I have never faced Sloan before. I’m told that Sloan gun line is a thing – and boy there are many guns here. Vlad is feeling lucky and moves his Winter Guards into position.  He brings his standard Winter Guard list (detailed here). This is the post-Oblivion version, which only differs in an additional Artillery Kapitan.

Sloan1 is completely new to me. She appears to be a little girl carrying a big gun. Her build in ability is True Sight, which allows her to ignore cloud effects and stealth. I guess this is handy, when carrying a big gun. She also confers this ability to her eight ‘jacks. Luckily, Vlad and his Winter Guards doesn’t really do a lot in the whole cloud business. When in the theme, Gravedigger, the trenchers also gains Rise, which allows knocked down trenchers to stand up in the maintenance phase. There really isn’t a lot of trenchers in this list. So, it is almost inconsequential. Vlad’s knockdown circus will probably focus on the ‘jacks. It also allows Sloan to reroll the starting roll, which might matter as I guess she wants to go first.

Besides the big gun, she also brings five spells to the table. One of them is a damage spell (Dust to Dust); another is Return Fire, which allows a model to shoot back; and one is Refuge, which allows a model hitting something to make a full advance. However, all of her value is in the last two spells in combination with the eight shooty ‘jacks: Fire Group, which gives all her ‘jacks +2 RNG; and Guided Fire, which gives all her ‘jacks boosted attack rolls. She is probably going to cast them all the time, which will consume five of her six focus. She really rounds of her shooting ‘jacks with her feat, which gives her a free Fire Group, and models in her battle group and make an addition ranged attack.

In the feat turn, that is 12, range 16″, POW 6 (Armor Piercing) shots (hitting DEF 17 on average), and 8 (assuming a trencher nearby). range 12. AOE 3″, POW 13 shots (hitting DEF 16 on average). All of this without spending a single focus and not including her own shooting. That is a whole lot of shooting!

She is also in the company of Reinholdt. Two of his three abilities are relevant here (removing Stealth not). He can use Lucky Charm to give Sloan a reroll an attack or damage roll, or Reloader to give her an addition ranged attack. Again, under feat turn she can potentially put out 3 shots (one on her own, one from the feat, and one from Reinholdt’s Reload) at range 16″, POW 12, hitting DEF 18 on the average.

Sloan is brining an impressive eight ‘jacks: two Grenadiers and six Hunters. The Grenadiers are kind of the trencher version of ‘jacks. It can Dig In for an impressive DEF 18. It can also Advance Deploy. Its gun can reach 10″ (12″ under Fire Group), and easily kills Winter Guards inside the 3″ AOE. It can make an impressive 3 attacks, if there are two or more trenchers within 1″ of it. That is a lot of dead Winter Guards. Luckily, there aren’t that many trenchers in the list, so actually having a lot of shots is unlikely.

Where the Grenadiers are there to kill infantry, the Hunters are there to kill ‘jacks. Its range 14″ (16″ under Fire Group) gun is only POW 6, but it is Armor Piercing. So it is 7 points of damage on a Khador ‘jack per shot (assuming boosted damage, by why not?). Six of them is potentially a dead ‘jack or carriage per turn (two on the feat turn). It also has Extended Control Range, allowing it to operate within 24″ of Sloan.

Sloan is also bringing three units: two units Trencher Express Teams and a single unit of Rangers. Trencher Express Team is one more things that might cause trouble. They can reliably hit most of our stuff, removes tough and can push model d3″. Given the rather short threat range of our ‘jacks, a d3″ push can seriously hamper any charge plans. Even using Vlad’s speed tricks. The Rangers are really mostly a nuisance. They can do Mark Target for a +2 to hit. But with all the boosting going on that doesn’t really matter a lot. They can obviously score. However, they are not Trencher models, so they can’t assist a Grenadier. 

Finally, Sloan is brining a Patrol Dog and two Trench Busters. The Patrol Dog is situational annoying, but nothing more. The two Trench Busters, on the other hand are quite annoying. They are primarily Shield Guards, but is also a solo for scoring. They can be somewhat dangerous when charging.

