Day two of Oslo Conquest (for the day 1 report see here). It is three days of tournament play, and I’m already tired. I’m getting to grips with the big January update of 2025. Yet, I’m still trying out things I haven’t tried before. 

My ambitions is, as always to win at least one and not end up last. 

I’m sticking with Valerii. He was doing pretty well yesterday. However, I’m exchanging Alexia for two Battle Mechaniks. She is supposed to resurrect killed Man-O-Wars, but they died faster than see could keep up, and I would really like the Tune Up and a bit of repairing from the Battle Mechaniks. I’m also still bringing Yana with a Mastodon and all the Pikemen. She has taken over from Baranova in the list I brought to last year’s WTC (for a report on WTC, see here for day 1 and here for day 2). I would still so much like the Pikemen to work. I do think they are an unpolished gem. Let’s see. 

Khador – Winter Korps Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy    – Fog of War    – Puissance    – Mastodon [32]      HEAD – Shock Assault      RIGHT SHOULDER – Deep Freezer      LEFT SHOULDER – Deep Freezer      RIGHT ARM – Great Axe      LEFT ARM – Grinder Fist AC-2 Bison [10] AC-2 Bison [10] Battle Mechanik [2] Battle Mechanik [2] Magziev Zarivah Volkova [4] Mortar Team [2] Winter Korps Officer [3] Winter Korps Officer [3] Arkanists [4] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Shock Trooper Pikemen [7] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Duck and Cover!     – Lucky Penny     – Old Faithful     – Put the Fires Out Total Points   100/100

Khador – Winter Korps Kommander Valerii Savaryn    – Puissance    – Superiority    – Avalanche [15]      HEAD – Hyper-Aggressive      RIGHT ARM – Pneumatic Lance      LEFT ARM – Wedge Shield    – Avalanche [15]      HEAD – Hyper-Aggressive      RIGHT ARM – Pneumatic Lance      LEFT ARM – Wedge Shield Battle Mechanik [2] Battle Mechanik [2] Kontroller [4]    – Dire Wolf [10]      HEAD – Shield Guard      RIGHT ARM – Long Axe      LEFT ARM – Plow-Shield Sergeant Sergie Krol [5] Winter Korps Officer [3] Winter Korps Officer [3] Arkanists [4] Man-O-War Suppressors [11] Man-O-War Suppressors [11] Man-O-War Wrecking Crew [10] Winter Korps Snipers [4]    – Winter Korps Hunting Dog [1] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Lucky Penny     – Old Faithful     – Put the Fires Out     – Sapper Total Points   100/100

A few thoughts on the lists can be found in the report from yesterday, which can be found here.

Oh no, my nemesis. I have never really managed to crack Crucible Guard. Everything model has more rules on their card, that the entire Winter Korps has combined. Not only, is it Crucible Guard. There are also two Vulcans!

Anyway, my opponent is a very nice Norwegian; who, unfortunately is not new to playing this game. He is bringing the following list.

Crucible Guard – Crucible Guard Major Aline Bennet – Toro [10] Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Prospero [4] – Vulcan [28] – Vulcan [28] Rocketman Stinger [3] Rocketman Stinger [3] Trancer [2] Trancer [2] Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7] Dragon’s Breath Rocket [4] Defenses – Defence 1 – Barrier – Defence 1 – Barrier – Defence 1 – Barrier Command Cards – Blessing of the Gods – Careful Reconnaissance – Defenses – Lucky Penny – Sapper Total Points   99/100

OK, so this is clearly not a list for Valerii. Yana with the Mastodon might have a remote chance of doing something against the two violent Vulcans. We are also playing Best Laid Plans, which fits the Yana list nicely. Let’s see how hard I get hit.

We are playing Best Laid Plans and I win the dice roll. I want to go first. Apparently, it is far too early for me to be vertical. I, for some reason do not think about the fact that one side of the table is objectively absolutely worst side. There is a large quicksand right in front of where the Mastodon is supposed to go! I have no idea what I was doing. My opponent obviously picks the best side.

Anyway, Aline deploys a Rocketman and a Trancer on each flank. Followed by the two Vulcans, and everything else goes into a large group in the middle.

Yana follows the standard deployment scheme. A Bison with two units of Shock Troopers on each flank. The Mastodon in the middle (right in front of the quicksand). The rest around the Mastodon. We are ready to roll.

I’m starting. There is only one way: forward and fast. The two flanks do what they are supposed to do. Bisons move forward with Shock Troopers behind for cover. In the middle, the Mastodon moves forward towards the quicksand. Everybody else tag along. Yana casts Fog of War and Puissance on one of the Shock Troopers. That’s it. The picture below shows the end of Yana’s turn.

Aline has a normal uneventful turn. Everybody moves forward. Force Aura and some spell goes up. The picture below shows the end of Aline’s turn.

Round 1 is as usually quite uneventful. Everybody just moves forward. After the January update, nobody is afraid of the Mastodon in round 1. Let’s see what happens (in addition to quicksand) in round 2.

OK. I’m pretty sure that the two Vulcans can do a tremendous amount of damage to the poor Mastodon. So, two units of Shock Troopers run to the enemy to jam them. On the left flank, the Bison and a unit of Shock Troopers move up to be annoying. The same happens on the right flank.

In the middle, The Mastodon moves forward (and into the quicksand) and starts shooting into the Vulcan in front of it. Yana moves up behind the Mastodon and puts Iron Flesh on it. She also upkeeps Fog of War. Everybody else moves forward and tries to stay away from all the shooting. The picture below shows the situation just before all hell breaks loose.

On the left flank, the Vulcan cleans out most of the models, save for one Shock Trooper. In addition, a Rocketman flies down behind the house and ties up an Officer and a Mechanik. All the Shock Troopers in the middle get removed by Crucible troops, opening up the route for both the Vulcan and the Toro to remove the Mastodon.

Nothing more to see here. Move along. The picture below shows the sorry remains on Yana’s force.

That’s it. Game over… at least I was demonstrated how this game is actually played.

Note to self: pick the correct side of the board, and do not give away half the army.

The Protectorate is back. I have mixed feelings about the Protectorate. Sometimes they are manageable, often they demonstrate that “Khador is the ARM faction” is completely wrong. I fear that Final Interdiction is an example of the latter. This is what my lovely Polish opponent is bringing.

Protectorate of Menoth – Final Interdiction High Exemplar Cyrenia – Fire of Salvation [13] – Redeemer [8] – Redeemer [8] Exemplar Errant Seneschal [3] Exemplar Warder [3] Exemplar Warder [3] High Exemplar Gravus [7] Vassal of Menoth [1] Vassal of Menoth [1] Choir of Menoth [3] Exemplar Cinerators [7] – Exemplar Cinerator Officer [3] Exemplar Errants [8] – Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard [3] Exemplar Errants [8] – Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard [3] Exemplar Vengers [9] Exemplar Vengers [9] Defenses – Defense 1 – Barrier – Defense 1 – Fire Pit – Defense 1 – Fire Pit Command Cards – Break Through – Careful Reconnaissance – Defenses – Lucky Penny – Old Faithful Total Points   99/100

This looks like a job for Valerii. There is a load of small guys that probably will only spell trouble for the Mastodon. In addition, we are playing Two Fronts, which should be good for the Mastodon. However, somebody has placed a house in between the two 50 mm objectives.

We are playing Two Fronts and my opponent wins the dice roll. I pick the side without the Quicksand!

Cyrenia deploys pretty standard. Cavalry on the flanks. A unit of Errants on the left flank. Everybody else goes in a a big clump in the middle.

Valerii places himself in the middle with most of the models. An Avalanche ready to move on both sides of the forest in the middle. The Kontroller goes on the right flank to grab the Objective. For some reason the Snipers also deploys there. They were actually supposed to go on the other flank.

The picture below the silence before the storm.

We are ready. Let’s see what the real ARM faction can do.

The Protectorate advances. The Vengers move up the two flanks. One unit of Errants moves partly into the woods in the middle. Everybody else just shuffles forward behind the forest. An uneventful first turn. The picture below shows the Protectorate’s advancement.

Looking at the board, it has become evident that going first is probably a pretty good thing. There is a forest in the middle and linear obstacles on both sides. It is going to be a killing field. I hope it is killing Protectorate, I fear it is Khador.

Valerii orders the Kontroller and his Dire Wolf to the objective, where I expect them to spend the rest of the battle. An Avalanche dares the Protectorate by moving almost into the forest. All the Man-O-Wars move forward and makes a wall of steel. Valerii drops a wall behind the Man-O-Wars, casts Superiority on the other Avalanche and moves behind the wall. This is going to be a lovely place to hang around. DEF 19 (shooting) and 17 (melee), whilst being behind the wall; yet, sufficiently close to the battle ground.

The picture below depicts the end of the boring round.

Now onto the bloody one…

This is were it kicks off. On the right flank, the Vengers begin a, I expect long and tedious: move one guy forward, contest, die, move another one forward. Stupid house… On the left flank, the other unit of Vengers move behind the wall. I wonder if they can get Pathfinder.

In the middle all hell breaks loose. One unit of Errants makes it through quicksand and a forrest, and runs to jam the Wrecking Crew. The Cinerators makes it to the Avalanche and a wall magically appears in front of them. Clever.The Fire of Salvation tags along. All the rest hangs back. The picture below shows the chaos produced by Menoth and his zealots.

OK. So, Valerii better start chewing through all the highly armoured fanatics. For some reason, he is not happy with his little wall. He drops it a moves to the left. He upkeeps Superiority and Escort, and drops Puissance on the Wrecking Crew. They start chewing though the Errants; yet, only removes three. A units of Suppressors, Sergie and the Kontroller cooperate on removing two of the Cinerators, which makes room for one of the Suppressors on the opposite side of the wall. Cinerators behind a wall are. annoying.

All sorts of other attempts of killing the fanatics take place. But not a lot is a success. On the left side a unit of Suppressors make ready to score both objectives, supported by an Avalanche. On the right flank the Dire Wolf kills the first Venger. The picture below shows the end of a pretty hard turn.

The Battle Machaniks in the lower right corner still haven’t registred that the battle is on. I wonder if he will discover it now? Scenario score is 2-1 in Valerii’s favour.

I’m expecting hand of a god being smashed on the Empress’ finest. On the left flank the Vengers move a bit about and contest both objectives. Only one Suppressor dies. On the right flank, the next Venger in the meat grinder appears in the Dire Wolf’s face. So far, so good.

It is a different story in the middle. All the Errants clean up the Wrecking Crew, a Mechanik and two? Arkanists. The Fire of Salvation and Cinerators also take out all but one Suppressor. This is quite a hefty turn. The picture below shows the sorry remains of the Khador force. Scenario score is now 3-2 in the Protectorate’s favour.

That was pretty hard hitting. Far more that I expected. I was expected the ARM 19/20 guys, with 10 boxes to weather the storm. That was clearly not the case. Stuff needs to happen

This looks like a feat turn for Valerii. He goes Kill Order on the Vengers to the left, a unit of Errants and, I think Precision Strike. On the left, the Avalanche and Suppressors attempt to remove the Vengers. One survive. They are robust.

On the right flank, the Dire Wolf redo the exact same thing as last round. Kill a Venger, wait for the next one. In the middle, the Snipers take out three Errants. And, lo and behold, the last Mechaniks discover that a battle is going on. Joins, and kills the last one.

The picture below depicts the fall of Valerii. Scenario score is 4-4 but Valerii is done for.

I’m not sure what we did here. I can’t remember. I think we just counted up the losses and decided that the Protectorate won with some scenario score. Anyway, a hurting loss for Valerii.

I actually went into this game thinking that this might go in my favour. I seriously under estimated the Protectorate, and not the least a very clever player. It was fun, though. Despite the fact that the Protectorate trivially get to some obnoxious ARM levels, which makes Khador envious.

