dire Troll, a Troll Axer, and a Pyre Troll as his warbeasts. 

You know you’re in trouble when the person you’re playing against is wearing a shirt with a picture of his own painted model that you’re facing! This was going to be an uphill battle. The Troll of the match proved to be the Troll Axer. It got an initial lucky charge in by a squeeze–just slipping completely past the flag marker. That locked me down in the middle. While I was getting lucky on my right flank (the Warders were inexplicably missing my Paingiver Beast Handlers that I had to draft into emergency speed bump duty), my own actions led to my demise in the center. I enraged my Aradus Sentinel, only to find that Borka ended up on the subsequent phase with his back to it. It would have been a perfect back shot with poisoned weapon, but sadly the Enrage compelled him to charge or slam so he slammed the Axer out of the way of my other models to set up spell and ranged attacks on his caster.

The critical mistake was not remembering the difference between Hordes and Warmachine for a moment when it came to my Agonizer. I was counting on its cries of baby elephantine misery to prevent forcing… but no, it prevents allocation of focus to Warjacks but only turns of the animus of affected warbeasts. I had forgotten, and it cost me. The Earthborn two-handed threw the Cannoneer right through Hexeris, leaving both knocked down. Then the Axer simply forced his stand up and rolled in to finish my Warlock with ease.

I don’t want to take anything away from my opponent with this, as he played a great game that kept me really on my toes. It was a tough assassination to set up even if I hadn’t blundered on the Agonizer. All in all a very fun game.

My second round draw was against Kevin and his Puppet Masters Mercenary Contract list. Headed by Exulon Thexus, the list was three big groups of Drudges, a number of Cephalyx Agitators, a Pistol Wraith, and two of their Heavy Monstrosities. My Advance Deploy warbeasts got up field as fast as the two insectiwurms could scurry, which let Hexeris start unloading his spells through the channeler on turn two, joined by the Aradus Sentinel belching out its poisoned AoE. I cleared a whole lot of chaff in my first turns–using my feat early to get a second casting of Ashes to Ashes off. While the Cephalyx left some dents and dings in my warbeasts, they weathered that storm. Exulon was as sneaky and manipulative as he should be, sliding my melee pieces all over and allowing his Heavy Monstrosities to get advantageous positions.

It quickly became clear that I’d need to press the assassination vector, as getting control points was going to be tough given the closeness of objectives and manipulations my opponent was using. The Razorworm was able to chomp its way to freedom thanks to Drag Below, and advance through a gap to leave the Warlock and a Cephalyx Agitator in its sights. Hexeris was then able to use the presence of the close model to shunt AOE damage onto Exulon without directly hitting him (to avoid his Sacrifical Pawn ability to pass hits to nearby Monstrosities). The Warlock had taken the rough end of some Warbeast ranged weapon blast damage on prior turns, so this strike was enough to finish him off. 

I was pleased with the win, but I managed zero control points for my trouble, leaving me still back in the standings for the tournament. It was a three-round affair, but it became clear at the end of round two that two of the players were ahead of the rest and would be the tourney deciders (due to victories and points)–so the rest of us took a break and watched the “championship” match up. I was glad to see that my opponent from the first round, Tony, managed to win the final “championship” game and the trophy.

The first-annual Goldun Ogrun “Tournament Victor” received by Tony’s Trollbloods

All in all it was a great little tournament. I need to work out a way to put the squeeze on my opponent with objectives when playing my Skorne. I have a unit of Paingiver Bloodrunners that I’m thinking of prioritizing on the painting table, as a way to put quicker pressure on foes with my Skorne lists (plus they’ll suit Morghoul2 just wonderfully). Even with the advance deploying warbeasts, they’re not speedy enough to really give the scenario pressure I need and they’re further hindered by control range. Until I get that sorted out with the Skorne, my options are limited because I always seem to be the one who’s falling behind in scenario points–a problem which I don’t seem to have with any of my other forces. Soon enough I’ll crack that code. More tournaments like the Goldun Ogruns can only help!

