Week 5 - Tyrant Xerxis

I got in a game last night with Dan and his Trolls. I think that it's fitting that my new regular opponent plays Trolls since there is so much animosity between our two factions in the Warmachine world.

I decided to give pXerxis a try. I had considered him for a while but was stuck on what to use with him. His low fury stat of 5 threw me off a bit, I'm used to playing with casters with plenty of fury to do what they need to do.

My list:
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)


Dan's list:
Points: 35/35
Borka Kegslayer (*5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

We played Scenario #1 from the 2014 Steamroller rules. I won the roll and went second. I deployed my army as a brick; Cetrati in a line up front and center, one beast per flank, Nihilators and Xerxis right behind the Cetrati and everything else behind them.
Right away I realized that I had made a mistake in my army composition. I should not have taken the agonizer, I was only able to give him 1 whole fury point all game. He just stood there and wet himself. The willbreaker was underused as well. He did put Puppet Master on the gladiator before it slammed a fennblade and got to reroll a miss. Also I messed up on deployment and activation. I was too cautious with the Cetrati and kept them in shieldwall all game. They never even got into the control zone BUT I upkept Defenders Ward on them all game, giving them an ARM 22 and an ARM 24 on feat turn. None of them took a single wound!!

The Trolls owned the control zone and Borka dominated after a combined effort killed my gladiator on turn 3. Mauler got the alpha strike on the bronzeback removing all but 1 damage point. On turn 4 I popped feat and charged the nihilators out at his axer and impaler, 3 on each. They butchered the axer, and wounded the impaler. The bronzeback made short work of the mauler. We called the game because the store was closing. Dan was ahead in points and won square.

Overall I liked how the game played out. I was concerned about beasts wandering out of Xerxis' control area but that didn't happen. I plan on playing a similar list in the future, something like this:
Points: 35/35
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Cyclops Brute (5pts)
* Tiberion (11pts)
* Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)

I need something to get the Cetrati where they need to be in safety. Marketh can upkeep spells after he collects souls and can hot swap spells when needed. I don't think I needed 2 heavy warbeasts last game, we'll see what 1 heavy and 1 light can do.

I need to figure out an activation sequence where Xerxis can activate, does what he needs to do but not get left behind when the rest of his army advances. I was considering the following steeps:

1. Deploy Xerxis in the forward center of the brick flanked by the Cetrati, the TyComm to one side of the Cetrati.
2. Activate Xerxis, cast Defenders Ward on the Cetrati, use Press Forward on the Cetrati, advance his full SPD (5") and cast Inhospitable Ground.
4. Activate the Cetrati, give them the Shield Wall order, advance them 7" into base to base with each other and forming a protective wall in front of Xerxis.
5. Activate the Nihilators, Run them up directly behind the Cetrati. This will protect the Nihilators and increase their threat range.

Since the Cetrati can only be affected by one Press forward at a time, I may have to use 2 turns to get them into the control zone.

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!!!