The round if formally a ‘bye’. Luckily, one of the locals is looking for a single game. He is bringing dwarfs. This makes me both happy and a bit worried. Happy, because the little guys are still around; and a bit worried because I have lost so many times to, god knows how many of the small ‘jacks. To my great surprise, he is only bringing two. He is, however bringing both the Earthbreaker and Big Pig. This is the list.

Mercenaries – Rhul Guard General Ossrum – Ghordson Earthbreaker [27] – Grundback Blaster [5] – Grundback Blaster [5] Carver Ultimus [20] – War Boar MMD47 Ogrun Bokur [3] Ogrun Bokur [3] Stone Lord Guvul Godor [4] Horgenhold Artillery Corps [4] Horgenhold Artillery Corps [4] Horgenhold Forge Guard [7] Horgenhold Forge Guard [7] Horgenhold Forge Guard [7] Tactical Arcanist Corps [4] Command Cards – Blessing of the Gods – Careful Reconnaissance – Lucky Penny – Old Faithful – Put the Fires Out Total Points   99/100

This actually looks like a job for Yana. I don’t think the Avalanches can kill both Big Pig and the Colossal. Not to mention all the dwarfs. Despite the fact that we are playing Trench Warfare, which is not Mastodon friendly, this is what I’m going for.

We are playing Trench Warfare. Ossrum wins the dice roll and goes first. I pick the side with the two forests. I’m thinking that I would have picked the other side. There is things to be said about having an obstruction. However, I need to learn to appreciate those on my side of the table.

Ossrum deploys the pig and the Earthbreaker next to each other, behind the cloud. All the dwarfs are distributed on both sides.

Yana deploys in the middle with the Mastodon on the right. That is the objective it is going for. The rest is the standard deployment. A bison and two units of Shock Troopers on each flank. The rest, more or less near the Mastodon and Yana.

The picture below shows the deployment.

Two slow armies lumbering into action. I’m foreseeing a lot of rounds.

We have an army that actually makes Khador look fast and nimble. This turn can easily be summed up as: the lumber forward — a bit. The picture below shows the little movement there is.

Yana can now employ her armies superior speed (finally). She brings both flanks forward towards the two objectives. Not too close, though. In the middle, the Mastodon moves forward and attempts to stay outside the range of at least the Earthbreaker and hopefully also Big Pig. Most others move in behind the Mastodon to avoid being shot.

The picture below shows the quite befor the storm.

We are all here, we are all ready. Bring it one, you people of Rhul (and pig).

Ossrum is a cautious fellow. He really does all sorts of tricks to stay out of range of my army; the Mastodon in particular. Nevertheless, the Earthbreaker and the two Artillery units manage to take out the Bison on the right and quite a few of the Shock Troopers. The pig just takes out one Shock Trooper on the right, and puts some damage on the Mastodon, I think. The Earthbreaker also drops a crate on it. Crates are annoying.

The picture below shows the devestation brought forward by a surprisingly shooty Rhul army.

It is clear that I’m going to loose a shootout. I also do not really want to get the Mastodon into charge range of the Earthbreaker. I some sense the crater helps here. I need to deal with the pig and the Earthbreaker. That is clearly not going to happen in this turn. So, I need to attempt to contain them.

Let’s start on the left flank. The two Shock Troopers run to jam the pig. The Bison moves into the woods and shoots at something. The last Shock Trooper unit prepare themselves to charge anything attempting to score the objective. It kind of looks like a Mexican standoff.

On the right flank, the solo Shock Trooper runs to jam the Earthbreaker and contest the flank; which of course doesn’t matter as you can’t score you own terrain in this scenario. The whole units moves forward to screen the Mastodon, which also moves forward and offload all its cannons into the enemy. The Arkanists move to score the home objective and everybody else just tags along the Mastodon.

The picture below shows the end of the first scoring turn. Scenario score is 2-1 in Yana’s favour.

Yana is quite happy. Let’s see if she remains so.

On the left flank, Ossrum makes a move to capture the objective. The little ‘jack moves into position and all the men follows up; yet, keep their distance. On the right flank, somebody kills the lone Shock Trooper; the Earthbreaker backs up, as it is still afraid of the Mastodon; and a small ‘jack moves into screen. Finally, a unit of Forge Guards moves down to contest the objective and kill the last Shock Trooper unit.

In the middle, the small pig moves behind the wall (he is clearly squealing of fear). Big Pig and a Bokur screens Ossrum, who is bravely hiding out behind the big rock. Big Pig kills one of the Shock Troopers and fire everything into the Mastodon. The picture below shows the result of Ossrum’s bravery. Scenario score is now 4-2 n Ossrum’s favour.

Yana thinks she is on top of this. She is behind on scenario but is pressuring Ossrum. How to keep up the pressure and not loose on scenario.

On the right flank, the Arkanists puts focus on the Mastodon, whilst still scoring the home objective. Yana moves forward around the Mastodon and throws a few spears at the Forge Guards. The Mastodon takes over and removes that unit. The rest of the shots go into Big Pig.

On the left flank, the lone Shock Trooper casually moves over and picks up the cache. The Bison shoots at something, probably the Blaster. If that goes away, Ossrum can’t score that objective. This is followed up by the last Shock Trooper unit charging in and removing the Basher and a few dwarfs.

This has been a pretty good round. The objective is now secure, in the sense that nobody is going to score and the cache has been collected. Scenario score is now 6-4 in Yana’s favour. She is going to score forever on the home objective. There is no way Ossrum is going to score the 50 mm or pick up the cache, whilst the Mastodon is alive; and he is only going to score his home objective. The picture below depicts a moment of satisfaction.

All is well. Let’s see if the fourth round can change this.

Who would have guessed that stumpy legs can be ridiculously fast? The unit of Forge Guards on the left flank make it all the way to Yana’s terrain objective. That was not polite. Other Forge Guards and Guvul remove all the remaining Shock Troopers.

In the middle, Big Pig moves next to the rock to screen the VIPs and offload all the shots into the Mastodon. A single Forge Guard contest on the right flank.

Scenario score is now 7-7. The picture below shows the fast dwarfs.

7-7. Yana needs points. It is unlikely that she can kill Ossrum. He is hiding behind a big rock. So, she needs to primarily concentrate on scenario points. On the left flank, the Bison charges into the Forge Guards and kill three. At least this point is now contested. The Arkanists in the middle will just fuel the Mastodon and score the home objective.

On the right flank, Yana needs to do something. She charges up, kills the last Forge Guard, and puts a toe in the quicksand, staying outside the charge range of the Earthbreaker. She then continues to kill one of the artilleries with the spears. The remaining officer runs to the quicksand. They are now two and can score. Finally, the Mastodon (finally) shoots the Big Pig to death and removes two Forge Guards on the left.

Lo and behold. She is now at 11 scenario points to Ossrum’s 8. She is on 7 minutes on the clock. Ossrumm on 27 seconds. The picture below shows the situation at T-27 seconds.

Ossrumm has 27 seconds. Let’s see what he can do with that.

It is quite surprising what he can do in 27 seconds. The Bokur on the left charge the Bison and kills it. The last little ‘jack runs to score. On the right flank, the artillery runs to contest both the objective and the terrain. That is it time is up. The picture below depicts the downfall of Ossrum.

That was it. It was close. If Ossrum had flipped the clock, Yana might be in trouble. She wasn’t.

I have managed half of my ambition: at least win one. Formally, I had, kind of won as it was a ‘buy’. However, it feels so much better to actually win.

I’m still not convinced about the Shock Troopers. But, I really would like to get them to work. I know they are only 7 points. But, I still feel they die to easily. Since the puny Black 13 got 8 boxes, I think that would be fitting for the Shock Troopers as well.

This is the second encounter with the new Big Pig. I like it. It is still pretty good, but not redicilous as before. I’m not pretty sure that I want one.

It is clear that my habitus has not done anything good for my game. I think I’m getting confterable with the Valerii list. Yet, the Yana list doesn’t work (yet).

Anyway, onwards to the last game today.

Last game of the day. I’m paired with another nice Swede. He is bringing dead elves to the table. I my local meta, I tend to destroy dead elves. However, this is not my local meta; I’m a bit skeptical.

He is brining Scyrafael the ubiquitous Israfyl and a whole bunch of ‘jacks. Most ‘jack heavy Dusk list I have seen. To quote the Swedish Chef, I think my opponent said that his list does: “Zees is my duosk leest. It is pretty veurd. I hefe-a a lut ouff jecks und tu Specters. Bork Bork Bork!“¹.

Dusk – House Kallyss Scyrafael, Nis-Issyr of Desolations – Eidolon [16] – HEAD – True Sight – RIGHT ARM – Dawn Blade – LEFT ARM – Force Shield – BACK – Vortex Cannon – Eidolon [15] – HEAD – Arcane Stasis – RIGHT ARM – Dawn Blade – LEFT ARM – Force Shield – BACK – Vortex Cannon – Ghast [9] – HEAD – Arc Node – RIGHT ARM – Blaster Fist – LEFT ARM – Force Lash – Israfyl [17] – HEAD – Israfyl – LEFT ARM – Serpentine Blade – RIGHT ARM – Serpentine Blade – BACK – Death Whisper – Specter [10] – Specter [10] Vaelyss, The Hand of Mourning [4] Void Engine [8] – Wight Seeker Adepts [4] Soulless Guardians [8] Command Cards – Careful Reconnaissance – Duck and Cover! – Hit & Run – Lucky Penny – Old Faithful Total Points   99/100

We are playing Wolves at our Heels. Actually a scenario that is quite good for Yana and her pet Mastodon. However, with all the large bases and not being immune to knockdown, I think Valrii might be the option. That is the one I’m going for anyway.

We are playing Wolves at our Heels. I win the roll-off and deceides to go first. This time I (also) pick the side with quicksand on. However, I haven’t got a Mastodon to navigate around it. So, it might actually work to my advantage.

Valerii deploys the Kontroller and pet Dire Wolf on the left flank. They are obviously not going to score the 40 mm, but they can be annoying to anybody trying. The Snipers go on the left flank to sit on the flag or move up to the opposite 40 mm. Everything else basically just go in the middle.

The avid reader might notice that the two Battle Mechaniks are attempting an advance deployment. That is obviously wrong and will be called to order before we proceed.

Scyrafael haven’t got a lot of models. So they basically just clump up around herself in the middle. Let’s all enjoy the Kodak moment in the picture. Before all the hostilities commence.

This is going to be interessting. Heavy armour vs. nimble ‘jacks. Let’s see.

Valerii begins by pushing everything forward, as much as possible. On the left, the Snipers park them selves on the terrain with the flag. On the right, the Kontroller moves left around the house. In the middle everybody spread out to be ready to react to whatever the dead elves come up with.

Valerii puts Escort into action, Superiority on the Avalanche on the left and Puissance on the Wrecking Crew. He then hangs back to watch the show. The picture below depicts the show.

Most of Scyrafael’s army advances cautiously. They are a bit worried about the threat range of the Avalanches. A Specter runs behind the big rock on the right. Probably aiming to mess with the objective terrain. The picture below shows the end of the boring round.

Let’s see if the Motherland can kill some elves and not allow them to kill some back.

This is, so far a lazy afternoon. So, one unit of Suppressors stroll over to the 40 mm objective on the left to score. The Kontroller and Dire Wolf have made space for them by moving in front of the objective. On the right flank, the Snipers move up to the rough terrain near Scyrafael’s 40 mm. They are relieved by a Mechanik and an Officer holding the flag. An Avalanche lumbers over to protect them against the Specter.

In the middle, a unit of Suppressors take point, with the Wrecking Crew right behind. Valerii put a wall behind them and moves up for a better view of the battlefield. The last Avalanche just moves out from the house, to be ready. The picture below shows a lazy Khador afternoon.

Scyrafael starts the first scoring turn by moving the Specter into contesting position of the terrain. It is going to rely on its very hig DEF against both shooting and melee to be an annoyance down there. The second Specter takes up the position that the first one left.

