WarmaHordes Battle Rep: Cryx Vs. Legion

Before I go on to the Warmachine Battle rep. I wanted to let you all know we were able to finished the final battle of our Journeyman Tourney. Unfortunately my log file was corrupted and I was unable to gather any screen shots of the remaining battle, but here is a quick break down. 

The following turn everyone advanced closer to the center to capture the objective, but the Khador player who was last brought out some "tom foolery". In a gutsy move, Corey sent his caster close to the center and popped his feat which made all targets in his line of sight and control area stationary, this included my warlock. Suffice to say he was able to bring the pain and dropped my caster. Legion was the first army off the board. 

As the turns progressed the Menoth and Khador factions were able to twart the Cryx opponent leaving both human races to fight. In the end it would be Khador standing tall taking the objective. In sportsman like fashion the Khadorian forces did not want to dispatch of the Menoth caster.

The final tally for the tournament would be a tie for first between Protectorate of Menoth and Khador. A great tournament had by all, with a new one on the horizon.

Over the weekend I was able to get in a game of Warmachine against Marc and Cryx army. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but Marc was able to take a few snaps with his phone.  It was a 50 point game with the following lists.

Cryx

Lich Lord Terminus

Deathjack

Harrower

6 Bane Knights

10 Mechanithralls

Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls

10 Satyxis Raiders w/ Sea Witch

Bane Lord Tarterus

Warwitch Siren

Pistol Wraith

Bloat Thrall

Legion of Everblight T4 list

Absylonia

Succubus

Scythean 

Ravagore
Typhon
Shredder x3
Naga Nightlurker
Raek
Nephilim Soldier
Forsaken x2
Blighted Nyss Shephard

Marc won the roll off and decided to deploy and play first. One the first turn he basically ran everything up the middle around Terminus. The Sea Raiders took up the flank on the left.

I deployed most of my guys across a line for more coverage. Due to having a T4 list with Abby I was able to advance deploy my Shredders and the Scythean and Typhon were able to advance move due to having two forsaken. On my first turn I launched the Shredders out to the front line. The Raek and Soldier were placed to the front as well. The Scythean and Typhon followed in behind. My Ravagore advanced and shot a blast into the Mechanithralls, only to be saved my Terminus' power to give them tough. Suffice to say I would grow to hate that power as the night progressed.

Turn two for the Cryx was a blood bath. The Sea Raiders rushed in and took out one of my Shredders and brought my Soldier down to 3 hit points. The Bane Knights destroyed the other two Shredders and my Raek. The game appeared to be getting away from me quickly.

But there was a glimmer of light. On my turn I was able to advance my Forsaken close enough to the Sea Raiders and popped its Blight Shroud, which had 4 fury from the previous turn. The effect was able to hit each Sea Raider taking them all out but the Sea Witch.

The Ravagore blasted a large enough hole in the Bane Knights for the Scythean to charge the Deathjack. Two knights did survive due to Terminus tough power...Grrrr. The beast changed in hitting solidly with both attacks which activated the chain attack. In that attack the Scythean was able to drop a few Mechanithralls and another Bane Knight and was then able to finish off the Deathjack.

The following turn Marc was able to dispatch of the Scythean, the Nephilim Soldier and almost took out Typhon as well. But luckily Typhon survived and was able to take down Terminus the next turn.

It was a great game and the first time I was able to play Warmachine on the tabletop in sometime, which was awesome. Playing against a caster like Terminus was fantastic. It was something I haven't faced before and the model is insane to look at. Next time I'll be sure bring my camera and get a close up shot of that badboy. 

Until next time!

Tenz

A Tale of Four Armies

Over the past year a few of my high school buddies and I have been working through our own little Journeyman tournament for Warmachine/Hordes. Due to players living in different communities (one on the other side of the country) we have opted to play each game using the Warmachine mod for Vassal. If you haven't checked it out it has quite a variety of mods for board and miniature games. The application works great for this situation as you have the option to play via email with log files or play the game live if scheduling permits. 

