I’m really pleased with them and it was worth the big push in the end to get them finished.

I had hoped to paint Annyssa Ryvaall too, but I thought getting five Raptors from pieces to painted in four days was going to be enough of a challenge! I’ll tackle her another day…

Owen

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Owen

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He looks like he can put out an obscene amount of firepower and is no slouch in melee – I’m looking forward to using him in game.

Owen

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This month’s “Paint the Target” is to complete a unit. Despite doing that last month, I’m thinking of tackling my Legion Raptors. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t daunted by painting five cavalry models. So daunted in fact that I’ll probably paint Annyssa Ryvaall too!

Owen

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The Armies

My force consisted of Saeryn, an Angelius, a Ravagore, a Raek, a max unit of Warmongers, a Warchief, a Shepherd, a Deathstalker, two Spell Martyrs and the Swamp Gobbers. I’ve wanted to field the Ravagore and Raek since I painted them. The rationale behind the whole list is survivability – the multi-wound Warmongers make a great screen and allow Saeryn to operate forward if needed and here feat coupled with the Swamp Gobbers make her hard to kill. The Angelius and Raek are great Blight Bringer targets. The Ravagore can either operate forward or back of the main line – it’s decent in melee and has one of the best ranged attacks in the game.

Anthony’s force was made up of pDenny, a Ripjaw, a Deathripper, max Bane Thralls plus UA, max Satyxis Raiders plus UA, Banelord Tartarus, two Warwitches, a Pistolwraith and a Skarlock. That’s a very competitive list and everything in it can fulfil multiple roles. Thankfully I’m familiar with most of the list, so I knew what was facing me across the table.

The Battle

I won the starting roll and opted to go first. Probably a mistake as the scenario kicks in on the 2nd Player’s 2nd Turn, but I pushed the army forward and cast Respawn on the Ravagore. Already I started to get into caught up in the terrain. This generally isn’t a problem for Legion, but we were fighting in an abandoned mining town. Pathfinder and Eyeless Sight weren’t a whole lot of use and my medium based infantry began tripping over each other. I needed to move my army up to contest the control areas, so a flanking deployment wasn’t really an option.

Deneghra’s feat caught most of my army apart from the Saeryn, the Gobbers and the Raek. Saeryn used the Raek’s animus to move out of melee with the raider, turned and killed her with a thrown knife. She then cast Blight Bringer defensively on the Angelius. The Raek moved to block line of sight to her (as much as was possible) as did the Spell Martyr. The Ravagore moved back slightly (it had an effective SPD of 2″!) and dropped a surprisingly accurate AoE killing three Banes.

Owen

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Peter and I played a 30SS game tonight. My crew was led by Lady Justice and had the Plant Evidence strategy and I selected the Frame for Murder (Executioner) and Stake a Claim (secret) schemes. Peter’s crew was led by Orphelia Lacroix. He had Claim Jump as his strategy and opted for Stake a Claim and Eye for an Eye as his schemes.

My army also contained the Executioner, Samael Hopkins, two Death Marshalls and a Witchling Stalker. Peter included three Young Lacroix, Francois, Pere Ravagé, Rami, Raphael and the Slop Hauler.

Dust Up

“Ooo duz dis blind bitch tink she iz”, Orphelia thought as she gazed across the deserted township. This had always been a great place to hide munitions and with Guild forces creeping up both flanks and Lady Justice boldly moving up the centre the stash was being threatened. Orphelia blasted out a wolf whistle that attracted the attention of all kin. “Tu, tu ‘n tu, over der”, she pointed, barked orders and the gremlins fell into line. She was proud of the Lacroix family – they wore their oversized hats proudly and totted equally oversized guns. Rami and Raphael moved to her side while Pere Ravagé and Francois began to skulk up the middle. The Young Lacroix were always hard to control, but they were sticking close to their elders for the moment.

