Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince (Vlad1) vs. Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed (Butcher3)

So, Orsus is a strange character. Not only is he extremely dangerous, irregardless of incarnation. He is also a tiny bit unpredictable. On this occasion, he seems to be under the impression that the Winter Guards he is facing is not entirely faithful to the Empress and require a good killing. Luckily, Vlad is leading the Winter Guards. In a case of squishy men vs. mammoths of steel, the Winter Guards come out on top through an assassination by Carriage.  

Luckily, civil war is a rare sight in well ordered Khador. Unluckily, Butcher sometimes gos into mayhem mode on his own. This is the first time I face Butcher3. I have a somewhat good idea about his capabilities, but have never actually played him myself. Vlad brings his trusted Winter Guards to face off Butcher3 and his robots. Vlad1 dispatches his new post-Oblivion version of his Winter Guard Kommand list. Actually, not a lot have changed. There is one more Artillery Kapitan (for free). That’s it (for a list description, see here).

Khador [Theme] Jaws of the Wolf [Butcher 3] Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed [+22] – Juggernaut [13] – Kodiak [13] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – Ruin [17] – Greylord Adjunct [0(4)] Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [7] Kovnik Apprentice Kratikoff [0(4)] – Rager [10] Battle Mechaniks (min) [3] Kayazy Eliminators [0(5)]

Khador [Theme] Winter Guard Kommand [Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(4)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4] Winter Guard Mortar Crew [0(5)] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8] – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8] – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

Butcher3 (and his two pet dogs) is an army on his own. So, Vlad is actually facing two armies: Butcher and the rest. Butcher is a monster, and he brings his two pet dogs. On his own he is a P+S 16, Weapon Master and 2″ reach. Stacking 6 focus allows him to put out a whooping 189 points of damage in a single round, and an extra 159 points if he also feats, which gives him up to six more focus. With his MAT 9 he has a 72% chance of hitting Vlad. This melee monster can put in 56 point of damage on Vlad in one round (without feating). Basically, he only needs to charge and do one more attack to kill Vlad. He can also take out a Juggernaut in five attacks (assuming a charge). To really piss people off, he can cast his spell Impending Doom, which will Push enemy models within 5″ towards him a whole 5″; and then Flashing Blade which basically gives him a Thresher attack. Just to add insult he can reach somebody 15″ away (Energizer, Charge, Impending Doom). If one accidentally damage him or one of his dogs he can reach out and touch you at 18″ (with Pathfinder)! So if you are within 15/18″ you (and a not insignificant part of your army) are dead. It turns out that “your are dead” distance is 20″! 5 (base) + 2 (Energizer) + 2 (Boundless Charge) + 3 (charge) + 3 (Vengeance) + 5 (Impending Doom).

Since one cannot play a Warmachine game without actually spending all army points, except for 4, Butcher have to bring at least 93 points of list fillings. Since he is playing Jaws of the Wolf, he brings six ‘jacks as his battlegroup. We all know and love the Triple Marauder goodness for their knockdowns and huge-base problem solving (I’m already feeling sorry for Vlad’s Carriages). The Juggernaut is the best beat-stick around. The Kodiak do clouds, and Grab & Smash. Finally, Ruin is an auto-include when playing Butcher. Ruin is very much a self-contained ‘jack, which Butcher likes as he really don’t want to handover focus. It collects souls that can be exchanged for focus, he has Boundless Charge, and a huge mace. He can do all sorts of other neat tricks. But they do not really do anything against Vlad and his list. Oh, and remember the theme gives all of his ‘jacks Pathfinder. So, all the nice rough terrain from the Carriages are worthless. To round off his group he is also brining an Adjunct. I’m assuming he is primarily there to give Butcher Eyeless Sight.

There are two units in the list: a unit of Eliminators and a units of Mechaniks. The former is two crazy girls who excel at surgical strikes, and are almost impossible to hit (Stealth, and DEF 17 in close combat). The latter are basically what it says on the tin.

As if there weren’t enough heavy warjacks and Boundless Charge, Sorscha0 is also there along with the standard Rager. She is there to handout more Boundless Charge, and the Rager is there to protect her and contest.

Finally, Eiryss1 is also at the party. She can really ruin any hopes of manipulating focus. If she shoots Vlad he can’t replenish focus. If she shoots a ‘jack it is Disrupted. She is very often a prioritised target. Unfortunately, she has Stealth, DEF 16 and a range of 12″.

This is probably going to be a rough match. A few simple rules to remember:

1. Keep Carriages away from Marauders; 
2. Kill Eiryss; 
3. Keep Vlad at least 15″ away from Butcher; and 
4. Rely on knockdown. There are two knockdown on a stick (Field Guns), two Gun Carriages, and three Marauders. A lot of knockdown possibilities, and we all know that the only thing Butcher really fears is to be knocked down.

