The Ol' Witch / Infantry Brick vs Infantry Brick

The High Reclaimer vs. Zevanna Agha, Old Witch of Khador (Khador)

Loss: Scenario (5/0)

Well having had a little tutoring from our local PG last week I thought I'd give High Reclaimer another go.  The intention was to play two lists but the first one became a proper slugfest that we only ended up with a single game.  My list was the High Reclaimer list that I've been playing for the last few weeks (yes, I'm just as shocked as you - the fourth game and no changes!!!).  Against me was Chris who took the old witch, scrapjack, pikemen, winterguard, doom reavers and Behemoth. 

I won the roll and chose to go second (trying to learn from mistakes previous going first).  Turn 1 was scary, thanks to a mini feat and Kovnik the pikemen ended up with a 20" advance ending in shield wall just beyond half-way.  On the other side everything ran forward, Old Witch then telported forward and feated.

That kinda made my turn one mute when it came to the right hand zone.  I minifeated the zealots and ran foward with the firs three before realising the immunity to damage doesn't include feats - 3 dead zealots and a wasted feat turn, great!  So all I could do was shuffle the infantry up to the edge of her control and wait, a few Cleansers did a CRA and missed but that was the height of excitement.  On the other flank everything advanced forward and popped smoke.  I wasn't looking forward to facing the Behemoth and doom reavers but  was hoping the clouds would keep my Bastions safe for the time being.

Turn two and the pikemen advanced to form a line across the edge fo the zone, hemming me out.  They also gained Iron Flesh and shieldwall to make them pretty much immune to everything I had opposite them.  A large group also engaged the Avatar but caused minimal damage.  On the left the clouds caused issues and meant nothing could really shoot save for killing the lone Bastion who was too far to one side to get hidden.  The rest of the guys moved in the hope of getting line of sight around the clouds turn 3.

My turn 2 and I threw everything at the the pikemen in an attempt to dislodge some of them and challenge the zone.  Sadly nothing happened, the iron wall of pikemen held.  I then saw an opportunity for the Avatar to go smash the Behemoth.  What I failed to do was to activate the Covenant first for no knock downs and so the pikemen tripped him up and he hit the dust.  I now had an issue with The Behemoth and I needed to do something about it.  Luckily the Bastions were in range thanks to reach and so three of them piled in but had very little damage thanks to appaling rolls from me.  The rest charged where they could and killed a few winterguard.  I popped cloud where I could and then waited for the retaliation.

Here is where the game started to unravel for me, I was now down 1/0 on scenario with very little hope of getting in the zone on my next turn.  That would put me 2/0 in Khador turn 3, 3/0 in my turn three and 4/0 in Khador turn 4.  I completely missed the significance of having only a single turn left before potentially losing the game.

Turn 3 played out as expected, I took a beating from Behemoth and the Doom Reavers losing 5 Bastions (luckily the advice I picked up previously left me with surviving members from each squad).  The Avatar then took a hell of a kicking from the Pikemen, losing its movement (this also stopped me being able to trample into the zone next turn).  I also lost the majority of the Zealots.

My turn 3, completely unaware of how fragile my situation was I was intent on smashing through as many of the Khador troops as I could to then win on attrition.  The way I figured was that I'd go 4/0 down on Khador turn 4 but then with overwhelming numbers to smash what was left for assassination or scenario victory.  With this in mind I went to town on the pikemen killing them all with bombs, cleansing fire and the Avatar.  On the other side I caused major damage on Behemoth and killed 4 Doom Reavers along with more winter guard via Ashes to Ashes using the soulds from last turn.

I then hit the timer to swap and was feeling very confident of a victory.  Whilst I knew I was down 4/0 on scenario by the start of my next turn I'd completely forgotten about getting a point for trashing the enemy objective.  To my dismay the two surviving Doom Reavers charged and smashed it to bits putting me 5/0 down on scenario.  Worst thing is theres no reason I shouldn't have seen it coming, I was just far to focussed on killing things!

