Patrick was looking for some revenge as I've beaten him the last 4 or 5 times but I have to say he helps me a lot in my games when I forget things. He brought Harbringer and had something like this:
Harbringer
Avatar
Reckoner
2 Vassals
Choir
Piper
Errants
Daughters
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
eEiryss
Anastasia
I brought the Old Witch and had:
Old Witch
Scrapjack
Beast-09
Spriggan
Full Winterguard + UA + Joe + 1 Rocket
Full Kayazy Assassins
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
eEiryss
Widowmaker Marksman
I can't remember the specifics of what happened each turn so thought I would give a summary and talk about how each of my units did in the game and what I learned.
The Game
Scenario had two vertical control zones in the center and you earned a point for controlling one. First to two points and more than your opponent wins. We each had a wall and forest on our sides of the board at the outside corners of the zones.
I deployed with Witch and Scrapjack favoring the right where the forest was. Jacks in the center with Winterguard on the left and Assassins on the right. Gorman and Aiyanna & Holt were near the Old Witch behind the Jacks. eEiryss advanced deployed on the outer left and Marksman on the outer right; thought that was pretty cool :P
Patrick had Harbringer opposite corner from the Old Witch, his Jacks in the center with supports. Errants opposed the Winterguard on my left and the Daughters facing off against the Assassins on the right. Piper was with the Errants and eEiryss was with the Daughters and Aiyanna & Holt nearby.
To summarize the game. We both advanced towards the center and Patrick feated first holding most of my infantry at bay with a few of the Winterguard in the left zone. I sent the Assassins forward and counter-feated with Witch. It protected the Assassins from the Daughters which was good and forced the Errants to swing left to attack the Winterguard.
I pulled Eiryss from the flank towards the center fearing Anastasia and she spent most the game disrupting my own Jacks.
Winterguard tarpitted a little but Patrick cleared the ones in front of my Jacks and the Reckonner charged Beast-09 doing a considerable amount of damage. I countered with Beast but it wasn't enough to bring down the Reckoner. Spriggan walked up to the Reckoner and with his Lance rolled a 3... Out of range for his shield arm so Reckoner lived. He scrapped Beast and the Avatar charged Spriggan nearly killing him. I could have attacked with Spriggan and done an awful lot of damage but my own Eiryss distruputed him TT.
Forgot to activate Joe before the Winterguard on a key turn when most of the Winterguard were spraying the Errants. It was bad. Errants ended up clearing most of the Winterguard and scored a point in the left zone.
Assassins were doing okay against the Daughters but on a crucial turn I ran out of time as they charged the whole flank; getting into melee with Aiyanna and Hold and Eiryss as well. Not only was I not able to attack but the Underboss was so far back that half the unit was out of formation.
The disruption on my Jacks (even Scrapjack was disrupted) took the wind out of me and with no real way to win I conceded the game with the Avatar just steps away from the Old Witch.
Analysis of My Units
Assassins
Always fun to use and in my battles with Patrick he always advance deploys the Daughters against them because he doesn't want them going against the Winterguard. Usually they battle it out for most of the game and my Assassins do pretty good because of their sick DEF in melee and with Gang they are able to take out the Daughters. But, the Daughters usually do stall my Assassins because I chose to get bogged down and fight.
In this game, there was a lot for my Assassins to attack; besides the Daughters Patrick sent eEiryss and A&H after them. Still, I feel I should be running my Assassins to the back rank of Patrick's line, where stuff like the choir and Vassal are. I'm thinking I need to run at the Daughters and then continue running through them by mini feating or just parrying off. If I engage in two waves, the first wave can hit then move on and then the second wave can hit. Goal might be to keep pressing forward and pressure his support units. Well, if Patrick is reading this he knows what I'm going to do next game :P Ya, my general feeling is they need to pressure more not just fight with the Daughters and keep moving. Really like the unit.
Winterguard
The most basic lesson to learn; activate Joe first. Even if he's going to give them Tough, just activate him first for good practice. It's easy to forget this when you're mind is focused on all the sprays your Winterguard are going to do but guess what; The sprays won't be as effective without boosted attacks. Happened to me on a vital turn in our game when I had the Piper, Gorman, and a handful of Errants in spray range. A simple mistake like that can cost you the game for sure. So gotta remember-- Joe first, Winterguard second.
Winterguard fought the Errants and man the Errants are hard to bring down. I believe when one takes a fatal wound, Patrick can decide which of the Errants dies. So this leaves his front line intact while he removes the backside ones. It really felt like I was fighting 20 Errants.
One thing I have to learn is when is it best to spray vs. CRA vs. normal shot. Topic for another post.
Beast-09
I allowed him to get charged by the Reckoner which nearly killed him. No one EVER shoots Beast for fear of the free advance he gets and I haven't used his Imprint yet... He does kill whatever he attacks but then I could have had a Juggernaut do that for 4 points less. Beast does get to run for free though which is really nice.
Spriggan
Didn't really get to do much this game but wow he missed a vital attack when he needed a 4 and rolled a 3. That would have wrecked the Reckoner. Did get to fire some grenades. I do like having that extra armor and he is brutal on the charge. Haven't gotten the opportunity to use his flares yet but I like Spriggan. Bulldoze is very handy too. I may prefer him over Beast but they do make a good pair-- Beast can bring anything down and with his Imprint can decimate infantry. Spriggan has great utility and he hits about as hard as Beast. Both lack range.
Scrapjack
I have a lot to learn with this guy. Upkept Avatar of Slaughter the whole game but really didn't get to attack infantry which is what Scrappy does best. I didn't use him at all this game. He sorta just hung around the woods. At the very least he could have charged some Daughters to free up my Assassins then get teleported back to Old Witch. Definitely have to think more about his use and tactics.
eEiryss
So... big lesson; don't run her near your Jacks or they'll be disrupted! That can really screw you when you either need to charge or load up a 'Jack before a big attack. Keep her wide or in front of the Jacks. She did okay this game working with the Marksman against some Errants. She's another one that I have to learn to use. Did get to knock of Fear of God from my Winterguard.
Widowmaker Marskman
I really like this guy and every time I've used him I've been happy with his performance. He's just very reliable. RAT 8, POW 12, Stealth and Hunter. All of these things set him apart from Widowmakers (even though he gives Widowmakers Hunter) He took up house in the woods and shot at Errants all game. Had him shoot at Aiyanna but she had Stealth >< Would like to bring him in more lists especially with Widowmakers.
Aiyanna & Holt
May have used her Kiss but forgotten to count it on my roll. Need to get Holt in the action more as he is a B@D A$$. He's accurate like the Marskman and boasts DEF 15. So good. Aiyanna can protect them with Stealth so I should be a little more aggressive with them.
Old Witch
So after playing a handful of games with her, I still have a lot to learn. She has a lot of ways to help her army; not necessarily by enhancing their attacks but by supporting them through denial/board control and helping her army with terrain.
She can block LOS with Murder of Crows which pervents range shots and charges. Could use this in front of infantry or on my Battlegroup Jacks to prevent attacks.
Weald Secrets I haven't used a lot and I think I should. Gives not only Pathfinder but Camouflage. This is huge. Park a 'Jack behind cover and hello DEF 16 Khadoran 'Jack. Allows 'Jacks to charge through forests to sweat. Wow I really gotta make use of that. Gorman can put a cloud on a Welded Secretive 'Jack which will make them DEF 14 to range. Oh Witch you... I'm starting see some things. Gonna need another post for Old Witch specifically to theorymachine all this stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment