A friend came asking why Will Pagani was calling his pBaldur list "almost auto-win" against Terminus. You'd think I would be able to answer that, so I took a look at the list and came to the conclusion that it would be against a standard Terminus list, but mine might stand a chance.
Baldur the Stonecleaver
-Megalith
-Woldguardian
-Woldguardian
Druids of Orboros (Leader and 5 Grunts)
-Druid of Orboros Overseer
Sentry Stone (Leader and 3 Manikins)
Shifting Stones
-Stone keeper
Shifting Stones
Stoneward and 5 Woldstalkers
Stoneward and 5 Woldstalkers
Blackclad Wayfarer
Against a standard Terminus list the Woldstalkers will eliminate the models in front of Terminus. The Druids will then pull out Terminus since he can't pawn away magic attacks. Wold Guardians will then molest him unless poor dice and tough saves him. If this is somehow impossible, the list can increase terrain to ridiculous levels with forests, clouds, Megalith, and feat, and win on scenario instead.
I love this model!
I had a talk with Will about his thoughts on facing Bane Thralls instead, and I'm expecting my ETC list to stand a chance (depending on terrain actually, since my Machine Wraiths really need cover in order to survive the Woldstalkers), but in the case of equally skilled opponents the odds are definitely in pBaldurs favor.
Bane Thralls will remove the option of aiming for the Woldstalkers, and reduce their range to 14" including Zephyr, which means he can't hit and run like he could against Mechanithralls.
Bane Thralls will make it a lot harder to pull out Terminus, by virtue of being harder to remove in the first place, and they can hurt his Wold Guardians without charging which is vital.
Machine Wraiths will make it easier to avoid losing on scenario, though it requires cover or the Woldstalkers will simply blow them away.
Then he offered to kick my ass if he makes to the ETC. I can't lose that one, because even when I do I'll learn so much about Circle that it'll be worth it.
The Terminus Challenge has been running a couple of months now, and it was suggested that I summarize the experience (which I think is an excellent idea). Terminus has been with me from the very beginning, and he even has his own theme tune by Dark Tranquility. I currently own three models of him (I got them all in second hand army deals so it's not as crazy as it sounds), and I'm working on two different conversions while keeping one intact as tournament model.
If you have the time it would be nice to see a summary of things that you have learned with him and how your list has evolved along the way. Things you know you don't want to use any more, and why. Then things that you would hate to be with out.
- West996
I began Terminus by reading up on Battlecollege back when I was a complete rookie, and I took everything there at face value. I bought more Mechanithralls than I would ever realistically need (I had four full units at one point), his basic support squad, and I got down to playing.
It was fifty models worth of activation sequence nightmare, and the only reason it wasn't beaten to a pulp was the ridiculous amount of tough models that kept spawning. There were no real tactics beyond "rush forward and hope for the best", and after three very close games I realized that the Internet was wrong (again).
Gunslinger
I began searching for people with different ideas on running Terminus, because while I had fifteen years of Warhammer 40.000 experience I was still new to Warmachine. While I was looking I had some games with Lich Lord Asphyxious, and discovered Bane Thralls / Bile Thralls, but eAsphyxious never really felt right for me. Then I found the Philosophy of Terminus article by lastspartacus, and he took Terminus to a new level with his Gunslinger list.
The idea of draining Terminus dry on Focus to power up two huge Vulcan Cannons appealed to me instantly, so I bought two used Leviathans for almost nothing, and and I sat down to crunch numbers. I was getting used to Warmachine by then, and I realized that even with so many points invested in Helljacks I needed undead weenies to get in the way.
The Dark Swarm
I could have brought 30 Mechanithralls for the price of the Bane Thralls + UA + Tartarus package, but I realized how incredibly inadequate Mechanithralls are when used as bullet shields. With their low defense opponents can place blasts exactly as they want, and with low armor Mechanithralls will die if hit by anything in the game. They're unable to hit a barn door with any reliability, and in order to function you need so many of them that activating them all is damn near impossible in timed tournaments.
The answer was of course the always fashionable Bane Thralls, with high enough armor to withstand a lot of blasts, and stealth to more or less guarantee drifting AoE attacks. I added Saxon Orrik to solve the issue with terrain, and the list was ready to go. Without any practice games I took the 35 point version to a nearby town, and took 1st place in their tournament. There was a lot of luck involved in the first two games, but then I had it figured out.
