Tag: Skorne

Warmachine/Hordes: The Dead and the Cold

Warmachine/Hordes: The Dead and the Cold

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.

Cryx 1

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). Cryx 2The 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. Cryx 3

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. Khador 1

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. Khador 2

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. Khador 3

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: From Large Battles to Intro Games

Warmachine/Hordes: From Large Battles to Intro Games

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?

Morghoul2

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.

BronzebackThe 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.

Aradus Sentinel

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. Everblight Demo Group

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. Shredder

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)

Warmachine/Hordes: Time for Retribution

Warmachine/Hordes: Time for Retribution

Despite my prior post discussing that my focus lately was Skorne, my first battle report on this site (after migrating) happens to be Menoth. This clash was a 50 point rumble between Dan’s immaculately painted Retribution of Scyrah force and my Protectorate of Menoth army. I wanted to field the Menoth because a team tournament is coming up in early November that I’m entering. I’m leaning toward bringing my Skorne to the tournament, but I wanted to give one last “check” on whether I felt like rushing the painting on my Menoth made sense instead.

Dan’s force was the brutal tier four “Force Wall” tier list using Kaelyssa. Not only does it deny running or charging on the first turn, but on her feat turn she prevents even more charging. My force was led by High Executioner Reznik, meaning that both forces had Witch Hound in effect–magic users could expect some nastiness. Retribution Army

Dan’s Force Wall, looking impressive on the field. Two units of Battle Mages a bunch of light skirmishing warjacks and a fair number of heavies, plus an abundance of free (thanks to tier) Arcanists to power all the jacks. 

Protectorate of Menoth army

 My force, in crude and partially painted fashion (ugh). Reznik was accompanied by a pair of Crusaders, a Castigator, and a Revenger. Then there was the throng of infantry followers: Holy Zealots with a Monolith Bearer, Exemplar Cinerators, Deliverers, and the ubiquitous Choir. It was rounded out with a Vassal Mechanik, a Reclaimer, the Covenant of Menoth, and Reznik’s favorite: three Wracks. 

Kaelyssa and Artificer

Kaelyssa’s force is difficult to face because it is so focus-effective and it puts so much pressure on the opponent in an objectives game like this one (three objectives, playing to seven points). With the first turn slow-down, and then a later turn of charge protection, it stole three quick points on turn two before my Menoth were even up close. Only my Holy Zealots were able to get anywhere near the objective. And while they were resilient with their devotions and monolith, there was no way they were shifting a unit of Battle Mages and an Arcanist-supported Griffon.

Thus, my immediate strategy went to ignoring the objectives and just going for the caster kill. I still had to play somewhat to the objectives, so that the elves wouldn’t bunch up and provide Kaelyssa with more defense via obstructed charge lanes. But I knew that any chance of scenario win was unlikely at best. The Deliverers, supported by the Reclaimer and the Covenant actually managed to triumph over the Battle Mages that they ran up to meet. As the Deliverers started dying to the enemy infantry, the Reclaimer got soul tokens and his Soulstorm ability started burning the foes down in retribution.

Castigator and Vassal Mechanic

Reznik’s spells and abilities proved to be decisive in balancing the battle for my force. Kaelyssa had slowed my force down with her feat, and was laying down patches of rough terrain with her Rift spell. Thus, I got my warjacks into a loose line across the middle where she needed to target them with the Rifts to slow their advance down. Although the Castigator and a Crusader were in combat with two Manticore heavies, once Kaelyssa targeted a  different battlegroup jack with the Rift, Reznik’s Witch Hound ability activated and I took a free strike from the relatively crippled Manticore to burst the Crusader into the back ranks. With their Warcaster hanging in the breeze against a Choir-fueled, Inferno Mace-wielding Heavy, the Elves had to scramble warjacks and other models to block its assault. When it got back to my turn, Reznik sucked the remaining Wracks of focus which gave him enough to load up the Revenger with focus, buff it with Iron Aggression, and advance it with his Perdition spell (toward a convenient close Arcanist). With the Choir chanting the hymns of battle, it rushed right into Kaelyssa and demolished her to very narrowly win me the game.

Overall I was greatly helped by terrible dice rolls by my opponent (his Battle Mages seem utterly cursed to never connect in their attacks–no matter what number they needed, they seemed to roll one less, except when killing a few Deliverers). I was also really lucky to have just the right movement abilities and spells with my caster, as the objective points stood at 5 for Dan and 0 for me at that point in the game–he would have won the next turn by scenario if I hadn’t pulled off the assassination when I did. That’s just how brutal the Force Wall tier list is to face… double so with a slow force with minimal shooting like I brought.

