It was my first time at WTC and I was obviously going to bring Khador. It is 50 teams from 19 different countries. I expect to meet a whole lot of different armies that I’m not used to seeing, nice people and a lot of playing Warmachine. What more is there to ask for?

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

Obviously, I’m playing Khador. If it is not the last time in MKIII, it is very close. I’m also clearly going to bring K2D2 as he is the current hot stuff (17 lists of Khador running K2D2 and 10 in Cryx, out of 500 lists) in Jaws of the Wolf. K2D2 needed a partner. Who better than The Old Witch 2 (only two lists in Khador and one in Grymkim)? I have always loved the long legged lady. Clearly Zevanna needs some eye candy, so she is accompanied 40 naked buffed up men (well some of the are women, but details) in Wolves of Winter. So, my two lists are: 

[Theme] Wolves of Winter [Old Witch 2] Zevanna Agha [+29] – Destroyer [13] – Destroyer [13] – Greylord Adjunct [3] Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire [6] Greylord Forge Seer [4] Greylord Forge Seer [4] Koldun Lord [3] Koldun Lord [3] Battle Mechaniks (min) [2] – Battle Mechanik Officer [1] Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10] – Greylord Escort [3] Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10] – Greylord Escort [3] Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10] – Greylord Escort [3] Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10] Greylord Ternion [0(5)] Greylord Ternion [0(5)] Greylord Ternion [0(5)]

[Theme] Jaws of the Wolf [Karchev 2] Malignant Fusion [+27] – Behemoth [20] – Devastator [14] – Juggernaut [13] – Juggernaut [13] – Marauder [11] – Greylord Adjunct [3] Death Archon [9] Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)] Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)] Kovnik Apprentice Kratikoff [0(4)] – Rager [9] Battle Mechaniks (min) [2] Kayazy Eliminators [4] Kayazy Eliminators [4]

I’m not going to run through the two list in many details. Just some rough ideas as to why they are as they are, and why they are together. 

I went with Wolves of Winter to counter infantry spam (one should always counter spam with spam – and ham perhaps); also to a certain degree as an anti-shooting list. The combination of Zevanna’s Windstorm covering 18″ using Vexing Alignment, the two Koldun Lords using Wind Ravager, and all the clouds on Doom Reavers from the Ternions should provide some protection against shooting.

Alexia is there to pick souls and pop three Thrall Warriors in inconvenient places to threaten ‘caster or score and contest. The two Destroyers are there to do a bit of heavy lifting and shoot at Objectives and other stuff. 

So, the plan is more or less to run the Doom Reavers in two waves. The first (potentially carrying clouds) to jam opponents and just be annoying. The second wave is there to hit back at what ever kills the first wave. Alexia will pick up a few souls and hurl them at something, and the Destroyers will clean up the rest. Solid plan! What can possibly go wrong?

The opposite to lady long leg and fast half naked people is clearly K2D2 with all the ‘jacks. This list is slow, robust and hits hard (though, very few attacks). It does, however have a pretty good feat giving the ‘jacks (and K2D2) SPD 8. Along with Sorscha0 this gives a threat range of 14″ (SPD 8″ + 3″ charge + 2″ Boundless Charge + 1″ Reach). 

All ‘jacks have Pathfinder (except K2D2), which is nice. The four Eliminators are there to score, contest and just being annoying. The Death Archon give an additional +2 ARM when the opponent is living (a Devastator can go to an effective ARM 29 against melee with a base of 23 + 2 from Locked Horns +2 from Death Ward and + 2 from Mortal Fear. It can also clear out enemy Archons. This is what Khador armour should be.

The plan is, again strait forward: Lumber forward until one can reach the enemy under feat, the feat and bring axe to face. A classic point and click army. 

So far, so good. Now on to the six battles.

First up is Retribution. This is not one of my favourites. I really dislike the lawn mover a lot. Goreshade has a very annoying feat. So it’s either bad or bad.

[Theme] Defenders of Ios [Issyria 1] Sibyl of Dawn [+29] – Sylys Wyshnalyrr [0] – Hemera [15] – Manticore [14] – Chimera [8] Dawnguard Trident [16] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6] House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6] Hermit of Henge Hold [0] Ghost Sniper [0] Ghost Sniper [0] House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14] – Soulless Escort [1] House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14] – Soulless Escort [1] House Vyre [5]

[Theme] Defenders of Ios [Goreshade 4] the Forgiven [+28] – Sylys Wyshnalyrr [0] – Chimera [8] – Harpy [9] – Harpy [9] – Aeternae [16] Hermit of Henge Hold [0] Aelyth Vyr [0] House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner [6] Lys Healer [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] – Soulless Escort [1] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] – Soulless Escort [1] House Ellowuyr Wardens (max) [14] – Soulless Escort [1]

The scenario is Invasion, which requires a lot of troops. So, I’m dropping Old Witch since there are enough bodies for some of them being frozen whereas I can’t really afford the ‘jacks in K2D2’s list to be frozen. The Wolves also has a lot of could immunity. Finally, the anti-shooting tech can hopefully interfere with the lawn mover.

Issyria floats onto the table along with the lawn mover. My plan is to get up the table fast and press for scenario; whilst getting anti-shooting close enough to be annoying. Then see where it takes us. The picture below depicts the starting situation.

The plan kind of worked to being with. Enough Doom Reavers to make the Retribution struggle. The anti-shooting kind of worked, however, the Wardens are no picknick. So in the end I’m struggling with time and scenario. I simply have to minimise the damage.

I had my eyes set on the lawn mover and tried to remove it twice, using a Destroyer. Getting rid of that would make my life so much easier. It obviously shoots a lot. Yet, more importantly it takes up a lot of real estate making it next to impossible to get an assassination run on Issyria; which to be honest is my only chance. 

The Destroyer tried twice. Fully loaded and charging should at least put a dent in the lawn mover. Our of the six (or perhaps seven, I might not have charged both times) attacks, I manage to hit only twice and put an impressive four points of damage on it. It is base DEF 12 and ARM 20 (perhaps with a bit of modifications). Yet, on the average the Destroyer should have been able to put in around 25 points of damage (assuming the lawn mower was unbuffed). So, four points of damage is slightly below average.

Nevertheless, it was not dice alone that made me loose the game. A better player on the Retribution side also contributed a lot. The picture below depicts the sorry state of the Old Witch when she ran out of time.

I’m not convinced I could win this. Yet, I still think it was the right drop; unless I had known it would be Issyria, that K2D2 would probably have been better (there is a Marauder to take care of the annoying lawn mower).

Anyway, it was fun playing and I also think my opponent had fun. The game ended on time with a scenario score of 5-2 in the Italian’s favour. The rest of the team did no fare a lot better. We lost 2-3 and are a bit shaken going into round 2.