Terminus
- Leviathan
Bane Thralls (Leader & 9 Grunts)
Bile Thralls (Leader & 5 Grunts)
Withershadow Combine
Darragh Wrathe
Bane Lord Tartarus
Saxon Orrik
Skarlock Thrall
I had a dozen games with the 50 point version, tweaking it here and there, and was on a fourteen game win streak when I was beaten on scenario in a tournament.
Lich Lord Terminus
- Leviathan
- Leviathan
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Bane Thrall Officer & Standard
Bane Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
The Withershadow Combine
Bane Lord Tartarus
Darragh Wrathe
Madelyn Corbeau
I could excuse myself with the fact that I had a migraine, lights flashing so hard before my eyes that I couldn't read the cards, and a massive fever but that would be a poor excuse... oh wait... that's a pretty good excuse actually, I'll stick with that.
Moving on
The Dark Swarm Gunslingers got boring though (every game was exactly the same), and retired with a 20-1 score. I wasn't quite ready to give up Terminus though, and by that time I was considering going to the Danish Masters where I knew I would need him. I switched around between casters trying to find my second caster for the masters, and enjoyed myself immensely with Mortenebra.
I had a fantastic run with the Bonejack non-tier Mortenebra list, but despite winning almost every game they all left me completely drained, and was often just an inch away from disaster, so I switched to Scaverous. That was a bad idea, I was destroyed by any serious list I encountered, and since I was looking for a second list for the Danish Masters he seemed like a poor choice. I absolutely love Scaverous, but I don't have the mental resources to run him competitively, so I switched to Warwitch Deneghra.
I'd only ever had one game with her at that time, which I lost so hard I couldn't walk right for weeks, but everyone kept telling me to go with Wraith Witch Deneghra and I'm a stubborn bastard if nothing else. Warwitch Deneghra turned out to be a downright dirty caster, and I actually haven't lost a game with her beyond that first disaster.
Danish Masters
The whole "need" thing might require some explaining before we move on, because I've got one or two good games in me on any given day. Most tournaments have three or four games per day, which means I need to bring something simple that works for the last two games. I needed to bring Terminus, but I was bored to death with the Dark Swarm Gunslingers.
I had purchased and converted a Malice model, and Erebus was on preorder, and I was hoping those two models would give me the variation I needed to field Terminus again. In retrospect the two models didn't do much, but they got me through the masters, and had nothing to do with my second loss with Terminus, where a pSeverius player forced me to bet on dice instead of skill, and I lost on scenario.
After the masters I lost my sense of direction, and worked on Scaverous again. I tried some more games with Mortenebra, but I couldn't really make that list better or more interesting, and I need some progress in a list to keep me interested.
Currently
I agreed to attend the ETC as the last member of a team, and while we're all in agreement that training and winning anything is entirely optional, we're doing it anyway. ETC means a lot of games against a lot of good players if we do well, and that means: Terminus.
Knowing I don't have that many games left if I get bored, I sat down to design a list that wouldn't get boring. I tried two Reapers since Berserk Reapers sounded like a lot of fun, but it wasn't (and a pretty darn poor build as well). Then suddenly I had one of those rare moments where the stars align, and I sat there with Rorsh & Brine going "ooooh, I could do that".
Every game that insane duo does something to make it interesting. The Cankerworm performs much the same basic function, and gives me an interesting set of options to play around with. Orin Midwinter is the latest addition to the entertainment troupe, tasked with making the list fun to play, for long enough to get me through the ETC without being bored.
Models/Units
The second part of that question is about the models/units I use, and how the list evolved into what it is today. I took the time to write that insanely long introduction you've just been through, because you need to understand that the current list isn't the best possible list, but the best possible list I can come up with that isn't boring to play.
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Bane Thrall Officer & Standard
Bane Lord Tartarus
Saxon Orrik
The Dark Swarm cut down to the absolute minimum amount of models. This is just enough to absorb a charge, and destroy the elements of that charge that are dangerous to Terminus. If I include more Bane Thralls it takes points away from the entertainment budget, and less are insufficient to handle my opponents waves while retaining enough members to hit back. The Officer & Standard are there because frozen or knocked down Bane Thralls impede the advance.