End of Game:

Lessons Learnt -

• I need to see the bigger picture (yes, this was in my lessons fromlast time).  Going down on scenario is fine but I need to remember you can score points by more than just zones/flags - killzone could also have been a tool.
• I need to find a way to make sure no matter what I don't allow zones to be uncontested on turn 2.  Especially when I'm going second, activating the Covenant first could really have made a difference and allowed me to trample through to Behemoth or the zone.

2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/18 (Protectorate 6/17 - Circle 0/1)

You Can't Burn Me!

Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight (Legion)

Loss: Assassination & Scenario (5/0)

A bit of midweek tournament practice - awesome!  So the list is Marks Protectorate drop, I've played it before with limited success.  The option was to trawl through with Kreoss2 and hope he made a mistake or try something new.  So I chose the later, with immunity fire then eFeora was an easy choice, I've also put together a jack heavy list with her after being on the wrong end of Adams 4 heavies on club night this week!

So deployment was simple, the plan was for the jacks to control the friendly zone and smash stuff at range whilst the Flameguard (with newly released Pyrrhus) contest the other zone.  I lost the roll and went first, Mark opting for a few first round pot shots.  So everything moved as far up the table as it could, ready for a critical turn of shooting turn 2.

 Middle of turn 1:

In Legion turn one I lost a few Flameguward (but gained some souls!) and had some permnant effect markers limit my movement.  Otherwise though I got off surprisingly light, the only danger was a Harrier threatening to cause an issue with all the support pieces behind the jacks.

So up rolled my turn and having learnt that focus is best used frugally I placed the focus where i thought it needed to go (lead Reckoner 1, Redeemer 2), and left Feora with 2 to boost her to ARM 19 in case of any scatters or unforseen threats that came her way.  My hope was to take out the nearest Ravagore, I knew that I would probably lose a Reckoner but then the charging 3 remaining jacks should make short work of the Blightbringer and the remaining heavy.

However the dice weren't with my, after 4 Reckoner shots (only the first boosted shot hit), 3 Redeemer shots and a Vanquisher shot I'd only managed to set the Ravagore, Raek and BB on fire and cause a few points of damage on the Ravagore.  Legion turn 2 was going to hurt!

Middle of turn 2:

Not quite realising how lucky he'd been the previous turn, Mark feated and used Abby to destroy my objective, this gave him and point and gave conferred rage to everything else...he then proceeded to flatten two Reckoners and heavily damage the Vanquisher.  In my haste to make sure everyone was in range I'd placed the jacks to close to each other meaning that when one was destroyed any remaining attacks could be transferred onto another jack rather than being wasted (one to learn from next time).

I was that shocked after my loses I forgot to take a photo during turn 3, essentially my response was to take a few pot shots at Abby with the Redeemer and use the remaining Reckoner to flatten the on fire Ravagore and the Vanquisher to bash the other Ravagore.  I also charged this second Ravagore with the Flameguard and Pyrrhus who severly damaged it. Trying to learn from previous hopeless looking situations (where I'd thrown in the towel after this point) I feated Feora, this put her at ARM 27 and meant I could move the fire around a little, removing it from the BB & Ravagore and placing it on the smaller more vulnerable beasts.

Legion turn 3 and most of the smaller beasts succumbed to the flames, the Blightbringer moved up and smashed the last Reckoner.  In a fit of rage the Ravagore turned to face and then killed the heavily damaged Vanquisher, however in doing so he couldn't attacl the Flameguard as they were no longer in his front arc.  Abbya and the Raek then went for the assassination run on eFeora, however even poaching focus from Feora to reduce her armour it was unsuccesful and Abby fled to the nearby woods.  Scoring two more points for dominating my objective in the process.

Well I hadn't expected to get a turn 4 so now the aim was to get my own back and go for the assassination.  I aimed with the Redeemer and took two shots at her for a few points of damage, not amazing but a start.  Feora then used Firestep to escape the Raek and charged Abby - an assassination was optimistic but even so she took a battering and with her being on fire I was optimistic.  I then moved a choir man to the edge of the zone to stop it.  bein absent minded I'd forgottent that Casters can't contest and this was all I could do.


