Week 2 of the Company of Iron league at Drawbridge Games continues, and that meant more playtime for my Skorne. That said, painting-wise I finished up the final touches on my Trollbloods Pyg Bushwhackers Officer and Mortar UA.
I just love the character of these models. The officer especially. They add 2 more points to my painted total as well.
One of the other developments in the league is that people can build terrain to earn the pins of the factions that don’t have any players in the league. Check out the following amazing entry:
Ryan (whose Cryx you may often see on these posts) completed this awesome double-size Trench for the special mission as part of the League. He’s also working on a similar bunker for the other mission. Andy’s pigs on display in the trench to give a sense of scale.
This week I managed to get in two games. Just timing-wise other players were paired up elsewhere, so Colton and I faced off first in a small Platoon Skirmish, then in a larger 35 points game using the new trench system.
This smaller platoon game was the “Sabotage” mission. We decided that a small Khador force was protecting the Old Witch’s hut from being blown up by marauding Skorne forces. Colton’s forces surround the hut in readiness.
The fun thing about this mission is getting to deploy all-around the central models. The above is a shot of my attempt at envelopment.
Well, the Void Spirits are just sad in this match-up. Denied their Incorporeal protection, and with Khador’s starting promotion making the entire army fearless, these boys had little to do. Even hiding behind the hedge for the good defense bonus couldn’t save them. That said, I was able to slip my Bloodrunners in close enough to the cabin to set a charge, then got lucky when I pulled away and managed to detonate it on the first roll. Finally, a win for my Platoon–which gives a promotion that makes them slightly better in large games (pretty much all of the Skorne platoon promotions improve their abilities in the bigger games, not platoon combats).
I was the defender in the second game. Colton had to merely get Sorscha2 completely into my trench and then start his maintenance phase with her still standing there (before the end of the eighth turn). I brought a force led by Mordikaar, as he’s my preferred slow-down and denial caster for the faction–the ability to bring back grunts in annoying places to force you to deal with them again really helps delay opponents. Otherwise it’s my usual shooting-focused beast package, which hopefully had the oomph to soften up his forces at range.
The besieging Khador force. Winterguard deathstar in the middle, platoon on the right, and Sorscha2 with Beast 09 on the left.
Close up of Mordikaar, his Cyclops Shaman, and a Void Spirit as they hold firm in the trench waiting for the advance of the enemy infantry.
My shooting decimated the enemy infantry, but that didn’t stop Beast 09 and Sorscha2 from drawing up into range of my forces. Too little shooting too late, but I didn’t have to defeat it–I just needed to keep her out of the trench.
Of course, that’s easier said than done against a caster with the Cyclone spell. As time started to run out on the game, Colton had to take a chance and rush her forward and hope she survived. She ended up in one end of the trench, with Mordikaar at the other. Then it was just a hope to weather storm. Unfortunately for Sorscha2, she couldn’t quite get it done. My Cyclops Raider managed to get up into position fully within the trench and land a bit of damage on her, only to be followed by his insides exploding all over her in a shower of gore (good old Essence Blast from Mordikaar) and finishing her off.
Another good week of scenarios. Privateer Press really out-did themselves with this league. There’s some moaning on the forums about the various platoons, but in my experience and from the rest participating, they’re great little games with good scenarios and some solid balance in most cases. And the larger game missions are definitely great–they really put a different set of pressures on the players, which leads to some really fun moments.
366 Points Challenge Progress (2016):
75/366
Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Totals 2016: 21 (Win/Loss: 14/7/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)
Skorne:
9 Wins (Butcher, Deneghra, Shae, Sorscha2, Feora2, Severius, Skarre)/ 1 Loss (Rask)
Trollbloods:
1 Win (Karchev) / 3 Losses (Adeptis Rahn, Kromac, Caine2)
Cryx:
4 Wins (Caine, Karchev, Skarre, Vlad) / 3 Losses (Asphyxious, Lylyth2, Goreshade3)
Pyg Bushwhackers add 5 points to my total. I think they turned out really nicely. 
