Joe and I got a chance to play a game on VASSAL last night. We decided to play a 25pt game with my Cryx facing his Legion. Joe won the last Warmachine/Hordes tournament we had using Saeryn, so he’s well practiced with her. This would be my first time playing Skarre, the Pirate Queen. The 2009 sculpt is sitting on my painting table, so I thought I’d get a little practice.
Round 1
My army was made up of two Defilers, 10 Bane Knights, Tartarus, 10 Mechanithralls, a Skarlock and Skarre. My first turn was quite pedestrian. Everything ran up except the Skarlock which moved up to cast Ritual Sacrifice on one of the Mechanithralls.
Even at this stage things weren’t going that well. Tartarus was out on the flank and I was using terrain to screen my Banes versus an army with Eyeless Sight! Speaking of Eyeless Sight, why was Skarre up there and not behind a ‘jack!
Joe’s army was comprised of a Ravagore, an Angelius, a Nephilim Bolt Thrower, a Shredder, two Shepherds and a Spell Martyr. That was led by Saeryn, who is one of my favourite warlocks. She has a stunning feat and a great spell list. Joe started with her and cast Respawn on the Angelius and Banishing Ward on herself. The Ravagore moved forward, put its animus up and took a shot at Tartarus. It just missed and scattered off behind Tartarus. The Angelius and Nephilim moved up the threaten the right flank. The Shredder moved up and put Tenacity on the Ravagore.
Round 2
At the start of my turn I rolled 5 for Ritual Sacrifice giving Skarre 11 focus. I decided to leave it on her and bring some pain to the Ravagore. The closer Defiler moved up and took a shot it. I missed, but at least I was sure I was in range for a few Hellfires. It took all of the focus, but I managed to do a whopping… Nah, it wasn’t that whopping, I just about managed to do half of the boxes on it. Tartarus moved up and Cursed it, but the Bane Knights were out of range, so they just moved up.
On the right the Mechanithralls moved around Skarre to try to give a bit of protection and the Skarlock again cast Ritual Sacrifice.
This was Joe’s big turn. He moved the Ravagore up and took an Eyeless Sight shot at Skarre, but just missed. The scatter, however, took out the Mechanithrall screen. Saeryn attempted the Breath Stealer Skarre through a Spell Martyr that moved up into position, but the shot just missed. Saeryn feated. The Nephilim then moved up and sent a bolt straight at Skarre scoring a critical hit! It did a load of damage and knocked her on her ass. The Angelius ran up to engage Skarre (thankfully, just out of Saeryn’s control area).
Round 3
I was in quite a bit of trouble now. All of Saeryn’s army except the Shepherds and the Angelius were immune to melee attacks, so that pretty much neutered the Banes. I started my turn with Skarre and feated taking five more wounds. This left her on one. I forgot completely that her feat adds to strength as well as armour. This mattered as it would have been an extra 20 boxes on the Angelius after Skarre hit it four times! As I’d forgotten it the Angelius wasn’t destroyed. I also forgot she was knocked down, so I should have shaken effect too. Doh! Mistakes lose games. I arced another Hellfire at the Ravagore and shot it with the Defilers for little damage. The Mechanithralls tried to finish off the Angelius, but failed. The Banes moved up to surround the Ravagore.
Joe could see the end in sight. He firstly moved the Nephilim across to take a shot at Tartarus. It struck home and killed him outright. The Shepherd then moved out of Saeryn’s way, so she could get as close to the Angelius as possible. This gave her range to cast Blight Bringer. With her last Fury, she boosted the damage on Skarre, ending the game. Nicely played Joe!
It was good game. In retrospect I should have moved my army up in waves with the Banes leading the way. Skarre’s feat would make them vicious on the charge and quite survivable to the counter attack. They are a little too slow to go the long way around.
Owen