Middle of Turn 4:

Well the game was pretty much lost, either Abby was going to kill Feora (now on no focus and with no Escorted jacks) or something would kill the last choir and claim the zone.  As it turned out they both happened!  The Naga shot the choir and Abby went to town on Feora, good game!

Bottom of Turn 4/End Game:

Lessons Learnt -

• Don't clump models together, it just makes things easy, equally I could have probably kept the other Jacks back and sacrificed one so that the others could get revenge!
• eFeora is pretty hard, to take a beating from a light and caster and still survive is impressive, and I need to not forget the Escort ARM bonus.

2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/17 (Protectorate 6/16 - Circle 0/1)

Playing a Press Ganger don't ya know!

The High Reclaimer vs. High Executioner Servath Reznik (Protectorate of Menoth)

Loss: Assassination

Well I've been messaging our local Press Ganger quite a bit recently (sorry Adam!).  He also plays Menoth and is much muhc better than I am.  We met at my first Tournament that he ran and he gave me a bit of a coaching session during the "bye" game.

So he suggested coming to check out the Mammoths and we sorted a game.  He played using a Reznik1 Judgement of Fire list (with 4 Reckoners!!) and I decided to go for High Reclaimer again.

I deployed in a similar way to how i did when I played Kraye.  I opted to go second (to get the extra move up the board) and so Adam ran everything up the board at me, leaving his entire force on teh edge of my zone on turn 1. 

I unpacked as I have before with Zealots mini-feating and running forward with some zealots in the clouds and the rest behind - big mistake!  Everything else moved up behind, although I messed up the pocket for HR leaving my clouds a lot closer to my guys than I'd ahve liked.  I even somehow ended up with members of the second Zealot wave in the cloud.

Turn two and I knew I'd made some big mistakes.  In a demonstration of what Cleansers do they set themselves up in two lines and torched everything!  Because my zealots were visible they coudl be targetted from outside the clouds, the packed nature behind the clouds meant that the sprays also got the guys behind them.  Before the turn was up Adam was out of continous fire tokens and I was in serious trouble.

My turn and as expected all the Zealots who were on fire died, I also took a serious amount of damge on the Bastions - although none died.  In retribution I incinerated a Reckoner (POW18 CRA) which caused serious damage.  I also bombed and charged the cleansers killing 6 of them.  However I forgot to Enliven the Avatar which meant problems next turn

Well turn 3 carried on the theme of Turn 2 and I lost an Avatar, 7 Bastions and a Revenger.  I could see a little positive that there was a potential assassination run from feating behind the front lines and go for a stab on Reznik.

So I went for it and greed took over, first I used Ashes to Ashes and with Witch Hound a Jack blocked my frontal charge.  Second Ashes to Ashes and Reznik went and hid a little further away anticipating a shot from the Vassal.  The Vassal then took his shot and Reznik moved back to stop both my newly feated Bastions from charging him.  Had I avoided doing this I would have potentially got 3 charging Bastions, as it was I got one who promptly did nothing.   

With all this faffing I'd left HR a little to open for my liking.  With a little finese the  charge lane was opened up, the Bastion engaging Reznik killed and the man himself cast Engine of Destruction and performed his sacred duties as High Executioner....

Lessons Learnt -

• The game showed how far I still have to go to get anywhere near winning regularly at WMH.  However after the game we went through a deployment and turn 1 and I now feel much more confident about what I should be looking to achieve with HR.
• I need to be very aware of Sprays when I use HR I need to start remembering the finer points on the cards.  Using Blessed Weapons on the Bastions to bypass Arcane Shield would have meant another 4 points of damage for every hit.
• There are a load more lessons learnt but I think it will take me a while to absorb them all!

2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/17 (Protectorate 6/16 - Circle 0/1)

High Reclaimer Attempt 2

The High Reclaimer vs. Captain Jeremiah Kraye (Cygnar)

Loss: Scenario (6/4)

I'd intended to play a Kreoss1 list seeing as I'd not had much luck with playing High Reclaimer (HR) on Tuesday.  However Glen pointed out (quite rightly) that playing HR for the first time into an unfavourable matchup doesn't make him a bad caster, so I resolved to try again.

