Week 2 of the Company of Iron league at Drawbridge Games continues, and that meant more playtime for my Skorne. That said, painting-wise I finished up the final touches on my Trollbloods Pyg Bushwhackers Officer and Mortar UA.

I just love the character of these models. The officer especially. They add 2 more points to my painted total as well. 

One of the other developments in the league is that people can build terrain to earn the pins of the factions that don’t have any players in the league. Check out the following amazing entry:

Ryan (whose Cryx you may often see on these posts) completed this awesome double-size Trench for the special mission as part of the League. He’s also working on a similar bunker for the other mission. Andy’s pigs on display in the trench to give a sense of scale. 

This week I managed to get in two games. Just timing-wise other players were paired up elsewhere, so Colton and I faced off first in a small Platoon Skirmish, then in a larger 35 points game using the new trench system.

This smaller platoon game was the “Sabotage” mission. We decided that a small Khador force was protecting the Old Witch’s hut from being blown up by marauding Skorne forces. Colton’s forces surround the hut in readiness. 

The fun thing about this mission is getting to deploy all-around the central models. The above is a shot of my attempt at envelopment. 

Well, the Void Spirits are just sad in this match-up. Denied their Incorporeal protection, and with Khador’s starting promotion making the entire army fearless, these boys had little to do. Even hiding behind the hedge for the good defense bonus couldn’t save them. That said, I was able to slip my Bloodrunners in close enough to the cabin to set a charge, then got lucky when I pulled away and managed to detonate it on the first roll. Finally, a win for my Platoon–which gives a promotion that makes them slightly better in large games (pretty much all of the Skorne platoon promotions improve their abilities in the bigger games, not platoon combats). 

I was the defender in the second game. Colton had to merely get Sorscha2 completely into my trench and then start his maintenance phase with her still standing there (before the end of the eighth turn). I brought a force led by Mordikaar, as he’s my preferred slow-down and denial caster for the faction–the ability to bring back grunts in annoying places to force you to deal with them again really helps delay opponents. Otherwise it’s my usual shooting-focused beast package, which hopefully had the oomph to soften up his forces at range. 

The besieging Khador force. Winterguard deathstar in the middle, platoon on the right, and Sorscha2 with Beast 09 on the left. 

Close up of Mordikaar, his Cyclops Shaman, and a Void Spirit as they hold firm in the trench waiting for the advance of the enemy infantry. 

My shooting decimated the enemy infantry, but that didn’t stop Beast 09 and Sorscha2 from drawing up into range of my forces. Too little shooting too late, but I didn’t have to defeat it–I just needed to keep her out of the trench. 

Of course, that’s easier said than done against a caster with the Cyclone spell. As time started to run out on the game, Colton had to take a chance and rush her forward and hope she survived. She ended up in one end of the trench, with Mordikaar at the other. Then it was just a hope to weather storm. Unfortunately for Sorscha2, she couldn’t quite get it done. My Cyclops Raider managed to get up into position fully within the trench and land a bit of damage on her, only to be followed by his insides exploding all over her in a shower of gore (good old Essence Blast from Mordikaar) and finishing her off. 

Another good week of scenarios. Privateer Press really out-did themselves with this league. There’s some moaning on the forums about the various platoons, but in my experience and from the rest participating, they’re great little games with good scenarios and some solid balance in most cases. And the larger game missions are definitely great–they really put a different set of pressures on the players, which leads to some really fun moments.

366 Points Challenge Progress (2016):

75/366

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2016: 21 (Win/Loss: 14/7/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

9 Wins (Butcher, Deneghra, Shae, Sorscha2, Feora2, Severius, Skarre)/ 1 Loss (Rask)

Trollbloods:

1 Win (Karchev) / 3 Losses (Adeptis Rahn, Kromac, Caine2)

Cryx:

4 Wins (Caine, Karchev, Skarre, Vlad)  /  3 Losses (Asphyxious, Lylyth2, Goreshade3)

• Warmachine/Hordes