The old motherland goes to RheinCon (day 1)

This year I’m bringing a Bohdan list and a Galina list. My ambition is to basically play Bohdan throughout the whole event. I need to get some experience with him. I have only played him once or twice and I’m not quite sure I understand him (yet). Also, I tend to one-list tournaments if I’m trying out a new Warlock. It gives me a lot of games in a short period of time and (hopefully) teaches me what a Warlock is good into and what not. The list I’m bringing for day one is as follows.

Bohdan Lesnoi, Apostle of the Witch
– 13 Primeval 1
— 3 HEAD – Bear
— 6 RIGHT ARM – Ancient Staff
— 4 LEFT ARM – Enchanted Claw
– 14 Primeval 2
— 3 HEAD – Bear
— 7 RIGHT ARM – Bone Sword
— 4 LEFT ARM – Enchanted Claw
– 16 Strix

3 Animist
3 Koldun Lord Damien Korovnik
5 Liegemen Ursan Champion
3 Ursine Shifted 1
3 Ursine Shifted 2
4 Vorony

11 Liegemen Ursans 1
11 Liegemen Ursans 2
5 Liegemen Wardens
9 The Hounds

PC COMMAND CARD
– Blessing of the Gods
– Break Through
– Lucky Penny
– Old Faithful
– Sapper

The first day at RheinCon is a 8-person Steamroller. We are looking at three games. In addition to the three tournament games I managed a warm-up game first.

The warm-up game was against Dusk. Old Umbery generally likes to play into Dusk. I might get around to writing it up at some point. Spoiler alert: I won. So, I can enter the tournament being even more happy that normal.

Round one: Old legion is flapping their wings at me

It is fantastic to see old Legion on the table. They are one of the cooler faction of the old days. I haven’t seen them on the table in a long time. This will be fun.

Ny opponent is bringing Vayl, Disciple of Everblight; five warbeasts; a handfull of solos and units. The list looks like this

Legion of Everblight – Ravens of War

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight
14 Angelius
16 Azrael
3 Harrier
10 Neraph
11 Seraph

5 Annyssa Ryvaal
1 Blighted Nyss Shepherd
1 Spell Martyr
6 Blackfrost Shard

6 Blighted Nyss Archers
3 Blighted Nyss Archer Officer & Ammo Porter
10 Blighted Nyss Raptors 1
10 Blighted Nyss Raptors 2
4 Ice Witches

PC COMMAND CARD
Blessing of the Gods
Defenses
Barrier
Barrier
Spike Trap
Hit & Run
Lucky Penny
Sapper

We are playing Trench Warfare. That is two 50s, two 40s, two flags (no scoring of your own flag), and two Caches. I win the roll-off and decide to go second. I like going second.

Deployment

Vayl deploys everything in the middle, save for the to units of Raptors. One unit goes on each flanks. I seem to remember that they can be really annoying and dangerous. So, eyes on them.

I also deploy heavy in the middle, although a bit towards my left. I need to put some pressure on the left 50 mm, which will most likely be under contesting pressure from one of the Raptores. The middle deployment will take care of the 50 mm and Caches. A group is deployed on the right flank, consisting of a unit of Liegemen Ursans, the hounds and the Feral with the staff (to get a Geomancy out where Bohdan can’t reach).

The picture above depicts the situation after deployment. Ready to roll…

Round 1

The first turn of round one is typically uneventful as player one can (re)position to counter whatever clever deployment the second player made. This game is no different. Everything runs forward, taking care of staying outside the charge ranges of Bohdan and his gang. The Raptors go very wide to harass the flanks.

Bohdan carefully moves his troops forward. The flying beasts in front can do quite long charges. He is player two so he scores first. There is no reason to tempt fate by advancing into charge range. On the right flank, the Hounds go into the woods for stealth, the Primeval stands behind a wall and the Liegemen Ursans go into a crater. That should give a bit protection against the Raptors.

The rest of the army just shuffles forward. Bohdan puts Inviolable Resolve on Strix, Murder of Crows to extend the LOS blocking of the forest (yes, quite a lot of stuff has Eyeless Sight), and Earth Blessing on himself. The two Primevals put Earth Blessing on them selves. We are ready for the first round where stuff happens.

