I met up with Hjelmen and he pulled out his Searforge. He's been considering Farrow for the ETC, but since the Road Hog isn't in the pipes and thus won't be out for ETC he's defaulting to Searforge for now. We talked a bit about different factions, and the man has some seriously weird lists cooking in the basement, but on to the game!
I'm rusty, you're an idiot, and you can quote me on that :D
- Hjelmen
I don't think I've ever had a game like that before. We tried one of the new scenarios named "Incoming", where two objectives could fire at either zone with an AoE 3 POW 12 Magic attack. I'll get back to that tomorrow, but for now the only thing you need to know is that it's just as silly as it sounds.
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| Before deployment |
I actually got to go first, and with cunning brilliance and never before seen tactics I bunched up in the middle with my fast elements and solos on the flanks. Then he lined up half way up the table with his 14" deployment zone, and it was game on.
Durgen Madhammer
- Grundback Blaster
- Grundback Blaster
- Grundback Gunner
- Grundback Gunner
- Wroughthammer Rockram
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Ogrun Assault Corps (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Gudrun the Wanderer
Lord Rockbottom
Ogrun Bokur
Thor Steinhammer
- Ghordson Avalancher
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| Ogrun Assault Corpse is a new addition to his list. |
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| Run run run the list, gently across the field! |
I grabbed the zone with the Machine Wraiths as usual, and sent the third one across the table towards his zone. Bane Thralls ran up, while Rorsh & Brine took the flank across from Gudrun.
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| The stupidity begins! |
This picture requires a bit of explaining (
please play this tune while reading it). I thought Gudrun had speed five, and thus I was caught with my pants down when he ran in to engage Saxon. In order to save him I charge in a Bane Thrall and was a millimeter short. Then I decided to purge him and finish the job with Saxon, which I then did by advancing into melee range and preventing my own purge, and then walking out again (
and going down to a free strike) to allow Madelyn to pass by.
Madelyn couldn't make it because of the woods, so Saxon had to hand her Pathfinder first. Madelyn then kissed Gudrun and sent him back towards his lines, completely unharmed (
but engaged by another Bane Thrall). Bane Thrall, Bile Thrall, Saxon Orrik, and Madelyn... That was one of the funniest rounds I've had all year.
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| Hey look, I can park Brine behind that cover! |
His gun bunnies took down two Machine Wraiths, but otherwise I was in great shape. Tartarus took the liberty of making me two new Bane Thralls, the Machine Wraith moved up with Intrigue and grabbed a gun bunny, and the combine grabbed some souls. Everyone else spread out and prepared for his feat round.
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| Mighty Tartarus! |
I have to work on those distances, because Tartarus got close to the hockey team. He made two tough checks (
thanks to Terminus being within 10") and was lit on fire, but still going strong.
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| That didn't hurt! Next please! |
I suffered so few casualties it was almost embarrassing. The dice just didn't want it enough, and I was down 5-6 models total when the round ended. It might be because I'm usually down to half my list by now, but the stupidity just wouldn't end.
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| Outta tha way, outta tha way! |
Rorsh charged Gudrun and failed to kill him, then got in the way of the Bane Thralls that had to go the other way, and forgetting that I needed him to get Brine out from behind the obstacle. Brine had to throw Ogruns at each other and failed, while Orin tried for a melee take down of Gudrun and left him on two boxes. Retard move number two was popping feat and charging the objective with Terminus.
ARM 20 and 20 Boxes, no problem! Well it's ******* friendly so Malediction does dick, and I was rolling dice -4. I cut my losses and camped at ARM 25, hoping to survive the onslaught. Long story short, the Rockram couldn't handle ARM 25 and Durgen was a dead dwarf. It was a fine game, and the quote from Hjelmen was with a smile on his face, but that makes it no less true.
Yeah, the dice most certainly weren't cooperative in any way ... but despite that, I still feel that I had a fighting chance. It was a fun game, and if the dice had been a little more lenient with me, I think it could easily have gone my way.
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed, the OAC wasn't the best addition to the list, and I felt that another heavy warjack may have been a better choice; you get a Driller and a Bokur for the same price!
Thanks for the game!
I don't know about that. I feel you could easily do well with some good dice, and I've been pondering them the entire morning. How about removing every other piece of anti-infantry from your list, and bringing 15 Ogruns instead?
ReplyDeleteThat should allow you to remove any infantry army at will during your feat round, and with a full CRA from each group most warcasters are in trouble (even blast damage will do something like 21 damage).
It's 27 points but it should allow you to use everything else for some really hard hitting models to bring down armor and heavy infantry. I'm thinking multiple Rockrams and Brun?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDeleted the other comment because my not-so-smartphone spazzed out.
DeleteA second Rockram could be useful, but expensive. Wrt. "moar OAC!"; I dislike building a list that so heavily relies on Durgens feat, because AoEs tend to suffer from diminishing returns. I think that the OAC can perform well in that list, since they're fine at range and good in melee with Primed, but the all-stealth-brigade was hard to crack when the deviation-rolls are so consequently against you.
The four Gunbunnies were better than I had expected, since they make up for the lack of magical threat (with Explosivo) and Blasters counter stealth quite well. A change could be Avalancher => Basher, but that leaves me with two useless points. Those could go into changing the max. Forge Guard into two min. units, which is worth some consideration; although that removes a credible ranged assassination threat from the list in favour of crowd control.
