Warmachine Batreps

Had a good Friday of Warmachine and here are a couple batreps from the games I played. 

Game 1: pButcher vs Mortenebra

First was a 50pt game against Jim's Tier 4 Mortenebra list-- Deathjack, 3 Slayers, Seether, 2 Reapers... or something like that, along with a few necrotechs and Warwitch Sirens (maybe not the Sirens, can't remember). 

I had my own tier 4 list with pButcher-- Devastator, 2 Juggernauts, and a Marauder, along with a full unit of Man-o-War Shocktroopers, a full unit of Demo Corps, and 4 Manhunters.

I won the roll and deployed first with Shocktroopers in front in the center, Demo Corps behind them and Butcher behind them with the dog.  Jacks were advanced deploy because of the tier bonus; I put them in the center just right of the Man-O-Wars.  Manhunters deployed right of the Jacks.

Jim deployed with his Jacks mostly in a line across his front with his Scrapthralls in front to screen/tarpit.  Rest in the back.

I advanced the Man-O-Wars up to the Jack line and Shield Wall.  Jacks stay put and Manhunters redeploy to behind the Jacks. 

Jim sends his Scraps forward getting really close to my lines.  Everything else advances behind them.

Kodiak responds by picking up one of the Scraps and throws it into another one, destroying both in a big AOE 4 explosion.  Juggernaut moves up and one hand throws another that hits DJ and two Jacks.  The Scrapthrall blows up but no damage to the Jacks.  Marauder moves up to a wall and combo smites another Scrap but it doesn't reach the jacks.  Another scrap gone.  Shocktroopers advance and shoot their shild cannons and take out a few more of them.  After all of that Jim has only 1 ScrapThrall left.  Pretty neat round for Khador.

He attacks with his Reapers trying to pull the Shocktroopers out of Shield Wall but they have  Iron Flesh and he misses both attacks :O  One of the Slayers advances and attacks the Marauder doing some damage.  DJ charges one of the Juggernauts and annihilates it and with Overrun advances into my Manhunters on the right.  Seether moves into the other Jugg and does a ton of damage, and doing a chain attack and throwing the Kodiak back and into one of the Manhunters who lives with one box left. 

Butcher Feats and casts Full throttle again.  The three Manhunters charge DJ maybe taking off an arm.  But then a loaded Juggernaut charges in and with his two initials kills the Deathjack.  He turns to the Seether and buys additional attacks and wrecks it.  Over in the middle the Marauder does his Combo Smite again doing major damage to the Slayer and knocking it down. 

Devastator in the middle advances and does his Rain of Death blast and with an additional die does big damage against the knocked down slayer and another nearby Jack.  Shocktroopers charge in with Reach and finish off to Jacks and hurt the Reapers. 

Demo Corp reposition and move to the right to block some charge lanes to protect Butcher.  It was a pretty sick Feat turn and I've never done so much damage before.  Jim is out at least 4 Jacks and the two Reapers are heavily engaged with the Man-O-Wars.  I'm threatening to strike back with all my Jacks and the Demo Corps coming in the next wave.  Jim needs to find a way to get to Butcher as his army is about to be wiped.

He puts Spectral Steel on his other Seether. (can't remember what Jack it was, let's call it a Seether)  It charges over a wall and into my Manhunter who just got up the turn before.  He's got Overrun on him.  He kills the Manhunter and then makes a full advance around my Demo Corp right into Butcher.  He misses with his charge attack and hits with the rest of his initials.  This is for the game right here.  There's no way that Jim can survive the onslaught that is about to come down on his army next turn.  He hits with his next attacks bringing Butcher down to half life.  With two more attacks left he needs to do 12 damage.  He's down to his last roll and needs to roll something like a 7.  He tosses the dice and gets what he needs bringing Butcher to the ground in a crazy assassination run.

