Post by drillbossd on Dec 1, 2017 2:31:25 GMT
Hey folks,
I've been keeping track of my battle reports (I think every game I've played for MkIII, minus one CID game) over at Muse on Minis. Here's a link to the first rep I made from MkIII, which was well before the errata. From there I continue through various tournaments and casual games. I don't get to play too often, but I try to write when I do.
Anyway, seems that traffic has died on the tactics page, so I'm going to start logging reports here instead. Questions, comments, and criticism welcome. I find uploading pics to forums tedious, and tend not to take many good ones, but I'll link to the Facecbook group from now on when I have them. I'm typing this from a plane and internet is having some trouble, so I'll try to link the ones from the reports below at a later time.
Lately I've been practicing almost exclusively with this list. It has a lot of nice tools, but at the end of the day it wants to assassinate. This is good, because at the end of the day, that's what I want too when I play Warmachine.
Turtle Soup Garnished with Shamans, 2x2x2
[Theme] Winds of Death
Lord Assassin Morghoul [+29]
- Archidon [10]
- Archidon [10]
- Cyclops Raider [9]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Aptimus Marketh [0(5)]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [0(4)]
Swamp Gobber Chef [1]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Slingers (min) [8]
Siege Animantarax [17]
Siege Animantarax [17]
I got a game in at the local store against a regular opponent who is running some scary Gastone2 tech. We played last week, with me winning on an melee assassination (Morghoul on Gastone) that could have been prevented.
His list:
Gastone2 Irregulars, Steelheads/Alexia Edition
[Theme] The Irregulars
Lieutenant Crosse, Resistance Fighter [+29]
- Mariner [14]
- Mariner [14]
- Nomad [11]
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [0(4)]
Alten Ashley [0(6)]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [0(5)]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [0(4)]
Ragman [4]
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen [10]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
Lynus Wesselbaum & Edrea Lloryrr [5]
Steelhead Halberdiers (max) [11]
Steelhead Halberdiers (max) [11]
---
Mission is Spread the Net. There's a house in the middle of the board and a forest on one lateral side, with a big hill and some rubble on the other.
I win the roll and opt to go first. My opponent gives me a side that has a trench and puts the forest on my right. I put the hill on my left.
Turn 1: I run up aggressively, with one Archidon hiding behind the forest and the other behind a wall. Solos position cagily with the Gobber Chef hanging way back. Animantaraxes stare threateningly. Morghoul is pretty far up, but well behind the house. Slingers crowd around the house.
Gastone puts Lifebound on one unit of Steelheads, Dauntless Resolve on another. Mariners take some shots at one turtle while Alten puts Grievous on another. Gastone ends within 20" of one, but not both, Shamans, and sets up such that in order to get the feat on him, Morghoul would have to go Incorporeal and peak around with apparition to get a janky charge through the house. Gastone has also feated, so everything has Stealth. He also killed a slinger for a soul.
Turn 2: The Mariners are behind a wall, which makes things tough for the turtles due to Lash. I think for a bit and opt to feat now so I can Mortality and guarantee a dead heavy. This was pretty dumb as, due to the house, my feat catches very little. Archidon kills some dudes and I get a handful of cute potshots. Mariner dies as desired, as due Blinded Steelheads to some impact attacks, but the turtle can't get anything else with its gun because I forgot to give it Eyeless Sight. This is why we practice, folks. At least my Gobber ran to my flag.
In retribution, Steelheads and a Nomad (with Aiyana's help) melt the committed turtle, while Steelheads on the other side do most of the left turtle due to Ragman. Gorman blinds one Archidon and Alten breaks its mind. The Surviving Mariner cranks damage on my other Archidon. I'm contesting everything, so I score 1. Had I paid attention and put a Shaman in my zone, I would have likely scored 2.
Turn 3: I'm realizing that this was the turn to feat. Oh well. First I check on the assassination: Gastone did his soul thing for 18 Def and is on a hill, so the shooting kill isn't happening. But, if I can kill two Forge Guard and a Risen, there's a landing zone for an Incorporeal turtle to charge him, and he's camping nothing. After counting Shield Guards, though, I see that plan is no good. I'm kicking myself for not scoring my zone, because had I done so, I would just need to clear the center zone to win on the spot. Instead, I find myself looking for a way to clear the center zone, which has a Nomad, some tough dudes, some Forge Guard, and a thrall in it, as well as the far flag.
In restrospect, I probably could have used Mortality, played for attrition, and cleared the center zone to be in a commanding 4-0 position. Instead, I decided I need to use Morghoul to clear and score the far flag, which meant (due to Marketh's poor positioning) that the Turtle was trying to kill Steelheads needing 7s to hit. My dice wouldn't have it, I tilted, and committed Morghoul anyway. For his part, he did well, killing Aiyana, Eilish, and a Mariner, but ultimately I didn't clear the flag (this time with an Archidon not hitting 7s). Woopsie.
Morghoul was camping 1 and I hadn't killed Reinholdt. Oh, and Gastone had more than 4 souls. Morghoul got shot to death; fitting vengeance for last week when "showed Mercy" to Gastone.
Assassination loss
----
As I write this battle report, I see that there's a lot I could have done to be in this game. I need to learn to not panic after losing a single Animantarax, as it's going to happen, especially without Agonizers or Kreas in the list. My opponent and I agree that this is a really interesting matchup without a clear advantage, because while Blind is great against infantry, Gastone has shield guards for days (making it hard to scalpel Reinholdt or assassinate), is an immense threat himself, and can afford to pack together so my LoS is limited. Also, fun fact: one of the Archidons actually went out of Morghoul's control this game, though he didn't get to test threshold because Morhghoul died.
Instead of lunch, I opted for a second game. One of our regular Ret players is learning Circle now and was going for reps with the Kromacs.
Kromac2 Call, one of each + WESJ
[Theme] Call of the Wild
Kromac, Champion of the Wurm [+28]
- Feral Warpwolf [18]
- Ghetorix [21]
- Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
- Wild Argus [7]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Wrong Eye [17]
Shifting Stones [0(3)]
Shifting Stones [3]
Mission was Standoff. This list looked like the natural prey of my list: his reach beasts only match the threat of turtles with Hunters mark, so I can hunt the Blackclads and run the table. If he shoves a bunch of stuff in my face, my feat puts Circle heavy defensive stats in a really bad place, with the exception maybe of Ghetorix under Kromac's feat and Spiny Growth.
I think I won the roll again. At any rate, I was going first.
Turn 1: I position aggressively. Turtles are central, one archindon on each flank. Slingers and Marketh run into one circle zone to get ready to kill some stones. Support staff and Shamans fan out behind turtles since the solos won't be needed for scoring.
Seeing my threat ranges but knowing he'll be shot, my opponent (who is new to Circle) hangs back but feats. The Pureblood and Stalker are on my right, Gheto and Feral on my left, with Snapjaw and Kromac more central but skewed to my right.
Turn 2: I take some pot shots at the Pureblood with a turtle. I damage with one, then miss with another. A passerby mentions that my opponent neglected to Hyperaggressive. Had Iot already missed with another shot, I would have given it to him. I opt not to take more potshots, instead using repo to just stay out of threat ranges while still contesting all but my opponents square zone. Slinger/Marketh squadron kills 2 stones. Not bad! Shamans kill some stones. Blackclads too far away. I bring Morghoul up behind a central forest, as I want to bully Kromac off the scenario or be ready to go in on Ghetorix.
Turns out I was almost too close to Ghetorix. We take a while working out the geometry and determine that, due to the forest, Ghetorix can't get to Morghoul by overtaking off of Slingers, but if I had forgotten Pathfinder or something, I could have been in serious hot water. Still, Morghoul had 3 transfers and healthy beasts, but... Murderous, no thanks. Instead, Gheto, Feral, and Stalker hang way back as a second wave. Snapjaw contests/controls his rectangle zone, while the Pureblood and a stone contest my right Circle, in which I have an Animantarax and and Archidon. A blackclad runs to block my Archidon. Wrong Eye casts Star-Crossed to protect the Pureblood (who also warps Spell Ward) and Snapjaw, but does not go into a zone. On my left, a stone and the Wild Argus port/run in to contest. We each score one.