I was glad to get a chance to test Reznik out, and I think he’s my favorite of the Menoth Warcasters in terms of theme and story. I know that he’s got some major weaknesses, but this battle at least was a spot where he could play to his strengths. That said, I decided that I’m going to focus on preparing my Skorne for the November doubles tournament. With Menoth, I’d really only have one list–mostly the same models and just swapping between two Warcasters. With Skorne I can field two far more dynamic lists that can adjust to opponents more effectively. So expect more purple from here on out.

Bronzeback Titan

Speaking of purple, I also finished up my Bronzeback Titan for my Skorne force. Dan built a cool new water tower scenery piece from a laser-cut wood kit he got from Australia, so I figured a combo photo shoot would be nice. 

I keep a running tally of my Warmachine/Hordes wins and losses, as well as which generals I’ve faced before (in both solo, team, and multi-player games). I figured I might as well continue that tally here.

Battles (Privateer Press):
Overall Total 2015: 16 (Win/Loss: 13/3/0)

Skorne:
6 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)

Warmachine/Hordes: A Gathering of Forces

Warmachine/Hordes: A Gathering of Forces

Author’s note: It was finally time to migrate my gaming onto one single blog for simplicity’s sake (and because of my shiny new domain). The first few posts here will be combination posts that summarize my prior blogs. They’ll be maintained, but all new posts will happen on this site. You can check out all the older stuff at my 40k Blog, my Warmachine/Hordes and Pathfinder Blog, and my Warhammer Fantasy Blog–but be sure to follow this site for the one-source thoughts, comments, and records of all my gaming. 

I’m a bit of a Warmachine/Hordes fan (as followers of this blog will find out), so I can’t resist putting up a few photos of my models from my three main factions onto this blog. Currently, I’m focusing on my Skorne and Protectorate of Menoth armies. I also have a somewhat sizeable Legion of Everblight force that I’m holding onto, and a small demo set of Circle of Orboros for teaching people how to play Hordes. In the past I had a decent-sized Khador army, a small Trollbloods contingent, and a relatively huge Cryx force–all of those have migrated to new homes now.

Skorne

My Skorne are probably what I consider my “main” faction currently. I’ve got more than a few warbeasts painted up and I’m finishing some more infantry and support pieces. But I’m also oddly mad about collecting all of their warcasters. My plan is for casual games to get a carnival spinner, and bring general lists–then right before the battle spin the “Wheel! Of! Skorne!” to see which warlock I’ll have to field at random. My distinct problem is liking them all too much–so one of each named character is high on my list of “things to finish”.

Skorne 5

My newest Warlock addition: Void Seer Mordikaar. The lanterns light with the souls of the fallen to power his cruel magics. I’m still working on painting some units to accompany him on the field. 

Skorne 4

Another of my Skorne Warcasters, Lord Assassin Morghoul. Here he’s in a bit of dire jeopardy from a recent three-player game: he got knocked down and then finished off by a charging Retribution Arcanist. What an ignoble fate…Skorne 3

My Skorne beasts and infantry face down some advancing Circle warbeasts–a lovely paint job by my pal Roger. I went with a pretty standard Skorne color scheme, and just swapped the deep red for a dull purple.Skorne 9

My Cyclops Brute dealing with the push-and-pull of Dan’s amazing Retribution Battle Mages. Skorne has such variety in the warbeasts that they’re a fun faction to paint and model. Skorne 8

The Void Spirit shows the color scheme I’m using for “magical effects”–all the gems on warlocks and energy elements of the army will be in varied yellow tones. 

Protectorate of Menoth

I’m hardly as far along with my Menoth painting as my Skorne painting, so you’ll see far fewer of these models until I get more work done. I’m going for a “religious anarchists” theme, of neutral colors with bright red menofixes (the cross-like symbols on all the models). I’m also going with a non-standard Warjack colors (browns and dull oranges) and using greytones instead of metallic paints for the metal bits of the army.

Menoth 1 The Monolith Bearer is such a silly-cool model I had to include a picture of him. He shows the tones of the infantry pretty well, and the striking reds of the menofixes and the dust-masks of the models. Menoth 2

And of course, I got my Wracks painted up right away. What good is playing the “religious anarchists” if you don’t add in their modes of torturing their foes? 

Legion of Everblight

I’m just sticking one photo in here to show the color scheme I’m using for my warbeasts. While I have a fair-sized force painted up (three heavies, four lessers, four different warlocks, and the Throne battle engine) and some more to assemble, I’m a lot less enthused with Everblight than the other two forces so expect them to be a bit more rare in the posts of this site than the others.

Everblight 1

My Scythean blades its way through my buddy Stu’s immaculately painted Cygnar forces