Warmachine Battle Report: Focus on Kromac

Last week, I had local Warmachine player, Josh Richter, over for a game. He brought his favorite Circle army, while I played some of my new Mercenaries. Here is the pre-game interview with Josh, along with the battle report.



I brought out my Bart/Galleon list, which, of course, featured Galleon.

Here was my Spiny Growth module. Wrong Eye, Snapjaw and Bullsnapper.

And a tarpit of Boomhowlers.

This was my armour de-buff crew: Ragman, the Lady and Holt.

Finally, this was the core of the Galleon's support crew, including a Vanguard, Dougal and the Tinker.

Josh led with Kromac's double-Stalker battlegroup.

Two units of Woldstalkers.

And two units of stones.

Hope you enjoy the battle report.

'Til next time.

Witch Coven Battle Report...and the Goblin Tinker!

So this month I have a new interview and battle report video blog post...this time with local player, Garnett Germain. Garnett brought out Witch Coven, so we talk about Cryx in general, and then the Witch Coven "Machine Minds" tier list in particular. For the battle report, I put up a Damiano list.



On the painting front, things have been slow recently. However, I have managed to finish off a great little model: the Goblin Tinker.

I really like the character of this figure.

He's essentially a repair bot, but he hauls around this neat little wagon full of spare parts.

He also carries around this wonderful stove on his back.

Anyway, a lot of fun to paint and a nice model to boot.

'Til next time.

pSeverius vs eMorvahna

First game in the new man cave. Elliot came over for a 50-point Warmachine match.

The scenario is Outflank, with two 12" scoring zones as seen here.

Elliot brings an eMorvahna tier list to the table. Stalker, Gorax and Pureblood are in the battlegroup. In addition, he has Wolf Riders, Bloodtrackers, Ravagers and the appropriate solos. Bloodtrackers have prey on my Errants, while the Wolf Riders prey my 'caster.

I'm playing my pSeverius list again. Hierophant, Reckoner, Blessing of Vengeance and Reckoner in the battlegroup. The rest of the list is Avatar, Errants with UA and Seneschal, Wracks, two Vassals, Mechanic, Gorman and Choir.

Circle turn 1. Elliot has won the roll to go first. On my extreme left, he sends around the Wolf Riders. Ravagers enter the left (near) zone, while Bloodtrackers and the Pureblood head into the right (far) zone.

Menoth turn 1. Blessing and Avatar run up the center with the intention of swinging to the left zone.

On my right, Errants with Defenders Ward occupy a small piece a elevated terrain. With elevation and Defenders Ward, I hope to mitigate the effect of the Bloodtracker prey bonus. I kill a couple of Bloodtrackers.

Circle turn 2. Elliot makes a play to knock out Blessing, but after taking eight damage, I Enliven backwards out of danger.

Elliot's attack on my right is far more successful. eMorvahna purifies away Defender's Ward, and the Bloodtrackers have their way with the Errants. I loose seven of them. Ouch.

Elliot sends his Wolf Riders into my backfield.

Menoth turn 2. In the center I clear out all the Ravagers and toe Avatar into the left zone to prevent Elliot from scoring there.

On the right, I send up the Seneschal to contest the zone while pulling back the shattered remnants of my Errants.

I'm my backfield, Gorman puts up a smoke screen to stop the Wolf Riders from getting at Severius.

Circle turn 3. Here's where it all goes Elliot's way. His damage dice catch fire, and he exploits his opportunities perfectly. He starts with a last remaining Ravager charge on Avatar, dealing an amazing seven damage. I can Enliven deeper into the left zone (where his Stalker can scrap me), or pull over to the right, save the Avatar and get Gaze onto half his Bloodtracker unit. I opt for the later.

However, this pulls my axis of strength into the center of the board, essentially between the two zones. Elliot now feats with eMorvahna, bringing back 11 dead warriors. Essentially, he pins me into the middle of the board.

Screening the Avatar's Gaze with resurrected infantry, he frees up his Bloodtrackers to overwhelm the Seneschal, who was contesting the right zone. Ultimately, Elliot scores both zones.

Because my offensive power is pinned in the middle of the board by resurrected infantry, I have no hope of strongly contesting both zones again by the end of my next turn, I concede a scenario win to Elliot. Well played!

'Til next time.

pBaldur vs Harbinger

Well, here's an embarrassingly short battle report. Elliot came over Tuesday night for a game of Warmachine. He brought a pBaldur list, while I trotted out the Harbinger (first time in about 4 years). I rolled up "Close Quarters," and you can see the flag placement on the table here, along with the opening set ups. I'm Menoth on the right. Elliot is Circle on the left.

My list consists of Harbinger, Hierophant, two Reckoners and a Devout in the battlegroup. Then the rest of the list is Avatar, Choir, Vassal, Vilmon, Covenant, Rhupert and Errants with UA. I've rolled to go first.