We decided to keep things relatively small with four players. Khador played by Corey, Cryx played by Shannon, Protectorate of Menoth played by Steve and Legion of Everblight played by myself. The tournament consisted of six rounds with each faction playing the other once. The first round consisted of the faction starter followed by point increases in each round to be added to the army. The final round pits each faction against each other in a Mosh Pit scenario. 

Here is how things are shaping up after five rounds. Three points were awarded for winning the match and one for the loss. The current standings are as follows;

Legion of Everblight: 31 points
Protectorate of Menoth: 31 points
Cryx: 29 points
Khador: 29 points

Below are the final army lists that evolved through out the tournament. 

Legion of Everblight:
Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight
Carnivean
Ravagore x2
Blighted Nyss Legionaries - Leader & 9 Grunts
Captian Farilor & Standard Bearer - Unit Attachment

Khador:
Kommander Sorscha
War Dog
Destroyer
Juggernaut
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Assault Kommandos - Leader & 9 Grunts
Widowmakers - Leader & 3 Grunts
Winter Guard Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts
Winter Guard Officer & Standard - Unit Attachment

Protectorate of Menoth:
Feora, Priestess of the Flame
Crusader
Repenter
Castigator
Vassal Mechanik x2
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts
Temple Flameguard - Leader & 9 Grunts
Temple Flameguard Officer and Standard - Unit Attachment
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts
Temple Flameguard - Leader & 5 Grunts

Cryx:
Lich Lord Asphyxious
Cankerworm
Slayer
Bane Knights - Leader & 5 Grunts
Bane Lord Tartarus
Bile Thralls - Leader & 5 Grunts
Satyxis Raiders - Leader & 5 Grunts
Satyxis Raider Sea Witch - Unit Attachment
Satyxis Raider Captain
Withershadow Combine
Necrotech
Scrap Thrall

Lets get to the action. The final round used the scenario of Mosh Pit which seemed perfect for a four-way free for all. The scoring for the round was as follows;
First - 9 points, Second - 7 points, Third - 5 points and Forth - 3 points

After the deployment was completed the game commenced in the following order. Menoth, Legion, Cryz and Khador.

Turn 1
The Protectorate forces advanced forward trying to cover each flank. 

Keeping formation the Everblight army marched toward the center objective. The ferocious Ravagores sent a blast of warning at the Khadorians massing to the south. Lylyth covered her beasts in the shadow to prevent a ranged onslaught.

Cryx rushed the center objective area with their Sea Raiders and advanced the Knights on to the Protectorate. The Lich Lord called down Caustic Mist to hinder the Flameguard and Hellbound to protect itself.

Khador issued the Widow Makers to move to cover and take aim at the Everblight Legionaires, taking down three in the process. The Assault Kommandos ran toward the center objective, while the Winter Guard took a wide formation and advanced towards the Everblight army. Scorcha and her warjacks took the left flank for protection. 

Turn2
Menoth slowly advanced the Flameguard and issued the Sheild Wall order. The daughters joined them closer to the objective. The Repenter and Castigator headed towards the right flank. The Choir filled in behind singing the "Hymn of Passage". Feora cast the Wall of Fire spell to hinder the Bane Knights. 

The Blighted Legionaries marched further towards the Khadorian forces forming a defensive line. With the aid of Captain Farilor the command of "Iron Zeal" was issued to prepare for the attack. The Ravagores advanced lobbing their fiery blast into the Khador faction, taking out two Widow Makers and  knocking down two Winter Guard due to tough. Lylyth called for the Shadow Pack and aided the mighty Carnivean with Spiny Growth.

Cryx sent the Cankerworm to creep towards the holy zealots. The Sea Raiders formed a unit inside the center objective, with the Slayer falling in behind for protection. The dreaded Bane Knights circled the Wall of Fire to open the charge lane on the Temple Flameguard. Lich Lord Asphyxious summoned three Caustic Mist templates to further hinder the Flameguard unit. 

The Khadorian Assault Kommandos and Juggernaut were ordered towards the center objective while the Winter guard advanced on the Blighted Legionaries. In a strange turn of events the Widow Makers turned and gunned down two of their Assault Kommandos. (A move related to the mission scenario no doubt) Sorcha and the Destroyer continued its path, edging closer to the center....it appears an alliance has been formed between the two human races.