The picture above shows the end of the first round.

Round 2

Second round is where things normally happen. This has always been the most difficult round for me; if I’m player one in particular. Do I run stuff to pre-contest the objectives that the second player will score in the next turn? Do I hang back and just take a potential large scenario score to deal with? Difficult. Luckily, my opponents have the same problem in this round.

Vayl still advance cautiously. Azrael manage to get far enough up the board to kill two of the Hounds. That was unfortunate. Besides that the army is basically positioning to contest with models that can be lost and be ready to hit models Bohdan puts forward to score.

On the right flank, The Primeval moves forward to score the 50 mm. The Liegemen Ursans runs forward to project a threat vector from the right flank, potentially score the flag, and also serve as screening for the Primeval. The remaining hound moves backwards to the 40 mm objective to score. This will be her job for the remaining game.

Bohdan needs to get up the board. The best way to do this is to feat and surround himself with a bunch of Liegement to take any incoming hits. He might have feated a round too early. But he is being a bit nervous; he is an old man.

The Primeval on the left goes to score that 50 mm, and the bears do the same trick as on the right. They go to the enemy to primarily be annoying. Strix moves up and hides behind the forest to put some threat through Birds Eye.

This ends the second round with a scenario score of 3-1 in Bohdan’s favour. The picture above shows the end of the second round.

Round 3

Now we are getting to the bloody bit. Round three typically means a lot of dead stuff. Let’s see how this pans out.

Vayl hits hard with all the flying things (I really miss murder rabbit right now to deny flight). Azrael and either the Neraph or Seraph, supported by the Raptors murder Strix and the Primeval on the left. So, I did overextend them. However, they do not manage to remove any of the bears. So they are still being annoying. Also, on the left, Annyssa Ryvaal runs all the way to Bohdan’s flag. Luckily, the Champion is toeing the terrain to deny scoring.

On the right flank, things are perhaps slightly better. The Primeval is there as well as one of the Bears and two Shifters. Those Raptors, along with the archers do get a lot of work done. My flank is not impressive, but better than the left one.

After this mayhem the scenario score is 4-2 in Bohdan’s favour. So, at least that is OK.

Bohdan is in trouble. However, he is playing the scenario game; at least now. The Champion starts by killing Annyssa Ryvaal and reposition forward to keep a toe in the zone and contest the left 50 mm.

On the right flank the remaining Liegeman Ursan and the two Ursine Shifted clear out the zone. The Primeval moves to score the 50 mm.

In the middle, the bear cavalry shifts to the right and forward to put pressure on Vayl, and contest the 40 mm. They can charge him in the next round! Bohan does a Cygnar Advance and run behind the forest along with his bodyguards. Vorony moves forward to contest the Cache. Tererya does her job and score the 40 mm.

This ends round three with a scenario score of 7-2 in Bohdan’s favour. Vayl only has four minutes on the clock. So the pressure is on. The picture above depicts the situation before Vayl’s necessary mad dash.

Round 4

Vayl is in trouble. He needs to score two points more than Bohdan. The theoretical maximum is seven points (two times 50 mm, plus two times 40 mm, plus one flag, plus the cache). So, it is by no means impossible. Yet, it requires some work.

In the short time left, Areal and the Angelius take out the last Primeval. The Raptors might have assisted. That is basically what could be done with the four minutes.

The picture below shows the situation at the end of round four, when Vayl runs out of time. The final scenario score is 10-3 in Bohdan’s favour. So, in many ways a solid win.

Bohdan was in one sense in trouble. His beasts just died. At least two of them due to me being overly aggressive. However, at the end of the day aggression did win the match by keeping a high scenario pressure that the opponent couldn’t deal with. Nevertheless, it was scary.

First game, first win. I’m happy. This will deal with my ambition: win one and do not come last. So, the rest of the tournament can be played in a more relaxed manner.