It was a pretty amazing game for sure.  The one thing that sticks out is of course the big lesson I learned-- When you have a HUGE advantage, you have to be extra sure that you are safe from assassination.  I moved the Demo Corps to try and prevent exactly what happened but I failed to see the Overrun angles.  Patrick saw it though.  So I just have to make extra certain that my caster is safe, especially after using up all his focus.   

I could have done two things to keep Butcher safe.  I could have surrounded him tightly with the Demo Corp.  This would have left no angles to get to him and the Jack that Jim used didn't have Reach.  Patrick also mentioned that I could have used the Dog and positioned him a little forward and when the Seether attacked the manhunter, i could have counter-charged and then reposition the dog to block a lane.  So some really good lessons there.

The other amazing thing was seeing how deadly Butchers feat can be with Full Throttle and some Jacks.  All the hits are boosted so Khador Jacks, who have a pretty low RAT, can hit a whole lot better.  Also good for getting off the Marauder's Special because all he needs is to hit with his first melee attack to get off the P+S 20 Combo Smite.

Patrick had just shown up and watched the finale to that game.  He was all set to play so I got out pIrusk @ 35 points.

Game 2: pIrusk vs Harbringer

Patrick wanted to get more practice in with his 35 point Harbringer list because he has a tournament tomorrow.  I'm a little hazy with his list but I know he had the Harbringer (duh), Book, Choir, Errants (min), Vassal (maybe two), Avatar, Reckoner, and a trio of guys who make one model ignore stealth (can't remember their name and they might not have been in this list)

I honestly can't remember most of the turns but here's a general summary of events.  Over on the right control zone, the Errants ran up to it quick with Patrick taking first turn.  I sent my Assassins to contest it and they got shot up.  I learned a great deal about Errants and especially their Quick Work ability which lets them shoot if they make a kill in melee.  My assassins were never able to really get a foothold on the control zone.  I had the Great Bears in support there but they were soon charged by the Avatar who ran behind Beast 09, who got Black Oil'd by Gorman. 

Over on the left, the Winterguard had a tough time controlling that zone.  Can't remember why really but they were knocked off of it. 

Irusk ended up running away from the Avatar while casting Inhospitable Ground.  With most of my army killed and no hope to win the scenario I concede the game.  It's only 11:30 so me and Patrick decide to play another.  This time bring out eSorscha!

Game 3: eSorscha vs Harbringer

So pretty much the same list as before and I know he had two Vassals and also that unit of three guys who can make the model see Stealth.  This one is a little easier to remember as me and Patrick talked a bit about this game afterwards.  I'm brining:

eSorscha
Beast-09
Dog
Great Bears
Full Winterguard + UA + Joe
Full Kayazy Assassins + Underboss.
Widowmakers
eEiryss

Scenario had three flags at the beginning but one would soon disappear.  I won the roll and decided to go first.  Winterguard on the right with Battlegroup in the center and Assassins on the right.  Everyone pretty much runs.  Winterguard go for the left flag with Tough by Joe.  Beast moves up the middle.  Assassins go for the right flag.  Widowmakers advance forward and get behind a wall and to Patrick's surprise are within range of his Errants!  They all fire and manage to kill two.  Patrick says this is really bad news.  Bears head towards the right to either go for the central or right flag.  Sorscha puts Iron Flesh on the Winterguard and Shatterstorm was on the Widows.

Patrick moves everyone forward.  Harbringer feats so on my turn if I advance towards her, I will take damage (and infantry most likely die).  Reckoner is on the right.  Avatar on the left.  Trio ready to head for the right flag. 

I can't move towards the Harbringer but luckily the central flag disappears. Assassins move laterally and are able to move towards the right flag.  Beast and Sorcha both move to the right a little to get behind a wall.  Over on the right, the Winterguard are able to move towards the left flag mirroring what the Assassins did, just moving laterally.  Widowmakers then unload some shots on the Harbringer who was in range!  They manage to do quite a bit of damage maybe leaving her with 10 boxes left? 