Throwing an eye back to the middle Orphelia saw ‘de blind bitch’ running through the smoke towards the unsighted Francois. “MERDE!”, Orphelia yelled as Lady Justice struck him down with a single blow without even breaking stride. Rami shot at the hunter again, who thought he was safe behind the fence. “Dis needs to end. We’ll guard the main stash”, she yelled to Rami and Raphael. “Tu”, pointing at the Slop Hauler, “check de petit stash en dat maison”, she pointed towards a derelict house. As she moved towards the main stash she spotted a Witchling Stalker lurking behind some rocks. She wasn’t sure what such creatures could do. A well placed shot meant she didn’t need to find out! After being out of sight for less than a minute Lady Justice reappeared and ran straight towards Orphelia. She swung with her greatsword, but narrowly missed. Again she didn’t break stride; she ran straight past Orphelia and right out of the township. Orphelia glanced at her remaining kin and shrugged, a little unsure quite what had happened. At least all of their weapons and ammo was safe.

Owen

PS Sorry for Orphelia’s bad Cajun/French accent!

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I just need to figure out how they work in the game!

Owen

PS Apologies for the poor photos – my real camera is packed away in the maternity bag!

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Peter and I played a 25SS game tonight. My crew was led by Lady Justice and had the Plant Evidence strategy and I selected the Bodyguard and Breakthrough schemes. Peter’s crew was led by Sonnia Criid. He had A Line in the Sand as his strategy and opted for Bodyguard as his scheme.

Divided Loyalty

Samael Hopkins clutched the inscribed scroll cases tightly as he moved rapidly up the left flank, ducking and dodging through a small copse. He was accompanied by a Witchling Stalker. They unnerved him, but their abilities to subdue even the most potent spell caster could not be denied. Ahead he spied Francesco at the edge of a derelict settlement, but today they were not friends. Whoever he was working for needed to be steered from their current mission and these scrolls were just what would do that.

Advancing forward to the foot of a small tree he saw the opportunity to plant the first scroll. As he placed it into a rotten hole at the tree’s base he caught the flash of a crimson coat out of the corner of his eye. Even with her back to him and at some distance he knew it was Sonnia. What had Justice gotten him into? He ducked out of sight and quickly placed the second scroll. He skulked back toward the copse. Lady Justice never explained herself to anyone, but he wished this once that he had known what she was asking of him.

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Joe and I played out a 25SS game between Lady Justice and McMourning this evening. Joe had the “Destroy the Evidence” strategy and I had “Deliver a Message”. We’re both still learning the game and we had to consult the rules a fair bit, but it was great fun! Here’s an attempt at a narrative battle report…

The heat was almost unbearable. No air moved in these old deserted warehouses. Lady Justice could taste the sweat on her lips. She had a message for McMourning and as her crew quietly closed on the master of the morgue she was going to deliver it and then end him. His indiscretions in this patch of industrial wasteland had not gone unnoticed and the ambush was almost set.

McMourning knew they were on to him and that the evidence must be disposed of. The Flesh Construct towering before him lurched forward as the incriminating pieces of the puzzle came into view. As it plodded forward shots rang out and slammed into its reconstituted form. The distinctive report of Peacemakers could not be mistaken. They were on to him alright… they were here.

Lady Justice holstered her pistols and drew her Greatsword, it sang as she removed it from its scabbard. She glimpsed her quarry, through holes in the decaying concrete. He moved forward without caution, but she could sense the hidden others of his crew nearby. Sebastian, McMourning’s vile assistant, would most likely be scavenging for any body pieces he could find. A twisted nurse in his employ would no doubt be strutting along close behind.

A Witchling Stalker moved forward and blasted wildly at McMourning – the shot clipping him in the shoulder. Samael moved forward and managed to miss the master with his Colt .45. That was disconcerting; he rarely missed. McMourning must be packing a lot of Soulstones and was using them to thwart their efforts. The Death Marshal to her right unloaded into the Flesh Construct and felled it.

“Where the hell was Sebastian?” he thought. A coarse half-bark sounded from behind him as if answering his question. “Damn it Sebastian, there are more important things to attend to than making new pets!” As McMourning turned to look at the canine a shot from another Guild weapon blasted it to the ground. He knew he’d have to finish this himself. He moved swiftly to the remains of the Flesh Construct and began greedily snatching up the pieces when he saw her. With the agility of an arachnid construct he lunged towards her, his surgical tools flickering through his fingers.

