Plarzoid went with a more toolbox approach, utilizing every aspect of Prime Stryker's spell list and synergies. I thought his list had everything Prime Stryker could want. He had a heavy hitter, an arc node, access to two Arcane Shields, and his units could benefit from every spell he had. I was impressed by Plarzoid's ability to recognize the full versatility of Prime Stryker and respected the hard decisions he made throughout the game with regards to weighing in all of the options of his turns.
The scenario we were running was Killbox, basic but I thought we each had our own advantages to outlasting each other. Our respective lists were:
Andrew Myers (Khador)
Harkevich +5
-Juggernaut -7 (-2)
-Juggernaut -7 (-9)
-Black Ivan -10 (-19)
Max Kayazy Assassins -8 (-27)
-Underboss -2 (-29)
Min Battle Mechaniks -2 (-31)
Widowmakers -4 (-35)
PG Plarzoid (Cygnar)
pStryker +6
-Lancer -6 (0)
-Ol’Rowdy -9 (-9)
-Squire -2 (-11)
Journeyman Warcaster -3 (-14)
-Charger -4 (-18)
Stormblades -5 (-23)
-Officer and Standard -3 (-26)
-Storm Gunner x1 -1 (-27)
Min Long Gunners -6 (-33)
-Officer and Standard -2 (-35)
Terrain Set-Up: Multiple Hills, Forests and two Shallow Water features dot the field, leaving the deployment zones untouched
Deployment: Plarzoid deployed first with his Journeyman+Charger combo on my far right, Ol'Rowdy, the Long Gunners, Stryker and Squire down the center with the Lancer to Stryker’s left, my right.The Storm Blades were deployed to the left of the Lancer, taking a position on my right. I deployed my jacks down the center across from his Long Gunners and Ol'Rowdy. Harkevich is standing behind Black Ivan who was flanked by the Juggernauts. I then deployed the Widowmakers in the hill and forest to my right and the Mechaniks behind my Battle Group. The Kayazy Assassins deployed next to the Battle Group with the intent to run up and kill.
Turn 1: Plarzoid: He started by pulling 1 Focus point from the Squire and allocated 6 focus points to Stryker, 1 to the Lancer. The Journeyman allocated 2 to himself and 1 to the Charger. The Journeyman advances forward and casts Arcane Shield on the Charger. The Charger ran 10". Stryker casted Snipe on Long Gunners, Arcane Shield on the Lancer, Blur on Storm Blades and advances 6". The Squire advances 6". The Storm Blades ran 10". The Lancer ran 12". Ol'Rowdy ran into base to base contact with Stryker. Finally, the Long Gunners ran 10". Like I said, he's got some amazing buffs and all of them are up Turn 1!
Turn 1: Andrew Myers: I respond by allocating 4 focus points to Harkevich, 1 point to Juggernaut #1 (the primed, unpainted one) and 1 point to Black Ivan. The Widowmakers advanced 6" to the right and took shots at the Storm Blades, only killing one grunt due to Blur DEF 15. Needing 8s and higher is pretty tough stuff to roll! Harkevich casts Escort (indicated by a dark blue bead next to his base) and casts Fortune (likewise indicated by a light blue bead) on Black Ivan, he then advances 6" onto the Hill for the Elevation bonus (DEF 17 v ranged and magic attacks). Juggernaut #2 advanced in front of Hark to block LOS on the Hill. Black Ivan advanced 6" forward into the edge of the forest and shoots at the Long Gunners, making a direct hit and killing 3. Then, Juggernaut #1(the painted Juggernaut) ran through the forest next to Black Ivan. The Mechaniks run into position behind the Battle Group, ready to patch up any damage Plaroid might inflict! Lastly, the Kayazy Assassins run 12" forward, spreading out as best as they can in order to avoid potential casualties from blast damage made by the Storm Blades and minimize the number of models that could be knocked down by Earthquake.
Note: Normally, the Kayazy Assassins would relatively safe from the Storm Blades, Stealth protects them from their ranged attacks and the Underboss's Tactics: Duelist would make them DEF 16 against the Storm Blades's MAT 7. However, the ranged attacks made by Assault can bypass Stealth because they are made at point blank range and the UA has the Storm's Eye ability. Storm's Eye makes it so that when a Storm Blade directly hits with a Storm Glaive Blast attack, it becomes a 3" AOE, that means that POW 8 blast damage rolls kill Kayazy Assassins on 4s. Ouch.