This time, instead of Siege he used Kraye who essentially makes his jacks into Cavalry.  My list was the same - for the first time ever I resisted the urge to "tweak" and off we went!

I went first (my first mistake - the extra 3" forward are invaluable to HR) and ran forward (the zealots this time in two lines with the first line in the clouds).  Everyone else kept behind them and that was turn 1.  One thing I noticed but failed to do anything about was that the Avatar was completely out of postion. Glen had opted to place all his jacks on completely the other flank, only opposed by a minimum unit of Cleansers (who were woefully outclassed in this match up).

Cygnar turn and they crept forward and let rip at the Zealots in the clouds killing 3.  Other than that it was a pretty quiet turn.

Bottom of Turn 1:

Turn two I advanced again and took control of the centre ground.  The Zealots mini-feated to make sure I had someone left.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold the zones but made sure that I was contending as many of them as I could.  I also cast Ashes to Ashes on a Zealot with my newly found Souls.  A bit of luck on the dice and 4 gun mages dropped dead for the cost of a single Zealot - not a bad trade off!

Middle of Turn 2:

Cygnar turn 2 and with my clouds only blocking my centre I took a beating.  Kraye feated to give his Jacks free charges and boosted hit roles.  He also has Mage sight which allowed his two see through the clouds and drop Ol Rowdy and a Stormclad into the left hand Bastions.  Whilst not able to drop either unit I still lost 4 Bastions.  Other shooting also resulted in the deaths of 5 clearnsers adn the Avatar getting knocked back to the edge of the zone by Gunmages.

Bottom of Turn 3:

Turn four and I feated back the Bastions who had died and threw them into the two heavies in front of them, I completely forgot about Blessed on their weapons or chances are they both would have fallen and the ending would be very different!  Nevermind, they caused a lot of damage to both the jacks even though neither died.  The zealots also managed to kill Eiryss2 and removed the remainer of the gun mages along with a black 13th member.  Ashes to Ashes killed some support staff and things were looking ok.

Cygnar turn 4 and I lost all but three Bastions, even damaged the sheer strength of the hits was enough to smash a bastion and there wasn't much point passing the damage on.

My turn 4 and sadly I was a little greedy and it cost me the game.  I was very down on time so I went for the minimum number of actions to fullfill what I thought I needed too.  The Zealots ran foward to bomb the remaining Solos.  I also threw a cheeky bomb at Kraye and caused some damage, this was my downfall (I was never going to kill Kraye but had I bombed the Holt instead he probably would have died and I'd have won the game).   I then moved everything I could into teh right zone to Dominate it and threw Rhupert and the book into the left zone to contest.

I actually felt reasonably happy at this point I was drawing 4/4 on scenario and unless Glen could kill HR (through the clouds and behind the Bastions) then I foresaw it going to 6/6 in his turn and I could run in the Hierophant for the win (8/6 on Scenario) in my Turn 5 - Game sorted!!!

Middle of Turn 4:

What I missed was that Holt wasn't engaged and simply ran through the clouds into the zone for the win.  A bit of an anticlimax but I don't mind losing when I could do things differently next time and get the win!

Lessons Learnt -

• I need to see the bigger picture, had I killed Holt with the bomb rather than targetting Kraye the result would have been very different.
• I need to start remembering the finer points on the cards.  Using Blessed Weapons on the Bastions to bypass Arcane Shield would have meant another 4 points of damage for every hit.
• I was happier with the setup although I still think there is room for improvement, I need to be getting a charge in rather than taking the hit.
• I feel much happier with HR than I did after game 1.  I need to stick with a caster or two and stop jumping around.

2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/16 (Protectorate 6/15 - Circle 0/1)

Playing the Club Champ

The High Reclaimer vs. Major Markus "Siege" Brisbane (Cygnar)

Loss: Assassination

Well this week I ararnged a game with the club Chairman (and current club WMH champ) and his Cygnar.  I also decided that I needed to expand my list of available casters ready for the next Tournament in just over a months time. With this in mind I rolled out the High Reclaimer (HR).  I love the model and the fluff behind him but I've never felt that he was a particualrly good caster based on limited focus and a tiny control area.  However the internet raves about him so I thought it was worth a dabble.