Second round is against the French. I get the foreign legion (of Everblight). Again, I’m not a huge fan of Legion. I do, however, have a history of doing OK against them. The two lists presented to me are:

[Theme] Children of the Dragon [Lylyth 4], Mekanolyth [28] – Azrael [17] – Ravagore [14] – Ravagore [14] – Nephilim Bolt Thrower [9] Yssylla [0] The Forsaken [0] Beast Mistress [2] – Naga Nightlurker [7] – Mekanoshredder [4] Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1] Spell Martyr [1] Spell Martyr [1] Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [15] Blighted Nyss Archers (max) [13] – Blighted Nyss Archer Officer & Ammo Porter [0] Ice Witches [5]

[Theme] Primal Terrors [Kallus 1], Wrath of Everblight [+30] – Ammok the Truthbearer [0] – Blightbringer [30] Thagrosh Hellborne [0] – Harrier [3] Warmonger War Chief [0] Spell Martyr [1] Spell Martyr [1] Chosen of Everblight (max) [20] Chosen of Everblight (max) [20] Hellmouth [6] Hellmouth [6] Blighted Rotwings (max) [9] Blighted Rotwings (max) [9]

The scenario is Split Decision, which requires scenario pressure. I’m thinking Old Witch can do this and also deal with Mekanolyth; despite having no idea what she does. I don’t think I have anything against Kallus. I can only hope that Doom Reavers can kill enough when the annoying Incubus arrives under feat.

So, again I opt for Old Witch. Obviously,  Kallus arrives on the table. The picture below shows the starting position of the battle. 

There really isn’t a lot to say. Kallus throws everything up the table as fast as possible (going first). Old Witch attempts the same. However, in the second round the same happens and Kallus feats. It is basically game over.

Zevanna looses on scenarion with a score of 6-1 in Kallus’ favour. I basically had my rear end, and several other body parts handed to me. I think it is a very well designed army in the way that the models supplement each other well and it is more a less a point a click army: go first, move fast, move again, feat, win on scenario. I’m outmatched. 

The rest of the team kept up their approach. Again, we went 2-3 and are now low on morale. There is one more battle left on the first day. On to round 3.

It is only fitting that the island of druids should present a Circle list to me. I like Circle; not that I consistently beat them. But I think I actually got a chance here. As long as I can keep Ghetorix away from anything (or everything) of importance I at least stand a chance. The two lists presented to me were:

Druids of the islands about to kick Khadorian ass

Round 4 – Trolls of Belgium

Alexia finally doing her thing. Kolgrima having visitors in her back

End of game

Round 5 – Cryx of the Netherlands

Let the battle commence

Round 6 – The Spanish Grymkin

Off to bumping thing in the night

Summary

The pointy eared xenophobes are on the move again. Since the Infernals have been kicked out of Khador, the Retribution are attempting to get rid of the few remaining humans with magic. Luckily, Vlad1 is back with his relentless Winter Guards. They have been affected by the quality of life update and are now ready to once again defend the Motherland’s borders. The battle is fierce, However, Vlad is a bit rusty and has to face defeat against Kaelyssa and her Defenders of Ios. 

It has been a very long time since I have played the double Gun Carriage Winter Guard Kommand list under Vlad 1. I actually thought that I had retired it (see here for Vlad’s last stand). However, with the recent quality of life update, Vlad is back. The list has been brushed up and update (see here for a summary).  So who better to try the new version of the list on that the first opponent I encounter. Kaelyssa and the pointy ears. The two lists are as follows: 

Khador [Theme] Winter Guard Kommand [Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – Marauder [11] – War Dog [2] Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(3)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Battle Mechaniks (min) [2] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(3)] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [3] Winter Guard Mortar Crew [3] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7] – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7] – Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

Retribution [Theme] Defenders of Ios [Kaelyssa 1] Kaelyssa, the Night’s Whisper [+29] – Aeternae [16] – Aeternae [16] Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor [0(5)] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [6] Ghost Sniper [0(3)] Ghost Sniper [0(3)] Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3] Lys Healer [2] Priest of Nyssor [0(4)] House Vyre Electromancers [5] House Vyre Electromancers [5] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] Arcantrik Force Generator [17]

I’m assuming that the update also has been good to Retribution. However, there is no way I can be bothered to know all the details; and it doesn’t really matter. What matters is what they can do now. It is Kaelyssa who is facing Vlad and she is doing it in Defenders of Ion.

The theme gives House Vyre Electomancers and solos Reposition [3″] (also Stormfall Archers, which is not relevant her), and Kaelyssa can place a wall template anywhere within 20″ of her rear table end. I guess that is ok. Even though reposition on shooting models always is a pain.

Kaelyssa is a support caster who can shoot and packs a dangerous assassin potential. For this matchup, in particular she has a quite annoying feat. It gives Stealth to all friendly Faction models within 14″ of her. Also, models within 14″ of her can’t be charged or slam power attacked (luckily, a Marauder can still slam stuff around). She is a Focus 7 ‘caster but have ways of getting more (see below).

She likes to shoot a lot with her nice magical ROF 3 gun. She has True Sight, can steal a focus when hitting and get a power token if she destroys a model. As a bonus she can choose +4 range, dispel or make warjacks stationary. To add insult to injury, she can also cast Phantom Hunter to ignore cover, concealment and stealth (again). All in all, getting within 14″ or even worse 10″ of her results in all sorts of annoying difficulties.

In addition to phantom hunter, she brings four other spells to the table: Backlash, which she can cast on a Warjack. When the ‘jack is damaged, Vlad suffers one point of damage; Banishing Ward for removing upkeeps from her own models (this does noting in this matchup); Blur, which adds 3 to DEF of a unit or model. This is handy against Vlad’s shooters; and Refuge, which allows a friendly model to make a full advance at the end of its activation, if it has hit something.

All in all, Kaelyssa has a pretty good assassin potential against Vlad. His Wind Wall does nothing against her, Backlash it actually more efficient when ‘jacks have a high armour, and she can shoot a lot. So Vlad has to be on his toes.

Kaelyssa brings two identical ‘jacks. They are new and I have never seen them before. The Aeternaes are heavies with DEF 12, ARM 19 and 30 boxes. Being Vyre ‘jacks, they don’t have forcefields. They do, however have a pretty hefty gun. Range 14″, magical POW 8 — but Armor Piercing. That kind of shooting combined with Kaelyssa’s Refuge could be really annoying. They also pack two swords: a P+S 17, reach 2″; and a P+S 15, also reach 2″ with beat back. Two Aeternaes will, on the average trivially remove a Marauder. One can also do it, if it has been doing some shooting first.

The ‘jacks are obviously escorted by two Arcanist Mechaniks — the best mechanics in the game. They do the three things we all wish all mechanics did: Repair [d6], Empower (remove disruption and give one focus), and Concentrate Power that add two to the melee power of a ‘jack. This brings the Aeternaes to P+S 19 and 17, and into Khador ‘jack killing territory. Arcanist Mechaniks should be on the receiving end of some shooting as fast as possible.

Another big thing on the battle field is the Battle Engine (or as they are known in Vlad’s army: Marauder Munch — or M&Ms, if you prefer), Arcantrik Force Generator. First of all, it can’t be charged due to Polarity Field, which is worth remembering when doing M&M. Secondly, it is difficult to shoot of the table due to Carapace, which brings it to ARM 22 against shooting. Finally, if an Aeternae is within 2″ it gets +2 range and +2 on attack roll; bringing an Aeternae to RAT 8 at range 16″. This is of course not all, the M&M can also shoot on its own. It has a ROF 2, range 14″, POW 14 cannon that can either be an AOE 4, leaving rough terrain like our Gun Carriages; or automatically boost the damage roll; or finally, slam small and medium bases d3″.

On the unit side, there are two different types: two units of Ryssovass Defenders and two units of House Vyre Electromancers. The former are basically reach 2″ P+S 10 weapon masters. It is in itself not terrible impressive. However, they do have Precision Strike, allowing them to dictated which column to damage on a ‘jack. They also do Defensive Line giving them DEF 14 in melee and making them immune to knockdown. They are also girded, which makes them selves and anybody B2B immune to blast. Finally, thanks to Alyth Vyr (see below) they get Dying Breath, which allows them one attack as they are destroyed.

The two last abilities makes them fantastic jammers agains Vlad. There is no blasting them with the Mortar, the Rocketeers or the Gun Carriages. Also, they can’t be knocked down by the Field Guns, Marauders or Gun Carriages. They are kind of annoying.

The Electromancers are really annoying. They can shoot 10″ (threatening 16″) and thanks to Reposition [3″] from the Theme, they can also get out of trouble again. They damage both infantry, thanks to Lightning Generator (basically Electroleap to d3 models) and ‘jacks thanks to Energy Leak that lowers the focus limit by 1 — cumulative. All of this is just shooting. They can hit with a melee weapon as well giving one point of cortex damage.

The remaining seven models are solo galore. Eyriss1 is there, Lanyssa as well, not to mention two Ghost Snipers, a Lys Healer, a Priest of Nyssor, and finally Alyth Vyr.

Eyriss1 is an oldie but goodie. She can threaten 19″ with her super crossbow that either gives Disruption and the loss of all focus, Deadly Shot giving 3 points of damage and remove tough, or Phantom Seeker (see Kaelyssa). She will typically move forward, disrupt a Warjack and then Reposition [3″] (thanks to the Theme) out of harms way and hide in her stealth. She really needs to go.

Lanyssa, is typically there to throw Hunter’s Mark on something. This will allow Kaelyssa’s models to move an additional 2″ when charging something hit by it. I think she might be using Winter Storm as well here, which removes Pathfinder within 9″ of her. She has Prowl and also Reposition [3″].

Alyth Vyr is new to me. He is a Ryssovass solo, which is probably why he gives the Defenders Dying Breath and are Veteran Leader for them (+1 to attack rolls within 9″ of him) — the latter also to Lanyssa and the Priest, as they are also Nyss. I think these two things are his primary roles. Beside these things he is just a slightly better Defender.

The Ghost Snipers are what it says on the package. They can shoot 14″ has Marksman (choose column), Deadly Shot (3 points of damage), and Swift Hunter (Reposition 2″ when destroying a model, which is actually 3″ due to the theme).

The Lys Healer is there to heal stuff (d3+1) and hinder knockdown within 5″.

Finally, the Priest of Nyssor is probably there to hand out Blessing of the Winter Father, which gives all Nyss +1 to attack rolls within 9″. He can also remove Pathfinder like Lanyssa and obviously has Stealth (due to Prowl and Snow-Weathered).

This is going to be interesting. On paper, it should be no trouble killing most of this. However, hitting it is difficult due to Stealth and highish DEF. Also, Kaelyssa has also sorts of ways to make the Marauders into somewhat ineffective lumps of metal through Disruption and taking our specific columns at range. Luckily, she hasn’t got any fancy way of dealing with the Gun Carriages, except good old fashion shooting and hacking. I think this calls for aggressive Gun Carriage playing and getting the Marauders into a position to assassinate Kaelyssa under Vlad’s feat.

We are playing the 2021 Steamroller Scenario Bunkers. We roll off and Kaelyssa wins. She wants to go first. Vlad picks a side of the board thinking he would like to hide behind the forest on the left flank and the house on the right flank (see picture below). In hindsight, this was probably a bad choice (more on this later). We both go for the Pathfinder objective, which we later discover seem to have disappeared as an option. Never mind, we both made the same error.

It is worth mentioning that Kaelyssa had trouble finding the right models. So, basically not many of the Retribution models are what they appear. Here is a list:

Army model	Phycial model
Kaelyssa1	Kaelyssa1
Aeternae	Some other Retribution ‘jacks
Alyth	First Mate Hawk
Archanist Mechanik	Tactical Archanist Corps
Eiryss1	Eyriss1
Ghost Sniper	Ghost Sniper
Lanyssa	Lady Aiyana
Lys Healer	Lys Healer
Priest	Protectorate choir boy
Electromancers	Electromancers
Defenders	Dawnguard Sentinels
Arcantick Force Generator	Dawnguard Trident

Anyway, Kaelyssa deploys in the middle along with Eiryss1, Alyth, Lanyssa and the Priest. All base to base with Alyth to avoid blast damage. A unit of Defenders go on each flank with a Ghost Sniper. The left flank also has the Lys Healer and the M&M. Electormancers deploy behind both Defender units. 

End of Deployment

Vlad deploys more or less in the standard setup. A Gun Carriage, a Field Gun, a Kapitan and a unit of Rifle Corps on each flank. Everything else in the middle. The picture above depicts the end of the Deployment 

Round 1. The exiting round of moving forward. Having possibilities of drifting AOEs, something might actually happen. 

End of turn 1

Kaelyssa basically just moves everything forward. She is cautious as she fears Khador shooting. She casts Blur on the Defenders to the right, bringing them to ridiculous DEF. She also casts Refuge on one of the ‘jacks. I think that pretty much sums up the turn. The picture above shows the end of the first turn. 

Vlad is a bit worried about being shot to death. So his primary goal is to bring a much cannon fodder —I mean Winter Guards— into range of Sacrificial Pawn. Also, both armies’ guns have approximately the same range. The Mortar has the longest. However, one of the enemy ‘jacks can get to range 16″. So, it is basically just a matter of getting forward and into range.

The two Gun Carriages move forward and shoots at something out of range. This is fine, as it is only to put down rough terrain. The elves haven’t got any Pathfinder to speak of. So this will slow them down. Everybody else moves forward. Vlad cast Might of Kings on himself since Wind Wall won’t help. Joe says tough to the Field Gun on the left as it can be shot by the Force Generator.

That is basically it. The picture above depicts the end of round 1.

The second round is where something is going to hit somebody’s fan. One thing is for sure, guns will roar (or crackle in the case of Retribution). 

Kaelyssa upkeeps her spells. On the left flank, the Defenders and Electromancers spread out, and stay back fearing the Motherland’s guns. The Force Generator shoots at the Field Gun as predicted. Unfortunately, the three guys fail all tough rolls and are removed

On the right flank, one of the Aeternaes in cooperation with a Mechanik take out the other Field Gun. Some combination of Eiryss and Kaelyssa manage to disrupt the rightmost Marauder. The Defenders play the game of how many models can we fit into rouble — all of them.

All in all, no so bad. Even though loosing both Field Guns so early is bad. The picture above depicts the end of Kaelyssa’s turn.

End of round 2

So, we can either go for slow grinding or rely on Khador fast ‘jacks. The rightmost Marauder has been disrupted, which is really annoying. If it hadn’t, Kaelyssa would be dead by now. There is less than 14″ between that Marauder and her. Nevertheless, there is a chance of Combo Smithing her into the objective, which has a reasonable chance of killing her.