Avatar heads to the left flag and will be doing battle with the Winterguard for most of the game.  Harbringer also put Fear of God on the Winterguard so they basically can't do any special attacks or give/recieve orders.  They can only walk and shoot... so sad TT.  Over on the right, the Assassins fight the trio and eventually are able to secure the objective thanks to some charges by the Great Bears.  Widowmakers with aiming bonus do more killing of Errants and other targets of opportunity.  Over the course of the game they took out Errants and Choir, possibly one of the Vassals.  They had such an influence on the center of the board that Patrick sent the Reckoner to tie half of the Widowmakers up in Melee.

I decide to run the Assassins and try to make a go for the Harbringer.  The Assassins are near full strength and make a break for it.  Two tie up Gorman while more run forward and engage the choir in melee.  Another round and they'll be able to run into melee with the Harbringer, but...

She responds by AOE'ing two of them with a spell and charging another and killing it.  The Book moves up and blocks a charge lane from Beast-09 to the Harbringer.

Sorcha feats and casts Boundless Charge on her favorite Jack.  He charges (after the Dog charged :) and gets just within Reach Range of the Reckoner.  It takes two swings because of Sorscha's feat to bring it down. 

The Avatar has to then leave the left objective and charges Beast 09 with fully loaded attacks.  After heavy swings the Beast has 3 boxes left-- 1 Cortex and 2 on his right arm.  Ice Axe still operational. 

At this point Patrick points out that all I have to do is clear both objectives and I'll win because I already have a point.  So Winterguard on the left now without the presence of the Avatar are able to CRA and kill the remaining Vassal and Choir that was on the objective.  On the right, Bears charge the last of the trio and secure the right objective for a Khador victory. 

Some things that me and Patrick talked about afterwards was how big it was to lose the Errants so early to the Widowmakers.  Already being a min unit they can't afford to lose two right off the bat.  He lost his ability to tie up the front while his army moves up.  Also, the deployment of the Widowmakers behind a wall essensially gave them +6 defense for a total of DEF 20.  That's crazy.  Their deployment in the center allowed them to have a huge infuence on the game.  Patrick said that their position prevented the Harbringer from helping the right flag.  Widowmakers definitely the MVP of the match.  Also of note was how the Widowmakers are a good unit to pair with the Assassins.  They are able to shoot targets that are just outside of charge range of the Assassins and can free up more space for them to run.  So lesson learned was how important it is to position the Widowmakers; preferably somewhere where they can have a lot of targets and cover a lot of ground with their guns.  Put them behind hard cover and they are very, very, hard to hit.

We chatted about eEiryss and not having her upkeep removal.  Was definitely a pain to have Fear of God on the Winterguard but in the end, with Tough from Joe, they are still able to stick around and contest objectives.  Getting eEiryss in the list would be really nice but @ 35 points I would have to either give up the Widowmakers and the Great Bears.  That's hard to do.  Shatterstorm is great on the Widowmakers and Bears add a much needed punch to the army.  I might rather not have eEiryss and just grind it out when Fear of God or Crippling Grasp is on my units.  At this point, would much rather have the Widows and Bears.

Patrick learned not to have the Errants in range of the Widowmakers in the open.  Sniper damage from the Widowmakers plus aiming bonuses isn't a good matchup for them.  So he learned to deploy the Errants safely when Widowmakers are on the board and in this game thought perhaps a deployment on the left against the Winterguard was better, also because there was a forest nearby and the Errants have Pathfinder.  He realized he should have sent the Avatar to handle the right objective and take out the Widowmakers.

I like eSorscha a lot, second time using her.  She helps the Winterguard greatly with Desperate Pace and rerolls on failed CRAs.  She aslo has a great Feat for taking out Heavies or multi wound models.  Shatter storm is also great with the Widowmakers.  She has to real way to buff the damage of her army but Bears are already good at that.  She does have Iron Flesh though which can get Winterguard up to DEF 17.  She does the same for the Assassins.