All in all, this is shooting galore. This list can put out an impressive amount of shots and damage. On the bright side, it doesn’t really matter how much damage a shot can do. Only one Winter Guard can die per shot (at least with a bit of clever positioning to avoid the Grenadier). I think this game calls for application of the subtle preferred Khador approach: apply axe to face (or anything you can grab to face) as fast as possible. Slacker will be shot, either by Cygnar og Joe. 

We are playing Steamroller 2019 Bunker. We both opt for the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″). After several identical dice rolls, Sloa finally fixes the roll-off using the theme reroll. She decides to go first. Vlad is lazy and just stays on the side of the table where he already is. In hindsight, he should perhaps have chosen the other side. There is one of his favourite walls.

Sloan deploys in the middel with a Shield Guard on both sides, and all the hunters in a neat line. Everything that can Advance Deploy does so in the middle of the field. 

Vlad deploys very much the standard way. A Gun Carriage on each flank. A bit ‘jack heavy on the left flank to protect them a bit behind the two houses. Artillery heavy on the right to not be hampered by the two houses. The picture above show the setup at the end of deployment. 

Round one, the round of not a lot. Yet, having all of these ‘jacks doing Advance Deployment might actually bring them closer to axe to face. 

Sloan casts Guided Fire and then runs all the Hunter spreading a bit out on each flank. This leaves room for the Grenadiers to advance up in the middle and dig in. Most other stuff just advance, except for the dog that moves to the left, and the Rangers who just stay put. The picture above shoes the end of Cygnar’s first round. 

Vlad need to get up the field. However, there is no way that the army can get in the face of Sloan’s army. So, it is probably better to advance pseudo-slow to in such a way that I will hopefully survive the first barrage. On the left flank the Gun Carriage advances and closes the hole between the two house to shelter the Winter Guards behind. The two Marauders move forward and tries to continue the block. Finally, Joe says Courage of the Forefathers to the Rifle Corps. On the right flank, the Gun Carriage moves forward next to the cloud to do the same shelter manoeuvre. The last Marauder also moves up to continue the block. Vlad moves forward, up behind the objective and casts Wind Wall. Everybody else moves forward. The picture above depicts the end of Vlads turn.

So, this is probably the shooting bonanza round. This is going to hurt. I guess it is just a question about how much is left, and whether it will be enough.

Not surprisingly, Sloan start by casting Guided Fire and using her feat starts the hailstorm of bullets. On the left flank, the three Hunters fires all six shots (three of them boosted damage) on the Gun Carriage. Sadly, that is more than sufficient to kill it. A Grenadier then moves forward and lobs a grenade into the Rifle Corps. Thanks to Joes encouraging speech only one dies.

On the right flank, two Hunters do the same trick and removes the second Gun Carriage. A Grenadier moves forward and takes out five Winter Guards. The Express Team hits the Marauder and pushes it. Maxwell runs to the right flag to start scoring soon, and the Rangers move forward to be a general annoyance. The picture above demonstrates the surprisingly little slaughter from Sloan’s feat.

This was not too bad. It is always sad to see two Gun Carriages evaporate in a single turn. Yet, given this armies shooting output under Sloan’s feat, I think I got away cheaply. I don’t think the dice gods were on Sloan’s side. Anyway, the remaining heavy armour need to get up field. The objective heals one of the Marauders. Vlad allocates a single focus to each of the jacks. He then activates, feats and casts Sing & Portents. He is quite happy enjoying the view from behind the Objective. So, he stays there.

On the left flank, the Kapitan runs to the left and hides behind the house. He is then ready to run forward to the flag in the next round. The Rifle Corps advances a bit takes out the dog. One less solo to score. The leftmost Marauders tramples over the Ranger and kills the Spotter in the Express Team. Unfortunately, the troll is just outside the Marauder’s reach.

The second Kapitan moves next to the woods and gives Artillerist to the Mortar. Joe also moves forward and supports the Marauder with For the Motherland. The Mortar then drops a shell at the Ranger standing in front of the Grenadier and Express Team. He dies. This now leaves room for the rightmost Marauder. This Marauder can now charge the Grenadier, which it proceeds to destroy. There is a single attack left, which is used to kill the troll in the Express Team. The right most Rifle Corps can now advance. They move forward and shoots Maxwell to death. Yet another solo gone. The rightmost Field Gun can now aim and kill the middle Ranger.

