Another week and one more game to add to the story. I’ve been making a lot of painting progress on my Siege Animantarax, but he’s not quite done yet–so he doesn’t get a solo picture. You can see the progress in some of the pictures as I did field him in this battle, but you can also note the difference of not being washed, recessed, and highlighted like the others.
This week I got a game in against Scott’s Protectorate of Menoth force. Scott is a great dude who runs the gaming events up at Legions Hobbies and Games. Because he’s usually running the tourney rather than playing in it, it was a fun chance to squeeze in the game.
We played it Steamroller style with ADR, bringing two 50 point lists and then each selecting based on the others’ choices (Scott was dutiful about writing his down, I had to describe mine to him). His were Severius and Feora2, and he went with the Feora2 list. I brought my experiment with Morghoul’s Big Game Hunters tier 4 list, and a shooting-focused Hexeris2 list.
I ended up choosing Hexeris2, knowing that my shooting would be blunted a bit by his magical protections but having more diversity of options than the Morghoul list I’ve been working on sorting out. My list had the Siege Animantarax, Aradus Sentinel, Titan Cannoneer, Cyclops Shaman, and Cyclops Raider all adding to the volume of fire–plus various support staff and sexy Hexy. The above was my initial deployment (still waiting to deploy the Aradus Sentinel with AD–he’s close to the final spot I set him in.
Scott’s Protectorate force. Feora2 and a battlegroup with a Judicator, a Reckoner, and the Hand of Judgment. Supporting them were a Choir, two Vassals, a big group of Exemplar Errants with UA, Alten Ashley, and Saxon Orrik. Scott got the first turn, and rushed his forces up to claim a deeper line of battle.
I made an initial mistake with my Aradus Sentinel and its positioning in the worst possible spot to see through the forest in between the two zones. 3″ is such a short distance, and he doesn’t have eyeless sight like the Razorworm (which I run very often with Hexeris2 as his bonded channeler). He recovered well with his Carapace special rule boosting his armor against the assaults of the Errants and Alten Ashley. Then he managed to line up a charge that let him eat both Ashley and Saxon Orrik on the same turn.
I managed to take an early points lead when the Protectorate Warjacks didn’t move up into my zone. Hexeris2 braved the long range firepower of the Judicator and toed in, scoring me three points over bottom of two and top/bottom of three. At that point, I was starting to take heavy losses so my game plan became block and score as best I could. The Siege Animantarax, the Titan Gladiator, and the Cyclops Brute all laid down their lives drawing the colossal and heavy jacks toward my zone. Skorne armor is good, but it wasn’t standing up to the sheer beating that Scott’s Protectorate forces were meting out.
Meanwhile my ranged warbeast package were nibbling away at the Errants holding the enemy zone. The Hand of Judgment moved to bring pressure onto my zone, so I just needed a round of good shooting and supported by a quick dash to the middle by Hexeris2 to provide control area for the shooty beasts to get the job done. The Cyclops Shaman eventually downed the objective with a Mortitheurge-assisted shot, and with my beasts controlling the zone I managed to squeak out 5 control points before what was sure to be the inevitable smashing of Hexeris2 by a combination of Judicator shots and Reckoner assault. It was a really fun game, one of those down-to-the-wire can I survive long enough to get the last points kinda games that make for good drama. Scott is a great opponent as well, which always helps with enjoyment of a match.
I’m painting like a fiend to get ready for some upcoming fun events. I’m running a Who’s the Boss Tournament at Drawbridge Games coming up on Sunday, February 28th, so look forward to coverage of that and the slew of casters we get to turn out for the madness.
366 Points Challenge Progress (2016):
50/366
Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Totals 2016: 13 (Win/Loss: 9/4/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)
Skorne:
5 Wins (Butcher, Deneghra, Shae, Sorscha2, Feora2)/ 1 Loss (Rask)
Cryx:
4 Wins (Caine, Karchev, Skarre, Vlad) / 3 Losses (Asphyxious, Lylyth2, Goreshade3)
The Shaman is a great support and shooting light warbeast for Skorne, and his 5 points brings me to 18/29 for February and 50 points total so far in 2016. 
My Bronzeback and Void Spirit flank the cluster of forest, and draw the line of battle close to the emerging point of the Wurm’s gibbering mouths. 
The might of Khador advances in formation toward the site of danger. So many Winterguard, supported by the Great Bears and two deadly Warjacks in the distance. 
