First battle report - eCaine vs pButcher 35pts

So had another game last night and though we are still learning in our gaming group, I decided I'd put up a battle report of our game. So setting up we decided to play to a points value that my opponent could make up with his painted models that he had with him and as it turned out he could make 35pts so I used the same list I had been working on for awhile.

eCaine
Defender
Journeyman Warcaster
Charger
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
Gun Mage Officer
Cyclone
The Black 13th
eEiryss

pButcher
Destroyer
Destroyer
Juggernaut
Juggernaut
Man-o-war Shocktroopers (5)

I'm hoping to take pEiryss in future lists, as I prefer her, but since I prefered the eEiryss model I am still waiting on the pEiryss card to arrive from PP. Note in the report we had a break mid-game so I am a little hazy on the details.

He won the roll off and chose to have me deploy first. The table was pretty even with a hill and a building on either side, and with a forest on my side and ruins on his. I stuck the Black 13th over behind the forest intending to Advance Deploy Eiryss out on front of them in the forest. I put the Gun Mages with UA and Cyclone behind the building and Caine and the Jr. off to the side of it covered by the Charger and Defender. He set up his whole force opposite Caine with the Man-o-wars taking a flank with a line of jacks next to them. The Butcher hid behind them.



First turn I just shuffled my models around a bit for better range and firing positions next turn. I put up Arcane Shield and Blur on the Defender and left him covering the Charger and warcasters. The Khador army just ran forward.

I upkept both my spells and Caine kept his focus while the Jr. gave her remaining two to the Charger. I decided to take what I thought was a risk in turn 2 (as it turns out it wasn't a risk at all; more on that later). I moved Eiryss out and shot the nearest Destroyer, opting for the one damage on his 4 and more importantly disrupting him. The Defender moved into range and pummeled the other Destroyer, doing a hefty amount of damage. The Charger popped off two shots, one fully boosted, at the same jack and did some more damage. Everything else redeployed.

Butcher spread his focus between the other three jacks and then we made our first mistake. One of the Juggernauts shot at Eiryss; I thought Stealth only worked when concealed, camoflagued or in cover. Luckily, he missed. The other one shot at the Charger and did a few points of damage, nearly crippling his movement. Everything else either moved or ran.



I repeated the same focus steps for turn 3 however I dropped Blur on the Defender so Caine would have more focus. I didn't see an assassination run in the usual style as working too well on the DEF14 ARM18 Butcher, not to mention that I would likely have to wait for his jacks to make contact first. Instead Caine moved up a popped his feat in order to wipe out two of the Man-o-wars. The Cyclone moved and Thunderbolted the closet Destroyer, getting a critical knockdown in the process. The Defender then backed off and shot his also, doing only a tiny bit of damage. The Charger shot at the Man-o-wars, but didn't do enough to kill one. The Gun Mages then moved out and shot at the other Destroyer, however only three were in range so they combined they ranged attack into Arcane Inferno and did a tiny bit of damage. Eiryss also took another point from his 4 and disrupted him. The Black 13th moved up more but were still out of range (still not entirely sure how best to use these guys).

With jacks disrupted and knocked down the Butcher spread out minimal focus and then put up Full Throttle. The Juggernaut shot at Eiryss again and this time my rules mistake cost me as he hit and killed her. The second Juggernaut advanced and shot at the Gun Mages, killing 4. The Destroyer that was downed used a focus to get up and then charged the Gun Mages, killing the UA. The rest just ran.



With the Khador army about to close in I knew I had to pull something out of the bag here or lose. I reckoned I had just enough movement with the last two Gun Mages (the death of the UA put them out of the Destroyer's melee range) to Thunderbolt the Destroyer protecting the Butcher. As it turned out I was right and they managed to push it enough that the Butcher was no longer protected. The Cyclone and Charger then teamed up and with some hot rolling took down the Butcher to win the game for Cygnar.



