Got four games in-- two against Cryx, one against Dwarves, and one against Ret.
First game was against Jim. I advanced towards the middle and my Destroyer was able to do some damage on one of the arc nodes but then Jim arc'd Crippling Grasp to one of my Jacks and Parasite to the other. Deneghra then feated so my Jacks where sitting at ARM 15 and 16. Jim's Jacks charged and made quick work of mine wrecking both and getting a Mangled Metal win.
I'm learning that Cryx is VERY tough to play against and against Jim's attack, the one thing I can think of is to stay as far back as I can and just rain bombards on him. I can also advance Sorscha up, take a shot, and then Wind Rush away. But at DEF 10, my Jacks will get hit and there's really nothing I can do about it. Good game though and now I was on to my second game against Dwarves.
Doug is one of our resident Press Gangers and he fielded Gorten and the Dwarves. The only heavy is a Driller and that thing is monstrous. With Strength of Granite it's weapons go to something like P+S 20 and 21. Crazy. I advanced like usual and because the Driller is the same slow speed as my Jacks, my Destroyer was able to keep the distance and blast off it's drill arm. That was really good. Sensing that my tactic would slowly soften up his Jacks, Doug feated and pulled the Destroyer right to the Driller who tore it up easily. Gorten had to expose himself to catch the Destroyer though so I sent Sorscha Wind Rushing and charging in under feat turn. She wasn't able to kill him on her attack but she was sitting at DEF 20. Doug was hoping to crit slam her with Gorten and had a few chances but was able to get it. She survived on about half her life. With full focus Sorscha hit back and suprisingly needed her last focus to boost the damage to kill Gorten.
With Wind Rush and Fog of War, seems like Sorscha has great defense against the light Jacks' shooting and with the threat range of the Destroyer, I can fire bombards all day on the Driller. I just have to make sure that if Gorten feats, I only lose one Jack. In this game I had an opening for Sorscha's assassination run but in future games I might not be so lucky. Got to be careful.
Next game I faced off against Deneghra again. Krage had his battlebox fully painted and it looked great. Same opening strat from me as always-- trying to shoot stuff with the Destroyer. My first attempt failed as two of his arc nodes were either in a forest or on a hill and the other one was in my own Fog of War. I missed the bombard. Krage then played Deneghra competely different than Jim and chose to ignore my Jacks and run his arc nodes around. Spell of choice was Scourge that knocked down Sorscha. I had to face Deneghra's feat and couldn't do much of anything. I tried to attack one of the arc nodes with Sorscha but on the following turn another arc node ran close and Scourged her again. The arc node was so close that the deviating AOE still knocked her down. That freed up the first arc node and with auto hits in melee Sorscha was done.
Thought it was really cool that Jim and Krage played Deneghra in two different ways, either going for the Jacks via Crippling Grasp and Parasite, or using the arc nodes and running them wide to Scourge Sorscha. So many things to look out for. I like the challenge though and look forward to playing Cryx again.
Last game of the night was against Jay and his Retribution battlebox. This featured Kaelyssa, a Manitcore, and two Lights (can't remember their names). I slow advanced and my bombard hit but failed to get passed the force fields. Jay spread out his Jacks, possibly positioning them for a next turn charge. Kaeylssa was way far back but it looked like Sorscha had a lane. Wow it was far. I decide to go for it, Wind Rush forward. At that point I checked her control and there was no need for Boundless Charge. Sweet. That's two focus saved. Sorscha charges Kaelyssa and after a few attacks gets the win. Both Jay and I were quite surprised how far 17" actually is. I doubt Jay will let an assassination like that happen again.
Finished 2-2 for the night. Two losses to Cryx and two wins by assassniation. Can't wait to play the other battleboxes and get revenge on Deneghra :P
Showing posts with label Retribution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Retribution. Show all posts
Friday, October 7, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Khador vs Retribution: pRayvn vs pButcher
Jay and I met for another game of Warmachine over lunch yesterday. We both tweaked our lists trying to guess what the other would be bringing.
pRayvn (I'm guessing it was the prime version but not sure)
Sentinals + UA
2 Griffon Light Jacks
Mage Hunter Assassin
From my recent emails to the group, Jay predicted I was going 'Jack heavy and brought an all melee list. Iron Sentinals made up his infantry. His plan was to use the Mage Hunter Assassin and the two Griffons to flank around and pressure Butcher.
pButcher
Juggernaut
Wardog
Kayazy Assassins (max + UA)
Yuri the Axe
The last time we met, I went against a Retribution force that ignored Line of Sight and could see through concealment. I expected Jay to try that list again so I brought something different. I brought fast units with the Kayazy and Yuri, both having stealth. So even if he could bypass LOS he would still have trouble spotting stealth. My plan was to race the Kayazy up and pressure the Caster with a Kill Stroke threat. I also wanted to use Yuri to flank around and threaten an assassination. If that wasn't possible I would send him in to Thresher infantry. Butcher would walk up the field as usual and go for an end game win.