Vlad allocates to the left most Marauder. He the moves the middle Marauder in front of the house on the right flank to make room for him and to be ready for a potential second wave. The Marauder doing the assassin run would benefit from being under Signs & Portents. Vlad moves in front of the Objective, casts Boundless Charge on the disrupted Marauder, Sings and Portents and feat. He is now naked.

The disrupted Marauder can now charge for free and move 13″. It does and arrives next to Kaelyssa. She has DEF 16. The Maruader has MAT 7 under Signs & Portents. It should have a 64.4 % chance of hitting. She has ARM 14 and camping five I think. So she is basically ARM 19 and 16 boxes. A Marauder doing Combo Smite and slamming her into an objective should do 5d6+20 points (drop the lowest) of damage against her, for an average of 36 points of damage. One more than what she has all in all. The odd are in Vlad’s favour (actually not, it just appears so).

The Marauder swings its two pistons to hit, having a 64.4 % chance of hitting. The dice are: 1, 2, 4. So 6. Hitting DEF 13. If I only could have boosted. What I wouldn’t give for a Greylord Forge Seer. This Marauder will be reassigned to mining duties at the first possible opportunity.

OK, change of plans. The only way is forward. The Gun Carriage on the right moves forward and shoots at one of the Defenders. It is clear that the odds of hitting is very low. But, the main purpose is to slow them down with rough terrain. The Winter Guard on the Gun Carriage almost takes out the Ghost Sniper.

The Gun Carriage on the left does more or less the same. It moves up and tries to drift an AOE onto the Priest and almost kills him. The other AOE drifts way off. The Rifle Corps shoot at the Defenders and kill a few. Finally, the remaining Marauder tramples through to woods and into a very surprised Aeternae. It puts some damage onto it. But not enough to make it impossible to repair in the following round.

That is more or less it. A failed assassin run. To be fair, it only had a 35% chance of killing her. But the stories that could have be told around the camp fire if the Marauder had succeeded. Vlad is probably going to loose the two Marauders in the front and perhaps a Gun Carriage in the next round. But all in all, Vlad is still in the game. The scenario score is 1-0 in Vlad’s favour.

Kaelyssa is spooked, but more importantly angry. So, she’ll probably take it out on the citizens of Khador who are just innocent bystanders. 

Kaelyssa upkeeps her two spells and allocates a few to the two ‘jacks. On the left flank the Force Generator shots at the Gun Carriage and does some damage. Getting rid of the Gun Carriage requires the Defenders to engage. Luckily they are hindered by a lake and a lack of Pathfinder. Nevertheless, enough Defenders manage to get to the Gun Carriage and they take it out. The last Defender takes out the last box in his last attack. So, it was a close run.

On the right flank, the second unit of Defenders tries to do the same. Rough terrain is our friend. Not enough make it to the Gun Carriage and it survives. The last Marauder takes a few hit. But nothing serious. The Electromancer on both flanks kills quite a few Winter Guards and the Mortar Crew. The rightmost ‘jack moves up and kills the assassin Marauder. Finally, the last ‘jack takes a bit out the leftmost Marauder. But still nothing serious.

All the shooting ladies make sure that the front Marauder is disrupted. Kaelyssa moves backwards and hides in a cloud. Finally, the Lys Healer on the extreme left flank runs to the flag to score. The picture above shows the end of Kaelyssa’s revenge. Also know as turn 1, round 3. Scenario score is now 2-2.

End of round 3

There is still hope. The front Marauder is disrupted but might be able to sneak around the opposing ‘jack and slam it over Kaelyssa. This requires that the rightmost Marauder can take out the rightmost ‘jack. Hey ho, here we go.

Vlad fills up the rightmost Marauder, moves a bit to the right to get away from the Defenders on the letf flank. He then casts Signs & Portents.

The Gun Carriage would like to soften up the Aeternae and impacts all the Defenders surrounding it before wanting to shoot the ‘jack. It takes out most of them. Unfortunately, Dying Breath results in the Defendes killing it whilst dying. Annoying and unnecessary, if you ask me.

The rightmost Marauder tramples over the Defenders in front of it and starts hammering the Aeternae in front of it. It rolls almost as bad as the assassin Marauder. So, not a lot of fun here. The last Marauder still goes for a slide to the left to slam the Aeternae. Yet, a pattern is emerging. MAT 7 under Signs & Portents can apparently not hit DEF 12. The Mechaniks moves in behind the two Marauders; just in case. 

On the left flank, Joe starts by telling the story of what can be done For the Motherland to the Rifle Corps. It is very important that they can kill the Lys Healer hugging the flag. They start shooting and easily kills the Lys Healer, a Defender and one of the Electromancers. 

That is it. Not impressive and I think Vlad is in trouble. The picture above depicts the end of round 3. Scenario score is now 3-3.

This is probably where it ends. Kaelyssa is clearly in the lead. She has so much more of her army left than Vlad. Let’s see where it ends. 

On the left flank, the Force Generator shoots at the remaining Winter Guards and kills at least one. The Defenders charge and take out the remaining. One also runs to contest Vlad’s zone. The Priest runs to the flag to score. 

On the right flank, the remaining Defenders charge a Marauder and some Mechaniks. Together with the two Aeternaes both Marauders are killed. The Electromancers move forward and kill more Mechaniks and some Winter Guards. The Ghost Sniper runs to the flag to score. 

That is basically it. Vlad is done for. He is left with very few models and can’t reach Kaelyssa. So, he concedes. The battle ends with a scenario score of 6-3 in Kaelyssa’s favour. The picture above shows the end of the battle. 

It was actually a good battle. Vlad and his Winter Guards still have game. I think I did a tactical error when I chose the side. I should not have feared the Retribution shooting. The house did really hinder the Gun Carriage on the right flank.

Perhaps I should have resisted the assassin run in round 2. Then again, It would have been so cool. A 35% chance for a kill is probably too low to be pursued. Nevertheless, there was quite a few bad rolls from the Marauders. But, one should plan for bad dice rolls.

Finally, I’m not sure what the Mechaniks are doing. Perhaps I should exchange them for something else. That would require a more through exchange as they are only two points. So, I’ll need to think about it.

At the end of day, it was fun. I’m pretty sure that Vlad is back. 

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

It’s been a while since I have seen Goreshade on the table. I guess he went out of fashion. Vlad has faced him once before, and came out victorious (for battle report see here). The opponent’s list is more or less the same, with just a few changes. So, once again Vlad steps up to face the Legion of Dawn led by Goreshade. Vlad brings his standard Winter Guard Kommand list. In its current form it has an Adjunct instead of a Mortar, and two Kapitans. Besides that it is the same as described here.

I have played against a very similar list before, and I won. This time the biggest difference is the lack of Dawnguard Trident (hurrah), which has been exchanged for an extra unit of Sentinels. The theme, Legion of Dawn, gives their ‘jacks the ability to ignore friendly Dawnguard models for LOS and they can advance through them. ‘Jacks being marshaled also gains flank, which is irrelevant here.

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven is very much a debuff caster. He can lower ARM by 2 through Hand of Ice, lower DEF by 2 through Light of Wrath, and cast Freezing Mist, which can make it even more difficult for the trusted Winter Guards to hit anything. -2 to attack rolls makes Winter Guards very sad. I guess this is also one of Goresade’s trademarks: the unreasonable amount of clouds he can put out, given enough souls in his feat turn.

