Warmachine Batrep: RoS vs. Cygnar

So, I got in a 35 point Warmachine game last night, and apparently the third time is the charm, because I won by a land slide. I went into the store plotting to try out a Garryth list. My opponent for the evening was kind enough to tell me that he was playing a shooty Cygnar army, so I decided to not rely on any stealth lists as I expected any respectable Cygnar shooting list to ignore it. So no Garryth last night. I decided to drop a balanced 35pt Kaelyssa list instead. Not so much for the balance, but because it included my almost completed Imperatus!

Thinking of doing more with the hands and gauntlets.
More pics later!!!

Onto the game summary! The lists were:

Cygnar:
Karra(spelling?), the sniper caster
Reinholdt, the gobber reloader guy
1x Stormwall
1x Squire
1x max unit of Gun Mages with some light jack with a gun that halves armor
1x Random anti-Hordes solo with a short range Bola attack that knocks you down.
1x Journeyman Caster

Retribution:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper - WJ: +7
-    Imperatus - PC: 12
-    Aspis - PC: 4

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios - PC: 3
Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2

Houseguard Halberdiers - Leader & 9 Grunts: 7
-    Halberdier Officer & Standard - PC: 2
-    2 1 escort's: 2
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
-    Strike Force Commander - Commander 2

42 / 42 (35+7)    Warcaster(s) : 1/1    Warjack(s) : 2    Battle Engines : 0    Solos : 2    Units : 2


Yikes! My first game against a colossal 'jack. It was a little daunting not knowing what it was capable of, but I ended up with a good match up against it.

Cygnar won the starting roll and decided to choose board edge and deploy second. I set up my houseguard and battlegroup in the center; houseguard slightly to the left and Kaelyssa slightly to the right. Cygnar dropped Stormwall opposite Kaelyssa and his gun mages opposite my houseguard. I then advanced deployed the MHSF on the right flank (hoping that 'jack hunter would help take it out), and on the left flank I put Eiryss and the MHA.

With deployment out of the way, I pretty much just ran everything up the board for my first turn. The houseguard moved up in shield wall. On Cygnar turn one, my opponent tried to clog the right side of the board with templates from Stormwall to close off some charge lanes. Karra manages to snipe a couple of the MHSF grunts.

On turn two, I moved the houseguard up in shield wall again to jam the movement of the gun mages and screen Kaelyssa. The MHSF moved around the templates to get into the side of the Stormwall, and then take some pot shots and actually do some modest damage. At this point, I had a plan to charge the Cygnar solo guy with Imperatus, and then side step my way to Stormwall. Imperatus sadly failed it's charge. The MHA charged the Stormwall and put some decent damage on it. Kaelyssa then moved up with the Aspis. I should have used my feat here, but I forgot to. On Cygnar turn two, Karra used her feat and the entire Cygnar army had a very underwhelming turn. All told, I think they managed to kill 2-3 more MHSF, the MHA, and 2 houseguard.

On my turn three, I decided to get aggressive. The houseguard charged into the gun mages and decimated the unit leaving two alive. I then used my reform move to help block Karra's maneuverability. The MHSF unloaded into the Stormwall again, this time almost completely destroying it's left half. Imperatus charged Stormwall, completely wrecking it's right half, setting it on fire, and used it's side step moves to just be a hair away from engaging Karra. On Cygnar turn three, my opponent did not have a lot of great options. The Gun Mage leader ran away from his combat (surviving three free strikes) to engage Imperatus and stop me from walking into Karra. Karra couldn't move towards Kaelyssa without engaging my houseguard or Imperatus, so she stood her ground and tried to blow up Imperatus, which she did....but then it came back. Troll-face engage.

On turn four, Imperatus wrecked the Stormwall, and then dug into Karra hitting her once and setting her on fire. I missed my last attack. My houseguard tighten the noose around her neck, but don't manage to kill her off. On Cygnar turn four, my opponent decided that the only way to win would be for Karra to expose herself and try and assassinate Kaelyssa. Karra runs out of combat with three houseguard and Imperatus, taking no free strike damage and shoots Kaelyssa in the face. She does heavy damage with a boosted die roll, but it isn't enough to kill Kaelyssa. Deciding to use her remaining focus to cast offensive spells, she ends up triggering Witch Hound, allowing Imperatus to move and attack her. Amazingly, Imperatus misses again, but now Karra is out of options.