Before the game I'd gone through my first turn in an effort to make sure everyone could fit behind the cloud wall.  It took me a few practice goes but I got a rough idea and deployed that way on the night.  Basically it was zealots to run forward to create a screen so the Bastions could march up behind and hopefully get to the enemy relatively undamaged.  Everything else would follow up ready to smash and grab assuming I coudl get the Alpha.

For once the plan worked perfectly, for the first two turns of the game the only model to die was a choirman who was killed by HR charging forward for extra distance on the clouds.  Unfortunately I hadn't anticipated the next step where the zealots got jammed up by Boomhowlers and the whole train came to a complete standstill.  I tried to get out of this and protect everyone using clouds and the book to try to force Siege back (if he wanted to cast spells) but due to poor placement and some unlucky dice rolls I failed to kill the trolls which left the book to far back to stop Seige and all my heavy hitters were still miles from combat.  I'd managed to tuck HR into a pocket behind several Cleansers and Zealots and behind the screen of clouds though so I thought I'd have another go at it turn 4.

Bottom of turn 3:

And heres where it all went wrong, Siege was able to simply feat then walk to within range of HR and drop a boosted Ground Pounder shot right on HR's head. At ARM8 due to the feat and spiking 15 on three dice HR fell lifeless to the floor.

Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Lord Commander Stryker (Cygnar)

Loss: Scenario (5/0)

In my mind like an itch I've had this list but haven't wanted to try it whilst we were only getting a single game in a night (I thought it was unfair to play a comedy list and waste the one game someone else may get that week).  However after getting battered fairly quickly in game one there was more than enough time for a second game.

The list is basically eFeora, 8 x Repenters, Vanquisher, 2 x min Choir, full Zealots + UA, reclaimer and vassal.  Don't ask why I have 8 repenters it wasn't by design, more a case of buying things from eBay that "come with a free repenter".  Anyway the list sounded strong and with eFeora they're all speed 7 which is really nice.

I was facing off what is apparently a "themed" eStryker list containing 4 jacks and a large unit of Stormblade infantry, not neccesarily as much infantry as I'd have liked but nevermind - I got to use my list!

The game was basically a ponderous advance up the board for two turns and then turning on the fire. I managed to minifeat the zealots the same turn that the flames came in range so was able to spray through them into the infantry.  I also managed to spray Stryker twice on this turn through Ol' Rowdy  and by then end of it there was quite a lot of things on fire.  I also saw for the first time the value of the Reclaimer as with a soul on him he virtually stopped the Stormblade charging as they would instanly die if they did.  For some reason the list was doing much better than I had anticipated!

Bottom of turn 2:

As always whilst having fun I'd missed the part where eStryker had been sat on a flag for three turns and it was my opponents turn.  That turn my jacks took one hell of a beating to the extent that I was left with only two jacks at full health and the rest were at 25% health or less.  I'd also lost my reclaimer and all of the Zealots.

So in my turn it was assassinate or die!  I was fairly confident that with her Fire Step and 11" threat if I could get to Stryker he'd fall (having been on fire for a few turns).  The problem was in my attempt to secure her from assassination I'd pinned her between two jacks (see photo above).  I also had to move my jacks out the way, set enough things on fire to feat with and create a charge lane.  I used up most of my focus powering the jacks to set things aflame and sacrificed one by disengaging Ol' Rowdy (I needed to do this to open a charge lane but thats where it all went wrong).  The jacks flames were either completely ineffective or two effective, all the infantry I sprayed died (thus not leaving fires) and I missed the targets that may have survived being roasted.  When the dust settled I went for it, she feated for 5 focus, stepped beautifully into the gap created for her and the charge lane was open.  The issue was that the jack I had sacrificed was now difficult terrain and to move across it took 4" of movement leaving her well out of reach range.

The game then finished as unable to contest the flag (being a warcaster) the scenario clock went to 5/0.