While I didn’t win the overall victor, I did manage to win one award: Best Painted Army. I was really pleased about that result, as it wasn’t chosen by the TO/store owner but rather voted on by the other players. It was a little odd winning a trophy that I had made and donated for the event, but I’m still pleased.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 25 (Win/Loss: 20/5/0)

Skorne:
12 Wins (Fiona, Sorscha, Morvahna2, Ossrum, Borka, Kaelyssa, Stryker, Venethrax, and Butcher, Thagrosh, Exulon)   /   3 Losses (Kromac, Kaelyssa/Kaya, Borka)

Trollbloods:

0 Wins   /   1 Loss (Kaelyssa)

Protectorate of Menoth:
3 Wins (Morvahna2, Kaelyssa)   /   0 Losses

Legion of Everblight:
5 Wins (Caine2, Kaya, Sorscha, Rahn)   /   1 Loss (Fiona)

I dropped by local Pittsburgh game store Phantom of the Attic to play a quick match against my buddy Mike’s Khador force. We had clashed once before recently, and both of us were ready for a rematch. It was a 35 point game, pitting his Orsus Zoktavir, The Butcher of Khardov (otherwise shortened to Butcher1) against my Lord Assassin Morghoul (Morghoul2). It was going to be a tough, uphill climb for my lightly armored assassin and his strike force to deal with the heavy armor and sheer-murder-ness of this Khador brick. 

His forces were all heavily armored: the Butcher controlled a Destroyer and a Kodiak, and was supported by a big unit of Man-o-War Shocktroopers, a group of Man-o-War Bombardiers, and a few support solos. My force was my usual for Morghoul2: the Cyclops Brute and Razorworm for their animi and protection and then a whole heap of heavy Warbeasts including a Bronzeback, an Aradus Sentinel, and a Gladiator. With Paingiver Beast Handlers to help control all the fury and a Void Spirit for objective and annoyance duty, I felt as ready as I could be for the clash.

The first two turns were maneuvering, with some ineffectual shooting exchanged by both sides thanks to the inaccuracy of the Aradus Sentinel but also its Carapace that protected it from return fire. The Kodiak rushed forward to engage the Sentinel, landing some damage and throwing it. Then the Bronzeback returned the favor–sending it crashing through the Widowmaker Marksman. Normally the Bronzeback is the model that hits like a truck, but it found itself on the receiving end of the on-rushing bus that was the Man-o-Wars. On the feat turn from the Butcher. With Weaponmaster. And the charge. The Bronzeback went from perfectly healthy to crippled in an instant, and with my Beast Handlers committed to making other parts of my force continue fighting the Bronzeback was easily finished on the remaining turn–albeit taking a few of the Man-o-Wars with him.

With my forces dwindling, and the Butcher near thanks to having used his feat, I had to take a shot. I moved some remaining force to draw his into deeper combat, leaving an open lane for some of my forces to slide in via envelopment. The Razor Worm used its Drag Below ability after killing the last Man-o-War to leave space for the two-sided assault. The Gladiator arrived first, and while he got a few licks in on the Butcher it still didn’t finish him. Thus Lord Assassin Morghoul had to try and finish the job, and he was narrowly able to get it done. If he had missed, or done just a bit less damage on any swipe, the Butcher would have been able to end things in his usual, sudden, axe-tastic fashion. That tense ending made it a very close and entertaining game, which is one of my favorite parts of Warmachine and Hordes. When you decide to go for it, it’s either succeed or fail. This time Morghoul2 had the luck of the dice on his side.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 21 (Win/Loss: 18/3/0)

Skorne:
11 Wins (Fiona, Sorscha, Morvahna2, Ossrum, Borka, Kaelyssa, Stryker, Venethrax, and Butcher, Thagrosh)
2 Losses (Kromac, Kaelyssa, Kaya)

Protectorate of Menoth:
3 Wins (Morvahna2, Kaelyssa)
0 Losses

Legion of Everblight:
4 Wins (Caine2, Kaya, Sorscha)

1 Loss (Fiona)

I gathered for my usual Thursday night Privateer Press gaming with friends at Drawbridge Games, and managed to face off against a faction that I’m very familiar with: Legion of Everblight. Rico kept his Rhulic Mercenaries on the shelf and instead pulled out his amazingly-painted Legion forces. They’ve got a great bone paint scheme which really makes them pop more than a lot of Everblight schemes. We faced off in a 35-point match with a three-objectives scenario. His Warlock was Thagrosh, while I fielded Void Seer Mordikaar at the helm of my Skorne army.