Deployment
Jay won the roll and elected to go second so I deployed Kayazy in the center with Juggernaut on their left and Butcher and the Dog next to him. The battlefield had an open center; perfect for my Kayazy and marching army.
Jay deployed towards my right stacked all together with his Light 'Jacks on the outside of the formation and Rayvn in the middle of the infantry.
I deployed Yuri on the far left ready to storm down the flank. Jay forgot to deploy his Mage Hunter Assassin :0
Turn 1
Khador 1 2 3 go! Everyone runs. Kayazy spread out (habit) and run for the center. Juggernaut follows on the left with Butcher and the Dog behind. Yuri moves down the flank, threatening the left of the Ret infantry line. Oh wait...
Rayvn and the Sentinals boost the left Griffon which allows him to move before activating. This gave him a bigger threat range than I anticipated and the Griffon smashes into Yuri killing him. There goes my flank! The rest of the Ret force moves up to the wall and the other Griffon eyes the other flank. Not a good start for me.
Turn 2
I spent some time here thinking about what the Assassins should do. It looked like only one or two would make a charge and I'd face a big counter charge on the next turn by the Sentinals backed up by Rayvn. This is when Jay gave me the advice of the game: "How about pulling back and waiting?" I liked the sound of that.
Butcher moves up and casts Fury on the Kayazy as they shift left and fall back. One of the Assassins charges the Griffon on the left but misses his attack. Juggernaut stays where he is.
At this point I realize my infantry is more mobile (Kayazy SPD 6 vs Sentinals SPD 5) so shifting position seems okay. I didn't like assaulting over that wall so I try to put some pressure on the left and take out the Griffon.
Jay brings the Sentinals out running to the aid of the Griffon. He keeps them in groups of three which I thought was a very cool tactic as when they are B2B (base to base) they get an armor bonus. Rayvn goes with the Sentinals. The Griffon on the right rounds the wall threatening my right while the one on the left attacks the Assassin but misses two attacks. Rayvn casts Vortex of Distruction, allowing friendlies in her control range to get boosted attack and damage rolls in melee (I could be wrong though but it's something like that).
Jay realizes that he forgot to deploy his Mage Hunter Assassin and brings him in on the left behind the Salt and Pepper towers. He runs him deep on my left looking for his angle on the Butcher.
Turn 3
Time for the Kayazy to show their mettle! The two Assassins on the left slip off the Griffon and run past the Sentinals reaching the back of the Ret formation! The rest run across the field and engage all of Jay's infantry. Some Assassins are outnumbered 2-1 and it is a sight to see. Both Griffons are tied up and the Assassin Leader and the Underboss are behind the front line trying to keep safe. The rest of my force move up ready for a second wave hit. On my next turn I'm threatening Kill Stroke with my Assassins and the Juggernaut and Butcher are in charge range.
Jay spends a long time thinking about his next moves. He has to neutralize all of my threats and get his guys in position for a counter attack. Rayvn activates and dances through the Sentinals killing the Assassin Leader and then moves to kill the UA. Without him I won't be able to Kill Stroke. Rayvn attacks and the Underboss takes full damage. He Toughs. She attacks again and from the ground the Underboss Toughs again! Still with attacks Rayvn goes for another hit and this time the Underboss goes down. Kill Stroke neutralized. Rayvn falls back over the wall. But even without Kill Stroke, my Assassins can still advance into Rayvn so Jay has to take care of them. Sentinals activate. Three charge a lone Assassin on the right but all three miss their attacks (Assassins sitting at DEF 19 in melee!). The Griffon on the right decides to take a free strike instead of trying to hit the Assassin and takes some damage but runs down the right and gets really close to Butcher.
On the left, the Mage Hunter Assassin is weary of Butcher's Dog and advances just outside of the Dog's counter-charge range ready to attack next turn.
The rest of the Sentials take swings and most of them miss (needing something like 12s on three dice). The two Sentinals fighting the Assassins in the backfield miss and even the other Griffon who gets a backstrike bonus misses. After the dust settled, I lost half of my Assassins which is pretty remarkable. They're amazing in melee and never before have I seen what they can really do.