For 50 points, will probably add in Devastator, Gorman, and Eiryss, and switch the Dog for Wishnayler.

So that ends Warmachine Friday.  Not sure what the plan is tomorrow but I'd like to either make some terrain or paint up the Great Bears.  I'll probably use them in most of the lists that I run so it would be really cool to see them painted.  They need some work though as converted their heads is going to be tricky.  I want to add gas masks to them.  Not sure I can get hoods on them but hoodied Great Bears and gas masks would be so B@dd @$$.

When Your Rate of Buying Minis > Than Your Rate of Painting Them

You start to feel a little overwhelmed with the painting task before you.  Recently, that's been my case as I added the Winterguard Deathstar to my collection along with some Uhlans and solos.  Yikes!  That's nearly 20 more minis to paint.  The chasm between painted minis and unpainted ones grows wider still. 

For me, the anxiety is also compounded by the fact that I do a lot of conversion work.  My Khador force has a lot of gas masks and coats that are weathered-looking.  I also spend some time on the bases of the minis and add all kinds of stuff to them.  All this takes time.  So when I look at my collection as a whole, I know it's going to take a very...long...time...to finish. 

When you see that kind of mountain before you, you don't want to climb it.  The hobby just went from fun to laborious.  So how can I get things under control and start to feel the joy that comes from seeing something completed?  Here are some things I thought of:

Stop Buying

I realize that my end goal is to see a fully painted army on the table.  Right now my rate of buying minis is greater than my rate of painting them.  I need to stop buying for now, period.  Time for the Age of Proxying!  If I don't stop the landslide, I may never climb the mountain.  I'll just slowly slide down further from my goal.

Start Small

I thought back to when my Khador force was just a humble 15 pt list of pButcher, Juggernaut, Destroyer, and the Great Bears.  Then, a Eureka Moment!  Why not paint that up and finish it?  Then I could play during those lunch games with a fully painted force even if it's just a small one.  Goal accomplished! 

Starting small does several things.  It'll help me to focus.  I won't be thinking about all the units and solos that I have to convert and paint to finish my gigantic army (I'm talking around 65 minis unpainted).  Here at 15 points, I'm only worrying about finishing a small group.  Two are already painted-- pButcher and the Juggernaut.  So I just have 4 minis to go.  The task to a completed army doesn't seem that monumental now but attainable and far less overwhelming.  I can paint 4 more dudes!  So that's the plan now.  Then the next phase:

Add Slowly

When the 15 point force is fully painted and after I've played a game and had a beer to celebrate, I'll add slowly to this painted force.  What I mean by that is my goal will be to add a unit to that force and finish it-- conversion work, basing, painting.  I'll try to focus on one unit at a time, or one solo, or one Jack. 

I'll have a slowly growing painted army and there will always be one thing I'm working on.  And I'll see that to completion before working on other things.  This will help me to focus, not feel overwhelmed, and allow me to take my time and enjoy the process.  

Assault Kommando Tactics

Wondering how to use Assault Kommandos and the tactics involved?  Me too! 

I've been running them in my lists of late having played them a couple of times and although they are very hard to use and hard to keep alive, I enjoy having them.  Here are the things I'm learning with them.

They Cannot Aim

With base stats of MAT 6/RAT 5, they will have a hard time hitting the targets they need to, like light infantry.  Not terribly bad but it will be difficult.  So they have a few things to help them. 

One is their gas grenade.  IF you manage to hit your target with them, the target's DEF will be -2.  That will essentially bring the AKs RAT up to 8 which is pretty awesome.  So get some gas grenades on your target and they are good to go. 

One thing that I've been doing is bringing Gorman with them to be their unofficial UA.  He has protection from gas attacks like them and he can debuff like they do only crazier with Black Oil-- -4 MAT/RAT on the target among other nasty side effects.  So have Gorman throw a Black Oil, then hit with some gas grenades.  And a few of your targets will be down to -6 DEF. 