However, this is actually not so bad for a WGK list. This list does not rely on high DEF or high ARM, rather partly on strength in number. Also, Arcane Vortes doesn’t do a lot against the WGK list, as Vlad doesn’t really have any spells to negate. Goreshade’s feat can potentially be a problem for the Triple Marauders. However, the Gun Carriages are immune, and the Winter Guards just want to shoot stuff.

The two main annoying bits are Dauntless Resolve, which offers +3 ARM and tough to a model or unit. This can make Sentinels a proper pain to deal with. Finally, Revive is always annoying – dead elves should stay dead!

Goreshade has two ‘jacks in his battle group: Imperatus and a Chimera. The latter’s two most annoying things are Apparition and being an Arc Node. This little fellow is probably there to be a mostly annoying Arc Node (mostly for Hand of Ice and Light of Wrath in particular), and for scoring zones. Imperatus, on the other hand, is a hand hitting monster.

Imperatus is almost Colossal-robust as it has what amount to 51 boxes (including Phoenix Protocol), and this is assuming more than 12 points of damage per round against it (to remove the Force Field and thus the d6 healing). It has one POW 14 gun at range 10″. But most importantly it has two P+S 17 range 2″ weapons. To add insult to injury, it has Side Step and can ignore friendly Dawnguard models for LOS and advancement (theme benefit). If he has an Arcanist Mechanik nearby to give it Concentrated Power, it can on the average one-round a Khador Warjack. This is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Dawnguard Sentinels are really annoying. They are reach 2″ P+S 12 weapon masters (which is surprisingly hard hitting, just think Doom Reavers). They do Vengeance for a bit of movement and an extra attack in the maintenance phase (assuming a model has been damaged). They also have Relentless Charge from their Officer. What really makes them annoying is their really high ARM. They do a base ARM of 15, which goes to 17 if they are base to base. When they are running along Goreshade4, he can raise it with an additional 3 under Dauntless Resolve; and just to add to it, they do an Iron Zeal mini-feat, which adds another 3 to their ARM. All in all it can bring them to ARM 23! Oh, and there are two full units. Each of these units also has a Soulless Escort attached. Fighting Vlad, they don’t really do anything expect being sacrificed to force triggering Vengeance.

Dawnguard Destors are Retribution’s heavy cavalry. Here they come in a standard package with the Dawnguard Destor Thane, who is basically a super charged version also giving all the cavalry Unyielding (landing them at ARM 19 in close combat). A charging Destor will do the following damage: Impact POW 12 (avg. 19); Charge P+S 14 (avg. 25); and Cannon POW 14 (avg. 21). A single Destor is not really scary for our ‘jacks nor the carriage (even under Hand of Ice, which would be 11 points of damage to a ‘jack). However, a full unit is a completely different story. Also with (sub)optimal placement of the Winter Guards a single Destor can easily take out three guards. Finally, if they can’t be bothered to charge, they can shoot our poor Winter Guards, and reposition after.


There are also two Lys Healers. They are less annoying here than against other lists. They do however offer no knockdown in a 5″ bubble, which really makes both the Field Guns and Gun Carriage sad. They can also heal living models.

There is a single Arcanist Mechanik in the list. They are basically super mechanics, somewhere between our Mechaniks and the Choir. They can Empower, Repair, and do Concentrated Power (see the part on Imperatus).

As a change, this list includes two Ghost Snipers, which are basically the Retribution version of our own Widomaker Marksman. Finally, Eiryss1 has also joined her kin. She is always very annoying to see across the table, in particular when she is for free. She does Disruption on a stick, has stealth and can stay very far away due to her 3″ Reposition.

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Invasion scenario. Goreshade wins the rolloff and deceides to got first. Irusk eyes a linear obstacle, and he really likes obstacles. We both opt for the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″).

Goreshade deploys the Destors on the left flank, along with the Thane. Next comes the Chimera, then a unit of Sentinels on each flank, along with a Lys Healer. Goreshade, Ghost Snipers and Eiryss go smack in the middle. Imperatus goes slightly on the right flank.

Vlad deploys more or less in the standard patter. A Gun Carriage on each flank, which can move up and scree the rest of the army when being “base to base” with the two houses. One Rifle Corps on each flank, along with a Field Gun. Two of the Marauders goes slightly to the right, to be ready for Imperatus, and the last one slightly to the left. Vlad goes in the middle. The picture above depicts the deployment.

The famous move into position round. Vlad primary worry is to minimise the damage from the Destors in the second round.

The short version is: everybody moves forward. Destors go somewhat deep on the left flank, followed by the unit of Sentinels. They stay behind the forest (the green blob on the picture above). On the right flank, the Sentinels advance. Goreshade advance and casts Dauntless Resolve on the right unit of Sentinels. That was more or less it. The picture above shows the end of Goreshade’s first turn. 

Due to the cautious advance of the elves there is need for some careful positioning. On the left flank, the Gun Carriage moves up to screen the Winter Guards by being “base to base” with the house. It then fires its cannons left and right, well aware that it is not going to hit anything, but to place two rough terrain templates somewhere (elves don’t like rough terrain). It is rather lucky and manages to place one on each side of the forest. The Gun Carriage on the right side follows suit, moves forward and places two rough terrain in front of the Sentinels. Since the sentinels can’t shoot it leaves room for the Winter guards near the house.

Everybody else just move forward. Vald moves to the Objective and casts Wind Wall. Joe shouts Courage of the Forefathers on the Rifle Corps on the left. The picture above shoes the end of round 1.

So far, so good. Here comes the elves. Probably a bunch of Destors first. 

Incoming Destors! They move towards the Gun Carriage and shoots at it. Luckily, without too much damage done. It seems the screening manoeuvre did indeed work. The Winter Guards are safe. The Sentinels on both sides move forward. On the right flank, they also mini-feat. Both Lys Healers go Power of Faith to avoid knockdown within 5″. Everything else moves forward. Goreshade feats. A really uneventful turn. The picture above depicts the end of turn 1. 

So, Vlad is ready for the Alpha (more or less). Vlad allocates some focus to the leftmost Marauder, and the rightmost Marauder. He then moves in behind the objects, casts S&P, and feats. On the left flank, the Gun Carriage starts chewing through Destors, and is actually pretty good at it. It takes out two, ties the other two up, kills a Sentinel, and drops a cannon shot on two more. Finally, the guy in the hatch takes out the Lys Healer. Now enter the leftmost Marauder. The Marauder takes on two more Destors by trampling into to forest. It is surprisingly effective and is left with focus to spare. Clearly a bad allocation-calculation.

On the right flank, the Gun Carriage charges into the Sentinels screening Imperatus. It only manages to kill one, and take a chip out of the objective. It then repositions into the middle of the rightmost zone. This was probably a bad move. Nevertheless, the idea was to make room for the Marauder.

Joe shouts For the Motherland to the Rifle Corps on the right flank. All the Winter Guards move forward and starts shooting like crazy. This really wasn’t a huge success. I can’t really remember the target priorities, but it seems that I did not have one. I did manage to take the objective out and score one scenario point. Besides that, the only thing I did get out of this was spending far too much time on the clock. Finally, the Marauder charges Imperatus and clearly did not do enough damage. Yet another example of poor odds estimation. The round ends by me realising that I spend a whooping 31 minutes on the turn. How on earth is that possible? I did score one point, leaving the scenario score at 1-0 in Vlad’s favour. The picture above shows the end of Vlad’s slow motion turn.

