New Gaming Location!

Recently a local card and comic store, Collectors Inn, has moved their location to a bigger store. The owner has been gracious enough to open the store to include table top wargaming. Tuesday nights are Warmachine nights and the store is about a mile from my place. I've gone the last 3 weeks and have had a blast. The WM/H community is really growing and I'm glad to be a part of it.

I will use this space to keep track of my games week to week.

Week 1: Skorne vs. Cryx (Kevin)

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (*6pts)

* Razorworm (4pts)

* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)

* Titan Gladiator (8pts)

Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)

* Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard (2pts)

Iron Lich Asphyxious (*6pts)

* Deathripper (4pts)

* Kraken (19pts)

Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)

Mechanithralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (5pts)

Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)

Necrosurgeon & 3 Stitch Thralls (2pts)

Machine Wraith (1pts)

(He had something else, can't think of it.)

We played one of the new scenarios coming out in 2015. All I remember was there was a rectangular zone in the middle of the board with 2 monoliths at either end of the zone. I lost due to assassination.

Week 2: Skorne v. Trolls (Dan)

My list was the same. (see above)

Borka Kegslayer (*5pts)

* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)

* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)

Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)

Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)

* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)

Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

Troll Whelps (2pts)

Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

We played Outflank. I had 1 turn of awesome Troll killing goodness thanks to Hexeris' feat and the swordsmen. What's better than killing Trolls? Having recently killed Trolls kill Trolls. Daisy chain of death!! Dan was able to dominate and win.

Week 3: Skorne vs. Circle (Shawn)

Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)

* Cyclops Brute (5pts)

* Mammoth (20pts)

Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)

Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

Kromac the Ravenous (*4pts)

* Argus (4pts)

* Winter Argus (5pts)

* Shadowhorn Satyr (7pts)

* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)

Reeves of Orboros (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)

Lord of the Feast (4pts)

Tharn Ravager White Mane (3pts)

We played Outflank. It was a fun game. My list was something I had been wanting to try out, I don't give the mammoth enough table time. 

Makeda cast Savagery on the Cetrati and moved them into shieldwall into the left control zone on turn 1. Everything else moves up behind the Cetrati. I got off a few good shots with the mammoth but it was really made for melee. It charged and killed the stalker and argus with fury to spare. The willbreaker squeezed off a shot at Kromac, I needed 12 on 2d6 to hit: FUCKING BOXCARS!!

In the end, Kromac jumped over my Cetrati line into Makeda's face. He would have had to kill her otherwise my entire army would descend on him. He failed, thus ending the game.

Keeping track of my weight: As of 12/26/14: 220 (+/-)

Whisperings of the Dragon

I hear the call of Everblight,

Yes, dear reader, I have fallen to the Blight.
It all started when I was first getting into Warmachine. I was coming out of 40K and I had played Tyranids for a while. Everblight was tempting but The Legion warbeasts looked too much like Nids and I wanted to start off a new game with something fresh. I chose Cryx because I had never played an undead faction before.

About 3 years ago, I was tempted by the blight yet again. I made a deal (to keep the Empire out of here forever) on Bartertown to get the Legion starter box and 2 carniveans from 2 different traders. Both packages were expected to arrive on the same day. However my mail was intercepted and I never got them. I would have loved to see the look on the thief's face. "Wha ta hail dis shit?" I hope hes's in pieces right now. So I took it as a sign and delved deeper into Skorne.

Recently I played a fun pThagrosh on Vassal against Rob. It was pThag, 2 carniveans, 2 thrones and 3 units of warmongers. I lost but it was fun all the same. Thagrosh is one of those casters that when I read his stats, abilities and spells, I exclaim, "Holy Shit!" after almost every line. Guy's amazing! Not too crazy about the model however, that damn derp face.
But wouldn't you know it...not 1 week after the game, I see the new sculpt coming out in February. Must be fate. Plus I chanced upon some second hand Legion warbeasts at Dark Forest that were ridiculously cheap.

Right now, my list looks like this:
Points: 50/50
Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (*5pts)
* Angelius (9pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Typhon (12pts)
Throne of Everblight (9pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warspears (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
* Warspear Chieftan (2pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Succubus (2pts)

The Throne is amazing! It's also one of those models in the game when I can barely contain my excitement.
The new Thagrosh model won't be available until around February, until than I'm gathering the troops and preparing. I'll continue to play Skorne, I may decide to par down my collection or even sell my entire collection altogether. Not sure yet.

Updates

I participated in a Warmachine 25 point doubles tournament recently at the Collector's Inn. The tournament was set for Sunday so I called up Adam and we did tourney prep all day on Saturday at Dark Forest. I played a dumbed down version of the Mordikaar list I usually play, Adam played an infantry heavy pIrusk list. I didn't do so well, 25 points is tough when you are used to playing at 50 points. I ran with minimum units, something I don't ever do. The day of the tournament, only 4 people showed up. I was paired with Alex, another Skorne player and Adam was paired with Kevin and his small Cryx army. He only had about 6 models. Alex and I kind of each did our own thing while Adam and Kevin worked as a team, the mass of Khador infantry acted as a good screen for the Cryx. We only played 1 game, the Khador/Cryx team won. As always, I was just happy to play. I'm glad I'm not a sore loser. :) Adam, Kevin and I hung out for the rest of the day and I got two more games in. I conceded to Kevin after a failed assassination attempt. I cast Essence blast from my 2 remaining warbeasts at his caster but failed to do enough damage.

Keeping track of my weight: As of 11/26/14: 224 (+/-)

New Makeda list

I've been thinking about my recent games with Makeda. I really like what she brings to the table. I have to admit, I was ready to abandon her in favor if her epic incarnation, but decided to give her a closer look. I had difficulty with her feat the last 2 games because the slaughterhausers have Remove From Play. The first game I brought back 1 Nihilator, the second: nothing. A little underwhelming to say the least. I will eventually play the epic version, but for now I want to see what prime can do.

I came up with this list:
Points: 50/50
Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)
* Cyclops Brute (5pts)
* Cyclops Raider (5pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
* Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)

Good mix of range and melee and anti spell. I have a few ideas about how I want to play this list:

1. Makeda casts Farstrike on 3 of the Incindiarii. The Incindiarii do a CRA, 3 pods of 2, This puts their guns at range 14" plus 5SPD giving them a threat range of 19" with P+S 14, 3"AOE with continuous fire and a RAT of 8.

2. Makeda casts Savagery on the Nihilators combined with the Tyrant Commander's Press Forward gives the Nihilators a SPD 13 full advance. I miss out on the charge attack bonus, but P+S 12 is enough to kill on average dice.

3. Cetratii with Vorkesh makes a nice anti-spell brick that's hard to remove and can still benefit from Carnage. Vorkesh is invaluable when facing casters like Sorscha or Dr. Arkadius and brings some nice abilities like Cleave and Precision Strike.

4. The Brute is essentially a bodyguard for Makeda keeping her safe from knockdown and any ranged attack. I plan on holding back the Gladiator for a juicy target while providing Makeda with Fury and blocking charges

5. I took the gobbers because I had 1 point left, isn't that always the way? I wanted an Extoller Soulward for obvious reasons, but had to settle on the gobbers. I'll use them to their max potential: blocking LOS and providing concealment.

pMakeda - thoughts

I didn't do too badly with the before mentioned Makeda lists. I would have done better had I not included the mammoth. He's a big walking target and EVERYTHING is out to kill him, and once he's gone, there's a big hole in your army. I played against Adam and his Farrow and against Matt and his Trolls. I lost both games but had fun.

Last weekend, I played Adam again and his Farrow using a different pMakeda list:

Points: 50/50
Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)
* Basilisk Krea (4pts)
* Cyclops Brute (5pts)
* Molik Karn (11pts)
* Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
* Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)
Tyrant Rhadiem (5pts)

Taking a break from the Void Seer

Too bad the actual model doesn't look more like this. 

After the tournament, I decided to take a break from Mordikaar and explore other casters. I have been writing lists with more of a tourney mindset lately, I want to play more of them and get better.

Today I'll be playing at the Forest with Adam. Today is a fun day, playing a pMakeda list for the hell of it. I finally got the mammoth painted, now I have to get it on the table.

Points: 50/50
Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)
* Basilisk Krea (4pts)
* Cyclops Raider (5pts)
* Mammoth (20pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
* Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)

Fully painted army!! WOOOT!!!

Tournament!!

I was supposed to spend the day with my daughter yesterday. She instead spent the day with her friend. So I was left wondering how to make the most out of my surprise day to myself. I called Adam for a game and he mentioned the tournament at Dark Forest (this was on Friday night). So I wrote up 2 50 point lists for Mordikaar and eHexeris.

The tournament started at 10 am, I got there, paid the $5 and registered. 

Game 1: Mordikaar vs. eHaley - Cygnar
I didn't do too bad, I didn't have any trouble with time, I had lots to spare. I attempted an assassination with a void spirit, but rolled low and failed to kill Haley. He won by scenario 5:3.

Game 2: Buy
Odd number of people, so I just hung out and watched other people play.

Game 3: eHexeris vs. Kaelyssa - Retrubution
I was totally unprepared for this list. Basically I dropped my pants and got kicked square in the balls. Worst game ever. His jacks put out a defensive field right in front of my nihilators, my entire army came to a skreeching halt. Plus I moved Hexeris up way too far. Game took about 20 minutes. Nice guy though, he apologized for his list before the game even started.

Glad I got to play in a tournement finally, even though I didn't even place. I learned alot, made me take a good long look at my army and my playstyle. Adam didn't do very well either.

Battle Report....sort of

"I got 2 turntables and a microphone..."

I played my latest list against Adam and his Khador.

50 points, Incursion
Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch of Khador (*3pts)
* Behemoth (13pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
* 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers (3pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)

I won the roll and went 2nd.
I decided to run everything forward on turn 1 and feat. It did mitigate my losses quite a bit.
Instances of note:
The Nihilators tied up the Winter Guard all game, contesting the objective on the left. Each turn, Mordikaar would cast Revive and bring back at least 2 Nihilators.
I played more aggressive with Despoiler. I enraged him with a beast handler and charged him into a MOW, killing it and thus spawning a void spirit. The void spirit then ran over to the widowmakers, hoping for a failed CMD check. No luck. Next turn Despoiler killed a battle mechanik, spawning yet another void spirit. This one charged into the Old Witch, tagging her for 7 damage. Despoiler cast his Arcane Suppression animus on himself as he was slowly creeping up to Old Witch.
Damaging Witch sent Scrap Jack into a flailing bundle of rage as he proceeded to charge Despoiler and knock out 2/3 of his health boxes. Behemoth moved in and finished the job.
During Witch's feat turn, those inside her control area stayed put and took no damage, only 3 Nihilators were out.
Archidon charged Behemoth hoping for a lucky critical pitch. No dice.

It became an attrition battle; Khador's high DEF and ARM vs. Mordikaar's ability to cast Revive and spawn void spirits. The score was tied 0/0, both sides contesting. It was a close game and it got cut short because we lost track of time and the store was closing.

Overall I'm happy with the way things went. I learned a lot.

50 Point Mordikaar

After a short break, I'm upping my list to 50 points.

Void Seer Mordikaar (*5pts)
* Archidon (7pts)
* Despoiler (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Praetorian Karax (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)
Void Spirit (2pts)

My biggest problem is that I tend to forget shit. Feating is a big one. Many a game where I slapped my forehead and exclaimed that I should have feated that turn. Turn 2 seems to be the optimal feat turn, allowing my units that extra bit of DEF to stay alive once battle has been joined.

I'll be playing this list today, I have high hopes. 

Remember: Aggression pays off. 

Tracking my weight: as of 8/2/14: 232

Mordikaar vs. Midas

I got yet another game with the void seer, this time against one of my favorite warlocks - Midas. Adam and I played the Incursion scenario at 35 points. I played the same list as last time. I deployed as a brick in the center with karax on the left the nihilators on the right, each unit ready to grab or at least contest the objectives nearest to them.
Adam moved his slaughterhausers to engage my front ranks and tied me up for a turn or two. My void spirit moved to contest the objective on the right. Adam was up in points by 1 by turn 4 but by that time most of his army was gone. He did pop his feat and bring back his dead warbeasts. I made the mistake of forgetting that after they came back, they were undead and had the krea shoot the war hog with spiritual paralysis. (Laughter did indeed ensue.) Last turn of the game I had Mordikaar cast the gladiator's animus on the gladiator and slammed the war/road hog, knocking down the gunboar and Midas. The gladiator was unable to do a full follow up because of the gun boar was in its path but was able to kill it. At which time, having only about 3 models left on the board, Adam conceded.
I don't consider this a full on victory as this was Adam's first game with Midas and there is a bit of a learning curve with him.
As far as my army, the gladiator was the star of the show yet again. I may consider a 2nd gladiator in future lists. I am becoming accustomed to not having beast handlers, odd because they were such a staple in my other lists. I'm getting better at fury management and didn't have to take any threshold checks. In a 50 point game, I may replace the karax with cetratii and include a gatorman witch doctor.

Mordikaar Update

Archidon!!!

I went with the soulward for my last game instead of the second void spirit. I played against my usual opponent, Adam, and his Dr. Arkadius list. We played a 35 point Incursion SR2014 scenario.
He won the roll and went first. I tried something a little different, a denied flank maneuver. I set up the nihilators in the center, the void spirit on the left and everything else on the right side of my deployment zone. It worked out for the most part, I didn't end up with an infantry clump in the middle of the field. My tyrant commander got himself capped on turn 2. I should have expected no less; he's a medium based model in a sea of small based models. As per usual, I threw the niliators forward, used the karax as a bodyguard for Mordikaar and held back the warbeasts until turn 3. I actually remembered to feat this game, on turn 3. Despite my +3 DEF Adam still rolled like a champ but did miss a couple of attacks. We had ground each others armies down pretty well, I think I came out on top only because I had more models on the table from the start.
I have the unfortunate tenancy when playing Warmachine to go directly for the assassination, bypassing the scenario completely. In the past, I did the opposite and only went for the assassination only if winning by scenario was impossible. I think it makes for a more exciting game to use your army to kill stuff rather than hold objectives, however I do not wish for this game to devolve into a simple game of chess.

Late in the game, turn 4 I think, I saw no viable assassination options and was about to concede. Adam pointed out that I could dominate the right side objective and score 2 points. I did so and won due to the face that the center objective had become uncontested. I really don't count that as a win as I was going to concede and had Adam not said anything, the game would have ended.

I am very much enjoying this list, Mordikaar is a fun caster and I want to get more games under my belt before I move on to another. I am considering bringing this list from 35 to 50 points by dropping the gladiator and adding a mammoth, a min unit of beast handlers and a feralgiest.

Keeping track of my weight: as of 6/9/14: 246

Continuing with the Void Seer

"You got the touch..."

Today I will be playing Mordikaar yet again, this time with a non-tier list.

Mordikaar
Gladiator
Archidon
Krea
Full Nihilators
Full Karax
Tyrant Commander and standard
Void Spirit
Void Spirit

I am debating on whether to replace one void spirit with a soulward. I may play one game with and one game without just to see if there's a difference.

I think I need to have a whiteboard with the word "FEAT" just so I don't forget it. In all my games with Mordikaar, I think I only feated once. Why? I think maybe on some subconscious level, I believe that the feat is some game winning ability only to be used at the precise moment to turn the tide of battle, like the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Silly, I know. The best time to use the feat would probably be around turn 3 when actual battle is joined, allowing my army to stick around for another turn.

