Wargames @ farfaraway.org

Steamroller Tournament – 16th June 2013

Owen — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:37:14 +0000

On Sunday we had a 35pt Steamroller tournament in Gamer’s World in Dublin (check out Lenny’s blog for his tournament report). It was billed a beginners tournament, though there were definitely more veteran players than beginners in the 18-strong field. I decided to try two new lists, a Saeryn led Ravagores list and a Thagrosh1 list. Over the four games I used each list twice and I was lucky to face some great opponents. Here are my lists -

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (*5pts)
* Harrier (2pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Ravagore (10pts)
* Ravagore (10pts)
Blackfrost Shard (5pts)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
1 Spell Martyr (1pts)
Succubus (2pts)

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (*5pts)
* Shredder (2pts)
* Angelius (9pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warspears (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warspear Chieftan (2pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Feralgeist (1pts)

I won’t go into too much detail, but Game 1 was against Eoin Brennan and his Morvana3 list. I really struggled in this game and made mistakes from the beginning. I went with my Saeryn list, which I believe was the right choice. I won the dice roll and opted to choose sides, though I gifted Eoin the side that had a very prominent wall – this was a fundamental mistake and one I should not have made. I’m not sure my list had enough answers for Eoin’s army, but I couldn’t get a foothold in this game and it ended with Eoin winning (easily) on scenario.

Game 2 was a more straightforward affair and I managed to beat Oisin’s Reznik force. Thagrosh swapped Draconic Blessing between the Angelius, Carnivean and Warspears for devastating effect.

Game 3 was lost due to a careless mistake. I faced Damien’s Kreuger2 army with my Saeryn force. I gifted him two CPs by kill boxing myself. This made things relatively easy for him, though I did manage to drop him to 3 boxes in an assassination attempt. The Saeryn army performed really well in this matchup. I was able to take out his beasts (Pureblood and Stalker) with relative ease and I also took down the Celestial Fulcrum. It’s not often you see a Ravagore charge!

Game 4 was my third Circle force of the day, but this time I opted for the Thagrosh list Lorcan had a Baldur2 list with (unsurprisingly) a lot of armour. Again my army performed well and Baldur went down to an angry Thagrosh.

So, 2:2 for the day. Not so bad given I used new lists. I’m still pretty inexperienced with Thagrosh and I don’t think either of the games I used him in really tested me (or him!), but I’ll definitely be giving him more table time. I was disappointed in the games where I used Saeryn, not with her, but with how I played. I’m not sure about the double Ravagores with her. It definitely has potential, but her feat becomes very defensive and I much prefer getting up in my opponents army with her beasts. I’ll give it a bit more time…

Until next time,

Owen

Warlock Frenzy: Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight

Owen — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:44:50 +0000

Thagrosh1 is a warlock that has really benefitted from some of the changes that came with SR2013. He can be pretty hard to take down and in an attrition game he has some tools that help him get on top. Let’s start with the basics – Thagrosh is Fury 7 with a pretty decent stat line. He leans more towards melee and armour than range and defence. He has a MAT 7 P&S 16 reach weapon called Rapture. This weapon leaves a 3″ AoE when it boxes an enemy model (they are removed from play!). Enemy models suffer POW 12 fire damage in the AoE and it is a cloud that stays in play for one round. So, Thagrosh is looking like a pretty decent melee warlock. His main problem with that mantle is his relatively slow speed. He’s SPD 5, so has a 10″ effective threat range. He does have a spell that can give him a better threat range, but I’ll talk about that in a bit. Oh yeah, he also has a non-reach POW 12 attack!

I mentioned that Thagrosh is pretty decent in an attrition game. He has three great tools to make that happen – an ability, a spell and his feat. The Death Shroud ability causes enemy models to suffer -2 STR while in his 9″ command range. His makes enemy melee that bit less effective and almost equates to them being a dice down on damage. The spell that helps in the attrition game is Draconic Blessing. Target model/unit gains +2 STR and Terror. The Terror can be useful, but again the strength bonus is essentially an additional dice worth of damage (or close enough!). Thagrosh’s feat, Dark Revival, brings a dead beast back! The beast is fully healed, placed within 3″ of him and cannot use its actions when returned. In smaller games that can be quite a large points swing. I have used this feat to use an Angelius as a heavy killing missile – cast Draconic Blessing on it and fire it at an enemy heavy. If it doesn’t kill it it will at least put a severe dent in it. Your opponent will need to expend effort to take care of the Angelius only for it to return later in the game! This feat allows you to get ahead in the piece trade.

So, what else should you know about Thagrosh… If he is less than 7 Fury after leaching you may gain 1 Fury for free. He can also cast an animus for free. That makes him quite Fury efficient, though those two abilities don’t synergise so much as balance. I mentioned increasing his threat range. He has an offensive spell called Mutagenesis that is a RNG 8 POW 12. A destroyed enemy model is replaced with Thagrosh, but he cannot advance afterwards. The spell costs 3 Fury, possibly 4 if you need to boost either the hit or damage. If everything aligns Thagrosh can have a 15″+ (depending on exact base placement) threat range. The problem is that he’ll be quite low on Fury when he arrives…

His other spells are Bad Blood, which is useful when your opponent has a beast they rely on heavily for their Fury generation or late in the game when they have few beasts. Fog of War is pretty good on him for helping to protect his force as they close. Obliteration is a very expensive 4″ AoE which you should hopefully rarely need to cast.

I’m considering Thagrosh as a potential 50pts Masters warlock. I’ll talk about list construction soon…

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux Campaign: The Other White Meat (Games 4 & 5)

Owen — Mon, 27 May 2013 11:08:20 +0000

Coming into the final two games of our campaign Peter’s Gremlins has a decent lead of 4 VPs over my Guild crew. Just to recap the Guild minions have been recklessly hunting Gremlins for meat and Orphelia has decided it’s payback time (read more about Games 1 & 2 and Game 3).