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts)
These guys manage to be entertaining as well as incredibly effective, and just this Monday one of them managed to spray a Great Bear to death. They're the key to the list and when deployed behind the bane Thralls they create an almost unsolvable puzzle. If my opponent doesn't charge me he get's Bane Thralls to the face. If he does charge me he kills half the Bane Thralls, then his force is purged of the table, and Terminus profits.
The Withershadow Combine Darragh Wrathe
Madelyn Corbeau
Skarlock Thrall
I like the WSC, and they often do some interesting things. Most of the time they're just there because they need to be, because my list is very vulnerable to nasty upkeep spells, and Terminus is so much harder to kill with that one extra armor. Madelyn is there to support Terminus and the Bile Thralls, and Darragh Wrathe moves things and rarely does anything except soak a lot of firepower. These are models that are there because they need to be.
Cankerworm
I needed something to spend the Warjack points on, and Cankerworm is the prime candidate. He's hard to kill, occasionally interesting, and a pretty model. He's done very little so far, but he usually dies in a spectacular fashion, and soaks a lot of resources in doing so.
Machine Wraith
Machine Wraith
Machine Wraith
Orin Midwinter
Rorsh & Brine
The entertainment. These models are occasionally useful, but more likely to help out by spreading chaos, draining resources, and causing all kinds of confusion on the field. I love them, and every game I play they do something interesting. The thing is, that when I focus on them my opponent follows, and entire battles have been fought around keeping/killing Rorsh, which is completely irrelevant because Terminus is advancing as well.
The bench-warmers
There are plenty of models I've tried and decided against. Warwitch Sirens were great but I kept getting them into Abomination range and failing the check. Leviathans only work if you bring two and run the Gunslinger list. Erebus needs reach to be worth it against good opponents. Malice needs the WSC on the front lines where they get killed, and good opponents block her pull.
Desecrator needs range and suffers from needing two like the Leviathan. Nightmare is expensive as hell and drains Focus without adding protection, and that also holds true for the Reaper. Bane Knights lack stealth and unless you're running two full units they'll be decimated before they arrive. Mechanithralls get stuck in terrain, miss when they get there, and get wiped by a dedicated AoE list.
Gorman is not fearless, and having him shit his pants instead of putting up a cloud is not funny. I never got around to testing Soul Hunters or Revenant Crew, but both units seem like a massive waste of points and effort with little gain. Seethers also fail the threat range test, and running/charging for free means squat if you've got no arms or cortex when you arrive.
What's next?
ETC is next, and I think my list is as good as I can make it without melting my brain. I've challenged the players in my group to take it down, and though the real heavy hitters haven't taken the field yet, I've gone 6-1 against lists specifically tailored to take it on. I don't know what the future will bring, but I'll work on my Circle project to keep sane, and take on the occasional challenger in the Terminus Challenge while waiting for the ETC to come around.
Monday night I faced pIrusk. He was controlled by Bitmactic from the Privateer Press forums, who also happens to be a team-mate for ETC trying his own ETC list. It needs some tweaking, but it's not a bad list at all.
Kommandant Irusk
- Behemoth
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Kayazy Assassin Underboss
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard
- 2 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios
Kell Bailoch
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Reinholdt Sylys Wyshnalyrr
At first I thought it was missing some heavy hitters, but then I thought about Kayazy Assassins with Battle Lust + Gang + Kiss + Feat = MAT 11 & 4d6+ 14. I think pEiryss is there because of character restrictions, and the rest is pretty standard stuff.
Widowmakers AD on my left flank.
I got to start, since he wanted to deploy everything where I had nothing that could handle it. I got to do what we always do in round one (we should really just stop mentioning it). The terrain might need some explaining, but it was like that when I arrived and we sort of just rolled with it (we could encounter anything in the tournament).
Roooound one!
I had the Machine Wraiths on the right flank gunning for Eiryss, the Cankerworm out front making sure the Behemoth wouldn't come up front, and Brine hiding behind the house. Bile Thralls were stuck behind everything again, but some day I'll remember to make lanes for them.