The AKs next weakness, and they have a few glaring ones so I list them first, is:

They Hit Soft

So if you should manage to hit with them, their gun is only POW 10, and their melee weapons are POW 8 and 9.  So yes, they are good for hitting low ARM infantry, things like shooty units or solos.  Because they hit so soft you want to be able to boost their damage.  They get another die on the charge but with a caster like pIrusk, they can get another one with Battle Lust.  It's like Butcher's Feat put on a unit ever turn!  Great for weapon masters to hit even HARDER or for guys like AKs to just be able to hit hard.  But they have some strengths and the first major one is this:

They Have A Lot of Attacks

I'm not sure if a unit in the game has as many attacks as the AKs.  With their Assault and Battery order they can shoot once with a ranged weapon and then charge in and do 2 attacks with their melee weapons.  That's three attacks each.  I've been using pIrusk and his feat gives them +2 MAT/RAT, both are stat buffs that the AKs use for Assault and Battery.  They essentially become MAT 8/ RAT 7 which is pretty awesome, not to mention if you put Battle Lust on them they'll have 4D6 dmg on the charge.  These buffs are compounded over 3 attacks each! 

I have yet to do this attack but one day I will :D  Besides the sheer amount of attacks they have a weapon attachments:

They Have Flame Throwers

The flamethrowers still have poor RAT like a Kommando but the POW on it is 12, much better than their standard gun.  It also covers 8".  I've been keeping the flame throwers behnd a front line of AKs and then using the backs of Kommandos to aim.  I don't know why I do this.  The sprays can ignore stealth so all you gotta do is walk up to a group and fire away! 

I've also used a Kodiak to throw a flamethrower to take out some Stormblades and that works really well because of the AOE 5.  But use as a last resort.  I'd rather keep the flamethrower operational.   Another strength they have:

They Are Fast (well by Khadoran standards)

SPD 6 is great and allows them to cover long distances if they need to to reposition and it gives them a 9.5" threat range on the charge just like Assassins.  But most of the time you won't be running them because you will use their next tactic.

They Have Shield Wall

What this means is when they are base to base after activating, their armor goes up to ARM 18.  Against low POW attacks they can survive a lot.  In my last game against Legion, the AKs were holding a flank opposed by some striders and Deathstalkers.  The AKs got hit but were very tough to damage. 

The Tactics I use

Again, I've only played them a few times but I try to match them against light infantry, preferebly ones with Pow 10 attacks.  That would give the enemy -8 to hit, pretty good.  They are opposite of Assassins who have high DEF and low ARM.  For Assassins, you want them against well.... anyone because they are hard to hit.  AKs weakness is that they can be hit AND take damage to high POW weapons so keep them engaged with the low POW ones and you should be ok.  They also don't fear corrosion from Cryx or Fire from Menoth :)

Running with them has proved dicey as they would get shot up with ARM 14.  It may hurt to walk but you want to have that ARM 19 in Shield Wall. 

On contact with the enemy, try to debuff their targets first either with Gorman or with your own gas grenades.  Then the rest can shoot with better odds.  For maximum effect, use Assault and Battery to shoot and charge with 30 attacks for the full unit. 

Defensively I've shot my own AKs with gas grenades to put them in the cloud that gives -2 to attack rolls if you are in it.  That will help them to deflect more hits.

You can also do hit and run (sort of) by using Assault and Battery, shooting, and then running away.  The order says that after you shoot you have to charge OR run, and it doesn't have to be at the targets you shot.

In situations where you are facing a lot of armor and there aren't infantry for the AKs, I would let them tarpit and be a front shield for your heavy hitters.  In the front they can also use their gas to debuff the enemy (for an attack) but you don't want your guys in it or they will suffer penalty.  So make sure you attack with guys that have reach.

Also, paired with pIrusk the AKs have survivability with the super tough on Feat, helps to keep them alive.