In the penultimate game Orphelia was tasked with notifying the Sonnia about the wrongdoings of her minions, while unbeknownst to Sonnia her crew attempted to move a wagon full of meat across the Bayou. Here are a few photos from Game 4 -

Orphelia managed to deliver the message to Sonnia, but her crew failed to complete their schemes. The Supply Wagon was successfully moved to the centre of the board and the Guild (well, Nino!) also managed to take down Raphael. This gave me a 6:4 win in this game, closing the campaign gap to 4 VPs. Significantly, Rami died (as a result of a flip on the campaign injury chartso wouldn’t be returning for the final game…

In Game 4 the Gremlin strategy was to Contain Power, i.e. kill Sonnia, as punishment for her crew’s wrongdoing. The Guild were simply trying to escape (Turf War). For schemes I went for Stake a Claim and Kill Protege (on Raphael, again!). Peter went with Kill Protege on Samael and Grudge against my dogs (we screwed that up, but it was okay). The terrain really hampered the Gremlins in this game. I snuck up one edge of the board as they tried to approach through the narrow lanes. I was able to use Flame Wall to good effect to block them off. Peter attempted an audacious (and pretty cool) assassination attempt on Sonnia using Orphelia to slingshot Pere Ravage into the Guild master. It didn’t quite pan out, but it seriously injured a lot of my crew. Retribution was swift however and I dealt a lot of damage to Orphelia. She fled behind a building, but Sonnia was just about able to get a Flame Burst through to the Gremlin Henchman to finish her off. Roasted Gremlin anyone?! In the process I managed to kill Raphael and grab my objective. Peter killed Samael and both of the dogs. Anyway, here are the photos from Game 5 -

So, with a win of 8:4 in the final game I managed to sneak a campaign win by 2 VPs! It was a fun campaign and a good way to wrap up version 1 of Malifaux – big thanks to Peter for being a great opponent. Roll on M2E…

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux Campaign: Restless Dead at Shallow Creek (Game 4)

Owen — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:45:51 +0000

This is the final game in the campaign Phil and I have been playing based on the excellent campaign rules in Wyrd Chronicles 5. After three games so far there is nothing to choose between us – we are on the same number of game wins and we are even on VPs! I’ve really enjoyed the games so far – my crew has remained very stable, as despite picking up some injuries early on, they have all survived to this final game. With the announcement of M2E I can’t see myself playing many more games of version 1.5. After this game I plan to finish out the ‘Other White Meat’ campaign Peter and I started before Christmas. Then that’s it for the current version of Malifaux… anyway, on with the game.

Game 4 Strategies/Schemes

Guild: Claim Jump / Bodyguard & Holdout

Rezzers: Deliver a Message / Grudge & Holdout

Game Overview

This game was a pretty bloody affair with neither Phil nor I managing to complete our strategies. It was a tense game that went to Turn 7 – the only models I had left on the board were Avatar Lady Justice and two Guild Hounds. Things seemed to be going pretty well for me up until the middle of the game. I was hitting the Rezzers pretty hard at range and they were struggling to close.

However, from then on Phil managed to get Bete Noir into my force and was also able to use his Fast Belle to lure targets into Avatar Mortimer (see the last game’s Aftermath!). One of the dead was the Death Marshal (injured in Game 1) which was the target of the Grudge Scheme. I was on the back foot from turn three, but I was able to deny corpse tokens pretty effectively, though eventually Phil managed to get a Rogue Necromancy onto the board. It’s the first time I’ve seen one used and it was pretty effective.

I used my dogs to deny Phil’s Holdout and he managed to deny mine. I just about managed to keep Lady J alive to score Bodyguard; she finished the game with three wounds!

Aftermath

Wow – that was a high attrition game and a fitting end to a tight campaign. We finished this game on two VPs each, so the campaign overall was a tie, which is a decent result as we had a win each and two draws each. I would wholeheartedly recommend the campaign rules to anyone as they give a strong narrative feel to what is already a narrative-drive game.

Until next time,

Owen

Operation Overload – WWPD Global Campaign

Owen — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:38 +0000

I had great fun playing in Operation Sealion last year. Starting on June 16th and running for 6 weeks the guys at WWPD (in cooperation with Battlefront) will be running a global Flames of War campaign based on Operation Overlord.

I’m looking forward to it,

Owen

Ticket to Ride

Owen — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:04:15 +0000

I had my first opportunity to play this game last Friday and what a fun game it is. The idea is relatively simple – players are trying to complete connections between different stations and get points for the length of track they lay. This is done by playing a number of cards of a the same colour as the track between the stations. Players are trying to complete ‘tickets’ as well by connecting distant stations. By doing this you get additional points, which are only totted up at the end of the game. On each turn a player can either draw cards, play cards (and place trains) or pickup new tickets.

There were four of us playing and at the end I managed to narrowly win with 101 points (I played black). If you get a chance to play it I’d definitely recommend it.

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux Campaign: Restless Dead at Shallow Creek (Game 3)

Owen — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:16:22 +0000

Game 3 of our campaign was again a 30ss affair and as you can see from the Turn 7 screenshot, it turned out to be quite a bloodbath. We used the same crews as the last game, but for this game Phil was down a Punk Zombie due to injury. I’m really enjoying the campaign rules – they’re very characterful and produce some weird and wacky side results. I plan to do a fluffy write up when the campaign is finished, but I’ll need to think how to thread all of the games together… anyway, here’s Game 3.

Game 3 Strategies/Schemes

Guild: Escape and Survive / Eye for an Eye & Breakthrough

Rezzers: Contain Power / Extermination (Beast) & Kill Protege

Game Overview

Another video for this week’s battle report, but thankfully it’s a little shorter this time!

Aftermath

Avatar Mortimer!? Yup, that’s the injury Mortimer picked up when I flipped the Red Joker. Here’s the wording from the Campaign Rules -

Red Joker: Avatar: The first time this model kills or sacrifices an opposing model each game, it gains: +4 Wd, +2 Ca, and receives ++ on all Duels for the rest of the game.

Wow! Oh, and I killed the well wounded Punk Zombie. It went from Easy to Wound (Game 1), to -2 Def (Game 2), to Permanently Killed! I’m sure Nicodem will resurrect him (Phil has 9 scrip to play around with before our final game).

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux 2nd Edition Announced

Owen — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:53:09 +0000

… will be released in October with early release at Gencon. Public beta starting the end of May.

Gremlins become a full faction, new stat cards and Henchmen turned into Masters …

Excited!

Owen

Always have a Game Plan: Deployment and Turn 1

Owen — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:37:01 +0000

A game plan, eh? It’s hard to predict how any game of Warmachine/Hordes will go, but it’s always worthwhile having a game plan. This plan should be pretty concrete in terms of how your force deploys and how you’d like the first turn will go down. There are some variables, specifically exceptional ranged threats in the opposing force or really awkward/opportunistic terrain, but in general you have the most control over your army in the first turn of the game. Here’s the kind of scribble I produce for most of my armies. You may also have a plan for what components of your army are best suited to deal with what types of threats and you may have idea for how you think your army may win the game. For now I’ll concentrate on Deployment and Turn 1.

