This week's Warmachine battle report is another Year Long League game (this time at 50 points) with Elliot. Big news this week...Elliot has finally finished painting his Conquest. Here it is. Awesome.
This week, Elliot brings pButcher while I play a tier 4 Mortenebra list. The scenario is Sacrifice. Opening set up below. I'm playing first. In the photo you can see the control zone (paper circle), along with the flag (top left quarter). Note, the zone is 12" diameter, but our circle is only 8"...so zone extends 2" out from paper circle.
Elliot's starting position. He has pButcher, Conquest, a Kodiak and Berserker, a unit of Bombardiers, Greylords, Eliminators, mechanics and the Koldun Lord.
My starting position. I have Morty, six Slayers, a Harrower, two Stalkers, Necrotechs, Scraps and a couple of Warwitch Sirens. My plan is to do a right hook with the Harrower to get into Elliot's backfield and try to get off an assassination. Failing that, I intend to flood the zone with Slayers and go for a scenario win. The first problem...I have to cross a river to get to the zone.
My turn 1. Harrower takes off with Spectral Steel. Slayer brick fords the river.
Elliot's turn 1. Elliot has built the slowest possible Khador army. Even though he doesn't have to cross the river to get to the zone, I will likely get there first. Anyway, he moves the Kodiak off towards the flag on his left flank.
My turn 2. I make the zone and get set to charge into Elliot on turn 3.
On my left flank, I send off the Stalkers to gum up Elliot's flanking Eliminators.
Elliot's turn 2. His Bombardiers lumber up to the zone. Teaching me a lesson, he charges a Stalker with his Eliminators and wrecks it. Elliot begins an on-fire dice rolling streak that lasts the entire game. Argh.
My turn 3. In the picture below, you can see the Harrower I've Overrun into Elliot's support staff. The Harrower threshers away three mechanics and gets three hits in on the Conquest, knocking out about half of the colossal's left side. Unfortunately, pButcher was too far away from the charging Harrower to be targeted. But you take what you can get.
Closer to the scoring zone I've whacked the Eliminators, a Bombardier (to trigger the Harrower Overrun) and am up in the Berserker's face.
Still on my turn 3. On the right flank we get a perfect illustration of why Khador 'jacks are stronger than Cryx 'jacks. My charging Slayer scratches up the Kodiak's paint job.
Elliot's turn 3. The Kodiak, with two fist attacks, knocks the Slayer down to just a couple of hits. He then triggers his chain attack and throws the Slayer at Deryliss. Hit. Both of my models are brought down to a single hit point.
Continuing with Elliot's turn 3, he feats and several of my models melt away due to all the boosted damage he's delivering. The carnage fest also overwhelms the Harrower. Booo.
My turn 4. The mistake that loses me the game. I should have popped Mortenebra's feat this turn. I thought about it but believed I might still get into pButcher in the late game and would need Morty's re-rolls at that time. As it turns out I cleared the zone for a scenario point except for Elliot's Berserker, which I brought down to one hit point. With the feat re-rolls I easily could have destroyed the Berserker and scored my first scenario point. I had landed Shadow Bind on Conquest and had ringed the zone to prevent any other Khador models from getting in. A second and final scenario point would have been easy to score. Totally lost opportunity.
Elliot's turn 4. Elliot continues his very successful attrition strategy. I'm down to just a couple of healthy 'jacks.
My turn 5. Realizing my mistake from last turn, I feat now, clear the zone again and score a scenario point. I have the approaches to the zone blocked up again, so it is still conceivable that I could win on scenario. To prevent the Conquest from toeing into the zone, I move up a medium-based Necrotech, hoping that it will survive any shooting attempts to clear it away and thus tie up the colossal.
Elliot's turn 5. The Koldun Lord needs a 5 to hit and a 6 to kill the Necrotech with his spray attack. He makes both rolls.
The Conquest is now freed up to charge Mortenebra (and get into the zone). Elliot still needs big rolls to hit my 'caster, but (with dice still blazing) he lands one and that was enough. Game over.
'Til next time.
The paintjob on the Conquest is fantastic, the weathering and battle damage is spot-on. And the final picture of the Conquest teetering over that wreck marker is great, although mildly anxiety-inducing (expensive model to tip over).
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