Vlad is in so much trouble. Just shy of 19 minutes left on the clock; and Goreshade is in a pretty good position.

This should be an easy run for Goreshade. He drops Dauntless Resolve from the Sentinels on the right flank and cast it on the Sentinels on the left flank. They charge everything. As the Marauder on the left flank i stationary due to Goreshade’s feat in the last round, they can easily navigate around it.  They are surprisingly inefficient. They manage to take out the middle Marauder, but somehow the left one survives. As does the Gun Carriage. However, Vlad’s objective “dies”.

On the right flank, Imperator trivially removes the Marauder, and the Sentinels there kills the Gun Carriages, as well as a few Winter Guards. All in all, the Winter Guards manage to contest both the middle zone and the right zone. The Gun Carriage and Marauder is solidly placed in the left zone. So, Goreshade manages to only score a single point for the objective. This leaves the scenario score at 1-1. The picture above shows the end of Goreshades turn.

Actually, Vlad is not so bad off. He have lost two Marauders and a Gun Carriage. Yet, most of the Winter Guards are alive, as is the leftmost Gun Carriage and Marauder. If only he hadn’t been fiddling around in the last round, there might be a theoretical chance. There is 18 minutes left on the clock.

The first thing is for the Rifle Corps on the right flank to move out of the way. They move about a bit and shoot at the Sentinels, who no longer are under, neither mini-feat nor Dauntless Resolve. This makes a guardsman happy. All but four are taken out. Vlad can now activate. He casts S&P and charges a Sentinel tying up the Field Gun. The Sentinel dies. The only marginally sensible spell to cast from Blood Boon is Wind Wall.

Now Joe can say Bear’s Strength to the leftmost Rifle Corps. They charge the Sentinels in front of them. One should never under estimate charging Winter Guards. They proceed to kill four Sentinels! The Gun Carriage and Marauder attempts to clean up the zone, but are not too successful. The elvens managed to tie up the Gun Carriage pretty well, and the Marauder is not in the best shape.

That is more or less it. Nobody scores, so scenario score is still 1-1. However, Vlad has only 1 minute and 7 seconds left on the clock. We decide that end of round 3 is also end of game. So the picture above depicts the end of the game.

This battle was a long string of bad decisions and inefficient playing. Vlad should have a pretty good chance against this line up. Despite Sentinels, potentially being tough, no knockdown and a ridiculous ARM, they should be easy food for the Gun Carriages. In particular if the mini-feat can be provoked by the Rifle Corps. However, I spend far too long in round 2, where I should just have played laid back and weathered the feat and mini-feats. I sacrificed one of the Marauders for no apparent reason. The same for one of the Gun Carriages.

I had a pretty good first round. But from there on… This is what happens where there is no plan.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

Goreshade is making trouble again. Last time he managed to get the better of Irusk and his Winter Guards. This time the responsibility falls to Vlad. He brings the new hard hitting Winter Guard Kommand list, including two of the wonderful Gun Carriages. However, he is not the only one bringing Battle Engines. Goreshade is bringing a Trident, which turns out to be quite dangerous. However, the crazy elves are no match for Vlad and a Marauders in assassination mood.

I kind of like to play against Retribution. It is normally not too bad against the Winter Guards, yet still a challenge. I have faced them once before. This was using the Winter Guard Kommand list under Irusk2 (for battle report see here). Once again the trusted Winter Guards are facing Goreshade4 in a Legion of Dawn list. This time under Vlad1 (for a rationale behind this WGK list, see here). The two lists are:

I general, I think that quite many Retribution lists are manageable for WGK lists. This one, I guess should be fine. There are plenty of nice targets for Winter Guards to shoot at. Not to mention the Gun Carriages love for hostile infantry. The only thing that worries me is the Dawnguard Trident, which I haven’t faced before but heard a lot about.

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven is very much a debuff caster. He can lower ARM by 2 through Hand of Ice, lower DEF by 2 through Light of Wrath, and cast Freezing Mist, which can make it even more difficult for the trusted Winter Guards to hit anything. -2 to attack rolls makes Winter Guards very sad. I guess this is also one of Goresade’s trademarks: the unreasonable amount of clouds he can put out, given enough souls in his feat turn.

However, this is actually not so bad for a WGK list. This list does not rely on high DEF or high ARM, rather partly on strength in number. Also, Arcane Vortes doesn’t do a lot against the WGK list, as Vlad doesn’t really have any spells to negate. Goreshade’s feat can potentially be a problem for the Triple Marauders. However, the Gun Carriages are immune, and the Winter Guards just want to shoot stuff.

The two main annoying bits are Dauntless Resolve, which offers +3 ARM and tough to a model or unit. This can make Sentinels a proper pain to deal with. Finally, Revive is always annoying – dead elves should stay dead.

Goreshade has two ‘jacks in his battle group: Imperatus and a Chimera. The latter’s two most annoying things are Apparition and being an Arc Node. This little fellow is probably there to be a mostly annoying Arc Node (mostly for Hand of Ice and Light of Wrath in particular), and for scoring zones. Imperatus, on the other hand, is a hand hitting monster.

Imperatus is almost Colossal-robust as it has what amount to 51 boxes (including Phoenix Protocol), and this is assuming more than 12 points of damage per round against it (to remove the Force Field and thus the d6 healing). It has one POW 14 gun at range 10″. But most importantly it has two P+S 17 range 2″ weapons. To add insult to injury, it has Side Step and can ignore friendly Dawnguard models for LOS and advancement (theme benefit). If he has an Arcanist Mechanik nearby to give it Concentrated Power, it can on the average one-round a Khador Warjack. This is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Dawnguard Sentinels are really annoying. They are reach 2″ P+S 12 weapon masters (which is surprisingly hard hitting). They do Vengeance for a bit of movement and an extra attack in the maintenance phase (assuming a model has been damaged). They also have Relentless Charge from their Officer. What really makes them annoying is their really high ARM. They do a base ARM of 15, which goes to 17 if they are base to base. When they are running along Goreshade4, he can raise it with an additional 3 under Dauntless Resolve; and just to add to it, they do an Iron Zeal mini-feat, which adds another 3 to their ARM. All in all it can bring them to ARM 23!

Dawnguard Destors are Retribution’s heavy cavalry. Here they come in a standard package with the Dawnguard Destor Thane, who is basically a super charged version also giving all the cavalry Unyielding (landing them at ARM 19 in close combat). A charging Destor will do the following damage: Impact POW 12 (avg. 19); Charge P+S 14 (avg. 25); and Cannon POW 14 (avg. 21). A single Destor is not really scary for our ‘jacks nor the carriage (even under Hand of Ice, which would be 11 points of damage to a ‘jack). However, a full unit is a completely different story. Also with (sub)optimal placement of the Winter Guards a single Destor can easily take out three guards. Finally, if they can’t be bortherd to charge, they can shoot our poor Winter Guards, and reposition after.