Looks like gibberish, but I know what it’s saying. Let’s start with the Placement of my units. The center of the diagram shows how I’d ideally like to set up my units during the deployment phase. This is important as deployment can be on the clock in certain tournament formats, so it’s good to know how you’d like to beforehand how you’d like to place them. What do I think about here? Well, the targets for my spells and animi is a key consideration. I want my warlock to be able to cast her spells on targets that are actually in range when I come to casting them! The potential for different units to ‘trip each other up’ is also important – I want to ensure units don’t get in each other’s way. This plan may change if you’re deploying second and want to react to the enemy. I consider any sketch to be invertible, swapping all units from each side of the warlock to the other. A major factor in placement may be the scenario you are playing. Are you planning to contest and deny the scenario or are you trying to win it? This will determine how reactive your deployment needs to be.

Next up I consider the Spells I’d like to cast in the first turn. These are typically buffs that I’d like to get up early or spells that will help my force in Turn 1. You can see them noted on the right of the scribble. These spells impact a number of things. If there is a movement buff in there I need to ensure my warlock activates early to guarantee as much of my force as possible benefits. This in turn may impact their placement as I’d like them to be able to move! As indicated above the range to spell targets is important, so I need to place my targets nearby.

The final main thing to consider with regard to the first turn is Order of Activation. This is related to spell casting, but there are other factors. Here are some questions I ask of each activation. Where do I want each unit to end up? Are they running? If so, how far? Are they in danger of outpacing my army? Will I be able to screen all of my valuable assets? By screening, I mean will I be denying LoS to the valuable things in my army.

Let’s consider the following army, which this sketch was done for.

Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight (*6pts)
- Harrier (2pts)
- Shredder (2pts)
- Angelius (9pts)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Succubus (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)

Placement
Rhyas is fast and can buff the speed of a lot of her force. Her speed could actually be a problem if she outpaces her army! She also ignores other models when moving (Acrobatics), so being placed behind a unit is not a problem for her. I want the Legionnaires and Warmongers to get up the field fast. They are melee troops, so there is little merit in hanging too far back. They are placed front and centre, with Rhyas just behind them. The Angelius is placed within 6″ to benefit from a spell later and the Shredder and Succubus are placed close Rhyas if I want to cast an animus on her. The Forsaken is placed to chase the Angelius in case I need some Fury management later.

Spells
As speed is important to me I want Dash cast early in my turn, probably forst thing. I’d also like to cast either Occultation or Rapport. If the opponent is ranged heavy it’ll be the former, with the Legionnaires (or possibly Rhyas herself if I’m very worried) the likely target. All of this means Rhays needs to activate first. This would leave her on 2 Fury, which is fine.

Order of Activation
We know who’s going first, but the question is where will she move to. Thanks to Dash Rhyas has SPD 8 and can charge any enemy model (Acrobatics again!). It’d be a failed charge, but she’ll go 11″. 11″ straight forward would be a little far, so I’d probably go for an oblique angle. Next up the Legionnaires run 14″. If they have occultation up I have to be careful as they won’t screen Rhyas. The Angelius can serve that function, so it goes next. The Warmongers then run, though not always their full distance as they are my counter charging unit for use during the feat. Everything else then piles forward, though I have to be careful to generate enough Fury for Turn 2.

So there you have it. Not rocket science, but I guarantee you can generate a game plan for any force. As with any plan, be flexible enough to change it as the situation warrants

Until next time,

Owen

Naughty and Nice: A tale of two 25pt lists

Owen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:43:20 +0000

A while ago I posted about some Neglected Toys (Warcasters and Warlocks) that were gathering dust. With the beginners tournament coming up I decided it was time to bring some of those toys out to play, so I rolled on the D10 chart and here’s what I got. The first list is reserved for veteran players I might face, and een then it’d only be if I thought I really needed it. The second list looks like it’ll be much more fun, so I hope to use it most. Anyway here’s the first list -

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight (*5pts)
- Ravagore (10pts)
- Ravagore (10pts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
1 Spell Martyr (1pts)
Succubus (2pts)

This Lylyth2 list is both naughty and one dimensional – it’s also reserved for veterans. It’s all about the over the top shooting. Lylyth2 has only 5 Fury, so the Succubus and Shepherd are there to help out. The Succubus will be up keeping either Shadow Pack or Pin Cushion (hopefully not – the target should be dead!). The Ravagore are there as one of the best shooting ‘beasts in the game and under her feat they are taking two shots each at a range of 18″. The Striders are there to either shoot, or if needs be slow down an advancing unit. They’re DEF 15 and can be a pain to deal with. Lylyth herself can bring a lot of ranged death, with up to four shots on a regular turn (more under the feat!). The Spell Martyr is there to stick Pin Cushion from further back or to run in to contest a flag/zone. This list will struggle in most scenario situations.

Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight (*6pts)
- Harrier (2pts)
- Shredder (2pts)
- Angelius (9pts)
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warmongers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Succubus (2pts)
The Forsaken (2pts)

This is a much nicer list. It’s not as assassination focussed as the Lylyth list, but assassination is definitely on the cards. Rhyas can deliver death from downtown with acrobatics, dash and a pretty decent speed. The problem is she has very little Fury to do anything once she gets there. The Warmongers a great screening unit and her feat, combined with Berserk, is pretty nice. The Legionnaires are a decent jamming unit too. Both of my lists could have trouble cracking a lot of armor, so the Angelius is there to deliver a big punch if needed. The Succubus and Forsaken (instead of a Shepherd) are performing the same role as in the last list. The Harrier and Shredder are there as transfer targets and they both have useful animi. I think this could be a really fun list to run…

Until next time,

Owen

SR2013 Scenarios: Process of Elimination

Owen — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:43:32 +0000

In this post I talk about the last of the four scenarios that may be used in the upcoming Steamroller 2013 tournament.

Process of Elimination

Disclaimer: You probably get it at this stage, but this is not a substitute for reading the scenario and SR2013 document!

Brief: Two rectangular zones, each with an enemy Monolith in the center. Destroy the Monoliths then control/dominate the zones to win!

Setup: The Monoliths have the same stats as those in Destruction, but they are always considered enemies. Other than that, the setup of this scenario is quite straightforward.

Scoring: Again, like the Destruction scenario, this is a zone-based scenario. As the Monoliths are enemy models they contest the zone, so they must be destroyed before you can control/dominate a zone. They’re worth 1 CP each, as is controlling a zone. Dominating a zone is worth 2 CPs. Again, everything kicks off from the second player’s second turn.

Winning?: Yup, you guessed it, first player to score 5 CPs wins.

Kill Box?: Yes! Check out the Close Quarters post for more about Kill Box.

