Post by Azahul on Dec 10, 2017 12:53:46 GMT
I am so unbelievably annoyed at myself for forgetting to bring my new camera along to this event. This tournament was too funny though to not write up.
I played in the final local Steamroller Event of the year yesterday. It was a really entertaining tournament, we'd been tracking various player stats through the course of the year's Steamrollers and our TO had created "Wanted" posters for each of the top 10 ranked local players. The first person to take out one of the Wanted players received a handful of coin-like tokens along with the poster.
I took the following lists:
Doctor Arkadius (Will Work For Food)
-War Hog
-War Hog
-Road Hog
-Road Hog
-Gun Boar
-Gun Boar
-Gorax
-Gorax
-Razor Boars
-Targ
Ogrun Bokur (free)
Bog Trog Mist Speaker (free)
Orin Midwinter (free)
Hutchuck (free)
Gobber Chef
Gobber Chef
Lord Carver (Will Work For Food)
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-War Hog
-War Hog
Bellows Crew
Lanyssa
Maximus
Gremlin Swarm
Hutchuck (free)
Orin Midwinter (free)
Bog Trog Mist Speaker (free)
Round 1 - Breakdown
I was up against a Cygnar player running Nemo3 Storm Division and Caine3 Gravediggers. I opted for Arkadius, figuring I could probably assassinate quite easily into Caine and that Arkadius had a much better chance into Nemo3 than Carver thanks to him outranging basically everything in the army save the Storm Striders, and even they were simply tied.
My opponent dropped Nemo3, with the following:
Nemo
-Dynamo
-Firefly
Storm Tower
Storm Tower
Min Storm Lances
Min Field Mechaniks
Min Field Mechaniks
Laddermore
Journeyman Warcaster
-Firefly
Savio Acosta
Storm Strider
Storm Strider
Deployment
I won the starting roll and opted to go first. I've played into Nemo3 double Storm Strider builds before, and going first with WWFF makes the game a whole lot easier.
I deployed in the usual symmetrical fashion. My opponent deployed a Storm Strider on each flank, Nemo and the Storm Towers in the middle, Laddermore and the Lances out on the left.
Pigs Turn 1
All the Warbeasts ran, the Road Hogs using Full Boar and stopping just shy of the Storm Strider's 19" walk and shoot range. Targ ran to get the right-hand Road Hog inside his Command Bubble so that Arkadius could spend 2 Fury healing the Full Boar damage before running as well.
Cygnar Turn 1
My opponent put Electrify up on one of the Storm Striders and cast Magnetic Field. He ran both Fireflies and one of the Storm Towers in front of Nemo, and put Arcane Shield on one of the Fireflies when he realised just how many heavies could get to Nemo from there. His Storm Striders came forward cautiously, and the Storm Lances ran to screen the left one and Acosta ran to screen the right one.
Pigs Turn 2
I reckoned I could kill both Storm Striders and Dynamo and most of the Storm Lances pretty comfortably. Or I could just kill Nemo. Hutchuck ambushed in and hit Laddermore with a Quake Bomb, and then I got to work sticking Primal on my heavies, had Arkadius add Forced Evolution to the right-hand Road Hog, and applied Raw Adrenaline to both that Road Hog and one of the Gun Boars. He Feated everything forward. Targ used Ancillary Attack to shoot a Storm Tower, clipping Nemo with Blast Damage. My opponent opted to spend a Focus to ignore the 3 damage. The two Gun Boars then went, shooting at Nemo. One of them missed, scattered onto Finch and killed her. The other hit Nemo and did about 3 damage through the Focus. I sent my War Hogs in to kill the two Fireflies in the way but some poor dice rolls left both of them alive. I had to send in one of the Road Hogs to open a path for the Forced Evolution'd Road Hog, which went in and killed Nemo easily.