Before Lady Justice could react McMourning was standing toe-to-toe with her. His precision tools began to cut into her flesh. She could feel her cache of Soulstones dissolve to prevent the worst of the damage, but still she flinched from the blows. Recomposing herself she grabbed him by the lapel, leaned in and whispered her message. His eyes widened and for a moment he dropped his guard. She sliced the Greatsword across his gut.

“How could she have found out?”, a thought flashed through his mind. He clutched at his side and recomposed himself to deal with Lady Justice. He focussed his energy and drove the surgical tools towards her throat. Justice stumbled aside and the weapons narrowly missed their mark (Ed: Black Joker). It seems like Lady Luck had betrayed him too! His quarry swung back in riposte, but almost unbelievably did not connect (Ed: Another Black Joker!). His mind slipped into a most comfortable mode – that of a master dissector! His hands worked feverishly and Lady Justice fell to the ground in a bloody mess. He looked up from where she lay, an uncontrollable grin spreading across his face. The grin disappeared under the combined blows of Justice’s minions. The world went black.

Owen

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I procrastinated a long time before painting this model, but I’m not sure why. He’s easy to paint and even the base wasn’t too hard to do. Maybe it’s because I’m not the biggest fan of the sculpt. It definitely exudes character, but I think the feet look awkward.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to playing him. I have no idea how to do that, but I’m looking forward it!

Owen

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Merlin, a Malifaux Henchman from Cork, kindly traveled up to Gamers World in Dublin to give a few of us some demos of Malifaux. He and I played a 35 soulstone encounter while he was there. I used my Guild crew led by Lady Justice and he had a Lilith led Neveborn crew.

The first thing we did was flip for our strategies which is one of the really nice features of Malifaux. Each crew may have different objectives to complete (Destroy the Evidence for me and Claim Jump for Merlin) and they really shake up the dynamic of the game. It was quite strange to play a game where the death of a Master (or Warcaster!) does not mean game over.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game and Merlin was a great opponent. I thought when Lady J was killed that it was all over, but the game came alive when I drew ridiculously good hands. My card luck went from terrible to amazing and I had some exceptionally well judged (read lucky!) ranged attacks! I’ll be playing more Malifaux – it’s a fun, dynamic and challenging game.

Owen

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I completed Samael Hopkins ahead of a game tomorrow. Here’s a couple of photos -

I painted this model using a variation of the underpainting technique. First it was undercoated white and then washed with a watered down codex grey. All of the colours were applied as washes (apart from the flesh and the metals). Turned out pretty well for about an hours painting!

Owen

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Toruk’s spies had failed him. The Scourge Bringer had been rediscovered and he only found out about it weeks after. This failure would have to be rectified, but in the meantime he needed to retrieve the weapon from Everblight’s minions. Toruk does not like to rush things, but in this instance he had to dispatch a fast moving force to advance into the frozen north and take the weapon.

He usually fostered, and at times perversely enjoyed, the rivalries of his Lich Lords, but now was not the time for petty jealousy. He issued a direct order to Asphyxious and Venethrax that they must work together to sieze this weapon. He knew neither would receive this order well, but he was sure their mutual distain would push them to take extreme measures on his behalf. The Scourge Bringer must be his.

Campaign Overview

The Frozen North campaign is part of the Cryxian Ambitions arc of The Orgoth Legacy. During this campaign the Cryxian forces clash with the Legion of Everblight in an attempt to sieze one of the three pieces of the Scourge Bringer weapon. It is a team campaign that involves four players and is played over five games, of which the finale is a team game.

Frozen North (Rules PDF) is a derivative of the ANNIHILATION v1.1 campaign system, so the attrition suffered to each force was going to play a significant part in how the armies fared. Players could pool their armies and decide how they wanted to share losses.

Campaign Report

Here’s a quick video with a report on how the campaign played out -

As you can see, the Cryx won out in the end after a closely fought campaign. The finale was a do or die game for them as the Legion army was in a more competitive shape following the previous games. Here’s an example of how attrition changes how you approach the game – after a bad start to Game 4, Peter decided to concede to Joe. This was against the backdrop of the losses he had suffered to me in Game 1. Had he not done so, there is a strong chance that the Cryx force for the final game would have been severely weakened.