On the left flank, something manage to kill all the Snipers; but not the dog! Israfyl moves to the rightmost 50 mm and an Eidolon moves to the leftmost. All the shield guards stand between them. All of these things and the Void Engine kills the front row Suppressors (again I overestimate their resilience), and gives the Wrecking Crew Vengeance. I think the scenario score is 2-1 in Scyrafael’s favour. The picture below shows how a bunch of dead elves ruin a lazy afternoon.

Once again I overextended Suppressors. When will I ever learn. Anyway, there is work to be done.

Once again I overextended Suppressors. When will I ever learn. Anyway, there is work to be done. I think it is a feat turn for Valerii. He feats and puts a Kill Order the contesting Specter and Israfyl. He also goes Precision Strike and with Tides of War he moves back into safety of the wall.

On the left, the Avalanche slams the Eidolon, yet does not manage to kill it. The Suppressors, Kontroller and Dire wolf moves forward. They might have killed all the Shield Guards. At least they disappeared. There is now room for the Wrecking Crew to charge Israfyl. Under Puissance and Kill Order they most definitely live up to their name (not so much without these two additions). Israfyl disappears.

The right flank is a problem. A Specter has like DEF 17 with Grave Winds on it. What to do? The Avalanche walks up to the Specter, boost to hit, and simply head butts it to the ground. It is only an 8 on three dice. Quite easy. The look on the lovely Swede’s face was worth everything. Once the Specter is down, dismantling it is like a walk in the park.

This ends Valerii’s feat turn, except for the dog contesting the 40 mm. Scenario score is now 3-3. The picture below depicts the result of Valerii’s feat turn.

Scyrafael can feel the pressure. The left flank is a lot cause. So, she is consolidating from the middle and to the right. Scyralfel and the Eidolon clear away the Wrecking Crew from the rightmost 50 mm. The Void Engine moves along and might have contributed with some shooting. In the back, the two lazy ‘jacks who have not contributed shuffles right.

The last Specter, on the right flank moves in and sprays the Officer and Mechanik to death. So no more scoring down there. The Seeker Adepts consolidate in the rubble to score the objective.

All in all, it was actually a better turn for Scyrafel that what appears on the surface. She managed to bring the scenario score to 7-4 in her favour and has seriously limited Valerii’s ability to score. The picture below shows Scyrafel leading the brawl.

Valerii needs to do something or he is slowly but steadily loosing on scenario. Both players have around 30 minutes on the clock. So, don’t panic.

Valerii unfortunately has to drop the wall. He upkeeps Escort and cast Tides of War. He puts a Kill Order on the Eidolon in front of Scyrafel and shuffles a bit backwards. The Avalanche in the middle contemplates slamming the Eidolon over Scyrafel. Unfortunately, it is not Sturdy and it is not going to be damaged by Scyrafles feet. So it will be pushed. It opts for slamming the other Eidolon over the Ghast instead.

The Suppressors on the left flank give up the scoring and move forward to put a lot of shots into the Eidolon in front of Scyrafel. Unfortunately, it is not enough to kill it. This means that Sergei tries to pull the Eidolon in with his Harpoon to finish it off. It is hard to hit an Eidolo… Oh, and the Dire Wolf decides to kill Vaelyss. That was dumb. Don’t do that. She becomes a highly annoying ghost.

On the right flank, the last Avalanche attempts to do the same trick as before. But without the Kill Order, the order is too tall. The Arkanists move in to score. This leaves the scenario score at 7-8 in Scyrafel’s favour. The picture below shows the trouble of Valerii.

Scyrafel is apparently slightly annoyed. The Eidolon in front of her and the Ghast goes into Sergei and kill him. This also makes room for Scyrafel to stand in the middle of the board. This, unfortunately also allows the Eidolon to hit Valerii with its Momentum gun, slamming into the kill box.

The Ghast hears ‘kill box’ and moves to Valerii, who is keeled over. The picture below depicts the ballade of Valerii. You can probably guess what happend.

Oy! I’m just lying around here…

This was an intense game.

Valerii actually did pretty well. I really like the double Avalanche. The opponent has to respect a pretty (for Khador, anyway) threat range. Suppressors are always good. I need to work more on Valerii’s spell casting.

Scyralfel’s feat is hard for Khador ‘jacks. There is no way they are going to be damaged, so they are going to be pushed. On the other hand, all sorts for Man-O-Wars just laugh at the damage and the pushing.

Anyway, it was as always fun. My opponent was nice and at the end of the day I did manage to reach my goals.

Now for a short break and onwards to the thrid day of moving toy soldiers around. I can’t wait.

So far it has been fun. I haven’t faced any opponents where it didn’t matter that we actually played. All my losses are purely down to being worse than my opponent. It is clear that I’m really rusty.

I’m happy with the Valerii list. I think it will remain like this for a while. The Yana list, on the other hand. The Mastodon might have seen its hey days. I still can’t get the Shock Troopers to work. I haven’t given up yet.

Anyway. Tomorrow is another day.

For the Motherland!

Historical, I have had issues with Crucible Guard. Not only have every single model more rules that the entire Khador army, they are also quite adept at dealing with heavy armour. Yet, this is MK IV, so things might have improved. This Gerhart list contains a lot of medium based dudes, three Assault Troopers and one Storm Trooper. Thus, Baranova is summoned to deal with the radicalised youth of Liael. The two lists facing off are: 

Khador – Winter Korps Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova    – Avenging Force    – Fog of War    – Puissance    – Mastodon [34]      HEAD – Fire Support      RIGHT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon      LEFT SHOULDER – Heavy Cannon      RIGHT ARM – Great Axe      LEFT ARM – Grinder Fist AC-2 Bison [10] AC-2 Bison [10] Battle Mechanik [2] Battle Mechanik [2] Magziev Zariyah Volkova [4] Winter Korps Officer [2] Winter Korps Officer [2] Winter Korps Officer [2] Arkanists [4] Man-O-War Wrecking Crew [10] Man-O-War Wrecking Crew [10] Winter Korps Snipers [4]    – Winter Korps Hunting Dog [1] Winter Korps Snipers [4]    – Winter Korps Hunting Dog [1] Command cards     – Blessing of the Gods     – Break Through     – High Alert     – Old Faithful     – Power Swell Total Points   102/100

Crucible Guard – Crucible Guard Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart    – Mr. Clogg Vulcan [28] Ascendant Mentalist [4] Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Crucible Guard Mechanik [1] Doctor Alejandro Mosby [4] Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter [5] Rocketman Ace [3] Rocketman Ace [3] Rocketman Stinger [3] Rocketman Stinger [3] Trancer [2] Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7] Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7] Crucible Guard Assault Troopers [7] Crucible Guard Storm Troopers [9] Dragon’s Breath Rocket [4] Dragon’s Breath Rocket [4] Command Cards     – Careful Reconnaissance     – Hit & Run     – Old Faithful     – Power Swell     – Sapper TOTAL POINTS 100/100

Please not that I accidentally played this list with 102 points! Goring forward, I’m removing one Officer. krjugamer on the SFG discord has been nice and pointed it out.

In some way, the approach from both lists are similar: only one ‘jack, but a rather large one. Gearhart brings a Vulcan and Baranova brings a Mastodon. I guess that on paper the Mastodon is better. However, Crucible typically has more support spells and weird abilities. 

There are also four of the flying men, who tends to be quite mobile and generally a nuisance. The core of the infantry are the Assault Troopers. I remember them as slightly better than old Khador Man-O-Wars. So, this will be interesting. They should probably just be shot, fast. The Rockets does not worry me too much. I seem to remember that they can do some annoying cloud effects. But, I’ll probably manage. 

Gearhart and Vulcan is a dangerous partnership. Not only can he cast Deceleration, which is always annoying to face, he can also cast Snipe on a Vulcan and upkeep Hot Shot. That makes for a pretty dangerous rocket and two quite annoying sprays. Mr. Clogg can also helo his master with several different guns, where I find the Catapult most annoying. It has Shadow Bind; and Baranova only has one ‘jack. 

I think the plan will be something along the lines of kill as much infantry as possible with the Mastodon and the AC2-Bisons. Kill the Vulcan in close combat with the Mastodon and/or the Wrecking Crew. Snipers of objectives and normal annoyance. What could possible go wrong?

We are playing Steamroller 2024 Scenario Battle Lines. Gearhart wins the roll-off and opts to go first. Baranova picks the side with a cloud she can hang out behind.

Gearhart deploys everything in a huge brick in the middle of the board. The Vulcan is to the left of the bulk of the army. 

Baranova deploys like she always does. The Mastodon, more or less in the middle, with all the support and herself next to it. Each flank is occupied by a unit of Snipers, A Bison, a unit of Wrecking Crew and an Officer. She kind of misses the four units of Shock Troopers. But, the Wrecking Crew must suffice.

The picture above depicts the situation before the battle commences. 

Round 1 is usually rather boring. However, Baranova has a Mastodon. So it might be fun. Who knows?

Gearhart advances all of his troops. Snipe goes up on Gearhart along with Deceleration. Deceleration and Assault/Shock Troopers is an unfortunate combination. This gives them +6 ARM against shooting. Boo hiss! That is it.

The picture above shows the result of Gearhart’s advancements.

Baranova is in a good mood. She casts Avenging Force, and with Invocation of Wrath (IoW) and Superiority on the Mastodon, it can walk into shooting distance of the Assault Troopers. So, why waste a present? The combined shooting with a AC-2 Bison and a bit of help from the Arkanists and Volkova, three Assault Troopers, one Shock Trooper and a Dragon Rocket unit disappears. Is is, so far a good day to be a Mastodon.

In addition to the lovely display of fire power, the remaining parts of Baranova’s army just advances. The two units of Snipers spread out. Everybody else just enjoy the show. 

The picture above depicts the situation and the end of round 1. 

Round 2 is where the action typically happens. Gearhart is a bit annoyed that he did not pick up the measuring tape and just eye balled distances. He is now a bit wary of the Mastodon. 

The main event is the movement of Gearhart and some of the Assault Troopers move into the rough terrain in the middle. This obviously makes them somewhat more difficult to shoot. Not only do they get a better DEF but also the +6 to ARM. Quite disappointing, I have to say. Oh, and Gearhart shoots the Bison to the left with Shadow Bind.

A second group of Assault Troopers clutter up to the left. There was some idea behind this, that I forgot. The good doctor does his drug things, probably to make them tough. On the left, a Trancer runs up to the objective. 

Finally, on the right, the Vulcan advances outside the charge range of the Mastodon. The remaining Dragon Rockets move up and shoots a rocket and the Wrecking Crew. The main effect is that they get Vengeance. Hutchuck also joins the party on the right side. Along with a dudess on a rocket, they take out the unit of Snipers (and the dog. Nobody likes dogs!)

The picture above shows how the battlefield looks after Gerhart’s response to the Mastodon shock.

OK. Gearhart is getting twitchy. Baranova wants to get stuff moving. She does not like the looks of the Vulcan. So, she moves to the left. Casts IoW and feats. The Mastodon assumes that the Vulcan can’t kill it and moves forward to the middle of the board. It keeps hammering on the unit in the middle hiding Gearhart. 

On the left, the Snipers just hang back to score the flag. The Bison can’t move due to Shadow Bind. So it just hangs back and enjoys the view. The Wrecking Crew moves into the woods to be ready for the next turn. 

On the right, the second Bison hammes away at the Vulcan, whilst staying near the objective to hopefully score at some point. The Officer charges Hutchuck but can’t manage to kill him. The second Officer runs sideways to be ready to assist. The Wrecking Crew moves forward to be ready for the Vulcan and perhaps be a little in the way. 

The picture above depicts the end of round 2. Scenario score is 2-2. 

Round 3 is typically where battles get decided. Let’s see which way the wind blow. Gearhart needs to put the metal to the pedal.

On the right flank, Hutchuck attempts to retaliate agains the Officer. Luckily, with out any effect. The two flying men moves towards the objective and the Bison; mostly, to be annoying – like little flies. The Dragon’s Breath moves forward and hits the Bison with Withering Humor (-2 DEF and no tough). 