Next up is the Necrofactorium…

Round two: The Necrofactorium train has full steam ahead

The dead are back and there is quite a lot of them. Sepsira brings a lot of dudes. Not the maximum number but probably enough. The list looks as follows:

Master Necrosurgeon Sepsira

5 Raptor 1
3 HEAD – Beaked Maw
2 BACK – Arc Node

5 Raptor 2
3 HEAD – Beaked Maw
2 BACK – Arc Node

3 Akulon Thaemestra
8 Necroharvester
3 Skarlock Lieutenant

7 Mechanithrall Brutes 1
7 Mechanithrall Brutes 2
6 Mechanithrall Swarm 1
6 Mechanithrall Swarm 2
4 Necrosurgeon Initiates
10 Night Terrors 1
10 Night Terrors 2
8 Sludge Thralls 1
8 Sludge Thralls 2
10 The Furies

PC COMMAND CARD
Blessing of the Gods
Careful Reconnaissance
Hit & Run
Lucky Penny
Sapper

We are playing Two Fronts. That is two 40s on one side, two 50s on the other side and one flag (belonging to the second player) in the middle. This is the scenario that probably best played orthogonal to the normal. So from left ro right, or right to left. Sepsira won the roll-off and decides to go first. I’m not convinced this is a scenario where going second is the best thing. So good choice by Sepsira.

Deployment

Sepsira classically deploys a unit of Night Terrors on each flank. They are a really good cavalry unit. So, I better watch out. A unit of Sludge Thralls also go on each flank. They are also worth looking out for. Everything else kind of go in the middle. Although perhaps with a bit more heavy to the right.

Bohdan has decided that he was to play right to left. This is where there of the five scoring elements are neatly placed next to each other. The two Primevals are put slightly in the middle to counter any shenanigans from the Necroharvester.

The picture above depicts the battle field just before everything kicks off.

Round 1

First round is as expected the sea of dead dudes rush forward at full steam. There really isn’t more to say.

Bohdan can already feel the pressure. That is a lot of dead dudes. I might already have lost here. Bohdan kind of gives up on the idea to play right to left; or rather does not carry through. So one unit of bears and a Primeval moves to the left; the second Primeval stays in the middle; whilst the rest moves to the right. Everything stays out of charge ranges.

The picture above shows the end of round one.

Round 2

Sepsira is somewhat more careful in the second round. He floods the 50 mm on the left. There is a chicken that can score and a ton of other models to make sure that Bohdan can’t. On the left, the unit of Night Terrors are sitting behind a wall and contesting the 40 mm. A chicken toes the flag zone. So, basically pretty good defensive work.

It is possible to score seven points in a turn. That is 3 for both 50s, plus 3 for both 40s, plus 1 for the flag. With all the dudes Bohdan really needs to score something in his turn. The top 50 is outside scoring; it could be contested. The bottom 5o is possible to score. The top 40 is going to be pretty hard to score due to the wall. The bottom 40 should be easy. With a bit of luck the flag is also within reach. So 3-0 should be doable.

The bears on the left run to contest the 50. One of the Primevals move inside 3″ of the home 50. On the right side, Damien is going into the woods. The main thing to fight over is the flag. On paper the Bears should be able to tackle the chicken. They try and fail.

Strix shuffles up behind the forest and Bohdan behind the wall. Finally, the hounds move to the top 40. This ends the second round. Scenario is at 2-1 in Bohdan’s favour.

Round 3

Here comes Sepsira and her horde… On the left flank all the models clear out the bears. However, the final one I change into a Shifter so still contesting the 50. I’m pretty sure Sepsira feats and throw a unit of Mechanithrall at the scoring Primeval. They hit like a truck and the Primeval evaporates.

Most of the army are flodding to the left around the building in the middle. I suspect that Sepsira wants to play left to right. This leaves fewer models on the right flank, which should be in Bohdan’s favour. Nevertheless, they still make a mess. Two of the bears are killed along with one of the hounds. Night Terrors, Brutes and a unit of Sludge Thralls flood the 40s.

It is now Bohdan’s turn to see if there is any chance to hit back.

The plan, to the extend that there is one, is to attempt to clean out the right flank, whilst keeping enough pressure on the left to not loose on scenario.

The combination of the Primeval, Champion and Animist (of all things) clear out the Mechanithralls. It is impossible to also remove the contesting Night Terror. So no scoring here. The Ursine Shifter is just standing there and contesting.