The Skorne Void spirit on the right adds another 2 points. I also added the Heap of Corpses that I created and painted myself as we’re doing some terrain modeling competition as part of the league. 
My Hexeris2 list with the Platoon included. The list is pretty shooty, with the Platoon intended to be a skirmish screen and contest objectives while the shooting core whittles the foe down. 
My opponent Ryan’s Cryx. Led by pSkarre and containing the Cryx Platoon, this was going to be a tough fight for my force.
Platoon on Platoon action… the Void Spirit slowed the Black Ogrun crew down, and took a free strike at the last one to leave his range (but missing, of course). 
The center was a jammed, overlapping mess. Skarre has a real advantage in a grind situation, so I had to get some quick success or Hexy2 would not be able to finish things. 
The Cannoneer is normally a shooter, but this time he had to clear the path with his melee ability (and present his back to Hexeris2 as a Ashes to Ashes target should I need an easy defense to hit). Skarre was on only a single Focus point, so Hexeris2 charged and lit into her with his spells (all the more powered by his feat). He cut her down with a final blast of magical force. 
The second game saw my Skorne Platoon defending a safe house that my opponents were trying to get a military officer into. It’s a great little mission that plays well with the small forces. 
Andy’s great-looking Minions Platoon for the league were my opponents. 
The clash with the Croaks was just too much for my forces in this scenario. I had a couple of shining moments where the granted Poltergeist ability for the Platoon made for good protection, ultimately I wasn’t able to seal down enough space nor able to reach out and take out the Military Officer. 
The force was led by Severius, with Errants, Bastions, Choir, two heavies, a light with an arc node, and a paladin solo. Despite being a dangerous force, Terry’s classic Protectorate painting work is absolutely beautiful. 
My force at the start of turn two. The problem with Morghoul2 is that he needs to get a lot of work done himself to contribute at all, so he’s got to rush up with the rest and hope his high defense holds. 
My Warlock after diving into the Errants and clearing out most of them himself. There was a good landing spot where he could take out a number of them with Flashing Blade–then all that’s left is to move the beasts into position around him to minimize attacks back.
I suffered some pretty heavy losses to the enemy attacks. As is often the case with Skorne, I had a big turn of killing Bastions and putting the hurt on Warjacks and Errants… only to be followed by an equally bloody reprisal turn. The Razor Worm had eaten a Choir member, allowing him to do his Drag Below action to get right up into Severius. The Paladin missed his attacks, so Severius turned around to kill him in melee. While he finished the worm, that left Severius open to my forces getting to him and finishing him off in my subsequent turn. 
As a Skorne player, it was my fault in forgetting Counter Charge. I knew that Barathrum has it, I knew I needed to be careful about it, and yet… My plan to set up a top-of-two assassination shot on Skarre by running my Mortitheurge Willbreaker forward (for control range to allow the slamming Gladiator to buy attacks after the fact) was foiled by Barathrum simply Counter Charnging the Willbreaker and putting him into the dirt. Luckily (or not) he used Drag Below to go back to a point that I could still pull it off. But the Gladiator would end out of control range. For some reason I still made that play, which in hindsight both helped (made a huge distraction for his force by having a Gladiator standing over Skarre) and hurt (I lost my Gladiator). 
Meanwhile, Morghoul2 was the only source of magic weapon I had besides the Cyclops Shaman. So he spent his turn putting up Beat Back, charging Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders, and then sliding around using Flashing Blade to clear them out. 
As the battle continued, as always with Morghoul2, my side started to lose the attrition war. Too many weaponmaster Bane Thrall attacks took their toll on my medium and heavy warbeasts, and things were looking grim. I had placed Morghoul2 up near the Banes thinking he’d have to do some fancy footwork with more Beat Back to clear them all out. Then I realized that Skarre was standing at the edge of the zone and was likely within range–and was without focus. I just needed to hit with the fan to blind her, and while it was close (he is kinda feeble for a Lord Assassin) he finally managed to finish her off. 
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. 
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. 
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!
Red Ones Go Faster 