The left flank is rather uneventful. The last flying dude moves to the objective and the Trancer already hanging around there. I assume the Trancer was suppose to move to my Snipes. But apparently, it was napping. 

The main action is in the middle, where the Mastodon learns that it is not particularly good at maths. A Vulcan filled up with focus and all the bells and whistles that Gearhart can do, can actually kill a Mastodon. It was not a overkill. But, nevertheless the Mastodon crumbles.

The picture above shows the sorry state of the battle field after the Mastodon has been reduced to scrap. Scenario score is now 4-3.

This is unfortunate. I was assuming that the Vulcan would make a move on the Mastodon. But, I did not expect it to kill it. On the bright side, most of the remaining army is untouched. Nevertheless, Baranova needs to step up and be creative. I do thing she feated at a good time. It is only the Vulcan that is in her battle line. 

On the left flank, the Bison haven’t got anything better to do than move to the left and kill the Trancer. Second shot goes into the Vulcan that really needs to go away. The Officer moves behind the Bison for Cover and gives Pathfinder to the Wrecking Crew. 

In the middle, the Arkanists lost their ‘jack so it is spray time. They move up and spray the Vulcan. Obviously, Baranova has activated first to cast IoW. Next up is the Mechanik who moves up, shoots and spray the Vulcan. The second Officer gives the other unit of Wrecking Crew Pathfinder as well. It is wrecking time. 

The left most Wrecking Crew charges the Vulcan a brings a lot of hurt. We like Puissance. They are followed by the second unit of Wrecking Crew who thinks this looks like fun. They charge, and when the smoke settles the Vulcan is no more. 

Nothing significant happens on the right flank. Stuff attempts to hit stuff with no real effect. 

The picture above demonstrates the result of Baranova getting her act together. Scenario score is now 6-5 in Gearhart’s favour. 

Both armies are now left with only the infantry (and tanks in Baranova’s case). Let’s see how Gearhart retaliates. 

Gearhart starts by sending the flying dude on the left down behind the house with the flag to contest the point. Another flying dude move to the middle objective and kills some Arkanists. On the right flank, it is business as usually, people hit each other to no effect. 

The real party is in the middle. Obviously, killing the Vulcan did provoke some negative sentiment among the remaining Crucible Guards. They decide to take their anger out on the Wrecking Crews.

The Assault Troopers charge the Wrecking Crew and manage to take out two members of the unit to the right. Some of the other models also attempts to take out the second unit, without any luck. This inspires Gearhart to join the party. He charges the last Wrecking Crew member of the rightmost unit. Luckily, he did not have a full breakfast and is to weak to kill the model. 

Gearhart’s revenge was surprisingly weak. No units disappeared. The turn ends with a scenario score of 8-5 in Gearhart’s favour. The picture above depicts the situation and the end of the first turn of round 4.

Baranova is getting behind on scenario point. So, she really needs to either get some points or just kill Gearhart. Luckily, Gearhart got greedy and manage to place himself in the middle of the board with four annoyed Wrecking Crew members nearby. So, killing Gearhart is the plan.

Kumbaya my lord…

If I was a better player I would probably have played scenario score first and then the assassination run second. But, I’m not. So, all the Wrecking Crew charge in. They roll some dice and to no big surprise Gearhart goes down.

The picture to the left shows Gearhart surrounded by a bunch of Wrecking Crew singing Kumbaya my lord just before Gearhart leaves the party.

This ends the game in round 4. The picture above depicts the end of the game. Scenario score ends at 10-5 in Gearhart’s favour. He would have won if he did not get greedy. 

Fun game with a lot of cool stuff happening. On the less cool side, I clearly underestimated the robustness of the Mastodon. It does a lot of work. Yet, it is not as survivable as it looks. Also, I still need to be better at scenario. They are very important in Steamroller. 

I think I’m getting better at piloting this list. I think that Snipers might have found their place. Park them near a flag and forget them. Bisons are cool. They are quite robust but not really dealing a lot of damage. 

Until next time.
For the Motherland!

I have been playing Vlad1 and his infamous Winter Guards almost exclusively for a bit over a year. It has been fun. Yet, all good things come to an end. The crazy hermit have had weird visions (that are obvious not correct when it comes to Vlad) where Vlad does his last stand (see here for details). It only seems fitting that I also end my Winter Guard Command list with a bang. I took the list to a tournament, where Vlad was allowed to play against anything and everything.

Vlad and his proud Winter Guards

Vlad is again leading the normal list, which has been steady for the last year. For some of the original reasoning behind the list, see here. Compared to the original list, the Mortar Crew has been exchanged for a Greylord Adjunct. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Marauder [11]
 – Greylord Adjunct [0(4)]
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 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]

The tournament is over five games. It was a team tournament where Vlad’s two other team members played Cygnar and Minions. We ended up as number 10 out of 19 teams, so not too shabby. Vlad managed to face Crucible Guards twice, Dwarfs (Mercenaries), Infernals, and Skorne. I am not going to do detailed battle reports for each game; rather, a summary of each.

Crucible Guards is a returning issue. Vlad has faced them once before (see here for battle report), which was also led by Gearhart. They two main obstacles tends to be the Rocketmen and spray trains. Luckily, there are no spray trains here, only a Vulcan. However, a Vulcan is considered lunch for the triple Marauder goodness. The Rocketmen are still an issue, they tend to be really annoying and quite difficult to hit. There are also Trancers here. They are ubiquitous in Crucible Guards lists nowadays. I think I tend to overestimate them. Finally, the Infantry can be really Winter Guard hostile with their shooting. Yet, I’m not too worried. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
– Retaliator [9]
– Vulcan [35]
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
– Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon’s Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller King of the Hill scenario. Gearhart won the roll-off and decided to go first. Vlad pick the side with a linear obstacle. He really likes to stay behind those.

Gearhart deployed with all the shooting on the left flank (Archon, Dragon Breath and Infantty), the Rocketmen go the the right flank, and all the rest in the middle, with the Vulcan slightly to the right. Vlad deploys in the standard formation. The picture below shows the end of the deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most other first rounds: everybody moves forward. Gearhart moves everything forward and spreads the infantry out a lot. Vlad does more or less the same thing, with the addition of the two carriages taking pot shots and the Archon, with no effect, and the Rocketmen, where it actually manages to take out two.

The second round starts off with the guards doing some of their dirty tricks. The Retaliator sprays Black Humor on one of the Marauders, whilst the Vulcan puts rust on another Marauder. The Rocketmen pushes forward on the right flank and engage a Field Gun and a carriage. All in all, the guards are now in all zones and in a situation to score at all objects and the flag. Vlad needs to be creative to not start loosing on scenario. Creativity equals feat time! This early feat brings one Marauder into the face of the Vulcan and one far into the centre zone to contest both zone and flag. The last one is held back as a backup. The two carriages do what they do best. They move into the rectangular zones, clear out an Archon, an objective, and a few Rocketmen. Suddenly, Vlad is ahead on scenario.

Round three is a cleaning up round for Gearhart. He removes the two Marauders who went upfield – and the reserve! Vlad retaliates by keeping on killing Rocketmen and lopping grenades on the Vulcan. He also keeps on scoring and contesting.

The fourth round starts with the Vulcan removing the remains of one of the Gun Carriages, and thinning out in the Winter Guards. He also sacrifices troops to keep on contesting. But, he is slowly but steadily running out of steam (and clock). As a last attempt, a few Rocketmen attempts to assassinate Vlad. Clearly without success. Vlad takes advantages of these weaknesses and (finally) gets the Gun Carriage to remove the Vulcan, whilst the remaining contesting troops are killed. Vlad returns the clock to Gearhart, who then proceeds to clock himself. The picture below shows the end of the fourth round and the game.

End of game

Victory to the Motherland! We ended with 4 scenario points to Vlad and none to Gearhart. Vlad killed the equivalent of 87 points, whilst he had to hand over 54 points to Gearhart. All in all, a good result. There really isn’t any big comments to be made. It is the perfect scenario for this list. Vlad behaved and no great mistakes were made.

Surprisingly, Vlad is not too familiar with Skorne. I’m aware of the rumour of them being quite difficult. There are two of these Animantarax; they are definitely “good value” for the points. Yet, they are huge bases, so the Marauders will be a natural threat to them. I have never faced Rasheth before. Besides having a natural affinity with well build men, I have no idea what he does (I did, however receive a good description by my very nice opponent). It seems to be a shooting and scenario list. With the two battle engines and the cyclops, along with the many solos, it could be an interesting battle. It also turns out that the opponent is pretty adept (this teams actually comes second in the whole tournament). Nevertheless, Vlad is ready to face the following list:

[Theme] Disciples of Agony

[Rasheth 1] Dominar Rasheth [+28]
– Agonizer [0(6)]
– Basilisk Krea [0(7)]
– Cyclops Raider [9]
– Cyclops Shaman [8]
– Cyclops Shaman [8]
Bog Trog Mist Speaker [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [0(4)]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Paingiver Task Master [3]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Siege Animantarax [17]
Siege Animantarax [17]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Spread the Net scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and decides to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern, with two Marauders on the left flank. Rasheth deploys himself on the right flank with all the cyclops. The two battle engines go in the middle, and the rest on the left flank. The picture below depicts the end of the deployment phase.

Deployment

The first round takes off with Vlad pushing forward, more or less as far as possible. That is pretty important in this scenario. This brings the left carriage up to the flag, and the other one into the zone. So far, so good. Rasheth shuffles his tropps around and manages to take down the Gun Carriage on the right flank.

Second round means even more pushing forward. Rasheth and his army doesn’t appear to want to fight. So, Vlad has to bring the fight to him. One Marauder is parked in the zone to the right to start scoring. The last Gun Carriage has to push forward into the Skorne zone on the right. Everybody else go forward, and an Artillery Kapitan on the left flag. Rasheth continues his “I haven’t got a pair” approach with the two battle engines shuffling forward, shooting and then do a “Cygnar-advance”. Unfortunately, this approach is efficient and cost Vlad his second carriage. The Void Archon moves forward to contest the rightmost zone and tie up the Marauder.

The third round starts off with a scenario score of 1-1, Vlad needs to score, as it is unlikely that he will get rid of the two battle engines. The Void Archon is taken care of, and the Marauder moves forward to still score but also contest the flank on the right flank. The left most Marauder moves into the cloud and kills the solo standing there and puts a foot in the left zone. Finally, Vlad moves up behind the last Marauder to score the middle zone. This actually put Vlad at 4-1 in scenario score! Rasheth is feeling the scenario pressure. The two battle engines are finally moving forward. This kills the leftmost Marauder and the Kapitan at the flag. There is now a battle engine in the leftmost zone and two cyclops in the middle zone. All of the Winter Guards have also disappeared. Scenario is now at 5-3 in Vlad’s favour.

Fourth round is finally feat round. Not feating has actually kept everybody from getting too far forward. Defensive (not) use of Vlad’s feat is not to be frown upon. Making three scenario points will win the battle for Vlad. This is doable, as the rightmost Marauder will score automatically, Joe can move to the flag of the left and score. So, cleaning up the middle zone will win the game. Vlad and a Marauder goes into action and kills everything but a Valkyrie, She is taken care of by the rightmost Field gun and Joe. The game should be secure. Herein lies the mistake. The leftmost Field Gun also wants to shoot at stuff and kills the last Valkyrie in the unit. The game is now lost. I completely forgot that a battle engine has a foot in the leftmost zone. So, instead of a scenario score of 8-3, it is 8-4!

Fifth round kills Vlad. The picture below shows the end of the game. The red arrow depicts what the field gun did: it shot a Valkyrie. The green arrow depicts what it should have done: moved into the leftmost zone to contest.

End of game, due to greed!

This was going surprisingly well. Vlad was actually pretty much in control. Pushing hard forward and saving the feat gave him a really strong scenario pressure. He had actually won the game. But, the man behind the line got carried away and went into a killing spree instead of thinking. There is no excuse for this behaviour, and Vlad had words with him after the game. This was really annoying!