The campaign was great fun, though I think we all agree that the weather rules were a bit annoying! Anthony and Peter deserved the win after playing a great team game. The feats of their ‘casters (eDeneghra and eSkarre) combined nicely and they used them to great effect.

With the Scourge Bringer in Cryxian hands the story arc for The Orgoth Legacy has really opened up!

Owen

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GAME 2: AFTER ACTION REPORT
Dog and Fox companies had successfully stalled the German advance as they strategically withdrew earlier. This gave Easy time to detach some Bazooka teams for form an ambuscade and prepare a PIR platoon in an ambushing position.
SETUP
For game two the 4′ x 6′ board represented further along Route d’Auvers, closer to Carentan. The road ran lengthwise and was surrounded by hedgerows and fields. Much of the American force was either held in reserve, or was preparing an ambush. The forces that were deployed were dug in in prepared positions and were keeping their heads down. The Germans would enter from the south and attempt to seize key objectives before the American reserves could react. This game was set at about 1500pts with Paul playing an armour supported German Fallschirmjager force and me playing American paratroopers, with some Shermans in reserve.

The German force consisted of -

• Fallschirmjager Company HQ (2 SMG Teams) supported by 2 Panzerfausts and a Mortar Detachment
• Fallschirmjager Platoon with three Rifle/MG squads and a HQ with Panzerfaust
• Fallschirmjager Platoon with three Rifle/MG squads and a HQ with Panzerfaust
• Fallschirmjager Mortar Platoon with four 10.5cm NbW35 and HQ
• Panzergrenadier Platoon with three squads and a HQ with Panzerfaust
• Panzer Platoon with five Panzer IVh tanks (including HQ)
• Assault Gun Platoon with three StuG III G tanks (including HQ)

A combination of elite troops supported by hard hitting and heavily armoured tanks. Given that all of the German force could deploy and did not rely on fickle reserves they presented quite a formidable challenge to the few American paratroopers that would actually start the game deployed on the battlefield.

My paratrooper force consisted of -

• PIR Company Command Carbine Team and 2iC Command Carbine Team with three HQ Bazooka Teams (detached as Ambuscade) and Sniper (held in Ambush)
• PIR Platoon with three Squads (Cmd R/MG, 6x R/MG, 1x 60mm Mort, 1x Bazooka)
• PIR Platoon with three Squads (Cmd R/MG, 6x R/MG, 1x 60mm Mort, 1x Bazooka) (in Reserve)
• PIR Platoon with three Squads (Cmd R/MG, 6x R/MG, 1x 60mm Mort, 1x Bazooka) (held in Ambush)
• PIR Mortar Platoon with two Sections (Cmd/Crb, 4x 81mm Mort, 1x Bazooka) (in Reserve)
• PIR Field Artillery Battery with two Sections (Cmd/Crb, Staff, Obs/Crb, 4x 75mm PH)
• Medium Tank Platoon with four Sherman Tanks (2nd Armoured Division) (in Reserve)

The Germans deployed towards the southern end of the road with the Panzers on the (American) right flank and the StuGs on the left. Each was supported by a platoon of Fallschirmjager. Paul detached several Panzerfausts into an infantry-based tank hunting platoon and deployed them in the middle beside the mortar platoon.

The Americans were mostly in reserve or held in ambush. Only a single PIR platoon and the Howitzers were visible on the battlefield. The PIR platoon was on the left flank with the artillery behind them. The infantry held one of the two objectives, with the other further back in their deployment area (I had plans that my ambushing PIR platoon and reserves that came on would protect it). With most of my army off the battlefield I felt seriously undermanned. All I could hope for was that my reserves would arrive early and the Bazooka ambuscade could stall some of the German armour.