My turn five, I boost to hit with Imperatus, decimating Karra and lighting her remains on fire. Victory! And now, more Imperatus pics! I apologize for the yellowing in the photos. I still don't have a good light box setup yet :(

Retribution of Scyrah WIP

I have been super busy getting all of my Myrmidons painted, and I am on track to finish them this week! I went with a similar style to the studio scheme from Privateer Press, with a little bit of airbrush magic. I have a few pictures to share of my WIP stuff. I apologize for the quality though. The light in my work area is very yellow, and I don't have a light box yet. Also, these were taken with my cell phone. Apologies out of the way, now lets move on to the fun stuff.

My airbrushed priming/basing process is:

1. Prime model completely black.
2. Using a zenithal technique, prime the model with grey primer from a roughly 45 degree angle. All of the black should be covered (very lightly, more of a tint) except for in the deepest recesses.
3. After the grey, do the same with a very thin white from a near vertical angle.
4. For a basecoat, coat the entire model in a very thin mix of PP Underbelly blue and Army Painter matte white.

Following those four steps took no time at all, and created a nice gradient of color all over the model ranging from very cool blue-grays in the shadows to white for the highlights. Now that the model is primed and mostly base coated:

1. Lightly spray around the "power nodes" with PP Arcane blue to be the base of a glow effect.
2. All of the nodes, metal bits, hands, and weapons get coated with PP Pig Iron (via brush). 
3. The "swirls" surrounding the power nodes were lined with a GW dark blue ink. I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head.
4. Exhaust vents got PP turquoise ink for the start of a glow effect.
5. Sword and Halberd casing got hit with a mix of Pig Iron, blue ink, and red ink to make a purple metallic color (recipe right out of the RoS book).

My Iaijutsu Phoenix

Whew, done with the base coat! That process isn't so bad, but I was doing 16 warjacks all at once. My hands were actually a little cramped when I was done. At this point, I created a save point by spraying a coat of Liquitex gloss varnish via airbrush and then took these pictures. Left to do are my highlights, small details, and basing. Thanks to the way I primed/based the armor, I actually don't think I am going to do any traditional highlights there. Most of the highlighting will be for the metallics. I plan to use Vallejo MA Steel, and then wash everything in GW Nuln Oil (which is an amazing ink). I also plan to point Nuln Oil in the recesses between the armor plates. I don't know why, but I hate the glow all over thing that is in the studio scheme. I think they really went overboard with it.

So, I think that was more than enough words. Moar Picturez!

The Hydra reminds me of the Hulk...

I wish I had a better pose for Imperatus.
Sadly I pinned the hell out of him before I checked what
the pose would look like....lesson learned.

Manticore!

Well, that's it for now. I did some more work last night on Imperatus, and he is looking pretty spiffy. I should have some more (and hopefully better) shots by the end of the week!

2nd Amendment Caster: Lord Ossyan

I got to play a game last night, which was a great learning experience. It was a good chance to get more familiar with the rules, and get used to my units strengths and weaknesses. I am definitely picking things up a lot quicker now. However, I am still not quite comfortable with my ability to judge how far up the board to risk my caster. Focus management was less of a problem though.

So in my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to use my Rahn list. However, when I found out that I was playing against a beast heavy Circle army, I made a last minute decision to switch to Ossyan. I didn't feel that the Rahn list would be able to handle the number of beasts that I was going to face. While I ended up losing in the end, I learned some valuable lessons:

1. Rifleman + UA + Houseguard Thane = Awesome (They almost won me the game)
2. Hiding a unit of Stormfall Archers behind aforementioned brick = More Awesome
3. Choose your Stormfall targets wisely (scattering killed a half unit of my sentinels)
4. While I like the Heavy Rifle Team on paper, in practice they are hard to use. I will probably shelf them unless I know I will be playing scenarios with zones where they don't have to move.
5. I think I like Invictors with Ossyan over Sentinels. They will give me additional shooting, and they don't need to be as close, so Stormfall shots should not kill them.
6. Warbeasts are annoying.

So keeping all of these points in mind, I took my original Ossyan list, and turned it into this:

Ossyan's Shooting Gallery

Lord Arcanist Ossyan - WJ: +6

-    Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker

-    Phoenix - PC: 10

Houseguard Thane - PC: 2

Houseguard Riflemen - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8

-    Rifleman Officer & Standard - PC: 2

Dawnguard Invictors - Leader & 9 Grunts: 10

-    Invictor Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard 2

Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8

-    Strike Force Commander - Commander 2

Stormfall Archers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5

Stormfall Archers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5

56 / 56 (50+6)    Warcaster(s) : 1/1    Warjack(s) : 1    Battle Engines : 0    Solos : 1    Units : 5

So, the idea here is that the Rifleman combo and 1 unit of archers take the stealth match-up. If my opponent has no significant stealth threat, this group can sit on whichever flank puts the most pressure on my opponent's caster. Ossyan's battlegroup and the Invictors will hold my center. Lastly, the MHSF will take my other flank supported by the other Archer unit. In a situation where I deploy second, it may be advantageous to put the 2nd unit of archers with the Rifleman block.

