Well the day of the tournament dawned and having seen the factions entered in advance, I knew I would learn something. Having never played Skorne there were three players entered and I drew one of them to start! It was also my first time using a Colossal so nothing like learning on the job.
Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Xerxis, Fury of Halaak (Skorne)
Loss: Assassination (Scenario - 5/0)
You know its a tough draw when the press ganger running the tournament walks past pre game saying "Enjoy this, your opponent is quite good, he's in the Polish WTC team." In addition to that it was my first ever game vs Skorne with a list that I'd never used before...what could go wrong?!
Looking through the lists they didn't mean much to me, quite nicely my opponent went through the various units to give me an idea of the flavour of each. Not sure what to expect and having Stompy sat on my tray there was only ever going to be one list that I used first. My opponent dropped Xerxis on his mega beast and we started the game.
The game went really quick, I opted to go second hoping for a round of shooting at the bottom of turn 1. The Skorne advanced rapidly but equally everything was done very precisely which was interesting to watch. I had my go and aside from a few beasts being set on fire the highlight was a lucky scatter onto a Willbreaker killing him outright.
At the top of turn two a bit of boosting and suddenly Molik Karn was next to the remains of Stompy (a 16" threat and a beast weaponsmaster?!?!?). I spent the rest of the game reacting to my opponent, I managed to get revenge on Molik and a flying beast but ultimately I was loosing more each turn than I was killing. I then had the option of an assassination run but wimped out for fear of taking a free strike. Instead I went for it the next turn (this time taking 3 free strikes, non landed - eFeora is pretty hard!!), but with less focus due to a few deaths from flames and Xerxis sitting on 5 fury it was never going to happen.
The game finished at the top of turn 4, with the scenario counter going to 5/0 and Xerxis killing Feora leaving me with a Choirman and one of Rhovens bodyguards as the only models left on the table.
The only positive was that I was comfortably ahead on time and if I could have forced another turn from my opponent (who had around 5 mins remaining to my 15 mins) I could have possibly got the win. Worth noting in the future!
You know its a tough draw when the press ganger running the tournament walks past pre game saying "Enjoy this, your opponent is quite good, he's in the Polish WTC team." In addition to that it was my first ever game vs Skorne with a list that I'd never used before...what could go wrong?!
Looking through the lists they didn't mean much to me, quite nicely my opponent went through the various units to give me an idea of the flavour of each. Not sure what to expect and having Stompy sat on my tray there was only ever going to be one list that I used first. My opponent dropped Xerxis on his mega beast and we started the game.
The game went really quick, I opted to go second hoping for a round of shooting at the bottom of turn 1. The Skorne advanced rapidly but equally everything was done very precisely which was interesting to watch. I had my go and aside from a few beasts being set on fire the highlight was a lucky scatter onto a Willbreaker killing him outright.
At the top of turn two a bit of boosting and suddenly Molik Karn was next to the remains of Stompy (a 16" threat and a beast weaponsmaster?!?!?). I spent the rest of the game reacting to my opponent, I managed to get revenge on Molik and a flying beast but ultimately I was loosing more each turn than I was killing. I then had the option of an assassination run but wimped out for fear of taking a free strike. Instead I went for it the next turn (this time taking 3 free strikes, non landed - eFeora is pretty hard!!), but with less focus due to a few deaths from flames and Xerxis sitting on 5 fury it was never going to happen.
The game finished at the top of turn 4, with the scenario counter going to 5/0 and Xerxis killing Feora leaving me with a Choirman and one of Rhovens bodyguards as the only models left on the table.
The only positive was that I was comfortably ahead on time and if I could have forced another turn from my opponent (who had around 5 mins remaining to my 15 mins) I could have possibly got the win. Worth noting in the future!