THE BATTLE
I videoed the game took loads of photos. Here’s a turn-by-turn video combining the footage and photos -

AFTERMATH
The American paratroopers looked to be in real trouble for most of the battle. Their artillery and tanks were mostly ineffective against the German armour. The ambuscade bailed out two Panzers, but that platoon soon got moving. Paul’s decision to mount the Fallschirmjager on the tanks proved costly. He lost a platoon before they could even get into the battle on the left flank. The StuGs more than made up for this loss as they nearly rolled the whole flank.

The timely arrival of all of my reserves helped me to plan the battle. The Shermans were intended to repel the Panzers and looked like they ere doing a terrible job of it until the last turn. With three active tanks (one was bailed-out) I scored three hits, bailing one Panzer and destroying two. This was the turning point as the other platoons went on the offensive. The PIR that had appeared in ambush assaulted the second Fallschirmjager platoon and another assaulted the ad-hoc Panzerfaust platoon. This was enough for the German morale to be tested and again Paul’s dice failed him.

It was a fun game, but I think had Paul been more aggressive with his armour he could have overwhelmed my forces as the reserves were still arriving.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS

Standard disclaimer – I am not a historian and I do not claim that everything written in this article is factually accurate, although I strove to ensure that it is. The battle report is fictitious and does not represent the events of the 13th June 1944.

Owen

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These models, on 40mm wooden discs, will constitute the markers that the players are attempting to seize over the three game campaign. The weapon parts come from three different sources – the axe head is from a Confrontation Wolfen miniature, the haft is from a plastic GW Skeleton spear and the mace is from an old metal GW Skeleton weapon arm. The process for preparing them was simple. I sanded the wooden discs using my standard basing technique. I then glued the primed weapons to the discs. They were painted with some basic metallics and a wash – Boltgun Metal, Mithril Silver, Brass Balls, Brazen Brass and that was finished with a Badab Black wash.

I look forward to fighting for them in November.

Owen

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I decided to try something different when painting its skin. The model was undercoated white, which I touched up with a wash of watered down Skull White. I then glazed it with a very pale blue glaze made up of 1:1:2 Space Wolves Grey:Water:Glaze Medium. Glaze medium is a retardent so it took about 24 hours to dry! I made a dark navy/grey glaze which I applied to the fur. I applied this while the other glaze was still wet. Once dried all areas received a watered down Asurmen Blue wash. The model (except the fur) was then drybrushed (using downward strokes) a 1:1 mix of Skull White:Space Wolves Grey. Finally high level edges were picked out with pure Shull White.

The other colours are just watered down base colours with a wash applied.

Apart from the waiting time it was a quick miniature to paint.

Owen

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Anyway, here are a few more of photos of my ‘impostor’ Warpwolves.

• Skin: Codex Grey; Fortress Grey; Fortress Grey + Skull White (50:50); Fortress Grey + Skull White (33:66)
• Gums: Gore Red
• Ears: Elf Flesh (DB)
• Armour (Green): Orkhide; Orkhide + Knarloc (50:50)
• Leather: Snakebite
• Claws: Graveyard + Snakebite (66:33)
• Armour (Metal): Brass Balls + Graveyard (50:50)
• Sword: Boltgun
• Everything: Watered down Magic Wash
• Base (Earth): Watered down Graveyard Earth
• Base (Stone): Watered down Codex Grey; Fortress Grey (DB); Badab Black (Wash)

I’ve 4-5 more of these guys unpainted in the shed. I wonder which Circle warlock is good with Warpwolves?

Owen

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Control Area and Feats: All warcasters have a control area which is a circle that radiates 2 x FOC from their base. In Rahn’s case that’s a radius of 16”. Only in this area can warcasters allocate focus to ‘jacks, so you need to move your ‘caster if your ‘jacks are advancing. Many spells and feats, a unique once per game mega-spell, effect this control area. A player may measure from his warcaster to any point in his control area at any stage.