Anyway, Rasheth should be happy that Privateer Press removed the guideline: “play like you got a pair”. This game was much more a: “I can shuffle forward and shoot, and then run away and hide again”. Apparently, not having a pair is a winning strategy, at least when it comes to killing the enemy. Vlad could probably have been even more aggressive to get Marauders to the battle engines. However, Vlad was in control until he was led down by the man behind the line.

Ossrum and all of his bunnies are often difficult. Vlad has not faced them before, but Irusk with his Winter Guards have (for battle report see here). The spray bunnies are really Winter Guard hostile. The two Drillers are surprisingly dangerous, given their low cost. The combination of Ossrum and the Hammer Strike theme is deceptively mobile. The combination of Energizer, Bulldoze from the theme and the feat is dangerous. The benefit is that when they move as fast as they can, they are quickly within reach of Vlad’s feat. The extra new feature, which I haven’t seen before is the Siege Crawler. It seems to be pretty good. It is clearly food for Marauders. Vlad is ready and pretty confident facing Ossrum’s list:

[Theme] Hammer Strike

[Ossrum 1] General Ossrum [+28]
 – Ghordson Driller [10]
 – Ghordson Driller [10]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Blaster [6]
 – Grundback Gunner [6]
 – Grundback Gunner [6]
Harlowe Holdemhigh [0(5)]
Thor Steinhammer [4]
 – Ghordson Avalancher [15]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Hammerfall Siege Crawler [18]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Invasion scenario. Ossrum wins the rolloff and opts to go first. Vlad chooses the side with a trench to stand in. Ossrum deploys many ‘jacks on the left flank, along with Thor and his Avalancher. The Siege Crawler goes on the right flank along with the infantry. Everything else goes in the middle. Vlad deploys in standard formation, with two Marauders on the right to counter the Siege Crawler. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most first rounds. Ossrum and his motley crew rush forward, keeping the artillery a bit behind. Vlad does more or less the same. However, the two carriages pull out on the flanks to avoid the extreme charge range of Ossrum’s ‘jacks. The Rifle Corps on the left stay behind, whilst the rightmost spread out to avoid blast. Vlad goes into his trench.

Ossrum feats at the beginning of the second round and hurl his army forward. A Field Gun and half of the rightmost Rifle Corps disappear to a combination of bunnies and Siege Crawler. Personally, I thought it might have been a bit early to feat. But, on the other hand it puts pressure on Vlad. Vlad counter feats. On the left side, there is a knockdown galore. The combination of the last Field Gun, the Gun Carriage and Marauders remove some of the ‘jacks and knockdown a lot, leaving easy targets for the Winter Guards. The right flank is more difficult. Forge Guards under feat is really really difficult to get rid off. So, the Rifle Corps and the Gun Carriage can only try to contain the flank.

The third round begins with Ossrum cleaning up the right flank. The combination of a Siege Crawler and a unit of Forge guards is surprisingly dangerous. On the left flank, nothing happens as Ossrum’s ‘jacks hit the Khador wall of steel. One of the Drillers breaks through and kills the objective. This is an interesting battle. The battle field has kind of flipped 90 degrees. Vlad moves his army around the left flank. The Gun Carriage moves forward and shoots at Ossrum, who is in the middle of the centre zone, behind the forest. Two of the Marauders clear ‘jacks away. The Rifle Corps move into the zone to score. Vlad moves towards the zone, there is a Driller nearby. The last Marauder makes it through the forest and starts hitting Ossum. Unfortunately, it runs out of focus before Ossrum runs out of boxes (he has two left).

Ossum is for all practical reasons dead. There is a completely factory new Marauder in his face. The circle in the picture below shows Ossrum’s nightmare. He needs a Hail Mary in the fourth round. After much deliberation, Ossrum has a plan. He allocates focus to the Driller on Vlad’s part of the battle field. He casts Energizer (see arrow on the picture below). The Driller moves forward close to Vlad. It is touch and go if the Driller can get away with it here. He rolls to hit with the Drill – and rolls double six (see picture to the right). Game over. The Drill has Sustained Attack. Much jubilation and taunting is now going on behind Ossrum’s lines.

A Hail Mary saves the day!

I many ways, this was touch and go. If Ossrum hadn’t pull out a bunny (actually a Driller) of his hat, he would have been dead the following round. Vlad could probably have protected himself better by filling up with troops between himself and the Driller. 

I don’t really enjoy Infernals. I have played them a couple of times, and they are just too much a “got you” faction. Their weird mechanics and the option to keep on bringing Horrors onto the table doesn’t really work well for the game, and give a negative play experience. I would assume that this would also hold for the one playing Infernals, but the faction seems to attract a certain type of players. I could be tempted to just fold and ignore them, as I find Infernal games really boring. However, it is Vlad’s last stand. So, he charges onto the table hell bent on going down in flames. He is eagerly awaiting to face the following list (while the man behind the line rather would be in the bar):

[Theme] Dark Legacy

[Zaateroth 1] Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows [+26]
– Foreboder [4]
– Soul Stalker [13]
– Tormentor [12]
– Tormentor [12]
– Lord Roget d’Vyaros [4]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5]
Great Princess Regna Gravnoy [0(6)]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
The Wretch [4]
The Wretch [4]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
– Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter [4]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
Griever Swarm (min) [8]
Infernal Gate [12]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Anarchy scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and thinks if there is to be a chance in hell, he has to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern. The Infernals put some stuff on the table. To be fair, it was a very lovely painted army. The picture below shoes the end of deployment.

First round: Vlad charges ahead. Infernals moves forward.

Second round: The Gun Carriage on the left flank digs deep into the Infernals. Everybody else really wanted to shoot. But clearly there is some Infernal trick against that. The infernals do infernal stuff and kill most of Vlad’s army. Anybody arguing that the heavy horrors are balanced because they are squishy can only be an infernal player.

Third round: Vlad charges a Soul Stalker to go down in flames. He surprisingly misses and it moves away. So much for a heroic final stand. Infernals kill Vlad. See picture below.

What can I say? To be fair, it is clear that playing this Vlad WGK list into Infernals is obviously not a good idea by any measurement. But, Vlad is on a mission. Yet, I find Infernals really really boring. One could argue that the mechanics is new and fun. You can summon horrors at a cost, there is a gamble to be made. One would clearly be wrong. I’m getting a GW 40k feeling when thinking about them… 

Wait a minute, haven’t I seen this army before? It is identical to the one I faced in the first game. This is the last game of the day. So, there is some beauty in the symmetry. It is, however a different player piloting the army this time. Vlad beat the guards in the first game. So, there should be a reasonable chance in this game. Unfortunately, I suspect that this player is better than the first one I faced. Vlad is ready to face (again) the following list:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
– Retaliator [9]
– Vulcan [35]
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
– Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon’s Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Recon II scenario. Gearhart wins the rolloff and decides to go first. Vlad picks the side with the lovely wall to lean on. Gearhart deploys with the Vulcan in the middle, the Rocketmen on the right flank, and the infantry on the left. The Archon also goes on the left, whilst everything else go in the middle. Vlad just deploys in standard formation. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

The first round is very much like most other first rounds. Gearhart advances everything. Vlad counters by doing the same. The two Gun Carriages advance and toe each of their zones. They also take pot shots. With no effect, except a few difficult terrain.

Round two starts off with the Vulcan, Infantry and Retaliator removing the Gun Carriage on the right flank. The Archon advances on the left flank and kills a few too many Rifle Corps. Gearhart also uses his Vitriloic Ingression Catapult on the Gun Carriage, so it can’t advance (actually he keeps on doing this for the whole game). Vlad pays back by having the Gun Carriage and Rifle Corps on the left flank kill the Archon back. On the right flank a Marauder, in combination with the Rifle Corps and Field Gun take out the Retaliator. The other Marauders move forward to bring them within charge range (under feat) of the Vulcan. Each player score a flag.

The third round sees the Infantry clear out most of the Rifle Corps on the right flank. The Vulcan moves forward and finish off a Marauder. On the right flank, the Rocketmen fly forward and remove the last of the Rifle Corps. Vlad is slightly annoyed by the progress, or rather lack of. He fills up the Marauders, but keeps his feat. The remaining shooting on the right flank and a Marauder kills the Vulcan. The last Marauder charges forward and puts itself with in easy charge range of Gearhart himself – and Vlad’s feat is still unused. So, Gearhart is in serious trouble. The Adjunct sprays some infantry of the board, and Joe moves to score. On the left flank the carriage and a Kapitan kill half the Rocketmen. They are quite difficult to get rid of. Scenario score is now 4-2 in Gearhart favour.

Fourth round. Gearhart needs to be creative or have a date with a fully loaded Marauder under feat. Unfortunately, he does. He moves the Rocketmen to contest Joe’s flag. Some solo to score his flag whilst contesting the zone, and Gearhart moves into the right zone… and here we go, a scenario score of 7-2. The picture below shows the terrible situation.

This was going pretty well. I really managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! It is the details that makes you loose. If I had been thinking I would have placed the Marauder a fraction of an inch to the right with a toe in the zone (see top circle in the picture above). But, I (once again) got greedy and wanted to kill two Mechaniks instead of just one. Also, why would Joe stand next to a flag, and not have a foot in the zone? That was just sloppy. So, if I haven’t be greedy and watching positioning, and I would have won.

It was a fantastic tournament. I really like team-tournament. Nice opponents and team.

I went 1-4 in this tournament. It should probably have been 3-2 or even 4-1. It turns out that I need to concentrate more. The first game was fine. Not any huge mistakes. In the second game, against Skorne I got carried away when I though I had won. The third game agains Mercenaries, was 50/50. I could probably have won if I had been more cleaver in my last turn. Infernals was lost before I began. Finally, the last game was again an example of greed.

So, in sum: 1) Don’t be greedy; 2) Think positioning; 3) Watch scenario.

Wave goodbye Vlad

This was the end of Vlad and his fantastic Winter Guard Kommand. He almost went out with style. I really enjoy playing this list. It has almost everything it needs. It clearly needs a good second list for tournaments, but I can handle a surprisingly large array of opponents.

I will write-up my experiences with Winter Guard Kommand over a year and a half shortly. Until then:

For the Motherland!

The Crucible Guards are at it again. Apparently they can’t seem to accept finally begin part of the Motherland. I have faced them several times before. Three times with Irusk2 (battle reports here, here, and here). This time it falls to Vlad1 to exert the Empress’ justice. The Vlad1 list is the new version of Winter Guard Kommand, which is detailed here. The two lists are as follows:

Crucible Guard Army – 74 / 75 points [Theme] Magnum Opus [Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27] – Vindicator [15] – Vulcan [35] – Aurum Legate Alyce Marc [5] Crucible Guard Mechanik [2] Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [0(4)] Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter [6] Combat Alchemists [7] Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15] – Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [0(4)] Dragon’s Breath Rocket [5] Steelhead Halberdiers (max) [11] – Doctor Alejandro Mosby [0(4)]

Khador Army – 74 / 75 points [Theme] Winter Guard Kommand [Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [4] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [3] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(4)] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(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]

I have faced Crucible Guards too many times. They are always difficult. They all seem to have at least one rule on their card that just counters anything Khador can throw at them. There is a new kid on the block, at least for me. This time it is Baldwin Gearhart and his sidekick mr. Clogg, whom I have never faced before. They are running Magnus Opus in the pre-Oblivion version, where Weapon Crews get Reposition 3″ and +1 on the starting roll.

Gearhart is new to me, it’s usually Mackay facing me. He has a build in ability that gives +1 to attack rolls to faction warriors within his command. He can also do Battle plans, which are either an additional dice on friendly faction’s model/unit first non-spray attack; or if a friendly faction model is missed by a ranged attack it can shoot back; or friendly faction models can ignore each other for LOS and movement, within command.