Observations:
- I haven't a clue on how to best use the Black 13th. This is something I will need to work on.
- Using Stealth properly would have been a huge help. That being said though, I do prefer pEiryss, and indeed she had two clean shots at the Butcher this game, however eEiryss couldn't do a whole lot to him.
- Even without a properly written list, Khador stuff is **** hard to kill with shooting.

Going Solo

I decided I'd do a Christmas post, though it has nothing to do with Christmas past the best wishes to all, and all that jazz.

So onto the important stuff; I got some more painting done. Since I last posted I have put most of my focus (no pun intended) into painting some solos, namely Reinholdt, a Squire, and Eiryss. All are pretty cool models and I got sick of wet-brushing the jacks to get the white right; this technique isn't necessary on the much smaller models, especially since their armour is more jagged and less rounded. As a note, you'll probably notice that the right side of Eiryss' face is a bit blotchy. This is due to a bad spot of the sculpt where the lips seem to have been smoothed down to one side of the face, leaving an odd lump under the cheek.

With these three finished I'm going to touch up a Charger I have done somewhere and try finish the Defender that's been sitting on my desk for the last few weeks, after which I will start the Black 13th. Anyhow, pictures are below, comments appreciated.

Playing catch up (very long post - with pictures)

Well it's been quite awhile since my last post; a cocktail of cancelled events, commissions and (lots of) Skyrim has kept me away and busy. However I have the game all but finished and posted one commission last week while the other is been worked on sporadically. As such I've moved on to new things.

Most recently, I attended Moocon Fore yesterday, a 1000pts Highlander style 40k tournament. By Highlander style I mean that you could not duplicate any unit, even dedicated transports. Undoubtedly it was going to be new and interesting, especially as I've always seen that some players may or may not be as capable without access to their SPAM armies (I may have been one of them sure). So the challenge was there. I decided to deviate slightly from my typical armies and go back to something old as I wanted to have sturdy scoring units which would be more important than ever in such an environment.

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor
Power Armour, Rad Grenades, Psychotroke Grenades, Hammerhand


Venerable Dreadnought
2x Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition

5x Purifiers
2x Halberds, 2x Psycannons, Daemonhammer in Transport 1


5x Grey Knights
Psycannon in Transport 2

5x Terminators
3x Halberds, Psycannon, Hammer


Dreadnought
2x Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition


Transport 1: Rhino
Transport 2: Razorback with Psybolt Ammunition

The other option was Coteaz and Henchmen in a Chimera but I felt despite being on foot the Terminators would make a sturdier scoring Troop, plus, I'd get Grenades this way.

So game 1 I got Jimmy Murphy's Orks. It didn't have the hordes of Boyz that the Purifiers would like, but Orks struggle with Grey Knights one way or the other. He had Ghazghul, 3 Meganobz, a Warboss on a bike, 3 Nob Bikers, 12 Boyz in a Trukk, a Battlewagon, and a Deffkopta. The mission was Spearhead Seize Ground (5). I deployed down in the south-east corner bunkering around some ruins, with a hill just north of me. There was another large ruin around the centre and Jimmy deployed behind that mostly out of sight in his quarter. He managed to steal and surged forward. His only shooting was Big Shootas so I came out of it unscathed. He couldn't say the same in my first turn however, as the Battlewagon went down to the first Psycannon, the Deffkopta was taken out by the Heavy Bolter and then Dreadnought fire put a wound on Ghaz. In his second turn he ran up with everything and the Boyz unloaded. He then declared the Waagh and charged absolutely everything into the Terminators at the frontline of my army. The Terminators were in terrain so struck first, however they fluffed almost everything and managed to kill only two Boyz. In return the Orks did 27 wounds collectively, and though I made 22 successful saves, the fails were one a piece and the unit was wiped. The OXI and Purifiers got out and went into the same ruin and the rest of the army backed off. Shooting saw a Meganob killed but that was all. The Purifiers charged just the Boyz (electing not to multi charge the Meganobz as to not be oversaturated with psychic power choices). They easily wiped them out and consolidated out of Ghaz' reach. Ghaz went after the Rhino, the Bikes went after the Ven Dread, and the Meganobz went for the Dread. The Bikeboss went for the Razorback but couldn't reach it. Ghaz easily tore open the Rhino but both Dread held on, with the regular losing his arms. The Purifiers went into the Bikeboss and the Strikes got out and went at Ghaz. Both were successful and the Dread continued to hold things up. The rest of the game the Dreads held up the last two Ork units until the Strikes and Purifiers could charge and finish them off, netting me a 17-3 victory.