Not a lot of damage done to either side so far, but Steve’s next turn would change all that. He allocated focus to the Chimera and Manticore and set about causing some mayhem. The Chimera charged the Drakhun and destroyed the horse. This left just the rider. The Mage Hunters zeroed in on the Juggernaut ‘jack and caused 15 points of damage with their crossbows (they get boosted damage rolls against warjacks) and disabled its left arm. Rahn activated next and feated. His feat is called Arcane Alignment and gives friendly spell casters +2” range on their spells and boosted attack and damage rolls for the turn. He then cast Telekinesis on the Devastator to spin it around so its back was facing the Battle Mages. The Battle Mages focus their attention on the Great Bears and the Manhunter (my assassination solo) and destroy them all. That’s the power of the feat. Ouch! The Manticore activates and puts 4 more points of damage on the Juggernaut with his Cyclone Cannon, taking out its movement.

Okay, I really need to respond before my whole army is gone. The Butcher loads up the Devastator with three focus and then he activates. He casts Full Throttle (three focus) allowing all of his ‘jacks to run, charge, slam or trample without spending focus and it also gives them boosted melee attack rolls. The Butcher shoots a Battle Mage for good measure. The Devastator activates and tramples towards Rahn. The trample is free because of Full Throttle, but uses the warjacks initial attacks, i.e. it counts as having attacked. Focus can be used to gain more attacks, so the Devastator makes three attacks at Rahn. Despite them being boosted (again because of the spell), he only connects with one causing 8 damage points. Rahn has 16 damage starting the game, so I’m only half way there. My Mechaniks run to engage the Battle Mages, in order to prevent them retaliating on their turn. Meanwhile the dismounted Drakhun does 13 points of damage to the Chimera tearing off its left arm.

It’s down to a slugfest at this stage and unfortunately for Steve his dice luck abandons him. The Mage Hunters only manage another 5 points of damage to the Juggernaut and the Battle Mages kill two of the four Mechaniks. As this is 50% lost in a single turn they must make a command check, which they pass. The Manticore manages to kill the War Dog. Rahn, loaded with focus, however only managed 14 points of damage on the Devastator. He could be in trouble next turn.

Time to finish this. I put three focus on the Devastator and activate the Butcher. He casts Full Throttle again (it isn’t an upkeep spell) and uses his feat, Blood Frenzy, which gives all models in his control area an additional die on damage rolls. The Devastator activates and does a special attack called Rain of Death where it lobs short ranged grenades. Everyone in base-to-base contact with it suffers a POW 18 blast hit! That would have finished Rahn except that the Force Field spell makes him immune to blast damage. Damn! I use a focus on the Devastator to buy an additional attack. It is boosted to hit because of Full Throttle and boosted damage because of the feat. Rahn is squished by the towering ‘jack.

The Aftermath

This was a pretty small game, but I hope it highlights some of the cooler aspects of Warmachine. It is a game of brutal damage and devastating effects, but it is pretty well balanced and no faction is considered vastly superior to any other. Steve played like a true gentleman in this game. He had a chance to finish things early on by hitting the Butcher with all of those Mage Hunter attacks instead of the Juggernaut. It would have been a much shorter battle report had he taken the easy kill, so if you suffered through the report this long you have him to thank!
Hordes is the feral cousin of Warmachine that features fantastic warbeasts and their warlock handlers. It has a completely different magic mechanic, but is fully compatible with Warmachine. Next time I’ll write about this other cutthroat game from Privateer Press. Whatever you play, remember to “play like you’ve got a pair!”.

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The nation of Khador has been expanding their borders aggressively, having consumed the country of Llael and encroached into northern Cygnar. Their warcasters have been at the forefront of this empire building, leading massive armies to conquer their former neighbours. This activity has not gone unnoticed by the stealthy Iosans and their rapid armies have moved to intercept and assassinate these human warcasters. The Retribution of Scyrah cares little about the wars of other nations. It is the scalps of those warcasters that they seek.

The Protagonists

This battle report is aimed at giving an overview of how the mechanics of Warmachine combine to make a compelling, tactical and exciting wargame. Steve Coleman and I lined up two 25pt armies with a very simple mission – assassinate the opposing players warcaster. 25pts is a smallish game, but sufficient to show the main aspects of the game. I had my beloved Khadorans led by the walking beatstick that is the Butcher of Khardov. This warcaster lives for the sound of battle and the smell of blood. He is an unstoppable monster that can support his troops with his potent magic and push his warjacks to excel in combat. The rest of my force was comprised of two warjacks, a Juggernaut and a Devastator, a couple of small units and a couple of solos. The ‘jacks of Khador have the most formidable armour in the game also have the ability to absorb as well as dish out a lot of damage. They are typically slower than the ‘jacks of other nations, but what do you expect of constructs that are over 10 tons in weight!