Bohdan moves to the right and cast Incite. This allows the Liegemen to clear out some of the Night Terrors (I might have used the card Blessing of the Gods as they probably were Incorporable). The last bear and Strix clear out the remaining models. Strix Lightning Strikes back behind the forest. Vorony toes the zone to score.

This ends the round. Scenario score is now 4-1. Bohdan is currently over performing. The picture above depicts the end of round 3.

Round 4

Sepsira now puts the thumb screws on Bohdan. On the left flank, something kills the Shifter. The Necroharvester makes it all the way down to the last Primeval and together with the Sludge Thralls the Primeval, the Champion and the Animist is turned to dust.

Everything else is flooding towards the right flank. This means that Strix is taken out by the Furies, Sludge Thralls and Night Terrors in the area. All the Liegemen are also gone. This is not looking good. Somehow the scenario score ended at 9-8 in Sepsira’s favour. I’m pretty sure I have counted incorrect up to this point.

This is going down hill fast. The left flank is completely gone. Bohdan is quickly running out of models. However, it is not over until the fat lady sings (don’t tell Yana’s bear I said that).

Bohdan needs to get work done. He goes all in with Incite and Life Trader; thinking I might as well go down with style. He clears out the Flag. The last bear and Damien least out the top 40. Just to be annoying, Vorony runs to the left flank to contest the bottom 50. So no double scoring this turn.

Round four ends with at scenario score of 10-10. The picture above shows Bohdan’s last stand. I think we can see the end.

Round 5

The flood continues. There really isn’t much to say. With the amount of models on the left flank it is pretty easy to get rid of Vorony. I’m guessing Bohdan will be killed now. Everything is thrown at objectives on the right and to kill Bohdan.

Through some strange working of the gods, Bohdan actually manage not to get killed. This is more than you can say about the rest of the army. After the dust settles, only Bohdan and Damien are left standing. On the bright side, this is the first time in history that Damien actually survives a complete battle that is lost. So, kudos to him.

The game ends with a scenario score of 15-10 in Sepsira’s favour. For reasons I don’t really understand it got reported as 20-10. Anyway, Bohdan did not fare well into the flooding of dead dudes. Now I know this.

I was playing a really good player. A loss was the most likely outcome anyway. However, I think I did make a mistake in not sticking to my original plan. I should probably just have pushed really hard on the right flank and let Sepsira have the left flank. The two Primevals on the right did no really do a lot and were just being killed (and scoring a bit).

Anyway, it was fun. Onwards to my nemesis…

Round three: My Orgoth nemesis is in the house

Third and last round is against my Orgoth nemesis. I have played him quite a few times. We always have fun (except the Oriax and tripple balloon list) and I’m getting closer and closer every time. So here we are again. The list is as follows.

Kishtaar, The Howling Silence

21 Azdharak, Herald of Immolation

17 Tyrant 1
3 HEAD – Hunter
8 RIGHT ARM – Shredder
6 LEFT ARM – Quad Bolt Thrower

15 Tyrant 2
1 HEAD – Relentless Charge
8 RIGHT ARM – Shredder
6 LEFT ARM – Quad Bolt Thrower

4 Revenant Champion
2 Vulcar Forge Master
6 Assault Reavers 1
6 Assault Reavers 2

9 Rhok Harriers
8 The Execrators
8 Ulkor Barragers
4 Warwitch Coven

Defenses
DEFENSE 1 – Barrier
DEFENSE 1 – Barrier
DEFENSE 1 – Barrier

PC COMMAND CARD
Blessing of the Gods
Defenses
Duck and Cover!
Lucky Penny
Old Faithful

We are playing Wolves at Our Heels. That is the complicated one with tokens on some of the objectives. We are playing at the same table as my last game. In theory that should be a good thing. Kishtaar wins the roll-off and deceides to go first. I pick the same side as the last game, assuming that I have learned this side. Let’s kick off and see what happens.

Deployment

Kishtaar goes in the middle. The big bad Azdharak goes to the left (I have never played that model. So I’m a bit anxious), along with a Tyrant. The birds go to the right. They are typically quite annoying. Both the Assault Reavers Advance Deploy, kind of on the flanks.