We are playing post-Obilivion Steamroller 2019 Spread the Net. Vlad wins the roll of and opts to choosing side. There is a lovely wall on one side, which Butcher can’t drag him over using Impending Doom. He places the AOE 5″ forest from the theme on the right flank (the Privateer Press template on the picture below).

Butcher deploys his wall of steel in a straight line with him and his dogs in the middle. The Eliminators go on the left flank, and Eiryss Advance Deploys behind a building. 

Vlad deploys pretty much in his standard manner. A Carriage on each flank. Vlad in the middle surrounded on each side by his Winter Guards. The ‘jacks are up front. The picture above shows the end of deployment.

The first round is going to be particular slow this time. Too many slow Khador ‘jacks to count “advancing at full speed”.

Everything “runs” forward. There is a lot of shuffling around with all the slow large bases. Most notable, the Eliminators runs into the left zone. The Kodiak sprints into the middle zone. Ruin and a Marauder moves into the forest that Butcher brought. All the rest just moves forward. The picture above shows the end of Butcher’s first turn.

My initial thoughts are that Vlad can use Butcher’s army’s lack of speed as a good think; as long as Vlad stays away from Butcher’s assassin runs. There is still a lot of turns before scenario scores, so no worries.

Vlad starts by moving up behind the wonderful wall. I’m pretty sure this is where he will spend his afternoon. It is a bit tricky to position in such a way that Butcher can’t reach him over the wall (remember Butcher has a 2″ reach”). He casts Wind Wall, just because he can.

Both Carriages run forward. The ‘jacks follow suit. All Winter Guards also moves up. The leftmost Rifle Corps is being told by Joe to be tough. They move up and stays out of the Kodiak’s threat range. That was basically it. The picture above depicts the end of round 1.

Normally, first turn in round two is when the killing begins. However, as we are all waiting for the Khador ‘jacks to get there, Vlad might have a first kill advantage.

Butcher is for some reason playing it safe. He just advances all of his ‘jacks. The Koidak puts down a cloud for Butcher to hide behind. The Adjunct also put a cloud on him. I think he is afraid of Vlad’s feat. On the left flank a lonely Marauder sits down in the zone to begin scoring in the next turn. For some reason Eiryss is ignoring Butcher’s flag and the Eliminators move to the middle (probably to be ready to score). All in all, a rather uneventful turn. The picture above shows the end of Butcher’s turn.

It is party time. Vlad will have the alpha. He beings by allocating one focus to the leftmost Marauders. That leaves him enough to cast S&P and Boundless Charge if required. He then activates, feats and cast S&P. He then spend the rest of the round writing “Vlad was here” on the wall.

On the left flank, the Carriage charges the Marauder and makes sure to stay within Vlad’s S&P bubble. It deals some damage to the Marauder, slams it away, and knocks it down. Some shooting happes agains Sorscha0, which damages the Rager and her a bit. It then repositions into the zone, which is rather important, as it can now contest the zone. The Kapitan runs to the flag to start scoring.

On the right flank the other Carriage is so inspired by its colleague that it does the same. It charges the Marauder, damages, knocks down, and slams. The slam also hits the Argus and Ruin. It starts shooting at the Argus (yes, I know that it triggers Vengeance but the middle is really crowded) and kills one of them. The Winter Guard on top shoots a Mechanik. It then repositions to stay in the zone.

The Marauders charge in and starts slamming. The left most charges the last hostile Marauder at an angle and uses Combo Smite to slam and knockdown. It then hits the Kodiak. The middle Marauder charges the Kodiak and does the same. Finally, the rightmost Marauder charges the Juggernaut and applies the same procedure. It slams into Ruin to ruin him a bit more.

All Winter Guards ahead. Since Ruin is on the floor the Mortar lobs a grenade into it. Both Field Guns and Rocketeers do the same. Once Ruin is killed the rockets goes into other ‘jacks. All of this is topped off with a bit of CRA into the ‘jacks. All os this cannon shooting and slamming also takes out Eyriss, the two Eliminators, and the last Argus.

This was a glorious turn. Five ‘jacks damaged and knocked down. Eliminators and Eiryss gone. No clear charge path for Butcher, despite killing both Argus. Scenario score is 1-0 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above shows the mayhem at the end of round 2.

All in all Vlad is on top. Butcher is staring at all of his ‘jack on the ground. Let’s see what he can do.

All Butcher’s ‘jacks power up and I seem to remember that he did not spend their focus to shake knockdown. This is probably a major mistake. He does not allocate to his ‘jacks. On the left flank, the Marauder stands up, walks over to the Carriage and starts hitting. The Carriage survives. The other Marauder moves into place to be able to charge the Carriage later and to be able to score the zone.

On the right flank the Marauder walks through the acid hazard and hits the Carriage. It also survives.