Spacing, my old foe. I got too aggressive with my Warbeasts, and lost both the Bronzeback (to two Warjacks) and the Gladiator (to the Great Bears) in a single round (thanks to Sorscha2’s feat). Leveraging threat was hard in this game because of the unpredictability of decisions being made by the Wurm player (placing huge spots of rough terrain, clouds that blocked line of sight, and simply removing key support models by swallowing them whole.
With both my heavy warbeasts lost, and Mordikaar standing way too close to danger, I had to make a play to assassinate Sorscha2 before it was too late. The good news was, I had a void spirit that had been lurking amidst the magic weapon-less Winterguard. Within Mordikaars control area, it received boosted attack rolls, and with a high MAT and Annihilator to do an extra dice of damage to living models it was able to take a healthy chunk out of Sorscha2 when it charged her. She was on zero focus from powering her Warjacks to reach and take out the Bronzeback, so the hit certainly hurt. Then Mordikaar simply did what he did best: an essence blast spray attack using the Void Spirit ended the game with an assassination of Sorscha2. 
There were some shining moments for the force and their deadly old character cannon, but Morghoul and his rampaging Titan Gladiator proved to be too much for the piratical forces. 
I also finished up a Cyclops Raider. He’s mainly a support beast for his animus (which gives Snipe), but he can get some work done in shooting himself if needed. His best ability is that if he takes the time to aim, he ignores Stealth–which is huge for cutting out those frustrating solos in an enemy force that rely upon Stealth to protect them. With these two added to my painted total, I hit 13 total points painted in February, and 45 total points finished so far in 2016. It’s a long road to 366, but not that long!
The Great Bears made a mess of my Aradus Sentinel, as Beast 09 and a Kodiak watched. Colton’s awesome-looking Khador filled the center with very tough models, which meant I had to focus on the sides and be careful about my placement in the middle. 
I got out to an early lead thanks to the flanks. On the left, two light beasts finished off some solos while pMorghoul himself did a dance of death through the Widowmakers who had ran up to take a shooting position. On the right, my Void Spirit grabbed a quick point facing down the intimidating Man-O-War Shocktroopers. They weren’t quite within range of the flag, and their lack of magic weapons meant they simply had to bypass the Void Spirit and leave a trailing couple of members to contest the flag in the later turns. 
I finally managed to finish off the Great Bears, and drew Beast 09 to the right, which left a straight shot for my Titan Gladiator to slam the Kodiak right through the Butcher. With the Gladiator’s follow-up ability, he rolled right up to the Butcher and bought a couple of attacks to finish him off for assassination. It was a good game, and I was lucky to get the kill as things were starting to get pretty beat up on my side of the table–and the Man-O-Wars were about to mop up all the damaged light beasts on my right side. 
My second game was against Ryan’s excellently painted, classic-look Cryx. His force was heavy on infantry with Bane Thralls and Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders, along with a couple of arc node bonejacks and Barathrum. I started realizing that I had only a couple of magic weapon options, so Blackbane’s were going to be a definite concern. I decided to play Morghoul up and make a tight line of my stuff on their side, hoping that he would come to me an jam with the Incorporeal models. He did, and that let Morghoul have a turn of absolute destruction. With his super-high MAT, 
Then of course, it was Deneghra’s turn to shine. Her feat is utterly crippling for a turn. I had to try and weather the storm–the only model that wasn’t caught in the feat was the little Agonizer. He used Spiritual Affliction to deny Barathrum and a Bonejack focus for the turn, which bought me some breathing room as I traded blows and suffered heavy losses from the Bane Thralls. 
Welcome to the slap-fight. Deneghra got aggressive, moved up and used Crippling Grasp to further limit Morghoul, then laid into him with melee attacks. However, he didn’t quite get finished off and was sitting at a miserable 2 health boxes at the end of the Cryx turn. While I didn’t have a way to shake the Crippling Grasp (my kindgom for a Cyclops Shaman!), I was right in her face and had most of my Fury plus one for Maltreatment (having to shake Shadowbind was a pain), so I thought I’d return the favor. The Cyclops Raider set up the attack, slamming a Bane Thrall into Deneghra–knocking her down and killing the Bane. Yet even with the flurry of attacks Morghoul was coming up short. P+S 7 was simply not getting the job done. I got too close to empty Fury and she was still reasonably healthy–so I put up Admonition and took a swing at another close model and killed it to be able to Sprint away. I rolled my Razorworm up and he finished the job of the assassination. It was a fun game, and while my blending through Blackbane’s was a morale buster, the fight could have cut either way multiple times throughout the battle. 
This brings me to 37 points painted this far in 2016. I’m a 10th of the way to having painted a point per day! I did him in the colors I’m doing the rest of my Cryx in, as he’s likely to only ever hit the table alongside my Cryx force. 