Thagrosh’s force was a Scythean and a Carnivean for the heavy lifting, along with a Naga Nightlurker, a Shredder, and a unit of Legionaires. He was also accompanied by a Beast Mistress that was running three Shredders of her own. My own list was not a particularly great one for Mordikaar, but just one that worked for the points value while I’m working on painting all the parts of my new Skorne experiment. I brought a Bronzeback and a Gladiator, and a Basilisk Krea, a unit of Cataphract Cetrati, and the usual complement of supporting Skorne solos and units.

The forces largely clashed over the center and left objective. On the left flank, the Beast Mistress and her horde of Shredders turned their attention to the Cetrati. They made a fair mess of them, as the sheer amount of dice that the Beast Mistress gives them is bound to make an impact even from a low strength model like a Shredder against the high armored Skorne heavy infantry. Then once one gap appeared in the shield wall, the surrounding isolated models got further assailed by the gnashing teeth of the annoying beasts. In the center, I was luckier in that the Scythean fell just short of the Gladiator in its charge, while the Carnivean tried to control the objective that lay in the center. Most importantly to my eye was that Thagrosh decided to use all of his Fury that turn. I’m relatively new to Void Seer Mordikaar (only my second game with him, and I’m relatively new to Skorne as a faction overall), and he has an ability that I’ve been wanting to pull off for some time: Essence Blast.

Essence Blast is an attack that sacrifices a model to generate a spray from its location using the model’s Strength. It seems custom-fit to use one-wound infantry models for this, as Mordikaar can replace them and they’re expendable anyways. Despite my Titan Gladiator being entirely undamaged, I saw that the opponent’s caster was open and without fury. Pulling off the maneuver proved to be a case of perfect timing and rolls. It began with the Bronzeback clearing some of the path of advance with a throw, and then the Gladiator doing what he does best: slamming a foe. It had to suffer a free strike from the Scythean to do it, but the damage was inconsequential. The Gladiator slammed the Naga Nightlurker, who flew backward and hit Thagrosh–leaving the warlock knocked down.

I took a few swipes with the Gladiator at the Naga just in case of retaliation, and also advanced up the Agonizer in case the Titan didn’t get the job done and I needed to Essence Blast from the mewling, tortured baby elephant as well. Turns out I didn’t need it: Mordikaar cast the spell, completely destroying my Gladiator but also delivering a fearsome spray that combined with the bit of collateral damage to slay Thagrosh before he knew what hit him. I was shocked that it actually worked that easily (expecting to need a shot from the Agonizer and maybe even some whip-wielding charging Paingivers to make the gambit finish him), and my opponent was shocked that hit happened so quickly.

While we were busy with exploding elephants, the other table saw a clash between Retribution and Trollbloods–I snapped a picture of their battle too because the Glacier King was just too cool to not discuss.

And discuss him we did… to the point where I talked myself into starting (yet) another faction. I’ve always had my eyes on Trollbloods (even had a Madrak2 model that I bought a long time ago and never built around but never got rid of). I’ve loved the look of the trolls for a long time, and I’ve always found them to be tough foes… well, not too tough (someday I’ll tell the tale of an old battle where my Lich Lord Venethrax decided that taking out a Mountain King himself was the plan). But the discussion of trolls got my own troll-blood flowing, so you can watch for them to begin to appear on this blog as I finish a few.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 20 (Win/Loss: 17/3/0)

Skorne:
10 Wins (Fiona, Sorscha, Morvahna2, Ossrum, Borka, Kaelyssa, Stryker, Venethrax, and Butcher, Thagrosh)
2 Losses (Kromac, Kaelyssa, Kaya)

Protectorate of Menoth:
3 Wins (Morvahna2, Kaelyssa)
0 Losses

Legion of Everblight:
4 Wins (Caine2, Kaya, Sorscha)

1 Loss (Fiona)

As I mentioned in my prior post, the collapse and demise of Warhammer Fantasy has prompted a lot of interest in Warmachine/Hordes across multiple gaming stores in my area. This past Sunday I stopped out at Phantom of the Attic to join some others in some good Privateer Press battles. Both games were on the smaller side at 25 points, and we used the three objectives scenario both times. First I faced Charles’ excellently painted Cryx, then Mike’s classic-look Khador army.