Turn 2: Plarzoid: It's time for Plarzoid's counter-attack! He begins by pulling another focus point from the Squire, drops Blur from the Storm Blades and upkeeps Snipe on the Long Gunners. The Journeyman allocates 1 focus point to the Charger. First, the Journeyman casts Arcane Shield on himself and advances 6". Next, the Charger runs 8" to the edge of the water. The Long Gunners stand still for the aiming bonus and receive the Dual Shot benefit, and shoot Black Ivan with 2 four-man Combined Ranged Attacks (RAT 10 v DEF 14, the first shot hits and inflicts 5 damage to column 5, the second shot hits and inflicts 4 damage to column 3).
He's laying on the pressure put this means the Mechaniks can go to work! The Lancer advances 5" to my right. Stryker then casts Snipe on the Storm Blades and casts Earthquake through the Lancer at a Kayazy Assassin. Stealth forces the Earthquake to auto-miss and it deviates 3.25 inches to direction 1. This knocks down 2 Kayazy Assassins and 2 Widowmakers. Stryker then advances 6" onto the hill, ends his activation and Squire advances next to him. Ol’Rowdy runs near the Lancer. The Storm Blades use Assault Order and charge the Kayazy Assassins and the Widowmakers. Most of the attacks miss, Plarzoid rolled double 1s against a knocked down Kayazy Assassin, poor luck. In the end, the Storm Blades killed 2 Kayazy Assassins.
He's laying on the pressure put this means the Mechaniks can go to work! The Lancer advances 5" to my right. Stryker then casts Snipe on the Storm Blades and casts Earthquake through the Lancer at a Kayazy Assassin. Stealth forces the Earthquake to auto-miss and it deviates 3.25 inches to direction 1. This knocks down 2 Kayazy Assassins and 2 Widowmakers. Stryker then advances 6" onto the hill, ends his activation and Squire advances next to him. Ol’Rowdy runs near the Lancer. The Storm Blades use Assault Order and charge the Kayazy Assassins and the Widowmakers. Most of the attacks miss, Plarzoid rolled double 1s against a knocked down Kayazy Assassin, poor luck. In the end, the Storm Blades killed 2 Kayazy Assassins.
Turn 2: Andrew Myers: Ok then, it's time to pull out the big guns! I allocate 1 focus to Harkevich, upkeep Escort, allocate 3 focus points to Juggernaut #1, and 1 focus point to Black Ivan. Harkevich advances 3" and pops feat (models in Harkevich's Battle Group gain +3 ARM, gain an additional ranged attack ignoring ROF and can charge or slam without spending focus) and shoots Ol'Rowdy with his Hand Cannon doing 4 damage to column 3. Then, Juggernaut #1 charges Ol'Rowdy, boosting his attack roll and hit with 10 (3,3,4) and triggers critical stationary. He does 6 damage to column 2, uses his fist to punch out 3 damage to column 2, buys 2 additional Ice Axe attacks and does 9 damage to column 6, 8 damage to column 3. That's some hurt right there!
To continue the push, the Widowmakers advance a few inches to the right, one grunt stands and sacrifices movement. They open fire and manage to kill the Standard Bearer and Base Unit Leader. The Kayazy Assassins begin their attack. They pop Killstroke (a strong mini-feat granted by the Underboss that allows them to advance past models if they have enough movement to do so, ignore intervening models when declaring a charge and ignore free strikes) and charge Ol'Rowdy, the Storm Blades, and Stryker himself. They do a fine job, completely boxing Ol'Rowdy, killing 5 Storm Blades, and even inflict 1 point of damage to Stryker. Then the Mechaniks activate and repair 6 points of damage from Black Ivan. Black Ivan advances 4" and shoots the Long Gunner Super Leader and catches another grunt with the blast, killing both. Using his last shot he shoots the Super Leader of the Storm Blades and misses, deviating 1 to direction 5, doing 2 damage. Juggernaut #2 advances 2" in front of Harkevich to act as a bodyguard. Now that's a counter-attack!