Void Seer Mordikaar - UPDATE

My first 2 games with Mordikaar didn't go so well. I played against Dr. Arkadius and pIrusk and lost or conceded both games. I was beginning to think that maybe Mordikaar wasn't my caster, but I wanted to play him again to make sure. I played against Rob's infantry heavy Grale list...and won. Had he played his usual eKaya list, I'm sure he would have defeated me and I could have put this silly notion to rest and get on with a caster that I'm good with, like Hexeris. Our game played out better than the first 2; I had a better idea what to do and what no to do and I was a bit more aggressive with my army in general. It wasn't just the win that convinced me to continue playing this list; some very interesting things happened during the game.
Despolier killed an already damaged warpwolf.
An entire unit of Wolves of Oberos failed a CMD check after I ran a void spirit at them.
The archidon charged Grale and got a CRIT, throwing him into a unit of karax that finished him off.
Mordikaar cast Revive twice to bring back dead troopers.
A single nihilator killed 3 enemy models and then proceeded to butcher 3 (or 4?) of his own unit.

There was more than meets the eye with this army, I wanted to continue playing to unlock more hidden potential. I am often criticized for my caster ADD I seem to have, it's hard for me to focus on any one caster for too long. I see potential in a caster and tend to get fixated in it but when my expectations come crashing down, I start looking elsewhere. I knew that if I wanted to continue with Mordikaar, I would have to make a few changes. First, get rid of Despoiler, for now. He's a great toolbox warbeast, but I was having difficulty figuring out where he fit into the army. His ability to upkeep a spell for free was great (when I remembered to use it) but that was his main function for my first 2 games. His ability to create void spirits out of dead enemy troopers was great, but by the time the nihilators were through, there wasn't much left.
So I dropped Despolier and added a gladiator, hands down my favorite warbeast and with the 2 points left over I decided to bring the list to Tier 4 and add 2 feralgeists.

I played the new list in 2 separate games today, first against Dr. Arkadius and the second against eIrusk. The first I lost due to scenario, the second I conceded.
Despite my losses, I am undaunted and want to continue with Mordikaar. I may have to break tier in order to fix some of the holes in the list. First off: no eyeless sight. I felt lost without the extoller soulward but I may have to add her in next game. Second: no arch node. Aptimus Marketh can cast all but one of Mordikaar's spells, some of which only have a range of 6". Marketh can put himself in harm's way without risking Mordikaar. Being incorporeal for the first turn does nothing for me, but the free void spirit is indeed a boon. AD for the incorporeal models is nice, getting into the control zone first helps but being able to stay in is the problem. I also need to look into a shooty unit, venators maybe. And replacing the raider with a shaman.
We shall see.....

Void Seer Mordikaar - 35 points, Tier 2

Having been disappointed with Midas, I dove into the Skorne pool again. This time I am looking at Void Seer Mordikaar. He possesses some interesting abilities, a nice feat and some solid spells. I wrote up the following list to capitalize on his strengths:

Legions of the Abyss: 35pts., Tier 2
Tier 1: Models in the army are Incorporeal for the first turn of the game
Tier 2: 1 free Void Spirit for every 2 units

Void Seer Mordikaar +5
Despoiler 10
Cyclops Raider 5
Archidon 7
Max Nihilators 8
Max Praetorian Karax 6
Void Spirit 2
Void Spirit 2
Void Spirit FREE

Everything is just TheoryMachine at this point. Being Incorporeal for the first turn will help getting around terrain, a problem I always seem to have. The free Void Spirit is a nice benefit, not only can I create more within 2" of Despoiler but Mordikaar boosts their MAT. Having no beathandlers will be a challenge, as they have been my crutch for most of my past armies. This will force me to really think about the amount of FURY I want to squeeze out of my warbeasts without having the beasthandlers around to make all the excess go away.

I plan on getting some games in with this army this weekend and posting the results.

Vassal Escalation Campaign

Trying out something different on Vassal; an escalation campaign with Rob. I wanted to give Skorne a break, been playing p and e Hexeris on the tabletop and Zaal on Vassal almost exclusively. I decided to play Midas, the new(er) Thornfall caster. No real reason, he just caught my eye. I've been painting Adam's Thornfall army and they grew on me after a while.
We decided to start with 15 points and move to 25, 35 and eventually 50, possibly beyond.