Rayvn unleashed a heroic attack killing the Underboss and taking away Kill Stroke. The Sentinals along with a Griffon rallied next to their Caster blocking charge lanes for my Assassins. It was epic! But there was still an opening left to Khador and one threat left on the board-- Butcher.
Turn 4
Butcher keeps all of his focus and charges across the field reaching Rayvn. This is the moment. I've got to win the game here. Surrounded, Butcher feats and swings on the charge with weapon master doing 5D6 of damage. With a mighty swing of Lola, Rayvn takes a massive hit and falls. Butcher wins the day for Khador.
Definitely an intense and thrilling game to play. I was really impressed with the Assassins. They dodged so many attacks it was unbelievable. My big lesson with them is if you can get them into melee against the right unit, wow, they can tie them up for a long time. Also, with parry, you can slip away and run deeper into the opponents line, tying up more things and threatening the caster. Not to mention you always have the threat of Kill Stroke. With the Assassins, you also don't have to worry about taking a charge because they still have to hit them and when they do they are dead anyway, boosted dmg or not. Sometimes it's good to charge but other times it might be best to run so you can get them tied up in melee.
I have to keep track of threat ranges and make sure my guys are safe on the advance. Sorry Yuri!
Another thing was the Dog-- defenitely did a good job of making the Ret flankers think twice before getting close to Butcher.
The final thing I learned and wanted to note was Jay's golden advice--"falling back and waiting." I've never really done that before with Khador and this game showed me that it can payoff to be patient. If things don't look like it's in your favor, fall back, shift and wait for a more desirable position; then when the time is right strike and strike hard. Thanks for that Jay, and thanks again for another great game! Looking forward to our next match. Will be tweaking my list ^^
pRayvn (I'm guessing it was the prime version but not sure)
Sentinals + UA
2 Griffon Light Jacks
Mage Hunter Assassin
From my recent emails to the group, Jay predicted I was going 'Jack heavy and brought an all melee list. Iron Sentinals made up his infantry. His plan was to use the Mage Hunter Assassin and the two Griffons to flank around and pressure Butcher.
pButcher
Juggernaut
Wardog
Kayazy Assassins (max + UA)
Yuri the Axe
The last time we met, I went against a Retribution force that ignored Line of Sight and could see through concealment. I expected Jay to try that list again so I brought something different. I brought fast units with the Kayazy and Yuri, both having stealth. So even if he could bypass LOS he would still have trouble spotting stealth. My plan was to race the Kayazy up and pressure the Caster with a Kill Stroke threat. I also wanted to use Yuri to flank around and threaten an assassination. If that wasn't possible I would send him in to Thresher infantry. Butcher would walk up the field as usual and go for an end game win.
Deployment
Jay won the roll and elected to go second so I deployed Kayazy in the center with Juggernaut on their left and Butcher and the Dog next to him. The battlefield had an open center; perfect for my Kayazy and marching army.
Jay deployed towards my right stacked all together with his Light 'Jacks on the outside of the formation and Rayvn in the middle of the infantry.
I deployed Yuri on the far left ready to storm down the flank. Jay forgot to deploy his Mage Hunter Assassin :0
 |
| Deployment |
Khador 1 2 3 go! Everyone runs. Kayazy spread out (habit) and run for the center. Juggernaut follows on the left with Butcher and the Dog behind. Yuri moves down the flank, threatening the left of the Ret infantry line. Oh wait...
Rayvn and the Sentinals boost the left Griffon which allows him to move before activating. This gave him a bigger threat range than I anticipated and the Griffon smashes into Yuri killing him. There goes my flank! The rest of the Ret force moves up to the wall and the other Griffon eyes the other flank. Not a good start for me.
 |
| End of Turn 1 |
I spent some time here thinking about what the Assassins should do. It looked like only one or two would make a charge and I'd face a big counter charge on the next turn by the Sentinals backed up by Rayvn. This is when Jay gave me the advice of the game: "How about pulling back and waiting?" I liked the sound of that.
Butcher moves up and casts Fury on the Kayazy as they shift left and fall back. One of the Assassins charges the Griffon on the left but misses his attack. Juggernaut stays where he is.
At this point I realize my infantry is more mobile (Kayazy SPD 6 vs Sentinals SPD 5) so shifting position seems okay. I didn't like assaulting over that wall so I try to put some pressure on the left and take out the Griffon.