Game length: 38 minutes
Army points destroyed: 22
Round 2 - Recon II
Another Cygnar player, this one with Nemo3 Storm Division and Haley3 Gravediggers. This was the player I was easily the most worried about playing into. We've done this match-up a few times before, with the upshot being that I feel I can play quite well into the Gravediggers list with Arkadius and that the Nemo game will largely come down to who gets the first turn.
I dropped Arkadius. My opponent dropped Nemo, with the following:
Nemo3
-Dynamo
-Firefly
-Squire
Storm Tower
Storm Tower
3 Stormcallers
3 Stormcallers
3 Stormcallers
Savio Acosta
Laddermore
Journeyman Warcaster
-Firefly
Storm Strider
Storm Strider
Deployment
I won the roll off, took first. Deployed symmetrically. My opponent did basically the same, with Stormcallers on each flank, Storm Towers and Dynamo in the middle, Storm Striders gunning for either zone.
Pigs Turn 1
I ran everything up so that I was toeing both zones, threatening just outside my opponent's deployment zone. There were no Full Boars this time, so Arkadius just camped his full stack and ran forward.
Cygnar Turn 1
My opponent opted not to leave his deployment zone at all. He put Electrify on one Storm Strider, Magnetic Hold on Nemo, Arcane Shield on the other Storm Strider.
Pigs Turn 2
There was no reason for me to move forward. Arkadius put up Forced Evolution and Aggravator and used Maltreatment to camp three Fury.
Cygnar Turn 2
My opponent reluctantly decided to get at least some damage out. He ran Laddermore to within 4" of the Road Hog on the left flank. Nemo activated, Feated, shot her with his gun. Then the Storm Striders and Fireflies all walked up and shot her as well. In the end I was left with about 10 health on the Road Hog and about 3 health on the Gun Boar next to it. My opponent ran a Stormcaller onto his flag, then realised he'd blocked himself out from contesting the right zone.
He gained 1 CP. I gained 2.
Pigs Turn 3
Hutchuck ambushed in. I dropped both of my upkeeps. Hutchuck killed the Stormcaller on the opponent's flag with a Quake grenade and I was able to run a Gobber Chef onto it. I ended my turn, gaining 4 CP to win the game.
Game length: 32 minutes
Army points destroyed: 0
Round 3 - Outflank/Outlast/whatever-it's-called-now (two circle zones and two flags)
So... the problem with a Skorne-heavy meta is that at this point the only non-myself players who are undefeated are all playing Skorne. So I've got a Xerxis1/Makeda2 pairing, and I am dearly wishing I hadn't decided to abandon my jokey anti-Skorne pairing of Arkadius/Midas.
Anyway, at this point I'm starting to feel quite ill and my voice is going, so I drop Arkadius with the idea that I'll just try and assassinate as fast as possible. My opponent drops Xerxis:
Xerxis
-Archidon
-Agonizer
-Agonizer
-Krea
Max Cetrati
Max Cetrati
-Vorkesh
Max Arcuarii
Max Swordsmen
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Commander
Soulward
Orin Midwinter
Deployment
I lose the roll-off. My opponent deploys one Cetrati unit on the left, one in the centre, Swordsmen on the right, Arcuarii behind the left-hand Cetrati, Xerxis and his battlegroup in and around the central Cetrati unit.
I put Arkadius on the left so I can Crippling Grasp the Cetrati there at some point, and skew a bit towards the left with most of my army.
Skorne Turn 1
Xerxis puts Defender's Ward on the Vorkesh unit and Tactical Supremacy on the other Cetrati unit. Xerxis then declares a charge on one of my War Hogs. Everything else in his army runs forward.
Pigs Turn 1
So Xerxis is on zero camp and without anything really screening him so I decide to go for an assassination. A Gorax puts Primal on my left Road Hog. It uses Full Boar and runs, facing back towards my own army so that the only Skorne model it can see are Xerxis and an Agonizer, and it's closer to Xerxis by a hair. Arkadius activates and Feats, sending the Road Hog into the 0 camp Xerxis. Does about 12 damage. Arkadius then attempts some Primal Shocks. Orin was close enough to spend Power Tokens on them, but my opponent forgot to use Arcane Vortex (and I'm still used to the days when Primal Shock by-passed Arcane Vortex, so I didn't think to remind him). Rolled low, so only a couple more damage points. My second Road Hog used Full Boar, walked up and sprayed through the first Road Hog, dropping Xerxis to 5 boxes. My first Gun Boar walked up and shot at him, needing a 12 to hit. Missed, shot scattered wide. Second one advanced, tried the same thing. Got the 12. Did the 5 damage. Opponent failed their tough check.
Game Length: 32 minutes
Army points destroyed: 10
Round 4 - Spread the Net
And of course Skorne for the final time. My voice at this point is barely more than a croak so I'm dropping Arkadius no matter what. Minimising time spent playing is the objective more than anything. My opponent has Zaal2/Xeris1. He drops Xerxis (oh hey, Nemo3/Nemo3/Xerxis1/Xerxis1, that's funny) with the following:
Xerxis
-Archidon
-Archidon
-Krea
-Agonizer
Max Cetrati
-Vorkesh
Max Incindiarii
Max Ferox
Min Beast Handlers
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Rhadeim
Swamp Gobber Chef
Deployment
I win the roll off, so I know my assassination run is very possible since my last game showed how likely it was that Xerxis would be on 0 camp. Deployed symmetrically. Opponent had Ferox on the left, Indeniarii on the right, Cetratii and support central.
Pigs Turn 1
The Road Hogs Full Boar and run. Targ runs to catch the right one in his bubble. Arkadius spends two Fury to heal some damage and runs himself. Everything else runs.
Skorne Turn 1
My opponent actually uses his defensive stuff. Xerxis only advances, put Defender's Ward on the Ferox, Tactical Supremacy on the Cetrati. Cetrati Shield Wall, advance, reform in front of Xerxis. Agonizer wails and runs into position next to Xerxis. Krea uses its animus and charges up to catch Xerxis and most of the Cetrati in its aura. An Archidon and the Ferox race forward, with three Ferox in front of the Cetrati blob and two of them covering Xerxis on the left. Rhadeim runs to get the Ferox in his Command. Incindiarii advance and take some pot shots, setting a Gun Boar, Road Hog, War Hog, and Razor Boar on fire, and doing 9 damage to the Razor Boar.
Pigs Turn 2
Razor Boar dies to fire. Alright, I'm seeing red now. That was the first model I'd lost all tournament. I size up my opponent's Castle Xerxis and see that on the left I only need to kill two Ferox and I have a beeline to Xerxis. I forget to ambush in Hutchuck, but he couldn't have helped. Gorax Primal a Road Hog on the left and War Hog on the right, then Arkadius activates. He Feats his army forward, so I have a Primal'd Road Hog and un-Primal'd War Hog that could theoretically get to Xerxis. Arkadius attempts to put a boosted Crippling Grasp into the Ferox. He misses. The Ferox dodges back. He tries again, burning all his Fury. He hits. He repositions behind the forest.
A Gun Boar and Orin down the two Ferox that need to die. I get the idea that if the Primal'd Road Hog kills Vorkesh and a Cetrati I can get both it and the War Hog onto Xerxis. I soften Vorkesh up with my other Gun Boar, doing 2 damage, and send in the Road Hog. A couple of Tough Checks later and it has managed to kill both the Cetrati and Vorkesh but has no attacks left to put into Xerxis, so it Overtakes out of the way and the War Hog goes in. I aggression dial, boost the charge attack, get the Crit Knockdown, and put Xerxis in the dirt from there.
Game length: About 50 minutes, easily the longest game.
Army points destroyed: 30, I killed all the Ferox at some point in there.
Army points lost: 0, because a Razor Boar on its own ain't worth squat
So... there you have it. I played barely two and a half hours over the course of the day and was utterly shattered by the end, but I can't help but look back on that track record and be happy. I claimed two bounties, won the event, and executed a mixture of lucky and well-planned assassinations and one kind of weird near-bloodless scenario win.
