Xerxis: Fist of Halaak 50pts.

After the Riven Bonds league is over, I plan on aggressively playing pXerxis and his Fist of Halaak tier list.
System: Hordes
Faction: Xerxis - The fist of Halaak
Casters: 1/1
Points: 50/50
Tiers: 2
Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)
* Tiberion (11pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Cataphract Arcuarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Cataphract Arcuarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (5pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (10pts)
Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 5 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Venators Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)

I have all the models, I just need to finish painting them.

Still considering Trolls

Still can't get this idea out of my head. I am watching battle reports and reading up on what everything does and how the army all fits in together. It's a solid list, not just a fluff piece. I also like the size of the army: only 25 models, easy to store and transport. I estimate that I would only need 2 foam trays total, provided I don't get too crazy with bases and modeling. And I can't beat the price: $260 from Discount Games Inc. for everything.
God, I love Warmachine. Try purchasing a playable, tournament level army from GW for $260.

It's still going to be a while before I actually purchase the army and I'll probably have to do it in small chunks, but it will be fun to put together and paint. I can't wait!

pDoomshaper looks like a solid warlock. His feat can be very crippling to my opponent and he packs an impressive spell list, Purification especially. Iron Flesh...nope.

Considering Trolls

Trolls are my favorite models in the game. I love the look of them: big, misshapen dudes in heavy armor wielding giant axes and stone hammers. When I first got into Warmachine, I saw the Trolls and was instantly attracted, especially to the Dire Troll Mauler. I picked up a few models but did nothing with them and eventually got rid of them. Recently I purchased a few of my favorite Troll models and painted a few of them up. At first, I had no intention of playing Trolls, just collecting the models I liked. But I have been giving it some thought and I am considering playing Hoarluk Doomshaper and his Runes of War tier.  The runeshapers are the COOLEST models ever and with this list, I get to have 4 units of them.

Runeshapers!!!!

System: Hordes
Faction: Hoarluk - Runes of War
Casters: 1/1
Points: 50/50
Tiers: 4
Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

If I actually purchase the miniatures, this will be my FUN list, something I play to take a break from Skorne.

Path of Devastation League - Season 2: Broken Roads

I am participating in Season 2 of the league. This time, the character is an extoller soulward. Shouldn't be a problem fitting her into lists, I use at least one all the time.

Game 1: eHexeris vs. Jagga Jagga, 50pts
I lost the game on scenario, but I earned 6 xp, enough to purchase the Shroud of Sand upgrade giving the extoller +2 DEF.

Game 2: Mordikaar vs. Butcher3, 50pts
I used my standard Mordikaar list vs. Butcher3, so yeah, I lost.
Earned 5 xp.

Game 3: pMakeda vs. Moshar, 50pts
This was one of my more interesting games. I wanted to have some fun so I brought along the mammoth for shits and gigs. I ground his army down pretty good, in the end he conceded after a failed assassination attempt.
Earned 6 xp and purchased an upgrade which gives the extoller eyeless sight and far strike. Can't wait to use that!

Game 4: Naaresh vs. Moshar, 50pts
First time playing Naaresh. He's a bit jankey with his ability to take damage to boost his STR and ARM and then heal himself. He was fun to play, I took a beast heavy list, some Nihilators and alot of beasthandlers. I whittled Moshar's army down pretty good, he conceded.
Earned 4 xp for the league.

Game 5: Zaal vs. Harbinger, 50pts.
I played my standard Tier 4 Zaal list because I thought I was going to play against Cryx. I got to the store and played Menoth instead. I had lots of infantry, my movement was hindered on turn 2 due to Harbinger's feat. I really thought I was going to lose this one, he was up in points by 3. Last turn of the game, I feated, cast last stand on the Kovaas, had the Kovaas charge the Harbinger, killed her.
Earned 6 xp.

Warmachine League: Riven Bonds

I'm participating in the new Warmachine league: Path of Devastation - Season 1; Riven Bonds league. I played 2 games tonight with my hero Ancestral Guardian character and earned 10 XP. More details later.