Grand Scrutator Severius vs. Vladmir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion (Khador)
Win(ish): Scenario (2/0)
This was against my fellow Mammoth Chris. I dropped my usual Khador drop of pSevy (Voodoo People) into what turned out to be Vlad2. The game went really well and I managed to really mangle his army between 2 x Ashes to Ashes, the Vessel and the unkillable Temple Flameguard. The only hole in the plan was Vlad teleporting forward and blasting pSevy with two spells to kill him.
Rightly or wrongly at this point the Tournament Organiser stepped in to remind me that pSevy is untargetable by magic and that as the game had finished in an illegal gamestate we had to continue playing. We dropped Vlad back to pre-asasassination run and then continued, with the spell assassination off the table Chris' options were very limited. In response I moved the vessel behind Vlad and used a miracle to push him out of the zone. I then smashed the objective to put me two up on scenario for the win.
I have to say that it was a crap way to win, it was my lack of remembering my guys rules that got us to that stage so in my mind I should have lost. I maybe should have insisted on taking the loss and fought it a bit more but unfortunately it was done and round 3 beckoned.
This was against my fellow Mammoth Chris. I dropped my usual Khador drop of pSevy (Voodoo People) into what turned out to be Vlad2. The game went really well and I managed to really mangle his army between 2 x Ashes to Ashes, the Vessel and the unkillable Temple Flameguard. The only hole in the plan was Vlad teleporting forward and blasting pSevy with two spells to kill him.
Rightly or wrongly at this point the Tournament Organiser stepped in to remind me that pSevy is untargetable by magic and that as the game had finished in an illegal gamestate we had to continue playing. We dropped Vlad back to pre-asasassination run and then continued, with the spell assassination off the table Chris' options were very limited. In response I moved the vessel behind Vlad and used a miracle to push him out of the zone. I then smashed the objective to put me two up on scenario for the win.
I have to say that it was a crap way to win, it was my lack of remembering my guys rules that got us to that stage so in my mind I should have lost. I maybe should have insisted on taking the loss and fought it a bit more but unfortunately it was done and round 3 beckoned.
Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Tyrant Xerxis (Skorne)
Win: Assassination (Scenario - 2/0)
Well the two lists threatened a mammoth in one and lots of beasts in the other so it was only every going to be Feora and the heavy hitters. My opponent didn't want to get list locked so opted for the anti-infantry mammoth list, this tilted the scales in my favour and I wanted to make sure I capitalised on it!
So having been demolished in round 1 I was a little more careful, there was also a bit of cat and mouse as both colossals had the same 11" threat and could both one round each other. I advanced cautiously and took pot shots around the board with the rockets.
On my right the zealots engaged and held up a unit of Croaks and Incindiarii for the whole game. On my other side I stupidly used my Enliven move to shift the Reckoner well out of control range. However he was advancing towards the enemy warlock so was causing a threat anyway.
I also managed to release a rocket barrage onto Xerxis setting him alight on turn 2. The enemy mammoth then advanced forward to what I thought was just out of range. I opted to stand and aim and blew some big chunks out of the gargantuan. However next turn my folly was show when my opponent declared a charge, measured the distance and trashed Stompy. To make matters worse I was next to a fuel cache so could have loaded up Stompy with four focus and charged for free, virtually guaranteeing a kill!
This distraction gave me what I needed however as Hand of Judgement got into charge range of Xerxis (who was on fire). Getting a free charge for him being on fire meant that the POW20 jack caused so much damage from his first two strikes that non of the Skorne jacks was healthy enough to transfer the full damage of the final hit meaning Xerxis had no choice but to take it himself which finished him off.
Well the two lists threatened a mammoth in one and lots of beasts in the other so it was only every going to be Feora and the heavy hitters. My opponent didn't want to get list locked so opted for the anti-infantry mammoth list, this tilted the scales in my favour and I wanted to make sure I capitalised on it!
So having been demolished in round 1 I was a little more careful, there was also a bit of cat and mouse as both colossals had the same 11" threat and could both one round each other. I advanced cautiously and took pot shots around the board with the rockets.