I played in the final local Steamroller Event of the year yesterday. It was a really entertaining tournament, we'd been tracking various player stats through the course of the year's Steamrollers and our TO had created "Wanted" posters for each of the top 10 ranked local players. The first person to take out one of the Wanted players received a handful of coin-like tokens along with the poster.
I took the following lists:
Doctor Arkadius (Will Work For Food)
-War Hog
-War Hog
-Road Hog
-Road Hog
-Gun Boar
-Gun Boar
-Gorax
-Gorax
-Razor Boars
-Targ
Ogrun Bokur (free)
Bog Trog Mist Speaker (free)
Orin Midwinter (free)
Hutchuck (free)
Gobber Chef
Gobber Chef
Lord Carver (Will Work For Food)
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Battle Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-Splatter Boar
-War Hog
-War Hog
Bellows Crew
Lanyssa
Maximus
Gremlin Swarm
Hutchuck (free)
Orin Midwinter (free)
Bog Trog Mist Speaker (free)
Round 1 - Breakdown
I was up against a Cygnar player running Nemo3 Storm Division and Caine3 Gravediggers. I opted for Arkadius, figuring I could probably assassinate quite easily into Caine and that Arkadius had a much better chance into Nemo3 than Carver thanks to him outranging basically everything in the army save the Storm Striders, and even they were simply tied.
My opponent dropped Nemo3, with the following:
Nemo
-Dynamo
-Firefly
Storm Tower
Storm Tower
Min Storm Lances
Min Field Mechaniks
Min Field Mechaniks
Laddermore
Journeyman Warcaster
-Firefly
Savio Acosta
Storm Strider
Storm Strider
Deployment
I won the starting roll and opted to go first. I've played into Nemo3 double Storm Strider builds before, and going first with WWFF makes the game a whole lot easier.
I deployed in the usual symmetrical fashion. My opponent deployed a Storm Strider on each flank, Nemo and the Storm Towers in the middle, Laddermore and the Lances out on the left.
Pigs Turn 1
All the Warbeasts ran, the Road Hogs using Full Boar and stopping just shy of the Storm Strider's 19" walk and shoot range. Targ ran to get the right-hand Road Hog inside his Command Bubble so that Arkadius could spend 2 Fury healing the Full Boar damage before running as well.
Cygnar Turn 1
My opponent put Electrify up on one of the Storm Striders and cast Magnetic Field. He ran both Fireflies and one of the Storm Towers in front of Nemo, and put Arcane Shield on one of the Fireflies when he realised just how many heavies could get to Nemo from there. His Storm Striders came forward cautiously, and the Storm Lances ran to screen the left one and Acosta ran to screen the right one.
Pigs Turn 2
I reckoned I could kill both Storm Striders and Dynamo and most of the Storm Lances pretty comfortably. Or I could just kill Nemo. Hutchuck ambushed in and hit Laddermore with a Quake Bomb, and then I got to work sticking Primal on my heavies, had Arkadius add Forced Evolution to the right-hand Road Hog, and applied Raw Adrenaline to both that Road Hog and one of the Gun Boars. He Feated everything forward. Targ used Ancillary Attack to shoot a Storm Tower, clipping Nemo with Blast Damage. My opponent opted to spend a Focus to ignore the 3 damage. The two Gun Boars then went, shooting at Nemo. One of them missed, scattered onto Finch and killed her. The other hit Nemo and did about 3 damage through the Focus. I sent my War Hogs in to kill the two Fireflies in the way but some poor dice rolls left both of them alive. I had to send in one of the Road Hogs to open a path for the Forced Evolution'd Road Hog, which went in and killed Nemo easily.
Game length: 38 minutes
Army points destroyed: 22
Round 2 - Recon II
Another Cygnar player, this one with Nemo3 Storm Division and Haley3 Gravediggers. This was the player I was easily the most worried about playing into. We've done this match-up a few times before, with the upshot being that I feel I can play quite well into the Gravediggers list with Arkadius and that the Nemo game will largely come down to who gets the first turn.