In the middle the two ‘jacks and Butcher gangs up on Vlad’s Marauders. They remove two of them, and leaves the last one damaged. Sorscha and her pet Rager spend a lot of time getting out of the rough terrain. The Adjunct puts a cloud on Sorscha.

In general, this was a very easy round for Vlad. Only two ‘jacks went down. I think Butcher made a terrible mistake not shaking knockdown, and not allocating. Personally I think that he was too focused on getting Butcher forward to do an assassin run. Nevertheless, the scenario score is now 2-0 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above depicts the situation at the end of turn 1.

Vlad is a happy camper. He was fearing loosing all ‘jacks and at least one Carriage. However, through the combination of a whole lot of knockdown, and perhaps not optimal playing by the opponent, the future now looks bright.

Vlad starts by casting S&P. He then steps back from the wall. Partly to make sure that Butcher can’t reach him across the wall, and partly to admire his graffiti. This turns out to be a really stupid mistake. For some reason I thought that kill box is 10″. It is not. It is 12″. So my opponent just got two scenario points.

On the left flank, the Carriage charges the rightmost Marauder, impact both Marauders and knocks them down. The charge attack really damages the receiving Marauder. It then shoots the leftmost Marauder and Sorscha0. It misses the latter. It then repositions into the circular zone. The last move was not too clever. I assumed that the leftmost Winter Guards could walk into the left zone to contest. They could not.

On the right flank, the Carriage moves a little and knocks the Marauder down. It then shoots it with one cannon. The other cannon takes out two Mechaniks. It then repositions forward and turns to survey the battle field.

In the middle, the Marauder assisted by artillery takes out the Kodiak and the Juggernaut. All other shoots at the rightmost Marauder to remove it. A few moves into place to block a potential charge lane for Butcher.

So far, so good. Vlad has more or less eradicated one of the opposing armies, only leaving Butcher. Another four or five knockdowns. Unfortunately the story is quite different when it comes to scenario. Vlad is silly and gives two points away. I can’t think and measure at the same time, so another point goes away in a zone. This leaves the scenario score at 3-3. The picture above demonstrates how ‘jack-cleaning really brightens the place.

This is probably going to be the last round. Not only is Butcher running out of one of his armies. More worrying, Vlad is getting quite low on the clock. 

Butcher remembers to power up and use that focus to shake knockdown. I think he also allocated a bit to his ‘jacks. Although, I’m not quite sure. He then moves a bit and takes out the Marauder. He is in a bit of a hurry as the clock is ticking fast on his side. All the ‘jacks concentrate on the leftmost Carriage. However, all but Sorscha’s Rager is really in bad shape. Thus, the Carriage survies with one or two boxes.

That was more or less it. He has 25 seconds left on the clock (I have 7 minutes). Both make a scenario point, leaving the score at 4-4. The picture above show the end of the first turn.

Disclaimer first: I the heat of the battle I forgot to take a picture at the end of round four. Thus, the picture above is the same as at the end of the first turn in round 4, just with arrows depicting the most important events.

Vlad starts by moving back out of the kill zone. He then casts S&P, and spends the rest of the round grumbling about silly kill zones and the lack of appreciation of tagging.

The leftmost Carriage does a bit of wiggling about knocks down the two ‘jacks and Butcher. It also kills a Winter Guard in the process. But they know they make sacrifices for the Motherland. It then shoots everything at Butcher. He is still standing (metaphorical speaking, that is).

The rightmost Carriage then proceeds to charge Butcher, whilst he is laying on the floor. Impact and charge attack does a lot of damage. I think Butcher might have made a defensive feat in first turn of this round. Could have been in another round. I’m not sure. I do however remember that he did one at some point. Nevertheless, Butcher has been assassinated by Carriage.

If I was an adult I should of course also have focused on scenario points. I should have attempted to take out the ‘jacks scoring the left zone. But time was against me, so I focused on the grand prize; which was sensible as I had less that 10 seconds left on the clock when Butcher went down. Scenario score ended at 5-5. For once the picture above does not show the end of the match.

All in all this went OK. I had kind of a plan to being with. It was basically:

1. Keep Carriages away from Marauders;
2. Kill Eiryss;
3. Keep Vlad at least 15″ away from Butcher; and
4. Rely on knockdown.

Except for the first point, I pretty much stuck to it. Vlad’s ‘jacks, Carriages, and Field Guns did at least 11 knockdowns on Butcher’s jacks – and one on him. I’m pretty sure that I would not have survived if all of these knockdowns weren’t available.

Also, I think there was an element of luck in the beginning of round 3. Here my opponent either plainly forgot to shake knockdown or had a really bad plan involving not shaking. I’m not convinced it was game breaking. But at least the left most Carriage would probably not have survived.

Finally, KEEP EYES ON SCENARIO. How I managed to move into the kill zone is beyond me.

Most importantly, we both had fun. Vlad has also recovered from people’s lack of appreciation of tagging.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!