Playing this Scenario: The zones are not that big, but as they run away from the player they are tricky to control/dominate early in the game. An enemy player can usually have both zones in his control area, thus allowing ‘jacks/’beasts to stay controlled. Fully jamming the zones, even with fast infantry, is also tricky. Opportunistically taking out the Monoliths early in the game can be worthwhile, but when faced with the choice between destroying Monoliths and killing the enemy I know which I’d choose. That said, if you can destroy a Monolith and dominate a zone that’s 3 CPs; two more and you’ve won the game!

Closing Thoughts: The fight tends to happen in the middle of the board anyway and once the armies start to whittle each other down this scenario can really com into play. As indicated above a player can pick up points quickly if they see the opportunity.

Until next time,

Owen

SR2013 Scenarios: Destruction

Owen — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:51:58 +0000

Over the last couple of posts I’ve talked about Incursion and Close Quarters. This time out I talk about Destruction, which is a scenario I have mixed feelings about…

Destruction

Disclaimer: As before, this is not a substitute for reading the scenario and SR2013 document!

Brief: A rectangular zone cornered by Monoliths. Control the zone and destroy Monoliths to win!

Setup: At each corner of the central zone is a Monolith, which are a type of Steamroller Objective. The two closest to a player are friendly and the further ones are enemy. They are on 50mm bases, with DEF 5 and ARM 20 with fifteen damage boxes each. Unlike flags they cannot be moved over. The Monoliths cannot be moved and once one is destroyed the others cannot be damaged that turn.

Scoring: The scoring on this scenario is different to the previous ones I’ve talked about as they were flag-based. This one has a zone and destructible objectives. Scoring starts from the end of the second player’s second turn. Points are scored in the zone in a similar manner to scoring on flags in-so-far-as it can be controlled or dominated. I talked about what it means to control or dominate a flag in my post on the Incursion scenario, but scoring in a zone means being within (Note: not necessarily fully) the zone with no enemies (remember enemy Warlocks/Warcasters can’t contest) even partially within it. Monoliths are enemy models, so you need to destroy them first (hence the scenario name) to control the zone. Solos and individual models must be within a zone to control it. If a unit (50% starting strength or more) wants to control a zone all of the surviving models from the unit must be in it. Controlling the zone will net you 1 CP. Your Warnoun can dominate the zone for 2 CPs the zone.

The Monoliths can be damaged from the second player’s second turn and when destroyed the player will be awarded 1 CP. Monoliths have the stats above and are hit automatically in melee. Once a Monolith is destroyed the other Monoliths may not be damaged that turn.

Winning?: Just like Incursion and Close Quarters, the first player to earn at least 5 CPs (and has more than his opponent) wins. Assassination results in an instant victory.

Kill Box?: Yes! Check out the Close Quarters post for more about Kill Box.

Playing this Scenario: You have to be able to control or dominate the zone to win this scenario as destroying Monoliths will only net you a total of 2 CPs, leaving you with three to gain via the zone. While the Monoliths are easy to destroy (if you have high POW weapons) you can only destroy one per turn (unless you can simultaneously destroy them!). This must be done first and then it leaves controlling the zone as your secondary objective.

Controlling zones takes some skill and clearing out a zone of tough infantry can be a pain, so going first can be a distinct advantage if you can clog the zone with difficult to destroy models. That said scoring all happens from the second player’s second turn, so there is some (very small) merit in going second. There are alternative methods to clearing certain models out of the zone – Throws, Double-handed Throws and Slams can all get the enemy out of the zone (just be careful you don’t accidentally slam them into a Monolith!).

A word of warning – be careful near the Monoliths as they are targetable models meaning spells and other attacks can be ‘ricocheted’ off of them.

Closing Thoughts: I’ve never been a big fan of this scenario, but at least in SR2013 the objectives are closer to your army, so a melee centric force can compete. Having a scoring zone makes it attractive to armies who can out attrition the enemy. Don’t underestimate how much those Monoliths can get in the way. They can often prevent charges when the target is placed just right.

Keep one eye on the assassination on this one!

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux Campaign: Restless Dead at Shallow Creek (Game 2)

Owen — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:09:46 +0000

This is a brief report for Game 2 in our campaign. When we kicked it off we were using the playtest version of the Malifaux campaign rules which have since been officially released in Wyrd Chronicles 5 (PDF). I recommend checking them out as this is a very fun way to play Malifaux. It’s a natural storytelling game anyway – the campaign rules just give it more substance.

Game 2 was again a 30ss affair with the same crews as the last game, but this time the crews had injuries and upgrades that were gained during Game 1. Since the campaign rules are official I can go into more details on those injuries.

Crew Injuries and Upgrades

Guild:

Lady Justice upgraded to a Machete which allows her to ignore sever terrain penalties.
Death Marshal required an Amputation and is now at -2 Wd.
Nino Ortega lost a finger and has lost some of his casting ability (-2 Ca)

Rezzers:

Nicodem picked up the Spare Parts and starts games with 2 Corpse Tokens.
Punk Zombie is now sickly(!) and gained Easy to Wound 1 (essentially cancelling his innate Hard to Wound 1).
Rotten Belle had an Arcane Encounter and has gained Fast.

Game 2 Strategies/Schemes

Guild: Treasure Hunt / Hold Out & Bodyguard

Rezzers: Supply Wagon / Hold Out & Extermination (Beast)

Game Overview

I decided I’d make a video for this weeks game, so here you go.

Aftermath

I mention the injuries sustained in the video. The most significant of them (for me!) was Lady J picking up Easy to Wound 1. This is going to alter how I play with her in future games. Phil’s already injured Punk Zombie is now also at -2 Df; his other Punk Zombie will miss Game 3; and his Rotten Belle is at -1 Wk from now on. I decided to add an exorcist to my Crew with the Guild Scrip I earned between this and the last game. Phil decided to save his money!

I hope to write a fluffy story about this campaign. I’ll do it this week if I find time!

Until next time,

Owen

SR2013 Scenarios: Close Quarters

Owen — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:50:16 +0000

Following hot on the heals of Incursion here is the low down on Close Quarters.

Close Quarters

Disclaimer: As before, this is not a substitute for reading the scenario and SR2013 document!

Brief: Two flags, one friendly, one enemy, you can score on both, but one is much better!

Setup: Two flags are placed in accordance with the diagram above. A player’s ‘friendly’ flag is the one on their half of the board. The ‘enemy’ flag is on your opponent’s half of the table. Player 1 has a 7″ deep deployment zone and Player 2 has a 10″ deep deployment zone. Advanced Deploy models are placed up to a further 6″ from your deployment zone.

Scoring: Players can score on both turns and they score by controlling or dominating a flag. The enemy flag is worth much more than the friendly flag – 2 CPs for controlling and 3 CPs for dominating. The friendly flag can not be controlled by the owning player and they get 1 CP for dominating it. Scoring starts on the second player’s second turn.