GAME 1:
Thornfall
Points: 15/15
Tiers: 2
Midas (*5pts)
* Road Hog (9pts)
* War Hog (8pts)
Farrow Bone Grinders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)


Trollbloods
Points: 15/15
Borka Kegslayer (*5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollblood Skinner (2pts)

Battle was short and to the point. Midas got capped. I blame my lack of experience with such a small list. I deployed the bone grinders too far away to really be effective. Too late I realized that only the leader can cast spells. After a short break, we decided to play another game. Rob suggested that I change my list a bit, I agreed. 


GAME 2:
Thornfall
Points: 15/15
Tiers: 3
Midas (*5pts)
* Bone Swarm (4pts)
* War Hog (8pts)
Farrow Bone Grinders (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Farrow Slaughterhousers (Leader and 5 Grunt) (6pts)

Trollbloods
Points: 15/15
Borka Kegslayer (*5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollblood Skinner (2pts)

I deployed in a classic brick; line of slaughterhausers in the front, Midas and the bone grinders behind and the warbeasts on the flanks. Because I was at Tier 3, the War Hog got advance move and the bone swarm received 3 bone tokens. This battle was a bit more intense, as smaller games tend to be. The War Hog failed to kill the Mauler by 1 hit box. Battle Lust on the slaughterhousers is nice as is Bad Blood on the Mauler. Midas fell to the might of the Trolls once again. 
I may have to rethink my strategy a bit before the next game. Kind of odd that Midas' affinity with the bone grinders gives them a combat bonus considering that they aren't all that great in melee and are more of a support unit. Their arcane bolt would get a bonus to hit but only the leader can cast it. 

Tracking my progress: pHexeris vs. pButcher

Played a game with Adam this past Saturday. I decided to use my new pHexeris list. I wanted to try out the archidon as an arch node and get some more mileage out of the Cataract Cetratii unit I just purchased. Plus I wanted to field the rhinodon.
System: Hordes
Faction: Hexeris - Kingdom of Shadow
Casters: 1/1
Points: 50/50
Tiers: 1
Lord Tyrant Hexeris (*6pts)
* Archidon (7pts)
* Rhinodon (7pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
* Titan Sentry (9pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Praetorian Swordsmen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Extoler Soulward (2pts)

Adam's list:

System: Warmachine
Faction: Khador
Casters: 1/1
Points: 50/50
The Butcher of Khardov (*6pts)
* Destroyer (9pts)
* Juggernaut (7pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
* 3 Winter Guard Infantry Rocketeers (3pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)

We rolled scenario #1: Destruction, I won the rolloff and chose to go second. Tier 1 allows Hexeris to begin the game with upkeeps in play. I had Soul Slave on the Archidon, Death March on the swordsmen and Psychic Vampire on Hexeris. As per usual, Adam and I will ignore the scenario and just try to beat each other's face in. I moved the Cetrati up to deal with the Shocktroopers and the swordsmen to counter the advancing Kayazy. The Kayazy and swordsmen were a good match up with both units almost wiping each other out. The Cetrati and MOW exchanged blows but were mostly deadlocked. The rhinodon used its animus, walked up and threshed 7 (?) winterguard, only killing 2 and hitting 2 Certati, killing nothing. I moved the Archidon close to the widowmakers and arched Obliteration at them. I missed and only took out 1 widowmaker. The Sentry slammed the Juggernaut doing some damage and knocking it down. In retrospect, I should have just charged it. The soulward, gorged on souls from the dead swordsmen, proved her worth and finished off 2 of the MOW plus 1 Kayazy. I made my critical mistake by moving Hexeris up too far to engage the oncoming Kayazy. He charged the underboss, killed it and proceeded to move closer to engage another Kayazy which he failed to kill. That left him wide open to get charged by the Juggernaut and killed. 