Well, the Behemoth came within charge range: bonus!
He spread out, and I realized I was going to take it up my undead behind even with the first round advantage: #&%¤. Since I have no ranged capacity worth a damn I decided against going for the scenario (again something that supports my theory that a solid ranged game is needed to win on scenario).
Cankerworms time to shine!
I knew I wouldn't get a better shot, so Cankerworm got a shiny Focus. Darragh Wrathe charged up and killed the Kayazy, then popped Beyond Death and used his light cavalry move to engage a pile of assassins. I threw in both Machine Wraiths as well, forcing him to feat with the boss the next round or be seriously stuck (that plan sort of backfired, but more on that later).
A Machine Wraith made it to Eiryss!
Cankerworms time to shine with a charge! He put fifteen damage on the Behemoth, munching one of his arms, and there was much rejoicing! Then I noticed one of the Widowmakers had wandered within 9" of Tartarus, and with the added distance from his curse it was harvest time on the Widowmakers!
The resulting complete #@§$€?£ failure on my part made me forget to snap a photo, but Tartarus threshered all four of the little bastards, and then I picked up the tape measure to place my four shiny new Bane Thralls. 1"-2"-3"-4"-5"-6"-7"-8"-9"-10"-11"-12"- #@§$ OUT OF RANGE!
Four less Bane Thralls, but swamping the zone anyway.
With nothing better to do I swamped the zone in Bane Thralls and lined up for a counter punch. I knew I was going up against a kazillion tough models with very little left of my list, but I thought I had kept my important models safe.
Behemoth pounds the Cankerworm into dust.
Alright the Winter Guard hurts when you can't just stop their sprays.
I'm learning all sorts of new things here. Irusk popped his feat, Aiyana & Holt magicked up the Kayazy which then wiped the Machine Wraiths (MAT 11 with Gang & Feat), unhorsed Darragh, took down Maevolus (thanks tough), and killed a couple of Bile Thralls. That tough check on Maevolus was the only one I made that turn, so casualties were... pretty high...
I R TERMINUS, SEE ME FAIL!
Terminus pops feat and I charge the great bears. Screw that defense fifteen (hitting them across a linear obstacle) crap, I can take them!
Charge, Hit, Kill, Tough.
Focus, Hit, Kill, Tough.
Focus, Hit, Kill, Tough (seriously?)
Focus, Hit, Kill, Tough (ah come on!)
Focus, Hit, Kill, Tough (this is getting ridiculous!)
Focus, Miss
Focus, Hit, Kill, OMG I GOT ONE!
Ravager, Hit, Kill, Tough
Alright, slightly problematic to have one soul and be parked in front on two great bears and a full unit of Kayazy with access to Battle Lust, but no problem because the Bane Thralls will save me! Tartarus manages to take down the two WG that found themselves with just 5+ tough, and this time I get my Bane Thralls.
Bane Thralls receive Pathfinder from Saxon, and with some fancy angles and the Bane Thralls I go crazy on the WG and Great Bears. Seven damage rolls later Terminus is sitting on two souls, and I'm pissing my pants and seriously considering the pro's and con's of boiling his dice (though at one point I just had to laugh). At this point a spectator walked in, and I proudly declared that he was just in time to watch me blow up my own army. I had no other choice, since Terminus was on two souls and I was going to lose badly if I didn't get at least four more.
KABLUI!
Tremulus died but Maevolus didn't so he ate the two souls I was planning to feed Terminus (sigh). Four Bane Thralls died and one great bear failed it's tough roll. Rorsh walked up and threw his Dynomite, rolled triple ones and killed nothing. Then he missed twice with his Pig Iron just to slight me. In the end I had Brine Trample up while boosting to hit, just to grab a few more souls. It all came down to corrosion then.
MELT YOU BASTARDS! MEEEEEELT!
Four more souls! Now it's beginning to look a little like winning again. Armor 26 means being immune to most things in his army, and one angry Great Bear wouldn't be enough. At this point my opponent gave up mentally (you can see it when the fight goes out of them), though we did finish the game. He killed Rorsh & Brine, my last Bile Thrall, the WSC melted to corrosion the following turn, and all but one Bane Thrall died. I got two more souls to friendly fire, netting me a grand total of 10 souls.