There is now room fo the middle Marauder, which charges the Hunter behind the wall. It is having a bad day, so the Hunter barely survives. I think this was pretty OK. The Marauders are now in Sloa’s face, all solos have been taken out, and mine are still left. We both score a point, leaving the scenario score at 1-1. The picture above shoes the end of round 2.

So far, so good. The game can still go either way. Let’s see what Sloan can do, now that she have used her feat.

Sloan starts by casting Guided Fire. On the left flank, the Grenadier takes out the three Winter Guards in front. Probably as a revenger over the dead dog (I can sympathise). The three Hunters start shooting at the Marauder standing next to the house. They almost kills it. Sloan also takes a shot, and the troll from the Express Team finishes it off.

The remaining ‘jacks concentrate on the Marauder in front. A lot of shooting takes place, but it actually achieves an acceptable DEF from being engaged and for some behind a wall. The two Trench Busters also have to commit. They charge it, hut it refuses to go down. The remaining Rangers move forward to, once again stand in the way. All in all, a survivable round. We each score another point. Leaving the scenario at 2-2. The picture above depicts the end of Sloan’s turn. 

This battle is still wide open. Vlad probably needs to get to work. I think I need to go for some scenario points. Vlad allocates to focus points to the middle Marauder. He then activates, casts S&P, and charges the Ranger next to the middle flag. He uses one focus to boost to hit as he really needs to cast Boundless Charge. He kills the Ranger and uses Blood Boon to cast Boundless charge on the rightmost Marauder. The two Rifle Corps move up in the middle and shoots the Ranger and the troll from the Express Team next to the house. Joe tags along and says For the Motherland to the Mortar.

The rightmost Marauder can now charge the rightmost Hunter as it is currently contesting the rightmost flag. It will happily take a free strike from the Ranger. It then does a Combo Smite on the Hunter and slams it quite a long distance. This now opens up for the Kapitan to run to the flag to score. The last Marauder moves a bit forward. It the proceeds to kill the two Trench Busters and add more pain to the Hunter.

The rightmost Kapitan moves back to where he originally came from. There is no way he is going near the leftmost flag, where there are three Hunters lined up. He gives Artillerist to the Mortar. The Mortar takes a chance and shoots at the Ranger in front of the wall. It misses. The Field Gun tries the same and is successful! Unfortunately, Vlad has left his zone, so no point there. There is, however two points for flags. Only one point for Sloan. This leaves the scenario score at 4-3 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above shows the end of the third round. 

So, Vlad is in the middle of the fray. This normally spells trouble. Vlad is surprisingly less robust than one thinks.

Sloan is not too happy being within a Marauder’s charge range. She allocates some focus to a few ‘jacks. Two of the Hunters, which have been leisurely hanging around on the left flank finally moves in. Together with last Hunter on the right flank the shoot the Marauder until is perish. They also manage to kill the Kapitan at the right flag. The last Hunter, on the left flank kills the other Kapitan. Vlad is quickly running out of solos.

Sloan and the Grenadier shoots at Vlad. But, he brought Winter Guards. The Empress’ finest always selfishly support their leader by sacrificing them selves. When the gun smoke blows away, Vlad is still standing. This leaves Vlad scoring nothing is this turn. Yet, Sloan still scores one. This leaves the scenario score at 4-4. The picture above shows the end of Sloan’s turn.

This is still wide open. Vlad might have over extended himself a bit. Vlad activates. He then moves back into the home zone, casts S&P and Wind Wall. Joe moves to the middle flag and shouts Courage of the Forefathers on the Rifle Corps, who the gathers around him. They shoot everything at the Grenadier. All the artillery also shoots the Grenadier until it goes sway. This will now allow Joe to score. On the right flank the remaining Marauder turns slightly to the left and the trashes the Hunter. This leaves Vlad scoring two points and Sloan scoring one point, leaving the scenario score at 6-5 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above depicts the end of round four. 