I talked about what it means to control or dominate a flag in my post on the Incursion scenario.

Winning?: Just like Incursion, the first player to earn at least 5 CPs (and has more than his opponent) wins. Assassination results in an instant victory.

Kill Box?: Yes! Forgetting about Killbox can often effectively give your opponent the scenario win, so let’s talk about what it is and when it is in effect. Actually, here’s the Kill Box text from SR2013 -

Starting on the first player’s second turn, if a player ends his own turn with a friendly warcaster/warlock completely within 14˝ of any board edge, his opponent immediately scores 2 control points. A player can measure 14˝ from any board edge during his warcaster/warlock’s activation

I’ve tried to highlight the important bits, but it’s ALL IMPORTANT! Nobody wants to hand their opponent two free control points! It’s important to note that you can measure 14″ from any board edge during your Warnoun’s activation. It’s also important to note it’s not from your Warnoun to the edge, but from the edge to them.

What this means is that if you are the second player you need to move at least 7″ (and a bit) out of your deployment zone by the end of your second turn so your Warcaster/Warlock is not giving away free CPs! Remember, as long as your base is not completely within the 14″ Kill Box, you’re fine. It’s not as severe for the first player, but still impacts them.

Watch out late game for wandering (fully) within 14″ of ANY side of the table. It’s a Kill Box, not a Kill ‘Parallel Lines’!

Playing this Scenario: Other than determining who is the first and second player there is no randomness in this scenario, unlike Incursion. As such you should have a plan for how to deal with Close Quarters. The flags are about 13″ apart (Yay for Pythagoras!), so the fighting will be at close quarters no matter what you do. If you think you can control or dominate the enemies flag then that is a solid shot at victory. Equally, if you can deny the opponent from easily getting near your flag you can prevent them picking up easy CPs. I’ve actually managed to get a scenario win on this by only dominating my own flag, but that’s a slow way to win and was definitely not Plan A!

Unlike Incursion, brick armies can do quite well in this scenario as they can grind down the enemy near the enemy flag while preventing them scoring on the friendly flag. Equally, fast moving forces can do well at overrunning the flag and attempting to keep the enemy from getting up to the flag.

Closing Thoughts: This is a balanced scenario, but even more so that Incursion you need to be sure about the rules for dominating flags. If you think you can dominate the enemy flag or prevent your opponent from doing so you can exert a lot of control over this scenario. However, this can sometimes be a scenario that neither side gets on top of. The armies can attrition each other down leaving you with the chance to attempt an assassination or try to dominate the flag on two back-to-back turns. This would net you 4 CPs, so if you pick up an early CP it can be very valuable for this late game opportunity.

Until next time,

Owen

SR2013 Scenarios: Incursion

Owen — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:56:16 +0000

There are twelve different scenarios in Steamroller 2013 and getting to grips with them can be pretty daunting for a new tournament player. We have a tournament for newer players coming up in Dublin in the next few weeks and I thought I’d run through the scenarios you’re going to see there. Ciaran, the Event Organiser (EO), was kind enough to roll up the scenarios in advance.

Let’s talk about that… what does it mean to ‘roll up’ the scenarios? Well, there are six groups of scenarios (with two scenarios in each group) and no group should be repeated until a scenario from each group has been played. The groups stress different types of gameplay – some are based on seizing flags, while others are more objective focussed. For the upcoming tournament the scenarios are -

Incursion (Scenario 5)
Close Quarters (Scenario 3)
Destruction (Scenario 1)
Process of Elimination (Scenario 11)

They may not be run in that order, but that’s the order I’ll talk about them in. Check out my post on getting ready for a Steamroller tournament as it talks more broadly about preparing for a tournament. For now let’s dive into Incursion.

Incursion

Disclaimer: This is not a substitute for reading the scenario and SR2013 document!

Brief: Three flags, one disappears, control or dominate the others to win.

Setup: There are three flags (40mm bases; placed 12″ apart) along the centreline, one of which (chosen at random) will disappear at the end of the second player’s first turn. Player 1 has a 7″ deep deployment zone and Player 2 has a 10″ deep deployment zone. Advanced Deploy models are placed up to a further 6″ from your deployment zone.

Scoring: Players can score on both turns and they score by controlling or dominating a flag. You get 1 control point (CP) for controlling and 2 CPs for dominating. Scoring starts on the end ofthe second player’s second turn.

A flag is controlled if you have a model in base-to-base with it and, if that model is part of a unit, the rest of its unit are within 4″ of the flag at the end of a turn. Additionally, if they are part of a unit then 50% of the starting strength of the unit must still be on the board (and within 4″!). If they enemy contests the flag, then you do not control it. For your opponent to contest a flag (and stop you scoring) they must have a model within 4″ of the flag. Importantly, Warlocks and Warcasters cannot contest (there are some other models that can’t as well).

Warcasters and Warlocks who ‘control’ a flag, i.e. are in bases-to-base with it and there are no enemy models within 4″, are deemed to dominate it. This scores them 2 CPs. Tactical. Only the active player scores when multiple players dominate a flag. In other words, as your opponent’s Warlock/Warcaster cannot contest the flag you score on your turn. This is an unlikely scenario as both Warnouns would be in base-to-base with the same flag!

Winning?: First player to earn at least 5 CPs (and has more than his opponent) wins. Assassination results in an instant victory.

Kill Box?: No! (I’ll explain this in a later post)

Playing this Scenario: This is a relatively easy scenario to understand, but if you’re not careful a bad deployment can really mess you up. For example, if the centre flag is the one to randomly disappear then there is a gap of 24″ between the flags. That’s a big gap and difficult for some Warlocks or, to a lesser extent, Warcasters to cover if their Warbeast/Warjacks are central to the scenario strategy. A central deployment is often a decent plan. If you have a fast moving force then a specific flag disappearing isn’t too big an issue.

If you’re going for a scenario win dominating a flag probably has to be foremost in your plans. At 2CPs a pop you could wrap the scenario up pretty quickly (remember you score on both player’s turns if they don’t manage to contest!). Denial feats/spells that prevent your opponent getting close can be devastating. Imagine you’re a Sorscha1 player and on your turn you get in to dominate a flag. Then you pop your feat! Only models with the ability to shake effects (or with Immunity: Cold) will have a chance to get in to contest. That could be 4 CPs in the bag if your opponent doesn’t see it coming.

If you’re planning to assassinate you need to slow your opponent’s ability to pick up CPs. Fast models can be useful to get in to deny CPs, as can tar pit models/units. I wouldn’t advocate fully ignoring the scenario as picking up even a point or two can put any opponent under pressure.