Spiked sword of forced intrusion!
Having learned from my mistakes, I decided to actually do something beyond charging with a 16 Focus Terminus (well 15 since I had to upkeep Malediction). Tartarus made six new Bane Thralls from the WG, taking him to a total of twelve kills and eight reanimations (twice as many as I've ever managed before), and they all happily ganged up on Irusk, turning him into a red sticky puddle, despite his Iron Flesh and Focus camping.
Monday I'll be going up against Khador, probably pIrusk. I'm fairly certain his list will look something like the one below. I know because I've been spying on him! Now the rubber band is on the other claw!
Kommandant Irusk
- Behemoth
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Underboss
Kossite Woodsmen (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Officer & Standard
- 2 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios
Kell Bailoch
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Reinholdt Sylys Wyshnalyrr
This is could be interesting. His main objective will be to take out my Bile Thralls because leaving them alive will mean losing badly after my feat round. His feat will not save him from mass corrosion, and his high defense will mean nothing.
If he manages to take them out, I'm looking at matching low MAT against very high defenses, which will probably not end well. He does have a lack of kill pieces, and taking out the Behemoth, Eiryss, and the Great Bears will leave him looking at an armor 24 problem he can't solve.
Behemoth
Superiority means not letting Terminus get within 9.5" of this thing. Behemoth will most likely destroy Terminus, even at full camp, and relying on tough to save me is foolish. Getting him wrecked is priority number one, but the question is how. If I can get Terminus on him, and a Bane Thrall or Tartarus in there, then Brine can wreck him with PS 19/18 and a reroll.
Assuming he doesn't volunteer to get killed, the Cankerworm has to go do something about it, or pray I've got enough Bane Thralls left. Terminus can also do it himself, if I'm sure I can grab enough souls to survive the retaliation. Machine Wraiths won't do anything since he's a character jack.
Great Bears
Usually free lunch, but with this list there's a kazillion models to work through before I can get to them. With Battle Lust these guys can take down Terminus, and seriously hurt him even with Beyond Death up.
Assassins
I really don't want to lose Tartarus and my Bile Thralls. Even defense 16 is in "fhugedabutit!" country if that happens, but Rorsh has hit dynomite and for once I might end up using it. They don't have Pathfinder though, so Rorsh could theoretically make life hard for them with Pig Pen.
Kossites
Well... damn! They threaten 18-20" from either flank with their bows, which leaves my Bile Thralls 8" in the center to work with. Even RAT 4 hits Bile Thralls, and this completely circumvents my standard defense against ranged. I guess I'll have to accept losing two Bile Thralls in return for some tasty souls then.
Widowmakers
Will cost me another couple of Bile Thralls. I'm usually not scared of them, but if his only win condition is "kill all biles" they're a problem.
Winter Guard
Admonia makes this problem go away most of the time. I've been ignoring them with every other caster, but Terminus has no real answer expect himself. pDenny & Scaverous just stops them from spraying, and Mortenebra ignores them.
pEiryss
Remember meat shields, because this game is lost if I take that hit. I've been hit with eGaspy and Scaverous and still won, but not this Terminus and not this game.
Kell Bailoch
Sad Machine Wraiths are sad...
I think it comes down to how many tough rolls I can make on those Bile Thralls. It will be interesting though, and I'm looking forward to it.
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.
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
Ogrun Assault Corpse is a new addition to his list.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Time for an update. The casters are listed with their faction, the result of the game, and what I felt decided the game (List, Skill, or Dice). There's also a link to the army list and report from the game.
The painting and modeling is going well, and here's the current status of the models. I'm about two thirds done, and several of the models are easy to fix, so that's comforting. I should probably paint up some more Bane Thralls, but I've never had the pleasure of going above the initial unit size with this build, and I have two rust colored crappy old Bane Thralls I can bring in case miracles do happen.
Lich Lord Terminus: Outdated color scheme.
Cankerworm: Final details.
Skarlock Thrall: Final details.
Machine Wraiths: Final details.
Necrotech & Scrapp Thrall: Not purchased.
The Withershadow Combine: Needs a touch up.
Darragh Wrathe: Final details needed.
Bane Thralls + UA + Tartarus: Done.