Jay brings the Sentinals out running to the aid of the Griffon. He keeps them in groups of three which I thought was a very cool tactic as when they are B2B (base to base) they get an armor bonus. Rayvn goes with the Sentinals. The Griffon on the right rounds the wall threatening my right while the one on the left attacks the Assassin but misses two attacks. Rayvn casts Vortex of Distruction, allowing friendlies in her control range to get boosted attack and damage rolls in melee (I could be wrong though but it's something like that).
Jay realizes that he forgot to deploy his Mage Hunter Assassin and brings him in on the left behind the Salt and Pepper towers. He runs him deep on my left looking for his angle on the Butcher.
 |
| End of Turn 2 |
Turn 3
Time for the Kayazy to show their mettle! The two Assassins on the left slip off the Griffon and run past the Sentinals reaching the back of the Ret formation! The rest run across the field and engage all of Jay's infantry. Some Assassins are outnumbered 2-1 and it is a sight to see. Both Griffons are tied up and the Assassin Leader and the Underboss are behind the front line trying to keep safe. The rest of my force move up ready for a second wave hit. On my next turn I'm threatening Kill Stroke with my Assassins and the Juggernaut and Butcher are in charge range.
Jay spends a long time thinking about his next moves. He has to neutralize all of my threats and get his guys in position for a counter attack. Rayvn activates and dances through the Sentinals killing the Assassin Leader and then moves to kill the UA. Without him I won't be able to Kill Stroke. Rayvn attacks and the Underboss takes full damage. He Toughs. She attacks again and from the ground the Underboss Toughs again! Still with attacks Rayvn goes for another hit and this time the Underboss goes down. Kill Stroke neutralized. Rayvn falls back over the wall. But even without Kill Stroke, my Assassins can still advance into Rayvn so Jay has to take care of them. Sentinals activate. Three charge a lone Assassin on the right but all three miss their attacks (Assassins sitting at DEF 19 in melee!). The Griffon on the right decides to take a free strike instead of trying to hit the Assassin and takes some damage but runs down the right and gets really close to Butcher.
On the left, the Mage Hunter Assassin is weary of Butcher's Dog and advances just outside of the Dog's counter-charge range ready to attack next turn.
The rest of the Sentials take swings and most of them miss (needing something like 12s on three dice). The two Sentinals fighting the Assassins in the backfield miss and even the other Griffon who gets a backstrike bonus misses. After the dust settled, I lost half of my Assassins which is pretty remarkable. They're amazing in melee and never before have I seen what they can really do.
Rayvn unleashed a heroic attack killing the Underboss and taking away Kill Stroke. The Sentinals along with a Griffon rallied next to their Caster blocking charge lanes for my Assassins. It was epic! But there was still an opening left to Khador and one threat left on the board-- Butcher.
Turn 4
Butcher keeps all of his focus and charges across the field reaching Rayvn. This is the moment. I've got to win the game here. Surrounded, Butcher feats and swings on the charge with weapon master doing 5D6 of damage. With a mighty swing of Lola, Rayvn takes a massive hit and falls. Butcher wins the day for Khador.
Definitely an intense and thrilling game to play. I was really impressed with the Assassins. They dodged so many attacks it was unbelievable. My big lesson with them is if you can get them into melee against the right unit, wow, they can tie them up for a long time. Also, with parry, you can slip away and run deeper into the opponents line, tying up more things and threatening the caster. Not to mention you always have the threat of Kill Stroke. With the Assassins, you also don't have to worry about taking a charge because they still have to hit them and when they do they are dead anyway, boosted dmg or not. Sometimes it's good to charge but other times it might be best to run so you can get them tied up in melee.
I have to keep track of threat ranges and make sure my guys are safe on the advance. Sorry Yuri!
Another thing was the Dog-- defenitely did a good job of making the Ret flankers think twice before getting close to Butcher.
The final thing I learned and wanted to note was Jay's golden advice--"falling back and waiting." I've never really done that before with Khador and this game showed me that it can payoff to be patient. If things don't look like it's in your favor, fall back, shift and wait for a more desirable position; then when the time is right strike and strike hard. Thanks for that Jay, and thanks again for another great game! Looking forward to our next match. Will be tweaking my list ^^
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Khador vs Retribution 15 pts
15 pts lunch game with Jay.
Khador (me)
pButcher
Juggernaut
Marauder
Doggy
Widowmakers
Mechaniks (4)
Ret (Jay)
Ravyn
Hydra
Mage Hunter Strike Force (max)
Mage Hunter Commander
Mage Hunter Assassin
Off the bat I learn that his Mage Hunters can ignore LOS and basically shoot through anything and has stealth. This could be really bad. I win the roll and elect to go first thinking that if I go second I might get destroyed on turn 1.