To continue the push, the Widowmakers advance a few inches to the right, one grunt stands and sacrifices movement. They open fire and manage to kill the Standard Bearer and Base Unit Leader. The Kayazy Assassins begin their attack. They pop Killstroke (a strong mini-feat granted by the Underboss that allows them to advance past models if they have enough movement to do so, ignore intervening models when declaring a charge and ignore free strikes) and charge Ol'Rowdy, the Storm Blades, and Stryker himself. They do a fine job, completely boxing Ol'Rowdy, killing 5 Storm Blades, and even inflict 1 point of damage to Stryker. Then the Mechaniks activate and repair 6 points of damage from Black Ivan. Black Ivan advances 4" and shoots the Long Gunner Super Leader and catches another grunt with the blast, killing both. Using his last shot he shoots the Super Leader of the Storm Blades and misses, deviating 1 to direction 5, doing 2 damage. Juggernaut #2 advances 2" in front of Harkevich to act as a bodyguard. Now that's a counter-attack!
Turn 3: Plarzoid: For starters, the Long Gunners pass their command check and so do the Storm Blades. Plarzoid pulls 1 last focus point from the Squire.Stryker drops Snipe. The Journeyman drops his Arcane Shield and allocates 3 focus points to the Charger. The Lancer runs 12" back around through Ol'Rowdy's wreck marker to my left. Stryker casts Earthquake through the Lancer at a Mechanik in the middle of the unit, is short on distance and auto-misses, and deviates onto Black Ivan and Juggernaut #2. He casts another Earthquake at the same Mek, doing the same thing and deviates way off to the side where it affects nothing. The Long Gunners stand still for the Aiming Bonus and receive the Dual Shot benefit to perform a pair of 2-man Combined Ranged Attacks, shooting Black Ivan for 0 damage. POW 12s got nothing on ARM 23! The Charger moves 5" and shoots Black Ivan, using 1 focus point to trigger Powerful Shot (boosts the attack and damage roll for 1 focus point), doing no damage. Plarzoid buys an additional attack (gotta love ROF 2), but inflicts no damage again. Boosted POW 12s got nothing on ARM 23!
Note: I don't have a decent enough photo for Plarzoid's 3rd turn. Sorry about that!
Turn 3: Andrew Myers: I allocate 3 focus points to Harkevich, 2 focus points to Juggernaut #1 and upkeeps Escort (I love Escort!). Harkevich advances 5" and casts Jump Start to stand up Black Ivan and Juggernaut #1, then he casts Fortune on Juggernaut #1. Everyone's favorite killers, the Kayazy Assassins charge and kill the Squire, finish off the Storm Blades and tie up both the Charger and Lancer. Juggernaut #1 charges Stryker, boosting his to-hit roll and hits (5,2,5) with critical stationary and does 7 damage. He punches a stationary Stryker for 8 damage. Black Ivan tries to shoot Stryker and misses, deviating into nothing. Juggernaut #2 moves to protect Harkevich. Plarzoid surrenders.
So...there you have it, our first Battle Report here at The Theory Machine! That was an epic first fight that really captured some cool moments and demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of both Warcasters. I was impressed by both the mobility offered to melee-based Warjacks by Harkevich and the sheer amount of versatility of Prime Stryker. He's got some great general buffs. So, let's look at what our two players had to say after the battle.
Plarzoid’s Thoughts: Kayazy Assassins are disgusting. The Long Gunners did the only thing they could do and weren’t very good at it. Their horrible stats dictate that there must be some protection on them and at 1 point a model they are extremely expensive. The Storm Blades’s rules were crazy to keep straight but they were very cool to use as a full unit. Forgot to pop feat due to thinking about other combos.
Andrew Myers’s Thoughts: My Widowmakers did almost nothing and make mes think I should’ve just brought a Widowmaker Marksman. This means I would've had 2 extra points for maxing out the Mechanik unit and getting a Wardog. This means I would have been able to play Harkevich farther forward. Running Harkevich with a melee focus is sweet, but the second Juggernaut played bodyguard most of the game so I think replacing it with a Destroyer with the extra 2 points from trading the Widowmakers for the Marksman would be a good way to still have melee and some shooting support.
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