I dropped Arkadius. My opponent dropped Nemo, with the following:
Nemo3
-Dynamo
-Firefly
-Squire
Storm Tower
Storm Tower
3 Stormcallers
3 Stormcallers
3 Stormcallers
Savio Acosta
Laddermore
Journeyman Warcaster
-Firefly
Storm Strider
Storm Strider
Deployment
I won the roll off, took first. Deployed symmetrically. My opponent did basically the same, with Stormcallers on each flank, Storm Towers and Dynamo in the middle, Storm Striders gunning for either zone.
Pigs Turn 1
I ran everything up so that I was toeing both zones, threatening just outside my opponent's deployment zone. There were no Full Boars this time, so Arkadius just camped his full stack and ran forward.
Cygnar Turn 1
My opponent opted not to leave his deployment zone at all. He put Electrify on one Storm Strider, Magnetic Hold on Nemo, Arcane Shield on the other Storm Strider.
Pigs Turn 2
There was no reason for me to move forward. Arkadius put up Forced Evolution and Aggravator and used Maltreatment to camp three Fury.
Cygnar Turn 2
My opponent reluctantly decided to get at least some damage out. He ran Laddermore to within 4" of the Road Hog on the left flank. Nemo activated, Feated, shot her with his gun. Then the Storm Striders and Fireflies all walked up and shot her as well. In the end I was left with about 10 health on the Road Hog and about 3 health on the Gun Boar next to it. My opponent ran a Stormcaller onto his flag, then realised he'd blocked himself out from contesting the right zone.
He gained 1 CP. I gained 2.
Pigs Turn 3
Hutchuck ambushed in. I dropped both of my upkeeps. Hutchuck killed the Stormcaller on the opponent's flag with a Quake grenade and I was able to run a Gobber Chef onto it. I ended my turn, gaining 4 CP to win the game.
Game length: 32 minutes
Army points destroyed: 0
Round 3 - Outflank/Outlast/whatever-it's-called-now (two circle zones and two flags)
So... the problem with a Skorne-heavy meta is that at this point the only non-myself players who are undefeated are all playing Skorne. So I've got a Xerxis1/Makeda2 pairing, and I am dearly wishing I hadn't decided to abandon my jokey anti-Skorne pairing of Arkadius/Midas.
Anyway, at this point I'm starting to feel quite ill and my voice is going, so I drop Arkadius with the idea that I'll just try and assassinate as fast as possible. My opponent drops Xerxis:
Xerxis
-Archidon
-Agonizer
-Agonizer
-Krea
Max Cetrati
Max Cetrati
-Vorkesh
Max Arcuarii
Max Swordsmen
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Commander
Soulward
Orin Midwinter
Deployment
I lose the roll-off. My opponent deploys one Cetrati unit on the left, one in the centre, Swordsmen on the right, Arcuarii behind the left-hand Cetrati, Xerxis and his battlegroup in and around the central Cetrati unit.
I put Arkadius on the left so I can Crippling Grasp the Cetrati there at some point, and skew a bit towards the left with most of my army.
Skorne Turn 1
Xerxis puts Defender's Ward on the Vorkesh unit and Tactical Supremacy on the other Cetrati unit. Xerxis then declares a charge on one of my War Hogs. Everything else in his army runs forward.
Pigs Turn 1
So Xerxis is on zero camp and without anything really screening him so I decide to go for an assassination. A Gorax puts Primal on my left Road Hog. It uses Full Boar and runs, facing back towards my own army so that the only Skorne model it can see are Xerxis and an Agonizer, and it's closer to Xerxis by a hair. Arkadius activates and Feats, sending the Road Hog into the 0 camp Xerxis. Does about 12 damage. Arkadius then attempts some Primal Shocks. Orin was close enough to spend Power Tokens on them, but my opponent forgot to use Arcane Vortex (and I'm still used to the days when Primal Shock by-passed Arcane Vortex, so I didn't think to remind him). Rolled low, so only a couple more damage points. My second Road Hog used Full Boar, walked up and sprayed through the first Road Hog, dropping Xerxis to 5 boxes. My first Gun Boar walked up and shot at him, needing a 12 to hit. Missed, shot scattered wide. Second one advanced, tried the same thing. Got the 12. Did the 5 damage. Opponent failed their tough check.