On my right the zealots engaged and held up a unit of Croaks and Incindiarii for the whole game. On my other side I stupidly used my Enliven move to shift the Reckoner well out of control range. However he was advancing towards the enemy warlock so was causing a threat anyway.
I also managed to release a rocket barrage onto Xerxis setting him alight on turn 2. The enemy mammoth then advanced forward to what I thought was just out of range. I opted to stand and aim and blew some big chunks out of the gargantuan. However next turn my folly was show when my opponent declared a charge, measured the distance and trashed Stompy. To make matters worse I was next to a fuel cache so could have loaded up Stompy with four focus and charged for free, virtually guaranteeing a kill!
This distraction gave me what I needed however as Hand of Judgement got into charge range of Xerxis (who was on fire). Getting a free charge for him being on fire meant that the POW20 jack caused so much damage from his first two strikes that non of the Skorne jacks was healthy enough to transfer the full damage of the final hit meaning Xerxis had no choice but to take it himself which finished him off.
Feora, Protector of the Flame vs. Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight (Legion)
Loss: Assassination & Scenario (5/0)
Well having played 2/3 Skorne players, sadly I didn't get the set. Instead I got to play Legion which having played numerous games at the club I was quite happy about. Even better was that neither list included a Blight Bringer or Ravagore, happy days!
I opted for eFeora again as being fire proof I hoped that she could avoid some assassination runs that were bound to come my way. Equally my opponent was list locked to taking eAbby who I know from experience hasn't got any offensive spells meaning Sevy would most likely spend the game quaking in terror.
The scenario had two large circles in the middle which needed controlling or dominating. I decided to go second and thought I'd throw all my might at the right hand side and use the Zealots to contest the left. This also meant that I'd be throwing all my jacks head long against the Legion Heavy Beasts, I hoped that I could soften them up on the way in and by doing so survive the alpha and then smash back harder.
It all started well with Judy setting Abby and two heavies on fire at the bottom of turn 1, additionally I managed to roll 6, 6, 6 and a 5 & 6 for the blast damage forcing Abby to pass on the damage to her beasts - maybe this could be a third win to put me in the top quarter?!?
The downfall to my plan was my need to contest zones meaning that I advanced quicker than I'd have liked. This meant that instead of hanging back a little I moved forward and the limited frontage meant that my Jacks and troops blocked each other in. A feat at the top of turn 3 placed a Scythean and Carnivean next to Stompy and once again he fell down. I also lost a Reckoner the same turn. Counter charges from Rhoven and the Hand of Judgement killed a Raek and got revenge for Stompy but they couldn't get in the zone. I was now down 1/0 on scenario.
More importantly the blight wasps were making a problems of themselves for the Zealots and so I was given the opportunity and charged the remaining 2 wasps. This meant them leaving the left zone with a single zealot but I figured it was only a secnario point and they'd be back the following turn.
Big mistake, with the zone up for grabs Abby jumped in and killed the zealot, dominating the zone. Already contolling the right zone the remaining legion went to town on the zealots killing them all. The wasps now free then blocked access to the left zone except through them. Scenario was also at 4/0.
This left me with a problem, I needed to contest both zone otherwise I won, to this end I easily contested the right zone with Hand of Judgement. Feora then finished off the wasps to allow two choir through to the left hand zone. I knew this wasn't enough but with nothing else to send I just had to hope. Scenario clock was at 4/1
Sadly it wasn't to be, Abby hopped forward, shredded the choir and then won quite happily 6/1.
A great days gaming and so much learnt, now I just need to put it into practice next time. Also at 2 wins 2 losses I was quite happy with my performance!!
I tried to keep the descriptions shorter as with four games if I went to much into them then this post would be huge, hope no one minds!!!
2016 Win/Loss record to date: 8/22 (Protectorate 8/21 - Circle 0/1)
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