Ossyan's feat turn should be devastating as my entire army has guns, and should be able to bring them to bear all at the same time. Being able to CRA with two units will help with punching through armour. The rifleman mini feat can also provide some punch late in the game. The archers are just great all around. The Phoenix isn't the greatest ranged choice for warjacks that we have, but it can help anchor my center line and set things on fire. Setting things on fire is just so much fun. It could be swapped out for a Banshee though. I suppose the momentum effect on it's gun could prove pretty useful in some match ups. 

Let me know what you think of the list!

WarmaHordes Lists (RoS): Rahn Loves Ninja Elves

So, first off, War Room is an amazing app. For anyone that doesn't know what it is, War Room is a rules compendium, card catalog, and list builder all in one for Warmachine and Hordes. Oh, and it lets you track card stats and damage during a game too, so you don't have to use your physical cards. And it lets you see your opponents cards during a game too (if they also have the app). You can even steal their army list and study it later at your leisure. In short, it is a worthy investment if you are serious about the game.

Anyway, I have been busy building lists and am going to try and post a list per week. So without further ado, here is my first list:

Rahn Loves Ninja Elves
Adeptis Rahn - WJ: +6

• Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker
• Phoenix - PC: 10

Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber - PC: 3

• Aspis - PC: 4

Dawnguard Sentinels - Leader & 9 Grunts: 9

• Sentinel Officer & Standard - PC: 2
• Manticore - PC: 8

House Shyeel Battle Mages - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5 Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2
Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2 Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios - PC: 3 Arcanist - PC: 1
House Shyeel Artificer - PC: 3
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 2

56 / 56 (50+6)    Warcaster(s) : 1/1    Warjack(s) : 3    Battle Engines : 0    Solos : 7    Units : 2

This list is a straightforward assassination list. The idea here is to have 2 main groups; an assassin delivery group, and strong center group to control the opponent's movement and keep the enemy caster pinned in place.

The delivery unit is centered around Elara's battlegroup protecting Narn and one of the Mage Hunters with assistance from the Artificer. This will make them very resistant to shooting (Aspis + Artificer), and their speed will help them outflank. Once they have closed with the enemy caster, the Aspis and Artificer can help to open up charge lanes for assassination runs for the Mage Hunter. Narn, with his insane suite of abilities, doesn't need charge lanes as he can charge through models with no penalties. He also has crazy threat range...2 inch Telekineses from Rahn, a potential 2 inches from Lanyssa, plus a 10 inch charge, kills something, and then gets to move another 7 inches (through models) to engage another model or find cover. That is a 21 inch threat range that your opponent has to deal with on their turn, or risk Narn sending them home early.

The center group has the Sentinels acting as a screening unit with the Manticore offset to my weak flank. Vengeance moves will help put pressure on the enemy advance, and with the officer's Pronto ability, the Manticore will have no problem keeping up with the unit. The Manticore's gun can also help either provide covering fire, or help keep my exposed flank clear. Also, I plan to upkeep Polarity Shield on the Sentinels, so they will almost always be able to get the charge bonus. The Arcanist will stick with the Manticore to provide it with focus.

Behind the screen is the second part of my center block; Rahn's group, a Mage Hunter, Lanyssa, and my Battle Mages. On Rahn's feat turn, they should able to destroy anything that would be too much for the Sentinels to handle. Afterwards, their job is to open lanes for the Phoenix and Mage Hunter to get a caster kill. Also, Rahn becomes exceedingly dangerous with an arc node behind enemy lines.

So, I know the list is rather one dimensional, but my army is full of fanatical ninja elves, so it kind of fits the fluff. I think in order to win, this list has to be played aggressively. With this list, I want to say you should always let your opponent deploy first, so that you can place your models with the most favorable match ups. While the army as a whole is resistant to shooting, there really aren't any defensive elements and the units will crumble in a protracted fight. I would say, ideally, I would want feat on turn 2 to wipe out the enemy front line, and try to charge my sentinels in deep. By turn 3, I want to get the kill, or at least put my opponent in a position where in the following turn, they have to choose from a list of really bad options.

With any luck, I will try this list out on Thursday night, so I will post a follow up and let everyone know how it goes!