Brun & Lug are sideboarded as reinforcements, because I don't think anything else really works for that in Searforge. Except maybe a Basher or OAC. But I don't like 'jacks as reinforcements much, since that dictates the placement of your warcaster, to a certain degree; especially with the slow rhulic 'jacks.
It's gonna be a real challenge to play this list with ten minutes per turn, though... :/
Replace challenging with impossible and I think you're spot on. I think you should consider going with Khador, seeing as you already have a lot of it. I've got the following list of stuff available as well, though a lot of it is not assembled.
DeleteThe Butcher of Khardov
Kommandant Irusk
Kommander Sorscha
Vladimir, The Dark Prince
Beast-09
Kit from Battlebox
Kit from Battlebox
Kodiak
Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen (Alexia and 19 Risen Grunts + 2-3 Warriors)
Koldun Kapitan Valachev
Croe's Cutthroats (Croe and 9 Grunts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Gorman di Wulfe
Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount)
Dougal MacNaile
Ragman
Reinholdt
I could be persuaded to buy certain models as well, like Fenris, seeing as I already have my eye on him.
DeleteA Khador list is not a bad idea. I probably have to bite the bullet and buy Nyss Hunters at some point, since they're perfect for my WiP Four Star list, and Valachev does make them quite viable for Khador.
DeleteAnother option is eIrusk's Heavy Armour Battalion theme force, which seems pretty good too. But my playing Khador depends on the other guys in the team, so at the moment I'm actually floundering somewhat. If the Road Hog is released in time, then Sturm & Drang are go-to-launch, but if not, I'm looking at a bunch of unappealing alternatives...
I have a minimum squad of Nyss Hunters stashed somewhere, and since I'm not using my full unit (which has four unpainted models) for the ETC, I can fork over a full unit and you can order two blisters and give 'em back when they arrive.
DeleteWhat are you thinking with the 4* list?
Something like this:
DeleteDurgen Madhammer
* Wroughthammer Rockram
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker
6 Devil Dogs 5 points
* Mule 8 points
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist
6 Greygore Boomhowler and Company
Kayazy Eliminators
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile
10 Nyss Hunters
Ogrun Bokur
Ragman
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Thor Steinhammer
Why stick with Durgen if you're going four star, and why not grab A&H while you're at it, or have they been claimed? Assuming you had anything available, how would it look?
DeleteBecause Durgen is actually quite good, and he offers a lot to the models in the list, especially Primed on the Nyss Hunters. A&H is certainly a good inclusion, but they're almost prohibitivly expensive in that list. I might do away with the Eliminators, but where should I get the last point from? Reinholdt is pretty important, so he has to stay.
DeleteAnother way is to drop Boomhowlers boys for Aiyana and her beau, leaving me with two points for some solo, but then I'm out my tar pit/meat shield. Again, I could drop the Eliminator, giving me a total of five point for a minimum unit of something... Forge Guard, perhaps? Too slow. Steelhead Halberdiers? Too squishy. High Shields? Again, too slow. What else then?
Good points... how about moving out the Devil Dogs? The Pronto mule is a powerful tool, but +5 points is lot to pay since the Devil Dogs seem underwhelming (and have performed so in the few games I've faced them).
DeleteIf that isn't working you could consider switching Boomhowlers for pAlexia, which would free up a point. Removing Ragman frees up two and A&H are probably a more reliable way to increase damage anyway. Do you find yourself using the Ogrun Bokurs shield guard a lot?
I almost always bring a Bokur for insurance; should Eiryss rear her ugly head, I can shunt that Disruptor Bolt, and I find it a decent bodyguard in melee as well, with it's medium base and ok damage output it can take care of the back field in the early-to-mid game turns, while also getting off a good charge later once everything is committed. But, it is expensive and unfortunately situational.
DeleteAlexia und ze Risen (which sounds like a cheap german horrorpunk band) is a good suggestion, actually. They will suffer a bit from having to rely on my opponent to supply bodies, but they're an amazing tar pit, that much is certain. And they're hilarious with Primed!
I originally intended the Ragman to give me a non-Explosivo magic attack, but A&H does that much, much better. I haven't played with guy yet, but I think he's better with, for instance, Forge Guard, that can better use his Dark Shroud. So a list that uses AD Nyss Hunters will probably leave him in the dust. And since Sacrificial Pawn doesn't work on the Risen, he probably wont live long enough to be of use to them... Although Risen with Primed and Dark Shroud does tickle me the right way, and I think that sac. pawning to Alexia might still allow her to kill Risen to prevent damage, which would be kinda neat.
Dropping Boomhowlers boys and the Bokur for Alexia and A&H, is not a bad idea... Tar pitting is still possible, but I'm gonna play with my heart in my throat as soon as I see Eiryss on the opposing roster :D
"It might be because I'm usually down to half my list by now, but the stupidity just wouldn't end."
ReplyDeleteI think you may have just enlightened me slightly. I tend to be a bit brainless when I have too much stuff left on the board too...
It was the same thing with Scaverous and Bloodgorgers. The best tactic was just to "not" kill my models and watch them block every available path forward :)
ReplyDelete