Elliot is playing the pBaldur tier list, with Megalith, Wold Guardian, Woldwarden, Woldwatcher and Woldwyrd in the battlegroup. Then he had two units of stones (one UA), Mannikins, two units of Woldstalkers and a Wilder. Elliot goes second.

Menoth turn 1. So here's the crux of the game...we're playing a scenario with Kill Box, so I'm forced to move up with Harbinger. Elliot is playing an army with lots of Advance Deploy, Advance Move and plenty of place effects. He's up close right out of the starting gate. I've set up Harbinger on my left to go after the friendly flag. I feat on the top of turn one just to give me a chance to move up my line of engagement. I move up my Errants on my right flank with flame attacks (from the Covenant) and Tough from Rhupert. I want to start the attrition early...but I miss all my crossbow shots by about a quarter inch. Hmmm.

Circle turn 1. Elliot shifts all of his 1-hit units away from the feating Harbinger, and starts shooting at my Errants (he kills 3) and Vilmon (who I Martyr twice). A couple of Mannikins turn into trees (as you can see, Elliot made some great templates for them).

On my left flank, opposite my battlegroup, Elliot moves up his heavy hitters. He takes a few points of damage from the feat, but gets some Earth Spikes off on a Reckoner, knocking out its gun. Baldur teleports into the forest in front of me (that's bad news).

Menoth turn 2. I load up my Reckoners to take out Elliot's Wold Guardian with Crusader's Call. Avatar moves up and Gazes, in an effort to pull the heavies away from Harbinger. Errants set stuff on fire.

Circle turn 2. And...it's the end of the game. Megalith stone-teleports up (avoiding Gaze effect) and puts DEF debuff on Harbinger. Then Baldur tree-teleportsup to Harbinger (no Defensive Strike from Devout) and uses his 4 Fury to beat Harbinger into the ground. Well played Elliot!

Well...not to entertaining to read about...this was a pretty standard pBaldur assassination run, and the Kill Box scenario played right into his hands. Oh well...it's fun to get some old miniatures out onto the table anyway!

'Til next time.

pKreoss vs eMorvahna

OK, time for the weekly Warmachine game with Elliot. This week we played Incoming...and because this scenario affects light artillery models, and neither of us brought any, this was really a game about taking juicy scoring zones.

The opening set up.

Before we start, it's worth noting that Elliot painted his eMorvahna piece. She's beautiful.

Great paint job, Elliot!

OK, Elliot with Circle rolled to go first. Here's his opening set up. He has eMorvahna with a Stalker, Ghetorix and Gorax. Druids, Bloodtrackers, Wilder, two sets of stones (and one UA), a tree and the Blackclad round out the force.

I'm playing my pKreoss list. Standard pop 'n drop build with Daughters thrown in to keep the enemy 'caster off guard. pKreoss, Fire of Salvation, Reckoner, Vanquisher, Redeemer, Temple Flameguard and UA, Daughters, Rhupert, eEryss, Choir and two Vassals.

Circle turn 1. Bloodtrackers have my Daughters as Prey. Everyone advances. Druids pop smoke and an anti-magic aura. Carnivore goes on the Stalker. Fog of War is up.

Menoth turn 1. Daughters get Defenders Ward and Dirge of Mists and plow straight into Elliot's front line. Bloodtrackers fail the morale check. Three Bloodtrackers go down to shooting. Kreoss has Lamentation up.

The Flameguard advance in shieldwall, leaving shooting lanes open for the 'jacks behind.

Circle turn 2. The Daughters are a big problem. They are within striking distance of Morvahna and are DEF 18. Elliot dedicates the turn to clearing them away. Three go down to Morvahna casting Death Knell on her own Ghetorix. The beasts clean up the rest.

Menoth turn 2. I attrition down a lot of infantry with AOE shots. More go down to charging/mini-feating Flameguard. I move Fire of Salvation to contest my zone (which I see Elliot will make a play for). I place Salvation behind the wall in order to get a DEF bonus when Elliot sends in his beasts. As it turns out, this measure does not work like I want it to.

Circle turn 3. Ghetorix double teleports and just clears Salvation's wall to hit on 3s. Salvation goes down. Ghetorix then sprints to get close to my 'caster. Stalker kills eEryss, who is my only other piece holding the zone. eMorvahna feats and brings back 9 guys, clogging up the center of the board and ensuring I can't make a serious attempt at gaining back my zone on my next turn. It's looking bleak. Elliot scores two scenario points.

Morvahna is in Elliot's backfield, cackling over her impending scenario victory.

Menoth turn 3. pKreoss feats. Most of Elliot's army gets knocked down. I blow away most of it (again). Ghetorix goes down to the Reckoner. The Flameguard are free to run into my zone and contest it...but I only get three models in. Impending doom. No scenario points scored this turn.

Circle turn 4. The Stalker and the Blackclad stand up and quickly dispatch the infantry I had in the zone. Morvahna runs into the zone to dominate in. Elliot scores 3 more victory points for the total of 5 he needs. Game over.