Turn 3: This time, I am confident in the big scenario play. Marketh walks up to the Argus and Mortalities it at point blank, letting the Archidon come in and kill it. Morghoul, whom I forgot to apparition (I *need* to start chanting Maintenance, Control at the start of each of my turns) walks through the forest and kills the Stone after putting Incorporeal on a Turtle to let it charge through a big rock. He needlessly boosts a Mortality into the Objective--instead, I very clearly should have cast Sprint, in case the scenario run failed. I only realized how dumb I was being once I was making other rolls, but again, I guess that's why I'm practicing.
Fortunately for me, the Slingers and gun battery have no problem killing a stray stone and the objective, the Archidon kills his Blackclad, and each Animantarax puts down their respective heavy (Snapjaw/Pureblood) without issue. I run paingivers, score 5 points, and win 6-1.
Scenario victory.
I should have played that a better, but this felt like exactly the match my list wants: a low model count of def-biased heavies that don't have Eyeless Sight. There was probably a way to just give me too many targets and take turtles using feat, but it definitely felt like an uphill battle for my opponent. Next time, he might bring Krueger2 or Wurmwood, which I'm looking forward to testing.
----
I think this version of the list is the best if I want to play the long game. I've been surprising myself with the potential for weird scenario plays, which seem to appear due to the mobility of Morghoul and the Animantaraxes coupled with abundant scoring pieces of each category. It definitely doesn't want a real attrition slog, though, as my only defensive tech is hitting first and (against infantry) Blind, and maybe Flesh Hooks.
Target selection is absolutely crucial, as is learning how to apply Morghoul. Archidons are a big help for the latter, but I almost find myself wanting more spot removal and jank assassination options. Positioning of Marketh (keeping him safe, having him where I need on the next turn) is also pivotal.
In spite of the value I'm getting from the Archidons, I'm finding the allure of a four Shaman build very tempting. It presents a more credible gotcha assassination and has stronger spot removal/potential to clear deep landing zones for turtles. The four points freed let me upgrade the Gobber Chef to a Gremlin Swarm and add Gobber Bellows, both of which are brilliant scenario pieces. Depending on who gets the board real estate, this will make my explosive scenario plays even better, or at least give me a way to stay in the game longer while looking for the assassination.
I've been keeping track of my battle reports (I think every game I've played for MkIII, minus one CID game) over at Muse on Minis. Here's a link to the first rep I made from MkIII, which was well before the errata. From there I continue through various tournaments and casual games. I don't get to play too often, but I try to write when I do.
Anyway, seems that traffic has died on the tactics page, so I'm going to start logging reports here instead. Questions, comments, and criticism welcome. I find uploading pics to forums tedious, and tend not to take many good ones, but I'll link to the Facecbook group from now on when I have them. I'm typing this from a plane and internet is having some trouble, so I'll try to link the ones from the reports below at a later time.
Lately I've been practicing almost exclusively with this list. It has a lot of nice tools, but at the end of the day it wants to assassinate. This is good, because at the end of the day, that's what I want too when I play Warmachine.
Turtle Soup Garnished with Shamans, 2x2x2
[Theme] Winds of Death
Lord Assassin Morghoul [+29]
- Archidon [10]
- Archidon [10]
- Cyclops Raider [9]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Aptimus Marketh [0(5)]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Extoller Soulward [3]
Mortitheurge Willbreaker [0(4)]
Swamp Gobber Chef [1]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Venator Slingers (min) [8]
Siege Animantarax [17]
Siege Animantarax [17]
I got a game in at the local store against a regular opponent who is running some scary Gastone2 tech. We played last week, with me winning on an melee assassination (Morghoul on Gastone) that could have been prevented.
His list:
Gastone2 Irregulars, Steelheads/Alexia Edition
[Theme] The Irregulars
Lieutenant Crosse, Resistance Fighter [+29]
- Mariner [14]
- Mariner [14]
- Nomad [11]
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [0(4)]
Alten Ashley [0(6)]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [0(5)]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [0(4)]
Ragman [4]
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen [10]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
Lynus Wesselbaum & Edrea Lloryrr [5]
Steelhead Halberdiers (max) [11]
Steelhead Halberdiers (max) [11]
---
Mission is Spread the Net. There's a house in the middle of the board and a forest on one lateral side, with a big hill and some rubble on the other.
I win the roll and opt to go first. My opponent gives me a side that has a trench and puts the forest on my right. I put the hill on my left.