Game Length: 32 minutes
Army points destroyed: 10
Round 4 - Spread the Net
And of course Skorne for the final time. My voice at this point is barely more than a croak so I'm dropping Arkadius no matter what. Minimising time spent playing is the objective more than anything. My opponent has Zaal2/Xeris1. He drops Xerxis (oh hey, Nemo3/Nemo3/Xerxis1/Xerxis1, that's funny) with the following:
Xerxis
-Archidon
-Archidon
-Krea
-Agonizer
Max Cetrati
-Vorkesh
Max Incindiarii
Max Ferox
Min Beast Handlers
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Commander
Tyrant Rhadeim
Swamp Gobber Chef
Deployment
I win the roll off, so I know my assassination run is very possible since my last game showed how likely it was that Xerxis would be on 0 camp. Deployed symmetrically. Opponent had Ferox on the left, Indeniarii on the right, Cetratii and support central.
Pigs Turn 1
The Road Hogs Full Boar and run. Targ runs to catch the right one in his bubble. Arkadius spends two Fury to heal some damage and runs himself. Everything else runs.
Skorne Turn 1
My opponent actually uses his defensive stuff. Xerxis only advances, put Defender's Ward on the Ferox, Tactical Supremacy on the Cetrati. Cetrati Shield Wall, advance, reform in front of Xerxis. Agonizer wails and runs into position next to Xerxis. Krea uses its animus and charges up to catch Xerxis and most of the Cetrati in its aura. An Archidon and the Ferox race forward, with three Ferox in front of the Cetrati blob and two of them covering Xerxis on the left. Rhadeim runs to get the Ferox in his Command. Incindiarii advance and take some pot shots, setting a Gun Boar, Road Hog, War Hog, and Razor Boar on fire, and doing 9 damage to the Razor Boar.
Pigs Turn 2
Razor Boar dies to fire. Alright, I'm seeing red now. That was the first model I'd lost all tournament. I size up my opponent's Castle Xerxis and see that on the left I only need to kill two Ferox and I have a beeline to Xerxis. I forget to ambush in Hutchuck, but he couldn't have helped. Gorax Primal a Road Hog on the left and War Hog on the right, then Arkadius activates. He Feats his army forward, so I have a Primal'd Road Hog and un-Primal'd War Hog that could theoretically get to Xerxis. Arkadius attempts to put a boosted Crippling Grasp into the Ferox. He misses. The Ferox dodges back. He tries again, burning all his Fury. He hits. He repositions behind the forest.
A Gun Boar and Orin down the two Ferox that need to die. I get the idea that if the Primal'd Road Hog kills Vorkesh and a Cetrati I can get both it and the War Hog onto Xerxis. I soften Vorkesh up with my other Gun Boar, doing 2 damage, and send in the Road Hog. A couple of Tough Checks later and it has managed to kill both the Cetrati and Vorkesh but has no attacks left to put into Xerxis, so it Overtakes out of the way and the War Hog goes in. I aggression dial, boost the charge attack, get the Crit Knockdown, and put Xerxis in the dirt from there.
Game length: About 50 minutes, easily the longest game.
Army points destroyed: 30, I killed all the Ferox at some point in there.
Army points lost: 0, because a Razor Boar on its own ain't worth squat
So... there you have it. I played barely two and a half hours over the course of the day and was utterly shattered by the end, but I can't help but look back on that track record and be happy. I claimed two bounties, won the event, and executed a mixture of lucky and well-planned assassinations and one kind of weird near-bloodless scenario win.