On Saturday I ran a small Steamroller at the local shop to usher in Mk3's Street Release.
Unfortunately this release has had some serious stock issues that have caused woes for a lot of shops across the world. It's a shame that people couldn’t get the toys they wanted but it means that Mk3 is pretty popular.
I had two lists for the weekend:
(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley
- Avenger
- Stormclad
- Stormclad
- Thorn
- Squire
Captain Arlan Strangewayes
Storm Lances (max)
Ragman
(Caine 2) Captain Allister Caine
- Defender
- Hunter
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Storm Lances (max)
Stormblade Infantry
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
- Captain Jonas Murdoch
Journeyman Warcaster
- Charger
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Before the event kicked off I got in a game on the Friday evening as I was putting up a few travelling gamers from Dublin.
This game was against Conor playing Madrak2 and the following list:
(Madrak 2) Madrak Ironhide, World Ender
- Mulg the Ancient
- Pyre Troll
- Troll Axer
- Trollkin Runebearer
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (max)
- Stone Scribe Elder
Trollkin Warders (min)
Janissa Stonetide
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew
Feralgeist
Trollkin Fennblades (max)
- Fennblade Officer and Drummer
Fennblade Kithkar
Fell Caller Hero
I'm not 100% this is correct as I can’t remember exactly what support models he had and all the trolls look the same.
This list is 2 points shy so I'm probably missing something.
I opted to play Haley2 into it.
I won the roll and elected to go first.
Conor picked the side with some rolling fog to hide behind and no inconvenient forest.
I unpacked by running everything up with the triple TK and reaction drive move.
Conor Ran everything forward and sat Madrak on Janissas hill with all the warders and fenblades surrounding him.
I then setup some Charges with the Storm Lances and sent the Clads in after the Avenger got a good Knock down shot off that was shield guarded into the back of his lines.
I pushed Haley up onto the flag and feated. There were two fennblades left alive, both knocked down, and 1 warder had died.
I managed to catch most the models under the feat.
Conor then used Madrak to trigger a Warpath Mulg by throwing his Axe at a Lance to move Mulg into melee with Both Stormclads, charged in Janissa and did a bunch of damage with an armour pierce.
Then Mulg was able to kill one clad but didn’t come close to crippling anything on the other.
Warders and the remaining models moved up to gather around Madrak and Conor passed the turn, I scored 1 CP.
Madrak was now stood with 6 Grim Salvation Targets 2 of which were Warders and 2 were Gobbers, camping 3.
I set about engineering some Lance charges into the screening Models, one killed a Warder and Knocked down the Fenblade next to Madrak (tough) The other killed Janissa and the two gobbers.
They reposition so that one is engaging Madrak but not the Knocked Down Fenblade but is also within 3" of where Ragman will end up being.
2 Grim Targets left.... Thorn then runs across the board and Haley Arcs a TK through him into the warder that is over 1" away from Madrak moving him out of Grim range, 1 valid target left.
This is where I cheat and TA both the Clad and the Avenger, which is against the rules of course as TA can only be cast once, but the Avenger is able to hit the Knocked Down Fennblade on the first shot (not Snakes with a Future Sight boost if needed).
This Knocks down Madrak who is now being Dark shrouded by the Storm Lance. The Clad now walks in staying in Mulgs melee range and beats Madrak to death, with 2 focus left to spare.
Assassination Win
Thoughts:
Madrak2 is really scary, if that Pyre is a Bouncer I'm not sure how I win this game, perhaps I have to TK and Timebomb Madrak and hope the Jacks don't miss, I can probably send in the Avenger as well to apply some sword.
Thinking about the above, it’s not that bad if I can land both of those, 4 for time Bomb, 2 for TK, 2 on the Avenger none on the Clad. Have 1 spare to boost/future sight a spell and have Arlan power boost the final one on the Clad.
Storm Lances are great, they are so good at killing most everything in the game, and reposition is awesome.
Pre Measuring also allows for great little tricks like the Ragman/AoE/Engaging plan.
Playing against Madrak2 again I’d probably stick to the same strategy, kill the important screening models, feat to control and stay over 6" away from Mulg under feat.
So after that game it was bed time in preparation for the tournament Saturday.
I show up early to get things setup and do the pairings, because of drops I'm playing and get paired against one of the Dublin lads, Sean, playing Cygnar.
Now it's my fault that I persuaded him to play the below list the night previous and offered him the toys as well.
(Sloan 1) Captain Kara Sloan
- Avenger
- Defender
- Dynamo
- Hunter
- Hunter
- Hunter
- Hunter
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
Captain Arlan Strangewayes
I select Haley2 and lose the roll so pick a side with good access to a hill and with my flag behind a building.
Sean runs everything turn one.
I do the TK and Reaction drive trick, cast Decel and move Haley forward.
Sean assassinates me.
Assassination loss
Thoughts:
Well I was useless, I don't even know what I was doing unpacking like that, I'm going to put this one down to just having not thought about my plan, and I really should have castled up behind the Building or Rocks and waited.
It seems like an okay matchup for Haley although I reckon she probably just loses 2 Jacks a turn to the shooting and this probably isn't enough to win the game.
With that over I have plenty of time to go and heckle other players and watch other games happening, as well as get scenario elements ready and take results.