Still learning them but they have a lot of things that they can do on the battlefield so they are never boring.  Now to get them painted!       

Warmachine Batrep: pIrusk vs Mortenebra

"the Game of Inches"

Played Jim a few weeks ago pitting pIrusk against Mortenebra.

Khador
pIrusk
Dog
Assault Kommandos (max + 2 Flamethrowers)
Kayazy Assassins (min + UA)
Widowmakers
Widowmaker Marksman
Gorman

Cryx
Mortenebra
DeathJack
Harrower
Seether
Slayer
Slayer
2 Sirens (can't recall if that's their names)

Deployment

My center has AKs with Gorman (their unofficial UA), Sprigg, and the Bears.  Irusk and the Dog at the back.  For this game I used for the first time a min unit of Assassins.  Feels so weird!  Being smaller, my plan is to use them as a flanking force.  In the pick I've deployed them pretty wide.  Widowmaker group on the opposite side.  My feeling as the game started was I have no idea if my center will hold.  AKs don't seem like they can withstand all those 'Jacks.  So if memory serves me, I will buy time and let my flankers go around and hopefully get a caster kill.  Definitely want Sprigg and Bears lined up with DJ. 

Jim deploys in football formation with all his guys packed in the center.  He told me afterwards that his plan here is to rush straight towards Irusk and not get distracted or slowed down by flankers. 

(pic above) I think I went first.  I move up real slow like.  Assassins not used to the flank go REALLY wide.  So wide that I can't even get Iron Flesh on them!  First lesson of the day.  So Iron Flesh goes on the Kommandos who may have had Shield Wall.  Check out Bears in the open on the left!  Gorman is being played by the Mechanik today.  Sprigg also doesn't have any tarpit in front of him... Widowmakers stay back and I believe the marksmen went up the flank.

Jim gets the Harrower (the one with the Harpoon) next to the building and DJ in some cover.  Morty stays back and one of the slayers is calling out Khador, "Bring it on!!"  (the one with his arms wide)

Hmmm, maybe I went second...  The Harrower harpoons one of the Bears and kills him.  DJ and the rest of the 'Jacks advance all the while using a combination of Overrun and Terminal Velocity.  It's scary stuff.  AKs are dying in the center.  Poor Spriggan.  First time using him.  Forgot to use grenades and I let him get attacked by DJ.  He goes down quick. 

I'm STILL sending the Assassins wide.  My thought was... lol I don't even remember.  I know I didn't want them to get charged but man are they out in right field.  Should have just ran them around the building and start putting on some pressure. 

(pic above ) Gorman runs over to the group of three 'Jacks and Jim finds out the hard way what happens when you bunch 'Jacks with Gorman nearby.  Black Oil goes on all three!  Feat by Irusk who puts Battle Lust on the Bears.  Inhospitable ground to make it EXTREMELY difficult for those 'Jacks to move.  Bears charge DJ and rolling sweet damage dice but it isn't enough-- nearly kill him bringing down his movement and cortex.  Barely got his arms hanging on.  Widows take some shots too.  At this point I send in my flankers trying to set up as many threats as I can next round.  Assassins on the right, the Marksman up top.  Widowmakers with lanes on the left.  I'm even thinking of running Kommandos around the center.  All I've got to do is survive...

Jim responds by spraying a few assassins with his Sirens.  DJ eats the Bears, a Kommando and his healing like there's no tomorrow.  Three Helljacks advance really close to Irusk. 

With Jim's army finally breaking through, this is my last shot.  I go for the assassination.  Assassins run in but only one manages to engage Morty.  Marksman advances closer and takes a shot but with -4 for cover misses.  On the left 3 widowmakers move up to shoot and do a fair bit of damage on Morty.  She's still not down.  Then I see that Irusk has a lane!!  First I activate my AKs and one manages to get a gas grenade off bringing Morty's DEF down by 2.  Irusk activate and raises his gun ready for two boosted shots!  The range is tight so I make sure that I'm right on Irusk and let Jim check Morty.  All I need is 10"!  I glance up to see Phillip's eyes go wide and mouth drop.  Irusk drops his gun too when he realizes he's less than a 1/4 inch short!!!  Wow.  /Knock Out Wind.  After all the damage done by the Widows, we both guessed that Irusk's shots would have been enough.  His gun is fairly good at POW 13. 