Due to time and lateness in the evening we had to call it there. Luckily each of our schedules allowed us to pick the game up in a few days. 

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of "A Tale of Four Armies"

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

CiC: The Dice gods taketh away - Part Two!

Last week Jet popped over for an evening to continue on with our Chaos in Carpathia campaign: Humans Vs. Monsters.

For this game Jet used his Were Wolves. The war-band consisted of The Great Wolf, two were wolves; Black Maw and Howler and three inmates.

I chose to go with my Brotherhood. They consisted of the Kardinal of Wisdom with hound, the Priest of Mercy with hound, three Veteran Brothers; Justice, Wrath and Valor and two Brothers; Vengeance and Penance.

The stage was set and the game was underway. Both players had deployed and were ready for some action. Jet cruised his Were Wolves up the middle. Not one to back down from a fight the Brotherhood advanced forward to meet the charge!

I should mention the Keep was assigned as the key location, and the cabin in the middle right housed the person of interest. The objectives on Jet's side were a small log cabin and the middle statue. On my side the objectives were the Grave marker and middle statue. Their was also a underground objective, the alchemist table, that counted for what ever you needed it to be.

Seeing the vile Great Wolf move forward and obtain his first objective, Mercy, the Brotherhood Priest did the same. All under the protection of his fellow brothers.

The rest of the Brotherhood, lead by Wisdom moved up the right to flank the foul creatures!

The next turn Valor moved slowly to the corner of the statue seeing one of the Wolf's henchman. The crossbow rose and the bolt struck true. The inmate was reduced to 0 vitality but passed the resolve check with ease.

 

Howls could be heard for miles thru the Carpathian Mountains as the Great wolf issued his orders. Knowing innocence we at stake the Brotherhood did not flinch nor stray from the sight of the beast, but rather charged with a proven courage!

Vengeance would lead the charge targeting the Great Wolf, but missing horribly. The crazed inmate would fall into attack the Brother wounding him.

Wrath would then rush forward to aid his brother, separating him from the Great Wolf. With a swing of his axe, the blade would strike true but not penetrate the thick hide of the abomination!

This battle would prove to be my demise. (As the dice gods had shun me once again. I believe the average roll was one goal with five dice, but I did roll 7 dice for one goal at one point) The Brotherhood were unable to push the beast back and the causalities would be many. The treacherous Black Maw would blaze forward into Vengeance ending his life.

While the skirmish was taking place Mercy slowly crept to the next objective, trying to go unnoticed to his opponent.

The Great Wolf would take down the Veteran Brother Wrath and then advance on to the Brother Penance.

 The cunning beast that is Black Maw left the melee to deal with Valor who was raining arrows on the wolf band. With one slash he would drop Valor to zero vitality, luckily his iron will was enough to over come the vicious blow.

The mighty resolve would be shorted lived as the inmate would advance on Valor. He was unable to deal with the damage, allowing Valor to meet his heavenly brothers.

The next turn would be the last for the Brotherhood. The Wolves would wipe out their existence, except for the Priest who was lost in his finding in the underground.

The Wolves win 6-2. Jason had the hunt and two score cards for 6 points. I would get two points for my search card and obtaining two objectives.

All in all it was a great game. Even though the dice were against me, Jet got a well deserved win.

The Brotherhood will be back to deal with those mongrel pups!!


Cheers and thanks for reading!


Tenz

The Dice gods taketh away......

Last week I was able to get in a game of Hordes with Ken. It was my Legion took against his Skorne army.

The Hordes games was a 35 pointer. Here are the Legion starting forces. (I had a few new models I wanted to test out - pardon the unfinished work)

The forces of Skorne.

The game started like any other with me advancing my forces, followed by a few buffs. Ken did the same for his forces.

On turn two I used my Legion speed to advance on the Skorne army. With the Hellion I was able to have my winged beasts charge for free. This is where I should have noticed that the dice gods had forsaken me. I was able to send in my Angelius who missed with both attacks, followed by the Scythean who did hit and kill its target. The Raek, Soldier missing on all attacks, followed by the Naga hitting but doing minimal damage and the Hellion doing the same.  I even had Vayl use rampager on his Titan and he missed his attack on one of the Gatormen. 