Lessons Learnt -

• Now I've got the Repenter list out of my system move on!  I think the list still has legs but I need to get familair with eFeora first before its worth trying again.
• Sprays are cool, to be able to target units behind units is very worthwhile doing and getting continuous fire that won't go out on  a warcaster is very nice indeed!
• High Reclaimer is a lot more fiddly than he first appears, I actually need things to die to get him some power and getting some damage on the enemy may help a little to.
• I need more game time before this tournament!  I'm going to try to squeeze in an extra game each week as I really need the prep.

2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/15 (Protectorate 6/14 - Circle 0/1)

No games, but more toys!

Sadly with a training course this week I haven't managed to get in any games, not ideal but sometimes life gets in the way!

However I have managed to scavenge some bits from eBay - the last Reckoner for Vindy Tier 4 (I'm going to magnatise so that I can pick and choose) and pFeora to add a bit of infantry hate and for those occasions where an assassination run is just right there...

Start of the Circle

Baldur the Stonecleaver vs. Ravyn, Eternal Light (Retribution of Scyrah)

Loss: Assassination (0/2 on scenario)

Sadly I took no photos with this game as it was all a little rushed.  I know anyone reading this will probably be saying hold on its your first game with Cricle why on earth throw yourself in at 50 points?  So the reason be twofold, the first is it was meant to be a 15/25 point game but my opponent was a no show.  Having been let down I thought a game at 50 points would allow me to get a feel of lots of different units at once rather than building up.  The army I bought also has a Baldur T4 list built in, loving the Sticks and Stones concept I just had to give it a go!

So the game; well thanks to the tier bonus the only thing I had to deploy in my zone was Bladur himself.  Everything else either advance deploys or has has advanced move, awesome!

Rather than going into a blow by blow account, its probably quicker to got through the main points fo the game.  I used the two units of woldshrimp to contest my objective whilst throwing everything else at the opposing objective.  Being made of stone I expected them to be a little tougher but they died to a hail of fire from houseguard riflemen.  I also didn't realise that you can do the float away after shooting which would have kept them in a treeline a little more safe.  Everything else I threw at my opponents zone, the wolds are a little slow but being used to menite jacks this wasn't an issue, especially when they advance deploy.  Turn two I teleported a wold guardian in behind a Mymidon expecting it to floor the thing (its got two massive lumps of stone as arms), sadly this wasn't the case and I had to rely on a charging woldwatcher to finish the job.  To one side Megalith and a Woldwarden went to town on another heavy, I feel I should say at this point that whilst I knew these are supposed to be ranged jacks I was expecting something similar to a charging Vanquisher.  It wasn't to be and now all my wolds were in charge range of a unit of weaponmasters, suffice to say at the bottom of turns two and three I lost them all...  Ah well chalk it down to experience.

The last part of the game I was most proud of, I used the druids to maneuver everything out of the way so I could get at the opposing caster.  It all went swimmingly until the last 2 dice rolls were really poor and that left Ravyn about 2 mm out of range of my Baldur assassination run (create forest 12" away, teleport in and use reach to finish the job.  I was a little gutted but then I hadn't really played very well so didn't really deserve a win.  Thoroughly loved it though and having a way to win even after losing most of my models was a really nice feeling.  Its back to the menites for the future getting ready for the tournament but I'm really looking forward to moving into Circle afterwards.


Lessons Learnt -

• Lessons learnt isn't really that worthwhile, I did a lot of things wrong but then its a new faction and to expect anything else would just be stupid.  However there are two things I should have done better that I need to concentrate on:
• The big thing was when I ran Baldur to safety in a woods.  Had I placed him 4 mm closer to the enemy the assassination run was on, however I placed him 2 1/2" into the woods which did nothing to stop him getting shot but did stop him doing what I needed.  I should have either placed him further in to keep safe or on the edge to remain a threat.
• Turn 1 I should have made a mannikin into a forest and teleported in Baldur to feat, its simple, theres nothing my opponent could do to stop it and it may have bought a round of shooting/positioning.

Nevermind, on to the tournament prep!


2016 Win/Loss record to date: 6/13 (Protectorate 6/12 - Circle 0/1)