I moved up to table 3 for game 2 and was to play Dawn of War Annihilation against Tadhgfffff Murphy's Blood Angels Funwagon. He had Meph, 8 Death Company and a DC Dread in a Raven, and a Rhino. He deployed Meph in the centre behind the Rhino in a ruin. I deployed my Strikes in their Razorback behind a hill in the corner. First turn he moved toward them fast while the Raven came on Flat-Out in the same direction. He fired one missile and popped the Razorback. I brought the Termies with OXI on near Meph while the rest of the army came on the far side hoping the Termies could claw out a few KP while the Dreads supported at range. The army managed to blow up Meph's Rhino and destroy the Raven's Multi-Melta before the Termies charged Meph and killed him. The Raven moved inward and the Dread jumped out and assaulted the Termies (after the Raven killed one). The Termies failed Hammerhand leaving the unit at S5. They hit with one Grenade but couldn't get the glance. The Dread then munched through the whole unit and then ran down the OXI. The Strikes couldn't get away so stayed put and put a Heavy Psycannon shot into the Dread, taking off its Melta arm. The rest of the army shot at the Raven, blowing it up. The now disembarked Death Company made a beeline for the rest of the army on the far side. The Dread went into the Strikes, killing three. The army shot at the DC as they crossed the field and over few turns managed to reduce them to two models before charging them and finishing them. His Dread was meanwhile done with the Strikes and on his way. He finally made a 6" charge through terrain and killed all but one Purifier, who hit twice with his S10 Hammer, and then failed to pen, meaning he died in my turn while my Dreads could do nothing, and so Tadgh narrowly won the game 14-6.

Game 3 was on table 4 with Merv Murphy's Grey Knights. Capture and Control Pitched Battle GK vs GK; fun. Merv had Coteaz, an OXI with all the grenades, 10 Strikes in a Raven, a PsyDread, a PsyBack, a Vindicare, and 5 Henchmen in a Chimera. I deployed in cover as Coteaz could easily take the initiative (though I kept the Termies in reserve to stay safe of Mindstrikes), but he played safe and reserved everything bar the Strikes who went on foot behind a large hill so I couldn't see them. Vindicare outflanked. I just shuffled in my first two turns as he did nothing in his first; Termies didn't come on thank God. Raven came in and went Flat-Out up the middle and everything else came on back in the corner behind the same hill as the Strikes, including the Vindicare as I had made sure he would not be in pistol range of anything without cover. The Termies then came on turn 3 and ran up the flank opposite Merv's army. Everything else worked on the Raven until it went down. He stayed in the corner, shooting over the hill and the Vindicare trying to pop shot Termies. Meanwhile I kept avancng stadil with the Purifiers and Termies while the Strikes hit and the Dreads supported. I managed to pop the Razorback, and eventually forced him to pull his Strikes off the objective and hold it with the Henchmen. By turn 5 I had my whole army and he had lost his Raven and Razorback. In turn 6 he managed to take out my Rhino and a Dread, however the Termies and Purifiers took out the two Strike combat squads. However poor consolidation rolls kept them from contesting his objective and so the game ended in an 11-9 draw to me.