With my debacle out of the way it was time for the Skorne retaliation. Due to some amazingly awesome rolls on Ken's part and horrible ones on my part, in one turn he was able to cut my army in half. Taking out the Angelius, Scythean and Raek. This would not be a good night for the Legion army.

Seeing that the game was going down the drain I had one "Hail Mary" left in me. With the last onslaught Ken brought his warlock up close to deal some damage. I threw everything I had left at him (which wasn't much). I was able to clear a path with Vayl using rampager on the Titan, which its attack missed of course. I then cast Incite and Chiller to help with the assassination run. First the forsaken was sent up with the blight bomb. No damage was assigned to the Skorne warlock with 2 fury. (POW 8 with four dice)  Ken did however have 4 fury on the titan which I was able to do 5 or 6 damage. It was now time for my soldier to do his best. He charged in taking two smacks. I was lucky enough to have both hit. On the damage rolls however not that good. After the smoke cleared Naaresh stood with half hit points. 

The retribution of the Skorne was fast and quick. My Soldier and Naga were quickly displaced, leaving Vayl with no beasts to command. I conceded on that note to lick my wounds and plot my revenge! 

I may have been a little to aggressive with the Skorne that evening, but with my dice rolls that night....it may not have mattered. Still good game and a good win for the Skorne!

Until next time,

Tenz

Chaos in Carpathia: Brotherhood Vs. Were Wolves

A few weekends ago Jet (A.K.A. Jet) dropped over for a game of Chaos in Carpathia.This was the first time I was able to host the game due to terrain. Being busy as a bee preparing for Delves, the terrain I created for it was prefect for setting in the Carpathian Mountains.

 
We continued our campaign of Monsters Vs. Humans. The idea was created by Jet and adds a ongoing factor vs. the one-off game style. It makes each game worth a possible reward. In a nutshell the winner of the battle will receive one victory point for the win. During further games, at the beginning of each game both parties would total their ongoing campaign points and and compare them. The difference determines the advantage to the party with the most campaign points. (I.e. Human faction has 3 campaign points and Monster faction has 4 points. The Monster faction is winning by 1 point so they would get the 1 point advantage)

Jet created campaign cards to add to the above idea. In the game each player is given one campaign card at random that they can use to assist them in the game or could opt to hold onto the card. If you hold onto the card and win, it would garner you a extra campaign point. You can check out more on this idea here

We also use secret objective cards rather then having the six standard objectives. This way their is more strategy involved in each game. Getting to the physical objectives on the board is only a small part of the game. With the cards each faction draws three at random and they are kept hidden from your opponent. This adds a great element as you have to obtain your own goals and try to predict and stop your opponent from getting his. You can find more about these objectives here

With that explanation out of the way lets move onto the game. The table was prepared and the game was on. The first game was Jet's Werewolves Vs. my Brotherhood. The tower was the key location. The camp fire, and marked grave were two objectives on the Brotherhood side of the table. The ballista and small lone tree were objective on the Werewolf side of the table.

The person of interest was in a underground cavern. the person of interest. The person of interest was accessed by ending the secret passage from the waterfall of the well.
There was also two underground objectives that was in a centralized area. The rock formations on the table had two cave opening which lead down to the underground cavern to these objectives. The objectives counted as being on either side of the board as we called it a neutral area.(The alchemist table and altar in the center of the picture)

Now on to the game. The objective cards were drawn. I drew The Search, The Rescue and The Score. (card listings can be found here). My priest was chosen for the search and Howler was chosen for The Score. The Wolves were dealt The Hunt, The Duel and The Score. Jason choose Penance for The Score.  All objectives were kept hidden from the other player.

The campaign cards were then allocated. I was winning the campaign 8-4. This allowed me to choose 2 campaign cards and discard one. I was also able to pick the table side and force the wolfs to deploy first. I drew two cards and kept the "Feat: Strength." This allowed me to do one of the following options.