This game seems to be going to either clock or scenario. It still seems that is can go either way. 

Sloan is annoyed. She activates and casts Guided Fire and then proceeds to shoot at Joe. Luckily, he is almost as esteemed as Vlad. So, the Winter Guards are more than happy to sacrifice themselves on his behalf. The Hunters move about a bit, also to contest Joe’s flag. They then pump all lead into him,. Once they run out, Joe has also run out of Winter Guards. However, he is innately tough. So his is still alive. This turn leaves Vlad and Sloan scoring one point each; leaving the scenario score at 7-6 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above demonstrates the heroic and unselfish behaviour of the proud Winter Guards.

Vlad is slowly running out of troops. He really can’t do anything but activate first, cast S&P and Wind Wall once again. As before, all artillery focus on the Hunter contesting the flag. The combined might of two Field Guns and a Mortar leaves the Hunter as scrap. Joe stands up and shouts obscene remarks at Sloan and her forefathers (it is probably unnecessary to mention that courage was not part of it). The remaining Marauder just runs into Sloans zone to contest. This allows Vlad to score two points and Sloan none. Scenario score is now 9-6 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above shows the end of round five.

Sloan is getting impatient and behind on scenario points. Vlad is quite happy. Not overly so, but nevertheless.

Sloan activates and casts Fire Group. Most of the Hunters pound away at Vlad’s objective and manages to kill it. The remaining shots are put into the Mortar, which also dies. Sloan herself, having a magical rifle, shoots at Vlad. There are still Winter Guards around, so he is safe. That was it. Sloan scores one, as do Vlad. This leaves the scenario score at 10-7 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above shows (almost) the end of round 6. 

Vlad just needs to score two more points, whilst Sloan scores nothing. Vlad just hanging around doing nothing will score one for his zone. Joe can easily run to the rightmost flag, that is another point. Finally, the Marauder can trivially remove the objective. We agree to end the game at scenario score 13-7 in Vlad’s favour.

This was a rough game. It started at a low point, loosing two Gun Carriages in one turn. However, it probably turned out to be a blessing, as Sloan’s feat basically left the three Marauders more or less unhurt. I think Sloan would have been better off focusing on the Marauders.

I think Vlad used his feat at the best time. It did not allow the Marauders to kill a lot. But, it did put a significant part of the army on Sloan’s side of the flags, putting pressure on her.

Once again, Blood Boon proved its value. Vlad simply haven’t got enough focus any other way. It was paramount that the Marauder managed to slam the Hunter away in round 3. Also, Sacrificial Pawn is golden. Many, many Winter Guards can be packed around Vlad to ward of heavy shooting; and boy did Sloan’s list have a lot of heavy shooting.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

The battle is bloody, in a “human life is cheap” kind of way. Despite Irusk doing a thorough cleaning-up of Cygnar insurgents, he is narrowly beaten by scenario score. Cygnar did a classic hide the caster instead of a proper fight. Next time, Siege will not know what hit him. 

Siege2 is a regular star around here. It is a well know fact that you should stay at least 15″ away – or you are dead. Normally, he is accompanied by Long Gunners and Commandos, so the addition of a Blockhouse is a surprising addition. However, this is not going to disturb Irusk and his standard WGK list, detailed here. Here are the two lists (the Cygnar list is purely based on memory):

This analysis is, as always post-event. I should probably have done this before the game. Steamroller events rarely allow for a couple of hours of analysis before the game can commence. So, as always, this will hopefully prepare me for the next time I face such a force.

Siege2 is well know for the: don’t stand with 15″ of him assassin run (I have lost Sorscha3 to that assassin run before). He can feat, giving him 3″; then walk for 5″, use his Rocket Pack to be placed completely within 5″ (making screening difficult); and finally he has a 2″ reach. The Rocket Pack also boosts his next damage roll (same as if he charged). In addition, his big maul has knockdown on a stick. Fully loaded with focus, he can hit the opponent’s caster five times for an average of 25+22+22+22+22+22 points of damage. He hits DEF 14 on average. 

