They have a much more balanced team composition, though they were using a reserve as one of the members wasn't able to make it.
Round 3 - Team Ireland Craic
Cygnar
Circle
Legion
Trollbloods
Menoth
In doing the pairings there were a few key matchups we were aiming for. We wanted to get Wurmwood into Trolls as a priority, because you can't Pacman what you can't see. Our Ret player decided to give the opposing Wurmwood a go as it was a matchup he wanted to test his second list, Kaelyssa, against. Myself, our Cygnar and our Trolls would take anyone left.
We ended up getting the matchups we wanted, at the expense of choosing tables, which is sort of the whole point of the pairing process!
I'd be up against Rob "Rob Read" Read and his Menoth, which consisted of pKreoss and Thyra. Rob has been Popping and Dropping fools for years, and I figured I knew what was coming.
Game 2
Scenario: Entrenched
Opponent: Rob
I picked Lylyth1 here for a couple of reasons. It may have been a mistake in hindsight, but my concerns with picking Aby2 were threefold: he can easily remove Bracer, which is my main protection against knockdown; he can shoot heavies for days, as his list had serious firepower; and if I didn't simply win on Feat turn, Aby was guaranteed to die due to her agressive positioning.
With the Banshees being Stealthed and Blast Immune, and holding a threat advantage against Rob's infantry, my plan was to hit his zone (left side) as hard as I could, try and go up on scenario, and grind it out. Of course, Rob could at any point use his Feat to kill most of my army, but once the feat had gone I just needed to swing it back with what I had left.
High Exemplar Kreoss
- Redeemer
- Redeemer
- Reckoner
Initiate Tristan Durant
- Redeemer
- Redeemer
Choir of Menoth (max)
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard
Vassal of Menoth
Idrian Skirmishers (max)
- Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide
Wrack
Wrack
SO. MANY. GUNS.
Deployment
I lose the roll and Rob takes first turn, so I choose the side with a large forest in the centre and a Wall off to the right. This will let me hide Lylyth in the Forest from everything, while still providing her Feat and allowing her to pop out and shoot from good sight angles. Rob gets a Hill in exchange.
I deployed the Banshee Boat on the left side, opposite Rob's zone. Lylyth and her Battlegroup took the centre, with the Raptors heading up the right flank. Wrongeye and Snapjaw went between the Raptors and Battlegroup.
Rob put Prey on a Deathstalker here, and I took the bait, keeping it out of the game almost entirely. This was a smart move - he could remove the Deathstalker if he really wanted to move Prey, but it stopped me casually removing 2 Idrians every turn!
(Captain Hindsight: Deploying as I did allowed Rob to deploy Tristan away from the Raptors, who had the speed and defense to potentially force him out of the game.)
Round 1
Rob:
Everything ran or advanced up, the Idrians went to ground with Defender's Ward on. Finally something the Deathstalkers would have trouble with. Rob tried to float 12 AOEs towards the Deathstalkers but they all scattered away from their targets. That's a lot of carpet bombing!
Me:
I did my normal turn one unpack. The Raptors ran into my zone, the Banshees ran towards Rob's with the Assassin's behind providing cover to all their buddies. The Deathstalkers stayed back, wary of the blasts that were sure to come their way. Lylyth walked straight up to the forest and with Snipe and a boosted shot killed an Idrian. The Gobbers put a cloud down blocking LOS to about half my table, which the Ravagore took cover behind. The Bolt Thrower went up behind the Banshees but was out of range of anything.
Round 2
Rob:
Nothing was in Idrian threat, so they ran to the edge of Rob's zone to start protecting it from the incoming Banshees. Everything got Passage from the Choir, and the Redeemers started their bombardment again, this time catching a Deathstalker (who died) and a Grotesque Assassin (who lived). They also claimed a single Raptorand both the Swamp Gobbers, which is frustrating!
By this time, Kreoss is on the Hill, with 2 Redeemers and a Reckoner in front of him, and Rhoven's 2 Shield Guard bros standing around him. Guess the assassination is out.
Me:
I don't want to committ too hard, and some furious pre-measuring goes on as I try to find the best spot for Lylyth. Regardless, she throws the Naga's animus on the Bolt Thrower and kills 2 more Idrians. The Ravagore gets the Animus from the Naga itself. They both fire at Redeemers, the Bolt Thrower knocking his target back but doing poor damage, the Ravagore doing more, but those Redeemers are tough!
Wrongeye and Snapjaw advance into my zone, submerged, threatening a charge into the Redeemers.
I send a few Banshees in to try and catch some Idrians, but they miss their shots. Wahwaaaah. The Raptors spread around my Objective, gaining immunity to Blast Damage from Girded. They put a few Idrians down too.