The two House Shyeel Artificers is a bit of a thorn in the eyes on trigger happy Winter Guards. It can add two to the DEF of themselves or units, forcing the Rifle Corps to do at least two-man CRA to hit stuff. They are also really good for zone contesting, as they are kind of difficult to remove and can slam stuff.

There are also two Lys Healers. They are less annoying here than against other lists. They do however offer no knockdown in a 5″ bubble, which really makes both the Field Guns and Gun Carriage sad. They can also heal living models.

Three Arcanist Mechaniks are also to be found in the list. They are basically super mechanics, somewhere between our Mechaniks and the Choir. They can Empower, Repair, and do Concentrated Power (see the part on Imperatus).

Finally, the huge (but in this specific case invisible) Dawnguard Trident. I have heard quite a lot about it but never actually seen one (I still haven’t). This is a battle engine with a lot of rules, almost so many that it looks like cheating. It can generate Power Tokens, which can be used to increase its DEF or place friendly models within 2″ of it. Most of all, it is a shooting platform. It has three cannons, which can deliver between three and nine attacks. They are range 10″ and POW 13. I already dislike it.

We are playing one of the new 2019 Steamroller scenarios: Recon II (which is exactly the same as the 2018 version). We both opt for the Stockpile objective (remove d3 point of damage within 4″). Vlad and his trusted troops goes first.

Vlad deploys, more or less in the Empress standard deployment pattern 2. That is: a Gun Carriage on each flank; A Rifle Corps and a Field gun on either side; and ‘jacks, Vlad, solos and Mortar in the middle.

Goreshade deploys his Destors and the Trident on my left flank (note that apparently the Trident is flying so high that only the base is visible). He put a House Shyeel Artificer on my right flank, ready to contest the rightmost zone. The rest goes more or less in the middle. The deployment is quite left skewed. So he is probably going for the leftmost zone, whilst just contesting the rightmost.

Turn one is as often uneventful. This is, however an exception to this rule, as the Destors and Trident shows off their tricks.

Vlad is basically just advancing everything forward as fast as possible. A Gun Carriage goes into each of the zone to be ready for the crazy elves. The three ‘jack move up to be ready as the anvil. All the Winter Guards just moves forward. Vlad casts Wind Wall to cover him and the two solos. The picture above shows the situation after Vlad’s move.

The Chimera moves forward, which allows Goreshade to cast Hand of Ice on the leftmost Gun Carriage. He then moves up and hides behind his ‘jacks, and put out two clouds to “block” the rightmost Gun Carriage. The Destors move up the left flank and they shoot everything at the leftmost Gun Carriage. This is followed by the Trident, which proceeds to roll 5, 5, and 6! Everything goes into the Gun Carriage, which is killed. This came as a very unpleasant surprise. The Sentinels spread out and move forward. That was it. I strongly feel that is was more than enough. One Gun Carriage already gone. The picture above depicts the scary and annoying situation at the end of turn 1.

Turn 2

I think I might be in trouble. The Trident is really good. I need to controle the left flank somehow. There is an annoying forest in the middel of the field. I think this is not a game to be won on scenario. To get at Goreshade I have to go through the right flank.

Vlad starts by casing Signs & Portens, and moves up behind the Objective (this is a very cozy spot to be). Winter Guards are cheap, so I move up the left flank and spread out. I’m assuming that they will be shot or charged to death shortly. They shoot a bit and take out one of the Destors. Joe shouts Courage of the Forefathers at them to make them Tough. A combination of the Rifle Corps and the Field Gun also removes the Thane; at least that removes Unyielding from the Destors. On the right flank, the Gun Carriage moves around the wall of clouds and starts shooting at the Sentinels (well aware of trigering Vengeance). It takes out two Sentinels and the Soulless Escort. The rightmost Rifle Corps spread out and moves up, knowing that some of them are going to die a glorious death. Two of the ‘jacks moves up on the right flank. One to take the hit, and one behind to get even. The last Marauder moves into the forest. The picture above shows the end of the Khador round.

Goreshade allocates focus to Imperator. The Chimera moves to the right so Goreshade can cast Hand of Ice on the Gun Carriage. He then moves over to the flag. Through a combination of Vengeance and charging the Sentinels removes the baiting Marauder, kills a few Winter Guards, and heavily damages the Gun Carriage. They also mini-feat. However the Gun Carriage is still alive! Imperatus moves into the woods and beats up the Marauder. The Marauder is left at just a few boxes (which is sufficient as it is within 4″ of the objective). Finally, the Trident and Destors move forward and to the right to screen Goreshade, while they shoot a lot at the Winter Guards. They are grateful to Joe for Courage of the Forefathers. That was it. Actually less damaging than I would have though. The picture above depicts the end of turn 2 (please note that the two clouds on the right flank are not actually there. They were just too difficult to remove). 

Turn 3

So, I think that Vlad is a bit on his heels. Not panic-style, but nevertheless. It is time to be creative. I think that there might be a possible assassin run for the rightmost Marauder. The plan is a simple two step plan: 1) get rid of the Sentinels (they are only ARM 23); and 2) get Marauder to Goreshade and kill him. How hard can it be?

So the important bit is to get rid of the Sentinels. This requires Vlad to get his hands dirty. He starts by allocating two focus to the designated assassin. He the casts Signs & Portents and feats. He charges the Sentinels and kills two of them. Blood Boon allows him to then cast Boundless Charge on the assassin. He is left exposed. But it is a case of kill or be killed. The Rifle Corps CRA and picks of Sentinels to make sure that as few as possible are base-to-base (bringing down their ARM by two points); and some of the artillery kills the rest. The Gun Carriage takes over and charges the objective. It Impacts the Sentinels in front of it, and tries to shoot Goreshade. The objective goes away. The road is now clear for the Marauder. So it charges Goreshade partly through the forest (thanks to both feat and Boundless Charge). A fully loaded Marauder against Goreshade is almost unfair. Goreshade dies. The picture above show the glorious victory of the Empress’ finest.

Final thoughts

This is promising. Vlad, two Gun Carriages, Winter Guards, and Triple Marauder is fun. I have to admit that it was getting worried already in turn one, when the flying lawnmower took out a Gun Carriage and then proceeded to decimate a Rifle Corps. It is dangerous. The player was taking about getting another one (or actually two). I’m not sure that WGK can deal with that.

Goreshade was the victim of a well carried out assassin run. I don’t think that there was any doubt that it could work. The Gun Carriage did not even contribute to clean a charge lane. Even if Goreshade had feated, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Speaking of charge lane: feat and boundless charge is just wonderful.

Main take away is that Tridents are dangerous, Gun Carriages are not as robust as they look, and Hand of Ice tips the scale more that expected.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!

I general, I think that quite many Retribution lists are manageable for Irusk’s standard list. This one, in particular should be fine, as there is a lot of infantry, and Winter Guards like to shoot at infantry.

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven is very much a debuff caster. He can lower ARM by 2 through Hand of Ice, lower DEF by 2 through Light of Wrath, and cast Freezing Mist, which can make it even more difficult for the trusted Winter Guards to hit anything. -2 to attack rolls makes Winter Guards very sad. I guess this is also one of Goresade’s trademarks: the unreasonable amount of clouds he can put out, given enough souls in the turn before.