Another good game. The more games of SR 2013 I play, the more I realize I'm super weak on scenario play...I'm going to have to concentrate on that for the rest of the year. Good game, Elliot.

'Til next time.

pSeverius vs eMorvahna

Elliot and I got together for our Tuesday night Warmachine game at the club. We played Into the Breach (SR 2013 Scenario #9). Here you can see the terrain set up, the zone and the flag. My Menoth force will be coming in from the left. Elliot's Circle army will be coming from the right.

This game will forever be known to me as the match of two grave mistakes...

This is a 50-point game. I rolled to go first. I'm set up on the left with pSeverius, Elliot is on the right with his new eMorvahna Tier 4 list.

Menoth opening set up. I have pSeverius with Hierophant, Blessing, Reckoner, Avatar, Choir, two Vassals, a Mechanik, Rhoven & Guards and the book set up on the base line. Advance deployed are the wracks and Errants with UA and Seneschal.

Circle opening set up. eMorvahna is with the Stalker, Pureblood, Gorax, Ravagers, the Ravager solo, Tree, Bloodtrackers and a min unit of Cavalry.

Here's Elliot's battlegroup on the start line. The army is so new, Elliot just has primer down on several pieces. They look great, however...will be awesome when all painted up.

Menoth turn 1. Elliot has set up after me, so my pieces are mismatched. On my right (closest to the camera) I have Blessing up against his Ravagers. I'd rather be arcing into the Bloodtrackers, which are on my left. Oh well. The Ravagers are only armor 14, so Severius should be able to do some work against them anyway.

On my left flank (away from the camera) the Errants line up outside the wood and scoring zone. Elliot's Bloodtrackers have the Errants as Prey, and will be able to rush through the woods no problem, so I play conservatively there.

Circle turn 1. On my right, the Ravagers run up.

On my left a few Bloodtrackers move up to throw spears. They get one Errant even with Morvahna cutting plenty for re-rolls. I should say at this point, our dice were cold the entire game. Fog of War is up, so my shooting options next turn are cut way down.

Menoth turn 2. On my right, Blessing moves up and I arc Ashes to Ashes into the Ravagers. I catch 4 and put good damage on all of them.

On my left, the Errants move into the woods, whack some Bloodtrackers and put a lot of damage into the Ravager solo. The Avatar sandbags and gets ready to take a charge from the Stalker next turn. I put Menoth's Sight onto the Reckoner and shoot at the Stalker. More terrible rolls follow. It seems that the whole key to playing against eMorvahna is to try and get at her while killing as few of her troopers as possible. A tall order that winds up being very frustrating.

Circle turn 2. On my right, the Ravagers get into my support troops, killing a Guard, Rhoven and a Vassal. The Tree also moves up and I take a Death Toll on the final Guard and 4 points onto Blessing. The Pureblood also sprays into a group of my dudes. Ouch. Attrition going good for Elliot on this flank.

Meanwhile, on the left, the Bloodtrackers finally get stuck into the Errants and get rid of most of them. The Stalker goes ghostly (from the Pureblood) and gets Primal from Gorax and plows into Avatar. But my big 'jack is left with a column of boxes and will exact revenge next turn.

And here is where Elliot serves the game up to me on a platter. Morvahna is sitting in the clear at 6 hit points (due to all the re-rolling he is doing) and with no Fury (he cast Purification to strip Defender's Ward off of Avatar). The game is mine to win. Big mistake number one is pending.

Menoth turn 3. Sideshow on the right flank. Blessing takes out a couple of Ravagers...big deal.

On the left flank...brain fart disaster. There is a single Bloodtracker standing where I want to move my Reckoner to put Morvahna out of her misery. I have multiple ways of clearing it. But I pick the stupidest. I want to charge into it with an Errant, but to get through, I want to eliminate the Stalker in order to avoid the free strike. I quickly dispatch the Stalker...and in so doing, Morvahna reaves 4 fury. Damn it! Dumbest move ever. Sure, I charge and clear the Bloodtracker, but Morvahna can now transfer and I will not win this turn. My loaded Reckoner moves up anyway and shoots 9 damage into Elliot's caster. Transfer to Gorax. I'm an idiot. Ancillary attack with Vassal...just to get more damage into Elliot's beasts. Miss. Oh God.

Now for the second big mistake of the game. When I activated Severius, he put Defender's Ward up on himself (good) but did not feat (super-bad). Now, Morvahna can Purify again and Severius will be standing in the open with his pants down.

Circle turn 3. An easy decision for Elliot. Morvahna moves up and Purifies. The Pureblood moves up and sprays into Severius, starting the assassination by landing 11 damage. The Bloodtrackers activate, eliminate the last of my Errants and move Prey onto Severius. The remaining two spear attacks then take my 'caster down. Sad face.

I deserved the loss because I had the win right in my butter-fingered hands. Yet another good, hard-fought game with Elliot. Always fun and challenging.