Closing Thoughts: This is a nice scenario, but it can hurt certain armies (particularly if they deploy badly). If the two flags end up close to each other (12″) then the opposing armies can end up being on top of each other resulting in high attrition. The opportunity to either assassinate or dominate a flag can present itself. If the flags are far apart your force may end up divided and your Warnoun can probably only support one part of your army!

Until next time,

Owen

War of Flames: The Flames of War Third-Person First-Person-Shooter Miniatures Wargame

Owen — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:53:16 +0000

The title looks like a typo, but it’s not. The subtitle for War of Flames (PDF rules) is “The Flames of War Third-Person First-Person-Shooter Miniatures Wargame”! Quite a mouthful, but basically it’s a set of variant rules for Flames of War designed to simulate FPS games such as Battlefield 1942, where the player can run around blasting things. The fun starts when you throw tanks and airplanes into the mix!

I decided over the weekend I’d paint up some miniatures for the game, so here you can see my American and German teams. I haven’t finished basing them yet, but I need to figure out how I want to base them.

The game has a variety of different classes that players can choose from Scout, Assault, Anti-tank, Medic and Engineer. It also offers familiar game modes such as Death Match and Capture the Flag, with players respawning from specific points as they are killed.

Anyway – I’m looking forward to giving it a go at some stage!

Until Next Time,

Owen

Steamroller Tournaments for Beginners

Owen — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:32:10 +0000

One of the guys on the Warmachine/Hordes Ireland Facebook group asked for a post introducing newer players to the Steamroller format and playing competitively. I’m not the most qualified to write this, but I have played in one or two tournaments… Here I concentrate on what you can control and do before a tournament. You can’t understand how every model in the game works and has synergies with others, but you can know your own army, the rules of the game, the format of the tournament, etc. These steps try to mention the key things you can do before a tournament.

Step 1: Understand the Tournament Format
Steamroller allows for a lot of permutations in how a specific event is run (and there are a number of quirky alternative formats that are sometimes played). There are some named variants, such as Masters and Hardcore; these formats apply a specific set of restrictions. The basic information you need to know before going to an event is -

How many points are allowed in the basic list(s)? Are Reinforcements being used? Are Specialists being used? You may not recognise those terms (see Step 2), but they can impact how many models you would like to or need to bring.
How many lists are allowed? Typically the tournament format will allow each player to bring more than one list for their chosen faction. This allows players to create lists that can deal with different types of enemy. As a (very, very) basic example you may have a list that can deal with high DEF and a different one that deals with high ARM. If Reinforcements/Specialists are being used as well, each list will need to include them.
How many rounds will be played? Are there restrictions on using your separate lists? Typically Steamroller is designed to be played until there is a clear winner and the number of rounds may be based on the number of attendees. For example, eight players will need three rounds to determine a clear winner. However, some tournaments will have a fixed number of rounds. Regarding restrictions, you may be required to play each of your lists at least once.

Step 2: Read the Steamroller Documentation
Download the rules (Steamroller 2013 is the one you want) and then read, read, read! This is important – you need to know how the tournament and more specifically the scenarios work.

Understand the lingo. You need to understand these terms – Deployment, Scenario Element, Starting number, Own, Contest, Control, Dominate, Zone, Flag (40 mm base), Objective (50 mm base), Assassination Victory, Scenario Victory, the different Tiebreakers and Kill Box. A lot, right? These are all defined in the document and are central to understanding how a scenario works and how you can win it.
Read and understand the scenarios. How do you score control points? How many do you need to win? Even if assassination is your main game you need to ensure your opponent doesn’t sneak a scenario win. Most of the above terms are central in defining the scenarios.

Step 3: Know your Army
There are a lot of ‘casters and warlocks in the game now and it’s hard to know what all of them do, but you can take control of your own army and understand it.

Know your warcasters/warlocks. This involves both knowing their rules and having practiced a bit with them to know what they are capable of. You can’t replace real tabletop experience. It’s also worth reflecting on what kind of matchups work for them.
Know your models. It’s worth studying and rereading their cards. Warmachine/Hordes is a very precise game and the specific phrasing of things (including the order in which things happen) is very important.
Know you synergies and order of activation. While this can be situational there are certain effects, animi or spells that you’d like to affect a unit before they engage the enemy. Try to think about the order in which these things need to happen for maximum effect. That’s the ideal situation and of course things will get mixed up in the battle, but having a plan that falls apart is better than having no plan!
Practice. This is particularly important if the tournament using timing (and most do now). Know how the clocks work and where the slow elements of your play are. There is nothing to fear from playing timed turns, but it can put pressure on you if you’re not familiar with it.

Step 4: Know the Game Rules!
If you have only read the rules once, then that’s not enough… If you’ve never read the rules and learnt them ‘from a friend’ then that’s definitely not enough. As mentioned above, this is a detailed oriented game. You need to play games and reread rules to get a good handle on how things work. For example, do you know the timing for activations? What’s the difference between disabled, boxed and destroyed? Check out P.244 of the main Warmachine rulebook (P.236 of Hordes).

Step 5: Gather your Forces
I’ve written about this before, but there are certain things you need to bring with you on the morning of the tournament. Here’s my checklist for Warmachine/Hordes -

Army (Miniatures, including anything that may be spawned, e.g. Lessers from the Spawning Vessel; Incubi)
Dice
Templates
Unit cards and card sleeves
Drywipe pen (and tissue to wipe off damage)
Measuring Tape (or two)
Focus and Fury counters
Special Army Counters
Army list (At least two copies, but I prefer four; one per game and one for organisers)
Rulebooks and Paperwork (Army Book, Rulebook, Rulepack and Ticket)
Army Case (Case, foam trays and covers)
Tray (for moving the army between games)
Pen/Pencil and Spare Paper
Super Glue

Step 5: Have Fun!
Tournaments are just another format in which to play toy soldiers. You’re there to have fun and so is everyone else. Warmachine/Hordes is a pretty balanced game and the rules are tight. It’s also an open game; if your opponent asks for a piece of information about how a model works or a specific rule interaction then explain it to them. It’s how we all learn.

Until next time,

Owen

Learning to play Flames of War: Part 3 (Tanks, lots of tanks!)

Owen — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:47:01 +0000

Well… lots is probably not the right word. I used the Totenkopf Panzer Kompanie list from Grey Wolf as I wanted to field all of the armour I own for the Germans. I have a reasonably eclectic mix of things, so this is what I ended up with -

Being Fearless Veteran means each vehicle is pretty expensive. This list is an effort to continue skewing my force selection to test the boundaries of how they operate. With this list I was able to field every tank I own and the only non-tank element was the air support.