However, this is actually not so bad for a WGK list. This list does not rely on high DEF or high ARM, rather on strength in number (as well as tough and no knockdown). Also, Arcane Vortes doesn’t do a lot against the WGK list, as Irusk doesn’t really have any spells to negate. Even his feat is not that bad. Becoming Stationary after a melee attack; so what, I really what to shoot stuff.

The two main annoying bits are Dauntless Resolve, which offers +3 ARM and tough to a model or unit. This can make Sentinels a proper pain to deal with. Finally,  Revive is always annoying – dead elves should stay dead.

Goreshade is flanked by one of the Retribution colossal, the Helios, and a Gorgon. The latter is really not interesting. In some sense, I am quite happy to see this colossal and not the Hyperion. The Hyperion is a Winter Guard killer pay excellence. A Helios is basically a beast stick, which is tremendously difficult to remove. Is has a Tractor Beam, which can push a model up to 3″, and Repulsor Field, which pushes a model hitting it 1″ away. As the only way to kill it for this WGK list is to hit it with the ‘jacks or a Battle Lust’ed and Bear Strength Winter Guard unit. The latter is actually the most probable.

The Dawnguard Invictors are an infantry unit that are comparable to our own Winter Guard Rifle Corps. Slightly higher damage output, and slightly more ARM, and Reposition. Nothing to worry about.

It is a different story with the Dawnguard Sentinels. They are reach 2″ P+S 12 weapon masters. They do Vengeance for a bit of movement and an extra attack in the maintenance phase (assuming a model has been damaged). They also have Relentless Charge from their Officer, making Irusk’s Artifice of Deviation void. What really makes them annoying is there really high ARM. They do a base ARM of 15, which goes to 17 if they are base to base. When they are running along Goreshade4, he can raise it with an additional 3 under Dauntless Resolve; and just to add to it, they do an Iron Zeal mini-feat, which adds another 3 to their ARM. All in all it can bring them to ARM 23!

The final additions to the Goresade4 list are three Arcanist Mechanik and a Lys Healer. The former are basically just super mechanics that can, in addition to repair also give a focus or add 2 to the damage roll of a ‘jack. The latter, can heal stuff and make them immune to knockdown or stationary.

All in all, I’m not too worried about this list. Despite the Sentinels having a very good ARM, the trusted Winter Guards should have no problem shoot the infantry of the field. Also, the tricks that Goreshade4 has are, despite being not completely unimportant, most does not really have any significant impact on this WGK list. The only worry is the Helios, which is not really too dangerous, but quite difficult to remove.

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

Goreshade deploys his Helios on my right flank with most of the support solos near it. On the left flank, the Invictors are lining up. Goreshade goes in the middle with a unit of Sentinels on each side. 

Irusk deploys in the standard manner. The only change is that I deploy a Field Gun to my far left opposing the Gorgon, and both ‘jacks on my right to counter the Helios. The picture above depicts the state and the end of deployment.

Turn 1 is basically uneventful. Goreshade just pushes forward. He puts both of his Sentinels into Wall of Steel and casts Dauntless Resolve on the unit to my right. The Gorgon follow the left most Sentinel unit, and the Helios moves into the right most zone. So far nothing more to see here.

I run the Winter Guards and moves the artillery forward. The two ‘jacks advances slowly among the Winter Guards. Irusk2 casts Solid Ground, Fire for Effect on the Field Gun to the right, and Artifice of Deviation – forgetting that the Sentinels have Relentless Charge. So far nothing interesting. The only main question is how to put pressure on the right most zone. Goreshade just parked a huge ‘jack there. The picture above shows the field at the end of turn 1.

Turn 2 starts with the Invictors moving forward and taking a few pot shots at my Rifle Corps on my left flank. The Sentinels move forward and both units activates their mini-feat, leaving the unit on my left at ARM 22 and the other one at ARM 25! 

Irusk upkeeps Solid Ground and Fire for Effect, and drops Artifice of Deviation. I need to take out as many Sentinels as possible before they can get a charge off at the Winter Guards. So all Winter Guards hold the line and aims.

Never underestimate focused Winter Guards. They manage to clean out an over average number of Sentinels, actually so many that the Goreshade player needs a hug. Still not remembering that Sentinels have Relentless Charge, Irusk recasts Artifice of Deviation. My ‘jacks are kind of scared of the colossal and moves (too little) forward. Irusk feats to hinder the Sentinels reaching my line.

At the end of turn 2, Goreshade manages to score one point in his zone, and I also score one (the Mortar Crew is a unit, I sometimes forget that). The picture above depicts the end of turn 2.

I think I manage to ruin Goreshade’s plan. Thanks to Irusk marvellous feat he can really get too much out of an alpha strike. He just shuffles his Sentinels forward instead for charging. He mange to score one point in his round, and so do I.

The Winter guards hold the line. I have no idea why. Common sense would dictate that the Winter Guards should advance and gain some momentum. However, they do not. What ever happened in this round, I mange to score one point, and he does not. This leaves us at 2-2 on scenario points. The picture above is end of turn 3.

It is charge time. The Sentinels charge the Winter Guards thick red line. It is not an impressive charge. He manage to remove only three models on my left flank. When Winter Guards are tough – they are tough. Nevertheless, Sentinels are now at the front door. He also moves Goreshade into his zone, the Nys Healer next to the left most flag, and an Arcanist Mechanik to the middle flag. This is not good, as he manage to score three points in this round, and I score none! The picture below shows the situation after Goreshade’s round

The Winter Guards are potentially in trouble. The Retribution player is currently leading the scenario score with 5-2. I have to do something or the game is over. Let the clean up commence.

Irusk upkeeps his spells and starts on the left flank by ordering the artillery to remove the Nys Healer, so no more scoring that flag. The Rifle Corps attempt to remove as many Sentinels as possible, but apparently killing “low” ARM sentinels is far more difficult than killing high ARM sentinels.

Joe encourages the Winter Guard Infantry by using Bear Strength, giving them +4 STR. Irusk enhances this by casting Battle Lust on the same unit. The unit charges the Sentinel unit in front of them and almost wipe them out. Never underestimate Winter Guards charging P+S 12 axes rolling 4 dice! One Winter Guard also kills the Arcanist Mechanik who was scoring the middle flag. The Rifle Corps on the left follows up with less success that the infantry. To further hinder scoring the Spriggan tramples into the right most zone.

This ends turn 4 with nobody scoring, leaving us at 5-2 in Gorshade’s favour. Not too shabby I think. The picture above shows the end of turn 4.

The Retribution player is quite clever. He can easily see that if he can score two more points, he wins on scenario. This is unfortunately easily done. The sentinels on my left flank charges the objective and kills it, score is now 6-2. On the right flank, the Helios uses all sorts dirty tricks. It moves up to the Spriggan, uses Tractor Beam on the only Winter Guard in the zone, picks up the Spriggan and throws it out of the zone, leaving the score at 7-2 – game over. The picture below depicts the end of the game.

It was all going so well and then not.

I think I was correct with most of my initial thoughts about this Goreshade4 list. It is not really that dangerous. All in all, I think Iruk’s feat was well placed. I do, however, think I lost the game in turn 3, when I did not press the scenario. I also think that I overestimated how dangerous the Helios is.

Basically, I should just have put much more pressure on the scenario, and I think the game would have been won.

Until next time:

For the Motherland!