I was nervous about the game against Cryx, because Charles was fielding Lich Lord Venethrax–a model who is custom-made to give Hordes armies fits. His force had a lot of infantry for 25 points, from Bloodgorgers with their champion to a unit of Mechanithralls with three of their brute models. Two Helldivers, a crabjack, and the Bloat Thrall rounded out the force. For my part, I went with Lord Arbiter Hexeris and my usual complement of warbeasts: Bronzeback, Aradus Sentinel, Cyclops Brute, and the Razorworm (sexy Hexy’s bonded warbeast). The match was tough but things swung my way with relative luck. The Bloodgorgers were the only living models on his side, but they were in a spot that made sense for my Aradus Sentinel to advance deploy closest to them–his Poison shot, plus Hexeris2’s Black Spot made short work of them. The Bronzeback also proved how massive Trainwreck plus Smash and Grab is, as he beat his way into the midst of the Mechanithralls and ended up killing one of their Brutes with the thrown crabjack. And Hexeris2’s channeled spells through the Razorworm proved to be the icing on the cake for stopping any Cryx threats that got too close. 

With my side inflicting heavy losses on the Cryx forces, Venethrax had to get the job done himself. He rushed forward and easily cut down the Cyclops Brute, but it was too little and too late. Hexeris moved up and landed a fair amount of damage on Venethrax himself before he had his Aradus Sentinel charge in and finish the job. 

For game two of the day, Mike’s Khador force was a classic specimen: a wall of Man-O-War Shocktroopers, with a line of Man-O-War Bombardiers behind them, a massive Decimator Khador warjack, and the Butcher of Khardov with a War Dog. My force was the same as the prior game, but I was grouped somewhat differently due to a house that dominated the center of the battlefield. I saw that it would extraordinarily difficult to make a play for all three objectives, so I focused on getting the center and the right objective. 

When Khador arrives, they hit hard, so I did my best to keep them at range so I could manage the first strike. The Aradus Sentinel and Hexeris2’s Black Spot again proved to be a central asset, as it blasted holes in the armored line of Man-O-Wars. Even their Shield Wall orders could not stop the Poison attack from wreaking havoc. Still, three wounded Man-O-Wars reached my Razorworm and the objective–however only one of them managed a hit on the defensive beast. I was able to clear the rest out with Hexeris2’s own melee attacks, having broken their Shield Wall thanks to the Razorworm eliminating the center model of the group. The Bronzeback and the Decimator went blow for blow, with the Bronzeback finally destroying the beast but left mostly crippled in the process. 

I still had to be careful, as the Butcher can win a game solo if he starts too close to the opponent’s Warlock. I was able to be at just the right range to discourage charging, which allowed my Aradus Sentinel to get a shot in to damage him and the Cyclops Brute to use its speed and reach to connect a charge and finish off the deadly Khadorian foe.

Overall it was two good games against two foes. I’ve definitely gotten the knack for my Skorne force, as these were two very different styles of armies that I had to play different despite using the exact same force. That’s my general test for effectiveness with a force–being able to keep the same models and run them in varied fashion to cope with quite different threats. I’m looking forward to rematches against the armies of the Dead and the Cold.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 19 (Win/Loss: 16/3/0)

Skorne:
9 Wins (Fiona, Sorscha, Morvahna2, Ossrum, Borka, Kaelyssa, Stryker, Venethrax, and Butcher)
2 Losses (Kromac, Kaelyssa, Kaya)

Protectorate of Menoth:
3 Wins (Morvahna2, Kaelyssa)
0 Losses

Legion of Everblight:
4 Wins (Caine2, Kaya, Sorscha)

1 Loss (Fiona)

Warmachine/Hordes has taken off among my local gaming groups, in large part due to the complete demise of Warhammer Fantasy. I looked back at my old Warhammer blog recently, at a post where I was prognosticating about Warhammer 9th edition and saw just how wrong I was about the Warhammer Fantasy change. Yet it worked out relatively nicely, as there was a whole assortment of players who wanted to do tabletop miniature wargaming within a fantasy-ish setting, who decided to check out Privateer Press’ offerings.