Bile Thralls: Done.
Madelyn Corbeau: Done.
Orin Midwinter: Done.
Rorsh & Brine: Done.
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw: Done
Saxon Orrik: Done.
I was asked if I didn't fear meeting opponents that knew all about my list and tactics at the ETC. There are 240 players there, and I'm meeting 2% of them. There's not much risk of facing up against someone that actually reads this blog, but worst case scenario:
He decided to bring a counter to my list, he somehow made it through his games with such an impressive handicap, and he read everything I've written and remembers even the smallest detail. The end result: I lose a game. My team mates can pull through, and if they can't it's one round lost and a round on me at the pub.
I faced up against eCaine tonight, but it wasn't really a game. I was facing an army with more than enough magic weapons to wipe my Machine Wraiths of the table, and most of it ignored stealth as well.
Captain Allister Caine
- Stormclad
- Squire
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
-- Hunter
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Trencher Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Gorman di Wulfe
Journeyman Warcaster
Reinholdt
Stormsmith Stormcaller
I took a lot of pictures, but it's a bit boring actually. He ran, I ran, then he shot up a lot of my army and hid eCaine safe behind a line of trenchers with smoke.
Overlapping smoke means there's no LoS through it.
He forgot to bring his dice, and being the devious bastard I am, I offered him my purple dice of defeat. These dice are infamous for being the worst dice in existence, unless you happen to be rolling 5+ invulnerable saves in Warhammer 40.000.
They didn't let me down this time either, and I lost almost nothing to his shooting. In the end it didn't matter much, because I had a Machine Wraith safely in cover, and he failed the basic 12" test: don't get your caster within twelve inches of Terminus.
Choooo Choooo!
Ravager from the Skarlock (I love him), Puppet Master from Tremulus, Death Ride from Darragh Wrathe, a Machine Wraith running in to act as charge beacon within the clouds, and Terminus launched. Hitting the Machine Wraith in the back and getting a swing on eCaine from Berserk worked like a charm, and rolling 6-6-5 on boosted damage meant Terminus got his first caster one-shot.
I didn't learn much from the game, except that again Machine Wraiths were game winners. The Skarlock is staying in, and Orin Midwinter never got to do anything.
There are a lot of bad match-ups in my own faction, and what's worse is that they're nearly all amongst the regular tournament casters. pAsphyxious almost made the list, but I've decided I can handle his onslaught and stay of his melee assassination range.
Scaverous also nearly made it, with his unbeatable ARM and movement shenanigans, but if I meet a player that can juggle Scaverous with SR 2012 time limits I'll lose anyway, and if he can't Scaverous is easy to beat. I did think about including pDeneghra as well, but most people bring melee lists with her, and I can handle that.
eAsphyxious
I can't take him down with attrition, I can't declare a charge on him, and if the player is smart enough to avoid placing anything near him I'm in trouble. I can use my Machine Wraith to run up and act as a charge beacon, but I fully expect him to be dead at that point.
Terminus doesn't handle the Spectral army very well either, and although a spectral army assassination isn't guaranteed to work on Terminus, it can wipe my list of the table, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. His Bile Thrall shenanigans are better than mine (though I can keep my living models the hell back), and his clouds are murder on my advance.
eDeneghra
If I lose Admonia I can't ever rely on getting a charge with Terminus on eDenny due to pursuit. I've faced her once before with Terminus, where I was saved by the clock, random dice and so forth, but Madelyn Corbeau + Darragh Wrathe + Admonia will need to prepare the way for me.
I've also considered using Brine to throw something at her, since knockdown is a good way to bring her down, but Incorporeal will save her from that. I do have quite a lot of magic attacks at range, so a surprise attack with some good dice could ruin her day: Orin Midwinter, WSC, Darragh Wrathe, Skarlock (Hellfire), and Terminus himself (Hellfire).
Terminus
There's no doubt in my mind that it will end with dice down, because the first Terminus to launch against the other will lose unless miracles happen. Dice -6 and few souls on the other side of the table means inflicting twelve damage to the other Terminus, and then going down hard.
Assuming I'm up against a standard Terminus list full of Mechanithralls, I'd bet on my list as more likely to take down his Terminus, and his list more likely to win an attrition war. My guess is we would end up with one Terminus looking hard at the other Terminus, across an endless sea of destroyed Thralls, and going "You're a sexy bastard, yes you are" in unison, when the TO declares dice down.