(a) Force a locked door or window without using a special action
(b) Gain a maximum result on the Sarcophagus search table
(c) Jump over an obstacle
(d) Force an opponent to re-roll a DR test
(e) Complete any other STRENGTH-based action that seems reasonable to you and your opponent

Jason drew the "Fog" which gave him this ability.

Play this card at the beginning of a new turn before initiative has been determined. Place a round template (5-inch diameter) anywhere on the table not touching a miniature. This represents a bank of fog spreading across the battlefield. A model may not be targeted by ranged or special attacks if the attacker's line of sight passes through the template. A spotting test must be made to charge an enemy on the other side of the template.

The beginning of the turn after the fog appears roll a D6. On a roll of 6 the fog dissipates. Add 1 to this roll each turn thereafter. If the fog doesn't dissipate, move the template D6 inches in a random direction.

With all the pre-game items out of the way it was on to deployment. Here we see the bulk of Jason's deployment behind the waterfall.

I deployed most of my faction in roughly the same area on my side. I did this as I needed to take down "Howler" for my objective and the priest would try for the objective in the area and then head underground.

In the first turn my priest would head to the Marked Grave to find one objective. The rest of the warband would move forward to meet the vicious werewolves.

I also forgot to mention that the waterfall and well had a hidden passage way to an underground passage. It was a free action to locate at TN3. If you decided to look as an action it was TN2. Jason moved his great wolf to locate the passage behind  the falls but was unable to do so. He then advanced his crew and hid behind the rock formation and in the trees.

"Blackmaw" was deployed further down the table. He was rushed up the table to meet my Brotherhood.

As the game continued my brotherhood was able to advance forward and take down "Howler". Which scored me 2 victory points for having The Score. This would not go unnoticed as "Blackmaw" quickly entered the fray to try and avenge his fallen brother.

The Great Wolf would find the secret passage in the falls and head down to the POI. See this and having The Rescue campaign card I had no choice but to head down to the cavern to try and drive the foul beast back!

Having to move in close to take out Howler gave his inmates the opening to charge my brotherhood. They would move in and attack The Old Woodsman and "Valor", a Crossbowman brother.

The inmate would make quick work of valor. The rest of the inmates gathered their numbers and surrounded the Old Woodsman.

While this is going on, the Great Wolf being much quicker then the Cardinal "Mercy"and the Veteran Brother "Justice" was able to kidnap the person of interest and flee. Digging deep into their inner reserves they were able to use their fate and extend their movement to gain ground on the hulking stalker.

The next turn Jason decided to have his Great Wolf turn and face the brotherhood. Have The Duel secret objective he could gain 2 victory points if he was able to kill my Cardinal. He would attack, only inflicting one would to the Brotherhood leader.

During the combats that were taking place above and below ground my priest "Wisdom" was rushing underground to capture the second objective in the neutral area to obtain the 2 victory points for The Search objective card. Jason caught on and sent "Blackmaw" and one of his inmate to deal with the priest.

The fight between the Great Wolf and "Mercy" would continue to a stand still, with either side unable to banish the other from this world.

The priest would make it to the objective to search. Only to be looking in the wrong compartment and unable to find the missing formula to cure lycathrophy.

Passing a shape senses check and expending fate, "Blackmaw" tore through the underground grotto and charged "Wisdom". He would deplete the priests hit points but with "Wisdom's" iron will he was able to overcome the massive damage and stand firm.

 The dice would be rolled to see if another turn would be require, but the game would end. The final score was 3-2 for the Brotherhood. I obtained 2 victory points for killing "Howler" and 1 victory point for the single objective that "Wisdom" was able to locate. Jason obtained 2 victory points for having the score and killed "Penace", which was his named target.

Neither of us used our campaign cards. Jason never use The Fog as it would have not helped much during the battle. I never user my Feat:Strength as I did not feel their was a good time for its use. With keeping the card and winning I was awarded 2 campaign points. This brought my total to 10, which was enough to win the campaign!

Final score: Humans 10 - Monsters 4

As always, thanks for reading,


Tenz.

P.s. Here is a shot from our second battle. Jason played his Hungarian Monster Hunters and I played my Nosferatu. I didn't have my ManBat fully painted yet for the shape of the beast power so I proxied this WereBear from my old D&D minis line. Way to funny!