Turn 1: I run up aggressively, with one Archidon hiding behind the forest and the other behind a wall. Solos position cagily with the Gobber Chef hanging way back. Animantaraxes stare threateningly. Morghoul is pretty far up, but well behind the house. Slingers crowd around the house.
Gastone puts Lifebound on one unit of Steelheads, Dauntless Resolve on another. Mariners take some shots at one turtle while Alten puts Grievous on another. Gastone ends within 20" of one, but not both, Shamans, and sets up such that in order to get the feat on him, Morghoul would have to go Incorporeal and peak around with apparition to get a janky charge through the house. Gastone has also feated, so everything has Stealth. He also killed a slinger for a soul.
Turn 2: The Mariners are behind a wall, which makes things tough for the turtles due to Lash. I think for a bit and opt to feat now so I can Mortality and guarantee a dead heavy. This was pretty dumb as, due to the house, my feat catches very little. Archidon kills some dudes and I get a handful of cute potshots. Mariner dies as desired, as due Blinded Steelheads to some impact attacks, but the turtle can't get anything else with its gun because I forgot to give it Eyeless Sight. This is why we practice, folks. At least my Gobber ran to my flag.
In retribution, Steelheads and a Nomad (with Aiyana's help) melt the committed turtle, while Steelheads on the other side do most of the left turtle due to Ragman. Gorman blinds one Archidon and Alten breaks its mind. The Surviving Mariner cranks damage on my other Archidon. I'm contesting everything, so I score 1. Had I paid attention and put a Shaman in my zone, I would have likely scored 2.
Turn 3: I'm realizing that this was the turn to feat. Oh well. First I check on the assassination: Gastone did his soul thing for 18 Def and is on a hill, so the shooting kill isn't happening. But, if I can kill two Forge Guard and a Risen, there's a landing zone for an Incorporeal turtle to charge him, and he's camping nothing. After counting Shield Guards, though, I see that plan is no good. I'm kicking myself for not scoring my zone, because had I done so, I would just need to clear the center zone to win on the spot. Instead, I find myself looking for a way to clear the center zone, which has a Nomad, some tough dudes, some Forge Guard, and a thrall in it, as well as the far flag.
In restrospect, I probably could have used Mortality, played for attrition, and cleared the center zone to be in a commanding 4-0 position. Instead, I decided I need to use Morghoul to clear and score the far flag, which meant (due to Marketh's poor positioning) that the Turtle was trying to kill Steelheads needing 7s to hit. My dice wouldn't have it, I tilted, and committed Morghoul anyway. For his part, he did well, killing Aiyana, Eilish, and a Mariner, but ultimately I didn't clear the flag (this time with an Archidon not hitting 7s). Woopsie.
Morghoul was camping 1 and I hadn't killed Reinholdt. Oh, and Gastone had more than 4 souls. Morghoul got shot to death; fitting vengeance for last week when "showed Mercy" to Gastone.
Assassination loss
----
As I write this battle report, I see that there's a lot I could have done to be in this game. I need to learn to not panic after losing a single Animantarax, as it's going to happen, especially without Agonizers or Kreas in the list. My opponent and I agree that this is a really interesting matchup without a clear advantage, because while Blind is great against infantry, Gastone has shield guards for days (making it hard to scalpel Reinholdt or assassinate), is an immense threat himself, and can afford to pack together so my LoS is limited. Also, fun fact: one of the Archidons actually went out of Morghoul's control this game, though he didn't get to test threshold because Morhghoul died.
Instead of lunch, I opted for a second game. One of our regular Ret players is learning Circle now and was going for reps with the Kromacs.
Kromac2 Call, one of each + WESJ
[Theme] Call of the Wild
Kromac, Champion of the Wurm [+28]
- Feral Warpwolf [18]
- Ghetorix [21]
- Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
- Warpwolf Stalker [19]
- Wild Argus [7]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Blackclad Wayfarer [0(4)]
Wrong Eye [17]
Shifting Stones [0(3)]
Shifting Stones [3]
Mission was Standoff. This list looked like the natural prey of my list: his reach beasts only match the threat of turtles with Hunters mark, so I can hunt the Blackclads and run the table. If he shoves a bunch of stuff in my face, my feat puts Circle heavy defensive stats in a really bad place, with the exception maybe of Ghetorix under Kromac's feat and Spiny Growth.
