Mortenebra Vs. eHaley

So I took my Mortenebra list out for a spin, hoping to learn a few things. I knew it was a lacking list, but I wanted to test some synergies (or lack of them), and it wasn't to bad.

• How bad is it really to leave Tartarus at home?
• How bad are the Desecrators?
• Blackbane's Ghost Raiders with Mortenebra?
• Does Mortenebra actually work with infantry?

We sat around talking about SR 2012 for a while (more on that later), but I only get one game a week, so missing out really isn't something I like. I grabbed an opponent, and he put this on the table.

Major Victoria Haley

- Sentinel

- Thorn

- Thunderhead

Squire

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)

- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer

Precursor Knights (Leader and 9 Grunts)

- Officer & Standard

Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts)

- Officer & Standard

Stormsmith Stormcaller

Stormsmith Stormcaller

Stormsmith Stormcaller

I had a good laugh, as I once again faced something close to my worst possible match-up, but at least I got to face eHaley and see what all the commotion is about. 

Round 1

He ran up most of his army, and it was my turn. I ran up most of my army, and shot two Ghost Raiders with the Desecrators to prevent the Precursors from charging me. I knew I was going down hard, but I decided to make the most of a learning experience, so FULL ADVANCE!

Round 2

OPEN FIRE! And so they did. Half the Ghost Raiders vanished, a couple of Bane Thralls ate lead, but a few bad rolls and the protection of the scather templates actually saw me pretty much unharmed. Then he chose not to feat, which gave me and actual shot at doing something useful!

I popped Recalibration and camped six Focus, then I charged in the Ghost Raiders, swelling their ranks to eight, and I charged/ran in the Bane Thralls. I put a scather template on a pile of Precursors with no real effect, but the second one drifted and killed three gun mages. A couple of sprays, and some positioning, and I was doing well!

Round 3

Alright, next time I know I need to kill Thorn, like before he's put on the table, with a bat, in an alley. The result was, that my Desecrator sawed Mortenebra in the face for a handful of damage, a couple of Ghost Raiders died, my Scavengers both took heavy damage, the Thunderhead wiped a significant part of the table, but due to some poor rolls he mostly wiped his own models, but managed another handful of damage to Mortenebra, and while things were looking survivable it was feat time.

I get it now, it's horrible, but my round wasn't entirely wasted, and the Ghost Raiders we're getting closer to Haley (they were back up to seven due to some fine attack rolls). I spent my round setting up to avoid losing my entire army, but I could see where this was going. Still, I had made it to round four, which was two rounds more than I though I would.

Round 4

Hiyaaa! I survived round four as well! Mortenebra got the Thunderhead in the face, and all but a single Bane Thrall died. Both Scavengers died, but Mortenebra survived, and I actually though I had a chance. The Desecrators failed like you wouldn't believe it, and it took six ******* Focus to end the Thunderhead (Interface is fun though), despite Critical Shred and a Dark Shroud application.

Then the second Desecrator failed as well, and left Thorn alive without taking serious damage, but the Ghost Raiders managed to engage Haley down back, threatening free strikes, and I had most of his army locked down. I was really thinking I might pull this one out of my ass!

Round 5

With most of the armies gone, he took a free strike from a Desecrator with Thorn, and came out with his spear and cortex intact, four boxes left, and going for an injured Mortenebra. Funny thing though, he had to pass Saxon Orrik, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a kill more!

Sadly Mortenebra died ten seconds later to a pile of assaulting Stormblades, but I made it to round five against eHaley with a pile of crap, and I learned a lot.

• How bad is it really to leave Tartarus at home? Very ******* bad!
• How bad are the Desecrators? Very ******* bad!
• Blackbane's Ghost Raiders with Mortenebra? Wee, fantastic!
• Does Mortenebra actually work with infantry? Well, it seems so.

So Blackbane's yet again proves an excellent choice, even against an army that should have destroyed them with a mere gesture. I had an enjoyable game, fighting tooth an nail to survive, and I managed a control point in a new SR 2012 scenario, which I'll try and write about tomorrow (but it was a lot of information to digest, since I'd seen only some of the proposed changes before).