First up was a pretty balanced Skarre list run by Ian. My Shrike actually did a pretty impressive job in this game. I got jammed by a group of Satyxis Raiders early, so to make sure I could contest I had to use Goreshade3’s feat on the top of turn two. The good news was, that meant the Shrike auto-hit on a long line of tramples and he soared a whopping 13 inches (thanks to Infernal Machine) and obliterated one half of the jammers in a literal fell swoop. The rest of the game he spent dodging attacks from the Bane Knights thanks to his high defense, until one finally tagged him and destroyed the little birdjack. 
Skarre’s alpha strike really hurt, especially the Soulhunters simply annihilating my Revenant Crew. However Goreshade3 was able to rush back and apply some scenario pressure, dominating the zone and getting some points for me while my opponent never quite cleared their zone. It meant that Skarre needed to go for the assassination, but it didn’t quite take. Goreshade was left in range of Skarre with a Helldiver behind her: the little jack surfaced, headbutted her to the ground, and Goreshade3 finished her with a charge. 
Round Two I faced Cryx again. This time I was facing Ryan, who dropped his Goreshade3 versus mine. Our lists were pretty different except for Mechanithrals and Bile Thralls, and Ryan got the first turn–which proved to be pretty decisive. He played his Bile Thralls up, charged and destroyed some with Goreshade3, then used Mockery of Life to get them placed even further up the field. A variation I should have done to him if I had gone first–but instead I had to play a bit defensively and creep around the sides. 
My Goreshade3 played up to the objective between two forests, recognizing that if I was going to do anything I’d need to increase the scenario pressure a bit. 
The problem was that I had to keep flooding the middle to keep him from scoring, and the Kraken and Bane Riders kept him well ahead of the curve. I kept the pressure up as much as I could, but once he got my objective dead and dominated the center for a round, it was all over but the taxes for most part. I crowded the zone once more, but his Kraken did its thing and I was too little too late. Still a fun game, as Ryan is always a great opponent who I learn a lot from when I play (he went on to win first place in the event). 
My third round match was against Justin’s gorgeously painted Khador force. Just look at that Behemoth. He fielded Vlad, which meant that my forces would have to sell themselves dearly–whenever he attacked me he was sure to hit and damage because of the added dice. I started my pressure early with the Mechanithralls and Revenant Crew, and while they did indeed die in droves they at least took some stuff with them–in particular heavily damaging the Behemoth. 
I ended up winning thanks to the death clock–Justin timed out for the round. It was a lucky thing too, as I was definitely losing the attrition game. My jacks were intact, and I was deciding whether I could try to scenario or simply had to nudge an arc node up and hope for a Hail Mary assassination through spells. Thank goodness for the Revenant crew in this game–I think a lot of time was spent dealing with them. Though I never got any back from their unit’s ability (only through Captain Rengrave adding models), the question they ask of “can you kill enough and then get the job done on the unit leader?” is a time sink for the opponent. Overall a great game, as Justin was a really fun player to face and his army was wonderfully painted.
The Mortitheurge Willbreaker brings my points painted up to 34 so far in 2016. I’ve got a lot more Skorne and Cryx on the table, so the target of 366 seems not too far from reach! Skorne really helps, as each caster needs such different pieces to be effective… ah, the joys of Skornergy. 
This battle I faced Andy’s Blindwater Congregation, led by Rask. It was two big Gatormen Posses, an Ironback Spitter, a Bullsnapper, some Bog Trog Ambushers, and support staff. I was definitely not ready for Rask, both in caster choice and in tactics. I should have played back more and waited out his feat, then done some close range chain-elimination: kill a unit in melee to free the next unit to shoot deeper. Instead, the Posses hit like tons of bricks. 
In the end I made a game of it, as Hexeris2 went on a personal rampage. He wrecked nearly a whole Posse himself with combination of attacks and spells, and took most of the Ambushers out on another round. He got very lucky, but not lucky enough to pull out anything close to a win. I lost pretty clearly (assassinated at the end by the remaining Trogs), but felt good that I recovered from a derpy start like I did. All told a fun game, as Andy is a great opponent with a fun force. Now at least I’m ready for Rask again!
Completed my Shrike bonejack. Modified slightly to be flying, rather than taking off. Takes me to 34 points painted for the year!
My army arrayed for battle. Even at 35 points, Cryx makes for a fearsome large battle line.
Colton’s Khador line of battle, led by Karchev the Terrible at the front. Less widespread, certainly, but equally imposing as the Cryx line. I had my work cut out for me. 