Game 4 was another GK vs GK fest on table 5 with Ivan 'Nudie' McTubbs nee-Sheehan. It was Seize Ground (3) Dawn of War. He got to place two but had to place them in the open while I placed my one in a ruin. He had Coteaz, and OXI with all the grenades, 8 Strikes in a Raven, 3 Henchmen in a PsyBack, a Vindicare, and a Dreadknight. He deployed dead centre, with the Knight behind the Raven. The PsyBack went on the left near a hill. I bunkered in a ruin to my left and again reserved the Termies. Vindicare Infiltrated in a wood to the east. He zoomed up the centre with the Raven, shunting with the Knight. The Vindicare took out my normal Dread. I kept my positioning mostly intact and opted to forgo smoke for firepower. I managed to wreck the Raven, but couldn't get the Vindicare. In his turn the Vindicare popped the Rhino, leaving his Strikes with characters assault the Purifiers after I placed them poorly, and his Psya blew up mine, killing one Strike. In the assault my Grenades managed to reduce his attacks meaning the Justicar survived, and I was able to kill three of his guys. Just in time the Termies showed up and assaulted. The Strike assaulted the Dreadknight. This time I de-gunned and immobolized his PsyBack and wounded the Vindicare. In the assault his Grenades got to take effect again, and unfortunately mu Justicar Perils'ed and died. Major fluffage followed leaving Coteaz and three strikes alive, while my last Purifier and 2 more Termies died. The Dreadknight meanwhile got Force Weapon'ed to death. In his turn he failed to take down my Ven Dread with the Vindicare and killed the last of the Termies who only wiped one Strike. In my turn my Strikes assaulted and wiped one of his and Coteaz, sending the last running, while the Ven Dread killed the Vindicare. In his turn he debussed and hid with the Henchmen while the last Strike ran. In my turn I opted to run instead of shoot with the Ven Dread so as to assure the lone Strike couldn't contest or take, and my Strikes shot at the Henchmen, killing one but failing to panic them. In his turn they moved and ran however as the game ended it turned out they were actually 4" from the objective and so I got a 16-4 win.

Last game was on table 4 again playing Spearhead Annihilation against Caolan 'Slim' Gibbons' Blood Angels. He had Dante and 5 Sang Guard in a Raven with a Fury Dread, 5 Marines in a Razorback, and a Land Speeder. I made a similar deployment to game 3 in the same spot but with the Termies manning the frontlines this time. He reserved everything. I shuffled and cast Warp Quake while I waited. In turn 2 his Raven and Speeder came on, the Speeder scattering but avoiding Warp Quake. He failed to do anything with his shooting. On the flip-side, my shooting was quite the opposite. First shot took out the Raven, killing a Sang Guard in the blast. Next shot blew up his Dread killing another Sang Guard. Next shoot blew up the Speeder, while the rest wounded Dante. In his turn the Razorback came on and realising he couldn't risk it, hid behind the same large hill Merv used earlier. Dante and co advanced and blew up the normal Dread. I chose to play the game out instead of running and hiding for the win and pumped all but the Purifiers into Dante's boys, but only killed one. They retaliated by killing the Terminators. However in the following turn I wiped them and that was that; an 18-2 win to me.

So after 3 large wins, a winning draw, and a minor loss I was on 68pts and managed to pull 4th place out of 32 players, which I was both surprised and delighted with. There's no doubt that dice were with me at times, but games 2 and 3 showed that this was not always the case, so I was delighted with my performance. I had a great day also and will be back again for Moocon 5 - The Hand of the Moo.

With that (not so quick) report out of the way, it brings me to the other thing I've been up to - Warmachine. After been interested back in September one of the lads finally brought up his models and we got to play. After one of the lads bought some Cryx (my first choice) I decided to go with Cygnar instead and have not regretted it. The models are sweet and the army is pretty awesome. After reading the book I really wanted to use eCaine (the model is unreal to boot) and so instead of buying a started I wrote a 35pt list and just started buying models toward it working with what I had for smaller games. So far I've lost to Cryx, beaten Menoth, and tied in a team game teaming with Khador against Cryx and Menoth.

The main thing I found with Warmachine was how different the models were. They were more natural and less over the top than most GW stuff, and found myself compelled to begin painting right away. So far I've gotten Caine, a Sentinel and a Journeyman Caster painted from the list, and am currently working on a Defender, a Squire, and Eiryss. Pictures of my finished models are below. As you will notice, I haven't gone with the standard rulebook blue, and instead opted for a colour scheme I had originally intended for my Grey Knights had I not already painted a few models grey.