Tracking my progress 1/0/3 - eHexeris v. eGorshade

 
I decided to change my army list a bit to include a mammoth and support. I included a full unit of Cetrati in the hopes that they could hold objectives.
Lord Arbiter Hexeris (*6pts)
* Basilisk Krea (4pts)
* Cyclops Raider (5pts) - BOND BEAST
* Mammoth (20pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Extoler Soulward (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)


Points: 47/50 (????????)
Tiers: 4
Goreshade the Cursed (*5pts)
* Deathripper (4pts)
* Deathripper (4pts)
* Deathripper (4pts)
* Slayer (6pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Bane Thrall Officer & Standard (0pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Bane Thrall Officer & Standard (3pts)
The Withershadow Combine (5pts)
Bane Lord Tartarus (4pts)
Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall (1pts)
3 Scrap Thrall (1pts)
3 Scrap Thrall (1pts)
3 Scrap Thrall (1pts)

What I saw the opposing army, I was squeeing with delight. My extoller soulward could counter Stealth and even if I couldn't get a solid hit with the mammoth's guns, that's a 4" blast - it's going to kill something and with Black Spot I was going to kill more. I killed 7 bane thralls including bane lord Tarterus in the first salvo but I was badly outnumbered, and those banes wouldn't stay dead. I made a mistake on turn 2 - I moved the cyclops raider into position and triggered a counter move from Tartarus thus blocking a charge from my mammoth to the deathrippers directly in front of Goreshade. This put the raider in melee and thus unable to function as a bond beast. By turn 3 Hexeris wasn't in much of a position to do anything useful, the Cetrati unit was down to half strength, the mammoth failed miserably to kill the Slayer and was holding onto only 9 health boxes and my other beasts were tied up. I conceded. 

Khador vs. Circle - 50 points

Turn 1: Khador

Irusk's army deploys as a brick, The Winter Guard Rifle Corps and Kovnik
Joe set up behind the Man-O-War unit on the right, the Kayazy Assassins
with the Underboss set up behind the MOW unit on the left.
The Battle Mechaniks set up directly behind Behemoth where they will be
most useful. Widowmaker Marksman uses his Advanced Deployment and sets
up in the woods.
Everyone runs forward, the Kayazy and the Rifle Corps taking cover
behind the 2 units of Demo Corps. Irusk walks up, casts Fire For Effect
on Behemoth.

Turn 1: Circle

Kaya deployed her forces to both threaten the enemy zone using the
druids and the stalker to invade on the east flank supported by the
Gorax and the Druid Wilder.
The Feral, Pureblood, and Warpborn deployed on the East flank to defend
the Circle control zone as well as break through the enemy lines and
flank their control area.
Circle advanced at full speed into the jaws of death. Everyone moves up
one way or another.
The stalker hid behind the tower occupying the center of the board.
Druids popped smoke and elemental protection as well as anti magic aura.
Gorax hid out in the backfield with the wilder.
Kaya moved up toward the east flank supporting the two warpwolves and
the skinwalkers.

Kaya casts shadowpack giving her and all her warbeasts stealth. She also
puts Forced evolution on the pureblood thinking that def 16 will keep
him alive if he does get charged.
In a misguided attempt to blast the enemy with his sonic howl the

Pureblood Angrim moved out into the open thinking its high defense and
distance would prent it from being harmed.

Turn 2: Khador
Eveyone moves forward to get into position. Irusk upkeeps Fire For
Effect on Behemoth.

Behemoth shoots bombard cannons at stealthed pureblood warpwolf, 3"
AOE auto deviates and hits nothing.
Irusk casts Airburst on pureblood - only target in his control range.
Misses him and shifting stone.

Irusk casts Battle Lust on MOW D-Corps unit on the east flank, MOW
D-Corps unit charges, kills pureblood and a shifting stone.

Turn 2: Circle
The warpborn skinwalkers countercharge the D-corps and with the help of
a feral warpwolf kill them all. (DAMMIT!!!) Druids move off further to the west
flank to try and pull the surviving unit of D-corps into range for

attack from the pureblood and manage to inflict a few minor injuries.

The Stalker makes a failed charge which will surely lead to his doom.