What does this mean for Irusk2? Irusk do have one major advantage: he will most likely be immune to knockdown, thanks to Solid Ground. This makes him much more survivable that other casters who might lead a Winter Guard Kommand. Siege2 has a 42% probability of hitting Irusk2 with an unboosted attack roll. Assuming Irusk2 is left without focus, he will still be dead if Siege2 makes a dedicated assassin run. A fully loaded Siege2 will make an average of 19 points of damage to Irusk2, which is 4 more that he has. Irusk2 should be left with at least two focus, preferably three. Hence, measure carefully if spending more than four focus. This is assuming no spikes!

The opponent brought three ‘jacks: a Hammersmith, an Ironclad, and Triumph. The two former are basically “just” beat sticks; Triumph is slightly annoying with his boosted (due to bond with Siege) gun with 16″ range. All in all, it is just three ‘jacks.

We are playing the Pit II. We both chose the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″). I won the roll-off and opted to go first; I like to add scenario pressure as early as possible.

I went the for the classic setup, with a Rifle Corps on each flank, the infantry in the middle, and artillery between the middle and the flanks. Since we are playing Pit II, and only ‘jacks can score the rectangular zones (ignoring the warcaster), I chose to have a ‘jack on each flank 

Se picture below for deployment (ignore the four Winter Guards in the middle. They were a bit enthusiastic and ran before the photographer was ready).

The Cygnar player deployed his Blockhouse in the middle, along with the two trenches. The infantry goes on my left flank, and the Commandos goes on my right flank. Siege and the ‘jacks, more or less in the middle. 

I basically just run everything. Irusk starts of by casting Solid Ground, and puts down Artifice of Deviation to hinder the Trencher Infantry on the left flank. He also pulls a little to the left, leaving Joe to make sure that the Rifle Corps on the right flank are tough. They are facing down the Commandos, so the whole tough thing might not be worth anything. I actually manage to remember to move Ayana & Holt this match.

The Cygnar player advances everything, most of it cautiously. This leaves the trenchers on my left flank Dug In in the middle of the zone, leaving them on DEF 17 and imune to blast. Somehow they also manage to kill three of the Rifle Corps on my left flank. 

That is more or less it. The picture above is at the end of turn 1.

For turn 2, I still play the red tide, so everybody go forward. Except Irusk, of course. He is an old man, so he will hang a bit back. He drops Artifice of Deviation, upkeeps Solid Ground and cast Fire for Effect on the artillery on the left. 

On my left flank, the Rifle Corps charge the infantry, as there is no change of actually shooting anybody, when they are dug in. The Rifle Corps is not particularly effective, despite them managing to kill three trenchers (they should actually have a 70% chance of killing a trencher on the charge. Apparently the Rifle Corp was not aware of that). 

The Rifle Corps on the right flank moves up and does a lot of combined ranged attacks to remove Commandos. They were much more efficient than there colleagues on the left flak. Combined with artillery support, they manage to remove all but one!

My infantry moves into the centre zone and stays behind the Razor Wall Siege put down. Artillery also moves up and shoots at some random stuff. The Spriggan moves into the right zone to be able to score. The Marauder moves up behind the forest, to be ready for a feat-driven surprise charge.

The Cygnar player started by clearing out my left flank, leaving the whole party rather exposed. The trenchers, the Hammersmith, the Trench Buster, and Triumph did a little too much for my taste. He also moves Siege2 a bit up and hide him in a trench. The Ironclad and the last Commando contests the zone to my right. This leaves my one down on scenario points, and loosing my left flank. Not good. The picture above depicts the end of turn 2.

I really cannot do anything about my left flank this turn. Irusk2 upkeeps Solid Ground and Fire for Effect, and allocates focus to the two ‘jacks. He also feats.

The artillery and Winter Guards clean up the area in the middel between the Hammersmith and the forest. This makes room for the Marauder, who thanks to Irusk2’s feat now can charge through the forest and remove the Hammersmith. One problem down. The Spriggan also wants to join the party, and after a bit of shooting from troops on the right flank, it charges the Iron Clad and removes it. So far so good.