Round 3
This is a real nerve wracking game, as both casters have very potent assassination threats. If I let Kreoss get a bead on Lylyth it doesn't matter how much fury I camp - Battled Redeemers will burn through them in no time. If Kreoss gets too cocky, a Parasite and Feat will see him melted in short order.
Then I look up from the table and see that we've spent so long making decisions and posturing that every other game has finished - it's 2-2 in the Round, and ours is the tournament decider.
Rob:
The Redeemers keep lobbing stuff around, but don't catch anything of import.
Rob settles with killing the Banshees in the zone with the Idrians, but makes an error and forgets to move an Idrian and leaves it out of command, stopping it from using the 3" Reposition move. Up until now Rob had kept the Redeemers out of Snapjaw's threat, but with the Idrian in the spot he is I can get the 2" extra move AND the free charge, use my weak Tail attack on the Idrian, and be in melee with a Redeemer.
The Jacks get Passage, which is smart!
Me:
Kreoss is still safe, but with only 3 Idrians in his Zone, and a chance to take a Redeemer off the table, it's time for me to pull the trigger.
Snapjaw pops out of his pool, charges into the Idrian, Tail bashes it, wrecks the Redeemer in 4 hits, then submerges. Wrongeye moves up and provides Starcrossed before taking a dive back into his pool. The Banshees charge into the zone en masse, clearing all but 1 Idrian, but sadly doing nothing to the Objective, which I didn't realise was Bunker!
(Advice: ALWAYS know what your opponent's objective is. I should've deployed the Raptors opposite the objective, as they can scrap it in Melee with ease.)
One of the Grotesque Assassins is in range and spikes the Combo-Strike, doing a casual 10 damage. The Ravagore gets the Naga's animus but misses his shot on a Redeemer on the hill and scatters to nothingness. The Bolt Thrower fails to damage the objective at Dice-4 on 2d6, which puts paid to my plans to remove it this turn. Stopping me from scoring completely. Arrrgh.
The Raptors come in from the flank and kill a Choir Member and one of Rhoven's bros.
Not the turn I was hoping for. Being 2 points up and taking a Redeemer off the table was the aim. As it is, I just traded Snapjaw for a Redeemer.
Round 4 - Payback!
Rob:
Rob is down on clock, and makes the right decision, to use Kreoss' feat to wipe me off the table now that I'd committed and failed to go up on Scenario. Kreoss Defender's Wards himself, walks up until he can catch the Ravagore, Snapjaw, Wrongeye and the Raptors in his Feat, then feats.
Rhoven moves up and strips Snapjaw of his animus. Turns out he can do that. The Jacks all get Battled by the Choir. A single Redeemer then shoots Snapjaw dead with 3 boosted shots. Youch.
The Reckoner misses the Ravagore, but the two remaining Redeemers put it and another Raptor in the dirt. The Idrians kill half the Banshees due to auto-hitting attacks.
Me:
If I was 2 points up, I'd feel ok. Lylyth can clear the zone with the help of the Bolt Thrower, and that would leave me just having to hold for another turn. As it is, I have one chance.Kreoss is camping 5 after pulling from a Wrack with Defender's Ward on. Easy street.
Lylyth Feats, gives herself the Naga animus, walks up and nails Kreoss. She does 5 points which get shunted for a focus down to 0. She Parasites him, then does another shot at dice -1, rolling an 11 and doing 6 points after a focus shunts it over. Good start.
The Bolt Thrower gets to go next, but without Pathfinder, he can't make it through the Forest to get LOS on Kreoss... luckily, there's an Idrian in charge range. The Bolt Thrower charges the Idrian, kills it with a 3d6 to hit melee attack (thanks Lylyth!) then Quick Works his shot into Kreoss, boosting hit for the 4d6 knockdown (so the Raptors can chance it) and hitting, but failing the crit.
The Bolt Thrower boosts damage, and rolls a casual 6, 6, 5. Dropping a focus means Kreoss takes 12... exactly enough to kill him after Lylyth's damage roll. Headshot!
End:
Wooo, I did not deserve that at all, but I'll take it. Sometimes, the dice go your way. This is payback from a time that Rob oneshot Aby2 through a transfer with a single Errant charge!
Both of the matchups my team members wanted were losses, which goes to show what happens when you listen to other people. Even Pat D, robo-master of Cygnar that he is, almost lost to an exceptionally cheeky Domination assassination from my opposite number on Team Craic, after Pat's own Stormclad double 6'd the damage roll on Haley.
We finish the tournament 11-4 as a team and 3-0! I went 3-0 personally, and was pretty pleased overall.
Up next: Well, we couldn't finish there, so we had some more games!
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