Mr. Clogg is his little sidekick who can change Gearhart’s gun into four different types: 12″ range, AOE 4, POW 14, continuous corrosion, arcing fire; 8″ range, POW 15, d3 slam; 10″ spray, POW 13 critical stationary (cold); or 13″ range, POW 10, magical, models hit suffer -3 DEF and can’t advance. Mr. Clogg can also make Gearhart do an additional melee or ranged attack.

Gearhart is equipped with four spells. He does Boundless Charge (+2″ movement and Pathfinder); Deceleration (+2 ARM to models in his control); Hot-Shot (boosted range attack rolls for model in battlegroup); and Snipe (+4″ range for model/unit range attack).

Finally, his feat make a kind of chain Prey (+2 to attack and damage rolls), where everybody gets pray agains a model/unit, and when that is killed a new model/unit gets it.

Gearhart is running the Vulcan colossal, a Vindicator, and has Alyce as an attachment. Aurum Legate Alyce Marc is a classic Warcaster attachment – with a twist. She offers Empower, Guidance, and Harmonious Exaltation to Mackay. In addition, she can transform into Big Alyce (she will automatically if Little Alyce dies). Big Alyce is a Tough, Hyper-Regeneration, Countercharging and Jumping monster. “She” has two P+S 14 claws. I still have to see Big Alyce in action.

The Vulcan is the colossal from Crucible Guard. It is Winter Guard doom incarnated. Its Alchemical Vents can remove tough within 5″, or give rust (-2 ARM for our ‘jacks). Combining this with its main gun, which can bring a 4″ no tough bubble 14″ inches away from it, and 20″ if it moves. So, basically anything within 24″ of it could potentially loose tough. Using focus, it can do it twice. To add insult, it has two 10″ sprays, POW 14. It can really remove Winter Guards as a pro.

Finally, the Vindicator is a heavy that hits pretty ok, with a reach 2″ P+S 17 maul. As with most Crucible Guard stuff, it can obviously also shoot with a huge gun. The range 12″ (range 16″ if it aims) 4″ AOE, POW 14 gun can really hurt. One might think: “POW 14, ok, that’s no so bad”. But clearly there is yet another a rule: Decrepitation, giving it an addition die agains our ‘jacks. So an average of 28 points of damage on the charge is not to be frown upon.

Gearhart has also solicited the assistance of Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter and the mad Alchemist Gorman di Wolf. The former is famous for his ability to ambush from the side. He can throw a variety of grenades and hit people on their head with his mace. He is very often a nuisance, in particular when his enemy is shooting heavy. So the Winter Guards better watch their flanks. Gorman is well know for the variety of grenades he can throw. Luckily, he has never pushed a lot of iron so he can only thrown them 6″.

The Dragon Breath Rocket is also a steady addition to all the Crucible Guards lists I see. It is basically their version of our Mortars. Personally, I think they got a super deal for just a cost of one point more. The are good at removing infantry, and as they get a 3″ Reposition from the theme they are even more dangerous.

As an interesting surprise, Gearhart has payed out for a unit of Steelhead Halberdiers. They are cheap infantry removers and road block. They do not really pose any significant threat to Khador’s ‘jacks or carriages. The mercenaries have Doctor Alejandro Mosby attached to them, which first and foremost make them friendly faction. He can also juice them up with either The Good Stuff (making them tough) or Fortemorphic Elixir (giving the +2 STR and Overtake). Finally, he has a mini-feat making friendly Crucible Guards warriors tough (on a 4+) within 7″.

The only “proper” unit is a unit of Crucible Guard Infantry with trimmings. They are potentially a threat to be taken serious. They can shoot 12″ and 16″ under Gearhart’s Snipe spell. So they do out-range the Winter Guards. They can also do CRA and has a 3″ Reposition. They also have the mini-feat Support Fire (which we know of from our own Bombardiers) that allows to shoot twice if they aim.

Finally, he brings a Crucible Guard Mechaniks and a unit of Combat Alchemists. The former is just a better Mechanik; whereas the latter are grenade throwing could-walls. The most important attacks they can do are probably Continuous Corrosion, and remove upkeeps.

We are playing the Steamroller 2018 scenario Standoff, pre-Oblivion. We both chose the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″). Crucible Guards goes first. I managed to forget to take a picture of the deployment, so it has to be by memory.

The Guards deploy with the Infantry on my right flank, and the Halberdiers supported by the Vulcan on the left flank. Every thing else goes in the middle, except for Hutchuk who decides to Ambush.

Vlad deploys with a Gun Carriage on each flank (this time a Trollblood Warwagon is stand-in for a carriage), each with a Field Gun on their side. The triple Marauder deploy side by side, slightly to the left staring at the Vulcan. All the rest goes into the middle (in the picture below, the Khador deployment can still be seen).

Round 1 is seldom too eventful, but I have been taken by surprise by the Crucible Guards before. So let’ see how it goes. I have to admit I’m not too scared. I think the carriages can easily handle the infantry, and the triple Marauder should allow at least one to get to the Vulcan; and one is sufficient.

End of turn 1

As usually everything goes forward as fast as possible to get into favourable positions. Gearhart helps as best he can, by casting Snipe on the Crucible Guard Infantry and Deceleration on himself. On the right flank the Infantry get into position on the edge of the zone. On the left side the Vulcan goes up then hill, the Halberdiers spread out in front, and the Alchemists make a wall of clouds. All the rest just moves forward. The picture above depicts the end of the Crucible Guards movement.

Forward onto glory. There really isn’t that much more to say. Vlad moves up and cast Signs & Portents, and Wind Wall. The two Gun Carriages each moves forward and take potshots at the enemies, well aware that they are outside range. This results in two 4″ rough terrain AOEs nicely placed in front of the Infantry on the right flank. On the left flank, the Carriage manage to take out on Halberdier and one Alchemist, whilst leaving two rough terrains. The Marauders run forward toward the Vulcan. All Winter Guards also moves forward; some of them nicely spreading out in a circle around Vlad in case they need to sacrifice themselves. The picture above shows the end of Khador’s advancement.

So far, so good. I think it can go both ways. However, I’m in a good mood. Yet, the Vulcan will arrive. 

Gearhart starts this round by feating. and designates one of the Marauders as the first prey. Everybody starts shooting at the poor Marauders (from memory at least the Vulcan, Dragon’s Breath, and Vindicator contributed to the mayhem). Once the smoke settles, and prey has been moved to the second Marauder, both have crumbled. There is only one Marauder left. The Halberdiers contributes primarily by moving in to become road bumps. My left flank took a heavy toll. On the right flank, it is another story. The Infantry mini-feats and shoots at the Gun Carriage. It survives. Finally, Hutchuk arrives on the right flank and ties up a Winter Guard unit.

That was basically it. The picture above shows the result of the Crucible Guard slaughter. It took a heavy toll on my left flank and once again I seem to have lost my ‘jacks too fast. On the other hand, not all is lost. Both Gun Carriages are still alive and I have one Marauder left (and most of the Winter Guards of course). I’m only slightly worried.

End of round 2 – end of game

So the only way is to get even. I have one Marauder left. If I can get it to the Vulcan it should (on a good day) be able to remove it. The two Gun Carriages should be able to deal with the infantry.

Vlad allocates focus to the Marauder. The Objective also heals it a bit. Vlad then activates, casts S&P, and feats. On the right flank, Joe says Courage of the Forefathers to the Rifle Corps who then charges Hutchuk. Alas, to no avail. The Gun Carriage charges one of the Crucible Guard Infantry and does a lot of impacts on the way. It then shoots a lot and takes out some more, and leaves only five troopers alive.

On the left flank, the Rifle Corps move forward and peppers the Halberdiers with rifle shots. All grenades goes into the Vulcan. This cleans up the path for the Marauder. The Field Gun and the Mortar (under Artillerist) also contributes. The Gun Carriage wants to charge the Vulcan but forgets that the Halberdiers are Tough. So, the charge is cut short. Silly me.

But here comes the Marauder. Under Vlad’s feat it can charge 11″ and threat 12″, which is sufficient. A charge attack agains a colossal gives an average of 32 points of damage. That leaves four attacks at an average of 29 points of damage per attack. All in all, it should do an average of 53 points of damage to the Vulcan (it only has 58 boxes). Luckily, It have already been shot a bit, and it goes off the table.

The picture above shows the glorious result of the Empress’ finest. Gearhart and his Crucible Guards are broken. The Marauder will probably not survive next round, as the Vindicator is within charge range. However, both Gun Carriages are alive and well. There are plenty of Winter Guards around. Gearhart concedes defeat.

There isn’t much to say. Unfortunately, I don’t think this victory was purely down to brilliant play from my side. I actually think that Gearhart et al. had lost before the got on the table. The matchup fitted Vlad’s liste really well.

The only real issue I had was the usual problem of loosing my ‘jack too fast (that is why I have a backup, and a backup to the backup). I have to learn to anticipate shooting. 

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

Once again, Crucible Guards are trying to disrupt the Empress’ peace, and once again Irusk is called upon to bring order to the group of deranged alchemists. Irusk has faced Mackay before (see here for that battle report) and is not particular intimidated, even though he knows it is not going to be easy. Irusk brings his trusted WGK list (as described here), the Crucible Guard list is as follow:

Irusk has tried his luck once before against Mackay. Despite the fact that he lost to the clock it was not too bad. This time, the Crucible Guard list is slightly different, yet revolves around the same.

Captain Eira Mackay is a ‘caster that supports ‘jacks pretty well, and she is riding in a Railless Interceptor – the spray-train from hell. She does the usual three spays and the Corrosion 4″ AOE. Combined with the Dragon Breath Rocket, which removes tough, this spells bad news for the guardsmen. In addition to the one she is riding in, she also brings another one. So two spray-trains to deal with. This is why Irusk brings Marauders to the party.

She brings four ‘jack-supporting spells to the table: Fail-safe, which give +2 SPD to a jack and let’s it ignore crippled systems; Jumpstart, which allows ‘jacks to stand up (so it’s cheaper to get out of knockdowns from our Field Guns and Marauders); Mobility, which is very strong, it give +2 SPD and Pathfinder to her ‘jacks within her control range (so much for Artifice of Deviation); and Return Fire. Finally, her Feat is really destructive. It gives boosted damage rolls to constructs within her 12″ control range (herself, the other train, the two Toros, the three Vanguards, the Vindicator, the Suppressor, and Prospero).

Mackay brings five ‘jacks to the table: two Toros, and three Vanguards. In addition, she is also companied by Aurum Legate Alyce Marc. The Toros are basically just cheap beat sticks. They do, however have native Counter Charge, which is worth looking our for. Combined with Mackay’s spell Mobility, not even terrain will hinder a counter charge. The Vanguards are mostly there for the Shield Guards, which they can do twice per turn due to the theme.

Aurum Legate Alyce Marc is a classic warcaster attachment – with a twist. She offers Empower, Guidance, and Harmonious Exaltation to Mackay. In addition, she can transform into Big Alyce (she will automatically if Little Alyce dies). Big Alyce is a Tough, Hyper-Regeneration, Countercharging and Jumping monster. “She” has two P+S 14 claws.

Prospero is also present. He is a pretty good junior warcaster. He gives warjacks within 8″ +1 on attack rolls (not only his warjacks). He is also capable of casting two spells: Guided Fire gives boosted ranged attack rolls; and Instability Equation, which allows a ‘jack to stand up, remove Stationary and Disruption. It gains three focus, but becomes Unstable. He is paired with a Suppressor in this list. The Suppressor is a bit pillow fisted (POW 14), but it makes up for that by being yet another spray-master from hell. It can do two sprays, which can be either Ice Cage (which we know of), cause continuous fire damage, or give Rust (-2 ARM to constructs); and of course it has Dual Attack.

The Dragon Breath Rocket is also a steady addition to the Crucible Guards lists I see. It is basically their version of our Mortars. Personally, I think they got a super deal for just a cost of one point more. Its most important feature here is its ability to drop 4″ AOEs on us that remove tough.