I think I won the roll again. At any rate, I was going first.
Turn 1: I position aggressively. Turtles are central, one archindon on each flank. Slingers and Marketh run into one circle zone to get ready to kill some stones. Support staff and Shamans fan out behind turtles since the solos won't be needed for scoring.
Seeing my threat ranges but knowing he'll be shot, my opponent (who is new to Circle) hangs back but feats. The Pureblood and Stalker are on my right, Gheto and Feral on my left, with Snapjaw and Kromac more central but skewed to my right.
Turn 2: I take some pot shots at the Pureblood with a turtle. I damage with one, then miss with another. A passerby mentions that my opponent neglected to Hyperaggressive. Had Iot already missed with another shot, I would have given it to him. I opt not to take more potshots, instead using repo to just stay out of threat ranges while still contesting all but my opponents square zone. Slinger/Marketh squadron kills 2 stones. Not bad! Shamans kill some stones. Blackclads too far away. I bring Morghoul up behind a central forest, as I want to bully Kromac off the scenario or be ready to go in on Ghetorix.
Turns out I was almost too close to Ghetorix. We take a while working out the geometry and determine that, due to the forest, Ghetorix can't get to Morghoul by overtaking off of Slingers, but if I had forgotten Pathfinder or something, I could have been in serious hot water. Still, Morghoul had 3 transfers and healthy beasts, but... Murderous, no thanks. Instead, Gheto, Feral, and Stalker hang way back as a second wave. Snapjaw contests/controls his rectangle zone, while the Pureblood and a stone contest my right Circle, in which I have an Animantarax and and Archidon. A blackclad runs to block my Archidon. Wrong Eye casts Star-Crossed to protect the Pureblood (who also warps Spell Ward) and Snapjaw, but does not go into a zone. On my left, a stone and the Wild Argus port/run in to contest. We each score one.
Turn 3: This time, I am confident in the big scenario play. Marketh walks up to the Argus and Mortalities it at point blank, letting the Archidon come in and kill it. Morghoul, whom I forgot to apparition (I *need* to start chanting Maintenance, Control at the start of each of my turns) walks through the forest and kills the Stone after putting Incorporeal on a Turtle to let it charge through a big rock. He needlessly boosts a Mortality into the Objective--instead, I very clearly should have cast Sprint, in case the scenario run failed. I only realized how dumb I was being once I was making other rolls, but again, I guess that's why I'm practicing.
Fortunately for me, the Slingers and gun battery have no problem killing a stray stone and the objective, the Archidon kills his Blackclad, and each Animantarax puts down their respective heavy (Snapjaw/Pureblood) without issue. I run paingivers, score 5 points, and win 6-1.
Scenario victory.
I should have played that a better, but this felt like exactly the match my list wants: a low model count of def-biased heavies that don't have Eyeless Sight. There was probably a way to just give me too many targets and take turtles using feat, but it definitely felt like an uphill battle for my opponent. Next time, he might bring Krueger2 or Wurmwood, which I'm looking forward to testing.
----
I think this version of the list is the best if I want to play the long game. I've been surprising myself with the potential for weird scenario plays, which seem to appear due to the mobility of Morghoul and the Animantaraxes coupled with abundant scoring pieces of each category. It definitely doesn't want a real attrition slog, though, as my only defensive tech is hitting first and (against infantry) Blind, and maybe Flesh Hooks.
Target selection is absolutely crucial, as is learning how to apply Morghoul. Archidons are a big help for the latter, but I almost find myself wanting more spot removal and jank assassination options. Positioning of Marketh (keeping him safe, having him where I need on the next turn) is also pivotal.
In spite of the value I'm getting from the Archidons, I'm finding the allure of a four Shaman build very tempting. It presents a more credible gotcha assassination and has stronger spot removal/potential to clear deep landing zones for turtles. The four points freed let me upgrade the Gobber Chef to a Gremlin Swarm and add Gobber Bellows, both of which are brilliant scenario pieces. Depending on who gets the board real estate, this will make my explosive scenario plays even better, or at least give me a way to stay in the game longer while looking for the assassination.