UPDATE:
I came in 3rd in the league. WOoT!!!

Gaming at Collectors, Epic Hexeris

I'm trying to settle on a new caster, I have been trying out pMakeda and pXerxis. I like them both, but they play very similar to each other, at least the lists I build for them.

Lately though, I have been looking into eHexeris. I dabbled with him a while back and had some success with him. Now I want to try a more serious approach. I looked into his tier and liked what I saw so I went with this list. It's more of a jumping off point, I will no doubt break tier eventually.

Points: 50/50

Tiers: 4

Lord Arbiter Hexeris (*6pts)

* Basilisk Krea (4pts) BONDED

* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)

* Titan Gladiator (8pts)

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

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

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

* Praetorian Swordsmen Officer & Standard (2pts)

Venators Slingers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)

Ancestral Guardian (0pts)

Ancestral Guardian (3pts)

Ancestral Guardian (3pts)

Extoler Soulward (2pts)

Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)

I played against Dan and his Trolls at collectors last Tuesday. We played the Close Quarters scenario from the SR 2015 rules. 

His list. (He admitted to being 1 point shy)

Points: 49/50

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (*6pts)

* Slag Troll (6pts)

* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)

* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)

Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)

* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)

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

* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)

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

* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)

Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

Troll Whelps (2pts)

Dan won the roll and went second. I deployed my slingers directly behind the karax on the left flank, the swordsmen and the ancestral guardians on the right flank and Hexeris and the beasts in the center. 

Turn 1 was just straight up movement, getting everything into position. It was Killbox so I was wary to move Hexeris as far as I thought was safe.

The beginning of turn 2 went very well for me. The Drake went first, spraying the Fennblades, causing a wound but the Troll made his tough roll. Hexeris channeled Black Spot through the Drake onto the Fennblades targeting the knocked down troll. He also cast Ashes to Ashes on the troll behind him. The idea was to try to catch as many of the scatter gunners as possible. I did manage to kill a couple. The karax advanced and shieldwalled. The slingers advanced the shot at the Fennblades, nearly wiping out the entire unit. I was impressed. The swordsmen ran at the mauler just to jam him. The ancestral guardians advanced behind the swordsmen, ready to collect the eventual souls.
My flag was well protected and I had a good bead on Dan's. I was actually going to try to win on scenario. Thinks looked great.

Until.....

Dan, seeing no way to win on scenario did a total ball-out move. When he said, "I'm going for the assassination!" I thought, yeah right.

First, he cleared a path to Hexeris with the scattergunners, killing the Drake and a few karax, slingers and swordsmen. Then he ramped up the Earthborne and shot Hexeris in the face. I had 1 transfer but it did little good as the Earthborne had plenty of attacks and fury to pound Hexeris in the dirt.

So that was game, solid victory for Dan. He later lamented that he felt bad. I asked why? He took a risk and it paid off in a game that favors aggression and bold maneuvers. I need to watch that Earthborne in future games. 

Xerxis_50pts

Got to play with my friend Adam at Dark Forest last weekend. We spent the whole day and played 3 games, all using scenarios from the 2015 Steamroller. 

I used the following pXerxis list all 3 games.

Points: 50/50

Tyrant Xerxis (*5pts)

* Basilisk Krea (4pts)

* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)

* Tiberion (11pts)

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

Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (6pts)

Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)

Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor (2pts)

I like it, fun to play. 

Game 1: eSorcha

Surprisingly, he didn't cast freezing grip on anything, he kept Sorcha bricked up all game. Things didn't go well for me, I killboxed myself, I conceded. 

Game 2: Harkevich 

He charged Behemoth straight at my Bronzeback but surprisingly failed to kill it. I finished off Behemoth with a combined effort of Xerxis and Bronzeback. Don't remember how exactly the game went, but I conceded. 

Game 3: Midas, Tier 4

uhh......

Fuck!!!!!

I really need to take notes or take pictures during games. This was our 3rd game of the day and it was getting late. It was a 35 point game, cool things happened, I killed stuff, Adam conceded.