Finally, she brings two Crucible Guard Mechaniks and a unit of Combat Alchemists. The former are just better Mechaniks; whereas the latter are grenade throwing could-walls. The most important attacks they can do are probably Continuous Corrosion, and remove upkeeps.

Despite the fact that Crucible Guards are not an optimal opponent for a WGK-list, Irusk is slightly optimistic. The last time he faced Mackay it was OK. So it is time for revenge.

We are playing Invasion, Crucible Guards goes first. We both opt for the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″).

Crucible guards deploy the spray-train on my left flank, along with Prospero and his Suppressor. In the middle goes all the ‘jacks. Slightly to the right, Mackay puts down her train and the Dragon Breath on my right flank. The Solos are scattered behind the line. 

Irusk deploys in the standard manner: One Rifle Corps and Field Gun on each flank; Irusk in the middel with the Infantry, the Mortar, and the solos. The Marauders Advance Move in the middle. I’ve got deployment and Advance Move consistently down to there minutes, which is pretty nice. The picture above shows the deployment of both armies.

So, fast stuff, +2 deployment from Mackay’s theme, and going first. Pressure is on the zones fast. The Crucible Guard moves everything forward, except for the Dragon Breath. The two Vanguards stay close to Mackay so they can use their shield guard, if some Winter Guards got the idea of shooting at her – which they might. The Alchemist make their could wall between the two solid objects on the left flank. All in all, an uneventful round. 

So, the Mackay moved into the right zone, so she is ready to score in the next round. The left round zone is easier, as one of the Alchemists are outside. The middle one will most likely be contested forever. On the left flank the Rifle Corps advances a bit. Hopefully some of them can stay outside the spray range of both the spray-train and the Suppressor on that flank.

The Marauders advance cautiously. Irusk casts Solid Ground, Fire for Effect on the left Field Gun, and Artifice of Deviation in from of the Alchemists cloud wall (this is very likely a waste of time, but at the very least it can force Mackay to cast Mobility). He then feats. Primarily as a defensive measure. Joe holds an inspiring For the Motherland speech to the Rifle Corps on the right flank (this is part of a cunning scheme). The Infantry just advances a bit and tries to stand in the way of any Crucible Guards charges in the next round.

Time for the cunning plan. Both Field Guns shoot at each of the Vanguards, does a bit of damage and knocks them down. Lo and behold, Mackay is now without shield guards. The Mortar and the Rifle Corps on the right shoots everything at her, and does a reasonable amount of damage. Finally, the Adjunct drops a cloud on a Winter Guard to block line of sight to the rightmost Marauder. The round took 15 minutes, a bit too slow to my taste. The picture above depicts the situation at the end of turn 1.

The Crucible Guards are annoyed by Irusk’s feat, and rightly so. I assume that they had envisioned a huge charge and spray round.

On my left flak the Alchemists move into the zone to be able to score. The Suppressor moves up and spray som of the Winter Guards to death – some of them are tough, though. On the right flank, the Dragon Breath moves up and blast some of the Rifle Corps on the right flank to smithereens. Mackay move up a bit and spray some more Winter Guards. Then she makes a Cygnar-move (they call it tactical retreat). One of the Vanguards charge the rightmost Marauder and does an insignificant amount of damage. One of the Toros and one of the Vanguards move close to Mackay to protect her. The picture above shows the end of round 1.

Irusk upkeeps his spells and allocates one focus to each of the Marauders, keeping two to cast Energizer. That will once again leave him naked. This seems to be a recurring theme. Joe moves to the left at shouts For the Motherland to the Rifle Corps on the left flank. They then move into the zone and take a few pot shots at the Alchemist, without much results. The Field Guns knock down the Vanguard and Toro next to Mackay. Remaining stuff with guns shoot everything af Mackay and remove a few more boxes. A few of the Rifle Corps on the right flank shoots at the Dragon Breath and remove the two grunts. Irusk activates and uses Energizer to get the two Marauders on the left past the Objective. They then proceed to move up to the Toro and Vanguard near Mackay. But fails to kill anything. Finally, the rightmost Marauder kills the Vanguard in front of it. Nobody score any scenario points. The picture above shows the end of the turn.

Mackay is pretty hurt right now, but still alive and kicking. She is actually in a better position than Irusk, as she has control over the left flank, and the left side of the middle.

On my left flank some more spraying and grenade throwing take place and kills more Rifle Corps. The few inside Irusk’s tough zone actually pass quite a few tough checks, but succumbs at the end. The Suppressor changes my objective but in a feat of incompetence manage not to kill it. Prospero casts Instability Equation on the middle Toro. The remaining Vanguard and the two Toros (one of them represented by a green proxy base in the pictures) gang up to remove the two Marauders. They manage to get rid of one of them, and almost kill the other one. This whole affair ends with one of the Toros blowing up due to Instability Equation. Crucible Guards manage to score one scenario point, leaving the score at 1-0 in Mackay’s favour. That is about it, and Irusk is in a better shape than expected. The picture above shows the end of round 1.

So, the left flank is completely lost, the Winter Guards are decimated, and there is a Suppressor staring at Irusk. Only one thing to do: kill Mackay. Luckily, the Suppressor did not manage to kill the objective, so it can remove enough damage from the damaged Marauder to make it functional again. Irusk only upkeeps Fire for Effect and fills up the two Marauders. The Field Gun shoots the Vanguard and knocks it down. Right now there are two fully loaded Marauders within charge range of Mackay. The one closest to Irusk changes (the other one is kept ready in backup). Let me put it gently: a fully loaded Marauder ending a charge next to a huge-based model spells bad days for it. Mackay is dead. The picture above is the famous last shot of Mackay just before several Ram Pistons impact her.

This actually went above expectations. I think Mackay could have won this by just keeping back, but I’m not completely sure. I don’t think I made any major mistakes this time around. I should of course have killed the Dragon Breath and one, or more of the two ‘jacks near Mackay for Scenario points and Army Points. But I’m happy just killing Mackay.

Until the next time:

For the Motherland!

I really don’t like Crucible Guard. They are quite difficult to handle. There is always some rule that just ruins your life by killing troops or protecting themselves. The only comfort is that with all of the rules (each card has more rules than the entire Khador faction put together), they are often clocking themselves. Nevertheless, Irusk laughs in the face of insurgents and despite earlier mishaps, calls upon his Winter Guard Kommand list, as described here. The Crucible Guard list is as follows:

Irusk has tried his luck once before against the Crucible Guards. It was, however using the old list (as described here), and it was against Aurum Deptus Syvestro. This time it is the new, and improved WGK list (as described here), and against Captain Eira Mackay in her little train.

Captain Eira Mackay is a ‘caster that supports ‘jacks pretty well, and she is riding in a Railless Interceptor – the spray-train from hell. She does the usual three spays and the Corrosion 4″ AOE. Combined with the Dragon Breath Rocket, which removes tough, this spells bad news for the guardsmen. In addition to the one she is riding in, she also brings another one. So two spray-trains to deal with.

She brings four ‘jack-supporting spells to the table: Fail-safe, which give +2 SPD to a jack and let’s it ignore crippled systems; Jumpstart, which allows ‘jacks to stand up (so it’s cheaper to get out of knockdown from our Field Guns and Marauders); Mobility, which is very strong, it give +2 SPD and Pathfinder to her ‘jacks within control range); and Return Fire. Finally, her Feat is really destructive. It gives boosted damage rolls to constructs within her 12″ control range (herself, the other train, the two Toros, the Vanguard, the Vindicator, the Suppressor, and Prospero).

Mackay brings four ‘jacks to the table: two Toros, a Vanguard, and a Vindicator. The Toros are basically just cheap beat sticks. The do, however have native Counter Charge, which is worth looking our for. Combined with Mackay’s spell Mobility, not even terrain will hinder a counter charge. The Vanguard is mostly there for the Shield Guard, which it can do twice per turn due to the theme. Finally, the Vindicator is a heavy that hits pretty ok, with a reach 2″ P+S 17 maul. As with most Crucible Guard stuff, it can obviously also shoot with a huge gun. The range 12″ (range 16″ if it aims) 4″ AOE, POW 14 gun can really hurt. One might think, POW 14 ok, that’s no so bad. But clearly there is a rule: Decrepitation, giving it an addition die agains our ‘jacks. Under Mackay’s feat it is four dice rolled for damage.

Prospero is also present. He is a pretty good junior warcaster. He gives warjacks within 8″ +1 on attack rolls (not only his own ‘jacks). He is also capable to case to spells: Guided Fire gives boosted ranged attack rolls; and Instability Equation, which allows a ‘jack to stand up, remove Stationary and Disruption. It gains three focus points, but becomes Unstable. He is paired with a Suppressor in this list. The Suppressor is a bit pillow fisted (POW 14), but it makes up for that by being yet another spray-master from hell. It can do two sprays, which can be either Ice Cage (which we know of), cause continuous fire damage, or give Rust (-2 ARM to constructs); and of course it has Dual Attack.

The Dragon Breath Rockets are also a steady addition to the Crucible Guards lists I see. It is basically their version of our Mortars. Personally, I think they got a super deal for just a cost of one point more. Its most important feature here is its ability to drop 4″ AOEs on us that remove tough.

Mackay has also solicited the assistance of Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter, who is famous for his ability to ambush from the side. He can throw a variety of grenades and hit people on their head with his mace.

Finally, she brings two Crucible Guard Mechaniks and a unit of Combat Alchemists. The former are just better Mechaniks; whereas the latter are grenade throwing could-walls. The most important attacks they can do are probably Continuous Corrosion, and remove upkeeps.

All in all, Crucible Guards is still a handful for Irusk and his devoted Winter Guards. However, compared to the last time he faced them, this list is more “friendly”.

We are playing Standoff. Khador goes first. We both opt for the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″).

Irusk deploys in the standard matter. One Rifle Corps on each flank with a Field Gun on their inner side. Irusk in the middle with the Infantry, the Mortar, and the solos. Finally, the triple Marauder more or less in the middle.

The Crucible Guards deploy a Dragon Breath Rocket on each flank mirroring the Rifle Corps. The Railless Interceptor goes on my left flank along with Prospero and friend. Mackay and the ‘jacks goes, more or less in the middle, except for a single Toro that supports the artillery on my right flank.  Finally, the Combat Alchemists advance deploy slightly to the left. The picture above depicts the situation after deployment.

So, I need to park a unit in each of the round zones as fast as possible. My left flank is clearly the most exposed, as both the spray-train and the Combat Alchemists are there. Irusk2 starts by casting Solid Ground, Fire for Effect on the Field Gun to the left, and Artifice of Deviation on the right side of the lake in middle. I try to spread out the infantry as much as possible to avoid the AOEs and sprays. The rest of the army just moves up. On the bright side, I manage to do both deployment and first round in just eight minutes.

Not a lot happens on the Crucible Guard side. Most of the army moves up and spreads out a bit. The artillery on the left takes a pot shot at the Rifle Corps on the left flank and leaves a Corrosion AOE. The Alchemists makes a wall of clouds. Mackay manage to use 10 minutes on deployment and the first turn. The picture above shows the situation at the end of turn 1.

I am still too far away to do some serious harm to the ‘jacks. But, I just need to keep to pressure on. In general, I think my left flank is lost. So, I need to concentrate on my right flank and the middle, and just make sure that Mackay doesn’t roll up my flank from the left.

Irusk moves both Rifle Corps further up, and they each take out a Dragon Breath Rocket. This is good as they are really annoying. The middle Marauder moves up to bait some of the enemy ‘jacks. The two other Marauders and the remaining units just advances slowly to be ready as a second wave. The Adjunct casts Guidance on the Field Gun on my left flank, and it take a shot at the Vindicator to the left and knocks it down. The picture above shows the end of round 1.