Turn 3: Khador
Kovnik Joe uses For the Motherland, shoots the closest skinwalker. The
rifle corps activate, all shoot the same skinwalker, fail to kill it. (My dice suck!!)
Kayazy Underboss uses kill stroke, orders the assassins to charge the
unit of druids, kills 3 druids.
MOW Demo Corps charge the warpwolf stalker, 2 kill him. Rest of unit
destroys shifting stones.
Behemoth shoots feral warpwolf, misses, hits skinwalker instead, does
1 point of damage, 2nd shot misses but still catches warpwolf and 1
skinwalker, damages warpwolf, not skinwalker

Turn 3 :Circle
Severely depleted unit of Shifting stones moves into enemy zone .
Keeper blasts at Irusk with his stone hammer spell but misses killing a
pair of mechanics cowering behind the behemoth. (What else are they going to do?)

Laris charges into woods to attack sniper -fails Kaya pops feat, moves,

casts laris' animus to port next to sniper.
Beats him down.

Druid Wilder casts PRIMAL on the Gorax.

Gorax moves up picks up a man o war demo corps and chucks him two handed
at irusk. Knocking both down. Damaging demo corps nearly to death and
irusk a bit.
Gorax beats on other demo corps in his rage.

 Feral Warpwolf moved up and picked up another demo corps and chucked it
at Irusk...killing the D-Corps and does 9 damage to Irusk.

Turn 4: Khador
Irusk spends 1 focus point to stand up, pops feat, gives focus to
Behemoth.  MOW trooper moves up and kills stonekeeper. Behemoth kills
warpborn skinwalker, shoots at Laris, misses and does no damage. Kovnik  Joe uses
Bears Strength on rifle corp, rifle corps charge skinwalkers.  Assassins
activate, move in to kill remaining druids.

Turn 4: Circle

Feral and gorax berserked, gorax could not be helped but letting fury
stay on the feral cost circle  a chance to assasinate or at least put
some real hurt on a more critical unit....killing rifle corps was not
helpful.
Druids ran away in an effort to not die.

Kaya took potshots at Irusk and missed.

Skinwalkers butchered a couple of gunners...but that fight dragged on.

Turn 5: Khador
Behemoth charges and kills warpwolf. Shoots bombard cannons, misses
gorax, hits 3 skinwalkers, does not damage them, kills 1 rifle corp
trooper instead. Ooopps!

Irusk moves into control zone, casts Battle Lust on MOW on the West
flank. MOW charges skinwalkers, killing 2.  Rifle corps move in to

engage skinwalkers, killing nobody.  Kayazy run into control zone on
opposite end.

Turn 5: Circle
Double buffed the Gorax with primal and forced evolution Took a pot shot
at irusk with kaya for one point.
Threw a rifelman at irusk for 3 dmg.

The last living druid tried to take out a knocked down and severely
damaged Irusk. Had he opened fire with his spells he might have
succeeded...he tried to melee him though and fell short on the charge.
At that point Kaya decided the better part of having your army butchered
might be to come back and fight another day.
Victory goes to Khador.

But the druids will be back for the next battle
report...Mwuhahahahahahahaha

Tracking my progress: 0/0/2

With the start of the new year, I thought it a good time to start tracking my W/L/D. eHexeris is one of my favorite casters, next to his prime counterpart. This is my current list and I have played a few games with it already. I want to tweak it a bit but not sure what to add or take out.

Points: 50/50
Lord Arbiter Hexeris (*6pts)
* Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
* Titan Sentry (9pts)
Cataphract Arcuarii (Leader and 5 Grunts) (9pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)
Extoler Soulward (2pts)

Last weekend, I played 2 games.

Game 1 was Process of Elimination against pIrusk. As with all my games against Khador, I had trouble hitting his high DEF Winter Guard. Irusk casting Inhospitable Ground didn't help my slow beasts. I was able to get around it with the gladiator's animus and the tyrant commander. As for points we ended up tying 1-1 but I conceded after my last warbeast bit the dust. Not sure what I would have done differently. This was my first game in a month and I was a little rusty. I think I would benefit from some high damage AOEs somewhere in this list.

Game 2 was Outflank against Kromac. I was done after turn 2. All 3 of my heavy beasts were knocked down or dead, there was an anti-magic bubble in play and a gnarlhorn satyr was staring down a badly wounded Hexeris. I conceded.