I played Peter’s 2ID again – his force has many answers to armour, with good integral AT in his infantry platoons, two units of Tank Destroyers and 155mm artillery which are all capable of knocking out a German tank. We played ‘Dust Up’ which meant I had to both attack and defend, which wasn’t ideal as I had very few platoons. This meant leaving a platoon of StuGs on my objectives while the Panzer IVs pushed against Peter’s force.

Both of our air support was pretty ineffective in this game and Peter was cagey about pulling the trigger on his Tank Destroyers. Once he did at least two Panzer IVs went up in flames. In response my Jagdpanzers came in from delayed reserve behind the TDs and lit them up.

They then concentrated on Peter’s artillery along with the Tiger which also arrived from reserve. On my side of the table things we looking pretty tough as Peter’s infantry and another unit of TDs moved in on the StuGs. The German armour put up a spirited defence and danced around the objective trying to deny the Americans for as long as possible, but it was not good and eventually the objective was taken.

My inability (read unwillingness) to assault Peter’s infantry really hampered my ability to roll over his troops holding their forward objective. I enjoyed the game and the all-armour list looks great. I can understand having a list that includes at least one platoon to hold an objective while the armour rolls in on the enemy position. I’ll either try that for my next list or I’ll go for a more balanced force. Fearless Veteran makes for an expensive force. I’ll look for an alternative that is Confident Veteran that allows me to include the armour assets I own, but add in one or two support platoons.

Until next time,

Owen

Memoir ’44 for #TableTopDay

Owen — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:04:40 +0000

Saturday saw the first Tabletop Day (named after the Will Wheaton YouTube show), so Peter and I took the opportunity to play a few games of Memoir ’44. It’s such a good game. Tight rules, fast play and a lot of action. We played four games, with Peter winning three of them. All of the games were pretty tight though.

I have most of the expansions for the game, so we might play through an Eastern Front campaign at some stage.

Until next time,

Owen

Wings of War

Owen — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:02 +0000

Peter and I played the WWII variant of this game last week and it was great fun as always. It’s not the kind of game you can take too seriously, but we had a fun couple of games. In the first game we just played a meeting engagement with two Spitfires facing off against two ME109s. I played the Germans and managed to get the win after a lucky shot caused major damage to one of Peter’s airplanes and set it on fire! The other British plane was a sitting duck to the two remaining ME109s. In the second game Peter had the spectacular win – he had a bombing mission to carry out. I completely overshot his planes when trying to defend the bomb target and (while he missed it first time) he managed to get the bombs on target. Moreover, he also shot down both of my planes! Fun times…

Until next time,

Owen

Malifaux Campaign: Restless Dead at Shallow Creek (Game 1)

Owen — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:05:31 +0000

Phil and I kicked off a new campaign this week (we’re campaign junkies!) which pits Lady Justice against Nicodem. We’ll play 3-4 games in total and are using injury and equipment rules to spice things up. I’ll write a story arc for the games as we go, but I’ll wait until after Game 2 to start writing it. I’ll have a better idea of how the story is evolving then.

Game 1 was a 30ss affair. Here are the crews and the strategies/schemes -

Crews

Guild:

Lady Justice — 7 Pool
+ Justice, Avatar of Balance [2ss]
Death Marshal [4ss]
Death Marshal [4ss]
Guild Austringer [5ss]
Guild Hound [3ss]
Guild Hound [3ss]
Nino Ortega [7ss]

Rezzers:

Nicodem, The Undertaker — 6 Pool
Canine Remains [2ss]
Canine Remains [2ss]
Canine Remains [2ss]
Mortimer, The Gravedigger [7ss]
Punk Zombie [5ss]
Punk Zombie [5ss]
Rotten Belles [4ss]

Strategies/Schemes

Guild: Deliver the Message / Bodyguard & Breakthrough

Rezzers: Plant Evidence / Grudge (Death Marshall) & Stake a Claim

Game Overview

This was another tight game. Phil wasn’t really able to get on top of his Strategy, so that impacted his ability to score it and Stake a Claim. He threw up Mindless Zombies as roadblocks against my Guild Hounds, but it wasn’t enough to stop them scoring Deliver the Message. The didn’t score it until turn 5 though. Lady Justice manifested into her Avatar on Turn 4 and began a relentless pursuit of Nicodem. She clashed with him on Turn 6, but he sacrificed zombies to save himself. I managed to win 4:2 in another fun game.

Aftermath

In the aftermath there were several injuries sustained. Nino and the scheme Death Marshal will be performing below par for the rest of the campaign. The Rotten Belle picked up an excellent ‘injury’!

Screenshots

Related posts:

Malifaux – My First Game Overview Malifaux is a little different to other wargames. For...

Malifaux Campaign: The Other White Meat (Games 1 & 2) On Thursday night myself and Peter managed to kick off...

Malifaux: Lady Justice vs McMourning Joe and I played out a 25SS game between Lady...

Learning to play Flames of War: Part 2 (Skewed Lists)

Owen — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:00:11 +0000

After my last post I got some good advice from Pádraic, a local player who, along with the Warheads, has gotten into Flames of War in a big way over the last couple of years. The advice was to not stick with my plan of iteratively evolving my lists, but to deliberately build skewed lists. He argument was that then you really get to test the strengths and weaknesses of a specific type of unit. This makes a certain amount of sense to me. For my second game in this series I went with the following list -

So, not as skewed as it could be, but definitely slanted towards armoured infantry, with three platoons of mounted Panzergrenadiers and a unit of mortars. The mortars are more of an artillery unit and the Panzers are my tank unit. So, what are the strengths of this type of infantry? Like all infantry they are very survivable, certainly once dismounted. They are backed up with the machine guns of the half tracks and have a good amount of antitank assets. If they keep their heads down they are gong to be very difficult to assault.

Peter again went with the 2nd Infantry Infantry Division, backed up by two platoons of Tank Destroyers and some heavy artillery. As we were playing a defensive mission he wold defend, but have delayed reserves. He left a unit of TDs in ambush, so this prompted me to start the game with all of my Panzergrenadiers dismounted. They get to keep their transports thanks to the German special rules, so they trundled up behind the infantry. My mission was to seize an objective and Peter was seeking to push me back past the halfway line.

I pushed forward aggressively on each flank, with units of Panzergrenadiers moving at the double on each. The hope was to force Peter’s hand in revealing his ambush. It worked, but the ambush focussed on the Panzer IVs. Between an artillery barrage and the Tanks Destroyers he wiped out all bare one of the Panzer IVs.