Mackay chews away on the left flank and clears out some of the Rifle Crops. The Vindicator moves up and applies mace to the Marauder for 12 points of damage, without knocking anything out. Hutchuk also arrives on the left flank to further ruin it. Finally, the Suppressor applies sprays to the Rifle Corps without much success, luckily. On the right flank, the Toro moves up and kills a whole Winter Guard. Mackay scores for her rectangular zone, and so does Irusk, leaving the scenario score at 1-1. The picture above depicts the end of turn 2.

The game is so fra progressing as I expected. The right flank is lost, and the only thing to do is to try to keep it alive. This turn needs to result in some serious harm to the Crucible Guards, or Irusk is in trouble.

Irusk has to do something on the left flank so he gives some focus to the left most Marauder. He also upkeeps Solid Ground and Fire for Effect, but drops Artifice of Deviation. The two other Marauders also receives focus. He is now naked. Finally, he feats, primarily as a defensive exercise.

On the left flank the Marauder charges Hutchuk and kills him. Irusk might have saved som focus here, as it is left with two. On the right flank, the Rifle Corps shuffles a bit around to make room to the second Marauder, which charges the Toro. I was hoping to kill it but failed. The Rifle Corps also shoots at the enemy objective and removes it. In the middle, the infantry runs forward to clutter up the area in front of Irusk, and to contest Mackay’s centre zone. The last Marauder attempts to take out the Vindicator, but also fails. That is about it. Irusk scores two more scenario points, and Mackay scores none, leaving the scenario score at 3-1. The picture above shows the situation after round 1.

The round starts with Mackay finally joining the frey. She moves up and feats, and joins in removing the middle Marauder. Under her feat, the spray-train and the Suppressor manage to take out the left Marauder and the remaining Rifle Corps. Basically cleaning out the left zone. On the right flank the Toro hits back at the Marauder without taking it out. In the middle, the few contesting Winter Guards are cleaned out of the zone. In this round, Irusk scores one point for the rectangular zone, and Mackay scores for her rectangular zone and the left one, leaving the score at 4-3 in Irusk’s favour.

Irusk is, more or less in control on the right flank. The left flank is a completely different story. At the same time, we are nearing the end of the clock, so Mackay really needs to do something.

Irusk upkeeps both spells and keeps six focus. He needs to cast Battle Lust twice to get rid of some of the heavy Crucible Guards’ stuff. There really isn’t anything to do on the left, so he just needs to make sure that an assassin doesn’t arrive from over there. He activates and cast Battle lust on the remaining Rifle Corps unit and the Infantry unit. The artillery removes the Vindicator (finally). On the right flank, the Rifle Corps charge the Toro and easily kills it. As an example of tactical stupidity, some of the Rifle Corps also change the other Toro, ensuring that they can’t score this round! The Marauder position itself for next round. In the middle, some of the Infantry runs to the left to block any change lanes to Irusk. The remaining guards charge the remaining Toro, but fails to remove it; at least the y now contest the zone. Irusk scores one point (he should have scored two), and Mackay also scores one, leaving the scenario score at 5-4 in Irusk’s favour.

The combined might of the the spray-train, Mackay, and the Suppressor clear out most of the models on the left and my objective. The spray-train also moves in to contest Irusk’s rectangular zone. On the right flank, the Toro commits suicide by trying to move into the right zone. The Vanguard assists in killing Winter Guards. The Mackay player is clever and ignores the single Winter Guard belonging to the Rifle Corps. Thus, hindering scoring in the right zone. He stops the clock at a scenario score of 5-6 in Mackay’s favour; and I’m out of time. So final score is 5-7 in his favour.

In general, I think this game actually was going pretty well. The main issue was spending too much time on the clock, which is ironic givne my earlier mocking of the Crucible Guards. Mackay basically won with seven minutes. In addition, I did make a cardinal error when I moved the Rifle Corps in turn 4. Finally, I could have saved some focus in turn 3. I’m not sure what I should have used them for. It also seems that Prospero and the Mechaniks must have been killed at some point. But I can’t remember it.

Irusk is confident for future skirmishes with the insurgents. Until the next time:

For the Motherland! 

Crucible Guard is a difficult beast to handle. Each card has more rules than our entire faction combined. I get the impression that everybody can shoot, at least three different things, and spray. I always have difficulties with the Llael insurgents. However, Irusk2 stands up to the challenge and brings his current standard Winter Guard list, as detailed here. The Crucible Guard list is as follows (based on my memory):

This analysis is, as always post-battle. I think Crucible Guards are difficult. They all seem to have at least one rule on their card that just counters anything Khador can throw at them. I am not convinced that Irusk2 in Winter Guard Kommand, at least in this iteration, is the correct choice against them. However, Irusk has to learn his abilities and limitations.

Aurum Deptus Syvestro is a support caster. His three main abilities that are bad for Irusk and his friends are: clearly Purification, which strips Irusk of his beloved upkeep spells (Solid Ground most importantly; Transmutation is also bad news, it allows his ‘jacks to gain pathfinder and hit harder; and clearly his feat, which gives a super version of Signs & Potens, and allows his models to heal when one of Irusk’s models is killed.

Syvenstro brings a Toro, a Vulcan, and has Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc attached. The Toro is basically just a cheap beat stick with a shield and a P+S 18, reach 2″ sword. I does, however have Counter Charge, which combined with Syvestro’s Admonition, makes assassin runs in the ‘caster problematic.

The Vulcan is the colossal from Crucible Guard. It is Winter Guard doom incarnated. Its Alchemical Vents can remove tough within 5″, or give rust (-2 ARM for our ‘jacks). Combining this with its main gun, which can bring a 4″ no tough bubble 14″ inches away from it, and 20″ if it moves. So, basically anything within 24″ of it could potentially loose tough. Using focus, it can do it twice. To add insult, it has two 10″ sprays, POW 14. It can really remove Winter Guards as a pro.

Prospero and his Vindicator is a recurrent player in most, if not all Crucible Guard lists. The Vindicator is a heavy that hits pretty ok, with a reach 2″ P+S 17 maul (under Transmutation from Syvestro it is P+S 19). As with all Crucible Guard stuff, it can obviously also shoot with a huge gun. The range 12″ (range 16″ if it aims) 4″ AOE, POW 14 gun can really hurt. One might think, POW 14 ok, that’s no so bad. But clearly there is a rule: Decrepitation, giving it an addition die agains our ‘jacks. One could think that this would be enough. But no, it is Crucible Guards. So Prospero can throw Guided Fire on it for boosted attack rolls, along his Veteran Leader ability.

With all the trimmings, the Vindicator is RAT 6 and boosted (hitting DEF 18 when aiming); it can hit a ‘jack 16″ away for POW 14+4d6 (boosted) for an average of 28 points of damage; and blasting (remember Syvestro has Purification) for an average of 17 points of damage. If it is not a ‘jack the hit is only for 24 points of damage. I’ll just have to count on being shot a lot, and thank the Empress for Sacrificial Pawn if Irusk ends within 16″ of this beast.

The Dragon Breath Rockets are also a steady addition to the Crucible Guards list I see. It is basically their version of our Mortars. Personally, I think they got a super deal for just a cost of one point more.  Its most important feature here is its ability to drop 4″ AOEs on us that remove tough.

Most lists will also have one, or more Railless Interceptor, the spray train. It has a cannon and there sprays, which all remove Winter Guards like there is no tomorrow.

To complement all the shooting and spraying, Sevestro brought a unit of Crucible Guard Rocketmen, including the officer. They are, potentially extremely mobile flying infantry. They have a base speed of 7, which can be augmented with the order Strafing Run, giving them SPD 9 and reposition 5″, and the Tactics Swift Hunter (addition reposition of 2″), they can potentially move 16″ is a very non-linear fashion, if they each remember to kill a Winter Guard whilst they are in transit. &nbsp

Finally, two Trancers accompanies Syvestro. They are mostly there to contest zones and score flags. but they can blow up when killed.

To sum up. This is close to the worst possible matchup for Irusk2 and his Winter Guards. Syvestro can neutralise most of Irusk’s tricks, and his army can spray and shoot all the Winter Guards of the table. However, as part of my ongoing testing of Winter Guard Kommand under Supreme Kommandant Irusk’s orders, I need to put them through hard trials.

We are playing Standoff. We both chose the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″). I lost the roll-off, and Syvestro decided to go first. I chose the side where there were a wall that I could tuck Irusk behind.

The first turn starts with him just moving forward. On my right flank he places the Rocketmen and the Intercepter. My left flank is left empty. The ‘jacks and the colossal advances up the middle. That was it.

I know I’m already in trouble. That is the premise for the entire match. My left flank is kind of OK. I know the Dragon Breath Rocket will hit me soon. So I should spread out. But at the same time, I hoping to use tough against the Vindicator, which will most likely spray the Winter Guards’ pants of shortly. In short, a gamble. On my right flank, I’m trying to advance the other Rifle Guard unit up as far as possible, without being too vulnerable. In the middle, I just advance a bit to stay out of the Vulcan’s threat range.

Turn 1 was as uneventful as could be expected. The picture above shows the state at the end of turn 1.

The Crucible Guards spends most of their time shooting Winter Guards. It appears to be a favourite passtime among the insurgents. The Rocketmen on my right, in combination with the Interceptor basically shoots almost the entire Rifle Corps unit of the table, except for a few I have kept too far back for them to reach.

On the left side, a surprisingly number of guards survive the onslaught. In the middle, I loose more guards, and the Crucible Guards even manages to shoot of my Marauder. The latter was somewhat unexpected.

The picture below depicts the situation after the Crucible Guards’ round. I forgot to take a picture at the end of the turn.

I need to at least appear to get some work done. On my left side I advance with the goal of shooting the Dragon Breath Rocket of the table and perhaps at least score a few scenario points. Unfortunately, one of these Trancers has been placed smack in the middle of the zone. So, I have to deal with that one first. I do actually manage to remove it, and probably som of the guards die in the blast. I am now able to score. Unfortunately, that means that the Dragon Breath Rocket is still in the game.

In the middle, my plan is to get rid of the Vulcan. If nothing else, Irusk can at least hinder further plans by the Crucible Guards by removing the Vulcan. All of my artillery opens fire, and the Spriggan charges in. Together, they actually manage to produce a not insignificant amount of damage on it.

Finally, my right side is just a mess. I can mostly hope to just contest the zone a bit. So the remaining few of the Rifle Corps moves to the right along with Joe and the Artillerist. I score two points, and he score two points. 

Turn 3 starts with the Dragon Breath Rocket and the Toro cleaning up my left flank. He also toes in the Toro, so I’m done scoring in this zone. On my right flank the clean up continues without much excitement. In the middle I do have a good surprise. I have managed to damage to Vulcan so much that it can’t finish of the Spriggan. At the same time, a Rocketman manage to place himself between the colossal and the big rock in the middle, hindering the Vindicator in killing the Spriggan.

The picture below shows the status after the Crucible Guards’ round. Apparently, I managed to really cock-up when I took pictures.

This is the round where the Spriggan finally shines – it takes down the Vulcan. Besides that, it is a depressing round. On my left the Rifle Corps heroically attempts to remove the Dragon Breath Rocket with no success. On the right the last of that Rifle Corps manage to contest a bit. In the middle, expect for the shining Spriggan, nothing much.

I do manage to score one point, he only scores one also (remember the lost Rocketman in the middle). This leaves us at three to three, before we enter the “it is over now, dear Irusk” round.

So, final round. Actually, Irusk survived longer that expected. The Vindicator finally removes the Spriggan, after the confused Rocketman got out of the way. Besides that, it is only clean-up duty from the Crucible Guards.

Irusk and his heroic Winter Guards can’t really do anymore. They manage to take out one of the crew from the Dragon Breath Rocket, and a single Rocketman. Besides that, the show is over. Irusk looses with a scenario score of 5-3 in Syvestro’s favour. 

This basically went as expected. It was almost unfair to pitch Irusk2 and his Winter Guards against the tough removing sprayers from hell. But I now have evidens to support, what was only a hypothesis earlier.

I don’t think there is much more to say, except for:

For the Motherland!