We played on two square tables so the field was a little bit smaller than normal but a good size for 15 points. Terrain has three ruined buildings in the center of the board and we each have a stone wall near our deployment zones. I deploy with my guys stacking the right side. Butcher and the Dog have the middle with the Juggernaut and Marauder to his right. Mechaniks are on the right of the jacks.
Jay deploys Rayvn in the FAR opposite corner with the Hydra nearby.
Widowmakers deploy next to Butcher. Didn't know quite where to put them as they won't have cover from the Mage Hunters and won't be able to hit anything because of stealth.
Jay advance deploys the Mage Hunters behind his wall directly in front of my guys.
After deployment I get a big lump in my throat. My warjacks have so far to run to reach the Ret force. My widowmakers can't hit anything and my army has nowhere to hide. My plan is to run and hopefully survive the hail of gunfire that is coming and reach their lines.
Turn 1 everyone runs. The widowmakers could have gone far ahead but I keep them next to Butcher. Subconsiously I didn't want them out in the open and I'm thinking they will draw some of the fire away from the rest of the army.
Jay concentrates fire on the Juggernaut blowing its movement and doing quite a bit of damage. He sends his Assassin down my left flank. Widowmakers get taken out leaving only 1 or 2 left.
Butcher gives a nod to the Mechaniks, "you know what to do." They activate and run to the Juggernaut desperately needing to fix his movement. Can't stay out in the open! In my games so far, the mechaniks have only managed to do repairs for 1 point each but this time they repair for 11 points total! Movement is repaired and also some boxes near the cortex. Juggernaut and Marauder run forward about halfway now to the Mage Hunter gunline. Butcher, his Dog, and the lone Widowmaker run up.
Rayvn pops feat and the Hydra closes in. The Assassin runs to within striking distance of Butcher. My last widowmaker falls and more concentrated fire on the Juggernaut. Jay needing to roll 11's on three dice with the Mage Hunters is having trouble and my jacks soak up A LOT of hits. It's amazing. Still, the Juggernaut gets his open fist blown off. Mechaniks are trying to catch up.
Butcher charges the Assassin and kills him but he's now in the open. His dog runs to his side. My jacks reach the wall protecting the Mage Hunters. Picture this: Juggernaut going left, Marauder going right, both trying to get around the wall. They reach the outer edge of the gunline running into melee with some Mage Hunters. Next turn I'm all set with some NASTY trample angles!
But everything unloads on the Juggernaut which was already severly damaged. My loyal warjack finally crumbles to the ground. A lone Mage Hunter that was engaged with the Marauder advances around him and goes for a Mechanik but misses.
The Mage Hunters take aim at the Dog. He dodges two attacks and takes a massive hit bringing him down to one box. Another hit and the Dog makes his tough roll!! The dog gets hit again but is unable to tough it out.
Mage hunters fall back from the Marauder and Jay goes for the assaassination. Rayvn casts Vortex of Destruction and charges in with Reach and unloads on the Butcher sitting at something like 21 armor. After all her attacks, he escapes with minimal damage. The Hydra charges Butcher with 3 focus. Hydras gotta finish it. Jay buys attacks and damage but leaves the Butcher with half life. Turn goes to me and Jay realizes he made a critical error. He forgot that the Hydra's damage could've been boosted with Vortex of Destruction.
Butcher already in melee with Rayvn sits with 6 focus and uses it all to hit hard and win the game. Had Jay used Vortex of Destruction with his Hydra, we both felt it would have been enough to bring down the Butcher.
A very entertaining and dramatic game and as always I learned a lot:
-against that particular list, widowmakers... yikes. They can't hit anything really because of stealth and they have no cover from the Mage Hunters. I hear that a Spriggan might be able to give them targets with the flare?
-Jacks running at the Mage Hunters can soak up A LOT of damage. With POW 10 Jay needed 11s on three dice to do damage and it was hard to come by. Mechaniks behind the jacks helped a lot too.
-In this situation, better to deploy in the center then on the flanks. Shorter distance to run and get into melee.
-next time I'm thinking of Assassins of my own ^^. Kayazy have stealth, are fast, with high DEF and can hopefully tie up the enemy until my jacks and Butcher reach them.
-Beast 09 would be sick too. His ability to advance after getting shot plus Thresher would be good against all that infantry. But for now I'm going to stick with my three-- Juggernaut, Kodiak, and Marauder; still want to get a feel for what they can do. I want my Kodiak to throw something so badly.
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