Focus: this represents magical ability in Warmachine. Every warcaster has a Focus stat and this finite resource is what they use to cast spells, boost attacks and support their warjacks. It is replenished every turn, but there is never quite enough to go around!

Facing the might of Khador would be Adeptis Rahn, an arcanist beyond compare. His ability to manipulate magic and support other mages in his force is stunning. He has amazing spells to support every element of his army and blast his enemy with arcane blasts while doing so. He has one of the highest focus stats in the game, so he can put out a lot of support and/or hurt every turn. Making up the rest of Steve’s army was made up of two myrmidons (warjacks to you and me), a the much feared Mage Hunter Strike Force with Commander, a unit of Battle Mages and a couple of solos. The warjacks of the Retribution tend to be more specialist and nimble than those of Khador. They also sport an Arcantrik Field that can absorb damage before the ‘jack itself is damaged. Nifty! One of Steve’s warjacks was a light ‘jack named a Chimera. This ‘jack has a couple of nice tricks, but it also has a feature known as an arc Node. All factions (apart from Khador, doh!) have access to arc nodes that allow warcasters to bounce their spells through the ‘jack. This are very useful in keeping your ‘caster out of harms way. Remember, the mission in this game is to assassinate the opposing ‘caster.

The Game

Warmachine is usually played on a 4’ x 4’ battlefield with deployment in 10” wide on opposing sides. Steve’s Retribution force deployed between a wood and hill with the large Manticore myrmidon in the centre of his army. It was surrounded by Battle Mages who had Rahn in their midst and a Soulless Escort capable of absorbing enemy magic attacks attached. The Iosans view the phenomena of Soulless being born as a true sign that Scyrah is dying. To the left of this unit is the Chimera and beyond it is a Magister, a veteran Battle Mage. deployed. The Mage Hunters and Commander are advance deployed (up to 6” beyond the standard deployment zone) to the front and right of the rest of the force. Finally, an Archanist, a Retribution mechanic deployed beside the Manticore.

Casting Spells: Every spell has a Focus cost and this is deducted from the wascaster’s total when cast. If the spell is cast on a friendly unit then only the range needs to be checked. If it is in range it’s cast. If a spell targets an enemy the ‘caster check range and then must roll to hit. They player rolls 2D6 and adds their focus (FOC). If this total equals or exceeds the enemy’s defense (DEF) it is a hit. Spell effects are then resolved.

Across the table my red Khadorans deployed beside a hill with the warjacks up front. Just behind them was a unit of Mechaniks, the Butcher and a War Dog. The Mechaniks, as their name suggests, are adept at repairing ‘jacks in the heat of battle. The War Dog offers protection to a ‘caster through counter charging the enemy if he gets too close and increasing the ‘casters Defense stat in melee. In my previous article I mentioned the stats briefly, but I’ll go through the basics of combat when the action kicks in. On the far right flank a mounted Drakhun was ready to chase down whatever came near it. On the left flank stood the formidable Great Bears of Gallowswood, a trio of battle hardened veterans with the capacity to utterly destroy both ‘jacks and units.

Steve won the dice off, so the first Turn would go to him. He allocated one focus, from Rahn’s eight, to the Chimera to allow it to run on its activation. Warjacks function like any other unit, but they can be allocated up to three focus to allow they to run, charge, boost attacks and perform power attacks, such as slams, throws, and headbutts. Rahn cast Force Field (three focus) which allows him to control the direction of missed blast shots. He also cast Polarity Shield (two focus) on the Battle Mages which prevents them from being charged. The remaining two focus are left on Rahn and they boost his armour. He then advanced forward. The rest of his force moved rapidly forward and the Arcansist assigned one focus to the Manticore to allow it to run.

