So August happened. What a mess. I did get in a fair number of games, and painted a ton. But work and life stuffs happened. And continued to happen. So this is a LONG post detailing everything. It involves three factions, changes over what I think I’m bringing to GenCon, and a rapid amount of painting.

At first, I thought I would take my Convergence to GenCon 2017. But they’re just not quite doing it for me painting-wise. I completed a fair amount, but have too much yet to complete. Here’s photos of what I did manage to paint in the end of July and start of August though:

I’ve liked Aurora as a model for a long time, and as an idea for the battlefield. I got to field her in one game (see below) and I was as nonplussed as everyone warned me I would be. 

I also managed to fit in a number of Warjacks and some support. Here’s an Assimilator and Attunement Servitors.

It might be just that I hate the clunky big four-leg warjacks for this faction. This is my second Cipher, and I dunno. Just don’t care for their look at the end of the day. 

Yet the floating Jacks look really neat. I’m quite pleased with how this Modulator turned out. 

With a fair amount of painting but far too much left, and a couple of practice games with them, I realized that I wanted to bring a different option to GenCon. Hence, some real rush on painting Protectorate of Menoth–the faction I think I’m most inclined to be excited about and play.

First up, the Warcaster I know that I want to make the core of my lists. Anson Durst is just too cool a model, and I have an idea for how to run a list with him that I really like. I’m super-pleased with how he turned out as well. And that always helps. I think my Protectorate is my best-looking army—even tho I love my Trollbloods as well. 

The picture on Thyra turned out a bit darker than I hoped, but I’m pleased enough with her. Once she gets some units of Flame Bringers and Daughters of the Flame completed to join her, I’ll be really pleased. 

And for my Durst plan I needed another Castigator. So here he is. I really like these Warjacks with him, as they answer pretty much everything I’m concerned with in his list: help with volume of attacks, can reach pretty impressive defense and armor values. They don’t hit as hard as others in the faction, but I really think they work with him. 

 

Now for the rapid-fire gaming recaps. I got in a bunch of games. One with Protectorate, a pair with Convergence, and then a whole heap of Trollbloods games as I continue to play in our local store’s Trollbloods-themed event.

My first attempt with my Durst list turned out to be successful, against Dave C.’s Legion list with Lylyth1. I learned some key things about running it, and I will definitely swap a couple of pieces going forward. But I really like what it does as a list. I won on assassination after a long grind of a game. 

My first outing for Aurora ended up with a win vs Ryan’s Makeda1 list. I managed to live the Aurora “dream”–having an angel run into base to base with the enemy Warlock then charge and finish with Aurora. Even though it worked this time, it was extremely iffy at best. Not sure she does enough for the force right now to make it worth attempting. 

My other game with Convergence was against Kevin, fielding his Grymkin forces. I fielded Lucant and managed to beat the Heretic on scenario. Facing Grymkin is interesting–I managed to get a few games against his Heretic list with my Trolls as well. 

Speaking of Trollbloods, let the Troll games parade begin. I faced Paul’s Butcher3 with my Madrak2 list. Apparently Madrak2 simply cannot beat any Khador Warcaster I face. Butcher did his usual–get to the point where I couldn’t avoid him and stay relevant in scenario, then axe to the face. 

Followed that game with Madrak2 against Mike’s Cygnar Trenchers list led by Siege. This game went far better, as Feat turn saw every single Trencher but one die to a rampaging Trollkin Champion. Opened the door for the Earthborn, who shot in and finished things up after surviving a round of retaliation. 

Next up, Jarl versus Paul’s Vlad1. Jarl did his best, but got a bit too close in a later turn and got a Khador heavy to the face for his trouble. 

Paul and I then played again with me swapping to Grissel2. I managed to get really close to killing Vlad by targeting things around him. He ran and hid, and still I got sprays onto him thanks to Grissel2’s flexibility. But it was just too little at the end and he had a couple of boxes left… which meant Grissel2’s quick demise to a Kodiak. 

Seems like a steady diet of Khador for my Trollbloods lately. As my next game was against Zach’s Kozlov-led force. It was a good game back-and-forth, but Janissa Stonetide definitely won it for me. By making five Tough rolls in a row. Being steady, that meant she kept on surviving. That left him unable to clear the way and made Kozlov easy prey for my Mauler. 

The prior-mentioned Grymkin vs Trolls clashes. Played a Jarl theme list with lots of shooty Warbeasts into Kevin’s Heretic. The first game was a pretty handy win by assassination for me. If a Bomber gets a line on a Warlock with no transfers, even high defense won’t save you. It took the Swamp Troll rolling high to finish him off, but it worked. 

We decided to play again, just swapping the side of the table. This was a much more even match. He needed to take out Jarl to prevent the inevitable crash of heavies into him, and managed to miss a CRA from some flanking Hollowmen to allow Jarl to spin around and face the rest and survive the onslaught. Two great games against a good opponent, and a good chance to practice against Grymkin. 

Finally, I got in three games as my Pacific Rim tournament ended up having an odd number of players for the event. I made 14, so I played as the Bye round opponent. That meant first facing off against Gary’s Nemo1 list. The combination of Bulldoze and 4″ reach on the Sea King is definitely something to respect, as Nemo wasn’t ready for just how far it could get with Borka1’s Feat turn. 

Second Bye round offering was against Andy’s Lylyth1 list. This was a good game too, but trampling and then Mosh Pit for the auto-knockdown did the job to finish off his Warlock. Was a really fun battle as momentum kept swinging back and forth. 

The final Bye round of the event I got to play against Steve’s Retribution of Scyrah list led by Magister Helynna. The bright spot for her was that his force got to the point where they had nearly, but not quite, finished off the marauding Sea King. Only Helynna remained, and so she charged in and got the kill herself. Sadly, Rök was close by with enough whelps that he could eat 3 free strikes and still get to her and finish her off. 

 

 

 

Phew! What a set of games. All great matches with great opponents, so that was fun. Now to get a few more Protectorate things in shape before GenCon (or just relax and bring my Trollbloods… one of the two).

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

454/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 97 (Win/Loss 70/27/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

35 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna x2, Stryker2, Kraye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1, Kallus2, Gaspy3, Karchev x2, Una2, Saeryn & Rhyas, Grayle, Baldur2 x2, Baldur1, Horgle2, Kozlov x2, Exulon Thexus, Skarre2 x2, Siege, Vlad1, Lylyth1, Heretic x2, Nemo 1) / 9 Losses (Feora3, Exulon Thexus, Caine3, Haley1, Calandra, Kozlov, Absylonia2, Butcher3, Vlad1)

Convergence of Cyriss:

11 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1 x2, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1, Heretic) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Protectorate of Menoth:

4 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1, Lyltyh1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

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)