Summary
So there we have it: The three worst match-ups feature the two most most common Cryx casters. I'll have to pray my opponent makes a mistake because he doesn't know what my list can do, and pray I can take advantage of it when he does.
Talking about Dougal made me think about including him in my list, as a second ranged element and bodyguard for Madelyn Corbeau. I've been continually annoyed that I have to keep Madelyn close to Darragh Wrathe, because Darragh likes to be near Terminus, and he's an abomination, which makes it hard to place Madelyn somewhere safe without rolling morale.
I also think there's enough shit being thrown at Darragh Wrathe already, so the ability to keep Madelyn somewhere else would save me a lot of nail-biting when the AoE attacks start drifting. In addition Dougal MacNaile is immune to AoE attacks, which makes him the perfect companion, and he can bring a little extra something to a couple of other pieces in the list.
Dug in like an Alabama tick!
Saxon Orrik often ends up shooting enemy solos, and a round with increased range might do him some good. It will allow me to keep him a bit farther back, which should increase his survivability a great deal.
Rorsh really enjoys a round with increased range, and with artillerist his Dynomite becomes rather scary. Suddenly he's accurate, with increased range, and the ability to re-roll the deviation and/or range, which keeps his Fury available for boosted damage. His Pig Iron also benefits from the increased range, and suddenly he's a fairly effective ranged threat, though I rarely ever get to shoot with him these days.
In any case, he can pump out 1-4 shots each round himself, and rolling well turns him into an unholy terror of machine-gun fire on the battlefield. That makes the current list look like this, since I had to remove the Gun Boar to get in the lovely solos.
There's no arguing that using a balanced force reduces the amount of bad match-ups I encounter, but what sort of ranged options do I really have with a caster that cannot increase accuracy or damage. In addition the ranged option I choose must be able to provide an answer to enemy ranged stealth models, which sadly takes some sort of area, blast, or leaping damage to kill, since we have almost nothing in our arsenal that ignores stealth.
I also really find myself missing my Skarlock since I pulled him out, because casting Ravager for free has the potential of another sword hit when going in for the kill (charge the target with his sword, then hit a nearby infantry model and start the Berserk chain, where he's allowed to switch and swing with the sword again), and gives me the option of stealing a few souls outside feat round.
Hooray, I'm helping!
I've had him for ages and I've put him on the table once or twice with little success. I don't really need him to do anything except take down a pesky solo, and then he can go ahead and die for all I care. Theoretically his lightning can hit a solo parked more than thirty inches away, but realistically and with one arc, he can reach around twenty inches.
Tremulus should be able to make this "assassination" almost reliable, and I think I've found my next test subject. I also have another use for my Machine Wraiths, though this one will cost one it's life, but if I really need that specific solo hit, and there's no other way, I can always run in a Machine Wraith and hit it from behind.
As expected eThagrosh was little challenge, but he did have some surprising things up his sleeve. I faced the list I posted before, though with one less Shepherd and the soldier upgraded to a Bolt Thrower. We decided on the bunker scenario, since he was new to the SR 2012 scenarios as well.
I decided on bringing a Machine Wraith and a minimum unit of Satyxis Raiders with UA as my reinforcements, and he had a Ravagore waiting on the side. He decided to go first, and deployed in something that can only be called a brick.
As in most games we began by running. He ran Typhon on the flank, and everything else up the middle. I built my castle. This time I kept Darragh Wrathe back, popped Beyond Death, and made sure the assault wouldn't take to much out of me. I learned my lesson well from last time, though this time I underestimated the Ravagore, having never faced one before.
I ran both Machine Wraiths to his zone, hoping to force Thagrosh over there to handle them. If he did I could rampage towards my zone, and if he didn't I was safe from losing on scenario. His list also had quite a few ranged beasts, so I felt I needed to push up as far as I could, because of his ability to fire on me and retreat with his feat.
I've never noticed that eThagrosh carries around a sword that can make a cloud out of any model. It has no enemy limitation, and not even a living limitation, so I discovered what those Legionnaires were in the list to do. After turning a couple of them into clouds by way of hitting them with his sword, Thagrosh popped his feat and my opponent rushed to the next model, forgetting to cast any spells.