On my first turn I allocated one focus to each ‘jack and then ran most of the army forward. The Butcher walked up behind them and cast Iron Flesh (two focus), from his total of six, onto the Great Bears, which added +3 to their DEF. I was afraid of the Mage Hunters firing their crossbows through the wood at my precious (and expensive) unit. The Commander with the Mage Hunters granted them the Phantom Seeker ability allowing them to ignore line of sight when targeting. Of course I forgot they have an ability to also ignore the focus boost to armour and spells that add to DEF and armour (ARM). They are Mage Hunters after all. Doh!

On his next turn Steve had Rahn upkeep both spells. Some spells can last from one turn to another. The ‘caster must spend one focus at the start of the turn to keep a spell of this type in play. Again his army advanced up, thankfully he wasn’t in range of the Great Bears. On his left flank he moved the Chimera up to arc spells at the Drakhun. Rahn first cast Chain Blast, an offensive spell, through the arc node. He hit the Drakhun with ease. This spell has a power (POW) of 12, so Steve would normally roll 2D6, add it to the 12 and compare that to my ARM. If the total exceeds my Drakhun’s ARM it does the amount of damage it exceeds by. The Drakhun’s ARM is 19, so Steve decided to boost the damage roll giving him an extra D6. Thankfully he only rolled 9 on the 3D6 and only managed to do two points of damage. The Drakhun has ten boxes of damage. Since that wasn’t enough Steve used the Telekinesis spell to move the Drakhun 2” and spin him around. This is important as models need line of sight (LoS) to charge. They can still walk into combat, but they don’t get a movement advantage or cause more damage on their initial attack. The Magister charged the Drakhun, but failed to cause any damage. He missed with his first attack and the second just bounced off of its armour.

The Drakhun got his revenge on my turn; he spun around and smashed the Magister, but the Chimera was still lurking nearby, so his vengeance was going to be short-lived. Again the Khadorans advanced forward. The Devastator is the most heavily armoured warjack in the game so it ran right up close to the Battle Mages. It couldn’t charge them due to Polarity Shield spell. The Butcher decided to send his Obliteration spell towards the Mage Hunters. I knew it would miss as they have the Stealth ability (all ranged attacks originating from more that 5” away automatically miss), but I was hoping for a lucky deviation. Attacks with a blast template scatter when they miss, just like in Warhammer, and I was hoping for a lucky deviation. However, I forgot Force Field allowed Rahn to decide the direction of deviations in his Control Area, so he sent it harmlessly away from the Mage Hunters.

Part 2 of the battle report continues here.

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And Fiona the Black -

Everybody –

Owen

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Here is Lady Justice and her Guild crew. Individual photographs below.

Owen

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Captain Phinneas Shae

First Mate Hawk

Lord Rockbottom, Expetidion Financier

Doc Killingsworth

Bosun Grogspar

Mariner

Buccaneer

Sea Dog Crew

Sea Dog Riflemen

As I mentioned before this is a strange project. I bought some of the miniatures painted. Everything shown here has seen some paint from me to touch them up, but the Mariner, Buccaneer and Bosun Grogspar were painted from scratch, as was one of the Sea Dogs. They are coming along nicely now. I’ll post a painting guide for the ‘jacks soon.

Owen

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I’ve had pretty good success with the beat stick that is Thagrosh, but when it comes to the other Legion warlocks I really struggle. I’ve played subtle and tricky ‘casters in my Cryx and Khador (well, maybe not so subtle) factions and I’ve always gotten on okay with them.

The subtle Legion warlocks that I own are a real problem for me – Lylyth, eLylyth, Saeryn and Rhyas – I can’t figure them out! When I win with Thagrosh I think I’m playing the Legion of Everblight as if they were Khador. The Carnivean is pretty close to being a Khadoran ‘jack. He can certainly dish out a lot of damage. Maybe that’s my problem… I need to go cold turkey on the Carnivean. I haven’t really used the Angelius that much, so maybe it’s time to take him out a bit more often and figure out the slightly more subtle side of Hordes.

Okay – I’m off to make up a couple of lists and think about how they might play.

Owen

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