The Winter Guards also remove the Express Team, the last Commando, and other bits and bobs on the right flank. I do manage to score one scenario point, making it 2-1 in his favour. The picture below shows the situation after my round 3.

Retaliation time for the Cygnar player. The Trenchers on my left flank continues rolling up the flank. They remove one of the Field Guns, and Ayana & Holt. This puts an uncomfortable amount of pressure onto the back of my line, and Irusk. 

Triumph, supported by the Blockhouse and Siege2 manage to remove the Marauder from the centre zone. Siege2 also recasts Razor Wall to block my infantry. Somehow, I forgot how, he also manages to take out my objective. 

All in all, the board is now turned 90 degrees, with Siege controlling my left side, and Irusk controlling the right side. Scenario is now 4-2 in his favour. 

So, I’m halfway in trouble. I have lost my left flank, and the Cygnar player now potential threatens Irusk. At the same time, he has gathered his forces to my left, making any hope of an assassin run dubious at best. On the rigt side life is a party. Despite having lost my objective, I am in total control. 

Irusk2 upkeeps Solid Ground and put down an Artifice of Deviation just behind the forest to hamper any trenchers thinking that the remaining artillery or Irusk should be a target. Fire for Effect also goes on the remaining Field Gun. Finally, he moves closer to the right zone, so that he might score at some point. I think the Spriggan might have been seriously damaged at some point. I have to admit, I forgot.

The artillery shoots at some random stuff without doing anything memorable. The remaining Rifle Corps advances and cleans up any Cygnar leftovers in the right flank.

Finally, the infantry moves towards the centre and into the forest. To perhaps threaten something and potential score the middle zone, once the Cygnar stuff is cleared away.

The Cygnar player consolidates his troops on the left side on the centre zone. Takes a few potshots, and that is basically it. The picture above shows the end of turn 4. Scenario is now 7-4 in his favour.

So trouble is getting worse. I’m slowly loosing on scenario and it seems that there is nothing serious I can do about it. I need to chew through Triumph, a bunch of trenchers, and potentially the Blockhouse to do something about the left zone (and to score in the middle for that matter).

The Rifle Corps advances a bit and start trying to chew though the Blockhouse. This might take a while. The infantry attempts to stay the line in the middle. The Mortar tries to clean up some trenchers, and the Field Gun tries to dent Triumph. The Spriggan is for all purposes out of the game and can only score. 

Siege runs away. In Cygnar-speak it is know as a tactical retreat. However, it is typical Cygnar cowardice. He hides behind his objective. The Blockhouse, Triumph and the remaining trenchers cleans out some of my infantry, and advances into the middle zone. The picture above depicts the end of turn 5.

This turn ends 9-6. There is no way to do any more, and Cygnar wins on scenario.

It was all going so well. I though I had controlle. End of the second turn was the beginning of the downfall. I was in complete controlle on my right flank; which I’m quite happy about. I managed to subdue the Commands without any problems. However, my left flank completely broke. Once the Rifle Corps had been decimated I did not have anything as a second line support. 

I think I might have been too afraid of the Blockhouse. I was very worried about advancing into its field of fire. I haven’t done the math, but I think I might have overestimated its capabilities. It basically blocked my troops on the right flank from assisting on the left flank. In particular it kept my Spriggan (which I think somehow got damaged) from moving to the left to deal with Triumph.

I am quite happy with the usage of the Marauder under feat. I think the main error I made was not distributing the infantry equally on both sides of the forest. That would have allowed me to at least contest the left zone, and potentially get rid of some of the Trencher Infantry. Perhaps I could have moved Irusk faster to the right zone, once it was going my way. I do, however, still think that the Spriggan would not have survived the advancement from the right zone to the left.

All in all, Irusk lost to Siege due to the classic hide and seek from the cowardly Cygnar. If they could just take a fight like a proper battle hardened warrior. Next time, they will not be let off as easily. 

Whilst returning to his tent, Irusk is also contemplating if he needs more ‘jacks. Two doesn’t seem to cut it, and perhaps the Spriggan isn’t paying off.

For the Motherland!