With the ambush revealed on the right I could advance on the left relatively unmolested. My remaining tank and the tank hunters from the Panzgrenadier platoon, coupled with some mortar support took out the ambushing TDs leaving them free my force free to advance on the right as well. The pivotal moment game came on my next turn as my large supported Panzergrenadiers platoon prepared to Launch an assault on Peter’s infantry holding the objective. I dropped the mortars on him to pin him, put as much fire into him as possible and then launched the assault. He had seven teams who could fire defensively and he managed to score the five required hits. To add injury to insult I failed 4 infantry team saves.

Drat! From that point Peter played a dogged defence. I managed to push him back from the objective, but not far enough. He push teams back into the field near it and held on. The game end in a stalemate with me unwilling to assault to remove his troops and him unable to push out from his defensive positions. If it was a timed game I think Peter probably had the win.

Using so much infantry was fun, though the support elements definitely played a role. The mortars in particularly performed very well. The tanks played little role in the game other than baiting the ambush. The infantry were my main offensive element and they performed well, particularly with the MG support from the half-tracks. Once dug in (and often gone to ground) they became very hard to shift. The large platoon that managed to get on the objective took a lot of fire from the enemy, but managed to hang on.

I think I’ll try a tank heavy force just to compare and contrast. I still have plenty to learn about infantry, but a tank force seems like it’d be fun!

Until next time,

Owen

Irish Masters 2013: Photo Dump

Owen — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 20:15:19 +0000

While I didn’t get a chance to play in the Irish Masters, I did get to take some photos of the last round of the competition. It was great to catch up with friends new and old. Well done to Martin Hornáček for taking first (Skorne), Ciaran Bolger in second (Skorne) and Ethan Day-Jones for third (Retribution). There were 37 competitors duking it out over 6 rounds. Well done to everyone who took part.

Anyway – here are some photos!

Until next time,

Owen

Warcaster Focus: Forward Kommander Sorscha

Owen — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:07:17 +0000

When you look at Forward Kommand Sorscha’s cards in your hand the first thing you’ll notice is how much text there is on the back of her stat card. A Warjack Bond, Desperate Pace and an Elite Cadre are the main features. Like Kommandant Irusk she offers a lot of support for infantry, with the Warjack Bond being the only real support for ‘jacks (other than her ability to dish out focus). When you play Sorscha2 you’ll soon learn that she is almost always focus starved and running more than one Warjack with her is quite tricky.

So, what is she spending her focus on? Iron Flesh is a staple and she’ll often have Shatter Storm on a suitable target. While she doesn’t often run Widowmakers Shatter Storm on them can be a great annoyance for your opponent – they hit accurately, auto wound for one box, remove from play the target model and then cause a 3″ POW8 AoE. Nice!

The Winterguard are excellent with her – both Desperate Pace and her Elite Cadre are designed for them. Throw Iron Flesh into the mix and they only really have to worry about boosted attacks and AoEs. Their damage output for them can also be boosted by her feat. Let’s talk abut that feat – all damage that exceeds ARM is doubled. Like all of the best feats it takes something that a faction does well and magnifies it! Khador hit like a tonne of bricks; under her feat they hit like two tonnes of bricks! It can take some time to figure out how many attacks to allocate a target under her feat as the damage output is amazing.

Sorscha2 has the potential to seal the deal herself, but its a focus hungry trick that had better pay off! Between Cyclone and Boundless Charge (though probably not both) Sorscha can come from an impressive distance to hit an enemy ‘caster. She can also pop out from or around terrain, as the Cyclone move could bring her in one direction and then the charge in another. Don’t forget she also has Reach. She has a base SPD of 6, adding in 9″ for the charge and her Reach that’s an impressive 17″ threat. But, what are you delivering? Sorscha has MAT7 and P&S13. Decent, but not amazing. She’ll have 4 focus when she arrives, assuming you dropped upkeeps and cast Cyclone (which also allows her to ignore free strikes). She typically needs the feat from there. Boosting the first hit is usually worthwhile hoping for the Critical Freeze and aiming to convert the charge damage into a massive hit.

So, there you have it – one of the best Warcasters in the game who excels at supporting one of the best infantry units in the game, the Winterguard. You really need to know how to use the different Winterguard units to get the most out of her and your need to get the order of activation right – if you need Desparate Pace or the feat, then Sorscha goes first. If not you can usually use her afterwards, but she needs to be close to at least one (in formation) model in the unit if you want to Iron Flesh them.

Until next time,

Owen

Warcaster Focus: Kommandant Irusk

Owen — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:47:23 +0000

One of our newer players was looking for advice on starting Khador. It’s hard to give advice in a vacuum as every faction in Warmachine/Hordes has pretty decent breadth. In this post I’m going to focus on the strengths of Kommandant Irusk, one of Khador’s iconic warcasters. Looking at his spells it’s clear that he is a strong infantry support ‘caster. Iron Flesh and Battle Lust offer excellent DEF and damage output buffs, while Irusk’s feat greatly enhances the effectiveness and survivability of infantry for a round. Inhospitable Ground is an infantry buff of sorts as it interferes with your opponents ability to close on your army, often allowing your infantry to get a first strike.

A good example of this is combining Battle Lust, Inhospitable Ground and Iron Fang Pikemen. Inhospitable Ground makes them difficult for your opponent to engage in melee and if they are in Shieldwall they are (relatively) hard to kill at range. On your next turn place Battle Lust on them and enjoy how much damage they can dish out on the charge. If this is combined with the feat they will hit more reliably, have better odds on scoring crits, dish out more damage and be in better shape to survive your opponent’s retaliation. The Officer’s mini-feat may give you the ability to get them back into Shieldwall, so they can further weather the following turn.

In terms of other spells, the benefits of Iron Flesh are well documented and coupled with Irusk’s feat can make certain units crazy hard to take down. In Superiority Irusk also has something for a ‘jack in his force. Airburst is also useful for taking out that hard to get at solo (either incorporeal or stealth), though it’s damage output is low.

Irusk can suffer in dealing with the aforementioned Stealth and Incorporeal models. Thankfully Khador has access to some decent AoE weapons and has some magic attacks. These are definitely areas that need to be addressed if you’re building an allcomers Irusk list.

In terms of Irusk himself – he is decent in melee and okay at shooting. If you throw him into a melee you’d need to ensure there will be no retaliation as he’s not particularly survivable. He’s not quite a back field warcaster, but he’s also not a frontline ‘caster. Caution when placing him is always advised as any sustained ranged attacks will take him out. This is particularly prevalent in the Dublin meta where we have a lot of Cygnar and Legion armies.

Hope that’s useful,

Owen