Round 2 I am paired up against Keith playing Khador, he has Butcher3 and the new caster, Kozlov. One list has a lot of Doom Reavers in that will make short work of Haleys jacks so I opt for Caine figuring I can probably just try and assassinate Butcher3 as his list only has 3 heavies.
Keith picks Kozlov:
(Kozlov 1) Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgrad
- War Dog
- Juggernaut
- Juggernaut
- Juggernaut
Doom Reaver Swordsmen
- Greylord Escort
Doom Reaver Swordsmen
- Greylord Escort
Doom Reaver Swordsmen
- Greylord Escort
Doom Reaver Swordsmen
- Greylord Escort
Unfortunately due to the late hour the night before when Keith was writing his list he didn't realise that Kozlovs spell that provides pathfinder and steady was battle group only.
He didn’t realise this until his turn 1.
I lost the roll and elected to have him deal with the big forest, I also wasn't aware of the spells failings at this point.
Keith goes first and runs two units up and the other two have to run around the forest as well, making two channels. His battle group and caster, run through the forest.
Caine moves up on the right and starts to trick shot Doom Reavers, he manages to kill a whole pile, the rest of the army does the same and I have removed two full units and two models from another unit.
Keith is able to get 2 charges on Storm Lances and runs the rest of his force, the two Storm Lances die.
Caine kills the remainder of the Doom Reavers whilst killing a heavy with his feat and the rest of the army takes care of another heavy and the remaining infantry, leaving Kozlov 1 Jack and the War Dog.
To try and score APs Keith goes on a Pacman with Kozlov into the Stormblades and kills all but 3, the Juggernaut gets 2 but 1 lives.
I then assassinate Kozlov with the Charger.
Assassination Win
Thoughts:
Keith’s list was unfortunately not built with the Synergy he had in mind working which meant he was in trouble from the start.
Caine2 probably wins the matchup regardless, being able to kill plenty of toys himself easily, unless there are a lot of tough rolls.
The rest of the army can stay safe enough with the predictable threat ranges and the Storm Lances chew through the Doom Reavers as well.
Another short game and I continue to wander about and watch the other games that are ongoing.
My final round I am paired against Fergus who is playing Ret, Issyria and Garryth, both lists have a decent number of infantry and I reckon Caine probably has a decent shot (geddit).
Fergus selects Garryth:
(Garryth 1) Garryth, the Blade of Retribution
- Banshee
- Aspis
- Moros
- Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan
Houseguard Riflemen (max)
- Houseguard Rifleman Officer & Standard
- Soulless Escort
Dawnguard Sentinels (max)
- Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard
- Soulless Escort
Arcanist Mechanik
Arcanist Mechanik
Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios
Mage Hunter Assassin
Houseguard Thane
House Shyeel Magister
I think the list is right, there might be some discrepancies, I'm not all that familiar with Ret and the pictures I have don’t have enough detail.
I win the roll to go first and elect to do so.
Fergus picks the side with a small forest and obstruction.
I run everything forward, putting concealment and Arcane shield on the Lances and Bullet Dodger on Caine and sit on the hill.
Fergus advances cautiously and take a pot shot at a Lance doing 1 damage. The Sentinels get apparition
I decide that I'm going to try and take out one of his lights.
The Charger and Hunter and Defender do decent Damage to the Aspis and Caine throws out some shots as well finishing the Aspis and starting on Moros, trick shotting into threatening sentinels to avoid vengeance, he then Gatecrashes behind the objective.
One Lance gets a Charge into Moros and does a decent amount of damage. The rest of my models run up and position in the trench.
Moros is able to beat a Lance to death, another dies to a 9 man CRA. A couple of Sentinels charge and do decent Damage to the Hunter and some points on the Charger, the rest run and engage some models.
The Banshee Knocks down the Defender. Garryth moves up behind the objective and Madelyn does her Parley.
I stand the Defender up and realise the Charger is out of Jrs control. I use a number of shots to start clearing the Sentinels that are in the zone and the Lances finish off Moros as well as a number of Riflemen with Impacts and assaults.
Aiyana tries to walk in and kiss the Sentinels but misses, Holt kills two and Jonas gets one.
Caine moves up to the edge of the zone and puts 9 shots into the objective, trick shotting into Garryth each time at dice -4 and he's camping 3.
The dice aren't very good and I miss a shot and the damage doesn't really spike much so I leave him on 4 boxes.
As I've cleared the Sentinels and the Defender took care of Madelyn two Stormblades are able to charge in, the Leader and Officer, they assault and miss but then CMA at MAT 10 needing 7s, get it and squish Garryth.
Assassination Win
Thoughts:
Had I not gone for the Assassination I probably could have just taken the game via attrition, instead using Caine to kill all the remaining infantry.
If It had failed I think Caine was fairly safe where he was as well and Garryth wasn't in a position to do much as he would be on low health.
Of course I could be wrong and an assassination may have been engineered, who knows.
With time running out the tournament had to be finished at 3 rounds, as planned, and I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack.
At least I didn’t get the beautifully handcrafted wooden spoon.
Overall I'm happy with how I played 3 of the 4 games, the Sloan game was a disaster for me and I recognise that.
I'm happy with how both lists performed and I'm looking forward to testing them and more options in the future.