You could argue that this was a bad thing, but in fact I think it saved his life, because he left one of the Legionnaires inside the cloud in front of Thagrosh, and I had the range on Terminus to come for him, so while I might have wasted an attack on the Legionnaire, I could have taken him down if he had two or less Fury left.
The Ravagore had come on as reinforcements and that thing has some serious range, so Tartarus caught the blast with his teeth and croaked, followed quickly by Tremulus when my opponent rolled triple sixes on the boosted damage roll. Typhon managed to miss the single Bane Thrall three times, and his dice generally did not agree with the plans he had made.
Brine took enough damage to remove his Body aspect, and Darragh Wrathe remained on his horse with a single box left. A Bile Thrall died to strafe, but I came out of it with this mighty list of casualties: Tartarus, Tremulus, and one Bile Thrall. He used his feat to retreat and regroup, though by doing so he left my zone undefended. I think he was planning on coming back with a second full assault, and vastly underestimated the amount of speed and damage this list can manage.
The Ravagore had inched forward during his feat, and received a generous amount of "Bane Thrall to face" for it's trouble (I'm not sure why he went up there). Brine was healed and launched at the Seraph, popping Pig Farm and boosting to hit in the hopes of causing a knockdown, which I did, and then realized that flying snake thingies are immune to knockdown. Amazingly Brine just decided to ignore the whole 8+ to hit issue, and pulped the Seraph with Fury to spare.
The infamous "back of the base" reminders.
The Cankerworm managed 11 damage on the Angelius without a single Focus, and Terminus moved up an inch to feat. A Bile Thrall managed to grab a single Legionnaire soul for Terminus, and the Gun Boar grabbed two more souls with the cannon. The Machine Wraith from my reinforcements scored a point, and the Satyxis Raiders ran to engage whatever was left on the flank.
Beyond Death and ARM 27 Terminus... not going to happen mate.
With the Seraph and the Ravagore down, he was fighting an uphill battle. This was mostly his own fault, since he had given me an easy control point, and that allowed me to force his hand wherever I wanted it. So I expected him to go crazy on my Satyxis and R&B, which he did. What I did not anticipate was that Brine simply refused to go down, and decided the game by parking his big fat ass in the middle of everything and staying there.
Typhon wiped a great big chunk of the Bane Thralls, the Angelius failed miserably against the Cankerworm, and then they came for Brine. A forsaken blew him and Rorsh up, which meant that with a transfer Brine got hit for 5d6-9 and 4d6-8, then the other forsaken charged him with a couple of boosted PS 12 hits, and the Raek put more boosted attacks on him as well. He had already taken 11 damage to his body aspect, but it still required Thagrosh to handle him personally before he died (to a RFP spell).
I didn't want to drag the game out, and I just had to remove the Sorceress and a Shepherd to win, but I did take the time to clear my guys out of his zone, expect for the Machine Wraith, and place the other Machine Wraith to score. Then I took down the Sorceress with Rorsh and killed the Shepherd with the Satyxis. It made a pretty picture, and gave me my first ever scenario win with Terminus.
Learning things
I learned a bit more about Legion. I really don't like how their ranged beasts ignore my main defense against shooting, while being able to boost the damage high enough to one-shot my important solo characters. I learned that Forsaken aren't as powerful as I thought against Brine, and I once again found myself in need of a better ranged game.
The Gun Boar did well, but again was not fantastic. I can't get the Fury management issue resolved, because putting up Counter-blast requires Rorsh to be without transfers, and it says on the back of my base to never be without transfers. I might need to look into other ranged options, but on the other hand the Gun Boar didn't exactly fail, and never has.
Including the third Machine Wraith as reinforcements is brilliant, as it allows me to dedicate the Satyxis Raiders to fighting without having to worry about scoring. I still think Cryx has a load of crap choices, but I'm beginning to warm up the reinforcements as a whole.
Funny moments
There weren't many of these, but the final round of the game did see the gun Boar frenzy and completely annihilate a nearby Bane Thrall, rolling 22 to hit, and inflicting 24 damage on him (SPLAT!).
