Makes sense when you break it down. |
35+6 points, 13 models
Lylyth, Herald of Everblight +6 points
* 2x Carnivean 11 points each
* Seraph 8 points
* Shredder 2 points
6 Blighted Archers 5 points
2x The Forsaken 2 points each
Big nasties with light infantry support, just what I want. Lylyth flits around to shoot things and debuff, then the beasties charge in (for free, huzzah Blood Lure) and beat the face. The Seraph is around for movement shenanigans and long-range machine gunnery, the Forsaken for Fury management, Archers because I have them, and a Shredder just for giggles. Against this force EV gave me a bit of a surprise by fielding that flocking lich that everyone hates, albeit in a slightly different configuration:
35+6 points, 36 models
Lich Lord Asphyxious +6 points
* Cankerworm 5 points
* 2x Nightwretch 4 points each
10 Bane Thralls 8 points
6 Bile Thralls 5 points
Bloat Thrall 2 points
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist 2 points
10 Mechanithralls 5 points
* 1 Brute Thrall 1 point
Withershadow Combine 5 points
The standard eGaspy list with Gorman instead of a Skarlock. Infantry swarms, let alone Cryx swarms, make me a little skittish when I'm fielding a small army, but I hoped that I could punch big holes in the units and my movement shenanigans would be enough to keep me out of danger. We rolled the double objective scenario and deployed terrain as usual. I won the roll, decided to go first, and went with a variation on my beloved refused flank. The Archers went on the left to cover that objective. The rest of the army would swing left to clear that objective, then munch across the board to take the right. EV responded with a slight wrinkle on his standard Cryx deployment, swapping the Biles and the Mechthralls so that the Biles were on the left flank and the Mechthralls in the center.
Turn 1
Both sides ran. EV had no upkeeps to cast, or chose to not cast any, while I put up some animi and sucked up some Fury with the Forsaken. I let the beasts cast their own animii instead of doing it with Lylyth, a slight change from how I had played in my first Hordes match. EV laid down a couple of clouds to block a gap to his lines on the left side of the woods.
Turn one. |
Turn 2
The second turn started with a learning opportunity. Turns out Fury doesn't go away in your maintenance phase like Focus does, so I couldn't leach Fury out of my beasts. This was quite the surprise and had I been fully aware (meaning if I'd read the rules thoroughly) I would have done things differently. It was no surprise at all the the Shredder and the unpainted Carnivean frenzied. The Shredder waddled off into the woods to do nothing while the Carnivean took a nice bite out of its painted friend.
Post-frenzy. Also post-Carnivean-moving-away. |
Clouds? What clouds? |
Pew pew. |
Legion turn two. |
Denouement. |
This was far from my finest hour on a variety of fronts, but I did learn a couple important lessons. Foremost is how Fury works, especially how Fury sticks around between turns unless you do something with it. EV and I both learned how Frenzy is resolved. I found out how much damage I can expect Lylyth to do in a single turn against single wound infantry (4-9 dead depending on how erupty the spines feel) and also how little you can rely on DEF 16 when you're also ARM 14 with 15 boxes and no transfers. I expected there to be a learning curve playing Hordes and this game I found the beginning of that curve. The silver lining to this game was that it was over so quick that we had time for another one, but that's a battle report for another day...
Yeah, this was really an unsatisfying game, kind of like (SPOILER ALERT!) today's. I hate one-sided games like this. Next time I'll be bringing out the big guns again, so be warned.
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way, why not set a favicon for your site? You could use the image you have tiled across your page.
At least we got in another game after this one, so it wasn't a complete loss. I'd say I'll come prepared for Gaspy/Denny next time, but the plan is to try out Absylonia who looks to have a bit of a learning curve. Then again perhaps I'll represent the Motherland as a change of pace. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteNever crossed my mind to do an icon, but a bit of Googling at work leads to me believe it isn't that hard. I'll have to give it a shot when it isn't bedtime.