Jim sends in the Helljacks to finish the job.  Irusk still can't take his eyes off of Morty and the shot that fell by inches. 

Of note is my assassin leader standing in the middle of nowhere who got "seduced" by one of the sirens. tsk. tsk. tsk. 

Game to Cryx and an unbelievable game at that!  So things that I learned:

-Need a plan for my troops.  I had no plan for the Assault Kommandos and didn't think about the role they would play.  They can't really crack 'Jack armor so they have to tarpit; but not just slow the Helljacks down but prevent my hard hitters from being charged/attacked themselves.  There was no one in front of Bears and Spriggan and they took it pretty hard.  Should have had the Kommandos in front of them to take a charge and counter charge with Bears/Spriggan. 

-Flanked too wide.  Assassins arrived a turn late.  Had I had them closer they would have hit on time and been in range to receive Iron Flesh, a buff they really needed against the Siren Spray.  Having a Min unit is okay but I miss the full unit.  You can do a lot more with them and if you take casualties you can still bring the pain. 

-first time using Gorman and saw what Black Oil can do.  He's gotta get close but has stealth to protect him until then.  In later games I used him with AKs to help debuff their targets.  He's also immune to their fire.  Great to use with them. 

-Irusk was out of position to buff his army.  I should have had him on the right of the AKs so he could buff the Assassins.  Need to keep him in the center of the formation more, especially so more guys can benefit from his feat. 

I'm liking this Irusk army and AKs are really hard to use but I enjoy learning with them.  Will probably try to get Irusk, Sprigg, and the Kommandos painted next.  Assassins will take a while to convert.

Army tweak I've done is bring Assassins back to full strength and take out the Marksmen and the Dog.  @ 50 pts :D lots more I can add... and have to buy :( 

Playing Warmachine on Vassal

Played some Warmachine online today on a program called Vassal.  It's basically a program that has all of the models and pieces for you to play with, but you still gotta know the rules.  Interface takes some getting used to but there's a User's Guide in Vassal's menu.  Progam got the O.K. from Privateer Press as well.  How cool is that? 

Took my Khador and played against a fairly new player like myself.  Lupercal has been playing since October of last year.  I took this list:

@35
pIrusk
Spriggan
Kayazy Assasins (max + UA)
Assault Kommandos (max + 2 Flamethrowers)
Widowmakers
Gorman

He took:

pLylyth
Typhon
2 Seraphs
Striders
2 Deathstalkers
Forsaken.

I won the roll and deployed up top so I could use the forest for cover.  AKs were on the left and Assassins on right.  I wanted the Assassins to have open ground to run and engage.  Widowmakers deployed in the forest.  Everyone else sort of in the middle.

Lupercal deployed with Beasts and Lylyth on the right opposing my Assassins and the Striders and Deathstalkers on the left. 

It was my 2nd time using the AKs.  Well, I don't know if playing online counts.  Lupercal said he's never played against them before. 

The beginning of the game had me run up my Assassins towards his beasts and the AKs marched down the field on the left in Shield Wall.  The Widowmakers stuck to the woods for a few rounds while the Spriggan advanced around the right of the tree line.  Bears went behind the Assassins.

Lupercal moved his guys up as well and not much going on for the first round. 

Above shows a few rounds later.  I run up my Assassins to try and engage the Heavy Beasts.  Widowmakers advance a little to get some shots on Lylyth and do no damage.  Gorman runs around the shack to try and help against the Beasts and I send the Bears to the left to help the AKs.  The Kommandos are doing well against the Striders who are able to hit them but have a hard time with DEF 18 in Shield Wall.  The flamethrower manages to catch a few of the Striders by aiming at the back of one of his own Kommandos.  Striders with reform are really cool.  After their activation they can advance 3".  Lupercal used this tactic to hit and then fade back. 