The photos in this post are from my most recent outing to Drawbridge games where one local gaming community is getting into the game. I squeezed in another game against Dan’s Retribution force, and then taught a relatively new player how to play the game. Battle report and comments about both follow.

For the 50 point battle against Retribution of Scyrah, I decided to bring Lord Assassin Morghoul. I’m pretty happy with how I painted him, and I like his play style if only because it runs really, really fast. Until you commit with him, you’re not really weighing what spells to cast. It becomes three quick questions: which (if any) animi you’re doubling by having him cast them, how much fury are you banking in the Agonizer, and how much fury are you sitting on should a surprise attack reach him and he needs to transfer damage?

The battle started as usual when facing Kaelyssa: the elves rushing forward and my forces having to struggle to contest the objectives with all the limits on running and charging. This game ended with a caster kill, but was much closer in objectives than my previous matches against Kaelyssa. Before I’ve achieved the caster kill in the nick of time, being dreadfully behind in objective points. This time the game ended much closer in points, thanks in large part to my warbeasts.

The Bronzeback’s Trainwreck animus and the Gladiator Titan’s Rush animus were the two critical elements. The first let me push foes off of objectives, and the second let me get the two inch speed boost that helped me reach the front faster. I had forgotten in past games that the Warlock can also cast the animus, so two models with Rush instead of one makes a huge difference. The Bronzeback was able to roll up and get its Smash and Grab to activate and throw a Phoenix off the central objective. The speed of the Cyclops Brute on the right flank also helped me get to and contest objectives more effectively.

Kaelyssa was a cagey foe, so it took a fair amount of luck to take her down. By closing with a Rushing light warbeast and Morghoul2 up on my feat turn, Kaelyssa was left with bad options. The force tried desperately to hurt Morghoul, but his defense 19 on the feat turn was too tough a nut to crack. He took some hits, transferred some damage, and survived. With Morghoul2 close, and the ability to heal the nearly dead Bronzeback at least a point in the crippled aspects, it was curtains for the elf caster. All in all it was the closest game I’ve played against Retribution.

I also got in a demo game against a new player who wanted to try out the game. I fielded my Legion of Everblight force, and he borrowed the Trollbloods starter set from the game store. 

It’s actually the very first time I’ve fielded Lylyth and her starter box. While I’m a long-time Everblight player, I jumped right to Absylonia and Vayl as my casters of choice. Lylyth is a lot like Morghoul2: it’s pretty clear what to do every turn. There’s a bit more nuance than he has, but not much. Especially with the starter box. It’s about sending the little Shredder missiles out for free to targets she’s hit with her bow, and biding time to come sweeping in with the raw might of the Carnivean. 

The game was a good one, as I think Trollbloods are the best starter box army for players to learn Hordes with. They have a reason to do everything: shoot, charge, animus, spells, feat, boost, and more. While my force won the game (I don’t count demo sessions in my record, note), it was more about getting the player familiar with the system. He said that he picked up Cryx, so the next game it’ll just be a matter of learning the Focus mechanic instead of Fury for him.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 17 (Win/Loss: 14/3/0)

Skorne:
7 Wins (Fiona, Sorscha, eMorvahna, Ossrum, Borka, Kaelyssa, and Stryker)
2 Losses (Kromac, Kaelyssa, Kaya)

Protectorate of Menoth:
3 Wins (eMorvahna, Kaelyssa)
0 Losses

Legion of Everblight:
4 Wins (eCaine, Kaya, Sorscha)

1 Loss (Fiona)