Bohdan deploys very centre heavy. Basically everything go there except the bears on the sides. The Hounds Advance Deploys to the right, along with Damien.

The picture above depicts the situation before everything kicks off. Hey ho, let’s go.

Round 1

Turn one most of the time is a run as fast as you can for the first player. This is also the case this time. Everything run and stay outside Bohdan’s charge ranges. On the right flank, the two units go behind the wall, and the Reavers move up screening a Tyrant. On the left flank, the Reavers spread out. In the middle, Azdharak moves left around the house in the middle. So far, so good.

It is Bohdan’s difficult turn. He needs to get up the field so the Orgoth do not put on too much scenarios pressure. The hounds go into the woods on the right. Damien thinks it is too dangerous to tag a long so he go behind the Bears, who has moved behind the wall. The bears on the left go on the hill for the defensive bonus.

Bohdan put IR on Strix and Earth’s Blessing on himself. Everybody shuffles forward. Both the Primevals also cast Earth’s Blessing. The picture above shows the end of round 1.

Round 2

My opponent always plays a very careful game. Some might say defensive, but that is not really true. He basically buys his time. Round 2 doesn’t see a lot of action from Kishtaar. The Reavers on the right just shuffles slightly forward and the left tyrant moves to its master behind the house. That is basically it.

This is the first time scoring is possible. So, on the right the Hounds just moves a bit forward. They stay in the forest and is going to score the flag. Damien has found some courage and move into the woods behind the Hounds.

On the right, the unit of bears rush forward to score the 40 mm objective. The two 50s are out of scoring range. The left one will not be scored by the Orgoth; so that is fine. I think the Tyrant will score the left 50 mm. Enter bears. They rund forward. One gets so far that it can engage Kishtaar and contest the 50, the other two will also contest the 50.

Bohdan goes full throttle. He feats and runs to just behind the house. His bodyguards, the Liegemen tag along. Vorony is also there to pick up corpses from what will inevitable die. Strix and one of the Primevals stays just behind them to act as a deterrent. Finally, the last Primeval moves up behind the bears in the forest. He has now put a lot of assassination pressure on Kisthaar.

This round ends with the scenario score of 2-1 in Bohdan’s favour. The picture above shows the end of the first scoring round

Round 3

Kisthaar is scared. She is afraid of Bohdan doing an assassination run or even Strix coming in and chewing her up. Everything not otherwise occupied are piling in around he to deny any landing spots.

On the left, the unit of Reavers moves into the bears to contest the 40 mm. On the right, the birds fly down and chew up the Hounds. Through some combination of Azdharak, the rightmost unit of Reavers and the Tyrant, the Primeval and bears on the right are killed. This is unfortunate. This means that the scenario score is only 2-2.

Bohdan would like to do his assassination thing. Unfortunately, almost all the opponent’s models are cluttered around Kisthaar to avoid said assassination thing. Chief among these models is the Revenant Champion. That is an extremely good model at only 4 point. Guard Dog, Impervious Flesh, Inhuman Resolve and Shield Guard. All the rules that can cock up any cool assassination attempts.

However, there is another way. If only Azdharak could be moved out of the way, Strix could charge it, Shift of it and start hitting Kisthaar. If only… Enter Befuddle… Azdharak moves. Bohdan also casts Incite and Strix charges. It is not really a problem getting to Kisthaar. Unfortunately, she is at DEF 17, which is hard even for MAT 9. She does loose quite a lot of boxes. But, alas the maths is not on my side.

On the bright side, it is the first time I have seen my opponent sweat. That is a huge improvement over the other times I have played him. Next time…

We end the game here as everything Old Umbrey is going to die now.

Summary

It has been a wonderful day. As always at Warmachine tournaments the people are lovely and the games are fun. I reached my goals. A it is quite clear that I got beaten by superior opponents. This tournament was a shark tank.

Now I’m off to bed to be ready for day two where a team tournament is happening. Two Vikings and a Thrall will strike again. We just need to find a thrall.

Until next time for the Motherland and the old faith!