Another week of (lots of) games, and more progress and practice with my Trollbloods. It’s good, as our summer event at my main game store is a story game that is Trollblood-related, so having more completed is always good.

First up, painting progress: I spent a Friday night, all day Saturday, and about two hours on a Sunday morning just painting two Dire Trolls. Finished up Rök and a Dire Troll Bomber. It was a grueling painting session, but I wanted to be certain that I get everything finished for a big Masters Trinity event coming up in my area.

I’m really pleased with how they both turned out, Rök especially. He’s such a great model, with so much character to him. And the Bomber was fun, as I did a pose more like he is hurling one of the lit barrels of explosives. 

On the gaming side, this week was just five different games against a variety of opponents–some folks I face often, others who it was fun to face because we don’t get to play as frequently. For the first three, I was still working on getting some table time with my Doomshaper2 list that I’ve been working on. I’m hoping to see where his limitations and difficulties lay. The latter two, I took my Grissel2 list because I wanted to be more practiced with her list.

First up, a game with Doomshaper2 against Enrico’s beautifully-painted Kallus2. He played the match up very well. I got an edge by taking out his Beast Mistress with a long-distance trample by the Earthborn thru a woods. He bought a few attacks and killed her, which left Kallus2 down on points. He did ample damage (killing Rök and Mulg both), but finally was knocked down by a thrown Carnivean and killed. Was a great game, as both Enrico and Kallus2 were tough opponents. 

Second game with Doomshaper2 was against Ryan’s Gaspy3. Ryan is always a great opponent, and this was a match of the fast. Gaspy3’s Mobility and fast base SPD on jacks meant that we threatened each other at long range. I managed to get Mulg in first on his Kraken (it was go for it, or lose him because of the speed I was facing), but didn’t quite finish it off. However, Rök did a great job mulching the screening Satyxis Raiders and collapsing one side of the assault. Gaspy3 had to use his Kraken to try and kill Doomy2, but he came up just short. When he did, we called the game as Rök and the Earthborn were in place to roll in and kill Gaspy3. Fun game to be sure, but I definitely would play it different next time–making sure to save Mulg for cleanup and let the Earthborn or Mauler lead the way. 

Third game with Doomshaper2 was against Colton’s Khador, a heavy list led by Karchev. It turned into a huge slugfest. You can see in the picture above, it was just a jumble of heavies clobbering each other across a couple of rounds. I managed to get the lead when he counter-charged the Mauler with Behemoth. Able to take out Behemoth after he had just one attack in on my beasts rather than a full round made the difference. Colton had to use Karchev to try and regain ground. Unfortunately, I had just too much heft left and was able to finish him off. Great opponent in Colton as our games always seem to become crazy slugfests when we’re able to play. 

Swapped it up by switching to my Grissel2 list for additional games. I faced off against Larry’s Cephalyx list, helmed by Exulon Thexus. It was a rough battle, but I managed to keep the score close through scenario play. By reaching a spot where I could win unless he went for it, he went–and was able to use Thexus’ feat to line up a slam that took the Runebearer over Grissel2, leaving her prone and prey for one last Monstrosity (her defense 17 with Swarm would have been a tough one to get thru otherwise). I definitely knew to respect the feat, but it got hard to avoid it as the game drew on. Great game as I always have fun and learn a ton playing against Larry, and I definitely need to swap some elements of my Grissel2 list. 

Final game was against Rob’s Circle Orboros army, led by Una2. Full of Griffons, I knew that I needed to strike fast at Una2 if I could. Rob is one of the very best technical players in our greater meta, so if there was a way to engineer a kill on Grissel2 he’d find it. I had a huge dose of luck on my side in this match. Grissel was able to position to get a knockdown shot onto Una2 and heaped on the damage with her shooting. Then I got super lucky drifting templates onto her from the Bombers to kill her–amusingly even more lucky because a few Pygs that I could actually charge in died because I stupidly chose the Crescendo shot for my third shot. I managed to just get the kill on Una2, and it was totally dice luck rather than much skill to be sure. Rob was a great opponent, and I’m looking forward to facing his Circle again in a match where it’s much more skill vs skill than me getting absurdly lucky. 

All in all some good games. I need to tinker some with my Grissel2 list, and think up another list to pair with them for three list formats. But I’m feeling fairly pleased with how my Trollbloods are doing for me.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

313/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 69 (Win/Loss 49/20/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

16 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna, Stryker2, Craye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1, Kallus2, Gaspy3, Karchev, Una2) / 2 Losses (Feora3, Exulon Thexus)

Protectorate of Menoth:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

Convergence of Cyriss:

9 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 4 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle, Horgle2)

Retribution of Scyrah:

13 Wins (Tanith x2, Venethrax x2, Malekus, Gaspy1, Ragnor, Zaadesh2 x2, Grayle, Borka1, Makeda1, Strakov) / 5 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra, Xekaar, Tanith, Gaspy1)

• Warmachine/Hordes