The battle was joined, and Karchev led the way all across the board to the flag on my side. My poor Defiler was no match for the armored destruction. 
Goreshade3 followed suit, and rode across to the opposite flag himself. To win the game, I merely needed to defeat one destroyer. It took me a full turn of Goreshade3 and the Mechanithralls, then surviving the return attacks from the crippled warjack, and finishing it off the next round. Man, those crabjacks are tough! I managed to pull off the win, but only just. 
Other games from the evening. Andy’s Thornfall Alliance hog squad against Terry’s Protectorate of Menoth–the smell of bacon grilled on the flames of the righteous!
Brandon’s Trenchers dig into the zone, firing madly at Dan’s advancing Khador line. 
Another game for Brandon’s Trenchers, this time facing fellow Cygnarian compatriots in Tony’s force. 
Careful application of force can sometimes trump raw numbers. Ryan’s Cryx had been the most successful faction at racking up caster kills through the league, but this time the kill went to Rico’s Legion of Everblight. A bow shot and Parasite from Lylyth onto Asphyxious made him quick work when the Carnivean trampled in. 
The conclusion of the Protectorate/Thornfall match between Andy and Terry. Beautiful models on both sides lured me to get an extra shot of the action. 
Most of the Journeyman crew. From left to right: Andy, Tony, Ryan, Rico, Dan, Brandon, Colton, and Terry (I took the photo). We had a grand total of 13 players who participated in more than one evening of the event, with 11 who participated in all but 1-2 nights. 
Just a bit of shooting in the opposing list… There used to be a left flank of Mechanithralls…
Goreshade3 stares down the massive form of the Blightbringer that rose beyond the forest.
I wasn’t too keen on Goreshade until I read some of his fluff that links to him plaguing Retribution of Scyrah. Definitely a cool incarnation of the model. 
Skarre2, Queen of the Broken Coast. I really like how the model turned out. At first I felt it was an odd pose, but now I’m really digging it. I’m still searching for which caster(s) in Cryx I feel comfortable with, and there’s some strong reasons that it might be Skarre2 (defensive feat and flexible strategy are two strong items in the plus column). 
We had great turnout for the Journeyman league overall (fourteen total players)–the tables were packed with generals clashing.
Ryan’s Iron Lich Asphyxious army versus Tony’s Caine-led Cygnar force. Ryan has become the come-from-behind warnoun assassin of note for the league. He caught me with it once, and this time he caught Caine as well. Never count Asphyxious out. 
The controlled advance of Kevin’s Puppet Masters force led by Exulon Thexus faces off against Dan’s fast advance and shooting-heavy Sorscha2 army. 
There’s no match up more classic than Kreoss versus Sorscha. 
At the next table over, it was an epic version of the same match, as Terry’s Kreoss2 faced off against Colton’s Sorscha2.
Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders realize the Doom Reavers have magic weapons.
A wild match up of Tony’s Cygnar (with Caine) versus Rico’s Legion of Everblight being led by Thagrosh. Bad luck ruled the day for Legion, as there was a critical moment in a Mutagenisis assassination run ruined by an over-ambitious Naga Nightlurker that killed rather than only damaged the target that was being softened up.
A Cryxian mainstay: a minimum unit of Bile Thralls. 
The little bonejack that could: the Helldiver. The little marker on the left signifies when it’s completely underground. 
Terry’s gorgeous Protectorate of Menoth force led by good old Kreoss against Dan’s aggressive Sorscha2-led Khador army. 
Ryan’s Cryxian nightmares face off in no man’s land against the Protectorate faithful. 
Nasty Khador-0n-Khador action as Colton’s Karchev-led Warjacks (on the left) powerslide into the “friendly” forces on the other side. 
Tony’s Cygnar build the “Flying V” as they surge up into the crossroads to take on their snowy adversaries from the north. 
My favorite moment from my game against Ryan’s Cryx. My Withershadow Combine, thanks to some Telekinesis from Scaverous to get positioning correct, managed to actually get their Dark Industries ability to trigger–destroying one of his light warjacks and replacing it with one of my own. This shot shows the aftermath, as the newly-created Defiler moved up and acid-bathed the opposing Slayer and infantry behind. 
My other game was against Tony’s Cygnar and Caine. I was really nervous about the pairing, as Caine and the force of Gun Mages and the Black 13th definitely project a ton of destruction that my single-wound infantry simply could not handle. I had to use the terrain on the board to fully obstruct line of sight as much as I could, relying upon Ghostwalk on bonejacks and then Mechanithralls to get them into safe position against the imminent shooting death of my army. 
Red Ones Go Faster 