I popped feat and Legion attacked.  A Seraph took two free strikes from Assassins to reach the Spriggan but wasn't able to do much to his armor.  Meanwhile the Forsaken moves up and does some kind of AOE blast but only manages to kill a Widowmaker and an Assassin.  4 tough rolls made because of Irusk's Feat needing only 4+.  Typhon tries to get rid of the pesky Assassins and unleashes 3 spray attacks.  He only manages to kill maybe 2 Assassins.  Others missed or made their tough rolls. 

Striders swing right because my forces are closing in.  Gorman is protected by Stealth and the Striders take aim at DEF 18 Widowmakers.  Forest is great for them. 

Underboss uses Killstroke and 2 Assassins reach Lylyth with Battle Lust on them.  Spriggan takes care of the Seraph on him and another three Assassins charge Typhon.  It takes two to bring him down doing a lot of damage because of the feat and charge + gang + Battle Lust.  2 Widowmakers with aiming bonuses shoot at Lylyth but again aren't able to damage her-- should have taken the 1 wound because of sniper. 

Assassins attack Lylyth and surprisingly with MAT 9s because of gang, they both miss!!!  They would have done an ungodly amount of damage on Lylyth if they were able to hit.

Gorman walks up to the Striders and Black Oil's them bringing their Def down to 11.  AKs move up needing 6s to hit and with a flamethrower spray take a few down. 

Bears head down and get ready to leave the forest. 

Lupercal resigns on his turn.

A really fun game against a cool guy who I'd be more than happy to play again.  It's fun to play again another new player because they are patient usually (and really helpful too).

Lupercal said he was planning to break through with his beasts and all those super tough rolls really sealed the deal against him.

Surprisingly the AKs faired well against the Striders.  The Flamethrower gives some added range and with Gorman and Black Oil, the AKs should be able to hit when they reach the enemy.  Mix in the Feat with +2 MAT/RAT and an Assault and Battery from the AKs would be really nice.  They suck balls against high ARM but against moderately low DEF/low ARM, they can really shine.  Marching up in Shield Wall is slow but against the right enemy, they can outlast the gunfire.

Was able to hold the Bears in reserve the whole game which is a good thing I guess.

Assassins were awesome against the Beasts.  With a low RAT, Typhon had a lot of trouble hitting Assassins with Iron Flesh even with boosting.  That coupled with the Feat and super Tough and the Assassins can hold.  Wondering what would have happened if the Beasts trampled out?  Lupercal was saying that I had Bears in the woods who would counter charge and that was true.  Also, I'm seeing that on the charge and Battle Lust, 2-3 Assassins per Beast should be enough to bring them down.

Getting more practice with Irusk and I like what he does for his infantry.  You can give them defense as you approach with Iron Flesh and when the decisive attack is ready, pop feat for +2 MAT/RAT, +4 Tough, and no knockdowns.  What that does is boost your accuracy for the attack and then gives you a chance to weather the counter attack with +4 Tough Rolls.  Battle Lust on the right unit will also do a lot of damage because of the extra die.  So find a good position, attack, weather the storm, and then attack again. 

Wasn't able to use Inhospitable Ground but can see how that would make moving/charging really difficult against the Khador army.  Inhospitable Ground basically making all the open ground in Irusk's control area rough terrain. 

Liking Irusk and think he will be my next Caster.  I have all the models in this army so I can use it in real life too :)

pButcher Conversion Painted

Got Butcher to 95% done tonight-- painted and based.  Had a blast with the color and will write more later; wife needs comp soon ^^  Many thanks to her and Ben for color advice and encouragement. 

pButcher Conversion

Added hood, mask, and extended coat to fit my Wasteland Khador theme.